² This is the story of Jacob’s family.

Joseph was a young man, 17 years old. His job was to take care of the sheep and the goats. Joseph did this work with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. (Bilhah and Zilpah were his father’s wives.) Joseph told his father about the bad things that his brothers did. ³ Joseph was born at a time when his father Israel was very old, so Israel loved him more than he loved his other sons. Jacob gave him a special coat, which was long and very beautiful.^{[a] 4} When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they hated their brother because of this. They refused to say nice things to him.

Joseph Sold Into Slavery

¹⁸ Joseph’s brothers saw him coming from far away. They decided to make a plan to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to each other, “Here comes Joseph the dreamer. ²⁰ We should kill him now while we can. We could throw his body into one of the empty wells and tell our father that a wild animal killed him. Then we will show him that his dreams are useless.”

²¹ But Reuben wanted to save Joseph. He said, “Let’s not kill him. ²² We can put him into a well without hurting him.” Reuben planned to save Joseph and send him back to his father. ²³ When Joseph came to his brothers, they attacked him and tore off his long and beautiful coat. ²⁴ Then they threw him into an empty well that was dry.

²⁵ While Joseph was in the well, the brothers sat down to eat. They looked up and saw a group of traders^[a] traveling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were carrying many different spices and riches. ²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we get if we kill our brother and hide his death? ²⁷ We will profit more if we sell him to these traders. Then we will not be guilty of killing our own brother.” The other brothers agreed. ²⁸ When the Midianite traders came by, the brothers took Joseph out of the well and sold him to the traders for 20 pieces of silver. The traders took him to Egypt.

⁴ So Joseph said to his brothers again, “Come here to me. I beg you, come here.” When the brothers went to him, he said to them, “I am your brother Joseph. I am the one you sold as a slave to Egypt. ⁵ Now don’t be worried. Don’t be angry with yourselves for what you did. It was God’s plan for me to come here. I am here to save people’s lives. ⁶ This terrible famine has continued for two years now, and there will be five more years without planting or harvest. ⁷ So God sent me here ahead of you so that I can save your people in this country. ⁸ It was not your fault that I was sent here. It was God’s plan. God made me like a father to Pharaoh. I am the governor over all his house and over all Egypt.”

Israel Invited to Egypt

⁹ Joseph said, “Hurry up and go to my father. Tell him his son Joseph sent this message: ‘God made me the governor of Egypt. So come here to me quickly. Don’t wait. ¹⁰ You can live near me in the land of Goshen. You, your children, your grandchildren, and all of your animals are welcome here. ¹¹ I will take care of you during the next five years of hunger. So you and your family will not lose everything you own.’

¹² “Surely you can see that I really am Joseph. Even my brother Benjamin knows it is me, your brother, talking to you. ¹³ So tell my father about the honor I have received here in Egypt. Tell him about everything you have seen here. Now hurry, go bring my father back to me.” ¹⁴ Then Joseph hugged his brother Benjamin, and they both began crying. ¹⁵ Then Joseph cried as he kissed all his brothers. After this, the brothers began talking with him.