Genesis 37
1 And Jacob dwelt in the land where
his father sojourned, in the land of Chanaan.
2 And these are the generations of
Jacob. And Joseph was seventeen years old, feeding the sheep of his father
with his brethren, being young; with the sons of Balla, and with the sons of
Zelpha, the wives of his father;
aOr, according to some copies, they brought an evil report of Joseph,
etc.and Joseph brought to Israel their father their evil reproach.
3 And Jacob loved Joseph more than all
his sons, because he was to him the son of old age; and he made for him a coat
of many colours. 4 And his brethren
having seen that his father loved him more than all his sons, hated him, and
could not speak anything peaceable to him.
5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and
reported it to his brethren. 6 And he
said to them, Hear this dream which I have dreamed.
7 I thought ye were binding sheaves in
the middle of the field, and my sheaf stood up and was erected, and your
sheaves turned round, and did obeisance to my sheaf.
8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt
thou indeed reign over us, or shalt thou indeed be lord over us? And they
hated him still more for his dreams and for his words.
9 And he
bGr. saw.dreamed another dream, and related it to his father, and to his brethren, and
said, Behold, I have dreamed another dream: as it were the sun, and the moon,
and the eleven stars did me reverence.
10 And his father rebuked him, and
said to him, What is this dream which thou hast dreamed? shall indeed both I
and thy mother and thy brethren come and bow before thee to the earth?
11 And his brethren envied him; but
his father observed the saying.
12 And his brethren went to feed the
sheep of their father to Sychem.
13 And Israel said to Joseph, Do not
thy brethren feed their flock in Sychem? Come, I will send thee to them; and
he said to him, Behold, I am here.
14 And Israel said to him, Go and see
if thy brethren and the sheep are well, and bring me word; and he sent him out
of the valley of Chebron, and he came to Sychem.
15 And a man found him wandering in
the field; and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
16 And he said, I am seeking my
brethren; tell me where they feed their flocks.
17 And the man said to him, They have
departed hence, for I heard them saying, Let us go to Dothaim; and Joseph went
after his brethren, and found them in Dothaim.
18 And they spied him from a distance
before he drew nigh to them, and they wickedly took counsel to slay him.
19 And each said to his brother,
Behold, that dreamer comes. 20 Now
then come, let us kill him, and cast him into one of the pits; and we will
say, An evil wild beast has devoured him; and we shall see what his dreams
will be. 21 And Ruben having heard
it, rescued him out of their hands, and said, Let us not
cGr. smite him to the life.kill him. 22 And Ruben said to them,
Shed not blood; cast him into one of these pits in the wilderness, but do not
lay your hand upon him; that he might rescue him out
of their hands, and restore him to his father.
23 And it came to pass, when Joseph
came to his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his many-coloured coat that
was upon him. 24 And they took him
and cast him into the pit; and the pit was empty, it had not water.
25 And they sat down to eat bread;
and having lifted up their eyes they beheld, and lo, Ismaelitish travellers
came from Galaad, and their camels were heavily loaded with spices, and resin,
and
dGr. stacte.myrrh; and they went to bring them to Egypt.
26 And Judas said to his brethren,
What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
27 Come, let us sell him to these
Ismaelites, but let not our hands be upon him, because he is our brother and
our flesh; and his brethren hearkened.
28 And the men, the merchants of
Madian, went by, and they drew and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold
Joseph to the Ismaelites for twenty pieces of gold; and they brought Joseph
down into Egypt. 29 And Ruben
returned to the pit, and sees not Joseph in the pit; and he rent his garments.
30 And he returned to his brethren
and said, The boy is not; and I, whither am I yet to go?
31 And having taken the coat of
Joseph, they slew a kid of the goats, and stained the coat with the blood.
32 And they sent the coat of many
colours; and they brought it to their father, and said, This have we found;
know if it be thy son's coat or no.
33 And he recognised it, and said, It
is my son's coat, an evil wild beast has devoured him; a wild beast has
carried off Joseph. 34 And Jacob rent
his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many
days. 35 And all his sons and his
daughters gathered themselves together, and came to comfort him; but he would
not be comforted, saying, I will go down to my son mourning to Hades; and his
father wept for him. 36 And the
Madianites sold Joseph into Egypt; to Petephres, the eunuch of Pharao, captain
of the guard.