2This is the story of Jacob's family. Joseph was seventeen years old, and he was looking after the flock with his brothers. The boy was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report about them to his father.
3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his other children, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a coat of many colours.
4When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him. They could not speak a kind word to him.
5Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers. Then they hated him even more.
6He said to them, "Please listen to this dream I have had."
7"We were binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf got up and stood upright. And look, your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf."
8His brothers said to him, "Are you really going to be king over us? Are you really going to rule over us?" And they hated him even more for his dreams and for what he said.
9He had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. He said, "Look, I have had another dream. This time the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me."
10He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father scolded him and said to him, "What is this dream you have had? Will I and your mother and your brothers really come and bow down to the ground in front of you?"
11His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
12His brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.
13Israel said to Joseph, "Are your brothers not feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." And he said to him, "Here I am."
14He said to him, "Go now, and see whether all is well with your brothers and well with the flocks. Then bring me word again." So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15A man found him wandering in the field. The man asked him, "What are you looking for?"
16He said, "I am looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks."
17The man said, "They have gone away from here. I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
18They saw him a long way off. Before he came near to them, they made a plan against him to kill him.
19They said to one another, "Look, here comes that dreamer."
20"Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We will say that a wild animal has eaten him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams."
21Reuben heard it, and he saved him from their hands. He said, "Let us not kill him."
22Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him." He said this so that he could save him from their hands and bring him back to his father.
23When Joseph came to his brothers, they pulled off his coat, the coat of many colours that he was wearing.
24They took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25Then they sat down to eat bread. They looked up, and there was a company of Ishmeelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices and balm and myrrh, and they were taking them down to Egypt.
26Judah said to his brothers, "What do we gain if we kill our brother and hide his blood?"
27"Come, let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let us not lay a hand on him. He is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers agreed.
28Then some Midianite merchants passed by. They pulled Joseph up out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
30He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy is gone. And I, where shall I go?"
31They took Joseph's coat, killed a young goat, and dipped the coat in the blood.
32They sent the coat of many colours and brought it to their father. They said, "We found this. Look at it now and see whether it is your son's coat or not."
33He knew it and said, "It is my son's coat. A wild animal has eaten him. Joseph is surely torn to pieces."
34Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth round his waist, and he mourned for his son for many days.
35All his sons and all his daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, "I will go down to the grave to my son, still mourning." So his father wept for him.