Bible (King James)/Genesis/Chapter 37

And Jacob dwelt in the land †† Heb. of his father's ſojournings. ^[1] wherein his father was a ſtranger, in the land of Canaan.

21729. Theſe are the generations of Jacob. Joſeph, being ſeventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the ſons of Bilhah, and with the ſons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joſeph brought unto his father ^[2] their evil report.

3 Now Iſrael loved Joſeph more than all his children, becauſe he was ^[3] the ſon of his old age: and he made him a coat of many ‖‖ Or, pieces.
Judg. 5. 30.
2 Sam. 13. 18. colours.

4 And when his brethren ſaw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they ^[4] hated him, and could not ſpeak peaceably unto him.

5 ¶ And Joſeph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

6 And he ſaid unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:

7 For, ^[5] behold, we were binding ſheaves in the field, and, lo, my ſheaf aroſe, and alſo ſtood upright; and, behold, your ſheaves ſtood round about, and made obeiſance to my ſheaf.

8 And his brethren ſaid to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or ſhalt thou indeed have dominion 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 his brethren, and ſaid, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, ^[6] the ſun and the moon and the eleven ſtars made obeiſance to me.

10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and ſaid unto him, What is this dream that thou haſt dreamed? Shall I and ^[7] thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourſelves to thee to the earth?

11 And ^[8] his brethren envied him; but his father ^[9] obſerved the ſaying.

12cir. 1729. ¶ And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.

13 And Iſrael ſaid unto Joſeph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will ſend thee unto them. And he ſaid to him, Here am I.

14 And he ſaid to him, Go, I pray thee, †† Heb. ſee the peace of thy brethren, &c.
ch. 29. 6. ſee whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he ſent him out of the vale of ^[10] Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man aſked him, ſaying, What ſeekeſt thou?

16 And he ſaid, I ſeek my brethren: ^[11] tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.

17 And the man ſaid, They are departed hence; for I heard them ſay, Let us go to Dothan. And Joſeph went after his brethren, and found them in ^[12] Dothan.

18 ¶ And when they ſaw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, ^[13] they conſpired againſt him to ſlay him.

19 And they ſaid one to another, Behold, this †† Heb. maſter of dreams. dreamer cometh.

20 ^[14] Come now therefore, and let us ſlay ​him, and caſt him into ſome pit, and we will ſay, Some evil beaſt hath devoured him: and we ſhall ſee what will become of his dreams.

21 And ^[15] Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and ſaid, Let us not kill him.

22 And Reuben ſaid unto them, Shed no blood, but caſt him into this pit that is in the wilderneſs and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands to deliver him to his father again.

23 ¶ And it came to paſs when Joſeph was come unto his brethren, that they ſtript Joſeph out of his coat, his coat of many ‖‖ Or, pieces. colours that was on him;

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

25 ^[16] And they ſat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of ^[17] Iſhmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing ſpicery and ^[18] balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

26 And Judah ſaid unto his brethren, What profit is it if we ſlay our brother, and ^[19] conceal his blood?

27 Come, and let us ſell him to the Iſhmeelites, and ^[20] let not our hand be upon him; for he is ^[21] our brother and ^[22] our fleſh. And his brethren †† Heb. hearkened. were content.

28 Then there paſſed by ^[23] Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joſeph out of the pit, ^[24] and ſold Joſeph to the Iſhmeelites for ^[25] twenty pieces of ſilver: and they brought Joſeph into Egypt.

29 ¶ And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joſeph was not in the pit; and he ^[26] rent his clothes.

30 And he returned unto his brethren, and ſaid, The child ^[27] is not; and I, whither ſhall I go?

31 ¶ And they took ^[28] Joſeph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats and dipped the coat in the blood;

32 And they ſent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and ſaid, This have we found: know now whether it be thy ſon's coat or no.

33 And he knew it, and ſaid, It is my ſon's coat; an ^[29] evil beaſt hath devoured him; Joſeph is without doubt rent in pieces.

34 And Jacob ^[30] rent his clothes and put ſackcloth upon his loins and mourned for his ſon many days.

35 And all his ſons and all his daughters ^[31] roſe up to comfort him; but he refuſed to be comforted; and he ſaid, ^[32] For I will go down into the grave unto my ſon mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

36 ¶ And ^[33] the Midianites ſold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an †† Heb. eunuch: But the word doth ſignify not only eunuchs, but alſo chamberlains, courtiers, and officers. Eſth. 1. 10. officer of Pharaoh's and †† Heb. chief of the ſlaughterman, or executioners. ‖‖ Or, chief marſhal. captain of the guard.