Daily Bread

Joseph’s Dreams

37 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed,^(A) the land of Canaan.^(B)

² This is the account^(C) of Jacob’s family line.

Joseph,^(D) a young man of seventeen,^(E) was tending the flocks^(F) with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah^(G) and the sons of Zilpah,^(H) his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report^(I) about them.

³ Now Israel^(J) loved Joseph more than any of his other sons,^(K) because he had been born to him in his old age;^(L) and he made an ornate^[a] robe^(M) for him.^{(N) 4} When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him^(O) and could not speak a kind word to him.

⁵ Joseph had a dream,^(P) and when he told it to his brothers,^(Q) they hated him all the more.^{(R) 6} He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ⁷ We were binding sheaves^(S) of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”^(T)

⁸ His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?”^(U) And they hated him all the more^(V) because of his dream and what he had said.

⁹ Then he had another dream,^(W) and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars^(X) were bowing down to me.”^(Y)

¹⁰ When he told his father as well as his brothers,^(Z) his father rebuked^(AA) him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”^{(AB) 11} His brothers were jealous of him,^(AC) but his father kept the matter in mind.^(AD)

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem,^{(AE) 13} and Israel^(AF) said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem.^(AG) Come, I am going to send you to them.”

“Very well,” he replied.

¹⁴ So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers^(AH) and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.^(AI)

When Joseph arrived at Shechem, ¹⁵ a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶ He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”

¹⁷ “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.^(AJ)’”

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. ¹⁸ But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.^(AK)

¹⁹ “Here comes that dreamer!^(AL)” they said to each other. ²⁰ “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns^(AM) and say that a ferocious animal^(AN) devoured him.^(AO) Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”^(AP)

²¹ When Reuben^(AQ) heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said.^{(AR) 22} “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern^(AS) here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.^(AT)

²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe^(AU) he was wearing— ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the cistern.^(AV) The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites^(AW) coming from Gilead.^(AX) Their camels were loaded with spices, balm^(AY) and myrrh,^(AZ) and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.^(BA)

²⁶ Judah^(BB) said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?^{(BC) 27} Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother,^(BD) our own flesh and blood.^(BE)” His brothers agreed.

²⁸ So when the Midianite^(BF) merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern^(BG) and sold^(BH) him for twenty shekels^[b] of silver^(BI) to the Ishmaelites,^(BJ) who took him to Egypt.^(BK)

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.^{(BL) 30} He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?”^(BM)

³¹ Then they got Joseph’s robe,^(BN) slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.^{(BO) 32} They took the ornate robe^(BP) back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”

³³ He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal^(BQ) has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”^(BR)

³⁴ Then Jacob tore his clothes,^(BS) put on sackcloth^(BT) and mourned for his son many days.^{(BU) 35} All his sons and daughters came to comfort him,^(BV) but he refused to be comforted.^(BW) “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son^(BX) in the grave.^(BY)” So his father wept for him.

³⁶ Meanwhile, the Midianites^[c](BZ) sold Joseph^(CA) in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.^(CB)