Genesis 37–50 · Visual Bible Story
Joseph and His Brothers
Joseph’s jealous brothers sold him into slavery, but God remained with Joseph through years of injustice and hardship. Joseph eventually rose to authority in Egypt and helped save his family during famine, choosing forgiveness over revenge.
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What happened to Joseph and his brothers?
Joseph’s jealous brothers sold him into slavery, but God remained with Joseph through years of injustice and hardship. Joseph eventually rose to authority in Egypt and helped save his family during famine, choosing forgiveness over revenge.
Bible Story for Kids
Simple version
Joseph’s brothers treated him badly and sent him far from home. God stayed with Joseph. Years later Joseph was able to help his family, and he chose to forgive his brothers.
Bible Story for Adults
The full story
Joseph’s story follows a family divided by envy, a young man taken into slavery, and a reunion that tests whether old patterns can change. Read the full movement from betrayal to responsibility, reconciliation, and trust in God’s providence.
A favored son in a divided household
Joseph is seventeen when Genesis introduces the conflict that will reshape his life. His father Jacob loves him more than his other sons and gives him a distinctive coat. The brothers see the unequal affection and grow so resentful that they cannot speak peaceably to him. Family favoritism has created a setting in which even ordinary conversation becomes difficult.
Joseph’s dreams deepen the tension. In one, his brothers’ sheaves bow to his sheaf; in another, the sun, moon, and eleven stars bow to him. His brothers hear a claim to rule over them. Jacob rebukes Joseph over the second dream but continues to consider what it might mean. None of them yet understands the route by which these dreams will be fulfilled.
When Jacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers and the flocks, the journey places him in their power. They see him approaching and begin planning against him. Scripture does not excuse their coming violence because the household is troubled. It shows how envy, allowed to harden, can turn a brother into someone whose absence seems more desirable than his good.
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Betrayed and taken far from home
The brothers initially plan to kill Joseph. Reuben urges them not to shed his blood and intends to rescue him later. They strip away Joseph’s coat and put him in an empty pit. Then, as traders pass, Judah proposes selling him instead. Joseph is taken toward Egypt, while the brothers must decide how to explain his disappearance.
They dip the coat in a goat’s blood and send it to Jacob. Their father concludes that a wild animal has killed Joseph, and he mourns deeply. The deception wounds more than its immediate victim. It also traps the family in a false story that they will carry for years. Their choice cannot be dismissed as an ordinary disagreement among siblings.
In Egypt, Joseph is sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. Genesis repeatedly says that the Lord is with him. That presence does not mean freedom from mistreatment or an immediate return home. Joseph begins serving faithfully in circumstances he did not choose, and Potiphar entrusts him with growing responsibility. The story’s direction is changing, but the injustice done to him remains injustice.
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Integrity in a place of confinement
Joseph refuses the repeated advances of Potiphar’s wife, recognizing that betrayal would wrong both his master and God. When she seizes his garment, he leaves it behind and escapes. She then uses it to support a false accusation. Once again, a piece of clothing is made to tell a misleading story about him, and Joseph is sent to prison.
There, the Lord continues to be with Joseph. The keeper of the prison entrusts him with responsibilities, and Joseph notices when two royal prisoners are troubled by dreams. He makes clear that interpretations belong to God. He explains that the cupbearer will be restored to service and that the baker will die. Both outcomes occur as he has said.
Joseph asks the cupbearer to remember him, but the man forgets. Two more years pass before Pharaoh has dreams that his advisers cannot explain. The delay is important: Joseph’s faithfulness does not produce a quick reward. He remains a person who can serve and attend to others, even while he is dependent on a future he cannot arrange for himself.
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Wisdom during plenty and famine
When the cupbearer finally remembers Joseph, Pharaoh summons him. Joseph refuses to claim independent power to interpret dreams. He tells Pharaoh that God can give the needed answer. The dreams announce seven years of abundance followed by seven years of severe famine. Their repetition emphasizes that the matter is established and that preparation should begin.
Joseph recommends appointing an able leader to gather and store food during the plentiful years. Pharaoh recognizes his wisdom and places him over the work. Joseph is thirty when he enters this service. Grain is collected in such abundance that it becomes impossible to keep counting it. The coming crisis is met through careful administration rather than optimism alone.
When famine spreads, people come to Egypt for food. Jacob sends Joseph’s brothers, and they bow before the official they do not recognize. Joseph recognizes them. Power now rests with the person they once discarded. Their reunion is not immediately simple: Joseph tests their account, insists that Benjamin be brought, and watches whether they will again abandon a vulnerable brother when their own safety is at stake.
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Truth, repentance, and forgiveness
The decisive moment comes when Judah offers to remain as a servant in Benjamin’s place. Years earlier, he had proposed selling Joseph; now he is willing to lose his freedom rather than bring further grief to their father. Joseph can no longer conceal his identity. He sends the attendants away, weeps, and tells his brothers who he is.
The brothers are frightened, but Joseph draws them near. He does not deny that they sold him. Instead, he recognizes that God has preserved life through the path that brought him to Egypt. He provides for the family’s move and is reunited with Jacob. Reconciliation involves truth and practical care, not a pretense that the past was harmless.
After Jacob dies, the brothers fear revenge again. Joseph refuses to put himself in God’s place. They intended evil, he explains, but God intended good through it, preserving many lives. He promises continued provision for them and their children. The story does not call evil good or guarantee every sufferer the same visible outcome. It shows God’s ability to work beyond human wrongdoing and Joseph’s choice to use power for mercy.
Read this passage in the Bible →Visual Bible Story
The story in pictures
Joseph receives a special coat
Jacob gives Joseph a beautiful coat, and the gift deepens the jealousy among his brothers.
Joseph is taken toward Egypt
Joseph is carried far from home, but God remains with him on the difficult road ahead.
Joseph holds on to hope
Even in prison, Joseph serves faithfully and trusts that God has not forgotten him.
Joseph prepares Egypt
Joseph helps Egypt store grain during the plentiful years so people will have food during the famine.
Joseph chooses forgiveness
Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and welcomes the family with mercy instead of revenge.
What does Joseph and His Brothers teach us?
Joseph’s life shows providence through suffering, integrity under pressure, and forgiveness when retaliation would have been possible.
Read it in the Bible: Genesis 37; 39–45; 50:15–21
Open the Bible →Questions about this story
What happened to Joseph and his brothers?
Joseph’s jealous brothers sold him into slavery, but God remained with Joseph through years of injustice and hardship. Joseph eventually rose to authority in Egypt and helped save his family during famine, choosing forgiveness over revenge.
Where is Joseph and His Brothers found in the Bible?
Genesis 37–50. Use the AskJesus Bible library to read the passage in context.