Genesis 37

Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.

This is the story of Jacob's family. Joseph, a young bloke of seventeen, was looking after the flocks with his brothers, the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought their father a bad report about them.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he'd been born to him in his old age. And he made him a long robe with sleeves.

When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him, and they couldn't say a civil word to him.

Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it they hated him even more.

“Listen to this dream I had,” he said.

“We were out in the field tying up sheaves, and my sheaf stood up straight, and your sheaves gathered round and bowed down to it.”

And his brothers said, “So you're going to reign over us, are you? You're going to rule us?” And they hated him even more for his dream and for what he'd said.

Then he had another dream and told his brothers about that one too. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream. This time the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

And when he told his father as well as his brothers, his father told him off. “What's this dream you've had?” he said. “Are your mother and I and your brothers really going to come and bow down to the ground in front of you?”

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

Now his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near Shechem,

and Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. I'm sending you to them.” “Alright,” he said.

And he said to him, “Go and see how your brothers are, and how the flocks are, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron, and Joseph came to Shechem.

A man found him wandering about in the country and asked him, “What are you looking for?”

“My brothers,” he said. “Can you tell me where they're grazing their flocks?”

“They've moved on from here,” the man said. “I heard them say, ‘Let's go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan.

They saw him a long way off, and before he reached them they plotted to kill him.

“Here comes that dreamer,” they said to each other.

“Come on, let's kill him and throw him into one of these pits, and say a wild animal got him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams.”

But Reuben heard it, and he tried to save him from them. “Let's not take his life,” he said.

And Reuben said to them, “Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this pit out here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him.” He said that so he could rescue him and take him back to his father.

So when Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of the robe he was wearing — the long robe with sleeves —

and they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.

Then they sat down to eat. And they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels loaded with spices and balm and myrrh, on their way down to Egypt.

And Judah said to his brothers, “What do we get out of killing our brother and covering up his blood?

Come on, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him ourselves. He's our brother, our own flesh and blood.” And his brothers agreed.

So when the Midianite traders came by, the brothers pulled Joseph up out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

When Reuben came back to the pit and saw that Joseph wasn't there, he tore his clothes.

He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy's not there. Where can I turn now?”

So they took Joseph's robe, killed a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.

Then they took the long robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Have a look and see whether it's your son's robe.”

He recognised it. “It's my son's robe,” he said. “A wild animal has got him. Joseph has been torn to pieces.”

And Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on and mourned for his son a long time.

All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he wouldn't be comforted. “No,” he said. “I'll go down to the grave mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.

And the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.