Gen 37:17-36 | ESV | STEP | And the man said , They have gone away , for I heard them say , Let us go to Dothan . So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan .

Genesis 37:17-36

17 And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to ^aDothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at ^bDothan.

18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them ^cthey conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, ^dlet us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. ^{▼▼Or cisterns; also verses 22, 24} Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when ^fReuben 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”— ^gthat 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, ^hthe robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and ⁱthrew 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 ^jcaravan of ^kIshmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing ^lgum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it ^mif we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ⁿlet not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then ^oMidianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and ^psold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels ^{▼▼A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams} of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he ^rtore his clothes 30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy ^sis gone, and I, where shall I go?” 31 Then they took ^tJoseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And 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.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. ^uA fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters ^vrose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, ^wI shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile ^xthe Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, ^ythe captain of the guard.