Tanakh - The Holy Scriptures . Various Authors

a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying: 'What seekest thou?' ¹⁶And he said: 'I seek my brethren. Tell me, I pray thee, where they are feeding the flock.' ¹⁷And the man said: 'They are departed hence; for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothan.' And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. ¹⁸And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. ¹⁹And they said one to another: 'Behold, this dreamer cometh. ²⁰Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say: An evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams.' ²¹And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand; and said: 'Let us not take his life.' ²²And Reuben said unto them: 'Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him'—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. ²³And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colours that was on him; ²⁴and they took him, and cast him into the pit—and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. ²⁵And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and ladanum, going to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶And Judah said unto his brethren: 'What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh.' And his brethren hearkened unto him. ²⁸And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt. ²⁹And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. ³⁰And he returned unto his brethren, and said: 'The child is not; and as for me, whither shall I go?' ³¹And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood; ³²and they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said: 'This have we found. Know now whether it is thy son's coat or not.' ³³And he knew it, and said: 'It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.' ³⁴And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said: 'Nay, but I will go down to the grave to my son mourning.' And his father wept for him. ³⁶And the ⁶⁰Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard.

38And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ²And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; and he took her, and went in unto her. ³And she conceived, and bore a son; and he called his name Er. ⁴And she conceived again, and bore a son; and she called his name Onan. ⁵And she yet again bore a son, and called his name Shelah; and he was at Chezib, when she bore him. ⁶And Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, and her name was Tamar. ⁷And Er, Judah's first-born, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him. ⁸And Judah said unto Onan: 'Go in unto thy brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her, and raise up seed to thy brother.' ⁹And Onan knew that the seed would not be his; and it came to pass when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother. ¹⁰And the thing which he did was evil in the sight of the Lord; and He slew him also. ¹¹Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter-in-law: 'Remain a widow in thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown up'; for he said: 'Lest he also die, like his brethren.' And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house. ¹²And in process of time Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheep-shearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³And it was told Tamar, saying: 'Behold, thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnah to shear his sheep.' ¹⁴And she put off from her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the entrance of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she was not given unto him to wife. ¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot; for she had covered her face. ¹⁶And he turned unto her by the way, and said: 'Come, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee'; for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said: 'What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?' ¹⁷And he said: 'I will send thee a kid of the goats from the flock.' And she said: 'Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?' ¹⁸And he said: 'What pledge shall I give thee?' And she said: 'Thy signet and thy cord, and thy staff that is in thy hand.' And he gave them to her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹And she arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. ²⁰And Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand; but he found her not. ²¹Then he asked the men of her place, saying: 'Where is the harlot, that was at Enaim by the wayside?' And they said: 'There hath been no harlot here.' ²²And he returned to Judah, and said: 'I have not found her; and also the men of the place said: There hath been no harlot here.' ²³And Judah said: 'Let her take it, lest we be put to shame; behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.' ²⁴And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying: 'Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath played the harlot; and moreover, behold, she is with child by harlotry.' And Judah said: 'Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.' ²⁵When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying: 'By the man, whose these are, am I with child'; and she said: 'Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and the cords, and the staff.' ²⁶And Judah acknowledged them, and said: 'She is more righteous than I; forasmuch as I gave her not to Shelah my son.' And he knew her again no more. ²⁷And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb. ²⁸And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying: 'This came out first.' ²⁹And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold his brother came out; and she said: 'Wherefore hast thou made a breach for thyself?' Therefore his name was called ⁶¹Perez. ³⁰And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread upon his hand; and his name was called Zerah.

      39And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites, that had brought him down thither. ²And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. ⁴And Joseph found favour in his sight, and he ministered unto him. And he appointed him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. ⁵And it came to pass from the time that he appointed him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had, in the house and in the field. ⁶And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and, having him, he knew not aught save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was of beautiful form, and fair to look upon.

      ⁷And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said: 'Lie with me.' ⁸But he refused, and said unto his master's wife: 'Behold, my master, having me, knoweth not what is in the house, and he hath put all that he hath into my hand; ⁹he is not greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?' ¹⁰And it came to pass, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her. ¹¹And it came to pass on a certain day, when he went into the house to do his work, and there was none of the men of the house there within, ¹²that she caught him by his garment, saying: 'Lie with me.' And he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. ¹³And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, ¹⁴that