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?
27. We will profit more if we sell him to these traders. Then we will not be guilty of killing our own brother.” The other brothers agreed.
28. When the Midianite traders came by, the brothers took Joseph out of the well and sold him to the traders for 20 pieces of silver. The traders took him to Egypt.
29. Reuben had been gone, but when he came back to the well, he saw that Joseph was not there. He tore his clothes to show that he was upset.
30. Reuben went to the brothers and said, “The boy is not in the well! What will I do?”
31. The brothers killed a goat and put the goat’s blood on Joseph’s beautiful coat.
32. Then the brothers showed the coat to their father. And the brothers said, “We found this coat. Is this Joseph’s coat?”
33. His father saw the coat and knew that it was Joseph’s. He said, “Yes, that is his! Maybe some wild animal has killed him. My son Joseph has been eaten by a wild animal!”