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Genesis 37
And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought the evil report of them to his father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. 4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him. 5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren: and they hated him yet more. 6 And he said to them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7 for, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves came round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8 And his brethren said to him, Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet more for his dreams, and for his words. 9 And he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said to him, What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to you to the earth? 11 And his brethren envied him; but his father kept the saying in mind.
12 And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brethren feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them. And he said to him, Here I am. 14 And he said to him, Go now, see whether it is well with your brethren, and well with the flock; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale 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 looking for? 16 And he said, I am seeking my brethren: tell me, I pray you, where they are feeding the flock. 17 And the man said, They have left here; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
18 And when they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer comes. 20 Come now therefore, and let us kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, An evil beast has devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. 21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not take his life. 22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. 23 And it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; 24 and they took him, and cast him into the pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we kill our brother, and conceal his blood? 27 Come, and 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 brethren listened to him. 28 And there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph 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 unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. 30 And he returned to his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, where shall I go? 31 And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood; 32 and they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it is your son’s coat or not. 33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces. 34 And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning. And his father wept for him. 36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.
Genesis 38
And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shua; and he took her, and went in to her. 3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er. 4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan. 5 And she again bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him. 6 And Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, whose name was Tamar. 7 And Er, Judah’s first-born, was wicked in the sight of Yahweh; and Yahweh killed him. 8 And Judah said to Onan, Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and raise up seed to your brother. 9 And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother. 10 And the thing which he did was evil in the sight of Yahweh: and he killed him also. 11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown up: for he said, Lest he die also, like his brethren. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.
12 And in process of time Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah died; and Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheep-shearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold your father-in-law goes up to Timnah to shear his sheep. 14 And she put off from her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she was not given to him as his wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot; for she had covered her face. 16 And he turned to her by the way, and said, Come, I pray you, let me come in to you; (for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law.) And she said, What will you give me, that you may come in to me? 17 And he said, I will send you a kid of the goats from the flock. And she said, Will you give me a pledge, till you send it? 18 And he said, What pledge shall I give you? And she said, Your signet, and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand. And he gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him. 19 And she arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. 20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand: but he found her not. 21 Then he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the wayside? And they said, There has been no prostitute here. 22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I have not found her; and also the men of the place said, There has been no prostitute here. 23 And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be put to Shame: behold, I sent this kid, and you have not found her.
24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; and moreover, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burned. 25 When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child: and she said, Discern, I pray you, whose are these, the signet, and cords, and the staff. 26 And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She is more righteous than I; since I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more. 27 And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb. 28 And it came to pass, when she travailed, that the one put out a hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first. 29 And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, Why have you made a breach for yourself? Therefore his name was called Perez. 30 And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called Zerah.
Genesis 39
And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites, that had brought him down there. 2 And Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. 3 And his master saw that Yahweh was with him, and that Yahweh made all that he did to prosper in his hand. 4 And Joseph found favor in his sight, and he ministered to him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. 5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that Yahweh blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of Yahweh was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. 6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew nothing that was with him, save the bread which he ate. And Joseph was handsome, and well-favored.
7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. 8 But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, Behold, my master knows not what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand; 9 He is not……….. greater in this house than I; neither has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife: How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against Elohim? 10 And it came to pass, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he listened not to her, to lie by her, or to be with her. 11 And it came to pass about this time, that he went into the house to do his work; and there was none of the men of the house there within. 12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got out. 13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, 14 that she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice: 15 and it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and fled, and got out. 16 And she laid up his garment by her, until his master came home. 17 And she spoke to him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me: 18 and it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and fled out.
19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke unto him, saying, After this manner did your servant to me; that his wrath was kindled. 20 And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison. 21 But Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatever they did there, he was the doer of it. 23 The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand; because Yahweh was with him, and that which he did, Yahweh made it to prosper.
