1 Jacob made his home in the land {erets: territorial possession} where his father had lived as a resident outsider, in the land of Canaan {Kenaan: ancient promised territory}.
2 This is the family record {toledot: family records} of Jacob: Joseph was seventeen years old and was tending the flock with his brothers, and he—the youth {naar: junior household member}—was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought to their father a report about them that was evil.
3 Now Israel {Yisrael: renamed patriarch} loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was a son of his old age, and he prepared for him a special robe {ketonet passim: distinctive status garment}.
4 When his brothers saw that their father loved {ahav: special favor} him more than all the rest, they came to hate him and could not speak to him with peace {shalom: complete well-being}.
5 Joseph {Yosef: He adds} had a dream {chalom: significant symbolic vision}, and he told it to his brothers; then their hatred of him increased even more.
6 He said to them, “Please {na: polite entreaty} hear what I dreamed—the dream {chalom: vision received in sleep} I have had.”
7 Behold, we were binding sheaves {alumim: bundled stalks} out in the field, and my sheaf rose up and stood upright; then your sheaves came around and bowed down {vatishtachavenah: deep obeisance} to my sheaf.
8 His brothers said to him, “Will you truly reign {malakh: exercise royal authority} over us? Will you in fact rule {mashal: have dominion} us?” So their hatred of him increased even more because of his dreams and because of his words.
9 Then he dreamed another dream {chalom: symbolic revelation}, and again he told it to his brothers, saying, “Behold, I have dreamed again: the sun and the moon and eleven stars are bowing down to me {mishtachavim: offering homage}.”
10 He recounted {saper: vivid narration} it to his father and to his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream {chalom: symbolic vision} you have dreamed? Shall we really come— I and your mother and your brothers— to bow down to you to the ground?”
11 His brothers became jealous of him, but his father {av: family head} kept the matter {davar: important matter} within himself.
12 His brothers went on to pasture the flock {tson: sheep and goats} belonging to their father at Shechem {Shekhem: ancient Canaanite town}.
13 And Israel {Yisrael: Covenant Father} said to Joseph, “Your brothers are tending the flock in Shechem, are they not? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he answered, “Here I am {hineni: ready to serve}.”
14 He said to him, "Go, please, and look into the welfare of your brothers {akheikha: your male siblings} and the welfare of the flock {hatson: household animals}, and return to me with word." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and Joseph came to Shechem.
15 A man {ish: unidentified figure} came upon him, and saw that he was wandering {toe: aimlessly moving} in the field; the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”
16 And he said, “I am seeking my brothers {akhai: close kin}. Please tell me where they are pasturing {roim: tending animals}.”
17 The man said, “They have moved on from here, because I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph {Yosef: God Increases} followed after his brothers and found them in Dothan {Dotan: double wells}.
18 They saw him from a distance {merachok: noticeable separation}, and before he came near, they conspired {vayitnaklu: plotted with hostility} against him to put him to death.
19 They said, each man {ish: each individual} to his brother, “Look—this master of dreams {baal hachalomot: person defined by dreams} is coming.”
20 And now let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits {bor: underground cistern}; then we will say, “A wild animal {chayah: beast of prey} ate him.” After that, we will see what becomes of his dreams.
21 On hearing this, Reuben {Reuven: Eldest Brother} intervened to rescue him from their hand, declaring, “Let us not strike him {naken: strike down}.”
22 Reuben said to them, “Do not shed blood. Throw him into this pit {bor: water storage pit} in the wilderness, but do not stretch out a hand {yad: violent action} against him”—so that he could rescue him from their hand and bring him back to his father.
23 When Joseph {Yosef: he adds} came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his tunic {ketonet: ankle-length garment}, the multicolored tunic that he was wearing.
24 They seized him and threw him {vayyashlikhu: forcefully cast} into the pit {bor: underground cistern}. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat bread, lifted their eyes, and saw: behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead with their camels carrying gum and balm {tsri: healing sap} and resin {lot: fragrant resin}, on their way to take it down to Egypt.
26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What gain {betsa: material profit} would there be in killing our brother {achinu: close relative} and hiding his blood?”
27 Let us sell him to the Ishmaelites {yishmeelim: caravan traders}, and let our hand not be against him, for he is our brother {achinu: immediate kinsman} and our flesh. His brothers listened.
28 Then a company of Midianite traders passed by and hoisted Joseph from the pit, and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver {kasef: money of exchange} and carried him into Egypt {mitsraymah: Nile region}.
29 Reuben returned to the pit {bor: water cistern}, and saw that Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments {beged: outer clothing}.
30 And he went back to his brothers and said, "The boy {yeled: young family member} is gone! And I—where shall I go {anah: direction of safety}?"
31 They took Joseph’s robe {ketonet: distinctive outer garment}, slaughtered a young male goat, and dipped the robe in the blood {dam: life-bearing blood}.
32 And they sent the ornate tunic {ketonet passim: specially decorated garment} and brought it to their father, saying, “This we found. Please examine {haker-na: investigate carefully}—is it your son’s tunic, or not?”
33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A wild animal {chayah: predatory creature} has devoured him; Joseph {Yosef: cherished son} has surely been torn to pieces.”
34 Jacob {yaaqov: mourning father} tore his garments, put sackcloth {sak: mourning garment} on his loins, and mourned his son for many days.
35 All his sons and all his daughters rose to comfort him, yet he would not be comforted. He said, “I will go down in mourning to my son, to Sheol {sheol: underworld of death},” and his father {aviv: household patriarch} wept for him.
36 The Medanites {medanim: desert traders} sold him in Egypt, consigning him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and chief of the guards {hatabachim: royal executioners}.