Later Reuben returned to the cistern to find that Joseph was not in it! ¹  He tore his clothes,

Then Pharaoh summoned ¹  Joseph. So they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; he shaved himself, changed his clothes, and came before Pharaoh.

Reuben continued, ¹  “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” ²  (Reuben said this ³  so he could rescue Joseph ⁴  from them ⁵  and take him back to his father.)

So when the Midianite ¹  merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled ²  him ³  out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites ⁴  then took Joseph to Egypt.