DaySpring Hope & Encouragement Bible - Flipbook - Page 71
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G enesis 38
So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was
wearing. 24 Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the
cistern was empty; there was no water in it. 25 Then, just as they were sitting
down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance
coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of
gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother?
We’d have to cover up the crime.* 27 Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to
those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother—our own flesh and
blood!” And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the Ishmaelites, who were Mid
ianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and
sold him to them for twenty pieces* of silver. And the traders took him to
Egypt.
29 Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the cistern. When
he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in grief. 30 Then
he went back to his brothers and lamented, “The boy is gone! What will I
do now?”
31 Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its
blood. 32 They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look
at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?”
33 Their father recognized it immediately. “Yes,” he said, “it is my son’s
robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Joseph has clearly been torn to
pieces!” 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes and dressed himself in burlap. He
mourned deeply for his son for a long time. 35 His family all tried to comfort
him, but he refused to be comforted. “I will go to my grave* mourning for
my son,” he would say, and then he would weep.
36 Meanwhile, the Midianite traders* arrived in Egypt, where they sold
Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Potiphar was
captain of the palace guard.
23
Judah and Tamar
About this time, Judah left home and moved to Adullam, where he
stayed with a man named Hirah. 2 There he saw a Canaanite woman,
the daughter of Shua, and he married her. When he slept with her, 3 she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he named the boy Er. 4 Then she
became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, and she named him
Onan. 5 And when she gave birth to a third son, she named him Shelah. At
the time of Shelah’s birth, they were living at Kezib.
6 In the course of time, Judah arranged for his firstborn son, Er, to marry a
young woman named Tamar. 7 But Er was a wicked man in the Lord’s sight,
so the Lord took his life. 8 Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and
marry Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a man who has died. You
must produce an heir for your brother.”
9 But Onan was not willing to have a child who would not be his own heir.
So whenever he had intercourse with his brother’s wife, he spilled the semen
on the ground. This prevented her from having a child who would belong
to his brother. 10 But the Lord considered it evil for Onan to deny a child to
his dead brother. So the Lord took Onan’s life, too.
38
37:26 Hebrew cover his blood.
37:28 Hebrew 20 [shekels], about 8 ounces or 228 grams in
weight.
37:35 Hebrew go down to Sheol.
37:36 Hebrew the Medanites. The relationship
between the Midianites and Medanites is unclear; compare 37:28. See also 25:2.
