Genesis 37
Legacy Standard Bible
The Generations of Jacob
37 Now Jacob lived in (A)the land [a]where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob.
Joseph, when (B)seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with (C)the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back an (D)evil report about them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was (E)the son of his old age; and he made him a [b](F)varicolored tunic. 4 And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and so they (G)hated him and could not speak to him in peace.
Joseph’s Dreams
5 Then Joseph [c](H)had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; so they hated him even more. 6 And he said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have [d]had: 7 Indeed, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf rose up and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and (I)bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 Then his brothers said to him, “(J)Are you really 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.
9 Then he [e]had still another dream and recounted it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have [f]had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 And he recounted it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have [g]had? Shall I and your mother and (K)your brothers really come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?” 11 (L)And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father (M)kept the saying in mind.
12 Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in (N)Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “[h]I will go.” 14 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 (O)Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15 And a man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “[i]What are you seeking?” 16 And he said, “I am seeking my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 Then the man said, “They have journeyed from here; for I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to (P)Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
Joseph Sold by His Brothers
18 And they saw him from a distance, and before he came close to them, they (Q)plotted against him to put him to death. 19 Then they said to one another, “[j]Here comes this dreamer! 20 So now, come and let us kill him and cast him into one of the pits; and (R)we will say, ‘A wild beast devoured him.’ Then let us see what will become of his dreams!” 21 But (S)Reuben heard this and delivered him out of their hands and said, “Let us not strike down his life.” 22 Reuben further said to them, “Shed no blood. Cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not put forth your hands against him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands to return him to his father. 23 Now it happened, when Joseph [k]reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his [l]tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him; 24 and they took him and cast him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.
25 And they sat down to eat [m]a meal. Then they lifted up their eyes and saw, and behold, a caravan of (T)Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing [n](U)aromatic gum and [o](V)balm and [p]myrrh, going to bring them down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said to his brothers, “What gain is it that we kill our brother and (W)cover up his blood? 27 (X)Come 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. 28 Then some (Y)Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit and (Z)sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for [q]twenty shekels of silver. Thus (AA)they brought Joseph into Egypt.
29 Then Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he (AB)tore his garments. 30 Then he returned to his brothers and said, “(AC)The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?” 31 So (AD)they took Joseph’s tunic and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood; 32 and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please recognize it—whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” 33 And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. (AE)A wild beast has devoured him; (AF)Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” 34 So Jacob (AG)tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will (AH)go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile, the [r]Midianites (AI)sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.
Footnotes
- Genesis 37:1 Lit of his father’s sojournings
- Genesis 37:3 Or full-length robe, long-sleeved garment; cf. 2 Sam 13:18; Song 5:3
- Genesis 37:5 Lit dreamed
- Genesis 37:6 Lit dreamed
- Genesis 37:9 Lit dreamed
- Genesis 37:9 Lit dreamed
- Genesis 37:10 Lit dreamed
- Genesis 37:13 Lit Behold me
- Genesis 37:15 Lit saying, “What...?”
- Genesis 37:19 Lit Behold, this master of dreams comes
- Genesis 37:23 Lit came to
- Genesis 37:23 Or full-length robe
- Genesis 37:25 Lit bread
- Genesis 37:25 Or ladanum spice
- Genesis 37:25 Or mastic
- Genesis 37:25 Or resinous bark
- Genesis 37:28 Approx. 8 oz. or 220 gm, a shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
- Genesis 37:36 Lit Medanites
Genesis 37
The Message
37 Meanwhile Jacob had settled down where his father had lived, the land of Canaan.
Joseph and His Brothers
2 This is the story of Jacob. The story continues with Joseph, seventeen years old at the time, helping out his brothers in herding the flocks. These were his half brothers actually, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought his father bad reports on them.
3-4 Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the child of his old age. And he made him an elaborately embroidered coat. When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him—they wouldn’t even speak to him.
5-7 Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. He said, “Listen to this dream I had. We were all out in the field gathering bundles of wheat. All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and your bundles circled around it and bowed down to mine.”
8 His brothers said, “So! You’re going to rule us? You’re going to boss us around?” And they hated him more than ever because of his dreams and the way he talked.
9 He had another dream and told this one also to his brothers: “I dreamed another dream—the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed down to me!”
10-11 When he told it to his father and brothers, his father reprimanded him: “What’s with all this dreaming? Am I and your mother and your brothers all supposed to bow down to you?” Now his brothers were really jealous; but his father brooded over the whole business.
12-13 His brothers had gone off to Shechem where they were pasturing their father’s flocks. Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers are with flocks in Shechem. Come, I want to send you to them.”
Joseph said, “I’m ready.”
14 He said, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing and bring me back a report.” He sent him off from the valley of Hebron to Shechem.
15 A man met him as he was wandering through the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 “I’m trying to find my brothers. Do you have any idea where they are grazing their flocks?”
17 The man said, “They’ve left here, but I overheard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph took off, tracked his brothers down, and found them in Dothan.
18-20 They spotted him off in the distance. By the time he got to them they had cooked up a plot to kill him. The brothers were saying, “Here comes that dreamer. Let’s kill him and throw him into one of these old cisterns; we can say that a vicious animal ate him up. We’ll see what his dreams amount to.”
21-22 Reuben heard the brothers talking and intervened to save him, “We’re not going to kill him. No murder. Go ahead and throw him in this cistern out here in the wild, but don’t hurt him.” Reuben planned to go back later and get him out and take him back to his father.
23-24 When Joseph reached his brothers, they ripped off the fancy coat he was wearing, grabbed him, and threw him into a cistern. The cistern was dry; there wasn’t any water in it.
25-27 Then they sat down to eat their supper. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way from Gilead, their camels loaded with spices, ointments, and perfumes to sell in Egypt. Judah said, “Brothers, what are we going to get out of killing our brother and concealing the evidence? Let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not kill him—he is, after all, our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
28 By that time the Midianite traders were passing by. His brothers pulled Joseph out of the cistern and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites who took Joseph with them down to Egypt.
29-30 Later Reuben came back and went to the cistern—no Joseph! He ripped his clothes in despair. Beside himself, he went to his brothers. “The boy’s gone! What am I going to do!”
31-32 They took Joseph’s coat, butchered a goat, and dipped the coat in the blood. They took the fancy coat back to their father and said, “We found this. Look it over—do you think this is your son’s coat?”
33 He recognized it at once. “My son’s coat—a wild animal has eaten him. Joseph torn limb from limb!”
34-35 Jacob tore his clothes in grief, dressed in rough burlap, and mourned his son a long, long time. His sons and daughters tried to comfort him but he refused their comfort. “I’ll go to the grave mourning my son.” Oh, how his father wept for him.
36 In Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, manager of his household affairs.
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