JOSEPH-3
Then I, Judah said: What profit Will it be to kill our own kin? And hide his shed blood? I thought and then said with a grin…
Come now, let us sell him to these men
Let not our hand be upon him then
For he is our brother,
Yes, from another mother
But still our own flesh
So my brothers were slightly impressed
And they did listen to me
For then we met the traders going by
To ask them: How much will we receive?
Twenty shekels of silver was their reply
So we drew Joseph up,
For we were just so deceived
Jealousy still blinded us,
This had to be right or so we believed
We lifted him out of the pit
Thinking we’d never see him again,
What would ever come of it?
The traders then took him away
For good and bound for Egypt.
And when I, Reuben returned to the pit
I saw that Joseph was not in it
I tore my clothes and heavily cried
And returned to my brothers
With such a great sigh
The boy is gone!
And now where shall I go?”
How can I tell our father,
What I do not know?
And what will it show?
That we did not care?
How can we even dare?
So my brothers showed me the royal robe
And then slaughtered one of our goats
I learned of the sale and the fabricated tale They dipped the robe in its blood
And they marked it all with mud
To hide the many colors
Unwittingly part of this dastardly cover
So upon return, we lied to our father
Telling the tale we had already spun
For this we is what we have found;
And I admit it was surely no fun
What we didn’t yet know
Was that the tale had only just begun
So we gave him the robe
Can you please tell us whether you know
If it is your favorite son’s, or no?
Our father did recognize
And it caught him by terrible surprise
Jacob then tore his garments
And wailed
He felt so alone and frail
Yes, It is my son’s robe.
I’m not even sure what I know
But It looks as though
Joseph is no more
And without a doubt torn to pieces
Our fathers mourning
Then became ceaseless
With sackcloth on his loins
His sons and daughters
Tried in vain to cheer; oh dear!
For a long while he would barely come near
And he refused and we couldn’t dissuade
Him from his sorrow
It was such a heavy price to pay
So he mourned for his son for many a day
And would lament that all his tomorrows
Would be ever filled with grief
No, I shall go down to Sheol,
To see my son, this I do believe
So this is how my father heavily wept
And we bore this heavy sadness
This sadness that he kept…
To be continued…
++ Our decisions have consequences. Imagine how Jacob must’ve felt. Imagine how each brother must’ve felt. Imagine how Joseph felt.
***
:: Now read from Genesis the scene:
“Come 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. And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, Let us not take his life. And 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. And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; and they took him, and cast him into the pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, 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. And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt. And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go? And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood; and they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, This have we found: know now whether it is thy son’s coat or not. And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat: an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces. And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning. And his father wept for him. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.”
Genesis 37:20-36 ASV