Episode 18: Joseph, the favorite son

(Genesis 35-37)

God renames Jacob (again)

35 ¹ God said to Jacob,

Go to Bethel and make an altar to the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from Esau.

² Jacob said to his household,

Put away all your strange gods, clean up, and change your clothes.

³ We're going to Bethel to build an altar to God.

⁴ So everyone gave Jacob all their strange gods and earrings. Jacob hid them under the oak tree near Shechem.

⁵ As they traveled toward Bethel, the terror of God was on the surrounding cities, so no one bothered them as they passed by.

⁹ God appeared to Jacob again and blessed him, saying,

¹⁰ Your name is Jacob, but it won't be Jacob anymore. Israel will be your name from now on.

¹¹ I am God almighty. Be fruitful and multiply.

A nation, a company of nations, and kings will come out of your loins.

¹² The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I'll give to you and your seed.

Rachel dies

¹⁶ As they journeyed from Bethel, Rachel entered hard labor.

¹⁷ The midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid. You will have a son."

¹⁸ As she died, Rachel named her son, Benjamin.

²⁰ Jacob set a pillar on Rachel's grave. It's still there today.

Reuben has sex with his father's concubine

²² Jacob's oldest son, Reuben, had sex with his father's concubine, Bilhah. And Jacob heard about it.

Isaac dies

^28-29 Isaac gave up the ghost at the age of 180.

He was buried by his sons Esau and Jacob.

The generations of Esau

36 ^8-9 Esau is Edom. He is the father of the Edomites.

Jacob loved Joseph more than his other children

37 ³ Jacob loved Joseph more than his other children. He made him a multi-colored coat.

⁴ So the other kids in the family hated Joseph.

Joseph's first dream

⁵ Joseph had a dream and told it to his brothers, saying,

⁷ We were binding sheaves in the field, and my sheaf stood up, and your sheaves bowed down to worship me.

⁸ Joseph's brothers responded, "So you are going to reign over us?"

And they hated him even more for it.

Joseph's second dream

⁹ Joseph had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying,

I had another dream where the sun, moon, and eleven stars worshipped me.

¹⁰ Joseph also told it to his father Jacob, who said,

Am I, your mother, and your brothers supposed to worship you?

¹¹ Joseph's brothers envied him, but Jacob thought the dream might come true.

Joseph's brothers get rid of Joseph

¹² One day, Joseph's brothers went to Shechem to feed the flocks. ¹³ Jacob told Joseph to go see what his brothers were doing. ^18-20 When Joseph's brothers saw him coming, they conspired to kill him, saying to one another,

Let's kill Joseph and throw his body in a pit. We'll say he was eaten by an evil beast.

Then we'll see what becomes of his dreams!

^21-22 But Reuben had another idea. He said, "Let's not kill him. Let's just throw him in a pit."

²³ So they stripped Joseph of his fancy coat and threw him into a pit.

^25-28 Later, some Midianites (or Ishmaelites, or both) passed by. They sold Joseph to them for twenty pieces of silver. Then brought Joseph to Egypt.

^31-32 The brothers killed a goat, put its blood on Joseph's multi-colored coat, brought the coat to their father, and said to him, "Look what we found. We don't know if it's Joseph's coat."

³³ Jacob recognized the coat, and said,

It's my son's coat. An evil beast ate him. There is no doubt that Joseph was torn into pieces.

³⁴ And Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth upon his loins.

³⁶ The Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of the Pharaoh.