Genesis 37

And Jacob dwelt in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan.

And these are the generations of Jacob. Joseph was seventeen years old, shepherding the sheep with his brothers, being young, with the sons of Balla and with the sons of Zelpha, the wives of his father. And Joseph brought an evil report of them to Israel their father.

And Jacob loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was to him a son of his old age; and he made him a many-coloured tunic.

And his brothers, seeing that their father loved him more than all his sons, hated him, and could not speak anything peaceable to him.

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and reported it to his brothers.

And he said to them: Hear this dream which I dreamed.

I supposed that we were binding sheaves in the middle of the plain, and my sheaf rose up and was set upright; and your sheaves, having turned about, bowed down to my sheaf.

And his brothers said to him, Surely you will not reign as king over us, or rule as lord over us? And they added still more to hate him because of his dreams and because of his words.

And he saw another dream, and recounted it to his father and to his brothers, and said, Behold, I dreamed another dream: as it were the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.

And his father rebuked him and said to him, What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, to bow down to you upon the ground?

And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the saying.

And his brothers went to pasture their father's sheep at Sychem.

And Israel said to Joseph, Do not your brothers shepherd in Sychem? Come, let me send you to them. And he said to him, Behold, here am I.

And Israel said to him, Go and see whether your brothers and the sheep are well, and bring word back to me. And he sent him from the valley of Chebron, and he came to Sychem.

And a man found him wandering in the plain; and the man asked him, saying, What are you seeking?

And he said, I am seeking my brothers; tell me where they are pasturing.

And the man said to him, They have departed from here; for I heard them saying, Let us go to Dothaim. And Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothaim.

And they saw him from afar, before he drew near to them, and they wickedly plotted to kill him.

And each said to his brother, Behold, that dreamer comes.

Now then, come, let us kill him and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, An evil wild beast devoured him; and we shall see what his dreams will be.

But Rouben, hearing this, rescued him out of their hands and said, We shall not strike him so as to take his life.

And Rouben said to them, Do not shed blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him, so that he might rescue him out of their hands and restore him to his father.

And it happened, when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off from Joseph the many-coloured tunic that was about him,

and taking him, they cast him into the pit; and the pit was empty, it had no water.

And they sat down to eat bread; and lifting up their eyes they looked, and behold, Ismaelite travellers were coming from Galaad, and their camels were laden with incense and resin and stacte, and they were going to bring them down to Egypt.

And Judas said to his brothers, What profit is it if we kill our brother and hide his blood?

Come, let us sell him to these Ismaelites, and let our hands not be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brothers listened.

And the men, the Madianites, the merchants, were passing by; and they drew out and brought up Joseph from the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ismaelites for twenty gold pieces; and they brought Joseph down to Egypt.

And Rouben returned to the pit, and he does not see Joseph in the pit; and he tore his garments,

and he returned to his brothers and said, The boy is not there; and I, where shall I go now?

And taking Joseph's tunic, they slaughtered a kid of the goats and stained the tunic with the blood.

And they sent the many-coloured tunic and brought it to their father, and said, This we found; recognize whether it is your son's tunic or not.

And he recognized it and said, It is my son's tunic; an evil wild beast has devoured him; a wild beast has seized Joseph.

And Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

And all his sons and the daughters gathered together and came to comfort him, and he would not be comforted, saying, I will go down to my son mourning, to Hades. And his father wept for him.

And the Madianites sold Joseph into Egypt, to Petephres the eunuch of Pharao, the chief cook.