Genesis 37
Sold by His Brothers for Silver
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Joseph the Dreamer
37:1And Jacob dwelt in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan.
37:2These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, seventeen years old, was tending the sheep with his brothers. He was a young man with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought a bad report to Israel their father.
37:3Jacob loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a multicolored tunic.
37:4And when his brothers saw that his father loved him more than all his sons, they hated him and could not speak anything peaceable to him.
37:5Joseph dreamed a dream and told it to his brothers.
37:6And he said to them, “Hear this dream which I have dreamed:”
37:7“I dreamed that we were binding sheaves in the field. My sheaf rose and stood upright, and your sheaves turned around and bowed down to my sheaf.”
37:8And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us, or shall you indeed lord over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and because of his words.
37:9He saw another dream and told it to his father and his brothers, saying, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
37:10His father rebuked him, saying, “What is this dream you have dreamed? Shall I, your mother, and your brothers indeed come and bow down to you to the ground?”
37:11His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
Joseph the Hated
37:12Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s sheep at Shechem.
37:13And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the sheep at Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he replied, “Here I am.”
37:14Israel said to him, “Go and see whether your brothers and the sheep are well, and bring me word.” He sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
37:15And a man found him wandering in the plain, and the man asked him, saying, “What are you looking for?”
37:16And he said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are pasturing.”
37:17And the man said, “They have moved on from here, for I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
37:18They saw him from far away before he approached them, and they plotted wickedly to kill him.
37:19And they said to one another, “Behold, that dreamer is coming!”
37:20“Come now therefore, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits, and we shall say, ‘A fierce beast has devoured him.’ Then we shall see what will become of his dreams.”
37:21Reuben heard this and rescued him from their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.”
37:22Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him.” He intended to rescue him from their hands and return him to his father.
37:23When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of the multicolored tunic he was wearing.
37:24They took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty; it had no water.
Joseph the Slave
37:25They sat down to eat bread. Looking up, they saw Ishmaelite travelers coming from Gilead, their camels laden with aromatics, resin, and stacte, on their way to take them down to Egypt.
37:26And Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and hide his blood?”
37:27“Come, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, and let not our hands be upon him, because he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened to him.
37:28Midianite merchants passed by. They drew Joseph up from the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of gold, and brought Joseph to Egypt.
37:29Now Reuben returned to the pit, and when he did not see Joseph in the pit, he tore his garments.
37:30And he returned to his brothers and said, “The child is gone! And I, where shall I go now?”
37:31They took Joseph’s tunic, slaughtered a young goat, and stained the tunic with blood.
37:32They sent the multicolored tunic and brought it to their father, saying, “We found this. Recognize whether it is your son’s tunic or not.”
37:33He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic! A wild animal has devoured him; a wild animal has snatched Joseph away.”
37:34Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned his son for many days.
37:35All his sons and daughters gathered and came to comfort him, but he would not be comforted, saying, “I will go down mourning to my son in Hades.” His father wept for him.
37:36The Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s eunuch, the chief cook.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.