Joseph Is Sold

One day, Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers who were watching the sheep far away.

When the brothers saw Joseph coming in his fancy coat, they got angry. 'Here comes the dreamer! Let's get rid of him!'

They grabbed Joseph, ripped off his beautiful coat, and threw him into a deep, empty hole in the ground. Joseph was scared and alone in the dark pit.

While the brothers ate lunch, they saw some traveling merchants heading to Egypt. One brother had an idea. 'Let's sell Joseph to them instead of hurting him. We'll get money, and he'll be gone forever!'

They pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him—their own brother!—for twenty pieces of silver. The merchants took Joseph away to Egypt, far, far from home.

Now the brothers had to fool their father. They killed a goat and put the blood on Joseph's colorful coat. They brought it to Jacob.

'We found this,' they said. 'Is it Joseph's coat?'

Jacob saw the blood and cried, 'Joseph is dead! A wild animal killed my son!' He was SO sad. He cried and cried for a long, long time.

The brothers' terrible lie hurt everyone. Joseph was a slave in a strange land. Jacob's heart was broken.

But God hadn't forgotten Joseph. God had a plan that would turn this terrible thing into something amazing.