Genesis 37:18–36

¹⁸They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted against him and decided to kill him. ¹⁹They said to one another, “Here comes that dreamer. ²⁰Come on now, let’s kill him and throw his body into one of the dry wells. We can say that a wild animal killed him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams.”

²¹Reuben heard them and tried to save Joseph. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. ²²“Just throw him into this well in the wilderness, but don’t hurt him.” He said this, planning to save him from them and send him back to his father. ²³When Joseph came up to his brothers, they ripped off his long robe with full sleeves.^{u 24}Then they took him and threw him into the well, which was dry.

²⁵While they were eating, they suddenly saw a group of Ishmaelites travelling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were loaded with spices and resins. ²⁶Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother and covering up the murder? ²⁷Let’s sell him to these Ishmaelites. Then we won’t have to hurt him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed, ^28*and when some Midianite traders came by, the brothers^v pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

²⁹When Reuben came back to the well and found that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes in sorrow. ³⁰He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there! What am I going to do?”

³¹Then they killed a goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. ³²They took the robe to their father and said, “We found this. Does it belong to your son?”

³³He recognized it and said, “Yes, it is his! Some wild animal has killed him. My son Joseph has been torn to pieces!” ³⁴Jacob tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. He mourned for his son a long time. ³⁵All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “I will go down to the world of the dead still mourning for my son.” So he continued to mourn for his son Joseph.

³⁶Meanwhile, in Egypt, the Midianites had sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of the king’s officers, who was the captain of the palace guard.