³ Now Israel^(A) loved Joseph more than any of his other sons,^(B) because he had been born to him in his old age;^(C) and he made an ornate^[a] robe^(D) for him.^{(E) 4} When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him^(F) and could not speak a kind word to him.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem,^{(A) 13} and Israel^(B) said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem.^(C) Come, I am going to send you to them.”

“Very well,” he replied.

¹⁷ “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.^(A)’”

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. ¹⁸ But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.^(B)

¹⁹ “Here comes that dreamer!^(C)” they said to each other. ²⁰ “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns^(D) and say that a ferocious animal^(E) devoured him.^(F) Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”^(G)

²¹ When Reuben^(H) heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said.^{(I) 22} “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern^(J) 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.^(K)

²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe^(L) he was wearing— ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the cistern.^(M) 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 Ishmaelites^(N) coming from Gilead.^(O) Their camels were loaded with spices, balm^(P) and myrrh,^(Q) and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.^(R)

²⁶ Judah^(S) said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?^{(T) 27} Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother,^(U) our own flesh and blood.^(V)” His brothers agreed.

²⁸ So when the Midianite^(W) merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern^(X) and sold^(Y) him for twenty shekels^[a] of silver^(Z) to the Ishmaelites,^(AA) who took him to Egypt.^(AB)