Lockman - Bible questions and answers

		Gen 37:1 Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan.
		Gen 37:2 These are the records of the generations of Jacob. ¶ Joseph, when seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers while he was still a youth, along with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.
		Gen 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic.
		Gen 37:4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.
		Gen 37:5 ¶ Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
		Gen 37:6 He said to them, "Please listen to this dream which I have had;
		Gen 37:7 for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf."
		Gen 37:8 Then his brothers said to him, "Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
		Gen 37:9 ¶ Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, "Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
		Gen 37:10 He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?"
		Gen 37:11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
		Gen 37:12 ¶ Then his brothers went to pasture their father's flock in Shechem.
		Gen 37:13 Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." And he said to him, "I will go."
		Gen 37:14 Then he said to him, "Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
		Gen 37:15 ¶ A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, "What are you looking for?"
		Gen 37:16 He said, "I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock."
		Gen 37:17 Then the man said, "They have moved from here; for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
		Gen 37:18 ¶ When they saw him from a distance and before he came close to them, they plotted against him to put him to death.
		Gen 37:19 They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer!
		Gen 37:20 "Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, 'A wild beast devoured him.' Then let us see what will become of his dreams!"
		Gen 37:21 But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands and said, "Let us not take his life."
		Gen 37:22 Reuben further said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him"--that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father.
		Gen 37:23 So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him;
		Gen 37:24 and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.
		Gen 37:25 ¶ Then they sat down to eat a meal. And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt.
		Gen 37:26 Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood?
		Gen 37:27 "Come and 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.
		Gen 37:28 Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.
		Gen 37:29 ¶ Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments.
		Gen 37:30 He returned to his brothers and said, "The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?"
		Gen 37:31 So they took Joseph's tunic, and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood;
		Gen 37:32 and they sent the varicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, "We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son's tunic or not."
		Gen 37:33 Then he examined it and said, "It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!"
		Gen 37:34 So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.
		Gen 37:35 Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, "Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son." So his father wept for him.
		Gen 37:36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh's officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

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