Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near ^(A)Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ¹⁴ So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of ^(B)Hebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵ And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” ¹⁶ “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” ¹⁷ And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to ^(C)Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at ^(D)Dothan.

¹⁸ They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them ^(E)they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰ Come now, ^(F)let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.^[a] Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” ²¹ But when ^(G)Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” ²² And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—^(H)that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. ²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, ^(I)the robe of many colors that he wore. ²⁴ And they took him and ^(J)threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a ^(K)caravan of ^(L)Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing ^(M)gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶ Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it ^(N)if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^(O)let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. ²⁸ Then ^(P)Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and ^(Q)sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels^[b] of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

God's Good Purposes

¹⁵ When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” ¹⁶ So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ¹⁷ ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of ^(A)the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ His brothers also came and ^(B)fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for ^(C)am I in the place of God? ²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me, but ^(D)God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people^[a] should be kept alive, as they are today. ²¹ So do not fear; ^(E)I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.