25:1 Abraham had taken ¹  another ²  wife, named Keturah. 25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 25:3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. ³  The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. 25:4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants ⁴  of Keturah.

25:5 Everything he owned Abraham left to his son Isaac. 25:6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines ⁵  and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac. ⁶ 

25:7 Abraham lived a total of ⁷  175 years. 25:8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life. ⁸  He joined his ancestors. ⁹  25:9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah ¹⁰  near Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hethite. 25:10 This was the field Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth. ¹¹  There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 25:11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed ¹²  his son Isaac. Isaac lived near Beer Lahai Roi. ¹³ 

25:12 This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, ¹⁴  whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham.

25:13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons, by their names according to their records: ¹⁵  Nebaioth (Ishmael’s firstborn), Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 25:14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 25:15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 25:16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their settlements and their camps – twelve princes ¹⁶  according to their clans.

25:17 Ishmael lived a total of ¹⁷  137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors. ¹⁸  25:18 His descendants ¹⁹  settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next ²⁰  to Egypt all the way ²¹  to Asshur. ²²  They settled ²³  away from all their relatives. ²⁴ 

25:19 This is the account of Isaac, ²⁵  the son of Abraham.

Abraham became the father of Isaac. 25:20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, ²⁶  the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. ²⁷ 

25:21 Isaac prayed to ²⁸  the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 25:22 But the children struggled ²⁹  inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” ³⁰  So she asked the Lord, ³¹  25:23 and the Lord said to her,

“Two nations ³²  are in your womb,

and two peoples will be separated from within you.

One people will be stronger than the other,

and the older will serve the younger.”

25:24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, ³³  there were ³⁴  twins in her womb. 25:25 The first came out reddish ³⁵  all over, ³⁶  like a hairy ³⁷  garment, so they named him Esau. ³⁸  25:26 When his brother came out with ³⁹  his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. ⁴⁰  Isaac was sixty years old ⁴¹  when they were born.

25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled ⁴²  hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents. ⁴³  25:28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, ⁴⁴  but Rebekah loved ⁴⁵  Jacob.

25:29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, ⁴⁶  and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished. 25:30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Feed ⁴⁷  me some of the red stuff – yes, this red stuff – because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also called ⁴⁸  Edom.) ⁴⁹ 

25:31 But Jacob replied, “First ⁵⁰  sell me your birthright.” 25:32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?” ⁵¹  25:33 But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.” ⁵²  So Esau ⁵³  swore an oath to him and sold his birthright ⁵⁴  to Jacob.

25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out. ⁵⁵  So Esau despised his birthright. ⁵⁶ 

26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred ⁵⁷  in the days of Abraham. ⁵⁸  Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar. 26:2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; ⁵⁹  settle down in the land that I will point out to you. ⁶⁰  26:3 Stay ⁶¹  in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, ⁶²  for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, ⁶³  and I will fulfill ⁶⁴  the solemn promise I made ⁶⁵  to your father Abraham. 26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them ⁶⁶  all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. ⁶⁷  26:5 All this will come to pass ⁶⁸  because Abraham obeyed me ⁶⁹  and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” ⁷⁰  26:6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.

26:7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, “She is my sister.” ⁷¹  He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” for he thought to himself, ⁷²  “The men of this place will kill me to get ⁷³  Rebekah because she is very beautiful.”

26:8 After Isaac ⁷⁴  had been there a long time, ⁷⁵  Abimelech king of the Philistines happened to look out a window and observed ⁷⁶  Isaac caressing ⁷⁷  his wife Rebekah. 26:9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really ⁷⁸  your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought someone might kill me to get her.” ⁷⁹ 

26:10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? ⁸⁰  One of the men ⁸¹  might easily have had sexual relations with ⁸²  your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” 26:11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, “Whoever touches ⁸³  this man or his wife will surely be put to death.” ⁸⁴ 

26:12 When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, ⁸⁵  because the Lord blessed him. ⁸⁶  26:13 The man became wealthy. ⁸⁷  His influence continued to grow ⁸⁸  until he became very prominent. 26:14 He had ⁸⁹  so many sheep ⁹⁰  and cattle ⁹¹  and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous ⁹²  of him. 26:15 So the Philistines took dirt and filled up ⁹³  all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham.

26:16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us and go elsewhere, ⁹⁴  for you have become much more powerful ⁹⁵  than we are.” 26:17 So Isaac left there and settled in the Gerar Valley. ⁹⁶  26:18 Isaac reopened ⁹⁷  the wells that had been dug ⁹⁸  back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up ⁹⁹  after Abraham died. Isaac ¹⁰⁰  gave these wells ¹⁰¹  the same names his father had given them. ¹⁰² 

26:19 When Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well with fresh flowing ¹⁰³  water there, 26:20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled ¹⁰⁴  with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water belongs to us!” So Isaac ¹⁰⁵  named the well ¹⁰⁶  Esek ¹⁰⁷  because they argued with him about it. ¹⁰⁸  26:21 His servants ¹⁰⁹  dug another well, but they quarreled over it too, so Isaac named it ¹¹⁰  Sitnah. ¹¹¹  26:22 Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac ¹¹²  named it ¹¹³  Rehoboth, ¹¹⁴  saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land.”

26:23 From there Isaac ¹¹⁵  went up to Beer Sheba. 26:24 The Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.” 26:25 Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped ¹¹⁶  the Lord. He pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well. ¹¹⁷ 

26:26 Now Abimelech had come ¹¹⁸  to him from Gerar along with ¹¹⁹  Ahuzzah his friend ¹²⁰  and Phicol the commander of his army. 26:27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me? You hate me ¹²¹  and sent me away from you.” 26:28 They replied, “We could plainly see ¹²²  that the Lord is with you. So we decided there should be ¹²³  a pact between us ¹²⁴  – between us ¹²⁵  and you. Allow us to make ¹²⁶  a treaty with you 26:29 so that ¹²⁷  you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed ¹²⁸  you, but have always treated you well ¹²⁹  before sending you away ¹³⁰  in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” ¹³¹ 

26:30 So Isaac ¹³²  held a feast for them and they celebrated. ¹³³  26:31 Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. ¹³⁴  Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms. ¹³⁵ 

26:32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We’ve found water,” they reported. ¹³⁶  26:33 So he named it Shibah; ¹³⁷  that is why the name of the city has been Beer Sheba ¹³⁸  to this day.

26:34 When ¹³⁹  Esau was forty years old, ¹⁴⁰  he married ¹⁴¹  Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, as well as Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 26:35 They caused Isaac and Rebekah great anxiety. ¹⁴² 

27:1 When ¹⁴³  Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, ¹⁴⁴  he called his older ¹⁴⁵  son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” Esau ¹⁴⁶  replied. 27:2 Isaac ¹⁴⁷  said, “Since ¹⁴⁸  I am so old, I could die at any time. ¹⁴⁹  27:3 Therefore, take your weapons – your quiver and your bow – and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game ¹⁵⁰  for me. 27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then ¹⁵¹  I will eat it so that I may bless you ¹⁵²  before I die.”

27:5 Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. ¹⁵³  When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, ¹⁵⁴  27:6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, 27:7 ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat ¹⁵⁵  it and bless you ¹⁵⁶  in the presence of the Lord ¹⁵⁷  before I die.’ 27:8 Now then, my son, do ¹⁵⁸  exactly what I tell you! ¹⁵⁹  27:9 Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare ¹⁶⁰  them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them. 27:10 Then you will take ¹⁶¹  it to your father. Thus he will eat it ¹⁶²  and ¹⁶³  bless you before he dies.”

27:11 “But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin! ¹⁶⁴  27:12 My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him ¹⁶⁵  and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” 27:13 So his mother told him, “Any curse against you will fall on me, ¹⁶⁶  my son! Just obey me! ¹⁶⁷  Go and get them for me!”

27:14 So he went and got the goats ¹⁶⁸  and brought them to his mother. She ¹⁶⁹  prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it. 27:15 Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 27:16 She put the skins of the young goats ¹⁷⁰  on his hands ¹⁷¹  and the smooth part of his neck. 27:17 Then she handed ¹⁷²  the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

27:18 He went to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac ¹⁷³  replied, “Here I am. Which are you, my son?” ¹⁷⁴  27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up ¹⁷⁵  and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.” ¹⁷⁶  27:20 But Isaac asked his son, “How in the world ¹⁷⁷  did you find it so quickly, ¹⁷⁸  my son?” “Because the Lord your God brought it to me,” ¹⁷⁹  he replied. ¹⁸⁰  27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you, ¹⁸¹  my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau.” ¹⁸²  27:22 So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s.” 27:23 He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob. ¹⁸³  27:24 Then he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” “I am,” Jacob ¹⁸⁴  replied. 27:25 Isaac ¹⁸⁵  said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. ¹⁸⁶  Then I will bless you.” ¹⁸⁷  So Jacob ¹⁸⁸  brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac ¹⁸⁹  drank. 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” 27:27 So Jacob ¹⁹⁰  went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent ¹⁹¹  of his clothing, he blessed him, saying,

“Yes, ¹⁹²  my son smells

like the scent of an open field

which the Lord has blessed.

27:28 May God give you

the dew of the sky ¹⁹³ 

and the richness ¹⁹⁴  of the earth,

and plenty of grain and new wine.

27:29 May peoples serve you

and nations bow down to you.

You will be ¹⁹⁵  lord ¹⁹⁶  over your brothers,

and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. ¹⁹⁷ 

May those who curse you be cursed,

and those who bless you be blessed.”

27:30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left ¹⁹⁸  his father’s ¹⁹⁹  presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. ²⁰⁰  27:31 He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau ²⁰¹  said to him, “My father, get up ²⁰²  and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.” ²⁰³  27:32 His father Isaac asked, ²⁰⁴  “Who are you?” “I am your firstborn son,” ²⁰⁵  he replied, “Esau!” 27:33 Isaac began to shake violently ²⁰⁶  and asked, “Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. ²⁰⁷  He will indeed be blessed!”

27:34 When Esau heard ²⁰⁸  his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. ²⁰⁹  He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!” 27:35 But Isaac ²¹⁰  replied, “Your brother came in here deceitfully and took away ²¹¹  your blessing.” 27:36 Esau exclaimed, “‘Jacob’ is the right name for him! ²¹²  He has tripped me up ²¹³  two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!” Then he asked, “Have you not kept back a blessing for me?”

27:37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?” 27:38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!” ²¹⁴  Then Esau wept loudly. ²¹⁵ 

27:39 So his father Isaac said to him,

“Indeed, ²¹⁶  your home will be

away from the richness ²¹⁷  of the earth,

and away from the dew of the sky above.

27:40 You will live by your sword

but you will serve your brother.

When you grow restless,

you will tear off his yoke

from your neck.” ²¹⁸ 

27:41 So Esau hated ²¹⁹  Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. ²²⁰  Esau said privately, ²²¹  “The time ²²²  of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill ²²³  my brother Jacob!”

27:42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, ²²⁴  she quickly summoned ²²⁵  her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. ²²⁶  27:43 Now then, my son, do what I say. ²²⁷  Run away immediately ²²⁸  to my brother Laban in Haran. 27:44 Live with him for a little while ²²⁹  until your brother’s rage subsides. 27:45 Stay there ²³⁰  until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send someone to bring you back from there. ²³¹  Why should I lose both of you in one day?” ²³² 

27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am deeply depressed ²³³  because of these daughters of Heth. ²³⁴  If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!” ²³⁵ 

28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman! ²³⁶  28:2 Leave immediately ²³⁷  for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 28:3 May the sovereign God ²³⁸  bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! ²³⁹  Then you will become ²⁴⁰  a large nation. ²⁴¹  28:4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham ²⁴²  so that you may possess the land ²⁴³  God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.” ²⁴⁴  28:5 So Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

28:6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him off to Paddan Aram to find a wife there. ²⁴⁵  As he blessed him, ²⁴⁶  Isaac commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” ²⁴⁷  28:7 Jacob obeyed his father and mother and left for Paddan Aram. 28:8 Then Esau realized ²⁴⁸  that the Canaanite women ²⁴⁹  were displeasing to ²⁵⁰  his father Isaac. 28:9 So Esau went to Ishmael and married ²⁵¹  Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, along with the wives he already had.

28:10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran. 28:11 He reached a certain place ²⁵²  where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. ²⁵³  He took one of the stones ²⁵⁴  and placed it near his head. ²⁵⁵  Then he fell asleep ²⁵⁶  in that place 28:12 and had a dream. ²⁵⁷  He saw ²⁵⁸  a stairway ²⁵⁹  erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it 28:13 and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. ²⁶⁰  I will give you and your descendants the ground ²⁶¹  you are lying on. 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, ²⁶²  and you will spread out ²⁶³  to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ²⁶⁴  using your name and that of your descendants. ²⁶⁵  28:15 I am with you! ²⁶⁶  I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”

28:16 Then Jacob woke up ²⁶⁷  and thought, ²⁶⁸  “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!” 28:17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”

28:18 Early ²⁶⁹  in the morning Jacob ²⁷⁰  took the stone he had placed near his head ²⁷¹  and set it up as a sacred stone. ²⁷²  Then he poured oil on top of it. 28:19 He called that place Bethel, ²⁷³  although the former name of the town was Luz. 28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food ²⁷⁴  to eat and clothing to wear, 28:21 and I return safely to my father’s home, ²⁷⁵  then the Lord will become my God. 28:22 Then this stone ²⁷⁶  that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely ²⁷⁷  give you back a tenth of everything you give me.” ²⁷⁸ 

29:1 So Jacob moved on ²⁷⁹  and came to the land of the eastern people. ²⁸⁰  29:2 He saw ²⁸¹  in the field a well with ²⁸²  three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now ²⁸³  a large stone covered the mouth of the well. 29:3 When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds ²⁸⁴  would roll the stone off the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place over the well’s mouth.

29:4 Jacob asked them, “My brothers, where are you from?” They replied, “We’re from Haran.” 29:5 So he said to them, “Do you know Laban, the grandson ²⁸⁵  of Nahor?” “We know him,” ²⁸⁶  they said. 29:6 “Is he well?” ²⁸⁷  Jacob asked. They replied, “He is well. ²⁸⁸  Now look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.” 29:7 Then Jacob ²⁸⁹  said, “Since it is still the middle of the day, ²⁹⁰  it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. You should water the sheep and then go and let them graze some more.” ²⁹¹  29:8 “We can’t,” they said, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well. Then we water ²⁹²  the sheep.”

29:9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was tending them. ²⁹³  29:10 When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, ²⁹⁴  and the sheep of his uncle Laban, he ²⁹⁵  went over ²⁹⁶  and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban. ²⁹⁷  29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep loudly. ²⁹⁸  29:12 When Jacob explained ²⁹⁹  to Rachel that he was a relative of her father ³⁰⁰  and the son of Rebekah, she ran and told her father. 29:13 When Laban heard this news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he rushed out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob ³⁰¹  told Laban how he was related to him. ³⁰²  29:14 Then Laban said to him, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” ³⁰³  So Jacob ³⁰⁴  stayed with him for a month. ³⁰⁵ 

29:15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Should you work ³⁰⁶  for me for nothing because you are my relative? ³⁰⁷  Tell me what your wages should be.” 29:16 (Now Laban had two daughters; ³⁰⁸  the older one was named Leah, and the younger one Rachel. 29:17 Leah’s eyes were tender, ³⁰⁹  but Rachel had a lovely figure and beautiful appearance.) ³¹⁰  29:18 Since Jacob had fallen in love with ³¹¹  Rachel, he said, “I’ll serve you seven years in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel.” 29:19 Laban replied, “I’d rather give her to you than to another man. ³¹²  Stay with me.” 29:20 So Jacob worked for seven years to acquire Rachel. ³¹³  But they seemed like only a few days to him ³¹⁴  because his love for her was so great. ³¹⁵ 

29:21 Finally Jacob said ³¹⁶  to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time of service is up. ³¹⁷  I want to have marital relations with her.” ³¹⁸  29:22 So Laban invited all the people ³¹⁹  of that place and prepared a feast. 29:23 In the evening he brought his daughter Leah ³²⁰  to Jacob, ³²¹  and Jacob ³²²  had marital relations with her. ³²³  29:24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) ³²⁴ 

29:25 In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah! ³²⁵  So Jacob ³²⁶  said to Laban, “What in the world have you done to me! ³²⁷  Didn’t I work for you in exchange for Rachel? Why have you tricked ³²⁸  me?” 29:26 “It is not our custom here,” ³²⁹  Laban replied, “to give the younger daughter in marriage ³³⁰  before the firstborn. 29:27 Complete my older daughter’s bridal week. ³³¹  Then we will give you the younger one ³³²  too, in exchange for seven more years of work.” ³³³ 

29:28 Jacob did as Laban said. ³³⁴  When Jacob ³³⁵  completed Leah’s bridal week, ³³⁶  Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. ³³⁷  29:29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) ³³⁸  29:30 Jacob ³³⁹  had marital relations ³⁴⁰  with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban ³⁴¹  for seven more years. ³⁴² 

29:31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, ³⁴³  he enabled her to become pregnant ³⁴⁴  while Rachel remained childless. 29:32 So Leah became pregnant ³⁴⁵  and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, ³⁴⁶  for she said, “The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. ³⁴⁷  Surely my husband will love me now.”

29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, ³⁴⁸  he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. ³⁴⁹ 

29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, ³⁵⁰  because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. ³⁵¹ 

29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” That is why she named him Judah. ³⁵²  Then she stopped having children.

30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she ³⁵³  became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children ³⁵⁴  or I’ll die!” 30:2 Jacob became furious ³⁵⁵  with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?” ³⁵⁶  30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with ³⁵⁷  her so that she can bear ³⁵⁸  children ³⁵⁹  for me ³⁶⁰  and I can have a family through her.” ³⁶¹ 

30:4 So Rachel ³⁶²  gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with ³⁶³  her. 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant ³⁶⁴  and gave Jacob a son. ³⁶⁵  30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer ³⁶⁶  and given me a son.” That is why ³⁶⁷  she named him Dan. ³⁶⁸ 

30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. ³⁶⁹  30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” ³⁷⁰  So she named him Naphtali. ³⁷¹ 

30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave ³⁷²  her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 30:10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. ³⁷³  30:11 Leah said, “How fortunate!” ³⁷⁴  So she named him Gad. ³⁷⁵ 

30:12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. ³⁷⁶  30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, ³⁷⁷  for women ³⁷⁸  will call me happy!” So she named him Asher. ³⁷⁹ 

30:14 At the time ³⁸⁰  of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants ³⁸¹  in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 30:15 But Leah replied, ³⁸²  “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” ³⁸³  Rachel said, “he may sleep ³⁸⁴  with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep ³⁸⁵  with me because I have paid for your services ³⁸⁶  with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations ³⁸⁷  with her that night. 30:17 God paid attention ³⁸⁸  to Leah; she became pregnant ³⁸⁹  and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time. ³⁹⁰  30:18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward ³⁹¹  because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” ³⁹²  So she named him Issachar. ³⁹³ 

30:19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. ³⁹⁴  30:20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ³⁹⁵ 

30:21 After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

30:22 Then God took note of ³⁹⁶  Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. ³⁹⁷  30:23 She became pregnant ³⁹⁸  and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.” ³⁹⁹  30:24 She named him Joseph, ⁴⁰⁰  saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”

30:25 After Rachel had given birth ⁴⁰¹  to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send ⁴⁰²  me on my way so that I can go ⁴⁰³  home to my own country. ⁴⁰⁴  30:26 Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. ⁴⁰⁵  Then I’ll depart, ⁴⁰⁶  because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.” ⁴⁰⁷ 

30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, ⁴⁰⁸  for I have learned by divination ⁴⁰⁹  that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.” 30:28 He added, “Just name your wages – I’ll pay whatever you want.” ⁴¹⁰ 

30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, ⁴¹¹  “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. ⁴¹²  30:30 Indeed, ⁴¹³  you had little before I arrived, ⁴¹⁴  but now your possessions have increased many times over. ⁴¹⁵  The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. ⁴¹⁶  But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?” ⁴¹⁷ 

30:31 So Laban asked, ⁴¹⁸  “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” ⁴¹⁹  Jacob replied, ⁴²⁰  “but if you agree to this one condition, ⁴²¹  I will continue to care for ⁴²²  your flocks and protect them: 30:32 Let me walk among ⁴²³  all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, ⁴²⁴  and the spotted or speckled goats. ⁴²⁵  These animals will be my wages. ⁴²⁶  30:33 My integrity will testify for me ⁴²⁷  later on. ⁴²⁸  When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, ⁴²⁹  if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.” ⁴³⁰  30:34 “Agreed!” said Laban, “It will be as you say.” ⁴³¹ 

30:35 So that day Laban ⁴³²  removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care ⁴³³  of his sons. 30:36 Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, ⁴³⁴  while ⁴³⁵  Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.

30:37 But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible. 30:38 Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and came to drink. ⁴³⁶  30:39 When the sheep mated ⁴³⁷  in front of the branches, they ⁴³⁸  gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 30:40 Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face ⁴³⁹  the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban’s flocks. 30:41 When the stronger females were in heat, ⁴⁴⁰  Jacob would set up the branches in the troughs in front of the flock, so they would mate near the branches. 30:42 But if the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. ⁴⁴¹  So the weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban ⁴⁴²  and the stronger animals to Jacob. 30:43 In this way Jacob ⁴⁴³  became extremely prosperous. He owned ⁴⁴⁴  large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.

31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, ⁴⁴⁵  “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich ⁴⁴⁶  at our father’s expense!” ⁴⁴⁷  31:2 When Jacob saw the look on Laban’s face, he could tell his attitude toward him had changed. ⁴⁴⁸ 

31:3 The Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers ⁴⁴⁹  and to your relatives. I will be with you.” ⁴⁵⁰  31:4 So Jacob sent a message for Rachel and Leah ⁴⁵¹  to come to the field ⁴⁵²  where his flocks were. ⁴⁵³  31:5 There he said to them, “I can tell that your father’s attitude toward me has changed, ⁴⁵⁴  but the God of my father has been with me. 31:6 You know that I’ve worked for your father as hard as I could, ⁴⁵⁵  31:7 but your father has humiliated ⁴⁵⁶  me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm. 31:8 If he said, ⁴⁵⁷  ‘The speckled animals ⁴⁵⁸  will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to speckled offspring. But if he said, ‘The streaked animals will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to streaked offspring. 31:9 In this way God has snatched away your father’s livestock and given them to me.

31:10 “Once ⁴⁵⁹  during breeding season I saw ⁴⁶⁰  in a dream that the male goats mating with ⁴⁶¹  the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted. 31:11 In the dream the angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Here I am!’ I replied. 31:12 Then he said, ‘Observe ⁴⁶²  that all the male goats mating with ⁴⁶³  the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you. 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, ⁴⁶⁴  where you anointed ⁴⁶⁵  the sacred stone and made a vow to me. ⁴⁶⁶  Now leave this land immediately ⁴⁶⁷  and return to your native land.’”

31:14 Then Rachel and Leah replied to him, “Do we still have any portion or inheritance ⁴⁶⁸  in our father’s house? 31:15 Hasn’t he treated us like foreigners? He not only sold us, but completely wasted ⁴⁶⁹  the money paid for us! ⁴⁷⁰  31:16 Surely all the wealth that God snatched away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So now do everything God has told you.”

31:17 So Jacob immediately put his children and his wives on the camels. ⁴⁷¹  31:18 He took ⁴⁷²  away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac. ⁴⁷³ 

31:19 While Laban had gone to shear his sheep, ⁴⁷⁴  Rachel stole the household idols ⁴⁷⁵  that belonged to her father. 31:20 Jacob also deceived ⁴⁷⁶  Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was leaving. ⁴⁷⁷  31:21 He left ⁴⁷⁸  with all he owned. He quickly crossed ⁴⁷⁹  the Euphrates River ⁴⁸⁰  and headed for ⁴⁸¹  the hill country of Gilead.

31:22 Three days later Laban discovered Jacob had left. ⁴⁸²  31:23 So he took his relatives ⁴⁸³  with him and pursued Jacob ⁴⁸⁴  for seven days. ⁴⁸⁵  He caught up with ⁴⁸⁶  him in the hill country of Gilead. 31:24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and warned him, ⁴⁸⁷  “Be careful ⁴⁸⁸  that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.” ⁴⁸⁹ 

31:25 Laban overtook Jacob, and when Jacob pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead, Laban and his relatives set up camp there too. ⁴⁹⁰  31:26 “What have you done?” Laban demanded of Jacob. “You’ve deceived me ⁴⁹¹  and carried away my daughters as if they were captives of war! ⁴⁹²  31:27 Why did you run away secretly ⁴⁹³  and deceive me? ⁴⁹⁴  Why didn’t you tell me so I could send you off with a celebration complete with singing, tambourines, and harps? ⁴⁹⁵  31:28 You didn’t even allow me to kiss my daughters and my grandchildren ⁴⁹⁶  good-bye. You have acted foolishly! 31:29 I have ⁴⁹⁷  the power to do you harm, but the God of your father told me last night, ‘Be careful ⁴⁹⁸  that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.’ ⁴⁹⁹  31:30 Now I understand that ⁵⁰⁰  you have gone away ⁵⁰¹  because you longed desperately ⁵⁰²  for your father’s house. Yet why did you steal my gods?” ⁵⁰³ 

31:31 “I left secretly because I was afraid!” ⁵⁰⁴  Jacob replied to Laban. “I thought ⁵⁰⁵  you might take your daughters away from me by force. ⁵⁰⁶  31:32 Whoever has taken your gods will be put to death! ⁵⁰⁷  In the presence of our relatives ⁵⁰⁸  identify whatever is yours and take it.” ⁵⁰⁹  (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.) ⁵¹⁰ 

31:33 So Laban entered Jacob’s tent, and Leah’s tent, and the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find the idols. ⁵¹¹  Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. ⁵¹²  31:34 (Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them inside her camel’s saddle ⁵¹³  and sat on them.) ⁵¹⁴  Laban searched the whole tent, but did not find them. ⁵¹⁵  31:35 Rachel ⁵¹⁶  said to her father, “Don’t be angry, ⁵¹⁷  my lord. I cannot stand up ⁵¹⁸  in your presence because I am having my period.” ⁵¹⁹  So he searched thoroughly, ⁵²⁰  but did not find the idols.

31:36 Jacob became angry ⁵²¹  and argued with Laban. “What did I do wrong?” he demanded of Laban. ⁵²²  “What sin of mine prompted you to chase after me in hot pursuit? ⁵²³  31:37 When you searched through all my goods, did you find anything that belonged to you? ⁵²⁴  Set it here before my relatives and yours, ⁵²⁵  and let them settle the dispute between the two of us! ⁵²⁶ 

31:38 “I have been with you for the past twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. 31:39 Animals torn by wild beasts I never brought to you; I always absorbed the loss myself. ⁵²⁷  You always made me pay for every missing animal, ⁵²⁸  whether it was taken by day or at night. 31:40 I was consumed by scorching heat ⁵²⁹  during the day and by piercing cold ⁵³⁰  at night, and I went without sleep. ⁵³¹  31:41 This was my lot ⁵³²  for twenty years in your house: I worked like a slave ⁵³³  for you – fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, but you changed my wages ten times! 31:42 If the God of my father – the God of Abraham, the one whom Isaac fears ⁵³⁴  – had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away empty-handed! But God saw how I was oppressed and how hard I worked, ⁵³⁵  and he rebuked you last night.”

31:43 Laban replied ⁵³⁶  to Jacob, “These women ⁵³⁷  are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, ⁵³⁸  and these flocks are my flocks. All that you see belongs to me. But how can I harm these daughters of mine today ⁵³⁹  or the children to whom they have given birth? 31:44 So now, come, let’s make a formal agreement, ⁵⁴⁰  you and I, and it will be ⁵⁴¹  proof that we have made peace.” ⁵⁴² 

31:45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a memorial pillar. 31:46 Then he ⁵⁴³  said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they brought stones and put them in a pile. ⁵⁴⁴  They ate there by the pile of stones. 31:47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, ⁵⁴⁵  but Jacob called it Galeed. ⁵⁴⁶ 

31:48 Laban said, “This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement ⁵⁴⁷  today.” That is why it was called Galeed. 31:49 It was also called Mizpah ⁵⁴⁸  because he said, “May the Lord watch ⁵⁴⁹  between us ⁵⁵⁰  when we are out of sight of one another. ⁵⁵¹  31:50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one else is with us, realize ⁵⁵²  that God is witness to your actions.” ⁵⁵³ 

31:51 “Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you,” Laban said to Jacob. ⁵⁵⁴  31:52 “This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me. ⁵⁵⁵  31:53 May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, ⁵⁵⁶  the gods of their father, judge between us.” Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared. ⁵⁵⁷  31:54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice ⁵⁵⁸  on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat the meal. ⁵⁵⁹  They ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain.

31:55 ⁵⁶⁰  Early in the morning Laban kissed ⁵⁶¹  his grandchildren ⁵⁶²  and his daughters goodbye and blessed them. Then Laban left and returned home. ⁵⁶³ 

32:1 So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God ⁵⁶⁴  met him. 32:2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, ⁵⁶⁵  “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. ⁵⁶⁶ 

32:3 Jacob sent messengers on ahead ⁵⁶⁷  to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region ⁵⁶⁸  of Edom. 32:4 He commanded them, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: ‘This is what your servant ⁵⁶⁹  Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now. 32:5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent ⁵⁷⁰  this message ⁵⁷¹  to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

32:6 The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him.” 32:7 Jacob was very afraid and upset. So he divided the people who were with him into two camps, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels. 32:8 “If Esau attacks one camp,” ⁵⁷²  he thought, ⁵⁷³  “then the other camp will be able to escape.” ⁵⁷⁴ 

32:9 Then Jacob prayed, ⁵⁷⁵  “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said ⁵⁷⁶  to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ ⁵⁷⁷  32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love ⁵⁷⁸  you have shown ⁵⁷⁹  your servant. With only my walking stick ⁵⁸⁰  I crossed the Jordan, ⁵⁸¹  but now I have become two camps. 32:11 Rescue me, ⁵⁸²  I pray, from the hand ⁵⁸³  of my brother Esau, ⁵⁸⁴  for I am afraid he will come ⁵⁸⁵  and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. ⁵⁸⁶  32:12 But you ⁵⁸⁷  said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper ⁵⁸⁸  and will make ⁵⁸⁹  your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’” ⁵⁹⁰ 

32:13 Jacob ⁵⁹¹  stayed there that night. Then he sent ⁵⁹²  as a gift ⁵⁹³  to his brother Esau 32:14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 32:15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 32:16 He entrusted them to ⁵⁹⁴  his servants, who divided them into herds. ⁵⁹⁵  He told his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next.” 32:17 He instructed the servant leading the first herd, ⁵⁹⁶  “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong? ⁵⁹⁷  Where are you going? Whose herds are you driving?’ ⁵⁹⁸  32:18 then you must say, ⁵⁹⁹  ‘They belong ⁶⁰⁰  to your servant Jacob. ⁶⁰¹  They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau. ⁶⁰²  In fact Jacob himself is behind us.’” ⁶⁰³ 

32:19 He also gave these instructions to the second and third servants, as well as all those who were following the herds, saying, “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. ⁶⁰⁴  32:20 You must also say, ‘In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.’” ⁶⁰⁵  Jacob thought, ⁶⁰⁶  “I will first appease him ⁶⁰⁷  by sending a gift ahead of me. ⁶⁰⁸  After that I will meet him. ⁶⁰⁹  Perhaps he will accept me.” ⁶¹⁰  32:21 So the gifts were sent on ahead of him ⁶¹¹  while he spent that night in the camp. ⁶¹² 

32:22 During the night Jacob quickly took ⁶¹³  his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons ⁶¹⁴  and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ⁶¹⁵  32:23 He took them and sent them across the stream along with all his possessions. ⁶¹⁶  32:24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man ⁶¹⁷  wrestled ⁶¹⁸  with him until daybreak. ⁶¹⁹  32:25 When the man ⁶²⁰  saw that he could not defeat Jacob, ⁶²¹  he struck ⁶²²  the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

32:26 Then the man ⁶²³  said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” ⁶²⁴  “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, ⁶²⁵  “unless you bless me.” ⁶²⁶  32:27 The man asked him, ⁶²⁷  “What is your name?” ⁶²⁸  He answered, “Jacob.” 32:28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, ⁶²⁹  “but Israel, ⁶³⁰  because you have fought ⁶³¹  with God and with men and have prevailed.”

32:29 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.” ⁶³²  “Why ⁶³³  do you ask my name?” the man replied. ⁶³⁴  Then he blessed ⁶³⁵  Jacob ⁶³⁶  there. 32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, ⁶³⁷  explaining, ⁶³⁸  “Certainly ⁶³⁹  I have seen God face to face ⁶⁴⁰  and have survived.” ⁶⁴¹ 

32:31 The sun rose ⁶⁴²  over him as he crossed over Penuel, ⁶⁴³  but ⁶⁴⁴  he was limping because of his hip. 32:32 That is why to this day ⁶⁴⁵  the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck ⁶⁴⁶  the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.

33:1 Jacob looked up ⁶⁴⁷  and saw that Esau was coming ⁶⁴⁸  along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. 33:2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them. ⁶⁴⁹  33:3 But Jacob ⁶⁵⁰  himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached ⁶⁵¹  his brother. 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they both wept. 33:5 When Esau ⁶⁵²  looked up ⁶⁵³  and saw the women and the children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?” Jacob ⁶⁵⁴  replied, “The children whom God has graciously given ⁶⁵⁵  your servant.” 33:6 The female servants came forward with their children and bowed down. ⁶⁵⁶  33:7 Then Leah came forward with her children and they bowed down. Finally Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed down.

33:8 Esau ⁶⁵⁷  then asked, “What did you intend ⁶⁵⁸  by sending all these herds to meet me?” ⁶⁵⁹  Jacob ⁶⁶⁰  replied, “To find favor in your sight, my lord.” 33:9 But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother. Keep what belongs to you.” 33:10 “No, please take them,” Jacob said. ⁶⁶¹  “If I have found favor in your sight, accept ⁶⁶²  my gift from my hand. Now that I have seen your face and you have accepted me, ⁶⁶³  it is as if I have seen the face of God. ⁶⁶⁴  33:11 Please take my present ⁶⁶⁵  that was brought to you, for God has been generous ⁶⁶⁶  to me and I have all I need.” ⁶⁶⁷  When Jacob urged him, he took it. ⁶⁶⁸ 

33:12 Then Esau ⁶⁶⁹  said, “Let’s be on our way! ⁶⁷⁰  I will go in front of you.” 33:13 But Jacob ⁶⁷¹  said to him, “My lord knows that the children are young, ⁶⁷²  and that I have to look after the sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. ⁶⁷³  If they are driven too hard for even a single day, all the animals will die. 33:14 Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, ⁶⁷⁴  until I come to my lord at Seir.”

33:15 So Esau said, “Let me leave some of my men with you.” ⁶⁷⁵  “Why do that?” Jacob replied. ⁶⁷⁶  “My lord has already been kind enough to me.” ⁶⁷⁷ 

33:16 So that same day Esau made his way back ⁶⁷⁸  to Seir. 33:17 But ⁶⁷⁹  Jacob traveled to Succoth ⁶⁸⁰  where he built himself a house and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was called ⁶⁸¹  Succoth. ⁶⁸² 

33:18 After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near ⁶⁸³  the city. 33:19 Then he purchased the portion of the field where he had pitched his tent; he bought it ⁶⁸⁴  from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money. ⁶⁸⁵  33:20 There he set up an altar and called it “The God of Israel is God.” ⁶⁸⁶ 

34:1 Now Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went to meet ⁶⁸⁷  the young women ⁶⁸⁸  of the land. 34:2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area, saw her, he grabbed her, forced himself on her, ⁶⁸⁹  and sexually assaulted her. ⁶⁹⁰  34:3 Then he became very attached ⁶⁹¹  to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her. ⁶⁹²  34:4 Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Acquire this young girl as my wife.” ⁶⁹³  34:5 When ⁶⁹⁴  Jacob heard that Shechem ⁶⁹⁵  had violated his daughter Dinah, his sons were with the livestock in the field. So Jacob remained silent ⁶⁹⁶  until they came in.

34:6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went to speak with Jacob about Dinah. ⁶⁹⁷  34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. ⁶⁹⁸  They ⁶⁹⁹  were offended ⁷⁰⁰  and very angry because Shechem ⁷⁰¹  had disgraced Israel ⁷⁰²  by sexually assaulting ⁷⁰³  Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed. ⁷⁰⁴ 

34:8 But Hamor made this appeal to them: “My son Shechem is in love with your daughter. ⁷⁰⁵  Please give her to him as his wife. 34:9 Intermarry with us. ⁷⁰⁶  Let us marry your daughters, and take our daughters as wives for yourselves. ⁷⁰⁷  34:10 You may live ⁷⁰⁸  among us, and the land will be open to you. ⁷⁰⁹  Live in it, travel freely in it, ⁷¹⁰  and acquire property in it.”

34:11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s ⁷¹¹  father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and whatever you require of me ⁷¹²  I’ll give. ⁷¹³  34:12 You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive, ⁷¹⁴  and I’ll give ⁷¹⁵  whatever you ask ⁷¹⁶  of me. Just give me the young woman as my wife!”

34:13 Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully when they spoke because Shechem ⁷¹⁷  had violated their sister Dinah. 34:14 They said to them, “We cannot give ⁷¹⁸  our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace ⁷¹⁹  to us. 34:15 We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become ⁷²⁰  like us by circumcising ⁷²¹  all your males. 34:16 Then we will give ⁷²²  you our daughters to marry, ⁷²³  and we will take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people. 34:17 But if you do not agree to our terms ⁷²⁴  by being circumcised, then we will take ⁷²⁵  our sister ⁷²⁶  and depart.”

34:18 Their offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. ⁷²⁷  34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked ⁷²⁸  because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah ⁷²⁹  badly. (Now he was more important ⁷³⁰  than anyone in his father’s household.) ⁷³¹  34:20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate ⁷³²  of their city and spoke to the men of their city, 34:21 “These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough ⁷³³  for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry. ⁷³⁴  34:22 Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand ⁷³⁵  that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised. 34:23 If we do so, ⁷³⁶  won’t their livestock, their property, and all their animals become ours? So let’s consent to their demand, so they will live among us.”

34:24 All the men who assembled at the city gate ⁷³⁷  agreed with ⁷³⁸  Hamor and his son Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate ⁷³⁹  was circumcised. 34:25 In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword ⁷⁴⁰  and went to the unsuspecting city ⁷⁴¹  and slaughtered every male. 34:26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. 34:27 Jacob’s sons killed them ⁷⁴²  and looted the city because their sister had been violated. ⁷⁴³  34:28 They took their flocks, herds, and donkeys, as well as everything in the city and in the surrounding fields. ⁷⁴⁴  34:29 They captured as plunder ⁷⁴⁵  all their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, including everything in the houses.

34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought ruin ⁷⁴⁶  on me by making me a foul odor ⁷⁴⁷  among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I ⁷⁴⁸  am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!” 34:31 But Simeon and Levi replied, ⁷⁴⁹  “Should he treat our sister like a common prostitute?”

35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once ⁷⁵⁰  to Bethel ⁷⁵¹  and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ⁷⁵²  35:2 So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have among you. ⁷⁵³  Purify yourselves and change your clothes. ⁷⁵⁴  35:3 Let us go up at once ⁷⁵⁵  to Bethel. Then I will make ⁷⁵⁶  an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress ⁷⁵⁷  and has been with me wherever I went.” ⁷⁵⁸ 

35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession ⁷⁵⁹  and the rings that were in their ears. ⁷⁶⁰  Jacob buried them ⁷⁶¹  under the oak ⁷⁶²  near Shechem 35:5 and they started on their journey. ⁷⁶³  The surrounding cities were afraid of God, ⁷⁶⁴  and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

35:6 Jacob and all those who were with him arrived at Luz (that is, Bethel) ⁷⁶⁵  in the land of Canaan. ⁷⁶⁶  35:7 He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel ⁷⁶⁷  because there God had revealed himself ⁷⁶⁸  to him when he was fleeing from his brother. 35:8 (Deborah, ⁷⁶⁹  Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel; thus it was named ⁷⁷⁰  Oak of Weeping.) ⁷⁷¹ 

35:9 God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan Aram and blessed him. 35:10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but your name will no longer be called Jacob; Israel will be your name.” So God named him Israel. ⁷⁷²  35:11 Then God said to him, “I am the sovereign God. ⁷⁷³  Be fruitful and multiply! A nation – even a company of nations – will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants! ⁷⁷⁴  35:12 The land I gave ⁷⁷⁵  to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. To your descendants ⁷⁷⁶  I will also give this land.” 35:13 Then God went up from the place ⁷⁷⁷  where he spoke with him. 35:14 So Jacob set up a sacred stone pillar in the place where God spoke with him. ⁷⁷⁸  He poured out a drink offering on it, and then he poured oil on it. ⁷⁷⁹  35:15 Jacob named the place ⁷⁸⁰  where God spoke with him Bethel. ⁷⁸¹ 

35:16 They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, ⁷⁸²  Rachel went into labor ⁷⁸³  – and her labor was hard. 35:17 When her labor was at its hardest, ⁷⁸⁴  the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you are having another son.” ⁷⁸⁵  35:18 With her dying breath, ⁷⁸⁶  she named him Ben-Oni. ⁷⁸⁷  But his father called him Benjamin instead. ⁷⁸⁸  35:19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ⁷⁸⁹  35:20 Jacob set up a marker ⁷⁹⁰  over her grave; it is ⁷⁹¹  the Marker of Rachel’s Grave to this day.

35:21 Then Israel traveled on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. ⁷⁹²  35:22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with ⁷⁹³  Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

35:23 The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, as well as Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

35:24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

35:25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphtali.

35:26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher.

These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

35:27 So Jacob came back to his father Isaac in Mamre, ⁷⁹⁴  to Kiriath Arba ⁷⁹⁵  (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. ⁷⁹⁶  35:28 Isaac lived to be 180 years old. ⁷⁹⁷  35:29 Then Isaac breathed his last and joined his ancestors. ⁷⁹⁸  He died an old man who had lived a full life. ⁷⁹⁹  His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

36:1 What follows is the account of Esau (also known as Edom). ⁸⁰⁰ 

36:2 Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: ⁸⁰¹  Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter ⁸⁰²  of Zibeon the Hivite, 36:3 in addition to Basemath the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

36:4 Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, 36:5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

36:6 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, all the people in his household, his livestock, his animals, and all his possessions which he had acquired in the land of Canaan and went to a land some distance away from ⁸⁰³  Jacob his brother 36:7 because they had too many possessions to be able to stay together and the land where they had settled ⁸⁰⁴  was not able to support them because of their livestock. 36:8 So Esau (also known as Edom) lived in the hill country of Seir. ⁸⁰⁵ 

36:9 This is the account of Esau, the father ⁸⁰⁶  of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir.

36:10 These were the names of Esau’s sons:

Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.

36:11 The sons of Eliphaz were:

Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

36:12 Timna, a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons ⁸⁰⁷  of Esau’s wife Adah.

36:13 These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons ⁸⁰⁸  of Esau’s wife Basemath.

36:14 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter ⁸⁰⁹  of Zibeon: She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah to Esau.

36:15 These were the chiefs ⁸¹⁰  among the descendants ⁸¹¹  of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, 36:16 chief Korah, ⁸¹²  chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons ⁸¹³  of Adah.

36:17 These were the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these were the sons ⁸¹⁴  of Esau’s wife Basemath.

36:18 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

36:19 These were the sons of Esau (also known as Edom), and these were their chiefs.

36:20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite, ⁸¹⁵  who were living in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 36:21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the descendants ⁸¹⁶  of Seir in the land of Edom.

36:22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam; ⁸¹⁷  Lotan’s sister was Timna.

36:23 These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, ⁸¹⁸  and Onam.

36:24 These were the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah (who discovered the hot springs ⁸¹⁹  in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon).

36:25 These were the children ⁸²⁰  of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

36:26 These were the sons of Dishon: ⁸²¹  Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.

36:27 These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

36:28 These were the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

36:29 These were the chiefs of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, 36:30 chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chief lists in the land of Seir.

36:31 These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites: ⁸²² 

36:32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.

36:33 When Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.

36:34 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

36:35 When Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab, reigned in his place; the name of his city was Avith.

36:36 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place.

36:37 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth by the River ⁸²³  reigned in his place.

36:38 When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.

36:39 When Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadad ⁸²⁴  reigned in his place; the name of his city was Pau. ⁸²⁵  His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.

36:40 These were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families, according to their places, by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, 36:41 chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, 36:42 chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, 36:43 chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements ⁸²⁶  in the land they possessed. This was Esau, the father of the Edomites.

37:1 But Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, ⁸²⁷  in the land of Canaan. ⁸²⁸ 

37:2 This is the account of Jacob.

Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, ⁸²⁹  was taking care of ⁸³⁰  the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster ⁸³¹  working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. ⁸³²  Joseph brought back a bad report about them ⁸³³  to their father.

37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons ⁸³⁴  because he was a son born to him late in life, ⁸³⁵  and he made a special ⁸³⁶  tunic for him. 37:4 When Joseph’s ⁸³⁷  brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, ⁸³⁸  they hated Joseph ⁸³⁹  and were not able to speak to him kindly. ⁸⁴⁰ 

37:5 Joseph ⁸⁴¹  had a dream, ⁸⁴²  and when he told his brothers about it, ⁸⁴³  they hated him even more. ⁸⁴⁴  37:6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ⁸⁴⁵  37:7 There we were, ⁸⁴⁶  binding sheaves of grain in the middle of the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose up and stood upright and your sheaves surrounded my sheaf and bowed down ⁸⁴⁷  to it!” 37:8 Then his brothers asked him, “Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?” ⁸⁴⁸  They hated him even more ⁸⁴⁹  because of his dream and because of what he said. ⁸⁵⁰ 

37:9 Then he had another dream, ⁸⁵¹  and told it to his brothers. “Look,” ⁸⁵²  he said. “I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 37:10 When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, “What is this dream that you had? ⁸⁵³  Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?” ⁸⁵⁴  37:11 His brothers were jealous ⁸⁵⁵  of him, but his father kept in mind what Joseph said. ⁸⁵⁶ 

37:12 When his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, 37:13 Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers ⁸⁵⁷  are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I will send you to them.” “I’m ready,” ⁸⁵⁸  Joseph replied. ⁸⁵⁹  37:14 So Jacob ⁸⁶⁰  said to him, “Go now and check on ⁸⁶¹  the welfare ⁸⁶²  of your brothers and of the flocks, and bring me word.” So Jacob ⁸⁶³  sent him from the valley of Hebron.

37:15 When Joseph reached Shechem, ⁸⁶⁴  a man found him wandering ⁸⁶⁵  in the field, so the man asked him, “What are you looking for?” 37:16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Please tell ⁸⁶⁶  me where they are grazing their flocks.” 37:17 The man said, “They left this area, ⁸⁶⁷  for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

37:18 Now Joseph’s brothers ⁸⁶⁸  saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 37:19 They said to one another, “Here comes this master of dreams! ⁸⁶⁹  37:20 Come now, let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild ⁸⁷⁰  animal ate him. Then we’ll see how his dreams turn out!” ⁸⁷¹ 

37:21 When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph ⁸⁷²  from their hands, ⁸⁷³  saying, ⁸⁷⁴  “Let’s not take his life!” ⁸⁷⁵  37:22 Reuben continued, ⁸⁷⁶  “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” ⁸⁷⁷  (Reuben said this ⁸⁷⁸  so he could rescue Joseph ⁸⁷⁹  from them ⁸⁸⁰  and take him back to his father.)

37:23 When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him ⁸⁸¹  of his tunic, the special tunic that he wore. 37:24 Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the cistern was empty; ⁸⁸²  there was no water in it.)

37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up ⁸⁸³  and saw ⁸⁸⁴  a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. ⁸⁸⁵  37:26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 37:27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not lay a hand on him, ⁸⁸⁶  for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. ⁸⁸⁷  37:28 So when the Midianite ⁸⁸⁸  merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled ⁸⁸⁹  him ⁸⁹⁰  out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites ⁸⁹¹  then took Joseph to Egypt.

37:29 Later Reuben returned to the cistern to find that Joseph was not in it! ⁸⁹²  He tore his clothes, 37:30 returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy isn’t there! And I, where can I go?” 37:31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a young goat, ⁸⁹³  and dipped the tunic in the blood. 37:32 Then they brought the special tunic to their father ⁸⁹⁴  and said, “We found this. Determine now whether it is your son’s tunic or not.”

37:33 He recognized it and exclaimed, “It is my son’s tunic! A wild animal has eaten him! ⁸⁹⁵  Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” 37:34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, ⁸⁹⁶  and mourned for his son many days. 37:35 All his sons and daughters stood by ⁸⁹⁷  him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. “No,” he said, “I will go to the grave mourning my son.” ⁸⁹⁸  So Joseph’s ⁸⁹⁹  father wept for him.

37:36 Now ⁹⁰⁰  in Egypt the Midianites ⁹⁰¹  sold Joseph ⁹⁰²  to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard. ⁹⁰³ 

38:1 At that time Judah left ⁹⁰⁴  his brothers and stayed ⁹⁰⁵  with an Adullamite man ⁹⁰⁶  named Hirah.

38:2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man ⁹⁰⁷  named Shua. ⁹⁰⁸  Judah acquired her as a wife ⁹⁰⁹  and had marital relations with her. ⁹¹⁰  38:3 She became pregnant ⁹¹¹  and had a son. Judah named ⁹¹²  him Er. 38:4 She became pregnant again and had another son, whom she named Onan. 38:5 Then she had ⁹¹³  yet another son, whom she named Shelah. She gave birth to him in Kezib. ⁹¹⁴ 

38:6 Judah acquired ⁹¹⁵  a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar. 38:7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord killed him.

38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Have sexual relations with ⁹¹⁶  your brother’s wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise ⁹¹⁷  up a descendant for your brother.” ⁹¹⁸  38:9 But Onan knew that the child ⁹¹⁹  would not be considered his. ⁹²⁰  So whenever ⁹²¹  he had sexual relations with ⁹²²  his brother’s wife, he withdrew prematurely ⁹²³  so as not to give his brother a descendant. 38:10 What he did was evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord ⁹²⁴  killed him too.

38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, ⁹²⁵  “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” ⁹²⁶  So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

38:12 After some time ⁹²⁷  Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah was consoled, he left for Timnah to visit his sheepshearers, along with ⁹²⁸  his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 38:13 Tamar was told, ⁹²⁹  “Look, your father-in-law is going up ⁹³⁰  to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 38:14 So she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because ⁹³¹  she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, even though he had now grown up.) ⁹³² 

38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute ⁹³³  because she had covered her face. 38:16 He turned aside to her along the road and said, “Come on! I want to have sex with you.” ⁹³⁴  (He did not realize ⁹³⁵  it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, “What will you give me in exchange for having sex with you?” ⁹³⁶  38:17 He replied, “I’ll send you a young goat from the flock.” She asked, “Will you give me a pledge until you send it?” ⁹³⁷  38:18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?” She replied, “Your seal, your cord, and the staff that’s in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had sex with her. ⁹³⁸  She became pregnant by him. 38:19 She left immediately, ⁹³⁹  removed her veil, and put on her widow’s clothes.

38:20 Then Judah had his friend Hirah ⁹⁴⁰  the Adullamite take a young goat to get back from the woman the items he had given in pledge, ⁹⁴¹  but Hirah ⁹⁴²  could not find her. 38:21 He asked the men who were there, ⁹⁴³  “Where is the cult prostitute ⁹⁴⁴  who was at Enaim by the road?” But they replied, “There has been no cult prostitute here.” 38:22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. Moreover, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’” 38:23 Judah said, “Let her keep the things ⁹⁴⁵  for herself. Otherwise we will appear to be dishonest. ⁹⁴⁶  I did indeed send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”

38:24 After three months Judah was told, ⁹⁴⁷  “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution, ⁹⁴⁸  and as a result she has become pregnant.” ⁹⁴⁹  Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!” 38:25 While they were bringing her out, she sent word ⁹⁵⁰  to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.” ⁹⁵¹  Then she said, “Identify ⁹⁵²  the one to whom the seal, cord, and staff belong.” 38:26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more upright ⁹⁵³  than I am, because I wouldn’t give her to Shelah my son.” He did not have sexual relations with her ⁹⁵⁴  again.

38:27 When it was time for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb. 38:28 While she was giving birth, one child ⁹⁵⁵  put out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” 38:29 But then he drew back his hand, and his brother came out before him. ⁹⁵⁶  She said, “How you have broken out of the womb!” ⁹⁵⁷  So he was named Perez. ⁹⁵⁸  38:30 Afterward his brother came out – the one who had the scarlet thread on his hand – and he was named Zerah. ⁹⁵⁹ 

39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. ⁹⁶⁰  An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, ⁹⁶¹  purchased him from ⁹⁶²  the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. 39:2 The Lord was with Joseph. He was successful ⁹⁶³  and lived ⁹⁶⁴  in the household of his Egyptian master. 39:3 His master observed that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he was doing successful. ⁹⁶⁵  39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. ⁹⁶⁶  Potiphar appointed Joseph ⁹⁶⁷  overseer of his household and put him in charge ⁹⁶⁸  of everything he owned. 39:5 From the time ⁹⁶⁹  Potiphar ⁹⁷⁰  appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed ⁹⁷¹  the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both ⁹⁷²  in his house and in his fields. ⁹⁷³  39:6 So Potiphar ⁹⁷⁴  left ⁹⁷⁵  everything he had in Joseph’s care; ⁹⁷⁶  he gave no thought ⁹⁷⁷  to anything except the food he ate. ⁹⁷⁸ 

Now Joseph was well built and good-looking. ⁹⁷⁹  39:7 Soon after these things, his master’s wife took notice of ⁹⁸⁰  Joseph and said, “Have sex with me.” ⁹⁸¹  39:8 But he refused, saying ⁹⁸²  to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not give any thought ⁹⁸³  to his household with me here, ⁹⁸⁴  and everything that he owns he has put into my care. ⁹⁸⁵  39:9 There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do ⁹⁸⁶  such a great evil and sin against God?” 39:10 Even though she continued to speak ⁹⁸⁷  to Joseph day after day, he did not respond ⁹⁸⁸  to her invitation to have sex with her. ⁹⁸⁹ 

39:11 One day ⁹⁹⁰  he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants ⁹⁹¹  were there in the house. 39:12 She grabbed him by his outer garment, saying, “Have sex with me!” But he left his outer garment in her hand and ran ⁹⁹²  outside. ⁹⁹³  39:13 When she saw that he had left his outer garment in her hand and had run outside, 39:14 she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought ⁹⁹⁴  in a Hebrew man ⁹⁹⁵  to us to humiliate us. ⁹⁹⁶  He tried to have sex with me, ⁹⁹⁷  but I screamed loudly. ⁹⁹⁸  39:15 When he heard me raise ⁹⁹⁹  my voice and scream, he left his outer garment beside me and ran outside.”

39:16 So she laid his outer garment beside her until his master came home. 39:17 This is what she said to him: ¹⁰⁰⁰  “That Hebrew slave ¹⁰⁰¹  you brought to us tried to humiliate me, ¹⁰⁰²  39:18 but when I raised my voice and screamed, he left his outer garment and ran outside.”

39:19 When his master heard his wife say, ¹⁰⁰³  “This is the way ¹⁰⁰⁴  your slave treated me,” ¹⁰⁰⁵  he became furious. ¹⁰⁰⁶  39:20 Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the prison, ¹⁰⁰⁷  the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison. ¹⁰⁰⁸ 

39:21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness. ¹⁰⁰⁹  He granted him favor in the sight of the prison warden. ¹⁰¹⁰  39:22 The warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care. He was in charge of whatever they were doing. ¹⁰¹¹  39:23 The warden did not concern himself ¹⁰¹²  with anything that was in Joseph’s ¹⁰¹³  care because the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful.

40:1 After these things happened, the cupbearer ¹⁰¹⁴  to the king of Egypt and the royal baker ¹⁰¹⁵  offended ¹⁰¹⁶  their master, the king of Egypt. 40:2 Pharaoh was enraged with his two officials, ¹⁰¹⁷  the cupbearer and the baker, 40:3 so he imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard in the same facility where Joseph was confined. 40:4 The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be their attendant, and he served them. ¹⁰¹⁸ 

They spent some time in custody. ¹⁰¹⁹  40:5 Both of them, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream ¹⁰²⁰  the same night. ¹⁰²¹  Each man’s dream had its own meaning. ¹⁰²²  40:6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were looking depressed. ¹⁰²³  40:7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?” ¹⁰²⁴  40:8 They told him, “We both had dreams, ¹⁰²⁵  but there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph responded, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell them ¹⁰²⁶  to me.”

40:9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: ¹⁰²⁷  “In my dream, there was a vine in front of me. 40:10 On the vine there were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes. 40:11 Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, squeezed them into his ¹⁰²⁸  cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” ¹⁰²⁹ 

40:12 “This is its meaning,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches represent ¹⁰³⁰  three days. 40:13 In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you ¹⁰³¹  and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did before ¹⁰³²  when you were cupbearer. 40:14 But remember me ¹⁰³³  when it goes well for you, and show ¹⁰³⁴  me kindness. ¹⁰³⁵  Make mention ¹⁰³⁶  of me to Pharaoh and bring me out of this prison, ¹⁰³⁷  40:15 for I really was kidnapped ¹⁰³⁸  from the land of the Hebrews and I have done nothing wrong here for which they should put me in a dungeon.”

40:16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the first dream was favorable, ¹⁰³⁹  he said to Joseph, “I also appeared in my dream and there were three baskets of white bread ¹⁰⁴⁰  on my head. 40:17 In the top basket there were baked goods of every kind for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them from the basket that was on my head.”

40:18 Joseph replied, “This is its meaning: The three baskets represent ¹⁰⁴¹  three days. 40:19 In three more days Pharaoh will decapitate you ¹⁰⁴²  and impale you on a pole. Then the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

40:20 On the third day it was Pharaoh’s birthday, so he gave a feast for all his servants. He “lifted up” ¹⁰⁴³  the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker in the midst of his servants. 40:21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his former position ¹⁰⁴⁴  so that he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand, 40:22 but the chief baker he impaled, just as Joseph had predicted. ¹⁰⁴⁵  40:23 But the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph – he forgot him. ¹⁰⁴⁶ 

41:1 At the end of two full years ¹⁰⁴⁷  Pharaoh had a dream. ¹⁰⁴⁸  As he was standing by the Nile, 41:2 seven fine-looking, fat cows were coming up out of the Nile, ¹⁰⁴⁹  and they grazed in the reeds. 41:3 Then seven bad-looking, thin cows were coming up after them from the Nile, ¹⁰⁵⁰  and they stood beside the other cows at the edge of the river. ¹⁰⁵¹  41:4 The bad-looking, thin cows ate the seven fine-looking, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.

41:5 Then he fell asleep again and had a second dream: There were seven heads of grain growing ¹⁰⁵²  on one stalk, healthy ¹⁰⁵³  and good. 41:6 Then ¹⁰⁵⁴  seven heads of grain, thin and burned by the east wind, were sprouting up after them. 41:7 The thin heads swallowed up the seven healthy and full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up and realized it was a dream. ¹⁰⁵⁵ 

41:8 In the morning he ¹⁰⁵⁶  was troubled, so he called for ¹⁰⁵⁷  all the diviner-priests ¹⁰⁵⁸  of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, ¹⁰⁵⁹  but no one could interpret ¹⁰⁶⁰  them for him. ¹⁰⁶¹  41:9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures. ¹⁰⁶²  41:10 Pharaoh was enraged with his servants, and he put me in prison in the house of the captain of the guards – me and the chief baker. 41:11 We each had a dream one night; each of us had a dream with its own meaning. ¹⁰⁶³  41:12 Now a young man, a Hebrew, a servant ¹⁰⁶⁴  of the captain of the guards, ¹⁰⁶⁵  was with us there. We told him our dreams, ¹⁰⁶⁶  and he interpreted the meaning of each of our respective dreams for us. ¹⁰⁶⁷  41:13 It happened just as he had said ¹⁰⁶⁸  to us – Pharaoh ¹⁰⁶⁹  restored me to my office, but he impaled the baker.” ¹⁰⁷⁰ 

41:14 Then Pharaoh summoned ¹⁰⁷¹  Joseph. So they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; he shaved himself, changed his clothes, and came before Pharaoh. 41:15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, ¹⁰⁷²  and there is no one who can interpret ¹⁰⁷³  it. But I have heard about you, that ¹⁰⁷⁴  you can interpret dreams.” ¹⁰⁷⁵  41:16 Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “It is not within my power, ¹⁰⁷⁶  but God will speak concerning ¹⁰⁷⁷  the welfare of Pharaoh.” ¹⁰⁷⁸ 

41:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing ¹⁰⁷⁹  by the edge of the Nile. 41:18 Then seven fat and fine-looking cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. ¹⁰⁸⁰  41:19 Then ¹⁰⁸¹  seven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had never seen such bad-looking cows ¹⁰⁸²  as these in all the land of Egypt! 41:20 The lean, bad-looking cows ate up the seven ¹⁰⁸³  fat cows. 41:21 When they had eaten them, ¹⁰⁸⁴  no one would have known ¹⁰⁸⁵  that they had done so, for they were just as bad-looking as before. Then I woke up. 41:22 I also saw in my dream ¹⁰⁸⁶  seven heads of grain growing on one stalk, full and good. 41:23 Then ¹⁰⁸⁷  seven heads of grain, withered and thin and burned with the east wind, were sprouting up after them. 41:24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. So I told all this ¹⁰⁸⁸  to the diviner-priests, but no one could tell me its meaning.” ¹⁰⁸⁹ 

41:25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both dreams of Pharaoh have the same meaning. ¹⁰⁹⁰  God has revealed ¹⁰⁹¹  to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ¹⁰⁹²  41:26 The seven good cows represent seven years, and the seven good heads of grain represent seven years. Both dreams have the same meaning. ¹⁰⁹³  41:27 The seven lean, bad-looking cows that came up after them represent seven years, as do the seven empty heads of grain burned with the east wind. They represent ¹⁰⁹⁴  seven years of famine. 41:28 This is just what I told ¹⁰⁹⁵  Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 41:29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt. 41:30 But seven years of famine will occur ¹⁰⁹⁶  after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will devastate ¹⁰⁹⁷  the land. 41:31 The previous abundance of the land will not be remembered ¹⁰⁹⁸  because of the famine that follows, for the famine will be very severe. ¹⁰⁹⁹  41:32 The dream was repeated to Pharaoh ¹¹⁰⁰  because the matter has been decreed ¹¹⁰¹  by God, and God will make it happen soon. ¹¹⁰² 

41:33 “So now Pharaoh should look ¹¹⁰³  for a wise and discerning man ¹¹⁰⁴  and give him authority ¹¹⁰⁵  over all the land of Egypt. 41:34 Pharaoh should do ¹¹⁰⁶  this – he should appoint ¹¹⁰⁷  officials ¹¹⁰⁸  throughout the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt ¹¹⁰⁹  during the seven years of abundance. 41:35 They should gather all the excess food ¹¹¹⁰  during these good years that are coming. By Pharaoh’s authority ¹¹¹¹  they should store up grain so the cities will have food, ¹¹¹²  and they should preserve it. ¹¹¹³  41:36 This food should be held in storage for the land in preparation for the seven years of famine that will occur throughout the land of Egypt. In this way the land will survive the famine.” ¹¹¹⁴ 

41:37 This advice made sense to Pharaoh and all his officials. ¹¹¹⁵  41:38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, ¹¹¹⁶  one in whom the Spirit of God is present?” ¹¹¹⁷  41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning ¹¹¹⁸  as you are! 41:40 You will oversee my household, and all my people will submit to your commands. ¹¹¹⁹  Only I, the king, will be greater than you. ¹¹²⁰ 

41:41 “See here,” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I place ¹¹²¹  you in authority over all the land of Egypt.” ¹¹²²  41:42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his own hand and put it on Joseph’s. He clothed him with fine linen ¹¹²³  clothes and put a gold chain around his neck. 41:43 Pharaoh ¹¹²⁴  had him ride in the chariot used by his second-in-command, ¹¹²⁵  and they cried out before him, “Kneel down!” ¹¹²⁶  So he placed him over all the land of Egypt. 41:44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission ¹¹²⁷  no one ¹¹²⁸  will move his hand or his foot ¹¹²⁹  in all the land of Egypt.” 41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. ¹¹³⁰  He also gave him Asenath ¹¹³¹  daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, ¹¹³²  to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of ¹¹³³  all the land of Egypt.

41:46 Now Joseph was 30 years old ¹¹³⁴  when he began serving ¹¹³⁵  Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph was commissioned by ¹¹³⁶  Pharaoh and was in charge of ¹¹³⁷  all the land of Egypt. 41:47 During the seven years of abundance the land produced large, bountiful harvests. ¹¹³⁸  41:48 Joseph ¹¹³⁹  collected all the excess food ¹¹⁴⁰  in the land of Egypt during the seven years and stored it in the cities. ¹¹⁴¹  In every city he put the food gathered from the fields around it. 41:49 Joseph stored up a vast amount of grain, like the sand of the sea, ¹¹⁴²  until he stopped measuring it because it was impossible to measure.

41:50 Two sons were born to Joseph before the famine came. ¹¹⁴³  Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, was their mother. ¹¹⁴⁴  41:51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, ¹¹⁴⁵  saying, ¹¹⁴⁶  “Certainly ¹¹⁴⁷  God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.” 41:52 He named the second child Ephraim, ¹¹⁴⁸  saying, ¹¹⁴⁹  “Certainly ¹¹⁵⁰  God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”

41:53 The seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end. 41:54 Then the seven years of famine began, ¹¹⁵¹  just as Joseph had predicted. There was famine in all the other lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food. 41:55 When all the land of Egypt experienced the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to all the people of Egypt, ¹¹⁵²  “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”

41:56 While the famine was over all the earth, ¹¹⁵³  Joseph opened the storehouses ¹¹⁵⁴  and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine was severe throughout the land of Egypt. 41:57 People from every country ¹¹⁵⁵  came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the famine was severe throughout the earth.

42:1 When Jacob heard ¹¹⁵⁶  there was grain in Egypt, he ¹¹⁵⁷  said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?” ¹¹⁵⁸  42:2 He then said, “Look, I hear that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us ¹¹⁵⁹  so that we may live ¹¹⁶⁰  and not die.” ¹¹⁶¹ 

42:3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 42:4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, ¹¹⁶²  for he said, ¹¹⁶³  “What if some accident ¹¹⁶⁴  happens ¹¹⁶⁵  to him?” 42:5 So Israel’s sons came to buy grain among the other travelers, ¹¹⁶⁶  for the famine was severe in the land of Canaan.

42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the country, the one who sold grain to all the people of the country. ¹¹⁶⁷  Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down ¹¹⁶⁸  before him with ¹¹⁶⁹  their faces to the ground. 42:7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger ¹¹⁷⁰  to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered, ¹¹⁷¹  “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.” ¹¹⁷² 

42:8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 42:9 Then Joseph remembered ¹¹⁷³  the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see if our land is vulnerable!” ¹¹⁷⁴ 

42:10 But they exclaimed, ¹¹⁷⁵  “No, my lord! Your servants have come to buy grain for food! 42:11 We are all the sons of one man; we are honest men! Your servants are not spies.”

42:12 “No,” he insisted, “but you have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” ¹¹⁷⁶  42:13 They replied, “Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers. ¹¹⁷⁷  We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father at this time, ¹¹⁷⁸  and one is no longer alive.” ¹¹⁷⁹ 

42:14 But Joseph told them, “It is just as I said to you: ¹¹⁸⁰  You are spies! 42:15 You will be tested in this way: As surely as Pharaoh lives, ¹¹⁸¹  you will not depart from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 42:16 One of you must go and get ¹¹⁸²  your brother, while ¹¹⁸³  the rest of you remain in prison. ¹¹⁸⁴  In this way your words may be tested to see if ¹¹⁸⁵  you are telling the truth. ¹¹⁸⁶  If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” 42:17 He imprisoned ¹¹⁸⁷  them all for three days. 42:18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do as I say ¹¹⁸⁸  and you will live, ¹¹⁸⁹  for I fear God. ¹¹⁹⁰  42:19 If you are honest men, leave one of your brothers confined here in prison ¹¹⁹¹  while the rest of you go ¹¹⁹²  and take grain back for your hungry families. ¹¹⁹³  42:20 But you must bring ¹¹⁹⁴  your youngest brother to me. Then ¹¹⁹⁵  your words will be verified ¹¹⁹⁶  and you will not die.” They did as he said. ¹¹⁹⁷ 

42:21 They said to one other, ¹¹⁹⁸  “Surely we’re being punished ¹¹⁹⁹  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ¹²⁰⁰  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ¹²⁰¹  has come on us!” 42:22 Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!” ¹²⁰²  42:23 (Now ¹²⁰³  they did not know that Joseph could understand them, ¹²⁰⁴  for he was speaking through an interpreter.) ¹²⁰⁵  42:24 He turned away from them and wept. When he turned around and spoke to them again, ¹²⁰⁶  he had Simeon taken ¹²⁰⁷  from them and tied up ¹²⁰⁸  before their eyes.

42:25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill ¹²⁰⁹  their bags with grain, to return each man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. His orders were carried out. ¹²¹⁰  42:26 So they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left. ¹²¹¹ 

42:27 When one of them ¹²¹²  opened his sack to get feed for his donkey at their resting place, ¹²¹³  he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. ¹²¹⁴  42:28 He said to his brothers, “My money was returned! Here it is in my sack!” They were dismayed; ¹²¹⁵  they turned trembling one to another ¹²¹⁶  and said, “What in the world has God done to us?” ¹²¹⁷ 

42:29 They returned to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him all the things that had happened to them, saying, 42:30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us and treated us ¹²¹⁸  as if we were ¹²¹⁹  spying on the land. 42:31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies! 42:32 We are from a family of twelve brothers; we are the sons of one father. ¹²²⁰  One is no longer alive, ¹²²¹  and the youngest is with our father at this time ¹²²²  in the land of Canaan.’

42:33 “Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain ¹²²³  for your hungry households and go. 42:34 But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know ¹²²⁴  that you are honest men and not spies. ¹²²⁵  Then I will give your brother back to you and you may move about freely in the land.’” ¹²²⁶ 

42:35 When they were emptying their sacks, there was each man’s bag of money in his sack! When they and their father saw the bags of money, they were afraid. 42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. ¹²²⁷  Simeon is gone. ¹²²⁸  And now you want to take ¹²²⁹  Benjamin! Everything is against me.”

42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may ¹²³⁰  put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care ¹²³¹  and I will bring him back to you.” 42:38 But Jacob ¹²³²  replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. ¹²³³  If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair ¹²³⁴  in sorrow to the grave.” ¹²³⁵ 

43:1 Now the famine was severe in the land. ¹²³⁶  43:2 When they finished eating the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Return, buy us a little more food.”

43:3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned ¹²³⁷  us, ‘You will not see my face ¹²³⁸  unless your brother is with you.’ 43:4 If you send ¹²³⁹  our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy food for you. 43:5 But if you will not send him, we won’t go down there because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”

43:6 Israel said, “Why did you bring this trouble ¹²⁴⁰  on me by telling ¹²⁴¹  the man you had one more brother?”

43:7 They replied, “The man questioned us ¹²⁴²  thoroughly ¹²⁴³  about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ ¹²⁴⁴  So we answered him in this way. ¹²⁴⁵  How could we possibly know ¹²⁴⁶  that he would say, ¹²⁴⁷  ‘Bring your brother down’?”

43:8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will go immediately. ¹²⁴⁸  Then we will live ¹²⁴⁹  and not die – we and you and our little ones. 43:9 I myself pledge security ¹²⁵⁰  for him; you may hold me liable. If I do not bring him back to you and place him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. ¹²⁵¹  43:10 But if we had not delayed, we could have traveled there and back ¹²⁵²  twice by now!”

43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take a gift down to the man – a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds. 43:12 Take double the money with you; ¹²⁵³  you must take back ¹²⁵⁴  the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks – perhaps it was an oversight. 43:13 Take your brother too, and go right away ¹²⁵⁵  to the man. ¹²⁵⁶  43:14 May the sovereign God ¹²⁵⁷  grant you mercy before the man so that he may release ¹²⁵⁸  your other brother ¹²⁵⁹  and Benjamin! As for me, if I lose my children I lose them.” ¹²⁶⁰ 

43:15 So the men took these gifts, and they took double the money with them, along with Benjamin. Then they hurried down to Egypt ¹²⁶¹  and stood before Joseph. 43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant who was over his household, “Bring the men to the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for the men will eat with me at noon.” 43:17 The man did just as Joseph said; he ¹²⁶²  brought the men into Joseph’s house. ¹²⁶³ 

43:18 But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of ¹²⁶⁴  the money that was returned in our sacks last time. ¹²⁶⁵  He wants to capture us, ¹²⁶⁶  make us slaves, and take ¹²⁶⁷  our donkeys!” 43:19 So they approached the man who was in charge of Joseph’s household and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 43:20 They said, “My lord, we did indeed come down ¹²⁶⁸  the first time ¹²⁶⁹  to buy food. 43:21 But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money – the full amount ¹²⁷⁰  – in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it. ¹²⁷¹  43:22 We have brought additional money with us to buy food. We do not know who put the money in our sacks!”

43:23 “Everything is fine,” ¹²⁷²  the man in charge of Joseph’s household told them. “Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. ¹²⁷³  I had your money.” ¹²⁷⁴  Then he brought Simeon out to them.

43:24 The servant in charge ¹²⁷⁵  brought the men into Joseph’s house. He gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave food to their donkeys. 43:25 They got their gifts ready for Joseph’s arrival ¹²⁷⁶  at noon, for they had heard ¹²⁷⁷  that they were to have a meal ¹²⁷⁸  there.

43:26 When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought inside, ¹²⁷⁹  and they bowed down to the ground before him. 43:27 He asked them how they were doing. ¹²⁸⁰  Then he said, “Is your aging father well, the one you spoke about? Is he still alive?” 43:28 “Your servant our father is well,” they replied. “He is still alive.” They bowed down in humility. ¹²⁸¹ 

43:29 When Joseph looked up ¹²⁸²  and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” ¹²⁸³  43:30 Joseph hurried out, for he was overcome by affection for his brother ¹²⁸⁴  and was at the point of tears. ¹²⁸⁵  So he went to his room and wept there.

43:31 Then he washed his face and came out. With composure he said, ¹²⁸⁶  “Set out the food.” 43:32 They set a place for him, a separate place for his brothers, ¹²⁸⁷  and another for the Egyptians who were eating with him. (The Egyptians are not able to eat with Hebrews, for the Egyptians think it is disgusting ¹²⁸⁸  to do so.) ¹²⁸⁹  43:33 They sat before him, arranged by order of birth, beginning with the firstborn and ending with the youngest. ¹²⁹⁰  The men looked at each other in astonishment. ¹²⁹¹  43:34 He gave them portions of the food set before him, ¹²⁹²  but the portion for Benjamin was five times greater than the portions for any of the others. They drank with Joseph until they all became drunk. ¹²⁹³ 

44:1 He instructed the servant who was over his household, “Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack. 44:2 Then put ¹²⁹⁴  my cup – the silver cup – in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the money for his grain.” He did as Joseph instructed. ¹²⁹⁵ 

44:3 When morning came, ¹²⁹⁶  the men and their donkeys were sent off. ¹²⁹⁷  44:4 They had not gone very far from the city ¹²⁹⁸  when Joseph said ¹²⁹⁹  to the servant who was over his household, “Pursue the men at once! ¹³⁰⁰  When you overtake ¹³⁰¹  them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? 44:5 Doesn’t my master drink from this cup ¹³⁰²  and use it for divination? ¹³⁰³  You have done wrong!’” ¹³⁰⁴ 

44:6 When the man ¹³⁰⁵  overtook them, he spoke these words to them. 44:7 They answered him, “Why does my lord say such things? ¹³⁰⁶  Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! ¹³⁰⁷  44:8 Look, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. Why then would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 44:9 If one of us has it, ¹³⁰⁸  he will die, and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves!”

44:10 He replied, “You have suggested your own punishment! ¹³⁰⁹  The one who has it will become my slave, ¹³¹⁰  but the rest of ¹³¹¹  you will go free.” ¹³¹²  44:11 So each man quickly lowered ¹³¹³  his sack to the ground and opened it. 44:12 Then the man ¹³¹⁴  searched. He began with the oldest and finished with the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack! 44:13 They all tore their clothes! Then each man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

44:14 So Judah and his brothers ¹³¹⁵  came back to Joseph’s house. He was still there, ¹³¹⁶  and they threw themselves to the ground before him. 44:15 Joseph said to them, “What did you think you were doing? ¹³¹⁷  Don’t you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?” ¹³¹⁸ 

44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say ¹³¹⁹  to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? ¹³²⁰  God has exposed the sin of your servants! ¹³²¹  We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

44:17 But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found will become my slave, but the rest of ¹³²²  you may go back ¹³²³  to your father in peace.”

44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My lord, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. ¹³²⁴  Please do not get angry with your servant, ¹³²⁵  for you are just like Pharaoh. ¹³²⁶  44:19 My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 44:20 We said to my lord, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. ¹³²⁷  The boy’s ¹³²⁸  brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, ¹³²⁹  and his father loves him.’

44:21 “Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see ¹³³⁰  him.’ ¹³³¹  44:22 We said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves his father, his father ¹³³²  will die.’ ¹³³³  44:23 But you said to your servants, ‘If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 44:24 When we returned to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.

44:25 “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ 44:26 But we replied, ‘We cannot go down there. ¹³³⁴  If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go, ¹³³⁵  for we won’t be permitted to see the man’s face if our youngest brother is not with us.’

44:27 “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave me two sons. ¹³³⁶  44:28 The first disappeared ¹³³⁷  and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” I have not seen him since. 44:29 If you take ¹³³⁸  this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair ¹³³⁹  in tragedy ¹³⁴⁰  to the grave.’ ¹³⁴¹ 

44:30 “So now, when I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us – his very life is bound up in his son’s life. ¹³⁴²  44:31 When he sees the boy is not with us, ¹³⁴³  he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave. 44:32 Indeed, ¹³⁴⁴  your servant pledged security for the boy with my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame before my father all my life.’

44:33 “So now, please let your servant remain as my lord’s slave instead of the boy. As for the boy, let him go back with his brothers. 44:34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see ¹³⁴⁵  my father’s pain.” ¹³⁴⁶ 

45:1 Joseph was no longer able to control himself before all his attendants, ¹³⁴⁷  so he cried out, “Make everyone go out from my presence!” No one remained ¹³⁴⁸  with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 45:2 He wept loudly; ¹³⁴⁹  the Egyptians heard it and Pharaoh’s household heard about it. ¹³⁵⁰ 

45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” His brothers could not answer him because they were dumbfounded before him. 45:4 Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me,” so they came near. Then he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 45:5 Now, do not be upset and do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me here, ¹³⁵¹  for God sent me ¹³⁵²  ahead of you to preserve life! 45:6 For these past two years there has been famine in ¹³⁵³  the land and for five more years there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 45:7 God sent me ¹³⁵⁴  ahead of you to preserve you ¹³⁵⁵  on the earth and to save your lives ¹³⁵⁶  by a great deliverance. 45:8 So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser ¹³⁵⁷  to Pharaoh, lord over all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 45:9 Now go up to my father quickly ¹³⁵⁸  and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay! 45:10 You will live ¹³⁵⁹  in the land of Goshen, and you will be near me – you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and everything you have. 45:11 I will provide you with food ¹³⁶⁰  there because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise you would become poor – you, your household, and everyone who belongs to you.”’ 45:12 You and my brother Benjamin can certainly see with your own eyes that I really am the one who speaks to you. ¹³⁶¹  45:13 So tell ¹³⁶²  my father about all my honor in Egypt and about everything you have seen. But bring my father down here quickly!” ¹³⁶³ 

45:14 Then he threw himself on the neck of his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 45:15 He kissed all his brothers and wept over them. After this his brothers talked with him.

45:16 Now it was reported ¹³⁶⁴  in the household of Pharaoh, “Joseph’s brothers have arrived.” It pleased ¹³⁶⁵  Pharaoh and his servants. 45:17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and go ¹³⁶⁶  to the land of Canaan! 45:18 Get your father and your households and come to me! Then I will give you ¹³⁶⁷  the best land in Egypt and you will eat ¹³⁶⁸  the best ¹³⁶⁹  of the land.’ 45:19 You are also commanded to say, ¹³⁷⁰  ‘Do this: Take for yourselves wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives. Bring your father and come. 45:20 Don’t worry ¹³⁷¹  about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt will be yours.’”

45:21 So the sons of Israel did as he said. ¹³⁷²  Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had instructed, ¹³⁷³  and he gave them provisions for the journey. 45:22 He gave sets of clothes to each one of them, ¹³⁷⁴  but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of clothes. ¹³⁷⁵  45:23 To his father he sent the following: ¹³⁷⁶  ten donkeys loaded with the best products of Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, food, and provisions for his father’s journey. 45:24 Then he sent his brothers on their way and they left. He said to them, “As you travel don’t be overcome with fear.” ¹³⁷⁷ 

45:25 So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. ¹³⁷⁸  45:26 They told him, “Joseph is still alive and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” Jacob was stunned, ¹³⁷⁹  for he did not believe them. 45:27 But when they related to him everything Joseph had said to them, ¹³⁸⁰  and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, their father Jacob’s spirit revived. 45:28 Then Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive! I will go and see him before I die.”

46:1 So Israel began his journey, taking with him all that he had. ¹³⁸¹  When he came to Beer Sheba ¹³⁸²  he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 46:2 God spoke to Israel in a vision during the night ¹³⁸³  and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He replied, “Here I am!” 46:3 He said, “I am God, ¹³⁸⁴  the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 46:4 I will go down with you to Egypt and I myself will certainly bring you back from there. ¹³⁸⁵  Joseph will close your eyes.” ¹³⁸⁶ 

46:5 Then Jacob started out ¹³⁸⁷  from Beer Sheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little children, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent along to transport him. 46:6 Jacob and all his descendants took their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they went to Egypt. ¹³⁸⁸  46:7 He brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons, ¹³⁸⁹  his daughters and granddaughters – all his descendants.

46:8 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt – Jacob and his sons:

Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob.

46:9 The sons of Reuben:

Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

46:10 The sons of Simeon:

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar,

and Shaul (the son of a Canaanite woman).

46:11 The sons of Levi:

Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

46:12 The sons of Judah:

Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah

(but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan).

The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

46:13 The sons of Issachar:

Tola, Puah, ¹³⁹⁰  Jashub, ¹³⁹¹  and Shimron.

46:14 The sons of Zebulun:

Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

46:15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, along with Dinah his daughter. His sons and daughters numbered thirty-three in all. ¹³⁹² 

46:16 The sons of Gad:

Zephon, ¹³⁹³  Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

46:17 The sons of Asher:

Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister.

The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malkiel.

46:18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, sixteen in all.

46:19 The sons of Rachel the wife of Jacob:

Joseph and Benjamin.

46:20 Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, ¹³⁹⁴  bore them to him.

46:21 The sons of Benjamin: ¹³⁹⁵ 

Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.

46:22 These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob, fourteen in all.

46:23 The son of Dan: Hushim. ¹³⁹⁶ 

46:24 The sons of Naphtali:

Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

46:25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, seven in all.

46:26 All the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt with him were sixty-six in number. (This number does not include the wives of Jacob’s sons.) ¹³⁹⁷  46:27 Counting the two sons ¹³⁹⁸  of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt, all the people of the household of Jacob who were in Egypt numbered seventy. ¹³⁹⁹ 

46:28 Jacob ¹⁴⁰⁰  sent Judah before him to Joseph to accompany him to Goshen. ¹⁴⁰¹  So they came to the land of Goshen. 46:29 Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. When he met him, ¹⁴⁰²  he hugged his neck and wept on his neck for quite some time.

46:30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” ¹⁴⁰³  46:31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, ¹⁴⁰⁴  ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me. 46:32 The men are shepherds; ¹⁴⁰⁵  they take care of livestock. ¹⁴⁰⁶  They have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 46:33 Pharaoh will summon you and say, ‘What is your occupation?’ 46:34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle ¹⁴⁰⁷  from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen, ¹⁴⁰⁸  for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting ¹⁴⁰⁹  to the Egyptians.”

47:1 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father, my brothers, their flocks and herds, and all that they own have arrived from the land of

Canaan. They are now ¹⁴¹⁰  in the land of Goshen.” 47:2 He took five of his brothers and introduced them to Pharaoh. ¹⁴¹¹ 

47:3 Pharaoh said to Joseph’s ¹⁴¹²  brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did.” ¹⁴¹³  47:4 Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as temporary residents ¹⁴¹⁴  in the land. There ¹⁴¹⁵  is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

47:5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 47:6 The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best region of the land. They may live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any highly capable men ¹⁴¹⁶  among them, put them in charge ¹⁴¹⁷  of my livestock.”

47:7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him ¹⁴¹⁸  before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed ¹⁴¹⁹  Pharaoh. 47:8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How long have you lived?” ¹⁴²⁰  47:9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All ¹⁴²¹  the years of my travels ¹⁴²²  are 130. All ¹⁴²³  the years of my life have been few and painful; ¹⁴²⁴  the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.” ¹⁴²⁵  47:10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence. ¹⁴²⁶ 

47:11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers. He gave them territory ¹⁴²⁷  in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the land, the land of Rameses, ¹⁴²⁸  just as Pharaoh had commanded. 47:12 Joseph also provided food for his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household, according to the number of their little children.

47:13 But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very severe; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away ¹⁴²⁹  because of the famine. 47:14 Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment ¹⁴³⁰  for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace. ¹⁴³¹  47:15 When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians ¹⁴³²  came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die ¹⁴³³  before your very eyes because our money has run out?”

47:16 Then Joseph said, “If your money is gone, bring your livestock, and I will give you food ¹⁴³⁴  in exchange for ¹⁴³⁵  your livestock.” 47:17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for their horses, the livestock of their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. ¹⁴³⁶  He got them through that year by giving them food in exchange for livestock.

47:18 When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our ¹⁴³⁷  lord that the money is used up and the livestock and the animals belong to our lord. Nothing remains before our lord except our bodies and our land. 47:19 Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become ¹⁴³⁸  Pharaoh’s slaves. ¹⁴³⁹  Give us seed that we may live ¹⁴⁴⁰  and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.” ¹⁴⁴¹ 

47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each ¹⁴⁴²  of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was severe. ¹⁴⁴³  So the land became Pharaoh’s. 47:21 Joseph ¹⁴⁴⁴  made all the people slaves ¹⁴⁴⁵  from one end of Egypt’s border to the other end of it. 47:22 But he did not purchase the land of the priests because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh and they ate from their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

47:23 Joseph said to the people, “Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate ¹⁴⁴⁶  the land. 47:24 When you gather in the crop, ¹⁴⁴⁷  give ¹⁴⁴⁸  one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest ¹⁴⁴⁹  will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children.” 47:25 They replied, “You have saved our lives! You are showing us favor, ¹⁴⁵⁰  and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.” ¹⁴⁵¹ 

47:26 So Joseph made it a statute, ¹⁴⁵²  which is in effect ¹⁴⁵³  to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

47:27 Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they owned land there. They were fruitful and increased rapidly in number.

47:28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; the years ¹⁴⁵⁴  of Jacob’s life were 147 in all. 47:29 The time ¹⁴⁵⁵  for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh ¹⁴⁵⁶  and show me kindness and faithfulness. ¹⁴⁵⁷  Do not bury me in Egypt, 47:30 but when I rest ¹⁴⁵⁸  with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” Joseph ¹⁴⁵⁹  said, “I will do as you say.”

47:31 Jacob ¹⁴⁶⁰  said, “Swear to me that you will do so.” ¹⁴⁶¹  So Joseph ¹⁴⁶²  gave him his word. ¹⁴⁶³  Then Israel bowed down ¹⁴⁶⁴  at the head of his bed. ¹⁴⁶⁵ 

48:1 After these things Joseph was told, ¹⁴⁶⁶  “Your father is weakening.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. 48:2 When Jacob was told, ¹⁴⁶⁷  “Your son Joseph has just ¹⁴⁶⁸  come to you,” Israel regained strength and sat up on his bed. 48:3 Jacob said to Joseph, “The sovereign God ¹⁴⁶⁹  appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. 48:4 He said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful ¹⁴⁷⁰  and will multiply you. ¹⁴⁷¹  I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants ¹⁴⁷²  as an everlasting possession.’ ¹⁴⁷³ 

48:5 “Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. ¹⁴⁷⁴  Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are. 48:6 Any children that you father ¹⁴⁷⁵  after them will be yours; they will be listed ¹⁴⁷⁶  under the names of their brothers in their inheritance. ¹⁴⁷⁷  48:7 But as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died – to my sorrow ¹⁴⁷⁸  – in the land of Canaan. It happened along the way, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). ¹⁴⁷⁹ 

48:8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these?” 48:9 Joseph said to his father, “They are the ¹⁴⁸⁰  sons God has given me in this place.” His father ¹⁴⁸¹  said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.” ¹⁴⁸²  48:10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing ¹⁴⁸³  because of his age; he was not able to see well. So Joseph ¹⁴⁸⁴  brought his sons ¹⁴⁸⁵  near to him, and his father ¹⁴⁸⁶  kissed them and embraced them. 48:11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected ¹⁴⁸⁷  to see you ¹⁴⁸⁸  again, but now God has allowed me to see your children ¹⁴⁸⁹  too.”

48:12 So Joseph moved them from Israel’s knees ¹⁴⁹⁰  and bowed down with his face to the ground. 48:13 Joseph positioned them; ¹⁴⁹¹  he put Ephraim on his right hand across from Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh on his left hand across from Israel’s right hand. Then Joseph brought them closer to his father. ¹⁴⁹²  48:14 Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger. ¹⁴⁹³  Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

48:15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my fathers

Abraham and Isaac walked –

the God who has been my shepherd ¹⁴⁹⁴ 

all my life long to this day,

48:16 the Angel ¹⁴⁹⁵  who has protected me ¹⁴⁹⁶ 

from all harm –

bless these boys.

May my name be named in them, ¹⁴⁹⁷ 

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

48:17 When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him. ¹⁴⁹⁸  So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 48:18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

48:19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude ¹⁴⁹⁹  of nations.” 48:20 So he blessed them that day, saying,

“By you ¹⁵⁰⁰  will Israel bless, ¹⁵⁰¹  saying,

‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”

So he put Ephraim before Manasseh. ¹⁵⁰² 

48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you ¹⁵⁰³  and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. 48:22 As one who is above your ¹⁵⁰⁴  brothers, I give to you the mountain slope, ¹⁵⁰⁵  which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

49:1 Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather together so I can tell you ¹⁵⁰⁶  what will happen to you in the future. ¹⁵⁰⁷ 

49:2 “Assemble and listen, you sons of Jacob;

listen to Israel, your father.

49:3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,

my might and the beginning of my strength,

outstanding in dignity, outstanding in power.

49:4 You are destructive ¹⁵⁰⁸  like water and will not excel, ¹⁵⁰⁹ 

for you got on your father’s bed, ¹⁵¹⁰ 

then you defiled it – he got on my couch! ¹⁵¹¹ 

49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers,

weapons of violence are their knives! ¹⁵¹² 

49:6 O my soul, do not come into their council,

do not be united to their assembly, my heart, ¹⁵¹³ 

for in their anger they have killed men,

and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.

49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,

and their fury, for it was cruel.

I will divide them in Jacob,

and scatter them in Israel! ¹⁵¹⁴ 

49:8 Judah, ¹⁵¹⁵  your brothers will praise you.

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies,

your father’s sons will bow down before you.

49:9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah,

from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He crouches and lies down like a lion;

like a lioness – who will rouse him?

49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, ¹⁵¹⁶ 

until he comes to whom it belongs; ¹⁵¹⁷ 

the nations will obey him. ¹⁵¹⁸ 

49:11 Binding his foal to the vine,

and his colt to the choicest vine,

he will wash ¹⁵¹⁹  his garments in wine,

his robes in the blood of grapes.

49:12 His eyes will be dark from wine,

and his teeth white from milk. ¹⁵²⁰ 

49:13 Zebulun will live ¹⁵²¹  by the haven of the sea

and become a haven for ships;

his border will extend to Sidon. ¹⁵²² 

49:14 Issachar is a strong-boned donkey

lying down between two saddlebags.

49:15 When he sees ¹⁵²³  a good resting place,

and the pleasant land,

he will bend his shoulder to the burden

and become a slave laborer. ¹⁵²⁴ 

49:16 Dan ¹⁵²⁵  will judge ¹⁵²⁶  his people

as one of the tribes of Israel.

49:17 May Dan be a snake beside the road,

a viper by the path,

that bites the heels of the horse

so that its rider falls backward. ¹⁵²⁷ 

49:18 I wait for your deliverance, O Lord. ¹⁵²⁸ 

49:19 Gad will be raided by marauding bands,

but he will attack them at their heels. ¹⁵²⁹ 

49:20 Asher’s ¹⁵³⁰  food will be rich, ¹⁵³¹ 

and he will provide delicacies ¹⁵³²  to royalty.

49:21 Naphtali is a free running doe, ¹⁵³³ 

he speaks delightful words. ¹⁵³⁴ 

49:22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, ¹⁵³⁵ 

a fruitful bough near a spring

whose branches ¹⁵³⁶  climb over the wall.

49:23 The archers will attack him, ¹⁵³⁷ 

they will shoot at him and oppose him.

49:24 But his bow will remain steady,

and his hands ¹⁵³⁸  will be skillful;

because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,

because of ¹⁵³⁹  the Shepherd, the Rock ¹⁵⁴⁰  of Israel,

49:25 because of the God of your father,

who will help you, ¹⁵⁴¹ 

because of the sovereign God, ¹⁵⁴² 

who will bless you ¹⁵⁴³ 

with blessings from the sky above,

blessings from the deep that lies below,

and blessings of the breasts and womb. ¹⁵⁴⁴ 

49:26 The blessings of your father are greater

than ¹⁵⁴⁵  the blessings of the eternal mountains ¹⁵⁴⁶ 

or the desirable things of the age-old hills.

They will be on the head of Joseph

and on the brow of the prince of his brothers. ¹⁵⁴⁷ 

49:27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;

in the morning devouring the prey,

and in the evening dividing the plunder.”

49:28 These ¹⁵⁴⁸  are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He gave each of them an appropriate blessing. ¹⁵⁴⁹ 

49:29 Then he instructed them, ¹⁵⁵⁰  “I am about to go ¹⁵⁵¹  to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 49:30 It is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought for a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 49:31 There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah. 49:32 The field and the cave in it were acquired from the sons of Heth.” ¹⁵⁵² 

49:33 When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet up onto the bed, breathed his last breath, and went ¹⁵⁵³  to his people.

50:1 Then Joseph hugged his father’s face. ¹⁵⁵⁴  He wept over him and kissed him. 50:2 Joseph instructed the physicians in his service ¹⁵⁵⁵  to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. 50:3 They took forty days, for that is the full time needed for embalming. ¹⁵⁵⁶  The Egyptians mourned ¹⁵⁵⁷  for him seventy days. ¹⁵⁵⁸ 

50:4 When the days of mourning ¹⁵⁵⁹  had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s royal court, ¹⁵⁶⁰  “If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh, ¹⁵⁶¹  50:5 ‘My father made me swear an oath. He said, ¹⁵⁶²  “I am about to die. Bury me ¹⁵⁶³  in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.’” 50:6 So Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father, just as he made you swear to do.” ¹⁵⁶⁴ 

50:7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him – the senior courtiers ¹⁵⁶⁵  of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt, 50:8 all Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household. But they left their little children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. 50:9 Chariots and horsemen also went up with him, so it was a very large entourage. ¹⁵⁶⁶ 

50:10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad ¹⁵⁶⁷  on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow. ¹⁵⁶⁸  There Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father. 50:11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion ¹⁵⁶⁹  for the Egyptians.” That is why its name was called ¹⁵⁷⁰  Abel Mizraim, ¹⁵⁷¹  which is beyond the Jordan.

50:12 So the sons of Jacob did for him just as he had instructed them. 50:13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 50:14 After he buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, along with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to bury his father.

50:15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay ¹⁵⁷²  us in full ¹⁵⁷³  for all the harm ¹⁵⁷⁴  we did to him?” 50:16 So they sent word ¹⁵⁷⁵  to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave these instructions before he died: 50:17 ‘Tell Joseph this: Please forgive the sin of your brothers and the wrong they did when they treated you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sin of the servants of the God of your father.” When this message was reported to him, Joseph wept. ¹⁵⁷⁶  50:18 Then his brothers also came and threw themselves down before him; they said, “Here we are; we are your slaves.” 50:19 But Joseph answered them, “Don’t be afraid. Am ¹⁵⁷⁷  I in the place of God? 50:20 As for you, you meant to harm me, ¹⁵⁷⁸  but God intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. ¹⁵⁷⁹  50:21 So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then he consoled them and spoke kindly ¹⁵⁸⁰  to them.

50:22 Joseph lived in Egypt, along with his father’s family. ¹⁵⁸¹  Joseph lived 110 years. 50:23 Joseph saw the descendants of Ephraim to the third generation. ¹⁵⁸²  He also saw the children of Makir the son of Manasseh; they were given special inheritance rights by Joseph. ¹⁵⁸³ 

50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you ¹⁵⁸⁴  and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give ¹⁵⁸⁵  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 50:25 Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He said, “God will surely come to you. Then you must carry my bones up from this place.” 50:26 So Joseph died at the age of 110. ¹⁵⁸⁶  After they embalmed him, his body ¹⁵⁸⁷  was placed in a coffin in Egypt.