Esau’s Descendants^(A)(B)

36 This is the account^(C) of the family line of Esau (that is, Edom).^(D)

⁹ This is the account^(T) of the family line of Esau the father of the Edomites^(U) in the hill country of Seir.

¹⁵ These were the chiefs^(AF) among Esau’s descendants:

¹⁹ These were the sons of Esau^(AP) (that is, Edom),^(AQ) and these were their chiefs.^(AR)

²⁰ These were the sons of Seir the Horite,^(AS) who were living in the region:

The Rulers of Edom^(BC)

³¹ These were the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite king^(BD) reigned:

⁴⁰ These were the chiefs^(BJ) descended from Esau, by name, according to their clans and regions:

This is the family line of Esau, the father of the Edomites.^(BK)

Joseph’s Dreams

37 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed,^(BL) the land of Canaan.^(BM)

² This is the account^(BN) of Jacob’s family line.

Joseph,^(BO) a young man of seventeen,^(BP) was tending the flocks^(BQ) with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah^(BR) and the sons of Zilpah,^(BS) his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report^(BT) about them.

³ Now Israel^(BU) loved Joseph more than any of his other sons,^(BV) because he had been born to him in his old age;^(BW) and he made an ornate^[f] robe^(BX) for him.^{(BY) 4} When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him^(BZ) and could not speak a kind word to him.

⁵ Joseph had a dream,^(CA) and when he told it to his brothers,^(CB) they hated him all the more.^{(CC) 6} He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ⁷ We were binding sheaves^(CD) of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”^(CE)

⁸ His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?”^(CF) And they hated him all the more^(CG) because of his dream and what he had said.

⁹ Then he had another dream,^(CH) and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars^(CI) were bowing down to me.”^(CJ)

¹⁰ When he told his father as well as his brothers,^(CK) his father rebuked^(CL) him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”^{(CM) 11} His brothers were jealous of him,^(CN) but his father kept the matter in mind.^(CO)

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem,^{(CP) 13} and Israel^(CQ) said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem.^(CR) Come, I am going to send you to them.”

“Very well,” he replied.

¹⁴ So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers^(CS) and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.^(CT)

When Joseph arrived at Shechem, ¹⁵ a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶ He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”

¹⁷ “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.^(CU)’”

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. ¹⁸ But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.^(CV)

¹⁹ “Here comes that dreamer!^(CW)” they said to each other. ²⁰ “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns^(CX) and say that a ferocious animal^(CY) devoured him.^(CZ) Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”^(DA)

²¹ When Reuben^(DB) heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said.^{(DC) 22} “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern^(DD) here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.^(DE)

²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe^(DF) he was wearing— ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the cistern.^(DG) The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites^(DH) coming from Gilead.^(DI) Their camels were loaded with spices, balm^(DJ) and myrrh,^(DK) and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.^(DL)

²⁶ Judah^(DM) said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?^{(DN) 27} Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother,^(DO) our own flesh and blood.^(DP)” His brothers agreed.

²⁸ So when the Midianite^(DQ) merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern^(DR) and sold^(DS) him for twenty shekels^[g] of silver^(DT) to the Ishmaelites,^(DU) who took him to Egypt.^(DV)

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.^{(DW) 30} He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?”^(DX)

³¹ Then they got Joseph’s robe,^(DY) slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.^{(DZ) 32} They took the ornate robe^(EA) back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”

³³ He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal^(EB) has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”^(EC)

³⁴ Then Jacob tore his clothes,^(ED) put on sackcloth^(EE) and mourned for his son many days.^{(EF) 35} All his sons and daughters came to comfort him,^(EG) but he refused to be comforted.^(EH) “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son^(EI) in the grave.^(EJ)” So his father wept for him.

³⁶ Meanwhile, the Midianites^[h](EK) sold Joseph^(EL) in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.^(EM)