16. The Favorite Son

God called upon Jacob to go to Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan. When they got to Bethel, Jacob and the others built an altar. Jacob poured oil over it to thank God for all that God had done.

Rachel was carrying her second child and she was very weary. When the baby was born, Rachel became sick and died. Jacob named the baby boy Benjamin.

Jacob had twelve sons, but he favored Joseph, Rachel's firstborn. He showed his love for Joseph in many ways. Once he gave him a beautiful coat made up of many colors.

Joseph's brothers were jealous of him. The more special treatment he got, the more they hated him. Joseph had told them stories of a dream he had one night. He said they were out in the fields, harvesting the grain. The crops were bundled up in sheaves, and the brothers' sheaves began to bow to Joseph's sheaves. That really made the brothers angry.

"Do you now think you will reign over us?" they asked.

But Joseph had another dream. In it, he dreamed that the sun, moon, and eleven stars all bowed to him. His father heard about this dream and was very troubled by it.

"Does this mean that I and my wife and all your brothers must bow down before you?"

Joseph's brothers had gone out into the fields to feed Jacob's animals. They had been gone for some time, and Jacob asked Joseph to go find them. The brothers saw Joseph coming toward them.

"Here comes Joseph the dreamer," they said. "Let's kill him and throw him in a pit. We can say a beast ate him up. No one will ever know. We'll see what happens to his big dreams then."

Reuben was Joseph's oldest brother. He knew it was wrong to kill the boy. He thought of a way to keep Joseph safe from the others.

"We shouldn't kill him," he said. "Let's just drop him down that dried-up well and scare him."

Joseph came closer. He was wearing the beautiful coat his father had given him. The brothers grabbed him and ripped it off. They dropped Joseph down into the dark well.

The brothers did not feel bad about harming their little brother. They sat down with their lunches and began to eat as if nothing had happened.

The brothers noticed a group of camels in the distance.

When the caravan got closer, they could tell it was a group of traders on their way to Egypt. Judah suggested to sell Joseph to those men.

The brothers agreed. They dragged Joseph out of the pit and sold him as a slave for twenty silver pieces.

Reuben was not with the others. It was too late to save Joseph when he got back, though.

"What will we tell our father now?" asked Reuben.

One of the brothers picked up Joseph's coat of many colors. They poured goat's blood over it to make it look like Joseph had been attacked and killed by a wild beast. When they showed the coat to Jacob, he knew that his favorite son must be dead.

"I will mourn for him until I, too, am dead," he said. Jacob wept for Joseph, and the other children could do nothing to comfort him.

Joseph was sold to a man in Egypt named Potiphar. He was head of the guards who protected Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph's master came to trust and like him very much because Joseph was a hard worker.

Potiphar's wife became very fond of Joseph, too. She tried to lure Joseph but was refused. That made the woman very angry. She lied to her husband about what had happened to make it look like Joseph had chased after her.

Potiphar believed his wife's tale and had Joseph put into prison. Even though he was locked away for something he didn't do, Joseph didn't turn away from God. And God stayed by Joseph's side through everything that happened to him.

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