Dream On!

From pinterest.com

Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age; and he had made him a long ornamented tunic.  When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his brothers, they hated him so much that they could not say a kind word to him.

One day, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem, Israel said to Joseph, “Are your brothers not tending our flocks at Shechem? Come and I will send you to them.” “I am ready,” Joseph answered.

The man told him, “They have moved on from here; in fact, I heard them say, ‘Let us go on to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.  They saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

They said to one another: “Here comes that dreamer!  Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We will see then what comes of his dreams.”

But when Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from their hands, saying: “We must not take his life.”  Then Reuben said, “Do not shed blood! Throw him into this cistern in the wilderness; but do not lay a hand on him.” His purpose was to save him from their hands and restore him to his father.

So when Joseph came up to his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the long ornamented tunic he had on; then they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

Then they sat down to eat. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, balm, and resin to be taken down to Egypt.

Judah said to his brothers: “What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood?  Come, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, instead of doing away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed.

Midianite traders passed by, and they pulled Joseph up out of the cistern. They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver* to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28

"Father, no matter how long or impossible, we pray that we never lose sight of the dreams You placed in our hearts."

---

<< PREV | HOME | NEXT >>