Joseph and His Brothers Bible Story for Kids.

The story of Joseph and his brothers is one of the great arcs of the Old Testament: a favorite son, a colorful coat, jealous brothers, hard years in Egypt — and one of the most moving moments of forgiveness in the whole Bible. It shows children that God can work through even the hardest things.

Retold by Hannah Whitford · Genesis 37–45 · Updated July 2026

The Story of Joseph and His Brothers Bible Story for Kids

01

A coat of many colors

Jacob — who God had given the new name Israel — had twelve sons, and he loved them all. But one son held a special place in his heart: Joseph, the child of his beloved wife Rachel, born after years and years of waiting. The Bible says Israel loved Joseph more than all his other children, and to show it, he made him a wonderful gift: a coat of many colors, with long flowing sleeves — red and gold and blue and green, brighter than anything his brothers had ever owned. It was the kind of coat a prince might wear, not a boy who watched sheep. Joseph wore it everywhere. And every time his ten older brothers looked up from their work in the fields and saw those bright stripes coming over the hill, the same sour feeling twisted inside them. Their father loved Joseph best — the coat said so without a word. The Bible tells us plainly that they hated Joseph and could not speak a kind word to him. Jealousy had crept into the family like a splinter: small at first, and aching a little more every day.

02

Joseph's dreams

One night Joseph had a strange and wonderful dream, and in the morning he could not keep it to himself. “Listen to this dream,” he told his brothers. “We were out in the field tying up bundles of wheat, when suddenly my bundle stood up tall — and all your bundles gathered around and bowed down to it!” The brothers' faces darkened. “So you think you will be a king over us?” they said, and they hated him even more. Then Joseph dreamed again: this time the sun, the moon, and eleven stars all bowed down to him. Even his father raised his eyebrows at that one. “Shall your mother and I and your brothers really come and bow before you?” he asked. But while the brothers grumbled, Jacob quietly kept the dream in his mind, the way you tuck away something too big to understand yet. God was showing Joseph a little glimpse of what was coming, far down the road. Joseph did not understand it yet either. He only knew the dreams felt important — and his brothers knew they did not like them one bit.

03

Sold — but never alone

One day Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers, who were watching the sheep far from home. They saw the colorful coat coming from a long way off, and their jealousy boiled over into something terrible. When Joseph reached them, they took his beautiful coat away. And when a caravan of traders came swaying past on tall camels, carrying spices down to Egypt, the brothers made a hard-hearted plan: they sold their own brother to the traders for twenty pieces of silver. Joseph was carried away down the long dusty road, farther and farther from everything he knew, while his coat lay behind in the grass. In Egypt, hard years followed. Joseph worked as a servant in an important man's house. Later he was even put in prison for something he had not done. But here is the golden thread the Bible weaves through every one of those dark days: God was with Joseph. Even in the hardest places, God was with him — and people noticed. When Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, had dreams no one could explain, Joseph was brought from prison, and God helped him understand them: seven years of plenty were coming, and then seven years with no food at all. Pharaoh was amazed. He put Joseph in charge of all Egypt, to store up grain for the hungry years — and the shepherd boy became a governor.

04

“I am Joseph, your brother”

The hungry years came, just as God had said, and there was no food anywhere — except in Egypt, where Joseph's storehouses stood full of grain. Far away in Canaan, old Jacob sent his sons to buy food. And so it happened: Joseph's brothers arrived and bowed low to the ground before the great governor of Egypt — just like the bundles of wheat in the dream, long ago. They did not recognize him. The teenage boy they had sold was now a grown man in Egyptian linen. But Joseph recognized them, and his heart nearly burst. When he finally spoke, he sent everyone else from the room and began to cry. “Come near to me, please,” he said. “I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.” The brothers were terrified — surely now he would punish them. Instead, Joseph forgave them. “Don't be grieved,” he said. “God sent me ahead of you to save lives.” Years later he would say it even more clearly: “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” There were tears and long hugs, and grain sacks loaded for the journey home. Joseph sent wagons to bring his father and the whole family down to Egypt, where he could care for them through the hungry years. What jealousy had torn apart, forgiveness stitched back together.

Jealousy hurts everyone it touches, forgiveness heals what jealousy breaks, and God can work through even the hardest things. Joseph's whole story fits inside his own words to his brothers: “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”

Keep the story going.

The story doesn’t have to end at the last page — print, memorize, or read the next one together.

Free printables

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Memory verse

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is today, to save many people alive.”

Genesis 50:20 · WEB

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Ages 2-6 years

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As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases — it keeps every story and printable free.

The kind of things parents wonder.

• Why did Joseph's brothers hate him?–

  Genesis 37 gives three honest reasons: their father loved Joseph most and everyone knew it; the colorful coat announced that favoritism every single day; and Joseph's dreams seemed to say the whole family would one day bow to him. Jealousy grew until the brothers could not speak a kind word to him — a line many siblings will understand immediately.

• What was the coat of many colors?+
• Who sold Joseph, and to whom?+
• Did Joseph forgive his brothers?+
• Where does Joseph's story fit in the Bible?+
• Is the story of Joseph too scary for young children?+

Conversation starters.

Questions to ask after you read together. No right answers — just good conversation.

Teaching this story.

• 01Name the jealousy honestly. Kids clock the unfairness of the coat immediately — one child got the best present and the others got nothing. Let them say “that's not fair!” out loud, agree with them, and then watch together what jealousy slowly does to the brothers. The story does the teaching once the feeling is allowed in the room.
• 02Make “God was with Joseph” the refrain. Every time the story dips — sold, serving, prison — pause and say it together. By the end, children hear the pattern for themselves: the places kept changing, the hard things kept changing, but God never left.
• 03For ages 3 to 5, keep it to two beats: the wonderful coat and the forgiving hug at the end. “His brothers were unkind and sent him far away; years later Joseph became a great helper of the king — and he forgave them.” The dreams and the famine can wait until they're older.
• 04Let kids discover the family chain themselves: Joseph is the baby Rachel finally held at the end of her story, and his move to Egypt is the reason God's family is there when baby Moses is born. Bible stories link into one long story — children light up when they find the links on their own.

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Leah

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Baby Moses

A mother's courage, a basket on the river, and a plan only God could see.

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