Genesis 37:12–36

¹²And his brethren go to feed the flock of their father in Shechem, ¹³and Israel saith unto Joseph, ‘Are not thy brethren feeding in Shechem? come, and I send thee unto them;’ and he saith to him, ‘Here am I;’ ¹⁴and he saith to him, ‘Go, I pray thee, see the peace of thy brethren, and the peace of the flock, and bring me back word;’ and he sendeth him from the valley of Hebron, and he cometh to Shechem. ¹⁵And a man findeth him, and lo, he is wandering in the field, and the man asketh him, saying, ‘What seekest thou?’ ¹⁶and he saith, ‘My brethren I am seeking, declare to me, I pray thee, where they are feeding?’ ¹⁷And the man saith, ‘They have journeyed from this, for I have heard some saying, Let us go to Dothan,’ and Joseph goeth after his brethren, and findeth them in Dothan. ¹⁸And they see him from afar, even before he draweth near unto them, and they conspire against him to put him to death. ¹⁹And they say one unto another, ‘Lo, this man of the dreams cometh; ²⁰and now, come, and we slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and have said, An evil beast hath devoured him; and we see what his dreams are.’ ²¹And Reuben heareth, and delivereth him out of their hand, and saith, ‘Let us not smite the life;’ ²²and Reuben saith unto them, ‘Shed no blood; cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and put not forth a hand upon him,’—in order to deliver him out of their hand, to bring him back unto his father.

²³And it cometh to pass, when Joseph hath come unto his brethren, that they strip Joseph of his coat, the long coat which is upon him, ²⁴and take him and cast him into the pit, and the pit is empty, there is no water in it. ²⁵And they sit down to eat bread, and they lift up their eyes, and look, and lo, a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, and their camels bearing spices, and balm, and myrrh, going to take them down to Egypt. ²⁶And Judah saith unto his brethren, ‘What gain when we slay our brother, and have concealed his blood? ²⁷Come, and we sell him to the Ishmaelites, and our hands are not on him, for he is our brother—our flesh;’ and his brethren hearken. ²⁸And Midianite merchantmen pass by and they draw out and bring up Joseph out of the pit, and sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silverlings, and they bring Joseph into Egypt. ²⁹And Reuben returneth unto the pit, and lo, Joseph is not in the pit, and he rendeth his garments, ³⁰and he returneth unto his brethren, and saith, ‘The lad is not, and I—whither am I going?’

³¹And they take the coat of Joseph, and slaughter a kid of the goats, and dip the coat in the blood, ³²and send the long coat, and they bring it in unto their father, and say, ‘This have we found; discern, we pray thee, whether it is thy son’s coat or not?’ ³³And he discerneth it, and saith, ‘My son’s coat! an evil beast hath devoured him; torn—torn is Joseph!’ ³⁴And Jacob rendeth his raiment, and putteth sackcloth on his loins, and becometh a mourner for his son many days, ³⁵and all his sons and all his daughters rise to comfort him, and he refuseth to comfort himself, and saith, ‘For—I go down mourning unto my son, to Sheol,’ and his father weepeth for him. ³⁶And the Medanites have sold him unto Egypt, to Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh, head of the executioners.

Chapter 38