Joseph had two dreams about himself and his brothers
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1 Jacob continued to live in the region of Canaan, where his father had lived. 2 I will now tell you what happened to Jacob's family.When his son Joseph was seventeen years old, he was taking care of the flocks of sheep and goats with some of his older brothers. They were sons of his father's female slaves whom he had taken to be his secondary wives. Joseph sometimes told his father about bad things that his older brothers were doing.
3 Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved any of his other children, because Joseph had been born when Jacob was an old man. Jacob made for Joseph a long pretty robe that had long sleeves. 4 When Joseph's older brothers realized that their father loved him more than he loved any of them, they hated him. They never spoke kindly to him.
5 One night Joseph had a dream, and he told his brothers about it. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had! 7 In the dream, we were tying up bundles of wheat in the field. Suddenly my bundle stood up straight, and surprisingly, your bundles gathered around my bundle and bowed down to it!” 8 His brothers said to him, “Do you think that some day you will rule over us? Are you saying that some day you are going to be our king?” They hated him even more than before because of what he had told them about his dream.
9 Later he had another dream, and again he told his older brothers about it. He said, “Listen to this! I had another dream. In this dream, the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me!” 10 He also told his father about it. His father rebuked him. He said to him, “What are you suggesting by that dream? Do you think it means that your mother and I and your older brothers will some day bow down to the ground in front of you?” 11 Joseph's older brothers were furious with him, but his father just kept thinking about what the dream might mean.
12 One day Joseph's older brothers went to take care of their father's sheep and goats that were grazing near Shechem. 13 Some time later, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are taking care of the sheep and goats near Shechem. I am going to send you there to see them.” Joseph replied, “Okay.” 14 Jacob said, “Go and see if they are doing okay, and if the flocks are doing okay. Then come back and give me a report.” So Jacob sent Joseph from the valley where they were living, the valley where Hebron is, to go north to find his brothers.
When Joseph got close to the city of Shechem, 15 while he was wandering around in the fields looking for his brothers, a man saw him and asked him, “Whom are you looking for?” 16 Joseph replied, “I am looking for my older brothers. Can you tell me where they are taking care of their sheep and goats?” 17 The man replied, “They are not here anymore. I heard one of them saying, ‘Let's take the sheep and goats and go to the town of Dothan.'"
Joseph was taken to Egypt after his brothers sold him.
So Joseph left there and went north and found his older brothers near Dothan. 18 But they saw him when he was still far away, and they decided to kill him. 19 They said to each other things like “Here comes that dreamer!” 20 “Hey, let's kill him, and then throw his body into one of the cisterns. Then we will tell people that a wild animal attacked and killed him and ate him. And then we will find out whether his dreams come true!”
21 Reuben heard what they were saying, so he tried to persuade them not to kill Joseph. He said, “No, we should not kill him. 22 Do not even shed his blood! We can throw him into this cistern in the desert, but we should not harm him.” He said that and then left them, planning to rescue Joseph later and take him back to his father.
23 So when Joseph arrived where his older brothers were, they seized him and ripped off his pretty robe with long sleeves. 24 Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. But the cistern was dry; there was no water in it.
25 After they sat down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of traders, descendants of Ishmael, coming from the area of Gilead. Their camels were loaded with bags of spices and nice-smelling resins. They were going down to Egypt to sell those things there. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “If we kill our younger brother and hide his body, what will we gain? Nothing! 27 So, instead of harming him, let's sell him to these men who are descendants of Ishmael. Don't forget, he is our own brother!” They all agreed to do what Judah suggested.
28 So when those traders from the area of Midian came near, Joseph's brothers pulled him up out of the cistern. Then they sold him to the men from Midian for 20 pieces of silver. The traders then took Joseph to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the cistern, he saw that his younger brother was not there. He was so grieved that he tore his clothes. 30 He went back to his other brothers and said, “The boy is not in the cistern! What shall I do now?”
31 They did not dare to tell their father what they had done. So they decided to invent a story about what had happened. They got Joseph's robe. Then they killed a goat and dipped the robe in the goat's blood. 32 They took that pretty robe back to their father and said, “We found this robe! Look at it. Is it your son's robe?” 33 He recognized it, and he said, “Yes, it is my son's robe! Some wild animal must have attacked and killed him! I am sure that Joseph has been torn to pieces!”
34 Jacob was so grieved that he tore his clothes. He put on coarse mourning clothes. He mourned for his son for many days. 35 All of his children came to try to comfort him, but he did not pay attention to what they said. He said, “No, I will still be mourning when I die and go to be with my son.” So Joseph's father continued to mourn because of what had happened to his son.
36 In the meantime, the traders from Midian took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, who was one of the king's officials. He was the captain of the soldiers who guarded the king.