Joseph and His Brothers

1 And Jacob lived in the land of the residence of his father, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the history of Jacob. Joseph was seventeen years old; he kept the flock with his brothers; and he had been brought up with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father; and Joseph brought a bad report about them to his father. 3 But Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he had a wise son in him,⁠a and he made him a multicolored robe. 4 And his brothers saw that their father loved him better than all his brothers, and they hated him, and were not willing to speak with him peacefully.

Joseph's Dreams

5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and told it to his brothers, and they hated him even more. 6 And he said to them, Hear now this dream which I have dreamed: 7 Look, we were binding sheaves in the middle of the field, and look! my sheaf arose and became upright, and, look, your sheaves stood around and bowed to my sheaf. 8 And his brothers said to him, Do you imagine that you will reign over us? Or do you think you will govern us as a shultan? And they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and described it to his brothers, saying, Look, I have dreamed a dream again; and look, the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars bowed to me. 10 And he described it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, What dream is this that you have dreamed? Am I and your mother and your brothers to come and bow to you on the ground? 11 And his brothers envied him; but his father kept the matter in mind.

Joseph Goes to Find His Brothers

12 And his brothers went to tend the flock of their father in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, Do not your brothers tend the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them. And he said, Here I am. 14 And he said to him, Go now, and see whether your brothers and the flock are well, and bring me word. And he sent him from the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a man found him, and, look, he wandered in the field. And the man inquired of him, saying, Whom are you looking for? 16 And he said, I look for my brothers: please tell me where they are tending the flock. 17 And the man said, They have gone from here; for I heard them say, We will go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.

The Plot against Joseph

18 And they saw him from afar; and before he came near, they plotted against him to kill him. 19 And they said, to one another, Look, this master of dreams is coming. 20 And now, come, we will kill him, and throw him into one of the pits; and will say a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will be the end of his dreams. 21 And Reuben heard, and rescued him out of their hands, and said. Let us not kill him. 22 And Reuben said, Do not shed blood; throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but do not raise a hand against him, so that he might rescue him from their hands to bring him back to his father. 23 And it was when Joseph had come to his brothers that they took off his robe, the multicolored robe which was on him, 24 and they took him and threw him into the pit; but the pit was empty, no water was in it. 25 And they sat down to eat bread. And they looked up and looked, and, look, a band of Arabaee were coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying spices, and resin, and myrrh, to go down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said to his brothers, What gain should we have by killing our brother and concealing his blood? 27 Come, and we will sell him to the Arabaee, and we shall not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers listened to him. 28 And there passed by Midianite men, merchants, and they drew and lifted up Joseph from the pit, and sold Joseph to the Arabaee for twenty pieces of silver; and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

Jacob Mourns Joseph

29 And Reuben returned to the pit, and, look, Joseph was not in the pit. And he tore his clothes, 30 and returned to his brothers, and said, The boy is gone; where can I go? 31 But they took Joseph's robe, and killed a young goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the multicolored robe, and they brought to their father, and said, We found this; please identify whether it is your son's robe, or not. 33 And he recognized it, and said, It is my son's robe; a wild animal has devoured him: Joseph has been torn to pieces! 34 And Jacob tore his clothes, and wrapped sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons, and all his house, arose to comfort him; but he refused to take comfort, and said, For I will go down to my son, mourning into Sheol. And his father wept for him. 36 And the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, a prince of Pharaoh, chief of the executioners.