Joseph was taken to Egypt after his brothers sold him.

So Joseph left there and went north, and found his older brothers near Dothan. 18 But they saw him when he was still far away, and they decided to kill him. 19 They said to each other things like, “Here comes that dreamer!” 20 and “Hey, let’s kill him, and then throw his body into one of the pits/cisterns. Then we will tell people that a ferocious/wild animal attacked and killed him and ate him. And then we will ◄find out whether his dreams come true/make sure that his dreams do not come true►!”

21 Reuben heard what they were saying, so he tried to persuade them not to kill [MTY] Joseph. He said, “No, we should not kill him. 22 Do not even shed his blood! We can throw him into this pit/cistern in the desert, but we should not harm him [MTY].” He said that, and then left them, planning to rescue Joseph later and take him back to his father.

23 So when Joseph arrived where his older brothers were, they seized him and ripped off his pretty robe with long sleeves. 24 Then they took him and threw him into the pit/cistern. But the pit/cistern was dry; there was no water in it.

25 After they sat down to eat some food, they looked up and saw a ◄caravan/group of traders►, descendants of Ishmael, coming from the Gilead area. Their camels were loaded with bags of spices and nice-smelling resins. They were going down to Egypt to sell those things there. 26 Judah said to his older and younger brothers, “If we kill our younger brother and hide his body, ◄what will we gain?/we will not gain anything!► [RHQ] 27 So, instead of harming him, let’s sell him to these men who are descendants of Ishmael. Don’t forget, he is our own younger brother!” So they all agreed to do that.

28 When those traders from the Midian area came near, Joseph’s brothers pulled him up out of the pit/cistern. Then they sold him to the men from Midian for 20 pieces of silver. The traders then took Joseph to Egypt.

29 When Reuben returned to the pit/cistern, he saw that his younger brother was not there. He was so grieved that he tore his clothes. 30 He went back to his younger brothers and said, “The boy is not in the pit/cistern! What can I do now?” [RHQ]

31 Joseph’s brothers did not dare to tell their father what they had done. So, they decided to invent a story about what had happened. They got Joseph’s robe. Then they killed a goat and dipped the robe in the goat’s blood. 32 They took that pretty robe back to their father and said, “We found this robe! Look at it. Is it your son’s robe?” 33 He recognized it, and he said, “Yes, it is my son’s robe! Some ferocious/wild animal must have attacked and killed him! I am sure that the animal has torn Joseph to pieces!”

34 Jacob was so grieved that he tore his clothes. He put on ◄sackcloth/clothes that people wear when they are mourning for someone who has died►. He mourned/cried for his son for many days. 35 All of his children came to try to comfort him, but he did not pay attention to what they said. He said, “No, I will still be mourning/crying when I die and go to be with my son.” So Joseph’s father continued to cry because of what had happened to his son.

36 In the meantime, the men/traders from Midian took Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, who was one of the king’s officials. He was the captain of the soldiers who protected the king.