1

¹ In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.

² And the earth came to be formless and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim was moving on the face of the waters.

³ And Elohim said, “Let light come to be,” and light came to be.

⁴ And Elohim saw the light, that it was good. And Elohim separated the light from the darkness.

⁵ And Elohim called the light ‘day’ and the darkness He called ‘night.’ And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, one day.

⁶ And Elohim said, “Let an expanse come to be in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”

⁷ And Elohim made the expanse, and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse. And it came to be so.

⁸ And Elohim called the expanse ‘heavens.’ And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the second day.

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

¹⁰ And Elohim called the dry land ‘earth,’ and the collection of the waters He called ‘seas.’ And Elohim saw that it was good.

¹¹ And Elohim said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the plant that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth.” And it came to be so.

¹² And the earth brought forth grass, the plant that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good.

¹³ And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the third day.

¹⁴ And Elohim said, “Let lights come to be in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and appointed times, and for days and years,

¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it came to be so.

¹⁶ And Elohim made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars.

¹⁷ And Elohim set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,

¹⁸ and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And Elohim saw that it was good.

¹⁹ And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the fourth day.

²⁰ And Elohim said, “Let the waters teem with shoals of living beings, and let birds fly above the earth on the face of the expanse of the heavens.”

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

²² And Elohim blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and increase, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”

²³ And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the fifth day.

²⁴ And Elohim said, “Let the earth bring forth the living being according to its kind: livestock and creeping creatures and beasts of the earth, according to its kind.” And it came to be so.

²⁵ And Elohim made the beast of the earth according to its kind, livestock according to its kind, and all that creep on the earth according to its kind. And Elohim saw that it was good.

²⁶ And Elohim said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth and over all the creeping creatures that creep on the ground.”

²⁷ And Elohim created the man in His image, in the image of Elohim He created him — male and female He created them.

²⁸ And Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said to them, “Be fruitful and increase, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over all creeping creatures on the earth.”

²⁹ And Elohim said, “See, I have given you every plant that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed, to you it is for food.

³⁰ And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to every creeping creature on the earth, in which there is a living being, every green plant is for food.” And it came to be so.

³¹ And Elohim saw all that He had made, and see, it was very good. And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the sixth day.

2

¹ Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their array.

² And in the seventh day Elohim completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.

³ And Elohim blessed the seventh day and set it apart, because on it He rested from all His work which Elohim in creating had made.

⁴ These are the births of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that יהוה Elohim made earth and heavens.

⁵ Now no shrub of the field was yet on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for יהוה Elohim had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground,

⁶ but a mist went up from the earth and watered the entire surface of the ground.

⁷ And יהוה Elohim formed the man out of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils breath of lives. And the man became a living being.

⁸ And יהוה Elohim planted a garden in Ěḏen, to the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed.

⁹ And out of the ground יהוה Elohim made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ And a river went out of Ěḏen to water the garden, and from there it divided and became four heads.

¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon, it is the one surrounding the entire land of Ḥawilah, where there is gold.

¹² And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium is there, and the shoham stone.

¹³ And the name of the second river is Giḥon, it is the one surrounding the entire land of Kush.

¹⁴ And the name of the third river is Ḥiddeqel, it is the one which goes toward the east of Ashshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ And יהוה Elohim took the man and put him in the garden of Ěḏen to work it and to guard it.

¹⁶ And יהוה Elohim commanded the man, saying, “Eat of every tree of the garden,

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

¹⁸ And יהוה Elohim said, “It is not good for the man to be alone, I am going to make a helper for him, as his counterpart.”

¹⁹ And from the ground יהוה Elohim formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called each living being, that was its name.

²⁰ So the man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field. But for the man there was not found a helper for him, as his counterpart.

²¹ So יהוה Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept. And He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.

²² And the rib which יהוה Elohim had taken from the man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

²³ And the man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one is called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of man.”

²⁴ For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

²⁵ And they were both naked, the man and his wife, yet they were not ashamed.

3

¹ And the naḥash was more crafty than all the lives of the field which יהוה Elohim had made, and he said to the woman, “Is it true that Elohim has said, ‘Do not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

² And the woman said to the naḥash, “We are to eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden,

³ but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim has said, ‘Do not eat of it, nor touch it, lest you die.’ ”

⁴ And the naḥash said to the woman, “You shall certainly not die.

⁵ “For Elohim knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be like Elohim, knowing good and evil.”

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

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

⁸ And they heard the voice of יהוה Elohim walking about in the garden in the cool of the day, and Aḏam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of יהוה Elohim among the trees of the garden.

⁹ And יהוה Elohim called unto Aḏam and said to him, “Where are you?”

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

¹¹ And He said, “Who made you know that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”

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

¹³ And יהוה Elohim said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The naḥash deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴ And יהוה Elohim said to the naḥash, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all livestock and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you are to go, and eat dust all the days of your life.

¹⁵ And I put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed. He shall crush your head, and you shall crush His heel.”

¹⁶ To the woman He said, “I greatly increase your sorrow and your conception — bring forth children in pain. And your desire is for your husband, and he does rule over you.”

¹⁷ And to the man He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘Do not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground because of you, in toil you are to eat of it all the days of your life,

¹⁸ and the ground shall bring forth thorns and thistles for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field.

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

²⁰ And the man called his wife’s name Ḥawwah, because she became the mother of all living.

²¹ And יהוה Elohim made coats of skin for the man and his wife and dressed them.

²² And יהוה Elohim said, “See, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...”

²³ so יהוה Elohim sent him out of the garden of Ěḏen to till the ground from which he was taken,

²⁴ and He drove the man out. And He placed keruḇim at the east of the garden of Ěḏen, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

4

¹ And Aḏam knew Ḥawwah his wife, and she conceived and bore Qayin, and said, “I have gained a man, יהוה.”

² And again, she gave birth to his brother Heḇel. And Heḇel became a keeper of sheep, but Qayin became a tiller of the ground.

³ And it came to be, in the course of time, that Qayin brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to יהוה.

⁴ And Heḇel also brought of the first-born of his flock and of their fat. And יהוה looked to Heḇel and his offering,

⁵ but He did not look to Qayin and his offering. And Qayin was very wroth, and his face fell.

⁶ And יהוה said to Qayin, “Why is he wroth towards you? And why is your face fallen?

⁷ Is it not if you do good, you are to be accepted? And if you do not do good, towards the door is a sin. He is lying and towards you is his desire, and you must rule over him.”

⁸ And Qayin told Heḇel his brother. And it came to be when they were in the field, that Qayin rose up against Heḇel his brother and killed him.

⁹ And יהוה said to Qayin, “Where is Heḇel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s guard?”

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

¹¹ “And now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

¹² “If you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

¹³ And Qayin said to יהוה, “My punishment is too great to bear!

¹⁴ See, You have driven me from the face of the ground today, and I am hidden from Your face. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and it shall be that anyone who finds me kills me.

¹⁵ And יהוה said to him, “Well, if anyone kills Qayin, vengeance is taken on him sevenfold.” And יהוה set up a sign for Qayin, lest anyone finding him strikes him.

¹⁶ So Qayin went out from the presence of יהוה and dwelt in the land of Noḏ on the east of Ěḏen.

¹⁷ And Qayin knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Ḥanoḵ. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Ḥanoḵ.

¹⁸ And to Ḥanoḵ was born Iraḏ. And Iraḏ brought forth Meḥuya’ĕl, and Meḥuya’ĕl brought forth Methusa’ĕl, and Methusa’ĕl brought forth Lemeḵ.

¹⁹ And Lemeḵ took for himself two wives, the name of one was Aḏah, and the name of the second was Tsillah.

²⁰ And Aḏah bore Yaḇal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents, with livestock.

²¹ And his brother’s name was Yuḇal. He was the father of all those who play the lyre and flute.

²² As for Tsillah, she also bore Tuḇal-Qayin, a smith of all kinds of tools in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tuḇal-Qayin was Na‛amah.

²³ And Lemeḵ said to his wives, “Aḏah and Tsillah, hear my voice! Wives of Lemeḵ, listen to my words! For I have killed a man for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me.

²⁴ For Qayin is avenged sevenfold, and Lemeḵ seventy-sevenfold.

²⁵ And Aḏam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Shĕth, “For Elohim has appointed me another seed instead of Heḇel, because Qayin had killed him.”

²⁶ And to Shĕth, to him also a son was born. And he called his name Enosh. Then it was begun to call on the Name of יהוה.

5

¹ This is the book of the genealogy of Aḏam. In the day that Elohim created man, He made him in the likeness of Elohim.

² Male and female He created them, and He blessed them, and called their name ‘Aḏam’ in the day they were created.

³ And Aḏam lived one hundred and thirty years, and brought forth a son in his own likeness, after his image, and called his name Shĕth.

⁴ And after he brought forth Shĕth, the days of Aḏam were eight hundred years. And he brought forth sons and daughters.

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

⁶ And Shĕth lived one hundred and five years, and brought forth Enosh.

⁷ And after he brought forth Enosh, Shĕth lived eight hundred and seven years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

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

⁹ And Enosh lived ninety years, and brought forth Qĕynan.

¹⁰ And after he brought forth Qĕynan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

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

¹² And Qĕynan lived seventy years, and brought forth Mahalal’ĕl.

¹³ After he brought forth Mahalal’ĕl, Qĕynan lived eight hundred and forty years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

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

¹⁵ And Mahalal’ĕl lived sixty-five years, and brought forth Yereḏ.

¹⁶ And after he brought forth Yereḏ, Mahalal’ĕl lived eight hundred and thirty years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

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

¹⁸ And Yereḏ lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and brought forth Ḥanoḵ.

¹⁹ And after he brought forth Ḥanoḵ, Yereḏ lived eight hundred years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

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

²¹ And Ḥanoḵ lived sixty-five years, and brought forth Methushelaḥ.

²² And after he brought forth Methushelaḥ, Ḥanoḵ walked with Elohim three hundred years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

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

²⁴ And Ḥanoḵ walked with Elohim. Then he was no more, for Elohim took him.

²⁵ And Methushelaḥ lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and brought forth Lemeḵ.

²⁶ And after he brought forth Lemeḵ, Methushelaḥ lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

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

²⁸ And Lemeḵ lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and brought forth a son,

²⁹ and called his name Noaḥ, saying, “This one does comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which יהוה has cursed.”

³⁰ And after he brought forth Noaḥ, Lemeḵ lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

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

³² And Noaḥ was five hundred years old, and Noaḥ brought forth Shĕm, Ḥam, and Yapheth.

6

¹ And it came to be, when men began to increase on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,

² that the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of men, that they were good. And they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

³ And יהוה said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever in his going astray. He is flesh, and his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of Elohim came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, the men of name.

⁵ And יהוה saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

⁶ And יהוה was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

⁷ And יהוה said, “I am going to wipe off man whom I have created from the face of the ground, both man and beast, creeping creature and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

⁸ But Noaḥ found favour in the eyes of יהוה.

⁹ This is the genealogy of Noaḥ. Noaḥ was a righteous man, perfect in his generations. Noaḥ walked with Elohim.

¹⁰ And Noaḥ brought forth three sons: Shĕm, Ḥam, and Yapheth.

¹¹ And the earth was corrupt before Elohim, and the earth was filled with violence.

¹² And Elohim looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt — for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth —

¹³ and Elohim said to Noaḥ, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. And see, I am going to destroy them from the earth.

¹⁴ “Make yourself an ark of gopherwood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with a covering.

¹⁵ “And this is how you are to make it: The length of the ark is three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

¹⁶ “Make a window for the ark, and complete it to a cubit from above. And set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.

¹⁷ “And see, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under the heavens — all that is on the earth is to die.

¹⁸ “And I shall establish My covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.

¹⁹ “And of all the living of all flesh, two of each, you are to bring into the ark, to keep them alive with you — a male and a female.

²⁰ “Of the birds after their kind, and of the cattle after their kind, and of all creeping creatures of the ground after their kind, two of each are to come to you, to keep them alive.

²¹ “As for you, take of all food that is eaten and gather it to yourself. And it shall be food for you and for them.”

²² And Noaḥ did according to all that Elohim commanded him, so he did.

7

¹ And יהוה said to Noaḥ, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.

² “Of all the clean beasts take with you seven pairs, a male and his female; and of the beasts that are unclean two, a male and his female;

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

⁴ “For after seven more days I am sending rain on the earth, forty days and forty nights, and shall wipe from the face of the earth all that stand that I created.”

⁵ And Noaḥ did according to all that יהוה commanded him.

⁶ Now Noaḥ was six hundred years old when the flood-waters were on the earth.

⁷ And Noaḥ and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.

⁸ Of the clean beasts and of the beasts that are unclean, and of birds, and of all that creep on the earth,

⁹ two by two they went into the ark to Noaḥ, male and female, as Elohim had commanded Noaḥ.

¹⁰ And it came to be after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth.

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noaḥ’s life, in the second new moon, the seventeenth day of the moon, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of the heavens were opened.

¹² And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

¹³ On that same day Noaḥ and Shĕm and Ḥam and Yapheth, the sons of Noaḥ, and Noaḥ’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark,

¹⁴ they and every life form after its kind, and every beast after its kind, and every creeping creature that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort.

¹⁵ And they went into the ark to Noaḥ, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life.

¹⁶ And those going in, male and female of all flesh, went in as Elohim had commanded him, and יהוה shut him in.

¹⁷ And the flood was on the earth forty days, and the waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.

¹⁸ And the waters were mighty and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters.

¹⁹ And the waters were exceedingly mighty on the earth, and all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered.

²⁰ The waters became mighty, fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.

²¹ And all flesh died — the creeping creature on the earth — birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming creature that swarms on the earth, and all mankind.

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

²³ So He wiped off all that stand, which were on the face of the ground — both man and beast, creeping creature and bird of the heavens. And they were wiped off from the earth. And only Noaḥ was left, and those with him in the ark.

²⁴ And the waters were mighty on the earth, one hundred and fifty days.

8

¹ And Elohim remembered Noaḥ, and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. And Elohim made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.

² And the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were stopped, and the rain from the heavens was withheld.

³ And the waters receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters diminished.

⁴ And in the seventh new moon, the seventeenth day of the new moon, the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat.

⁵ And the waters decreased steadily until the tenth new moon. In the tenth new moon, on the first day of the new moon, the tops of the mountains became visible.

⁶ And it came to be, at the end of forty days, that Noaḥ opened the window of the ark which he had made,

⁷ and he sent out a raven, which kept going out and turning back until the waters had dried up from the earth.

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

⁹ But the dove found no resting place for its feet and returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of all the earth. So he put out his hand and took it, and pulled it into the ark to himself.

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

¹¹ And the dove came to him in the evening, and see, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in its mouth. And Noaḥ knew that the waters had receded from the earth.

¹² And he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return to him again.

¹³ And it came to be in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the new moon, that the waters were dried up from the earth. And Noaḥ removed the covering of the ark and looked, and saw the surface of the ground was dry.

¹⁴ And in the second new moon, on the twenty-seventh day of the new moon, the earth was dry.

¹⁵ And Elohim spoke to Noaḥ, 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 life form of all flesh that is with you: of birds, of cattle and all creeping creatures — the creeping creatures on the earth. And let them teem on the earth, and bear and increase on the earth.”

¹⁸ So Noaḥ went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him,

¹⁹ every beast, every creeping creature, and every bird, whatever creeps on the earth, according to their kinds, went out of the ark.

²⁰ And Noaḥ built a slaughter-place to יהוה, and took of every clean beast and of every clean bird, and offered ascending offerings on the slaughter-place.

²¹ And יהוה smelled a soothing fragrance, and יהוה said in His heart, “Never again shall I curse the ground because of man, although the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth, and never again strike all living creatures, as I have done,

²² as long as the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

9

¹ And Elohim blessed Noaḥ and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase, and fill the earth.

² “And the fear of you and the dread of you is on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the heavens, on all that creeps on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea — into your hand they have been given.

³ “Every creeping creature that lives is food for you. I have given you all, as I gave the green plants.

⁴ “But do not eat flesh with its life, its blood.

⁵ “But only your blood for your lives I require, from the hand of every beast I require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I require the life of man.

⁶ “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood is shed, for in the image of Elohim has He made man.

⁷ “As for you, be fruitful and increase, bring forth teemingly in the earth and increase in it.”

⁸ And Elohim spoke to Noaḥ and to his sons with him, saying,

⁹ “And I, see, I establish My covenant with you and with your seed after you,

¹⁰ and with every living being that is with you: of the birds, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth.

¹¹ “And I shall establish My covenant with you, and never again is all flesh cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again is there a flood to destroy the earth.”

¹² And Elohim said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living being that is with you, for all generations to come:

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

¹⁴ “And it shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud,

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

¹⁶ “And the rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I shall see it, to remember the everlasting covenant between Elohim and every living being of all flesh that is on the earth.

¹⁷ And Elohim said to Noaḥ, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

¹⁸ And the sons of Noaḥ who went out of the ark were Shĕm and Ḥam and Yapheth. And Ḥam was the father of Kena‛an.

¹⁹ These three were the sons of Noaḥ, and all the earth was overspread from them.

²⁰ And Noaḥ, a man of the soil, began and planted a vineyard.

²¹ And he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.

²² And Ḥam, the father of Kena‛an, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.

²³ So Shĕm and Yapheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father, but their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.

²⁴ And Noaḥ awoke from his wine, and he knew what his younger son had done to him,

²⁵ and he said, “Cursed is Kena‛an, let him become a servant of servants to his brothers.”

²⁶ And he said, “Blessed be יהוה, the Elohim of Shĕm, and let Kena‛an become his servant.

²⁷ “Let Elohim enlarge Yapheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shĕm. And let Kena‛an become his servant.”

²⁸ And Noaḥ lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

²⁹ So all the days of Noaḥ were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.

10

¹ And this is the genealogy of the sons of Noaḥ: Shĕm, Ḥam, and Yapheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.

² The sons of Yapheth: Gomer, and Maḡoḡ, and Maḏai, and Yawan, and Tuḇal, and Mesheḵ, and Tiras.

³ And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Toḡarmah.

⁴ And the sons of Yawan: Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Doḏanim.

⁵ From these the coastland peoples of the nations were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their clans, into their nations.

⁶ And the sons of Ḥam: Kush, and Mitsrayim, and Put, and Kena‛an.

⁷ And the sons of Kush: Seḇa, and Ḥawilah, and Saḇtah, and Ra‛mah, and Saḇteḵa. And the sons of Ra‛mah: Sheḇa and Deḏan.

⁸ And Kush brought forth Nimroḏ, he began to be a mighty one on the earth.

⁹ He was a mighty hunter before יהוה, therefore it is said, “Like Nimroḏ the mighty hunter before יהוה.”

¹⁰ And the beginning of his reign was Baḇel, and Ereḵ, and Akkaḏ, and Kalnĕh, in the land of Shin‛ar.

¹¹ From that land he went to Ashshur and built Ninewĕh, and Reḥoḇoth Ir, and Kelaḥ,

¹² and Resen between Ninewĕh and Kelaḥ, the great city.

¹³ And Mitsrayim brought forth Luḏim, and Anamim, and Lehaḇim, and Naphtuḥim,

¹⁴ and Pathrusim, and Kasluḥim, from whom came the Philistines and Kaphtorim.

¹⁵ And Kena‛an brought forth Tsiḏon his first-born, and Ḥĕth,

¹⁶ and the Yeḇusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite,

¹⁷ and the Ḥiwwite, and the Arqite, and the Sinite,

¹⁸ and the Arwaḏite, and the Tsemarite, and the Ḥamathite. And afterward the clans of the Kena‛anites were spread abroad.

¹⁹ And the border of the Kena‛anites was from Tsiḏon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Azzah, as you go toward Seḏom, and Amorah, and Aḏmah, and Tseḇoyim, as far as Lasha.

²⁰ These were the sons of Ḥam, according to their clans, according to their languages, in their lands, in their nations.

²¹ And also to Shĕm, the father of all the children of Ěḇer, the brother of Yapheth the elder, children were born.

²² The sons of Shĕm: Ěylam, and Asshur, and Arpaḵshaḏ, and Luḏ, and Aram.

²³ And the sons of Aram: Uts, and Ḥul, and Gether, and Mash.

²⁴ And Arpaḵshaḏ brought forth Shelaḥ, and Shelaḥ brought forth Ěḇer.

²⁵ And to Ěḇer were born two sons, the name of one was Peleḡ, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Yoqtan.

²⁶ And Yoqtan brought forth Almoḏaḏ, and Sheleph, and Ḥatsarmaweth, and Yeraḥ,

²⁷ and Haḏoram, and Uzal, and Diqlah,

²⁸ and Oḇal, and Aḇima’ĕl, and Sheḇa,

²⁹ and Ophir, and Ḥawilah, and Yoḇaḇ. All these were sons of Yoqtan.

³⁰ And their dwelling place was from Mĕysha as you go toward Sephar, a mountain of the east.

³¹ These were the sons of Shĕm, according to their clans, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.

³² These were the clans of the sons of Noaḥ, according to their generations, in their nations. And from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.

11

¹ And all the earth had one language and one speech.

² And it came to be, as they set out from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shin‛ar, and they dwelt there.

³ And they said to each other, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.

⁴ And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens, and make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over all the face of the earth.”

⁵ Then יהוה came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.

⁶ And יהוה said, “Look, they are one people and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do! And now, they are not going to be withheld from doing whatever they plan to do.

⁷ “Come, let Us go there and confuse their language, so that they do not understand one another’s speech.”

⁸ And יהוה scattered them from there, over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.

⁹ That is why its name was called Baḇel, because there יהוה confused the language of all the earth, and from there יהוה scattered them over the face of all the earth.

¹⁰ This is the genealogy of Shĕm: Shĕm was a hundred years old and brought forth Arpaḵshaḏ, two years after the flood.

¹¹ And after he brought forth Arpaḵshaḏ, Shĕm lived five hundred years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

¹² And Arpaḵshaḏ lived thirty-five years, and brought forth Shelaḥ.

¹³ And after he brought forth Shelaḥ, Arpaḵshaḏ lived four hundred and three years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

¹⁴ And Shelaḥ lived thirty years, and brought forth Ěḇer.

¹⁵ And after he brought forth Ěḇer, Shelaḥ lived four hundred and three years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

¹⁶ And Ěḇer lived thirty-four years, and brought forth Peleḡ.

¹⁷ And after he brought forth Peleḡ, Ěḇer lived four hundred and thirty years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

¹⁸ And Peleḡ lived thirty years, and brought forth Re‛u.

¹⁹ And after he brought forth Re‛u, Peleḡ lived two hundred and nine years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

²⁰ And Re‛u lived thirty-two years, and brought forth Seruḡ.

²¹ And after he brought forth Seruḡ, Re‛u lived two hundred and seven years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

²² And Seruḡ lived thirty years, and brought forth Naḥor.

²³ And after he brought forth Naḥor, Seruḡ lived two hundred years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

²⁴ And Naḥor lived twenty-nine years, and brought forth Teraḥ.

²⁵ And after he brought forth Teraḥ, Naḥor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and brought forth sons and daughters.

²⁶ And Teraḥ lived seventy years, and brought forth Aḇram, Naḥor, and Haran.

²⁷ And this is the genealogy of Teraḥ: Teraḥ brought forth Aḇram, Naḥor, and Haran. And Haran brought forth Lot.

²⁸ And Haran died before his father Teraḥ in the land of his birth, in Ur-kasdim.

²⁹ And Aḇram and Naḥor took wives: the name of Aḇram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Naḥor’s wife, Milkah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milkah and the father of Yiskah.

³⁰ And Sarai was barren, she had no child.

³¹ And Teraḥ took his son Aḇram and his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Aḇram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur-kasdim to go to the land of Kena‛an. And they came to Ḥaran and dwelt there.

³² And the days of Teraḥ came to be two hundred and five years, and Teraḥ died in Ḥaran.

12

¹ And יהוה said to Aḇram, “Go yourself out of your land, from your relatives and from your father’s house, to a land which I show you.

² “And I shall make you a great nation, and bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing!

³ “And I shall bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you. And in you all the clans of the earth shall be blessed.”

⁴ So Aḇram left, as יהוה had commanded him, and Lot went with him. And Aḇram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Ḥaran.

⁵ And Aḇram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the beings whom they had acquired in Ḥaran, and they set out for the land of Kena‛an. And they came to the land of Kena‛an.

⁶ And Aḇram passed through the land to the place of Sheḵem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. At that time the Kena‛anites were in the land.

⁷ And יהוה appeared to Aḇram and said, “To your seed I give this land.” And he built there a slaughter-place to יהוה, who had appeared to him.

⁸ And from there he moved to the mountain east of Bĕyth Ěl, and he pitched his tent, with Bĕyth Ěl on the west and Ai on the east. And he built there a slaughter-place to יהוה, and called on the Name of יהוה.

⁹ And Aḇram set out, continuing toward the South.

¹⁰ And a scarcity of food came to be in the land, and Aḇram went down to Mitsrayim to dwell there, for the scarcity of food was severe in the land.

¹¹ And it came to be, when he was close to entering Mitsrayim, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at.

¹² “And it shall be, when the Mitsrites see you, that they shall say, ‘This is his wife.’ And they shall kill me, but let you live.

¹³ “Please say you are my sister, so that it shall be well with me for your sake, and my life be spared because of you.”

¹⁴ And it came to be, when Aḇram came into Mitsrayim, that the Mitsrites saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.

¹⁵ And Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her before Pharaoh, and the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.

¹⁶ And he treated Aḇram well for her sake, and he had sheep, and cattle, and male donkeys, and male and female servants, and female donkeys, and camels.

¹⁷ But יהוה plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Aḇram’s wife.

¹⁸ And Pharaoh called Aḇram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not inform me that she was your wife?

¹⁹ “Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? And so I was going to take her for my wife. Look, here is your wife, take her and go.”

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

13

¹ And Aḇram went up from Mitsrayim into the South, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him.

² And Aḇram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

³ And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bĕyth Ěl, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bĕyth Ěl and Ai,

⁴ to the place of the slaughter-place which he had made there at first. And there Aḇram called on the Name of יהוה.

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

⁶ And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were great, so that they could not dwell together.

⁷ And there was strife between the herdsmen of Aḇram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. And at that time the Kena‛anites and the Perizzites dwelt in the land.

⁸ Then Aḇram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers.

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

¹⁰ And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of the Yardĕn, that it was well watered everywhere — before יהוה destroyed Seḏom and Amorah — like the garden of יהוה, like the land of Mitsrayim as you go toward Tso‛ar.

¹¹ So Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Yardĕn, and Lot moved east. Thus they separated from each other,

¹² Aḇram dwelling in the land of Kena‛an, and Lot dwelling in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent as far as Seḏom.

¹³ But the men of Seḏom were evil and sinned before יהוה, exceedingly so.

¹⁴ And after Lot had separated from him, יהוה said to Aḇram, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward,

¹⁵ for all the land which you see I shall give to you and your seed forever.

¹⁶ “And I shall make your seed as the dust of the earth, so that, if a man could count the dust of the earth, then your seed also could be counted.

¹⁷ “Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

¹⁸ So Aḇram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamrĕ, which are in Ḥeḇron, and built a slaughter-place there to יהוה.

14

¹ And it came to be in the days of Amraphel sovereign of Shin‛ar, Aryoḵ sovereign of Ellasar, Keḏorla‛omer sovereign of Ěylam, and Tiḏ‛al sovereign of Goyim,

² that they fought against Bera sovereign of Seḏom, Birsha sovereign of Amorah, Shinaḇ sovereign of Aḏmah, Shem’ĕḇer sovereign of Tseḇoyim, and the sovereign of Bela, that is Tso‛ar.

³ All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim, that is the Salt Sea.

⁴ Twelve years they served Keḏorla‛omer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

⁵ And in the fourteenth year Keḏorla‛omer and the sovereigns that were with him came and struck the Repha’im in Ashteroth Qarnayim, and the Zuzim in Ḥam, and the Ěmites in Shawĕh Qiryathayim,

⁶ and the Ḥorites in their mountain of Sĕ‛ir, as far as Ěl Paran, which is by the wilderness.

⁷ And they turned back and came to Ěn Mishpat, that is Qaḏĕsh, and struck all the country of the Amalĕqites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Ḥatsetson Tamar.

⁸ And the sovereign of Seḏom, and the sovereign of Amorah, and the sovereign of Aḏmah, and the sovereign of Tseḇoyim, and the sovereign of Bela, that is Tso‛ar, went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim,

⁹ against Keḏorla‛omer sovereign of Ěylam, and Tiḏ‛al sovereign of Goyim, and Amraphel sovereign of Shin‛ar, and Aryoḵ sovereign of Ellasar — four sovereigns against five.

¹⁰ And the Valley of Siddim had many tar pits. And the sovereigns of Seḏom and Amorah fled and fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains.

¹¹ And they took all the goods of Seḏom and Amorah, and all their food, and went away.

¹² And they took Lot, Aḇram’s brother’s son who dwelt in Seḏom, and his goods, and left.

¹³ And one who had escaped came and informed Aḇram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamrĕ the Amorite, brother of Eshkol and brother of Anĕr, and they had a covenant with Aḇram.

¹⁴ And when Aḇram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

¹⁵ And he and his servants divided against them by night, and struck them and pursued them as far as Ḥoḇah, which is on the left of Dammeseq.

¹⁶ So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.

¹⁷ And after his return from the striking of Keḏorla‛omer and the sovereigns who were with him, the sovereign of Seḏom came out to meet him at the Valley of Shawĕh, that is, the Sovereign’s Valley.

¹⁸ And Malkitseḏeq sovereign of Shalĕm brought out bread and wine. Now he was the priest of the Most High Ěl.

¹⁹ And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Aḇram of the Most High Ěl, Possessor of the heavens and earth.

²⁰ “And blessed be the Most High Ěl who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him a tenth of all.

²¹ And the sovereign of Seḏom said to Aḇram, “Give me the people, and take the goods for yourself.”

²² But Aḇram said to the sovereign of Seḏom, “I have lifted my hand to יהוה, the Most High Ěl, the Possessor of the heavens and earth,

²³ not to take a thread or a sandal strap or whatever is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Aḇram rich,’

²⁴ except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Anĕr, Eshkol, and Mamrĕ. Let them take their portion.”

15

¹ After these events the word of יהוה came to Aḇram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Aḇram. I am your shield, your reward is exceedingly great.”

² And Aḇram said, “Master יהוה, what would You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eli‛ezer of Dammeseq?”

³ And Aḇram said, “See, You have given me no seed, and see, one born in my house is my heir!”

⁴ And see, the word of יהוה came to him, saying, “This one is not your heir, but he who comes from your own body is your heir.”

⁵ And He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So are your seed.”

⁶ And he believed in יהוה, and He reckoned it to him for righteousness.

⁷ And He said to him, “I am יהוה, who brought you out of Ur-kasdim, to give you this land to inherit it.”

⁸ And he said, “Master יהוה, whereby do I know that I possess it?”

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

¹⁰ And he took all these to Him and cut them in the middle, and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds.

¹¹ And the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Aḇram drove them away.

¹² And it came to be, when the sun was going down, and a deep sleep fell upon Aḇram, that see, a frightening great darkness fell upon him.

¹³ And He said to Aḇram, “Know for certain that your seed are to be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

¹⁴ “But the nation whom they serve I am going to judge, and afterward let them come out with great possessions.

¹⁵ “Now as for you, you are to go to your fathers in peace, you are to be buried at a good old age.

¹⁶ “Then, in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the crookedness of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

¹⁷ And it came to be, when the sun went down and it was dark, that see, a smoking oven and a burning torch passing between those pieces.

¹⁸ On the same day יהוה made a covenant with Aḇram, saying, “I have given this land to your seed, from the river of Mitsrayim to the great river, the River Euphrates,

¹⁹ with the Qĕynite, and the Qenizzite, and the Qaḏmonite,

²⁰ and the Ḥittite, and the Perizzite, and the Repha’im,

²¹ and the Amorite, and the Kena‛anite, and the Girgashite, and the Yeḇusite.”

16

¹ And Sarai, Aḇram’s wife, had borne him no child. And she had a Mitsrian female servant whose name was Haḡar.

² And Sarai said to Aḇram, “See, יהוה has kept me from bearing children. Please, go in to my female servant. It might be that I am built up by her.” And Aḇram listened to the voice of Sarai.

³ And Sarai, Aḇram’s wife, took Haḡar her female servant, the Mitsrian, and gave her to her husband Aḇram to be his wife, after Aḇram had dwelt ten years in the land of Kena‛an.

⁴ And he went in to Haḡar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

⁵ And Sarai said to Aḇram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my female servant into your bosom. And when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes. Let יהוה judge between you and me.”

⁶ And Aḇram said to Sarai, “See, your female servant is in your hand, do to her what is good in your eyes.” And Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.

⁷ And the Messenger of יהוה found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur,

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

⁹ And the Messenger of יהוה said to her, “Return to your mistress, and humble yourself under her hand.”

¹⁰ And the Messenger of יהוה said to her, “I am going to increase your seed greatly, too numerous to be counted.”

¹¹ And the Messenger of יהוה said to her, “See, you are conceiving and bearing a son, and shall call his name Yishma‛ĕl, because יהוה has heard your affliction.

¹² “And he is to be a wild man, his hand against every one and every one’s hand against him, and dwell over against all his brothers.”

¹³ And she called the Name of יהוה who spoke to her, “You are the Ěl who sees,” for she said, “Even here have I seen after Him who sees me?”

¹⁴ That is why the well was called Be’ĕr Laḥai Ro’i, see, it is between Qaḏĕsh and Bereḏ.

¹⁵ And Haḡar bore Aḇram a son, and Aḇram called the name of his son, whom Haḡar bore, Yishma‛ĕl.

¹⁶ And Aḇram was eighty-six years old when Haḡar bore Yishma‛ĕl to Aḇram.

17

¹ And it came to be when Aḇram was ninety-nine years old, that יהוה appeared to Aḇram and said to him, “I am Ěl Shaddai — walk before Me and be perfect.

² “And I give My covenant between Me and you, and shall greatly increase you.

³ And Aḇram fell on his face, and Elohim spoke with him, saying,

⁴ As for Me, look, My covenant is with you, and you shall become a father of many nations.

⁵ “And no longer is your name called Aḇram, but your name shall be Aḇraham, because I shall make you a father of many nations.

⁶ “And I shall make you exceedingly fruitful, and make nations of you, and sovereigns shall come from you.

⁷ “And I shall establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be Elohim to you and your seed after you.

⁸ “And I shall give to you and your seed after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Kena‛an, as an everlasting possession. And I shall be their Elohim.”

⁹ And Elohim said to Aḇraham, “As for you, guard My covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations.

¹⁰ “This is My covenant which you guard between Me and you, and your seed after you: Every male child among you is to be circumcised.

¹¹ “And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall become a sign of the covenant between Me and you.

¹² “And a son of eight days is circumcised by you, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with silver from any foreigner who is not of your seed.

¹³ “He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your silver, has to be circumcised. So shall My covenant be in your flesh, for an everlasting covenant.

¹⁴ “And an uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, his life shall be cut off from his people — he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ And Elohim said to Aḇraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her name.

¹⁶ “And I shall bless her and also give you a son by her. And I shall bless her, and she shall become nations — sovereigns of peoples are to be from her.”

¹⁷ And Aḇraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Is a child born to a man who is a hundred years old? Or is Sarah, who is ninety years old, to bear a child?”

¹⁸ And Aḇraham said to Elohim, “Oh, let Yishma‛ĕl live before You!”

¹⁹ “And Elohim said, “No, Sarah your wife is truly bearing a son to you, and you shall call his name Yitsḥaq. And I shall establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

²⁰ “And as for Yishma‛ĕl, I have heard you. See, I shall bless him, and shall make him fruitful, and greatly increase him. He is to bring forth twelve princes, and I shall make him a great nation.

²¹ “But My covenant I establish with Yitsḥaq, whom Sarah is to bear to you at this appointed time next year.”

²² And when He had ended speaking with him, Elohim went up from Aḇraham.

²³ And Aḇraham took Yishma‛ĕl his son, and all those born in his house and all those bought with his silver, every male among the men of Aḇraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that same day, as Elohim told him.

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

²⁵ And Yishma‛ĕl his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

²⁶ Aḇraham and his son Yishma‛ĕl were circumcised that same day.

²⁷ And all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with silver from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

18

¹ And יהוה appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamrĕ, while he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.

² So he lifted his eyes and looked, and saw three men standing opposite him. And when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground,

³ and said, “יהוה, if I have now found favour in Your eyes, please do not pass Your servant by.

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

⁵ “And let me bring a piece of bread and refresh your hearts, and then go on, for this is why you have come to your servant.” And they said, “Do as you have said.”

⁶ So Aḇraham ran into the tent to Sarah and said, “Hurry, make ready three measures of fine flour, knead it and make cakes.”

⁷ And Aḇraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hurried to prepare it.

⁸ And he took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.

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

¹⁰ And He said, “I shall certainly return to you according to the time of life, and see, Sarah your wife is to have a son!” And Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.

¹¹ Now Aḇraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age, and Sarah was past the way of women.

¹² And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my master being old too?”

¹³ And יהוה said to Aḇraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I truly have a child, since I am old?’

¹⁴ Is any matter too hard for יהוה? At the appointed time I am going to return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah is to have a son.

¹⁵ But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

¹⁶ And the men rose up from there and looked toward Seḏom, and Aḇraham went with them to send them away.

¹⁷ And יהוה said, “Shall I hide from Aḇraham what I am doing,

¹⁸ since Aḇraham is certainly going to become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

¹⁹ “For I have known him, so that he commands his children and his household after him, to guard the way of יהוה, to do righteousness and right-ruling, so that יהוה brings to Aḇraham what He has spoken to him.

²⁰ And יהוה said, “Because the outcry against Seḏom and Amorah is great, and because their sin is very heavy,

²¹ “I am going down now to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me, and if not, I know.

²² So the men turned away from there and went toward Seḏom, but יהוה still stood before Aḇraham.

²³ And Aḇraham drew near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wrong?

²⁴ “Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city, would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?

²⁵ “Far be it from You to act in this way, to slay the righteous with the wrong, so that the righteous should be as the wrong. Far be it from You! Does the Judge of all the earth not do right?”

²⁶ And יהוה said, “If I find in Seḏom fifty righteous within the city, then I shall spare all the place for their sakes.”

²⁷ And Aḇraham answered and said, “Look, please, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to יהוה,

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

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

³⁰ And he said, “Let not יהוה be displeased, and let me speak: Suppose there are found thirty?” And He said, “I would not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹ And he said, “Look, please, I have taken it upon myself to speak to יהוה: Suppose there are found twenty?” And He said, “I would not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”

³² And he said, “Let not יהוה be displeased, and let me speak only this time: Suppose there are found ten?” And He said, “I would not destroy it for the sake of ten.”

³³ Then יהוה went away as soon as He had ended speaking to Aḇraham. And Aḇraham returned to his place.

19

¹ And the two messengers came to Seḏom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Seḏom. And when Lot saw them, he rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground,

² and he said, “Look, please my masters, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet, and rise early and go your way.” And they said, “No, but let us spend the night in the open square.”

³ But he urged them strongly, and they turned in to him and came into his house. And 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 Seḏom, both old and young, all the people from every part, surrounded the house.

⁵ And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, and let us ‘know’ them.”

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

⁷ and said, “Please, my brothers, do not do evil!

⁸ Look, please, I have two daughters who have not known a man. Please, let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you wish, only do no deed to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.

⁹ But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This one came in to sojourn, and should he always judge? Now we are going to treat you worse than them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break 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 who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, and they wearied themselves to find the door.

¹² And the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city — bring them out of this place!

¹³ For we are going to destroy this place, because the cry against them has grown great before the face of יהוה, and יהוה has sent us to destroy it.

¹⁴ And 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 יהוה is going to destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be as one joking.

¹⁵ And when morning dawned, the messengers urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.”

¹⁶ And while he loitered, the men took hold of his hand, and his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, יהוה having compassion on him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

¹⁷ And it came to be, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed.”

¹⁸ And Lot said to them, “Oh no, יהוה!

¹⁹ “Look, please, your servant has found favour in your eyes, and you have increased your loving-commitment which you have shown me by saving my life, but I am unable to escape to the mountains, lest calamity overtake me and I die.

²⁰ “Look, please, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please let me escape there — is it not a small matter — and let my life be saved?”

²¹ And He said to him, “Look, I have favoured you concerning this matter also, without overthrowing this city for which you have spoken.

²² Hurry, escape there. For I am not able to do any deed until you arrive there. So the name of the city was called Tso‛ar.

²³ The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Tso‛ar.

²⁴ And יהוה rained sulphur and fire on Seḏom and Amorah, from יהוה out of the heavens.

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

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

²⁷ And Aḇraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before יהוה,

²⁸ and he looked toward Seḏom and Amorah, and toward all the land of the plain. And he looked and saw the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹ Thus it came to be, when Elohim destroyed the cities of the plain, that Elohim remembered Aḇraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

³⁰ And Lot went up out of Tso‛ar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him, for he was afraid to dwell in Tso‛ar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave.

³¹ And the first-born said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us, as is the way of all the earth.

³² Come, let us make our father drink wine and lie with him, so that we preserve the seed of our father.

³³ So they made their father drink wine that night. And the first-born went in and lay with her father, and he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁴ And it came to be on the next day that the first-born said to the younger, “See, I lay with my father last night. Let us make him drink wine tonight as well, and you go in and lie with him, so that we keep the seed of our father.”

³⁵ So they made their father drink wine that night as well. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁶ Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father.

³⁷ And the first-born bore a son and called his name Mo’aḇ, he is the father of the Mo’aḇites to this day.

³⁸ And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi, he is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

20

¹ And Aḇraham set out from there to the land of the South, and dwelt between Qaḏĕsh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.

² And Aḇraham said concerning Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Aḇimeleḵ sovereign of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

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

⁴ However, Aḇimeleḵ had not come near her, and he said, “יהוה, would You kill a righteous nation also?

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

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

⁷ And now, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and let him pray for you and you live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall certainly die, you and all that are yours.

⁸ So Aḇimeleḵ rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and spoke all these words in their hearing. And the men were greatly frightened.

⁹ And Aḇimeleḵ called Aḇraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? In what have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my reign a great sin? You have done matters to me that should not be done.”

¹⁰ And Aḇimeleḵ said to Aḇraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this matter?”

¹¹ And Aḇraham said, “Only because I said to myself, the fear of Elohim is not in this place, and they shall kill me for the sake of my wife.

¹² “And yet, she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.

¹³ And it came to be, when Elohim caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your loving-commitment that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

¹⁴ Then Aḇimeleḵ took sheep, and cattle, and male and female servants, and gave them to Aḇraham. And he returned Sarah his wife to him.

¹⁵ And Aḇimeleḵ said, “See, my land is before you, dwell wherever it is good in your eyes.”

¹⁶ And to Sarah he said, “See, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. See, it is to you a covering of eyes before all who are with you and before all others, and you are cleared before everyone.”

¹⁷ And Aḇraham prayed to Elohim, and Elohim healed Aḇimeleḵ, and his wife, and his female servants, so they bore children,

¹⁸ for יהוה had closed up all the wombs of the house of Aḇimeleḵ because of Sarah, Aḇraham’s wife.

21

¹ And יהוה visited Sarah as He had said, and יהוה did for Sarah as He had spoken.

² So Sarah conceived and bore Aḇraham a son in his old age, at the appointed time of which Elohim had spoken to him.

³ And Aḇraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Yitsḥaq.

⁴ And Aḇraham circumcised his son Yitsḥaq when he was eight days old, as Elohim had commanded him.

⁵ And Aḇraham was one hundred years old when his son Yitsḥaq was born to him.

⁶ And Sarah said, “Elohim has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of it laughs with me.”

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

⁸ And the child grew and was weaned, and Aḇraham made a great feast on the day that Yitsḥaq was weaned.

⁹ And Sarah saw the son of Haḡar the Mitsrian, whom she had borne to Aḇraham, mocking.

¹⁰ So she said to Aḇraham, “Drive out this female servant and her son, for the son of this female servant shall not inherit with my son, with Yitsḥaq.”

¹¹ And the matter was very evil in the eyes of Aḇraham because of his son.

¹² But Elohim said to Aḇraham, “Let it not be evil in your eyes because of the boy and because of your female servant. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice, for in Yitsḥaq your seed is called.

¹³ And of the son of the female servant I also make a nation, because he is your seed.

¹⁴ And Aḇraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, which he gave to Haḡar, putting it on her shoulder, also the boy, and sent her away. And she left and wandered in the Wilderness of Be’ĕrsheḇa.

¹⁵ And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs.

¹⁶ And she went and sat down about a bowshot away, for she said, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” And she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.

¹⁷ And Elohim heard the voice of the boy, and the messenger of Elohim called to Haḡar from the heavens, and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Haḡar? Do not fear, for Elohim has heard the voice of the boy where he is.

¹⁸ Arise, lift up the boy and hold him with your hand, for I make a great nation of him.

¹⁹ And Elohim 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 And Elohim was with the boy, and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

²¹ And he dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Mitsrayim.

²² And it came to be at that time that Aḇimeleḵ and Piḵol, the commander of his army, spoke to Aḇraham, saying, “Elohim is with you in all that you do.

²³ And now, swear to me by Elohim, not to be untrue to me, to my offspring, or to my descendants. Do to me according to the loving-commitment that I have done to you and to the land in which you have dwelt.

²⁴ And Aḇraham said, “I swear.”

²⁵ And Aḇraham reproved Aḇimeleḵ because of a well of water which Aḇimeleḵ’s servants had seized.

²⁶ And Aḇimeleḵ said, “I do not know who has done this deed. Neither did you inform me, nor did I hear until today.”

²⁷ So Aḇraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Aḇimeleḵ, and the two of them made a covenant.

²⁸ And Aḇraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

²⁹ And Aḇimeleḵ asked Aḇraham, “What are these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?”

³⁰ And he said, “Take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, to be my witness that I have dug this well.”

³¹ So he called that place Be’ĕrsheḇa, because the two of them swore an oath there.

³² Thus they made a covenant at Be’ĕrsheḇa. And Aḇimeleḵ rose with Piḵol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.

³³ And he planted a tamarisk tree in Be’ĕrsheḇa, and there called on the Name of יהוה, the Everlasting Ěl.

³⁴ And Aḇraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.

22

¹ And it came to be after these events that Elohim tried Aḇraham, and said to him, “Aḇraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

² And He said, “Take your son, now, your only son Yitsḥaq, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriyah, and offer him there as an ascending offering on one of the mountains which I command you.”

³ And Aḇraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Yitsḥaq his son. And he split the wood for the ascending offering, and arose and went to the place which Elohim had commanded him.

⁴ And on the third day Aḇraham lifted his eyes and saw the place from a distance.

⁵ So Aḇraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go over there and worship, and come back to you.”

⁶ And Aḇraham took the wood of the ascending offering and laid it on Yitsḥaq his son. And he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.

⁷ And Yitsḥaq spoke to Aḇraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “See, the fire and the wood! But where is the lamb for an ascending offering?”

⁸ And Aḇraham said, “My son, Elohim does provide for Himself the lamb for an ascending offering.” And the two of them went together.

⁹ And they came to the place which Elohim had commanded him, and Aḇraham built a slaughter-place there and placed the wood in order. And he bound Yitsḥaq his son and laid him on the slaughter-place, upon the wood.

¹⁰ And Aḇraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son,

¹¹ but the Messenger of יהוה called to him from the heavens and said, “Aḇraham, Aḇraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

¹² And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy, nor touch him. For now I know that you fear Elohim, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

¹³ And Aḇraham lifted his eyes and looked and saw behind him a ram caught in a bush by its horns, and Aḇraham went and took the ram and offered it up for an ascending offering instead of his son.

¹⁴ And Aḇraham called the name of the place, ‘יהוה Yireh,’ as it is said to this day, “On the mountain יהוה provides.”

¹⁵ And the Messenger of יהוה called to Aḇraham a second time from the heavens,

¹⁶ and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares יהוה, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son,

¹⁷ that I shall certainly bless you, and I shall certainly increase your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore, and let your seed possess the gate of their enemies.

¹⁸ And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.

¹⁹ Then Aḇraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Be’ĕrsheḇa. And Aḇraham dwelt at Be’ĕrsheḇa.

²⁰ And it came to be after these events that it was reported to Aḇraham, saying, “See, Milkah too has borne children to your brother Naḥor:

²¹ “Uts his first-born, and Buz his brother, and Qemu’ĕl the father of Aram,

²² “and Keseḏ, and Ḥazo, and Pildash, and Yiḏlaph, and Bethu’ĕl.

²³ And Bethu’ĕl brought forth Riḇqah. These eight Milkah bore to Naḥor, Aḇraham’s brother.

²⁴ And his concubine, whose name was Re’uwmah, also bore Teḇaḥ, and Gaḥam, and Taḥash, and Ma‛aḵah.

23

¹ And Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years, the years of the life of Sarah.

² And Sarah died in Qiryath Arba, that is Ḥeḇron, in the land of Kena‛an, and Aḇraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

³ Then Aḇraham rose up from beside his dead, and spoke to the sons of Ḥĕth, saying,

⁴ I am a foreigner and a sojourner among you. Give me property for a burial-site among you, so that I bury my dead from my presence.

⁵ And the sons of Ḥĕth answered Aḇraham, saying to him,

⁶ Hear us, my master: You are a prince of Elohim among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial-sites. None of us withholds from you his burial-site, from burying your dead.

⁷ So Aḇraham rose and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Ḥĕth.

⁸ And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your desire that I bury my dead from my presence, hear me, and approach Ephron son of Tsoḥar for me,

⁹ and let me have the cave of Maḵpĕlah which he has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me for the complete amount of silver, as property for a burial-site among you.”

¹⁰ And Ephron dwelt among the sons of Ḥĕth. And Ephron the Ḥittite answered Aḇraham in the hearing of the sons of Ḥĕth, all who entered at the gate of his city, saying,

¹¹ No, my master, listen to me! I shall give you the field and the cave that is in it. I shall give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I shall give it to you. Bury your dead!

¹² And Aḇraham bowed himself down before the people of the land,

¹³ and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If only you would hear me. I shall give the amount of silver for the field, take it from me, and let me bury my dead there.”

¹⁴ And Ephron answered Aḇraham, saying to him,

¹⁵ My master, listen to me! The land is worth four hundred sheqels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead.

¹⁶ And Aḇraham listened to Ephron, and Aḇraham weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Ḥĕth, four hundred sheqels of silver, currency of the merchants.

¹⁷ Thus the field of Ephron which was in Maḵpĕlah, which was before Mamrĕ, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded

¹⁸ to Aḇraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Ḥĕth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.

¹⁹ And after this Aḇraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Maḵpĕlah, before Mamrĕ, that is Ḥeḇron, in the land of Kena‛an.

²⁰ Thus the field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Aḇraham by the sons of Ḥĕth as property for a burial-site.

24

¹ And Aḇraham was old, advanced in years. And יהוה had blessed Aḇraham in every way.

² And Aḇraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh,

³ so that I make you swear by יהוה, the Elohim of the heavens and the Elohim of the earth, that you do not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Kena‛anites, among whom I dwell,

⁴ but to go to my land and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Yitsḥaq.”

⁵ And the servant said to him, “What if the woman refuses to follow me to this land? Do I then take your son back to the land from which you came?”

⁶ And Aḇraham said to him, “Beware lest you take my son back there!

⁷ “יהוה, Elohim of the heavens, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my relatives, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your seed I give this land,’ He sends His messenger before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.

⁸ “And if the woman refuses to follow you, then you shall be released from this oath; only, do not take my son back there.”

⁹ Then the servant put his hand under the thigh of Aḇraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ And the servant took ten of his master’s camels and left, for all his master’s good gifts were in his hand. And he arose and went to Aram Naharayim, to the city of Naḥor.

¹¹ And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a fountain of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water.

¹² And he said, “יהוה, Elohim of my master Aḇraham, please cause her to meet before me this day, and show loving-commitment to my master Aḇraham.

¹³ “See, I am standing here by the fountain of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.

¹⁴ “Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar to let me drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and let me water your camels too,’ let her be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Yitsḥaq. And let me know by this that You have shown loving-commitment to my master.”

¹⁵ And it came to be, before he had ended speaking, that see, Riḇqah, who was born to Bethu’ĕl, son of Milkah, the wife of Naḥor, Aḇraham’s brother, came out with her jar on her shoulder.

¹⁶ And the young woman was very good-looking, a maiden, no man having known her. And she went down to the fountain, filled her jar, and came up.

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

¹⁸ And she said, “Drink, my master.” And she hurried and let her jar down to her hand, and gave him a drink.

¹⁹ And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “Let me draw water for your camels too, until they have finished drinking.”

²⁰ And she hurried and emptied her jar into the trough, ran back to the fountain to draw water, and drew for all his camels.

²¹ And watching her, the man remained silent in order to know whether יהוה had prospered his way or not.

²² And it came to be, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a sheqel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten sheqels of gold,

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

²⁴ And she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethu’ĕl, Milkah’s son, whom she bore to Naḥor.”

²⁵ And she said to him, “We have both straw and fodder enough, and room to spend the night.”

²⁶ And the man bowed down his head and worshipped יהוה.

²⁷ And he said, “Blessed be יהוה Elohim of my master Aḇraham, who has not forsaken His loving-commitment and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, יהוה led me to the house of my master’s brothers.”

²⁸ Then the young woman ran and informed those of her mother’s house these matters.

²⁹ And Riḇqah had a brother whose name was Laḇan, and Laḇan ran out to the man, to the fountain.

³⁰ And it came to be, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Riḇqah, saying, “Thus the man spoke to me,” that he went to the man and saw him standing by the camels at the fountain.

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

³² So the man came into the house, while he unloaded the camels and provided straw and fodder for the camels and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him,

³³ and set food before him to eat. But he said, “Let me not eat until I have spoken my word.” And he said, “Speak on.”

³⁴ And he said, “I am Aḇraham’s servant.

³⁵ “And יהוה has blessed my master exceedingly, and he has become great. And He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

³⁶ “And 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 “And my master made me swear, saying, ‘Do not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Kena‛anites, in whose land I dwell,

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

³⁹ And I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not follow me?’ ”

⁴⁰ “But he said to me, ‘יהוה, before whom I walk, sends His messenger with you and shall prosper your way. And you shall take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house.

⁴¹ Then, when you go to my relatives, you are to be released from this oath. And if they do not give her to you, then you are released from my oath.’

⁴² And this day I came to the fountain and said, ‘יהוה, Elohim of my master Aḇraham, please, if You are prospering the way in which I am going,”

⁴³ see, I am standing by the fountain of water, and when the young woman comes out to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,”

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

⁴⁵ “I had not yet ended speaking in my heart, then see, Riḇqah was coming out with her jar on her shoulder. And she went down to the fountain and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’

⁴⁶ “And she hurried and let her jar down from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and let me water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels too.

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

⁴⁸ And I bowed my head and worshipped יהוה, and blessed יהוה, Elohim of my master Aḇraham, who had led me in the true way to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son.”

⁴⁹ And now, if you are going to show loving-commitment and truth to my master, let me know, and if not, let me know, so that I turn to the right or to the left.

⁵⁰ And Laḇan answered — Bethu’ĕl too — and said, “The matter comes from יהוה, we are not able to speak to you either evil or good.

⁵¹ See, Riḇqah is before you. Take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as יהוה has spoken.

⁵² And it came to be, when Aḇraham’s servant heard their words, that he bowed himself towards the earth before יהוה.

⁵³ And the servant brought out ornaments of silver, and ornaments of gold, and garments, and gave them to Riḇqah. He also gave costly gifts to her brother and to her mother.

⁵⁴ And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning he said, “Let me go to my master.”

⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten, then you go.”

⁵⁶ And he said to them, “Do not delay me, since יהוה has prospered my way. Let me go so that I go to my master.”

⁵⁷ And they said, “Let us call the young woman and ask her.”

⁵⁸ So they called Riḇqah and said to her, “Are you going with this man?” And she said, “I shall go.”

⁵⁹ So they let go Riḇqah their sister and her nurse, and Aḇraham’s servant and his men.

⁶⁰ And they blessed Riḇqah and said to her, “Let our sister become the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your seed possess the gates of those who hate them.”

⁶¹ And Riḇqah and her young women arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Riḇqah and left.

⁶² And Yitsḥaq came from the way of Be’ĕr Laḥai Ro’i, for he dwelt in the South.

⁶³ And Yitsḥaq went out to meditate in the field in the evening. And he lifted his eyes and looked and saw the camels coming.

⁶⁴ And Riḇqah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Yitsḥaq she dismounted from her camel,

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

⁶⁶ And the servant told Yitsḥaq all the matters he had done.

⁶⁷ And Yitsḥaq brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent. And he took Riḇqah and she became his wife, and he loved her. Thus Yitsḥaq was comforted after his mother’s death.

25

¹ And Aḇraham took another wife, whose name was Qeturah.

² And she bore him Zimran, and Yoqshan, and Meḏan, and Miḏyan, and Yishbaq, and Shuwaḥ.

³ And Yoqshan brought forth Sheḇa and Deḏan. And the sons of Deḏan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Le’ummim.

⁴ And the sons of Miḏyan were Ěphah, and Ěpher, and Ḥanoḵ, and Aḇiḏa, and Elda‛ah. All these were the children of Qeturah.

⁵ Now Aḇraham gave all that he had to Yitsḥaq,

⁶ but to the sons of the concubines whom Aḇraham had, Aḇraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Yitsḥaq, eastward, to the land of the east.

⁷ And these are all the years of Aḇraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years.

⁸ And Aḇraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, aged and satisfied, and was gathered to his people.

⁹ And his sons Yitsḥaq and Yishma‛ĕl buried him in the cave of Maḵpĕlah, which is before Mamrĕ, in the field of Ephron son of Tsoḥar the Ḥittite,

¹⁰ the field which Aḇraham purchased from the sons of Ḥĕth. There Aḇraham was buried with Sarah his wife.

¹¹ And it came to be, after the death of Aḇraham, that Elohim blessed his son Yitsḥaq. And Yitsḥaq dwelt at Be’ĕr Laḥai Ro’i.

¹² And this is the genealogy of Yishma‛ĕl, Aḇraham’s son, whom Haḡar the Mitsrian, Sarah’s female servant, bore to Aḇraham.

¹³ And these were the names of the sons of Yishma‛ĕl, by their names, according to their generations: The first-born of Yishma‛ĕl, Neḇayoth; then Qĕḏar, and Aḏbe’ĕl, and Miḇsam,

¹⁴ and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,

¹⁵ Ḥaḏar, and Tĕma, Yetur, Naphish, and Qĕḏemah.

¹⁶ These were the sons of Yishma‛ĕl and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, twelve chiefs according to their tribes.

¹⁷ And these were the years of the life of Yishma‛ĕl: one hundred and thirty-seven years. And he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.

¹⁸ And they dwelt from Ḥawilah as far as Shur, which is east of Mitsrayim as you go toward Ashshur. He settled before all his brothers.

¹⁹ And this is the genealogy of Yitsḥaq, Aḇraham’s son. Aḇraham brought forth Yitsḥaq.

²⁰ And Yitsḥaq was forty years old when he took Riḇqah as wife, the daughter of Bethu’ĕl the Aramean of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laḇan the Aramean.

²¹ And Yitsḥaq prayed to יהוה for his wife, because she was barren. And יהוה answered his prayer, and Riḇqah his wife conceived.

²² And within her the children struggled together, and she said, “If all is right, why am I this way?” So she went to ask יהוה.

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

²⁴ And when the days were filled for her to give birth, and see, twins were in her womb!

²⁵ And the first came out red all over, like a hairy garment, so they called his name Ěsaw.

²⁶ And afterward his brother came out, with his hand holding on to Ěsaw’s heel, so his name was called Ya‛aqoḇ. And Yitsḥaq was sixty years old when she bore them.

²⁷ And the boys grew up. And Ěsaw became a man knowing how to hunt, a man of the field, while Ya‛aqoḇ was a complete man, dwelling in tents.

²⁸ And Yitsḥaq loved Ěsaw because he ate of his wild game, but Riḇqah loved Ya‛aqoḇ.

²⁹ And Ya‛aqoḇ cooked a stew, and Ěsaw came in from the field, and he was weary.

³⁰ And Ěsaw said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” That is why his name was called Eḏom.

³¹ But Ya‛aqoḇ said, “Sell me your birthright today.”

³² And Ěsaw said, “Look, I am going to die, so why should I have birthright?”

³³ Then Ya‛aqoḇ said, “Swear to me today.” And he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Ya‛aqoḇ.

³⁴ Ya‛aqoḇ then gave Ěsaw bread and stew of lentils. And he ate and drank, and rose up and left. Thus Ěsaw despised his birthright.

26

¹ And there was a scarcity of food in the land, besides the first scarcity of food which was in the days of Aḇraham. And Yitsḥaq went to Aḇimeleḵ, sovereign of the Philistines, in Gerar.

² And יהוה appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Mitsrayim, live in the land which I command you.

³ “Sojourn in this land. And I shall be with you and bless you, for I give all these lands to you and your seed. And I shall establish the oath which I swore to Aḇraham your father.

⁴ And I shall increase your seed like the stars of the heavens, and I shall give all these lands to your seed. And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,”

⁵ because Aḇraham obeyed My voice and guarded My Charge: My commands, My laws, and My Torot.”

⁶ And Yitsḥaq dwelt in Gerar.

⁷ And when the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me for Riḇqah, because she is good-looking.”

⁸ And it came to be, when he had been there a long time, that Aḇimeleḵ sovereign of the Philistines looked through a window, and he watched and saw Yitsḥaq playing with Riḇqah his wife.

⁹ So Aḇimeleḵ called Yitsḥaq and said, “See, truly she is your wife! So how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Yitsḥaq said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ”

¹⁰ And Aḇimeleḵ said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people had almost lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.”

¹¹ And Aḇimeleḵ commanded all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall certainly be put to death.”

¹² And Yitsḥaq sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold, and יהוה blessed him.

¹³ And the man grew great and went forward until he became very great.

¹⁴ And he came to have possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great body of servants, and the Philistines envied him.

¹⁵ And the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Aḇraham his father, and filled them with dirt.

¹⁶ And Aḇimeleḵ said to Yitsḥaq, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

¹⁷ So Yitsḥaq went from there and pitched his tent in the wadi Gerar, and dwelt there.

¹⁸ And Yitsḥaq dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Aḇraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Aḇraham. And he called them by the names which his father had called them.

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

²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar strove with Yitsḥaq’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” And he called the name of the well Ěseq, because they strove with him.

²¹ And they dug another well, and they strove over that one too, and he called its name Sitnah.

²² And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not strive over it. And he called its name Reḥoḇoth, and said, “For now יהוה has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

²³ And from there he went up to Be’ĕrsheḇa.

²⁴ And יהוה appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the Elohim of your father Aḇraham. Do not fear, for I am with you, and shall bless you and increase your seed for My servant Aḇraham’s sake.”

²⁵ And he built a slaughter-place there, and called on the Name of יהוה, and he pitched his tent there, and the servants of Yitsḥaq dug a well there.

²⁶ And Aḇimeleḵ came to him from Gerar, with Aḥuzzath, one of his friends, and Piḵol the commander of his army.

²⁷ And Yitsḥaq said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing you have hated me and have sent me away from you?”

²⁸ But they said, “We have clearly seen that יהוה is with you. And we said, ‘Please, let there be an oath between us, between you and us. And let us make a covenant with you,

²⁹ that you do no evil to us, as we have not touched you, and as we have done only good toward you, and have sent you away in peace. You are now blessed by יהוה.’ ”

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

³¹ And they rose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another. And Yitsḥaq let them go, and they departed from him in peace.

³² And on the same day it came to be that the servants of Yitsḥaq came and informed him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”

³³ So he called it Shiḇah. Therefore the name of the city is Be’ĕrsheḇa to this day.

³⁴ And when Ěsaw was forty years old, he took as wives Yehuḏith the daughter of Be’ĕri the Ḥittite, and Basemath the daughter of Ělon the Ḥittite.

³⁵ And they were a bitterness of spirit to Yitsḥaq and Riḇqah.

27

¹ And it came to be, when Yitsḥaq was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called Ěsaw his elder son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.”

² And he said, “See now, I am old, I do not know the day of my death.

³ “Now then, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt wild game for me.

⁴ “And make me a tasty dish, such as I love, and bring it to me to eat, in order that my being does bless you before I die.”

⁵ And Riḇqah heard when Yitsḥaq spoke to Ěsaw his son. And Ěsaw went to the field to hunt wild game and to bring it.

⁶ And Riḇqah spoke to Ya‛aqoḇ her son, saying, “See, I heard your father speak to Ěsaw your brother, saying,

⁷ Bring me wild game and make me a tasty dish to eat, and bless you in the presence of יהוה before my death.’

⁸ “And now my son, listen to my voice according to what I command you.

⁹ Please go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I make a tasty dish from them for your father, such as he loves.

¹⁰ And you shall take it to your father, and he shall eat it, so that he might bless you before his death.

¹¹ And Ya‛aqoḇ said to Riḇqah his mother, “See, Ěsaw my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man.

¹² What if my father touches me? Then I shall be like a deceiver in his eyes, and shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.

¹³ But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”

¹⁴ And he went and fetched them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made a tasty dish, such as his father loved.

¹⁵ And Riḇqah took the best garments of her elder son Ěsaw, which were with her in the house, and put them on Ya‛aqoḇ her younger son.

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

¹⁷ Then she gave the tasty dish and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Ya‛aqoḇ.

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

¹⁹ And Ya‛aqoḇ said to his father, “I am Ěsaw your first-born, I have done as you said to me. Please rise, sit and eat of my wild game, so that your being might bless me.”

²⁰ But Yitsḥaq said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because יהוה your Elohim brought it to me.”

²¹ Then Yitsḥaq said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “Please come near, so that I feel you, my son, whether you truly are my son Ěsaw or not.”

²² And Ya‛aqoḇ went near to Yitsḥaq his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Ya‛aqoḇ, but the hands are the hands of Ěsaw.”

²³ And he did not recognise him, for his hands were hairy like his brother Ěsaw’s hands, and he blessed him.

²⁴ And he said, “Are you truly my son Ěsaw?” And he said, “I am.”

²⁵ And he said, “Bring it near to me, and let me eat of my son’s wild game, so that my being might bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate. And he brought him wine, and he drank.

²⁶ And his father Yitsḥaq said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”

²⁷ And he came near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field which יהוה has blessed.

²⁸ And Elohim give you of the dew of the heavens, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and 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 those cursing you, and blessed be those blessing you!”

³⁰ And it came to be, as soon as Yitsḥaq had finished blessing Ya‛aqoḇ, and Ya‛aqoḇ had hardly left the presence of Yitsḥaq his father, that Ěsaw his brother came in from his hunting.

³¹ And he too had made a tasty dish and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father rise and eat of his son’s wild game, so that your being might bless me.”

³² And his father Yitsḥaq said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, your first-born, Ěsaw.”

³³ Then Yitsḥaq trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who was it then who hunted wild game and brought it to me? And I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him. Yes, he is blessed.”

³⁴ When Ěsaw heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me too, O my father!”

³⁵ And he said, “Your brother came with deceit and took your blessing.”

³⁶ And Ěsaw said, “Was his name, then, called Ya‛aqoḇ? For he has caught me by the heel these two times. He took my birthright, and see, now he has taken my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Then Yitsḥaq answered and said to Ěsaw, “See, I have made him your master, and all his brothers I have given to him as servants. And I have sustained him with grain and wine. And what, then, shall I do for you, my son?”

³⁸ And Ěsaw said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me too, O my father!” And Ěsaw lifted up his voice and wept.

³⁹ And Yitsḥaq his father answered and said to him, “See, your dwelling is of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of the heavens from above.

⁴⁰ And by your sword you are to live, and serve your brother. And it shall be, when you grow restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

⁴¹ And Ěsaw hated Ya‛aqoḇ because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Ěsaw said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father draw near, then I am going to kill my brother Ya‛aqoḇ.”

⁴² And the words of Ěsaw her older son were reported to Riḇqah, and she sent and called Ya‛aqoḇ her younger son, and said to him, “See, your brother Ěsaw comforts himself concerning you, to kill you.

⁴³ “And now, my son, listen to my voice, and rise, flee to my brother Laḇan in Ḥaran.

⁴⁴ And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s wrath turns away,”

⁴⁵ until your brother’s displeasure turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. And I shall send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”

⁴⁶ And Riḇqah said to Yitsḥaq, “I am disgusted with my life because of the daughters of Ḥĕth. If Ya‛aqoḇ takes a wife from the daughters of Ḥĕth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what is my life to me?”

28

¹ And Yitsḥaq called Ya‛aqoḇ and blessed him, and commanded him, and said to him, “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Kena‛an.

² “Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethu’ĕl your mother’s father. And take a wife for yourself from there, from the daughters of Laḇan your mother’s brother.

³ And Ěl Shaddai bless you, and make you fruitful and increase you, and you shall become an assembly of peoples,”

⁴ and give you the blessing of Aḇraham, to you and your seed with you, so that you inherit the land of your sojournings, which Elohim gave to Aḇraham.”

⁵ So Yitsḥaq sent Ya‛aqoḇ away, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laḇan son of Bethu’ĕl the Aramean, the brother of Riḇqah, the mother of Ya‛aqoḇ and Ěsaw.

⁶ And Ěsaw saw that Yitsḥaq had blessed Ya‛aqoḇ and sent him away to Paddan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a command, saying, “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Kena‛an,”

⁷ and that Ya‛aqoḇ had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan Aram.

⁸ So Ěsaw saw that the daughters of Kena‛an did not please his father Yitsḥaq,

⁹ and Ěsaw went to Yishma‛ĕl and took Maḥalath the daughter of Yishma‛ĕl, Aḇraham’s son, the sister of Neḇayoth, to be his wife, besides the wives he had.

¹⁰ And Ya‛aqoḇ went out from Be’ĕrsheḇa and went toward Ḥaran.

¹¹ And he came upon a place and stopped over for the night, for the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.

¹² And he dreamed and saw a ladder set up on the earth, and its top reached to the heavens, and saw messengers of Elohim going up and coming down on it.

¹³ And see, יהוה stood above it and said, “I am יהוה Elohim of Aḇraham your father and the Elohim of Yitsḥaq. The land on which you are lying, I give it to you and your seed.

¹⁴ “And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall break forth to the west and to the east, to the north and the south. And all the clans of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your seed.

¹⁵ “And see, I am with you and shall guard you wherever you go, and shall bring you back to this land. For I am not going to leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

¹⁶ And Ya‛aqoḇ awoke from his sleep and said, “Truly, יהוה is in this place, and I did not know it.”

¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of Elohim, and this is the gate of the heavens!”

¹⁸ And Ya‛aqoḇ rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a standing column, and poured oil on top of it.

¹⁹ And he called the name of that place Bĕyth Ěl, however, the name of that city had been Luz previously.

²⁰ And Ya‛aqoḇ made a vow, saying, “Seeing Elohim is with me, and has kept me in this way that I am going, and has given me bread to eat and a garment to put on —

²¹ when I have returned to my father’s house in peace, and יהוה has been my Elohim,

²² then this stone which I have set as a standing column shall be Elohim’s house, and of all that You give me, I shall certainly give a tenth to You.”

29

¹ And Ya‛aqoḇ moved on and came to the land of the people of the East.

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

³ And all the flocks would be gathered there, then they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.

⁴ So Ya‛aqoḇ said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Ḥaran.”

⁵ And he said to them, “Do you know Laḇan son of Naḥor?” And they said, “We know him.”

⁶ So he said to them, “Is he well?” And they said, “Well. And see, his daughter Raḥĕl is coming with the sheep.”

⁷ And he said, “See, it is still high day, not the time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”

⁸ But they said, “We are not allowed until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, then we shall water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Raḥĕl came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.

¹⁰ And it came to be, when Ya‛aqoḇ saw Raḥĕl the daughter of Laḇan his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laḇan his mother’s brother, that Ya‛aqoḇ went near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laḇan his mother’s brother.

¹¹ And Ya‛aqoḇ kissed Raḥĕl, and lifted up his voice and wept.

¹² And when Ya‛aqoḇ told Raḥĕl that he was her father’s relative and that he was Riḇqah’s son, she ran and told her father.

¹³ And it came to be, when Laḇan heard the report about Ya‛aqoḇ his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Then he told Laḇan all these matters.

¹⁴ And Laḇan said to him, “You are indeed my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a new moon.

¹⁵ Then Laḇan said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for naught? Let me know, what should your wages be?”

¹⁶ And Laḇan had two daughters, the name of the elder was Lĕ’ah, and the name of the younger was Raḥĕl.

¹⁷ And Lĕ’ah’s eyes were weak, but Raḥĕl was beautiful of form and beautiful of appearance.

¹⁸ And Ya‛aqoḇ loved Raḥĕl, so he said, “Let me serve you seven years for Raḥĕl your younger daughter.”

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

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

²¹ Then Ya‛aqoḇ said to Laḇan, “Give me my wife, for my days are completed, and let me go in to her.”

²² And Laḇan gathered all the men of the place and made a feast.

²³ And it came to be in the evening, that he took Lĕ’ah his daughter and brought her to Ya‛aqoḇ. And he went in to her.

²⁴ And Laḇan gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Lĕ’ah as a female servant.

²⁵ And in the morning it came to be, that see, it was Lĕ’ah. So he said to Laḇan, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Raḥĕl that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?”

²⁶ And Laḇan said, “It is not done this way in our place, to give the younger before the first-born.

²⁷ Complete the week of this one, then we give you this one too, for the service which you shall serve with me still another seven years.

²⁸ And Ya‛aqoḇ did so and completed her week. Then he gave him his daughter Raḥĕl too, as wife.

²⁹ And Laḇan gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Raḥĕl as a female servant.

³⁰ And he also went in to Raḥĕl, and he also loved Raḥĕl more than Lĕ’ah. And he served with Laḇan still another seven years.

³¹ And יהוה saw that Lĕ’ah was unloved, and He opened her womb, but Raḥĕl was barren.

³² And Lĕ’ah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Re’uḇĕn, for she said, “For יהוה has looked on my affliction, because now my husband is going to love me.”

³³ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because יהוה has heard that I am unloved, He gave me this son too.” And she called his name Shim‛on.

³⁴ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband is joined to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So his name was called Lĕwi.

³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I praise יהוה.” So she called his name Yehuḏah. And she ceased bearing.

30

¹ And when Raḥĕl saw that she bore Ya‛aqoḇ no children, Raḥĕl envied her sister, and said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “Give me children, or else I am going to die!”

² And Ya‛aqoḇ’s displeasure burned against Raḥĕl, and he said, “Am I in the place of Elohim, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

³ And she said, “See, my female servant Bilhah; go in to her, and let her bear for me, and let me be built up from her as well.”

⁴ So she gave him Bilhah her female servant as wife, and Ya‛aqoḇ went in to her.

⁵ And Bilhah conceived and bore Ya‛aqoḇ a son.

⁶ And Raḥĕl said, “Elohim has rightly ruled my case, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” So she called his name Dan.

⁷ And Raḥĕl’s female servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Ya‛aqoḇ a second son.

⁸ And Raḥĕl said, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have overcome.” So she called his name Naphtali.

⁹ And Lĕ’ah saw that she had ceased bearing, and she took Zilpah her female servant and gave her to Ya‛aqoḇ as wife.

¹⁰ And Lĕ’ah’s female servant Zilpah bore Ya‛aqoḇ a son.

¹¹ And Lĕ’ah said, “Fortune comes!” So she called his name Gaḏ.

¹² And Lĕ’ah’s female servant Zilpah bore Ya‛aqoḇ a second son.

¹³ And Lĕ’ah said, “I am happy, for the daughters shall call me happy.” So she called his name Ashĕr.

¹⁴ And Re’uḇĕn went in the days of wheat harvest and found love-apples in the field, and brought them to his mother Lĕ’ah. And Raḥĕl said to Lĕ’ah, “Please give me some of your son’s love-apples.”

¹⁵ But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s love-apples too?” And Raḥĕl said, “Therefore let him lie with you tonight for your son’s love-apples.”

¹⁶ And when Ya‛aqoḇ came out of the field in the evening, Lĕ’ah went out to meet him and said, “Do come in to me, for indeed, I have hired you with my son’s love-apples.” And he lay with her that night.

¹⁷ And Elohim listened to Lĕ’ah, and she conceived and bore Ya‛aqoḇ a fifth son.

¹⁸ And Lĕ’ah said, “Elohim has given me my hire, because I have given my female servant to my husband.” So she called his name Yissasḵar.

¹⁹ And Lĕ’ah conceived again and bore Ya‛aqoḇ a sixth son.

²⁰ And Lĕ’ah said, “Elohim has presented me with a good present. Now my husband is going to dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zeḇulun.

²¹ And afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

²² And Elohim remembered Raḥĕl, and Elohim listened to her and opened her womb.

²³ And she conceived, and bore a son, and said, “Elohim has taken away my reproach.”

²⁴ So she called his name Yosĕph, and said, “יהוה has added to me another son.”

²⁵ And it came to be, when Raḥĕl had borne Yosĕph, that Ya‛aqoḇ said to Laḇan, “Send me on my way, to go to my own place and to my land.

²⁶ Give my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go, for you yourself know my service which I have done for you.

²⁷ And Laḇan said to him, “If please I have found favour in your eyes, stay, for I have divined that יהוה has blessed me for your sake.”

²⁸ And he said, “Name me your wages, and I give it.”

²⁹ So he said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me.

³⁰ For the little you had before I came has increased greatly, and יהוה has blessed you since my coming. But now, when am I to provide for my own house too?

³¹ And he said, “What do I give you?” And Ya‛aqoḇ said, “Give me naught! If you do this for me, I shall again feed and guard your flocks:

³² “Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the black ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. And these shall be my wages.

³³ “And my righteousness shall answer for me in time to come, when you come concerning my wages: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the lambs, it is stolen if it is with me.”

³⁴ And Laḇan said, “See, let it be according to your word!”

³⁵ And on that day he set aside the male goats that were speckled and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the black ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons.

³⁶ And he put three days’ journey between himself and Ya‛aqoḇ, and Ya‛aqoḇ fed the rest of Laḇan’s flocks.

³⁷ And Ya‛aqoḇ took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods.

³⁸ And he set the rods which he had peeled before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, and they conceived when they came to drink.

³⁹ So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.

⁴⁰ And Ya‛aqoḇ separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the black in the flock of Laḇan, but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laḇan’s flock.

⁴¹ And it came to be, whenever the strong ones of the flock conceived, that Ya‛aqoḇ placed the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, so they would conceive among the rods.

⁴² But when the flocks were weak, he did not put them in, so the weak ones were Laḇan’s and the strong ones Ya‛aqoḇ’s.

⁴³ Thus the man increased very much, and had many flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

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¹ And he heard the words of Laḇan’s sons, saying, “Ya‛aqoḇ has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what belonged to our father he has made all this wealth.”

² And Ya‛aqoḇ would look at the face of Laḇan and see that it was not toward him as before.

³ And יהוה said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives. And I am with you.”

⁴ And Ya‛aqoḇ sent and called Raḥĕl and Lĕ’ah to the field, to his flock,

⁵ and said to them, “I see your father’s face, that it is not toward me as before, but the Elohim of my father has been with me.

⁶ “And you know that I have served your father with all my strength.

⁷ “Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but Elohim did not allow him to do evil to me.

⁸ “When he said this, ‘The speckled are your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And when he said this, ‘The streaked are your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked.

⁹ “So Elohim has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

¹⁰ “And it came to be, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and looked in a dream and saw the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and mottled.

¹¹ And the Messenger of Elohim spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Ya‛aqoḇ.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ ”

¹² “And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laḇan is doing to you.

¹³ I am the Ěl of Bĕyth Ěl, where you anointed the standing column and where you made a vow to Me. Now rise up, get out of this land, and return to the land of your relatives.’ ”

¹⁴ And Raḥĕl and Lĕ’ah answered and said to him, “Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father’s house?

¹⁵ “Are we not reckoned by him as strangers? For he has sold us, and also entirely consumed our silver.

¹⁶ “For all the wealth which Elohim has taken from our father is ours and our children’s. Now then, do whatever Elohim has told you.”

¹⁷ So Ya‛aqoḇ rose and put his sons and his wives on camels,

¹⁸ and he drove off all his livestock and all his possessions which he had acquired, his property of the livestock which he had acquired in Paddan Aram, to go to his father Yitsḥaq in the land of Kena‛an.

¹⁹ And when Laḇan had gone to shear his sheep, Raḥĕl stole the house idols that were her father’s.

²⁰ And Ya‛aqoḇ deceived Laḇan the Aramean, because he did not inform him that he was about to flee.

²¹ And he fled with all that he had. And he rose up and passed over the river, and headed toward the mountains of Gil‛aḏ.

²² And on the third day Laḇan was told that Ya‛aqoḇ had fled.

²³ Then he took his brothers with him and pursued him for seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gil‛aḏ.

²⁴ But in a dream by night Elohim came to Laḇan the Aramean, and said to him, “Guard yourself, that you do not speak to Ya‛aqoḇ either good or evil.”

²⁵ Then Laḇan overtook Ya‛aqoḇ. Now Ya‛aqoḇ had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laḇan with his brothers pitched in the mountains of Gil‛aḏ.

²⁶ And Laḇan said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “What have you done, that you have deceived me, and driven my daughters off like captives taken with the sword?

²⁷ “Why did you flee secretly and deceive me, and not inform me, and I would have sent you away with joy and songs, with tambourine and lyre?

²⁸ And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have been foolish to do this.

²⁹ “It is in the power of my hand to do evil to you, but the Elohim of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Guard yourself, that you do not speak to Ya‛aqoḇ either good or evil.’

³⁰ “And now you have gone because you greatly long for your father’s house, but why did you steal my mighty ones?”

³¹ And Ya‛aqoḇ answered and said to Laḇan, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Lest you tear your daughters away from me.’

³² With whomever you find your mighty ones, do not let him live. In the presence of our brothers, see for yourself what is with me and take it with you. For Ya‛aqoḇ did not know that Raḥĕl had stolen them.

³³ And Laḇan went into Ya‛aqoḇ’s tent, and into Lĕ’ah’s tent, and into the tents of the two female servants, but he did not find them. And he came out of Lĕ’ah’s tent and entered Raḥĕl’s tent.

³⁴ Now Raḥĕl had taken the house idols and put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. And Laḇan searched all about the tent but did not find them.

³⁵ And she said to her father, “Let it not displease my master that I am unable to rise before you, for the way of women is with me.” And he searched but did not find the house idols.

³⁶ And Ya‛aqoḇ was wroth and contended with Laḇan, and Ya‛aqoḇ answered and said to Laḇan, “What is my transgression? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me?

³⁷ “Now that you have searched all my goods what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my brothers and your brothers, and let them decide between the two of us!

³⁸ “These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your sheep.

³⁹ “That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you, I myself bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

⁴⁰ "Thus I was! By day the heat consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.

⁴¹ “These twenty years I have been 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 “Unless the Elohim of my father, the Elohim of Aḇraham and the Fear of Yitsḥaq, had been with me, you would now have sent me away empty-handed. Elohim has seen my affliction and the labour of my hands, and rendered judgment last night.”

⁴³ And Laḇan answered and said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and this flock is my flock, and all that you see is mine. But what shall I do today to these, my daughters or to their children whom they have borne?

⁴⁴ And now, come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and it shall be a witness between you and me.

⁴⁵ So Ya‛aqoḇ took a stone and set it up as a standing column.

⁴⁶ And Ya‛aqoḇ said to his brothers, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap.

⁴⁷ And Laḇan called it Yeḡar Sahaḏutha, but Ya‛aqoḇ called it Gal‛ĕḏ.

⁴⁸ And Laḇan said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” That is why its name was called Gal‛ĕḏ,

⁴⁹ also Mitspah, because he said, “Let יהוה watch between you and me when we are out of each other’s sight.

⁵⁰ If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us; see, Elohim is witness between you and me!

⁵¹ And Laḇan said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “See this heap and see this standing column, which I have placed between you and me.

⁵² “This heap is a witness, and this standing column is a witness, that I do not pass beyond this heap to you, and you do not pass beyond this heap and this standing column to me, for evil.

⁵³ “The Elohim of Aḇraham, the Elohim of Naḥor, and the Elohim of their father rightly rule between us!” And Ya‛aqoḇ swore by the Fear of his father Yitsḥaq.

⁵⁴ And Ya‛aqoḇ slaughtered a slaughtering on the mountain, and called his brothers to eat bread. And they ate bread and spent the night on the mountain.

⁵⁵ And Laḇan rose up early in the morning, and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them. And Laḇan left and returned to his place.

32

¹ And Ya‛aqoḇ went on his way, and the messengers of Elohim met him.

² And when Ya‛aqoḇ saw them, he said, “This is the camp of Elohim.” And he called the name of that place Maḥanayim.

³ And Ya‛aqoḇ sent messengers before him to Ěsaw his brother in the land of Sĕ‛ir, the field of Eḏom

⁴ and he commanded them, saying, “Say this to my master Ěsaw, ‘Your servant Ya‛aqoḇ said this, “I have sojourned with Laḇan and stayed there until now.

⁵ “And I have bulls, and donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants. And I have sent to inform my master, to find favour in your eyes.” ’ ”

⁶ So the messengers returned to Ya‛aqoḇ, saying, “We came to your brother Ěsaw, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him.”

⁷ And Ya‛aqoḇ was greatly afraid and distressed. So he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups,

⁸ and he said, “If Ěsaw comes to the one group and strikes it, then the other group which is left shall escape.”

⁹ And Ya‛aqoḇ said, “O Elohim of my father Aḇraham and Elohim of my father Yitsḥaq, יהוה who said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives, and I do good to you,’

¹⁰ “I do not deserve the least of all the loving-commitment and all the truth which You have shown Your servant, for I passed over this Yardĕn with my staff, and now I have become two groups.

¹¹ “Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Ěsaw, for I fear him, lest he come and shall strike me and the mother with the children.

¹² For You said, ‘I shall certainly do good to you, and shall make your seed as the sand of the sea, which are too numerous to count.’

¹³ And he spent the night there, and took what came to his hand as a present for Ěsaw his brother —

¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

¹⁵ thirty suckling-camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals.

¹⁶ And he gave into the hand of hisservants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between drove and drove.”

¹⁷ And he commanded the first one, saying, “When Ěsaw my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? And whose are these in front of you?’

¹⁸ then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Ya‛aqoḇ’s. It is a present sent to my master Ěsaw. And see, he also is behind us.’ ”

¹⁹ So he commanded the second, and the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “Speak to Ěsaw this same word when you find him,

²⁰ and you shall say, ‘Also look, your servant Ya‛aqoḇ is behind us.’ ” For he said, “Let me appease him with the present that goes before me, and after that see his face. He might accept me.”

²¹ And the present passed over before him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.

²² And he rose up that night and took his two wives, and his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of Yabboq.

²³ And he took them and sent them over the stream, and sent over what he had.

²⁴ And Ya‛aqoḇ was left alone. And a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.

²⁵ And when He saw that He did not overcome him, He touched the socket of his hip. And the socket of Ya‛aqoḇ’s hip was dislocated as He wrestled with him.

²⁶ And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I am not letting You go until You have blessed me!”

²⁷ So He asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Ya‛aqoḇ.”

²⁸ And He said, “Your name is no longer called Ya‛aqoḇ, but Yisra’ĕl, because you have striven with Elohim and with men, and have overcome.”

²⁹ And Ya‛aqoḇ asked Him, saying, “Please let me know Your Name.” And He said, “Why do you ask about My Name?” And He blessed him there.

³⁰ And Ya‛aqoḇ called the name of the place Peni’ĕl, “For I have seen Elohim face to face, and my life is preserved.”

³¹ And the sun rose on him as he passed over Penu’ĕl, and he limped on his hip.

³² That is why the children of Yisra’ĕl to this day do not eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the socket of the thigh, because He touched the socket of the thigh of Ya‛aqoḇ, in the sinew of the hip.

33

¹ And Ya‛aqoḇ lifted his eyes and looked and saw Ěsaw coming, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children among Lĕ’ah, and Raḥĕl, and the two female servants.

² And he put the female servants and their children in front, and Lĕ’ah and her children behind, and Raḥĕl and Yosĕph last.

³ And he himself passed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴ And Ěsaw ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

⁵ And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?” And he said, “The children with whom Elohim has favoured your servant.”

⁶ Then the female servants came near, they and their children, and bowed themselves.

⁷ And Lĕ’ah also came near with her children, and they bowed themselves. And Yosĕph and Raḥĕl came near, and they bowed themselves.

⁸ Then Ěsaw said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” And he said, “To find favour in the eyes of my master.”

⁹ But Ěsaw said, “I have enough, my brother, let what you have remain yours.”

¹⁰ And Ya‛aqoḇ said, “No, please, if I have now found favour in your eyes, then receive my present from my hand, because I have seen your face like seeing the face of Elohim, and you were pleased with me.

¹¹ Please, take my blessing that is brought to you, because Elohim has favoured me, and because I have all I need.” And he urged him, and he took it.

¹² And he said, “Let us depart and go, and let me go before you.”

¹³ But he said to him, “My master knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flocks shall die.

¹⁴ Please let my master go before his servant, and let me lead on slowly according to the pace of the livestock that go before me, and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my master in Sĕ‛ir.

¹⁵ And Ěsaw said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “Why this? Let me find favour in the eyes of my master.”

¹⁶ And Ěsaw returned that day on his way to Sĕ‛ir.

¹⁷ And Ya‛aqoḇ set out to Sukkoth, and built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. That is why the name of the place is called Sukkoth.

¹⁸ And Ya‛aqoḇ came safely to the city of Sheḵem, which is in the land of Kena‛an, when he came from Paddan Aram. And he pitched his tent before the city.

¹⁹ And he bought the portion of the field where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Ḥamor, Sheḵem’s father, for one hundred qesitah.

²⁰ And he set up a slaughter-place there and called it Ěl Elohĕ Yisra’ĕl.

34

¹ And Dinah, the daughter of Lĕ’ah, whom she had borne to Ya‛aqoḇ, went out to see the daughters of the land.

² And Sheḵem, son of Ḥamor the Ḥiwwite, prince of the land, saw her and took her and lay with her, and humbled her.

³ And his being clung to Dinah the daughter of Ya‛aqoḇ, and he loved the girl and spoke kindly to the girl.

⁴ And Sheḵem spoke to his father Ḥamor, saying, “Take this girl for me for a wife.”

⁵ And Ya‛aqoḇ heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Ya‛aqoḇ kept silent until they came.

⁶ And Ḥamor, the father of Sheḵem, went out to Ya‛aqoḇ to speak with him.

⁷ And the sons of Ya‛aqoḇ came in from the field when they heard it. And the men were grieved and very wroth, because he had done a senseless deed in Yisra’ĕl by lying with Ya‛aqoḇ’s daughter, which should not be done.

⁸ But Ḥamor spoke with them, saying, “My son Sheḵem’s being longs for your daughter. Please give her to him for a wife.

⁹ “And intermarry with us, give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves,

¹⁰ and dwell with us, and let the land be before you. Dwell and move about in it, and have possessions in it.”

¹¹ And Sheḵem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favour in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I give.

¹² Ask of me a bride price and gift ever so high, and I give according to what you say to me, but give me the girl for a wife.

¹³ But the sons of Ya‛aqoḇ answered Sheḵem and Ḥamor his father, and spoke with deceit, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.

¹⁴ And they said to them, “We are not able to do this matter, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us.

¹⁵ Only on this condition would we agree to you: If you become as we are, to have every male of you circumcised,

¹⁶ then we shall give our daughters to you, and take your daughters to us. And we shall dwell with you, and shall become one people.

¹⁷ But if you do not listen to us and be circumcised, we shall take our daughter and go.

¹⁸ And their words pleased Ḥamor and Sheḵem, Ḥamor’s son.

¹⁹ And the young man did not delay to do this because he delighted in Ya‛aqoḇ’s daughter. Now he was more respected than all the household of his father.

²⁰ And Ḥamor and Sheḵem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying,

²¹ “These men are at peace with us, so let them dwell in the land and move about in it. And see, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters for us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.

²² “Only on this condition would the men agree to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised.

²³ Their herds and their possessions, and all their beasts, should they not be ours? Only let us agree with them, and let them dwell with us.

²⁴ And all who went out of the gate of his city listened to Ḥamor and Sheḵem his son; every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵ And it came to be on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Ya‛aqoḇ, Shim‛on and Lĕwi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males.

²⁶ And they killed Ḥamor and Sheḵem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Sheḵem’s house, and went out.

²⁷ The sons of Ya‛aqoḇ came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.

²⁸ They took their flocks and their herds, and their donkeys, and that which was in the city and that which was in the field,

²⁹ and all their wealth. And all their little ones and their wives they took captive, and they plundered all that was in the houses.

³⁰ And Ya‛aqoḇ said to Shim‛on and Lĕwi, “You have troubled me by making me a stench among the inhabitants of the land, among the Kena‛anites and the Perizzites. And I am few in number, they shall gather themselves against me and shall strike me, and I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”

³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a whore?”

35

¹ And Elohim said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “Arise, go up to Bĕyth Ěl and dwell there. And make a slaughter-place there to Ěl who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Ěsaw your brother.”

² And Ya‛aqoḇ said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign mighty ones that are among you, and cleanse yourselves, and change your garments.

³ And let us arise and go up to Bĕyth Ěl, and let me make there a slaughter-place to Ěl, who answered me in the day of my distress, and has been with me in the way which I have gone.

⁴ So they gave Ya‛aqoḇ all the foreign mighty ones which were in their hands, and all their earrings which were in their ears. And Ya‛aqoḇ hid them under the terebinth tree which was near Sheḵem.

⁵ And they departed, and the fear of Elohim was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Ya‛aqoḇ.

⁶ And Ya‛aqoḇ came to Luz, that is Bĕyth Ěl, which is in the land of Kena‛an, he and all the people who were with him.

⁷ And he built there a slaughter-place and called the place El Bĕyth Ěl, because there Elohim appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

⁸ And Deḇorah, Riḇqah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bĕyth Ěl under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Baḵuth.

⁹ And Elohim appeared to Ya‛aqoḇ again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him.

¹⁰ And Elohim said to him, “Your name is Ya‛aqoḇ, your name is no longer called Ya‛aqoḇ, but Yisra’ĕl is your name.” So He called his name Yisra’ĕl.

¹¹ And Elohim said to him, “I am Ěl Shaddai. Be fruitful and increase, a nation and a company of nations shall be from you, and sovereigns come from your body.

¹² And the land which I gave Aḇraham and Yitsḥaq I give to you. And to your seed after you I give this land.

¹³ And Elohim went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.

¹⁴ And Ya‛aqoḇ set up a standing column in the place where He had spoken with him, a monument of stone. And he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.

¹⁵ And Ya‛aqoḇ called the name of the place where Elohim spoke with him, Bĕyth Ěl.

¹⁶ Then they set out from Bĕyth Ěl. And it came to be, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, that Raḥĕl began to give birth, and had great difficulty giving birth.

¹⁷ And it came to be, as she was having great difficulty giving birth, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for it is another son for you.”

¹⁸ And it came to be, as her life was going out — for she died — that she called his name Ben-Oni. But his father called him Binyamin.

¹⁹ So Raḥĕl died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is Bĕyth Leḥem.

²⁰ And Ya‛aqoḇ set a standing column on her burial-place, which is the monument of Raḥĕl’s burial-place to this day.

²¹ And Yisra’ĕl set out and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Ěḏer.

²² And it came to be, when Yisra’ĕl dwelt in that land, that Re’uḇĕn went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Yisra’ĕl heard about it. Now the sons of Ya‛aqoḇ were twelve:

²³ the sons of Lĕ’ah were Re’uḇĕn, Ya‛aqoḇ’s first-born, and Shim‛on, and Lĕwi, and Yehuḏah, and Yissasḵar, and Zeḇulun;

²⁴ the sons of Raḥĕl were Yosĕph and Binyamin;

²⁵ the sons of Bilhah, Raḥĕl’s female servant, were Dan and Naphtali;

²⁶ and the sons of Zilpah, Lĕ’ah’s female servant, were Gaḏ and Ashĕr. These were the sons of Ya‛aqoḇ who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

²⁷ And Ya‛aqoḇ came to his father Yitsḥaq at Mamrĕ, or Qiryath Arba, that is Ḥeḇron, where Aḇraham and Yitsḥaq had dwelt.

²⁸ And the days of Yitsḥaq were one hundred and eighty years.

²⁹ So Yitsḥaq breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, aged and satisfied of days. And his sons Ěsaw and Ya‛aqoḇ buried him.

36

¹ And this is the genealogy of Ěsaw, who is Eḏom.

² Ěsaw took his wives from the daughters of Kena‛an: Aḏah the daughter of Ělon the Ḥittite, and Oholiḇamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Tsiḇ‛on the Ḥiwwite;

³ and Basemath, Yishma‛ĕl’s daughter, sister of Neḇayoth.

⁴ And Aḏah bore Eliphaz to Ěsaw, and Basemath bore Re‛u’ĕl.

⁵ And Oholiḇamah bore Ye‛ush, and Ya‛lam, and Qoraḥ. These were the sons of Ěsaw who were born to him in the land of Kena‛an.

⁶ And Ěsaw took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the beings of his household, and his herds and all his beasts, and all his possessions which he had gained in the land of Kena‛an, and went to a land away from the presence of his brother Ya‛aqoḇ.

⁷ For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together, and the land of their sojournings could not support them because of their herds.

⁸ So Ěsaw dwelt in Mount Sĕ‛ir. Ěsaw is Eḏom.

⁹ And this is the genealogy of Ěsaw the father of the Eḏomites in Mount Sĕ‛ir.

¹⁰ These were the names of Ěsaw’s sons: Eliphaz son of Aḏah, wife of Ěsaw, and Re‛u’ĕl son of Basemath, wife of Ěsaw.

¹¹ And the sons of Eliphaz were Tĕman, Omar, Tsepho, and Gatam, and Qenaz.

¹² And Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Ěsaw’s son, and she bore Amalĕq to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Aḏah, Ěsaw’s wife.

¹³ These were the sons of Re‛u’ĕl: Naḥath and Zeraḥ, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Ěsaw’s wife.

¹⁴ These were the sons of Oholiḇamah, Ěsaw’s wife, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Tsiḇ‛on. And she bore to Ěsaw: Ye‛ush, and Ya‛lam, and Qoraḥ.

¹⁵ These were the chiefs of the sons of Ěsaw. The sons of Eliphaz, the first-born son of Ěsaw, were Chief Tĕman, Chief Omar, Chief Tsepho, Chief Qenaz,

¹⁶ Chief Qoraḥ, Chief Gatam, Chief Amalĕq. These were the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Eḏom. They were the sons of Aḏah.

¹⁷ And these were the sons of Re‛u’ĕl, Ěsaw’s son: Chief Naḥath, Chief Zeraḥ, Chief Shammah, and Chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs of Re‛u’ĕl in the land of Eḏom. These were the sons of Basemath, Ěsaw’s wife.

¹⁸ And these were the sons of Oholiḇamah, Ěsaw’s wife: Chief Ye‛ush, Chief Ya‛lam, and Chief Qoraḥ. These were the chiefs descending from Oholiḇamah, Ěsaw’s wife, the daughter of Anah.

¹⁹ These were the sons of Ěsaw, who is Eḏom, and these were their chiefs.

²⁰ These were the sons of Sĕ‛ir the Ḥorite who inhabited the land: Lotan, and Shoḇal, and Tsiḇ‛on, and Anah,

²¹ and Dishon, and Ětser, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Ḥorites, the sons of Sĕ‛ir, in the land of Eḏom.

²² And the sons of Lotan were Ḥori and Hĕmam. Lotan’s sister was Timna.

²³ And these were the sons of Shoḇal: Alwan, and Manaḥath, and Ěyḇal, Shepho, and Onam.

²⁴ And these were the sons of Tsiḇ‛on: both Ayah and Anah. This was the Anah who found the water in the wilderness as he fed the donkeys of his father Tsiḇ‛on.

²⁵ And these were the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholiḇamah the daughter of Anah.

²⁶ And these were the sons of Dishon: Ḥemdan, and Eshban, and Yithran, and Keran.

²⁷ These were the sons of Ětser: Bilhan, and Za‛awan, and Aqan.

²⁸ These were the sons of Dishan: Uts and Aran.

²⁹ These were the chiefs of the Ḥorites: Chief Lotan, Chief Shoḇal, Chief Tsiḇ‛on, Chief Anah,

³⁰ Chief Dishon, Chief Ětser, and Chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Ḥorites, according to their chiefs in the land of Sĕ‛ir.

³¹ And these were the sovereigns who reigned in the land of Eḏom before any sovereign reigned over the children of Yisra’ĕl.

³² And Bela the son of Be‛or reigned in Eḏom, and the name of his city was Dinhaḇah.

³³ And Bela died, and Yoḇaḇ son of Zeraḥ of Botsrah reigned in his place.

³⁴ And Yoḇaḇ died, and Ḥusham of the land of the Tĕmanites reigned in his place.

³⁵ And Ḥusham died, and Haḏaḏ son of Beḏaḏ, who struck Miḏyan in the field of Mo’aḇ, reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Awith.

³⁶ And Haḏaḏ died, and Samlah of Masrĕqah reigned in his place.

³⁷ And Samlah died, and Sha’ul of Reḥoḇoth by the River reigned in his place.

³⁸ And Sha’ul died, and Ba‛al-Ḥanan son of Aḵbor reigned in his place.

³⁹ And Ba‛al-Ḥanan son of Aḵbor died, and Haḏar reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Pa‛u. And his wife’s name was Mehĕtab’ĕl, the daughter of Matrĕḏ, the daughter of Mĕyzahaḇ.

⁴⁰ And these were the names of the chiefs of Ěsaw, according to their clans and their places, by their names: Chief Timnah, Chief Alwah, Chief Yethĕth,

⁴¹ Chief Oholiḇamah, Chief Ělah, Chief Pinon,

⁴² Chief Qenaz, Chief Tĕman, Chief Miḇtsar,

⁴³ Chief Maḡdi’ĕl, Chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Eḏom, according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. Ěsaw was the father of the Eḏomites.

37

¹ And Ya‛aqoḇ dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Kena‛an.

² This is the genealogy of Ya‛aqoḇ. Yosĕph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the young man was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Yosĕph brought an evil report of them to his father.

³ And Yisra’ĕl loved Yosĕph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a long robe.

⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and were not able to speak peaceably to him.

⁵ And Yosĕph dreamed a dream, and told it to his brothers. So they hated him even more.

⁶ And he said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have dreamed:

⁷ See, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field, and see, my sheaf rose up and also stood up. And see, your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.

⁸ And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Shall you indeed rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹ And he dreamed still another dream and related it to his brothers, and said, “See, I have dreamed another dream, and see, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

¹⁰ And he related it to his father and his brothers. And his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall we, your mother and I and your brothers, indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”

¹¹ And his brothers envied him, but his father guarded the word.

¹² And his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Sheḵem.

¹³ And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Sheḵem? Come, I send you to them.” So he said to him, “Here I am.”

¹⁴ And he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the sheep, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of Ḥeḇron, and he went to Sheḵem.

¹⁵ And a certain man found him, and see, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What do you seek?”

¹⁶ And he said, “I am seeking my brothers. Please inform me where they are feeding their sheep.”

¹⁷ And the man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go towards Dothan.’ ” So Yosĕph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸ And they saw him from a distance, and before he came near them, they plotted against him, to kill him.

¹⁹ And they said to each other, “See, this master of dreams is coming!

²⁰ Now, then, come and let us now kill him and throw him into some pit, and shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ Let us then see what comes of his dreams!

²¹ But Re’uḇĕn heard and rescued him from their hands, and said, “Let us not strike his being.”

²² And Re’uḇĕn said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him” — in order to rescue him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

²³ So it came to be, when Yosĕph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Yosĕph of his robe, the long robe which was on him.

²⁴ And they took him and threw him into a pit. And the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

²⁵ And they sat down to eat a meal. And they lifted their eyes and looked and saw a company of Yishma‛ĕlites, coming from Gil‛aḏ with their camels, bearing spices, and balm, and myrrh, going to take them down to Mitsrayim.

²⁶ And Yehuḏah said to his brothers, “What would we gain if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

²⁷ Come and let us sell him to the Yishma‛ĕlites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers listened.

²⁸ And men, Miḏyanite traders passed by, so they pulled Yosĕph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Yishma‛ĕlites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Yosĕph to Mitsrayim.

²⁹ And Re’uḇĕn returned to the pit, and see, Yosĕph was not in the pit. And he tore his garments.

³⁰ And he returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! And I, where am I to go?”

³¹ So they took Yosĕph’s robe, slew a male goat, and dipped the robe in the blood,

³² and sent the long robe and brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Please look, is it the robe of your son or not?”

³³ And he recognised it and said, “It is my son’s robe. An evil beast has devoured him. Yosĕph is torn, torn to pieces.”

³⁴ And Ya‛aqoḇ tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “Now let me go down into She’ol to my son in mourning.” So his father wept for him.

³⁶ And the Miḏanites had sold him in Mitsrayim to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

38

¹ And at that time it came to be that Yehuḏah left his brothers, and turned aside to a man, an Aḏullamite whose name was Ḥirah.

² And Yehuḏah saw there a daughter of a certain Kena‛anite whose name was Shuwa. And he took her and went in to her.

³ So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Ěr.

⁴ And she conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.

⁵ And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shĕlah. And he was at Keziḇ when she bore him.

⁶ And Yehuḏah took a wife for Ěr his first-born, and her name was Tamar.

⁷ But Ěr, Yehuḏah’s first-born, was evil in the eyes of יהוה, and יהוה took his life.

⁸ And Yehuḏah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother.”

⁹ And Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. And it came to be, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he spilled on the ground, lest he should give an offspring to his brother.

¹⁰ But what he did displeased יהוה, so He took his life too.

¹¹ Then Yehuḏah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shĕlah is grown.” For he said, “Lest he also die as his brothers did.” And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

¹² And after a long time the daughter of Shuwa, Yehuḏah’s wife, died. And Yehuḏah was comforted, and went up to his sheep-shearers at Timnah, he and his friend Ḥirah the Aḏullamite.

¹³ And it was reported to Tamar, saying, “See, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.”

¹⁴ And she took off her widow’s garments, and covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and sat at the entrance to Ěnayim which was on the way to Timnah. For she saw that Shĕlah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.

¹⁵ And Yehuḏah saw her, and reckoned her for a whore, for she had covered her face.

¹⁶ And he turned aside to her by the way, and said, “Please let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What do you give me to come in to me?”

¹⁷ And he said, “Let me send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “Do you give me a pledge until you send it?”

¹⁸ So he said, “What pledge should I give you?” And she said, “Your seal and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” And he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

¹⁹ And she arose and went away, and removed her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰ And Yehuḏah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Aḏullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand, but he did not find her.

²¹ And he asked the men of that place, saying, “Where is the cult prostitute who was beside the way to Ěnayim?” And they said, “There was no cult prostitute in this place.”

²² And he returned to Yehuḏah and said, “I have not found her. And the men of the place also said there was no cult prostitute in this place.”

²³ And Yehuḏah said, “Let her take them for herself, lest we become despised, for I sent this young goat and you have not found her.”

²⁴ And it came to be, about three new moons after, that Yehuḏah was informed, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has whored, and see, she has conceived by whoring.” And Yehuḏah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!”

²⁵ When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please examine whose these are: the seal and the cord and the staff.”

²⁶ And Yehuḏah examined and said, “She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shĕlah my son.” And he never knew her again.

²⁷ And it came to be, at the time for giving birth, that see, twins were in her womb.

²⁸ And it came to be, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand. And the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.”

²⁹ And it came to be, as he drew back his hand, that see, his brother came out! And she said, “How did you break through? This breach be upon you!” So his name was called Perets.

³⁰ And afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. So his name was called Zeraḥ.

39

¹ And Yosĕph had been taken down to Mitsrayim. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, a Mitsrian, bought him from the Yishma‛ĕlites who had taken him down there.

² And it came to be that יהוה was with Yosĕph, and he became a prosperous man, and was in the house of his master the Mitsrian.

³ And his master saw that יהוה was with him and that יהוה made all he did to prosper in his hand.

⁴ So Yosĕph found favour in his eyes, and served him, and he appointed him over his house, and gave into his hand all that he had.

⁵ And it came to be, from the time that he appointed him over his house and all that he had, that יהוה blessed the Mitsrian’s house for Yosĕph’s sake. And the blessing of יהוה was on all that he had in the house and in the field.

⁶ And he left in Yosĕph’s hand all that he had, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. And Yosĕph was handsome in form and handsome in appearance.

⁷ And after these events it came to be that his master’s wife lifted up her eyes to Yosĕph and said, “Lie with me.”

⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has given into my hand all that he has.

⁹ No one is greater in this house than I, and he has not withheld whatever from me but you, because you are his wife. And how shall I do this great evil and sin against Elohim?

¹⁰ And it came to be, as she spoke to Yosĕph day by day, that he did not listen to her, to lie with her, to be with her.

¹¹ And it came to be on a certain day, when Yosĕph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside,

¹² that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.

¹³ And it came to be, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside,

¹⁴ that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.

¹⁵ And it came to be, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.

¹⁶ And she kept his garment with her until his master came home.

¹⁷ And she spoke to him these same words, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me, to mock me,

¹⁸ so it came to be, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”

¹⁹ And it came to be, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me according to these words,” that his displeasure burned.

²⁰ Then Yosĕph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the sovereign’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison.

²¹ But יהוה was with Yosĕph and extended loving-commitment to him, and He gave him favour in the eyes of the prison warden.

²² And the prison warden gave into the hand of Yosĕph all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there was his doing.

²³ The prison warden did not look into any point that was under Yosĕph’s hand, because יהוה was with him. And whatever he did, יהוה made it prosper.

40

¹ And after these events it came to be that the cupbearer and the baker of the sovereign of Mitsrayim sinned against their master, the sovereign of Mitsrayim.

² And Pharaoh was wroth with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

³ So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Yosĕph was a prisoner.

⁴ And the captain of the guard put Yosĕph in charge of them, and he served them. So they were in confinement for some time.

⁵ Then the cupbearer and the baker of the sovereign of Mitsrayim, who were confined in the prison, dreamed a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation.

⁶ And Yosĕph came in to them in the morning and looked at them and saw that they were sad.

⁷ And he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in confinement of his master’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?”

⁸ And they said to him, “We each have dreamed a dream, and there is no one to interpret it.” And Yosĕph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to Elohim? Relate them to me, please.”

⁹ So the chief cupbearer related his dream to Yosĕph, and said to him, “See, in my dream a vine was before me,

¹⁰ and in the vine were three branches, and it was as though it budded — its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes.

¹¹ And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand. So I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.

¹² And Yosĕph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days.

¹³ “Yet, within three days Pharaoh is going to lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you shall put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former ruling, when you were his cupbearer.

¹⁴ “But remember me when it is well with you, and please show loving-commitment to me. And mention me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house.

¹⁵ For truly I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews. And also I have done naught that they should put me into the dungeon.

¹⁶ And the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, and he said to Yosĕph, “I also was in my dream and saw three white baskets were on my head,

¹⁷ and in the uppermost basket all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ And Yosĕph answered and said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days.

¹⁹ Yet, within three days Pharaoh is going to lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree. And the birds shall eat your flesh from you.

²⁰ And on the third day, Pharaoh’s birthday, it came to be that he made a feast for all his servants. And he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and of the chief baker among his servants,

²¹ and he restored the chief cupbearer to his post of cupbearer again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand,

²² but he hanged the chief baker, as Yosĕph had interpreted to them.

²³ And the chief cupbearer did not remember Yosĕph, but forgot him.

41

¹ And it came to be, at the end of two years’ time, that Pharaoh had a dream, and saw him standing by the river,

² and saw seven cows coming up out of the river, beautiful looking and fat, and they fed amongst the reeds,

³ then saw seven other cows coming up after them out of the river, ugly and lean of flesh, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river.

⁴ And the ugly and lean of flesh cows ate up the seven beautiful looking and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.

⁵ And he slept and dreamed a second time and saw seven heads of grain coming up on one stalk, plump and good,

⁶ and saw seven lean heads, scorched by the east wind, coming up after them.

⁷ And the seven lean heads swallowed the seven plump and complete heads. Then Pharaoh awoke and saw it was a dream.

⁸ And it came to be in the morning that his spirit was moved, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Mitsrayim and all its wise men. And Pharaoh related to them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my crimes this day.

¹⁰ “When Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker,

¹¹ each one of us dreamed a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.

¹² “And there was with us a Hebrew youth, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we related to him, and he interpreted our dreams for us. To each man he interpreted according to his own dream.

¹³ And it came to be, as he interpreted for us, so it came to be. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called Yosĕph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon. And he shaved and changed his garments, and came to Pharaoh.

¹⁵ And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one to interpret it. Now I myself have heard it said of you that you understand a dream, to interpret it.”

¹⁶ And Yosĕph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me, let Elohim answer Pharaoh with peace.”

¹⁷ And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph, “See, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river

¹⁸ and saw seven cows coming up out of the river, beautiful looking and fat, and they fed amongst the reeds,

¹⁹ then saw seven other cows coming up after them, poor and very ugly and lean of flesh, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Mitsrayim.

²⁰ “And the lean of flesh and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows.

²¹ “Yet when they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke.

²² “Also, I looked in my dream and saw seven heads coming up on one stalk, complete and good,

²³ then saw seven heads, withered, lean, scorched by the east wind, coming up after them.

²⁴ “And the lean heads swallowed the seven good heads. And I spoke to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ And Yosĕph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. Elohim has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do:

²⁶ “The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years — it is one dream.

²⁷ “And the seven lean and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads scorched by the east wind are seven years of scarcity of food.

²⁸ “This is the word which I spoke to Pharaoh: Elohim has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.

²⁹ See, seven years of great plenty are coming in all the land of Mitsrayim,”

³⁰ but after them seven years of scarcity of food shall arise and all the plenty be forgotten in the land of Mitsrayim. And the scarcity of food shall destroy the land,

³¹ and the plenty shall not be remembered in the land, because of the scarcity of food following, for it is very severe.

³² “And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the word is established by Elohim, and Elohim is hastening to do it.

³³ “And now, let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Mitsrayim.

³⁴ “Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, to take up one-fifth of the land of Mitsrayim in the seven years of plenty.

³⁵ “And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.

³⁶ And the food shall be for a store for the land for the seven years of scarcity of food which shall be in the land of Mitsrayim, and do not let the land be cut off by the scarcity of food.

³⁷ And the word was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.

³⁸ And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Could we find another like him, a man in whom is the Spirit of Elohim?”

³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Yosĕph, “Since Elohim has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.

⁴⁰ Be over my house, you yourself, and at your mouth all my people shall kiss — only in the throne I am greater than you.

⁴¹ And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Mitsrayim.”

⁴² And Pharaoh took his seal-ring off his hand and put it on Yosĕph’s hand. And he dressed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.

⁴³ And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had. And they cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” And he set him over all the land of Mitsrayim.

⁴⁴ And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph, “I am Pharaoh, and without a word from you let no man lift his hand or foot in all the land of Mitsrayim.”

⁴⁵ And Pharaoh called Yosĕph’s name Zaphnath-Pa‛nĕaḥ. And he gave him as a wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On. And Yosĕph went out over all the land of Mitsrayim.

⁴⁶ Now Yosĕph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim. And Yosĕph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Mitsrayim.

⁴⁷ And in the seven years of plenty the ground brought forth generously.

⁴⁸ And he gathered all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Mitsrayim, and laid up the food in the cities. He laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them.

⁴⁹ Thus Yosĕph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he ceased counting, for it was without number.

⁵⁰ And to Yosĕph were born two sons before the years of scarcity of food came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.

⁵¹ And Yosĕph called the name of the first-born Menashsheh, “For Elohim has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.”

⁵² And the name of the second he called Ephrayim, “For Elohim has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ And the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Mitsrayim came to an end,

⁵⁴ and the seven years of scarcity of food began to come, as Yosĕph had said. And the scarcity of food was in all lands, but in all the land of Mitsrayim there was bread.

⁵⁵ But when all the land of Mitsrayim hungered, and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, Pharaoh said to all the Mitsrites, “Go to Yosĕph, do whatever he says to you.”

⁵⁶ And the scarcity of food was over all the face of the earth, and Yosĕph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Mitsrites. And the scarcity of food was severe in the land of Mitsrayim.

⁵⁷ And all the earth came to Yosĕph in Mitsrayim to buy grain, because the scarcity of food was severe in all the earth.

42

¹ And when Ya‛aqoḇ saw that there was grain in Mitsrayim, Ya‛aqoḇ said to his sons, “Why do you look at each other?”

² And he said, “See, I have heard that there is grain in Mitsrayim. Go down to that place and buy for us there, and let us live and not die.”

³ And Yosĕph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain in Mitsrayim.

⁴ But Ya‛aqoḇ did not send Yosĕph’s brother Binyamin with his brothers, for he said, “Lest some harm come to him.”

⁵ And the sons of Yisra’ĕl went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the scarcity of food was in the land of Kena‛an.

⁶ And Yosĕph was the governor over the land, he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Yosĕph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth.

⁷ And Yosĕph saw his brothers and recognised them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke to them harshly, and said to them, “Where do you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Kena‛an to buy food.”

⁸ So Yosĕph recognised his brothers, but they did not recognise him.

⁹ And Yosĕph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!”

¹⁰ And they said to him, “No, my master, but your servants have come to buy food.

¹¹ We are all one man’s sons, we are trustworthy, your servants are not spies.

¹² But he said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

¹³ And they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Kena‛an. And see, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more.”

¹⁴ And Yosĕph said to them, “It is as I spoke to you, saying, ‘You are spies!’

¹⁵ “By this you shall be proven: By the life of Pharaoh, you do not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

¹⁶ “Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you are kept in prison. So let your words be proven to see whether there is any truth in you, or else, by the life of Pharaoh, you are spies!”

¹⁷ And he put them all together in prison for three days.

¹⁸ Now Yosĕph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear Elohim:

¹⁹ “If you are trustworthy, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house, and you, go, bring grain for the scarcity of food of your houses.

²⁰ “And bring your youngest brother to me, and let your words be confirmed, and you do not die.” And so they did.

²¹ And they said to each other, “Truly, we are guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the distress of his life when he pleaded with us, yet we did not listen, that is why this distress has come upon us.”

²² And Re’uḇĕn answered them, saying, “Did I not speak to you, saying, ‘Do not sin against the boy,’ and you would not listen? And see, his blood is now required of us.”

²³ And they did not know that Yosĕph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.

²⁴ And he turned himself away from them and wept, but came back to them and spoke to them. And he took Shim‛on from them and bound him before their eyes.

²⁵ And Yosĕph commanded and they filled their sacks with grain, also to put back every man’s silver to his sack, and to give them food for the journey. And thus it was done for them.

²⁶ So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and went from there.

²⁷ And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his silver, for there it was in the mouth of his sack!

²⁸ And he said to his brothers, “My silver has been returned, and there it is, in my sack!” And their hearts sank and they were afraid, saying to each other, “What is this that Elohim has done to us?”

²⁹ So they came to Ya‛aqoḇ their father in the land of Kena‛an and reported to him all that befell them, saying,

³⁰ “The man, the master of the land, spoke to us harshly, and took us for spies of the land.

³¹ But we said to him, ‘We are trustworthy, we are not spies.

³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father. One is no more, and the youngest is today with our father in the land of Kena‛an.’

³³ “And the man, the master of the land, said to us, ‘By this I know that you are trustworthy: Leave one of your brothers here with me, and take food for the scarcity of food of your households, and go.

³⁴ And bring your youngest brother to me, then I know that you are not spies, but that you are trustworthy — I give your brother to you, and you move about in the land.’ ”

³⁵ And it came to be as they emptied their sacks, that look, the bundle of each man’s silver was in his sack! And when they and their father saw the bundles of silver, they were afraid.

³⁶ And Ya‛aqoḇ their father said to them, “You have bereaved me — Yosĕph is no more, and Shim‛on is no more, and you would take Binyamin! All this is against me.”

³⁷ So Re’uḇĕn spoke to his father, saying, “Take the lives of my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I myself bring him back to you.”

³⁸ But he said, “My son is not going down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any harm should come to him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my grey hair with sorrow to She’ol.”

43

¹ But the scarcity of food was severe in the land.

² And it came to be, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Mitsrayim, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.”

³ But Yehuḏah spoke to him, saying, “The man vehemently warned us, saying, ‘You do not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ”

⁴ “If you let our brother go with us, we go down and buy you food.

⁵ “But if you do not let him go, we do not go down, because the man said to us, ‘You do not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ”

⁶ And Yisra’ĕl said, “Why did you do evil to me to inform the man that you still had another brother?”

⁷ And they said, “The man kept asking about us and our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ And we informed him according to these words. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

⁸ And Yehuḏah said to Yisra’ĕl his father, “Send the boy with me, and let us arise and go, and live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.

⁹ “I myself shall stand guaranty for him — from my hand you are to require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.

¹⁰ “For if we had not delayed, truly by now we could have returned this second time.”

¹¹ And their father Yisra’ĕl said to them, “If so, then do this: Take some of the best fruit of the land in your vessels and bring a present down for the man, a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds.

¹² “And take double silver in your hand, and take back in your hand the silver that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. It could have been a mistake.

¹³ “And take your brother, and arise, go back to the man.

¹⁴ And Ěl Shaddai give to you compassion before the man, so that he shall release your other brother and Binyamin. And I, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved!

¹⁵ And the men took that present and Binyamin, and they took double the amount of silver in their hand, and arose and went down to Mitsrayim, and stood before Yosĕph.

¹⁶ And Yosĕph saw Binyamin with them, and said to the one over his house, “Bring the men home, and make a great slaughter, and prepare, for these men are to eat with me at noon.”

¹⁷ And the man did as Yosĕph said, and the man brought the men into Yosĕph’s house.

¹⁸ And the men were afraid because they were brought into Yosĕph’s house. And they said, “It is because of the silver, which was put back into our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, to throw himself upon us and fall upon us, to take us as slaves, our donkeys too.”

¹⁹ So they came near to the man over the house of Yosĕph, and spoke to him at the door of the house,

²⁰ and said, “O my master, we indeed came down the first time to buy food,

²¹ but it came to be, when we came to the lodging place, that we opened our sacks and saw each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack, our silver in its weight. And we have brought it back in our hand.

²² And we have brought down other silver in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our silver in our sacks.

²³ But he said, “Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your Elohim and the Elohim of your father has given you treasure in your sacks — your silver had come to me!” And he brought Shim‛on out to them.

²⁴ And the man brought the men into Yosĕph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet. And he gave their donkeys fodder.

²⁵ And they made the present ready for Yosĕph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they were to eat there.

²⁶ And when Yosĕph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand, into the house, and bowed down before him to the earth.

²⁷ And he asked them about their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

²⁸ And they said, “Your servant our father is in good health, he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads down and did obeisance.

²⁹ And he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Binyamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me?” And he said, “Elohim show favour to you, my son.”

³⁰ And Yosĕph hurried, for his emotions were deeply moved towards his brother, and he looked for a place to weep, and went into his room and wept there.

³¹ Then he washed his face and came out, and controlled himself, and said, “Serve the food.”

³² And they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Mitsrites who ate with him by themselves, for the Mitsrites could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Mitsrites.

³³ And they sat before him, the first-born according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at each other in astonishment.

³⁴ And he took portions to them from before him, but Binyamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they feasted and they drank with him.

44

¹ And he commanded the one over his house, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as they are able to bear, and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack.

² And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and the silver for his grain. And he did according to the word of Yosĕph which he spoke.

³ As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.

⁴ And when they had gone out of the city, not having gone far, Yosĕph said to the one over his house, “Rise up, follow the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?

⁵ Is this not the one from which my master drinks, and with which he indeed divines? You have done evil in what you have done.’ ”

⁶ So he overtook them and spoke these words to them.

⁷ And they said to him, “Why does my master say these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do according to this word.

⁸ “See, we brought back to you from the land of Kena‛an the silver which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then should we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?

⁹ “With whomever of your servants it is found — he shall die and we shall become my master’s slaves as well.”

¹⁰ And he said, “Now also let it be according to your words: he with whom it is found becomes my slave, and you are innocent.”

¹¹ And they hurried, each man let down his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack.

¹² And he searched, with the oldest first and with the youngest last, and the cup was found in Binyamin’s sack.

¹³ And they tore their garments, and each man loaded his donkey and went back to the city.

¹⁴ And Yehuḏah and his brothers came to Yosĕph’s house, and he was still there. And they fell before him on the ground.

¹⁵ And Yosĕph said to them, “What deed is this you have done? Did you not know that a man like me indeed divines?”

¹⁶ And Yehuḏah said, “What do we say to my master? What do we speak? Or how do we clear ourselves? Elohim has found out the crookedness of your servants. See, we are my master’s slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found.”

¹⁷ But he said, “Far be it from me to do this. The man in whose hand the cup was found, he becomes my slave. And you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸ And Yehuḏah came near to him and said, “O my master, please let your servant speak a word in my master’s hearing, and do not let your displeasure burn against your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.

¹⁹ “My master asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’

²⁰ And we said to my master, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young child of his old age, and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’ ”

²¹ “And you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, and let me set my eyes on him.’

²² And we said to my master, ‘The boy is not able to leave his father, for if he leaves his father, his father shall die.’ ”

²³ “But you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you do not see my face again.’

²⁴ “And it came to be, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my master.

²⁵ “And our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’

²⁶ But we said, ‘We are not able to go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we shall go down, for we are not able to see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ”

²⁷ “Then 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, “Truly, he is torn, torn to pieces!” And I have not seen him since.

²⁹ And if you take this one from me too, and harm comes to him, you shall bring down my grey hair with evil to She’ol.’

³⁰ “And now, if I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us — since his own life is bound up in his life —

³¹ then it shall be, when he sees that the boy is not with us, that he shall die. So your servants shall bring down the grey hair of your servant our father with evil to She’ol.

³² For your servant went guaranty for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall be a sinner before my father forever.’ ”

³³ “And now, please let your servant remain instead of the boy as a slave to my master, and let the boy go up with his brothers.

³⁴ “For how do I go up to my father if the boy is not with me, lest I see the evil that would come upon my father?”

45

¹ And Yosĕph was unable to restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he called out, “Have everyone go out from me!” So no one stood with him while Yosĕph made himself known to his brothers.

² And he wept aloud, and the Mitsrites and the house of Pharaoh heard it.

³ And Yosĕph said to his brothers, “I am Yosĕph, is my father still alive?” But his brothers were unable to answer him, for they trembled before him.

⁴ Then Yosĕph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” And when they came near, he said, “I am Yosĕph your brother, whom you sold into Mitsrayim.

⁵ “And now, do not be grieved nor displeased with yourselves because you sold me here, for Elohim sent me before you to preserve life.

⁶ “For two years now the scarcity of food has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there is neither ploughing nor harvesting.

⁷ “And Elohim sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to give life to you by a great escape.

⁸ So then, you did not send me here, but Elohim. And He has set me for a father to Pharaoh, and master of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Mitsrayim.”

⁹ Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Yosĕph, Elohim has made me master of all Mitsrayim. Come down to me, do not delay.

¹⁰ “And you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and be near to me, you and your children, your children’s children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have.

¹¹ “And I shall provide for you there, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty, because five years of scarcity of food are still to come.” ’

¹² “And look, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Binyamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you.

¹³ “And you shall inform my father of all my esteem in Mitsrayim, and of all that you have seen. And you shall hurry and bring my father down here.”

¹⁴ And he fell on his brother Binyamin’s neck and wept, and Binyamin wept on his neck.

¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers spoke with him.

¹⁶ And the report of it was heard by the house of Pharaoh, saying, “The brothers of Yosĕph have come.” And it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants.

¹⁷ And Pharaoh said to Yosĕph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your beasts and go, enter the land of Kena‛an,

¹⁸ and take your father and your households and come to me, and I give you the best of the land of Mitsrayim, and you eat the fat of the land.

¹⁹ And you, you have been commanded, do this: Take wagons out of the land of Mitsrayim for your little ones and your wives. And you shall bring your father, and come.

²⁰ And do not be concerned about your goods, for the best of all the land of Mitsrayim is yours.’ ”

²¹ And the sons of Yisra’ĕl did so. And Yosĕph gave them wagons, according to the mouth of Pharaoh, and he gave them food for the journey.

²² He gave to all of them, to each man, changes of garments, but to Binyamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments.

²³ And he sent to his father this: ten donkeys loaded with the best of Mitsrayim, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, and bread, and food for his father for the journey.

²⁴ So he sent his brothers away, and they left. And he said to them, “Do not quarrel along the way.”

²⁵ And they went up out of Mitsrayim, and came to the land of Kena‛an to Ya‛aqoḇ their father.

²⁶ And they told him, saying, “Yosĕph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Mitsrayim.” And Ya‛aqoḇ’s heart ceased, for he did not believe them.

²⁷ But when they spoke to him all the words which Yosĕph had spoken to them, and when he saw the wagons which Yosĕph had sent to transport him, the spirit of Ya‛aqoḇ their father revived.

²⁸ And Yisra’ĕl said, “Enough! My son Yosĕph is still alive. Let me go and see him before I die.”

46

¹ And Yisra’ĕl set out with all that he had, and came to Be’ĕrsheḇa, and slaughtered slaughterings to the Elohim of his father Yitsḥaq.

² And Elohim spoke to Yisra’ĕl in the visions of the night, and said, “Ya‛aqoḇ, Ya‛aqoḇ!” And he said, “Here I am.”

³ And He said, “I am the Ěl, Elohim of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Mitsrayim, for I shall make you there into a great nation.

⁴ I Myself am going down with you to Mitsrayim and I Myself shall certainly bring you up again. And let Yosĕph put his hand on your eyes.

⁵ And Ya‛aqoḇ rose up from Be’ĕrsheḇa. And the sons of Yisra’ĕl brought their father Ya‛aqoḇ, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to transport him.

⁶ And they took their livestock and their property which they had acquired in the land of Kena‛an, and came into Mitsrayim, Ya‛aqoḇ and all his seed with him.

⁷ His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his seed he brought with him to Mitsrayim.

⁸ And these were the names of the children of Yisra’ĕl, Ya‛aqoḇ and his sons, who came into Mitsrayim: Re’uḇĕn was Ya‛aqoḇ’s first-born.

⁹ And the sons of Re’uḇĕn: Ḥanoḵ, and Pallu, and Ḥetsron, and Karmi.

¹⁰ And the sons of Shim‛on: Yemu’ĕl, and Yamin, and Ohaḏ, and Yaḵin, and Tsoḥar, and Sha’ul, son of a Kena‛anite woman.

¹¹ And the sons of Lĕwi: Gĕrshon, Qehath, and Merari.

¹² And the sons of Yehuḏah: Ěr, and Onan, and Shĕlah, and Perets, and Zeraḥ — but Ěr and Onan died in the land of Kena‛an. And the sons of Perets were Ḥetsron and Ḥamul.

¹³ And the sons of Yissasḵar: Tola, and Puw‛ah, and Yoḇ, and Shimron.

¹⁴ And the sons of Zeḇulun: Sereḏ, and Ělon, and Yaḥle’ĕl.

¹⁵ These were the sons of Lĕ’ah, whom she bore to Ya‛aqoḇ in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the beings, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three.

¹⁶ And the sons of Gaḏ: Tsiphyon and Ḥaggi, Shuni and Etsbon, Ěri and Aroḏi, and Arĕli.

¹⁷ And the sons of Ashĕr: Yimnah, and Yishwah, and Yishwi, and Beri‛ah, and Seraḥ, their sister. And the sons of Beri‛ah: Ḥeḇer and Malki’ĕl.

¹⁸ These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laḇan gave to Lĕ’ah his daughter. And these she bore to Ya‛aqoḇ: sixteen beings.

¹⁹ The sons of Raḥĕl, Ya‛aqoḇ’s wife: Yosĕph and Binyamin.

²⁰ And to Yosĕph in the land of Mitsrayim were born Menashsheh and Ephrayim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.

²¹ And the sons of Binyamin: Belah, and Beḵer, and Ashbĕl, Gĕra and Na‛aman, Ěḥi and Rosh, Muppim and Ḥuppim, and Ard.

²² These were the sons of Raḥĕl who were born to Ya‛aqoḇ: fourteen beings in all.

²³ And the son of Dan: Ḥushim.

²⁴ And the sons of Naphtali: Yaḥtse’ĕl, and Guni, and Yĕtser, and Shillĕm.

²⁵ These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laḇan gave to Raḥĕl his daughter, and she bore these to Ya‛aqoḇ: seven beings in all.

²⁶ All the beings who went with Ya‛aqoḇ to Mitsrayim, who came from his body, besides Ya‛aqoḇ’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six beings in all.

²⁷ And the sons of Yosĕph who were born to him in Mitsrayim were two beings. All the beings of the house of Ya‛aqoḇ who went to Mitsrayim were seventy.

²⁸ And he sent Yehuḏah before him to Yosĕph, to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen.

²⁹ And Yosĕph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Yisra’ĕl. And he appeared to him, and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time.

³⁰ And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”

³¹ And Yosĕph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I am going up to inform Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Kena‛an, have come to me.

³² And the men are shepherds, that they have been men of livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds, and all that they have.’

³³ “And it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’

³⁴ “that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been men of livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ so that you dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Mitsrites.

47

¹ Then Yosĕph went and spoke to Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Kena‛an. And see, they are in the land of Goshen.”

² And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.

³ And Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.”

⁴ And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to dwell in the land, because there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the scarcity of food is severe in the land of Kena‛an. And now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”

⁵ And Pharaoh spoke to Yosĕph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.

⁶ The land of Mitsrayim is before you. Settle your father and brothers in the best of the land, let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know of capable men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.

⁷ And Yosĕph brought in his father Ya‛aqoḇ and set him before Pharaoh. And Ya‛aqoḇ blessed Pharaoh.

⁸ And Pharaoh said to Ya‛aqoḇ, “How old are you?”

⁹ And Ya‛aqoḇ said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojournings are one hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”

¹⁰ And Ya‛aqoḇ blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

¹¹ So Yosĕph settled his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Mitsrayim, in the best of the land, in the land of Ra‛meses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

¹² And Yosĕph provided his father, and his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread for the mouth of the little ones.

¹³ Now there was no bread in all the land, because the scarcity of food was very severe, and the land of Mitsrayim and all the land of Kena‛an became exhausted from the scarcity of food.

¹⁴ And Yosĕph gathered up all the silver that was found in the land of Mitsrayim and in the land of Kena‛an, for the grain which they bought. And Yosĕph brought the silver into Pharaoh’s house.

¹⁵ And when the silver was all spent in the land of Mitsrayim and in the land of Kena‛an, all the Mitsrites came to Yosĕph and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the silver is gone!”

¹⁶ And Yosĕph said, “Give your livestock, and I give you bread for your livestock, if the silver is gone.”

¹⁷ So they brought their livestock to Yosĕph, and Yosĕph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks they owned, and for the herds they owned, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.

¹⁸ And when that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We do not hide from my master that our silver is all spent, and my master also has the livestock we owned. There has not been left any before my master 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 bread, and let us and our land be servants of Pharaoh. And give us seed, and let us live and not die, and let the land not lie waste.

²⁰ And Yosĕph bought the entire land of Mitsrayim for Pharaoh, because every man of the Mitsrites sold his field, because the scarcity of food was severe upon them. And the land came to be Pharaoh’s.

²¹ And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Mitsrayim to the other end.

²² Only the ground of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had from what Pharaoh gave them by law, and they ate that which Pharaoh gave them by law. Therefore they did not sell their ground.

²³ And Yosĕph said to the people, “Look, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.

²⁴ And it shall be that in the harvest you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. And four-fifths is your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.

²⁵ And they said, “You have saved our lives. Let us find favour in the eyes of my master, and we shall become Pharaoh’s servants.”

²⁶ And Yosĕph made it a law over the land of Mitsrayim to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the ground of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷ And Yisra’ĕl dwelt in the land of Mitsrayim, in the land of Goshen. And they had possessions there and were fruirful and increased exceedingly.

²⁸ And Ya‛aqoḇ lived in the land of Mitsrayim seventeen years. So the length of Ya‛aqoḇ’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years.

²⁹ And the time for Yisra’ĕl to die drew near, and he called his son Yosĕph and said to him, “Now if I have found favour in your eyes, please put your hand under my thigh, and show loving-commitment and truth to me. Please do not bury me in Mitsrayim,

³⁰ but I shall lie with my fathers, and you shall take me up out of Mitsrayim and bury me in their burial-place.” And he said, “I do as you have said.”

³¹ And he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him, and Yisra’ĕl bowed himself on the head of the bed.

48

¹ And after these events it came to be that it was said to Yosĕph, “See, your father is sick.” And he took with him his two sons, Menashsheh and Ephrayim.

² And Ya‛aqoḇ was told, “See, your son Yosĕph is coming to you.” And Yisra’ĕl strengthened himself and sat up on the bed.

³ And Ya‛aqoḇ said to Yosĕph, “Ěl Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Kena‛an and blessed me,

⁴ and said to me, ‘See, I am making you fruitful and shall increase you and make of you an assembly of peoples, and give this land to your seed after you as an everlasting possession.’

⁵ “And now, your two sons, Ephrayim and Menashsheh, who were born to you in the land of Mitsrayim before I came to you in Mitsrayim, are mine — as Re’uḇĕn and Shim‛on, they are mine.

⁶ “Your offspring whom you shall bring forth after them are yours, and let them be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.

⁷ And I, when I came from Paddan, Raḥĕl died beside me in the land of Kena‛an on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath. And I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, that is Bĕyth Leḥem.

⁸ And Yisra’ĕl saw Yosĕph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?”

⁹ And Yosĕph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom Elohim has given me in this place.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, and let me bless them.”

¹⁰ And the eyes of Yisra’ĕl were dim with age, and he was unable to see. And he drew them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

¹¹ And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “I had not thought to see your face. But see, Elohim has also shown me your seed!”

¹² So Yosĕph brought them from between his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth.

¹³ And Yosĕph took them both, Ephrayim with his right hand toward Yisra’ĕl’s left hand, and Menashsheh with his left hand toward Yisra’ĕl’s right hand, and brought them near him.

¹⁴ And Yisra’ĕl stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephrayim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Menashsheh’s head, consciously directing his hands, for Menashsheh was the first-born.

¹⁵ And he blessed Yosĕph, and said, “The Elohim before whom my fathers Aḇraham and Yitsḥaq walked, the Elohim who has fed me all my life long to this day,

¹⁶ the Messenger who has redeemed me from all evil — bless the youths! And let my name be called upon them, and the name of my fathers Aḇraham and Yitsḥaq. And let them increase to a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

¹⁷ And when Yosĕph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephrayim, it was evil in his eyes; and he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from the head of Ephrayim to the head of Menashsheh.

¹⁸ And Yosĕph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the first-born, put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹ But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also becomes a people, and he also is great. And yet, his younger brother is greater than he, and his seed is to become the completeness of the nations.”

²⁰ And he blessed them on that day, saying, “In you Yisra’ĕl shall bless, saying, ‘Elohim make you as Ephrayim and as Menashsheh!’ ” Thus he put Ephrayim before Menashsheh.

²¹ And Yisra’ĕl said to Yosĕph, “See, I am dying, but Elohim shall be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.

²² And I, I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

49

¹ And Ya‛aqoḇ called his sons and said, “Gather together, so that I declare to you what is to befall you in the last days:

² “Gather together and hear, you sons of Ya‛aqoḇ, and listen to Yisra’ĕl your father.

³ “Re’uḇĕn, you are my first-born, my power and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of exaltation and the excellency of power.

⁴ “Boiling like water, you do not excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, then you defiled it — he went up to my couch.

⁵ “Shim‛on and Lĕwi are brothers, their weapons are implements of violence.

⁶ “Let my being not enter their council, let my esteem not be united to their assembly; because they killed a man in their displeasure, and they lamed an ox in pleasure.

⁷ “Cursed be their displeasure for it is fierce, and their wrath for it is cruel! I divide them in Ya‛aqoḇ and scatter them in Yisra’ĕl.

⁸ “You, Yehuḏah, your brothers praise you; your hand is on the neck of your enemies; your father’s children bow down before you.

⁹ Yehuḏah is a lion’s cub; from the prey you have gone up, my son! He bowed down, he crouched like a lion. And like a lion, who does rouse him?”

¹⁰ “The sceptre shall not turn aside from Yehuḏah, nor an Inscriber from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to Him is the obedience of peoples.

¹¹ “Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine, and his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹² “His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

¹³ “Zeḇulun dwells at the seashore, he is for a haven for ships, and his border is unto Tsiḏon.

¹⁴ “Yissasḵar is a strong donkey lying down between two burdens,

¹⁵ and he saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was pleasant, and he inclined his shoulder to bear a burden, and became a subject to slave labour.

¹⁶ “Dan rightly rules his people as one of the tribes of Yisra’ĕl.

¹⁷ “Dan is a serpent by the way, an adder by the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider falls backward.

¹⁸ I have waited for your deliverance, O יהוה!”

¹⁹ “Gaḏ, a raiding band raids him, but he raids its heel.

²⁰ “Bread from Ashĕr is rich, and he gives delicacies of a sovereign.

²¹ “Naphtali is a deer let loose, he gives words of elegance.

²² “Yosĕph is an offshoot of a fruit-bearing tree, an offshoot of a fruit-bearing tree by a fountain, his branches run over a wall.

²³ “And the archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him and hated him.

²⁴ But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Ya‛aqoḇ — from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Yisra’ĕl - ”

²⁵ from the Ěl of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens from above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

²⁶ “The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, up to the limit of the everlasting hills. They are on the head of Yosĕph, and on the crown of the head of him who was separated from his brothers.

²⁷ “Binyamin is a wolf that tears, in the morning he eats prey, and at night he divides the spoil.”

²⁸ All these are the twelve tribes of Yisra’ĕl, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them, he blessed each one according to his own blessing.

²⁹ And he commanded them, and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Ḥittite,

³⁰ in the cave that is in the field of Maḵpĕlah, which is before Mamrĕ in the land of Kena‛an, which Aḇraham bought with the field of Ephron the Ḥittite as a possession for a burial-site.

³¹ There they buried Aḇraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Yitsḥaq and Riḇqah his wife, and there I buried Lĕ’ah —

³² the field purchased, and the cave which is in it, from the sons of Ḥĕth.”

³³ And when Ya‛aqoḇ ended commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

50

¹ And Yosĕph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him, and kissed him.

² And Yosĕph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Yisra’ĕl.

³ And forty days were completed for him, for so are completed the days of embalming. And the Mitsrites wept for him seventy days.

⁴ And when the days of weeping for him were past, Yosĕph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If, now, I have found favour in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying,

⁵ My father made me swear, saying, “See, I am dying, bury me in my burial-site which I dug for myself in the land of Kena‛an.” And now, please let me go up and bury my father, and return.’ ”

⁶ And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

⁷ And Yosĕph went up to bury his father. And with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Mitsrayim,

⁸ and all the house of Yosĕph, and his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen.

⁹ And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great company.

¹⁰ And they came to the threshing-floor of Ataḏ, which is beyond the Yardĕn, and they lamented there with a great and very heavy lamentation. And he performed seven days of mourning for his father.

¹¹ And when the inhabitants of the land, the Kena‛anites, saw the mourning at the threshing-floor of Ataḏ, they said, “This is a grievous mourning for the Mitsrites.” That is why its name was called Aḇĕl Mitsrayim, which is beyond the Yardĕn.

¹² And his sons did to him as he had commanded them,

¹³ for his sons brought him to the land of Kena‛an, and buried him in the cave of the field of Maḵpĕlah, before Mamrĕ, which Aḇraham bought with the field from Ephron the Ḥittite as property for a burial-site.

¹⁴ And after he had buried his father, Yosĕph returned to Mitsrayim, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.

¹⁵ And when Yosĕph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Yosĕph hates us, and pays us back all the evil which we did to him?”

¹⁶ And they sent word to Yosĕph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying,

¹⁷ This is what you are to say to Yosĕph, “I beg you, please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you.” ’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the Elohim of your father.” And Yosĕph wept when they spoke to him.

¹⁸ And his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, “See, we are your servants.”

¹⁹ And Yosĕph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of Elohim?

²⁰ “And you, you intended evil against me, but Elohim intended it for good, in order to do it as it is this day, to keep a great many people alive.

²¹ “And now, do not fear, I provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

²² And Yosĕph dwelt in Mitsrayim, he and his father’s household. And Yosĕph lived one hundred and ten years.

²³ And Yosĕph saw Ephrayim’s children to the third generation. The children of Maḵir, son of Menashsheh, were also born on Yosĕph’s knees.

²⁴ And Yosĕph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but Elohim shall certainly visit you and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Aḇraham, to Yitsḥaq, and to Ya‛aqoḇ.”

²⁵ And Yosĕph made the children of Yisra’ĕl swear, saying, “Elohim shall certainly visit you, and you shall bring up my bones from here.”

²⁶ And Yosĕph died, being one hundred and ten years old. And they embalmed him, and he was placed in a coffin in Mitsrayim.