Genesis 37 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Jacob stayed and lived in the land of Canaan. This is the same land where his father had lived.

² This is the story of Jacob’s family.

³ Joseph was born at a time when his father Israel (Jacob) was very old. So Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph more than he loved his other sons. Jacob gave his son a special coat. This coat was long and was very beautiful. [225]

⁴ Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them. They hated their brother because of this. They refused to say nice things to Joseph.

⁵ One time Joseph had a special dream. Later, Joseph told his brothers about this dream. After this, his brothers hated him even more.

⁶ Joseph said, “I had a dream.

⁷ We were all working in the field. We were tying stacks of wheat together. Then my sheaf got up. It stood there while all of your sheaves made a circle around mine. Then all of your stacks of wheat bowed down to mine.”

⁸ His brothers said, “Do you think this means you will be a king and rule over us?” His brothers hated Joseph more now because of the dreams he had about them.

⁹ Then Joseph had another dream. Joseph told his brothers about this dream. Joseph said, “I had another dream. I saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to me.”

¹⁰ Joseph also told his father about this dream. But his father criticized him. His father said, “What kind of dream is this? Do you believe that your mother, your brothers, and I will bow down to you?”

¹¹ Joseph’s brothers continued to be jealous of him. But Joseph’s father thought much about all these things and wondered what they could mean.

¹² One day, Joseph’s brothers went to Shechem to care for their father’s sheep.

¹³ Jacob said to Joseph, “Go to Shechem. Your brothers are there with my sheep.”

¹⁴ Joseph’s father said, “Go and see if your brothers are safe. Come back and tell me if my sheep are all fine.” So Joseph’s father sent him from the Valley of Hebron to Shechem.

¹⁵ At Shechem, Joseph became lost. A man found him wandering in the fields. The man said, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶ Joseph answered, “I am looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are with their sheep?”

¹⁷ The man said, “They have already gone away. I heard them say that they were going to Dothan.” So Joseph followed his brothers and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸ Joseph’s brothers saw him coming from far away. They decided to make a plan to kill him.

¹⁹ The brothers said to each other, “Here comes Joseph, the one who dreams.

²⁰ We should kill him now while we can. We can throw his body into one of the empty wells. We can tell our father that a wild animal killed him. Then we will show him that his dreams are useless.”

²¹ But Reuben wanted to save Joseph. Reuben said, “Let’s not kill him.

²² We can put him into a well without hurting him.” Reuben planned to save Joseph and send him back to his father.

²³ Joseph came to his brothers. They attacked him and tore off his long and beautiful coat.

²⁴ Then they threw him into an empty well that was dry.

²⁵ While Joseph was in the well, the brothers sat down to eat. Then they looked and saw a group of traders [226] traveling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were carrying many different spices and riches.

²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we get if we kill our brother and hide his death?

²⁷ We will profit more if we sell him to these traders. Then we will not be guilty of killing our own brother.” The other brothers agreed.

²⁸ When the Midianite traders came by, the brothers took Joseph out of the well. They sold him to the traders for 20 pieces of silver. The traders took him to Egypt.

²⁹ During all this time, Reuben was not there with the brothers. He did not know they had sold Joseph. When Reuben came back to the well, he saw that Joseph was not there. Reuben tore his clothes {to show his sadness}.

³⁰ Reuben went to the brothers and said, “The boy is not in the well! What will I do?”

³¹ The brothers killed a goat and put the goat’s blood on Joseph’s beautiful coat.

³² Then the brothers showed the coat to their father. And the brothers said, “We found this coat. Is this Joseph’s coat?”

³³ The father saw the coat and knew that it was Joseph’s. The father said, “Yes, that is his! Maybe some wild animal has killed him. My son Joseph has been eaten by a wild animal!”

³⁴ Jacob was so sorry about his son that he tore his clothes. Then Jacob put on special clothes to show that he was sad. Jacob continued to be sad about his son for a long time.

³⁵ All of Jacob’s sons and daughters tried to comfort him. But Jacob was never comforted. Jacob said, “I will be sorry for my son until the day I die.” [227] So Jacob continued to be sad for his son Joseph.

³⁶ The Midianite traders later sold Joseph in Egypt. They sold him to Potiphar, the captain of the Pharaoh’s guards.