Genesis 37:12-36
Lexham English Bible
Joseph Sold Into Slavery by his Brothers
12 Now his brothers went to pasture the flock of their father in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing in Shechem? Come, let me send you to them.” And he said, “Here I am.” 14 Then he said to him, “Go now, see if it goes well for your brothers and for the flock,[a] then return word to me.” And he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he arrived at Shechem. 15 And a man found him, and behold, he[b] was wandering about in a field. And the man asked him, “What do you seek?” 16 And he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are pasturing.” 17 And the man said, “They have moved on from here, for I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” Then Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. 18 And they saw him from a distance. And before he drew near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 And each said to his brothers, “Look, this master of dreams is coming. 20 Now then, come, let us kill him and throw him in one of the pits. Then we will say a wild animal devoured him. Then we will see what his dreams become.” 21 And Reuben heard it and delivered him from their hand and said, “We must not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “You must not shed blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the desert, but do not lay a hand on him”—so that he might rescue him from their hand to return him to his father. 23 And it happened that as Joseph came to his brothers they stripped Joseph of his robe, the robe with long sleeves,[c] that was upon him. 24 And they took him and threw him into the pit (the pit was empty; there was no water in it). 25 Then they sat down to eat some food. And they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead. And their camels were carrying aromatic gum and balm and spices on the way[d] to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be against him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. 28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they[e] drew Joseph up and brought him up from the pit, and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph to Egypt. 29 Then Reuben returned to the pit and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit. And he tore his clothes. 30 And he returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone![f] Now I, what can I do?”[g] 31 Then they took the robe of Joseph and slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 Then they sent the robe with long sleeves[h] and they brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please examine it. Is it the robe of your son or not?” 33 And he recognized it and said, “The robe of my son! A wild animal has devoured him! Joseph is surely torn to pieces!” 34 And Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and daughters tried to console him, but he refused to be consoled. And he said, “No, I shall go down to my son, to Sheol, mourning.” And his father wept for him. 36 And the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, a court official of Pharaoh, a commander of the imperial guard.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 37:14 Literally “see the peace of your brothers and the peace of the flock”
- Genesis 37:15 That is, Joseph
- Genesis 37:23 Or “of many colors”
- Genesis 37:25 Literally “going to bring down”
- Genesis 37:28 That is, the brothers
- Genesis 37:30 Literally “is not”
- Genesis 37:30 Literally “where am I going?”
- Genesis 37:32 Or “of many colors”
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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