Genesis 37:20-27
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 37
20Now then, come and let’s kill him, and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, ‘A vicious animal devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams!' 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.
King James Version
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.
Christian Standard Bible
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.
New Living Translation
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.
English Standard Version
Chapter 37
20Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams." 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.
New International Version
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.
New King James Version
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.
