15. a man found him wandering around in the open country. “What are you looking for?” the man asked.
16. Joseph replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they’re taking care of their flocks.”
17. The man said, “They moved on from here. I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
18. They saw him from a distance. Before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
19. They said to each other, “Look, here comes that master dreamer!
20. Let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and say that a wild animal has eaten him. Then we’ll see what happens to his dreams.”
21. When Reuben heard this, he tried to save Joseph from their plot. “Let’s not kill him,” he said.
22. “Let’s not have any bloodshed. Put him into that cistern that’s out in the desert, but don’t hurt him.” Reuben wanted to rescue Joseph from them and bring him back to his father.
23. So when Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his special robe with long sleeves.