Genesis 37

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Jacob settled in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.	1 Now Jacob lived in the land of Canaan, where his father sojourned.
2 This is his family history. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flocks with his brothers; he was an assistant to the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought his father bad reports about them.	2 And these are his generations. Joseph, when he was sixteen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers, when he was still a boy. And he was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, the wives of his father. And he accused his brothers to their father of a most sinful crime.
3 Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long tunic.	3 Now Israel loved Joseph above all his sons, because he had conceived him in his old age. And he made him a tunic, woven of many colors.
4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his sons, they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.	4 Then his brothers, seeing that he was loved by his father more than all his other sons, hated him, and they were not able to say anything peacefully to him.
5 Once Joseph had a dream, which he told to his brothers:	5 Then it also happened that he recounted the vision of a dream to his brothers, for which reason a greater hatred began to be nurtured.
6 "Listen to this dream I had.	6 And he said to them, “Listen to my dream that I saw.
7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field, when suddenly my sheaf rose to an upright position, and your sheaves formed a ring around my sheaf and bowed down to it."	7 I thought we were binding sheaves in the field. And my sheaf seemed to rise up and stand, and your sheaves, standing in a circle, reverenced my sheaf.”
8 "Are you really going to make yourself king over us?" his brothers asked him. "Or impose your rule on us?" So they hated him all the more because of his talk about his dreams.	8 His brothers responded: “Would you be our king? Or will we be subject to your dominion?” Therefore, this matter of his dreams and words provided kindling to their envy and hatred.
9 Then he had another dream, and this one, too, he told to his brothers. "I had another dream," he said; "this time, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."	9 Likewise, he saw another dream, which he explained to his brothers, saying, “I saw by a dream, as if the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars were reverencing me.”
10 When he also told it to his father, his father reproved him. "What is the meaning of this dream of yours?" he asked. "Can it be that I and your mother and your brothers are to come and bow to the ground before you?"	10 And when he had related this to his father and brothers, his father rebuked him, and he said: “What does it mean to you, this dream that you have seen? Should I, and your mother, and your brothers reverence you upon the earth?”
11 So his brothers were wrought up against him but his father pondered the matter.	11 Therefore, his brothers were envious of him. Yet truly, his father considered the matter silently.
12 One day, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father's flocks at Shechem,	12 And while his brothers were lodging at Shechem, pasturing their father’s flocks,
13 Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem. Get ready; I will send you to them." "I am ready," Joseph answered.	13 Israel said to him: “Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Come, I will send you to them.” And when he answered,
14 "Go then," he replied; "see if all is well with your brothers and the flocks, and bring back word." So he sent him off from the valley of Hebron. When Joseph reached Shechem,	14 “I am ready,” he said to him, “Go, and see if everything is prospering with your brothers and the cattle, and report to me what is happening.” So, having been sent from the valley of Hebron, he arrived at Shechem.
15 a man met him as he was wandering about in the fields. "What are you looking for?" the man asked him.	15 And a man found him wandering in a field, and he asked him what he was seeking.
16 "I am looking for my brothers," he answered. "Could you please tell me where they are tending the flocks?"	16 So he responded: “I seek my brothers. Tell me where they pasture the flocks.”
17 The man told him, "They have moved on from here; in fact, I heard them say, 'Let us go on to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan.	17 And the man said to him: “They have withdrawn from this place. But I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” Therefore, Joseph continued on after his brothers, and he found them at Dothan.
18 They noticed him from a distance, and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him.	18 And, when they had seen him from afar, before he approached them, they decided to kill him.
19 They said to one another: "Here comes that master dreamer!	19 And they said one to another: “Behold, the dreamer approaches.
20 Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We shall then see what comes of his dreams."	20 Come, let us kill him and cast him into the old cistern. And let us say: ‘an evil wild beast has devoured him.’ And then it will become apparent what his dreams will do for him.”
21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from their hands, saying: "We must not take his life.	21 But Reuben, on hearing this, strove to free him from their hands, and he said:
22 Instead of shedding blood," he continued, "just throw him into that cistern there in the desert; but don't kill him outright." His purpose was to rescue him from their hands and restore him to his father.	22 “Do not take away his life, nor shed blood. But throw him into this cistern, which is in the wilderness, and so keep your hands harmless.” But he said this, wanting to rescue him from their hands, so as to return him to his father.
23 So when Joseph came up to them, they stripped him of the long tunic he had on;	23 And so, as soon as he came to his brothers, they very quickly stripped him of his tunic, which was ankle-length and woven of many colors,
24 then they took him and threw him into the cistern, which was empty and dry.	24 and they cast him into an old cistern, which held no water.
25 They then sat down to their meal. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, balm and resin to be taken down to Egypt.	25 And sitting down to eat bread, they saw some Ishmaelites, travelers coming from Gilead, with their camels, carrying spices, and resin, and oil of myrrh into Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers: "What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood?	26 Therefore, Judah said to his brothers: “What will it profit us, if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
27 Rather, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, instead of doing away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh." His brothers agreed.	27 It is better that he be sold to the Ishmaelites, and then our hands will not be defiled. For he is our brother and our flesh.” His brothers agreed to his words.
28 They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. Some Midianite traders passed by, and they pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and took him to Egypt.	28 And when the Midianite merchants were passing by, they drew him from the cistern, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And these led him into Egypt.
29 When Reuben went back to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not in it, he tore his clothes,	29 And Reuben, returning to the cistern, did not find the boy.
30 and returning to his brothers, he exclaimed: "The boy is gone! And I--where can I turn?"	30 And rending his garments, he went to his brothers and said, “The boy is not present, and so where shall I go?”
31 They took Joseph's tunic, and after slaughtering a goat, dipped the tunic in its blood.	31 Then they took his tunic, and they dipped it in the blood of a young goat, which they had killed,
32 Then they sent someone to bring the long tunic to their father, with the message: "We found this. See whether it is your son's tunic or not."	32 sending those who carried it to their father, and they said: “We found this. See whether it is the tunic of your son or not.”
33 He recognized it and exclaimed: "My son's tunic! A wild beast has devoured him! Joseph has been torn to pieces!"	33 And when the father acknowledged it, he said: “It is the tunic of my son. An evil wild beast has eaten him; a beast has devoured Joseph.”
34 Then Jacob rent his clothes, put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned his son many days.	34 And tearing his garments, he was clothed in haircloth, mourning his son for a long time.
35 Though his sons and daughters tried to console him, he refused all consolation, saying, "No, I will go down mourning to my son in the nether world." Thus did his father lament him.	35 Then, when all of his sons gathered together to ease their father’s sorrow, he was not willing to accept consolation, but he said: “I will descend in mourning to my son in the underworld.” And while he persevered in weeping,
36 The Midianites, meanwhile, sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh and his chief steward.	36 the Midianites in Egypt sold Joseph to Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh, instructor of the soldiers.