Genesis 37
Young's Literal Translation
37 And Jacob dwelleth in the land of his father's sojournings -- in the land of Canaan.
2 These [are] births of Jacob: Joseph, a son of seventeen years, hath been enjoying himself with his brethren among the flock, (and he [is] a youth,) with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and Joseph bringeth in an account of their evil unto their father.
3 And Israel hath loved Joseph more than any of his sons, for he [is] a son of his old age, and hath made for him a long coat;
4 and his brethren see that their father hath loved him more than any of his brethren, and they hate him, and have not been able to speak [to] him peaceably.
5 And Joseph dreameth a dream, and declareth to his brethren, and they add still more to hate him.
6 And he saith unto them, `Hear ye, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
7 that, lo, we are binding bundles in the midst of the field, and lo, my bundle hath arisen, and hath also stood up, and lo, your bundles are round about, and bow themselves to my bundle.'
8 And his brethren say to him, `Dost thou certainly reign over us? dost thou certainly rule over us?' and they add still more to hate him, for his dreams, and for his words.
9 And he dreameth yet another dream, and recounteth it to his brethren, and saith, `Lo, I have dreamed a dream again, and lo, the sun and the moon, and eleven stars, are bowing themselves to me.'
10 And he recounteth unto his father, and unto his brethren; and his father pusheth against him, and saith to him, `What [is] this dream which thou hast dreamt? do we certainly come -- I, and thy mother, and thy brethren -- to bow ourselves to thee, to the earth?'
11 and his brethren are zealous against him, and his father hath watched the matter.
12 And his brethren go to feed the flock of their father in Shechem,
13 and Israel saith unto Joseph, `Are not thy brethren feeding in Shechem? come, and I send thee unto them;' and he saith to him, `Here [am] I;'
14 and he saith to him, `Go, I pray thee, see the peace of thy brethren, and the peace of the flock, and bring me back word;' and he sendeth him from the valley of Hebron, and he cometh to Shechem.
15 And a man findeth him, and lo, he is wandering in the field, and the man asketh him, saying, `What seekest thou?'
16 and he saith, `My brethren I am seeking, declare to me, I pray thee, where they are feeding?'
17 And the man saith, `They have journeyed from this, for I have heard some saying, Let us go to Dothan,' and Joseph goeth after his brethren, and findeth them in Dothan.
18 And they see him from afar, even before he draweth near unto them, and they conspire against him to put him to death.
19 And they say one unto another, `Lo, this man of the dreams cometh;
20 and now, come, and we slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and have said, An evil beast hath devoured him; and we see what his dreams are.'
21 And Reuben heareth, and delivereth him out of their hand, and saith, `Let us not smite the life;'
22 and Reuben saith unto them, `Shed no blood; cast him into this pit which [is] in the wilderness, and put not forth a hand upon him,' -- in order to deliver him out of their hand, to bring him back unto his father.
23 And it cometh to pass, when Joseph hath come unto his brethren, that they strip Joseph of his coat, the long coat which [is] upon him,
24 and take him and cast him into the pit, and the pit [is] empty, there is no water in it.
25 And they sit down to eat bread, and they lift up their eyes, and look, and lo, a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, and their camels bearing spices, and balm, and myrrh, going to take [them] down to Egypt.
26 And Judah saith unto his brethren, `What gain when we slay our brother, and have concealed his blood?
27 Come, and we sell him to the Ishmaelites, and our hands are not on him, for he [is] our brother -- our flesh;' and his brethren hearken.
28 And Midianite merchantmen pass by and they draw out and bring up Joseph out of the pit, and sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silverlings, and they bring Joseph into Egypt.
29 And Reuben returneth unto the pit, and lo, Joseph is not in the pit, and he rendeth his garments,
30 and he returneth unto his brethren, and saith, `The lad is not, and I -- whither am I going?'
31 And they take the coat of Joseph, and slaughter a kid of the goats, and dip the coat in the blood,
32 and send the long coat, and they bring [it] in unto their father, and say, `This have we found; discern, we pray thee, whether it [is] thy son's coat or not?'
33 And he discerneth it, and saith, `My son's coat! an evil beast hath devoured him; torn -- torn is Joseph!'
34 And Jacob rendeth his raiment, and putteth sackcloth on his loins, and becometh a mourner for his son many days,
35 and all his sons and all his daughters rise to comfort him, and he refuseth to comfort himself, and saith, `For -- I go down mourning unto my son, to Sheol,' and his father weepeth for him.
36 And the Medanites have sold him unto Egypt, to Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh, head of the executioners.
Genesis 37
New American Standard Bible
Joseph’s Dreams
37 Now Jacob lived in (A)the land where his father had lived as a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the records of the generations of Jacob.
Joseph, when he was (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 a (D)bad report about them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he was (E)the son of his old age; and he made him a [a](F)multicolored 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 [b]on friendly terms.
5 Then Joseph [c](H)had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have [d]had; 7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf stood up and also remained standing; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and (I)bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 Then his brothers said to him, “(J)Are you actually 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 yet another dream, and informed his brothers of it, and said, “Behold, I have [f]had yet another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 He also told it to his father as well as to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have [g]had? Am I and your mother and (K)your brothers actually going to come to bow down to the ground before you?” 11 And (L)his brothers were jealous of him, but his father (M)kept the matter in mind.
12 Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are your brothers not 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 A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “[i]What are you looking for?” 16 He said, “I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 Then the man said, “They have moved from here; for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to (P)Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
The Plot against Joseph
18 [j]When they saw him from a distance, and before he came closer to them, they (Q)plotted against him to put him to death. 19 They said to one another, “[k]Here comes this dreamer! 20 Now then, come and let’s kill him, and throw him into one of the pits; and (R)we will say, ‘A vicious animal devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams!” 21 But (S)Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands [l]by saying, “Let’s not [m]take his life.” 22 Then Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—so that later he might rescue him out of their hands, to return him to his father. 23 So it came about, when Joseph [n]reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the [o]multicolored tunic that was on him; 24 and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat [p]a meal. But as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of (T)Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying (U)labdanum resin, (V)balsam, and [q]myrrh, [r]on their way to bring them down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and (W)cover up his blood? 27 (X)Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then some (Y)Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him out and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and (Z)sold [s]him to the Ishmaelites for [t]twenty shekels of silver. So (AA)they brought Joseph into Egypt.
29 Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he (AB)tore his garments. 30 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 [u]multicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please [v]examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” 33 Then he [w]examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. (AE)A vicious animal has devoured him; (AF)Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” 34 So Jacob (AG)tore his clothes, and put on a sackcloth undergarment over his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 Then all his sons and all his daughters got up 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 [x]Midianites (AI)sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.
Footnotes
- Genesis 37:3 Or full-length tunic
- Genesis 37:4 Lit in peace
- 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 37:18 Or And
- Genesis 37:19 Lit Behold, this master of dreams comes
- Genesis 37:21 Lit and said
- Genesis 37:21 Lit strike his soul
- Genesis 37:23 Lit came to
- Genesis 37:23 Or full-length tunic
- Genesis 37:25 Lit bread
- Genesis 37:25 Or resinous bark
- Genesis 37:25 Lit going
- Genesis 37:28 Lit Joseph
- Genesis 37:28 About 10 oz. or 280 gm
- Genesis 37:32 Or full-length tunic
- Genesis 37:32 Or recognize
- Genesis 37:33 Or recognized
- Genesis 37:36 Lit Medanites
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
