14. So Jacob said to him, “Go now and check on the welfare of your brothers and of the flocks, and bring me word.” So Jacob sent him from the valley of Hebron.
15. When Joseph reached Shechem, a man found him wandering in the field, so the man asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16. He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are grazing their flocks.”
17. The man said, “They left this area, for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
18. Now Joseph’s brothers saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
19. They said to one another, “Here comes this master of dreams!
20. Come now, let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild animal ate him. Then we’ll see how his dreams turn out!”
21. When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph from their hands, saying, “Let’s not take his life!”
22. Reuben continued, “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” (Reuben said this so he could rescue Joseph from them and take him back to his father.)
23. When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the special tunic that he wore.
24. Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.)