Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah.
Bela died, and Jobab son of Zerah of Bozrah succeeded him as king.
Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king.
Husham died, and Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king, the name of his city being Avith.
Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah succeeded him as king.
Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates succeeded him as king.
Shaul died, and Baal-hanan son of Achbor succeeded him as king.
Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, and Hadar succeeded him as king, the name of his city being Pau; his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Me-zahab.
40 These are the names of the clans [133 (#ulink_37fce699-ce87-5a2a-a336-799a9b074a64)] of Esau, according to their families and their localities by their names: the clans [133 (#ulink_37fce699-ce87-5a2a-a336-799a9b074a64)] Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,
Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,
Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,
Magdiel, and Iram; these are the clans[133 (#ulink_37fce699-ce87-5a2a-a336-799a9b074a64)] of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their settlements in the land that they held.
37 Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan.
This is the story of the family of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves.[136 (#ulink_7d3b5913-b497-5ed6-a2c4-d13ce01f1b46)]
But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.
5 Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
He said to them, “Listen to this dream that I dreamed.
There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf.”
His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.
9 He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, “Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?”
So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem.
And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.”
So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.
He came to Shechem,
and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?”
“I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.”
The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan.
They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him.
They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer.
Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.”
But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.”
Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father.
So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves [137 (#ulink_849a6028-47b2-5c9f-b661-f9cba139ff39)] that he wore;
and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.
Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed.
When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
NO COMFORT
LEWIS, GRIEVING THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE, JOY:
And no one ever told me about the laziness of grief. Except at my job—where the machine seems to run on much as usual—I loathe the slightest effort. Not only writing but even reading a letter is too much. Even shaving. What does it matter now whether my cheek is rough or smooth? They say an unhappy man wants distractions—something to take him out of himself. Only as a dog-tired man wants an extra blanket on a cold night; he’d rather lie there shivering than get up and find one. It’s easy to see why the lonely become untidy, finally, dirty and disgusting.
—from A Grief Observed
For reflection
Genesis 37:34–35
29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes.
He returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is gone; and I, where can I turn?”
