1 Nå bodde Jakob i landet hvor hans far hadde bosatt seg, i landet Kanaan.

Now Jacob was living in the land where his father had made a place for himself, in the land of Canaan.

2 Dette er Jakobs historie: Josef, en sytten år gammel gutt, gjette sauer sammen med sine brødre, sønnene til Bilha og Silpa, farens koner; og Josef ga deres far en dårlig rapport om dem.

These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a boy seventeen years old, was looking after the flock, together with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph gave their father a bad account of them.

3 Israel elsket nå Josef mer enn alle sine andre barn, fordi han fikk ham da han var en gammel mann; og han hadde laget en vakker kappe til ham.

Now the love which Israel had for Joseph was greater than his love for all his other children, because he got him when he was an old man: and he had a long coat made for him.

4 Da brødrene hans så at Josef var mer kjær for faren enn alle de andre, ble de fulle av hat mot ham og ville ikke si et vennlig ord til ham.

And because his brothers saw that Joseph was dearer to his father than all the others, they were full of hate for him, and would not say a kind word to him.

5 Josef hadde en drøm, og han fortalte brødrene sine om den, noe som økte deres hat enda mer.

Now Joseph had a dream, and he gave his brothers an account of it, which made their hate greater than ever.

6 Og han sa til dem: La meg fortelle dere min drøm.

And he said to them, Let me give you the story of my dream.

7 Vi var ute på marken og sanket kornbånd, og mitt kornbånd reiste seg, mens deres samlet seg rundt og bøyde seg for mitt.

We were in the field, getting the grain stems together, and my grain kept upright, and yours came round and went down on the earth before mine.

8 Brødrene hans sa til ham: Skal du bli vår konge? Skal du ha makt over oss? Og på grunn av drømmen og ordene hans, økte deres hat mot ham enda mer.

And his brothers said to him, Are you to be our king? will you have authority over us? And because of his dream and his words, their hate for him became greater than ever.

9 Så hadde han en annen drøm og fortalte brødrene sine om den, og sa: Jeg har hatt enda en drøm: Solen og månen og elleve stjerner bøyde seg for meg.

Then he had another dream, and gave his brothers an account of it, saying, I have had another dream: the sun and the moon and eleven stars gave honour to me.

10 Og han fortalte det til sin far og sine brødre; men faren hans irettesatte ham og sa: Hva slags drøm er dette? Skal jeg og din mor og dine brødre bøye oss for deg?

And he gave word of it to his father and his brothers; but his father protesting said, What sort of a dream is this? am I and your mother and your brothers to go down on our faces to the earth before you?

11 Og brødrene hans ble fulle av misunnelse; men faren hans husket ordene hans.

And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his words in mind.

12 Nå dro brødrene hans for å vokte farens saueflokk i Sikem.

Now his brothers went to keep watch over their father's flock in Shechem.

13 Og Israel sa til Josef: Er ikke dine brødre med saueflokken i Sikem? Kom, jeg vil sende deg til dem. Og han sa til ham: Her er jeg.

And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers with the flock in Shechem? come, I will send you to them. And he said to him, Here am I.

14 Da sa han til ham: Gå nå og se om dine brødre har det bra og hvordan det står til med flokken; så kom tilbake og gi meg beskjed. Så sendte han ham ut fra Hebrons dal, og han kom til Sikem.

And he said to him, Go now, and see if your brothers are well and how the flock is; then come back and give me word. So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

15 En mann så ham vandre rundt i landet og sa til ham: Hva leter du etter?

And a man saw him wandering in the country, and said to him, What are you looking for?

16 Og han sa: Jeg leter etter brødrene mine; vær så snill og fortell meg hvor de vokter flokken.

And he said, I am looking for my brothers; please give me word of where they are keeping their flock.

17 Mannen sa: De har dratt herfra, for jeg hørte dem si: La oss dra til Dotan. Så Josef dro etter dem og fant dem i Dotan.

And the man said, They have gone away from here, for they said in my hearing, Let us go to Dothan. So Joseph went after them and came up with them at Dothan.

18 Men de så ham på lang avstand, og før han kom nær dem planla de i hemmelighet å ta livet av ham.

But they saw him when he was a long way off, and before he came near them they made a secret design against him to put him to death;

19 De sa til hverandre: Se, her kommer denne drømmeren.

Saying to one another, See, here comes this dreamer.

20 La oss nå ta livet av ham og kaste kroppen i en av disse brønnene, og si at et villdyr drepte ham; så får vi se hva det blir av drømmene hans.

Let us now put him to death and put his body into one of these holes, and we will say, An evil beast has put him to death: then we will see what becomes of his dreams.

21 Men Reuben hørte dette og reddet ham ut av deres hender og sa: La oss ikke ta livet av ham.

But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life.

22 Ikke slå ham i hjel, men kast ham i en av brønnene; dette sa han for å redde ham fra deres hender og bringe ham tilbake til hans far.

Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again.

23 Da Josef kom til brødrene sine, tok de av ham den lange kappen han hadde på.

So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off his long coat which he had on;

24 Og de tok ham og kastet ham i en brønn; brønnen hadde ikke vann i seg.

And they took him and put him in the hole: now the hole had no water in it.

25 Så satte de seg ned for å spise; og da de så opp, så de en karavane med ismaelitter som kom fra Gilead på vei til Egypt med krydder og parfyme på kamelene sine.

Then seating themselves, they took their meal: and looking up, they saw a travelling band of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead on their way to Egypt, with spices and perfumes on their camels.

26 Juda sa til brødrene sine: Hva har vi å vinne på å drepe vår bror og skjule hans blod?

And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood?

27 La oss selge ham til disse ismaelittene og la ham være i live, for han er tross alt vår bror, vårt eget kjøtt. Og brødrene hans lyttet til ham.

Let us give him to these Ishmaelites for a price, and let us not put violent hands on him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers gave ear to him.

28 Da handelsmenn fra Midian kom forbi, trakk de Josef opp av brønnen og solgte ham til ismaelittene for tjue sølvstykker, og de tok ham med til Egypt.

And some traders from Midian went by; so pulling Joseph up out of the hole, they gave him to the Ishmaelites for twenty bits of silver, and they took him to Egypt.

29 Da Reuben kom tilbake til brønnen og så at Josef ikke var der, rev han sine klær i sorg.

Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there; and giving signs of grief,

30 Han vendte tilbake til brødrene sine og sa: Gutten er borte; hva skal jeg gjøre?

He went back to his brothers, and said, The child is gone; what am I to do?

31 Så tok de Josefs kappe og dyppet den i blodet fra en ung geit som de hadde slaktet,

Then they took Joseph's coat, and put on it some of the blood from a young goat which they had put to death,

32 og de brakte kappen til sin far og sa: Vi fant denne; er det din sønns kappe eller ikke?

And they took the coat to their father, and said, We came across this; is it your son's coat or not?

33 Og han kjente den igjen og sa: Det er min sønns kappe; et rovdyr har drept ham; uten tvil har Josef fått en grusom død.

And he saw that it was, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast has put him to death; without doubt Joseph has come to a cruel end.

34 Så sørget Jakob, kledde seg i sekkestrie, og gråt over sin sønn dag etter dag.

Then Jacob, giving signs of grief, put on haircloth, and went on weeping for his son day after day.

35 Alle hans sønner og døtre kom for å trøste ham, men han ville ikke la seg trøste, og sa mens han gråt: Jeg skal gå ned til min sønn i dødsriket i sorg. Så stor var hans sorg over Josef.

And all his sons and all his daughters came to give him comfort, but he would not be comforted, saying with weeping, I will go down to the underworld to my son. So great was his father's sorrow for him.

36 I Egypt solgte midianittene ham for en pris til Potifar, en offiser med høy posisjon i faraos hus.

And in Egypt the men of Midian gave him for a price to Potiphar, a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house.