Genesis 37:20–29

²⁰“Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns^e and say that a ferocious animal^f devoured him.^g Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”^h

²¹When 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 cistern^k 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

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

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

²⁶Judah^t 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.

²⁸So when the Midianite^x merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern^y and sold^z him for twenty shekels^b of silver^a to the Ishmaelites,^b who took him to Egypt.^c

²⁹When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.^d