Now Jacob lived
in athe land
1where
his father
had sojourned
, in the land
of Canaan
.
These are the records of the generations
of Jacob
.
Joseph, when aseventeen
years
of age
, was pasturing
the flock
with his brothers
while he was still a youth
, along with bthe sons
of Bilhah
and the sons
of Zilpah
, his father's
wives
. And Joseph
brought
back a cbad
report
about them to their father
.
Now Israel loved
Joseph
more
than
all
his sons
, because
he was athe son
of his old
age
; and he made
him a 1 bvaricolored
tunic
.
His brothers saw
that their father
loved
him more
than
all
his brothers
; and so they ahated
him and could
not speak
to him 1on friendly
terms
.
Then Joseph 1 ahad
a dream
, and when he told
it to his brothers
, they hated
him even
more
.
He said to them, "Please
listen
to this
dream
which
I have 1had
;
for behold, we were binding
sheaves
in the field
, and lo
, my sheaf
rose
up and also
stood
erect
; and behold
, your sheaves
gathered
around
and abowed
down
to my sheaf
."
Then his brothers said
to him, " aAre you actually
going to reign
over
us? Or
are you really
going to rule
over us?" So they hated
him even
more
for his dreams
and for his words
.
Now he 1had still
another
dream
, and related
it to his brothers
, and said
, "Lo
, I have 1had
still
another dream
; and behold
, the sun
and the moon
and eleven
stars
were bowing
down
to me."
He related it to his father
and to his brothers
; and his father
rebuked
him and said
to him, "What
is this
dream
that you have 1had
? Shall I and your mother
and ayour brothers
actually
come
to bow
ourselves down
before you to the ground
?"
aHis brothers were jealous
of him, but his father
bkept
the saying
in mind.
Then his brothers went
to pasture
their father's
flock
in Shechem
.
Israel said
to Joseph
, "Are not your brothers
pasturing
the flock in aShechem
? Come
, and I will send
you to them." And he said
to him, " 1I will go
."
Then he said to him, "Go
now
and see
about the welfare
of your brothers
and the welfare
of the flock
, and bring
word
back
to me." So he sent
him from the valley
of aHebron
, and he came
to Shechem
.
A man found
him, and behold
, he was wandering
in the field
; and the man
asked
him, " 1What
are you looking
for?"
He said, "I am looking
for my brothers
; please
tell
me where
they are pasturing
the flock."
Then the man said
, "They have moved
from here
; for I heard
them say
, `Let us go
to aDothan
.' " So Joseph
went
after his brothers
and found
them at Dothan
.
1When they saw him from a distance
and before
he came
close
to them, they aplotted
against
him to put
him to death
.
They said to one
another
, " 1Here
comes
this
dreamer
!
"Now then, come
and let us kill
him and throw
him into one
of the pits
; and awe will say
, `A wild
beast
devoured
him.' Then let us see
what
will become
of his dreams
!"
But aReuben heard
this and rescued
him out of their hands
and said
, "Let us not 1take
his life
."
Reuben further said
to them, "Shed
no
blood
. Throw
him into this
pit
that is in the wilderness
, but do not lay
hands
on him"--that he might rescue
him out of their hands
, to restore
him to his father
.
So it came about, when
Joseph
1reached
his brothers
, that they stripped
Joseph
of his 2tunic
, the varicolored
tunic
that was on him;
and they took him and threw
him into the pit
. Now the pit
was empty
, without
any water
in it.
Then they sat down
to eat
1a meal
. And as they raised
their eyes
and looked
, behold
, a caravan
of aIshmaelites
was coming
from Gilead
, with their camels
bearing
2 baromatic
gum
and 3 cbalm
and 4myrrh
, 5on their way
to bring
them down
to Egypt
.
Judah said
to his brothers
, "What
profit
is it for us to kill
our brother
and acover
up his blood
?
" aCome and let us sell
him to the Ishmaelites
and not lay
our hands
on him, for he is our brother
, our own flesh
." And his brothers
listened
to him.
Then some aMidianite
traders
passed
by, so they pulled
him up and lifted
Joseph
out of the pit
, and bsold
1him to the Ishmaelites
for twenty
shekels of silver
. Thus cthey brought
Joseph
into Egypt
.
Now Reuben returned
to the pit
, and behold
, Joseph
was not in the pit
; so he atore
his garments
.
He returned to his brothers
and said
, " aThe boy
is not there; as for me, where
am I to go
?"
So athey took Joseph's
tunic
, and slaughtered
a male
goat
and dipped
the tunic
in the blood
;
and they sent the varicolored
tunic
and brought
it to their father
and said
, "We found
this
; please
1examine
it to see whether it is your son's
tunic
or
not."
Then he 1examined it and said
, "It is my son's
tunic
. aA wild
beast
has devoured
him; bJoseph
has surely
been torn
to pieces
!"
So Jacob atore
his clothes
, and put
sackcloth
on his loins
and mourned
for his son
many
days
.
Then all his sons
and all
his daughters
arose
to comfort
him, but he refused
to be comforted
. And he said
, "Surely
I will ago
down
to Sheol
in mourning
for my son
." So his father
wept
for him.
Meanwhile, the 1Midianites asold
him in Egypt
to Potiphar
, Pharaoh's
officer
, the captain
of the bodyguard
.