Genesis 37:12–36

Joseph Sold Into Slavery by his Brothers

¹²Now his brothers went to pasture the flock of their father in Shechem. ¹³And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing in Shechem? Come, let me send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ¹⁴Then he said to him, “Go now, see if it goes well for your brothers and for the flock,^f then return word to me.” And he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he arrived at Shechem. ¹⁵And a man found him, and behold, he^g was wandering about in a field. And the man asked him, “What do you seek?” ¹⁶And he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are pasturing.” ¹⁷And the man said, “They have moved on from here, for I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” Then Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. ¹⁸And they saw him from a distance. And before he drew near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹And each said to his brothers, “Look, this master of dreams is coming. ²⁰Now then, come, let us kill him and throw him in one of the pits. Then we will say a wild animal devoured him. Then we will see what his dreams become.” ²¹And Reuben heard it and delivered him from their hand and said, “We must not take his life.” ²²And Reuben said to them, “You must not shed blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the desert, but do not lay a hand on him”—so that he might rescue him from their hand to return him to his father. ²³And it happened that as Joseph came to his brothers they stripped Joseph of his robe, the robe with long sleeves,^h that was upon him. ²⁴And they took him and threw him into the pit (the pit was empty; there was no water in it). ²⁵Then they sat down to eat some food. And they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead. And their camels were carrying aromatic gum and balm and spices on the wayⁱ to Egypt. ²⁶Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be against him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers agreed. ²⁸Then Midianite traders passed by. And they^j drew Joseph up and brought him up from the pit, and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph to Egypt. ²⁹Then Reuben returned to the pit and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit. And he tore his clothes. ³⁰And he returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone!^k Now I, what can I do?”^{l 31}Then they took the robe of Joseph and slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. ³²Then they sent the robe with long sleeves^m and they brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please examine it. Is it the robe of your son or not?” ³³And he recognized it and said, “The robe of my son! A wild animal has devoured him! Joseph is surely torn to pieces!” ³⁴And Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵And all his sons and all his daughters tried to console him, but he refused to be consoled. And he said, “No, I shall go down to my son, to Sheol, mourning.” And his father wept for him. ³⁶And the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, a court official of Pharaoh, a commander of the guard.