Genesis 37

¹Forsothe Jacob dwellide in the lond of Canaan, in which his fadir was a pilgrym; and these weren the generaciouns of hym.

²Joseph whanne he was of sixtene yeer, yit a child, kepte a flok with hise britheren, and was with the sones of Bala and Zelfa, wyues of his fadir; and he accuside his britheren at the fadir of `the worste synne.

³Forsothe Israel louyde Joseph ouer alle hise sones, for he hadde gendrid hym in eelde; and he made to Joseph a cote of many colours.

⁴Forsothe hise britheren sien that he was loued of the fader more than alle, and thei hatiden hym, and myyten not speke ony thing pesibli to hym.

⁵And it bifelde that he telde to hise britheren a sweuene seyn, which cause was `the seed of more hatrede.

⁶And Joseph seide to his britheren, Here ye the sweuene which Y seiy,

⁷Y gesside that we bounden to gidere handfuls, and that as myn handful roos, and stood, and that youre handfuls stoden aboute and worschipiden myn handful.

⁸Hise britheren answerden, Whether thou shalt be oure kyng, ethir we shulen be maad suget to thi lordschip? Therfor this cause of sweuenys and wordis mynystride the nurschyng of enuye, and of hatrede.

⁹Also Joseph seiy another sweuene, which he telde to the britheren, and seide, Y seiy bi a sweuene that as the sunne, and moone, and enleuen sterris worschipiden me.

¹⁰And whanne he hadde teld this sweuene to his fadir, and britheren, his fadir blamyde him, and seide, What wole this sweuene to it silf which thou hast seyn? Whether Y and thi modir, and thi britheren, schulen worschipe thee on erthe?

¹¹Therfor hise britheren hadden enuye to hym. Forsothe the fadir bihelde pryuely the thing,

¹²and whanne his britheren dwelliden in Sichem, aboute flockis of the fadir `to be kept,

¹³Israel seide to Joseph, Thi britheren kepen scheep in Sichymys; come thou, Y schal sende thee to hem.

¹⁴And whanne Joseph answerde, Y am redi, Israel seide, Go thou, and se whether alle thingis ben esi anentis thi britheren, and scheep; and telle thou to me what is doon. He was sent fro the valey of Ebron, and cam into Sichem;

¹⁵and a man foond hym errynge in the feeld, and `the man axide, what he souyte.

¹⁶And he answerde, Y seke my britheren, schewe thou to me where thei kepten flockis.

¹⁷And the man seide to hym, Thei yeden awei fro this place; forsothe Y herde hem seiynge, Go we into Dothaym. And Joseph yede aftir his britheren, and foond hem in Dothaym.

¹⁸And whanne thei hadden seyn hym afer, bifor that he neiyede to hem,

¹⁹thei thouyten to sle hym, and spaken to gidere, Lo! the dremere cometh, come ye,

²⁰sle we hym, and sende we into an eld sisterne, and we schulen seie, A wielde beeste ful wickid hath deuourid hym; and thanne it schal appere what hise dremes profiten to hym.

²¹Sotheli Ruben herde this, and enforside to delyuere hym fro her hondis,

²²and seide, Sle we not the lijf of hym, nether schede we out his blood, but caste ye hym into an eeld cisterne, which is in the wildirnesse, and kepe ye youre hondis gilteles. Forsothe he seide this, willynge to delyuere hym fro her hondis, and to yelde to his fadir.

²³Therfor anoon as Joseph cam to hise britheren, thei dispuyliden hym of the coote, doun to the heele, and of many colours, and senten into the eeld cisterne,

²⁴that hadde no water.

²⁵And thei saten `to ete breed; and thei sien that Ismaelitis weigoers camen fro Galaad, and that her camels baren swete smellynge spiceries, and `rosyn, and stacten, into Egipt.

²⁶Therfor Judas seide to hise britheren, What schal it profite to vs, if we schulen sle oure brother, and schulen hide his blood?

²⁷It is betere that he be seeld to Ismalitis, and oure hondis be not defoulid, for he is oure brother and fleisch. The britheren assentiden to these wordis;

²⁸and whanne marchauntis of Madian passiden forth, thei drowen hym out of the cisterne, and seelden hym to Ismaelitis, for thriytti platis of siluer; whiche ledden hym in to Egipt.

²⁹And Ruben turnede ayen to the cisterne, and foond not the child;

³⁰and he to-rente his closis, and he yede to hise britheren, and seide, The child apperith not, and whidir schal Y go?

³¹Forsothe thei token his coote, and dippiden in the blood of a kide, which thei hadden slayn; and senten men that baren to the fadir,

³²and seiden, We han founde this coote, se, whether it is the coote of thi sone, ether nai.

³³And whanne the fader hadde knowe it, he seide, It is the coote of my sone, a wielde beeste ful wickid hath ete hym, a beeste hath deuourid Joseph.

³⁴And he to-rente his clothis, and he was clothid with an heire, and biweilide his sone in myche tyme.

³⁵Sothely whanne hise fre children weren gaderid to gidere, that thei schulden peese the sorewe of the fadir, he nolde take counfort, but seide, Y schal go doun in to helle, and schal biweile my sone. And the while Jacob contynude in wepyng,

³⁶Madianytis seelden Joseph into Egipt to Putifar, chast `and onest seruaunt of Farao, maistir of the chyualrie.

Genesis 37

¹And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.

²These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

³Now 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 colours.

⁴And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

⁵And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

⁶And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:

⁷For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

⁸And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

⁹And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

¹⁰And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

¹¹And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

¹²And his brethren went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.

¹³And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.

¹⁴And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

¹⁵And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

¹⁶And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.

¹⁷And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

¹⁹And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.

²⁰Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

²¹And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.

²²And 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 rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.

²³And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;

²⁴And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

²⁵And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

²⁶And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?

²⁷Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.

²⁸Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

²⁹And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.

³⁰And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?

³¹And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;

³²And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.

³³And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.

³⁴And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

³⁵And 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 into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.

³⁶And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.