In the land of Canaan did Jacob’s family stayHis son Joseph born when he was old and grayMore than all his sons, for Joseph Jacob caredSo he fashioned an ornate robe for him to wearThe older boys hated their younger brother of seventeenAll the more so when Joseph told them his dream“We were binding grain in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose.Your sheaves all bowed down in a reverent pose.”This angered the brothers, they made quite a fuss,“Do you really think you will rule over us?!”Again it happened, another dream, another visionJoseph invited his brothers to come listen“The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down to me.”Jacob said, “You think we’ll come before you and get down on one knee?!”Now the brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near ShechemJacob sent Joseph to go check up on themWhen Joseph was spotted, before he arrivedA plan to kill him, the brothers contrived“Let’s murder him, throw his body down a wellDevoured by a ferocious beast, the story we'll tell.”Reuben, uncomfortable with the plan, second guessed“Let’s not take his life”, he told the restThey took Joseph, of his precious robe they strippedThrew him down the cistern, an empty pitAs they sat down to eat their mealThey spotted a caravan of Ishmaelites, and devised a deal“If we kill him we get nothing,” Judah spoke“Why don't we sell him to the Midianite folk?”Before returning to Canaan they slaughtered a goatUsed the blood to cover Joseph’s fantastic coatAt home Jacob examined the robe and verified“This was my son’s! He must have died!”“I will continue to mourn until I join him in the grave!”Little did he know, Joseph was in Egypt, as Potiphar’s slave…
