1 Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a sojourner, in the land of Canaan.

2 These are the generations 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 an evil report of them to his father.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a tunic reaching to the soles of his feet.

4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

5 And Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.

6 And he said to them, Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:

7 For behold, we were binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.

8 And his brothers said to him, Shall you indeed become king over us? Or shall you indeed rule over us? So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

9 Then he dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, Behold, I have dreamed another dream: and behold, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.

10 And 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 it come to pass that your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to prostrate ourselves to the earth before you?

11 And his brothers were jealous of him; but his father treasured up these words.

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

13 And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them. And he said to him, Here I am.

14 And 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 Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

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

16 And he said, I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.

17 And 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 Dothan.

18 Now when they saw him from a distance, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.

19 And they said to one another, Behold, this master of dreams is coming!

20 Come now therefore, let us kill him and cast him into a pit; and we will say, Some evil beast has devoured him. And we shall see what will become of his dreams!

21 But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, Let us not smite his soul.

22 And Reuben said to them, Do not shed blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him; that he might rescue him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

23 So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic reaching to the soles of his feet.

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

25 And they sat down to eat food. And they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, going and bringing them down to Egypt.

26 And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brothers agreed.

28 Then some Midianite traders passed by; and the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him 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 to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.

30 And he returned to his brothers and said, The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?

31 And they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood.

32 And they sent the tunic reaching to the soles of the feet, and they brought it to their father and said, We have found this. Do you recognize whether it is your son’s tunic or not?

33 And he recognized it and said, It is my son’s tunic. An evil beast has devoured him. Joseph has been rent and torn to pieces.

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

35 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, I will go down into Sheol mourning for my son. Thus his father wept for him.

36 Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.