12 Sometime after that, Yosef’s brothers went to shepherd their father’s flocks near Shekem. 13 One day, Yisra’el said to Yosef, “Aren’t your brothers away shepherding near Shekem? Come we’ll get some supplies and I’ll send you to them.”

“Sure,” Yosef replied.

14 Then he told him, “Please go and see how your brothers are doing and the flocks as well, then come and let me know.”

So he sent Yosef off from the Hebron valley, and he went to Shekem. 15 When he got there, a man noticed him wandering around the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”

16 “I’m looking for my brothers,” he answered. “Please tell me where they’re looking after our flocks.”

17 “They’ve left here,” the man responded. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ”

So Yosef continued on after his brothers and found them at Dotan, 18 but they saw him from a distance and before he got close to them, they made plans among themselves to kill him. 19 “Look, that master dreamer is coming,” they said to each other. 20 “Here’s our chance to kill him and throw his body into one of the pits around here. We’ll say that a wild animal attacked him. Then we’ll see what his dreams turn into.”

21 But Reuben heard what they were saying, and he tried to rescue Yosef by insisting, “Let’s not take his life.” 22 “Don’t shed blood,” he continued. “Throw him into that pit in the wilderness, but don’t wound him.” He said this because he was planning to rescue Yosef later and return him home to their father. 23 So when Yosef reached his brothers, they grabbed him and ripped off the coloured robe that he was wearing. 24 Then they took him and dropped him into the pit. (The pit was empty with no water in the bottom).

25 Then they sat down to eat, and a bit later when they looked up, look, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming towards them. They had left Gilead carrying spices and balm and myrrh on their camels that they were going to take down to Egypt. 26 Then Yehudah (Judah) said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Let’s sell him to these Ishmaelites so we won’t be guilty of killing him. After all, he’s our brother—our own flesh and blood.” And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the Midianite traders came past, the brothers pulled Yosef up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. Then the traders took Yosef onwards with them to Mitsrayim.[ref]

29 Later on, Reuben returned to the pit, but wow, Yosef wasn’t down there, so he tore his clothes in despair 30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there. What am I going to do?”

31 Then they slaughtered a young goat and took Yosef’s robe and dipped it in the blood. 32 Then they sent the coloured robe back to their father with this message: “We found this. Please examine whether or not it’s your son’s robe.”

33 Yisra’el recognised it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Yosef was almost certainly torn to pieces.” 34 Then Yacob ripped his clothes and put sackcloth around his waist, and he mourned for his son many days. 35 All his other sons and all his daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “I will go down to my son in the grave mourning.” So his father wept for him.

36 Meanwhile, the Midianites arrived in Egypt and sold him to Potiphar—Far’oh’s captain of the guards.