1And when the sons of Jacob had sold their brother Joseph to the Midianites,

2And Reuben returned to the pit in which Joseph had been put, in order to

3And Reuben said, Joseph has died through fright, or some serpent has caused

4And Reuben tore his garments and he said, The child is not there, and how

5And his brethren answered him saying, Thus and thus we did, and our hearts

6And Reuben said unto them, What is this you have done to bring down the

7And Reuben sat with them, and they all rose up and swore to each other not

8And the sons of Jacob feared each other in this matter, from the youngest

9And they afterward sat down to determine and invent something to say unto

10And Issachar said unto them, Here is an advice for you if it seem good in

11And send it to our father and when he seeth it he will say an evil beast

12And Issachar's advice pleased them, and they hearkened unto him and they

13And they hastened and took Joseph's coat and tore it, and they killed a

14We had gathered in the cattle and had come as far as the road to Shechem

15And Naphtali went and he came unto his father and he gave him the coat,

16And Jacob saw Joseph's coat and he knew it and he fell upon his face to

17And Jacob hastened and sent one of his servants to his sons, who went to

18And the sons of Jacob came to their father about evening, and behold their

19And Jacob said unto his sons, Tell me truly what evil have you this day

20And Jacob heard the words of his sons and he cried out with a loud voice,

21And the sons of Jacob answered and said, He did not come to us, neither

22And when Jacob heard their words he again cried out aloud, and he rose up

23Joseph my son, O my son Joseph, I sent thee this day after the welfare of

24It grieves me for thee Joseph my son, it grieves me for thee; how sweet

250v that I had died in thy stead Joseph my son, for it grieves me sadly for

26Come now and number the tears gushing from my eyes down my cheeks and

270v Joseph my son, how didst thou fall, by the hand of one by whom no one

28Arouse now and see how bitter is my trouble for thee my son, although I

29Now truly God who gave thee unto me, he has taken thee from me, and such

30And Jacob continued to speak like unto these words concerning Joseph, and

31And all the sons of Jacob seeing their father's trouble, they repented of

32Judah rose up and lifted his father's head from the ground, and placed it

33And the sons of Jacob saw their father's trouble, and they lifted up their

34And all his sons and his servants and his servant's children rose up and

35And the whole household of Jacob rose up and mourned a great mourning on

36And after this, Jacob rose up from the ground, and his tears were running

37Seek also, I pray you, among the beasts and hunt them, and that which

38And his sons did as their father had commanded them, and they rose up

39And Jacob was still crying aloud and weeping and walking to and fro in the

40And the sons of Jacob went into the wilderness to seize the beasts, and

41And Jacob took the beast from the hands of his sons, and he cried out with

42And thou didst devour my son for naught, because he committed no violence,

43And the Lord opened the mouth of the beast in order to comfort Jacob with

44As God liveth who created us in the earth, and as thy soul liveth, my

45And I came this day into the field to seek my son, and your sons found me,

46And now therefore, O son of man, I am in thy hands, and do unto me this

47And when Jacob heard the words of the beast he was greatly astonished, and

48And Jacob was still crying aloud and weeping for Joseph day after day, and

Chapter 43

Reuben's Anguish at not Finding Joseph in the Pit. The Brothers