Joseph's Coat and Dreams for Kids

Jacob lived in the land of Canaan with his family. Of all his sons, he loved Joseph especially, for Joseph had been born when Jacob was old. Jacob made him a beautiful, long-sleeved coat of many colors. When Joseph’s ten older brothers saw the bright coat resting on his shoulders, they knew their father favored him. Jealousy filled their hearts, and they could not speak kindly to Joseph.

One day Joseph had a dream. He told his brothers, “We were tying bundles of grain in the field. My bundle stood upright, and your bundles gathered around and bowed down to mine.”

His brothers were angry. “Will you really rule over us?” they asked. They hated him even more because of his dream.

Then Joseph had another dream. He said, “The sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down to me.”

This time Joseph told his father as well as his brothers. Jacob rebuked him. “Will your mother, your brothers, and I really come and bow down before you?” His brothers envied him, but Jacob kept thinking about what Joseph had said.

Later, Joseph’s brothers took Jacob’s flocks to graze near Shechem. Jacob sent Joseph to see whether his brothers and the flocks were well. Joseph obeyed and set out from the valley of Hebron. When he could not find them near Shechem, a man told him they had gone to Dothan. Joseph continued on his way.

His brothers saw him while he was still far off. Before Joseph reached them, they made a terrible plan.

“Here comes that dreamer!” they said. They wanted to kill him, throw him into a pit, and claim that a wild animal had eaten him.

But Reuben tried to save Joseph. “Do not take his life,” he said. “Throw him into this pit, but do not hurt him.” Reuben secretly planned to return later and bring Joseph safely home.

When Joseph arrived, the brothers seized him. They pulled off his beautiful coat and lowered him into an empty cistern. There was no water in it. From deep inside, Joseph could see the open sky above him.

The brothers sat down to eat. Soon they saw an Ishmaelite caravan coming from Gilead. Camels carried spices, balm, and myrrh toward Egypt.

Judah said, “What good will it do if we kill our brother? Let us sell him instead. After all, he is our own brother.” The others agreed. They lifted Joseph from the cistern and sold him for twenty pieces of silver. The caravan carried Joseph away toward Egypt.

When Reuben returned and found the cistern empty, he tore his clothes in grief. The brothers killed a goat and dipped Joseph’s coat in its blood. Then they showed the coat to Jacob and asked whether it belonged to his son.

Jacob recognized it. Believing that a wild animal had killed Joseph, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned. His family tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted.

Far away in Egypt, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. Joseph’s bright coat was gone, and his life had changed in a painful way. Yet this was not the end of Joseph’s story.