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Genesis 37 :: New English Translation (NET)

Gen 37:1

Gen 37:1But Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, in the land of Canaan.

Gen 37:2

Gen 37:2This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, was taking care of the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

Gen 37:3

Gen 37:3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was a son born to him late in life, and he made a special tunic for him.

Gen 37:4

Gen 37:4When Joseph's brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated Joseph and were not able to speak to him kindly.

Gen 37:5

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

Gen 37:6

Gen 37:6He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had:

Gen 37:7

Gen 37:7There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the middle of the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose up and stood upright and your sheaves surrounded my sheaf and bowed down to it!"

Gen 37:8

Gen 37:8Then his brothers asked him, "Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?" They hated him even more because of his dream and because of what he said.

Gen 37:9

Gen 37:9Then he had another dream, and told it to his brothers. "Look," he said. "I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

Gen 37:10

Gen 37:10When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, "What is this dream that you had? Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?"

Gen 37:11

Gen 37:11His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what Joseph said.

Gen 37:12

Gen 37:12When his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near Shechem,

Gen 37:13

Gen 37:13Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I will send you to them." "I'm ready," Joseph replied.

Gen 37:14

Gen 37:14So Jacob said to him, "Go now and check on the welfare of your brothers and of the flocks, and bring me word." So Jacob sent him from the valley of Hebron.

Gen 37:15

Gen 37:15When Joseph reached Shechem, a man found him wandering in the field, so the man asked him, "What are you looking for?"

Gen 37:16

Gen 37:16He replied, "I'm looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are grazing their flocks."

Gen 37:17

Gen 37:17The man said, "They left this area, 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

Gen 37:18

Gen 37:18Now Joseph's brothers saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

Gen 37:19

Gen 37:19They said to one another, "Here comes this master of dreams!

Gen 37:20

Gen 37:20Come now, let's kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild animal ate him. Then we'll see how his dreams turn out!"

Gen 37:21

Gen 37:21When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph from their hands, saying, "Let's not take his life!"

Gen 37:22

Gen 37:22Reuben continued, "Don't shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don't lay a hand on him." (Reuben said this so he could rescue Joseph from them and take him back to his father.)

Gen 37:23

Gen 37:23When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the special tunic that he wore.

Gen 37:24

Gen 37:24Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.)

Gen 37:25

Gen 37:25When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt.

Gen 37:26

Gen 37:26Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

Gen 37:27

Gen 37:27Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let's not lay a hand on him, for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh." His brothers agreed.

Gen 37:28

Gen 37:28So when the Midianite merchants passed by, Joseph's brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites then took Joseph to Egypt.

Gen 37:29

Gen 37:29Later Reuben returned to the cistern to find that Joseph was not in it! He tore his clothes,

Gen 37:30

Gen 37:30returned to his brothers, and said, "The boy isn't there! And I, where can I go?"

Gen 37:31

Gen 37:31So they took Joseph's tunic, killed a young goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood.

Gen 37:32

Gen 37:32Then they brought the special tunic to their father and said, "We found this. Determine now whether it is your son's tunic or not."

Gen 37:33

Gen 37:33He recognized it and exclaimed, "It is my son's tunic! A wild animal has eaten him! Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!"

Gen 37:34

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

Gen 37:35

Gen 37:35All his sons and daughters stood by him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. "No," he said, "I will go to the grave mourning my son." So Joseph's father wept for him.

Gen 37:36

Gen 37:36Now in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.
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