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1 And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.

2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought an evil report of them unto their father.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a coat of many colors.

4 And his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren; and they hated him, and did not speak peaceably[a] to him.

5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to 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 as I beheld, we were binding sheaves in the field, and suddenly, my sheaf arose, and stood upright; and then, your sheaves came around mine, and knelt before my sheaf.”

8 And his brethren said to him, “Will you really reign over us? Shall you really have dominion over us?” And they hated him even more for his dreams, and for his words.

9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars honored 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 of yours? Shall it indeed come to pass that your mother and I and all your brothers really bow down before you?”

11 And his brothers envied him; but his father thought deeply over what Joseph had said.

12 And his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.

13 And Israel said unto Joseph, “Your brothers are feeding the flock in Shechem. Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.”

14 And he said to him, “Go now, see how they are doing, if it is well with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

15 And a certain man found him, and saw he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, saying, “What are you looking for?”

16 And he said, “I am looking for my brothers; tell me, I pray you, where they are feeding the flock.”

17 And the man said, “They have already left; for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” And Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.

18 And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

19 And they said one to another, “Look, here comes the dreamer.

20 “Come now, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil beast has devoured him,’ and we shall see what will become of his dreams.”

21 And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let us not take his life.”

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

23 And when Joseph had come near to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him;

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

25 And they sat down to eat bread; and they looked and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery[c], and balm[d] and myrrh[e], on the way down to Egypt.

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

27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, don’t lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our flesh.” And his brothers listened to his words.

28 And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 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 tore his clothes.

30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, “Joseph is gone! What should I do?”

31 And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood;

32 and they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We found this coat, isn’t this Joseph’s coat?”

33 And he knew it, and said, “It is my son’s coat; an evil beast has killed him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.”

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

35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning. And his father wept for him.”

36 And the [f]Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the [g]captain of the guard.

[3] A robe; a long garment with sleeves

[4] This only means that they treated him as an outsider; when dealing with him or speaking of him with others, they did not speak of him as a brother but treated him more coldly, like as a business partner; they had dealings of matter, but not else. It is also inferred by the sages to their credit, as they did not speak evil of him, only not peaceably, despite their hatred.

[19] Hebrew master of dreams.

[25] Or, gum tragacanth; storax, or mastic, or ladanum. See ‘gold, frankincense and myrrh’.

[36] Hebrew Medanites.

[36] Hebrew chief of the executioners.