Genesis 37:12-36

English Standard Version

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.

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he ^(R)tore his clothes ³⁰ and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy ^(S)is gone, and I, where shall I go?” ³¹ Then they took ^(T)Joseph's robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. ³² And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son's robe or not.” ³³ And he identified it and said, “It is my son's robe. ^(U)A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons and all his daughters ^(V)rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, ^(W)I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. ³⁶ Meanwhile ^(X)the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, ^(Y)the captain of the guard.