Genesis 37 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Joseph Dreams of Greatness

37 Now Jacob dwelt in the land ^(A)where his father was a ^[a]stranger, in the land of Canaan. ²This 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 father’s wives; and Joseph brought ^(B)a bad report of them to his father.

³Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was ^(C)the son of his old age. Also he ^(D)made him a tunic of many colors. ⁴But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they ^(E)hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

⁵Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. ⁶So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: ⁷^(F)There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, ^(G)the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

¹⁰So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and ^(H)your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” ¹¹And ^(I)his brothers envied him, but his father ^(J)kept the matter in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹²Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in ^(K)Shechem. ¹³And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.”

So he said to him, “Here I am.”

¹⁴Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of ^(L)Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

¹⁵Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

¹⁶So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. ^(M)Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

¹⁷And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in ^(N)Dothan.

¹⁸Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, ^(O)they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹Then they said to one another, “Look, this ^[b]dreamer is coming! ²⁰^(P)Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

²¹But ^(Q)Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” ²²And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

²³So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they ^(R)stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. ²⁴Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵^(S)And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of ^(T)Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, ^(U)balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. ²⁶So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and ^(V)conceal his blood? ²⁷Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^(W)let not our hand be upon him, for he is ^(X)our brother and ^(Y)our flesh.” And his brothers listened. ²⁸Then ^(Z)Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, ^(AA)and sold him to the Ishmaelites for ^(AB)twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he ^(AC)tore his clothes. ³⁰And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad ^(AD)is no more; and I, where shall I go?”

³¹So they took ^(AE)Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. ³²Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

³³And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A ^(AF)wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” ³⁴Then Jacob ^(AG)tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and ^(AH)mourned for his son many days. ³⁵And all his sons and all his daughters ^(AI)arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For ^(AJ)I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

³⁶Now ^(AK)the ^[c]Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

Footnotes

Genesis 37:1 sojourner, temporary resident
Genesis 37:19 Lit. master of dreams
Genesis 37:36 MT Medanites

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 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Joseph Dreams of Greatness

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

Footnotes

Cross references

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