The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Now Jacob was living in the land where his father had made a place for himself, in the land of Canaan.
1
Jacob continued to live in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived,
2 These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a boy seventeen years old, was looking after the flock, together with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph gave their father a bad account of them.
2
and this is the story of Jacob's family. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, took care of the sheep and goats with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's concubines. He brought bad reports to his father about what his brothers were doing.
3 Now the love which Israel had for Joseph was greater than his love for all his other children, because he got him when he was an old man: and he had a long coat made for him.
3
Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he had been born to him when he was old. He made a long robe with full sleeves for him.
4 And because his brothers saw that Joseph was dearer to his father than all the others, they were full of hate for him, and would not say a kind word to him.
4
When his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they hated their brother so much that they would not speak to him in a friendly manner.
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he gave his brothers an account of it, which made their hate greater than ever.
5
One time Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more.
6 And he said to them, Let me give you the story of my dream.
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He said, "Listen to the dream I had.
7 We were in the field, getting the grain stems together, and my grain kept upright, and yours came round and went down on the earth before mine.
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We were all in the field tying up sheaves of wheat, when my sheaf got up and stood up straight. Yours formed a circle around mine and bowed down to it."
8 And his brothers said to him, Are you to be our king? will you have authority over us? And because of his dream and his words, their hate for him became greater than ever.
8
"Do you think you are going to be a king and rule over us?" his brothers asked. So they hated him even more because of his dreams and because of what he said about them.
9 Then he had another dream, and gave his brothers an account of it, saying, I have had another dream: the sun and the moon and eleven stars gave honour to me.
9
Then Joseph had another dream and told his brothers, "I had another dream, in which I saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to me."
10 And he gave word of it to his father and his brothers; but his father protesting said, What sort of a dream is this? am I and your mother and your brothers to go down on our faces to the earth before you?
10
He also told the dream to his father, and his father scolded him: "What kind of a dream is that? Do you think that your mother, your brothers, and I are going to come and bow down to you?"
11 And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his words in mind.
11
Joseph's brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept thinking about the whole matter.
12 Now his brothers went to keep watch over their father's flock in Shechem.
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One day when Joseph's brothers had gone to Shechem to take care of their father's flock,
13 And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers with the flock in Shechem? come, I will send you to them. And he said to him, Here am I.
13
Jacob said to Joseph, "I want you to go to Shechem, where your brothers are taking care of the flock." Joseph answered, "I am ready."
14 And he said to him, Go now, and see if your brothers are well and how the flock is; then come back and give me word. So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
14
His father told him, "Go and see if your brothers are safe and if the flock is all right; then come back and tell me." So his father sent him on his way from Hebron Valley. Joseph arrived at Shechem
15 And a man saw him wandering in the country, and said to him, What are you looking for?
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and was wandering around in the country when a man saw him and asked him, "What are you looking for?"
16 And he said, I am looking for my brothers; please give me word of where they are keeping their flock.
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"I am looking for my brothers, who are taking care of their flock," he answered. "Can you tell me where they are?"
17 And the man said, They have gone away from here, for they said in my hearing, Let us go to Dothan. So Joseph went after them and came up with them at Dothan.
17
The man said, "They have already left. I heard them say that they were going to Dothan." So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
18 But they saw him when he was a long way off, and before he came near them they made a secret design against him to put him to death;
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They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted against him and decided to kill him.
19 Saying to one another, See, here comes this dreamer.
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They said to one another, "Here comes that dreamer.
20 Let us now put him to death and put his body into one of these holes, and we will say, An evil beast has put him to death: then we will see what becomes of his dreams.
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Come on now, let's kill him and throw his body into one of the dry wells. We can say that a wild animal killed him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams."
21 But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life.
21
Reuben heard them and tried to save Joseph. "Let's not kill him," he said.
22 Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again.
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"Just throw him into this well in the wilderness, but don't hurt him." He said this, planning to save him from them and send him back to his father.
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off his long coat which he had on;
23
When Joseph came up to his brothers, they ripped off his long robe with full sleeves.
24 And they took him and put him in the hole: now the hole had no water in it.
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Then they took him and threw him into the well, which was dry.
25 Then seating themselves, they took their meal: and looking up, they saw a travelling band of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead on their way to Egypt, with spices and perfumes on their camels.
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While they were eating, they suddenly saw a group of Ishmaelites traveling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were loaded with spices and resins.
26 And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood?
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Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain by killing our brother and covering up the murder?
27 Let us give him to these Ishmaelites for a price, and let us not put violent hands on him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers gave ear to him.
27
Let's sell him to these Ishmaelites. Then we won't have to hurt him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed,
28 And some traders from Midian went by; so pulling Joseph up out of the hole, they gave him to the Ishmaelites for twenty bits of silver, and they took him to Egypt.
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and when some Midianite traders came by, the brothers pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
29 Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there; and giving signs of grief,
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When Reuben came back to the well and found that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes in sorrow.
30 He went back to his brothers, and said, The child is gone; what am I to do?
30
He returned to his brothers and said, "The boy is not there! What am I going to do?"
31 Then they took Joseph's coat, and put on it some of the blood from a young goat which they had put to death,
31
Then they killed a goat and dipped Joseph's robe in its blood.
32 And they took the coat to their father, and said, We came across this; is it your son's coat or not?
32
They took the robe to their father and said, "We found this. Does it belong to your son?"
33 And he saw that it was, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast has put him to death; without doubt Joseph has come to a cruel end.
33
He recognized it and said, "Yes, it is his! Some wild animal has killed him. My son Joseph has been torn to pieces!"
34 Then Jacob, giving signs of grief, put on haircloth, and went on weeping for his son day after day.
34
Jacob tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. He mourned for his son a long time.
35 And all his sons and all his daughters came to give him comfort, but he would not be comforted, saying with weeping, I will go down to the underworld to my son. So great was his father's sorrow for him.
35
All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, "I will go down to the world of the dead still mourning for my son." So he continued to mourn for his son Joseph.
36 And in Egypt the men of Midian gave him for a price to Potiphar, a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house.
36
Meanwhile, in Egypt the Midianites had sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of the king's officers, who was the captain of the palace guard.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.