Genesis 37 - English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

Joseph's Dreams

37 Jacob lived in ^(A)the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan.

²These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought ^(B)a bad report of them to their father. ³Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was ^(C)the son of his old age. And he made him ^(D)a robe of many colours.^[a] ⁴But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

⁵Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. ⁶He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: ⁷Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, ^(E)my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered round it and ^(F)bowed down to my sheaf.” ⁸His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and ^(G)your mother and your brothers indeed come ^(H)to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” ¹¹And ^(I)his brothers were jealous of him, ^(J)but his father kept the saying in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹²Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near ^(K)Shechem. ¹³And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ¹⁴So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of ^(L)Hebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” ¹⁶“I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” ¹⁷And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to ^(M)Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at ^(N)Dothan.

¹⁸They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them ^(O)they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰Come now, ^(P)let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.^[b] Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” ²¹But when ^(Q)Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” ²²And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—^(R)that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. ²³So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, ^(S)the robe of many colours that he wore. ²⁴And they took him and ^(T)threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a ^(U)caravan of ^(V)Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing ^(W)gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it ^(X)if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^(Y)let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. ²⁸Then ^(Z)Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and ^(AA)sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels^[c] of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he ^(AB)tore his clothes ³⁰and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy ^(AC)is gone, and I, where shall I go?” ³¹Then they took ^(AD)Joseph's robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. ³²And they sent the robe of many colours and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son's robe or not.” ³³And he identified it and said, “It is my son's robe. ^(AE)A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” ³⁴Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son for many days. ³⁵All his sons and all his daughters ^(AF)rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, ^(AG)I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. ³⁶Meanwhile ^(AH)the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, ^(AI)the captain of the guard.

Footnotes

Genesis 37:3 See Septuagint, Vulgate; or (with Syriac) a robe with long sleeves. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain; also verses 23, 32
Genesis 37:20 Or cisterns; also verses 22, 24
Genesis 37:28 A shekel was about 2/5 of an ounce or 11 grams

Cross references

Genesis 37 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

37 And Jacob dwelleth in the land of his father's sojournings -- in the land of Canaan. 2 These [are] births of Jacob: Joseph, a son of seventeen years, hath been enjoying himself with his brethren among the flock, (and he [is] a youth,) with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his fath...
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Genesis 37 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

37 Forsooth Jacob dwelled in the land of Canaan, in which his father was a pilgrim; (And Jacob lived in the land of Canaan, where his father was a foreigner;) 2 and these were the generations of him. Joseph when he was of sixteen years, yet a child, kept a flock with his brethren, and he was with th...
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Genesis 37 - World English Bible (WEB)

37 Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan. 2 This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil repor...
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Genesis 37 - The Voice (VOICE)

God’s promises are not exclusive. As Isaac’s son, Esau becomes great in the land of Seir, a land to the south and east of the Dead Sea. He has sons and daughters, many of whom go on to become tribal chiefs and influential leaders among the people known as the Edomites. But the story now returns to J...
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Genesis 37 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Parashat VayeshevJoseph, Favored Son37 Now Jacob dwelled in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the genealogies of Jacob.When Joseph was 17 years old (he was a youth), he was shepherding the flocks with his brothers—with the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah ...
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Genesis 37 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

Joseph Dreams of Greatness37 Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. 2 This is the history of the family of Jacob.[a]Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wive...
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Genesis 37 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Joseph Dreams of Greatness37 Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. 2 This is the history of the family of Jacob.Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; ...
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Genesis 37 - New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Joseph Dreams of Greatness37 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the story of the family of Jacob.Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’...
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Genesis 37 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition (NRSVACE)

Genesis 37 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

Genesis 37 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Joseph Dreams of Greatness37 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan.(A)2 These are the descendants of Jacob.Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wiv...
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Genesis 37 - New Living Translation (NLT)

Joseph’s Dreams37 So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner. 2 This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah a...
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Genesis 37 - New Life Version (NLV)

Joseph’s Dream37 Jacob lived in the land where his father had lived as a stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2 This is the story of the children of Jacob and of their children.When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was caring for the flock with his brothers. The boy was with the sons of Bilhah and Zi...
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Genesis 37 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Joseph Dreams of Greatness37 Now Jacob dwelt in the land (A)where his father was a [a]stranger, in the land of Canaan. 2 This is the history of Jacob.Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his fathe...
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Genesis 37 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

Joseph’s dreams37 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. 2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line.Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their fath...
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Genesis 37 - New International Version (NIV)

Joseph’s Dreams37 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed,(A) the land of Canaan.(B) 2 This is the account(C) of Jacob’s family line.Joseph,(D) a young man of seventeen,(E) was tending the flocks(F) with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah(G) and the sons of Zilpah,(H) his father’s wives, a...
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Genesis 37 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

Joseph Has Two Dreams37 Jacob lived in the land of Canaan. It’s the land where his father had stayed. 2 Here is the story of the family line of Jacob.Joseph was a young man. He was 17 years old. He was taking care of the flocks with some of his brothers. They were the sons of Bilhah and the sons of ...
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Genesis 37 - New English Translation (NET)

Joseph’s Dreams37 But Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed,[a] in the land of Canaan.[b] 2 This is the account of Jacob.Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son,[c] was taking care of[d] the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster[e] working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his ...
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Genesis 37 - English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

Joseph's Dreams

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

Footnotes

Cross references

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