When his brothers went to pasture his father's flocks in Shechem, Jacob
said to Joseph, "Go, see whether all goes well with your brothers and
with the flock, and bring me back word." So he sent him out, and a
certain man found him, as he was wandering in the field, and the man
asked him, "What are you looking for?" He said, "I am looking for my
brothers; tell me, I beg of you, where they are pasturing the flock."
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 in Dothan.

When they saw him in the distance, before he came to them, they planned
together to kill him. And they said one to another, "See, here comes
that great dreamer! Come, let us kill him and throw him into one of the
pits, and we will say, 'A fierce beast has devoured him.' Then we shall
see what will become of his dreams!"

Judah, however, when he heard it, saved Joseph's life by saying, "Let us
not take his life." Reuben also said to them, "Do not shed blood; throw
him into this pit, here in the wilderness; but do not harm him." Reuben
said this to save Joseph from their hands so that he could bring him
back to his father. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off
his long coat with sleeves and threw him into the pit. But the pit was
empty, there being no water in it.

Then they sat down to eat and, when they looked up, they saw a band of
Ishmaelites coming from Gilead; and their camels were loaded with
spices, gum, and ladanum on their way to carry it down to Egypt. And
Judah said to his brothers, "What do we gain if we kill our brother and
hide his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let us do
him no harm, for he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." So his
brothers listened to him; and, drawing up Joseph, they sold him for
twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who brought him to Egypt.

Then his brothers took Joseph's long coat, killed a he-goat, dipped the
coat in the blood, and brought it to their father, and said, "We found
this; see whether it is your son's coat or not." He recognized it and
said, "It is my son's coat! A wild beast has devoured him! Joseph surely
is torn in pieces." Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth about his
waist, and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and his daughters
tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, saying, "I shall
go down to the grave mourning for my son." Thus Jo