Genesis 37
37
Joseph’s Dreams
1Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had lived as a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2These are the records of the generations of Jacob.
Joseph, when he was seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers, while he was still 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. 3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a #37:3 Or full-length tunicmulticolored tunic. 4And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him #37:4 Lit in peaceon friendly terms.
5Then Joseph #37:5 Lit dreamedhad a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have #37:6 Lit dreamedhad; 7for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf stood up and also remained standing; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
9Then he #37:9 Lit dreamedhad yet another dream, and informed his brothers of it, and said, “Behold, I have #37:9 Lit dreamedhad yet another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10He also told it to his father as well as to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have #37:10 Lit dreamedhad? Am I and your mother and your brothers actually going to come to bow down to the ground before you?” 11And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
12Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem. 13And Israel said to Joseph, “Are your brothers not pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “#37:13 Lit Behold meI will go.” 14Then 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.
15A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “#37:15 Lit saying, “What...?”What are you looking for?” 16He said, “I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.” 17Then the man said, “They have moved from here; for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
The Plot against Joseph
18 # 37:18 Or And When they saw him from a distance, and before he came closer to them, they plotted against him to put him to death. 19They said to one another, “#37:19 Lit Behold, this master of dreams comesHere comes this dreamer! 20Now then, come and let’s kill him, and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A vicious animal devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams!” 21But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands #37:21 Lit and saidby saying, “Let’s not #37:21 Lit strike his soultake his life.” 22Then 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. 23So it came about, when Joseph #37:23 Lit came toreached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the #37:23 Or full-length tunicmulticolored tunic that was on him; 24and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.
25Then they sat down to eat #37:25 Lit breada meal. But as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying labdanum resin, balsam, and #37:25 Or resinous barkmyrrh, #37:25 Lit goingon their way to bring them down to Egypt. 26And Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27Come, 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. 28Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him out and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold #37:28 Lit Josephhim to the Ishmaelites for #37:28 About 10 oz. or 280 gmtwenty shekels of silver. So they brought Joseph into Egypt.
29Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments. 30He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?” 31So they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood; 32and they sent the #37:32 Or full-length tunicmulticolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please #37:32 Or recognizeexamine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” 33Then he #37:33 Or recognizedexamined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A vicious animal has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” 34So Jacob tore his clothes, and put on a sackcloth undergarment over his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35Then all his sons and all his daughters got up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. 36Meanwhile, the #37:36 Lit MedanitesMidianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.
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Genesis 37: NASB2020
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Genesis 37
37
Joseph’s Dreams
1Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. # Gn 26:3 2These are the family records of Jacob.
At 17 years of age, Joseph tended sheep with his brothers. The young man was working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives, # Gn 30:1-13 and he brought a bad report about them to their father. # 1Sm 2:22-24
3Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons because Joseph was a son born to him in his old age, # Gn 44:20 and he made a robe of many colors # Or robe with long sleeves for him. 4When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not bring themselves to speak peaceably to him.
5Then Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. 6He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the field. Suddenly my sheaf stood up, and your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” # Gn 42:6,9; 43:26; 44:14
8“Are you really going to reign over us? ” his brothers asked him. “Are you really going to rule us? ” So they hated him even more because of his dream and what he had said.
9Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and 11 stars were bowing down to me.”
10He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him. “What kind of dream is this that you have had? ” he said. “Are your mother and brothers and I going to come and bow down to the ground before you? ” 11His brothers were jealous of him, # Ac 7:9 but his father kept the matter in mind. # Dn 7:28; Lk 2:19,51
Joseph Sold into Slavery
12His brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. 13Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers, you know, are pasturing the flocks at Shechem. Get ready. I’m sending you to them.”
“I’m ready,” Joseph replied.
14Then Israel said to him, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, # Gn 13:18; 35:27 and he went to Shechem.
15A man found him there, wandering in the field, and asked him, “What are you looking for? ”
16“I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph said. “Can you tell me where they are pasturing their flocks? ”
17“They’ve moved on from here,” the man said. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ” # 2Kg 6:13 So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
18They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him. # Ps 31:13; 37:12,32; Mk 14:1; Jn 11:53; Ac 23:12 19They said to one another, “Here comes that dreamer! # Lit comes the lord of the dreams 20Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams! ”
21When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from them. # Lit their hands He said, “Let’s not take his life.” # Gn 42:22 22Reuben also said to them, “Don’t shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him” — intending to rescue him from their hands and return him to his father.
23When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off his robe, the robe of many colors that he had on. 24Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25Then they sat down to eat a meal. # Gn 42:21 They looked up, and there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. # Gn 39:1 Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt. # Gn 43:11; Jr 8:22; 46:11
26Then Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh,” and they agreed. 28When Midianite # Dt 25:5,7; Jdg 8:22-24; Mt 22:24; Mk 12:19; Lk 20:28 traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt. # Gn 45:4-5; Ps 105:17; Ac 7:9
29When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. # Gn 44:13; Nm 14:6; 2Sm 1:11; 3:31; Jb 1:20 30He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do? ” # Lit And I, where am I going 31So they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a young goat, and dipped the robe in its blood. 32They sent the robe of many colors to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it. Is it your son’s robe or not? ”
33His father recognized it. “It is my son’s robe,” he said. “A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has been torn to pieces! ” # Gn 44:28 34Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” And his father wept for him.
36Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard.
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