Genesis 37

¹And Jacob dwelt in the land of the sojournings of his father, in the land of Canaan.

²These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph was seventeen years old, tending the flock with his brothers, and he was a young man with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought to their father a bad report about them.

³Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, for he was a son of old age to him. And he made him an ornamented tunic.

⁴And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and could not speak to him peaceably.

⁵And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more.

⁶And he said to them, 'Hear, please, this dream that I dreamed.'

⁷And behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field. And behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.

⁸And his brothers said to him, 'Ruling, will you indeed reign over us? Or ruling, will you indeed rule over us?' And they continued still to hate him, on account of his dreams and on account of his words.

⁹And he dreamed yet another dream, and he recounted it to his brothers, and he said, "Look, I have dreamed a dream again, and look, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

¹⁰And he recounted it to his father and to his brothers, and his father rebuked him, and he said to him, 'What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall we indeed come — I and your mother and your brothers — to bow down to you to the ground?'

¹¹And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter.

¹²And his brothers went to pasture their father's flock at Shechem.

¹³And Israel said to Joseph, 'Are not your brothers pasturing at Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.' And he said to him, 'Here I am.'

¹⁴And he said to him, 'Go, please, see the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring me back word.' And he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

¹⁵And a man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, 'What are you seeking?'

¹⁶And he said, 'My brothers I am seeking. Tell me, please, where are they pasturing?'

¹⁷And the man said, "They have set out from here, for I heard them saying, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" And Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

¹⁸And they saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them they plotted against him to kill him.

¹⁹And they said, each man to his brother, 'Behold, this master of dreams is coming!'

²⁰And now, come, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits, and we will say, 'A bad animal has eaten him,' and we will see what will become of his dreams.

²¹And Reuben heard, and he rescued him from their hand, and he said, 'We must not strike him a mortal blow.'

²²And Reuben said to them, "Do not shed blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him" — in order to rescue him from their hand and return him to his father.

²³And it came to pass, when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic — the long-sleeved tunic that was on him.

²⁴And they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵And they sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and they saw, and look, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, and their camels were carrying gum, balm, and myrrh, going to bring them down to Egypt.

²⁶And Judah said to his brothers, 'What gain is there if we kill our brother and cover his blood?'

²⁷Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let our hand not be upon him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers listened.

²⁸And Midianite men passed by, traders. And they drew and brought up Joseph from the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹And Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit. And he tore his garments.

³⁰And he returned to his brothers and said, 'The boy is gone. And I — where am I to go?'

³¹And they took Joseph's tunic, and they slaughtered a goat-kid, and dipped the tunic in the blood.

³²And they sent the ornamented tunic, and they brought it to their father, and said, 'This we have found. Recognize, please, whether it is your son's tunic or not.'

³³And he recognized it, and he said, 'My son's tunic! A bad animal has eaten him — Joseph has been torn to pieces!'

³⁴And Jacob tore his garments, and he put sackcloth on his loins, and he mourned for his son many days.

³⁵And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him. And he refused to be comforted, and said, 'For I will go down to my son in mourning, to Sheol.' And his father wept for him.

³⁶And the Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.