Genesis 37:12-36
New American Standard Bible
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 (A)Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “[a]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 (B)Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15 A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “[b]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 (C)Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
The Plot against Joseph
18 [c]When they saw him from a distance, and before he came closer to them, they (D)plotted against him to put him to death. 19 They said to one another, “[d]Here comes this dreamer! 20 Now then, come and let’s kill him, and throw him into one of the pits; and (E)we will say, ‘A vicious animal devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams!” 21 But (F)Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands [e]by saying, “Let’s not [f]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 [g]reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the [h]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 [i]a meal. But as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of (G)Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying (H)labdanum resin, (I)balsam, and [j]myrrh, [k]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 (J)cover up his blood? 27 (K)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 (L)Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him out and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and (M)sold [l]him to the Ishmaelites for [m]twenty shekels of silver. So (N)they brought Joseph into Egypt.
29 Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he (O)tore his garments. 30 He returned to his brothers and said, “(P)The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?” 31 So (Q)they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood; 32 and they sent the [n]multicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please [o]examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” 33 Then he [p]examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. (R)A vicious animal has devoured him; (S)Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” 34 So Jacob (T)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 (U)go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile, the [q]Midianites (V)sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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
Genesis 37:12-36
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Joseph Is Sold by His Brothers
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.
He came to Shechem,(A) 15 and a man found him wandering in the fields; 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.” 17 The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.(B) 18 They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them they conspired to kill him.(C) 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.”(D) 22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the ornamented robe[a] that he wore, 24 and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat, and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.(E) 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?(F) 27 Come, 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 agreed.(G) 28 When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.(H)
29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes.(I) 30 He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where can I turn?”(J) 31 Then they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood.(K) 32 They had the ornamented robe[b] taken to their father, and they said, “This we have found; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”(L) 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.(M) 35 All his sons and all his daughters sought to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father bewailed him.(N) 36 Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.(O)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.