2 1For Simeon and Gad came against Joseph to kill him, and he said unto them with tears: Pity me, my brethren, have mercy upon the bowels of Jacob our father: 2lay not upon me your hands to shed innocent blood, for I have not sinned against you. 3And if indeed I have sinned, with chastening chastise me, my brethren but lay not upon me your hand, for the sake of Jacob our father. 4And as he spoke these words, wailing as he did so, I was unable to bear his lamentations, and began to weep, and my liver was poured out, and all the substance of my bowels was loosened. 5And I wept with Joseph, and my heart sounded, and the joints of my body trembled, and I was not able to stand. 6And when Joseph saw me weeping with him, and them coming against him to slay him, he fled behind me, beseeching them. 7But meanwhile Reuben arose and said: Come, my brethren, let us not slay him, but let us cast him into one of these dry pits, which our fathers digged and found no water. 8For for this cause the Lord forbade that water should rise up in them, in order that Joseph should be preserved. 9And they did so, until they sold him to the Ishmaelites.