Genesis 37:12-36 His
brothers had gone to take care of their father''s flocks at Shechem.
Israel then said to Joseph, "Your
brothers are taking care of the flocks at Shechem. I''m going to send you to them."
Joseph responded, "I''ll go." So
Israel said, "See how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring
some news back to me." Then he sent Joseph away from the Hebron Valley.
When Joseph came to Shechem, a man
found him wandering around in the open country. "What are you looking
for?" the man asked. Joseph
replied, "I''m looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they''re taking
care of their flocks." The man
said, "They moved on from here. I heard them say, ''Let''s go to
Dothan.''" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance. Before
he reached them, they plotted to kill him. They
said to each other, "Look, here comes that master dreamer! Let''s kill him, throw him into one of the
cisterns, and say that a wild animal has eaten him. Then we''ll see what happens
to his dreams." When Reuben heard
this, he tried to save Joseph from their plot. "Let''s not kill him,"
he said. "Let''s not have any
bloodshed. Put him into that
cistern that''s out in the desert, but don''t hurt
him." Reuben wanted to rescue Joseph from them and bring him back to his
father.
So
when Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his special robe with
long sleeves. Then they took him and
put him into an empty cistern. It had no water in it. As
they sat down to eat, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead.
Their camels were carrying the materials for cosmetics, medicine, and
embalming. They were on their way to take them to Egypt. Judah asked his brothers, "What will we
gain by killing our brother and covering up his death? Let''s
sell him to the Ishmaelites. Let''s not hurt him, because he is our brother, our
own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed. As
the Midianite merchants were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph out of the
cistern. They sold him to the Ishmaelites for eight ounces of silver. The
Ishmaelites took him to Egypt. When
Reuben came back to the cistern and saw that Joseph was no longer there, he
tore his clothes in grief. He went
back to his brothers and said, "The boy isn''t there! What am I going to
do?"
So
they took Joseph''s robe, killed a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. Then they brought the special robe
with long sleeves to their father and said, "We found this. You better
examine it to see whether it''s your son''s robe or not." He recognized it and said, "It is my son''s
robe! A wild animal has eaten him! Joseph must have been torn to pieces!" Then, to show his grief, Jacob tore
his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son a long
time. All his other sons and daughters
came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, "No, I will
mourn for my son until I die." This is how Joseph''s father cried over him. Meanwhile, in Egypt the Midianites
sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh''s officials and captain of the guard.