Genesis 37:18-28

English Standard Version

¹⁸ They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them ^(A)they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰ Come now, ^(B)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 ^(C)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”—^(D)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, ^(E)the robe of many colors that he wore. ²⁴ And they took him and ^(F)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 ^(G)caravan of ^(H)Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing ^(I)gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶ Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it ^(J)if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^(K)let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. ²⁸ Then ^(L)Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and ^(M)sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels^[b] of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.