Genesis 37:12-36

Evangelical Heritage Version

¹² His brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem. ¹³ Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers pasturing the flock in Shechem? Go, I will send you to them.”

Joseph said to him, “Yes, I will do it.”

¹⁴ Israel said to him, “Please go and see whether everything is going well with your brothers and with the flock. Then bring me word again.” So he sent him off from the valley at Hebron, and he arrived at Shechem.

¹⁵ A man met him as he was wandering in the countryside. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶ He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.”

¹⁷ The man said, “They have left here. I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”

Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. ¹⁸ They saw him in the distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to each other, “Look, here comes this master of dreams. ²⁰ Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns, and we will say, ‘A wild animal has devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams.”

²¹ Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands. He said, “Let’s not take his life.” ²² Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this cistern that is in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him.” He said this so that he could rescue him out of their hands and restore him to his father.

²³ And so when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the special robe he was wearing. ²⁴ Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ They sat down to eat bread, and they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their camels loaded with spices, balm, and myrrh, which they were going to deliver to Egypt. ²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there in killing our brother and concealing his blood? ²⁷ Come on, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, since he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers listened to him. ²⁸ As the Midianites, who were merchants, were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces^[a] of silver. They brought Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the cistern, he saw that Joseph was not in the cistern, so he tore his clothing. ³⁰ He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is no longer here, and as for me, where will I go now?”

³¹ Then they took Joseph’s robe, killed a male goat, and dipped the robe in the goat’s blood. ³² They took the special robe, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Examine it now, and see whether it is your son’s robe or not.”

³³ He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A wild animal has devoured him. Without a doubt Joseph has been torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Jacob tore his clothing, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son for many days. ³⁵ All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “No, I will mourn for my son until I go down to the grave.” So his father wept for him.

³⁶ In Egypt the Midianites sold him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, who was the captain of the guard.