1 Jacob continued to live in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived.
2 This is the story of Jacob and his descendants. Joseph was a seventeen-year-old young man. He took care of the flocks with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his fathers wives. Joseph told his father about the bad things his brothers were doing.
3 Jacob Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because Joseph had been born in Israels old age. So he made Joseph a special multicolored robe with long sleeves.
4 Josephs brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them. They hated Joseph and could not speak to him in a friendly way.
5 One time Joseph had a dream. He told his brothers about it and they hated him even more.
6 He said: »Please listen to the dream I had.
7 »We were all in the field tying up sheaves of wheat. My sheaf got up and stood up straight. Yours formed a circle around mine and bowed down to it.«
8 »Do you think you are going to be a king and rule over us?« his brothers asked. So they hated him even more because of his dreams and because of what he said about them.
9 Joseph had another dream and told his brothers: »I had another dream, in which I saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to me.«
10 He also told the dream to his father. His father scolded him. »What kind of a dream is that? Do you think that your mother, your brothers, and I are going to come and bow down to you?«
11 Josephs brothers were jealous of him. His father kept thinking about the whole matter.
12 His brothers went to Shechem to take care of their fathers flock.
13 His father Jacob said to him: »I want you to go to your brothers. They are with the sheep near Shechem.« »Yes, I will go,« Joseph answered.
14 His father said: »Go and find out how your brothers and the sheep are doing. Then come back and let me know.« So he sent him from Hebron Valley. Joseph was near Shechem,
15 and wandering through the fields, when a man asked: »What are you looking for?«
16 Joseph answered: »I am looking for my brothers who are watching the sheep. Can you tell me where they are?«
17 »They are not here anymore,« the man replied. »I heard them say they were going to Dothan.« Joseph soon found his brothers in Dothan.
18 Before he arrived, they saw him coming and made plans to kill him.
19 They said to one another: »Look, here comes the hero of those dreams!
20 »Let us kill him and throw him into a water pit. We can say that some wild animal ate him. Then we will see what happens to those dreams.«
21 Reuben heard this and tried to protect Joseph from them. »Let us not kill him,« he said.
22 »Do not murder him or even harm him. Just throw him into a dry well out here in the desert.« Reuben planned to rescue Joseph later and take him back to his father.
23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they pulled off his fancy coat.
24 They put him into a water pit. It had no water in it.
25 As they sat down to eat, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying the materials for cosmetics, medicine, and embalming. They were on their way to take them to Egypt.
26 Judah asked his brothers: »What will we gain by killing our brother and covering up his death?
27 »Let us sell him to the Ishmaelites. Let us not hurt him, because he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.« His brothers agreed.
28 Some of the Midianite traders approached. The brothers pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites. They took him to Egypt.
29 Reuben came back to the pit and found that Joseph was not there. He tore his clothes in sorrow.
30 He returned to his brothers and said: »The boy is not there! What am I going to do?«
31 Then they killed a goat and dipped Josephs robe in its blood.
32 They took the robe to their father and said: »We found this. Does it belong to your son?«
33 He recognized it and said: »Yes, it is his! Some wild animal has killed him. My son Joseph has been torn to pieces!«
34 Jacob tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. He mourned for his son a long time.
35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him. However, he refused to be comforted. He said: »I will go down to the grave still mourning for my son.« So he continued to mourn for his son Joseph.
36 Meanwhile, in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of the kings officers, who was the captain of the palace guard.