Genesis 37 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Joseph Dreams of Greatness

Joseph’s Dreams

Gen 37:1Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.

Gen 37:2This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.

Gen 37:3

Gen 37:3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.

Gen 37:4

Gen 37:4But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

Gen 37:5

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

Gen 37:6

Gen 37:6So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:

Gen 37:7

Gen 37:7“There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

Gen 37:8

Gen 37:8And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

Gen 37:9

Gen 37:9Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

Gen 37:10

Gen 37:10So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”

Gen 37:11

Gen 37:11And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

Gen 37:12

Gen 37:12Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.

Gen 37:13

Gen 37:13And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” So he said to him, “Here I am.”

Gen 37:14

Gen 37:14Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

Gen 37:15

Gen 37:15Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

Gen 37:16

Gen 37:16So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

Gen 37:17

Gen 37:17And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

Gen 37:18

Gen 37:18Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.

Gen 37:19

Gen 37:19Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming!

Gen 37:20

Gen 37:20“Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

Gen 37:21

Gen 37:21But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.”

Gen 37:22

Gen 37:22And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

Gen 37:23

Gen 37:23So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.

Gen 37:24

Gen 37:24Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

Gen 37:25

Gen 37:25And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt.

Gen 37:26

Gen 37:26So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

Gen 37:27

Gen 37:27“Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened.

Gen 37:28

Gen 37:28Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

Gen 37:29

Gen 37:29Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.

Gen 37:30

Gen 37:30And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?”

Gen 37:31

Gen 37:31So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood.

Gen 37:32

Gen 37:32Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

Gen 37:33

Gen 37:33And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.”

Gen 37:34

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

Gen 37:35

Gen 37:35And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

Gen 37:36

Gen 37:36Now the Midianites[fn] had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(37:36)

Masoretic Text reads Medanites.

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