Genesis 37:21-34
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 37
21But Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands by saying, 'Let’s not take his life.' 22Then Reuben said to them, 'Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him'—so that later he might rescue him out of their hands, to return him to his father. 23So it came about, when Joseph reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the multicolored tunic that was on him; 24and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.
25Then they sat down to eat a meal. But as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying labdanum resin, balsam, and myrrh, on their way to bring them down to Egypt.
26And Judah said to his brothers, 'What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood?
27Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.' And his brothers listened to him.
28Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him out and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. So they brought Joseph into Egypt.
29Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments.
30He returned to his brothers and said, 'The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?'
31So they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood;
32and they sent the multicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, 'We found this; please examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.'
33Then he examined it and said, 'It is my son’s tunic. A vicious animal has devoured him; Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!'
34So Jacob tore his clothes, and put on a sackcloth undergarment over his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
King James Version
Chapter 37
21And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. 22And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again.
23And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
24And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
25And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
26And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
27Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.
28Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
29And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.
30And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?
31And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
32And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 37
21When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from them. He said, "Let’s not take his life." 22Reuben also said to them, "Don’t shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him"—intending to rescue him from them and return him to his father.
23When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off Joseph’s robe, the robe of many colors that he had on.
24Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty, without water.
26Judah said to his brothers, "What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
27Come on, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh," and his brothers agreed.
28When Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt.
29When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.
30He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy is gone! What am I going to do?"
31So they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the robe in its blood.
32They sent the robe of many colors to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it. Is it your son’s robe or not?"
New Living Translation
Chapter 37
21But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. 'Let’s not kill him,' he said. 22Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.' Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father.
23So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing.
24Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
25Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, they looked up and saw a caravan of camels in the distance coming toward them. It was a group of Ishmaelite traders taking a load of gum, balm, and aromatic resin from Gilead down to Egypt.
26Judah said to his brothers, 'What will we gain by killing our brother? We’d have to cover up the crime.
27Instead of hurting him, let’s sell him to those Ishmaelite traders. After all, he is our brother — our own flesh and blood!' And his brothers agreed.
28So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt.
29Some time later, Reuben returned to get Joseph out of the cistern. When he discovered that Joseph was missing, he tore his clothes in grief.
30Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, 'The boy is gone! What will I do now?'
English Standard Version
Chapter 37
21But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life." 22And Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him" — that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. 23So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. 24And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.
26Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
27Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers listened to him.
28Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.
29When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes
30and returned to his brothers and said, "The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?"
31Then they took Joseph 's robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.
32And 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."
33And he identified it and said, "It is my son 's robe. A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces."
34Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.
New International Version
Chapter 37
21When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. "Let’s not take his life," he said. 22"Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him." Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
23So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing—
24and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
26Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
27Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." His brothers agreed.
29When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.
30He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?"
New King James Version
Chapter 37
21But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” 22And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.
23So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.
24Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt.
26So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
27Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.” And his brothers listened.
28Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
29Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.
30And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?”
