1Jacob lived in the land where his father had traveled, in the land of Canaan.
2This is the family history of Jacob. Joseph, at seventeen years old, was helping his brothers tend the flocks. He was a young man with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought bad reports about them to their father.
3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his other children, because Joseph was born to him in his old age, and he made him a long, colorful coat.
4His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all of them, and they hated him and couldn’t speak kindly to him.
5Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
6He said to them, “Please listen to this dream I had:
7Look, we were binding bundles of grain in the field, and suddenly my bundle stood up straight, and your bundles gathered around and bowed down to my bundle.”
8His brothers said to him, “Do you really think you will rule over us? Or will you truly have power over us?” They hated him even more because of his dreams and what he said.
9He had another dream and told it to his brothers. He said, “Look, I had another dream: The sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down to me.”
10He told it to his father and his brothers. His father scolded him and said, “What kind of dream is this? Will your mother, your brothers, and I really come and bow down to you on the ground?”
11His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept thinking about what Joseph had said.
12His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.
13Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” Joseph said to him, “Here I am.”
14His father said to him, “Go now, see if your brothers and the flock are all right, and bring me back news.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and Joseph arrived at Shechem.
15A man found him, and Joseph was 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 the flock.”
17The man said, "They've left here, because I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
18They saw him from a distance, and before he got close to them, they planned to kill him.
19They said to each other, "Look, here comes this dreamer.
20Come on, let's kill him and throw his body into one of these pits. Then we can say, 'A wild animal ate him.' We'll see what becomes of his dreams then."
21Reuben heard this, and he rescued Joseph from them, saying, "Let's not take his life."
22Reuben told them, "Don't shed any blood. Just throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don't lay a hand on him." He said this because he intended to rescue Joseph from them and return him to his father.
23When Joseph arrived, his brothers stripped him of his many-colored coat.
24Then they grabbed him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25They sat down to eat a meal. When they looked up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to Egypt.
26Judah said to his brothers, "What do we gain if we kill our brother and hide his death?
27Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not harm him ourselves, since he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed with him.
28Soon afterwards, Midianite traders passed by. The brothers pulled Joseph up out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt.
29When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph wasn't in it, he tore his clothes in despair.
30He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy is gone! And I, where can I go now?"
31Then they took Joseph's coat, killed a male goat, and dipped the coat in the blood.
32They brought the many-colored coat to their father and said, "We found this. See if it's your son's coat or not."
33He recognized it and said, "It's my son's coat! A wild animal has eaten him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces."
34Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned for his son for many days.
35All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, "I will go down to the grave still mourning for my son." His father continued to weep for him.
36Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar in Egypt, who was an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.