²⁰ Now then, come and let’s kill him, and throw him into one of the pits; and ^(A)we will say, ‘A vicious animal devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams!” ²¹ But ^(B)Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands ^[a]by saying, “Let’s not ^[b]take his life.” ²² Then 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. ²³ So it came about, when Joseph ^[c]reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the ^[d]multicolored tunic that was on him; ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.

²⁵ Then they sat down to eat ^[e]a meal. But as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of ^(C)Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying ^(D)labdanum resin, ^(E)balsam, and ^[f]myrrh, ^[g]on their way to bring them down to Egypt. ²⁶ And Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and ^(F)cover up his blood? ^27 (G)Come, 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. ²⁸ Then some ^(H)Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him out and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and ^(I)sold ^[h]him to the Ishmaelites for ^[i]twenty shekels of silver. So ^(J)they brought Joseph into Egypt.

²¹ Then they said to one another, “^(A)Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; for that reason this distress has happened to us.” ²² Reuben answered them, saying, “^(B)Did I not tell ^[a]you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? ^[b](C)Now justice for his blood is required.”