Parallel Bible results for "genesis 37"

Genesis 37

Common English Bible CEB

1 Jacob lived in the land of Canaan where his father was an immigrant.

2 This is the account of Jacob's descendants. Joseph was 17 years old and tended the flock with his brothers. While he was helping the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives, Joseph told their father unflattering things about them.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was born when Jacob was old. Jacob had made for him a long robe.

4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of his brothers, they hated him and couldn't even talk nicely to him.

5 Joseph had a dream and told it to his brothers, which made them hate him even more.

6 He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had.

7 When we were binding stalks of grain in the field, my stalk got up and stood upright, while your stalks gathered around it and bowed down to my stalk."

8 His brothers said to him, "Will you really be our king and rule over us?" So they hated him even more because of the dreams he told them.

9 Then Joseph had another dream and described it to his brothers: "I've just dreamed again, and this time the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

10 When he described it to his father and brothers, his father scolded him and said to him, "What kind of dreams have you dreamed? Am I and your mother and your brothers supposed to come and bow down to the ground in front of you?"

11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father took careful note of the matter.

12 Joseph's brothers went to tend their father's flocks near Shechem.

13 Israel said to Joseph, "Aren't your brothers tending the sheep near Shechem? Come, I'll send you to them." And he said, "I'm ready."

14 Jacob said to him, "Go! Find out how your brothers are and how the flock is, and report back to me." So Jacob sent him from the Hebron Valley. When he approached Shechem,

15 a man found him wandering in the field and asked him, "What are you looking for?"

16 Joseph said, "I'm looking for my brothers. Tell me, where are they tending the sheep?"

17 The man said, "They left here. I heard them saying, ‘Let's go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

18 They saw Joseph in the distance before he got close to them, and they plotted to kill him.

19 The brothers said to each other, "Here comes the big dreamer.

20 Come on now, let's kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns, and we'll say a wild animal devoured him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams!"

21 When Reuben heard what they said, he saved him from them, telling them, "Let's not take his life."

22 Reuben said to them, "Don't spill his blood! Throw him into this desert cistern, but don't lay a hand on him." He intended to save Joseph from them and take him back to his father.

23 When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped off Joseph's long robe,

24 took him, and threw him into the cistern, an empty cistern with no water in it.

25 When they sat down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with camels carrying sweet resin, medicinal resin, and fragrant resin on their way down to Egypt.

26 Judah said to his brothers, "What do we gain if we kill our brother and hide his blood?

27 Come on, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites. Let's not harm him because he's our brother; he's family." His brothers agreed.

28 When some Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph up out of the cistern. They sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, and they brought Joseph to Egypt.

29 When Reuben returned to the cistern and found that Joseph wasn't in it, he tore his clothes.

30 Then he returned to his brothers and said, "The boy's gone! And I—where can I go now?"

31 His brothers took Joseph's robe, slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the robe in the blood.

32 They took the long robe, brought it to their father, and said, "We found this. See if it's your son's robe or not."

33 He recognized it and said, "It's my son's robe! A wild animal has devoured him. Joseph must have been torn to pieces!"

34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put a simple mourning cloth around his waist, and mourned for his son for many days.

35 All of his sons and daughters got up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, telling them, "I'll go to my grave mourning for my son." And Joseph's father wept for him.

36 Meanwhile the Midianites had sold Joseph to the Egyptians, to Potiphar, Pharaoh's chief officer, commander of the royal guard.

The Message Bible MSG

1 Meanwhile Jacob had settled down where his father had lived, the land of Canaan. Joseph and His Brothers

2 This is the story of Jacob. The story continues with Joseph, seventeen years old at the time, helping out his brothers in herding the flocks. These were his half brothers actually, the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought his father bad reports on them.

3 Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the child of his old age. And he made him an elaborately embroidered coat.

4 When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him - they wouldn't even speak to him.

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

6 He said, "Listen to this dream I had.

7 We were all out in the field gathering bundles of wheat. All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and your bundles circled around it and bowed down to mine."

8 His brothers said, "So! You're going to rule us? You're going to boss us around?" And they hated him more than ever because of his dreams and the way he talked.

9 He had another dream and told this one also to his brothers: "I dreamed another dream - the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed down to me!"

10 When he told it to his father and brothers, his father reprimanded him: "What's with all this dreaming? Am I and your mother and your brothers all supposed to bow down to you?"

11 Now his brothers were really jealous; but his father brooded over the whole business.

12 His brothers had gone off to Shechem where they were pasturing their father's flocks.

13 Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers are with flocks in Shechem. Come, I want to send you to them." Joseph said, "I'm ready."

14 He said, "Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing and bring me back a report." He sent him off from the valley of Hebron to Shechem.

15 A man met him as he was wandering through the fields and asked him, "What are you looking for?"

16 "I'm trying to find my brothers. Do you have any idea where they are grazing their flocks?"

17 The man said, "They've left here, but I overheard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.'" So Joseph took off, tracked his brothers down, and found them in Dothan.

18 They spotted him off in the distance. By the time he got to them they had cooked up a plot to kill him.

19 The brothers were saying, "Here comes that dreamer.

20 Let's kill him and throw him into one of these old cisterns; we can say that a vicious animal ate him up. We'll see what his dreams amount to."

21 Reuben heard the brothers talking and intervened to save him, "We're not going to kill him.

22 No murder. Go ahead and throw him in this cistern out here in the wild, but don't hurt him." Reuben planned to go back later and get him out and take him back to his father.

23 When Joseph reached his brothers, they ripped off the fancy coat he was wearing,

24 grabbed him, and threw him into a cistern. The cistern was dry; there wasn't any water in it.

25 Then they sat down to eat their supper. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way from Gilead, their camels loaded with spices, ointments, and perfumes to sell in Egypt.

26 Judah said, "Brothers, what are we going to get out of killing our brother and concealing the evidence?

27 Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let's not kill him - he is, after all, our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed.

28 By that time the Midianite traders were passing by. His brothers pulled Joseph out of the cistern and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites who took Joseph with them down to Egypt.

29 Later Reuben came back and went to the cistern - no Joseph! He ripped his clothes in despair.

30 Beside himself, he went to his brothers. "The boy's gone! What am I going to do!"

31 They took Joseph's coat, butchered a goat, and dipped the coat in the blood.

32 They took the fancy coat back to their father and said, "We found this. Look it over - do you think this is your son's coat?"

33 He recognized it at once. "My son's coat - a wild animal has eaten him. Joseph torn limb from limb!"

34 Jacob tore his clothes in grief, dressed in rough burlap, and mourned his son a long, long time.

35 His sons and daughters tried to comfort him but he refused their comfort. "I'll go to the grave mourning my son." Oh, how his father wept for him.

36 In Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, manager of his household affairs.