Genesis 37:18-36 - Joseph Sold Into Slavery

¹⁸ And when they saw him from a distance, even before he came close to them, they plotted to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Look, here comes this dreamer. ²⁰ Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits (cisterns, underground water storage); then we will say [to our father], ‘A wild animal killed and devoured him’; and we shall see what will become of his dreams!”

²¹ Now Reuben [the eldest] heard this and rescued him from their hands and said, “Let us not take his life.” ²² Reuben said to them, “Do not shed his blood, but [instead] throw him [alive] into the pit that is here in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him [to kill him]”—[he said this so] that he could rescue him from them and return him [safely] to his father.

²³ Now when Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the [distinctive] multicolored tunic which he was wearing; ²⁴ then they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ Then they sat down to eat their meal. When they looked up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead [east of the Jordan], with their camels bearing ladanum resin [for perfume] and balm and myrrh, going on their way to carry the cargo down to Egypt.

²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood (murder)? ²⁷ Come, let us [instead] sell him to these Ishmaelites [and Midianites] and not lay our hands on him, because he is our brother and our flesh.” So his brothers listened to him and agreed. ²⁸ Then as the Midianite [and Ishmaelite] traders were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And so they took Joseph [as a captive] into Egypt.

²⁹ Now Reuben [unaware of what had happened] returned to the pit, and [to his great alarm found that] Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his clothes [in deep sorrow]. ³⁰ He rejoined his brothers and said, “The boy is not there; as for me, where shall I go [to hide from my father]?” ³¹ Then they took Joseph’s tunic, slaughtered a male goat and dipped the tunic in the blood; ³² and they brought the multicolored tunic to their father, saying, “We have found this; please examine it and decide whether or not it is your son’s tunic.”

³³ He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces!” ³⁴ So Jacob tore his clothes [in grief], put on sackcloth and mourned many days for his son. ³⁵ Then all his sons and daughters attempted to console him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “I will go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in mourning for my son.” And his father wept for him.

³⁶ Meanwhile, in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph [as a slave] to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the [royal] guard.