CHAPTER 37
1 Forsooth Jacob dwelled in the land of Canaan, in which his father was a pilgrim; (And Jacob lived in the land of Canaan, where his father was a foreigner;)
2 and these were the generations of him. Joseph when he was of sixteen years, yet a child, kept a flock with his brethren, and he was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, the wives of his father; and he accused his brethren at the father of the worst sin. (and this is the story of his descendants. Joseph, when he was seventeen years old, yet a boy, kept a flock with his brothers, and he was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and he accused his brothers of the worst sins to their father.)
3 Forsooth Israel loved Joseph above all his sons, for he had begotten him in his eld (age); and he made to Joseph a coat of many colours (or and he made a coat of many colours for Joseph).
4 Forsooth his brethren saw that he was loved of the father more than all they, and they hated him, and might not speak anything peaceably to him. (And his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved any of them, and so they hated him, and would not say a kind word to him.)
5 And it befelled that he told to his brethren a sweven that he saw, which cause was the seed of more hatred. (And it befell that he told his brothers about a dream that he had, which was the reason, yea, the seed, of even more hatred.)
6 And Joseph said to his brethren, Hear ye the sweven which I saw,
7 I guessed that we bound together sheaves, or handfuls, [in the field], and that as mine handful rose up, and stood (upright), and that your handfuls stood about, and worshipped mine handful. (I saw that we all bound up sheaves in the field, and when my sheaf rose up, and stood upright, all your sheaves stood around, and bowed before my sheaf.)
8 His brethren answered, Whether thou shalt be our king, either we shall be made subject to thy lordship? Therefore this cause of dreams and words ministered the nourishing of envy, and of hatred (or And so these dreams and words were the reason that envy and hatred were nourished among them).
9 Also Joseph saw another sweven, which he told to his brethren, and said, I saw a dream that as the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars worshipped me. (And Joseph saw another dream, which he also told to his brothers, saying, I saw in a dream that the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars all bowed before me.)
10 And when he had told this dream to his father, and his brethren, his father blamed him, and said, What will this dream mean to itself that thou hast seen? Whether I, and thy mother, and thy brethren, shall worship thee on (the) earth? (And when he told this dream to his father, and his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said, What meaneth this dream that thou hast seen? Shall I, and thy mother, and thy brothers, all bow low to the ground before thee?)
11 Therefore his brethren had envy to him. Forsooth the father beheld privily the thing, (And so his brothers envied him, but his father privately considered it all.)
12 and when his brethren dwelled in Shechem, about [the] keeping of [the] flocks of their father, (And one day, when his brothers were tending their father’s flocks in Shechem,)
13 Israel said to Joseph, Thy brethren keep (the) sheep in Shechem (or Thy brothers tend the sheep in Shechem); come thou, I shall send thee to them. And when Joseph answered, I am ready,
14 Israel said, Go thou, and see whether all things be wellsome with thy brethren, and (with) the sheep; and (then come back, and) tell thou to me what is done. (And so) He was sent from the valley of Hebron, and came into Shechem;
15 and a man found him erring in the field (or and a man found him wandering in a field), and the man asked him, what he sought.
16 And he answered, I seek my brethren; show thou to me where they keep their flocks. (And he answered, I am looking for my brothers; tell thou to me where they tend their flocks.)
17 And the man said to him, They went away from this place; forsooth I heard them saying, Go we into Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
18 And when they had seen him afar (off), before he nighed to them, they thought to slay him (or they decided to kill him),
19 and they spake together, (and said), Lo! the dreamer cometh,
20 come ye, slay we him, and put we him into an eld cistern, and we shall say, A wild beast full wicked hath devoured him; and then it shall appear what his dreams profit to him. (come ye, let us kill him, yea, we shall put him into an old cistern, and we shall say, A wicked wild beast hath devoured him; and then we shall see what his dreams shall profit him.)
21 Soothly Reuben heard this, and endeavoured to deliver him from their hands, and said, Slay we not the life of him, (or and he said, No, we should not kill him),
22 neither shed we out his blood, but cast ye him into an eld cistern, which is in the wilderness, and (so) keep ye your hands guiltless. Forsooth he said this, desiring to deliver him from their hands, and to yield him(again) to his father.
23 Therefore anon as Joseph came to his brethren, they despoiled him of his coat, (that went) down to the heel, and (was) of many colours, (And so when Joseph came to his brothers, at once they tore off the coat, that went down to his heels, and had many colours,)
24 and they put him in[to] an eld cistern, that had no water.
25 And (then) they sat (down) to eat bread; and (soon) they saw that (some) Ishmaelite waygoers came from Gilead, and that their camels bare sweet smelling spiceries, and resin, and stacte, into Egypt (or to take to Egypt).
26 Therefore Judah said to his brethren, What shall it profit to us, if we shall slay our brother, and shall hide his blood? (And so Judah said to his brothers, What shall it profit us, if we kill our brother, and then hide his blood?)
27 It is better that he be sold to (the) Ishmaelites, and our hands be not defouled, for he is our brother and our flesh. His brethren assented to these words;
28 and (so) when [the] merchants of Midian passed thereforth, they drew Joseph out of the cistern, and sold him to (the) Ishmaelites, for twenty pieces of silver; which led him into Egypt (or and they took him down to Egypt).
29 And Reuben turned again to the cistern, and found not the child; and he rent his clothes, (And when Reuben returned to the cistern, he did not find the boy; and he tore his clothes,)
30 and he went to his brethren, and said, The child appeareth not, and whither shall I go? (and he went to his brothers, and said, The boy is gone, now what shall I do?)
31 Forsooth they took his coat, and dipped it in the blood of a kid, which they had slain;
32 and they sent men that bare it to their father, and said, We have found this coat; see thou, whether it is the coat of thy son, or nay. (and they brought it to their father, and said to him, We have found this coat; see thou, is it thy son’s coat, or not.)
33 And when the(ir) father had known it (to be such), he said, It is the coat of my son; a wild beast full wicked hath eaten him (or a wicked wild beast must hath eaten him); a beast hath devoured Joseph.
34 And he rent his clothes, and he was clothed with an hair-shirt, and bewailed his son in much time (or and for a long time he bewailed his son).
35 Soothly when his free children were gathered together, that they should appease the sorrow of their father, he would not take comfort; but said, I shall go down into hell, and shall bewail my son. And while Jacob continued in weeping, (And his children gathered together, to try to appease their father’s sorrow, but he would not take comfort from them; and he said, I shall go down into the grave or I shall go down to Sheol, bewailing my son. And while Jacob continued weeping,)
36 (the) Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, (a) chaste and honest servant of Pharaoh [or the gelding of Pharaoh], master of the chivalry. (the Midianites now in Egypt, sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s eunuchs, and the captain of the guard.)