Genesis 37:33 - Prayer Tents

37Meanwhile Jacob had settled down where his father had lived, the land of Canaan.H3290H3427H776H1H4033H776H3667

Joseph and His Brothers

2This is the story of Jacob. The story continues with Joseph, seventeen years old at the time, helping out his brothers in herding the flocks. These were his half brothers actually, the sons of his father's wives Bilhah and Zilpah. And Joseph brought his father bad reports on them.H8435H3290H3130H6240H7651H8141H1121H7462H6629H251H5288H1121H1090H1121H2153H1H802H3130H935H1H7451H1681 3Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the child of his old age. And he made him an elaborately embroidered coat.H3478H157H3130H1121H1121H2208H6213H3801H6446 4When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him—they wouldn't even speak to him.H251H7200H1H157H251H8130H3201H1696H7965 5Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.H3130H2492H2472H5046H251H8130H3254 6He said, "Listen to this dream I had.H559H8085H2472H2492 7We were all out in the field gathering bundles of wheat. All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and your bundles circled around it and bowed down to mine."H481H8432H485H7704H485H6965H5324H485H5437H7812H485 8His brothers said, "So! You're going to rule us? You're going to boss us around?" And they hated him more than ever because of his dreams and the way he talked.H251H559H4427H4427H4910H4910H8130H3254H2472H1697 9He had another dream and told this one also to his brothers: "I dreamed another dream—the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed down to me!"H2492H312H2472H5608H251H559H2492H2472H8121H3394H6240H259H3556H7812 10When he told it to his father and brothers, his father reprimanded him: "What's with all this dreaming? Am I and your mother and your brothers all supposed to bow down to you?"H5608H1H251H1H1605H559H2472H2492H517H251H935H935H7812H776 11Now his brothers were really jealous; but his father brooded over the whole business.H251H7065H1H8104H1697 12His brothers had gone off to Shechem where they were pasturing their father's flocks.H251H3212H7462H1H6629H7927 13Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers are with flocks in Shechem. Come, I want to send you to them." Joseph said, "I'm ready."H3478H559H3130H251H7462H7927H3212H7971H559 14He said, "Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing and bring me back a report." He sent him off from the valley of Hebron to Shechem.H559H3212H7200H7965H251H7965H6629H7725H1697H7725H7971H6010H2275H935H7927 15A man met him as he was wandering through the fields and asked him, "What are you looking for?"H376H4672H8582H7704H376H7592H559H1245 16"I'm trying to find my brothers. Do you have any idea where they are grazing their flocks?"H559H1245H251H5046H375H7462 17The man said, "They've left here, but I overheard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.'" So Joseph took off, tracked his brothers down, and found them in Dothan.H376H559H5265H2088H8085H559H3212H1886H3130H3212H310H251H4672H1886 18They spotted him off in the distance. By the time he got to them they had cooked up a plot to kill him.H7200H7350H7126H5230H4191 19The brothers were saying, "Here comes that dreamer.H559H376H251H1976H1167H2472H935 20Let's kill him and throw him into one of these old cisterns; we can say that a vicious animal ate him up. We'll see what his dreams amount to."H3212H2026H7993H259H953H559H7451H2416H398H7200H2472 21Reuben heard the brothers talking and intervened to save him, "We're not going to kill him.H7205H8085H5337H3027H559H5221H5315 22No murder. Go ahead and throw him in this cistern out here in the wild, but don't hurt him." Reuben planned to go back later and get him out and take him back to his father.H7205H559H8210H1818H7993H953H4057H7971H3027H5337H3027H7725H1H7725 23When Joseph reached his brothers, they ripped off the fancy coat he was wearing,H3130H935H251H6584H853H3130H854H3801H3801H6446 24grabbed him, and threw him into a cistern. The cistern was dry; there wasn't any water in it.H3947H7993H953H953H7386H4325 25Then they sat down to eat their supper. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites on their way from Gilead, their camels loaded with spices, ointments, and perfumes to sell in Egypt.H3427H398H3899H5375H5869H7200H736H3459H935H1568H1581H5375H5219H6875H3910H1980H3381H4714 26Judah said, "Brothers, what are we going to get out of killing our brother and concealing the evidence?H3063H559H251H1215H2026H251H3680H1818 27Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let's not kill him—he is, after all, our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed.H3212H4376H3459H3027H251H1320H251H8085 28By that time the Midianite traders were passing by. His brothers pulled Joseph out of the cistern and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites who took Joseph with them down to Egypt.H5674H4084H582H5503H4900H5927H3130H953H4376H3130H3459H6242H3701H935H3130H4714 29Later Reuben came back and went to the cistern—no Joseph! He ripped his clothes in despair.H7205H7725H953H3130H953H7167H899 30Beside himself, he went to his brothers. "The boy's gone! What am I going to do!"H7725H251H559H3206H575H935 31They took Joseph's coat, butchered a goat, and dipped the coat in the blood.H3947H3130H3801H7819H8163H5795H2881H3801H1818 32They took the fancy coat back to their father and said, "We found this. Look it over—do you think this is your son's coat?"H7971H3801H6446H935H1H559H4672H5234H1121H3801 33He recognized it at once. "My son's coat—a wild animal has eaten him. Joseph torn limb from limb!"H5234H559H1121H3801H7451H2416H398H3130H2963H2963 34Jacob tore his clothes in grief, dressed in rough burlap, and mourned his son a long, long time.H3290H7167H8071H7760H8242H4975H56H1121H7227H3117 35His sons and daughters tried to comfort him but he refused their comfort. "I'll go to the grave mourning my son." Oh, how his father wept for him.H1121H1323H6965H5162H3985H5162H559H3381H7585H1121H57H1H1058 36In Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, manager of his household affairs.H4092H4376H4714H6318H5631H6547H8269H2876