the Fourth Week of Advent
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Read the Bible
Myles Coverdale Bible
Genesis 37
1 Iacob dwelt in ye lande, wherin his father was a straunger, namely in the lade of Canaa.2 And these are ye generacios of Iacob. Ioseph was seuetene yeare olde, wha he became a keper of the catell wt his brethren, & the lad was wt the children of Bilha & Silpa his fathers wyues, and tolde their father of ye euell reporte yt was of the.3 Israel loued Ioseph more the all his childre because he had begotte him in his olde age, and he made him a cote of many coloures.4 Now wha his brethre sawe, yt his father loued him more the all his brethre, they had euell wyll at him, & coude not speake a fredly worde vnto hi.
5 Ioseph also had once a dreame, and tolde his brethre therof. The hated they him ye more,6 for he sayde: Heare I praye you what I dreamed.7 Me thought we were byndinge sheeues vpo ye felde, & my shefe arose, and stode vp, and youre sheeues rounde aboute made obeysaunce vnto my shefe.8 Then sayde his brethre vnto him: Shalt thou be or kinge, and haue domynio ouer vs? And they hated him yet ye more, because of his dreame, & his wordes.9 And he had yet another dreame, which he tolde his brethre, & saide: Beholde, I had yet another dreame: Me thought ye Sonne & ye Moone & eleuen starres made obeisauce to me.10 And wha this was tolde his father and his brethre, his father reproued him, & sayde vnto him: What maner of dreame is this, yt thou hast dreamed? Shall I & thy mother, & thy brethren come & fall before ye vpon the groude?11 And his brethre had envie at him. But his father marcked this sayenge.
12 Now wha his brethren were gone forth to kepe their fathers catell in Siche,13 Israel sayde vnto Ioseph: Do not yi brethren kepe the catell in Sichem? Come, I wil sende the vnto the. He answered: Here am I.14 And he sayde: Go thy waye, and loke whether it be well wt thy brethren and with ye catell, and brynge me worde agayne how it is. And he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, to go vnto Sichem.15 Then a certayne man founde him, wandringe out of his waye in the felde, which axed him, and sayde: Whom sekest thou?16 He answered: I seke my brethren: tell me I pray the where they kepe.17 The man sayde: They are gone from hence, for I herde them saye: let vs go vnto Dothan. Then folowed Ioseph after his brethren, and founde them at Dothan.18 Now whan they sawe him a farre of, afore he came at the, they deuysed to sleye him,19 and sayde one to another: Lo, there cometh the dreamer,20 come on, and let vs sley him, & cast him in a pytt, and saye: a wicked beast hath deuoured him: the shal it be sene, what his dreames are.21 When Ruben herde that, he wolde haue delyuered him out of their handes, & sayde: O let vs not sley a soule.22 Ruben sayde morouer vnto him: Shed no bloude, but cast him in to this pytt yt is in the wyldernes, & laye ye no hades vpon him. (He wolde haue delyuered him out of their hades, yt he might haue brought him agayne vnto his father.)
23 Whan Ioseph now came to his brethre, they stryped him out of his cote, that partye coloured cote which he had vpon him,24 & toke him and cast him in to a pytt. But the same pytt was emptye, and no water in it,25 & they sat them downe to eate. In the meane season they lift vp their eyes, and sawe a copany of Ismaelites comynge from Gilead, with their camels, which bare spyces, balme, and myrre, and were goinge downe into Egipte.26 Then saide Iuda vnto his brethre: what helpeth it vs, that we sleye oure brother, and hyde his bloude?27 Come, let vs sell him vnto the Ismaelites, that oure handes be not defyled vpon him, for he is oure brother, oure flesh and bloude. And they herkened vnto him.28 And as the Madianites marchaunt men wente by, they drew Ioseph out of the pytt, and solde him vnto the Ismaelites (for twetye syluer pens) which brought him in to Egipte.29 Now whan Ruben came agayne vnto the pytt, & founde not Ioseph therin, he rent his clothes,30 and came agayne to his brethre and sayde: The lad is not yonder, whyther shal I go?
31 Then toke they Iosephs cote & slewe a goate, and dypped the cote in ye bloude,32 and sent awaye that partie coloured cote, and caused it be brought vnto their father and sayde: This haue we founde, loke, whether it be thy sonnes coate, or no.33 But he knewe it, and sayde: It is my sonnes coate, a wicked beast hath deuoured him, a rauyshinge beast hath rauyshed Ioseph.34 And Iacob rete his clothes, and put a sack cloth aboute his loynes, & mourned for his sonne a longe season.35 And all his sonnes & doughters came vnto him to coforte him. But he wolde not be coforted, & saide: With sorowe wil I go downe in to the graue vnto my sonne. And his father wepte for him.36 But the Madianites solde him in Egipte vnto Potiphar Pharaos chefe Marshall.