Genesis 37

English Standard Version

Joseph's Dreams

37 Jacob lived in ^(A)the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan.

²These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought ^(B)a bad report of them to their father. ³Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was ^(C)the son of his old age. And he made him ^(D)a robe of many colors.^[a] ⁴But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

⁵Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. ⁶He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: ⁷Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, ^(E)my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and ^(F)bowed down to my sheaf.” ⁸His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and ^(G)your mother and your brothers indeed come ^(H)to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” ¹¹And ^(I)his brothers were jealous of him, ^(J)but his father kept the saying in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹²Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near ^(K)Shechem. ¹³And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ¹⁴So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of ^(L)Hebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” ¹⁶“I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” ¹⁷And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to ^(M)Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at ^(N)Dothan.

¹⁸They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them ^(O)they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰Come now, ^(P)let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.^[b] Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” ²¹But when ^(Q)Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” ²²And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—^(R)that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. ²³So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, ^(S)the robe of many colors that he wore. ²⁴And they took him and ^(T)threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a ^(U)caravan of ^(V)Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing ^(W)gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it ^(X)if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^(Y)let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. ²⁸Then ^(Z)Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and ^(AA)sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels^[c] of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he ^(AB)tore his clothes ³⁰and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy ^(AC)is gone, and I, where shall I go?” ³¹Then they took ^(AD)Joseph's robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. ³²And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son's robe or not.” ³³And he identified it and said, “It is my son's robe. ^(AE)A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” ³⁴Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵All his sons and all his daughters ^(AF)rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, ^(AG)I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. ³⁶Meanwhile ^(AH)the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, ^(AI)the captain of the guard.

Footnotes

Genesis 37:3 See Septuagint, Vulgate; or (with Syriac) a robe with long sleeves. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain; also verses 23, 32
Genesis 37:20 Or cisterns; also verses 22, 24
Genesis 37:28 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

Joel 2

English Standard Version

The Day of the Lord

2 ^(A)Blow a trumpet in ^(B)Zion;
    sound an alarm on ^(C)my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
    for ^(D)the day of the Lord is coming; it is near,
²^(E)a day of darkness and gloom,
    ^(F)a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains
    ^(G)a great and powerful people;
^(H)their like has never been before,
    nor will be again after them
    through the years of all generations.

³^(I)Fire devours before them,
    and behind them a flame burns.
The land is like ^(J)the garden of Eden before them,
    but ^(K)behind them a desolate wilderness,
    and nothing escapes them.

⁴^(L)Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
    and like war horses they run.
⁵^(M)As with the rumbling of chariots,
    they leap on the tops of the mountains,
like the crackling of ^(N)a flame of fire
    devouring the stubble,
^(O)like a powerful army
    drawn up for battle.

⁶Before them peoples are in anguish;
    ^(P)all faces grow pale.
⁷Like warriors they charge;
    like soldiers they scale the wall.
They march each on his way;
    they do not swerve from their paths.
⁸They do not jostle one another;
    ^(Q)each marches in his path;
they burst through the weapons
    and are not halted.
⁹^(R)They leap upon the city,
    they run upon the walls,
^(S)they climb up into the houses,
    ^(T)they enter through the windows ^(U)like a thief.

¹⁰^(V)The earth quakes before them;
    the heavens tremble.
^(W)The sun and the moon are darkened,
    and the stars withdraw their shining.
¹¹^(X)The Lord utters his voice
    before ^(Y)his army,
for his camp is exceedingly great;
    ^(Z)he who executes his word is powerful.
^(AA)For the day of the Lord is ^(AB)great and very awesome;
    ^(AC)who can endure it?

Return to the Lord

¹²“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
    ^(AD)“return to me with all your heart,
^(AE)with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
¹³    and ^(AF)rend your hearts and not ^(AG)your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    ^(AH)for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    ^(AI)and he relents over disaster.
¹⁴^(AJ)Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
    and ^(AK)leave a blessing behind him,
^(AL)a grain offering and a drink offering
    for the Lord your God?

¹⁵^(AM)Blow the trumpet in Zion;
    ^(AN)consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
¹⁶    gather the people.
^(AO)Consecrate the congregation;
    assemble the elders;
^(AP)gather the children,
    even nursing infants.
^(AQ)Let the bridegroom leave his room,
    and the bride her chamber.

¹⁷^(AR)Between the ^(AS)vestibule and the ^(AT)altar
    ^(AU)let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
    and make not your heritage a reproach,
    a byword among the nations.^[a]
^(AV)Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’”

The Lord Had Pity

¹⁸^(AW)Then the Lord became jealous for his land
    ^(AX)and had pity on his people.
¹⁹The Lord answered and said to his people,
“Behold, ^(AY)I am sending to you
    grain, wine, and oil,
    ^(AZ)and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
    a reproach among the nations.

²⁰“I will remove the northerner far from you,
    and drive him into a parched and desolate land,
his vanguard^[b] into ^(BA)the eastern sea,
    and his rear guard^[c] into ^(BB)the western sea;
^(BC)the stench and foul smell of him will rise,
    for he has done great things.

²¹“Fear not, O land;
    be glad and rejoice,
    for ^(BD)the Lord has done great things!
²²Fear not, ^(BE)you beasts of the field,
    for ^(BF)the pastures of the wilderness are green;
^(BG)the tree bears its fruit;
    the fig tree and ^(BH)vine give their full yield.

²³^(BI)“Be glad, O children of Zion,
    and ^(BJ)rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given ^(BK)the early rain for your vindication;
    he has poured down for you abundant rain,
    ^(BL)the early and ^(BM)the latter rain, as before.

²⁴“The threshing floors shall be full of grain;
    the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
²⁵I will restore^[d] to you the years
    that ^(BN)the swarming locust has eaten,
^(BO)the hopper, ^(BP)the destroyer, and ^(BQ)the cutter,
    ^(BR)my great army, which I sent among you.

²⁶^(BS)“You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
    and praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people ^(BT)shall never again be put to shame.
²⁷^(BU)You shall know that I am ^(BV)in the midst of Israel,
    and that ^(BW)I am the Lord your God ^(BX)and there is none else.
And my people ^(BY)shall never again be put to shame.

The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit

²⁸^[e] ^(BZ)“And it shall come to pass afterward,
    that ^(CA)I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
^(CB)your sons and ^(CC)your daughters shall prophesy,
    your old men shall dream dreams,
    and your young men shall see visions.
²⁹^(CD)Even on the male and female servants
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

³⁰“And I will show ^(CE)wonders in the heavens and ^(CF)on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹^(CG)The sun shall be turned to darkness, ^(CH)and the moon to blood, ^(CI)before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ³²And it shall come to pass that ^(CJ)everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. ^(CK)For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among ^(CL)the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

Footnotes

Joel 2:17 Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them
Joel 2:20 Hebrew face
Joel 2:20 Hebrew his end
Joel 2:25 Or pay back
Joel 2:28 Ch 3:1 in Hebrew

Daniel 2

English Standard Version

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

2 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; ^(A)his spirit was troubled, and ^(B)his sleep left him. ²Then the king commanded that ^(C)the magicians, ^(D)the enchanters, the ^(E)sorcerers, and ^(F)the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and ^(G)stood before the king. ³And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and ^(H)my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” ⁴Then ^(I)the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic,^[a] ^(J)“O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” ⁵The king answered and said to ^(K)the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be ^(L)torn limb from limb, ^(M)and your ^(N)houses shall be laid in ruins. ⁶But if you show the dream and its interpretation, ^(O)you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. ^(P)Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” ⁷They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” ⁸The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to ^(Q)gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— ⁹if you do not make the dream known to me, ^(R)there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till ^(S)the times change. ^(T)Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” ¹⁰^(U)The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king's demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or ^(V)Chaldean. ¹¹The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except ^(W)the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”

¹²Because of this the king was angry and ^(X)very furious, and ^(Y)commanded that all ^(Z)the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. ¹³So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought ^(AA)Daniel and his companions, to kill them. ¹⁴Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to ^(AB)Arioch, the ^(AC)captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁵He declared^[b] to Arioch, the king's captain, “Why is the decree of the king ^(AD)so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. ¹⁶And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.

God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

¹⁷Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to ^(AE)Hananiah, ^(AF)Mishael, and ^(AG)Azariah, his companions, ¹⁸^(AH)and told them to seek mercy from the ^(AI)God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not ^(AJ)be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. ¹⁹Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in ^(AK)a vision of the night. Then Daniel ^(AL)blessed the ^(AM)God of heaven. ²⁰Daniel answered and said:

^(AN)“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
    ^(AO)to whom belong wisdom and might.
²¹^(AP)He changes times and seasons;
    ^(AQ)he removes kings and sets up kings;
^(AR)he gives wisdom to the wise
    ^(AS)and knowledge to those who have understanding;
²²^(AT)he reveals deep and hidden things;
    ^(AU)he knows what is in the darkness,
    ^(AV)and the light dwells with him.
²³To you, O ^(AW)God of my fathers,
    ^(AX)I give thanks and praise,
for ^(AY)you have given me wisdom and might,
    and have now made known to me what ^(AZ)we asked of you,
    for you have made known to us the king's matter.”

²⁴Therefore Daniel went in to ^(BA)Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”

²⁵Then ^(BB)Arioch brought in Daniel before the king ^(BC)in haste and said thus to him: “I have found ^(BD)among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” ²⁶The king declared to Daniel, ^(BE)whose name was Belteshazzar, ^(BF)“Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, ^(BG)enchanters, ^(BH)magicians, or ^(BI)astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, ²⁸but ^(BJ)there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^(BK)what will be in the latter days. Your dream and ^(BL)the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: ²⁹To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, ^(BM)and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. ³⁰But ^(BN)as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that ^(BO)you may know the thoughts of your mind.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

³¹“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. ³²^(BP)The head of this image was of fine gold, ^(BQ)its chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^(BR)thighs of bronze, ³³^(BS)its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴As you looked, a stone was cut out ^(BT)by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^(BU)broke them in pieces. ³⁵Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became ^(BV)like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^(BW)not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^(BX)a great mountain ^(BY)and filled the whole earth.

³⁶“This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷You, O king, ^(BZ)the king of kings, to whom ^(CA)the God of heaven ^(CB)has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, ³⁸and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, ^(CC)the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^(CD)the head of gold. ³⁹^(CE)Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^(CF)of bronze, ^(CG)which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰And ^(CH)there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron ^(CI)breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall ^(CJ)break and crush all these. ⁴¹And as you saw ^(CK)the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the ^(CL)firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. ⁴²And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage,^[c] but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴And in the days of those kings ^(CM)the God of heaven will set up ^(CN)a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. ^(CO)It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and ^(CP)it shall stand forever, ⁴⁵just as ^(CQ)you saw that ^(CR)a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that ^(CS)it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A ^(CT)great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”

Daniel Is Promoted

⁴⁶Then King Nebuchadnezzar ^(CU)fell upon his face and ^(CV)paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that ^(CW)an offering and ^(CX)incense be offered up to him. ⁴⁷The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your ^(CY)God is God of gods and ^(CZ)Lord of kings, and ^(DA)a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” ⁴⁸Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great ^(DB)gifts, and made him ruler over the whole ^(DC)province of Babylon and ^(DD)chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. ⁴⁹Daniel made a request of the king, and he ^(DE)appointed ^(DF)Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of ^(DG)the province of Babylon. But Daniel ^(DH)remained at the king's court.