Lesson 1
Read: Genesis 37 - https://www.bible.com/bible/59/gen.37.esv
- Dependability - worthy of trust; reliable
- Diligence - constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken
- Self-confidence - assurance, self-possession, self-respect, poise

Jacob, Isaac’s son, had 12 sons. Joseph was Jacob’s favorite – the child of his beloved Rachel. Jacob made Joseph a beautifully embroidered coat. When Joseph was 17, he helped his older brothers with the flocks and told their father the bad things his brothers had done. They hated him so much they wouldn’t even talk to him.

Joseph told his brothers about a dream he had, which caused them to hate him even more. In his dream, the sons of Jacob were all out in the field harvesting wheat. Suddenly Joseph’s bundle of wheat stood up and his brothers’ bundles made a circle around Joseph’s bundle and bowed down to it. “So you think you’re going to rule over us and be our boss?” his brothers asked angrily.

Joseph had another dream he shared with his family – the sun and moon and eleven stars bowed down to him. His brothers were extremely jealous at this point. Joseph was self-confident, but the way he expressed it caused serious problems with his brothers.

Jacob trusted Joseph to be diligent and dependable, and sent him to check on his brothers and the flocks to let him know how they were doing. When he finally found his brothers, they spotted Joseph in the distance. They said, “Here comes Joseph the dreamer. Let’s kill him and throw him into an old well and tell our father a wild animal ate him. Then we’ll see what happens to his dreams.”

As soon as Joseph came up to his brothers, they ripped his fancy coat off and threw him into the dry well. As they ate supper, they saw a caravan coming toward them. One of the brothers had an idea. “Why don’t we sell Joseph to these merchants? At least we’ll make some money.”

His brothers pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him to the merchants for twenty pieces of silver. The merchants took Joseph down to Egypt with them and sold him as a slave there.

The brothers dipped Joseph’s coat in goat’s blood. They took it back to their father, told him they had found it, and asked him if this was Joseph’s coat. Jacob recognized it right away and guessed a wild animal had killed Joseph. He tore his clothes and grieved for his favorite son a long time.

The traveling merchants sold Joseph to Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh’s court in Egypt.

Apply God’s Word to your life:
*In what areas of your life has God enabled you to be dependable and diligent?
*Why do you think Joseph’s brothers hated him?
*When can self-confidence be a negative character trait?
*How do you think Joseph felt when he was in the pit?
*What will you do today when you feel mistreated?