Genesis 37:18-36

New American Standard Bible

The Plot against Joseph

^18 [a]When they saw him from a distance, and before he came closer to them, they ^(A)plotted against him to put him to death. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “^[b]Here comes this dreamer! ²⁰ Now then, come and let’s kill him, and throw him into one of the pits; and ^(B)we will say, ‘A vicious animal devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams!” ²¹ But ^(C)Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands ^[c]by saying, “Let’s not ^[d]take his life.” ²² Then Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—so that later he might rescue him out of their hands, to return him to his father. ²³ So it came about, when Joseph ^[e]reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the ^[f]multicolored tunic that was on him; ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.

²⁵ Then they sat down to eat ^[g]a meal. But as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of ^(D)Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying ^(E)labdanum resin, ^(F)balsam, and ^[h]myrrh, ^[i]on their way to bring them down to Egypt. ²⁶ And Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and ^(G)cover up his blood? ^27 (H)Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. ²⁸ Then some ^(I)Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him out and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and ^(J)sold ^[j]him to the Ishmaelites for ^[k]twenty shekels of silver. So ^(K)they brought Joseph into Egypt.

²⁹ Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he ^(L)tore his garments. ³⁰ He returned to his brothers and said, “^(M)The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?” ³¹ So ^(N)they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood; ³² and they sent the ^[l]multicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please ^[m]examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” ³³ Then he ^[n]examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. ^(O)A vicious animal has devoured him; ^(P)Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” ³⁴ So Jacob ^(Q)tore his clothes, and put on a sackcloth undergarment over his waist, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ Then all his sons and all his daughters got up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will ^(R)go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. ³⁶ Meanwhile, the ^[o]Midianites ^(S)sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.