Chapter
1
1: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2: The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the
face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the
waters.
3: And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was
light.
4: And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the
light from the darkness.
5: God called the light day, and the darkness he called night.
And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
6: And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of
the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."
7: And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were
under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And
it was so.
8: And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and
there was morning, a second day.
9: And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be
gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And
it was so.
10: God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were
gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11: And God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation,
plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their
seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth." And it was so.
12: The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed
according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their
seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
13: And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
14: And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of
the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for
signs and for seasons and for days and years,
15: and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to
give light upon the earth." And it was so.
16: And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule
the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; he made the stars also.
17: And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give
light upon the earth,
18: to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the
light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19: And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
20: And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of
living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament
of the heavens."
21: So God created the great sea monsters and every living
creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their
kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it
was good.
22: And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply
and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the
earth."
23: And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
24: And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living
creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and
beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so.
25: And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds
and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon
the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26: Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and
over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."
27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he
created him; male and female he created them.
28: And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful
and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over
the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living
thing that moves upon the earth."
29: And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant
yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree
with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.
30: And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the
air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the
breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it
was so.
31: And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was
very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
Genesis,
chapter 2
1: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host
of them.
2: And on the seventh day God finished his work, which he had
done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work, which he had
done.
3: So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it
God rested from all his work, which he had done in creation.
4: These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when
they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the
heavens,
5: when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of
the field had yet sprung up -- for the Lord God had not caused it to
rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;
6: but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face
of the ground --
7: then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living
being.
8: And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and
there he put the man whom he had formed.
9: And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree
that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also
in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil.
10: A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it
divided and became four rivers.
11: The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one, which flows
around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12: and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone
are there.
13: The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one, which
flows around the whole land of Cush.
14: And the name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east
of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15: The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden
to till it and keep it.
16: And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may
freely eat of every tree of the garden;
17: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall
not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."
18: Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man
should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."
19: So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the
field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what
he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature,
that was its name.
20: The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the
air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not
found a helper fit for him.
21: So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and
while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh;
22: and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made
into a woman and brought her to the man.
23: Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and
flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out
of Man."
24: Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves
to his wife, and they become one flesh.
25: And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not
ashamed.
Genesis,
chapter 3
1: Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature
that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say,
`You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?"
2: And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the
fruit of the trees of the garden;
3: but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree
which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest
you die.'"
4: But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die.
5: For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6: So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and
that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired
to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some
to her husband, and he ate.
7: Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they
were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
aprons.
8: And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden
in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the
presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9: But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him,
"Where are you?"
10: And he said, "I heard the sound of Thee in the garden,
and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."
11: He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you
eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"
12: The man said, "The woman whom Thou grave to be with me,
she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."
13: Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that
you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and
I ate."
14: The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done
this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon
your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your
life.
15: I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his
heel."
16: To the woman he said, "I will greatly multiply your pain
in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire
shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."
17: And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the
voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,
`You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil
you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18: thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you
shall eat the plants of the field.
19: In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return
to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust
you shall return."
20: The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the
mother of all living.
21: And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of
skins, and clothed them.
22: Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like
one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand
and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever" --
23: therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of
Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.
24: He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden
he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to
guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis,
chapter 4
1: Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain,
saying, "I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord."
2: And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of
sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.
3: In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of
the fruit of the ground,
4: and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their
fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,
5: but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was
very angry, and his countenance fell.
6: The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has
your countenance fallen?
7: If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do
well, sin is couching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must
master it."
8: Cain said to Abel his brother, "Let us go out to the
field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his
brother Abel, and killed him.
9: Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your
brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's
keeper?"
10: And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of
your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground.
11: And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its
mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
12: When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its
strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth."
13: Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I
can bear.
14: Behold, Thou hast driven me this day away from the ground;
and from thy face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a
wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me."
15: Then the Lord said to him, "Not so! If any one slays
Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord put
a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him.
16: Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt
in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
17: Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he
built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son,
Enoch.
18: To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad was the father of
Me-hu'ja-el, and Me-hu'ja-el the father of Me-thu'sha-el, and
Me-thu'sha-el the father of Lamech.
19: And Lamech took two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and
the name of the other Zillah.
20: Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in
tents and have cattle.
21: His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those
who play the lyre and pipe.
22: Zillah bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all instruments
of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Na'amah.
23: Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my
voice; you wives of Lamech, hearken to what I say: I have slain a man
for wounding me, a young man for striking me.
24: If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech
seventy-sevenfold."
25: And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called
his name Seth, for she said, "God has appointed for me another
child instead of Abel, for Cain slew him."
26: To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At
that time men began to call upon the name of the Lord.
Genesis,
chapter 5
1: This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created
man, he made him in the likeness of God.
2: Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named
them Man when they were created.
3: When Adam had lived a hundred and thirty years, he became the
father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him
Seth.
4: The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight
hundred years; and he had other sons and daughters.
5: Thus all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty
years; and he died.
6: When Seth had lived a hundred and five years, he became the
father of Enosh.
7: Seth lived after the birth of Enosh eight hundred and seven
years, and had other sons and daughters.
8: Thus all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years;
and he died.
9: When Enosh had lived ninety years, he became the father of
Kenan.
10: Enosh lived after the birth of Kenan eight hundred and
fifteen years, and had other sons and daughters.
11: Thus all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years;
and he died.
12: When Kenan had lived seventy years, he became the father of
Ma-hal'alel.
13: Kenan lived after the birth of Ma-hal'alel eight hundred and
forty years, and had other sons and daughters.
14: Thus all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years;
and he died.
15: When Ma-hal'alel had lived sixty-five years, he became the
father of Jared.
16: Ma-hal'alel lived after the birth of Jared eight hundred and
thirty years, and had other sons and daughters.
17: Thus all the days of Ma-hal'alel were eight hundred and
ninety-five years; and he died.
18: When Jared had lived a hundred and sixty-two years he became
the father of Enoch.
19: Jared lived after the birth of Enoch eight hundred years, and
had other sons and daughters.
20: Thus all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two
years; and he died.
21: When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father
of Methu'selah.
22: Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methu'selah three
hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.
23: Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five
years.
24: Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
25: When Methu'selah had lived a hundred and eighty-seven years,
he became the father of Lamech.
26: Methu'selah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred and
eighty-two years, and had other sons and daughters.
27: Thus all the days of Methu'selah were nine hundred and
sixty-nine years; and he died.
28: When Lamech had lived a hundred and eighty-two years, he
became the father of a son,
29: and called his name Noah, saying, "Out of the ground
which the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work
and from the toil of our hands."
30: Lamech lived after the birth of Noah five hundred and
ninety-five years, and had other sons and daughters.
31: Thus all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and
seventy-seven years; and he died.
32: After Noah was five hundred years old; Noah became the father
of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis,
chapter 6
1: When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and
daughters were born to them,
2: the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and
they took to wife such of them as they chose.
3: Then the Lord said, "My spirit shall not abide in man for
ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty
years."
4: The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also
afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and
they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old,
the men of renown.
5: The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the
earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually.
6: And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and
it grieved him to his heart.
7: So the Lord said, "I will blot out man whom I have
created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things
and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them."
8: But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
9: These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man,
blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.
10: And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11: Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was
filled with violence.
12: And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all
flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
13: And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end
of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them;
behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14: Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark,
and cover it inside and out with pitch.
15: This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three
hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
16: Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and
set the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and
third decks.
17: For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to
destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven;
everything that is on the earth shall die.
18: But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come
into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.
19: And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two
of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be
male and female.
20: Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals
according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground
according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you, to keep
them alive.
21: Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and
store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them."
22: Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
Chapter 7
1: Then the Lord said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all
your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this
generation.
2: Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and
his mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his
mate;
3: and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female,
to keep their kind alive upon the face of all the earth.
4: For in seven days I will send rain upon the earth forty days
and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot
out from the face of the ground."
5: And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.
6: Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came
upon the earth.
7: And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with
him went into the ark, to escape the waters of the flood.
8: Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of
birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground,
9: two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as
God had commanded Noah.
10: And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the
earth.
11: In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second
month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the
fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens
were opened.
12: And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13: On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and
Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them
entered the ark,
14: they and every beast according to its kind, and all the
cattle according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on
the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind,
every bird of every sort.
15: They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in
which there was the breath of life.
16: And they that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in
as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.
17: The flood continued forty days upon the earth; and the waters
increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.
18: The waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth;
and the ark floated on the face of the waters.
19: And the waters prevailed so mightily upon the earth that all
the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered;
20: the waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them
fifteen cubits deep.
21: And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, birds, cattle,
beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm upon the earth, and every man;
22: everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath
of life died.
23: He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of
the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the air;
they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that
were with him in the ark.
24: And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty
days.
Genesis,
chapter 8
1: But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle
that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth,
and the waters subsided;
2: the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were
closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained,
3: and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end
of a hundred and fifty days the waters had abated;
4: and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month,
the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ar'arat.
5: And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in
the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the
mountains were seen.
6: At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark
which he had made,
7: and sent forth a raven; and it went to and fro until the
waters were dried up from the earth.
8: Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had
subsided from the face of the ground;
9: but the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned
to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole
earth. So he put forth his hand and took her and brought her into the
ark with him.
10: He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the
dove out of the ark;
11: and the dove came back to him in the evening, and lo, in her
mouth a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had
subsided from the earth.
12: Then he waited another seven days, and sent forth the dove;
and she did not return to him any more.
13: In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the
first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth; and
Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the face
of the ground was dry.
14: In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month,
the earth was dry.
15: Then God said to Noah,
16: "Go forth from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons
and your sons' wives with you.
17: Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of
all flesh -- birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on
the earth -- that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be
fruitful and multiply upon the earth."
18: So Noah went forth, and his sons and his wife and his sons'
wives with him.
19: And every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird,
everything that moves upon the earth, went forth by families out of the
ark.
20: Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean
animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the
altar.
21: And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in
his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for
the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I
ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.
22: While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."
Genesis,
chapter 9
1: And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be
fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
2: The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast
of the earth, and upon every bird of the air, upon everything that
creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea; into your hand they
are delivered.
3: Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I
gave you the green plants, I give you everything.
4: Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its
blood.
5: For your lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning; of every
beast I will require it and of man; of every man's brother I will
require the life of man.
6: Whoever sheds the blood of man; by man shall his blood be
shed; for God made man in his own image.
7: And you, be fruitful and multiply, bring forth abundantly on
the earth and multiply in it."
8: Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,
9: "Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your
descendants after you,
10: and with every living creature that is with you, the birds,
the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out
of the ark.
11: I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all
flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there
be a flood to destroy the earth."
12: And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I
make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for
all future generations:
13: I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the
covenant between me and the earth.
14: When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the
clouds,
15: I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and
every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again
become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16: When the bow is in the clouds, I will look upon it and
remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature
of all flesh that is upon the earth."
17: God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant
which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the
earth."
18: The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham,
and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.
19: These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole
earth was peopled.
20: Noah was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard;
21: and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and lay uncovered
in his tent.
22: And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his
father, and told his two brothers outside.
23: Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it upon both their
shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their
father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their
father's nakedness.
24: When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son
had done to him,
25: he said, "Cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he
be to his brothers."
26: He also said, "Blessed by the Lord my God be Shem; and
let Canaan be his slave."
27: God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem;
and let Canaan be his slave."
28: After the flood Noah lived three hundred and fifty years.
29: All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and
he died.
Genesis,
chapter 10
1: These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth; sons were born to them after the flood.
2: The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal,
Meshech, and Tiras.
3: The sons of Gomer: Ash'kenaz, Riphath, and Togar'mah.
4: The sons of Javan: Eli'shah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Do'danim.
5: From these the coastland peoples spread. These are the sons of
Japheth in their lands, each with his own language, by their families,
in their nations.
6: The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.
7: The sons of Cush: Seba, Hav'ilah, Sabtah, Ra'amah, and
Sab'teca. The sons of Ra'amah: Sheba and Dedan.
8: Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first on earth to
be a mighty man.
9: He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said,
"Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord."
10: The beginning of his kingdom was Ba'bel, Erech, and Accad,
all of them in the land of Shinar.
11: From that land he went into Assyria, and built Nin'eveh,
Reho'both-Ir, Calah, and
12: Resen between Nin'eveh and Calah; that is the great city.
13: Egypt became the father of Ludim, An'amim, Leha'bim,
Naph-tu'him,
14: Pathru'sim, Caslu'him (whence came the Philistines), and
Caph'torim.
15: Canaan became the father of Sidon his first-born, and Heth,
16: and the Jeb'usites, the Amorites, the Gir'gashites,
17: the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,
18: the Ar'vadites, the Zem'arites, and the Ha'mathites.
Afterward the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.
19: And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon, in
the direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom,
Gomor'rah, Admah, and Zeboi'im, as far as Lasha.
20: These are the sons of Ham, by their families, their
languages, their lands, and their nations.
21: To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the
elder brother of Japheth, children were born.
22: The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpach'shad, Lud, and Aram.
23: The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
24: Arpach'shad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became
the father of Eber.
25: To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg,
for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was
Joktan.
26: Joktan became the father of Almo'dad, Sheleph, Hazarma'veth,
Jerah,
27: Hador'am, Uzal, Diklah,
28: Obal, Abim'a-el, Sheba,
29: Ophir, Hav'ilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of
Joktan.
30: The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the
direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east.
31: These are the sons of Shem, by their families, their
languages, their lands, and their nations.
32: These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to
their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread
abroad on the earth after the flood.
Genesis,
chapter 11
1: Now the whole earth had one language and few words.
2: And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the
land of Shinar and settled there.
3: And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks,
and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and
bitumen for mortar.
4: Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and
a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for
ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole
earth."
5: And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which
the sons of men had built.
6: And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they
have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will
do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
7: Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that
they may not understand one another's speech."
8: So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of
all the earth, and they left off building the city.
9: Therefore its name was called Ba'bel, because there the Lord
confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord
scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
10: These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was a hundred
years old, he became the father of Arpach'shad two years after the
flood;
11: and Shem lived after the birth of Arpach'shad five hundred
years, and had other sons and daughters.
12: When Arpach'shad had lived thirty-five years, he became the
father of Shelah;
13: and Arpach'shad lived after the birth of Shelah four hundred
and three years, and had other sons and daughters.
14: When Shelah had lived thirty years, he became the father of
Eber;
15: and Shelah lived after the birth of Eber four hundred and
three years, and had other sons and daughters.
16: When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he became the father
of Peleg;
17: and Eber lived after the birth of Peleg four hundred and
thirty years, and had other sons and daughters.
18: When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of
Re'u;
19: and Peleg lived after the birth of Re'u two hundred and nine
years, and had other sons and daughters.
20: When Re'u had lived thirty-two years, he became the father of
Serug;
21: and Re'u lived after the birth of Serug two hundred and seven
years, and had other sons and daughters.
22: When Serug had lived thirty years, he became the father of
Nahor;
23: and Serug lived after the birth of Nahor two hundred years,
and had other sons and daughters.
24: When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he became the father
of Terah;
25: and Nahor lived after the birth of Terah a hundred and
nineteen years, and had other sons and daughters.
26: When Terah had lived seventy years, he became the father of
Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27: Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father
of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.
28: Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth,
in Ur of the Chalde'ans.
29: And Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram's wife was
Sar'ai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the
father of Milcah and Iscah.
30: Now Sar'ai was barren; she had no child.
31: Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his
grandson, and Sar'ai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they
went forth together from Ur of the Chalde'ans to go into the land of
Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there.
32: The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah
died in Haran.
Genesis,
chapter 12
1: Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and
your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.
2: And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you,
and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3: I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I
will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless
themselves."
4: So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with
him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5: And Abram took Sar'ai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and
all their possessions which they had gathered, and the persons that they
had gotten in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan.
When they had come to the land of Canaan,
6: Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the
oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
7: Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, "To your
descendants I will give this land." So he built there an altar to
the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8: Thence he removed to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and
pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there
he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
9: And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.
10: Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to
Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.
11: When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sar'ai his wife,
"I know that you are a woman beautiful to behold;
12: and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, `This is his
wife'; then they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13: Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of
you, and that my life may be spared on your account."
14: When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was
very beautiful.
15: And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to
Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
16: And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep,
oxen, he-asses, menservants, maidservants, she-asses, and camels.
17: But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great
plagues because of Sar'ai, Abram's wife.
18: So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, "What is this you
have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
19: Why did you say, `She is my sister,' so that I took her for
my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her, and be gone."
20: And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him; and they set him
on the way, with his wife and all that he had.
Genesis,
chapter 13
1: So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he
had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.
2: Now Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
3: And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the
place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
4: to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and
there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
5: And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and
tents,
6: so that the land could not support both of them dwelling
together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell
together,
7: and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle
and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle. At that time the Canaanites and the
Per'izzites dwelt in the land.
8: Then Abram said to Lot, "Let there be no strife between
you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen; for we are
kinsmen.
9: Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me.
If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you take
the right hand, then I will go to the left."
10: And Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw that the Jordan valley
was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land
of Egypt, in the direction of Zo'ar; this was before the Lord destroyed
Sodom and Gomor'rah.
11: So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan valley, and Lot
journeyed east; thus they separated from each other.
12: Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, while Lot dwelt among the
cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom.
13: Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the
Lord.
14: The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him,
"Lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are,
northward and southward and eastward and westward;
15: for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your
descendants for ever.
16: I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so
that if one can count the dust of the earth, your descendants also can
be counted.
17: Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land,
for I will give it to you."
18: So Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the oaks of
Mamre, which are at Hebron; and there he built an altar to the Lord.
Genesis,
chapter 14
1: In the days of Am'raphel king of Shinar, Ar'ioch king of
Ella'sar, Ched-or-lao'mer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goi'im,
2: these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of
Gomor'rah, Shinab king of Admah, Sheme'ber king of Zeboi'im, and the
king of Bela (that is, Zo'ar).
3: And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is,
the Salt Sea).
4: Twelve years they had served Ched-or-lao'mer, but in the
thirteenth year they rebelled.
5: In the fourteenth year Ched-or-lao'mer and the kings who were
with him came and subdued the Reph'aim in Ash'teroth-karna'im, the Zuzim
in Ham, the Emim in Sha'veh-kiriatha'im,
6: and the Horites in their Mount Se'ir as far as El-paran on the
border of the wilderness;
7: then they turned back and came to Enmish'pat (that is,
Kadesh), and subdued all the country of the Amal'ekites, and also the
Amorites who dwelt in Haz'azon-ta'mar.
8: Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomor'rah, the king of
Admah, the king of Zeboi'im, and the king of Bela (that is, Zo'ar) went
out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim
9: with Ched-or-lao'mer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goi'im,
Am'raphel king of Shinar, and Ar'ioch king of Ella'sar, four kings
against five.
10: Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits; and as the
kings of Sodom and Gomor'rah fled, some fell into them, and the rest
fled to the mountain.
11: So the enemy took all the goods of Sodom and Gomor'rah, and
all their provisions, and went their way;
12: they also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who dwelt in
Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
13: Then one who had escaped came, and told Abram the Hebrew, who
was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of
Aner; these were allies of Abram.
14: When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he
led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen
of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
15: And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his
servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus.
16: Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his
kinsman Lot with his goods, and the women and the people.
17: After his return from the defeat of Ched-or-lao'mer and the
kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the
Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).
18: And Mel-chiz'edek king of Salem brought out bread and wine;
he was priest of God Most High.
19: And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God
Most High, maker of heaven and earth;
20: and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies
into your hand!"
21: And the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the
persons, but take the goods for yourself."
22: But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have sworn to
the Lord God Most High, maker of heaven and earth,
23: that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything
that is yours, lest you should say, `I have made Abram rich.'
24: I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and
the share of the men who went with me; let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take
their share."
Genesis,
chapter 15
1: After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a
vision, "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be
very great."
2: But Abram said, "O Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, for
I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Elie'zer of
Damascus?"
3: And Abram said, "Behold, Thou hast given me no offspring;
and a slave born in my house will be my heir."
4: And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, "This man
shall not be your heir; your own son shall be your heir."
5: And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven,
and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said
to him, "So shall your descendants be."
6: And he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as
righteousness.
7: And he said to him, "I am the Lord who brought you from
Ur of the Chalde'ans, to give you this land to possess."
8: But he said, "O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall
possess it?"
9: He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a
she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a
young pigeon."
10: And he brought him all these, cut them in two, and laid each
half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
11: And when birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram
drove them away.
12: As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and
lo, a dread and great darkness fell upon him.
13: Then the Lord said to Abram, "Know of a surety that your
descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be
slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years;
14: but I will bring judgment on the nation which they serve, and
afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15: As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you
shall be buried in a good old age.
16: And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for
the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
17: When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking
fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
18: On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,
"To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to
the great river, the river Euphra'tes,
19: the land of the Ken'ites, the Ken'izzites, the Kad'monites,
20: the Hittites, the Per'izzites, the Reph'aim,
21: the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Gir'gashites and the
Jeb'usites."
Genesis,
chapter 16
1: Now Sar'ai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had an
Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar;
2: and Sar'ai said to Abram, "Behold now, the Lord has
prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I
shall obtain children by her." And Abram hearkened to the voice of
Sar'ai.
3: So, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan,
Sar'ai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to
Abram her husband as a wife.
4: And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw
that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.
5: And Sar'ai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on
you! I gave my maid to your embrace, and when she saw that she had
conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between
you and me!"
6: But Abram said to Sar'ai, "Behold, your maid is in your
power; do to her as you please." Then Sar'ai dealt harshly with
her, and she fled from her.
7: The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the
wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.
8: And he said, "Hagar, maid of Sar'ai, where have you come
from and where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from my
mistress Sar'ai."
9: The angel of the Lord said to her, "Return to your
mistress, and submit to her."
10: The angel of the Lord also said to her, "I will so
greatly multiply your descendants that they cannot be numbered for
multitude."
11: And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Behold, you are
with child, and shall bear a son; you shall call his name Ish'mael;
because the Lord has given heed to your affliction.
12: He shall be a wild ass of a man, his hand against every man
and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell over against all
his kinsmen."
13: So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her,
"Thou art a God of seeing"; for she said, "Have I really
seen God and remained alive after seeing him?"
14: Therefore the well was called Beer-la'hai-roi; it lies
between Kadesh and Bered.
15: And Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his
son, whom Hagar bore, Ish'mael.
16: Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ish'mael to
Abram.
Genesis,
chapter 17
1: When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to
Abram, and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be
blameless.
2: And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will
multiply you exceedingly."
3: Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him,
4: "Behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the
father of a multitude of nations.
5: No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be
Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
6: I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations
of you, and kings shall come forth from you.
7: And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your
descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting
covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.
8: And I will give to you, and to your descendants after you, the
land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting
possession; and I will be their God."
9: And God said to Abraham, "As for you, you shall keep My
covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their
generations.
10: This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you
and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be
circumcised.
11: You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and
it shall be a sign of the covenant between you and Me.
12: He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised;
every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house, or
bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring,
13: both he that is born in your house and he that is bought with
your money, shall be circumcised. So shall My covenant be in your flesh
an everlasting covenant.
14: Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of
his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My
covenant."
15: And God said to Abraham, "As for Sar'ai your wife, you
shall not call her name Sar'ai, but Sarah shall be her name.
16: I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her;
I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples
shall come from her."
17: Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to
himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years
old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"
18: And Abraham said to God, "O that Ish'mael might live in
thy sight!"
19: God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son,
and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him
as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
20: As for Ish'mael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him
and make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; he shall be the
father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
21: But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall
bear to you at this season next year."
22: When he had finished talking with him, God went up from
Abraham.
23: Then Abraham took Ish'mael his son and all the slaves born in
his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of
Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that
very day, as God had said to him.
24: Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in
the flesh of his foreskin.
25: And Ish'mael his son was thirteen years old when he was
circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
26: That very day Abraham and his son Ish'mael were circumcised;
27: and all the men of his house, those born in the house and
those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Genesis,
chapter 18
1: And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat
at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.
2: He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood
in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet
them, and bowed himself to the earth,
3: and said, "My lord, if I have found favor in your sight,
do not pass by your servant.
4: Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest
yourselves under the tree,
5: while I fetch a morsel of bread, that you may refresh
yourselves, and after that you may pass on -- since you have come to
your servant." So they said, "Do as you have said."
6: And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said,
"Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make
cakes."
7: And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good,
and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it.
8: Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf, which he had
prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree
while they ate.
9: They said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he
said, "She is in the tent."
10: The Lord said, "I will surely return to you in the
spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son." And Sarah was
listening at the tent door behind him.
11: Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had
ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
12: So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have grown
old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?"
13: The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, and say,
`Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?'
14: Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I
will return to you, in the spring, and Sarah shall have a son."
15: But Sarah denied, saying, "I did not laugh"; for
she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh."
16: Then the men set out from there, and they looked toward
Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way.
17: The Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am
about to do,
18: seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation,
and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him?
19: No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children
and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing
righteousness and justice; so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he
has promised him."
20: Then the Lord said, "Because the outcry against Sodom
and Gomor'rah is great and their sin is very grave,
21: I will go down to see whether they have done altogether
according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will
know."
22: So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but
Abraham still stood before the Lord.
23: Then Abraham drew near, and said, "Wilt Thou indeed
destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24: Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt Thou
then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are
in it?
25: Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous
with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that
from thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
26: And the Lord said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous
in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
27: Abraham answered, "Behold, I have taken upon myself to
speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.
28: Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Wilt Thou
destroy the whole city for lack of forty five?" And he said, "I will
not destroy it if I find forty-five there."
29: Again he spoke to him, and said, "Suppose forty are
found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not
do it."
30: Then he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will
speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will
not do it, if I find thirty there."
31: He said, "Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to
the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "For
the sake of twenty I will not destroy it."
32: Then he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will
speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there." He
answered, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it."
33: And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to
Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
Genesis,
chapter 19
1: The two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was
sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them,
and bowed himself with his face to the earth,
2: and said, "My lords, turn aside, I pray you, to your
servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may
rise up early and go on your way." They said, "No; we will
spend the night in the street."
3: But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and
entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread,
and they ate.
4: But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of
Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded
the house;
5: and they called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to
you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them."
6: Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him,
7: and said, "I beg you, my brothers, do not act so
wickedly.
8: Behold, I have two daughters who have not known man; let me
bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to
these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof."
9: But they said, "Stand back!" And they said,
"This fellow came to sojourn, and he would play the judge! Now we
will deal worse with you than with them." Then they pressed hard
against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door.
10: But the men put forth their hands and brought Lot into the
house to them, and shut the door.
11: And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door
of the house, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves
groping for the door.
12: Then the men said to Lot, "Have you any one else here?
Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or any one you have in the city, bring
them out of the place;
13: for we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry
against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has
sent us to destroy it."
14: So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to
marry his daughters, "Up, get out of this place; for the Lord is
about to destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be
jesting.
15: When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying,
"Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest
you be consumed in the punishment of the city."
16: But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife and his
two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they
brought him forth and set him outside the city.
17: And when they had brought them forth, they said, "Flee
for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley; flee to
the hills, lest you be consumed."
18: And Lot said to them, "Oh, no, my lords;
19: behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you
have shown me great kindness in saving my life; but I cannot flee to the
hills, lest the disaster overtake me, and I die.
20: Behold, yonder city is near enough to flee to, and it is a
little one. Let me escape there -- is it not a little one? -- and my
life will be saved!"
21: He said to him, "Behold, I grant you this favor also,
that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.
22: Make haste, escape there; for I can do nothing till you
arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zo'ar.
23: The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zo'ar.
24: Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomor'rah brimstone and
fire from the Lord out of heaven;
25: and he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all
the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
26: But Lot's wife behind him looked back, and she became a
pillar of salt.
27: And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he
had stood before the Lord;
28: and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomor'rah and toward all
the land of the valley, and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the land went
up like the smoke of a furnace.
29: So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley,
God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow,
when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.
30: Now Lot went up out of Zo'ar, and dwelt in the hills with his
two daughters, for he was afraid to dwell in Zo'ar; so he dwelt in a
cave with his two daughters.
31: And the first-born said to the younger, "Our father is
old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner
of all the earth.
32: Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with
him, that we may preserve offspring through our father."
33: So they made their father drink wine that night; and the
first-born went in, and lay with her father; he did not know when she
lay down or when she arose.
34: And on the next day, the first-born said to the younger,
"Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink
wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve
offspring through our father."
35: So they made their father drink wine that night also; and the
younger arose, and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down
or when she arose.
36: Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their
father.
37: The first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is
the father of the Moabites to this day.
38: The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he
is the father of the Ammonites to this day.
Genesis,
chapter 20
1: From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the
Negeb, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar.
2: And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my
sister." And Abim'elech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
3: But God came to Abim'elech in a dream by night, and said to
him, "Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you
have taken; for she is a man's wife."
4: Now Abim'elech had not approached her; so he said, "Lord,
wilt Thou slay an innocent people?
5: Did he not himself say to me, `She is my sister'? And she
herself said, `He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the
innocence of my hands I have done this."
6: Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that you
have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you
from sinning against me; therefore I did not let you touch her.
7: Now then restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he
will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not restore her,
know that you shall surely die, you, and all that are yours."
8: So Abim'elech rose early in the morning, and called all his
servants, and told them all these things; and the men were very much
afraid.
9: Then Abim'elech called Abraham, and said to him, "What
have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have
brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things
that ought not to be done."
10: And Abim'elech said to Abraham, "What were you thinking
of, that you did this thing?"
11: Abraham said, "I did it because I thought, There is no
fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my
wife.
12: Besides she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father
but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
13: And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I
said to her, `This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to
which we come, say of me, He is my brother.'"
14: Then Abim'elech took sheep and oxen, and male and female
slaves, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah his wife to him.
15: And Abim'elech said, "Behold, my land is before you;
dwell where it pleases you."
16: To Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a
thousand pieces of silver; it is your vindication in the eyes of all who
are with you; and before every one you are righted."
17: Then Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abim'elech, and
also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children.
18: For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of
Abim'elech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
Genesis,
chapter 21
1: The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to
Sarah as he had promised.
2: And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age at
the time of which God had spoken to him.
3: Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom
Sarah bore him, Isaac.
4: And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days
old, as God had commanded him.
5: Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to
him.
6: And Sarah said, "God has made laughter for me; every one
who hears will laugh over me."
7: And she said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah
would suckle children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."
8: And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great
feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
9: But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had
borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac.
10: So she said to Abraham, "Cast out this slave woman with
her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son
Isaac."
11: And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of
his son.
12: But God said to Abraham, "Be not displeased because of
the lad and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do
as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your descendants be named.
13: And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also,
because he is your offspring."
14: So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a
skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along
with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the
wilderness of Beer-sheba.
15: When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under
one of the bushes.
16: Then she went, and sat down over against him a good way off,
about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, "Let me not look
upon the death of the child." And as she sat over against him, the
child lifted up his voice and wept.
17: And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God
called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, "What troubles you,
Hagar? Fear not; for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18: Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him fast with your hand; for
I will make him a great nation."
19: Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and
she went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.
20: And God was with the lad, and he grew up; he lived in the
wilderness, and became an expert with the bow.
21: He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a
wife for him from the land of Egypt.
22: At that time Abim'elech and Phicol the commander of his army
said to Abraham, "God is with you in all that you do;
23: now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal
falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but as I have
dealt loyally with you, you will deal with me and with the land where
you have sojourned."
24: And Abraham said, "I will swear."
25: When Abraham complained to Abim'elech about a well of water
which Abim'elech's servants had seized,
26: Abim'elech said, "I do not know who has done this thing;
you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today."
27: So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abim'elech,
and the two men made a covenant.
28: Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart.
29: And Abim'elech said to Abraham, "What is the meaning of
these seven ewe lambs which you have set apart?"
30: He said, "These seven ewe lambs you will take from my
hand, that you may be a witness for me that I dug this well."
31: Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba; because there
both of them swore an oath.
32: So they made a covenant at Beer-sheba. Then Abim'elech and
Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the
Philistines.
33: Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called
there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.
34: And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the
Philistines.
Genesis,
chapter 22
1: After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him,
"Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."
2: He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you
love, and go to the land of Mori'ah, and offer him there as a burnt
offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."
3: So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and
took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the
wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which
God had told him.
4: On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place
afar off.
5: Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the
ass; I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to
you."
6: And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it
on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So
they went both of them together.
7: And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!"
And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the
fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
8: Abraham said, "God will provide himself the lamb for a
burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.
9: When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham
built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his
son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
10: Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay
his son.
11: But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and
said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."
12: He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything
to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld
your son, your only son, from me."
13: And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind
him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and
took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
14: So Abraham called the name of that place The Lord will
provide; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the Lord it
shall be provided."
15: And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time
from heaven,
16: and said, "By myself I have sworn, says the Lord,
because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only
son,
17: I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants
as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And
your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies,
18: and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth
bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice."
19: So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went
together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.
20: Now after these things it was told Abraham, "Behold,
Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:
21: Uz the first-born, Buz his brother, Kemu'el the father of
Aram,
22: Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethu'el."
23: Bethu'el became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah
bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.
24: Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah,
Gaham, Tahash, and Ma'acah.
Genesis,
chapter 23
1: Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the
years of the life of Sarah.
2: And Sarah died at Kir'iath-ar'ba (that is, Hebron) in the land
of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3: And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and said to the
Hittites,
4: "I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me
property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of
my sight."
5: The Hittites answered Abraham,
6: "Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury
your dead in the choicest of our sepulchers; none of us will withhold
from you his sepulcher, or hinder you from burying your dead."
7: Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the
land.
8: And he said to them, "If you are willing that I should
bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me Ephron the son
of Zohar,
9: that he may give me the cave of Mach-pe'lah, which he owns; it
is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in
your presence as a possession for a burying place."
10: Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites; and Ephron the
Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went
in at the gate of his city,
11: "No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and I give
you the cave that is in it; in the presence of the sons of my people I
give it to you; bury your dead."
12: Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.
13: And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the
land, "But if you will, hear me; I will give the price of the
field; accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there."
14: Ephron answered Abraham,
15: "My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four
hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your
dead."
16: Abraham agreed with Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for
Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites,
four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among
the merchants.
17: So the field of Ephron in Mach-pe'lah, which was to the east
of Mamre, the field with the cave which was in it and all the trees that
were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over
18: to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites,
before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19: After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the
field of Mach-pe'lah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of
Canaan.
20: The field and the cave that is in it were made over to
Abraham as a possession for a burying place by the Hittites.
Genesis,
chapter 24
1: Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and the Lord had
blessed Abraham in all things.
2: And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who
had charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh,
3: and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and
of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the
daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell,
4: but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife
for my son Isaac."
5: The servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman may not be
willing to follow me to this land; must I then take your son back to the
land from which you came?"
6: Abraham said to him, "See to it that you do not take my
son back there.
7: The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's
house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to
me, `To your descendants I will give this land,' he will send his angel
before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.
8: But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will
be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back
there."
9: So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his
master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
10: Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and
departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he
arose, and went to Mesopota'mia, to the city of Nahor.
11: And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the
well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw
water.
12: And he said, "O Lord, God of my master Abraham, grant me
success today, I pray thee, and show steadfast love to my master
Abraham.
13: Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the
daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
14: Let the maiden to whom I shall say, `Pray let down your jar
that I may drink,' and who shall say, `Drink, and I will water your
camels' -- let her be the one whom Thou hast appointed for thy servant
Isaac. By this I shall know that Thou hast shown steadfast love to my
master."
15: Before he had done speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to
Bethu'el the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came
out with her water jar upon her shoulder.
16: The maiden was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man
had known. She went down to the spring, and filled her jar, and came up.
17: Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "Pray give
me a little water to drink from your jar."
18: She said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly let
down her jar upon her hand, and gave him a drink.
19: When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I
will draw for your camels also, until they have done drinking."
20: So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again
to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.
21: The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had
prospered his journey or not.
22: When the camels had done drinking, the man took a gold ring
weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold
shekels,
23: and said, "Tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room
in your father's house for us to lodge in?"
24: She said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethu'el the son
of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor."
25: She added, "We have both straw and provender enough, and
room to lodge in."
26: The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord,
27: and said, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master
Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness
toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house
of my master's kinsmen."
28: Then the maiden ran and told her mother's household about
these things.
29: Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran out
to the man, to the spring.
30: When he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister's arms,
and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, "Thus the man
spoke to me," he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by
the camels at the spring.
31: He said, "Come in, O blessed of the Lord; why do you
stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the
camels."
32: So the man came into the house; and Laban ungirded the
camels, and gave him straw and provender for the camels, and water to
wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.
33: Then food was set before him to eat; but he said, "I
will not eat until I have told my errand." He said, "Speak
on."
34: So he said, "I am Abraham's servant.
35: The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become
great; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, menservants
and maidservants, camels and asses.
36: And Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master when she
was old; and to him he has given all that he has.
37: My master made me swear, saying, `You shall not take a wife
for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell;
38: but you shall go to my father's house and to my kindred, and
take a wife for my son.'
39: I said to my master, `Perhaps the woman will not follow me.'
40: But he said to me, `The Lord, before whom I walk, will send
his angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for
my son from my kindred and from my father's house;
41: then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my
kindred; and if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my
oath.'
42: "I came today to the spring, and said, `O Lord, the God
of my master Abraham, if now Thou wilt prosper the way which I go,
43: behold, I am standing by the spring of water; let the young
woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, "Pray give me a
little water from your jar to drink,"
44: and who will say to me, "Drink, and I will draw for your
camels also," let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for
my master's son.'
45: "Before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah
came out with her water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the
spring, and drew. I said to her, `Pray let me drink.'
46: She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said,
`Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.' So I drank, and she
gave the camels drink also.
47: Then I asked her, `Whose daughter are you?' She said, The
daughter of Bethu'el, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.' So I put
the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms.
48: Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the
Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to
take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son.
49: Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master,
tell me; and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand or to
the left."
50: Then Laban and Bethu'el answered, "The thing comes from
the Lord; we cannot speak to you bad or good.
51: Behold, Rebekah is before you, take her and go, and let her
be the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has spoken."
52: When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself to
the earth before the Lord.
53: And the servant brought forth jewelry of silver and of gold,
and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave to her brother and
to her mother costly ornaments.
54: And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they
spent the night there. When they arose in the morning, he said,
"Send me back to my master."
55: Her brother and her mother said, "Let the maiden remain
with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go."
56: But he said to them, "Do not delay me, since the Lord
has prospered my way; let me go that I may go to my master."
57: They said, "We will call the maiden, and ask her."
58: And they called Rebekah, and said to her, "Will you go
with this man?" She said, "I will go."
59: So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and
Abraham's servant and his men.
60: And they blessed Rebekah, and said to her, "Our sister,
be the mother of thousands of ten thousands; and may your descendants
possess the gate of those who hate them!"
61: Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and rode upon the camels
and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.
62: Now Isaac had come from Beer-la'hai-roi, and was dwelling in
the Negeb.
63: And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening;
and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there were camels
coming.
64: And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she
alighted from the camel,
65: and said to the servant, "Who is the man yonder, walking
in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my
master." So she took her veil and covered herself.
66: And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.
67: Then Isaac brought her into the tent, and took Rebekah, and
she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his
mother's death.
Genesis,
chapter 25
1: Abraham took another wife, whose name was Ketu'rah.
2: She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Mid'ian, Ishbak, and
Shuah.
3: Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan
were Asshu'rim, Letu'shim, and Le-um'mim.
4: The sons of Mid'ian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abi'da, and
Elda'ah. All these were the children of Ketu'rah.
5: Abraham gave all he had to Isaac.
6: But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and
while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward
to the east country.
7: These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, a hundred
and seventy-five years.
8: Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old
man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.
9: Isaac and Ish'mael his sons buried him in the cave of
Mach-pe'lah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east
of Mamre,
10: the field which Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There
Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife.
11: After the death of Abraham God blessed Isaac his son. And
Isaac dwelt at Beer-la'hai-roi.
12: These are the descendants of Ish'mael, Abraham's son, whom
Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maid, bore to Abraham.
13: These are the names of the sons of Ish'mael, named in the
order of their birth: Neba'ioth, the first-born of Ish'mael; and Kedar,
Adbeel, Mibsam,
14: Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
15: Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Ked'emah.
16: These are the sons of Ish'mael and these are their names, by
their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to
their tribes.
17: (These are the years of the life of Ish'mael, a hundred and
thirty-seven years; he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to
his kindred.)
18: They dwelt from Hav'ilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in
the direction of Assyria; he settled over against all his people.
19: These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham
was the father of Isaac,
20: and Isaac was forty years old when he took to wife Rebekah,
the daughter of Bethu'el the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban
the Aramean.
21: And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was
barren; and the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22: The children struggled together within her; and she said,
"If it is thus, why do I live?" So she went to inquire of the
Lord.
23: And the Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples, born of you, shall be divided; the one shall be
stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger."
24: When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there
were twins in her womb.
25: The first came forth red, all his body like a hairy mantle;
so they called his name Esau.
26: Afterward his brother came forth, and his hand had taken hold
of Esau's heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old
when she bore them.
27: When the boys grew up, Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of
the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.
28: Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his game; but Rebekah
loved Jacob.
29: Once when Jacob was boiling pottage, Esau came in from the
field, and he was famished.
30: And Esau said to Jacob, "Let me eat some of that red
pottage, for I am famished!" (Therefore his name was called Edom.)
31: Jacob said, "First sell me your birthright."
32: Esau said, "I am about to die; of what use is a
birthright to me?"
33: Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore to
him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.
34: Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils, and he ate
and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Genesis,
chapter 26
1: Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine
that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abim'elech
king of the Philistines.
2: And the Lord appeared to him, and said, "Do not go down
to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.
3: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless
you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and
I will fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
4: I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and
will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants
all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves:
5: because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my
commandments, my statutes, and my laws."
6: So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.
7: When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said,
"She is my sister"; for he feared to say, "My wife,"
thinking, "lest the men of the place should kill me for the sake of
Rebekah"; because she was fair to look upon.
8: When he had been there a long time, Abim'elech king of the
Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac fondling Rebekah his
wife.
9: So Abim'elech called Isaac, and said, "Behold, she is
your wife; how then could you say, `She is my sister'?" Isaac said
to him, "Because I thought, `Lest I die because of her.'"
10: Abim'elech said, "What is this you have done to us? One
of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have
brought guilt upon us."
11: So Abim'elech warned all the people, saying, "Whoever
touches this man or his wife shall be put to death."
12: And Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a
hundredfold. The Lord blessed him,
13: and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he
became very wealthy.
14: He had possessions of flocks and herds, and a great
household, so that the Philistines envied him.
15: (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all
the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his
father.)
16: And Abim'elech said to Isaac, "Go away from us; for you
are much mightier than we."
17: So Isaac departed from there, and encamped in the valley of
Gerar and dwelt there.
18: And Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in
the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them
after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names which his father
had given them.
19: But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a
well of springing water,
20: the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen,
saying, "The water is ours." So he called the name of the well
Esek, because they contended with him.
21: Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that
also; so he called its name Sitnah.
22: And he moved from there and dug another well, and over that
they did not quarrel; so he called its name Reho'both, saying, "For
now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the
land."
23: From there he went up to Beer-sheba.
24: And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, "I
am the God of Abraham your father; fear not, for I am with you and will
bless you and multiply your descendants for my servant Abraham's
sake."
25: So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the
Lord, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.
26: Then Abim'elech went to him from Gerar with Ahuz'zath his
adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.
27: Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, seeing
that you hate me and have sent me away from you?"
28: They said, "We see plainly that the Lord is with you; so
we say, let there be an oath between you and us, and let us make a
covenant with you,
29: that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you
and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace.
You are now the blessed of the Lord."
30: So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.
31: In the morning they rose early and took oath with one
another; and Isaac set them on their way, and they departed from him in
peace.
32: That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the
well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found
water."
33: He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is
Beer-sheba to this day.
34: When Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the
daughter of Be-e'ri the Hittite, and Bas'emath the daughter of Elon the
Hittite;
35: and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.
Genesis,
chapter 27
1: When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not
see, he called Esau his older son, and said to him, "My son";
and he answered, "Here I am."
2: He said, "Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my
death.
3: Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go
out to the field, and hunt game for me,
4: and prepare for me savory food, such as I love, and bring it
to me that I may eat; that I may bless you before I die."
5: Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So
when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it,
6: Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "I heard your father speak
to your brother Esau,
7: `Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food, that I may eat
it, and bless you before the Lord before I die.'
8: Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you.
9: Go to the flock, and fetch me two good kids, that I may
prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he loves;
10: and you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may
bless you before he dies."
11: But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Behold, my
brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.
12: Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be
mocking him, and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing."
13: His mother said to him, "Upon me be your curse, my son;
only obey my word, and go, fetch them to me."
14: So he went and took them and brought them to his mother; and
his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved.
15: Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son,
which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son;
16: and the skins of the kids she put upon his hands and upon the
smooth part of his neck;
17: and she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had
prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18: So he went in to his father, and said, "My father";
and he said, "Here I am; who are you, my son?"
19: Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your first-born. I
have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that you may
bless me."
20: But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have
found it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "Because the Lord
your God granted me success."
21: Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near, that I may feel
you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not."
22: So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and
said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of
Esau."
23: And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy
like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him.
24: He said, "Are you really my son Esau?" He answered,
"I am."
25: Then he said, "Bring it to me, that I may eat of my
son's game and bless you." So he brought it to him, and he ate; and
he brought him wine, and he drank.
26: Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come near and kiss
me, my son."
27: So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of
his garments, and blessed him, and said, "See, the smell of my son
is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed!
28: May God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of
the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.
29: Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord
over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed
be every one who curses you, and blessed be every one who blesses
you!"
30: As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had
scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his
brother came in from his hunting.
31: He also prepared savory food, and brought it to his father.
And he said to his father, "Let my father arise, and eat of his
son's game, that you may bless me."
32: His father Isaac said to him, "Who are you?" He
answered, "I am your son, your first-born, Esau."
33: Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who was it
then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you
came, and I have blessed him? -- yes, and he shall be blessed."
34: When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an
exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless
me, even me also, O my father!"
35: But he said, "Your brother came with guile, and he has
taken away your blessing."
36: Esau said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has
supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright; and behold,
now he has taken away my blessing." Then he said, "Have you
not reserved a blessing for me?"
37: Isaac answered Esau, "Behold, I have made him your lord,
and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain
and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?"
38: Esau said to his father, "Have you but one blessing, my
father? Bless me, even me also, O my father." And Esau lifted up
his voice and wept.
39: Then Isaac his father answered him: "Behold, away from
the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew
of heaven on high.
40: By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your
brother; but when you break loose you shall break his yoke from your
neck."
41: Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his
father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, "The days of
mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother
Jacob."
42: But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah; so
she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him,
"Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself by planning to kill
you.
43: Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee to Laban my
brother in Haran,
44: and stay with him a while, until your brother's fury turns
away;
45: until your brother's anger turns away, and he forgets what
you have done to him; then I will send, and fetch you from there. Why
should I be bereft of you both in one day?"
46: Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am weary of my life
because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women
such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be
to me?"
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Genesis,
chapter 28
1: Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him,
"You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women.
2: Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethu'el your
mother's father; and take as wife from there one of the daughters of
Laban your mother's brother.
3: God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you,
that you may become a company of peoples.
4: May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your
descendants with you, that you may take possession of the land of your
sojournings which God gave to Abraham!"
5: Thus Isaac sent Jacob away; and he went to Paddan-aram to
Laban, the son of Bethu'el the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's
and Esau's mother.
6: Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to
Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he
charged him, "You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women,"
7: and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone
to Paddan-aram.
8: So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac
his father,
9: Esau went to Ish'mael and took to wife, besides the wives he
had, Ma'halath the daughter of Ish'mael Abraham's son, the sister of
Neba'ioth.
10: Jacob left Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran.
11: And he came to a certain place, and stayed there that night,
because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put
it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.
12: And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth,
and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were
ascending and descending on it!
13: And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, "I am the
Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on
which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants;
14: and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and
you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and
to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of
the earth bless themselves.
15: Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and
will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have
done that of which I have spoken to you."
16: Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the
Lord is in this place; and I did not know it."
17: And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place!
This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of
heaven."
18: So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone
which he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured
oil on the top of it.
19: He called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of the
city was Luz at the first.
20: Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me,
and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat
and clothing to wear,
21: so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the
Lord shall be my God,
22: and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be
God's house; and of all that Thou give me I will give the tenth to
thee."
Genesis,
chapter 29
1: Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the
people of the east.
2: As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and lo, three flocks
of sheep lying beside it; for out of that well the flocks were watered.
The stone on the well's mouth was large,
3: and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds
would roll the stone from the mouth of the well, and water the sheep,
and put the stone back in its place upon the mouth of the well.
4: Jacob said to them, "My brothers, where do you come
from?" They said, "We are from Haran."
5: He said to them, "Do you know Laban the son of
Nahor?" They said, "We know him."
6: He said to them, "Is it well with him?" They said,
"It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the
sheep!"
7: He said, "Behold, it is still high day, it is not time
for the animals to be gathered together; water the sheep, and go,
pasture them."
8: But they said, "We cannot until all the flocks are
gathered together, and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well;
then we water the sheep."
9: While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her
father's sheep; for she kept them.
10: Now when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's
brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob went up and
rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban
his mother's brother.
11: Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and wept aloud.
12: And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's kinsman, and
that he was Rebekah's son; and she ran and told her father.
13: When Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's son, he
ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his
house. Jacob told Laban all these things,
14: and Laban said to him, "Surely you are my bone and my
flesh!" And he stayed with him a month.
15: Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my kinsman,
should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your
wages be?"
16: Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah,
and the name of the younger was Rachel.
17: Leah's eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful and lovely.
18: Jacob loved Rachel; and he said, "I will serve you seven
years for your younger daughter Rachel."
19: Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than
that I should give her to any other man; stay with me."
20: So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to
him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
21: Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife that I may go
in to her, for my time is completed."
22: So Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made
a feast.
23: But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her
to Jacob; and he went in to her.
24: (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her
maid.)
25: And in the morning, behold, it was Leah; and Jacob said to
Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you
for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?"
26: Laban said, "It is not so done in our country, to give
the younger before the first-born.
27: Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other
also in return for serving me another seven years."
28: Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his
daughter Rachel to wife.
29: (Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her
maid.)
30: So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more
than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.
31: When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb;
but Rachel was barren.
32: And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name
Reuben; for she said, "Because the Lord has looked upon my
affliction; surely now my husband will love me."
33: She conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Because
the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also";
and she called his name Simeon.
34: Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, "Now this
time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three
sons"; therefore his name was called Levi.
35: And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "This
time I will praise the Lord"; therefore she called his name Judah;
then she ceased bearing.
Genesis,
chapter 30
1: When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied
her sister; and she said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I shall
die!"
2: Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said,
"Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of
the womb?"
3: Then she said, "Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her,
that she may bear upon my knees, and even I may have children through
her."
4: So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife; and Jacob went in
to her.
5: And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
6: Then Rachel said, "God has judged me, and has also heard
my voice and given me a son"; therefore she called his name Dan.
7: Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second
son.
8: Then Rachel said, "With mighty wrestling I have wrestled
with my sister, and have prevailed"; so she called his name
Naph'tali.
9: When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took
her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
10: Then Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
11: And Leah said, "Good fortune!" so she called his
name Gad.
12: Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.
13: And Leah said, "Happy am I! For the women will call me
happy"; so she called his name Asher.
14: In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes
in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to
Leah, "Give me, I pray, some of your son's mandrakes."
15: But she said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have
taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes
also?" Rachel said, "Then he may lie with you tonight for your
son's mandrakes."
16: When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out
to meet him, and said, "You must come in to me; for I have hired
you with my son's mandrakes." So he lay with her that night.
17: And God hearkened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a
fifth son.
18: Leah said, "God has given me my hire because I gave my
maid to my husband"; so she called his name Is'sachar.
19: And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son.
20: Then Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good dowry;
now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons";
so she called his name Zeb'ulun.
21: Afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
22: Then God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her and
opened her womb.
23: She conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken
away my reproach";
24: and she called his name Joseph, saying, "May the Lord
add to me another son!"
25: When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send
me away, that I may go to my own home and country.
26: Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you,
and let me go; for you know the service which I have given you."
27: But Laban said to him, "If you will allow me to say so,
I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of
you;
28: name your wages, and I will give it."
29: Jacob said to him, "You yourself know how I have served
you, and how your cattle have fared with me.
30: For you had little before I came, and it has increased
abundantly; and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when
shall I provide for my own household also?"
31: He said, "What shall I give you?" Jacob said,
"You shall not give me anything; if you will do this for me, I will
again feed your flock and keep it:
32: let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it
every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted
and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages.
33: So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look
into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among
the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted
stolen."
34: Laban said, "Good! Let it be as you have said."
35: But that day Laban removed the he-goats that were striped and
spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, every one
that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in
charge of his sons;
36: and he set a distance of three days' journey between himself
and Jacob; and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flock.
37: Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane,
and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods.
38: He set the rods, which he had peeled in front of the flocks
in the runnels, that is, the watering troughs, where the flocks came to
drink. And since they bred when they came to drink,
39: the flocks bred in front of the rods and so the flocks
brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.
40: And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the
flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and
he put his own droves apart, and did not put them with Laban's flock.
41: Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding Jacob laid
the rods in the runnels before the eyes of the flock, that they might
breed among the rods,
42: but for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there;
so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.
43: Thus the man grew exceedingly rich, and had large flocks,
maidservants and menservants, and camels and asses.
Genesis,
chapter 31
1: Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying,
"Jacob has taken all that was our father's; and from what was our
father's he has gained all this wealth."
2: And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as
before.
3: Then the Lord said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your
fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you."
4: So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where
his flock was,
5: and said to them, "I see that your father does not regard
me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with
me.
6: You know that I have served your father with all my strength;
7: yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times,
but God did not permit him to harm me.
8: If he said, `The spotted shall be your wages,' then all the
flock bore spotted; and if he said, `The striped shall be your wages,'
then all the flock bore striped.
9: Thus God has taken away the cattle of your father, and given
them to me.
10: In the mating season of the flock I lifted up my eyes, and
saw in a dream that the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were
striped, spotted, and mottled.
11: Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, `Jacob,' and I
said, `Here I am!'
12: And he said, `Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that
leap upon the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled; for I have seen
all that Laban is doing to you.
13: I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made
a vow to me. Now arise, go forth from this land, and return to the land
of your birth.'"
14: Then Rachel and Leah answered him, "Is there any portion
or inheritance left to us in our father's house?
15: Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us,
and he has been using up the money given for us.
16: All the property which God has taken away from our father
belongs to us and to our children; now then, whatever God has said to
you, do."
17: So Jacob arose, and set his sons and his wives on camels;
18: and he drove away all his cattle, all his livestock which he
had gained, the cattle in his possession which he had acquired in
Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.
19: Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her
father's household gods.
20: And Jacob outwitted Laban the Aramean, in that he did not
tell him that he intended to flee.
21: He fled with all that he had, and arose and crossed the
Euphra'tes, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.
22: When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled,
23: he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days
and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead.
24: But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night, and
said to him, "Take heed that you say not a word to Jacob, either
good or bad."
25: And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in
the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen encamped in the hill
country of Gilead.
26: And Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done, that you
have cheated me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the
sword?
27: Why did you flee secretly, and cheat me, and did not tell me,
so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine
and lyre?
28: And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my
daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly.
29: It is in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father
spoke to me last night, saying, `Take heed that you speak to Jacob
neither good nor bad.'
30: And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for
your father's house, but why did you steal my gods?"
31: Jacob answered Laban, "Because I was afraid, for I
thought that you would take your daughters from me by force.
32: Any one with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the
presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take
it." Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
33: So Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and
into the tent of the two maidservants, but he did not find them. And he
went out of Leah's tent, and entered Rachel's.
34: Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the
camel's saddle, and sat upon them. Laban felt all about the tent, but
did not find them.
35: And she said to her father, "Let not my lord be angry
that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me." So
he searched, but did not find the household gods.
36: Then Jacob became angry, and upbraided Laban; Jacob said to
Laban, "What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly
pursued me?
37: Although you have felt through all my goods, what have you
found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and
your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two.
38: These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your
she-goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your
flocks.
39: That which was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you; I
bore the loss of it myself; of my hand you required it, whether stolen
by day or stolen by night.
40: Thus I was; by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by
night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.
41: These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you
fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and
you have changed my wages ten times.
42: If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of
Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away
empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands, and
rebuked you last night."
43: Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, "The daughters
are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my
flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to
these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne?
44: Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I; and let it be a
witness between you and me."
45: So Jacob took a stone, and set it up as a pillar.
46: And Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones," and
they took stones, and made a heap; and they ate there by the heap.
47: Laban called it Je'gar-sahadu'tha: but Jacob called it Galeed.
48: Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me
today." Therefore he named it Galeed,
49: and the pillar Mizpah, for he said, "The Lord watch
between you and me, when we are absent one from the other.
50: If you ill-treat my daughters, or if you take wives besides
my daughters, although no man is with us, remember, God is witness
between you and me."
51: Then Laban said to Jacob, "See this heap and the pillar,
which I have set between you and me.
52: This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I
will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this
heap and this pillar to me, for harm.
53: The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their
father, judge between us." So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father
Isaac,
54: and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called his
kinsmen to eat bread; and they ate bread and tarried all night on the
mountain.
55: Early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his
grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them; then he departed and
returned home.
Genesis,
chapter 32
1: Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him;
2: and when Jacob saw them he said, "This is God's
army!" So he called the name of that place Mahana'im.
3: And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in
the land of Se'ir, the country of Edom,
4: instructing them, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau:
Thus says your servant Jacob, `I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed
until now;
5: and I have oxen, asses, flocks, menservants, and maidservants;
and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your
sight.'"
6: And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to
your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men
with him."
7: Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided
the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into
two companies,
8: thinking, "If Esau comes to the one company and destroys
it, then the company which is left will escape."
9: And Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my
father Isaac, O Lord who did say to me, `Return to your country and to
your kindred, and I will do you good,'
10: I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and
all the faithfulness which Thou hast shown to thy servant, for with only
my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.
11: Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from
the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and slay us all, the
mothers with the children.
12: But Thou did say, `I will do you good, and make your
descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for
multitude.'"
13: So he lodged there that night, and took from what he had with
him a present for his brother Esau,
14: two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes
and twenty rams,
15: thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten
bulls, twenty she-asses and ten he-asses.
16: These he delivered into the hand of his servants, every drove
by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on before me, and put a
space between drove and drove."
17: He instructed the foremost, "When Esau my brother meets
you, and asks you, `To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And
whose are these before you?'
18: then you shall say, `They belong to your servant Jacob; they
are a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover he is behind us.'"
19: He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who
followed the droves, "You shall say the same thing to Esau when you
meet him,
20: and you shall say, `Moreover your servant Jacob is behind
us.'" For he thought, "I may appease him with the present that
goes before me, and afterwards I shall see his face; perhaps he will
accept me."
21: So the present passed on before him; and he himself lodged
that night in the camp.
22: The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two
maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
23: He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise
everything that he had.
24: And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until
the breaking of the day.
25: When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he
touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob's thigh was put out of joint
as he wrestled with him.
26: Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking."
But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me."
27: And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he
said, "Jacob."
28: Then he said, "Your name shall no more be called Jacob,
but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have
prevailed."
29: Then Jacob asked him, "Tell me, I pray, your name."
But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he
blessed him.
30: So Jacob called the name of the place Peni'el, saying,
"For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is
preserved."
31: The sun rose upon him as he passed Penu'el, limping because
of his thigh.
32: Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of
the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, because he touched the
hollow of Jacob's thigh on the sinew of the hip.
Genesis,
chapter 33
1: And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was
coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among
Leah and Rachel and the two maids.
2: And he put the maids with their children in front, then Leah
with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all.
3: He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground
seven times, until he came near to his brother.
4: But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his
neck and kissed him, and they wept.
5: And when Esau raised his eyes and saw the women and children,
he said, "Who are these with you?" Jacob said, "The
children whom God has graciously given your servant."
6: Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed
down;
7: Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and
last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down.
8: Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company which I
met?" Jacob answered, "To find favor in the sight of my
lord."
9: But Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; keep what you
have for yourself."
10: Jacob said, "No, I pray you, if I have found favor in
your sight, then accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your
face is like seeing the face of God, with such favor have you received
me.
11: Accept, I pray you, my gift that is brought to you, because
God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough." Thus
he urged him, and he took it.
12: Then Esau said, "Let us journey on our way, and I will
go before you."
13: But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children
are frail, and that the flocks and herds giving suck are a care to me;
and if they are overdriven for one day, all the flocks will die.
14: Let my lord pass on before his servant, and I will lead on
slowly, according to the pace of the cattle which are before me and
according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in
Se'ir."
15: So Esau said, "Let me leave with you some of the men who
are with me." But he said, "What need is there? Let me find
favor in the sight of my lord."
16: So Esau returned that day on his way to Se'ir.
17: But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house,
and made booths for his cattle; therefore the name of the place is
called Succoth.
18: And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the
land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram; and he camped before the
city.
19: And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, he bought for a
hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his
tent.
20: There he erected an altar and called it El-El'ohe-Israel.
Genesis,
chapter 34
1: Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob,
went out to visit the women of the land;
2: and when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of
the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humbled her.
3: And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob; he
loved the maiden and spoke tenderly to her.
4: So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, "Get me
this maiden for my wife."
5: Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah; but
his sons were with his cattle in the field, so Jacob held his peace
until they came.
6: And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak
with him.
7: The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard of
it; and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had wrought
folly in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing ought
not to be done.
8: But Hamor spoke with them, saying, "The soul of my son
Shechem longs for your daughter; I pray you, give her to him in
marriage.
9: Make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take
our daughters for yourselves.
10: You shall dwell with us; and the land shall be open to you;
dwell and trade in it, and get property in it."
11: Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers,
"Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will
give.
12: Ask of me ever so much as marriage present and gift, and I
will give according as you say to me; only give me the maiden to be my
wife."
13: The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor
deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah.
14: They said to them, "We cannot do this thing, to give our
sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.
15: Only on this condition will we consent to you: that you will
become as we are and every male of you be circumcised.
16: Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your
daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one
people.
17: But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we
will take our daughter, and we will be gone."
18: Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem.
19: And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he
had delight in Jacob's daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his
family.
20: So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city
and spoke to the men of their city, saying,
21: "These men are friendly with us; let them dwell in the
land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them; let
us take their daughters in marriage, and let us give them our daughters.
22: Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us,
to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they
are circumcised.
23: Will not their cattle, their property and all their beasts be
ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us."
24: And all who went out of the gate of his city hearkened to
Hamor and his son Shechem; and every male was circumcised, all who went
out of the gate of his city.
25: On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of
Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came
upon the city unawares, and killed all the males.
26: They slew Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took
Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away.
27: And the sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the
city, because their sister had been defiled;
28: they took their flocks and their herds, their asses, and
whatever was in the city and in the field;
29: all their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all
that was in the houses, they captured and made their prey.
30: Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought
trouble on me by making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, the
Canaanites and the Per'izzites; my numbers are few, and if they gather
themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my
household."
31: But they said, "Should he treat our sister as a
harlot?"
Genesis,
chapter 35
1: God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell
there; and make there an altar to the God who appeared to you when you
fled from your brother Esau."
2: So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him,
"Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify
yourselves, and change your garments;
3: then let us arise and go up to Bethel, that I may make there
an altar to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has
been with me wherever I have gone."
4: So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and
the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak
which was near Shechem.
5: And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities
that were round about them, so that they did not pursue the sons of
Jacob.
6: And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land
of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him,
7: and there he built an altar, and called the place El-bethel,
because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his
brother.
8: And Deb'orah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under
an oak below Bethel; so the name of it was called Al'lon-bacuth.
9: God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram,
and blessed him.
10: And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; no longer
shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." So
his name was called Israel.
11: And God said to him, "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and
multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and
kings shall spring from you.
12: The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to
you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you."
13: Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken
with him.
14: And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken
with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it,
and poured oil on it.
15: So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken
with him, Bethel.
16: Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still
some distance from Ephrath, Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor.
17: And when she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her,
"Fear not; for now you will have another son."
18: And as her soul was departing (for she died), she called his
name Ben-o'ni; but his father called his name Benjamin.
19: So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath
(that is, Bethlehem),
20: and Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave; it is the pillar of
Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day.
21: Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of
Eder.
22: While Israel dwelt in that land Reuben went and lay with
Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of
Jacob were twelve.
23: The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's first-born), Simeon, Levi,
Judah, Is'sachar, and Zeb'ulun.
24: The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
25: The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan and Naph'tali.
26: The sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid: Gad and Asher. These were
the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
27: And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or
Kir'iath-ar'ba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.
28: Now the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.
29: And Isaac breathed his last; and he died and was gathered to
his people, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried
him.
Genesis,
chapter 36
1: These are the descendants of Esau (that is, Edom).
2: Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of
Elon the Hittite, Oholiba'mah the daughter of Anah the son of Zib'eon
the Hivite,
3: and Bas'emath, Ish'mael's daughter, the sister of Neba'ioth.
4: And Adah bore to Esau, El'iphaz; Bas'emath bore Reu'el;
5: and Oholiba'mah bore Je'ush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the
sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.
6: Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the
members of his household, his cattle, all his beasts, and all his
property which he had acquired in the land of Canaan; and he went into a
land away from his brother Jacob.
7: For their possessions were too great for them to dwell
together; the land of their sojournings could not support them because
of their cattle.
8: So Esau dwelt in the hill country of Se'ir; Esau is Edom.
9: These are the descendants of Esau the father of the E'domites
in the hill country of Se'ir.
10: These are the names of Esau's sons: El'iphaz the son of Adah
the wife of Esau, Reu'el the son of Bas'emath the wife of Esau.
11: The sons of El'iphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and
Kenaz.
12: (Timna was a concubine of El'iphaz, Esau's son; she bore
Am'alek to El'iphaz.) These are the sons of Adah, Esau's wife.
13: These are the sons of Reu'el: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and
Mizzah. These are the sons of Bas'emath, Esau's wife.
14: These are the sons of Oholiba'mah the daughter of Anah the
son of Zib'eon, Esau's wife: she bore to Esau Je'ush, Jalam, and Korah.
15: These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of
El'iphaz the first-born of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,
16: Korah, Gatam, and Am'alek; these are the chiefs of El'iphaz
in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Adah.
17: These are the sons of Reu'el, Esau's son: the chiefs Nahath,
Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the chiefs of Reu'el in the land
of Edom; they are the sons of Bas'emath, Esau's wife.
18: These are the sons of Oholiba'mah, Esau's wife: the chiefs
Je'ush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the chiefs born of Oholiba'mah the
daughter of Anah, Esau's wife.
19: These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are
their chiefs.
20: These are the sons of Se'ir the Horite, the inhabitants of
the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zib'eon, Anah,
21: Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the
Horites, the sons of Se'ir in the land of Edom.
22: The sons of Lotan were Hori and Heman; and Lotan's sister was
Timna.
23: These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Man'ahath, Ebal, Shepho,
and Onam.
24: These are the sons of Zib'eon: A'iah and Anah; he is the Anah
who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he pastured the asses of
Zib'eon his father.
25: These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholiba'mah the
daughter of Anah.
26: These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and
Cheran.
27: These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Za'avan, and Akan.
28: These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
29: These are the chiefs of the Horites: the chiefs Lotan, Shobal,
Zib'eon, Anah,
30: Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the
Horites, according to their clans in the land of Se'ir.
31: These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before
any king reigned over the Israelites.
32: Bela the son of Be'or reigned in Edom, the name of his city
being Din'habah.
33: Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in
his stead.
34: Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Te'manites reigned
in his stead.
35: Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Mid'ian
in the country of Moab, reigned in his stead, the name of his city being
Avith.
36: Hadad died, and Samlah of Masre'kah reigned in his stead.
37: Samlah died, and Shaul of Reho'both on the Euphra'tes reigned
in his stead.
38: Shaul died, and Ba'al-ha'nan the son of Achbor reigned in his
stead.
39: Ba'al-ha'nan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his
stead, the name of his city being Pau; his wife's name was Mehet'abel,
the daughter of Matred, daughter of Me'zahab.
40: These are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their
families and their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna,
Alvah, Jetheth,
41: Oholiba'mah, Elah, Pinon,
42: Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,
43: Mag'diel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom (that is,
Esau, the father of Edom), according to their dwelling places in the
land of their possession.
Genesis,
chapter 37
1: Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the
land of Canaan.
2: This is the history of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being
seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was
a lad with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph
brought an ill report of them to their father.
3: Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children,
because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a long robe with
sleeves.
4: But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more
than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to
him.
5: Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers
they only hated him the more.
6: He said to them, "Hear this dream which I have dreamed:
7: behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf
arose and stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered round it, and
bowed down to my sheaf."
8: His brothers said to him, "Are you indeed to reign over
us? Or are you indeed to have dominion over us?" So they hated him
yet more for his dreams and for his words.
9: Then he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers,
and said, "Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and behold, the
sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
10: But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his
father rebuked him, and said to him, "What is this dream that you
have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to
bow ourselves to the ground before you?"
11: And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the
saying in mind.
12: Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near
Shechem.
13: And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers
pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." And
he said to him, "Here I am."
14: So he said to him, "Go now, see if it is well with your
brothers, and with the flock; and bring me word again." So he sent
him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15: And a man found him wandering in the fields; and the man
asked him, "What are you seeking?"
16: "I am seeking my brothers," he said, "tell me,
I pray you, where they are pasturing the flock."
17: And the man said, "They have gone away, for I heard them
say, `Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers, and
found them at Dothan.
18: They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them they
conspired against him to kill him.
19: They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer.
20: Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits;
then we shall say that a wild beast has devoured him, and we shall see
what will become of his dreams."
21: But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their
hands, saying, "Let us not take his life."
22: And Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood; cast him into
this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him" -- that
he might rescue him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.
23: So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his
robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore;
24: and they took him and cast him into a pit. The pit was empty,
there was no water in it.
25: Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan
of Ish'maelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm,
and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.
26: Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if
we slay our brother and conceal his blood?
27: Come, let us sell him to the Ish'maelites, and let not our
hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his
brothers heeded him.
28: Then Mid'ianite traders passed by; and they drew Joseph up
and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ish'maelites for
twenty shekels of silver; and they took Joseph to Egypt.
29: When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not
in the pit, he rent his clothes
30: and returned to his brothers, and said, "The lad is
gone; and I, where shall I go?"
31: Then they took Joseph's robe, and killed a goat, and dipped
the robe in the blood;
32: and they sent the long robe with sleeves and brought it to
their father, and said, "This we have found; see now whether it is
your son's robe or not."
33: And he recognized it, and said, "It is my son's robe; a
wild beast has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to
pieces."
34: Then Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his
loins, and mourned for his son many days.
35: All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him;
but he refused to be comforted, and said, "No, I shall go down to
Sheol to my son, mourning." Thus his father wept for him.
36: Meanwhile the Mid'ianites had sold him in Egypt to Pot'i-phar,
an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.
Genesis,
chapter 38
1: It happened at that time that Judah went down from his
brothers, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.
2: There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name
was Shua; he married her and went in to her,
3: and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.
4: Again she conceived and bore a son, and she called his name
Onan.
5: Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. She
was in Chezib when she bore him.
6: And Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, and her name was
Tamar.
7: But Er, Judah's first-born, was wicked in the sight of the
Lord; and the Lord slew him.
8: Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife,
and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring
for your brother."
9: But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he
went in to his brother's wife he spilled the semen on the ground, lest
he should give offspring to his brother.
10: And what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and
he slew him also.
11: Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, "Remain a
widow in your father's house, till Shelah my son grows up" -- for
he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and dwelt
in her father's house.
12: In course of time the wife of Judah, Shua's daughter, died;
and when Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers,
he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
13: And when Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law is going up
to Timnah to shear his sheep,"
14: she put off her widow's garments, and put on a veil, wrapping
herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to
Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given
to him in marriage.
15: When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot, for she
had covered her face.
16: He went over to her at the road side, and said, "Come,
let me come in to you," for he did not know that she was his
daughter-in-law. She said, "What will you give me, that you may
come in to me?"
17: He answered, "I will send you a kid from the
flock." And she said, "Will you give me a pledge, till you
send it?"
18: He said, "What pledge shall I give you?" She
replied, "Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your
hand." So he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she
conceived by him.
19: Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put
on the garments of her widowhood.
20: When Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to
receive the pledge from the woman's hand, he could not find her.
21: And he asked the men of the place, "Where is the harlot
who was at Enaim by the wayside?" And they said, "No harlot
has been here."
22: So he returned to Judah, and said, "I have not found
her; and also the men of the place said, `No harlot has been
here.'"
23: And Judah replied, "Let her keep the things as her own,
lest we be laughed at; you see, I sent this kid, and you could not find
her."
24: About three months later Judah was told, "Tamar your
daughter-in-law has played the harlot; and moreover she is with child by
harlotry." And Judah said, "Bring her out, and let her be
burned."
25: As she was being brought out, she sent word to her
father-in-law, "By the man to whom these belong, I am with
child." And she said, "Mark, I pray you, whose these are, the
signet and the cord and the staff."
26: Then Judah acknowledged them and said, "She is more
righteous than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah."
And he did not lie with her again.
27: When the time of her delivery came, there were twins in her
womb.
28: And when she was in labor, one put out a hand; and the
midwife took and bound on his hand a scarlet thread, saying, "This
came out first."
29: But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out;
and she said, "What a breach you have made for yourself!"
Therefore his name was called Perez.
30: Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread upon
his hand; and his name was called Zerah.
Genesis,
chapter 39
1: Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Pot'i-phar, an officer
of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the
Ish'maelites who had brought him down there.
2: The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; and
he was in the house of his master the Egyptian,
3: and his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the
Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands.
4: So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he
made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.
5: From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over
all that he had the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake;
the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had, in house and field.
6: So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge; and having him
he had no concern for anything but the food which he ate. Now Joseph was
handsome and good-looking.
7: And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph,
and said, "Lie with me."
8: But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Lo, having
me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put
everything that he has in my hand;
9: he is not greater in this house than I am; nor has he kept
back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife; how
then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"
10: And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not
listen to her, to lie with her or to be with her.
11: But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and
none of the men of the house was there in the house,
12: she caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with
me." But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and got out of
the house.
13: And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand,
and had fled out of the house,
14: she called to the men of her household and said to them,
"See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us; he came in to
me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice;
15: and when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, he
left his garment with me, and fled and got out of the house."
16: Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came
home,
17: and she told him the same story, saying, "The Hebrew
servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me;
18: but as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his
garment with me, and fled out of the house."
19: When his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him,
"This is the way your servant treated me," his anger was
kindled.
20: And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the
place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in
prison.
21: But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love,
and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
22: And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's care all
the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatever was done there, he
was the doer of it;
23: the keeper of the prison paid no heed to anything that was in
Joseph's care, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the
Lord made it prosper.
Genesis,
chapter 40
1: Some time after this, the butler of the king of Egypt and his
baker offended their lord the king of Egypt.
2: And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler
and the chief baker,
3: and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the
guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined.
4: The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he
waited on them; and they continued for some time in custody.
5: And one night they both dreamed -- the butler and the baker of
the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison -- each his own
dream, and each dream with its own meaning.
6: When Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them, they
were troubled.
7: So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in
his master's house, "Why are your faces downcast today?"
8: They said to him, "We have had dreams, and there is no
one to interpret them." And Joseph said to them, "Do not
interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, I pray you."
9: So the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him,
"In my dream there was a vine before me,
10: and on the vine there were three branches; as soon as it
budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes.
11: Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and
pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's
hand."
12: Then Joseph said to him, "This is its interpretation:
the three branches are three days;
13: within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore
you to your office; and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand as
formerly, when you were his butler.
14: But remember me, when it is well with you, and do me the
kindness, I pray you, to make mention of me to Pharaoh, and so get me
out of this house.
15: For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews; and
here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the
dungeon."
16: When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was
favorable, he said to Joseph, "I also had a dream: there were three
cake baskets on my head,
17: and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked
food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my
head."
18: And Joseph answered, "This is its interpretation: the
three baskets are three days;
19: within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head -- from you!
-- and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat the flesh from
you."
20: On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a
feast for all his servants, and lifted up the head of the chief butler
and the head of the chief baker among his servants.
21: He restored the chief butler to his butlership, and he placed
the cup in Pharaoh's hand;
22: but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to
them.
23: Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
Genesis,
chapter 41
1: After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by
the Nile,
2: and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows sleek and
fat, and they fed in the reed grass.
3: And behold, seven other cows, gaunt and thin, came up out of
the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the
Nile.
4: And the gaunt and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat
cows. And Pharaoh awoke.
5: And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold,
seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk.
6: And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted
by the east wind.
7: And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears.
And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
8: So in the morning his spirit was troubled; and he sent and
called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men; and Pharaoh
told them his dream, but there was none who could interpret it to
Pharaoh.
9: Then the chief butler said to Pharaoh, "I remember my
faults today.
10: When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the
chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard,
11: we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream
with its own meaning.
12: A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of
the guard; and when we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving
an interpretation to each man according to his dream.
13: And as he interpreted to us, so it came to pass; I was
restored to my office, and the baker was hanged."
14: Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him
hastily out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed
his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.
15: And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream, and
there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said of you
that when you hear a dream you can interpret it."
16: Joseph answered Pharaoh, "It is not in me; God will give
Pharaoh a favorable answer."
17: Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Behold, in my dream I was
standing on the banks of the Nile;
18: and seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the Nile and
fed in the reed grass;
19: and seven other cows came up after them, poor and very gaunt
and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt.
20: And the thin and gaunt cows ate up the first seven fat cows,
21: but when they had eaten them no one would have known that
they had eaten them, for they were still as gaunt as at the beginning.
Then I awoke.
22: I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full
and good;
23: and seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east
wind, sprouted after them,
24: and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I
told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to
me."
25: Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dream of Pharaoh is
one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26: The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears
are seven years; the dream is one.
27: The seven lean and gaunt cows that came up after them are
seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also
seven years of famine.
28: It is as I told Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he is
about to do.
29: There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all
the land of Egypt,
30: but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and
all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will
consume the land,
31: and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of that
famine which will follow, for it will be very grievous.
32: And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is
fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
33: Now therefore let Pharaoh select a man discreet and wise, and
set him over the land of Egypt.
34: Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land, and
take the fifth part of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven
plenteous years.
35: And let them gather all the food of these good years that are
coming, and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the
cities, and let them keep it.
36: That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven
years of famine which are to befall the land of Egypt, so that the land
may not perish through the famine."
37: This proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.
38: And Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a
man as this, in whom is the Spirit of God?"
39: So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has shown you all
this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are;
40: you shall be over my house, and all my people shall order
themselves as you command; only as regards the throne will I be greater
than you."
41: And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Behold, I have set you over
all the land of Egypt."
42: Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on
Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold
chain about his neck;
43: and he made him to ride in his second chariot; and they cried
before him, "Bow the knee!" Thus he set him over all the land
of Egypt.
44: Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and
without your consent no man shall lift up hand or foot in all the land
of Egypt."
45: And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaph'enath-pane'ah; and he
gave him in marriage As'enath, the daughter of Poti'phera priest of On.
So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
46: Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of
Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh,
and went through all the land of Egypt.
47: During the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth
abundantly,
48: and he gathered up all the food of the seven years when there
was plenty in the land of Egypt, and stored up food in the cities; he
stored up in every city the food from the fields around it.
49: And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand
of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.
50: Before the year of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom
As'enath, the daughter of Poti'phera priest of On, bore to him.
51: Joseph called the name of the first-born Manas'seh,
"For," he said, "God has made me forget all my hardship
and all my father's house."
52: The name of the second he called E'phraim, "For God has
made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
53: The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of Egypt
came to an end;
54: and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had
said. There was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there
was bread.
55: When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to
Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to
Joseph; what he says to you, do."
56: So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph
opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine
was severe in the land of Egypt.
57: Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain,
because the famine was severe over all the earth.
Genesis,
chapter 42
1: When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to
his sons, "Why do you look at one another?"
2: And he said, "Behold, I have heard that there is grain in
Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live, and not
die."
3: So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
4: But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with his
brothers, for he feared that harm might befall him.
5: Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came,
for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6: Now Joseph was governor over the land; he it was who sold to
all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came, and bowed
themselves before him with their faces to the ground.
7: Joseph saw his brothers, and knew them, but he treated them
like strangers and spoke roughly to them. "Where do you come
from?" he said. They said, "From the land of Canaan, to buy
food."
8: Thus Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him.
9: And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed of them;
and he said to them, "You are spies, you have come to see the
weakness of the land."
10: They said to him, "No, my lord, but to buy food have
your servants come.
11: We are all sons of one man, we are honest men, your servants
are not spies."
12: He said to them, "No, it is the weakness of the land
that you have come to see."
13: And they said, "We, your servants, are twelve brothers,
the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is
this day with our father, and one is no more."
14: But Joseph said to them, "It is as I said to you, you
are spies.
15: By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you
shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
16: Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you
remain in prison, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth
in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies."
17: And he put them all together in prison for three days.
18: On the third day Joseph said to them, "Do this and you
will live, for I fear God:
19: if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain
confined in your prison, and let the rest go and carry grain for the
famine of your households,
20: and bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be
verified, and you shall not die." And they did so.
21: Then they said to one another, "In truth we are guilty
concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he
besought us and we would not listen; therefore is this distress come
upon us."
22: And Reuben answered them, "Did I not tell you not to sin
against the lad? But you would not listen. So now there comes a
reckoning for his blood."
23: They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was
an interpreter between them.
24: Then he turned away from them and wept; and he returned to
them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him
before their eyes.
25: And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to
replace every man's money in his sack, and to give them provisions for
the journey. This was done for them.
26: Then they loaded their asses with their grain, and departed.
27: And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender
at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack;
28: and he said to his brothers, "My money has been put
back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!" At this their hearts
failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying,
"What is this that God has done to us?"
29: When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan,
they told him all that had befallen them, saying,
30: "The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and
took us to be spies of the land.
31: But we said to him, `We are honest men, we are not spies;
32: we are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more,
and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.'
33: Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, `By this I
shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me,
and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way.
34: Bring your youngest brother to me; then I shall know that you
are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver to you your brother,
and you shall trade in the land.'"
35: As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man's bundle of
money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles
of money, they were dismayed.
36: And Jacob their father said to them, "You have bereaved
me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you
would take Benjamin; all this has come upon me."
37: Then Reuben said to his father, "Slay my two sons if I
do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him
back to you."
38: But he said, "My son shall not go down with you, for his
brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm should befall him on the
journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with
sorrow to Sheol."
Genesis,
chapter 43
1: Now the famine was severe in the land.
2: And when they had eaten the grain which they had brought from
Egypt, their father said to them, "Go again, buy us a little
food."
3: But Judah said to him, "The man solemnly warned us,
saying, `You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.'
4: If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy
you food;
5: but if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man
said to us, `You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with
you.'"
6: Israel said, "Why did you treat me so ill as to tell the
man that you had another brother?"
7: They replied, "The man questioned us carefully about
ourselves and our kindred, saying, `Is your father still alive? Have you
another brother?' What we told him was in answer to these questions;
could we in any way know that he would say, `Bring your brother
down'?"
8: And Judah said to Israel his father, "Send the lad with
me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and
you and also our little ones.
9: I will be surety for him; of my hand you shall require him. If
I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear
the blame for ever;
10: for if we had not delayed, we would now have returned
twice."
11: Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be
so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your
bags, and carry down to the man a present, a little balm and a little
honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds.
12: Take double the money with you; carry back with you the money
that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an
oversight.
13: Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man;
14: may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may
send back your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my
children, I am bereaved."
15: So the men took the present, and they took double the money
with them, and Benjamin; and they arose and went down to Egypt, and
stood before Joseph.
16: When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of
his house, "Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal
and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon."
17: The man did as Joseph bade him, and brought the men to
Joseph's house.
18: And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's
house, and they said, "It is because of the money, which was
replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he
may seek occasion against us and fall upon us, to make slaves of us and
seize our asses."
19: So they went up to the steward of Joseph's house, and spoke
with him at the door of the house,
20: and said, "Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to
buy food;
21: and when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks,
and there was every man's money in the mouth of his sack, our money in
full weight; so we have brought it again with us,
22: and we have brought other money down in our hand to buy food.
We do not know who put our money in our sacks."
23: He replied, "Rest assured, do not be afraid; your God
and the God of your father must have put treasure in your sacks for you;
I received your money." Then he brought Simeon out to them.
24: And when the man had brought the men into Joseph's house, and
given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given
their asses provender,
25: they made ready the present for Joseph's coming at noon, for
they heard that they should eat bread there.
26: When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the
present which they had with them, and bowed down to him to the ground.
27: And he inquired about their welfare, and said, "Is your
father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?"
28: They said, "Your servant our father is well, he is still
alive." And they bowed their heads and made obeisance.
29: And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his
mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you
spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!"
30: Then Joseph made haste, for his heart yearned for his
brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and
wept there.
31: Then he washed his face and came out; and controlling himself
he said, "Let food be served."
32: They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the
Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians might
not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the
Egyptians.
33: And they sat before him, the first-born according to his
birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked
at one another in amazement.
34: Portions were taken to them from Joseph's table, but
Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they
drank and were merry with him.
Genesis,
chapter 44
1: Then he commanded the steward of his house, "Fill the
men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's
money in the mouth of his sack,
2: and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of
the youngest, with his money for the grain." And he did as Joseph
told him.
3: As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with
their asses.
4: When they had gone but a short distance from the city, Joseph
said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men; and when you
overtake them, say to them, `Why have you returned evil for good? Why
have you stolen my silver cup?
5: Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he
divines? You have done wrong in so doing.'"
6: When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words.
7: They said to him, "Why does my lord speak such words as
these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!
8: Behold, the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks, we
brought back to you from the land of Canaan; how then should we steal
silver or gold from your lord's house?
9: With whomever of your servants it be found, let him die, and
we also will be my lord's slaves."
10: He said, "Let it be as you say: he with whom it is found
shall be my slave, and the rest of you shall be blameless."
11: Then every man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and
every man opened his sack.
12: And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with
the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
13: Then they rent their clothes, and every man loaded his ass,
and they returned to the city.
14: When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, he was
still there; and they fell before him to the ground.
15: Joseph said to them, "What deed is this that you have
done? Do you not know that such a man as I can indeed divine?"
16: And Judah said, "What shall we say to my lord? What
shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the
guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord's slaves, both we and he
also in whose hand the cup has been found."
17: But he said, "Far be it from me that I should do so!
Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my slave; but as
for you, go up in peace to your father."
18: Then Judah went up to him and said, "O my lord, let your
servant, I pray you, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not your
anger burn against your servant; for you are like Pharaoh himself.
19: My lord asked his servants, saying, `Have you a father, or a
brother?'
20: And we said to my lord, `We have a father, an old man, and a
young brother, the child of his old age; and his brother is dead, and he
alone is left of his mother's children; and his father loves him.'
21: Then you said to your servants, `Bring him down to me, that I
may set my eyes upon him.'
22: We said to my lord, `The lad cannot leave his father, for if
he should leave his father, his father would die.'
23: Then you said to your servants, `Unless your youngest brother
comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.'
24: When we went back to your servant my father we told him the
words of my lord.
25: And when our father said, `Go again, buy us a little food,'
26: we said, `We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes
with us, then we will go down; for we cannot see the man's face unless
our youngest brother is with us.'
27: Then your servant my father said to us, `You know that my
wife bore me two sons;
28: one left me, and I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces;
and I have never seen him since.
29: If you take this one also from me, and harm befalls him, you
will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol.'
30: Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the
lad is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the lad's life,
31: when he sees that the lad is not with us, he will die; and
your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father
with sorrow to Sheol.
32: For your servant became surety for the lad to my father,
saying, `If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame
in the sight of my father all my life.'
33: Now therefore, let your servant, I pray you, remain instead
of the lad as a slave to my lord; and let the lad go back with his
brothers.
34: For how can I go back to my father if the lad is not with me?
I fear to see the evil that would come upon my father."
Genesis,
chapter 45
1: Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who
stood by him; and he cried, "Make every one go out from me."
So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his
brothers.
2: And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the
household of Pharaoh heard it.
3: And Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph; is my
father still alive?" But his brothers could not answer him, for
they were dismayed at his presence.
4: So Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, I pray
you." And they came near. And he said, "I am your brother,
Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.
5: And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves,
because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6: For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there
are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.
7: And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on
earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.
8: So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made
me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the
land of Egypt.
9: Make haste and go up to my father and say to him, `Thus says
your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do
not tarry;
10: you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near
me, you and your children and your children's children, and your flocks,
your herds, and all that you have;
11: and there I will provide for you, for there are yet five
years of famine to come; lest you and your household, and all that you
have, come to poverty.'
12: And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin
see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.
13: You must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and of
all that you have seen. Make haste and bring my father down here."
14: Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept; and
Benjamin wept upon his neck.
15: And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after
that his brothers talked with him.
16: When the report was heard in Pharaoh's house, "Joseph's
brothers have come," it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well.
17: And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Say to your brothers, `Do
this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan;
18: and take your father and your households, and come to me, and
I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat
of the land.'
19: Command them also, `Do this: take wagons from the land of
Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father,
and come.
20: Give no thought to your goods, for the best of all the land
of Egypt is yours.'"
21: The sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons,
according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the
journey.
22: To each and all of them he gave festal garments; but to
Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five festal
garments.
23: To his father he sent as follows: ten asses loaded with the
good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses loaded with grain, bread, and
provision for his father on the journey.
24: Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said
to them, "Do not quarrel on the way."
25: So they went up out of Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan
to their father Jacob.
26: And they told him, "Joseph is still alive, and he is
ruler over all the land of Egypt." And his heart fainted, for he
did not believe them.
27: But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had
said to them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry
him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived;
28: and Israel said, "It is enough; Joseph my son is still
alive; I will go and see him before I die."
Genesis,
chapter 46
1: So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to
Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
2: And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said,
"Jacob, Jacob." And he said, "Here am I."
3: Then he said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not
be afraid to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great
nation.
4: I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up
again; and Joseph's hand shall close your eyes."
5: Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel
carried Jacob their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the
wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6: They also took their cattle and their goods, which they had
gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his
offspring with him,
7: his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his
sons' daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.
8: Now these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came
into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben, Jacob's first-born,
9: and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10: The sons of Simeon: Jemu'el, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and
Shaul, the son of a Canaanites woman.
11: The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merar'i.
12: The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er
and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of Perez were Hezron
and Hamul.
13: The sons of Is'sachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron.
14: The sons of Zeb'ulun: Sered, Elon, and Jah'leel
15: (these are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in
Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and
his daughters numbered thirty-three).
16: The sons of Gad: Ziph'ion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Aro'di,
and Are'li.
17: The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beri'ah, with Serah
their sister. And the sons of Beri'ah: Heber and Mal'chi-el
18: (these are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his
daughter; and these she bore to Jacob -- sixteen persons).
19: The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin.
20: And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manas'seh and
E'phraim, whom As'enath, the daughter of Poti'phera the priest of On,
bore to him.
21: And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Na'aman,
Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard
22: (these are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob --
fourteen persons in all).
23: The sons of Dan: Hushim.
24: The sons of Naph'tali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem
25: (these are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his
daughter, and these she bore to Jacob -- seven persons in all).
26: All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who
were his own offspring, not including Jacob's sons' wives, were
sixty-six persons in all;
27: and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were
two; all the persons of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were
seventy.
28: He sent Judah before him to Joseph, to appear before him in
Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.
29: Then Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet Israel
his father in Goshen; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his
neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
30: Israel said to Joseph, "Now let me die, since I have
seen your face and know that you are still alive."
31: Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household,
"I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, `My brothers
and my father's household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to
me;
32: and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of
cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all
that they have.'
33: When Pharaoh calls you, and says, `What is your occupation?'
34: you shall say, `Your servants have been keepers of cattle
from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,' in order that
you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an
abomination to the Egyptians."
Genesis,
chapter 47
1: So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, "My father and my
brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have
come from the land of Canaan; they are now in the land of Goshen."
2: And from among his brothers he took five men and presented
them to Pharaoh.
3: Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your
occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are
shepherds, as our fathers were."
4: They said to Pharaoh, "We have come to sojourn in the
land; for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks, for the famine
is severe in the land of Canaan; and now, we pray you, let your servants
dwell in the land of Goshen."
5: Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your
brothers have come to you.
6: The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your
brothers in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen;
and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my
cattle."
7: Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before
Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8: And Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many are the days of the
years of your life?"
9: And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my
sojourning are a hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the
days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of
the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their
sojourning."
10: And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of
Pharaoh.
11: Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and gave
them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the
land of Ram'eses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
12: And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his
father's household with food, according to the number of their
dependents.
13: Now there was no food in all the land; for the famine was
very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished
by reason of the famine.
14: And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the
land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they
bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
15: And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in
the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said,
"Give us food; why should we die before your eyes? For our money is
gone."
16: And Joseph answered, "Give your cattle, and I will give
you food in exchange for your cattle, if your money is gone."
17: So they brought their cattle to Joseph; and Joseph gave them
food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the asses:
and he supplied them with food in exchange for all their cattle that
year.
18: And when that year was ended, they came to him the following
year, and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord that our
money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord's; there is
nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.
19: Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy
us and our land for food, and we with our land will be slaves to
Pharaoh; and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the
land may not be desolate."
20: So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for all
the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe upon
them. The land became Pharaoh's;
21: and as for the people, he made slaves of them from one end of
Egypt to the other.
22: Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests
had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh, and lived on the allowance which
Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.
23: Then Joseph said to the people, "Behold, I have this day
bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you
shall sow the land.
24: And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and
four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for
yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones."
25: And they said, "You have saved our lives; may it please
my lord, we will be slaves to Pharaoh."
26: So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and
it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of
the priests alone did not become Pharaoh's.
27: Thus Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of
Goshen; and they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and
multiplied exceedingly.
28: And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the
days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred and forty-seven
years.
29: And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called
his son Joseph and said to him, "If now I have found favor in your
sight, put your hand under my thigh, and promise to deal loyally and
truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt,
30: but let me lie with my fathers; carry me out of Egypt and
bury me in their burying place." He answered, "I will do as
you have said."
31: And he said, "Swear to me"; and he swore to him.
Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.
Genesis,
chapter 48
1: After this Joseph was told, "Behold, your father is
ill"; so he took with him his two sons, Manas'seh and E'phraim.
2: And it was told to Jacob, "Your son Joseph has come to
you"; then Israel summoned his strength, and sat up in bed.
3: And Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at
Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
4: and said to me, `Behold, I will make you fruitful, and
multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give
this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.'
5: And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of
Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; E'phraim and Manas'seh
shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.
6: And the offspring born to you after them shall be yours; they
shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.
7: For when I came from Paddan, Rachel to my sorrow died in the
land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to
Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is,
Bethlehem)."
8: When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, "Who are
these?"
9: Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God
has given me here." And he said, "Bring them to me, I pray
you, that I may bless them."
10: Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could
not see. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and
embraced them.
11: And Israel said to Joseph, "I had not thought to see
your face; and lo, God has let me see your children also."
12: Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself
with his face to the earth.
13: And Joseph took them both, E'phraim in his right hand toward
Israel's left hand, and Manas'seh in his left hand toward Israel's right
hand, and brought them near him.
14: And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon the
head of E'phraim, who was the younger, and his left hand upon the head
of Manas'seh, crossing his hands, for Manas'seh was the first-born.
15: And he blessed Joseph, and said, "The God before whom my
fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has led me all my life
long to this day,
16: the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads;
and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my fathers
Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of
the earth."
17: When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the
head of E'phraim, it displeased him; and he took his father's hand, to
remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.
18: And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father; for
this one is the first-born; put your right hand upon his head."
19: But his father refused, and said, "I know, my son, I
know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great;
nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his
descendants shall become a multitude of nations."
20: So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you Israel will
pronounce blessings, saying, `God make you as E'phraim and as
Manas'seh'";
21: Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die,
but God will be with you, and will bring you again to the land of your
fathers.
22: Moreover I have given to you rather than to your brothers one
mountain slope which I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword
and with my bow."
Genesis,
chapter 49
1: Then Jacob called his sons, and said, "Gather yourselves
together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in days to come.
2: Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob, and hearken to Israel your
father.
3: Reuben, you are my first-born, my might, and the first fruits
of my strength, pre-eminent in pride and pre-eminent in power.
4: Unstable as water, you shall not have pre-eminence because you
went up to your father's bed; then you defiled it -- you went up to my
couch!
5: Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their
swords.
6: O my soul, come not into their council; O my spirit, be not
joined to their company; for in their anger they slay men, and in their
wantonness they hamstring oxen.
7: Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; and their wrath, for
it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
8: Judah, ;your brothers shall praise
you your hand shall be on
the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you.
9: Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone
up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who dares
rouse him up?
10: The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's
staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; and to
him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11: Binding his foal to the vine and his ass's colt to the choice
vine, he washes his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of
grapes;
12: his eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with
milk.
13: Zeb'ulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea; he shall become
a haven for ships, and his border shall be at Sidon.
14: Is'sachar is a strong ass, crouching between the sheepfolds;
15: he saw that a resting place was good, and that the land was
pleasant; so he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a slave at forced
labor.
16: Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.
17: Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a viper by the path, that
bites the horse's heels so that his rider falls backward.
18: I wait for thy salvation, O Lord.
19: Raiders shall raid Gad, but he shall raid at their heels.
20: Asher's food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal
dainties.
21: Naph'tali is a hind let loose, that bears comely fawns.
22: Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his
branches run over the wall.
23: The archers fiercely attacked him, shot at him, and harassed
him sorely;
24: yet his bow remained unmoved, his arms were made agile by the
hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock
of Israel),
25: by the God of your father who will help you, by God Almighty
who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep
that couches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26: The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings
of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills; may
they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was separate
from his brothers.
27: Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the
prey, and at even dividing the spoil."
28: All these are the twelve tribes of Israel; and this is what
their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the
blessing suitable to him.
29: Then he charged them, and said to them, "I am to be
gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in
the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30: in the cave that is in the field at Mach-pe'lah, to the east
of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field
from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.
31: There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they
buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah --
32: the field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the
Hittites."
33: When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew up his feet
into the bed, and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
Genesis,
chapter 50
1: Then Joseph fell on his father's face, and wept over him, and
kissed him.
2: And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his
father. So the physicians embalmed Israel;
3: forty days were required for it, for so many are required for
embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.
4: And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke
to the household of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found favor in
your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,
5: My father made me swear, saying, `I am about to die: in my
tomb which I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you
bury me.' Now therefore let me go up, I pray you, and bury my father;
then I will return."
6: And Pharaoh answered, "Go up, and bury your father, as he
made you swear."
7: So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all
the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders
of the land of Egypt,
8: as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his
father's household; only their children, their flocks, and their herds
were left in the land of Goshen.
9: And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; it was
a very great company.
10: When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is
beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and sorrowful
lamentation; and he made a mourning for his father seven days.
11: When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the
mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, "This is a
grievous mourning to the Egyptians." Therefore the place was named
A'bel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan.
12: Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them;
13: for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried
him in the cave of the field at Mach-pe'lah, to the east of Mamre, which
Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite, to possess as a
burying place.
14: After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with
his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.
15: When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they
said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all
the evil which we did to him."
16: So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father
gave this command before he died,
17: `Say to Joseph, Forgive, I pray you, the transgression of
your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.' And now, we
pray you, forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your
father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18: His brothers also came and fell down before him, and said,
"Behold, we are your servants."
19: But Joseph said to them, "Fear not, for am I in the
place of God?
20: As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for
good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they
are today.
21: So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little
ones." Thus he reassured them and comforted them.
22: So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's house; and
Joseph lived a hundred and ten years.
23: And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation;
the children also of Machir the son of Manas'seh were born upon Joseph's
knees.
24: And Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die; but
God will visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which
he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."
25: Then Joseph took an oath of the sons of Israel, saying,
"God will visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from
here."
26: So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old; and they
embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
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