- 1
- And Jacob dwelt in the land where his father sojourned — in the land of Canaan.
- 2
- These are the generations of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, fed the flock with his brethren; and he was doing service with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought to his father an evil report of them.
- 3
- And Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was son of his old age;
and he made him a vest of many colours.
- 4
- And his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, and they hated him, and could not greet him with friendliness.
- 5
- And Joseph dreamed a dream, and told [it] to his brethren, and they hated him yet the more.
- 6
- And he said to them, Hear, I pray you, this dream, which I have dreamt:
- 7
- Behold, we were binding sheaves in the fields, and lo, my sheaf rose up, and remained standing;
and behold, your sheaves came round about and bowed down to my sheaf.
- 8
- And his brethren said to him, Wilt thou indeed be a king over us?
wilt thou indeed rule over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words.
- 9
- And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamt another dream, and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.
- 10
- And he told [it] to his father and to his brethren.
And his father rebuked him, and said to him, What is this dream which thou hast dreamt? Shall we indeed come, I and thy mother and thy brethren, to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
- 11
- And his brethren envied him;
but his father kept the saying.
- 12
- And his brethren went to feed their father's flock at Shechem.
- 13
- And Israel said to Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed [the flock] at Shechem?
Come, that I may send thee to them. And he said to him, Here am I.
- 14
- And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see after the welfare of thy brethren, and after the welfare of the flock;
and bring me word again. And he sent him out of the vale of Hebron; and he came towards Shechem.
- 15
- And a man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the country;
and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?
- 16
- And he said, I am seeking my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed [their flocks].
- 17
- And the man said, They have removed from this;
for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them at Dothan.
- 18
- And when they saw him from afar, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to put him to death.
- 19
- And they said one to another, Behold, there comes that dreamer!
- 20
- And now come and let us kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, An evil beast has devoured him;
and we will see what becomes of his dreams.
- 21
- And Reuben heard [it], and delivered him out of their hand, and said, Let us not take his life.
- 22
- And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood: cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness;
but lay no hand upon him — in order that he might deliver him out of their hand, to bring him to his father again.
- 23
- And it came to pass when Joseph came to his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his vest, the vest of many colours, which he had on;
- 24
- and they took him and cast him into the pit;
now the pit was empty — there was no water in it.
- 25
- And they sat down to eat bread;
and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead; and their camels bore tragacanth, and balsam, and ladanum — going to carry [it] down to Egypt.
- 26
- And Judah said to his brethren, What profit is it that we kill our brother and secrete his blood?
- 27
- Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites;
but let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brethren hearkened [to him].
- 28
- And Midianitish men, merchants, passed by;
and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silver-pieces; and they brought Joseph to Egypt.
- 29
- And Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph [was] not in the pit;
and he rent his garments,
- 30
- and returned to his brethren, and said, The child is not;
and I, where shall I go?
- 31
- And they took Joseph's vest, and slaughtered a buck of the goats, and dipped the vest in the blood;
- 32
- and they sent the vest of many colours and had it carried to their father, and said, This have we found: discern now whether it is thy son's vest or not.
- 33
- And he discerned it, and said, [It is] my son's vest!
an evil beast has devoured him: Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces!
- 34
- And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
- 35
- And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, and said, For I will go down to my son into Sheol mourning.
Thus his father wept for him.
- 36
- And the Midianites sold him into Egypt, to Potiphar, a chamberlain of Pharaoh, the captain of the life-guard.
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