18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.c

19 “Here comes that dreamer!d” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisternse and say that a ferocious animalf devoured him.g Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”h

21 When Reubeni heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said.j 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cisternk here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.l

23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robem he was wearing—24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern.n The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaeliteso coming from Gilead.p Their camels were loaded with spices, balmq and myrrh,r and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.s

26 Judaht said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?u 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother,v our own flesh and blood.w” His brothers agreed.

28 So when the Midianitex merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cisterny and soldz him for twenty shekelsb of silvera to the Ishmaelites,b who took him to Egypt.c