Joseph is sold

Genesis 37:12-36
The Title of our drama is ‘Joseph is Sold’ based on Genesis Chapter 37 verses 12 to 36.

Jacob Joseph!
(Joseph enters)
Joseph Yes Father? Here I am.
Jacob Joseph, your brothers are away to Shechem to feed the sheep. I want you to go
to them there.
Joseph Yes Father. What do you want me to do there?
Jacob Just see if they are all right. They’ve been gone a long time. Check that all is
well with the flocks, then come back and let me know how you found them.
Joseph I will leave right away, Father.

(Exit Jacob and Joseph)

(Joseph re-enters, looks all around, moves forward and looks around again)

Man What are you looking for? Can I help you?

Joseph I am looking for my brothers. They are supposed to be feeding the flocks here.
There are 10 of them. Do you know them? Can you tell me where to find them?
Man They have left here. I heard them talking about going to Dothan.
Joseph Dothan! I’ll have to go there to find them, then. Thank you for your help. Good-
bye.
(Both exit).
(Joseph’s brothers are in a group).
Brother 1 Look! There’s someone coming! (Points)
Brother2 Guess who it is! Just look at what he’s wearing!
Brother 3 Our favourite brother – Joseph! I always said you could see that coat a mile
away! This just proves it. Look how far away he is and there is no doubt that it
is Joseph. No-one else has a coat like that!
Brother 4 Here comes the dreamer.
Brother 5 Listen to me! Here’s our chance! He’s all alone. Let’s kill him. We can throw
him into some pit and no-one will ever know. We can always tell everyone that
some wild animal must have eaten him. Then we shall see what comes of his
dreams!
Reuben No. Let us not KILL him. Here’s an empty pit. Throw him in there, but don’t kill
him. We don’t want to shed any blood. After all, he is our brother.
Brother 6 All right, Reuben. It’s a deep enough pit. He won’t get out of that in a hurry.

(Joseph enters. The brothers pounce on him, take off his coat and throw him into the pit or
well).
Joseph No! Don’t touch me! I don’t mean you any harm. Help! Help! Let me out of
here! Help!
Brother 7 Keep quiet, or we might kill you after all.

(Brothers sit down to eat bread. Reuben leaves.)

Brother 8 This place is busy today. Look over there. Men – and camels. They will be
traders making their way down to Egypt.
Judah That’s given me an idea. It won’t gain us anything if we kill Joseph. After all, he
is our own brother. It would be better if we don’t lay our hands on him. Let’s
sell him to those traders instead.
Brother2 Good thinking, Judah. Call them over.
Brother 1 Come with me, Dan. We’ll get Joseph out of the pit.

(Judah waves. 3 traders enter).

Trader 1 Hello. Good to see you. Would you like to buy some spices?
Judah Not today, but we would like to sell something. Bring him over, boys. (Brothers
bring Joseph forward) Here – a fine healthy young lad. Strong and a good
worker. He’s yours for only 20 pieces of silver.
Trader 2 20 pieces of silver you say?

(Trader 4 walks all round Joseph and feels his muscles).

Trader 4 (Whispers to trader 2) He’s a bargain!

Trader 3 All right. We’ll give you 20 pieces of silver for him. Here you are. (Counts out 20
silver coins). Now, we’ll be on our way.
Trader 2 Come with us, you!

(Takes Joseph by the arm. Traders and Joseph exit).

Brother 3 That’s got rid of him.

Brother 5 Without us having to kill him.
Brother 4 And we are 20 pieces of silver richer than we were.
(Reuben comes running in tearing at his hair).

Reuben Where is he? He’s not in the pit! What am I going to do?
Brother 6 Calm down! We’ve sold him, that’s all.
Judah Here, take his coat. Kill a kid from the goats. Dip his coat in the blood. It will
look as if some animal has killed Joseph.
Brother 7 Then we’d better go back home and break the sad news to our Father.
(All exit).
(Enter Jacob. Then brothers enter, carrying Joseph’s coat).

Jacob Ah, Reuben, Simeon, everyone –glad to see you home again. But where’s
Joseph? Did he not find you?
Judah Father, we found this. (Holds out coat). Is it your son’s coat or not?
Jacob It is my son’s coat. An evil beast must have eaten him. Joseph is without doubt
torn in pieces! Oh, Joseph, my son! Why did I send you?
(Jacob puts his head in his hands. Brothers freeze).

Narrator 1 All his sons and daughters tried to comfort their father, but he refused to be
comforted. He was going to mourn for Joseph for the rest of his life.
Narrator 2 Our part of the story has a sad ending. Joseph was taken away from his family
into Egypt where he was sold as a slave.
Narrator 3 But God was with Joseph in Egypt and looked after him there. And Joseph was
faithful and continued to serve his God and behave in a way he knew God would
want him to.
Narrator 4 All the things that happened to Joseph were part of God’s plan. If you have
trusted Jesus as your Saviour, then everything that happens to you is part of
God’s plan. He is in charge of everything.
Narrator 5 The Bible says in Romans chapter 8 verse 28:’we know that all things work
together for good to those who love God.’

© Christian Endeavour Issue (1) 15/04/10