A Scheming Heart

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹²Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near qShechem. ¹³And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ¹⁴So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of rHebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” ¹⁶“I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” ¹⁷And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to sDothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at sDothan.

¹⁸They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them tthey conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰Come now, ulet us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.2 Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” ²¹But when vReuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” ²²And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—wthat he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. ²³So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, xthe robe of many colors that he wore. ²⁴And they took him and ythrew him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a zcaravan of aIshmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing bgum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it cif we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and dlet not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. ²⁸Then eMidianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and fsold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels3 of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he gtore his clothes ³⁰and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy his gone, and I, where shall I go?” ³¹Then they took iJoseph's robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. ³²And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son's robe or not.” ³³And he identified it and said, “It is my son's robe. jA fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” ³⁴Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵All his sons and all his daughters krose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, lI shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. ³⁶Meanwhile mthe Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, nthe captain of the guard.