37:1  Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan.

37:2  These we identify as the records of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years of age, pastured the flock with his brothers while he lived as a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

37:3  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he valued him as the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic.

37:4  His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.

37:5  Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

37:6  He said to them, "Please listen to this dream which I have had;

37:7  for behold, we bound sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf."

37:8  Then his brothers said to him, "Do you actually intend to reign over us? Or do you think you will really rule over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

37:9  Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, "Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me."

37:10  He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What do you consider the significance of the dream you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?"

37:11  His brothers became jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

37:12  Then his brothers went to pasture their father's flock in Shechem.

37:13  Israel said to Joseph, "Do not your brothers pasture the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." And he said to him, "I will go."

37:14  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 Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

37:15  A man found him, and behold, he wandered in the field; and the man asked him, "What do you look for?"

37:16  He said, "I look for my brothers; please tell me where they pasture the flock."

37:17  Then the man said, "They have moved from here; for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

37:18  When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death.

37:19  They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer!

37:20  "Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, 'A wild beast devoured him.' Then let us see what will become of his dreams!"

37:21  But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, "Let us not take his life."

37:22  Reuben further said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that lies in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him"--that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father.

37:23  So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that he wore;

37:24  and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit appeared empty, without any water in it.

37:25  Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites had come from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt.

37:26  Judah said to his brothers, "What profit do we have to kill our brother and cover up his blood?

37:27  "Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for we acknowledge him as our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers listened to him.

37:28  Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.

37:29  Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, he could not find Joseph in the pit; so he tore his garments.

37:30  He returned to his brothers and said, "The boy I cannot find there; as for me, where will I go?"

37:31  So they took Joseph's tunic, and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood;

37:32  and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, "We found this; please examine it to see whether we have found your son's tunic or not."

37:33  Then he examined it and said, "It belongs to my son. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely become torn to pieces!"

37:34  So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.

37:35  Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused comfort. And he said, "Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son." So his father wept for him.

37:36  Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh's officer, the captain of the bodyguard.