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 Living Translation
12 Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. 13 When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them.”
“I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied.
14 “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along,” Jacob said. “Then come back and bring me a report.” So Jacob sent him on his way, and Joseph traveled to Shechem from their home in the valley of Hebron.
15 When he arrived there, a man from the area noticed him wandering around the countryside. “What are you looking for?” he asked.
16 “I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Do you know where they are pasturing their sheep?”
17 “Yes,” the man told him. “They have moved on from here, but I heard them say, ‘Let’s go on to Dothan.’” So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there.
Joseph Sold into Slavery
18 When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. 19 “Here comes the dreamer!” they said. 20 “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”
21 But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. 22 “Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.” Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father.
23 So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing. 24 Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it. 25 Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime.[a] 27 Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and blood!” And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces[b] of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.
29 Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the cistern. When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in grief. 30 Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, “The boy is gone! What will I do now?”
31 Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. 32 They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?”
33 Their father recognized it immediately. “Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Joseph has clearly been torn to pieces!” 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes and dressed himself in burlap. He mourned deeply for his son for a long time. 35 His family all tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “I will go to my grave[c] mourning for my son,” he would say, and then he would weep.
36 Meanwhile, the Midianite traders[d] arrived in Egypt, where they sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was captain of the palace guard.
Read full chapterNew American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
