A reading from the book of Genesis.

Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons, for he was the child of his old age, and he had made him a long tunic.

When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all the sons,

they hated him so much that they would not even greet him.

One day when his brothers had gone to pasture their father's flock at Sheckham,

Israel said to Joseph, your brothers, you know, are tending our flocks at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them. So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan. They noticed him from a distance. And before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him. They said one to another, here comes that master dreamer.

Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here.

We would say that we could say that the wild beast devoured him.

We shall then see what comes of his dreams.

When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from their hands, saying,

we must not take his life. Instead of shutting blood, he continued, just throw him into the cistern

there in the desert, but do not kill him outright. His purpose was to rescue him from their

hands and return him to his father. So when Joseph came up to them,

they stripped him at the long tunic he had on. Then they took him and threw him into the cistern,

which was empty and dry. They then sat down to their meal. Looking up, they saw a caravan of

Ishmaelites coming from Gilead.

Their camels laden with gum and balm and resin to be taken down to Egypt.

Judah said to his brothers,

What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood?

Rather, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, instead of doing away with him ourselves.

After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.

His brothers agreed.

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