16 “I am looking for my brothers,” he answered. “Please tell me where they are tending the flocks.”
17 The man told him, “They have moved on from here; in fact, I heard them say, ‘Let us go on to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
18 They saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
19 They said to one another: “Here comes that dreamer!
20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We will see then what comes of his dreams.”
21 But when Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from their hands, saying: “We must not take his life.”
22 Then Reuben said, “Do not shed blood! Throw him into this cistern in the wilderness; but do not lay a hand on him.” His purpose was to save him from their hands and restore him to his father.