VERSE STUDY • KJV

Genesis 37:18-30

¹⁸ And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. ¹⁹ And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. ²⁰ Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. ²¹ And Reuben heard [it], and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. ²² And 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. ²³ And 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; ²⁴ And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit [was] empty, [there was] no water in it. ²⁵ And 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. ²⁶ And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit [is it] if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, 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. ²⁸ Then 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. ²⁹ And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph [was] not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. ³⁰ And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child [is] not; and I, whither shall I go?

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

¹⁸ And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. ¹⁹ And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. ²⁰ Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. ²¹ And Reuben heard [it], and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. ²² And 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. ²³ And 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; ²⁴ And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit [was] empty, [there was] no water in it. ²⁵ And 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. ²⁶ And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit [is it] if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, 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. ²⁸ Then 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. ²⁹ And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph [was] not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. ³⁰ And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child [is] not; and I, whither shall I go?

BSB Berean Standard Bible

¹⁸ Now Joseph’s brothers saw him in the distance, and before he arrived, they plotted to kill him. ¹⁹ “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to one another. ²⁰ “Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal has devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams!” ²¹ When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue Joseph from their hands. “Let us not take his life,” he said. ²² “Do not shed his blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this so that he could rescue Joseph from their hands and return him to his father. ²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the robe of many colors he was wearing— ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, with no water in it. ²⁵ And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt. ²⁶ Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? ²⁷ Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And they agreed. ²⁸ So when the Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. ²⁹ When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes, ³⁰ returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”

WEB World English Bible

¹⁸ They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ They said one to another, “Behold, this dreamer comes. ²⁰ Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams.” ²¹ Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.” ²² Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. ²³ It happened, when Joseph came to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; ²⁴ and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it. ²⁵ They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. ²⁸ Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt. ²⁹ Reuben returned to the pit; and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes. ³⁰ He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?”

ASV American Standard Version

¹⁸ And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. ¹⁹ And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. ²⁰ Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, An evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams. ²¹ And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, Let us not take his life. ²² And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him: that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. ²³ And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; ²⁴ and they took him, and cast him into the pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. ²⁵ And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶ And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brethren hearkened unto him. ²⁸ And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt. ²⁹ And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. ³⁰ And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

¹⁸ And they see him from afar, even before he draweth near unto them, and they conspire against him to put him to death. ¹⁹ And they say one unto another, ‘Lo, this man of the dreams cometh; ²⁰ and now, come, and we slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and have said, An evil beast hath devoured him; and we see what his dreams are.’ ²¹ And Reuben heareth, and delivereth him out of their hand, and saith, ‘Let us not smite the life;’ ²² and Reuben saith unto them, ‘Shed no blood; cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and put not forth a hand upon him,’—in order to deliver him out of their hand, to bring him back unto his father. ²³ And it cometh to pass, when Joseph hath come unto his brethren, that they strip Joseph of his coat, the long coat which is upon him, ²⁴ and take him and cast him into the pit, and the pit is empty, there is no water in it. ²⁵ And they sit down to eat bread, and they lift up their eyes, and look, and lo, a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, and their camels bearing spices, and balm, and myrrh, going to take them down to Egypt. ²⁶ And Judah saith unto his brethren, ‘What gain when we slay our brother, and have concealed his blood? ²⁷ Come, and we sell him to the Ishmaelites, and our hands are not on him, for he is our brother—our flesh;’ and his brethren hearken. ²⁸ And Midianite merchantmen pass by and they draw out and bring up Joseph out of the pit, and sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silverlings, and they bring Joseph into Egypt. ²⁹ And Reuben returneth unto the pit, and lo, Joseph is not in the pit, and he rendeth his garments, ³⁰ and he returneth unto his brethren, and saith, ‘The lad is not, and I—whither am I going?’

Surrounding context — Genesis 37

15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, [he was] wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed [their flocks].

17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

19 And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.

20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

21 And Reuben heard [it], and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.

22 And 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.

23 And 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;

24 And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit [was] empty, [there was] no water in it.

25 And 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.

26 And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit [is it] if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?

27 Come, 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.

28 Then 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.

29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph [was] not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.

30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child [is] not; and I, whither shall I go?

31 And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;

32 And 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.

33 And he knew it, and said, [It is] my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.

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