²⁰“Come. Let’s kill him. Let’s throw him into one of these empty wells. Let’s say that a wild animal ate him up. Then we’ll see whether his dreams will come true.”

²¹Reuben heard them. He tried to save Joseph from them. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. ²²“Let’s not spill any blood. Throw him into this empty well here in the desert. But don’t harm him yourselves.”

Reuben said that to save Joseph from them. He was hoping he could take him back to his father.

²³When Joseph came to his brothers, he was wearing his beautiful robe. They took it away from him. ²⁴And they threw him into the well. The well was empty. There wasn’t any water in it.

²⁵Then they sat down to eat their meal. As they did, they saw some Ishmaelite traders coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, lotion and myrrh. They were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

²⁶Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and try to cover up what we’ve done? ²⁷Come. Let’s sell him to these traders. Let’s not harm him ourselves. After all, he’s our brother. He’s our own flesh and blood.” Judah’s brothers agreed with him.

²⁸The traders from Midian came by. Joseph’s brothers pulled him up out of the well. They sold him to the Ishmaelite traders for eight ounces of silver. Then the traders took him to Egypt.

²⁹Later, Reuben came back to the empty well. He saw that Joseph wasn’t there. He was so upset that he tore his clothes.

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