12. One day Joseph’s brothers went to Shechem to care for their father’s sheep.
13. Jacob said to Joseph, “Go to Shechem. Your brothers are there with my sheep.” Joseph answered, “I will go.”
14. His father said, “Go and see if your brothers are safe. Come back and tell me if my sheep are all fine.” So Joseph’s father sent him from the Valley of Hebron to Shechem.
15. At Shechem, Joseph got lost. A man found him wandering in the fields. The man said, “What are you looking for?”
16. Joseph answered, “I am looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are with their sheep?”
17. The man said, “They have already gone away. I heard them say that they were going to Dothan.” So Joseph followed his brothers and found them in Dothan.
18. Joseph’s brothers saw him coming from far away. They decided to make a plan to kill him.
19. They said to each other, “Here comes Joseph the dreamer.
20. We should kill him now while we can. We could throw his body into one of the empty wells and tell our father that a wild animal killed him. Then we will show him that his dreams are useless.”
21. But Reuben wanted to save Joseph. He said, “Let’s not kill him.
22. We can put him into a well without hurting him.” Reuben planned to save Joseph and send him back to his father.
23. When Joseph came to his brothers, they attacked him and tore off his long and beautiful coat.
24. Then they threw him into an empty well that was dry.
25. While Joseph was in the well, the brothers sat down to eat. They looked up and saw a group of traders traveling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were carrying many different spices and riches.
26. So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we get if we kill our brother and hide his death?