¹⁶ Joseph answered, “I'm looking for my brothers who are watching the sheep. Can you tell me where they are?”

¹⁷ “They're not here anymore,” the man replied. “I overheard them say they were going to Dothan.”

Joseph left and found his brothers in Dothan. ¹⁸ But before he got there, they saw him coming and made plans to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Look, here comes the hero of those dreams! ²⁰ Let's kill him and throw him into a pit and say that some wild animal ate him. Then we'll see what happens to those dreams.”

²¹ Reuben heard this and tried to protect Joseph from them. “Let's not kill him,” he said. ²² “Don't murder him or even harm him. Just throw him into a well out here in the desert.” Reuben planned to rescue Joseph later and take him back to his father.

²³ When Joseph came to his brothers, they pulled off his fancy coat^{[a] 24} and threw him into a dry well.

²⁵ As Joseph's brothers sat down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with all kinds of spices that they were taking to Egypt. ²⁶ So Judah said, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and hide his body? ²⁷ Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not harm him. After all, he is our brother.” And the others agreed.

^28 (A) When the Midianite merchants came by, Joseph's brothers took him out of the well, and for 20 pieces of silver they sold him to the Ishmaelites^[b] who took him to Egypt.

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the well and did not find Joseph there, he tore his clothes in sorrow. ³⁰ Then he went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”

³¹ Joseph's brothers killed a goat and dipped Joseph's fancy coat in its blood. ³² After this, they took the coat to their father and said, “We found this! Look at it carefully and see if it belongs to your son.”

³³ Jacob knew it was Joseph's coat and said, “It's my son's coat! Joseph has been torn to pieces and eaten by some wild animal.”

³⁴ Jacob mourned for Joseph a long time, and to show his sorrow he tore his clothes and wore sackcloth.^{[c] 35} All of Jacob's children came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will go to my grave, mourning for my son.” So Jacob kept on grieving.

³⁶ Meanwhile, the Midianites had sold Joseph in Egypt to a man named Potiphar, who was the king's^[d] official in charge of the palace guard.

⁴⁶ Joseph was 30 when the king made him governor, and he went everywhere for the king. ⁴⁷ For seven years there were big harvests of grain. ⁴⁸ Joseph collected and stored up the extra grain in the cities of Egypt near the fields where it was harvested. ⁴⁹ In fact, there was so much grain that they stopped keeping record, because it was like counting the grains of sand along the beach.

Joseph's Brothers Go to Egypt To Buy Grain

42 When Jacob found out there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you just sitting here, staring at one another? ^2 (A) I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down and buy some, so we won't starve to death.”

³ Ten of Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy grain. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Joseph's younger brother Benjamin with them; he was afraid that something might happen to him. ⁵ So Jacob's sons joined others from Canaan who were going to Egypt because of the terrible famine.

Joseph Tells His Brothers Who He Is

45 ^(A) Since Joseph could no longer control his feelings in front of his servants, he sent them out of the room. When he was alone with his brothers, he told them, “I am Joseph.” ² Then he cried so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and told about it in the king's^[a] palace.

³ Joseph asked his brothers if his father was still alive, but they were too frightened to answer. ⁴ Joseph told them to come closer to him, and when they did, he said:

Yes, I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt. ⁵ Don't worry or blame yourselves for what you did. God is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives.

⁶ There has already been a famine for two years, and for five more years no one will plow fields or harvest grain. ⁷ But God sent me on ahead of you to keep your families alive and to save you in this wonderful way. ⁸ After all, you weren't really the ones who sent me here—it was God. He made me the highest official in the king's court and placed me over all Egypt.

^9 (B) Now hurry back and tell my father that his son Joseph says, “God has made me ruler of Egypt. Come here as quickly as you can. ¹⁰ You will live near me in the region of Goshen with your children and grandchildren, as well as with your sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else you own. ¹¹ I will take care of you there during the next five years of famine. But if you don't come, you and your family and your animals will starve to death.”