Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 70
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IMMERSE
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BEGINNINGS
37:8-25
His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do
you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more
because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.
Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it.
“Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven
stars bowed low before me!”
This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but
his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your
mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground
before you?” But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.
Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at
Shechem. When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph,
“Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will
send you to them.”
“I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied.
“Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along,” Jacob
said. “Then come back and bring me a report.” So Jacob sent him on his
way, and Joseph traveled to Shechem from their home in the valley of
Hebron.
When he arrived there, a man from the area noticed him wandering
around the countryside. “What are you looking for?” he asked.
“I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Do you know where they
are pasturing their sheep?”
“Yes,” the man told him. “They have moved on from here, but I heard
them say, ‘Let’s go on to Dothan.’” So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there.
When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the
distance. As he approached, they made plans to kill him. “Here comes the
dreamer!” they said. “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of
these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then
we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”
But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue.
“Let’s not kill him,” he said. “Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just
throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die
without our laying a hand on him.” Reuben was secretly planning to rescue
Joseph and return him to his father.
So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he
was wearing. Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now
the cistern was empty; there was no water in it. Then, just as they were
sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the
