Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had settled, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's women; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was a son of his old age; and he made him a coat of many pieces.* 4 And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and could not speak pleasantly to him. * Probably differently coloured pieces

5 And Joseph had a dream, and told it to his brothers; and they hated him still more. 6 And he said to them, Please listen to this dream which I have had; 7 see now, we were binding sheaves in the middle of the field, and then my sheaf rose up and stood up straight; and then your sheaves stood all round and bowed down to my sheaf. 8 And his brothers said to him, Are you going to rule over us? And are you going to lord it over us? And they hated him still more for his dreams and his words. 9 And he had another dream also, and told it to his brothers; and he said, See now, I have had another dream, and look, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars were bowing down to me. 10 And he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, What is this dream that you have had? Are we to come, I and your mother and your brothers, bowing down to the earth before you? 11 So his brothers envied him; but his father kept the saying in his mind.

12 And his brothers led their father's flock to graze in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, Your brothers are pasturing the flock at Shechem, are they not? Well then, I will send you to them. And he said to him, See, I am ready. 14 Then he said to him, Please go and see if all goes well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring back word to me. And he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a man found him, and saw that he was wandering in the fields; and the man asked him, and said, What are you looking for? 16 And he said, I am looking for my brothers; tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock. 17 And the man said, They have gone away; for I heard them saying, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. 18 And they saw him from a distance; and before he drew near to them they plotted against him, to put him to death. 19 And they said to one another, See, this dreamer* is coming. 20 So now, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits, and we will say, A fierce wild animal has devoured him; and we will see what becomes of his dreams. 21 And Reuben heard it, and saved him from their hands; and he said, Do not let us take his life. 22 And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood; throw him into this pit in the desert, and do not lay a hand on him; so that he might save him from their hands, and return him to his father. 23 So when Joseph had come to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many pieces that he was wearing; 24 and they took him, and threw him into the pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it. * lit lord of dreams

25 Then they sat down to have a meal. And they raised their eyes and looked, and there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, and their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said to his brothers, What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood? 27 Come on, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let us keep our hands off him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers obeyed. 28 But certain Midianite traders passed by; and they pulled Joseph out, and lifted him up from the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they carried Joseph into Egypt.

29 And when Reuben returned to the pit, and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes. 30 And he went back to his brothers, and said, The boy is not there; and now, what shall I do? 31 Then they took Joseph's coat, and killed a goat from the flock, and dipped the coat in the blood; 32 and they took the coat of many pieces, and brought it to their father, and said, Look what we have found; see now, whether it is your son's coat or not. 33 And he recognized it, and said, My son's coat! A fierce wild animal has devoured him; without doubt Joseph has been torn in pieces. 34 And Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son for many days. 35 And all his sons and daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and said, But I will go down to my son in Sheol, mourning. And his father wept for him. 36 But the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officers, the chief guard.