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¹ In the First of all, and before any creature was, God made heaven and earth out of nothing. beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The Argument - Moses in effect declares three things, which are in this book chiefly to be considered: First, that the world and all things in it were created by God, and to praise his Name for the infinite graces, with which he had endued him, fell willingly from God through disobedience, who yet for his own mercies sake restored him to life, and confirmed him in the same by his promise of Christ to come, by whom he should overcome Satan, death and hell. Secondly, that the wicked, unmindful of God's most excellent benefits, remained still in their wickedness, and so falling most horribly from sin to sin, provoked God (who by his preachers called them continually to repentance) at length to destroy the whole world. Thirdly, he assures us by the examples of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the rest of the patriarchs, that his mercies never fail those whom he chooses to be his Church, and to profess his Name in earth, but in all their afflictions and persecutions he assists them, sends comfort, and delivers them, so that the beginning, increase, preservation and success of it might be attributed to God only. Moses shows by the examples of Cain, Ishmael, Esau and others, who were noble in man's judgment, that this Church depends not on the estimation and nobility of the world: and also by the fewness of those, who have at all times worshipped him purely according to his word that it stands not in the multitude, but in the poor and despised, in the small flock and little number, that man in his wisdom might be confounded, and the name of God praised forever.

² And the earth was As an unformed lump and without any creature in it: for the waters covered everything. without form, and void; and Darkness covered the deep waters, for the waters covered everything. darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God He maintained this disordered mass by his secret power. moved upon the face of the waters.

³ And God said, Let there be light: and there was The light was made before either Sun or Moon was created: therefore we must not attribute that to the creatures that are God's instruments, which only belong to God. light.

⁴ And God sawe the light that it was good, and God separated the light from the darkenes.

⁵ And God called the light, Day, and the darkenes, he called Night. So the euening and the morning were the first day.

⁶ Againe God saide, Let there be a firmament in the middes of the waters: and let it separate the waters from the waters.

⁷ And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which [were] As the sea and rivers, from those waters that are in the clouds, which are upheld by God's power, least they should overwhelm the world. under the firmament from the waters which [were] above the firmament: and it was so.

⁸ And God called the firmament That is, the region of the air, and all that is above us. Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

⁹ God saide againe, Let the waters vnder the heauen be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appeare; it was so.

¹⁰ And God called the dry land, Earth, and he called the gathering together of the waters, Seas: and God sawe that it was good.

¹¹ And God said, So that we see it is the only the power of God's word that makes the earth fruitful, which naturally is barren. Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, [and] the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed [is] in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

¹² And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after his kind: and God This sentence is often repeated, to signify that God made all his creatures to serve for his glory and for the profit of man: but because of sin they were cursed, yet the elect, by Christ are restored, and serve to their wealth. saw that [it was] good.

¹³ So the euening and the morning were the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, Let there be By the lights be means the sun, the moon, and the stars. lights in the firmament of the heaven to Which is the artificial day, from the sun rising, to the going down. divide the day from the night; and let them be for Of things belonging to natural and political orders and seasons. signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

¹⁵ And let them be for lightes in the firmament of the heauen to giue light vpon the earth; it was so.

¹⁶ And God made two great That is, the sun and the moon, and here he speaks as man judges by his eye: for else the moon is less than the planet Saturn. lights; the greater light to To give it sufficient light, as instruments appointed for the same, to serve man's purposes. rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [he made] the stars also.

¹⁷ And God set them in the firmament of the heauen, to shine vpon the earth,

¹⁸ And to rule in the day, and in the night, and to separate the light from the darkenes: and God sawe that it was good.

¹⁹ So the euening and the morning were the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the As fish and worms which slide, swim or creep. moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

²¹ And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the The fish and fowls had both one beginning, in which we see that nature gives place to God's will, in that the one sort is made to fly about in the air, and the other to swim beneath in the water. waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.

²² And God That is, by the virtue of his word he gave power to his creatures to reproduce. blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

²³ So the euening and the morning were the fift day.

²⁴ Moreouer God said, Let the earth bring foorth the liuing thing according to his kinde, cattell, and that which creepeth, and the beast of the earth, according to his kinde; it was so.

²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth according to his kinde, and the cattell according to his kinde, & euery creeping thing of the earth according to his kind: & God saw that it was good.

²⁶ And God said, God commanded the water and the earth to bring forth other creatures: but of man he says, «Let us make...» signifying that God takes counsel with his wisdom and virtue purposing to make an excellent work above all the rest of his creation. Let us make man in our This image and likeness of God in man is expounded in (Eph_4:24) where it is written that man was created after God in righteousness and true holiness meaning by these two words, all perfection, as wisdom, truth, innocency, power, etc. image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

²⁷ Thus God created the man in his image: in the image of God created he him: he created them male and female.

²⁸ And God The propagation. blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

²⁹ And God said, Behold, I have given you God's great. every herb bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

³⁰ Likewise to euery beast of the earth, and to euery foule of the heauen, and to euery thing that moueth vpon the earth, which hath life in it selfe, euery greene herbe shall be for meate; it was so.

³¹ And God sawe all that he had made, and loe, it was very good. So the euening and the morning were the sixt day.

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¹ Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the That is, the innumerable abundance of creatures in heaven and earth. host of them.

² And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he For he had now finished his creation, but his providence still watches over his creatures and governs them. rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

³ And God blessed the seventh day, and Appointed it to be kept holy, that man might in it consider the excellency of his works and God's goodness toward him. sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

⁴ These are the generations of the heauens and of the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lorde God made the earth and the heauens,

⁵ And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to God only opens the heavens and shuts them, he sends drought and rain according to his good pleasure. rain upon the earth, and [there was] not a man to till the ground.

⁶ But a myst went vp from the earth, and watered all the earth.

⁷ And the LORD God formed man He shows what man's body was created from, to the intent that man should not glory in the excellency of his own nature. [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

⁸ And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in This was the name of a place, as some think in Mesopotamia, most pleasant and abundant in all things. Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

⁹ And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the Who was a sign of the life received from God. tree of life also in the midst of the garden, That is, of miserable experience, which came by disobeying God. and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ And out of Eden went a riuer to water the garden, and from thence it was deuided, and became into foure heads.

¹¹ The name of the first [is] Pison: that [is] it which compasseth the whole land Havilah is a country adjoining Persia to the east, and inclining towards the west. of Havilah, where [there is] gold;

¹² And the golde of that land is good: there is Bdelium, and the Onix stone.

¹³ And the name of the seconde riuer is Gihon: the same compasseth the whole lande of Cush.

¹⁴ The name also of the third riuer is Hiddekel: this goeth toward the Eastside of Asshur: and the fourth riuer is Perath)

¹⁵ And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to God would not have man idle, though as yet there was no need to labour. dress it and to keep it.

¹⁶ And the LORD God So that man might know there was a sovereign Lord, to whom he owed obedience. commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

¹⁷ But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely By death he means the separation of man from God, who is our life and chief happiness: and also that our disobedience is the cause of it. die.

¹⁸ Also the Lorde God saide, It is not good that the man should be himself alone: I wil make him an helpe meete for him.

¹⁹ And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto By moving them to come and submit themselves to Adam. Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof.

²⁰ The man therefore gaue names vnto all cattell, and to the foule of the heauen, and to euery beast of the fielde: but for Adam founde he not an helpe meete for him.

²¹ Therefore the Lord God caused an heauie sleepe to fall vpon the man, and he slept: and he tooke one of his ribbes, & closed vp the flesh in steade thereof.

²² And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a Signifying that mankind was perfect, when the woman was created, who before was like an imperfect building. woman, and brought her unto the man.

²³ Then the man said, This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shalbe called woman, because she was taken out of man.

²⁴ Therefore shall a man leave So marriage requires a greater duty of us toward our wives, than otherwise we are bound to show to our parents. his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

²⁵ And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not For before sin entered, all things were honest and comely. ashamed.

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¹ Now the serpent was more As Satan can change himself into an angel of light, so did he abuse the wisdom of the serpent to deceive man. subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he God allowed Satan to make the serpent his instrument and to speak through him. said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

² And the woman said vnto the serpent, We eate of the fruite of the trees of the garden,

³ But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, In doubting God's warnings she yielded to Satan. lest ye die.

⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely This is Satan's chiefest subtilty, to cause us not to fear God's warnings. die:

⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, As though he said, God forbids you to eat of the fruit, only because he knows that if you eat of it, you will be like him. knowing good and evil.

⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he Not so much to please his wife, as moved by ambition at her persuasion. did eat.

⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened, and they They began to feel their misery, but they did not seek God for a remedy. knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

⁸ And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife The sinful conscience flees God's presence. hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, and said vnto him, Where art thou?

¹⁰ And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] His hypocrisy appears in that he hid the cause of his nakedness, which was the transgression of God's commandment. naked; and I hid myself.

¹¹ And he saide, Who tolde thee, that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eate?

¹² And the man said, The woman whom thou His wickedness and lack of true repentance appears in this that he blamed God because he had given him a wife. gavest [to be] with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

¹³ And the LORD God said unto the woman, What [is] this [that] thou hast done? And the woman said, Instead of confessing her sin, she increases it by accusing the serpent. The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

¹⁴ And the LORD God said unto the serpent, He asked the reason from Adam and his wife, because he would bring them to repentance, but he does not ask the serpent, because he would show him no mercy. Because thou hast done this, thou [art] cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and As a vile and contemptible beast, (Isa_65:25). dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

¹⁵ And I will put enmity between He chiefly means Satan, by whose action and deceit the serpent deceived the woman. thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy That is, the power of sin and death. head, and thou shalt Satan shall sting Christ and his members, but not overcome them. bruise his heel.

¹⁶ Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy The Lord comforts Adam by the promise of the blessed seed, and also punishes the body for the sin which the soul should have been punished for; that the spirit having conceived hope of forgiveness might live by faith. (1Co_14:34). sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire [shall be] to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

¹⁷ And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: The transgression of God's commandment was the reason that both mankind and all other creatures were subject to the curse. cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life;

¹⁸ These are not the natural fruit of the earth, but proceed from the corruption of sin.Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

¹⁹ In the sweate of thy face shalt thou eate bread, till thou returne to the earth: for out of it wast thou taken, because thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou returne.

²⁰ (And the man called his wiues name Heuah, because she was the mother of all liuing)

²¹ Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God Or, gave them knowledge to make themselves coats. make coats of skins, and clothed them.

²² And the LORD God said, By this derision by reproaches Adam's misery, into which he was fallen by ambition. Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and Adam deprived of life, lost also the sign of it. take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

²³ Therefore the Lord God sent him foorth from the garden of Eden, to till ye earth, whence he was taken.

²⁴ Thus he cast out man, and at the East side of the garden of Eden he set the Cherubims, and the blade of a sworde shaken, to keepe the way of the tree of life.

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¹ And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she Man's nature, the estate of marriage, and God's blessing were not utterly abolished through sin, but the quality or condition of it was changed. conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man That is, according to the Lord's promise, as some read (Gen_3:15), «To the Lord» rejoicing for the son she had born, whom she would offer to the Lord as the first fruits of her birth. from the LORD.

² And againe she brought foorth his brother Habel, & Habel was a keeper of sheepe, and Kain was a tiller of the ground.

³ And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an This declares that the father instructed his children in the knowledge of God, and also how God gave them sacrifices to signify their salvation, though they were destitute of the ordinance of the tree of life. offering unto the LORD.

⁴ And Habel also him selfe brought of the first fruites of his sheepe, and of the fat of them, and the Lorde had respect vnto Habel, and to his offering,

⁵ But vnto Kain and to his offering he had no regarde: wherefore Kain was exceeding wroth, and his countenance fell downe.

⁶ Then ye Lord said vnto Kain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance cast downe?

⁷ If thou doest well, shalt thou not be Both you and your sacrifice shall be acceptable to me. accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the Sin will still torment your conscience. door. And unto thee [shall be] his The dignity of the first born is given to Cain over Abel. desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

⁸ Then Kain spake to Habel his brother; when they were in the fielde, Kain rose vp against Habel his brother, and slewe him.

⁹ And the LORD said unto Cain, Where [is] Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: This is the nature of the reprobate when they are rebuke for their hypocrisy, even to neglect God and outrage him. [Am] I my brother's keeper?

¹⁰ And he said, What hast thou done? the God avenges the wrongs against his saints, though no one complains: for the iniquity itself cries for vengeance. voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

¹¹ And now [art] thou cursed The earth will be a witness against you, which mercifully received the blood you most cruelly shed. from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

¹² When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a You will never have rest for your heart will be in continual fear and worry. fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

¹³ And Cain said unto the LORD, He burdens God as a cruel judge because he punished him so severely. My punishment [is] greater than I can bear.

¹⁴ Behold, thou hast cast me out this day fro the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid, and shalbe a vagabond, and a runnagate in the earth, and whosoeuer findeth me, shall slay me.

¹⁵ And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, Not for the love he had for Cain, but to suppress murder. vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a Which was some visible sign of God's judgment, that others should fear by it. mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

¹⁶ Then Kain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod towarde the Eastside of Eden.

¹⁷ And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a Thinking by this to be safe, and to have less reason to fear God's judgments against him. city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.

¹⁸ And to Henoch was borne Irad, and Irad begate Mehuiael, and Mehuiael begate Methushael, and Methushael begate Lamech.

¹⁹ And Lamech took unto him The lawful institution of marriage, which is, that two should be one flesh, was first corrupted in the house of Cain by Lamech. two wives: the name of the one [was] Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

²⁰ And Adah bare Iabal, who was the father of such as dwell in the tents, and of such as haue cattell.

²¹ And his brothers name was Iubal, who was the father of all that play on the harpe and organes.

²² And Zillah also bare Tubal-kain, who wrought cunningly euery craft of brasse and of yron: and the sister of Tubal-kain was Naamah.

²³ And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: His wives seeing that all men hated him for his cruelty, were afraid, therefore he brags that there is none strong enough to resist, even though he was already wounded. for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.

²⁴ If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech He mocked at God's tolerance in Cain jesting as though God would allow no one to punish him and yet give him permission to murder others. seventy and sevenfold.

²⁵ And Adam knewe his wife againe, and she bare a sonne, and she called his name Sheth: for God, saide she, hath appointed me another seede for Habel, because Kain slewe him.

²⁶ And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to In these days God began to move the hearts of the godly to restore religion, which had been suppressed by the wicked for a long time. call upon the name of the LORD.

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¹ This [is] the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the Read (Gen_1:26). likeness of God made he him;

² Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name By giving them both one name, he notes the inseparable conjunction of man and wife. Adam, in the day when they were created.

³ And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat [a son] in his own As well, concerning his creation, as his corruption. likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

⁴ And the dayes of Adam, after he had begotten Sheth, were eight hundreth yeeres, and he begate sonnes and daughters.

⁵ So all the dayes that Adam liued, were nine hundreth and thirtie yeeres: and he died.

⁶ And He proves Adam's generation by those who came from Seth, to show the true Church, and also what care God had over the same from the beginning, in that he continued his graces toward it by a continual succession. Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:

⁷ And Sheth liued, after he begate Enosh, eight hundreth and seuen yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters.

⁸ And all the days of Seth were The main reason for long life in the first age, was the multiplication of mankind, that according to God's commandment at the beginning the world might be filled with people, who would universally praise him. nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.

⁹ Also Enosh liued ninetie yeeres, and begate Kenan.

¹⁰ And Enosh liued, after he begate Kenan, eight hundreth and fifteene yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters.

¹¹ So all the dayes of Enosh were nine hundreth and fiue yeeres: and he died

¹² Likewise Kenan liued seuentie yeeres, and begate Mahalaleel.

¹³ And Kenan liued, after he begate Mahalaleel, eight hundreth and fourtie yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters.

¹⁴ So all the dayes of Kenan were nine hundreth and tenne yeeres: and he died.

¹⁵ Mahalaleel also liued sixtie & fiue yeres, and begate Iered.

¹⁶ Also Mahalaleel liued, after he begate Iered, eight hundreth and thirtie yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters.

¹⁷ So all the dayes of Mahalaleel were eight hundreth ninetie and fiue yeeres: and he died.

¹⁸ And Iered liued an hundreth sixtie and two yeeres, and begate Henoch.

¹⁹ Then Iered liued, after he begate Henoch, eight hundreth yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters.

²⁰ So all the dayes of Iered were nine hundreth sixtie and two yeeres: and he died.

²¹ Also Henoch liued sixtie & fiue yeeres, and begate Methushelah.

²² And Enoch That is, he led an upright and godly life. walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

²³ So all the dayes of Henoch were three hundreth sixtie and fiue yeeres.

²⁴ And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for To show that there was a better life prepared and to be a testimony of the immortality of souls and bodies. To inquire where he went is mere curiosity. God took him.

²⁵ Methushelah also liued an hundreth eightie and seuen yeeres, and begate Lamech.

²⁶ And Methushelah liued, after he begate Lamech, seuen hundreth eightie and two yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters.

²⁷ So al the dayes of Methushelah were nine hundreth sixtie and nine yeeres: and he died.

²⁸ Then Lamech liued an hundreth eightie and two yeeres, and begate a sonne,

²⁹ And he called his name Noah, saying, This [same] shall Lamech had respect for the promise, (Gen_3:15), and desired to see the deliverer who would be sent and yet saw but a figure of it. He spoke this by the spirit of prophecy because Noah delivered the Church and preserved it by his obedience. comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.

³⁰ And Lamech liued, after he begate Noah, fiue hundreth ninetie and fiue yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters.

³¹ So all the dayes of Lamech were seuen hundreth seuentie and seuen yeeres: and he died.

³² And Noah was fiue hundreth yeere olde; Noah begate Shem, Ham and Iapheth.

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¹ So when men beganne to be multiplied vpon the earth, and there were daughters borne vnto them,

² That the The children of the godly who began to degenerate. sons of God saw the daughters Those that had wicked parents, as if from Cain. of men that they [were] Having more respect for their beauty and worldly considerations than for their manners and godliness. fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

³ And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always Because man could not by won by God's leniency and patience by which he tried to win him, he would no longer withhold his vengeance. strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an Which time span God gave man to repent before he would destroy the earth, (1Pe_3:20). hundred and twenty years.

⁴ There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare [children] to them, the same [became] mighty men which [were] of old, men of Who usurped authority over others, and degenerated from that simplicity, in which their father's lived. renown.

⁵ When the Lorde sawe that the wickednesse of man was great in the earth, and all the imaginations of the thoughtes of his heart were onely euill continually,

⁶ And it God never repents, but he speaks in human terms, because he destroyed him, and in a way denied him as his creature. repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

⁷ And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and God declares how much he detests sin, seeing the punishment of it extends to the brute beasts. beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

⁸ But Noah God was merciful to him. found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

⁹ These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a iust and vpright man in his time: and Noah walked with God.

¹⁰ And Noah begate three sonnes, Shem, Ham and Iapheth.

¹¹ The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with Meaning, that all were given to the contempt of God, and oppression of their neighbours. violence.

¹² Then God looked vpon the earth, and beholde, it was corrupt: for all flesh had corrupt his way vpon the earth.

¹³ And God said vnto Noah, An ende of all flesh is come before me: for the earth is filled with crueltie through them: and beholde, I wil destroy them with the earth.

¹⁴ Make thee an Arke of pine trees: thou shalt make cabines in the Arke, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

¹⁵ And thus shalt thou make it: The length of the Arke shalbe three hundreth cubites, the breadth of it fiftie cubites, and the height of it thirtie cubites.

¹⁶ A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; [with] That is, of three heights. lower, second, and third [stories] shalt thou make it.

¹⁷ And I, beholde, I will bring a flood of waters vpon the earth to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life vnder the heauen: all that is in the earth shall perish.

¹⁸ But with thee will I So that in this great undertaking and mocking of the whole world, you may be confirmed so your faith does not fail. establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

¹⁹ And of euery liuing thing, of all flesh two of euery sort shalt thou cause to come into the Arke, to keepe them aliue with thee: they shalbe male and female.

²⁰ Of the foules, after their kinde, and of the cattell after their kind, of euery creeping thing of the earth after his kinde, two of euery sort shall come vnto thee, that thou mayest keepe them aliue.

²¹ And take thou with thee of all meate that is eaten: and thou shalt gather it to thee, that it may be meate for thee and for them.

²² Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, That is, he obeyed God's commandment in all points without adding or taking away. so did he.

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¹ And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen In respect to the rest of the world, and because he had a desire to serve God and live uprightly. righteous before me in this generation.

² Of every Which might be offered in sacrifice, of which six were for breeding and the seventh for sacrifice. clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that [are] not clean by two, the male and his female.

³ Of the foules also of the heauen by seuens, male and female, to keepe seede aliue vpon the whole earth.

⁴ For seuen dayes hence I will cause it raine vpon the earth fourtie dayes and fourtie nightes, and all the substance that I haue made, will I destroy from off the earth.

⁵ Noah therefore did according vnto all that the Lord commanded him.

⁶ And Noah was sixe hundreth yeeres olde, when the flood of waters was vpon the earth.

⁷ So Noah entred and his sonnes, and his wife, & his sonnes wiues with him into the Arke, because of the waters of the flood.

⁸ Of the cleane beastes, and of the vncleane beastes, and of the foules, and of all that creepeth vpon the earth,

⁹ There God compelled them to present themselves to Noah, as they did before to Adam, when he gave them names, (Gen_2:19). went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

¹⁰ And so after seuen dayes the waters of the flood were vpon the earth.

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the Both the waters in the earth overflowed and also the clouds poured down. fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

¹² And the raine was vpon the earth fourtie dayes and fourtie nightes.

¹³ In the selfe same day entred Noah with Shem, and Ham and Iapheth, the sonnes of Noah, and Noahs wife, and the three wiues of his sonnes with them into the Arke.

¹⁴ They and euery beast after his kinde, and all cattell after their kinde, and euery thing that creepeth and moueth vpon the earth after his kinde, and euery foule after his kinde, euen euery bird of euery fether.

¹⁵ And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two Every living thing that God would have be preserved on earth, came into the ark to Noah. of all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life.

¹⁶ And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD So that God's secret power defended him against the rage of the mighty waters. shut him in.

¹⁷ Then ye flood was fourtie dayes vpon the earth, and the waters were increased, and bare vp the Arke, which was lift vp aboue the earth.

¹⁸ The waters also waxed strong, and were increased exceedingly vpon the earth, and the Arke went vpon the waters.

¹⁹ The waters preuailed so exceedingly vpon the earth, that all the high mountaines, that are vnder the whole heauen, were couered.

²⁰ Fifteene cubites vpwarde did the waters preuaile, when the mountaines were couered.

²¹ Then all flesh perished that moued vpon the earth, both foule and cattell and beast, and euery thing that creepeth and moueth vpon the earth, and euery man.

²² Euery thing in whose nostrels the spirit of life did breathe, whatsoeuer they were in the drie land, they died.

²³ And every living substance was destroyed That is, by God. which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only Learn what it is to obey God only, and to forsake the multitude, (1Pe_3:20). remained [alive], and they that [were] with him in the ark.

²⁴ And the waters preuailed vpon the earth an hundreth and fiftie dayes.

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¹ And God Not that God forgets his at any time, but when he sends comfort then he shows that he remembers them. remembered Noah, and If God remembered every brute beast, that ought also to assure his children. every living thing, and all the cattle that [was] with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;

² The fountaines also of the deepe and the windowes of heauen were stopped and the raine from heauen was restrained,

³ And the waters returned from aboue the earth, going and returning: and after the ende of the hundreth and fiftieth day the waters abated.

⁴ And the ark rested in the Part of September and part of October. seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

⁵ And the waters decreased continually until the Which was the month of December. tenth month: in the tenth [month], on the first [day] of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

⁶ So after fourtie dayes, Noah opened the windowe of the Arke, which he had made,

⁷ And sent forth a rauen, which went out going forth and returning, vntill the waters were dried vp vpon the earth.

⁸ Againe he sent a doue from him, that he might see if the waters were diminished from off the earth.

⁹ But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters [were] on the face of the whole earth: then he The raven flew to and fro, resting on the ark, but did not come into it, unlike the dove that was taken in. put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

¹⁰ And he abode yet other seuen dayes, and againe he sent forth the doue out of the Arke.

¹¹ And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth [was] an Which was a sign that the waters were much diminished: for the olives do not grow on the high mountains. olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

¹² Notwithstanding he wayted yet other seuen dayes, and sent forth the doue, which returned not againe vnto him any more.

¹³ And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the Called in Hebrew Abib, part of March and part of April. first [month], the first [day] of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

¹⁴ And in the second moneth, in the seuen & twentieth day of the moneth was the earth drie.

¹⁵ Then God spake to Noah, saying,

¹⁶ Noah declares his obedience, in that he would not leave the ark without God's express commandment, as he did not enter in without the same: the ark being a figure of the Church, in which nothing must be done outside the word of God.Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

¹⁷ Bring forth with thee euery beast that is with thee, of all flesh, both foule and cattell, and euery thing that creepeth and moueth vpon the earth, that they may breede abundantly in ye earth, and bring forth fruite & increase vpon ye earth.

¹⁸ So Noah came forth, and his sonnes, and his wife, and his sonnes wiues with him.

¹⁹ Euery beast, euery creeping thing, and euery foule, all that moueth vpon the earth after their kindes went out of the Arke.

²⁰ And Noah For sacrifices which were as an exercise of their faith, by which they used to give thanks to God for his benefits. builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

²¹ And the LORD smelled a That is, by it he showed himself appeased and his anger at rest. sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart [is] evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

²² While the earth remaineth, The order of nature destroyed by the flood, is restored by God's promise. seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

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¹ And God God increased them with fruit, and declared to them his counsel as concerning the replenishing of the earth. blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

² And the By the virtue of this commandment, beasts do not rage as much against man as they would, yea and many serve his purposes by it. fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth [upon] the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

³ Every By this permission man may with a good conscience use the creatures of God for his needs. moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

⁴ That is, living creatures, and the flesh of beasts that are strangled: and by this all cruelty is forbidden.But flesh with the life thereof, [which is] the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

⁵ That is, I will take vengeance for your blood.And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.

⁶ Whoso sheddeth man's blood, Not only by the magistrate, but often God raises up one murderer to kill another. by man shall his blood be shed: for in the Therefore to kill man is to deface God's image, and so injury is not only done to man, but also to God. image of God made he man.

⁷ But bring ye forth fruite & multiplie: grow plentifully in the earth, and increase therein.

⁸ God spake also to Noah & to his sonnes with him, saying,

⁹ And I, behold, I establish my To assure you that the world will never again be destroyed by a flood. covenant with you, and with your The children which are not yet born, are comprehended in God's covenant with their fathers. seed after you;

¹⁰ And with euery liuing creature that is with you, with the foule, with the cattell, and with euery beast of the earth with you, from all that goe out of the Arke, vnto euery beast of the earth.

¹¹ And my couenant will I establish with you, that from henceforth all flesh shall not be rooted out by ye waters of the flood, neither shall there be a flood to destroy the earth any more.

¹² Then God saide, This is the token of the couenant which I make betweene me and you, and betweene euery liuing thing, that is with you vnto perpetuall generations.

¹³ I do set my By this we see that signs or ordinances should not be separate from the word. bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

¹⁴ And when I shall couer the earth with a cloud, and the bowe shall be seene in the cloude,

¹⁵ And I will remember my When men see my bow in the sky, they will know that I have not forgotten my covenant with them. covenant, which [is] between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

¹⁶ Therefore the bowe shalbe in the cloude, that I may see it, and remember the euerlasting couenant betweene God, and euery liuing thing in all flesh that is vpon the earth.

¹⁷ And God said unto Noah, God repeats this often to confirm Noah's faith even more. This [is] the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that [is] upon the earth.

¹⁸ Nowe the sonnes of Noah going foorth of the Arke, were Shem and Ham and Iapheth; Ham is the father of Canaan.

¹⁹ These [are] the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth This declares what the virtue of God's blessing was, when he said, increase and bring forth in (Gen_1:28). overspread.

²⁰ Noah also began to be an husband man and planted a vineyard.

²¹ And he drank of the wine, and was This is set before us to show what a horrible thing drunkenness is. drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

²² And Ham, the father of Of whom came the Canaanites that wicked nation, who were also cursed by God. Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and In derision and contempt of his father. told his two brethren without.

²³ Then tooke Shem & Iapheth a garment, and put it vpon both their shoulders, and went backwarde, and couered the nakednesse of their father with their faces backwarde: so they sawe not their fathers nakednesse.

²⁴ Then Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his yonger sonne had done vnto him,

²⁵ And he said, He pronounces as a prophet the curse of God against all those who do not honour their parents: for Ham and his posterity were cursed. Cursed [be] Canaan; a That is, a most vile slave. servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

²⁶ He said moreouer, blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and let Canaan be his seruant.

²⁷ God shall He declares that the Gentiles, who came from Japheth, and were separated from the Church, should be joined to the same by the persuasion of God's Spirit, and preaching of the gospel. enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

²⁸ And Noah liued after the flood three hundreth and fiftie yeeres.

²⁹ So all the dayes of Noah were nine hundreth and fiftie yeeres: and he died.

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¹ These generations are here recited, partly to declare the marvellous increase, and also to set forth their great forgetfulness of God's grace towards their fathers.Now these [are] the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

² The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Of Madai and Javan came the Medes and Greeks. Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

³ And the sonnes of Gomer, Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.

⁴ Also the sonnes of Iauan, Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

⁵ By these were the So do the Jews call all countries which are separated from them by sea, as Greece, Italy etc, which were given to the children of Japheth, of whom came the Gentiles. isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

⁶ And the sons of Ham; Of Cush and Mizraim came the Ethiopians and Egyptians. Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

⁷ And the sonnes of Cush, Seba and Hauilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: also the sonnes of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

⁸ And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a Meaning, a cruel oppressor and tyrant. mighty one in the earth.

⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even His tyranny came into a proverb as hated both by God and man: for he did not cease to commit cruelty even in God's presence. as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

¹⁰ And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of For there was another city in Egypt, called Babel. Shinar.

¹¹ Out of that land came Asshur, and builded Niniueh, and the citie Rehoboth, and Calah:

¹² Resen also betweene Niniueh and Calah: this is a great citie.

¹³ And Mizraim begat Of Lud came the Lydians. Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,

¹⁴ Pathrusim also, & Casluhim (out of whom came the Philistims) and Caphtorims.

¹⁵ Also Canaan begat Zidon his first borne, and Heth,

¹⁶ And Iebusi, and Emori, and Girgashi,

¹⁷ And Hiui, and Arki, and Sini,

¹⁸ And Aruadi, and Zemari, and Hamathi: and afterwarde were the families of the Canaanites spred abroade.

¹⁹ Then the border of the Canaanites was from Zidon, as thou commest to Gerar vntil Azzah, and as thou goest vnto Sodom, & Gomorah, and Admah, and Zeboijm, euen vnto Lasha.

²⁰ These are the sonnes of Ham according to their families, according to their tongues in their countries and in their nations.

²¹ Unto In his stock the Church was preserved: therefore Moses stops speaking of Japheth and Ham, and speaks of Shem extensively. Shem also, the father of all the children of Of whom came the Hebrews or Jews. Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were [children] born.

²² The sonnes of Shem were Elam and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram.

²³ And the sonnes of Aram, Vz and Hul, and Gether and Mash.

²⁴ Also Arpachshad begate Shelah, and Shelah begate Eber.

²⁵ And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one [was] Peleg; for in his days was the earth This division came by the diversity of language, as appears in (Gen_11:9). divided; and his brother's name [was] Joktan.

²⁶ Then Ioktan begate Almodad and Sheleph, and Hazarmaueth, and Ierah,

²⁷ And Hadoram, and Vzal, and Dicklah,

²⁸ And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,

²⁹ And Ophir, and Hauilah, and Iobab: all these were the sonnes of Ioktan.

³⁰ And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest vnto Sephar a mount of the East.

³¹ These are the sonnes of Shem according to their families, according to their tongues, in their countreis and nations.

³² These are the families of the sonnes of Noah, after their generations among their people: and out of these were the nations diuided in the earth after the flood.

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¹ Then the whole earth was of one language and one speache.

² And it came to pass, One hundred and thirty years after the flood. as That is, Nimrod and his company. they journeyed from the That is, from Armenia where the ark stayed. east, that they found a plain in the land of Which was afterward called Chaldea. Shinar; and they dwelt there.

³ And they said one to another, Come, let vs make bricke, and burne it in the fire. So they had bricke for stone, and slyme had they in steade of morter.

⁴ And they said, Go to, let us They were moved with pride and ambition, preferring their own glory to God's honour. build us a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

⁵ And the LORD Meaning, that he declared by effect, that he knew their wicked enterprise; for God's power is everywhere, and neither ascends nor descends. came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

⁶ And the LORD said, God speaks this in derision, because of their foolish persuasion and enterprise. Behold, the people [is] one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

⁷ Go to, He speaks as though he took counsel with his own wisdom and power: that is, with the Son and holy Spirit: signifying the greatness and certainty of the punishment. let us go down, and By this great plague of the confusion of tongues appears God's horrible judgment against man's pride and vain glory. there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

⁸ So ye Lord scattered them from thence vpon all the earth, & they left off to build the citie.

⁹ Therefore the name of it was called Babel, because the Lorde did there confounde the language of all the earth: from thence then did the Lord scatter them vpon all the earth.

¹⁰ These [are] the generations He returns to the genealogy of Shem, to come to the history of Abram, in which the Church of God is described, which is Moses' principle purpose. of Shem: Shem [was] an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:

¹¹ And Shem liued, after he begate Arpachshad, fiue hundreth yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters.

¹² Also Arpachshad liued fiue and thirtie yeeres, and begate Shelah.

¹³ And Arpachshad liued, after he begate Shelah, foure hundreth and three yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters.

¹⁴ And Shelah liued thirtie yeeres, and begat Eber.

¹⁵ So Shelah liued, after he begat Eber, foure hundreth and three yeeres, and begat sonnes and daughters.

¹⁶ Likewise Eber liued foure & thirtie yeres, and begate Peleg.

¹⁷ So Eber liued, after he begate Peleg, foure hundreth and thirtie yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters

¹⁸ And Peleg liued thirtie yeeres, and begate Reu.

¹⁹ And Peleg liued, after he begate Reu, two hundreth and nine yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters.

²⁰ Also Reu liued two and thirtie yeeres, and begate Serug.

²¹ So Reu liued, after he begate Serug, two hundreth & seuen yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters.

²² Moreouer Serug liued thirtie yeeres, and begate Nahor.

²³ And Serug liued, after he begate Nahor, two hundreth yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters.

²⁴ And Nahor liued nine and twentie yeeres, and begate Terah.

²⁵ So Nahor liued, after he begate Terah, an hundreth and nineteene yeeres, and begat sonnes and daughters.

²⁶ So Terah liued seuentie yeeres, and begate Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷ Now these [are] the generations of Terah: Terah begat He makes mention first of Abram, not because he was the first born, but for the history which properly belongs to him. Also Abram at the confusion of tongues was 43 years old, for in the destruction of Sodom he was 99 and it was destroyed 52 years after the confusion of tongues. Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

²⁸ Then Haran died before Terah his father in the land of his natiuitie, in Vr of the Caldees.

²⁹ And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife [was] Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Some think that this Iscah was Sarai. Iscah.

³⁰ But Sarai was barren, and had no childe.

³¹ And Though the oracle of God came to Abram, yet the honour is given to Terah, because he was the father. Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Which was a city of Mesopotamia. Haran, and dwelt there.

³² So the dayes of Terah were two hundreth and fiue yeeres, and Terah died in Haran.

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¹ Now the LORD had said unto Abram, From the flood to this time were four hundred and twenty-three years. Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto In appointing him no certain place, he proves so much more his faith and obedience. a land that I will shew thee:

² And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be The world shall recover by your seed, which is Christ, the blessing which they lost in Adam. a blessing:

³ I will also blesse them that blesse thee, and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

⁴ So Abram departed, euen as ye Lorde spake vnto him, and Lot went with him. (And Abram was seuentie and fiue yeere olde, when he departed out of Haran)

⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the Meaning servants as well as cattle. souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

⁶ And Abram He wandered to and fro in the land before he could find a settling place: thus God exercises the faith of his children. passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Which was a cruel and rebellious nation, by whom God kept his in continual exercise. Canaanite [was] then in the land.

⁷ And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he It was not enough for him to worship God in his heart, but it was expedient to declare by outward profession his faith before men, of which this altar was a sign. an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

⁸ And he removed from Because of the troubles that he had among that wicked people. thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, [having] Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an And so served the true God, and renounced all idolatry. altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

⁹ Thus the children of God may look for no rest in this world, but must wait for the heavenly rest and quietness.And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

¹⁰ And there was a This was a new trial of Abram's faith: by which we see that the end of one affliction is the beginning of another. famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine [was] grievous in the land.

¹¹ And when he drewe neere to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, Beholde nowe, I know that thou art a faire woman to looke vpo:

¹² Therefore it will come to passe, that when the Egyptians see thee, they will say, She is his wife: so will they kill me, but they will keepe thee aliue.

¹³ Say, I pray thee, thou [art] my By this we learn not to use unlawful means nor to put others in danger to save ourselves, (Gen_12:20). Though it may appear that Abram did not fear death, so much as dying without children, he acts as though God's promise had not taken place; in which appeared a weak faith. sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

¹⁴ Nowe when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians behelde the woman: for she was very faire.

¹⁵ The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was To be his wife. taken into Pharaoh's house.

¹⁶ Who intreated Abram well for her sake, and he had sheepe, and beeues, and hee asses, and men seruants and maide seruants, and shee asses, and camelles.

¹⁷ And the LORD The Lord took the defence of this poor stranger against a mighty king: and as he is ever careful over his, so did he preserve Sarai. plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.

¹⁸ Then Pharaoh called Abram, and saide, Why hast thou done this vnto me? Wherefore diddest thou not tell me, that she was thy wife?

¹⁹ Why saidest thou, She is my sister, that I should take her to be my wife? Nowe therefore beholde thy wife, take her and goe thy way.

²⁰ And Pharaoh To the intent that none should hurt him either in his person or goods. commanded [his] men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

13

¹ And His great riches gotten in Egypt, did not hinder him in following his vocation. Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

² And Abram was very rich in cattell, in siluer and in golde.

³ And he went on his journeys from the south even to He calls the place by the name which was later given to it, (Gen_23:19). Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;

⁴ Vnto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the Name of the Lord.

⁵ And Lot also, who went with Abram, had sheepe, and cattell and tentes,

⁶ And the land was not able to This inconvenience came by their riches, which break friendships and the bounds of nature. bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

⁷ And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Who seeing their contention, might blaspheme God and destroy them. Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.

⁸ And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no He cuts off the opportunity for contention: therefore the evil ceases. strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we [be] brethren.

⁹ [Is] not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if [thou wilt Abram resigns his own right to buy peace. take] the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if [thou depart] to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

¹⁰ And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it [was] well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, [even] as the Which was in Eden, (Gen_2:10). garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

¹¹ Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the This was done by God's providence, that only Abram and his seed might dwell in the land of Canaan. one from the other.

¹² Abram dwelled in the lande of Canaan, and Lot abode in the cities of the plaine, and pitched his tent euen to Sodom.

¹³ But the men of Sodom [were] wicked and Lot thinking to get paradise, found hell. sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

¹⁴ And the LORD said unto The Lord comforted him, lest he should have taken thought for the departure of his nephew. Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:

¹⁵ For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for Meaning a long time, and till the coming of Christ as in (Exo_12:14, Exo_21:6; Deu_15:17) and spiritually this refers to the true children of Abram born according to the promise, and not according to the flesh, which are heirs of the true land of Canaan. ever.

¹⁶ And I will make thy seede, as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seede be numbred.

¹⁷ Arise, walke through the land, in ye length thereof, and breadth thereof: for I will giue it vnto thee.

¹⁸ Then Abram remoued his tent, and came and dwelled in the plaine of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and builded there an altar vnto ye Lorde.

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¹ And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of That is, of Babylon: by kings here, meaning, them that were governors of cities. Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Of a people gathered from various countries. nations;

² These men made warre with Bera King of Sodom, and with Birsha King of Gomorah, Shinab King of Admah, and Shemeber King of Zeboiim, and the King of Bela, which is Zoar.

³ All these were Ambition is the chief cause of wars among princes. joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the Called also the dead sea, or the lake Asphaltite, near Sodom and Gomorrah. salt sea.

⁴ Twelue yeere were they subiect to Chedor-laomer, but in the thirteenth yeere they rebelled.

⁵ And in the fourteenth yeere came Chedor-laomer, and the Kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaueh Kiriathaim,

⁶ And the Horites in their mount Seir, vnto the plaine of Paran, which is by the wildernesse.

⁷ And they returned and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the countrey of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites that dwelled in Hazezon-tamar.

⁸ Then went out the King of Sodom, and the King of Gomorah, and the King of Admah, and the King of Zeboiim, and the King of Bela, which is Zoar: and they ioyned battell with them in the vale of Siddim:

⁹ To wit, with Chedor-laomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar: foure Kings against fiue.

¹⁰ And the And afterward was overwhelmed with water, and so was called the salt sea. vale of Siddim [was full of] slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

¹¹ Then they tooke all the substance of Sodom and Gomorah, and al their vitailes and went their way.

¹² And they The godly are plagued many times with the wicked: therefore their company is dangerous. took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

¹³ And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these [were] God removed them to join Abram, and preserves him from their idolatry and superstitions. confederate with Abram.

¹⁴ When Abram heard that his brother was taken, he brought forth of them that were borne and brought vp in his house, three hundreth and eighteene, and pursued them vnto Dan.

¹⁵ Then he, and his seruants deuided them selues against them by night, & smote them and pursued them vnto Hobah, which is on the left side of Damascus,

¹⁶ And he recouered all the substance, and also brought againe his brother Lot, & his goods, and the women also and the people.

¹⁷ After that he returned from the slaughter of Chedor-laomer, and of the Kings that were with him, came the King of Sodom foorth to meete him in the valley of Shaueh, which is the Kings dale.

¹⁸ And Melchizedek king of Salem For Abram and his soldiers refreshment, not to offer sacrifice. brought forth bread and wine: and he [was] the priest of the most high God.

¹⁹ And he Melchizedek fed Abram, declared himself to represent a king, and he blessed him as the high priest. blessed him, and said, Blessed [be] Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

²⁰ And blessed be the most high God, which hath deliuered thine enemies into thine hand. And Abram gaue him tythe of all.

²¹ Then the King of Sodom saide to Abram, Giue me the persons, and take the goodes to thy selfe.

²² And Abram said to the King of Sodom, I haue lift vp mine hand vnto the Lorde the most hie God possessor of heauen and earth,

²³ That I will not take of all that is thine, so much as a threde or shoolatchet, lest thou shouldest say, I haue made Abram riche,

²⁴ He did not want his liberality to be hurtful to others.Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

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¹ After these things, the worde of the Lorde came vnto Abram in a vision, saying, Feare not, Abram, I am thy buckler, and thine exceeding great reward.

² And Abram said, His fear was not only lest he should not have children, but lest the promise of the blessed seed should not be accomplished in him. Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house [is] this Eliezer of Damascus?

³ Againe Abram saide, Beholde, to me thou hast giuen no seede: wherefore loe, a seruant of mine house shalbe mine heire.

⁴ Then beholde, the worde of the Lorde came vnto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heire, but one that shall come out of thine owne bowels, he shalbe thine heire.

⁵ Moreouer he brought him forth and said, Looke vp nowe vnto heauen, and tell ye starres, if thou be able to number them: and he said vnto him, So shall thy seede be.

⁶ And Abram beleeued the Lorde, and he counted that to him for righteousnesse.

⁷ Againe he saide vnto him, I am the Lord, that brought thee out of Vr of the Caldees, to giue thee this land to inherite it.

⁸ And he said, Lord GOD, This is a particular motion of God's Spirit, which is not lawful for all to follow, in asking signs: but was permitted for some by a peculiar motion, as to Gideon and Ezekiel. whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

⁹ Then he said vnto him, Take me an heifer of three yeeres olde, and a shee goate of three yeeres olde, and a ramme of three yeeres olde, a turtle doue also and a pigeon.

¹⁰ And he took unto him all these, and This was the old custom in making covenants, (Jer_39:18), to which God added these conditions, that Abram's posterity would be as torn in pieces, but after they would be rejoined: also that it would be assaulted, but yet delivered. divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

¹¹ Then foules fell on the carkases, and Abram droue them away.

¹² And when the sunne went downe, there fell an heauie sleepe vpon Abram: and loe, a very fearefull darkenes fell vpon him.

¹³ And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land [that is] not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them Counting from the birth of Isaac to their departure of Egypt: Which declares that God will allow his to be afflicted in this world. four hundred years;

¹⁴ Notwithstanding the nation, whom they shall serue, will I iudge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

¹⁵ But thou shalt goe vnto thy fathers in peace, and shalt be buried in a good age.

¹⁶ But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the Though God tolerates the wicked for a time, yet his vengeance falls on them when the measure of their wickedness is full. iniquity of the Amorites [is] not yet full.

¹⁷ Also when the sunne went downe, there was a darkenes: & behold, a smoking fornace, and a firebrand, which went betweene those pieces.

¹⁸ In that same day the Lord made a couenant with Abram, saying, Vnto thy seede haue I giuen this lande, from the riuer of Egypt vnto the great riuer, the riuer Euphrates.

¹⁹ The Kenites, and the Kenizites, and the Kadmonites,

²⁰ And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

²¹ The Amorites also, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Iebusites.

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¹ Now It seems that she had respect for God's promise, which could not be accomplished without issue. Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name [was] Hagar.

² And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath She fails by limiting God's power to the common order of nature, as though God could not give her children in her old age. restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

³ Then Sarai Abrams wife tooke Hagar her maide the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelled ten yeere in the land of Canaan, and gaue her to her husband Abram for his wife.

⁴ And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was This punishment declares what they gain if they attempt any thing against the word of God. despised in her eyes.

⁵ Then Sarai saide to Abram, Thou doest me wrong. I haue giuen my maide into thy bosome, and she seeth that she hath conceiued, and I am despised in her eyes: the Lorde iudge betweene me and thee.

⁶ Then Abram saide to Sarai, Beholde, thy maide is in thine hand: doe with her as it pleaseth thee. Then Sarai dealt roughly with her: wherefore she fled from her.

⁷ And the Which was Christ, as appears in (Gen_16:13, Gen_18:17). angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

⁸ And he saide, Hagar Sarais maide, whence commest thou? and whither wilt thou goe? And she said, I flie from my dame Sarai.

⁹ And the angel of the LORD said unto her, God rejects no estate of people in their misery, but sends them comfort. Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

¹⁰ Againe the Angel of the Lorde saide vnto her, I will so greatly increase thy seede, that it shal not be numbred for multitude.

¹¹ Also the Angel of the Lord said vnto her, See, thou art with childe, and shalt beare a sonne, and shalt call his name Ishmael: for the Lorde hath heard thy tribulation.

¹² And he will be a wild man; his hand [will be] against every man, and every man's hand against him; and That is, the Ishmaelites will be a separate people by themselves and not part of another people. he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

¹³ And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, She rebukes her own dullness and acknowledges God's graces, who was present with her everywhere. Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?

¹⁴ Wherefore the well was called, Beerlahai-roi. lo, it is betweene Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ And Hagar bare Abram a sonne, and Abram called his sonnes name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.

¹⁶ And Abram was foure score and sixe yeere olde, when Hagar bare him Ishmael.

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¹ When Abram was ninetie yeere olde and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said vnto him, I am God all sufficient. walke before me, and be thou vpright,

² And I will make my couenant betweene me and thee, & I will multiplie thee exceedingly.

³ Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying,

⁴ As for me, behold, my covenant [is] with thee, and thou shalt be a Not only physical descendants, but of a far greater multitude by faith, (Rom_4:17). father of many nations.

⁵ Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be The changing of his name is a seal to confirm God's promise to him. Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

⁶ Also I will make thee exceeding fruitfull, and will make nations of thee: yea, Kings shall proceede of thee.

⁷ Moreouer I wil establish my couenant betweene me and thee, and thy seede after thee in their generations, for an euerlasting couenant, to be God vnto thee and to thy seede after thee.

⁸ And I will giue thee and thy seede after thee the land, wherein thou art a stranger, euen all the land of Canaan, for an euerlasting possession, and I will be their God.

⁹ Againe God said vnto Abraham, Thou also shalt keepe my couenant, thou, and thy seede after thee in their generations.

¹⁰ Circumcision is called the covenant, because it signifies the covenant and has the promise of grace joined to it: a phrase that is common to all ordinances.This [is] my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

¹¹ And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your That private part is circumcised, to show that all that is begotten by man is corrupt, and must die. foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

¹² And euery man childe of eight dayes olde among you, shalbe circumcised in your generations, aswell he that is borne in thine house, as he that is bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seede.

¹³ He that is borne in thine house, & he that is bought with thy money, must needes be circumcised: so my couenant shall be in your flesh for an euerlasting couenant.

¹⁴ And the uncircumcised Though women were not circumcised, they still partook of God's promise: for under mankind all was consecrated. Here it is declared, that whoever condemns the sign, also despises the promise. man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

¹⁵ Afterward God said vnto Abraham, Sarai thy wife shalt thou not call Sarai, but Sarah shalbe her name.

¹⁶ And I will blesse her, & will also giue thee a sonne of her, yea, I will blesse her, and she shall be the mother of nations: Kings also of people shall come of her.

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell upon his face, and Which proceeded from a sudden joy, and not from lack of faith. laughed, and said in his heart, Shall [a child] be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

¹⁸ And Abraham saide vnto God, Oh, that Ishmael might liue in thy sight.

¹⁹ And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an The everlasting covenant is made with the children of the Spirit. A temporary promise is made with the children of the flesh, as was promised to Ishmael. everlasting covenant, [and] with his seed after him.

²⁰ And as concerning Ishmael, I haue heard thee: loe, I haue blessed him, and will make him fruitfull, and will multiplie him exceedingly: twelue princes shall he beget, and I will make a great nation of him.

²¹ But my couenant will I establish with Izhak, which Sarah shall beare vnto thee, the next yeere at this season.

²² And he left off talking with him, and God went vp from Abraham.

²³ And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and They were well taught if they obeyed and were circumcised without resistance. This teaches that masters in their houses ought to be as preachers to their families, that from the highest to the lowest they may obey the will of God. circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.

²⁴ Abraham also himselfe was ninetie yeere olde and nine, when the foreskinne of his flesh was circumcised.

²⁵ And Ishmael his sonne was thirteene yeere olde, when the foreskinne of his flesh was circumcised.

²⁶ The selfe same day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his sonne:

²⁷ And all the men of his house, both borne in his house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.

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¹ Againe the Lord appeared vnto him in the plaine of Mamre, as he sate in his tent doore about the heate of the day.

² And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three That is, three angels in the shape of men. men stood by him: and when he saw [them], he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

³ And said, My Speaking to the one who appeared to be most majestic, for he thought they were men. Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:

⁴ Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and For men used to go bare footed in those parts because of the heat. wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:

⁵ And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye As sent by God that I should do my duty to you. come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

⁶ Then Abraham made haste into the tent vnto Sarah, and saide, Make ready at once three measures of fine meale: kneade it, and make cakes vpon the hearth.

⁷ And Abraham ranne to the beastes, and tooke a tender and good calfe, and gaue it to the seruant, who hasted to make it ready.

⁸ And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set [it] before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and For as God gave them bodies for a time, so he gave them the abilities of them, to walk, to eat and drink, and such like. they did eat.

⁹ Then they saide to him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he answered, Beholde, she is in the tent.

¹⁰ And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of That is, about this time when she shall be alive, or when the child shall come into this life. life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard [it] in the tent door, which [was] behind him.

¹¹ (Nowe Abraham and Sarah were old and striken in age, and it ceased to be with Sarah after the maner of women)

¹² Therefore Sarah For she believed the order of nature, rather than believing the promise of God. laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

¹³ And ye Lord saide vnto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah thus laugh, saying, Shall I certainely beare a childe, which am olde?

¹⁴ (Shall any thing be hard to the Lord? at the time appointed will I returne vnto thee, euen according to the time of life, and Sarah shall haue a sonne.)

¹⁵ But Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not: for she was afraide; he said, It is not so: for thou laughedst.

¹⁶ Afterwarde the men did rise vp from thence and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

¹⁷ And the Jehovah the Hebrew word we call Lord, shows that this angel was Christ: for this word is only applied to God. LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;

¹⁸ Seeing that Abraham shalbe in deede a great and a mightie nation, and all the nations of the earth shalbe blessed in him?

¹⁹ For I know him, He shows that fathers ought both to know God's judgments, and to declare them to their children. that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

²⁰ Then the Lorde saide, Because the crie of Sodom and Gomorah is great, and because their sinne is exceeding grieuous,

²¹ I will God speaks after the fashion of men: that is, I will enter into judgment with good advise. go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the For our sins cry for vengeance, though no one accuses us. cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

²² And the men turned thence and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stoode yet before the Lord.

²³ Then Abraham drewe neere, & said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴ If there be fiftie righteous within the citie, wilt thou destroy and not spare the place for the fiftie righteous that are therein?

²⁵ Be it farre fro thee from doing this thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be euen as the wicked, be it farre from thee. shall not the Iudge of all the worlde doe right?

²⁶ And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom God declares that his judgments were done with great mercy, even though all were so corrupt that not only fifty but ten righteous men could not be found there, and also that the wicked are spared for the sake of the righteous. fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

²⁷ And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which [am By this we learn, that the nearer we approach to God, the more our miserable estate appears, and the more we are humbled. but] dust and ashes:

²⁸ If there shall lacke fiue of fiftie righteous, wilt thou destroy all the citie for fiue? And he saide, If I finde there fiue and fourtie, I will not destroy it.

²⁹ And he yet spake to him againe, and saide, What if there shalbe found fourtie there? Then he answered, I will not doe it for fourties sake.

³⁰ Againe he said, Let not my Lord nowe be angry, that I speake, What if thirtie be founde there? Then he saide, I will not doe it, if I finde thirtie there.

³¹ Moreouer he said, Behold, now I haue begonne to speake vnto my Lord, What if twentie be founde there? And he answered, I will not destroy it for twenties sake.

³² And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this If God did not refuse the prayer for the wicked Sodomites, even to the sixth request, how much more will he grant the prayers of the godly for the afflicted Church? once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy [it] for ten's sake.

³³ And the Lord went his way when he had left communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned vnto his place.

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¹ And there came two In which we see God's provident care in preserving his: even though he does not reveal himself to all alike: for Lot had but two angels, and Abraham three. angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing [them] rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

² And he saide, See my Lords, I pray you turne in nowe into your seruants house, and tarie all night, and wash your feete, & ye shall rise vp early and goe your wayes. Who saide, Nay, but we will abide in the streete all night.

³ And That is, he begged them so insistently. he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they Not because they had need, but because the time was not yet come for them to reveal themselves. did eat.

⁴ But before they lay down, the men of the city, [even] the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, Nothing is more dangerous than to live where sin reigns: for it corrupts all. all the people from every quarter:

⁵ Who crying vnto Lot said to him, Where are the men, which came to thee this night? Bring them out vnto vs that we may knowe them.

⁶ Then Lot went out at the doore vnto them, and shut the doore after him,

⁷ And said, I pray you, my brethren, do not so wickedly.

⁸ Behold now, I have two He deserves praise for defending his guests, but he is to be blamed for seeking unlawful means. daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as [is] good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; That I should preserve them from all injury. for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

⁹ Then they said, Away hence, and they said, He is come alone as a stranger, and shall he iudge and rule? We will nowe deale worse with thee then with them. So they preassed sore vpon Lot himselfe, and came to breake the doore.

¹⁰ But the men put forth their hand and pulled Lot into the house to them & shut to ye doore.

¹¹ Then they smote the men that were at the doore of the house with blindnes both small and great, so that they were wearie in seeking the doore.

¹² Then the men said vnto Lot, Whom hast thou yet here? Either sonne in lawe, or thy sonnes, or thy daughters, or whatsoeuer thou hast in the citie, bring it out of this place.

¹³ For This proves that the angels are ministers, both to execute God's wrath and to declare his favour. we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.

¹⁴ Then Lot went out and spake vnto his sonnes in lawe, which maried his daughters, and said, Arise, get you out of this place: for the Lord will destroy the citie: but he seemed to his sonnes in lawe as though he had mocked.

¹⁵ And when the morning arose, the Angels hasted Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife and thy two daughters which are here, lest thou be destroyed in the punishment of the citie.

¹⁶ And while he The mercy of God strives to overcome man's slowness in following God's calling. lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; He willed him to flee God's judgments and not to be sorry to leave that rich country, full of vain pleasures. look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

¹⁸ And Lot saide vnto them, Not so, I pray thee, my Lord.

¹⁹ Behold now, thy seruant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercie, which thou hast shewed vnto me in sauing my life: and I cannot escape in the mountaine, least some euill take me, and I die.

²⁰ Behold now, this city [is] near to flee unto, and it [is] a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, ([is] it not a Though it is little, yet it is great enough to save my life: in which he errs by choosing another place than the angel had appointed him. little one?) and my soul shall live.

²¹ Then he said vnto him, Beholde, I haue receiued thy request also concerning this thing, that I will not ouerthrow this citie, for the which thou hast spoken.

²² Haste thee, escape thither; for I Because God's commandment was to destroy the city and to save Lot. cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Which before was called Belah, in (Gen_14:2). Zoar.

²³ The sunne did rise vpon the earth, when Lot entred into Zoar.

²⁴ Then the Lord rained vpon Sodom and vpon Gomorah brimstone, & fire from the Lord out of heauen,

²⁵ And ouerthrewe those cities and all the plaine, and all the inhabitants of the cities; and that that grewe vpon the earth.

²⁶ But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a Concerning the body only: this was a notable monument of God's vengeance to all who passed that way. pillar of salt.

²⁷ And Abraham rising vp earely in ye morning went to the place, where he had stand before the Lord,

²⁸ And looking towarde Sodom and Gomorah and toward all the land of the plaine, behold, he sawe the smoke of the lande mounting vp as the smoke of a fornace.

²⁹ But yet when God destroyed the cities of the plaine, God thought vpon Abraham, and sent Lot out from the middes of the destruction, when he ouerthrewe the cities, wherein Lot dwelled.

³⁰ And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he Having felt God's mercy, he did not dare provoke him again by continuing among the wicked. feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

³¹ And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father [is] old, and [there is] not a man in the Meaning in the country which the Lord had now destroyed. earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth:

³² Come, let us make our father For unless he had been drunk, he would never have done that abominable act. drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

³³ So they made their father drinke wine that night, and the elder went and lay with her father: but he perceiued not, neither whe she lay downe, neither when she rose vp.

³⁴ And on the morowe the elder saide to the yonger, Behold, yester night lay I with my father: let vs make him drinke wine this night also, and goe thou and lie with him, that we may preserue seede of our father.

³⁵ So they made their father drinke wine that night also, and the yonger arose, & lay with him, but he perceiued not, when she lay downe, neither when she rose vp.

³⁶ Thus were Thus God permitted him to fall most horribly in the solitary mountains, whom the wickedness of Sodom could not overcome. both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.

³⁷ And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same [is] the father of the Who as they were born in most horrible incest, so were they and their posterity vile and wicked. Moabites unto this day.

³⁸ And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name That is, son of my people: signifying that they rejoiced in their sin, rather than repenting of it. Benammi: the same [is] the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.

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¹ And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Which was toward Egypt. Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.

² And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, Abraham had now twice fallen into this sin: such is man's frailty. She [is] my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, So greatly God detests the breach of marriage. thou [art but] a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she [is] a man's wife.

⁴ But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also The infidels confessed that God would not punish but for just occasion: therefore, when he punishes, the occasion is just. a righteous nation?

⁵ Said he not unto me, She [is] my sister? and she, even she herself said, He [is] my brother: in the integrity of my As one falling by ignorance, and not doing evil on purpose. heart and Not thinking to do any man harm. innocency of my hands have I done this.

⁶ And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also God by his holy Spirit restrains those who offend in ignorance, that they not fall into greater offence.. withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.

⁷ Now therefore restore the man [his] wife; for he [is] a That is, one to whom God reveals himself familiarly. prophet, and he For the prayer of the godly is of force towards God. shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore [her] not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that [are] thine.

⁸ Then Abimelech rising vp early in ye morning, called all his seruants, and tolde all these things vnto them, and the men were sore afraid.

⁹ Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my The wickedness of the king brings God's wrath on the whole realm. kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

¹⁰ So Abimelech said vnto Abraham, What sawest thou that thou hast done this thing?

¹¹ And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the He shows that no honesty can be hoped for, where there is no fear of God. fear of God [is] not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.

¹² And yet indeed [she is] my By sister, he means his full cousin, and by daughter Abraham's niece, (Gen_11:29) for so the Hebrews use these words. sister; she [is] the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

¹³ Nowe when God caused me to wander out of my fathers house, I said then to her, This is thy kindnes that thou shalt shewe vnto me in all places where we come, Say thou of me, He is my brother.

¹⁴ Then tooke Abimelech sheepe & beeues, & men seruants, & women seruants, & gaue them vnto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.

¹⁵ And Abimelech saide, Beholde, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.

¹⁶ And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand [pieces] of silver: behold, he [is] to thee a Such a head as with whom you may be preserved from all dangers. covering of the eyes, unto all that [are] with thee, and with all [other]: God caused this heathen king to reprove her because she concealed her identity, seeing that God had given her a husband as her veil and defence. thus she was reproved.

¹⁷ Then Abraham prayed vnto God, and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his women seruants: and they bare children.

¹⁸ For the LORD Had taken away from them the gift of conceiving. had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.

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¹ Nowe the Lord visited Sarah, as he had saide, and did vnto her according as he had promised.

² For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his Therefore the miracle was greater. old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

³ And Abraham called his sonnes name that was borne vnto him, which Sarah bare him, Izhak.

⁴ Then Abraha circumcised Izhak his sonne, when he was eight dayes olde, as God had commanded him.

⁵ So Abraham was an hundreth yeere olde, when his sonne Izhak was borne vnto him.

⁶ Then Sarah said, God hath made me to reioyce: all that heare will reioyce with me.

⁷ And she said, She accuses herself of ingratitude, that she did not believe the angel. Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born [him] a son in his old age.

⁸ Then the childe grewe and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Izhak was weaned.

⁹ And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, He derided God's promise made to Isaac which the apostle calls persecution (Gal_4:29). mocking.

¹⁰ Wherefore she saide vnto Abraham, Cast out this bond woman and her sonne: for ye sonne of this bonde woman shall not be heire with my sonne Izhak.

¹¹ And this thing was very grieuous in Abrahams sight, because of his sonne.

¹² And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be The promised seed will be from Isaac, and not from Ishmael, (Rom_9:7; Heb_11:18). called.

¹³ And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make The Ishmaelites will come from him. a nation, because he [is] thy seed.

¹⁴ And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave [it] unto Hagar, putting [it] on her shoulder, and the child, and True faith renounces all natural affections to obey God's commandment. sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵ And when the water of the bottell was spent, she cast the childe vnder a certaine tree.

¹⁶ Then she went and sate her ouer against him a farre off about a bowe shoote: for she said, I will not see the death of the child; she sate downe ouer against him, and lift vp her voyce and wept.

¹⁷ And God For his promise sake made to Abraham; and not because the child had discretion and judgment to pray. heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he [is].

¹⁸ Arise, take vp the childe, and holde him in thine hand: for I will make of him a great people.

¹⁹ And God Unless God opens our eyes, we can neither see, nor use the means which are before us. opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

²⁰ And God was Concerning outward things God caused him to prosper. with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

²¹ And he dwelt in the wildernesse of Paran, and his mother tooke him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

²² And at that same time Abimelech and Phichol his chief captaine spake vnto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest.

²³ Nowe therefore sweare vnto me here by God, that thou wilt not hurt me, nor my children, nor my childrens children: thou shalt deale with me, and with the countrey, where thou hast bene a stranger, according vnto the kindnesse that I haue shewed thee.

²⁴ And Abraham said, I will So that it is a lawful thing to take an oath in matters of importance, to justify the truth, and to assure others of our sincerity. swear.

²⁵ And Abraham rebuked Abimelech for a well of water, which Abimelechs seruants had violently taken away.

²⁶ And Abimelech said, Wicked servants do many evils unknown to their masters. I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I [of it], but to day.

²⁷ Then Abraham tooke sheepe and beeues, and gaue them vnto Abimelech: and they two made a couenant.

²⁸ And Abraham set seuen lambes of the flocke by themselues.

²⁹ Then Abimelech said vnto Abraham, What meane these seuen lambes, which thou hast set by themselues?

³⁰ And he answered, Because thou shalt receiue of mine hand these seuen lambes, that it may be a witnes vnto me, that I haue digged this well.

³¹ Wherefore the place is called Beer-sheba, because there they both sware.

³² Thus they made a Thus we see that the godly, concerning outward things may make peace with the wicked that do not know the true God. covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines.

³³ And [Abraham] planted a grove in Beersheba, and That is, he worshipped God in all points of true religion. called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.

³⁴ And Abraham was a stranger in the Philistims land a long season.

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¹ And after these things God did proue Abraham, and said vnto him, Abraham. Who answered, Here am I.

² And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Signifying the fear of God, in which place he was also honoured, Solomon later building the temple there. Moriah; and This was the main point of his temptation, seeing that he was commanded to offer up him in whom God had promised to bless all the nations of the world. offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

³ Then Abraham rose vp early in the morning, and sadled his asse, and tooke two of his seruants with him, and Izhak his sonne, and cloue wood for the burnt offering, and rose vp & went to the place, which God had tolde him.

⁴ Then the third day Abraham lift vp his eyes, and sawe the place afarre off,

⁵ And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and He did not doubt that God would accomplish his promise, even if he should sacrifice his son. come again to you.

⁶ Then Abraham tooke the wood of the burnt offering, and layed it vpon Izhak his sonne, and he tooke the fire in his hand, and the knife: and they went both together.

⁷ Then spake Izhak vnto Abraham his father, and said, My father; he answered, Here am I, my sonne; he said, Behold the fire & the wood, but where is the lambe for ye burnt offring?

⁸ And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a The only way to overcome all temptation is to rest on God's providence. burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

⁹ And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and For it is likely that his father had told him God's commandment, to which he showed himself obedient. bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

¹⁰ And Abraham stretching forth his hand, tooke the knife to kill his sonne.

¹¹ But the Angel of the Lord called vnto him from heauen, saying, Abraham, Abraham; he answered, Here am I.

¹² And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I That is, by your true obedience you have declared your living faith. know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son] from me.

¹³ And Abraham lifting vp his eyes, looked: and behold, there was a ramme behind him caught by the hornes in a bush. then Abraham went and tooke the ramme, and offered him vp for a burnt offering in the steade of his sonne.

¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said [to] this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall The name is changed to show that God both sees and provides secretly for his and also evidently is seen, and felt in the right time. be seen.

¹⁵ And the Angel of the Lorde cryed vnto Abraham from heauen the second time,

¹⁶ And said, By Signifying, that there is none greater then he. myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son]:

¹⁷ Therefore will I surely blesse thee, and will greatly multiplie thy seede, as the starres of the heauen, and as the sand which is vpon the sea shore, and thy seede shall possesse the gate of his enemies.

¹⁸ And in thy seede shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voyce.

¹⁹ Then turned Abraham againe vnto his seruants, and they rose vp & went together to Beer-sheba: and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

²⁰ And after these things one tolde Abraham, saying, Beholde Milcah, she hath also borne children vnto thy brother Nahor:

²¹ To wit, Vz his eldest sonne, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,

²² And Chesed and Hazo, and Pildash, and Iidlaph, and Bethuel.

²³ And Bethuel begate Rebekah: these eight did Milcah beare to Nahor Abrahams brother.

²⁴ And his Concubine is often used to refer to those women who were inferior to the wives. concubine, whose name [was] Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.

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¹ When Sarah was an hundreth twentie and seuen yeere olde ( so long liued she).

² Then Sarah dyed in Kiriath-arba: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan; Abraham came to mourne for Sarah and to weepe for her.

³ And Abraham That is, when he had mourned: so the godly may mourn if they do not pass measure, and the natural affection is commendable. stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,

⁴ I am a stranger, & a forreiner among you, giue me a possession of buriall with you, that I may burie my dead out of my sight.

⁵ Then the Hittites answered Abraham, saying vnto him,

⁶ Hear us, my lord: thou [art] a That is godly or excellent: for so do the Hebrews speak of all things that are notable, because all excellency comes from God. mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.

⁷ Then Abraham stoode vp, and bowed him selfe before the people of the land of the Hittites.

⁸ And he communed with them, saying, If it be your minde, that I shall bury my dead out of my sight, heare me, and intreate for me to Ephron the sonne of Zohar,

⁹ That he would giue me ye caue of Machpelah, which he hath in the ende of his field: that he would giue it me for as much money as it is worth, for a possession to bury in among you.

¹⁰ And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, [even] of all that Meaning all the citizens and inhabitants. went in at the gate of his city, saying,

¹¹ No, my Lorde, heare me: the fielde giue I thee, and the caue, that therein is, I giue it thee: euen in the presence of the sonnes of my people giue I it thee, to bury thy dead.

¹² And Abraham To show that he had them in good estimation and reverence. bowed down himself before the people of the land.

¹³ And spake vnto Ephron in the audience of the people of the countrey, saying, Seeing thou wilt giue it, I pray thee, heare me, I will giue the price of the fielde: receiue it of me, and I will bury my dead there.

¹⁴ Ephron then answered Abraham, saying vnto him,

¹⁵ My lord, hearken unto me: the land [is worth] four hundred The common shekel is about 20 pence, so then 400 shekels is equal to 33 pounds, 6 shillings and 8 pence at 5 shilling sterling to the ounce. shekels of silver; what [is] that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead.

¹⁶ So Abraham hearkened vnto Ephron, and Abraham weyed to Ephron the siluer, which he had named, in the audience of the Hittites, euen foure hundreth siluer shekels of currant money among marchants.

¹⁷ So the fielde of Ephron which was in Machpelah, and ouer against Mamre, euen the field and the caue that was therein, and all the trees that were in the fielde, which were in all the borders round about, was made sure

¹⁸ Vnto Abraham for a possession, in ye sight of the Hittites, euen of all that went in at the gates of his citie.

¹⁹ And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the caue of the fielde of Machpelah ouer against Mamre: the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan.

²⁰ And the field, and the cave that [is] therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a buryingplace That is, all the people confirmed the sale. by the sons of Heth.

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¹ Nowe Abraham was olde, and striken in yeeres, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

² And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Which ceremony declared, the servants obedience towards his master, and the master's power over the servant. Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:

³ And I will make thee This shows that an oath may be required in a lawful cause. swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:

⁴ But thou shalt go unto my He did not want his son to marry out of the godly family: for the problems that come from marrying the ungodly are set forth in various places throughout the scriptures. country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

⁵ And the seruant saide to him, What if the woman will not come with me to this land? Shall I bring thy sonne againe vnto the lande from whence thou camest?

⁶ And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son Lest he should love the inheritance promised. thither again.

⁷ The Lord God of heauen, who tooke me from my fathers house, and from the land where I was borne, and that spake vnto me, and that sware vnto me, saying, Vnto thy seede wil I giue this land, he shall send his Angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife vnto my sonne fro thence.

⁸ Neuertheles if the woman wil not followe thee, then shalt thou bee discharged of this mine othe: onely bring not my sonne thither againe.

⁹ Then the seruant put his hand vnder the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him for this matter.

¹⁰ And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master [were] in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the That is, to Charran. city of Nahor.

¹¹ And he made his camels to lye downe without the citie by a well of water, at euentide about the time that the women come out to draw water.

¹² And he said, O He grounds his prayer on God's promise made to his master. LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.

¹³ Lo, I stand by the well of water, whiles the mens daughters of this citie come out to drawe water.

¹⁴ The servant moved by God's spirit sought assurance by a sign, as to whether or not God would prosper his journey.And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: [let the same be] she [that] thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.

¹⁵ And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, God gives success to all things that are done for the glory of his name and according to his word. Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

¹⁶ And the damsel [was] very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she Here is declared that God hears the prayers of his own, and grants their requests. went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

¹⁷ Then the seruant ranne to meete her, and said, Let me drinke, I pray thee, a litle water of thy pitcher.

¹⁸ And she said, Drinke sir: and she hasted, and let downe her pitcher vpon her hand and gaue him drinke.

¹⁹ And when she had giuen him drinke, she said, I will drawe water for thy camels also vntill they haue drunken inough.

²⁰ And she powred out her pitcher into the trough speedily; and ranne againe vnto the well to drawe water, and she drewe for all his camels.

²¹ So the man wondred at her, and helde his peace, to knowe whether the Lord had made his iourney prosperous or not.

²² And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden God permitted many things both in apparel and other things which are now forbidden especially when they do not suit our humble estate. earring of The golden shekel is meant here, not silver. half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten [shekels] weight of gold;

²³ And he said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee, Is there roume in thy fathers house for vs to lodge in?

²⁴ Then she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the sonne of Milcah whom she bare vnto Nahor.

²⁵ Moreouer she said vnto him, We haue litter also & prouender ynough, & roume to lodge in.

²⁶ And the man bowed himselfe and worshipped the Lord,

²⁷ And he said, Blessed [be] the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy He does not boast in his good fortune (as the wicked do) but acknowledges that God has dealt mercifully with this matter in keeping his promise. and his truth: I [being] in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren.

²⁸ And the maide ranne and tolde them of her mothers house according to these wordes.

²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother called Laban, and Laban ranne vnto the man to the well.

³⁰ And it came to pass, when he saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, For he waited on God's hand, who heard his prayer. he stood by the camels at the well.

³¹ And he saide, Come in thou blessed of the Lord: wherefore standest thou without, seeing I haue prepared the house, & roume for ye camels?

³² And the man came into the house: and That is, Laban. he ungirded his The gentle entertainment of strangers practised by the godly fathers. camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that [were] with him.

³³ And there was set [meat] before him to eat: but he said, I The faithfulness that servants owe to their masters, causes them to prefer their masters business before their own needs. will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he said, Speak on.

³⁴ Then he said, I am Abrahams seruant,

³⁵ And the LORD hath To bless signifies here to enrich, or increase with substance as the text in the same verse declares. blessed my master greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and camels, and asses.

³⁶ And Sarah my masters wife hath borne a sonne to my master, when she was olde, and vnto him hath he giuen all that he hath.

³⁷ And my master made me swear, saying, The Canaanites were cursed, and therefore the godly could not join with them in marriage. Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell:

³⁸ But thou shalt go unto my Meaning among his relatives, as in (Gen_24:40). father's house, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son.

³⁹ Then I saide vnto my master, What if the woman will not followe me?

⁴⁰ Who answered me, The Lord, before who I walke, will send his Angel with thee, and prosper thy iourney, and thou shalt take a wife for my sonne of my kinred and my fathers house.

⁴¹ Then shalt thou be clear from [this] Which by my authority I caused you to make. my oath, when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee [one], thou shalt be clear from my oath.

⁴² So I came this day to the well, and said, O Lorde, the God of my master Abraham, if thou nowe prosper my iourney which I goe,

⁴³ Behold, I stand by the wel of water: when a virgine commeth forth to drawe water, and I say to her, Giue me, I pray thee, a litle water of thy pitcher to drinke,

⁴⁴ And she say to me, Drinke thou, and I will also drawe for thy camels, let her be ye wife, which the Lord hath prepared for my masters sonne.

⁴⁵ And before I had done speaking in mine Signifying that this prayer was not spoken by the mouth, but only in his heart. heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew [water]: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.

⁴⁶ And she made haste, and tooke downe her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drinke, and I will giue thy camels drinke also. So I dranke, and she gaue the camels drinke also.

⁴⁷ Then I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she answered, The daughter of Bethuel Nahors sonne, whom Milcah bare vnto him. Then I put the abillement vpon her face, and the bracelets vpon her hands:

⁴⁸ He shows our duty when we have received any benefit from the Lord.And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son.

⁴⁹ And now if ye will deal If you will freely and faithfully give your daughter to my master's son. kindly and truly with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the That is, that I may look elsewhere. right hand, or to the left.

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, As soon as they perceived that it was God's ordinance they yielded. The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad or good.

⁵¹ Beholde, Rebehak is before thee, take her and goe, that she may be thy masters sonnes wife, euen as the Lord hath said.

⁵² And when Abrahams seruant heard their wordes, he bowed himselfe toward the earth vnto the Lord.

⁵³ Then the seruant tooke foorth iewels of siluer, and iewels of golde, and raiment, and gaue to Rebekah: also vnto her brother and to her mother he gaue gifts.

⁵⁴ Afterward they did eate & drinke, both he, and the men that were with him, and taried all night; when they rose vp in the morning, he said, Let me depart vnto my master.

⁵⁵ Then her brother and her mother answered, Let the maide abide with vs, at the least ten dayes: then shall she goe.

⁵⁶ But he said vnto them, Hinder you me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my iourney: send me away, that I may goe to my master.

⁵⁷ And they said, We will call the damsel, and enquire at This shows that parents do not have the authority to marry their children without the consent of both parties. her mouth.

⁵⁸ And they called Rebekah, and saide vnto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she answered, I will go.

⁵⁹ So they let Rebekah their sister goe, & her nourse, with Abrahams seruant and his men.

⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou [art] our sister, be thou [the mother] of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the That is, let them be victorious over their enemies: a blessing that is fully accomplished through Jesus Christ. gate of those which hate them.

⁶¹ Then Rebekah arose, & her maydes, and rode vpon the camels, and followed the man; the seruant tooke Rebekah, and departed.

⁶² Nowe Izhak came from the way of Beer-lahai-roi, (for he dwelt in the South countrey)

⁶³ And Isaac went out to This was the habit of the godly fathers to meditate on God's promises, and to pray for the accomplishment of it. The custom was that the bride was brought to her husband, her head covered, a token of humbleness and purity. meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels [were] coming.

⁶⁴ Also Rebekah lift vp her eyes, & when she saw Izhak, she lighted downe from the camel.

⁶⁵ (For shee had sayde to the seruant, Who is yonder man, that commeth in the fielde to meete vs? and the seruant had said, It is my master) So she tooke a vaile, and couered her.

⁶⁶ And the seruant tolde Izhak all things, that he had done.

⁶⁷ Afterward Izhak brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother, and he tooke Rebekah, and she was his wife, and he loued her: So Izhak was comforted after his mothers death.

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¹ Then again Abraham While Sarah was yet alive. took a wife, and her name [was] Keturah.

² Which bare him Zimran, and Iokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.

³ And Iokshan begate Sheba, and Dedan: And the sonnes of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.

⁴ Also the sonnes of Midian were Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, & Eldaah all these were the sonnes of Keturah.

⁵ And Abraham gaue all his goods to Izhak,

⁶ But unto the For by virtue of God's word he not only had Isaac, but begat many more. sons of the See (Gen_22:24). concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham To avoid the disputing that otherwise might have come because of the heritage. gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.

⁷ And this is the age of Abrahams life, which he liued, an hundreth seuentie & fiue yeere.

⁸ Then Abraham yeelded the spirit, and died in a good age, an olde man, and of great yeeres, & was gathered to his people.

⁹ And his sonnes, Izhak and Ishmael buryed him in the caue of Machpelah, in the fielde of Ephron sonne of Zohar the Hittite, before Mamre.

¹⁰ Which fielde Abraham bought of the Hittites, where Abraham was buryed with Sarah his wife.

¹¹ And after the death of Abraham God blessed Izhak his sonne, and Izhak dwelt by Beer-lahai-roi.

¹² Nowe these are the generations of Ishmael Abrahams sonne, whome Hagar the Egyptian Sarahs handmayde bare vnto Abraham.

¹³ And these are the names of the sonnes of Ishmael, name by name, according to their kinreds; the eldest sonne of Ishmael was Nebaioth, then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,

¹⁴ And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,

¹⁵ Hadar, and Tema, Ietur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

¹⁶ These are the sonnes of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their townes and by their castles: to wit, twelue princes of their nations.

¹⁷ And these [are] the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his Who dwelt among the Arabians, and were separate from the blessed seed. people.

¹⁸ And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that [is] before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: [and] he died He means that his lot fell to dwell among his brethren as the angel promised. in the presence of all his brethren.

¹⁹ Likewise these are the generations of Izhak Abrahams sonne Abraham begate Izhak,

²⁰ And Izhak was fourtie yeere olde, when he tooke Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramite of Padan Aram, and sister to Laban the Aramite.

²¹ And Izhak prayed vuto the Lorde for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceiued,

²² And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If [it be] so, why [am] I That is, with child, seeing one shall destroy another. thus? And she went For that is the only refuge in all our miseries. to enquire of the LORD.

²³ And the Lord sayd to her, Two nations are in thy wombe, and two maner of people shalbe diuided out of thy bowels, and the one people shall be mightier then the other, and the elder shall serue the yonger.

²⁴ Therefore when her time of deliuerance was fulfilled, behold, twinnes were in her wombe.

²⁵ So he that came out first was red, and he was all ouer as a rough garment, and they called his name Esau.

²⁶ And afterward came his brother out, and his hande helde Esau by the heele: therefore his name was called Iaakob. Nowe Izhak was threescore yeere olde when Rebekah bare them.

²⁷ And the boyes grew, and Esau was a cunning hunter, and liued in the fields: but Iaakob was a plaine man, and dwelt in tentes.

²⁸ And Izhak loued Esau, for venison was his meate, but Rebekah loued Iaakob.

²⁹ Nowe Iaakob sod pottage, and Esau came from the fielde and was wearie.

³⁰ Then Esau sayd to Iaakob, Let me eate, I pray thee, of that pottage so red, for I am wearie. Therefore was his name called Edom.

³¹ And Iaakob sayd, Sell me euen nowe thy birthright.

³² And Esau said, Behold, I [am] at the point to die: and what The reprobate do not value God's benefits unless they feel them presently, and therefore they prefer present pleasures. profit shall this birthright do to me?

³³ And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he Thus the wicked prefer their worldly conveniences over God's spiritual graces: but the children of God do the opposite. sold his birthright unto Jacob.

³⁴ Then Iaakob gaue Esau bread and pottage of lentiles: and he did eate and drinke, and rose vp, and went his way: So Esau contemned his birthright.

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¹ And there was a famine in the In the land of Canaan. land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

² And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, God's providence always watches to direct the ways of his children. Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

³ Dwell in this lande, and I will be with thee, and will blesse thee: for to thee, and to thy seede I will giue all these countreys: and I will performe the othe which I sware vnto Abraham thy father.

⁴ Also I wil cause thy seede to multiply as the starres of heauen, and will giue vnto thy seede all these countreys: and in thy seede shall all the nanations of the earth be blessed,

⁵ Because that Abraham He commends Abraham's obedience, because Isaac should be even more ready to follow the same: for as God made this promise of his free mercy, so does the confirmation of it proceed from the same fountain. obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

⁶ So Izhak dwelt in Gerar.

⁷ And the men of the place asked [him] of his wife; and he said, She [is] my sister: By which we see that fear and distrust is found in the most faithful. for he feared to say, [She is] my wife; lest, [said he], the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she [was] fair to look upon.

⁸ And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac [was] Or showing some familiar sign of love, by which it might be known that she was his wife. sporting with Rebekah his wife.

⁹ Then Abimelech called Izhak, and sayde, Loe, shee is of a suertie thy wife, and why saydest thou, She is my sister? To whom Izhak answered, Because I thought this, It may be that I shall dye for her.

¹⁰ And Abimelech said, What [is] this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought In all ages men were persuaded that God's vengeance would come on adulterers. guiltiness upon us.

¹¹ Then Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man, or his wife, shal die the death.

¹² Afterwarde Izhak sowed in that lande, and founde in the same yeere an hundreth folde by estimation: and so the Lord blessed him.

¹³ And the man waxed mightie, and stil increased, till he was exceeding great,

¹⁴ For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines The malicious always envy the graces of God in others. envied him.

¹⁵ In so much that the Philistims stopped and filled vp with earth all the welles, which his fathers seruantes digged in his father Abrahams time.

¹⁶ Then Abimelech sayde vnto Izhak, Get thee from vs, for thou art mightier then wee a great deale.

¹⁷ And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the The Hebrew word signifies a flood, or valley, where water at any time runs. valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

¹⁸ And Izhak returning, digged the welles of water, which they had digged in the dayes of Abraham his father: for the Philistims had stopped them after the death of Abraham, and hee gaue them the same names, which his father gaue them.

¹⁹ Izhaks seruantes then digged in the valley, and found there a well of liuing water.

²⁰ But the herdmen of Gerar did striue with Izhaks herdmen, saying, The water is ours: therefore called he the name of the wel Esek, because they were at strife with him.

²¹ Afterwarde they digged another well, and stroue for that also, and he called the name of it Sitnah.

²² Then he remoued thence, and digged an other well, for the which they stroue not: therefore called hee the name of it Rehoboth, and sayde, Because the Lorde hath nowe made vs roome, we shall increase vpon the earth.

²³ So he went vp thence to Beer-sheba.

²⁴ And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I [am] the God God assures Isaac against all fear by rehearsing the promise made to Abraham. of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I [am] with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

²⁵ And he builded an To signify that he would serve no other God, but the God of his father Abraham. altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.

²⁶ Then came Abimelech to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friendes, and Phichol the captaine of his armie.

²⁷ To whom Izhak sayd, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate mee and haue put mee away from you?

²⁸ Who answered, Wee sawe certainely that the Lorde was with thee, and wee thought thus, Let there be nowe an othe betweene vs, euen betweene vs and thee, and let vs make a couenant with thee.

²⁹ The Hebrews in swearing begin commonly with «If» and understand the rest, that is, that God will punish him who breaks the oath: here the wicked show that they are afraid lest that happen to them which they would do to others.That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou [art] now the blessed of the LORD.

³⁰ Then hee made them a feast, and they dyd eate and drinke.

³¹ And they rose vp betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: then Izhak let them go, and they departed from him in peace.

³² And that same day Izhaks seruantes came and tolde him of a well, which they had digged, and said vnto him, We haue found water.

³³ So hee called it Shibah: therefore the name of the citie is called Beer-sheba vnto this day.

³⁴ Nowe when Esau was fourtie yeere olde, he tooke to wife Iudith, the daughter of Beeri an Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon an Hittite also.

³⁵ And they were a griefe of minde to Izhak and to Rebekah.

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¹ And when Izhak was olde, and his eyes were dimme (so that he coulde not see) he called Esau his eldest sonne, and sayde vnto him, My sonne; he answered him, I am here.

² Then he sayd, Beholde, I am nowe olde, and knowe not the day of my death:

³ Wherefore nowe, I pray thee take thine instrumentes, thy quiuer and thy bowe, and get thee to the fielde, that thou mayest take mee some venison.

⁴ And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring [it] to me, that I may eat; that my The carnal affection he had for his son made him forget what God spoke to his wife. (Gen_25:23). soul may bless thee before I die.

⁵ (Nowe Rebekah heard, when Izhak spake to Esau his sonne) and Esau went into the fielde to hunt for venison, and to bring it.

⁶ Then Rebekah spake vnto Iaakob her sonne, saying, Beholde, I haue heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother, saying,

⁷ Bring mee venision, and make mee sauourie meate, that I may eate and blesse thee before the Lord, afore my death.

⁸ Nowe therefore, my sonne, heare my voyce in that which I command thee.

⁹ This trickery is worthy of blame because she should have waited for God to perform his promise.Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:

¹⁰ Then shalt thou bring it to thy father, and he shal eate, to the intent that he may blesse thee before his death.

¹¹ But Iaakob sayde to Rebekah his mother, Beholde, Esau my brother is rough, and I am smoothe.

¹² My father may possibly feele me, and I shal seem to him to be a mocker: so shall I bring a curse vpon me, and not a blessing.

¹³ And his mother said unto him, The assurance of God's decree made her bold. Upon me [be] thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me [them].

¹⁴ So he went and set them, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made pleasant meat, such as his father loued.

¹⁵ And Rebekah tooke faire clothes of her elder sonne Esau, which were in her house, and clothed Iaakob her yonger sonne:

¹⁶ And she couered his hands and the smoothe of his necke with the skinnes of the kiddes of the goates.

¹⁷ Afterward she put the pleasant meate and bread, which she had prepared, in the hand of her sonne Iaakob.

¹⁸ And when he came to his father, he sayd, My father. Who answered, I am here: who art thou, my sonne?

¹⁹ And Jacob said unto his father, Although Jacob was assured of this blessing by faith: yet he did evil to seek it by lies, even more because he abuses God's name through it. I [am] Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

²⁰ Then Izhak said vnto his sonne, Howe hast thou founde it so quickly my sonne? Who sayde, Because the Lorde thy God brought it to mine hande.

²¹ Againe sayde Izhak vnto Iaakob, Come neere nowe, that I may feele thee, my sonne, whether thou be that my sonne Esau or not.

²² And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The This declares that he suspected something, yet God would not have his decree altered. voice [is] Jacob's voice, but the hands [are] the hands of Esau.

²³ (For he knewe him not, because his hands were rough as his brother Esaus hands: wherefore he blessed him)

²⁴ Againe he sayd, Art thou that my sonne Esau? Who answered, Yea.

²⁵ Then said he, Bring it me hither, and I will eate of my sonnes venison, that my soule may blesse thee; he brought it to him, and he ate: also he brought him wine, and he dranke.

²⁶ Afterward his father Izhak sayd vnto him, Come neere nowe, and kisse me, my sonne.

²⁷ And hee came neere and kissed him. Then he smelled the sauour of his garmentes, and blessed him, and sayde, Behold, the smell of my sonne is as the smell of a fielde, which the Lorde hath blessed.

²⁸ God giue thee therefore of the dewe of heauen, and the fatnesse of the earth, and plentie of wheate and wine.

²⁹ Let people bee thy seruantes, and nations bowe vnto thee: be Lorde ouer thy brethren, and let thy mothers children honour thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

³⁰ And when Izhak had made an ende of blessing Iaakob, and Iaakob was scarce gone out from the presence of Izhak his father, then came Esau his brother from his hunting,

³¹ And hee also prepared sauourie meate and brought it to his father, and sayd vnto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his sonnes venison, that thy soule may blesse me.

³² But his father Izhak sayde vnto him, Who art thou? And he answered, I am thy sonne, euen thy first borne Esau.

³³ And Isaac In perceiving his error, by appointing his heir against God's sentence pronounced before. trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where [is] he that hath taken venison, and brought [it] me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, [and] he shall be blessed.

³⁴ When Esau heard the wordes of his father, he cryed out with a great crye and bitter, out of measure, and sayde vnto his father, Blesse me, euen me also, my father.

³⁵ Who answered, Thy brother came with subtiltie, and hath taken away thy blessing.

³⁶ And he said, Is not he rightly named In (Gen_25:26) he was so called because he held his brother by the heel, as though he would overthrow him: and therefore he is here called an overthrower, or deceiver. Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

³⁷ And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him For Isaac did this as he was the minister and prophet of God. thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

³⁸ Then Esau sayde vnto his father, Hast thou but one blessing my father? blesse mee, euen me also, my father: and Esau lifted vp his voyce, and wept.

³⁹ Then Izhak his father answered, and sayde vnto him, Behold, the fatnesse of the earth shal be thy dwelling place, and thou shalt haue of the dewe of heauen from aboue.

⁴⁰ And Because your enemies will be all around you. by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt Which was fulfilled in his posterity the Idumeans: who were tributaries for a time to Israel, and later came to freedom. serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

⁴¹ And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; Hypocrites only abstain from doing evil for fear of men. then will I slay my brother Jacob.

⁴² And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, He hopes to recover his birthright by killing you. as touching thee, doth comfort himself, [purposing] to kill thee.

⁴³ Now therefore my sonne, heare my voyce, arise, & flee thou to Haran to my brother Laban,

⁴⁴ And tarie with him a while vntill thy brothers fiercenesse be swaged,

⁴⁵ Until thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget [that] which thou hast done to him: then I will send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be For the wicked son will kill the godly: and the plague of God will later come on the wicked son. deprived also of you both in one day?

⁴⁶ And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the Who were Esau's wives. daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these [which are] of the daughters of the land, By this she persuaded Isaac to agree to Jacob's leaving. what good shall my life do me?

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¹ And Isaac called Jacob, and This second blessing was to confirm Jacob's faith, lest he should think that his father had given it without God's leading. blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

² Arise, get thee to Padan Aram to the house of Bethuel thy mothers father, and thence take thee a wife of the daughters of Laban thy mothers brother.

³ And God all sufficient blesse thee, and make thee to encrease, and multiplie thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people,

⁴ And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a The godly fathers were continually reminded that they were but strangers in this world: so that they would lift up their eyes to the heavens where they have a certain dwelling. stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

⁵ Thus Izhak sent forth Iaakob, & he went to Padan Aram vnto Laban sonne of Bethuel the Aramite, brother to Rebekah, Iaakobs and Esaus mother.

⁶ When Esau sawe that Izhak had blessed Iaakob, and sent him to Padan Aram, to set him a wife thence, and giuen him a charge when he blessed him, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,

⁷ And that Iaakob had obeyed his father & his mother, and was gone to Padan Aram:

⁸ Also Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan displeased Izhak his father,

⁹ Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Thinking by this to have reconciled himself to his father, but all in vain: for he does not take away the cause of the evil. Ishmael Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.

¹⁰ Now Iaakob departed from Beer-sheba, and went to Haran,

¹¹ And he came vnto a certaine place, and taried there al night, because the sunne was downe, and tooke of the stones of the place, and layde vnder his head and slept in the same place.

¹² And he dreamed, and behold a Christ is the ladder by which God and man are joined together, and by whom the angels minister to us: all graces are given to us by him, and we ascend to heaven by him. ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

¹³ And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I [am] the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee He felt the force of this promise only by faith: for all his life he was a stranger in this land. will I give it, and to thy seed;

¹⁴ And thy seede shall be as the dust of the earth, & thou shalt spread abroad to the West, and to the East, & to the North, & to the South, and in thee and in thy seede shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

¹⁵ And lo, I am with thee, and wil keepe thee whithersoeuer thou goest, and will bring thee againe into this lande: for I will not forsake thee vntill I haue performed that, that I haue promised thee.

¹⁶ Then Iaakob awoke out of his sleepe, & sayde, Surely the Lorde is in this place, and I was not aware.

¹⁷ And he was He was touched with a godly fear and reverence. afraid, and said, How dreadful [is] this place! this [is] none other but the house of God, and this [is] the gate of heaven.

¹⁸ And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put [for] his pillows, and To be a reminder of the vision shown to him. set it up [for] a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.

¹⁹ And he called ye name of that place Bethel: notwithstanding the name of the citie was at the first called Luz.

²⁰ And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If He does not bind God under this condition, but acknowledges his infirmity, and promises to be thankful. God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

²¹ So that I come againe vnto my fathers house in safetie, then shal the Lord be my God.

²² And this stone, which I haue set vp as a pillar, shall be Gods house: and of all that thou shalt giue me, wil I giue the tenth vnto thee.

29

¹ Then Jacob Or, «lifted up his feet». went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east.

² And he looked, and behold a well in the field, Thus he was directed by the providence of God, who brought him to Laban's house. and, lo, there [were] three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone [was] upon the well's mouth.

³ And thither were all the flockes gathered, & they rolled the stone from the welles mouth, and watered the sheepe, and put the stone againe vpon the welles mouth in his place.

⁴ And Jacob said unto them, My It seems that in those days the custom was to call even strangers, brethren. brethren, whence [be] ye? And they said, Of Haran [are] we.

⁵ Then he sayd vnto them, Know ye Laban the sonne of Nahor? Who said, We know him.

⁶ And he said unto them, Or, «he is in peace?» by which the Hebrews mean prosperity. [Is] he well? And they said, [He is] well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.

⁷ Then he sayd, Lo, it is yet hie day, neither is it time that the cattell shoulde be gathered together: water ye the sheepe and go feede them.

⁸ But they sayde, We may not vntill all the flocks be brought together, and till men rolle the stone from the welles mouth, that we may water the sheepe.

⁹ While he talked with them, Rahel also came with her fathers sheepe, for she kept them.

¹⁰ And assoone as Iaakob saw Rahel ye daughter of Laban his mothers brother, and the sheepe of Laban his mothers brother, then came Iaakob neere, & rolled the stone fro the welles mouth, & watered ye flocke of Laban his mothers brother.

¹¹ And Iaakob kissed Rahel, and lift vp his voyce and wept.

¹² (For Iaakob tolde Rahel, that he was her fathers brother, & that he was Rebekahs sonne) then she ranne and tolde her father.

¹³ And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban That is, the reason why he departed from his father's house, and what he saw during his journey. all these things.

¹⁴ And Laban said to him, Surely thou [art] my That is, of my blood and kindred. bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.

¹⁵ For Laban sayde vnto Iaakob, Though thou be my brother, shouldest thou therfore serue me for nought? tell me, what shalbe thy wages?

¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters, the elder called Leah, and the yonger called Rahel.

¹⁷ And Leah was tender eyed, but Rahel was beautifull and faire.

¹⁸ And Iaakob loued Rahel, and sayde, I will serue thee seuen yeeres for Rahel thy yonger daughter.

¹⁹ Then Laban answered, It is better that I giue her thee, then that I should giue her to another man: abide with me.

²⁰ And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him [but] a Meaning after the years were accomplished. few days, for the love he had to her.

²¹ Then Iaakob sayde to Laban, Giue me my wife, that I may goe in to her: for my terme is ended.

²² Wherefore Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

²³ And The reason Jacob was deceived was that in ancient times the wife was covered with a veil, when she was brought to her husband as a sign of purity and humbleness. it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.

²⁴ And Laban gaue his mayde Zilpah to his daughter Leah, to be her seruant.

²⁵ But when the morning was come, behold, it was Leah. Then sayde he to Laban, Wherefore hast thou done thus to mee? did not I serue thee for Rahel? wherfore then hast thou beguiled me?

²⁶ And Laban said, He valued the profit he had from Jacob's service more than either his promise or the customs of the country, though he used custom for his excuse. It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.

²⁷ Fulfill seuen yeeres for her, and we wil also giue thee this for the seruice, which thou shalt serue me yet seuen yeeres more.

²⁸ Then Iaakob did so, and fulfilled her seuen yeeres, so he gaue him Rahel his daughter to be his wife.

²⁹ Laban also gaue to Rahel his daughter Bilhah his mayde to be her seruant.

³⁰ So entred he in to Rahel also, and loued also Rahel more then Leah, and serued him yet seuen yeeres mo.

³¹ And when the LORD saw that Leah [was] hated, he This declares that often they who are despised by men are favoured by God. opened her womb: but Rachel [was] barren.

³² And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the By this it appears that she had sought help from God in her affliction. LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will For children are a great cause of mutual love between man and wife. love me.

³³ And she conceiued againe & bare a sonne, and sayde, Because the Lord heard that I was hated, he hath therefore giuen me this sonne also, & she called his name Simeon.

³⁴ And she conceiued againe & bare a sonne, and said, Now at this time wil my husband keepe mee company, because I haue borne him three sonnes: therefore was his name called Leui.

³⁵ Moreouer shee conceiued againe and bare a sonne, saying, Nowe will I prayse the Lorde: therefore shee called his name Iudah, and left bearing.

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¹ And when Rahel saw that she bare Iaakob no children, Rahel enuied her sister, and said vnto Iaakob, Giue me children, or els I dye.

² And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, [Am] I in It is only God who makes one barren or fruitful, and therefore I am not at fault. God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?

³ And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my I will receive her children on my lap, as though they were my own. knees, that I may also have children by her.

⁴ Then shee gaue him Bilhah her mayde to wife, and Iaakob went in to her.

⁵ So Bilhah conceiued and bare Iaakob a sonne.

⁶ Then said Rahel, God hath giuen sentence on my side, and hath also heard my voyce, and hath giuen mee a sonne: therefore called shee his name, Dan.

⁷ And Bilhah Rahels maide coceiued againe, and bare Iaakob the second sonne.

⁸ And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, The arrogancy of man's nature appears in that she condemns her sister, after she has received this benefit from God to bear children. and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

⁹ And when Leah saw that she had left bearing, shee tooke Zilpah her mayde, and gaue her Iaakob to wife.

¹⁰ And Zilpah Leahs mayde bare Iaakob a sonne.

¹¹ And Leah said, That is, God increases me with a multitude of children for so Jacob explains this name Gad (Gen_49:19). A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.

¹² Againe Zilpah Leahs mayde bare Iaakob another sonne.

¹³ Then sayde Leah, Ah, blessed am I, for the daughters will blesse me; she called his name, Asher.

¹⁴ And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found Which is a kind of herb whose root has a likeness to the figure of a man. mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.

¹⁵ But shee answered her, Is it a small matter for thee to take mine husband, except thou take my sonnes mandrakes also? Then sayde Rahel, Therefore he shall sleepe with thee this night for thy sonnes mandrakes.

¹⁶ And Iaakob came from the fielde in the euening, and Leah went out to meete him, and sayde, Come in to mee, for I haue bought and payed for thee with my sonnes mandrakes: and he slept with her that night.

¹⁷ And God heard Leah and shee conceiued, and bare vnto Iaakob the fift sonne.

¹⁸ And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my Instead of acknowledging her fault she boasts as if God had rewarded her for it. maiden to my husband: and she called his name Issachar.

¹⁹ After, Leah conceiued againe, & bare Iaakob the sixt sonne.

²⁰ Then Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowrie: nowe will mine husbande dwell with me, because I haue borne him sixe sonnes: & she called his name Zebulun.

²¹ After that, shee bare a daughter, and shee called her name Dinah.

²² And God remembred Rahel, and God heard her, and opened her wombe.

²³ And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my Because fruitfulness came as God's blessing, who said «Increase and multiply», barrenness was counted as a curse. reproach:

²⁴ And shee called his name Ioseph, saying, The Lord wil giue me yet another sonne.

²⁵ And assoone as Rahel had borne Ioseph, Iaakob said to Laban, Sende me away that I may go vnto my place and to my countrey.

²⁶ Giue me my wiues and my children, for whom I haue serued thee, and let me go: for thou knowest what seruice I haue done thee.

²⁷ To whom Laban answered, If I haue nowe found fauour in thy sight tarie: I haue perceiued that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake.

²⁸ Also he said, Appoynt vnto me thy wages, and I will giue it thee.

²⁹ But he sayd vnto him, Thou knowest, what seruice I haue done thee, and in what taking thy cattell hath bene vnder me.

³⁰ For [it was] little which thou hadst before I [came], and it is [now] increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall The order of nature requires that every one provide for his own family. I provide for mine own house also?

³¹ Then he saide, What shal I giue thee? And Iaakob answered, Thou shalt giue mee nothing at all: if thou wilt doe this thing for mee, I will returne, feede, and keepe thy sheepe.

³² I will pass through all thy flock to day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: That which is spotted, from now on. and [of such] shall be my hire.

³³ So shall my God shall attest to my righteous dealing by rewarding my labours. righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every one that [is] not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.

³⁴ Then Laban sayde, Goe to, woulde God it might be according to thy saying.

³⁵ Therefore he tooke out the same day the hee goates that were partie coloured and with great spots, and all the shee goates with litle and great spots, and all that had white in them, and all the blacke among the sheepe, and put them in the keeping of his sonnes.

³⁶ And hee set three dayes iourney betweene himselfe and Iaakob; Iaakob kept the rest of Labans sheepe.

³⁷ And Jacob Jacob used no deceit in this for it was God's commandment as he declares in (Gen_31:9, Gen_31:11). took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which [was] in the rods.

³⁸ Then he put the rods, which he had pilled, in the gutters and watering troughes, when the sheepe came to drink, before the sheepe. (for they were in heate, when they came to drinke)

³⁹ And the sheepe were in heate before the rods, and afterward brought forth yong of partie colour, and with small and great spots.

⁴⁰ And Iaakob parted these lambes, and turned the faces of the flocke towardes these lambes partie coloured and all maner of blacke, among the sheepe of Laban: so hee put his owne flockes by themselues, and put them not with Labans flocke.

⁴¹ And it came to pass, whensoever the As they which took the ram about September and brought forth about March: so the feebler in March and lamb in September. stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.

⁴² But when the sheepe were feeble, hee put them not in: and so the feebler were Labans, and the stronger Iaakobs.

⁴³ So the man encreased exceedingly, and had many flockes, and maide seruantes, and men seruants, and camels and asses.

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¹ And he heard the The children put in words what the father disguised in his heart for the covetous think that whatever they cannot take, is taken from them. words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that [was] our father's; and of [that] which [was] our father's hath he gotten all this glory.

² Also Iaakob beheld the countenance of Laban, that it was not towards him as in times past:

³ And the Lorde had said vnto Iaakob, Turne againe into the lande of thy fathers, and to thy kinred, and I wilbe with thee.

⁴ Therefore Iaakob sent and called Rahel and Leah to the fielde vnto his flocke.

⁵ And said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it [is] not toward me as before; but the The God whom my fathers worshipped. God of my father hath been with me.

⁶ And yee knowe that I haue serued your father with all my might.

⁷ But your father hath deceiued me, & changed my wages tenne times: but God suffred him not to hurt me.

⁸ If he thus sayd, The spotted shall be thy wages, then all the sheepe bare spotted: and if he sayd thus, the party coloured shalbe thy rewarde, then bare all the sheepe particoloured.

⁹ Thus This declares that the thing Jacob did before, was by God's commandment, and not through deceit. God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given [them] to me.

¹⁰ For in ramming time I lifted vp mine eyes and saw in a dreame, & beholde, ye hee goates leaped vpon the shee goates, that were partie coloured with litle and great spots spotted.

¹¹ And the Angel of God sayde to mee in a dreame, Iaakob; I answered, Lo, I am here.

¹² And he sayde, Lift vp nowe thine eyes, and see all the hee goates leaping vpon ye shee goates that are partie coloured, spotted with litle and great spots: for I haue seene all that Laban doeth vnto thee.

¹³ This angel was Christ who appeared to Jacob in Bethel: and by this it appears that he had taught his wives the fear of God: for he talks as though they knew this thing.I [am] the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, [and] where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.

¹⁴ Then answered Rahel and Leah, and sayde vnto him, Haue wee any more porcion and inheritance in our fathers house?

¹⁵ Are we not counted of him strangers? for he hath For they were given to Jacob as payment for his service, which was a kind of sale. sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.

¹⁶ Therefore all the riches, which God hath taken from our father, is ours and our childrens: nowe then whatsoeuer God hath saide vnto thee, doe it.

¹⁷ Then Iaakob rose vp, and set his sonnes and his wiues vpon camels.

¹⁸ And he caried away all his flockes, & al his substance which he had gotten, to wit, his riches, which he had gotten in Padan Aram, to goe to Izhak his father vnto the land of Canaan.

¹⁹ And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the For so the word here signifies, because Laban calls them gods, (Gen_31:30). images that [were] her father's.

²⁰ Thus Iaakob stole away ye heart of Laban the Aramite: for he told him not that he fled.

²¹ So fled he with all that he had, and he rose vp, and passed the riuer, and set his face towarde mount Gilead.

²² And the third day after was it told Laban, that Iaakob fled.

²³ Then he tooke his brethren with him, & followed after him seuen dayes iourney, and ouertooke him at mount Gilead.

²⁴ And God came to Laban the Aramite in a dreame by night, and sayde vnto him, Take heede that thou speake not to Iaakob ought saue good.

²⁵ Then Laban ouertooke Iaakob, & Iaakob had pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban also with his brethren pitched vpon mount Gilead.

²⁶ Then Laban sayde to Iaakob, What hast thou done? thou hast euen stolen away mine heart and caried away my daughters as though they had bene taken captiues with the sworde.

²⁷ Wherfore diddest thou flie so secretly and steale away from me, and diddest not tel me, that I might haue sent thee foorth with mirth & with songs, with timbrel and with harpe?

²⁸ But thou hast not suffered me to kisse my sonnes and my daughters: nowe thou hast done foolishly in doing so.

²⁹ It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the He was an idolater and therefore would not acknowledge the God of Jacob for his God. God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

³⁰ Nowe though thou wentest thy way, because thou greatly longedst after thy fathers house, yet wherefore hast thou stollen my gods?

³¹ Then Iaakob answered, and said to Laban, Because I was afraid, & thought that thou wouldest haue taken thy daughters from me.

³² But with whome thou findest thy gods, let him not liue. Search thou before our brethre what I haue of thine, & take it to thee, (but Iaakob wist not that Rahel had stolen them)

³³ Then came Laban into Iaakobs tent, and into Leahs tent, and into the two maides tentes, but founde them not. So hee went out of Leahs tent, and entred into Rahels tent.

³⁴ (Nowe Rahel had taken the idoles, & put them in the camels litter and sate downe vpon them) and Laban searched al the tent, but found them not.

³⁵ Then said she to her father, My Lord, be not angrie that I cannot rise vp before thee: for the custome of women is vpo me: so he searched, but found not the idoles.

³⁶ The Iaakob was wroth, and chode with Laban: Iaakob also answered and sayd to Laban, What haue I trespassed? what haue I offended, that thou hast pursued after me?

³⁷ Seeing thou hast searched all my stuffe, what hast thou foud of all thine houshold stuffe? put it here before my brethren & thy brethren, that they may iudge betweene vs both.

³⁸ This twenty yere I haue bin with thee: thine ewes & thy goates haue not cast their yong, and the rammes of thy flocke haue I not eaten.

³⁹ Whatsoeuer was torne of beasts, I brought it not vnto thee, but made it good my selfe: of mine hand diddest thou require it, were it stollen by day or stollen by night.

⁴⁰ I was in the day consumed with heate, and with frost in the night, and my sleepe departed from mine eyes.

⁴¹ Thus haue I bene twentie yeere in thine house, and serued thee fourteene yeeres for thy two daughters, and sixe yeeres for thy sheepe, and thou hast changed my wages tenne times.

⁴² Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the That is, the God whom Isaac feared and reverenced. fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked [thee] yesternight.

⁴³ Then Laban answered, and saide vnto Iaakob, These daughters are my daughters, & these sonnes are my sonnes, and these sheepe are my sheepe, and all that thou seest, is mine, and what can I doe this day vnto these my daughters, or to their sonnes which they haue borne?

⁴⁴ Now therefore His conscience reproved him for his misbehaviour toward Jacob, and therefore moved him to seek peace. come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee.

⁴⁵ Then tooke Iaakob a stone, and set it vp as a pillar:

⁴⁶ And Iaakob sayde vnto his brethren, Gather stones: who brought stones, and made an heape, and they did eate there vpon the heape.

⁴⁷ And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called it The one named the place in the Syrian tongue, and the other in the Hebrew tongue. Galeed.

⁴⁸ For Laban sayd, This heape is witnesse betweene me and thee this day: therefore he called the name of it Galeed.

⁴⁹ And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD To punish the trespasser. watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.

⁵⁰ If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take [other] Nature compels him to condemn that vice, to which through covetousness he forced Jacob. wives beside my daughters, no man [is] with us; see, God [is] witness betwixt me and thee.

⁵¹ Moreouer Laban sayd to Iaakob, Beholde this heape, and behold the pillar, which I haue set betweene me and thee,

⁵² This heape shall be witnesse, and the pillar shall be witnesse, that I will not come ouer this heape to thee, and that thou shalt not passe ouer this heape and this pillar vnto me for euill.

⁵³ The God of Abraham, and the God of Behold, how the idolaters mingle the true God with their false gods. Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the Meaning, by the true God whom Isaac worshipped. fear of his father Isaac.

⁵⁴ Then Iaakob did offer a sacrifice vpon the mount, and called his brethren to eate bread; they did eate bread, and taried all night in the mount.

⁵⁵ And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and We see that there is always some seed of the knowledge of God in the hearts of the wicked. blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.

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¹ Nowe Iaakob went forth on his iourney and the Angels of God met him.

² And when Jacob saw them, he said, He acknowledges God's benefits: who for the preservation of his, sends hosts of angels. This [is] God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

³ Then Iaakob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother, vnto the land of Seir into the countrey of Edom:

⁴ And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my He reverenced his brother in worldly things, because he mainly looked to be preferred to the spiritual promise. lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:

⁵ I haue beeues also and Asses, sheepe, & men seruantes, and women seruantes, and haue sent to shew my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.

⁶ So ye messengers came againe to Iaakob, saying, We came vnto thy brother Esau, and hee also commeth against thee and foure hundreth men with him.

⁷ Then Jacob was Though he was comforted by the angels, yet the infirmity of the flesh appears. greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that [was] with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;

⁸ For he said, If Esau come to ye one copanie and smite it, the other companie shall escape.

⁹ Moreouer Iaakob said, O God of my father Abraham, & God of my father Izhak: Lord, which saydest vnto me, Returne vnto thy coutrey and to thy kinred, and I will do thee good,

¹⁰ I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my that is, poor and without all provision. staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.

¹¹ Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, [and] the Meaning, he will put all to death. This proverb comes from those who kill the bird together with the young ones. mother with the children.

¹² For thou saydest; I will surely doe thee good, and make thy seede as the sande of the sea, which can not be nombred for multitude.

¹³ And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a Not distrusting God's assistance, but using such means as God had given him. present for Esau his brother;

¹⁴ Two hundreth shee goates & twenty hee goates, two hundreth ewes & twentie rammes:

¹⁵ Thirtie mylche camels with their coltes, fourtie kine, and ten bullockes, twentie she asses and ten foles.

¹⁶ So he deliuered them into the hande of his seruants, euery droue by themselues, and saide vnto his seruants, Passe before me, & put a space betweene droue and droue.

¹⁷ And he commanded the formost, saying, If Esau my brother meete thee, and aske thee, saying, Whose seruant art thou? And whither goest thou? And whose are these before thee?

¹⁸ Then thou shalt say, They be thy seruant Iaakobs: it is a present sent vnto my lord Esau: and beholde, he him selfe also is behinde vs.

¹⁹ So likewise commaunded he the seconde and the thirde, and all that followed the droues, saying, After this maner, ye shall speake vnto Esau, when ye finde him.

²⁰ And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob [is] behind us. For he said, I He thought it no less to depart with these goods with the intent that he might follow the vocation to which God called him. will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.

²¹ So went the present before him: but he taried that night with the companie.

²² And he rose vp the same night, and tooke his two wiues, and his two maides, and his eleuen children, and went ouer the forde Iabbok.

²³ And he tooke them, and sent them ouer the riuer, and sent ouer that he had.

²⁴ And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a That is, God in the form of a man. man with him until the breaking of the day.

²⁵ And when he saw that he For God assails his with the one hand, and upholds them with the other. prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

²⁶ And he saide, Let me goe, for the morning appeareth. Who answered, I will not let thee go except thou blesse me.

²⁷ Then said he vnto him, What is thy name? And he said, Iaakob.

²⁸ And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou God gave Jacob both power to overcome, and also the praise of the victory. power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

²⁹ Then Iaakob demaded, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name; he said, Wherefore now doest thou aske my name? & he blessed him there

³⁰ And Iaakob called the name of the place, Peniel: for, saide he, I haue seene God face to face, and my life is preserued.

³¹ And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he The faithful to overcome their temptations, so that they feel the pain of it, so they would not boast, except in their humility. halted upon his thigh.

³² Therefore the children of Israel eate not of the sinewe that shranke in the hollowe of the thigh, vnto this day: because he touched the sinew that shranke in the holow of Iaakobs thigh.

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¹ And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he That if the one part were assailed, the other might escape. divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.

² And he put the maides, and their children formost, and Leah, and her children after, and Rahel, and Ioseph hindermost.

³ And he passed over before them, and By this gesture he partly revered his brother and partly prayed to God to appease Esau's wrath. bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴ Then Esau ranne to meete him, and embraced him, and fell on his necke, and kissed him, & they wept.

⁵ And he lift vp his eyes, and sawe the women, and the children, and saide, Who are these with thee? And he answered, They are ye childre whome God of his grace hath giuen thy seruant.

⁶ Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they Jacob and his family are the image of the Church under the yoke of tyrants who out of fear are brought to subjection. bowed themselves.

⁷ Leah also with her children came nere and made obeysance: and after Ioseph & Rahel drew neere, and did reuerence.

⁸ Then he said, What meanest thou by all this droue, which I met? Who answered, I haue sent it, that I may finde fauour in the sight of my lorde:

⁹ And Esau said, I haue ynough, my brother: keepe that thou hast to thy selfe.

¹⁰ And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore In that his brother embraced him so lovingly, contrary to his expectation, he accepted it as a clear sign of God's presence. I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me.

¹¹ I pray thee take my blessing, that is brought thee: for God hath had mercie on me, and therefore I haue all things: so he compelled him, and he tooke it.

¹² And he saide, Let vs take our iourney and go, and I will goe before thee.

¹³ Then he answered him, My lord knoweth, that the children are tender, & the ewes & kine with yong vnder mine hande: and if they should ouerdriue them one day, all the flocke would die.

¹⁴ Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until He promised that which (as it would seem) he did not plan to do. I come unto my lord unto Seir.

¹⁵ Then Esau said, I will leaue then some of my folke with thee; he answered, what needeth this? let me finde grace in the sight of my lorde.

¹⁶ So Esau returned, and went his way that same day vnto Seir.

¹⁷ And Iaakob went forwarde towarde Succoth, and built him an house, & made boothes for his cattell: therefore he called the name of the place Succoth.

¹⁸ Afterward, Iaakob came safe to Sheche a citie, which is in the lande of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram, and pitched before the citie.

¹⁹ And there he bought a parcell of ground, where hee pitched his tent, at the hande of the sonnes of Hamor Shechems father, for an hundreth pieces of money.

²⁰ And he erected there an altar, and called He calls the sign, the thing which it signifies, in token that God had mightily delivered him. it Elelohe-Israel.

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¹ And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, This example teaches us that too much liberty is not to be given to youth. went out to see the daughters of the land.

² Whome when Shechem the sonne of Hamor the Hiuite lorde of that countrey sawe, hee tooke her, and lay with her, and defiled her.

³ So his heart claue vnto Dinah the daughter of Iaakob: and he loued the maide, & spake kindely vnto the maide.

⁴ And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, This proves that the consent of parents is required in marriage, seeing that even the infidels observed it as a necessary thing. Get me this damsel to wife.

⁵ (Nowe Iaakob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter, and his sonnes were with his cattell in the fielde: therefore Iaakob helde his peace, vntill they were come.)

⁶ Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out vnto Iaakob to commune with him.

⁷ And whe the sonnes of Iaakob were come out of the fielde and heard it, it grieued the men, & they were very angry, because he had wrought villenie in Israel, in that he had lyen with Iaakobs daughter: which thing ought not to be done.

⁸ And Hamor communed with them, saying, the soule of my sonne Shechem longeth for your daughter: giue her him to wife, I pray you.

⁹ So make affinitie with vs: giue your daughters vnto vs, and take our daughters vnto you,

¹⁰ And ye shall dwell with vs, and the lande shalbe before you: dwell, and doe your businesse in it, and haue your possessions therein.

¹¹ Shechem also said vnto her father & vnto her brethren, Let me finde fauour in your eyes, and I will giue whatsoeuer ye shall appoint me.

¹² Aske of me abundantly both dowrie and giftes, and I will giue as ye appoint me, so that ye giue me the maide to wife.

¹³ Then the sonnes of Iaakob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, talking deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister,

¹⁴ And they said unto them, They used the holy ordinance of God a means to accomplish their wicked purpose. We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that [were] a As it is abomination for those who are baptized to be joined to infidels. reproach unto us:

¹⁵ But in this will we consent unto you: If ye will be as we [be], that every male of you be Their fault is even greater since they made religion a disguise for their deceit. circumcised;

¹⁶ Then will we giue our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to vs, and will dwell with you, and be one people.

¹⁷ But if ye will not hearken vnto vs to be circumcised, then will we take our daughter and depart.

¹⁸ Nowe their wordes pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamors sonne.

¹⁹ And the yong man deferd not to doe the thing because he loued Iaakobs daughter: he was also the most set by of all his fathers house.

²⁰ And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the For the people used to assemble there, and justice was administered. gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city, saying,

²¹ These men [are] Thus many pretend to speak for a public profit, when in reality they are only speaking for their own private gain and convenience. peaceable with us; therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land, behold, [it is] large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.

²² Onely herein will the men consent vnto vs for to dwell with vs, and to be one people, if all the men children among vs be circumcised as they are circumcised.

²³ [Shall] not Thus they do not lack any form of perversion, who prefer their own convenience before the common good. their cattle and their substance and every beast of theirs [be] ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with us.

²⁴ And vnto Hamor, and Shechem his sonne hearkened all that went out of the gate of his citie: and all the men children were circumcised, euen all that went out of the gate of his citie.

²⁵ And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, For they were the leaders of the company. Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew The people are punished because of their wicked princes. all the males.

²⁶ They slewe also Hamor and Shechem his sonne with the edge of the sword, & tooke Dinah out of Shechems house, and went their way.

²⁷ Againe the other sonnes of Iaakob came vpon the dead, and spoyled the citie, because they had defiled their sister.

²⁸ They tooke their sheepe & their beeues, and their asses, and whatsoeuer was in the citie, and in the fieldes.

²⁹ Also they caryed away captiue & spoyled all their goods, and all their children and their wiues, and all that was in the houses.

³⁰ Then Iaakob said to Simeon and Leui, Ye haue troubled me, and made me stinke among the inhabitats of the land, aswell the Canaanites, as the Perizzites, and and I being few in nomber, they shall gather theselues together against me, & slay me, and so shall I, and my house be destroied.

³¹ And they answered, Shoulde hee abuse our sister as a whore?

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¹ And God is ever at hand to comfort his people in their troubles. God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

² Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that [were] with him, Put away the strange gods that [are] among you, and be That by this outward act they should show their inward repentance. clean, and change your garments:

³ For we will rise and goe vp to Beth-el, and I will make an altar there vnto God, which heard me in the day of my tribulation, and was with me in the way which I went.

⁴ And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which [were] in their hand, and [all their] For in this was some sign of superstition, as in tablets and Agnus deis (a cake of wax, stamped with a lamb bearing a cross or flag, that has been blessed by the Pope). earrings which [were] in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which [was] by Shechem.

⁵ And they journeyed: and the Thus, despite the inconvenience that came before, God delivered Jacob. terror of God was upon the cities that [were] round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

⁶ So came Iaakob to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan: (the same is Beth-el) hee and all the people that was with him.

⁷ And he built there an altar, and had called the place, The God of Beth-el, because that God appeared vnto him there, when he fled from his brother.

⁸ Then Deborah Rebekahs nourse dyed, and was buried beneath Beth-el vnder an oke: and he called the name of it Allon Bachuth.

⁹ Againe God appeared vnto Iaakob, after he came out of Padan Aram, and blessed him.

¹⁰ Moreouer God said vnto him, Thy name is Iaakob: thy name shalbe no more called Iaakob, but Israel shalbe thy name: and hee called his name Israel.

¹¹ Againe God said vnto him, I am God all sufficient. growe, and multiplie. a nation and a multitude of nations shall spring of thee, and Kings shall come out of thy loynes.

¹² Also I will giue the lande, which I gaue to Abraham and Izhak, vnto thee: and vnto thy seede after thee will I giue that land.

¹³ And God As God is said to descend, when he shows some sign of his presence: so he is said to ascend when a vision is ended. went up from him in the place where he talked with him.

¹⁴ And Iaakob set vp a pillar in the place where he talked with him, a pillar of stone, and powred drinke offring thereon: also hee powred oyle thereon.

¹⁵ And Iaakob called the name of the place, where God spake with him, Beth-el.

¹⁶ And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a The Hebrew word signifies as much ground as one can cover from resting point to resting point, which is taken for half a days journey. little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour.

¹⁷ And whe she was in paines of her labour, the midwife saide vnto her, Feare not: for thou shalt haue this sonne also.

¹⁸ Then as she was about to yeelde vp the Ghost (for she died) she called his name Ben-oni, but his father called him Beniamin.

¹⁹ Thus died Rahel, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem.

²⁰ And Jacob set a The ancient fathers used this ceremony to testify their hope of the resurrection to come, which was not generally revealed. pillar upon her grave: that [is] the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.

²¹ Then Israel went forwarde, and pitched his tent beyond Migdal-eder.

²² And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and This teaches that the fathers were not chosen for their merits, but only by God's mercies, whose election was not changed by their faults. lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and Israel heard [it]. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

²³ The sonnes of Leah: Reuben Iaakobs eldest sonne, and Simeon, and Leui, and Iudah, and Issachar, and Zebulun.

²⁴ The sonnes of Rahel: Ioseph & Beniamin.

²⁵ And the sonnes of Bilhah Rahels maide: Dan and Naphtali.

²⁶ And the sonnes of Zilpah Leahs maide: Gad and Asher. These are the sonnes of Iaakob, which were borne him in Padan Aram.

²⁷ Then Iaakob came vnto Izhak his father to Mamre a citie of Arbah: this is Hebron, where Abraham and Izhak were strangers.

²⁸ And the daies of Izhak were an hundreth and fourescore yeeres.

²⁹ And Izhak gaue vp the ghost and died, and was gathered vnto his people, being olde & full of daies: & his sonnes Esau & Iaakob buried him.

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¹ Now these [are] This genealogy declares that Esau was blessed physically and that his father's blessing took place in worldly things. the generations of Esau, who [is] Edom.

² Esau took his wives of the Besides those wives spoken of in (Gen_26:34). daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;

³ And tooke Basemath Ishmaels daughter, sister of Nebaioth.

⁴ And Adah bare vnto Esau, Eliphaz: and Basemath bare Reuel.

⁵ Also Aholibamah bare Ieush, and Iaalam, and Korah: these are the sonnes of Esau which were borne to him in the land of Canaan.

⁶ And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the land of Canaan; and In this, God's providence appears, which causes the wicked to give place to the godly, that Jacob might enjoy Canaan according to God's promise. went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob.

⁷ For their riches were so great, that they could not dwell together, and the lande, wherein they were strangers, coulde not receiue them because of their flockes.

⁸ Therefore dwelt Esau in mount Seir: this Esau is Edom.

⁹ So these are the generations of Esau father of Edom in mount Seir.

¹⁰ These are the names of Esaus sonnes: Eliphaz, the sonne of Adah, the wife of Esau, & Reuel the sonne of Bashemath, the wife of Esau.

¹¹ And the sonnes of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.

¹² And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esaus sonne, and bare vnto Eliphaz, Amalek: these be the sonnes of Adah Esaus wife.

¹³ And these are the sonnes of Reuel: Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sonnes of Bashemath Esaus wife.

¹⁴ And these were the sonnes of Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon Esaus wife: for she bare vnto Esau, Ieush, and Iaalam, and Korah.

¹⁵ These [were] If God's promises are so sure towards those who are not of his household, how much more will he perform the same for us? dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn [son] of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz,

¹⁶ Duke Korah, Duke Gatam, Duke Amalek: these are the Dukes that came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom: these were the sonnes of Adah.

¹⁷ And these are the sonnes of Reuel Esaus sonne: Duke Nahath, Duke Zerah, Duke Shammah, Duke Mizzah: these are the Dukes that came of Reuel in the land of Edom: these are the sonnes of Bashemath Esaus wife.

¹⁸ Likewise these were the sonnes of Aholibamah Esaus wife: Duke Ieush, Duke Iaalam, Duke Korah: these Dukes came of Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah Esaus wife.

¹⁹ These are the children of Esau, and these are the Dukes of them: This Esau is Edom.

²⁰ These [are] the sons of Seir the Horite, who Esau lived there before that. inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah,

²¹ And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are the Dukes of the Horites, the sonnes of Seir in the land of Edom.

²² And the sonnes of Lotan were, Hori and Hemam, and Lotans sister was Timna.

²³ And the sonnes of Shobal were these: Aluan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

²⁴ And these [are] the children of Zibeon; both Ajah, and Anah: this [was that] Anah that found the Who not contented with those kinds of beasts, which God had created, discovered the monstrous generation of mules between the ass and the mare. mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.

²⁵ And the children of Anah were these: Dishon and Aholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

²⁶ Also these are the sonnes of Dishan: Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.

²⁷ The sonnes of Ezer are these: Bilhan, and Zaauan, and Akan.

²⁸ The sonnes of Dishan are these: Vz, and Aran.

²⁹ These are the Dukes of the Horites: Duke Lotan, Duke Shobal, Duke Zibeon, Duke Anah,

³⁰ Duke Dishon, Duke Ezer, Duke Dishan: these bee the Dukes of the Horites, after their Dukedomes in the land of Seir.

³¹ And these [are] the The wicked rise up suddenly to honour and perish as quickly: but the inheritance of the children of God continues forever, (Psa_102:28). kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.

³² Then Bela the sonne of Beor reigned in Edom, & the name of his citie was Dinhabah.

³³ And when Bela dyed, Iobab the sonne of Zerah of Bozra reigned in his steade.

³⁴ When Iobab also was dead, Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his steade.

³⁵ And after the death of Husham, Hadad the sonne of Bedad, which slewe Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his steade, and the name of his citie was Auith.

³⁶ When Hadad was dead, then Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his steade.

³⁷ And Samlah died, and Saul of Which is by the river Euphrates. Rehoboth [by] the river reigned in his stead.

³⁸ When Shaul dyed, Baal-hanan the sonne of Achbor reigned in his steade.

³⁹ And after the death of Baal-hanan the sonne of Achbor, Hadad reigned in his stead, and the name of his citie was Pau: and his wiues name Mehetabel the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

⁴⁰ Then these are the names of the Dukes of Esau according to their families, their places and by their names: Duke Timna, Duke Aluah, Duke Ietheth,

⁴¹ Duke Aholibamah, Duke Elah, Duke Pinon,

⁴² Duke Kenaz, Duke Teman, Duke Mibzar,

⁴³ Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these [be] the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession: he [is] Esau the father of the Of Edom came the Idumeans. Edomites.

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¹ And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a That is, the story of such things as came to him and his family as in (Gen_5:1) stranger, in the land of Canaan.

² These [are] the generations of Jacob. Joseph, [being] seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad [was] with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil He complained of the evil words and injuries which they spoke and did to him. report.

³ Nowe Israel loued Ioseph more then all his sonnes, because he begate him in his old age, and he made him a coat of many colours.

⁴ So when his brethren sawe that their father loued him more then all his brethren, then they hated him, and could not speake peaceably vnto him.

⁵ And Joseph God revealed to him by a dream what should come to pass. dreamed a dream, and he told [it] his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

⁶ For he saide vnto them, Heare, I pray you, this dreame which I haue dreamed.

⁷ Beholde nowe, wee were binding sheues in the middes of the field: and loe, my shefe arose and also stoode vpright, and behold, your sheues compassed rounde about, and did reuerence to my shefe.

⁸ And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they The more God shows himself favourable to his own, the more the malice of the wicked rages against them. hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

⁹ Againe hee dreamed an other dreame, & tolde it his brethren, and saide, Behold, I haue had one dreame more, and beholde, the Sunne and the Moone & eleuen starres did reuerence to me.

¹⁰ And he told [it] to his father, and to his brethren: and his father Not despising the vision, but seeking to appease his brethren. rebuked him, and said unto him, What [is] this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

¹¹ And his brethren envied him; but his father He knew that God was the author of the dream, but he did not understand the meaning. observed the saying.

¹² Then his brethren went to keepe their fathers sheepe in Shechem.

¹³ And Israel said vnto Ioseph, Doe not thy brethren keepe in Shechem? Come and I will send thee to them.

¹⁴ And he answered him, I am here. Then he saide vnto him, Goe now, see whether it bee well with thy brethren, and how the flocks prosper, and bring me word againe. So hee sent him from the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

¹⁵ Then a man found him: for lo, hee was wandring in the fielde, and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

¹⁶ And he answered, I seeke my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they keepe sheepe.

¹⁷ And the man said, they are departed hece: for I heard them say, Let vs goe vnto Dothan. Then went Ioseph after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸ And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they The Holy Spirit does not cover the faults of men, as vain writers do, who make virtues out of vices. conspired against him to slay him.

¹⁹ For they sayd one to another, Behold, this dreamer commeth.

²⁰ Come now therefore, and let vs slay him, and cast him into some pitte, and wee will say, A wicked beast hath deuoured him: then wee shall see, what will come of his dreames.

²¹ But when Reuben heard that, he deliuered him out of their handes, and saide, Let vs not kill him.

²² Also Reuben saide vnto them, Shed not blood, but cast him into this pitte that is in the wildernesse, and lay no hande vpon him. Thus he said, that he might deliuer him out of their hand, and restore him to his father againe.

²³ Now when Ioseph was come vnto his brethren, they stript Ioseph out of his coate, his particoloured coate that was vpon him.

²⁴ And they took him, and cast Their hypocrisy appears in this that they feared man more than God: and thought it was not murder, if they did not shed his blood or had excuses to cover their fault. him into a pit: and the pit [was] empty, [there was] no water in it.

²⁵ Then they sate them downe to eate bread: and they lift vp their eyes and looked, and behold, there came a companie of Ishmeelites from Gilead, and their camels laden with spicerie, and balme, and myrrhe, and were going to cary it downe into Egypt.

²⁶ Then Iudah said vnto his brethren, What auaileth it, if we slay our brother, though wee keepe his blood secret?

²⁷ Come and let vs sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our handes be vpon him: for he is our brother and our flesh: and his brethren obeyed.

²⁸ Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Moses writes according to the opinion of those who took the Midianites and Ishmaelites to be one, and here mixes their names: as also appears in (Gen_37:36, Gen_39:1) or else he was first offered to the Midianites, but sold to the Ishmaelites. Ishmeelites for twenty [pieces] of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

²⁹ Afterwarde Reuben returned to the pit, and beholde, Ioseph was not in the pit: then he rent his clothes,

³⁰ And returned to his brethren, and said, The childe is not yonder, and I, whither shall I goe?

³¹ And they tooke Iosephs coate, and killed a kidde of the goates, and dipped the coate in the blood.

³² And they sent the coat of [many] colours, That is, the messengers who were sent. and they brought [it] to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it [be] thy son's coat or no.

³³ Then he knewe it and said, It is my sonnes coate: a wicked beast hath deuoured him: Ioseph is surely torne in pieces.

³⁴ And Iaakob rent his clothes, & put sackecloth about his loynes, and sorowed for his sonne a long season.

³⁵ Then all his sonnes and all his daughters rose vp to comfort him, but he woulde not be comforted, but said, Surely I will go downe into the graue vnto my sonne mourning: so his father wept for him.

³⁶ And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an Or «eunuch», which does not always signify a man that is gelded, but also someone that is in some high position. officer of Pharaoh's, [and] captain of the guard.

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¹ And it came to pass at that time, that Moses describes the genealogy of Judah, because the Messiah should come from him. Judah went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name [was] Hirah.

² And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name [was] Shuah; A relationship which nonetheless was condemned by God. and he took her, and went in unto her.

³ So she conceiued and bare a sonne, and he called his name Er.

⁴ And she conceiued againe, & bare a sonne, and she called his name Onan.

⁵ Moreouer she bare yet a sonne, whome she called Shelah: and Iudah was at Chezib when she bare him.

⁶ Then Iudah tooke a wife to Er his first borne sonne whose name was Tamar.

⁷ Now Er the first borne of Iudah was wicked in the sight of the Lord: therefore the Lord slewe him.

⁸ And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise This order was for the preservation of the stock, since the child begotten by the second brother would have the name and inheritance of the first: a practice which is abolished in the New Testament. up seed to thy brother.

⁹ And Onan knewe that the seede should not be his: therefore when he went in vnto his brothers wife, he spilled it on the grounde, least he should giue seede vnto his brother.

¹⁰ And it was wicked in the eyes of the Lord, which he did: wherefore he slewe him also.

¹¹ Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, For she could not marry in any other family so long as Judah would retain her in his. Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren [did]. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.

¹² And in processe of time also the daughter of Shuah Iudahs wife dyed. Then Iudah, when he had left mourning, went vp to his sheepe sherers to Timnah, he, and his neighbour Hirah the Adullamite.

¹³ And it was tolde Tamar, saying, beholde, thy father in lawe goeth vp to Timnah, to shere his sheepe.

¹⁴ Then she put her widowes garments off from her, and couered her with a vaile, and wrapped her selfe, and sate downe in Pethah-enaim, which is by the way to Timnah, because she sawe that Shelah was growen, and she was not giuen vnto him to wife.

¹⁵ When Iudah sawe her, he iudged her an whore: for she had couered her face.

¹⁶ And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he God miraculously blinded him so that he could not know her by her voice. knew not that she [was] his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

¹⁷ Then said he, I will sende thee a kid of the goates from the flocke; she said, Well, if thou wilt giue me a pledge, till thou sende it.

¹⁸ Then he saide, What is the pledge that I shall giue thee? And she answered, Thy signet, and thy cloke, and thy staffe that is in thine hande. So he gaue it her, and lay by her, and she was with childe by him.

¹⁹ Then she rose, and went and put her vaile from her and put on her widowes raiment.

²⁰ And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his That his wickedness might not be known to others. friend the Adullamite, to receive [his] pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.

²¹ Then asked he the men of that place, saying, Where is ye whore, that sate in Enaim by the way side? And they answered, There was no whore here.

²² He came therefore to Iudah againe, and said, I can not finde her, and also the men of the place said, There was no whore there.

²³ And Judah said, Let her take [it] to her, lest we be He fears man more than God. shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

²⁴ And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she [is] with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be We see that the Law, which was written in man's heart, taught them that adultery should be punished with death, even though no law had been given yet. burnt.

²⁵ When she was brought foorth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, vnto whom these things pertaine, am I with childe: and saide also, Looke, I pray thee, whose these are, the seale, and the cloke, and the staffe.

²⁶ And Judah acknowledged [them], and said, She hath been That is, she ought rather to accuse me than I her. more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he knew her again for the horror of the sin condemned him. no more.

²⁷ Now, when the time was come that she should be deliuered, beholde, there were twinnes in her wombe.

²⁸ And when she was in trauell, the one put out his hand: and the midwife tooke and bound a red threde about his hand, saying, This is come out first.

²⁹ And it came to pass, as he Their heinous sin was signified by this monstrous birth. drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How Or the separation between you and your brother. hast thou broken forth? [this] breach [be] upon thee: therefore his name was called Pharez.

³⁰ And afterward came out his brother that had the red threde about his hande, and his name was called Zarah.

39

¹ And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an See (Gen_37:36). officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.

² And the The favour of God is the fountain of all prosperity. LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

³ And his master sawe that the Lorde was with him, and that the Lorde made all that hee did to prosper in his hande.

⁴ And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him Because God prospered him: and so he made religion serve his profit. overseer over his house, and all [that] he had he put into his hand.

⁵ And it came to pass from the time [that] he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD The wicked are blessed by the company of the godly. blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

⁶ And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; For he was sure that everything would prosper: therefore he ate and drank and did not worry. and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was [a] goodly [person], and well favoured.

⁷ And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, In this word he declares the purpose she was working towards. Lie with me.

⁸ But he refused and said to his masters wife, Beholde, my master knoweth not what he hath in the house with me, but hath committed all that he hath to mine hande.

⁹ [There is] none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou [art] his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against The fear of God preserved him against her continual temptations. God?

¹⁰ And albeit she spake to Ioseph day by day, yet he hearkened not vnto her, to lye with her, or to be in her company.

¹¹ Then on a certaine day Ioseph entred into the house, to doe his businesse: and there was no man of the houshold in the house:

¹² Therefore she caught him by his garmet, saying, Sleepe with me: but he left his garment in her hand and fled, and got him out.

¹³ Nowe when she sawe that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled out,

¹⁴ That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I This declares that in which lack of restraint exists and to this is joined extreme impudency and deceit. cried with a loud voice:

¹⁵ And when he heard that I lift vp my voice and cryed, he left his garment with me, and fled away, and got him out.

¹⁶ So she layde vp his garment by her, vntill her lord came home.

¹⁷ Then she tolde him according to these words, saying, The Ebrew seruat, which thou hast brought vnto vs, came in to me, to mocke me.

¹⁸ But assoone as I lift vp my voyce & cried, he left his garment with me, and fled out.

¹⁹ Then when his master heard the wordes of his wife, which she tolde him, saying, After this maner did thy seruant to me, his anger was kindled.

²⁰ And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the His bad treatment in the prison may be gathered from (Psa_105:18). prison, a place where the king's prisoners [were] bound: and he was there in the prison.

²¹ But the Lorde was with Ioseph, and shewed him mercie, and got him fauour in the sight of the master of the prison.

²² And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that [were] in the prison; and That is, nothing was done without his commandment. whatsoever they did there, he was the doer [of it].

²³ And the keeper of the prison looked vnto nothing that was vnder his hande, seeing that the Lord was with him: for whatsoeuer he did, the Lorde made it to prosper.

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¹ And after these things, the butler of the King of Egypt and his baker offended their lorde the King of Egypt.

² And Pharaoh was angrie against his two officers, against the chiefe butler, and against the chiefe baker.

³ And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where God works in many wonderful ways to deliver his own. Joseph [was] bound.

⁴ And the chiefe steward gaue Ioseph charge ouer them, and he serued them: and they continued a season in warde.

⁵ And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, That is, every dream had his interpretation, as the thing afterward declared. each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which [were] bound in the prison.

⁶ And when Ioseph came in vnto them in the morning, and looked vpon them, beholde, they were sad.

⁷ And he asked Pharaohs officers, that were with him in his masters warde, saying, Wherefore looke ye so sadly to day?

⁸ And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and [there is] no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Cannot God raise up such as shall interpret such things. [Do] not interpretations [belong] to God? tell me [them], I pray you.

⁹ So the chiefe butler tolde his dreame to Ioseph, and said vnto him, In my dreame, behold, a vine was before me,

¹⁰ And in the vine were three branches, and as it budded, her flowre came foorth: and the clusters of grapes waxed ripe.

¹¹ And I had Pharaohs cup in mine hande, and I tooke the grapes, & wrung the into Pharaohs cup, and I gaue the cup into Pharaohs hand.

¹² And Joseph said unto him, This He was reassured by the spirit of God, that his interpretation was true. [is] the interpretation of it: The three branches [are] three days:

¹³ Within three dayes shall Pharaoh lift vp thine head, & restore thee vnto thine office, and thou shalt giue Pharaohs cup into his hand after the olde maner, when thou wast his butler.

¹⁴ But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and He does not refuse the method of deliverance which he thought God had appointed. make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house:

¹⁵ For I was stollen away by theft out of the land of the Ebrewes, and here also haue I done nothing, wherefore they should put mee in the dungeon.

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also [was] in my dream, and, behold, [I had] three That is made of white twigs, or as some read, baskets full of holes. white baskets on my head:

¹⁷ And in the vppermost basket there was of all maner baken meates for Pharaoh: and the birdes did eate them out of the basket vpon mine head.

¹⁸ And Joseph answered and said, He shows that the ministers of God should not conceal that, which God reveals to them. This [is] the interpretation thereof: The three baskets [are] three days:

¹⁹ Within three dayes shall Pharaoh take thine head from thee, & shal hang thee on a tree, and the birdes shall eate thy flesh from off thee.

²⁰ And it came to pass the third day, [which was] Pharaoh's Which was an occasion to appoint his officers, and to examine those who were in prison. birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.

²¹ And he restored the chiefe butler vnto his butlershippe, who gaue the cup into Pharaohs hande,

²² But he hanged the chiefe baker, as Ioseph had interpreted vnto them.

²³ Yet the chiefe butler did not remember Ioseph, but forgate him.

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¹ And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh This dream was not so much for Pharaoh, as is was a means to deliver Joseph and to provide for God's Church. dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.

² And loe, there came out of the riuer seuen goodly kine and fatfleshed, and they fedde in a medowe:

³ And loe, seuen other kine came vp after the out of the riuer, euill fauoured & leane fleshed, and stoode by the other kine vpon the brinke of the riuer.

⁴ And the euilfauoured and leane fleshed kine did eate vp the seuen welfauoured and fatte kine: so Pharaoh awoke.

⁵ And he slept and dreamed the All these means God used to deliver his servant, and to bring him into favour and authority. second time: and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and good.

⁶ And loe, seuen thinne eares, and blasted with the east winde, sprang vp after them:

⁷ And the thinne eares deuoured the seuen ranke and full eares. then Pharaoh awaked, and loe, it was a dreame.

⁸ And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was This fear was enough to teach him that this vision was sent by God. troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but [there was] none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

⁹ Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I He confesses his fault against the king before he speaks of Joseph. do remember my faults this day:

¹⁰ Pharaoh being angrie with his seruantes, put me in ward in the chiefe stewards house, both me and the chiefe baker.

¹¹ Then we dreamed a dreame in one night, both I, and he: we dreamed eche man according to the interpretation of his dreame.

¹² And there was with vs a yong man, an Ebrew, seruant vnto the chiefe steward, whome when we told, he declared our dreames to vs, to euery one he declared according to his dreame.

¹³ And as he declared vnto vs, so it came to passe: for he restored me to mine office, & hanged him.

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called The wicked seek the prophets of God in their time of need, while in their prosperity they abhor them. Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved [himself], and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.

¹⁵ Then Pharaoh sayde to Ioseph, I haue dreamed a dreame, and no man can interprete it, and I haue hearde say of thee, that when thou hearest a dreame, thou canst interprete it.

¹⁶ And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, As though he would say if I interpret your dream it comes from God, and not from me. [It is] not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

¹⁷ And Pharaoh sayde vnto Ioseph, In my dreame, beholde, I stoode by the banke of the riuer:

¹⁸ And lo, there came vp out of the riuer seuen fat fleshed, and welfauoured kine, and they fedde in the medowe.

¹⁹ Also loe, seuen other kine came vp after them, poore and very euilfauoured, and leanefleshed: I neuer sawe the like in all the lande of Egypt, for euilfauoured.

²⁰ And the leane and euilfauoured kine did eate vp the first seuen fat kine.

²¹ And when they had eaten them vp, it could not be knowen that they had eaten them, but they were still as euilfauoured, as they were at the beginning: so did I awake.

²² Moreouer I sawe in my dreame, and beholde, seuen eares sprang out of one stalke, full and faire.

²³ And lo, seuen eares, withered, thinne, and blasted with the East winde, sprang vp after them.

²⁴ And the thinne eares deuoured the seuen good eares. Nowe I haue tolde the soothsayers, and none can declare it vnto me.

²⁵ And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, Both his dreams have the same message. The dream of Pharaoh [is] one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he [is] about to do.

²⁶ The seuen good kine are seuen yeres, and the seuen good eares are seuen yeeres: this is one dreame.

²⁷ Likewise the seuen thinne and euilfauoured kine, that came out after them, are seuen yeeres: and the seuen emptie eares blasted with the East winde, are seuen yeeres of famine.

²⁸ This is the thing which I haue saide vnto Pharaoh, that God hath shewed vnto Pharaoh, what he is about to doe.

²⁹ Beholde, there come seuen yeeres of great plentie in all the land of Egypt.

³⁰ Againe, there shall arise after them seuen yeeres of famine, so that all the plentie shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine shall consume the land:

³¹ Neither shall the plentie bee knowen in the land, by reason of this famine that shall come after: for it shalbe exceeding great.

³² And therefore the dreame was doubled vnto Pharaoh the second time, because the thing is established by God, & God hasteth to performe it.

³³ Now therefore let Pharaoh The office of a true prophet is not only to show the evils to come, but also the remedies for the same. look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.

³⁴ Let Pharaoh make and appoynt officers ouer the lande, and take vp the fift part of the land of Egypt in the seuen plenteous yeeres.

³⁵ Also let them gather all the foode of these good yeeres that come, and lay vp corne vnder the hand of Pharaoh for foode, in the cities, and let them keepe it.

³⁶ So the foode shall be for the prouision of the lande, against the seuen yeeres of famine, which shalbe in the lande of Egypt, that the land perish not by famine.

³⁷ And the saying pleased Pharaoh and all his seruants.

³⁸ And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find [such a one] as this [is], a man in whom the No one should be honoured who does not have gifts from God fitting for the same. Spirit of God [is]?

³⁹ The Pharaoh said to Ioseph, For as much as God hath shewed thee all this, there is no man of vnderstanding, or of wisedome like vnto thee.

⁴⁰ Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy Some read, «the people will kill your mouth», that is obey you in all things. word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

⁴¹ Moreouer Pharaoh said to Ioseph, Behold, I haue set thee ouer all the land of Egypt.

⁴² And Pharaoh tooke off his ring from his hand, and put it vpon Iosephs hand, and arayed him in garments of fine linnen, and put a golden cheyne about his necke.

⁴³ And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Or «Abrech»: a sign of honour; a word some translate, tender father or father of the king, or kneel down. Bow the knee: and he made him [ruler] over all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁴ Againe Pharaoh saide vnto Ioseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift vp his hand or his foote in all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁵ And Pharaoh called Iosephs name Zaphnath-paaneah: and he gaue him to wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah prince of On. then went Ioseph abrode in the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ And Joseph [was] His age is mentioned both to show that his authority came from God, and also that he endured imprisonment and exile for twelve years or more. thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁷ And in the seuen plenteous yeres the earth brought foorth store.

⁴⁸ And hee gathered vp all the foode of the seuen plenteous yeeres, which were in the lande of Egypt, and layde vp foode in the cities: the foode of the fielde, that was round about euery citie, layde he vp in the same.

⁴⁹ So Ioseph gathered wheate, like vnto the sand of the sea in multitude out of measure, vntill he left numbring: for it was without number.

⁵⁰ Now vnto Ioseph were borne two sonnes (before the yeeres of famine came) which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah prince of On bare vnto him.

⁵¹ And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, [said he], hath made me forget all my toil, and all my Nonetheless, his father's house was the true Church of God: yet the company of the wicked and prosperity caused him to forget it. father's house.

⁵² Also hee called the name of the second, Ephraim: For God, sayde he hath made me fruitfull in the land of mine affliction.

⁵³ So the seuen yeeres of the plentie that was in the land of Egypt were ended.

⁵⁴ Then began the seuen yeeres of famine to come, according as Ioseph had saide: and the famine was in all landes, but in all the land of Egypt was bread.

⁵⁵ At the length all the lande of Egypt was affamished, and the people cryed to Pharaoh for bread; Pharaoh said vnto all the Egyptians, Goe to Ioseph: what he sayth to you, doe ye.

⁵⁶ When the famine was vpon all the land, Ioseph opened all places, wherein the store was, and solde vnto the Egyptians: for the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.

⁵⁷ And all countries came to Egypt to bye corne of Ioseph, because the famine was sore in all landes.

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¹ Now when This story shows plainly that all things are governed by God's providence for the profit of his Church. Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye As men destitute of counsel. look one upon another?

² And he said, Behold, I haue heard that there is foode in Egypt, Get you downe thither, & bie vs foode thence, that we may liue and not die.

³ So went Iosephs ten brethren downe to bye corne of the Egyptians.

⁴ But Beniamin Iosephs brother woulde not Iaakob send with his brethren: for he saide, Least death should befall him.

⁵ And the sonnes of Israel came to bye foode among them that came: for there was famine in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Now Ioseph was gouerner of the land, who solde to all the people of the lande: then Iosephs brethren came, & bowed their face to the groud before him.

⁷ And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew them, but This concealing is not to be followed, nor any actions of the father's not approved by God's word. made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From the land of Canaan to buy food.

⁸ (Now Ioseph knewe his brethren, but they knew not him.

⁹ And Ioseph remembred the dreames, which he dreamed of them) and he sayde vnto them, Ye are spies, and are come to see the weaknesse of the land.

¹⁰ But they sayde vnto him, Nay, my lorde, but to bye vitayle thy seruants are come.

¹¹ Wee are all one mans sonnes: wee meane truely, and thy seruants are no spies.

¹² But he saide vnto them, Nay, but yee are come to see the weakenes of the land.

¹³ And they said, We thy seruants are twelue brethren, the sonnes of one man in the lande of Canaan: and beholde, the yongest is this day with our father, and one is not.

¹⁴ Againe Ioseph sayde vnto them, This is it that I spake vnto you, saying, Ye are spies.

¹⁵ Hereby ye shall be proved: The Egyptians who were idolaters, used to swear by their king's life: but God forbids swearing by anyone but him: yet Joseph dwelling among the wicked was corrupted by them. By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither.

¹⁶ Send one of you which may fet your brother, & ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proued, whether there bee trueth in you: or els by the life of Pharaoh ye are but spies.

¹⁷ So he put them in warde three dayes.

¹⁸ And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; [for] I And therefore am true and just. fear God:

¹⁹ If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bounde in your prison house, and goe ye, carie foode for the famine of your houses:

²⁰ But bring your yonger brother vnto me, that your wordes may be tried, and that ye dye not: and they did so.

²¹ And they said one to another, Affliction makes men acknowledge their faults, which otherwise they would conceal. We [are] verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.

²² And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his God will take vengeance on us, and measure us with our own measure. blood is required.

²³ (And they were not aware that Ioseph vnderstoode them: for he spake vnto them by an interpreter.)

²⁴ And he turned himself about from them, and Though he acts harshly, yet his brotherly affection remained. wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.

²⁵ So Ioseph commanded that they should fill their sackes with wheate, and put euery mans money againe in his sacke, and giue them vitaile for the iourney: and thus did he vnto them.

²⁶ And they layed their vitaile vpon their asses, and departed thence.

²⁷ And as one of them opened his sacke for to giue his asse prouender in the ynne, he espyed his money: for lo, it was in his sackes mouth.

²⁸ And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, [it is] even in my sack: and their heart failed [them], and they were Because their conscience accused them of their sin, they thought God had brought them trouble through the money. afraid, saying one to another, What [is] this [that] God hath done unto us?

²⁹ And they came vnto Iaakob their father vnto the lande of Canaan, and tolde him all that had befallen them, saying,

³⁰ The man, who is Lorde of the lande, spake roughly to vs, and put vs in prison as spyes of the countrey.

³¹ And we sayd vnto him, We are true men, and are no spies.

³² We be twelue brethren, sonnes of our father: one is not, and the yongest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.

³³ Then the Lord of the countrey sayde vnto vs, Hereby shal I knowe if ye be true men: Leaue one of your brethren with me, and take foode for the famine of your houses and depart,

³⁴ And bring your yongest brother vnto me, that I may knowe that ye are no spies, but true men: so will I deliuer you your brother, and yee shall occupie in the land.

³⁵ And as they emptied their sacks, behold, euery mans bundel of money was in his sacke: and when they and their father sawe the bundels of their money, they were afrayde.

³⁶ And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved [of my children]: Joseph [is] not, and Simeon [is] not, and ye will take Benjamin [away]: all these things are against For they did not seem to be concerned or have any love for their brother which increased his sorrow: and partly as it appears he suspected them for Joseph. me.

³⁷ Then Reuben answered his father, saying, Slay my two sonnes, if I bring him not to thee againe: deliuer him to mine hand, and I will bring him to thee againe.

³⁸ But he sayd, My sonne shall not go downe with you: for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if death come vnto him by the way which ye goe, then ye shall bring my gray head with sorow vnto the graue.

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¹ And the This was a great temptation to Jacob to suffer such a great famine in the land where God had promised to bless him. famine [was] sore in the land.

² And when they had eaten vp the vitaile, which they had brought from Egypt, their father sayd vnto them, Turne againe, and bye vs a little foode.

³ And Iudah answered him, saying, The man charged vs by an othe, saying, Neuer see my face, except your brother be with you.

⁴ If thou wilt sende our brother with vs, we will goe downe, and bye thee foode:

⁵ But if thou wilt not send him, we wil not go downe: for the man said vnto vs, Looke me not in the face, except your brother be with you.

⁶ And Israel sayd, Wherefore delt ye so euill with me, as to tell the man, whether ye had yet a brother or no?

⁷ And they answered, The man asked straitly of our selues and of our kinred, saying, Is your father yet aliue? haue ye any brother? And wee tolde him according to these wordes: could we knowe certainely that he would say, Bring your brother downe?

⁸ Then sayde Iudah to Israel his father, Send the boy with mee, that we may rise and goe, and that we may liue and not dye, both we, and thou, and our children.

⁹ I wil be suertie for him: of mine hand shalt thou require him. If I bring him not to thee, and set him before thee, then let me beare the blame for euer.

¹⁰ For except we had made this tarying, doutlesse by this we had returned the second time.

¹¹ Then their father Israel sayd vnto them, If it must needes be so now, do thus: take of the best fruites of the lande in your vessels, and bring the man a present, a little rosen, & a little hony, spices and myrrhe, nuttes, and almondes:

¹² And take When we are in need or danger, God does not forbid us to use honest means to better our estate and condition. double money in your hand; and the money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry [it] again in your hand; peradventure it [was] an oversight:

¹³ Take also your brother and arise, and go againe to the man.

¹⁴ And Our main trust should be in God, not in worldly means. God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be He speaks these words not so much in despair, but to make his sons more careful to return with their brother. bereaved [of my children], I am bereaved.

¹⁵ Thus the men tooke this present, & tooke twise so much money in their hande with Beniamin, and rose vp, and went downe to Egypt and stoode before Ioseph.

¹⁶ And whe Ioseph saw Beniamin with them, he sayde to his stewarde, Bring these men home and kill meate, and make ready: for the men shal eate with me at noone.

¹⁷ And the man did as Ioseph bad, & brought the men vnto Iosephs house.

¹⁸ And the men were So the judgment of God weighed on their consciences. afraid, because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us for bondmen, and our asses.

¹⁹ Therefore came they to Iosephs stewarde, & communed with him at the doore of ye house.

²⁰ And said, Oh syr, we came in deede down hither at the first time to bye foode,

²¹ And as wee came to an ynne and opened our sackes, behold, euery mans money was in his sackes mouth, euen our money in full weight, but we haue brought it againe in our handes.

²² Also other money haue we brought in our handes to bye foode, but we cannot tell, who put our money in our sackes.

²³ And he said, Peace [be] to you, fear not: Despite the corruption of Egypt, Joseph taught his family to fear God. your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto them.

²⁴ So the man led them into Iosephs house, & gaue them water to wash their feete, and gaue their asses prouender.

²⁵ And they made ready their present against Ioseph came at noone, (for they heard say, that they should eate bread there)

²⁶ When Ioseph came home, they brought the present into the house to him, which was in their handes, and bowed downe to the grounde before him.

²⁷ And he asked them of their prosperitie, and sayd, Is your father the olde man, of whome ye tolde me, in good health? is he yet aliue?

²⁸ Who answered, Thy seruant our father is in good health, he is yet aliue: and they bowed downe, and made obeysance.

²⁹ And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his For only these two were born of Rachel. mother's son, and said, [Is] this your younger brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious unto thee, my son.

³⁰ And Ioseph made haste (for his affection was inflamed towarde his brother, and sought where to weepe) and entred into his chamber, and wept there.

³¹ Afterward he washed his face, & came out, and refrained himselfe, and sayd, Set on meate.

³² And they To signify his dignity. set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that [is] an The nature of the superstitions is to condemn all others in respect to themselves. abomination unto the Egyptians.

³³ So they sate before him: the eldest according vnto his age, and the yongest according vnto his youth; the men marueiled among themselues.

³⁴ And he took [and sent] messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, Sometimes this word means «to be drunken», but here it means that they had enough, and drank of the best wine. and were merry with him.

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¹ Afterward he commanded his steward, saying, Fill the mens sackes with foode, as much as they can carry, and put euery mans money in his sackes mouth.

² And We may not use this example to justify any unlawful practices, seeing God has commanded us to walk in simplicity. put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

³ And in the morning the men were sent away, they, and their asses.

⁴ And when they went out of the citie not farre off, Ioseph sayd to his stewarde, Vp, followe after the men: and when thou doest ouertake them, say vnto them, Wherefore haue ye rewarded euill for good?

⁵ [Is] not this [it] in which my lord drinketh, and Because the people thought he could divine, he attributes to himself that knowledge: or else he pretends that he consults with soothsayers: which deceit is worthy to be reproved. whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.

⁶ And when he ouertooke them, he sayde those wordes vnto them.

⁷ And they answered him, Wherefore sayeth my lorde such wordes? God forbid that thy seruants should do such a thing.

⁸ Behold, the money which we found in our sackes mouthes, wee brought againe to thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steale out of thy lordes house siluer or golde?

⁹ With whomesoeuer of thy seruants it bee found, let him dye, and we also will be my lordes bondmen.

¹⁰ And he said, Now then let it be according vnto your wordes: he with whome it is found, shal be my seruant, and ye shalbe blamelesse.

¹¹ Then at once euery man tooke downe his sacke to the grounde, and euery one opened his sacke.

¹² And he searched, and began at the eldest and left at the yongest: and the cuppe was found in Beniamins sacke.

¹³ Then they To show how greatly the thing displeased them and how sorry they were for it. rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city.

¹⁴ So Iudah and his brethren came to Iosephs house (for he was yet there) and they fel before him on the ground.

¹⁵ Then Ioseph sayd vnto them, What acte is this, which ye haue done? know ye not that such a man as I, can deuine and prophecie?

¹⁶ And Judah said, What shall we say unto my lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? If we see no obvious cause for our affliction, let us look to the secret counsel of God, who punishes us justly for our sins. God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we [are] my lord's servants, both we, and [he] also with whom the cup is found.

¹⁷ But he answered, God forbid, that I should doe so, but the man, with whome the cuppe is founde, he shalbe my seruant, and go ye in peace vnto your father.

¹⁸ Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou [art] even Equal in authority or, next to the king. as Pharaoh.

¹⁹ My Lord asked his seruants, saying, Haue ye a father, or a brother?

²⁰ And we answered my Lorde, We haue a father that is olde, and a young childe, which he begate in his age: and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loueth him.

²¹ Now thou saidest vnto thy seruants, Bring him vnto me, that I may set mine eye vpo him.

²² And we answered my lord, The childe can not depart from his father: for if he leaue his father, his father would die.

²³ Then saydest thou vnto thy seruants, Except your yonger brother come downe with you, looke in my face no more.

²⁴ So when we came vnto thy seruant our father, and shewed him what my lord had sayd,

²⁵ And our father sayde vnto vs, Goe againe, bye vs a litle foode,

²⁶ Then we answered, We can not go downe: but if our yongest brother go with vs, then will we go downe: for we may not see the mans face, except our yongest brother be with vs.

²⁷ And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye know that my Rachel bore to Jacob, Joseph and Benjamin. wife bare me two [sons]:

²⁸ And the one went out from me, and I said, Of a suretie he is torne in pieces, and I sawe him not since.

²⁹ And if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him, You will cause me to die for sorrow. ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.

³⁰ Nowe therefore, when I come to thy seruant my father, & the childe be not with vs (seeing that his life dependeth on the childes life)

³¹ Then when hee shall see that the childe is not come, he will die: so shall thy seruants bring the graye head of thy seruant our father with sorowe to the graue.

³² Doubtlesse thy seruant became suertie for the childe to my father, and said, If I bring him not vnto thee againe, then I will beare the blame vnto my father for euer.

³³ Nowe therefore, I pray thee, let me thy seruant bide for the childe, as a seruant to my Lord, and let the childe go vp with his brethren.

³⁴ For Meaning, he would rather remain as their prisoner, than to return and see his father in sorrow. how shall I go up to my father, and the lad [be] not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall come on my father.

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¹ Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Not because he was ashamed of his kindred, but rather because he wanted to cover his brother's sin. Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.

² And hee wept & cried, so that the Egyptians heard: the house of Pharaoh heard also.

³ Then Ioseph sayde to his brethren, I am Ioseph: doeth my father yet liue? But his brethren coulde not answere him, for they were astonished at his presence.

⁴ Againe, Ioseph sayde to his brethren, Come neere, I pray you, to mee; they came neere; he sayde, I am Ioseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.

⁵ Now therefore be not This example teaches that we must by all means comfort those who are truly ashamed and sorry for their sins. grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.

⁶ For nowe two yeeres of famine haue bene through ye land, and fiue yeeres are behind, wherein neither shalbe earing nor haruest.

⁷ Wherefore God sent me before you to preserue your posteritie in this land, & to saue you aliue by a great deliuerance.

⁸ So now [it was] not you [that] sent me hither, but Though God detests sin, yet he turns man's wickedness into his glory. God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

⁹ Haste you & go vp to my father, & tel him, Thus saieth thy sonne Ioseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt: come downe to me, tary not.

¹⁰ And thou shalt dwel in ye land of Goshen, and shalt be neere me, thou and thy children, and thy childrens children, and thy sheepe, and thy beastes, and all that thou hast.

¹¹ Also I will nourish thee there (for yet remaine fiue yeeres of famine) lest thou perish through pouertie, thou and thy houshold, and all that thou hast.

¹² And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that [it is] That is, that I speak in your own language and have no interpreter. my mouth that speaketh unto you.

¹³ Therefore tel my father of al mine honour in Egypt, and of all that ye haue seene, and make haste, and bring my father hither.

¹⁴ Then hee fell on his brother Beniamins necke, & wept, and Beniamin wept on his necke.

¹⁵ Moreouer, he kissed all his brethren, and wept vpon them: and afterwarde his brethren talked with him.

¹⁶ And the tidinges came vnto Pharaohs house, so that they said, Iosephs brethre are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his seruants.

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said vnto Ioseph, Say to thy brethren, This doe ye, lade your beastes & depart, go to the land of Canaan,

¹⁸ And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the The most plentiful ground. good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the The main fruits and conveniences. fat of the land.

¹⁹ And I commaunde thee, Thus doe ye, take you charets out of the lande of Egypt for your children, and for your wiues, and bring your father and come.

²⁰ Also regarde not your stuffe: for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.

²¹ And the children of Israel did so: & Ioseph gaue them charets according to the commandement of Pharaoh: hee gaue them vitaile also for the iourney.

²² He gaue them all, none except, change of raiment: but vnto Beniamin he gaue three hundreth pieces of siluer, and fiue sutes of raiment.

²³ And vnto his father likewise hee sent ten hee asses laden with the best things of Egypt, and ten shee asses laden with wheate, and bread and meate for his father by the way.

²⁴ So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye Seeing he had remitted the fault done to him, he did not want them to accuse one another. fall not out by the way.

²⁵ Then they went vp from Egypt, and came vnto the land of Canaan vnto Iaakob their father,

²⁶ And told him, saying, Joseph [is] yet alive, and he [is] governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart As one between hope and fear. fainted, for he believed them not.

²⁷ And they told him al the words of Ioseph, which he had said vnto the: but when he saw the charets, which Ioseph had sent to cary him, then the spirit of Iaakob their father reuiued.

²⁸ And Israel sayde, I haue inough: Ioseph my sonne is yet aliue: I wil go and see him yer I die.

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¹ And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and By this he signified both that he worshipped the true God, and that he kept in his heart the possession of that land from which need drove him at that time. offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac.

² And God spake vnto Israel in a vision by night, saying, Iaakob, Iaakob. Who answered, I am here.

³ Then hee sayde, I am God, the God of thy father, feare not to goe downe into Egypt: for I will there make of thee a great nation.

⁴ I will Conducting you by my power. go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely In your posterity. bring thee up [again]: and Joseph shall Shall shut your eyes when you die: which belongs to him that was most dear or chief of the kindred. put his hand upon thine eyes.

⁵ Then Iaakob rose vp from Beer-sheba: and the sonnes of Israel caried Iaakob their father, & their children, & their wiues in the charets, which Pharaoh had sent to cary him.

⁶ And they tooke their cattell & their goods, which they had gotten in the lande of Canaan, and came into Egypt, both Iaakob and all his seede with him,

⁷ His sonnes and his sonnes sonnes with him, his daughters and his sonnes daughters, and al his seede brought he with him into Egypt.

⁸ And these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, euen Iaakob and his sonnes: Reuben, Iaakobs first borne.

⁹ And the sonnes of Reuben: Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.

¹⁰ And the sonnes of Simeon: Iemuel, & Iamin, and Ohad, and Iachin, and Zohar; & Shaul the sonne of a Canaanitish woman.

¹¹ Also the sonnes of Leui: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹² Also the sonnes of Iudah: Er, & Onan, and Shelah, and Pharez, and Zerah: (but Er and Onan died in ye land of Canaan) And the sonnes of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.

¹³ Also the sonnes of Issachar: Tola, and Phuuah, and Iob, and Shimron.

¹⁴ Also the sonnes of Zebulun: Sered, and Elon, and Iahleel.

¹⁵ These bee the sonnes of Leah, which shee bare vnto Iaakob in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the soules of his sonnes & his daughters were thirtie and three.

¹⁶ Also the sonnes of Gad: Ziphion, & Haggi, Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.

¹⁷ Also the sonnes of Asher: Iimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister; the sonnes of Beriah: Heber, and Malchiel.

¹⁸ These are the children of Zilpah, whome Laban gaue to Leah his daughter: and these shee bare vnto Iaakob, euen sixtene soules.

¹⁹ The sonnes of Rahel Iaakobs wife were Ioseph and Beniamin.

²⁰ And vnto Ioseph in the lande of Egypt were borne Manasseh, and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah prince of On bare vnto him.

²¹ Also the sonnes of Beniamin: Belah, & Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.

²² These are the sonnes of Rahel, which were borne vnto Iaakob, fourteene soules in all.

²³ Also the sonnes of Dan: Hushim.

²⁴ Also the sonnes of Naphtali: Iahzeel, & Guni, and Iezer, and Shillem.

²⁵ These are the sonnes of Bilhah, which Laban gaue vnto Rahel his daughter, and shee bare these to Iaakob, in all, seuen soules.

²⁶ Al the soules, that came with Iaakob into Egypt, which came out of his loynes (beside Iaakobs sonnes wiues) were in the whole, three score and sixe soules.

²⁷ Also the sonnes of Ioseph, which were borne him in Egypt, were two soules: so that al the soules of the house of Iaakob, which came into Egypt, are seuentie.

²⁸ The he sent Iudah before him vnto Ioseph, to direct his way vnto Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen.

²⁹ Then Ioseph made ready his charet and went vp to Goshen to meete Israel his father, and presented himselfe vnto him and fel on his necke, and wept vpon his necke a good while.

³⁰ And Israel sayde vnto Ioseph, Now let me die, since I haue seene thy face, and that thou art yet aliue.

³¹ Then Ioseph said to his brethren, & to his fathers house, I wil go vp and shew Pharaoh, and tell him, My brethren & my fathers house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come vnto me,

³² And the men [are] He was not ashamed of his father and kindred, though they were of base condition. shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.

³³ And if Pharaoh call you, and aske you, What is your trade?

³⁴ That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, [and] also our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd [is] an God permits the world to hate his own, so they will forsake the filth of the world, and cling to him. abomination unto the Egyptians.

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¹ Then came Ioseph and tolde Pharaoh, and sayde, My father, and my brethren, and their sheepe, and their cattell, and all that they haue, are come out of the land of Canaan, and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.

² And he took some of his brethren, [even] That the king might be assured that they had come, and to see what type of people they were. five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.

³ Then Pharaoh said vnto his brethren, What is your trade? And they answered Pharaoh, Thy seruants are shepheards, both we and our fathers.

⁴ They sayde moreouer vnto Pharaoh, For to soiourne in ye lande are we come: for thy seruants haue no pasture for their sheepe, so sore is ye famine in the lande of Canaan. Nowe therefore, we pray thee, let thy seruants dwel in the land of Goshen.

⁵ Then spake Pharaoh to Ioseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come vnto thee.

⁶ The Joseph's great modesty appears in that he would attempt nothing without the king's commandment. land of Egypt [is] before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest [any] men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

⁷ Ioseph also brought Iaakob his father, and set him before Pharaoh; Iaakob saluted Pharaoh.

⁸ Then Pharaoh sayde vnto Iaakob, Howe olde art thou?

⁹ And Iaakob sayd vnto Pharaoh, The whole time of my pilgrimage is an hundreth & thirty yeeres: fewe and euill haue the dayes of my life bene, and I haue not attayned vnto the yeeres of the life of my fathers, in the dayes of their pilgrimages.

¹⁰ And Iaakob tooke leaue of Pharaoh, & departed from the presence of Pharaoh.

¹¹ And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Which was a city in the country of Goshen, (Exo_1:11). Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

¹² And Joseph nourished his father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, Some read that he fed them as little babies, because they could not provide for themselves against that famine. according to [their] families.

¹³ Now there was no bread in all the land: for the famine was exceeding sore: so that the land of Egypt, and the land of Canaan were famished by reason of the famine.

¹⁴ And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and In which he both declares his faithfulness to the king, and his freedom from covetousness. Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.

¹⁵ So when money fayled in the lande of Egypt, and in the lande of Canaan, then all the Egyptians came vnto Ioseph, and sayde, Giue vs bread: for why should we dye before thee? for our money is spent.

¹⁶ Then saide Ioseph, Bring your cattell, and I will giue you for your cattell, if your money be spent.

¹⁷ So they brought their cattell vnto Ioseph, and Ioseph gaue them bread for the horses, & for the flockes of sheepe, and for the heards of cattel, and for the asses: so he fed them with bread for all their cattell that yeere.

¹⁸ But when the yeere was ended, they came vnto him the next yeere, and sayd vnto him, We will not hide from my lord, that since our money is spent, and my lord hath the heards of the cattel, there is nothing left in the sight of my lorde, but our bodies and our ground.

¹⁹ Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our For unless the ground is tilled and sown, it perishes and is as if it was dead. land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give [us] seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.

²⁰ So Ioseph bought all the lande of Egypt for Pharaoh: for the Egyptians solde euery man his ground because the famine was sore vpon the: so the land became Pharaohs.

²¹ And as for the people, he By this changing they signified that they had nothing of their own, but received everything from the king's generosity. removed them to cities from [one] end of the borders of Egypt even to the [other] end thereof.

²² Onely the lande of the Priestes bought he not: for the Priestes had an ordinarie of Pharaoh, and they did eate their ordinarie, which Pharaoh gaue them: wherefore they solde not their grounde.

²³ Then Ioseph sayd vnto the people, Behold, I haue bought you this daye, and your lande for Pharaoh: lo, here is seede for you: sowe therefore the grounde.

²⁴ And of the encrease ye shall giue the fifth part vnto Pharaoh, and foure partes shalbe yours for the seede of the fielde, and for your meate, and for them of your housholdes, and for your children to eate.

²⁵ Then they answered, Thou hast saued our liues: let vs finde grace in the sight of my Lorde, and we will be Pharaohs seruants.

²⁶ And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt unto this day, [that] Pharaoh should have the fifth [part]; Pharaoh, in providing for idolatrous priests, will be a condemnation to all those who neglect the true ministers of God's word. except the land of the priests only, [which] became not Pharaoh's.

²⁷ And Israel dwelt in the lande of Egypt, in the countrey of Goshen: and they had their possessions therein, and grewe and multiplied exceedingly.

²⁸ Moreouer, Iaakob liued in the lande of Egypt seuenteene yeeres, so that the whole age of Iaakob was an hundreth fourtie and seuen yeere.

²⁹ Now when the time drewe neere that Israel must dye, he called his sonne Ioseph, and sayde vnto him, If I haue nowe founde grace in thy sight, put thine hand nowe vnder my thigh, and deale mercifully & truely with me: burie me not, I pray thee, in Egypt.

³⁰ But I will By this he demonstrated that he died in the faith of his fathers, teaching his children to hope for the promised land. lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.

³¹ And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel He rejoiced that Joseph had promised him, and setting himself up on his pillows, praised God; (1Ch_29:10). bowed himself upon the bed's head.

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¹ And it came to pass after these things, that [one] told Joseph, Behold, thy father [is] sick: and he took with him his Joseph valued his children being received into Jacob's family, which was the Church of God, more than enjoying all the treasures of Egypt. two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

² Also one told Iaakob, and said, Behold, thy sonne Ioseph is come to thee, and Israel tooke his strength vnto him and sate vpon the bed.

³ Then Iaakob sayde vnto Ioseph, God almightie appeared vnto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me.

⁴ And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee [for] an Which is true in the carnal Israel until the coming of Christ, and in the spiritual forever. everlasting possession.

⁵ And now thy two sonnes, Manasseh & Ephraim, which are borne vnto thee in the lande of Egypt, before I came to thee into Egypt, shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are mine.

⁶ But the linage, which thou hast begotten after them, shalbe thine: they shall be called after the names of their brethren in their inheritance.

⁷ Nowe when I came from Padan, Rahel died vpon mine hande in the lande of Canaan, by the way when there was but halfe a dayes iourney of grounde to come to Ephrath: and I buryed her there in the way to Ephrath: the same is Beth-lehem.

⁸ Then Israel beheld Iosephs sonnes & sayd, Whose are these?

⁹ And Joseph said unto his father, They [are] my sons, whom The faithful acknowledge all benefits come from God's free mercy. God hath given me in this [place]. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.

¹⁰ (For the eyes of Israel were dimme for age, so that hee coulde not well see) Then he caused them to come to him, & he kissed them and embraced them.

¹¹ And Israel sayde vnto Ioseph, I had not thought to haue seene thy face: yet lo, God hath shewed me also thy seede.

¹² And Ioseph tooke them away from his knees, & did reuerence downe to the ground.

¹³ Then tooke Ioseph them both, Ephraim in his right hand towarde Israels left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israels right hand, so he brought them vnto him.

¹⁴ And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid [it] upon God's judgments are often contrary to man's and he prefers what man despises. Ephraim's head, who [was] the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh [was] the firstborn.

¹⁵ Also he blessed Ioseph and sayde, The God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Izhak did walke, the God, which hath fed me al my life long vnto this day, blesse thee.

¹⁶ The This angel must be understood to be Christ, as in (Gen_31:13, Gen_32:1). Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my Let them be taken as my children. name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

¹⁷ And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it Joseph fails by binding God's grace to the order of nature. displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.

¹⁸ And Ioseph sayde vnto his father, Not so, my father, for this is the eldest: put thy right hand vpon his head.

¹⁹ But his father refused, & sayd, I know well, my sonne, I know well: he shalbe also a people, and he shalbe great likewise: but his yonger brother shalbe greater then he, and his seede shall be full of nations.

²⁰ And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as In whom God's graces should manifestly appear. Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹ And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of Which they had by faith in the promise. your fathers.

²² Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which By my children whom God spared for my sake. I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

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¹ And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you [that] which shall befall you in the When God will bring you out of Egypt, and because he speaks of the Messiah, he calls it the last days. last days.

² Gather your selues together, and heare, ye sonnes of Iaakob, and hearken vnto Israel your father.

³ Reuben, thou [art] my firstborn, my Begotten in my youth. might, and the beginning of my strength, If you have not left your birthright by your offence. the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:

⁴ Thou wast light as water: thou shalt not be excellent, because thou wentest vp to thy fathers bed: then diddest thou defile my bed, thy dignitie is gone.

⁵ Simeon and Leui, brethren in euill, the instruments of crueltie are in their habitations.

⁶ O my soul, come not thou into their Or, tongue: meaning that he neither consented to them in word or thought. secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a The Shechemites (Gen_34:26). man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.

⁷ Cursed [be] their anger, for [it was] fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will For Levi had no part, and Simeon was under Judah, (Jos_19:1) till God gave them the place of the Amalekites, (1Ch_4:43). divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

⁸ Judah, thou [art he] whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand [shall be] in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall As was verified in David and Christ. bow down before thee.

⁹ Judah [is] a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; His enemies will so fear him. who shall rouse him up?

¹⁰ The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Which is Christ the Messiah, the giver of prosperity who will call the Gentiles to salvation. Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be].

¹¹ Binding his foal unto the A country most abundant with vines and pastures is promised to him. vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:

¹² His eyes shalbe red with wine, and his teeth white with milke.

¹³ Zebulun shall dwell by the sea side, and he shalbe an hauen for shippes: and his border shalbe vnto Zidon.

¹⁴ Issachar [is] His force will be great, but he will lack courage to resist his enemies. a strong ass couching down between two burdens:

¹⁵ And he shall see that rest is good, and that the land is pleasant, and he shall bow his shoulder to beare, and shalbe subiect vnto tribute.

¹⁶ Dan Shall have the honour of a tribe. shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷ Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder by the path, byting the horse heeles, so that his rider shall fall backward.

¹⁸ Seeing the miseries that his posterity would fall into, he bursts out in prayer to God to remedy it.I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.

¹⁹ Gad, an hoste of men shal ouercome him, but he shal ouercome at the last.

²⁰ Out of Asher his He will abound in corn and pleasant fruits. bread [shall be] fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

²¹ Naphtali [is] a hind let loose: he giveth Overcoming more by fair words than by force. goodly words.

²² Ioseph shalbe a fruitefull bough, euen a fruitful bough by the well side: the smal boughs shall runne vpon the wall.

²³ As his brethren when they were his enemies, Potiphar and others.The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot [at him], and hated him:

²⁴ But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob; (from thence [is] the shepherd, the That is God. stone of Israel:)

²⁵ Euen by the God of thy father, who shall helpe thee, and by the almightie, who shall blesse thee with heauenly blessinges from aboue, with blessings of the deepe, that lyeth beneath, with blessings of the brestes, and of the wombe.

²⁶ The blessings of thy father have In as much as he was closer to the accomplishment of the promise and it had been more often confirmed. prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was Either in dignity, or when he was sold from his brethren. separate from his brethren.

²⁷ Beniamin shall rauine as a wolfe: in the morning he shall deuoure the pray, and at night he shal deuide the spoyle.

²⁸ All these are the twelue tribes of Israel, and thus their father spake vnto them, and blessed them: euery one of them blessed hee with a seuerall blessing.

²⁹ And he charged them & sayd vnto them, I am ready to be gathered vnto my people: burie mee with my fathers in the caue, that is in the fielde of Ephron the Hittite,

³⁰ In the caue that is in the field of Machpelah besides Mamre in the land of Canaan: which caue Abraham bought with the fielde of Ephron the Hittite for a possession to burie in.

³¹ There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife: there they buryed Izhak and Rebekah his wife: and there I buried Leah.

³² The purchase of the fielde and the caue that is therein, was bought of the children of Heth.

³³ And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he By which is signified how quietly he died. gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.

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¹ Then Ioseph fell vpon his fathers face and wept vpon him, and kissed him.

² And Joseph commanded his servants the He means those who embalmed the dead and buried them. physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel.

³ And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him They were more excessive in lamenting than the faithful. threescore and ten days.

⁴ And when the dayes of his mourning were past, Ioseph spake to the house of Pharaoh, saying, If I haue nowe found fauour in your eyes, speake, I pray you, in the eares of Pharaoh, and say,

⁵ My father made me sweare, saying, Loe, I die, bury me in my graue, which I haue made me in the land of Canaan: now therefore let me go, I pray thee, & bury my father, & I wil come againe.

⁶ And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according Even the infidels would have oaths carried out. as he made thee swear.

⁷ So Ioseph went vp to bury his father, and with him went all the seruants of Pharaoh, both the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt.

⁸ Likewise all the house of Ioseph, and his brethren, and his fathers house: onely their children, and their sheepe, and their cattell left they in the land of Goshen.

⁹ And there went vp with him both charets and horsemen: and they were an exceeding great company.

¹⁰ And they came to Goren Atad, which is beyond Iorden, and there they made a great and exceeding sore lamentation: and he mourned for his father seuen dayes.

¹¹ And when the Canaanites the inhabitants of the lande sawe the mourning in Goren Atad, they sayde, This is a great mourning vnto the Egyptians: wherefore the name thereof was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond Iorden.

¹² So his sonnes did vnto him, according as he had commanded them:

¹³ For his sonnes caried him into the lande of Canaan, & buried him in the caue of the fielde of Machpelah, which caue Abraham bought with the fielde, to be a place to bury in, of Ephron the Hittite besides Mamre.

¹⁴ Then Ioseph returned into Egypt, he and his brethren, and al that went vp with him to bury his father, after that he had buried his father.

¹⁵ And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, An evil conscience is never fully at rest. Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.

¹⁶ Therefore they sent vnto Ioseph, saying, Thy father commanded before his death, saying,

¹⁷ So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the Meaning, that they who have one God should be joined in most sure love. God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.

¹⁸ Also his brethren came vnto him, and fell downe before his face, and sayde, Beholde, we be thy seruants.

¹⁹ And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for [am] I in the place of Who by the good success seems to remit it, and therefore it should not be revenged by me. God?

²⁰ When ye thought euill against mee, God disposed it to good, that he might bring to passe, as it is this day, and saue much people aliue.

²¹ Feare not nowe therefore, I will nourish you, and your children: and hee comforted them, and spake kindly vnto them.

²² And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father's house: and Joseph lived an Who, even though he ruled in Egypt about eighty years, yet was joined with the church of God in faith and religion. hundred and ten years.

²³ And Ioseph saw Ephraims children, euen vnto the third generation: also the sonnes of Machir the sonne of Manasseh were brought vp on Iosephs knees.

²⁴ And Ioseph sayd vnto his brethren, I am ready to dye, and God will surely visite you, and bring you out of this land, vnto ye land which hee sware vnto Abraha, vnto Izhak, and vnto Iaakob.

²⁵ And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, He speaks this by the spirit of prophecy, exhorting his brethren to have full trust in God's promise for their deliverance. God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.

²⁶ So Ioseph died, when he was an hundreth and ten yere olde: and they enbaumed him & put him in a chest in Egypt.