Genesis 37:1-11

This is the story of the family of Jacob, who had settled in the land of Canaan, where his father Isaac had lived as an immigrant. Jacob’s son Joseph was seventeen, and he served his older half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, helping them watch over the flocks. One day Joseph went to his father with a bad report about their behavior. Now Israel’s love for Joseph surpassed that for his other sons because he was born to him in his old age. So Israel had made him a richly ornamented robe. When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than he loved them, they hated him and would not speak a kind word to him. One night Joseph had a dream, and when he shared it with his brothers, they hated him even more! “Listen to this dream I had,” he told them. “There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the field. Suddenly, my sheaf rose up and stood upright. Then your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to mine!” His brothers asked him, “Oh, so you think you’re going to be our king? Do you actually think you’re destined to rule over us?” So, the dream that he told them about made them hate him even more. Then another night he had a dream, and he shared it with his brothers, saying, “Listen, I had another dream. This time, the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” When his father and brothers heard it, his father scolded him, “What kind of dream is that? Do you really think that I, and your mother, and your brothers are going to come and bow to the ground before you?” So his brothers grew more jealous of him, but his father kept pondering Joseph’s dream.