18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them ^tthey conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, ^ulet us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.¹ Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when ^vReuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—^wthat he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, ^xthe robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and ^ythrew him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.