16. And he said, I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, I pray you, where they are pasturing our flocks.
17. But the man said, [They were here, but] they have gone. I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
18. And when they saw him far off, even before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him.
19. And they said one to another, See, here comes this dreamer and master of dreams.
20. So come on now, let us kill him and throw his body into some pit; then we will say [to our father], Some wild and ferocious animal has devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams!
21. Now Reuben heard it and he delivered him out of their hands by saying, Let us not kill him.
22. And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit or well that is out here in the wilderness and lay no hand on him. He was trying to get Joseph out of their hands in order to rescue him and deliver him again to his father.
23. When Joseph had come to his brothers, they stripped him of his [distinctive] long garment which he was wearing;
24. Then they took him and cast him into the [well-like] pit which was empty; there was no water in it.