ended, after they had gone away, to lift Joseph out of the
pit, and take him home to his father. The brothers did as Reuben told
them; they threw Joseph into the pit, which was empty. He cried, and
begged them to save him; but they would not. They calmly sat down to eat
their dinner on the grass, while their brother was calling to them from
the pit.
After the dinner, Reuben chanced to go to another part of the field; so
that he was not at hand when a company of men passed by with their
camels, going from Gilead, on the east of the river Jordan, to Egypt, to
sell spices and fragrant gum from trees to the Egyptians.
Then Judah, another of Joseph's brothers, said, "What good will it do us
to kill our brother? Would it not be better for us to sell him to these
men, and let them carry him away? After all, he is our brother, and we
would better not kill him."
His brothers agreed with him; so they stopped the men who were passing,
and drew up Joseph from the pit, and for twenty pieces of silver they
sold Joseph to these men; and they took him away with them down to
Egypt.
After a while, Reuben came to the pit, where they had left Joseph, and
looked into it; but Joseph was not there. Then Reuben was in great
trouble; and he came back to his brothers, saying: "The boy is not
there! What shall I do!"
Then his brothers told Reuben what they had done; and they all agreed
together to deceive their father. They killed one of the goats, and
dipped Joseph's coat in its blood; and they brought it to their father,
and they said to him: "We found this coat out in the wilderness. Look at
it, father, and tell us if you think it was the coat of your son."
[Illustration: _For twenty pieces of silver they sold Joseph_]
And Jacob knew it at once. He said: "It is my son's coat. Some wild
beast has eaten him. There is no doubt that Joseph has been torn in
pieces!"
And Jacob's heart was broken over the loss of Joseph, all the more
because he had sent Joseph alone on the journey through the wilderness.
They tried to comfort him, but he would not be comforted. He said: "I
will go down to the grave mourning for my poor lost son."
So the old man sorrowed for his son Joseph; and all the time his wicked
brothers knew that Joseph was not dead; but they would not tell their
father the dreadful deed they had done to their brother, in selling him
as a slave.
THE DREAMS OF A KING
The men who bought Joseph from his brothers were c
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