New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan.
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Now Jacob was living in the land where his father had made a place for himself, in 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's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.
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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.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves.
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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.
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.
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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.
5 Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
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Now Joseph had a dream, and he gave his brothers an account of it, which made their hate greater than ever.
6 He said to them, "Listen to this dream that I dreamed.
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And he said to them, Let me give you the story of my dream.
7 There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf."
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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.
8 His brothers said to him, "Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.
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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.
9 He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, "Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
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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.
10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, "What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?"
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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?
11 So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
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And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his words in mind.
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem.
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Now his brothers went to keep watch over their father's flock in Shechem.
13 And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." He answered, "Here I am."
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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.
14 So he said to him, "Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. He came to Shechem,
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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.
15 and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, "What are you seeking?"
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And a man saw him wandering in the country, and said to him, What are you looking for?
16 "I am seeking my brothers," he said; "tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock."
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And he said, I am looking for my brothers; please give me word of where they are keeping their flock.
17 The man said, "They have gone away, for I heard them say, "Let us go to Dothan.' " So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan.
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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.
18 They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him.
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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;
19 They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer.
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Saying to one another, See, here comes this dreamer.
20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams."
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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.
21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life."
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But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life.
22 Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him"—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father.
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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.
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore;
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So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off his long coat which he had on;
24 and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
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And they took him and put him in the hole: now the hole had no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.
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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.
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
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And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood?
27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers agreed.
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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.
28 When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
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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.
29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes.
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Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there; and giving signs of grief,
30 He returned to his brothers, and said, "The boy is gone; and I, where can I turn?"
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He went back to his brothers, and said, The child is gone; what am I to do?
31 Then they took Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood.
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Then they took Joseph's coat, and put on it some of the blood from a young goat which they had put to death,
32 They had the long robe with sleeves taken to their father, and they said, "This we have found; see now whether it is your son's robe or not."
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And they took the coat to their father, and said, We came across this; is it your son's coat or not?
33 He recognized it, and said, "It is my son's robe! A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces."
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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.
34 Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
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Then Jacob, giving signs of grief, put on haircloth, and went on weeping for his son day after day.
35 All his sons and all his daughters sought to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and said, "No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning." Thus his father bewailed him.
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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.
36 Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.
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And in Egypt the men of Midian gave him for a price to Potiphar, a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.