Biblia the Byble, that is, the holy Scrypture of the Olde and New Testament, faithfully translated in to Englyshe.

The XXXVII. Chapter.

IAcob dwelt in y^e lande, wherin his fa¦ther [ A] was a straunger, namely in the lāde of Canaā. And these are y^e gene¦raciōs of Iacob. Ioseph was seuētene yeare olde, whā he became a keper of the catell w^t his brethren, & the lad was w^t the children of Bilha & Silpa his fathers wyues, and tolde their father of y^e euell reporte y^t was of thē. Israel loued Ioseph more thē all his childrē because he had begottē him in his olde age, and he made him a cote of many coloures.

Now whā his brethrē sawe, y^t his father loued him more thē all his brethrē, they had euell wyll at him, & coude not speake a frēdl•• worde vnto hī. * Ioseph also had once a dre••¦me, and tolde his brethrē therof. Thē hate•• they him y^e more, for he sayde: Heare I praye you what I dreamed. Me thought we were byndinge sheeues vpō y^e felde, & my shefe a∣rose, and stode vp, and youre sheeues rounde aboute made obeysaunce vnto my shefe.

Then sayde his brethrē vnto him: Shalt [ B] thou be o^r kinge, and haue domyniō ouer vs? And they hated him yet y^e more, because of his dreame, & his wordes. And he had yet a∣nother dreame, which he tolde his brethrē, & saide: Beholde, I had yet another dreame: Me thought y^e Sonne & y^e Moone & eleuen starres made obeisaūce to me. And whā this was tolde his father and his brethrē, his fa¦ther reproued him, & sayde vnto him: What maner of dreame is this, y^t thou hast drea∣med? Shall I & thy mother, & thy brethren come & fall before y^e vpon the groūde? And his brethrē had envie at him. But his father marcked this sayenge.

Now whā his brethren were gone forth [ C] to kepe their fathers catell in Sichē, Israel sayde vnto Ioseph: Do not y^e brethren kepe the catell in Sichem? Come, I wil sende the vnto thē. He answered:* 1.1 Here am I. And he sayde: Go thy waye, and loke whether it be well w^t thy brethren and with y^e catell, and

brynge me worde agayne how it is. And he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, to go vnto Sichem.

Then a certayne man founde him, wan∣dringe out of his waye in the felde, which axed him, and sayde: Whom sekest thou? He answered: I seke my brethren: tell me I pray the where they kepe. The man sayde: They are gone from hence, for I herde them saye: let vs go vnto Dothan. Then folowed Io∣seph after his brethren, and founde them at Dothan.

[ D] Now whan they sawe him a farre of, afo¦re he came at thē, they deuysed to sleye him, and sayde one to another: Lo, there cōmeth the dreamer, * 1.2 come on, and let vs sley him, & cast him in a pytt, and saye: a wicked beast hath deuoured him: thē shal it be sene, what his dreames are.

When Ruben herde that, he wolde haue delyuered him out of their handes, & sayde: * 1.3 O let vs not sley a soule. Ruben sayde mor∣ouer vn to him: Shed no bloude, but cast him into this pytt y^t is in the wyldernes, & laye ye no hādes vpon him. (He wolde haue dely∣uered him out of their hādes, y^t he might ha¦ue brought him agayne vnto his father.)

[ E] Whan Ioseph now came to his brethrē, they stryped him out of his cote, that par∣tye coloured cote which he had vpon him, & toke him and cast him in to a pytt. But the same pytt was emptye, and no water in it, & they sat them downe to eate. In the meane season they lift vp their eyes, and sawe a cō∣pany of Ismaelites cōmynge from Gilead, with their camels, which barespyces, bal∣me, and myrre, and were goinge downe into Egipte.

Then saide Iuda vnto his brethrē: what helpeth it vs, that we sleye oure brother, and hyde his bloude? Come, let vs sell him vnto the Ismaelites, that oure handes be not de∣fyled vpon him, for he is oure brother, oure flesh and bloude. And they herkened vnto him.

[illustration]

And as the Madianites marchaunt men wente by, they drew Ioseph out of the pytt, and solde him vnto the Ismaelites (for twē∣tye syluer pens) which brought him in to E∣gipte.* 1.4

Now whan Ruben came agayne vnto [ F] the pytt, & founde not Ioseph therin, he rent his clothes, and came agayne to his brethrē and sayde: The lad is not yonder, whyther shal I go? Then toke they Iosephs cote & slewe a goate, and dypped the cote in y^e blon¦de, and sent awaye that partie coloured co∣te, and caused it be brought vnto their father and sayde: This haue we founde, loke, whe∣ther it be thy sonnes coate, or no.

But he knewe it, and sayde: It is my son∣nes coate, * 1.5 a wicked beast hath deuoured him, a rauyshinge beast hath rauyshed Io∣seph. And Iacob rēte his clothes, and put a sackcloth aboute his loynes, & mourned for his sonne a longe season. And all his sonnes & doughters came vnto him to cōforte him. But he wolde not be cōforted, & saide: With sorowe wil I go downe in to the graue vnto my sonne. And his father wepte for him. But the Madianites solde him in Egipte vnto Potiphar Pharaos chefe Marshall.* 1.6

Notes

• * 1.1

  〈1 paragraph〉〈1 paragraph〉
• * 1.2

  〈…〉〈…〉
• * 1.3

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 42. c
• * 1.4

  Act. 7. b
• * 1.5

  Ge. 44 d
• * 1.6

  Psa. 104. c