³ Now Israel^(A) loved Joseph more than any of his other sons,^(B) because he had been born to him in his old age;^(C) and he made an ornate^[a] robe^(D) for him.^(E)

²² His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. ²³ One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved,^(A) was reclining next to him.

¹⁸ So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing an ornate^[a] robe,^(A) for this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore.

³² They took the ornate robe^(A) back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”

²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe^(A) he was wearing—

³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.^(A)

¹⁶ You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places,^(A) where you carried on your prostitution.^(B) You went to him, and he possessed your beauty.^[a]

²⁰ And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age.^(A) His brother is dead,^(B) and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’^(C)

²¹ “Then you said to your servants,^(D) ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’^{(E) 22} And we said to my lord,^(F) ‘The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.’^{(G) 23} But you told your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’^{(H) 24} When we went back to your servant my father,^(I) we told him what my lord^(J) had said.^(K)

²⁵ “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy a little more food.’^{(L) 26} But we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’^(M)

²⁷ “Your servant my father^(N) said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.^{(O) 28} One of them went away from me, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.”^(P) And I have not seen him since.^{(Q) 29} If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave^(R) in misery.’^(S)

³⁰ “So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father,^(T) and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy’s life,^(U)