1

¹ The Creation In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

² The earth was formless and void, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water.

³ God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

⁴ God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.

⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

⁶ Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”

⁷ So God made the expanse and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse. And it was so.

⁸ God called the expanse Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

⁹ Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.

¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. Then God saw that it was good.

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees on the earth yielding fruit after their kind with seed in them.” And it was so.

¹² The earth produced vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind and trees yielding fruit with seed in them after their kind. And God saw that it was good.

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

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons, and days, and years.

¹⁵ Let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it was so.

¹⁶ God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.

¹⁷ Then God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,

¹⁸ to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. Then God saw that it was good.

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

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures and let the birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.”

²¹ So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²² Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”

²³ So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.

²⁵ So God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind, and the livestock according to their kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

²⁹ Then God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is on the face of all the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed. It shall be food for you.

³⁰ To every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth which has the breath of life in it, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

³¹ God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

2

¹ So the heavens and the earth, and all their hosts, were finished.

² On the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

³ Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He had rested from all His work which He had created and made.

⁴ Adam and Eve This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

⁵ no shrub of the field was yet on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

⁶ But a mist arose from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.

⁷ Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

⁸ The Lord God planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, along with the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four rivers.

¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon; it encompasses the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

¹² The gold of that land is good; bdellium and the onyx stone are there.

¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon; it encompasses the whole land of Cush.

¹⁴ The name of the third river is Tigris; it goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and to keep it.

¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat,

¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

¹⁹ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.

²⁰ The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.

²¹ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept. Then He took one of his ribs and closed up the place with flesh.

²² Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

²³ Then Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she will be called Woman, for she was taken out of Man.”

²⁴ Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

²⁵ They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

3

¹ The Fall Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”

² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the garden;

³ but from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You will not eat of it, nor will you touch it, or else you will die.’ ”

⁴ Then the serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!

⁵ For God knows that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasing to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

⁸ Then they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

⁹ The Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He said, “I heard Your voice in the garden and was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.”

¹¹ And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

¹² The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What have you done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ The Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed above all livestock, and above every beast of the field; you will go on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

¹⁵ I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”

¹⁶ To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, and in pain you will bring forth children; your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

¹⁷ And to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ Cursed is the ground on account of you; in hard labor you will eat of it all the days of your life.

¹⁸ Thorns and thistles it will bring forth for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

¹⁹ By the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, because out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return.”

²⁰ The man called his wife’s name Eve because she was the mother of all the living.

²¹ The Lord God made garments of skins for both Adam and his wife and clothed them.

²² The Lord God said, “The man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. And now, he might reach out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—

²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.

²⁴ He drove the man out, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword which turned in every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.

4

¹ Cain and Abel Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived, gave birth to Cain and said, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.”

² Then she gave birth again to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

³ In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground.

⁴ Abel also brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had respect for Abel and for his offering,

⁵ but for Cain and for his offering, He did not have respect. And Cain was very angry and his countenance fell.

⁶ The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen?

⁷ If you do well, shall you not be accepted? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must rule over it.”

⁸ Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

⁹ The Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ And then He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground.

¹¹ Now you are cursed from the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

¹² From now on when you till the ground, it will not yield for you its best. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

¹³ Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear.

¹⁴ You have driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from your face will I be hidden; and I will be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵ So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” Then the Lord put a mark upon Cain, so that no one finding him would kill him.

¹⁶ Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷ Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.

¹⁸ To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

¹⁹ Lamech took two wives. The name of one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.

²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute.

²² Zillah gave birth to Tubal-Cain, a forger of every tool of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

²³ Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice, you wives of Lamech, and listen to my speech. For I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man who hurt me.

²⁴ If Cain will be avenged sevenfold, then truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

²⁵ Adam had relations with his wife again, and she had another son and called his name Seth, for she said, “God has granted me another offspring instead of Abel because Cain killed him.”

²⁶ To Seth also was born a son, and he called his name Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the Lord.

5

¹ Adam’s Descendants This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.

² He created them male and female. He blessed them and called them Mankind in the day when they were created.

³ Adam lived a hundred and thirty years and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his own image, and called his name Seth.

⁴ The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters.

⁵ So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

⁶ Seth lived one hundred and five years and became the father of Enosh.

⁷ Seth lived after the birth of Enosh eight hundred and seven years and had other sons and daughters.

⁸ So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.

⁹ Enosh lived ninety years and became the father of Kenan.

¹⁰ Enosh lived after the birth of Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years and had other sons and daughters.

¹¹ So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died.

¹² Kenan lived seventy years and became the father of Mahalalel.

¹³ Kenan lived after the birth of Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴ So all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

¹⁵ Mahalalel lived sixty-five years and became the father of Jared.

¹⁶ Mahalalel lived after the birth of Jared eight hundred and thirty years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁷ So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.

¹⁸ Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years and became the father of Enoch.

¹⁹ Jared lived after the birth of Enoch eight hundred years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰ So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.

²¹ Enoch lived sixty-five years and became the father of Methuselah.

²² Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah for three hundred years and had other sons and daughters.

²³ So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.

²⁴ Enoch walked with God, and then he was no more because God took him.

²⁵ Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years and became the father of Lamech.

²⁶ Methuselah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁷ So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.

²⁸ Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years and had a son.

²⁹ He named his son Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.”

³⁰ Lamech lived after the birth of Noah five hundred and ninety-five years and had other sons and daughters.

³¹ So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.

³² Noah was five hundred years old and became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

6

¹ Man’s Wickedness When men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them,

² the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair and took as wives any they chose.

³ The Lord said, “My Spirit will not always strive with man, for he is flesh; yet his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

⁵ The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was continually only evil.

⁶ The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart.

⁷ So the Lord said, “I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—both man and beast, and the creeping things, and the birds of the sky, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

⁸ But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

⁹ Noah and the Flood These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and blameless among his contemporaries. Noah walked with God.

¹⁰ Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

¹¹ The earth was corrupt before God and filled with violence.

¹² God looked on the earth and saw it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

¹³ So God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh is come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I will destroy them with the earth.

¹⁴ Make an ark of cypress wood for yourself. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

¹⁵ And this is how you must make it: The length of the ark will be three hundred cubits, the width of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

¹⁶ Make an opening one cubit below the top of the ark all around; and you must set the door of the ark on the side. Make it with a lower, a second, and a third story.

¹⁷ I will bring a flood of waters on the earth to destroy all flesh, wherever there is the breath of life under heaven, and everything that is on the earth will die.

¹⁸ But I will establish My covenant with you; you must go into the ark—you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

¹⁹ Bring every living thing of all flesh, two of every kind, into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.

²⁰ Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal, and of every kind of creeping thing of the earth will come to you to be kept alive.

²¹ Also, take with you of every kind of food that is eaten and gather it to yourself, and it will be for food for you and for them.”

²² Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

7

¹ The Lord said to Noah, “You and your entire household go into the ark, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me among this generation.

² Take with you seven each of every clean animal, the male and its female, and two each of every unclean animal, the male and its female,

³ and seven each of birds of the air, the male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

⁴ In seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will destroy from the face of the earth.”

⁵ And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him.

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came upon the earth.

⁷ And Noah went with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives into the ark because of the floodwaters.

⁸ Everything that creeps on the land from clean and unclean animals and birds

⁹ came in two by two, male and female, to Noah into the ark, as God had commanded Noah.

¹⁰ After seven days, the waters of the flood were on the earth.

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the same day, all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.

¹² The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.

¹³ On the very same day Noah and the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark.

¹⁴ They and every wild animal according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every bird of every sort,

¹⁵ went with Noah into the ark, two by two of all flesh in which was the breath of life.

¹⁶ So they went in, male and female of all flesh, just as God had commanded him; then the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷ The flood was on the earth forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose up above the earth.

¹⁸ The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.

¹⁹ The water prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered.

²⁰ The waters prevailed upward and the mountains were covered fifteen cubits deep.

²¹ All flesh that moved on the earth died: birds and livestock and beasts, and every creeping thing that crept on the earth, and every man.

²² All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, all that was on the dry land, died.

²³ So He blotted out every living thing which was on the face of the ground, both man and animals and the creeping things and the birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

²⁴ The waters prevailed on the earth for one hundred and fifty days.

8

¹ The Flood Recedes God remembered Noah and every living thing and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. So God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the water receded.

² Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, and the rain from the heavens was restrained.

³ The water receded steadily from the earth, and after the end of one hundred and fifty days the waters decreased.

⁴ The ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.

⁵ The water continually decreased until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

⁶ Then at the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made,

⁷ and he sent forth a raven, which went to and fro until the waters were dried up on the earth.

⁸ Then he sent out a dove to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground.

⁹ But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the waters were on the surface of all the earth. Then he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself.

¹⁰ He waited yet another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark.

¹¹ The dove came to him in the evening, and in her mouth there was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.

¹² He waited another seven days and sent out the dove again, but it did not return to him again.

¹³ So in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and saw the surface of the ground was dry.

¹⁴ In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

¹⁵ Then God spoke to Noah, saying,

¹⁶ “Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.

¹⁷ Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may breed abundantly on the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”

¹⁸ So Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives went out.

¹⁹ Every beast, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark.

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

²¹ The Lord smelled a soothing aroma; and the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth, nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

²² While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”

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¹ The Noahic Covenant Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

² Every beast of the earth and every bird of the sky and all that moves on the earth and all the fish of the sea will fear you and be terrified of you. They are given into your hand.

³ Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. I give you everything, just as I gave you the green plant.

⁴ “Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

⁵ But for your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning; from every animal will I require it; of man, too, will I require a reckoning for human life, of every man for that of his fellow man.

⁶ Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in His own image.

⁷ And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly in the earth and multiply in it.”

⁸ Again God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,

⁹ “As for Me, I establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you;

¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, every beast of the earth.

¹¹ I establish My covenant with you. Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood. Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

¹² Then God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations.

¹³ I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.

¹⁴ When I bring a cloud over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the cloud;

¹⁵ then I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

¹⁶ The rainbow will appear in the cloud, and I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

¹⁷ So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

¹⁸ The Sons of Noah The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.

¹⁹ These were the three sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated.

²⁰ Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.

²¹ Then he drank some of the wine and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent.

²² And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.

²³ So Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.

²⁴ When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done to him,

²⁵ he said, “Canaan be cursed! He will be a servant of servants to his brothers.”

²⁶ He also said, “Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.

²⁷ May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant.”

²⁸ Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

²⁹ All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and then he died.

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¹ The Table of Nations Now these are the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah. And sons were born to them after the flood.

² The Japhethites The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek, and Tiras.

³ The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

⁴ The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites.

⁵ From these the coastlands of the nations were divided into their lands, everyone according to his tongue, according to their families, by their nations.

⁶ The Hamites The sons of Ham were Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.

⁷ The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteka; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

⁸ Cush was the father of Nimrod. He became a mighty one on the earth.

⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore it is said, “Even like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.”

¹⁰ The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Uruk, Akkad, and Kalneh in the land of Shinar.

¹¹ From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, the city Rehoboth Ir, and Calah,

¹² and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).

¹³ Egypt was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites,

¹⁴ Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom came the Philistines), and Caphtorites.

¹⁵ Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn and Heth,

¹⁶ and the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites,

¹⁷ Hivites, Arkites, Sinites,

¹⁸ Arvadites, Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Later the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.

¹⁹ The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon toward Gerar to Gaza, and then to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.

²⁰ These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.

²¹ The Semites To Shem, who was the father of all the children of Eber, whose older brother was Japheth, were sons born also.

²² The sons of Shem were Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

²³ The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshek.

²⁴ Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber.

²⁵ To Eber were born two sons. The name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; his brother’s name was Joktan.

²⁶ Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,

²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,

²⁸ Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

²⁹ Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.

³⁰ Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to Sephar, the hill country of the east.

³¹ These are the sons of Shem, by their families and their language, in their lands and their nations.

³² These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations. From these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

11

¹ The Tower of Babel Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.

² As the people journeyed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

³ They said to each other, “Let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone and tar for mortar.

⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top will reach to heaven, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

⁵ But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men built.

⁶ The Lord said, “The people are one and they have one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do; now nothing that they propose to do will be impossible for them.

⁷ Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

⁸ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

⁹ Therefore the name of it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. From there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

¹⁰ Shem’s Descendants These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and two years after the flood he became the father of Arphaxad.

¹¹ Shem lived after the birth of Arphaxad five hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹² Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and became the father of Shelah.

¹³ Arphaxad lived after the birth of Shelah four hundred and three years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴ Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber.

¹⁵ Shelah lived after the birth of Eber four hundred and three years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶ Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg.

¹⁷ Eber lived after the birth of Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸ Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu.

¹⁹ Peleg lived after the birth of Reu two hundred and nine years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰ Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug.

²¹ Reu lived after the birth of Serug two hundred and seven years, and had other sons and daughters.

²² Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor.

²³ Serug lived after the birth of Nahor two hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁴ Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah.

²⁵ Nahor lived after the birth of Terah one hundred and nineteen years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁶ Now Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷ Terah’s Descendants These are the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran became the father of Lot.

²⁸ Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

²⁹ Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milkah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milkah and the father of Iskah.

³⁰ But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹ Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Harran, they settled there.

³² The days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Harran.

12

¹ The Call of Abram Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your family, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

² I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

³ I will bless them who bless you and curse him who curses you, and in you all families of the earth will be blessed.”

⁴ So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Harran.

⁵ Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had accumulated, and the people that they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. They came to the land of Canaan.

⁶ Then Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. The Canaanites were in the land at that time.

⁷ The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

⁸ From there he continued on to a mountain to the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

⁹ Then Abram continued his journey toward the Negev.

¹⁰ Abram in Egypt Now there was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live there, for the famine was severe in the land.

¹¹ When he was getting near to Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know you are a beautiful woman.

¹² Therefore, when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will then kill me, but they will let you live.

¹³ Say you are my sister so that I may be treated well for your sake. Then my life will be spared because of you.”

¹⁴ So when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful.

¹⁵ The princes of Pharaoh saw her and commended her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh’s house.

¹⁶ He treated Abram well for her sake and he had sheep and livestock, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Abram’s wife, Sarai.

¹⁸ So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, “What have you done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?

¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now here is your wife; take her and leave.”

²⁰ Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

13

¹ Abram and Lot So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him.

² Abram was very wealthy in livestock, in silver and in gold.

³ He continued on his journey from the Negev and came to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,

⁴ to the place where he first made an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord.

⁵ Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

⁶ But the land was not able to support them both dwelling together because their possessions were so great.

⁷ And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites dwelled in the land at that time.

⁸ So Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife, I ask you, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives.

⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you will go to the left, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right, then I will go to the left.”

¹⁰ Lot lifted up his eyes, and looked at all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

¹¹ Then Lot chose for himself the entire valley of the Jordan and journeyed east, and the two of them separated from each other.

¹² Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the valley and pitched his tent as far as Sodom.

¹³ Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against the Lord.

¹⁴ After Lot had departed from him, the Lord said to Abram, “Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward.

¹⁵ All the land that you see I will give to you and to your descendants forever.

¹⁶ I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants could also be numbered.

¹⁷ Arise, and walk throughout the land across its length and its width, for I will give it to you.”

¹⁸ So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar to the Lord there.

14

¹ Abram Rescues Lot In the days that Amraphel was king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goyim,

² they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

³ All these were joined together in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea).

⁴ For twelve years they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

⁵ In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, and the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

⁶ and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness.

⁷ Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and conquered all the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who lived in Hazezon Tamar.

⁸ Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out, and they joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim

⁹ against Kedorlaomer, the king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.

¹⁰ Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell in them, and the rest fled to the hill country.

¹¹ Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and departed.

¹² They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who lived in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.

¹³ Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living near the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshkol and Aner, and these were allies with Abram.

¹⁴ When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants born in his own house, and pursued them as far as Dan.

¹⁵ During the night he divided his men to attack them and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.

¹⁶ He brought back all the possessions, along with his relative Lot and his possessions, and also the women and the people.

¹⁷ Melchizedek Blesses Abram After his return from the defeat of Kedorlaomer and the kings who had joined with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).

¹⁸ Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most High.

¹⁹ And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth;

²⁰ and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and take the goods for yourself.”

²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth,

²³ that I will take nothing that is yours, not a thread or a sandal strap; lest you say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’

²⁴ I will accept only that which my men have eaten and the portion that belongs to the men who went with me, Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion.”

15

¹ The Abrahamic Covenant After this the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

² But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”

³ Abram said, “Since You have not given me any children, my heir is a servant born in my house.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but a son that is from your own body will be your heir.”

⁵ He brought him outside and said, “Look up toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So will your descendants be.”

⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.

⁷ He also said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess it.”

⁸ But Abram said, “Lord God, how may I know that I will possess it?”

⁹ So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”

¹⁰ Then Abram brought all of these to Him and cut them in two and laid each piece opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half.

¹¹ When the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹² As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and terror and a great darkness fell on him.

¹³ Then He said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will live as strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years.

¹⁴ But I will judge the nation that they serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.

¹⁵ As for you, you will go to your fathers in peace and you will be buried at a good old age.

¹⁶ In the fourth generation, your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ When the sun went down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot with a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

¹⁸ On that same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great Euphrates River—

¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

²⁰ the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaites,

²¹ the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

16

¹ The Birth of Ishmael Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children, and she had a maidservant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

² So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Please go in to my maid; it may be that I will obtain children through her.” Abram listened to Sarai.

³ So after Abram had been living for ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, his wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

⁴ He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, she began to despise her mistress.

⁵ Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my maid into your arms; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. May the Lord judge between you and me.”

⁶ But Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed, your maid is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her presence.

⁷ The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness. It was the spring on the way to Shur.

⁸ And he said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”

⁹ Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority.”

¹⁰ The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly so that they will be too many to count.”

¹¹ Then the angel of the Lord said to her, “You are pregnant and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your affliction.

¹² He will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand will be against him. And he will dwell in the presence of all his brothers.”

¹³ Then she called the name of the Lord that spoke to her, “You are the God who sees,” for she said, “Have I now looked on Him who sees me?”

¹⁴ Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. It is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵ So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the son she bore Ishmael.

¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

17

¹ The Covenant of Circumcision When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am Almighty God. Walk before Me and be blameless.

² And I will make My covenant between you and Me and will exceedingly multiply you.”

³ Abram fell on his face and God said to him,

⁴ “As for Me, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.

⁵ No longer will your name be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

⁷ I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.

⁸ All the land of Canaan, where you now live as strangers, I will give to you and to your descendants for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

⁹ Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

¹⁰ This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you; every male among you shall be circumcised.

¹¹ You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

¹² Every male throughout every generation that is eight days old shall be circumcised, whether born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner who is not your descendant.

¹³ He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised. My covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant.

¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised shall be cut off from his people. He has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you will not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah.

¹⁶ I will bless her and also give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man that is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

¹⁸ Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

¹⁹ Then God said, “No, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call his name Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him.

²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

²¹ But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”

²² Then He stopped talking with Abraham, and God went up from him.

²³ Then 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 household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day as God had said to him.

²⁴ Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

²⁵ His son, Ishmael, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

²⁶ Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised on the same day.

²⁷ All the men born in Abraham’s household or bought from foreigners were circumcised with him.

18

¹ Isaac’s Birth Foretold The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great oak trees of Mamre while he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.

² Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and saw three men standing across from him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself toward the ground.

³ He said, “My Lord, if I have found favor in Your sight, do not pass by Your servant.

⁴ Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

⁵ I will bring a piece of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. After that you may pass on, now that you have come to your servant.” And they said, “So do, as you have said.”

⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make cakes.”

⁷ Then Abraham ran to the herd and took a choice and tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.

⁸ He then brought butter and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹ They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.”

¹⁰ One of them said, “I will certainly return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old and very advanced in age, and Sarah was well past childbearing.

¹² Therefore Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am so old and my lord is old also, shall I have pleasure?”

¹³ Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I surely bear a child when I am old?’

¹⁴ Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But He said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

¹⁶ Sodom and Gomorrah Then the men rose up and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to see them on their way.

¹⁷ Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am doing,

¹⁸ since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him?

¹⁹ I chose him, and he will instruct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He promised him.”

²⁰ Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave,

²¹ I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has come to Me. If not, I will know.”

²² The men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.

²³ Then Abraham drew near and said, “Shall You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous in the city? Shall You also destroy, and not spare the place, for the fifty righteous who are in it?

²⁵ Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be treated like the wicked; far be it from You. Should not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

²⁶ So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the entire place for their sakes.”

²⁷ Then Abraham answered and said, “I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord.

²⁸ Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous. Will You destroy all the city for lack of five?” And He said, “If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.”

²⁹ And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there will be forty found there?” So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”

³⁰ Then he said to Him, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose there will be thirty found there?” Again He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹ He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there?” He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”

³² Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak only once more. Suppose ten will be found there?” Then He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”

³³ So the Lord went His way as soon as He had stopped speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

19

¹ Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them he rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.

² Then he said, “Here, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet; and then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No, we will stay in the open square all night.”

³ But he strongly insisted, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴ Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house.

⁵ They then called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may have relations with them.”

⁶ So Lot went out through the door to them and shut the door behind him.

⁷ Then he said, “Please, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.

⁸ Look, I have two daughters who have not been with a man. Please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

⁹ But they replied, “Stand back!” Also, they said, “This man came here as an alien, and he keeps acting like a judge. We will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against Lot, and came close to breaking down the door.

¹⁰ But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them and shut the door.

¹¹ Then they struck the men that were at the door of the house, both small and great, with blindness so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

¹² Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, take them out of this place!

¹³ For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has grown great before the presence of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

¹⁵ When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Otherwise you will be consumed in the punishment of the city.”

¹⁶ And while he lingered, the men took hold of his and his wife’s hands, along with the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and brought him out and set him outside the city.

¹⁷ When they had brought them out, one of them said to them, “Escape for your lives! Do not look behind you or stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be destroyed.”

¹⁸ Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords!

¹⁹ Your servant has found grace in your eyes, and you have shown your mercy, which you have shown to me by saving my life. However, I cannot escape to the mountain. Otherwise some evil will overtake me, and I will die.

²⁰ Look, this city is close enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Please, let me escape there (is it not a little one?), and my life will be saved.”

²¹ He said to him, “I have granted your request in this matter also. I will not overthrow this city of which you have spoken.

²² Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

²³ The sun had risen over the land when Lot entered Zoar.

²⁴ Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was from the Lord out of heaven.

²⁵ So He overthrew those cities, all the valley, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

²⁶ But his wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷ Now Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he stood before the Lord.

²⁸ Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹ So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

³⁰ Lot and His Daughters Then Lot left Zoar, and lived in the mountains, along with his two daughters who were with him, for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave.

³¹ And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to have relations with us after the manner of all the earth.

³² Let us make our father drink wine and let us lie with him, so that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”

³³ So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and had relations with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁴ On the next day the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed, last night I had relations with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also, so that you may go in and have relations with him, so that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”

³⁵ So they made their father drink wine that night also. Then the younger arose and lay down with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁶ Therefore both the daughters of Lot were pregnant by their father.

³⁷ The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.

³⁸ The younger also gave birth to a son and called his name Ben-Ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day.

20

¹ Abraham and Abimelek Abraham journeyed from there toward the Negev, settled between Kadesh and Shur, and then he sojourned in Gerar.

² Then Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So Abimelek, king of Gerar, sent for her and took Sarah.

³ But God came to Abimelek in a dream by night and said to him, “You are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”

⁴ Abimelek had not gone near her, and he said, “Lord, will You slay a righteous nation?

⁵ Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and did not even she herself say, ‘He is my brother’? In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

⁶ And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also kept you from sinning against Me. Therefore, I did not let you touch her.

⁷ Therefore return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet and he will pray for you. Moreover, you will live. However, if you do not return her, know that you will surely die, you and all who are yours.”

⁸ So Abimelek rose early in the morning, and called all his servants and told them all these things, and the men were very afraid.

⁹ Then Abimelek called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I offended you that you would bring on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done things to me that should not have been done.”

¹⁰ Then Abimelek said to Abraham, “What were you thinking of, that you did this thing?”

¹¹ Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will slay me because of my wife.

¹² Still, indeed, she is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. She became my wife.

¹³ When God caused me to travel from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you must show me: Every place where we go, say concerning me, He is my brother.’ ”

¹⁴ Then Abimelek took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him.

¹⁵ Abimelek said, “My land is before you; settle wherever it pleases you.”

¹⁶ To Sarah he said, “I have given your brother a thousand shekels of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.”

¹⁷ So Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children.

¹⁸ For the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelek because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

21

¹ The Birth of Isaac The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken.

² For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time that God had spoken to him.

³ Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.

⁴ Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.

⁵ Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

⁶ And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. All who hear will laugh with me.”

⁷ Also she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

⁸ Hagar and Ishmael Depart So the child grew and was weaned. Then Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.

⁹ Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.

¹⁰ Therefore she said to Abraham, “Throw out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son, Isaac.”

¹¹ This matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.

¹² But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset concerning the boy and your slave wife. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to what she says, for in Isaac your descendants will be called.

¹³ Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the slave woman, because he is your offspring.”

¹⁴ So Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and sent her away with the child. So she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵ When the water in the skin was gone, she placed the child under one of the shrubs.

¹⁶ Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot, for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the child.” She sat across from him, and lifted up her voice and wept.

¹⁷ And God heard the boy’s voice. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.

¹⁸ Arise, pick up the boy and hold him in your hands, for I will make him a great nation.”

¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰ God was with the boy; and he grew and lived in the wilderness and became an archer.

²¹ He lived in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother found a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

²² The Treaty With Abimelek Now it came to pass at that time that Abimelek and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do.

²³ Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal deceitfully with me, or with my children, or with my descendants. Instead, according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you will show to me and to the land where you have lived.”

²⁴ Abraham said, “I will swear.”

²⁵ Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had violently seized.

²⁶ And Abimelek said, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.”

²⁷ So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelek, and the two of them made a covenant.

²⁸ Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

²⁹ And Abimelek said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set by themselves?”

³⁰ And he said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that they may be a witness that I have dug this well.”

³¹ Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.

³² Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelek rose with Phicol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.

³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.

³⁴ Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.

22

¹ The Sacrifice of Isaac After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

² Then He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

³ So Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place that God had told him.

⁴ Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from a distance.

⁵ Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there and worship and then return to you.”

⁶ So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

⁷ But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

⁹ Then they came to the place that God had told him. So Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on the wood.

¹⁰ Then Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him out of heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

¹² Then He said, “Do not lay your hands on the boy or do anything to him, because now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your only son from Me.”

¹³ Then Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up as a burnt offering in the place of his son.

¹⁴ Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”

¹⁵ Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham out of heaven a second time,

¹⁶ and said, “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,

¹⁷ I will indeed bless you and I will indeed multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens and as the sand that is on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gate of their enemies.

¹⁸ Through your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

¹⁹ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. Then Abraham lived at Beersheba.

²⁰ Sons of Nahor After these things Abraham was told, “Milkah has also borne children to your brother Nahor:

²¹ Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,

²² Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.”

²³ Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah gave birth to these eight to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maakah.

23

¹ The Death of Sarah Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years. These were the years of the life of Sarah.

² Then Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

³ Then Abraham stood up from before his dead and spoke to the Hittites, saying,

⁴ “I am a stranger and a foreigner among you. Give me property for a burying place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

⁵ So the Hittites answered Abraham,

⁶ “Hear us, my lord. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place that you may bury your dead.”

⁷ Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the Hittites.

⁸ He spoke with them, saying, “If it be your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat Ephron the son of Zohar for me,

⁹ that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns, at the end of his field. Let him give it to me in your presence for the full price for a burial site.”

¹⁰ Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of all the Hittites, all who went in at the gate of his city, saying,

¹¹ “No, my lord. Hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. Bury your dead.”

¹² Then Abraham bowed before the people of the land.

¹³ Then he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “Indeed, if you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there.”

¹⁴ Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,

¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver. What is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”

¹⁶ Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron four hundred shekels of silver, the price that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, according to the standard commercial measure.

¹⁷ So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field that were within all the surrounding borders were deeded

¹⁸ to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city.

¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

²⁰ So the field and the cave that was in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as property for a burial place.

24

¹ Isaac and Rebekah Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

² So Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who was in charge over all that he had, “Please, place your hand under my thigh,

³ and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live.

⁴ But you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵ Then the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”

⁶ Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there.

⁷ The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s family and from the land of my relatives, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land,’ He shall send His angel before you and you shall take a wife for my son from there.

⁸ If the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from my oath. Only do not take my son back there.”

⁹ So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all the goods of his master were in his hand. And he arose and went to the city of Nahor in Aram Naharaim.

¹¹ He made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water in the evening when the women came out to draw water.

¹² Then he said, “O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please let me have success this day and show kindness to my master Abraham.

¹³ See, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.

¹⁴ Let it be that the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please lower your pitcher, that I may drink,’ and she shall say, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels water also’—let her be the one that You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. Then I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milkah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with a pitcher on her shoulder.

¹⁶ The young woman was very beautiful to look at, a virgin, and no man had ever been with her. She went down to the well and filled her pitcher and came up.

¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”

¹⁸ So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let down her pitcher to her hand and gave him a drink.

¹⁹ When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.”

²⁰ Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough and ran to the well to draw water and drew for all his camels.

²¹ The man, gazing at her, remained silent, trying to discern whether the Lord had made his journey a success or not.

²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold nose ring of half a shekel weight and two bracelets for her wrists of ten shekels weight in gold,

²³ and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?”

²⁴ She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milkah, whom she bore to Nahor.”

²⁵ Again she said to him, “We have both straw and provision enough, and room in which to lodge.”

²⁶ Then the man bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord.

²⁷ And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s relatives.”

²⁸ So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household of these things.

²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man at the well.

³⁰ When he saw the nose ring and bracelets on his sister’s hands and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man who stood by the camels at the well.

³¹ And he said, “Come in, blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

³² So the man came to the house. Then he unloaded his camels and gave straw and provision to the camels and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

³³ He then set food before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told about my errand.” And he said, “Speak on.”

³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.

³⁵ The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy. He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

³⁶ Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and he has given to him all that he has.

³⁷ My master made me swear, saying, ‘You must not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live.

³⁸ But you shall go to my father’s house, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.’

³⁹ “So I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’

⁴⁰ “Then he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house.

⁴¹ You will be free from my oath, when you come to my family, if they will not give her to you; then you will be released from my oath.’

⁴² “So today I came to the well and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if You will now give me success in my task;

⁴³ I am standing by the well of water, and let it be that when the virgin comes forth to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,”

⁴⁴ and she says to me, “Drink, and I will also draw for your camels,” let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵ “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. Then I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’

⁴⁶ “She then quickly let down her pitcher from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also.

⁴⁷ “Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ “And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milkah bore for him.’ “So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.

⁴⁸ And I bowed down my head and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son.

⁴⁹ And now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “This thing comes from the Lord; we cannot speak to you bad or good.

⁵¹ Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”

⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth.

⁵³ Then the servant brought out jewels of silver and gold, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.

⁵⁴ Then they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed all night. The next morning they arose, and he said, “Send me away to my master.”

⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.”

⁵⁶ So he said to them, “Do not delay me, seeing the Lord has given me success. Let me go that I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷ They said, “We will call the girl and ask her.”

⁵⁸ Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.”

⁵⁹ So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men.

⁶⁰ They blessed Rebekah and said to her, “May you, our sister, become the mother of thousands of ten thousands; and may your descendants possess the gate of those who hate them.”

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her maids arose and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and went his way.

⁶² Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he lived in the Negev.

⁶³ Isaac went out in the evening to meditate in the field; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and surely the camels were coming.

⁶⁴ And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from her camel

⁶⁵ and said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” Therefore she took a veil and covered herself.

⁶⁶ Then the servant told Isaac all the things he had done.

⁶⁷ So Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

25

¹ The Death of Abraham Then Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.

² And she bore to him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

³ Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites, and the Leummites.

⁴ The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

⁵ Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac.

⁶ But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living, he sent them away from his son Isaac eastward to the east country.

⁷ These are the years of Abraham’s life that he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years.

⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.

⁹ His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre,

¹⁰ the field that Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.

¹¹ After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac lived at Beer Lahai Roi.

¹² Sons of Ishmael These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.

¹³ These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, and then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

¹⁶ These were the sons of Ishmael, and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, twelve princes according to their peoples.

¹⁷ These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died; and he was gathered to his people.

¹⁸ They lived from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He died in the presence of all his relatives.

¹⁹ The Births of Jacob and Esau These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham was the father of Isaac.

²⁰ Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as his wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.

²¹ Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

²² But the children struggled together within her, and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

²³ Then the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from your body; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

²⁴ Now when the time of her delivery came, there were twins in her womb.

²⁵ The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment, and they called his name Esau.

²⁶ After that his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel, so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

²⁷ So the boys grew. Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a calm man, living in tents.

²⁸ Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹ Esau Sells His Birthright Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field and he was famished.

³⁰ So Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me some of that red stew, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom.

³¹ Then Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.”

³² Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; of what use is the birthright to me?”

³³ Then Jacob said, “Swear to me this day.” So he swore to him, and he sold his birthright to Jacob.

³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew. Then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

26

¹ Isaac and Abimelek There was a famine in the land, in addition to the first famine that was during the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar.

² The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land of which I will tell you.

³ Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you; for I will give to you and all your descendants all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.

⁴ I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of the heavens and will give your descendants all these lands. By your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed,

⁵ because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

⁶ So Isaac lived in Gerar.

⁷ The men of the place asked him about his wife. And he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” thinking, “The men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful in appearance.”

⁸ When he had been there a long time, Abimelek the king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah his wife.

⁹ Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is surely your wife, so how is it you said, ‘She is my sister’?” Then Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’ ”

¹⁰ Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might have easily lain with your wife, and you might have brought guilt upon us!”

¹¹ Abimelek charged all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

¹² Then Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; the Lord blessed him.

¹³ The man became rich and continued to prosper until he became very wealthy.

¹⁴ For he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great number of servants so that the Philistines envied him.

¹⁵ For the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father by filling them with dirt.

¹⁶ Abimelek said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much more powerful than we are.”

¹⁷ So Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.

¹⁸ Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names his father had called them.

¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of running water there,

²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar contended with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.

²¹ They dug another well and quarreled over that also. So he called the name of it Sitnah.

²² Then he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called the name of it Rehoboth, for he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

²³ He went up from there to Beersheba.

²⁴ The Lord appeared to him that same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.”

²⁵ He built an altar there, called on the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

²⁶ Then Abimelek went to him from Gerar, along with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phicol the commander of his army.

²⁷ Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”

²⁸ And they said, “We saw plainly that the Lord was with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,

²⁹ so that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you, and have done you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ”

³⁰ Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

³¹ They rose up early in the morning and swore an oath with one another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

³² That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.”

³³ And he called it Shibah. Therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

³⁴ Esau was forty years old when he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite,

³⁵ and they brought grief to Isaac and to Rebekah.

27

¹ Isaac Blesses Jacob When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see, he called Esau his oldest son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.”

² He said, “I am old. I do not know the day of my death.

³ Therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me.

⁴ And prepare for me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”

⁵ Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for wild game and bring it back,

⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying,

⁷ ‘Bring me wild game, and prepare for me savory food, that I may eat and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’

⁸ Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you.

⁹ Go now to the flock, and get me two choice young goats, so that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he loves.

¹⁰ Then you will take it to your father, so that he may eat and so that he may bless you before his death.”

¹¹ But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin.

¹² Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I will bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

¹³ His mother said to him, “Let your curse be upon me, my son. Only listen to me and go get them for me.”

¹⁴ He went and got them and brought them to his mother. Then his mother prepared savory food such as his father loved.

¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the best clothes belonging to her older son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.

¹⁶ Then she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

¹⁷ She put the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hands of her son Jacob.

¹⁸ He came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

¹⁹ And Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done just as you asked me. Please arise, sit and eat of my wild game, so that your soul may bless me.”

²⁰ Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.”

²¹ Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, so that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”

²² Jacob went near to his father Isaac, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

²³ He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, just like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.

²⁴ He asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.”

²⁵ He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s wild game, so that my soul may bless you.” And he brought it near to him, and he ate. He also brought him wine, and he drank.

²⁶ His father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.”

²⁷ He came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is like the smell of the field which the Lord has blessed.

²⁸ Therefore, may God give you of the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.

²⁹ Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be those who bless you!”

³⁰ As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had barely gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

³¹ He also had prepared savory food and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s wild game, so that your soul may bless me.”

³² Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

³³ Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who? Where then is he who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him. Yes, and he shall be blessed.”

³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceedingly bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”

³⁵ He said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.”

³⁶ Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “I have made him your lord, and I have given to him all his brothers as servants; and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What can I now do for you, my son?”

³⁸ And Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father!” Then Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

³⁹ Isaac his father answered and said to him, “Your dwelling shall be away from the fatness of the earth and away from the dew of heaven from above.

⁴⁰ You will live by your sword and will serve your brother. When you become restless, you will break his yoke from your neck.”

⁴¹ Jacob Escapes From Esau So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴² These words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Your brother Esau consoles himself regarding you by planning to kill you.

⁴³ Now therefore, my son, listen to me and get up and flee to Laban, my brother in Harran.

⁴⁴ Stay with him a few days until your brother’s fury subsides,

⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger against you turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, such as these who are of the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

28

¹ Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Then he charged him and said to him, “You must not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

² Arise, go to Paddan Aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.

³ May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a multitude of people.

⁴ May He give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land where you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.”

⁵ Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan Aram to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

⁶ Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram to take for himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You must not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,”

⁷ and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan Aram.

⁸ Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please Isaac his father.

⁹ So Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth, in addition to the wives he had.

¹⁰ Jacob’s Dream at Bethel Then Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Harran.

¹¹ He came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of that place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep.

¹² He dreamed and saw a ladder set up on the earth with the top of it reaching to heaven. The angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

¹³ The Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, to you will I give it and to your descendants.

¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and in your descendants all the families of the earth will be blessed.

¹⁵ Remember, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.”

¹⁶ Jacob awoke out of his sleep, and he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”

¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ So Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put under his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.

¹⁹ He called the name of that place Bethel, but previously the name of the city was called Luz.

²⁰ Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will protect me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,

²¹ so that I return to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord will be my God.

²² Then this stone, which I have set for a pillar, will be the house of God, and from all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

29

¹ Jacob Meets Rachel Then Jacob went on his journey and came into the land of the people of the east.

² As he looked, he saw a well in the field and three flocks of sheep lying by it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. A large stone was on the well’s opening.

³ When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds rolled the stone from the well’s opening, watered the sheep, then put the stone back on the well’s opening in its place.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Harran.”

⁵ Then he said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.”

⁶ He said to them, “Is he well?” And they said, “He is well, and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.”

⁷ He said, “Since it is yet midday, it is not the time that the livestock should be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”

⁸ They said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the well’s opening. Then we may water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she kept them.

¹⁰ When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well’s opening and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.

¹¹ Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.

¹² Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. Then she ran and told her father.

¹³ When Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then Jacob told Laban all these things.

¹⁴ Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.

¹⁵ Laban said to Jacob, “Since you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”

¹⁶ Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were tender, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.

¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”

¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.”

²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, so that I may have relations with her.”

²² Laban gathered together all the men of the place and prepared a feast.

²³ But in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob had relations with her.

²⁴ Laban gave Zilpah his maid to his daughter Leah for a maidservant.

²⁵ In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah, and he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve you for Rachel? Why then have you tricked me?”

²⁶ Then Laban said, “It is not the custom in our country to marry off the younger before the firstborn.

²⁷ Fulfill the period of seven days for this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.”

²⁸ Jacob did so and completed her week. Then Laban gave him Rachel his daughter as his wife also.

²⁹ Laban gave Bilhah his maidservant to Rachel his daughter to be her maid.

³⁰ So Jacob also had relations with Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah and served Laban another seven years.

³¹ Jacob’s Children When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

³² Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Surely the Lord has looked upon my affliction. Now therefore my husband will love me.”

³³ She conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I was unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” Then she called his name Simeon.

³⁴ She conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.

³⁵ She conceived again and gave birth to a son, and she said, “Now I will praise the Lord!” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped giving birth.

30

¹ When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I will die.”

² Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

³ Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Have relations with her so that she may bear a child on my knees, so that I may also have children through her.”

⁴ So she gave him Bilhah her maidservant as a wife, and Jacob had relations with her.

⁵ Bilhah conceived and gave Jacob a son.

⁶ Rachel said, “God has vindicated me, and He has also heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.

⁷ Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, conceived again and gave Jacob a second son.

⁸ Then Rachel said, “With great wrestling have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

¹⁰ Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave Jacob a son.

¹¹ Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she called his name Gad.

¹² Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave Jacob a second son.

¹³ Then Leah said, “Happy am I, for women will call me happy.” So she called his name Asher.

¹⁴ At the time of the wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵ Leah said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “All right, he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶ When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me, because I have paid for you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he slept with her that night.

¹⁷ God listened to Leah, and she conceived and gave Jacob a fifth son.

¹⁸ Leah said, “God has given me my reward because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.

¹⁹ Leah conceived again and gave Jacob a sixth son.

²⁰ Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will dwell with me, because I have given him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun.

²¹ Afterwards she gave birth to a daughter and called her name Dinah.

²² Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.

²³ She conceived and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.”

²⁴ And she called his name Joseph, saying, “The Lord will add to me another son.”

²⁵ Jacob’s Agreement With Laban When Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, so that I may go to my own place, to my country.

²⁶ Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and let me go. For you know the service that I have given you.”

²⁷ Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. For I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.”

²⁸ He said, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.”

²⁹ Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you, and how your livestock have fared with me.

³⁰ For you had little before I came, and it is now increased to a multitude. The Lord has blessed you since I came, and now when may I also provide for my own house?”

³¹ Laban said, “What may I give you?” And Jacob said, “You may not give me anything, but if you will do this one thing for me, I will continue to feed and keep your flock.

³² I will pass through all your flock today, removing from it all the speckled and spotted sheep, and every brown sheep from among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. These shall be my wages.

³³ So my integrity will answer for me in time to come. When you come to examine my wages, every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep that are with me will be considered stolen.”

³⁴ Laban said, “Agreed. Let it be according to your word.”

³⁵ He removed that day the male goats that were striped and spotted and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the sheep, and gave them into the care of his sons.

³⁶ He put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Then Jacob took rods of fresh-cut poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white which was in the rods.

³⁸ He set the rods which he had peeled before the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink, so that they would mate when they came to drink.

³⁹ The flocks mated before the rods and gave birth to young that were striped, speckled, and spotted.

⁴⁰ Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face toward the striped and all the brown in the flock of Laban. He put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s sheep.

⁴¹ Whenever the stronger sheep mated, Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the sheep in the troughs, so that they might mate among the rods.

⁴² But when the livestock were feeble, he did not put them in. So the weaker were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.

⁴³ The man became exceedingly prosperous and had many sheep and female servants and male servants and camels and donkeys.

31

¹ Jacob Flees From Laban Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and he has gotten all his wealth from what was our father’s.”

² Jacob saw the look of Laban and saw he was not congenial toward him as before.

³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers, to your family, and I will be with you.”

⁴ So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field where his flock was,

⁵ and said to them, “I see your father’s demeanor, that it is not congenial toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.

⁶ You know that with all my strength I have served your father.

⁷ Your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.

⁸ If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then all the flock produced speckled. If he said, ‘The striped will be your pay,’ then all the flock produced striped.

⁹ In this way God has taken away your father’s flock and given them to me.

¹⁰ “When the livestock conceived, I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the male goats mating with the flock were striped, speckled, and spotted.

¹¹ The angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’

¹² He said, ‘Now lift up your eyes and see all the male goats which mate with the flock are striped, speckled, and spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has done to you.

¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar, where you vowed a vow to Me. Now arise, and get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ”

¹⁴ Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left for us in our father’s house?

¹⁵ Are we not seen by him as foreigners? For he has sold us and has completely spent our money also.

¹⁶ For all the riches which God has taken from our father are ours and our children’s. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.”

¹⁷ Then Jacob rose up and set his sons and his wives on camels.

¹⁸ Then he carried away all his livestock and all his goods which he had obtained, his acquired livestock which he had gotten in Paddan Aram, in order to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

¹⁹ When Laban went to shear his sheep, Rachel stole the household idols that were her father’s.

²⁰ Jacob also deceived Laban the Syrian by not telling him that he was fleeing.

²¹ So Jacob fled with all that he had, and he rose up and passed over the river and headed toward the mountains of Gilead.

²² Laban Pursues Jacob Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled.

²³ He took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days until he caught up with him in the mountains of Gilead.

²⁴ But God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night and said to him, “Take care that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.”

²⁵ Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent on the mountain, and Laban with his kinsmen pitched in the mountains of Gilead.

²⁶ Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done that you have stolen away without my knowing and carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword?

²⁷ Why did you flee away secretly and sneak away from me and not tell me? I would have sent you away with joy and with songs, with the tambourine and harp.

²⁸ And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? You have acted foolishly in so doing.

²⁹ It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Take care that you not speak to Jacob either good or bad.’

³⁰ Now you surely have gone away because you longed desperately after your father’s house, yet why have you stolen my gods?”

³¹ Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force.

³² But anyone with whom you find your gods, let him not live. In the presence of our kinsmen, point out what I have that is yours and take it.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

³³ So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the two female servants’ tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered into Rachel’s tent.

³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the household idols and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. Laban searched the entire tent, but could not find them.

³⁵ She said to her father, “Let not my lord be displeased that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is on me.” So he searched, but he did not find the household idols.

³⁶ Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. And Jacob asked Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin that you have so hotly pursued after me?

³⁷ You have searched all my things, and yet what have you found of all your household things? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, so that they may judge between us both.

³⁸ “This twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and the male goats of your flock I have not eaten.

³⁹ That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand whether it was stolen by day or stolen by night.

⁴⁰ It was like this with me: In the day the heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.

⁴¹ I have been twenty years in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.

⁴² If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely you would have sent me away empty now. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”

⁴³ Laban’s Covenant With Jacob Laban answered and said to Jacob, “These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to my daughters or to their children whom they have borne?

⁴⁴ Now therefore come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be as a witness between you and me.”

⁴⁵ So Jacob took a stone and set it up for a pillar.

⁴⁶ Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a pile, and they ate there on the pile.

⁴⁷ And Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.

⁴⁸ Laban said, “This pile is a witness between me and you this day.” Therefore its name was called Galeed,

⁴⁹ and Mizpah, for he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me, when we are apart from one another.

⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take other wives beside my daughters, although no one else is with us, remember that God is witness between you and me.”

⁵¹ Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this pile and see this pillar which I have thrown between you and me.

⁵² This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, so that I will not cross over this pile to you and so that you will not pass over this pile and this pillar to me for harm.

⁵³ The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father, judge between us.” Then Jacob vowed by the Fear of his father Isaac.

⁵⁴ Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called his kinsmen to eat bread. And they ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain.

⁵⁵ Early in the morning Laban rose up, kissed his grandchildren and his daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.

32

¹ Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

² When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

³ Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

⁴ He commanded them, saying, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: This is what your servant Jacob says, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed there until now.

⁵ I have oxen and donkeys, flocks, and male servants and female servants, and I am sending this message to tell my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’ ”

⁶ The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you, and what is more, four hundred men are with him.”

⁷ Then Jacob was very afraid and distressed, and he divided the people that were with him, along with the flocks and herds and the camels, into two groups.

⁸ He said, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the other camp which is left may escape.”

⁹ And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will prosper you,’

¹⁰ I am not worthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant. For with my staff I crossed over this Jordan, and now I have become two encampments.

¹¹ Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau. For I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children.

¹² You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too many to be counted.’ ”

¹³ So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a gift for his brother Esau:

¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

¹⁵ thirty female camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

¹⁶ He gave them to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep a distance between each drove.”

¹⁷ He commanded the one leading, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals belong?’

¹⁸ then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is also behind us.’ ”

¹⁹ Likewise he commanded the second and the third and all that followed the droves, saying, “This is what you are to say to Esau when you find him.

²⁰ Moreover, say, ‘Your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will appease him with the gift that goes before me, and then I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”

²¹ So the gift went before him, but he lodged that night in the encampment.

²² Jacob Wrestles With God The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok.

²³ He took them and sent them across the stream along with all that he had.

²⁴ Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him there until daybreak.

²⁵ When the man saw that He did not prevail against Jacob, He touched the socket of his thigh, so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated, as he wrestled with Him.

²⁶ Then He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But Jacob said, “I will not let You go, unless You bless me.”

²⁷ So He said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name will no more be called Jacob, but Israel. For you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

²⁹ Then Jacob asked Him, “Tell me, I pray You, Your name.” But He said, “Why do you ask Me My name?” Then He blessed him there.

³⁰ Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “I have seen God face to face, and my life has been preserved.”

³¹ As he crossed over Peniel, the sun rose over him, and he was limping on his thigh.

³² Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the thigh, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.

33

¹ Jacob Meets Esau Then Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.

² He put the female servants and their children in front, then Leah and her children next, and then Rachel and Joseph last.

³ He went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴ But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

⁵ When Esau looked up and saw the women and the children, he said, “Who are those with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”

⁶ Then the female servants came near, they and their children, and they bowed down.

⁷ Leah also with her children came near and bowed themselves. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed themselves.

⁸ Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “These are to find favor in the sight of my lord.”

⁹ Esau said, “I have enough, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

¹⁰ Jacob said, “No, I pray you, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my gift from my hand. For I have seen your face, and it is as though I have seen the face of God, with you having received me favorably.

¹¹ Please take my blessing that has been brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have plenty.” So he urged him, and he took it.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go ahead of you.”

¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds with young are with me. If they are driven too hard one day, all the flock will die.

¹⁴ Please let my lord pass over before his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the livestock that goes before me and the pace the children will be able to endure, until I come to my lord at Seir.”

¹⁵ So Esau said, “Let me leave some of the people that are with me with you.” But Jacob said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”

¹⁶ So Esau returned that day making his way back to Seir.

¹⁷ But Jacob journeyed to Sukkoth and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Sukkoth.

¹⁸ Jacob came peacefully to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan Aram, and camped before the city.

¹⁹ He bought a parcel of a field, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver.

²⁰ He erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.

34

¹ Dinah Is Defiled Now Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

² When Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her and defiled her.

³ He was very smitten by Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke kindly to her.

⁴ Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

⁵ Now Jacob heard that Shechem had violated his daughter Dinah, but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came.

⁶ Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to commune with him.

⁷ The sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it, and the men were grieved and were very disturbed, because Shechem had disgraced Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing that should not be done.

⁸ Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. I pray that you will give her to him to marry.

⁹ Make marriages with us, and give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.

¹⁰ You may dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Dwell and trade in it and get possessions in it.”

¹¹ Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give.

¹² You can make the dowry and gift I must bring high, and I will give according to what you say to me. Just give me the girl to marry.”

¹³ The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.

¹⁴ They said to them, “We cannot do this. To give our sister to one who is uncircumcised would be a disgrace to us.

¹⁵ But we will consent to you in this: If you will become as we are, that is, every one of your males be circumcised,

¹⁶ then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.

¹⁷ But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will leave.”

¹⁸ Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son.

¹⁹ The young man did not delay to do the thing, because he wanted Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more respected than all the household of his father.

²⁰ So Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and they spoke with the men of their city, saying,

²¹ “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as our wives, and let us give them our daughters.

²² Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us and be one people: if every male among us will be circumcised as they are circumcised.

²³ Will not their livestock and their possessions and every animal of theirs be ours? Only, let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.”

²⁴ All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and Shechem his son, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵ On the third day, when they were in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and went to the unsuspecting city and killed all the males.

²⁶ They killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword and took Dinah out of the house of Shechem and departed.

²⁷ The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and looted the city, because they had defiled their sister.

²⁸ They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys and whatever was in the city and in the fields.

²⁹ They took captive and looted all their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, even all that was in each house.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me revolting among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Our being few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and slay me, and I will be destroyed, both I and my household.”

³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

35

¹ Jacob Returns to Bethel Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, dwell there, and there make an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

² So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes.

³ Let us arise and go up to Bethel, and there I will make an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”

⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their possession and all their earrings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.

⁵ As they traveled, the terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

⁶ So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.

⁷ There he built an altar and called the place El Bethel, because God had appeared to him there when he fled from his brother.

⁸ Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried beneath Bethel under the oak. So it was called Allon Bakuth.

⁹ God appeared to Jacob again when he came out of Paddan Aram and blessed him.

¹⁰ God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be called Jacob any more, but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel.

¹¹ God said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will come from you, and kings shall come forth from you.

¹² The land that I gave Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and to your descendants after you I will give the land.”

¹³ Then God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.

¹⁴ Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it too.

¹⁵ So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

¹⁶ The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac They journeyed from Bethel, and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor, and she had a difficult labor.

¹⁷ When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear. You will have this son also.”

¹⁸ As her soul was departing (for she died), she called his name Ben-Oni, but his father called him Benjamin.

¹⁹ Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

²⁰ Jacob set a pillar on her grave. It is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.

²¹ Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

²² When Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

²³ The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun.

²⁴ The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁵ And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali.

²⁶ And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Paddan Aram.

²⁷ Jacob came back to Isaac his father in Mamre of Kiriath Arba (which is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.

²⁸ Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.

²⁹ And Isaac breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

36

¹ Esau’s Descendants Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.

² Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite,

³ and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebaioth.

⁴ Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz, and Basemath bore Reuel,

⁵ and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the people of his house, his livestock, all his animals, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and he moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob.

⁷ For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they were foreigners could not sustain them because of their livestock.

⁸ So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. Esau is Edom.

⁹ These are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.

¹⁰ These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, and Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau.

¹¹ The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

¹² Timna was a concubine to Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and she bore to Eliphaz Amalek. These were the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife.

¹³ These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.

¹⁴ These were the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

¹⁵ The Chiefs of Edom These were chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son of Esau were Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz,

¹⁶ Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, and Chief Amalek. These are the chiefs who came from Eliphaz in the land of Edom. These were the sons of Adah.

¹⁷ These were the sons of Reuel Esau’s son: Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah, and Chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs who came from Reuel in the land of Edom. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.

¹⁸ These were the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: Chief Jeush, Chief Jalam, and Chief Korah. These were the chiefs who came from Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife.

¹⁹ These were the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these were their chiefs.

²⁰ The Sons of Seir These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

²¹ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.

²² The children of Lotan were Hori and Homam, and Lotan’s sister was Timna.

²³ The children of Shobal were these: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

²⁴ These were the children of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This was the Anah who found the water in the wilderness as he fed the donkeys of Zibeon, his father.

²⁵ The children of Anah were these: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

²⁶ These are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.

²⁷ The children of Ezer were these: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

²⁸ The children of Dishan were these: Uz and Aran.

²⁹ These were the chiefs that came from the Horites: Chief Lotan, Chief Shobal, Chief Zibeon, Chief Anah,

³⁰ Chief Dishon, Chief Ezer, and Chief Dishan. These are the chiefs who came from Hori, among their chiefs in the land of Seir.

³¹ The Kings of Edom These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.

³² Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah.

³³ Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.

³⁴ Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his stead.

³⁵ Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead, and the name of his city was Avith.

³⁶ Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.

³⁷ Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead.

³⁸ Shaul died, and Baal-Hanan the son of Akbor reigned in his stead.

³⁹ Baal-Hanan the son of Akbor died, and Hadad reigned in his stead, and the name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.

⁴⁰ These are the names of the chiefs who came from Esau, according to their families, according to their places, by their names: Chief Timnah, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth,

⁴¹ Chief Oholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon,

⁴² Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar,

⁴³ Chief Magdiel, and Chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land of their possession. Esau was the father of the Edomites.

37

¹ Joseph’s Dreams Now Jacob lived in the land where his father was a foreigner, in the land of Canaan.

² These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers, and the boy was with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors.

⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

⁵ Now Joseph dreamed a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

⁶ He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have dreamed.

⁷ We were binding sheaves in the field. All of a sudden my sheaf rose up and stood upright, and your sheaves stood around it and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸ His brothers said to him, “Will you really reign over us, or will you really have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.

⁹ Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “I have dreamed another dream. The sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing to me.”

¹⁰ But when he told it to his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers really come to bow down ourselves to you to the ground?”

¹¹ So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

¹² Joseph Sold Into Slavery Now his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem.

¹³ Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.”

¹⁴ Israel said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

¹⁵ A certain man found him wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶ And he said, “I am looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

¹⁷ The man said, “They have departed from here. I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸ When they saw him some distance away, before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.

¹⁹ They said one to another, “The master of dreams comes!

²⁰ Come now, let us kill him and throw him into some pit, and we will say, ‘Some evil beast has devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams.”

²¹ But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not kill him.”

²² Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him,” so that he might rescue him out of their hands and deliver him to his father again.

²³ When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his coat—his coat of many colors that he had on.

²⁴ And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty, and there was no water in it.

²⁵ Then they sat down to eat. And looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, carrying it down to Egypt.

²⁶ Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

²⁷ Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let us not lay our hand on him, for he is our brother and our own flesh.” So his brothers agreed.

²⁸ Then when the Midianite merchants passed by, they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes.

³⁰ He returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is not there, and I, where can I go?”

³¹ They took Joseph’s coat and killed a young goat and dipped the coat in the blood.

³² Then they took the coat of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found. Do you know whether it is your son’s robe or not?”

³³ He knew it and said, “It is my son’s coat. A wild beast has devoured him. Joseph has without a doubt been torn into pieces.”

³⁴ Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his waist and mourned for his son many days.

³⁵ All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “For I will go down into the grave mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.

³⁶ Meanwhile the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

38

¹ Judah and Tamar At that time Judah left his brothers and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

² There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shua, and he took her and had relations with her.

³ She conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.

⁴ She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.

⁵ She again conceived and bore a son and called his name Shelah. He was at Kezib when she bore him.

⁶ Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, whose name was Tamar.

⁷ But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord killed him.

⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Go have relations with your brother’s wife, and marry her, and raise up descendants for your brother.”

⁹ But Onan knew that the descendant would not be his, so when he had relations with his brother’s wife, he let his semen go on the ground, so that he would not give a descendant to his brother.

¹⁰ What he did displeased the Lord; therefore He killed him also.

¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow at your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, “He may die also, just as his brothers did.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

¹² As time went on, the daughter of Shua, Judah’s wife, died. After Judah was consoled, he went up to his sheepshearers in Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

¹³ It was told to Tamar, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”

¹⁴ She took off her widow’s clothing, covered herself with a veil, wrapped herself up, and sat in an open place, which is by the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as his wife.

¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face.

¹⁶ He turned to her by the road and said, “Come now, let me have relations with you” (for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law). And she said, “What will you give me, so that you may have relations with me?”

¹⁷ And he said, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?”

¹⁸ And he said, “What pledge should I give you?” And she said, “Your signet, your bracelets, and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had relations with her, and she conceived by him.

¹⁹ She arose and went away, and taking off her veil, she put on her widow’s clothing.

²⁰ Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he could not find her.

²¹ Then he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute who was at Enaim by the road?” And they said, “There was no prostitute in this place.”

²² So he returned to Judah and said, “I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no cult prostitute in this place.”

²³ Judah replied, “Let her keep them for herself, or we shall be laughed at. I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”

²⁴ After about three months, it was told Judah, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has turned to prostitution, and what is more, as a result of prostitution she is pregnant.” Then Judah said, “Bring her forth, and let her be burned!”

²⁵ When she was brought forth, she sent word to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong am I with child.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are—the signet and bracelet and staff.”

²⁶ Judah recognized them and said, “She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son.” He did not have relations with her again.

²⁷ When it was time for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb.

²⁸ While she was giving birth, one put out his hand, and the midwife took and tied on his hand a scarlet thread, saying, “This one came out first.”

²⁹ But as he drew back his hand, his brother came out. Then she said, “How have you made a breach for yourself?” Therefore his name was called Perez.

³⁰ Afterward his brother came out, the one that had the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.

39

¹ Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife Now Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.

² The Lord was with Joseph, so that he became a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.

³ His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper.

⁴ Joseph found favor in his sight and served him. So he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put under his charge.

⁵ From the time that he had made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph. So the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field.

⁶ So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and he had no concerns regarding anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was handsome and well-built.

⁷ After a time, his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”

⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “My master does not concern himself with anything concerning me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my charge.

⁹ There is none greater in this house than I. He has kept nothing back from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”

¹⁰ She spoke to Joseph every day, but he did not listen to her about lying with her or being with her.

¹¹ But it happened one day that Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was there.

¹² She caught him by his clothing, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his clothing in her hand and fled and got outside.

¹³ When she saw that he had left his clothing in her hand and had fled outside,

¹⁴ she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in a Hebrew among us to humiliate us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.

¹⁵ When he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his clothing with me, fled, and got outside.”

¹⁶ She laid up his clothing next to her until his master came home.

¹⁷ She spoke to him using these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me.

¹⁸ When I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his clothing with me and fled outside.”

¹⁹ When his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your servant did to me,” he became enraged.

²⁰ Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison.

²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

²² The keeper of the prison committed all the prisoners that were in the prison to the charge of Joseph. So whatever they did there, he was the one responsible for it.

²³ The keeper of the prison did not concern himself with anything that was under Joseph’s charge because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it to prosper.

40

¹ Joseph Interprets Dreams Sometime after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord, the king of Egypt.

² Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, with the chief of the cupbearers and with the chief of the bakers.

³ So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined.

⁴ The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he attended to them. They continued to be in confinement for some time.

⁵ Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.

⁶ Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them and realized they were sad.

⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in the care of his lord’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?”

⁸ And they said to him, “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter for it.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”

⁹ The chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “In my dream, a vine was in front of me.

¹⁰ And in the vine there were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms shot forth and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes.

¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹² Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it. The three branches are three days.

¹³ Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand in the same way you did before when you were his cupbearer.

¹⁴ But remember me when it is well with you, and show kindness, I pray you, to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house.

¹⁵ For I was indeed kidnapped out of the land of the Hebrews, and I have done nothing that they should put me in the dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and I had three white baskets on my head.

¹⁷ In the uppermost basket there was all manner of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days.

¹⁹ Within three days Pharaoh will lift your head from off you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

²⁰ It happened on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker among his servants.

²¹ He restored the chief cupbearer to his position again, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

²² However, he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.

²³ Yet, the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

41

¹ Pharaoh’s Dreams After two whole years, Pharaoh had a dream that he was standing by the Nile.

² Seven fine-looking and fattened cows suddenly came up out of the river, and they grazed in the meadow.

³ Then seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the riverbank.

⁴ The ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine-looking and fattened cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.

⁵ He slept and dreamed a second time. Seven ears of grain suddenly came up on one stalk, plump and good.

⁶ Then seven thin ears, scorched by the east wind, sprang up after them.

⁷ The seven thin ears devoured the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke and realized it was a dream.

⁸ In the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “Today I remember my offenses.

¹⁰ Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in confinement in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker.

¹¹ And we had a dream in the same night, he and I. We, each of us, dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.

¹² A young Hebrew man was with us there, a servant to the captain of the guard. We told him and he interpreted our dreams for us. To each man he interpreted according to his own dream.

¹³ It happened just as he interpreted. He restored me to my position, and the baker was hanged.”

¹⁴ So Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothes, and came to Pharaoh.

¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream to interpret it.”

¹⁶ Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me. God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, I stood on the bank of the Nile.

¹⁸ And suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fattened and fine-looking, and they grazed in the reeds.

¹⁹ Then seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt. I have never seen such ugliness in all the land of Egypt.

²⁰ And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows.

²¹ And when they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as ugly as before. Then I awoke.

²² “I also saw in my dreams seven ears of grain, full and good, suddenly come up on one stalk.

²³ Then seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprang up after them.

²⁴ And the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. So I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years. The dreams are one.

²⁷ The seven gaunt and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine.

²⁸ “It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁹ Seven years of great abundance will come throughout all the land of Egypt.

³⁰ However, there will arise after them seven years of famine. All the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will consume the land.

³¹ The abundance will be unknown in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe.

³² The reason the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice is because the matter is established by God, and God will soon bring it to pass.

³³ “Now, therefore, let Pharaoh seek out a man who is discerning and wise and set him over the land of Egypt.

³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officials over the land and collect the fifth part of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven abundant years.

³⁵ Let them gather all the food from those good years that come and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.

³⁶ This food will be for a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will be in the land of Egypt, so that the land does not perish during the famine.”

³⁷ Joseph Rises to Power The counsel seemed good to Pharaoh and to all of his servants.

³⁸ Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom is the Spirit of God?”

³⁹ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.

⁴⁰ You will be over my house, and according to your word all my people will be ruled. Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”

⁴¹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”

⁴² Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand and arrayed him in clothes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.

⁴³ Then he had him ride in the second chariot which was his, and they cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he set him over all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁴ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man will lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”

⁴⁵ Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah, and he gave him a wife, Asenath the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

⁴⁷ In the seven abundant years the earth brought forth plentifully.

⁴⁸ So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which was in the land of Egypt and laid up the food in the cities. He put in every city the food of the fields which surrounded the city.

⁴⁹ Joseph gathered great quantities of grain as the sand of the sea until he stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure.

⁵⁰ Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.

⁵¹ Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “For God,” he said, “has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.”

⁵² The name of the second he called Ephraim, saying, “For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ The seven years of abundance that were in the land of Egypt ended.

⁵⁴ The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but there was food in all the land of Egypt.

⁵⁵ When all the land of Egypt was hungry, the people cried to Pharaoh for food, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. Do whatever he says to you.”

⁵⁶ The famine was over all the face of the earth, so Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians, and the famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt.

⁵⁷ Moreover, all countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was so severe in all the lands.

42

¹ Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt Now when Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?”

² And he said, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”

³ Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.

⁴ But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers for he said, “Perhaps some harm might happen to him.”

⁵ Thus the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Now Joseph was the governor over the land, and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. So Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves down before him with their faces to the ground.

⁷ Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger to them and spoke harshly to them. He said to them, “From where do you come?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”

⁸ Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him.

⁹ Joseph also remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. He said to them, “You are spies! You came to see the nakedness of the land!”

¹⁰ They said to him, “No, my lord, your servants have come only to buy food.

¹¹ We are all one man’s sons. We are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”

¹² But he said to them, “No, you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”

¹³ They said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father today, and one is no longer living.”

¹⁴ Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you, ‘You are spies!’

¹⁵ Here is how you will be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you will not leave here unless your youngest brother comes here.

¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested, whether there be any truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, you are surely spies.”

¹⁷ He put them all together in custody for three days.

¹⁸ Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God.

¹⁹ If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in your prison house. The rest of you go and carry grain for the famine of your households.

²⁰ Nevertheless, bring your youngest brother to me so that your words may be verified and you shall not die.” And they did so.

²¹ Then they said one to another, “We are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. Therefore, this distress has come upon us.”

²² Reuben answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? Therefore, his blood is now required of us.”

²³ They did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.

²⁴ He turned himself away from them and wept, but then turned back to them again and spoke with them. Then he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

²⁵ Joseph then gave the command to fill their sacks with grain and to restore every man’s money to his sack and to give them provisions for the way. And it was done for them.

²⁶ Joseph’s Brothers Return Home They loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there.

²⁷ As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed in the lodging place, he saw his money. It was in the mouth of his sack.

²⁸ And he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned. Here it is in my sack!” Then their hearts sank, and they were afraid, saying to one another, “What is this that God has done to us?”

²⁹ They came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying,

³⁰ “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us and took us for spies of the country.

³¹ And we said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are not spies.

³² We are twelve brothers, all sons of our father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’

³³ “The man, the lord of the country, said to us, ‘Here is how I may know that you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone.

³⁴ But bring your youngest brother back to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. Then I will deliver your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.’ ”

³⁵ As they emptied their sacks, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.

³⁶ Then Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you will take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”

³⁷ Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons if I fail to bring him to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”

³⁸ But Jacob said, “My son must not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should happen to him on the journey you are to make, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.”

43

¹ Joseph’s Brothers Return With Benjamin Now the famine was severe in the land.

² When they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little food.”

³ Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’

⁴ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you.

⁵ But if you will not send him, we will not go down. For the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ”

⁶ Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?”

⁷ And they said, “The man asked us directly about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ So we answered his questions. How could we even know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸ And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, so that we may live and not die, both we and you, and also our little ones.

⁹ I will be a surety for him. You may hold me personally responsible for him. If I fail to bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.

¹⁰ For if we had not delayed, we could have returned twice.”

¹¹ Their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, do this. Take some of the best fruits in the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man: a little balm and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.

¹² Take double the money with you, along with the money that was brought back in the mouths of your sacks. Carry it with you again. Perhaps it was a mistake.

¹³ Also, take your brother and arise, return to the man.

¹⁴ And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man, so that he may send away your other brother, along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”

¹⁵ The men took the gift, and they took double the money with them, along with Benjamin. Then they went on their way down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the house steward, “Bring these men home, slaughter an animal and prepare it, for these men will dine with me at noon.”

¹⁷ The man did as Joseph ordered, so the man brought the men into Joseph’s house.

¹⁸ The men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house. They said, “We have been brought in because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time, so that he may seek occasion against us and fall upon us and take us for slaves with our donkeys.”

¹⁹ The Feast With Joseph They approached the steward of Joseph’s house, and they spoke with him at the entrance of the house.

²⁰ They said, “My lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food.

²¹ When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks and realized every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it again with us.

²² We have also brought additional money with us to buy food. We cannot tell who put our money in our sacks.”

²³ He said, “Be at peace; do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

²⁴ The man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water to wash their feet and gave feed to their donkeys.

²⁵ Then they made ready the gift for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they would be eating a meal there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present that they had with them and bowed themselves to him to the ground.

²⁷ He asked them about their well-being and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

²⁸ And they answered, “Your servant our father is in good health. He is still alive.” And they bowed down their heads and prostrated themselves.

²⁹ He lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “God be gracious to you, my son.”

³⁰ Joseph hurried out, for he was deeply moved over his brother and sought a place to weep. So he entered into his chamber and wept there.

³¹ Then he washed his face and came out. Controlling himself, he said, “Serve the food.”

³² They served him by himself and them by themselves and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat a meal with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.

³³ They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.

³⁴ He gave them portions from his own table, but Benjamin’s serving was five times more than any of theirs. So they drank and feasted with him.

44

¹ Joseph Detains Benjamin Then he commanded the steward of his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in the mouth of his sack.

² Put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, along with his grain money.” And he did according to what Joseph had spoken.

³ As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.

⁴ When they were gone out of the city, but not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Get up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you rewarded evil for good?

⁵ Is this not the one from which my lord drinks and uses as he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this.’ ”

⁶ So he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words.

⁷ They said to him, “Why does my lord say these words? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing.

⁸ Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money that we found in the top of our sacks. Why then would we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house?

⁹ Whichever of your servants is found with it shall die, and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves.”

¹⁰ He said, “Now let it also be according to your words. He with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you will be blameless.”

¹¹ Then every man hurriedly took down his sack to the ground, and every man opened his sack.

¹² He searched, beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

¹³ Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.

¹⁴ When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there; and they fell to the ground before him.

¹⁵ Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination?”

¹⁶ And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Here we are, my lord’s servants, both we and he also in whose possession the cup was found.”

¹⁷ But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose possession the cup was found shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸ Judah’s Plea for Benjamin Then Judah approached him and said, “O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh.

¹⁹ My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’

²⁰ And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loves him.’

²¹ “You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, so that I may set my eyes on him.’

²² We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’

²³ You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.’

²⁴ When we went back to your servant, my father, we told him the words of my lord.

²⁵ “Our father said, ‘Go again and buy us a little food.’

²⁶ We said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down, for we may not see the man’s face, unless our youngest brother is with us.’

²⁷ “Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons.

²⁸ And the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he was torn in pieces,” and I have not seen him since.

²⁹ And if you take this one also from me and he is harmed, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.’

³⁰ “Now therefore when I come to your servant, my father, and the boy is not with us, as his life is bound up in the boy’s life,

³¹ when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to the grave.

³² For your servant became surety for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I fail to bring him to you, then I shall bear the blame to my father forever.’

³³ “Now therefore, please let your servant stay as a slave to my lord instead of the boy, and let the boy go up with his brothers.

³⁴ For how can I go up to my father if the boy is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would find my father?”

45

¹ Joseph Reveals His Identity Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all who stood by him, and he cried out, “Make every man go out from me.” So no man stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

² He wept so loudly that the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard about it.

³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence.

⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me,” and they came near. Then he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.

⁵ Now do not be upset or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

⁶ For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.

⁷ God sent me ahead of you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

⁸ “So now it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of his entire household and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

⁹ Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says, “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay.

¹⁰ And you will dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, along with your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.

¹¹ I will provide for you there, for there are still five years of famine to come, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty.” ’

¹² “Your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that is speaking to you.

¹³ You must tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that you have seen, and you must hurry and bring my father down here.”

¹⁴ Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.

¹⁵ Moreover he kissed all his brothers and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶ When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants.

¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this. Load your animals and go to the land of Canaan.

¹⁸ Get your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’

¹⁹ “You are also commanded to say, ‘Do this: Take your wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and get your father and come.

²⁰ Also do not concern yourself with your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’ ”

²¹ So the sons of Israel did so, and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey.

²² To each of them he gave a change of clothes, but he gave to Benjamin three hundred shekels of silver and five changes of clothes.

²³ To his father he sent the following: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provisions for his father on the journey.

²⁴ So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.”

²⁵ They went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father.

²⁶ They told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” And Jacob’s heart stood still because he could not believe them.

²⁷ They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

²⁸ Then Israel said, “Enough! Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

46

¹ Jacob’s Journey to Egypt So Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

² God spoke to Israel in visions of the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.”

³ Then He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.

⁴ I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.”

⁵ Jacob arose from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father and their little ones and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.

⁶ They took their livestock and their possessions that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him.

⁷ He brought with him to Egypt his sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants.

⁸ These were the names of the sons of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who came to Egypt: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.

⁹ The sons of Reuben were Hanok, Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi.

¹⁰ The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.

¹¹ The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

¹² The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

¹³ The sons of Issachar were Tola, Puah, Job, and Shimron.

¹⁴ The sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

¹⁵ These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.

¹⁶ And the sons of Gad were Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

¹⁷ The sons of Asher were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malkiel.

¹⁸ These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob, sixteen in all.

¹⁹ The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife, were Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁰ To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, bore to him.

²¹ The sons of Benjamin were Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

²² These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob, fourteen in all.

²³ The son of Dan was Hushim.

²⁴ The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

²⁵ These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob, seven in all.

²⁶ All those who came with Jacob to Egypt, who were direct descendants, besides the wives of Jacob’s sons, were sixty-six in all.

²⁷ And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All those of the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy.

²⁸ Jacob Settles in Goshen Now he sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen. And they came into the land of Goshen.

²⁹ Joseph readied his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet Israel his father. As soon as he appeared to him, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.

³⁰ Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.”

³¹ Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh and say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.

³² The men are shepherds; their work has been to feed livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’

³³ When Pharaoh calls you and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’

³⁴ you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, because every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

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¹ Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers and their flocks and their herds and all that they possess have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen.”

² He took five men from among his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh.

³ Pharaoh asked his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.”

⁴ They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, for your servants have no pasture for their flocks, because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please allow your servants to dwell in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.

⁶ The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Have them dwell in the land of Goshen, and if you know any capable men among them, then put them in charge over my livestock.”

⁷ Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

⁸ Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”

⁹ And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years. My days of the years of my life have been few and evil, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the lives of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”

¹⁰ And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

¹¹ So Joseph settled his father and his brothers and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

¹² Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and his father’s entire household, according to the number of their children.

¹³ Joseph and the Famine There was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.

¹⁴ Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain that they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.

¹⁵ When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone.”

¹⁶ Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.”

¹⁷ They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock for that year.

¹⁸ When that year was ended, they came to him the second year and said to him, “We will not hide it from our lord, that our money is all spent. Our lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.

¹⁹ Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. Also give us seed, so that we may live and not die, so that the land will not be desolate.”

²⁰ So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian man sold his field because the famine was severe on them. So the land became Pharaoh’s.

²¹ As for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end.

²² Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they lived off their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. Therefore they did not sell their lands.

²³ Then Joseph said to the people, “I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh; here is seed for you so you may sow the land.

²⁴ At the harvest, you must give a fifth part to Pharaoh and four parts will be your own, as seed for the field and for your food and for those of your households and for food for your little ones.”

²⁵ They said, “You have saved our lives. Let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.”

²⁶ So Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part, except from the land of the priests, which did not become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷ Jacob’s Request of Joseph Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they had possessions there and grew and became very numerous.

²⁸ And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years, so the years of Jacob’s life were one hundred and forty-seven years.

²⁹ When the time drew near when Israel would die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found grace in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt,

³⁰ but let me lie with my fathers. Carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” And he said, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹ And he said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself at the head of his bed.

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¹ Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons After these things, Joseph was told, “Your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.

² When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph is coming to you,” Israel strengthened himself and sat up in the bed.

³ Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me.

⁴ And He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you into a multitude of people and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’

⁵ “Now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

⁶ Any children you have after them will be yours and will be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance.

⁷ As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to get to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

⁸ Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons and said, “Whose are these?”

⁹ And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”

¹⁰ Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

¹¹ Israel said to Joseph, “I never thought I would see your face, but here God has also shown me your children.”

¹² So Joseph took them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the ground.

¹³ Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near him.

¹⁴ Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

¹⁵ He blessed Joseph and said, “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who fed me all my life long to this day,

¹⁶ the angel who redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; let them be called by my name, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

¹⁷ When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

¹⁸ Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹ His father refused and said, “I know it, my son, I know it. He will also become a people, and he will also be great, but truly his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”

²⁰ He blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ” So he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

²¹ Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and return you again to the land of your fathers.

²² Moreover, I have given to you one portion more than your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

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¹ Jacob Blesses His Sons Jacob called to his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, so that I may tell you what will befall you in the last days.

² Gather yourselves together and hear, sons of Jacob, and listen to your father Israel.

³ Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.

⁴ Unstable as water, you shall not excel, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch.

⁵ Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords.

⁶ Let my soul not enter into their council; let my glory not be united with their assembly; for in their anger they killed men and in their self-will they hamstrung oxen.

⁷ Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.

⁸ Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down before you.

⁹ Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches and lies down like a lion; and as a lion, who dares rouse him?

¹⁰ The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to him will be the obedience of the people.

¹¹ He tethers his foal to the vine, and his colt to the choicest vine; he washes his garments in wine, his clothes in the blood of grapes.

¹² His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

¹³ Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be a haven of ships. His border shall be at Sidon.

¹⁴ Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between two burdens;

¹⁵ he saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant; so he bowed his shoulder to bear the burden and became a slave to forced labor.

¹⁶ Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷ Dan shall be a serpent by the road, a viper on the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider will fall backward.

¹⁸ I wait for Your salvation, O Lord!

¹⁹ Gad shall be attacked by raiding bands, but he shall raid at their heels.

²⁰ Asher’s food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal delicacies.

²¹ Naphtali is a doe set loose; he gives beautiful words.

²² Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring, whose branches run over the wall.

²³ The archers bitterly attacked him, they shot at him and hated him.

²⁴ But his bow remained firm. His arms were agile because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

²⁵ because of the God of your father who will help you, and by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings from heaven above, blessings from the deep that lies beneath, the blessings of the breasts and the womb.

²⁶ The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of my fathers, up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They will be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was set apart from his brothers.

²⁷ Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, and at night he divides the spoil.”

²⁸ These are all the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, each with the blessing appropriate to him.

²⁹ The Death of Jacob Then he charged them and said to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

³⁰ in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place.

³¹ They buried Abraham and Sarah his wife there. They buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife there, and I buried Leah there.

³² The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the children of Heth.”

³³ When Jacob finished instructing his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

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¹ The Burial of Jacob Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him.

² Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.

³ Forty days were required for him, for such is the time required for those who are embalmed. Then the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

⁴ When the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, speak to Pharaoh, saying,

⁵ ‘My father made me swear, saying, “I am about to die. Bury me in my tomb which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now therefore please let me go up and bury my father, and then I will return.’ ”

⁶ Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear to do.”

⁷ Joseph went up to bury his father, and all the servants of Pharaoh went up with him too, the elders of his household and all the elders of the land of Egypt,

⁸ all the house of Joseph and his brothers and his father’s household. They left only their little ones and their flocks and their herds in the land of Goshen.

⁹ Both the chariots and horsemen also went up with him. It was a very great company.

¹⁰ When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they mourned with a great and very sorrowful lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father.

¹¹ When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

¹² So his sons did with him just as he had commanded them.

¹³ For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite.

¹⁴ After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.

¹⁵ Joseph Reassures His Brothers When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us and will certainly pay us back for all the wrong we did to him.”

¹⁶ So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died:

¹⁷ ‘Say to Joseph, “I beg you, forgive the transgressions of your brothers and their sin. For they did evil to you.” ’ Now, please forgive the transgressions of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.

¹⁸ Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face and said, “We are your servants.”

¹⁹ Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?

²⁰ But as for you, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many lives.

²¹ So now, do not fear. I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

²² The Death of Joseph Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and his father’s household, and Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.

²³ Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. Also, the children of Makir, the son of Manasseh, were brought up on Joseph’s knees.

²⁴ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. God will surely come to you and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

²⁵ Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”

²⁶ So Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.