Genesis 37-39

New Life Version

Joseph’s Dream

37 Jacob lived in the land where his father had lived as a stranger, in the land of Canaan. ² This is the story of the children of Jacob and of their children.

When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was caring for the flock with his brothers. The boy was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph told his father about how bad they were. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because Joseph was born when he was an old man. And Israel made him a long coat of many colors. ⁴ His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers. So they hated Joseph and could not speak a kind word to him.

⁵ Then Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Listen to the dream that I have had. ⁷ We were gathering grain in the field. My bundle of grain stood up. Your bundles of grain gathered around it and bowed down to my bundle.” ⁸ Then his brothers said to him, “Are you going to be our king? Are you going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for what he said.

⁹ Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. He said, “I have had another dream. The sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰ He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father spoke sharp words to him, saying, “What is this dream you have had? Will I and your mother and brothers come to bow ourselves down to the ground in front of you?” ¹¹ Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him. But his father thought about what he said.

Joseph Is Sold and Taken to Egypt

¹² Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. ¹³ Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And Joseph said to him, “I will go.” ¹⁴ Then Israel said, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock. Then come and tell me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵ A man found him walking through a field, and asked him, “What are you looking for?” ¹⁶ Joseph said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me where they are feeding the flock.” ¹⁷ And the man said, “They have moved from here. For I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph followed his brothers and found them at Dothan.

¹⁸ When they saw him far away, before he came near them, they made plans to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer! ²⁰ Now come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the deep holes. Then we will say that a wild animal ate him. And we will see what becomes of his dreams!”

²¹ But Reuben heard this and saved him from their hands, saying, “Let us not kill him.” ²² Reuben then said, “Do not put him to death. Throw him into this hole here in the desert. But do not lay a hand on him.” He wanted to be able to save Joseph and return him to his father.

²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they tore off his coat, the coat of many colors that he was wearing. ²⁴ And they took him and threw him into the hole. The hole was empty and had no water in it.

²⁵ Then they sat down to eat. When they looked up, they saw a group of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. They were taking spices and perfumes on their camels to Egypt. ²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What do we get by killing our brother and covering 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 listened to him. ²⁸ Some Midianite traders were passing by. So the brothers pulled Joseph up out of the hole. And they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver, and they took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹ Then Reuben returned to the hole. When he saw that Joseph was not in the hole, he tore his clothes. ³⁰ He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there! What can I do?” ³¹ So they took Joseph’s coat, killed a male goat, and put the blood on the coat. ³² They sent the coat of many colors to their father. And they said, “We found this. Is it your son’s coat or not?”

³³ Jacob looked at it and said, “It is my son’s coat! A wild animal has eaten him! For sure Joseph has been torn to pieces!” ³⁴ So Jacob tore his clothes and dressed in clothes made from hair. He had sorrow for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him. But he would not be comforted. He said, “I will go down to the grave in sorrow for my son.” And his father cried for him.

³⁶ The Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, the head of the soldiers of Pharaoh’s house.

Judah and Tamar

38 Judah went away from his brothers at that time. He visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. ² There Judah saw a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her as his wife and lived with her. ³ And she was going to have a child and gave birth to a son. He gave him the name Er. ⁴ Then she was going to have another child and she gave birth to a son. She gave him the name Onan. ⁵ Then she gave birth to another son at Chezib. And she gave him the name Shelah.

⁶ Judah chose a wife for his first-born son Er. Her name was Tamar. ⁷ But Er, Judah’s first-born, was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. So the Lord took his life. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife. Do your duty as her brother-in-law. Have children for your brother.” ⁹ But Onan knew that the children would not be his. So when he went in to his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground to keep his brother from having children. ¹⁰ What he did was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. So the Lord took his life also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Stay in your father’s house as a woman whose husband has died, until my son Shelah is grown.” For he thought, “I am afraid that he also may die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

¹² Now after a long time, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. And after the time of sorrow, Judah and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went to the men who cut the wool from his sheep at Timnah. ¹³ It was told to Tamar, “Your father-in-law is going to Timnah to cut the wool from his sheep.” ¹⁴ So she took off the clothes of a woman whose husband has died and put on other clothes and covered her face with cloth. Then she sat in the gate of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown, and she had not been given to him for a wife. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a woman who sold the use of her body. For she had covered her face. ¹⁶ He went to her at the side of the road, and said, “Here now, let me come in to you.” He did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give me to come in to me?” ¹⁷ He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” She asked, “Will you give something as a promise until you send it?” ¹⁸ He said, “What should I give you as a promise?” And she said, “The ring you use to mark your name, and its string, and the stick that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her. And she was going to have a baby by him. ¹⁹ Then she got up and left. She took off the cloth that covered her, and put on the clothes worn by a woman whose husband has died.

²⁰ Judah sent his friend the Adullamite to bring the young goat to the woman and take from her the things he had given as a promise. But he did not find her. ²¹ He asked the men of the place, “Where is the woman who was selling the use of her body beside the road at Enaim?” They said, “There has been no woman selling the use of her body here.” ²² So he returned to Judah, and said, “I did not find her. The men of the place said, ‘There has been no woman selling the use of her body here.’” ²³ Then Judah said, “Let her keep the things, or else we will be laughed at. I sent the young goat, and you did not find her.”

²⁴ About three months later, Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has sold the use of her body. She is going to have a baby by doing this sinful thing.” Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!” ²⁵ When she was brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “I am going to have a baby by the man who owns these things.” She said, “Look and see, who owns this ring for marking a name, and this string and stick?” ²⁶ Judah saw that they belonged to him. He said, “She is more right than I, because I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not lie with her again.

²⁷ When the time came for Tamar to give birth, there were two babies. ²⁸ While she was giving birth, one put out a hand. The nurse took his hand and tied a red string around it, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ But when he pulled away his hand, his brother was born. Then she said, “What an opening you have made for yourself!” So he was given the name of Perez. ³⁰ After that, his brother came out with the red string around his hand. He was given the name Zerah.

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt by the Ishmaelites. And Potiphar, an Egyptian leader, the head of the soldiers of Pharaoh’s house, bought him from the Ishmaelites. ² The Lord was with Joseph, and all went well with him. He was in the house of his boss the Egyptian. ³ Now his boss saw that the Lord was with him. He saw how the Lord made all that Joseph did go well. ⁴ So Joseph found favor in his eyes, and worked only for him. Potiphar made him the one to watch over his house and take care of all that he owned. ⁵ And from the time that he watched over his house and all he owned, the Lord brought good to the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph. The Lord brought good upon all that he owned in the house and in the field. ⁶ So he put all he owned in Joseph’s care. Having Joseph near, he did not need to think about anything but the food he ate. Now Joseph was strong and good-looking. ⁷ The time came when his boss’s wife saw him, and she said, “Lie with me.” ⁸ But he would not do it. He said to his boss’s wife, “See, with me near, my boss does not worry about anything in the house. He has put all he owns in my care. ⁹ There is no one more important in this house than I. And he has held nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this sinful thing, and sin against God?”

¹⁰ She spoke to Joseph day after day. But he did not listen to her. He would not lie with her or be with her. ¹¹ Then one day Joseph went into the house to do his work. None of the men of the house were inside. ¹² She caught him by his coat, saying, “Lie with me!” But he ran out of the house leaving the coat in her hand. ¹³ When she saw that he had left his coat in her hand and had run out of the house, ¹⁴ she called the men of her house. And she said to them, “See, this Hebrew has been brought to us to make fun of us. He came in to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. ¹⁵ When he heard my loud cry, he left his coat with me and ran outside.”

¹⁶ She kept his coat with her until his boss came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came to me to lie with me. ¹⁸ But when I called out in a loud voice, he left his coat with me and ran outside.” ¹⁹ When his boss heard his wife’s story and her words, “This is what your servant did to me,” he became very angry. ²⁰ So Joseph’s boss took him and put him in prison, the place where the men who did wrong against the king were put in chains. So there he was in prison.

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him kindness. He gave him favor in the eyes of the man who watched over the prison. ²² The head of the prison put all the men who were in prison into Joseph’s care. So whatever was done there was because of Joseph. ²³ The head of the prison did not worry about anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with him. The Lord made all go well with whatever Joseph did.