v1 In the beginning, God created the sky and the earth. v2 The earth had no shape. It was empty. The waters were dark. God’s spirit moved over the waters. v3 And God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light. v4 God saw that the light was good. God separated light and darkness. v5 God called the light ‘day’ and he called the darkness ‘night’. And there was evening and there was morning. It was the first day.

v6 After that, God said, ‘Let there be a space in the middle of the waters. Let it divide the waters into two parts.’ v7 And God made a space. There were waters above the space and there were waters under the space. And it was so. v8 God called the space ‘sky’. And there was evening and there was morning. It was the second day.

v9 After that God said, ‘Let the waters that are under the sky come together into one place. Let dry land appear.’ And it was so. v10 God called the dry land ‘earth’. He called the waters that came together ‘seas’. And God saw that it was good.

v11 And God said, ‘Let the earth produce grass. Let it produce plants that have seeds. Let it produce trees that have fruit with seeds. Let them be many different kinds.’ And it was so. v12 The earth produced grass. It produced plants that have seeds. It produced trees that have fruit with seeds. They were many different kinds. And God saw that it was good. v13 And there was evening and there was morning. It was the third day.

v14 After that, God said, ‘Let there be lights in the sky. Let them separate day and night. They will mark seasons and days and years. v15 And let these lights in the sky give light to the earth.’ And it was so. v16 And God made the two great lights. The larger light ruled the day and the smaller light ruled the night. God made the stars too. v17 God put the lights in the sky so that they gave light to the earth. v18 He put them there so that they ruled over the day and over the night. He put them there so that they separated light and darkness. And God saw that it was good. v19 And there was evening and there was morning. It was the fourth day.

v20 After that, God said, ‘Let the waters produce many living animals. And let birds fly in the sky above the earth.’ v21 So God created large animals in the sea. He created every animal that moves in the water. They were many different kinds. He also created every bird that has wings. And God saw that it was good. v22 God promised good things to them. He said, ‘Have large families. Increase so that you fill the seas and the skies.’ v23 And there was evening and there was morning. It was the fifth day.

v24 After that, God said, ‘Let the earth produce living animals. Let them be many different kinds. Let the earth produce tame animals. Let it produce animals that crawl. Let it produce wild animals. Let them be many different kinds.’ And it was so. v25 And God made the wild animals on the earth. He made the tame animals. He made everything that crawls on the ground. They were many different kinds. And God saw that it was good.

v26 Then God said, ‘Let us make people who are images of us. Let them be similar to us. Let them rule over the fish of the sea. Let them rule over the birds of the air. Let them rule over the animals. Let them rule over the whole earth. Let them rule over every crawling animal that crawls on the earth.’ v27 So God created people who were images of himself. He created them as images of God. He created man and woman. v28 God promised good things to them. He said, ‘Have large families. Increase so that you fill the earth. Rule over the earth. Rule over the fish in the sea. Rule over the birds that fly in the air. Rule over every living animal that moves on the earth.’

v29 God said, ‘Look. I have given to you every plant in the whole earth that produces seeds. I have given to you every tree that produces fruit with seeds. They are your food. v30 I have given all the green plants to the animals on the earth. I have given them to the birds that fly in the air. I have given them to the animals that crawl on the earth. I have given them to everything that is alive. The plants are their food.’ And it was so.

v31 God saw everything that he had made. It was truly very good. And there was evening and there was morning. It was the sixth day.

v1 So the sky and the earth were complete. Everything that was in them was complete. v2 On the seventh day, God had finished his work that he had done. He rested on the seventh day, after all the work that he had done. v3 So God made the seventh day a special day. He made it special, because on that day he rested after his work. When he had created everything, he rested.

v4 This is the story of the sky and the earth, which God had created. v5 When the *Lord God made the earth and the sky, no green plants were on the earth. No crops were growing. The *Lord God had not yet sent rain to the earth. Also, there were still no people and so nobody farmed the ground. v6 Then a mist rose out of the earth and it watered all the ground. v7 And the *Lord God made a man out of dust from the earth. He blew the breath of life into him. The man became a living person.

v8 The *Lord God planted a garden in Eden. It was in the east. God put into the garden the man whom he had made. v9 God made trees to grow out of the ground. These trees were pleasant to look at and their fruit was good to eat. The tree of life was in the middle of the garden. There was also the tree that makes one able to distinguish good things and evil things.

v10 A river flowed out of Eden and it watered the garden. The river divided there into 4 rivers. v11 The first river is called Pishon. It flows through the region that is called Havilah. There is gold there v12 and that gold is good. There are also spice and onyx. v13 The second river is called Gihon. It flows through all the region that is called Cush. v14 The third river is called Tigris, which flows to the east of Assyria. The fourth river is called Euphrates.

v15 The *Lord God took the man and he put him in the garden in Eden. He told him to farm the garden and to look after it. v16 The *Lord God *commanded the man. He said, ‘Eat freely the fruit of all the other trees that are in the garden. v17 But do not eat the fruit of the tree that makes you able to distinguish good things and evil things. If you eat that fruit, you will certainly die.’

v18 After that, the *Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man is alone. I will make a helper for him. His helper shall be suitable for him.’

v19 Now the *Lord God had made out of the ground every animal on the earth. He had made every bird that flies in the air. He brought them to the man so that the man would name them. Whatever name the man gave, that was the name of each living animal. v20 Adam gave names to all the tame animals. He gave names to all the birds that fly in the air. He gave names to all the wild animals. But none of them was a helper who was suitable for Adam.

v21 So the *Lord God made Adam sleep heavily. While Adam slept, God took a bone out of Adam’s body. Then he closed the place in his body. v22 The *Lord God changed the bone that he had taken from Adam. He made the bone become a woman. He brought her to Adam.

v23 Then Adam said,

  ‘This at last is my bone

  and it is part of my body.

  I shall call her “woman”

  because she came out of man.’

v24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and he and his wife join. Then the two people become one body.

v25 Adam and his wife were both naked. And they did not think that it was wrong.

v1 The snake was the cleverest wild animal that the *Lord God had made. The snake said to the woman, ‘Is it true that God said, “Do not eat the fruit of any tree that is in the garden”?’ v2 The woman said to the snake, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. v3 But God said, “You must not eat the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden. Do not even touch it. If you touch it then you will die.” ’ v4 But the snake said to the woman, ‘You will not die. v5 When you eat it, you will distinguish things clearly. God knows this. You will be like God and you will distinguish good things and evil things.’

v6 Then the woman saw that the fruit was good to eat. She saw that it was lovely to look at. She also thought that it would make her wise. So she took some of the fruit and she ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband and he ate it. v7 Then they distinguished things clearly. They realised that they were naked. So they sewed leaves together and they made clothes for themselves.

v8 In the evening, it was cool. Then the *Lord God walked in the garden. Adam and Eve heard him and they hid themselves away from him among the trees.

v9 But the *Lord God called to Adam. He said to him, ‘Where are you?’ v10 Adam said, ‘I heard you as you walked in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked. Therefore I hid myself.’ v11 God said, ‘Nobody told you that you were naked! Have you eaten the fruit that I *commanded you not to eat?’ v12 Adam replied, ‘You gave the woman to me as a companion. She gave the fruit of the tree to me and I ate it.’ v13 Then the *Lord God said to the woman, ‘What have you done?’ The woman replied, ‘The snake tempted me and I ate.’

v14 The *Lord God said to the snake,

  ‘Because you have done this,

  I will separate you from all tame animals and from all wild animals.

  You shall move on your stomach

  and you shall eat dust for your whole life.

v15  I will make you and the woman enemies.

  Your *descendants and her *descendants will be enemies.

  One *descendant of the woman will hurt your head

  and you will hurt his foot.’

v16 God said to the woman,

  ‘You will have much pain when you have children.

  You will have pain when your children are born.

  You will desire your husband’s love, but he will rule over you.’

v17 And God said to Adam,

  ‘You listened to the words that your wife said.

  I *commanded you not to eat the fruit of that tree, but you ate it.

  Therefore, the ground will produce little because of you.

  You will work hard for your whole life in order to eat.

v18  When you eat the products of the earth,

  the ground will produce thorns and thistles for you.

v19  By hard labour you will eat your food until you die.

  Then you will return to the ground.

  I made you out of the dust on the ground.

  You are dust and you will become dust again.’

v20 Adam’s wife was the mother of everyone who is alive. Therefore, Adam called her Eve. v21 And the *Lord God made clothes out of skins for Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve wore them. v22 Then the *Lord God said, ‘The man has become like us. He distinguishes good things and evil things. Now he might reach out his hand and he might pick the fruit from the tree of life. He might eat it. Then he would live for ever.’ v23 And so the *Lord God sent Adam out of the garden that was in Eden. He sent him out to farm the ground. God had made Adam out of that ground. v24 God made Adam go out. God put the cherubim at the east of the garden in Eden. The cherubim had a sword. It was a flame, which turned in every direction. They guarded the way to the tree of life.

v1 Adam had sex with his wife Eve and she became *pregnant. Her son Cain was born. She said, ‘I have gained a man by the *Lord’s help.’ v2 Later, Cain’s brother Abel was born. Abel looked after sheep and Cain worked on the soil.

v3 After a long time, Cain brought an *offering to the *Lord. It was some of the products of the earth. v4 And Abel brought pieces of meat with fat. They were from his young sheep that were born before the other sheep. Abel and his *offering pleased the *Lord. v5 But Cain and his *offering did not please him. So Cain was very angry and his face was sad. v6 The *Lord said to Cain, ‘You should not be angry and your face should not be sad. v7 If you do well, I will accept you. If you do not do well, you could soon do an evil deed. The devil wants you, but you must overcome him.’

v8 Cain said to Abel his brother, ‘Let us go out to the field.’ While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel. He killed him. v9 Then the *Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ Cain replied, ‘I do not know. I am not my brother’s keeper.’ v10 And the *Lord said, ‘You have done a very evil deed. I can see your brother’s blood on the ground. v11 So I cause evil things for you. I make you go out from the earth. That is the earth where your brother’s blood remains. v12 Now, when you farm the soil, it will not produce its crops for you. You will run away from people and you will wander on the earth.’

v13 Cain said to the *Lord, ‘My punishment is too severe. v14 Today you send me away from this country. I will not be able to see your face. I will run away from people and I will wander on the earth. Anyone who finds me will kill me.’ v15 Then the *Lord said to Cain, ‘No. If anyone kills Cain, I will punish that person 7 times more severely.’ And the *Lord put a mark on Cain. So anyone who met Cain would see the mark. And he would not kill Cain. v16 Then Cain went away from the *Lord. He lived in the region that is called Nod. It is east of Eden.

v17 Cain had sex with his wife and she became *pregnant. Her son Enoch was born. Cain built a city. He called the city Enoch because of his son’s name. v18 Enoch was the father of Irad. Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael. Methushael was the father of Lamech. v19 Lamech had 2 wives. One was called Adah and the other wife was called Zillah. v20 Adah had a son who was called Jabal. Jabal’s family lived in tents and they looked after cows. v21 Jabal’s brother was called Jubal. Jubal was the father of all those who make music by harps and flutes. v22 Zillah had a son who was called Tubal-cain. Tubal-cain made tools out of copper and iron. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah.

v23 Lamech said to his wives,

  ‘Adah and Zillah, hear my voice.

  My wives, listen to the words that I say.

  I kill a man if he hurts me.

  I kill a boy if he strikes me.

v24  If any person kills Cain, God will punish that person 7 times more severely.

  But when a person hurts me, Lamech, I punish him 77 times more severely.’

v25 Adam had sex with his wife again. Her son was born and she called him Seth. She said, ‘God has given me another child instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.’ v26 Seth also had a son. He called him Enosh. At that time men began to pray to the *Lord.

v1 These are Adam’s *descendants. When God created man, he made man similar to God. v2 He created them as man and woman. He promised good things to them. He called them ‘Man’ when he created them.

v3 Adam lived for 130 years and then he became the father of a son. His son was similar to himself. His son was an image of himself. Adam called his son Seth. v4 After Seth’s birth, Adam lived for 800 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters. v5 Adam’s life was 930 years and then he died.

v6 Seth lived for 105 years and then he became the father of Enosh. v7 After Enosh’s birth, Seth lived for 807 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters. v8 Seth’s life was 912 years and then he died.

v9 Enosh lived for 90 years and then he became the father of Kenan. v10 After Kenan’s birth, Enosh lived for 815 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters. v11 Enosh’s life was 905 years and then he died.

v12 Kenan lived for 70 years and then he became the father of Mahalalel. v13 After Mahalalel’s birth, Kenan lived for 840 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters. v14 Kenan’s life was 910 years and then he died.

v15 Mahalalel lived for 65 years and then he became the father of Jared. v16 After Jared’s birth, Mahalalel lived for 830 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters. v17 Mahalalel’s life was 895 years and then he died.

v18 Jared lived for 162 years and then he became the father of Enoch. v19 After Enoch’s birth, Jared lived for 800 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters. v20 Jared’s life was 962 years and then he died.

v21 Enoch lived for 65 years and then he became the father of Methuselah. v22 After Methuselah’s birth, Enoch walked with God for 300 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters. v23 Enoch’s life was 365 years. v24 Enoch walked with God. Then he was no more, because God took him.

v25 Methuselah lived for 187 years and then he became the father of Lamech. v26 After Lamech’s birth, Methuselah lived for 782 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters. v27 Methuselah’s life was 969 years and then he died.

v28 Lamech lived for 182 years and then he became the father of a son. v29 Lamech called his son Noah. He said, ‘The *Lord has made the ground produce little. But this son shall bring rest to us after our labour. He will bring rest to us after the hard work of our hands.’ v30 After Noah’s birth, Lamech lived for 595 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters. v31 Lamech’s life was 777 years and then he died. v32 Noah lived for 500 years and then he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.

v1 At that time, men began to increase on the earth. Many daughters were born for them. v2 Then the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful. They chose some of them and they married them. v3 Then the *Lord said, ‘My spirit shall not always remain with men, because they are human. They shall live for 120 years.’

v4 There were giant people on the earth in those days and also afterwards. The sons of God had sex with the daughters of men. Children were born for them. These children became the strong men who lived in old times. They were famous men.

v5 The *Lord saw the men who were on the earth. He saw that they were very wicked. He saw that men always thought in evil ways. And he saw that men always desired evil things. v6 And the *Lord was sorry that he had made men on the earth. He was extremely sad. v7 So the *Lord said, ‘I will kill men, whom I have created. I will remove them from the earth. I will kill men and animals and birds. I will kill all that crawl on the ground. I am sorry that I made them.’ v8 But Noah pleased the *Lord.

v9 This is the story of Noah. Noah was a good man. There was no blame on him, among all those who were alive at that time. Noah walked with God. v10 Noah had 3 sons. Their names were Shem, Ham and Japheth.

v11 The earth was evil in God’s sight. All the people who were on the earth often attacked each other. v12 God looked at the earth. And he saw that it was evil. All the people who were on the earth lived in an evil way.

v13 And God said to Noah, ‘I have decided to kill all people. People who are on the earth attack each other. I will kill men and I will destroy the earth too. v14 Make an *ark out of gopher wood for yourself. Make rooms in the *ark. Cover the *ark with bitumen. Cover both the inside of it and the outside of it. v15 This is how you must make it. Its length must be 150 metres. Its width must be 25 metres. Its height must be 15 metres. v16 Make a roof for the *ark. Finish the roof to half a metre at the top. Make a door in the side of the *ark. Make a lower deck, a middle deck and an upper deck.’

v17 And God continued, ‘I will bring a flood of water on the earth. It will kill all animals that breathe under the sky. All that lives will die. Everything that is on the earth will die. v18 But I will make a firm agreement with you. You will enter the *ark with your sons. You will take your wife and your sons’ wives. v19 Take pairs of every kind of living animal. Take them into the *ark so as to keep them alive with you. Each pair shall be one male and one female. v20 Take pairs of every kind of bird. Take pairs of every kind of animal. Take pairs of everything that crawls. Keep them all alive. v21 Take with you every sort of food that you can eat. Store it. It shall be food for you and for the animals.’

v22 Noah did this. He did everything that God *commanded him.

v1 Then the *Lord said to Noah, ‘Go into the *ark and take all your family with you. I have seen you as a good person among those who are alive now. v2 Take with you 7 pairs of each kind of clean animal. Take males and females. Take one male and one female of each kind of animal that is not clean. v3 Take 7 pairs of the birds, males and females. So you will keep birds of every kind alive on the earth. v4 In 7 days, I will send rain on the earth. It will rain for 40 days and 40 nights. I will kill every living animal that is on the earth. I will kill all those that I have made.’

v5 And Noah did everything that the *Lord told him to do.

v6 Noah had lived for 600 years when the flood came on the earth. v7 Noah went into the *ark in order to escape from the water. He took his sons with him. And he took his wife and his sons’ wives. v8 He took pairs of clean animals. And he took pairs of animals that were not clean. He took pairs of birds. He took pairs of everything that crawls on the ground. v9 They were male and female. They went into the *ark with Noah. This was exactly as God *commanded. v10 After 7 days, the flood came. The water of the flood came on the earth.

v11 When Noah had lived for 600 years, the water came. In month 2, on day 17, the water came. The water rose up from the deep seas and heavy rain fell from the sky. v12 And it rained on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.

v13 On the same day, Noah entered the *ark. His 3 sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, also went in. Noah’s wife went in with Noah. And his 3 sons’ wives went in also. v14 Clean animals of every kind went in. Animals of every kind that were not clean went in. Animals of all kinds that crawl on the ground went in. Birds of every sort went in. v15 They went into the *ark with Noah. They were pairs of every kind that breathes. v16 Males and females of all living animals went in as God had *commanded Noah. And the *Lord shut him in.

v17 The flood continued on the earth for 40 days. The water became deeper and it lifted the *ark. The *ark rose high above the earth. v18 The water became deeper on the earth. The *ark floated on the top of the water. v19 The water was so deep on the earth that it covered all the high mountains under the whole sky. v20 The water covered the mountains so that they were under 7 metres of water. v21 All living animals that moved on the earth died. All birds died. All clean animals died. All animals that were not clean died. All the many animals on the earth died. And every man died. v22 Everything that was alive on the dry land died. v23 God killed every living animal that was on the surface of the ground. He killed people and animals. He killed everything that crawls. He killed the birds. God removed them from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the *ark were left. v24 And the water covered the earth for 150 days.

v1 But God remembered Noah. And God remembered all the animals that were with Noah in the *ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth. Then the water decreased. v2 God stopped the water so that it did not rise up from the deep places. He stopped the rain so that it did not come down from the sky. v3 The water continued to move off the earth. After 150 days, the water had gone. v4 In month 7, on day 17, the *ark stopped on mount Ararat. v5 The water continued to decrease until month 10. On the first day of month 10, Noah saw the mountain tops.

v6 After 40 days, Noah opened the window of the *ark, which he had made. v7 He sent out a raven (a bird). The raven flew about until the water disappeared from the earth. v8 And Noah sent out a dove (a different kind of bird). Noah needed to know whether the water had disappeared from the earth. v9 But the dove found no place to land. It returned to the *ark, because the water still covered all the earth. Noah reached out his hand to the dove and he brought the dove back into the *ark.

v10 Noah waited for 7 days. Then he again sent out the dove from the *ark. v11 The dove came back to Noah in the evening. It had in its mouth a fresh leaf, which it had picked from a tree. Then Noah knew that the water had disappeared from the earth. v12 He again waited for 7 days. Then he sent out the dove. It did not return again.

v13 When Noah had lived for 601 years, the water disappeared from the earth. On the first day of the first month, it disappeared. Noah took off the cover of the *ark. He looked out. He saw that there was no water on the ground. v14 In month 2, on day 27, the earth was dry.

v15 Then God said to Noah, v16 ‘Go out of the *ark. Take your wife with you. Take your sons and your sons’ wives. v17 Bring out with you all living animals that are with you. Bring out the birds and the animals. Bring out every animal that crawls on the earth. Then they will have large families. They will increase so that they will fill the earth.’

v18 So Noah went out. His sons went with him. And Noah’s wife and his sons’ wives went with them. v19 Every animal went out of the *ark. Every crawling animal and every bird went out. Everything that moves on the earth went out from the *ark. Each family went out together.

v20 Then Noah built an *altar for the *Lord. He took one of every kind of clean animal. He took one of every kind of clean bird. He burned them on the *altar. They were an *offering to the *Lord. v21 When the *Lord smelled the smell, he was pleased. And the *Lord said in his heart, ‘I will never again make the ground produce little. Although men are evil, I will not do that. Every thought and wish in men’s hearts is always evil. This is so even when they are young. I will never again kill every living animal as I have done. v22 While the earth remains, people will sow seeds. And they will gather crops. There will be cold and there will be heat. There will be summer and there will be winter. There will be day and there will be night. These things will never end.’

v1 And God promised good things to Noah and to his sons. He said to them, ‘Have large families. Increase so that you fill the earth. v2 Every animal that is on the earth will be afraid of you. Every bird that flies in the air will be afraid of you. All animals that crawl will be afraid of you. All the fish in the sea will be afraid of you. I have given them all to you. v3 All that moves and lives shall be food for you. I gave the green plants to you as food. Now I give everything to you. v4 But you must not eat meat while it is alive. You must not eat it while the blood is in it. v5 If you spill blood, I will require a punishment. Every animal or man who kills a person must die. If anyone kills his brother, he must die. v6 If anyone kills a man, a man shall kill him. This is because God made men as images of himself. v7 And you must have large families and you must increase. Have many children and fill the earth.’

v8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons, v9 ‘Look. I make my firm agreement with you. I make it with your family who will come after you. v10 I make it with every animal that is with you. I make it with the birds. I make it with the clean animals that are on the earth. I make it with the animals that are not clean. I make it with everything that came out of the *ark. v11 I make my firm agreement with you. Never in the future will I kill all that is alive by a flood. Never in the future will a flood destroy the earth.’

v12 And God said, ‘This is the sign of the firm agreement that I have made between me and you. I have also made it between me and every animal that is with you. This firm agreement will last for all ages. v13 I put my rainbow in the cloud. It shall be a sign of the firm agreement that is between me and the earth. v14 When I bring clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds. v15 Then I will remember my firm agreement, which is between me and you and every animal of all kinds. The water will never in the future become a flood so as to kill all animals. v16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will look at it. And I will remember the firm agreement that will last for all ages. That is the firm agreement that is between me and all living animals of all kinds.’

v17 God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the firm agreement that I have made. It is a firm agreement between me and all living animals that are on the earth.’

v18 Noah’s sons who went out from the *ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. v19 These three were Noah’s sons. The families of these sons became the inhabitants of the whole earth.

v20 Noah began to farm. He planted vines and he made wine. v21 He drank too much wine and therefore he slept. Then he lay in his tent and he was naked. v22 Ham, who was Canaan’s father, saw his naked father Noah. He went out of the tent. Then he told his two brothers what he had seen. v23 Then Shem and Japheth took a coat and they laid it on their shoulders. They backed into the tent. Then they covered their naked father with the coat. They turned their faces away. Therefore, they did not see their father while he was naked. v24 Noah woke from the effect of the wine. Then he knew what his youngest son had done to him.

v25 Noah said,

  ‘God shall bring evil things to Canaan.

  Canaan shall be his brothers’ servant.’

v26 Noah also said,

  ‘Praise the *Lord, who is Shem’s God.

  Canaan shall be his servant.

v27  Let God make Japheth’s family be large.

  Let Japheth live in Shem’s tents.

  Let Canaan be Japheth’s servant.’

v28 After the flood, Noah lived for 350 years. v29 Noah’s life was 950 years and then he died.

v1 These are the *descendants of Noah’s sons. Noah’s sons were Shem, Ham and Japheth. After the flood, they became the fathers of sons.

v2 Japheth’s sons were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. v3 Gomer’s sons were Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah. v4 Javan’s sons were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim. v5 The people who live along the coast spread from these families. These are Japheth’s sons. Each family lived in its own country. And each family spoke its own language.

v6 Ham’s sons were Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan. v7 Cush’s sons were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca. Raamah’s sons were Sheba and Dedan. v8 Cush became the father of Nimrod. Nimrod was the first strong man on the earth. v9 He was a great hunter by the *Lord’s strength. Therefore people say, ‘Like Nimrod, who is a great hunter by the *Lord’s strength.’ v10 Nimrod was the king of Babel, Erech and Accad. All these cities are in the country that is called Shinar. v11 From Shinar Nimrod went into Assyria. He built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah and Resen. v12 Resen is a great city and it is between Nineveh and Calah. v13 Egypt became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, v14 Pathrusim, Casluhim and Caphtorim. The *Philistines were Casluhim’s *descendants.

v15 Canaan became the father of Sidon and Heth. Sidon was Canaan’s oldest son. v16 Canaan was also the father of the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, v17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, v18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites and the Hamathites. Later the *Canaanite families scattered. v19 And the *Canaanites’ land stretched from Sidon to Gaza. (Gaza is on the way to Gerar.) It also stretched to Lasha. (Lasha is on the way to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim.) v20 These are Ham’s sons in their families. Each family lived in its own country. And each family spoke its own language.

v21 Shem also was the father of children. Shem was the father of all the children of Eber. He was Japheth’s older brother. v22 Shem’s sons were Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud and Aram. v23 Aram’s sons were Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash. v24 Arpachshad became the father of Shelah. Shelah became the father of Eber. v25 For Eber, two sons were born. One was called Peleg, because the earth divided during his life. Peleg’s brother was called Joktan. v26–29 Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were Joktan’s sons. v30 Their country stretched to Mesha. (Mesha is on the way to Sephar.) And it stretched to the hill country that is in the east. v31 These are Shem’s sons with their languages, their countries and their nations.

v32 These are the families of Noah’s sons. These are their families and their nations. From these people the nations spread over the earth after the flood.

v1 All the people who were on the earth had one language. They all had one set of words. v2 And men travelled from the east into the country that is called Shinar. There they found a plain and they lived in it. v3 And they said to each other, ‘Let us make bricks. Let us burn them well.’ They used bricks instead of stones. And they used bitumen between the bricks in order to join them.

v4 Then they said, ‘Let us build a city for ourselves. Let us build a very tall building. Its top will reach heaven. We will make ourselves famous. And we will not scatter over the whole surface of the earth.’ v5 So the men built the city and the tall building. The *Lord came down from heaven in order to see the city and the building.

v6 And the *Lord said, ‘Look! They are one nation. They have one language. This is only the beginning of the things that they will do. Whatever they propose to do, they will be able to do it. v7 Let us go down to the earth. We will confuse their language so that they will not understand each other’s words.’

v8 So the *Lord made the people stop building the city. He made them scatter from there. And they scattered over the whole surface of the earth. v9 Therefore it was called Babel, because there the *Lord confused the language of all the earth. And the *Lord scattered them over the whole surface of the earth.

v10 These are Shem’s *descendants. When Shem was 100 years of age, he became the father of Arpachshad. That was 2 years after the end of the flood. v11 After Arpachshad’s birth, Shem lived for 500 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters.

v12 Arpachshad lived for 35 years and then he became the father of Shelah. v13 After Shelah’s birth, Arpachshad lived for 403 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters.

v14 Shelah lived for 30 years and then he became the father of Eber. v15 After Eber’s birth, Shelah lived for 403 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters.

v16 Eber lived for 34 years and then he became the father of Peleg. v17 After Peleg’s birth, Eber lived for 430 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters.

v18 Peleg lived for 30 years and then he became the father of Reu. v19 After Reu’s birth, Peleg lived for 209 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters.

v20 Reu lived for 32 years and then he became the father of Serug. v21 After Serug’s birth, Reu lived for 207 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters.

v22 Serug lived for 30 years and then he became the father of Nahor. v23 After Nahor’s birth, Serug lived for 200 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters.

v24 Nahor lived for 29 years and then he became the father of Terah. v25 After Terah’s birth, Nahor lived for 119 years. He was the father of other sons and daughters.

v26 Terah lived for 70 years and then he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

v27 These are the *descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. v28 Haran died in the country where he was born. He died in Ur, which is a city in Chaldea. He died while his father Terah was still alive. v29 And Abram and Nahor married wives. Abram’s wife was called Sarai. Nahor’s wife was called Milcah. Milcah was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of Milcah and of Iscah. v30 And Sarai had no child.

v31 Terah went away from Ur, which was a city in Chaldea. He took his son Abram. He took his grandson Lot, who was Haran’s son. He took Sarai, who was the wife of his son Abram. They set out together to go into the country that is called *Canaan. But when they arrived at Haran, they stopped there. v32 Terah lived for 205 years and he died in Haran.

v1 The *Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country. Leave your home. Leave your father’s house. Go to the country that I will show to you. v2 And I will make you become a great nation. I will bring many good things to you. I will make your name famous. You will bring good things to people. v3 I will be kind to those who are kind to you. I will do evil things to those who do evil things to you. All the families that are on the earth shall receive good things because of you.’

v4 So Abram went, as the *Lord *commanded him. Lot went with him. Abram’s age was 75 years when he left Haran. v5 And Abram took Sarai his wife. He took Lot, who was his brother’s son. He took all their possessions that they had gathered. He took all his relatives who had been born in Haran. They set off together. And they went to the country that is called *Canaan.

When they came to *Canaan, v6 Abram went through the region. He came to the big tree at Moreh. It was near to the town that is called Shechem. At that time the *Canaanites lived in that country. v7 Then the *Lord appeared to Abram. He said, ‘I will give this land to your *descendants who will live after you.’ So Abram built there an *altar to the *Lord, who had appeared to him. v8 From there he went to the mountain that is to the east of Bethel. He set up his tent there. Bethel was on the west of him. Ai was east of him. He built an *altar there for the *Lord. And he prayed to the *Lord. v9 After that, Abram travelled further toward the Negeb.

v10 There was not enough food in the country and so Abram went to Egypt. He stayed there, because the *famine was very bad in *Canaan.

v11 Before Abram entered Egypt, he spoke to Sarai his wife. He said, ‘I know that you are a beautiful woman. v12 The inhabitants of Egypt will see you. They will say, “This is his wife.” Then they will kill me, but they will keep you alive. v13 Say that you are my sister. So they will not hurt me because of you. They will not kill me in order to take you.’ v14 Then Abram entered Egypt. The inhabitants of Egypt saw that the woman was very beautiful. v15 When the princes of *Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to *Pharaoh. And they took the woman into *Pharaoh’s house. v16 *Pharaoh loved Sarai and therefore he was kind to Abram. *Pharaoh gave to Abram sheep, cows, *donkeys, servants, maids and camels.

v17 But the *Lord made *Pharaoh and his family very ill. He did this because of Sarai, who was Abram’s wife. v18 So *Pharaoh called Abram. He said, ‘You have done an evil thing to me. You should have told me that she was your wife. v19 You should not have said, “She is my sister.” Because you said that, I took her as my wife. Now here is your wife. Take her and go away.’ v20 And *Pharaoh *commanded his men to guard Abram. And the men sent Abram away. Abram took his wife and everything that he had.

v1 So Abram left Egypt. He took his wife. He took everything that he had. And Lot went with him. They went into the Negeb.

v2 Abram was very rich. He had many animals. He had much silver and gold. v3 From the Negeb he went further. He went to Bethel, where his tent had been at the beginning. He stopped between Bethel and Ai. v4 He stopped at the place where he had made an *altar before. There Abram prayed to the *Lord.

v5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had sheep and cows and tents. v6 The land could not provide enough food for both of them if they lived together. Their possessions were so many that they could not live together. v7 Abram’s servants and Lot’s servants fought against each other. These were the servants who looked after the animals. At that time the *Canaanites and the Perizzites lived in the country.

v8 Then Abram said to Lot, ‘You and I must not fight against each other. Your servants and my servants must not fight against each other. We are relatives. v9 The whole country is in front of you. Separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right. If you go to the right, I will go to the left.’

v10 And Lot looked. He saw that there was plenty of water in the valley of the river Jordan. It was like the *Lord’s garden. The region round Zoar was like Egypt. The *Lord had not yet destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. v11 Lot chose for himself all the valley of the river Jordan. So Lot travelled to the east. Abram and Lot separated from each other. v12 Abram lived in *Canaan. Lot lived among the cities that were in the valley. After that, Lot moved his tent near to Sodom. v13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked. They did many things that the *Lord had forbidden.

v14 After Lot separated from Abram, the *Lord spoke to Abram. The *Lord said, ‘Look at the things that are round you. Look from the place where you are. Look towards the north. Look towards the south. Look towards the east. Look towards the west. v15 I will give to you all the land that you see. I will give it to you and to your *descendants for all ages. v16 I will make your *descendants as the dust that is on the earth. Nobody can count the dust on the earth and nobody will be able to count your *descendants. v17 Get up and walk through the whole country. I will give all of it to you.’

v18 So Abram moved his tent. He went to the big trees at Mamre and he stayed there. Mamre is also called Hebron. At Mamre he built an *altar so that he could make *offerings to the *Lord.

v1 At this time there were 4 kings. One was Amraphel and he was the king of Shinar. Another king was Arioch and he was the king of Ellasar. Another one was Chedor-laomer and he was the king of Elam. The other king was Tidal and he was the king of Goiim. v2 These 4 kings fought in a war against 5 kings. One out of these 5 kings was Bera and he was the king of Sodom. Another one was Birsha and he was the king of Gomorrah. Another one was Shinab and he was the king of Admah. Another one was Shemeber and he was the king of Zeboiim. The last one was the king of Bela, which is also called Zoar. v3 These 5 kings joined their armies together in the valley that is called Siddim. That is the valley where the Salt Sea is.

v4 For 12 years, Chedor-laomer had ruled over these 5 kings. In year 13, they refused to obey him. v5 In year 14, Chedor-laomer came. And the kings who were with him came. They overcame the Rephaim people who lived in Ashteroth-karnaim. They overcame the Zuzim people who lived in Ham. They overcame the Emim people who lived in Shaveh-kiriathaim. v6 And they overcame the Horites who lived in Mount Seir as far as El-paran. That is at the edge of the desert. v7 Then the 4 kings turned back and they came to Enmishpat. That is also called Kadesh. There they destroyed all the region where the *descendants of Amalek lived. They also overcame the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.

v8 Then the 5 kings went out. One was the king of Sodom. Another one was the king of Gomorrah. Another one was the king of Admah. Another one was the king of Zeboiim. The last one was the king of Bela, which is also called Zoar. They fought in the valley that is called Siddim. v9 They fought against the 4 kings. One out of these 4 kings was Chedor-laomer, king of Elam. Another one was Tidal, king of Goiim. Another one was Amraphel, king of Shinar. The last one was Arioch, king of Ellasar. So 4 kings fought against 5 kings.

v10 Now in the valley that is called Siddim there were many deep holes. People had made these holes when they took bitumen from the ground. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah ran away and they hid in the holes. Other people ran away to the hills. v11 So the enemy took all the goods in Sodom and in Gomorrah. They took all the food that people had stored. v12 They also took Lot, who lived in Sodom. And they took all Lot’s goods. Lot was the son of Abram’s brother. The enemy took all these things and they went away.

v13 Then one person who had escaped came to Abram. He told Abram the *Hebrew what had happened. Abram the *Hebrew was near the big trees that belonged to Mamre. Mamre was an Amorite and he was the brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These people were Abram’s friends.

v14 So Abram heard that the enemy had made his relative Lot a prisoner. Abram had trained 318 men who were born in his house. He led these men and they followed the enemy as far as the place that is called Dan. v15 There Abram divided his men into two groups. Abram and his servants attacked the enemy at night. They defeated them and they pursued them to Hobah. Hobah is north of Damascus. v16 Then Abram brought back all the goods. He also brought back his relative Lot with his goods. And he brought back all the women and the people.

v17 So Abram defeated Chedor-laomer. And he defeated the kings who were with him. Then he returned. The king of Sodom went out to meet Abram. He met him at the valley called Shaveh, which is also called the King’s Valley. v18 And Melchizedek also met Abram. He was the king of Salem and he was a priest of the great God. He produced bread and wine. v19 And he blessed Abram. He said,

  ‘I pray that the great God will be kind to Abram.

  He is the God who made the heaven and the earth.

v20  Praise the great God,

  because he has delivered your enemies to you!’

And Abram gave to Melchizedek a part of the goods that he had brought back. He gave to him one thing out of every 10 things.

v21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give the people to me, but take the goods for yourself.’ v22 But Abram spoke to the king of Sodom. He said, ‘I have made a firm promise to the great *Lord God, who made the heaven and the earth. v23 I promised that I will not take anything from you. I will not take anything that belongs to you. I will not take the smallest thing. I will not even take the string of a shoe. Otherwise, you might say, “I have made Abram rich.” v24 I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten. And I will take the share of the men who went with me. And let Aner, Eshcol and Mamre take their share.’

v1 After these things the *Lord appeared to Abram. The *Lord said, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am protecting you. I will reward you very greatly.’ v2 But Abram said, ‘*Lord God, your gifts are no advantage to me, because I still have no child. When I die, my possessions will belong to Eliezer of Damascus.’ v3 And Abram said, ‘You have not given a child to me. A man who is my servant will own my possessions.’

v4 Then the *Lord said to him, ‘This man shall not have your possessions. Your own son shall have your possessions.’ v5 And the *Lord led Abram out of the tent. He said, ‘Look towards heaven. Count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then the *Lord said to him, ‘So shall your *descendants be.’ v6 Then Abram believed the *Lord. Therefore the *Lord considered that Abram was *righteous.

v7 And the *Lord said to Abram, ‘I am the *Lord. I brought you from Ur in Chaldea. I have given this country to you so that you may possess it.’ v8 But Abram said, ‘*Lord God, how can I know that I shall possess it?’ v9 The *Lord said to him, ‘Bring to me a young cow that is 3 years of age. Bring to me a female goat that is 3 years of age. Bring to me a male sheep that is 3 years of age. Bring to me a dove (a bird) and a young dove.’ v10 And Abram brought all these. He cut each of these into two pieces. He laid the two halves of each one opposite each other. But he did not cut the birds into pieces. v11 Some wild birds that eat meat flew down. They tried to land on the dead animals. Abram scared them so that they flew away.

v12 When the sun set, Abram slept. He felt fear and there was great darkness. v13 Then the *Lord said to Abram, ‘Be certain about what I tell you. Your *descendants will live in a country that does not belong to them. They will be slaves there. They will have to work hard for 400 years. v14 But I will punish the nation that they serve. Afterwards your *descendants shall come out of that country. They shall take with them many possessions. v15 You yourself shall die in peace and then you shall be with your fathers. When people shall bury you, you will be very old. v16 And your *descendants shall come back to this country. The sons of the sons of the sons of your sons shall come back. But before they come back the Amorites must do still more evil things.’

v17 The sun set and the sky was dark. Then a pot appeared, which contained fire. It produced smoke. Also a branch appeared, which burned with flames. They both moved between the pieces of meat. v18 On that day the *Lord made a firm agreement with Abram. The *Lord said, ‘I give this country to your *descendants. I give all the land from the river of Egypt to the great river, which is called Euphrates. v19 I give the Kenites’ land and the Kenizzites’ land. I give the Kadmonites’ land v20 and the Hittites’ land. I give the Perizzites’ land and the Rephaim people’s land. v21 I give the Amorites’ land and the *Canaanites’ land. I give the Girgashites’ land and the Jebusites’ land.’

v1 Sarai, who was Abram’s wife, had no children. She had an Egyptian maid, whose name was Hagar. v2 Sarai said to Abram, ‘The *Lord has made me unable to produce children. Lie with my maid and have sex with her. Perhaps I shall obtain children by her.’ And Abram did what Sarai suggested. v3 Abram had then lived for 10 years in the country that is called *Canaan.

So Sarai, who was Abram’s wife, took her maid Hagar, the Egyptian. Sarai gave Hagar to Abram her husband so that Hagar could be his wife. v4 And Abram had sex with Hagar and she became *pregnant. When Hagar knew this, she did not respect Sarai. v5 And Sarai said to Abram, ‘Hagar does not respect me. I pray that the blame for this will be on you! I gave my maid to you to have sex with you. As soon as she became *pregnant, she did not respect me. I want the *Lord to be a judge. I pray that he will blame either you or me!’ v6 But Abram said to Sarai, ‘You may control your own maid. Do to her whatever you decide to do.’ Then Sarai was cruel to Hagar, and Hagar ran away from Sarai.

v7 The *Lord’s *angel found Hagar by a well of water in the desert. That well is on the way to Shur. v8 And the *angel said, ‘Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from? Where do you go?’ She said, ‘I have run away from Sarai, whom I served.’ v9 The *Lord’s *angel said to her, ‘Return to Sarai, whom you served. Serve her again and obey her.’ v10 The *Lord’s *angel also said to Hagar, ‘I will make you have a great number of *descendants. They will be so many that nobody will be able to count them.’

v11 And the *Lord’s *angel said to her, ‘You are *pregnant and a son will be born to you. You shall call him Ishmael, because the *Lord has heard you in your trouble. v12 He shall live like a wild *donkey. He will be every man’s enemy and every man shall be his enemy. He will live in front of all his relatives.’

v13 So Hagar gave a name to the *Lord who spoke to her. She called him, ‘You are a God who sees.’ She said, ‘I have really seen the God who sees me.’ v14 Therefore people call the well Beer-lahai-roi. It is between Kadesh and Bered.

v15 And Hagar had a son for Abram. And Abram called his son Ishmael. v16 Abram was 86 years of age when Ishmael was born to Hagar for Abram.

v1 When Abram was 99 years of age, the *Lord appeared to him. The *Lord said to him, ‘I am God who can do anything. Stay near to me and have no blame. v2 And I will make my firm agreement between me and you. I will make you have a very great number of *descendants.’ v3 Then Abram fell down so that his face was on the ground.

God said to Abram, v4 ‘Listen to me! My firm agreement is with you. You shall be the father of many nations. v5 Now your name shall not be Abram. Your name shall be Abraham, because I have made you the father of many nations. v6 I will make you to have a large family. I will make nations out of you. Some of your family shall be kings. v7 And I will keep my firm agreement between me and you. I will keep it with all your *descendants who will be after you. It is a firm agreement that shall last for all ages. I will be your God. I will be the God of your *descendants who will be after you. v8 And I will give to you the land where you live. I will give it to your *descendants who will be after you. I will give all the country that is called *Canaan. It shall be for your *descendants a possession that shall last through all ages. And I will be their God.’

v9 And God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you shall keep my firm agreement. You yourself shall keep it. And your *descendants who will be after you shall keep it. Their children and their grandchildren shall keep it. v10 This is my firm agreement, which you shall keep. It is a firm agreement between me and your *descendants who shall live after you. You yourself shall be *circumcised. And every male person who is among you shall be *circumcised. v11 You shall *circumcise yourselves. This shall be a sign of the firm agreement that is between me and you.

v12 You shall *circumcise every male baby that is among you. You shall *circumcise him when he is 8 days old. You shall *circumcise every male who is born in your house. You shall *circumcise every male whom you buy with your money from any foreigner. You shall do it even if he is not your *descendant. v13 Every male person that is born in your house shall be *circumcised. Also every male person that you buy with your money shall be *circumcised.

So a mark of my firm agreement shall be in your body. It will show that my firm agreement shall last through all ages. v14 You shall separate from his people any male person who is not *circumcised. He has broken my firm agreement.’

v15 And God said to Abraham, ‘Sarai is your wife. But now you shall not call her Sarai. Her name shall be Sarah. v16 I will bring many good things to her. Also, I will give a son to you by her. I will bring good things to her and she shall be a mother of nations. Kings of nations shall come from her.’

v17 Then Abraham fell down so that his face was on the ground. And he laughed. He said to himself, ‘A child will not be born to me. I am 100 years of age! And Sarah will not be the mother of a child. She is 90 years of age!’ v18 And Abraham said to God, ‘I wish that Ishmael might live near to you!’ v19 God said, ‘No! Your wife Sarah shall be the mother of a son for you. You shall call him Isaac. I will make my firm agreement with him. It will be a firm agreement for his family who shall live after him. It shall be a firm agreement that shall last through all ages. v20 But I have heard your words about Ishmael. I will bring good things to him. I will make him have a big family. And I will make him have very many *descendants. He shall be the father of 12 princes. And I will make him a great nation. v21 But your son Isaac shall be born to Sarah at this season next year. I will make my firm agreement with him.’

v22 When God had finished his talk with Abraham, God went up away from him.

v23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son. He took all the slaves who were born in his house. He took all the slaves that he had bought with his money. He took every male person who was among the men of Abraham’s house. He *circumcised them on that same day, as God had told him to do. v24 Abraham was 99 years of age when they *circumcised him. v25 And Ishmael his son was 13 years of age when they *circumcised him. v26 On that same day they *circumcised Abraham and they *circumcised his son Ishmael. v27 And they *circumcised with him all the men in his house. They *circumcised with him those who were born in the house. And they *circumcised those whom Abraham had bought with money from a foreigner.

v1 The *Lord appeared to Abraham. Abraham was near to the big trees at Mamre. He sat at the door of his tent. It was in the hot part of the day. v2 When Abraham looked, he saw three men. They were standing in front of him. And when he saw them, he ran from the door of the tent. He went to meet them. He bent his head down very low. v3 He said, ‘Sir, if you are pleased with me, do not pass by me. I am your servant. v4 I will bring some water so that you may wash your feet. After that, please rest yourselves under the tree. v5 I will fetch a piece of bread so that you may eat. Since your journey brought you here to me, please eat here. After that you may continue your journey.’ So the men said, ‘Do as you have said.’

v6 And Abraham ran into the tent to Sarah. He said to her, ‘Prepare quickly a quantity of flour. Mix it, and make cakes.’ v7 And Abraham ran to the animals. He chose a young cow that was good for meat. He gave it to his servant and the servant prepared it quickly. v8 Then Abraham took cheese and milk. He took the young cow, which was ready to eat. He put these things in front of the men. He stood by them under the tree while they ate.

v9 The men said to Abraham, ‘Where is Sarah your wife?’ And he said, ‘She is in the tent.’ v10 The *Lord said, ‘I will certainly return to you in the spring. When I return, Sarah your wife shall have a son.’ And Sarah was behind him. She listened at the door of the tent.

v11 Now Abraham and Sarah were both very old. Women produce children until a certain age, but Sarah had passed that age. v12 So Sarah laughed to herself. She said to herself, ‘I have grown old and my husband is old. I cannot have a child. I cannot have that pleasure.’ v13 The *Lord said to Abraham, ‘Sarah should not have laughed. She should not have said, “I cannot have a child, since I am old.” v14 Nothing is too difficult for the *Lord. At the time that I have mentioned, I will return. In the spring, I will return to you. When I return, Sarah shall have a son.’ v15 And Sarah was afraid. Therefore she said, ‘I did not laugh.’ But the *Lord said, ‘No, you did laugh.’

v16 Then the men set out from there and they looked toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them as they began their journey.

v17 The *Lord said, ‘I will not hide from Abraham the thing that I intend to do. v18 I remember that Abraham’s family shall become a great and powerful nation. And all the families that are on the earth shall receive good things because of him. v19 I have chosen him so that he may *command his children. He shall also *command his family who shall live after him. He will *command them to live in the *Lord’s way. He will *command them to do right things and good things. So the *Lord will bring to Abraham the things that he has promised to him.’

v20 Then the *Lord said, ‘I have heard very bad things about Sodom and Gomorrah. Their deeds are very evil. v21 Therefore I will go there. Perhaps they have actually done all the things that I have heard about them. I will know the truth.’

v22 So the men went further and they travelled toward Sodom. But Abraham stayed and he stood in front of the *Lord.

v23 Then Abraham came near to the *Lord. He said, ‘Will you really kill the good people with the bad people? v24 If there are 50 good people in the city, will you destroy the place? Please let it remain because of the 50 good people. v25 Do not do a thing like that! Do not kill the good people with the wicked people! If you do that, the good people will suffer with the wicked people. Do not do that! You are the judge of the whole earth. So you will certainly do the thing that is right!’ v26 And the *Lord said, ‘Perhaps I will find 50 good people in Sodom city. If I find them, I will let the whole place remain because of them.’

v27 Abraham answered, ‘I am only dust and ashes. But I have boldly decided to speak to the *Lord. v28 What will you do if 5 out of the 50 good people are missing? Will you destroy the whole city because 5 good people are missing?’ And the *Lord said, ‘I will not destroy it if I find 45 good people there.’

v29 Again Abraham spoke to him. He said, ‘If you find 40 good people there, will you let it remain?’ The *Lord answered, ‘If there are 40, I will not destroy it.’

v30 Then Abraham said, ‘Please do let not the *Lord be angry. So I will speak. Perhaps there will be 30 good people there.’ The *Lord answered, ‘I will not destroy it if I find 30 there.’

v31 Abraham said, ‘I have boldly decided to speak to the *Lord. Perhaps you will find 20 good people there.’ The *Lord answered, ‘If there are 20, I will not destroy the city.’

v32 Then Abraham said, ‘I pray that the *Lord will not be angry. I will speak again only once. Perhaps you will find 10 good people there.’ The *Lord answered, ‘For 10 good people I will not destroy the city.’ v33 And the *Lord finished his talk with Abraham. The *Lord went away and Abraham returned to his tent.

v1 The two *angels reached Sodom in the evening. Lot sat at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he stood up. He went to meet them. He bent himself down so that his face was toward the earth. v2 He said, ‘Sirs, please stop here. I will be your servant. Come to my house and spend the night there. Wash your feet. Tomorrow you may get up early and you may continue your journey.’ They said, ‘No. We will spend the night in the street.’ v3 But Lot persuaded them strongly. So they went with Lot and they entered his house. Lot prepared a meal for them and he baked bread. So they ate.

v4 But when they were not yet lying down to sleep, the men in the city came. The young men and the old men in Sodom came. None of the men in Sodom stayed away. They surrounded Lot’s house. v5 They called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us! We want to have sex with them.’

v6 Lot went out of the door and he shut the door behind him. He spoke to the men. v7 He said, ‘I ask you strongly, my brothers, not to do such a wicked thing. v8 I have two daughters who have not had sex with men. I will bring them out to you. Do to them what pleases you. But do not hurt these men, because they are guests in my house.’ v9 But the men of Sodom said, ‘Let us come in!’ And they said, ‘This man Lot came as a visitor. Now he wants to be a judge! So we will be crueller to Lot than we will to the men.’ Then they pushed hard against Lot and they nearly broke the door. v10 But the two men reached out of the door. They brought Lot into the house with them and they shut the door. v11 And they made the men who were at the outside of the door blind. All the men became blind. The leaders became blind and the younger men became blind. And so they could not find the door.

v12 Then the two men said to Lot, ‘Have you any relatives here? Bring out of this city your sons, your daughters and your daughters’ husbands. Bring out any relative whom you have in the city. v13 Very soon we will destroy this place. The *Lord has heard that its people are very wicked. Therefore the *Lord has sent us to destroy it.’ v14 So Lot went out. He spoke to the men who intended to marry his daughters. He said to them, ‘Get up! Leave this place, because the *Lord will very soon destroy this city.’ But these men thought that Lot joked.

v15 When the morning came, the *angels urged Lot. They said to him, ‘Get up! Take with you your wife and your two daughters. Otherwise you will die when the *Lord punishes the city.’ v16 But Lot delayed. So the two men seized Lot and his wife and his two daughters. They took them by their hands, because the *Lord was saving them. The two men brought Lot safely out of the city.

v17 And when they had brought them out, one man spoke to Lot and to his family. He said, ‘Run to save your life! Do not look back! Do not stop anywhere in the valley. Run to the hills. If you do not do so, you will die.’ v18 And Lot said to them, ‘Oh, no, sirs! v19 I know that you have been pleased with me, your servant. You have been very kind to me. You have saved my life. But I cannot run to the hills. If I do that, the punishment will overcome me. So I will die. v20 Look! That city is near enough that I can run to it. And it is a little one. Let me escape there. It is only a little one. Then I will not die.’ v21 The man said to Lot, ‘Yes. I grant this request for you. I will not destroy the city that you mention. v22 Hurry! Escape to it. I can do nothing until you arrive there.’ Therefore, the city was called Zoar. v23 The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

v24 Then the *Lord sent burning sulphur on Sodom and Gomorrah. He sent it like rain that falls from the sky. v25 And he destroyed those cities. He destroyed all the valley. He killed all the inhabitants of the cities. He killed all the plants that grew on the ground. v26 But Lot’s wife looked back and she became a large lump of salt.

v27 Abraham went out early in the morning. He went to the place where he had stood with the *Lord. v28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah. He looked toward all the land in the valley. He saw that smoke rose from the land. It was like the smoke that rises from a large fire. It was like the smoke of the fire that men use to bake pots.

v29 So God destroyed the cities that were in the valley. But God rescued Lot, because God thought about Abraham. But God destroyed the cities where Lot lived.

v30 Lot went up out of Zoar into the hills. He lived there with his two daughters, because he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. v31 And the older daughter spoke to the younger daughter. She said, ‘Our father is old. There is no man here who might have sex with us in the normal way. v32 Let us make our father drink wine. Then we will lie with him. So we may make our family continue by our father.’ v33 So in the evening they made their father drink wine. The older daughter went to her father and she lay with him. He did not know when she lay down. And he did not know when she got up.

v34 And on the next day, the older daughter spoke to the younger daughter. She said, ‘Last night I lay with my father. Let us make him drink wine today also. Then you go to him and lie with him. So we may make our family continue by our father.’ v35 So they made their father drink wine on that evening also. The younger daughter went to him and she lay with him. He did not know when she lay down. And he did not know when she got up.

v36 So both Lot’s daughters were *pregnant by their father. v37 The older daughter had a son and she called him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites who live today. v38 The younger daughter also had a son and she called him Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites who live today.

v1 Abraham travelled away from the big trees at Mamre. He went toward the region that is called the Negeb. He lived between Kadesh and Shur. And for a time he stayed in Gerar. v2 And Abraham said to the inhabitants of Gerar, ‘Sarah is my sister.’ But Sarah was his wife.

Now Abimelech was the king of Gerar. Abimelech sent men and they brought Sarah to Abimelech. v3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream at night. And God said to Abimelech, ‘You will die because you have taken this woman. She is a man’s wife.’ v4 But Abimelech had not touched her. So Abimelech said, ‘Surely, *Lord, you would not kill an innocent person! v5 Abraham himself said to me, “She is my sister.” And she herself said, “He is my brother.” My heart was honest and my actions were innocent.’ v6 Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, ‘Yes. I know that your heart was innocent when you did this. I prevented you so that you did not do a wrong thing. Therefore, I did not let you touch her. v7 Now give Abraham’s wife back to him. He is a man who knows God. So he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not give her back to him, you shall certainly die. You shall die and all your family shall die.’

v8 So Abimelech got up early in the morning. He called all his servants and he told them all these things. The servants were very much afraid. v9 Then Abimelech called Abraham. He said to him, ‘You have done a wrong thing to us. You have made me and my nation guilty. We did not deserve that. You have done to me things that nobody ought to do.’ v10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, ‘What were your reasons? Why did you do this thing?’

v11 Abraham replied, ‘I said to myself, “The people in this place do not respect God. They will kill me because of my wife.” v12 And she is truly my sister. She is my father’s daughter but she is not my mother’s daughter. And she became my wife. v13 When God made me leave my father’s house, I spoke to her. I said, “Please do this thing for me. Say about me: He is my brother. Say this at every place that we come to.” ’

v14 Then Abimelech took sheep and cows. He took male and female slaves. He gave them to Abraham. Also, he gave back to Abraham Sarah, who was his wife. v15 And Abimelech said, ‘Look! My land is in front of you. Live wherever you choose.’ v16 Abimelech said to Sarah, ‘I have given 1000 coins of silver to your brother. This gift shows that you are innocent. It shows this to all the people who are with you. It shows it to everybody.’

v17–18 The *Lord had made all the women who were in Abimelech’s house unable to produce children. He did this because of Sarah, who was Abraham’s wife. So Abraham prayed to God and God cured Abimelech. He also cured Abimelech’s wife and his female slaves, so that they could produce children.

v1 The *Lord had promised that he would visit Sarah. He did what he had promised to her. v2 So Sarah became *pregnant. A son was born to her for Abraham, when Abraham was old. This son was born at the time that God had promised. v3 Abraham called his son Isaac. Sarah was Isaac’s mother. v4 Abraham *circumcised Isaac when Isaac was 8 days old. God had *commanded him to do that. v5 Abraham was 100 years of age when his son Isaac was born for him. v6 Then Sarah said, ‘God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.’ v7 And she said, ‘Nobody would have said to Abraham, “Sarah will give her milk to a child.” But I am the mother of Abraham’s son in his old age.’

v8 The baby grew. And Sarah began to give solid food to him. So Abraham called many people to come to a big meal on the day when Isaac ate solid food. v9 Sarah saw Abraham’s other son, Ishmael, whose mother was Hagar the Egyptian. Ishmael was laughing at Isaac. v10 So Sarah said to Abraham, ‘Throw out this woman and her son. She is a slave. This slave-woman’s son shall not get any part of your wealth. That belongs to my son Isaac.’

v11 Sarah’s words about Abraham’s son made Abraham very unhappy. v12 But God said to Abraham, ‘Do not be unhappy about the boy and about your slave-woman. Do what Sarah tells you to do. Isaac’s *descendants will be called your *descendants. v13 And I will also make a nation from your slave-woman’s son, because he is your son too.’

v14 So Abraham got up early in the morning. He gave bread to Hagar. He gave to her a bag that was an animal’s skin. The bag contained water. He put these things on her shoulder and he sent her away with the child. She went away and she wandered in the desert near Beer-sheba.

v15 When they had drunk all the water, she put her son under a bush. v16 Then she went and she sat down a little distance away from him. She was about as far away as an arrow goes. She said, ‘Let me not see the child die.’ While she sat there, she cried loudly. v17 But God heard the boy’s voice. So God’s *angel called from heaven to Hagar. He said to her, ‘Do not be so sad, Hagar. Do not be afraid. God has heard the boy’s voice from the place where he is. v18 Stand up and make the boy stand up. Hold him firmly with your hand. I will make him into a great nation.’

v19 Then God showed to her what she had not seen before. She saw a well of water. So she went and filled the bag of skin with water. She gave a drink to the boy. v20 God was with the boy. He became a man and he lived in the desert. He became a skilful hunter with a bow and arrows. v21 He lived in the desert of Paran. His mother chose for him a wife, who had come from Egypt.

v22 Then Abimelech and Phicol, who was the chief of Abimelech’s army, spoke to Abraham. They said, ‘God is with you in everything that you do. v23 So make a firm promise to me here in God’s name. Promise that you will not deal unfairly with me. Promise that you will not deal unfairly with my family or with my *descendants. I have dealt loyally with you. Promise that you will deal loyally with me. Promise that you will deal loyally with this country. This is the country that you live in.’ v24 And Abraham said, ‘I make a firm promise.’

v25 But Abimelech’s servants had taken a well that belonged to Abraham. So Abraham complained to Abimelech. v26 Abimelech replied, ‘I do not know who did this. You did not tell me. Until today I had not heard about it.’ v27–30 So Abraham separated 7 young female sheep from the other sheep. Abimelech asked Abraham, ‘Why have you put these 7 young female sheep apart from the other sheep?’ So Abraham replied, ‘Take these 7 young female sheep from me. That will be a sign. And we will both know that I made this well.’ So Abraham gave to Abimelech 7 sheep. He also gave to him some cows. In this way, the two men made an agreement together.

v31 Abimelech and Abraham made firm promises to each other there. Therefore, they called the place Beer-sheba. v32 So they made an agreement at Beer-sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, who was the chief of Abimelech’s army, set out. They returned to the *Philistines’ country, which was their own country. v33 Abraham planted a tree in Beer-sheba. There he prayed to the *Lord. He is the God who does not change. v34 Abraham stayed in the *Philistines’ country for many days.

v1 After these things, God tested Abraham. God said to him, ‘Abraham’. And Abraham replied, ‘I am here.’ v2 God said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love. Go to the region that is called Moriah. Kill Isaac there on a mountain. He will be an *offering. I shall show the mountain to you.’

v3 So Abraham got up early in the morning. He put a saddle on his *donkey. He took with him two young servants. He took also his son Isaac. He cut pieces of wood so that he could burn the *offering. Then he set out. He went to the place that God had mentioned.

v4 On the third day, Abraham looked and he saw the place a long way away. v5 Then he said to his young servants, ‘Stay here with the *donkey. I and the boy will go over there. We will praise God and we will return to you.’ v6 Abraham then took the wood for the fire. He put it on his son Isaac so that Isaac carried it. Abraham himself carried the fire and the knife. So they went together. v7 Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘My father!’ Abraham replied, ‘I am here, my son.’ Isaac said, ‘Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb (young sheep) for the *offering?’ v8 Abraham replied, ‘God himself will provide a lamb for the *offering, my son.’ So they went on together.

v9 They came to the place that God had mentioned. Abraham built an *altar there. He laid the wood on it. Then he bound his son Isaac. He laid Isaac on the wood that was on the *altar. v10 Abraham stretched out his hand and he took the knife. He was ready to kill his son. v11 But the *Lord’s *angel called from heaven. He said to him, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And Abraham answered, ‘I am here.’ v12 The *angel said, ‘Do not kill the boy and do not hurt him. Now I know that you respect God. You were ready to give to me your son, your only son.’

v13 Abraham looked up. He saw a male sheep that could not escape from a bush. Its *horns were in the bush’s thorns (sharp points). So Abraham went and he seized the sheep. He then burned it on the *altar. It was an *offering instead of his son. v14 So Abraham called the place ‘The *Lord will provide’. People still say today, ‘The *Lord will provide on his mountain.’

v15 Then the *Lord’s *angel called again from heaven. v16 He said to Abraham, ‘The *Lord says, “By myself I have made a firm promise. You have done this thing. You were ready to give to me your son, your only son. v17 I will certainly make many good things come to you. I will make you have many *descendants. They shall be as many as the stars that are in the sky. They shall be as many as the sand that is by the sea. Your *descendants shall control their enemies’ gates. v18 By your *descendants I will make good things come. These good things shall come to all the nations that are on the earth. I will do this because you have obeyed me.” ’

v19 Then Abraham returned to his young servants. They set out and they went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham stayed in Beer-sheba.

v20 After this, people said to Abraham, ‘Milcah has had children. Their father is your brother, Nahor. v21 Uz was born before the other brothers. Buz is his brother. After these was Kemuel, who became the father of Aram. v22 After him were Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel.’ v23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These were Milcah’s 8 sons. Nahor, who was Abraham’s brother, was their father. v24 His extra wife, whose name was Reumah, was the mother of Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.

v1 Sarah lived for 127 years. That was the number of years of her life. v2 Sarah died in Kiriath-arba in the country that is called *Canaan. Kiriath-arba is also called Hebron. Abraham went into her tent and he wept for her. He showed that he was very sad for her.

v3 Then Abraham finished weeping for his dead wife. And he said to the *Hittites, v4 ‘I am a stranger among you. I live here only for a time. Give me some of your land as a grave so that I may bury my dead wife properly.’ v5 The *Hittites answered Abraham, v6 ‘Listen to us, sir. You are a great prince among us. Bury your dead wife in the best grave that we have. None of us will refuse to give you his grave. We will let you bury your dead wife.’

v7 Abraham stood and he bent himself down in front of the *Hittites. They were the people who lived in that country. v8 Abraham said to them, ‘If you are willing, I will bury my dead properly. Then listen to me and make a request to Ephron, the son of Zohar. v9 Ask him to give to me the cave at Machpelah. He owns the cave, which is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me in front of you. Let him sell it for the right price. It will be mine and I will use it as a grave.’

v10 Now Ephron was present and he sat among the *Hittites. So Ephron the *Hittite answered Abraham and the *Hittites listened. All who entered at the city’s gate listened. Ephron said, v11 ‘No, sir, listen to me. I give the field to you. I give the cave that is in it to you. In front of all my people, I give it to you. Bury your dead wife.’ v12 Then Abraham bent himself down in front of the *Hittites. v13 He spoke to Ephron and all the people listened. Abraham said, ‘Please listen to me. I will pay the right price for the field. Take the money from me, so that I may bury my dead wife there.’ v14 Ephron answered Abraham, v15 ‘Sir, listen to me. The price of the field is 400 *shekels of silver. The price is not important to you or to me. Do bury your dead wife.’ v16 Abraham agreed with Ephron. He weighed the amount of silver that Ephron had said. The *Hittites had heard him say this. He gave the silver to Ephron, 400 *shekels of silver. He used the kind of *shekel that merchants use.

v17–18 So Abraham became the owner of the field that had belonged to Ephron. This field was in Machpelah, which was east of Mamre. Abraham became the owner of the cave that was in the field. He became the owner of all the trees that were in it. Abraham bought all this in front of the *Hittites. He bought it in front of all who entered the city’s gate. v19 After that, Abraham buried Sarah his wife. He buried her in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah. It is east of Mamre, which is also called Hebron. It is in the country that is called *Canaan. v20 The *Hittites gave the field legally to Abraham. They gave it to him legally with the cave that is in it. It became Abraham’s possession and he used it as a grave.

v1 Abraham was an old man. He had lived for many years. The *Lord had always been very kind to Abraham. v2 Abraham’s oldest servant managed everything that Abraham had. Abraham said to him, ‘Put your hand under my leg. v3 Make a firm promise to me. Make it by the *Lord who is the God of heaven and earth. Choose a wife for my son Isaac. Do not choose a daughter from the *Canaanites, among whom I live. v4 But go to my country and to my family. Choose there a wife for my son.’

v5 The servant replied, ‘Perhaps the woman will not agree to follow me to this country. Must I take your son back to the country that you came from?’ v6 Abraham said to him, ‘You must not take my son back there. v7 The *Lord, the God of heaven, took me from my father’s house. He took me from the country where I was born. He made a firm promise to me. He said, “I will give this country to your *descendants.” He will send his *angel in front of you. You shall choose a wife for my son there. v8 But if the woman does not agree to follow you, then you are free from this firm promise. You are free from the promise that you have made to me. But you must not take my son back there.’ v9 So the servant put his hand under the leg of his master Abraham. He made a firm promise that he would do these things.

v10 So the servant took 10 camels. He took valuable gifts of many kinds. These things belonged to his master. And the servant set off and he went to Mesopotamia. He went to the city of Nahor. v11 He stopped by the well of water. The well was not in the city, but it was near it. He made the camels kneel. It was evening. At that time, the women go out of the city in order to fetch water.

v12 The servant said, ‘*Lord, God of my master Abraham, I pray that you will give me success today. Show your love to my master Abraham. v13 I stand here by the well of water. The daughters of the men who live in this city come out. They come in order to get water. v14 I will say to one girl, “Please let down your pot into the well and give me a drink.” Perhaps she will say, “Drink. And I will give water to your camels too.” Let her be the woman whom you have chosen for your servant Isaac. In this way, I shall know that you have shown your love to my master.’

v15 While the servant was still speaking, Rebekah came out of the city. She carried her water pot on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was Milcah’s son. Milcah was the wife of Nahor, who was Abraham’s brother. v16 Rebekah was very beautiful. She had never had sex with a man. She went down to the well and she filled her pot. Then she came up.

v17 The servant ran to meet her. He said, ‘Please give me a little water from your jar so that I may drink.’ v18 She said, ‘Drink, sir.’ She quickly took down her pot into her hand and she gave him a drink. v19 After that she said, ‘I will give water to your camels too, until they have finished drinking.’ v20 So she quickly emptied her pot into the basin where the animals drank. She ran to the well and she filled the jar again. She fetched water until all his camels had enough. v21 The servant watched her silently. He wanted to know whether the *Lord had made his journey successful.

v22 The man waited until the camels had drunk enough water. Then he produced a gold ring, which weighed a half of a *shekel. He also produced 2 large gold rings, which weighed 10 *shekels. He put the large rings on her arms. v23 He said, ‘Tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house where we may stay?’ v24 She replied, ‘I am Bethuel’s daughter. Bethuel is Nahor’s son and his mother is Milcah.’ v25 She added, ‘We have enough straw and enough food for the camels. We also have room where you may stay.’

v26 Abraham’s servant bent his head down and he gave honour to the *Lord. v27 He said, ‘Praise the *Lord, the God of my master Abraham. He still loves my master. He has continued to be kind to my master. And the *Lord has led me in the right way. He led me to the house of my master’s family.’

v28 Then the young woman ran to her mother’s house. She told everyone what had happened. v29–30 Rebekah had a brother, who was called Laban. Laban saw the ring. And he saw the large rings that were on his sister’s arms. He heard Rebekah his sister tell what the man had said to her. So he ran to the well. He found the man, who stood by the camels at the well.

v31 Laban said, ‘Come in. The *Lord has been kind to you. Do not stand outside. I have prepared the house and I have prepared a place for the camels.’ v32 So Abraham’s servant came into the house. Laban took the saddles off the camels. He gave straw and food to the camels. He gave water to Abraham’s servant so that he could wash his feet. He gave water also to the men who were with him. v33 Laban put food in front of Abraham’s servant so that he could eat. But Abraham’s servant said, ‘I will not eat now. I will tell you why I have come. After that, I will eat.’ And Laban said, ‘Speak.’

v34 So he said, ‘I am Abraham’s servant. v35 The *Lord has been very kind to my master so that he has become great. God has given to him many sheep and cows and silver and gold and servants and maids and camels and *donkeys. v36 And a son was born to Sarah, my master’s wife, when she was old. Abraham has given to his son everything that he has.’

v37–38 Abraham’s servant continued, ‘My master made me make a firm promise. He said, “Choose a wife for my son. Do not choose a daughter from the *Canaanites, among whom I live. But go to my father’s house and to my family. Take a wife there for my son.” v39 I said to my master, “Perhaps the woman will not agree to follow me.” v40 But Abraham said to me, “The *Lord, before whom I walk, will send his *angel with you. He will make your journey successful. You will choose a wife for my son from my own family. She will be one who lives in my father’s house. v41 When you do that, you will be free from your firm promise. When you reach my family, you will be free from your firm promise. If they do not give her to you, you will be free from your firm promise.” ’

v42 Abraham’s servant continued, ‘Today I came to the well. I said, “*Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please make my journey successful. v43–44 I stand here by the well. I will speak to a young woman who comes to fetch water. I will say: Please give me a little water from your pot to drink. Perhaps she will say: Drink and I will give water to your camels too. Let her be the woman whom the *Lord has chosen for my master’s son.” ’

v45 And Abraham’s servant continued, ‘While I was still praying in my mind, Rebekah came out. She carried her water pot on her shoulder. She went down to the well and she fetched water. I said to her, “Please give me a drink.” v46 At once she took down her pot from her shoulder. She said, “Drink. I will give water to your camels too.” So I drank and she gave water to the camels too. v47 Then I asked her, “Whose daughter are you?” She said, “I am Bethuel’s daughter. Bethuel is Nahor’s son and his mother is Milcah.” So I put the ring on her nose and I put the large rings on her arms. v48 Then I bent my head down and I gave honour to the *Lord. I praised the *Lord, the God of my master Abraham. He led me in the right way. So I found the daughter of my master’s relative for his son. v49 Now tell me whether you will deal loyally and truly with my master. If you will not, tell me. In that case I will go to another place.’

v50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered, ‘The *Lord has done this. We cannot say any good thing or any bad thing to you. v51 See, Rebekah is here. Go and take her with you. Let her be the wife of your master’s son. The *Lord has said this.’

v52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words he bent himself down to the ground in front of the *Lord. v53 He produced valuable things of silver and gold. He produced clothes. He gave these things to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother. v54 Then Abraham’s servant ate and drank. And those who were with him ate and drank. And they stayed there for the night.

When the morning came, they got up. Then Abraham’s servant said, ‘Send me back to my master.’ v55 Rebekah’s brother and her mother said, ‘Let the young woman stay here for a time. Let it be for 10 days or more. After that time she may go.’

v56 But Abraham’s servant said to them, ‘Do not make me delay. The *Lord has made my journey successful. Let me go and let me return to my master.’ v57 They said, ‘We will call the young woman and we will ask her.’ v58 So they called Rebekah. They said to her, ‘Will you go with this man?’ She said, ‘I will go.’ v59 So they sent away Rebekah and her nurse. They sent away Abraham’s servant and those who were with him. v60 They asked God to be kind to Rebekah. They said to her, ‘Our sister, we pray that you will be the mother of many people. Be the mother of more people than anyone can count. We pray that your *descendants will control their enemies’ gates.’

v61 Then Rebekah and her maids set out and they rode on their camels. They followed Abraham’s servant. So the servant took Rebekah and he went on his journey.

v62 Meanwhile, Isaac had left Beer-lahai-roi and he was in the Negeb. v63 Isaac went out into the field in the evening in order to think quietly. Then he looked. And he saw that some camels were coming. v64–65 When Rebekah saw Isaac, she got down from the camel. She said to the servant, ‘Who is the man who walks in the field over there? He is coming to meet us.’ The servant replied, ‘It is my master.’ So Rebekah covered herself with a cloth over her head. v66 The servant told Isaac everything that he had done. v67 Then Isaac took Rebekah into the tent. Isaac married her and he loved her. So Isaac had comfort after his mother’s death.

v1 Abraham married another wife, who was called Keturah. v2 She became the mother of Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. v3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim and Leummim. v4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. v5 Abraham gave everything that he had to Isaac. v6 However Abraham also gave gifts to the sons of his extra wives. And, while he was still alive, he sent them away from his son Isaac. He sent them towards the east country.

v7 The years of Abraham’s life were 175 years. v8 He died at a great age. He was an old man and he had lived for many years. So he went to be with his fathers. v9 Abraham’s sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried him in the cave at Machpelah. The cave was in the field that had belonged to Ephron. Ephron was the son of Zohar, who was a *Hittite. The field was east of Mamre. v10 Abraham had bought that field from the *Hittites. They buried Abraham there. That was the place where Abraham had buried Sarah his wife. v11 After Abraham’s death, God was very kind to Isaac. Isaac was Abraham’s son. And Isaac lived at Beer-lahai-roi.

v12 These are Ishmael’s *descendants. Ishmael was Abraham’s son. Ishmael’s mother was Hagar, who had come from Egypt. Hagar was Sarah’s maid. v13–15 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons. The names are in the order of their sons’ births. Nebaioth was Ishmael’s oldest son. After him were Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. v16 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons. These are their names by villages and camps. They were 12 princes of 12 *tribes. v17 The years of Ishmael’s life were 137 years. He died and he went to be with his fathers. v18 Ishmael’s sons lived in the region between Havilah and Shur. It is opposite Egypt and it is towards Assyria. Ishmael lived near to all his family.

v19 These are Isaac’s *descendants. Isaac was Abraham’s son. Abraham was Isaac’s father. v20 Isaac was 40 years of age when he married Rebekah. She was Bethuel’s daughter and she was Laban’s sister. Bethuel and Laban lived in Paddan-aram. They were Arameans (people from Aram).

v21 Isaac prayed to the *Lord about his wife because she had no child. The *Lord granted Isaac’s prayer and Rebekah became *pregnant. v22 The children fought against each other while they were in her. She said, ‘I do not understand why this is happening.’ So she went to the *Lord and inquired from him. v23 The *Lord said to her,

  ‘Two nations are in you.

  Two groups of people are separating as they are born.

  One shall be stronger than the other one.

  The older one shall serve the younger one.’

v24 When the time for the birth came, there were two children in her. v25 The first one came out and he was red. All his body was like hairy clothes. So they called him Esau. v26 Afterwards his brother was born. His hand had gripped the back of Esau’s foot. So they called him Jacob. Isaac was 60 years of age when the boys were born.

v27 When the boys became men, Esau was a skilful hunter. He was usually outdoors. Jacob was a quiet man. He stayed in the tents. v28 Esau hunted wild animals and Isaac ate some of the meat. For this reason, Isaac loved Esau. But Rebekah loved Jacob.

v29 On a certain day, Jacob cooked meat in boiling water. Esau came in from outdoors and he was very hungry. v30 Esau said to Jacob, ‘Let me eat some of that red meat. I am very hungry.’ Therefore, he was called Edom. v31 Jacob said, ‘Before you eat it you must give to me the right of the oldest son.’ v32 Esau said, ‘If I do not eat, I will die. I have the right of the oldest son. But that right is not useful to me if I am dead.’

v33 Jacob said, ‘Make a firm promise to me before you eat.’ So Esau made a firm promise to Jacob. He sold to Jacob the right of the oldest son. v34 Then Jacob gave to Esau bread and meat and vegetables. Esau ate and drank. Then he stood up and he went away. So he did not think that the right of the oldest son was important.

v1 Now there was a *famine in the country. It was like the previous *famine when Abraham did not have enough food. And Isaac went to the town of Gerar. He went to Abimelech who was the king of the *Philistines.

v2 And the *Lord appeared to Isaac. He said to him, ‘Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the country that I will show you. v3 Stay in this land and I will be with you. I will bring many good things to you. I will give all these lands to you and to your *descendants. I will keep the firm promise that I made to Abraham your father. v4 I will make you have very many *descendants. They shall be as many as the stars that are in the sky. And I will give all this land to your *descendants. All the families that are on the earth shall receive good things because of you. v5 I give you these things because Abraham obeyed me. He obeyed all that I said. He obeyed my demands and my *commands and my laws.’

v6 So Isaac lived in Gerar. v7 The men in Gerar asked Isaac about his wife Rebekah. He said to them, ‘She is my sister.’ He was afraid to say, ‘She is my wife.’ He thought, ‘If I say that, the men in Gerar will take her. They will take her because she is very beautiful. And they will kill me.’ v8 Now Abimelech was the king of the *Philistines.

When Isaac had been in Gerar for a long time, Abimelech looked out of a window. He saw Isaac. Isaac touched Rebekah as a man touches his wife. v9 So Abimelech called Isaac. He said to Isaac, ‘I see that she is your wife. Why did you say, “She is my sister”?’ Isaac said to him, ‘I thought that someone might kill me because of her.’ v10 Abimelech said, ‘You have done an evil thing to us. Somebody might have had sex with your wife. You would have made us guilty.’ v11 So Abimelech warned all the people. He said, ‘Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death.’

v12 And Isaac sowed seeds in that country. In the same year, he gathered the crops. They were 100 times more than he sowed. The *Lord brought many good things to Isaac v13 and he became rich. He gained more property and he became very wealthy. v14 He had many sheep and cows and servants. Therefore the *Philistines were angry with Isaac because he had so much. v15 The *Philistines ruined all Isaac’s wells. The servants of Abraham, who was Isaac’s father, had made those wells. The *Philistines filled the wells with earth. v16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, ‘You are much more powerful than we are. Go away from us.’

v17 So Isaac left there. He put his tents in the valley of Gerar and he lived there. v18 And Isaac repaired the wells that people had made in the days of Abraham his father. The *Philistines had ruined them after Abraham’s death. Isaac called the wells by the same names that his father Abraham had given to them. v19 But when Isaac’s servants made a hole in the valley, they found water. It was a new well. v20 Then the men who kept cows in Gerar were angry. They quarrelled with the men who kept Isaac’s cows. They said, ‘The water is ours.’ So Isaac called the well Esek, because they quarrelled with him. v21 Then Isaac’s servants made another well and the men of Gerar quarrelled about that well also. So Isaac called it Sitnah. v22 And Isaac moved from there and he made another well. Nobody quarrelled about that well and so Isaac called it Rehoboth. He said, ‘Now the *Lord has made enough room for us. Now we shall gain wealth in this country.’

v23 From there Isaac went to Beer-sheba. v24 During that night the *Lord appeared to him. The *Lord said, ‘I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not be afraid. I am with you. I will bring many good things to you. I will give you many *descendants because you are the son of my servant Abraham.’ v25 So Isaac built an *altar there and he prayed to the *Lord. He put his tent there. And Isaac’s servants made a well there.

v26 Then Abimelech went from Gerar to visit Isaac. He took with him Ahuzzath, who advised him. And he took with him Phicol, who *commanded his army. v27 Isaac said to them, ‘I do not know why you have come to me. You hate me and you have sent me away from you.’ v28 They said, ‘We realise that the *Lord is with you. So we propose that we should make firm promises to each other. Let us make an agreement with you. v29 Promise that you will not do evil things to us. We have not done any evil thing to you. We have done only good things to you and we have sent you away in peace. The *Lord has now brought many good things to you.’

v30 So Isaac made a big meal for Abimelech and Ahuzzath and Phicol. They ate and they drank together. v31 On the next morning they got up early. They made a firm agreement with each other. And Isaac saw them set out. They went away him in peace.

v32 On that same day, Isaac’s servants came to him. They told him that they had made a well. They said to him, ‘We have found water.’ v33 Isaac called the well Shibah. Later, people built a town there. This town is still called Beer-sheba today.

v34 When Esau was 40 years of age, he married Judith. She was the daughter of Beeri, who was a *Hittite. Esau also married Basemath. She was the daughter of Elon, who was also a *Hittite. v35 These two women made Isaac and Rebekah very unhappy.

v1 Isaac was very old. His eyes had become so weak that he could not see. Then he called Esau, who was his older son. Isaac said to Esau, ‘My son!’ And Esau answered, ‘I am here.’ v2 Isaac said, ‘You see that I am old. I do not know how soon I will die. v3 Take your bow and your arrows. Go out and hunt. Kill a wild animal for me. v4 Prepare for me a tasty meal, such as I love. Bring it to me so that I may eat. So I may bless you before I die.’ v5 And Rebekah listened when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. Then Esau went out to kill an animal.

v6 When Esau had gone out, Rebekah spoke to her son Jacob. She said to Jacob, ‘I listened when your father spoke to your brother Esau. v7 He said, “Fetch meat for me. Prepare a tasty meal so that I may eat it. Then I will bless you in front of the *Lord before I die.” v8 So listen to me, my son. Do what I tell you to do. v9 Go to the animals and choose two good young goats. Bring them to me so that I may cook them. I will prepare a tasty meal for your father, such as he loves. v10 You shall take it to your father so that he may eat. So he will bless you before he dies.’

v11 But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, ‘My brother Esau is a hairy man and I am a smooth man. v12 Perhaps my father will feel me. Then he will think that I am cheating him. Then he will not bless me. Instead, he will bring evil things on me.’ v13 His mother said to him, ‘If evil things come, let them come to me. Do what I tell you to do. Go and fetch the two young goats.’ v14 So Jacob went. He chose two young goats and he brought them to his mother. And his mother prepared a tasty meal, such as his father loved.

v15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes that belonged to Esau, her older son. These clothes were there in the house. She put the clothes on Jacob, her younger son. v16 She took the skins of the young goats. She put the skins on Jacob’s hands. She also put them on the smooth part of his neck. v17 And she took the tasty food that she had prepared. She also took bread that she had prepared. She gave this food to her son, Jacob.

v18 So Jacob went to his father. He said, ‘My father!’ And Isaac said, ‘I am here. Who are you, my son?’ v19 Jacob said to his father, ‘I am Esau, your oldest son. I have done what you told me to do. Now get up and eat some of my meat. And when you have eaten it, bless me.’ v20 But Isaac said to his son, ‘How did you find the meat so quickly, my son?’ Jacob answered, ‘The *Lord your God made me succeed quickly.’ v21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Come close to me so that I may feel you, my son. So I will know whether you are truly my son Esau.’ v22 So Jacob went close to Isaac his father and Isaac felt him. Isaac said, ‘The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are Esau’s hands.’ v23 And Isaac did not recognise Jacob, because his hands were hairy. His hands were his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob.

v24 Isaac said, ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ Jacob answered, ‘I am.’ v25 Then Isaac said, ‘Bring the meat to me. I will eat some of the meat that my son killed. After that I will bless you.’ So Jacob brought the meat to Isaac and he ate. Jacob brought wine to him and he drank.

v26 Then his father Isaac said to Jacob, ‘Come close to me and kiss me, my son.’ v27 So Jacob came close to him and he kissed him. Isaac smelled the smell of his clothes. He blessed him and he said,

  ‘The smell of my son is like the smell of a field

  that the *Lord has made rich.

v28  Let God give you the dew that comes from the sky.

  Let God give you the good things that the earth produces.

  Let God give you plenty of grain and wine.

v29  Let many people serve you

  and let nations bend themselves down in front of you.

  Be a ruler over your brothers

  and let your mother’s sons bend themselves down to you.

  Let evil things come to everyone who wishes evil things for you.

  Let good things come to everyone who wishes good things for you.’

v30 So Isaac blessed Jacob. As soon as Jacob had left his father Isaac, Esau his brother returned from his hunt. v31 He also prepared a tasty meal and he brought it to his father. And Esau said to his father, ‘Please get up, my father. Eat some of your son’s meat, so that you may bless me.’ v32 His father Isaac said to him, ‘Who are you?’ Esau answered, ‘I am your oldest son, Esau.’ v33 Then Isaac trembled strongly. He said, ‘Who killed an animal and brought it to me? I ate it before you came. And I have blessed him. Nobody shall change that.’

v34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried with a loud and bitter cry. He said to his father, ‘Bless me! Bless me also, my father!’ v35 But Isaac said, ‘Your brother came and he cheated. Therefore I blessed him instead of you.’ v36 Esau said, ‘It is right that he is called Jacob. He has cheated me twice. He stole the right of the oldest son from me and now he has stolen my *blessing.’

Then Esau said to Isaac, ‘Can you bless me too?’ v37 Isaac answered Esau, ‘I have made him a ruler over you. I have given all his brothers to him to be his servants. I have given him plenty of grain and wine. So what can I do for you, my son?’ v38 Esau said to his father, ‘Can you give me just one *blessing, my father? Bless me! Bless me also, my father!’ And Esau wept loudly. v39 Then Isaac his father said to him,

  ‘You shall live far from the plenty that the earth produces.

  You shall live far from the dew that comes from the sky.

v40  You shall use your sword in order to live.

  You shall serve your brother.

  But you shall escape from him

  and after that you shall not serve him.’

v41 Esau hated Jacob because his father had blessed Jacob. And Esau said to himself, ‘Soon it will be the time to weep for my father’s death. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.’

v42 But someone told to Rebekah the words that Esau, her older son, had said. So she called Jacob, her younger son. She said to him, ‘Your brother Esau intends to kill you. v43 So listen to me, my son. Do what I tell you to do. Run to Haran, where Laban my brother lives. v44 Stay with Laban for a short time. Stay there while your brother is angry. v45 Stay until your brother’s anger stops. Stay until he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send a message to you. I will tell you to return from there. It is not right that I should lose both my sons in one day.’

v46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ‘I am very unhappy because of the *Hittite women whom Esau has married. Perhaps Jacob will marry a *Hittite woman like these. Perhaps he will marry a woman of this country. If he does that, I will not want to live.’

v1 Then Isaac called Jacob and he blessed him. He *commanded him, ‘Do not marry a *Canaanite woman. v2 Go to the district that is called Paddan-aram. Go to Bethuel’s house. He is your mother’s father. Find a wife there. Marry a daughter of Laban. He is your mother’s brother. v3 Let God, who can do anything, give success to you. Let him give to you a large family. So your *descendants shall be many nations. v4 Let God bring many good things to you and to your *descendants. Let him bring to you the good things that he promised to Abraham. So you shall possess the land where you have lived. That is the land that God gave to Abraham.’

v5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away. And Jacob went to the district that is called Paddan-aram. He went to Laban, who was the son of Bethuel the man from Aram. Laban was the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

v6 So Isaac blessed Jacob. He sent Jacob away to Paddan-aram in order to take a wife from there. And Esau saw this. When Isaac blessed Jacob, he *commanded him. He said, ‘Do not marry a *Canaanite woman.’ v7 Jacob obeyed his father and his mother. He went to Paddan-aram. And Esau saw all these things.

v8 Then Esau realised that the *Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father. v9 So Esau went to Ishmael and he took a wife from Ishmael’s family. He married Mahalath, who was the daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael. She was the sister of Nebaioth. He took Mahalath in addition to the wives that he already had.

v10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and he travelled toward Haran. v11 He travelled until the sun set. Then he stopped for the night at the place where he was. He found a stone and he put it as a pillow. He lay down there and he slept. The stone was under his head.

v12 And he dreamed that he saw a staircase. It stood on the earth and its top reached to heaven. And he saw God’s *angels. Some of them climbed up the staircase and some of them came down the staircase.

v13 And he saw the *Lord, who stood above the staircase. The *Lord said, ‘I am the *Lord. I am the God of Abraham your grandfather. I am the God of Isaac your father. I will give the land where you are lying to you and to your *descendants. v14 I will make your *descendants as the dust that is on the earth. Your *descendants shall spread far to the west and to the east. They shall spread far to the north and to the south. All the families that are on the earth shall receive good things because of you. v15 Be sure that I am with you. I will keep you wherever you go. And I will bring you back to this country. I will not leave you until I have done these things. I will do all the things that I spoke to you about.’

v16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep. He said, ‘Now I know that the *Lord is in this place. I did not know it before.’ v17 And he was afraid. He said,

  ‘This is a place that one must greatly respect!

  This is certainly God’s house!

  And this is the gate that leads to heaven!’

v18 So Jacob got up early in the morning. He took the stone that he had put under his head. He put it so that it stood up. And he poured oil on the top of it. v19 He called that place Bethel. Before that time, the town that was near to that place was called Luz.

v20 Then Jacob made a firm promise. He said, ‘Perhaps God will be with me. Perhaps he will keep me in this way where I go. Perhaps he will give bread to me, so that I may eat. Perhaps he will give clothing to me, so that I may wear it. v21 Perhaps I shall return to my father’s house in peace. If the *Lord does these things for me, then the *Lord shall be my God. v22 And this stone, which I have put here, shall be God’s house. And I will give to God a part of everything that he shall give to me. I will give to him one thing out of every 10 things.’

v1 Then Jacob continued his journey. He came to the land where the people in the east lived. v2 As he looked, he saw a well in the field. And he saw three groups of sheep that lay near to the well. People used to take water out of that well to give it to the sheep. A large stone lay on the top of the well so as to close it. v3 When all the sheep gathered there, people used to roll the stone away from the top of the well. And they would give water to the sheep. Then they used to put the stone back on the top of the well.

v4 Jacob said to the people, ‘My brothers, where is your home?’ They said, ‘We have come from Haran.’ v5 Jacob said to them, ‘Do you know Laban, who is Nahor’s son?’ They said, ‘We know him.’ v6 Jacob said to them, ‘Is he well?’ They said, ‘He is well. And look! Rachel, who is his daughter, comes with the sheep!’ v7 Jacob said, ‘The day is not yet over. It is not yet the time when the animals will gather together. Give water to the sheep. Then take them to eat grass.’ v8 But they said, ‘We cannot do that. We must wait until all the sheep gather together. Then people will roll the stone away from the top of the well. Then we will give water to the sheep.’

v9 While Jacob still spoke with them, Rachel arrived. She was looking after her father’s sheep and she brought them to the well. v10 Jacob saw Rachel, who was his uncle Laban’s daughter. He saw Laban’s sheep. So Jacob went to the stone that was on the top of the well. He rolled the stone away from the well. Then he gave water to his uncle Laban’s sheep.

v11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and he wept aloud. v12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative. He told her that he was Rebekah’s son. And she ran to her father and she told him these things.

v13 So Laban heard that Jacob, who was his sister’s son, had come. Laban ran to meet Jacob. He greeted him and he kissed him. Then he brought him to his house. Jacob told to Laban all the things that he had already told to Rachel. v14 And Laban said to him, ‘Certainly you are a member of my family!’ And Jacob stayed with Laban for a month.

v15 At the end of the month, Laban spoke to Jacob. He said, ‘You are my relative. But that is not a reason that you should serve me without wages. Tell me, what shall your wages be?’ v16 Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was called Leah and the younger daughter was called Rachel. v17 Leah’s eyes were gentle but Rachel was beautiful and lovely. v18 Jacob loved Rachel. So he said to Laban, ‘I will serve you for 7 years. My wages shall be your younger daughter Rachel.’ v19 Laban said, ‘It is good that I should give her to you as your wife. That is better than that I should give her to any other man. Stay with me.’ v20 So Jacob served Laban for 7 years in order to earn Rachel. The 7 years seemed to Jacob to be only a few days. That was the effect of his love for her.

v21 After 7 years, Jacob spoke to Laban. He said, ‘Give me my wife so that I may have sex with her. I have served you for the time that I promised.’ v22 So Laban prepared a big meal. He gathered together to the meal all the men who lived in the place.

v23 But in the evening Laban took his daughter Leah and he brought her to Jacob. So Jacob had sex with her. v24 And Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid. v25 When it was morning, Jacob saw that his wife was Leah. And Jacob said to Laban, ‘You should not have done this to me. I served you in order to earn Rachel. And now you have cheated me.’

v26 Laban said, ‘In our country we do not give the younger daughter until we have given the older daughter. v27 This daughter’s wedding will last for one week. That is the custom. After that, we will give you our other daughter also. She shall be your wages if you will serve me for another 7 years.’

v28 Jacob waited for a week until the wedding finished. At the end of the week, Laban gave his daughter Rachel to Jacob as his wife. v29 And Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maid. v30 So Jacob had sex with Rachel also. He loved Rachel more than he loved Leah. And he served Laban for another 7 years.

v31 Then the *Lord saw that Jacob did not love Leah. So he made Leah able to produce children. But Rachel had no child.

v32 And Leah became *pregnant and a son was born to her. She called him Reuben. She said, ‘The *Lord has seen my trouble. Now my husband will love me.’

v33 She became *pregnant again and another son was born to her. And she said, ‘The *Lord has heard that my husband does not love me. Therefore he has given me this son also.’ So she called him Simeon.

v34 Again she became *pregnant and a son was born to her. She said, ‘Now this time my husband will join with me, because I have given him 3 sons.’ Therefore, he was called Levi.

v35 And she became *pregnant again and another son was born to her. And she said, ‘This time I will praise the *Lord.’ Therefore, she called him Judah. After that, she had no more children for a time.

v1 Rachel saw that she produced no children for Jacob. And she was angry with her sister because her sister was successful. So she said to Jacob, ‘Give me children! If you do not give me children, I shall die!’ v2 Jacob was angry with Rachel. He said, ‘I do not have God’s power! I did not prevent you from producing children. God did that.’ v3 Then Rachel said, ‘Here is my maid Bilhah. Have sex with her. She shall produce a child on my knees. So I may have children by her help.’ v4 So Rachel gave her maid Bilhah to Jacob as a wife. And Jacob had sex with Bilhah. v5 So Bilhah became *pregnant and a son was born to her for Jacob. v6 Then Rachel said, ‘God has given his judgement for me. He has heard my voice and he has given me a son’. Therefore, she called him Dan.

v7 Rachel’s maid Bilhah became *pregnant again and a second son was born to her for Jacob. v8 Then Rachel said, ‘I have struggled fiercely against my sister and I have overcome.’ So she called him Naphtali.

v9 Leah saw that she produced no more children. So she gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. v10 And Leah’s maid Zilpah produced a son for Jacob. v11 Leah said, ‘Fortunately!’ So she called him Gad. v12 And Leah’s maid Zilpah produced a second son for Jacob. v13 Leah said, ‘I am happy because all the women will call me happy.’ So she called him Asher.

v14 At the time when people harvest wheat, Reuben went out into the field. He found *mandrake plants that had fruit. He picked the mandrake fruits and he brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, ‘Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.’ v15 But Leah said to Rachel, ‘You have already taken my husband. Now you want to take my son’s *mandrakes too!’ Rachel said, ‘If you give your son’s mandrakes to me I will let him lie with you tonight.’ v16 In the evening, Jacob came in from the field. Leah went out and she met him. She said, ‘You must come in to me. I have hired you with my son’s *mandrakes.’ So he lay with her that night and he had sex with her.

v17 And God listened to Leah’s prayer. She became *pregnant and a fifth son was born to her for Jacob. v18 Leah said, ‘God has given me my reward because I gave my maid to my husband.’ So she called him Issachar.

v19 And Leah became *pregnant again and a sixth son was born to her for Jacob. v20 Then Leah said, ‘God has given me a valuable gift. Now my husband will give honour to me, because I have given him 6 sons.’ So she called him Zebulun. v21 Afterwards she produced a daughter and she called her Dinah.

v22 Then God was kind to Rachel and he heard her prayer. He made her able to produce children. v23 A son was born to her. She said, ‘God has taken away my shame from me.’ v24 And she called him Joseph. She said, ‘Let the *Lord add another son to me!’

v25 After Joseph was born to Rachel, Jacob spoke to Laban. He said, ‘Send me away. Let me go to my own home and to my own country. v26 Give to me my wives and my children. I have served you in order to earn them. Now let me go. You know how well I have served you.’

v27 But Laban said to him, ‘Please listen to me. I have become wealthy because of you. And the *Lord has blessed me. v28 Tell me what wages you want, so that you may stay with me. I will give to you whatever you ask.’

v29 Jacob said to him, ‘I have served you well. You yourself know that. You know that your animals have increased with me. v30 You had few animals before I came to you. Since I came, they have greatly increased. And the *Lord has brought good things to you wherever I went. But now it is the time when I should provide for my own family.’

v31 Laban said, ‘What shall I give to you?’

Jacob said, ‘You shall not give anything to me. If you will do one thing for me, I will again look after your sheep. v32 Let me look at all your sheep today. Let me take from them every spotty sheep. Let me take every young sheep that is black. Let me look at the goats and let me take the spotty ones. That shall be my wages. v33 So you will know that I am honest. When you check my wages with me, you will know that I am honest. You may look at the animals that are with me. You may look for a goat that is not stripey or spotty. You may look for a young sheep that is not black. You will not find any animals that are like that. Otherwise you will know that I have stolen them.’

v34 Laban said, ‘That is good! Let it be as you have said.’

v35 On the same day Laban removed some of his goats. He removed the ones that were stripey or spotty. He removed the ones that were partly white. He also removed every young sheep that was black. He told his sons to look after these animals. v36 Then Laban and his sons went away. They took these animals. They went away from Jacob a distance that a man can go in 3 days. Jacob remained and he fed the rest of Laban’s sheep.

v37 Then Jacob took fresh sticks from bushes. He removed part of the outsides of the sticks so that one could see the white insides. v38 He put these sticks at the place where the animals came to drink. And they mated when they came to drink. v39 Therefore the animals mated at the place where they could see the sticks. And the young animals that were born were stripey or spotty.

v40 Jacob separated the male animals. He brought the female animals to the male animals that were stripey or black. So he collected animals for himself and he did not put them with Laban’s animals.

v41 Whenever the stronger animals mated, Jacob put the sticks in front of the animals. So they mated where they could see the sticks. v42 But he did not put the sticks in front of the weaker animals. Then the weaker animals belonged to Laban and the stronger animals belonged to Jacob.

v43 So Jacob became very rich. He had sheep, goats, maids, servants, camels and *donkeys.

v1 Laban’s sons said, ‘Jacob has taken all that belonged to our father. He has gained all his wealth from our father.’ People told Jacob what Laban’s sons had said. v2 And Jacob saw that Laban was not pleased with him. Laban was not friendly with Jacob as he had been before. v3 Then the *Lord said to Jacob, ‘Return to the country where your fathers and your relatives have lived. And I will be with you.’

v4 So Jacob called Rachel and Leah. They came into the field where his animals were. v5 And Jacob said to them, ‘Your father is not pleased with me as he was before. But my father’s God has been with me. v6 You know that I have served your father with all my strength. v7 But your father has cheated me. He has changed my wages 10 times. However, God did not permit him to have any bad effect on me. v8 Sometimes your father said, “The spotty animals shall be your wages.” Then all the animals that were born were spotty. And sometimes he said, “The stripey animals shall be your wages.” Then all the animals that were born were stripey. v9 So God has taken your father’s animals and he has given them to me.’

v10 And Jacob said to Rachel and Leah, ‘In the season when the animals mate, I saw the animals in a dream. The male goats that mated in my dream were stripey and spotty. v11 Then God’s *angel spoke to me in the dream. He said, “Jacob!” And I said, “I am here!” v12 And he said, “Look! All the male goats that mate are stripey and spotty. I have seen all that Laban has done to you. v13 I am the God of Bethel. Remember Bethel, where you poured oil on a tall stone. There you made a firm promise to me. Now set out and leave this country. Return to the country where you were born.” ’

v14 Then Rachel and Leah answered Jacob, ‘We have no place to live in our father’s house. v15 He thinks that we are foreigners. He has sold us. He has spent all the money that belonged to us. v16 All the property that God has taken from our father belongs to us. It belongs to us and to our children. Therefore do whatever God has said to you.’

v17 So Jacob put his sons and his wives on camels and he set out. v18 He took all his animals that he had gained. He had gained them while he was in that district, Paddan-aram. He set out and he started to go to his father Isaac. He set out for the country that is called *Canaan.

v19 Laban went out into the field to cut the wool from his sheep. And while Laban was out, Rachel stole her father’s gods. v20 Jacob did not tell Laban that he intended to go away. So he cheated Laban, the man from Aram. v21 He ran away with all that he possessed. He set out and he crossed the river Euphrates. He travelled to the hilly region that is called Gilead.

v22 Two days later, people told Laban that Jacob had run away. v23 So Laban set out and he took his relatives with him. He pursued Jacob for 7 days. He followed him to the hilly region that is called Gilead. v24 But God appeared to Laban the man from Aram at night. God spoke to Laban in a dream. He said, ‘Do not say anything to Jacob. Do not say good things or bad things.’ v25 And Laban came to the place where Jacob was. Jacob had put his tent in the hilly region that is called Gilead. Laban with his relatives put their tents in the same region.

v26 And Laban said to Jacob, ‘You did not need to cheat me! You should not have carried off my daughters like prisoners that an army takes. v27 You did wrong when you ran away secretly. And you should have told me. I would have sent you away with happiness and songs and music. v28 And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters? I would have said goodbye to them. You have done a foolish thing. v29 I have the power to hurt you. But your father’s God spoke to me last night. He said, “Do not say anything to Jacob. Do not say good things or bad things.” v30 Now you greatly desire to be in your father’s house. Therefore, you have gone away. But you should not have stolen my gods.’

v31 Jacob answered Laban, ‘I went because I was afraid. I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force.’

v32 Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen Laban’s gods. So he said, ‘Search for your gods. If any one has them here, that person shall not live. Show us any of your possessions that we have. Show it to us and take it.’ v33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent. He went into Leah’s tent. He went into the tent of the two maids. But he did not find the gods. And he went out of Leah’s tent and he entered Rachel’s tent.

v34 Now Rachel had put the gods in the camel’s saddle and she sat on them. Laban searched everywhere in the tent, but he did not find them. v35 And Rachel said to her father, ‘Let not my master be angry because I cannot stand in front of you. The thing that happens to women is happening to me.’ So Laban searched, but he did not find the gods.

v36 Then Jacob was angry and he accused Laban. Jacob said to Laban, ‘Tell me what wrong deed I have done. You pursued me as one pursues a criminal. Tell me what my crime is. v37 Now you have searched through all my possessions. You searched for anything that is yours. If you have found anything, put it here in front of my relatives and in front of your relatives. They shall say which of us two is right. v38 For 20 years I have been with you. Your female sheep and your female goats have not lost their young ones. I have not eaten your male sheep. v39 When wild animals killed a sheep or a goat, I did not tell you. The loss was mine. You demanded that I should pay for it. I paid for all that I lost in the day or at night. v40 It was always the same. In the day, I suffered from the heat and at night, I suffered from the cold. I was not able to sleep.’

v41 Jacob continued, ‘For 20 years I have been in your house. I served you for 14 years for your two daughters. I served you for 6 years for your animals. And you have changed my wages 10 times. v42 But God is my father’s God. He is Abraham’s God. He is Isaac’s God. He helped me. If he had not done so, you would certainly have sent me away with no possessions. God saw my trouble and my labour. And he showed his decision to you last night.’

v43 Then Laban answered Jacob. He said, ‘The daughters are my daughters. The children are my children. The animals are my animals. All that you see is mine. But I can do nothing to these daughters who are mine. And I can do nothing to their children. v44 Let us make a firm agreement. And let there be a sign of the agreement between you and me.’

v45 So Jacob chose a large stone. He put it so that it stood up. v46 And Jacob said to his relatives, ‘Gather stones.’ So they took stones and they made a heap. And they ate a meal there by the heap.

v47 Laban called that place Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. v48 Laban said, ‘This heap is now a sign of the agreement between you and me.’ That is the reason why they called it Galeed. v49 Laban called the tall stone Mizpah. He said, ‘Let the *Lord be a guard between you and me, when we are absent from each other. v50 If you do evil things to my daughters, God will see. If you take other wives in addition to my daughters, God will see. Although nobody is with us, God is a witness between you and me.’

v51 Then Laban said to Jacob, ‘See this heap. See the tall stone that I have put between you and me. v52 This heap is a sign and the tall stone is a sign. I will not pass this heap to go to you for an evil purpose. And you will not pass this heap and this tall stone to come to me for an evil purpose. v53 Let God be a judge between us. He is Abraham’s God and he is Nahor’s God.’ So Jacob made a firm promise by the God of his father Isaac.

v54 Jacob killed an animal there in the hilly region. He gave part of it as an *offering to God. And he invited his relatives and they ate a meal. They stayed there for the whole night. v55 Laban got up early in the morning. He kissed his grandchildren and his daughters. Then he blessed them. And he set out and he returned to his home.

v1 Jacob continued his journey. God’s *angels met him v2 and Jacob saw them. He said, ‘This is God’s army!’ So he called that place Mahanaim.

v3 Jacob sent some of his servants to take a message to his brother Esau. They went before Jacob to Esau. Esau was in the region that is called Seir. It is in the country that is called Edom. v4 Jacob said to the servants, ‘Say, “This is what your servant Jacob says to my master Esau: I have stayed with Laban until now. v5 I have cows, *donkeys, sheep, servants and maids. I have sent this message to my master so that you may be pleased with me.” ’

v6 And the *messengers returned to Jacob. They said, ‘We came to your brother Esau. He comes to meet you. He brings 400 men with him.’ v7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid. He divided those that were with him into two groups. He divided the people and the sheep and the cows and the camels. v8 He thought, ‘If Esau kills one group, the other group will escape.’

v9 And Jacob said, ‘God of my father Abraham! God of my father Isaac! You said to me, “Return to your country and to your relatives. I will do good things to you.” v10 I do not deserve any of the great love that you have shown to me, your servant. When I crossed this river Jordan, my only possession was my stick. But now because of your care I have become two groups of people and animals. v11 Please save me from my brother Esau. I am afraid of him. I am afraid that he will kill us all. He will kill the mothers and the children. v12 But you said, “I will do good to you. I will make your *descendants as many as the sand of the sea. The sand is many tiny pieces and nobody can count them.” ’

v13 So Jacob stayed there that night. And he chose from his possessions a gift for his brother Esau. v14 He took 200 female goats. He took 20 male goats. He took 200 female sheep. He took 20 male sheep. v15 He took 30 female camels and their young camels. He took 40 female cows and 10 male cows. He took 20 female *donkeys and 10 male *donkeys. v16 These animals were in separate groups. He gave them to his servants. And he said to his servants, ‘Go on before me. Let there be a space between one group and another group.’

v17 Jacob *commanded the servant who had the first group. He said, ‘Esau my brother will meet you. He will ask you, “Whose servant are you? Where do you go? And whose are these animals that are in front of you?” v18 You shall say, “They belong to your servant Jacob. He has sent them as a gift to his master Esau. And your servant Jacob is behind us.” ’

v19 Jacob said the same words to the servants who had the second and the third groups. And he said the same words to all those who followed the animals. He said, ‘You shall say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. v20 And you shall say, “And your servant Jacob is behind us.” ’ Jacob thought, ‘I may make him pleased with me by this gift. The gift goes before me and afterwards I shall meet him. Perhaps he will be friendly with me.’

v21 So the animals that were a gift went on in front of Jacob. And Jacob himself stayed in his tent that night.

v22 During the night, Jacob got up. He crossed the stream that is called the Jabbok. He took his two wives. He took his two maids. He took his 11 children. v23 And he made them cross the stream. He made everything that he had cross the stream. v24 Then Jacob remained alone. And a man struggled with him until the day came.

v25 The man saw that he did not win against Jacob. So he touched the side of Jacob’s leg. Jacob discovered that he could not use his leg. But he continued to struggle. v26 Then the man said, ‘Let me go, because the day is near.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ v27 And the man said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ v28 Then the man said, ‘You shall not be called Jacob. You shall be called Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men. And you have won.’ v29 Then Jacob asked him, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But the man said, ‘You do not need to ask my name.’ And there the man blessed Jacob.

v30 Jacob said, ‘I have seen God’s face. But I did not die.’ So he called that place Peniel. v31 The sun rose as Jacob passed through Penuel. He walked with one weak leg, because the man had touched his leg.

v32 Therefore even today Jacob’s *descendants do not eat the meat that is at the side of the leg. That is the place where the man touched Jacob’s leg.

v1 Jacob saw that Esau approached. And 400 men came with him. So Jacob divided the children into 4 groups. Leah and Rachel and the 2 maids took care of the groups. v2 Jacob put the maids with their children in front. After them, he put Leah with her children. Rachel and Joseph followed after all the other people. v3 Jacob himself went in front of them. He bent himself down to the ground 7 times, until he came near to his brother. v4 But Esau ran to meet Jacob. He hugged him and he kissed him. They both wept.

v5 And Esau looked and he saw the women and the children. He said, ‘Who are these that are with you?’ Jacob said, ‘These are the children that God has kindly given to your servant.’ v6 Then the maids came near and they brought their children. They all bent themselves down to the ground. v7 Leah also came near with her children. They also bent themselves down. After them, Joseph and Rachel came near and they bent themselves down.

v8 Esau said, ‘Why did you send these animals that I met?’ Jacob answered, ‘I sent them so that you, my master, would be friendly with me.’ v9 But Esau said, ‘I have enough possessions, my brother. Keep your own possessions for yourself.’ v10 Jacob said, ‘No, I ask you to do this. If you are pleased with me, accept my gift. Your face is to me like God’s face because you greeted me so kindly. v11 Please accept my gift that I have brought to you. God has dealt kindly with me and so I have enough possessions.’ So Jacob urged Esau and Esau took the gift.

v12 Then Esau said, ‘Let us travel on our way. I will go before you.’ v13 But Jacob said to him, ‘My master knows that the children are weak. I must take care of the young animals. If they travel too fast for one day, all the animals will die. v14 Let my master go before his servant and I will follow slowly. I will travel at the right speed for my animals. I will go at the speed of the children. And I will come to my master in Seir.’

v15 So Esau said, ‘I have men with me. Let me leave some of them to guard you.’ But Jacob said, ‘There is no reason that my master should help me in that way.’ v16 So Esau returned at once to Seir. v17 But Jacob travelled to Succoth. There he built a house for himself. He made shelters for his cows. Therefore, the place is called Succoth.

v18 So Jacob had come from Paddan-aram. He arrived safely at the city that was called Shechem. Shechem is in the country that is called *Canaan. And he put his tent in front of the town. v19 He bought the piece of land where he had put his tent. He bought it from the sons of Hamor, who was Shechem’s father. He paid for it 100 pieces of money. v20 There he built an *altar and he called it El-Elohe-Israel.

v1 Now Dinah was Leah’s daughter and her father was Jacob. Dinah went out to visit the women who lived in *Canaan. v2 And Shechem, who was Hamor’s son, saw her. Hamor was a Hivite and he was the prince of the district. Shechem seized Dinah. He had sex with her and he made her ashamed. v3 And Shechem loved Dinah, who was Jacob’s daughter. He loved her and he spoke gently to her.

v4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor. He said, ‘Get this young woman for me. She shall be my wife.’ v5 Now Jacob heard that Shechem had spoiled his daughter Dinah’s honour. But Jacob’s sons were with his animals in the field. Therefore, Jacob did nothing until his sons came back. v6 And Hamor, who was Shechem’s father, went to Jacob. He went to speak with Jacob.

v7 Jacob’s sons heard about this and they came in from the field. They were very sad and very angry because Shechem had sex with Jacob’s daughter. Shechem had done a very wrong thing against Israel. That is a thing that nobody ought to do.

v8 But Hamor spoke with them. He said, ‘My son Shechem greatly desires your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. v9 Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves. v10 You shall live with us and the country shall be open to you. Make this country your home. Do your business in it and get property in it.’ v11 And Shechem also spoke to Dinah’s father and to her brothers. He said, ‘Please be friendly to me. I will give to you whatever you ask. v12 You may make the marriage present and the gift very large. I will give to you whatever you say. But give the young woman to me so that she shall be my wife.’

v13 Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor. They decided to tell lies to them, because Shechem had spoiled their sister Dinah’s honour. v14 They said to Shechem and to Hamor, ‘We cannot do this thing. We cannot give our sister to one who is not *circumcised. That would take away our honour. v15 We will do this only if you will obey our demand. You must become as we are. Every male person who is among you must be *circumcised. v16 If you will do this, we will give our daughters to you. And we will take your daughters to ourselves. And we will live among you and we will become one nation. v17 But perhaps you will not listen to us. Perhaps you will not become *circumcised. If so, we will take our daughter and we will go away.’ v18 Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem.

v19 Shechem had more honour than all the other members of his family had. He did not delay, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter. He did what Jacob’s sons said. v20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city. They spoke to the men from their city, who were at the gate. They said, v21 ‘These men are friendly with us. Let them live in this country. Let them do their business here. There is enough room in this country for them. Let us take their daughters as our wives and let us give our daughters to them. v22 The men will live with us and we will become one nation. They will do this if we obey their demand. Every male person who is among us must be *circumcised. We must be *circumcised as they are *circumcised. v23 Their cows and their property will be ours. All their animals will be ours. Let us do what they say. If we do that, they will live with us.’

v24 Everyone who went through the gate of the city listened. They heard what Hamor and his son Shechem said. And every male person who went through the gate of the city was *circumcised.

v25 On the third day the men were very sore. Then Simeon and Levi took their swords. Simeon and Levi were Jacob’s sons and they were Dinah’s brothers. They went to the city. The inhabitants of the city did not expect them to come. Simeon and Levi killed all the male inhabitants of the city. v26 They killed with their swords Hamor and his son Shechem. They took Dinah out of Shechem’s house and they went away.

v27 And all Jacob’s sons came to the city where the men were dead. They took away all the goods that they could find. They did this because Shechem had spoiled their sister’s honour. v28 They took the sheep and the cows and the *donkeys. They took everything that was in the city. They took everything that was in the field. v29 They took all the valuable things. They took all the women and they took all the children. They took all that was in the houses. They took all these things and they made them their own.

v30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, ‘You have brought trouble to me. The people who live in this country will hate me. The *Canaanites and the Perizzites will hate me. We are only a few men. Perhaps they will gather themselves together and they will attack me. If they do that, they will kill me and all my family.’ v31 But Simeon and Levi said, ‘He would have made our sister into a woman who has sex for money.’

v1 God said to Jacob, ‘Move away from here. Go to Bethel and live there. Make an *altar there for me. I am God. I appeared to you when you ran away from your brother Esau.’ v2 So Jacob spoke to his relatives. And he spoke to all who were with him. He said, ‘Hide the foreign gods that are among you. Make yourselves clean and put on clean clothes. v3 Then we will set out and we will go to Bethel. There I will make an *altar for God. He answered me when I was in trouble. He has been with me wherever I have gone.’

v4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had. They gave to him the rings that were in their ears. And Jacob buried these things under the big tree that was near to the city of Shechem. v5 And as they travelled to Bethel, God protected them. He made the inhabitants of the cities that were near to them afraid. Therefore, those people did not pursue Jacob’s sons.

v6 And Jacob came to Luz, which is also called Bethel. It is a city in the country that is called *Canaan. Jacob and all the people who were with him came there. v7 And Jacob built an *altar there. He called the place El-bethel. At that place, God had shown himself to Jacob when Jacob ran away from his brother.

v8 Deborah, who was Rebekah’s nurse, died. They buried her under a big tree below Bethel. So that place was called Allon-bacuth.

v9 God appeared to Jacob again, when Jacob came from Paddan-aram. And God promised good things to him. v10 And God said to him, ‘You are called Jacob. But you shall not be called Jacob. You shall be called Israel.’ So he was called Israel. v11 And God said to him,

  ‘I am God who can do anything.

  You shall have a large family and you shall have many *descendants.

  Your family shall become a nation and it shall become a group of nations.

  Some of your family shall be kings.

v12  I will give to you the land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac.

  And I will give the land to your *descendants who shall live after you.’

v13 Then God left him. v14 And Jacob set up a tall stone in the place where God had spoken with him. And Jacob poured wine on the stone as an *offering. And he poured oil on it. v15 So Jacob called the place, where God had spoken with him, Bethel.

v16 Then they travelled away from Bethel towards Ephrath. Before they reached Ephrath, Rachel struggled to produce her baby. She suffered much and she had great pain. v17 And the nurse who helped at the birth spoke to her. She said to her, ‘Do not be afraid. Now you will have another son.’ v18 Rachel called her son Ben-oni and then she died. But his father called him Benjamin. v19 So Rachel died, and they buried her on the way to Ephrath, which is also called Bethlehem. v20 Jacob set up a tall stone on her grave. The stone is called ‘the stone of Rachel’s grave’. It is still there today.

v21 Israel travelled on and he put his tent beyond Migdal-Eder. v22 While Israel lived in that district, Reuben had sex with Bilhah. Bilhah was an extra wife of Reuben’s father. And Israel heard what Reuben had done.

Now Jacob’s sons were 12.

v23  Leah’s sons were

  Reuben (Jacob’s oldest son), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.

v24  Rachel’s sons were

  Joseph and Benjamin.

v25  Bilhah’s sons (Bilhah was Rachel’s maid) were

  Dan and Naphtali.

v26  Zilpah’s sons (Zilpah was Leah’s maid) were

  Gad and Asher.

These were Jacob’s sons who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

v27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre. Mamre is near to Kiriath-arba, which is also called Hebron. Abraham and Isaac had both stayed at Mamre. v28 Isaac’s life was 180 years v29 and then he died. He died when he was very old. So he went to be with his fathers. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

v1 This is the story of Esau’s family. Esau is also called Edom.

v2 Esau took his wives from the *Canaanites. They were:

  Adah, who was Elon the *Hittite’s daughter

  Oholibamah, who was Anah’s daughter (Anah was Zibeon the Hivite’s son.)

v3  Basemath, who was Ishmael’s daughter and Nebaioth’s sister.

v4 Adah was the mother of Esau and Eliphaz. Basemath was the mother of Reuel. v5 Oholibamah was the mother of Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These sons of Esau were born in the country that is called *Canaan.

v6 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, his servants, his cows and his animals. He took all his property, which he had gained in *Canaan. And he went into a region that was far away from his brother Jacob. v7 He did this because their possessions were great. Their possessions were so great that they could not live close together. The region where they were could not produce enough food for all their animals. v8 So Esau lived in the hilly region that is called Seir. Esau is also called Edom.

v9 These are Esau’s *descendants. Esau was the father of the Edomites. They live in the hilly region that is called Seir. v10 These are the names of two out of Esau’s sons:

  Eliphaz, the son of Adah (Adah was Esau’s wife.)

  Reuel, the son of Basemath (Basemath was Esau’s wife.)

v11 Eliphaz’s sons were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz. v12 Amalek was another one of Eliphaz’s sons. His mother was Timna, who was an extra wife of Eliphaz. These are the grandsons of Adah, who was Esau’s wife.

v13 Reuel’s sons were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These are the grandsons of Basemath, who was Esau’s wife.

v14 And Esau had 3 other sons. They were Jeush, Jalam and Korah. Their mother was Oholibamah, who was Esau’s wife. She was the daughter of Anah, who was Zibeon’s son.

v15 This is a list of the *tribes who were Esau’s *descendants.

  The *descendants of Eliphaz, who was the oldest son of Esau:

  the *tribes of Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, v16 Korah, Gatam and Amalek.

  These are the *tribes of Eliphaz in the country that is called Edom.

  They were *descendants of Adah.

v17  The *descendants of Reuel, who was Esau’s son:

  the *tribes of Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah.

  These are the *tribes of Reuel in the country that is called Edom.

  They were *descendants of Basemath, who was Esau’s wife.

v18  The *descendants of Oholibamah, who was Esau’s wife:

  the *tribes of Jeush, Jalam and Korah.

  These are the *tribes who were *descendants of Oholibamah, Anah’s daughter.

v19 These are Esau’s *descendants. Esau is also called Edom. These are the *tribes who were members of his family.

v20 This is a list of Seir the Horite’s sons. (The Horites were the people who already lived in the region.) These are their names:

Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, v21 Dishon, Ezer and Dishan.

These are the princes of the Horites. They were Seir’s sons in the country that is called Edom.

v22 Lotan’s sons were Hori and Heman. Lotan’s sister was Timna. v23 Shobal’s sons were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam. v24 Zibeon’s sons were Aiah and Anah. Anah found the wells of hot water in the desert. He found them while he looked after his father Zibeon’s *donkeys. v25 Anah’s children were Dishon and Oholibamah. Oholibamah was Anah’s daughter. v26 Dishon’s sons were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Cheran. v27 Ezer’s sons were Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan. v28 Dishan’s sons were Uz and Aran.

v29 This is a list of the *tribes of the Horites:

Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, v30 Dishon, Ezer and Dishan.

These are the *tribes of the Horites. They lived in the district that is called Seir.

v31 This is a list of the kings who ruled the country Edom. (At that time, no king ruled Israel’s *descendants.) v32 Bela, Beor’s son, ruled in Edom. The name of his city was Dinhabah. v33 Bela died. And Jobab, who was the son of Zerah of Bozrah, ruled instead of him. v34 Jobab died. And Husham, who had come from the region of the *tribe of Teman, ruled instead of him. v35 Husham died. And Hadad, Bedad’s son, ruled instead of him. And Hadad defeated the *descendants of Midian in the country that is called Moab. The name of his city was Avith. v36 Hadad died. And Samlah, who had come from Masrekah, ruled instead of him. v37 Samlah died. And Shaul, who had come from Rehoboth on the river Euphrates, ruled instead of him. v38 Shaul died. And Baal-hanan, who was the son of Achbor, ruled instead of him. v39 Baal-hanan, Achbor’s son, died. And Hadar ruled instead of him. The name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel. She was the daughter of Matred, who was Mezahab’s daughter.

v40–43 This is a list of the *tribes who were Esau’s *descendants. Each one had its city. The names of the *tribes were:

Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel and Iram.

These are the *tribes of Edom. Each one lived in its own district. Esau was the father of the Edomites.

v1 Jacob lived in the country that is called *Canaan. That is the country where his father had stayed.

v2 This is the story of Jacob’s family. When Joseph was 17 years of age, he and his brothers looked after the sheep. He assisted the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, who were his father’s wives. Joseph told their father Jacob bad things about his brothers. v3 Now Joseph was born when Israel was old. Therefore, Israel loved Joseph more than he loved any of his other children. He made for him a long coat, which had sleeves. v4 But his brothers saw how much their father loved Joseph. He loved Joseph more than he loved them. Then they hated Joseph and they could not speak to him in a friendly manner.

v5 Now Joseph dreamed. And when he told his dream to his brothers, they hated him more. v6 He said to them, ‘Hear this dream that I have dreamed. v7 I dreamed that we were in the field. We tied the corn into bundles. Then my bundle rose from the ground and it stood up. Your bundles gathered round my bundle. And they bent themselves down in front of my bundle.’ v8 His brothers said to Joseph, ‘You mean that you will rule over us. You mean that you will actually have power over us. That will never happen!’ So they hated him more because of his dreams and because of his words.

v9 Then Joseph dreamed another dream and he told it to his brothers. He said, ‘I have dreamed another dream. I dreamed that I saw the sun, the moon and 11 stars. They bent themselves down in front of me.’ v10 Joseph told this dream to his father and to his brothers. And his father told Joseph that he should not insult his own father. His father said to him, ‘Think what your dream means! You mean that I and your mother and your brothers shall come to you. And you mean that we shall truly bend ourselves down to the ground in front of you.’ v11 Joseph’s brothers hated him. But his father remembered what Joseph had said.

v12 After that time, Joseph’s brothers took their father’s sheep to Shechem. They went there so that the sheep could eat the grass near Shechem. v13 And Israel said to Joseph, ‘Your brothers have taken the sheep to Shechem. I will send you to them.’ And Joseph said to Israel, ‘I will do what you say.’ v14 So Israel said to him, ‘Go. See whether your brothers are well. See whether the sheep are safe. Then come back here and bring me news.’ So Israel sent Joseph from the valley of Hebron and Joseph went to Shechem.

v15 As Joseph wandered in the fields near Shechem, a man spoke to him. The man asked him, ‘What are you searching for?’ v16 Joseph said, ‘I am searching for my brothers. Please tell me where they have taken the sheep.’ v17 And the man said, ‘They have gone away. I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan.” ’ So Joseph followed his brothers and he found them at Dothan.

v18 The brothers saw Joseph while he was still far away. And before he came near to them, they plotted against him. They plotted to kill him. v19 They said to each other, ‘The dreamer comes. v20 Let us kill him! Let us throw him into a deep hole in the ground. Afterwards, we shall say that a wild animal has eaten him. Then we shall see whether his dreams were true.’

v21 But when Reuben heard this, he saved Joseph. He said, ‘Let us not kill him.’ v22 And Reuben said to the other brothers, ‘Do not kill anybody. Drop Joseph into this deep hole here in the desert. Do not hurt him.’ Reuben intended to rescue Joseph from his brothers. He intended to give Joseph back to his father. v23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took his coat off him. That was the long coat with sleeves that he wore. v24 They took Joseph and they dropped him into a deep hole. The hole was empty and there was no water in it.

v25 Then the brothers sat down to eat a meal. While they ate their meal, they saw a group of Ishmaelite merchants. These merchants had come from Gilead and they were going to Egypt. They had camels, which carried spice and balm and myrrh. v26 Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘We could kill our brother and we could hide his blood. But if we did that, we would not make a profit. v27 Let us not kill him but let us sell him to the Ishmaelites. He is our brother! He is a member of our own family.’ And Judah’s brothers agreed with him.

v28 Then a group of Midianite merchants passed. And they lifted Joseph and they helped him out of the deep hole. And they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver. So the Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt. v29 After that, Reuben returned to the deep hole. He saw that Joseph was not in the hole. So he tore his clothes because he was so sad. v30 He returned to his brothers. He said, ‘The boy has gone! And I was responsible for him. Now there is nowhere where I can go.’

v31 Then the brothers took Joseph’s coat. They killed a goat and they put the goat’s blood on the coat. v32 And they took the long coat with sleeves and they brought it to their father. They said, ‘We have found this. See whether it is your son’s coat.’ v33 And Israel recognised the coat. He said, ‘It is my son’s coat. A wild animal has eaten him. It is certain that an animal tore Joseph to pieces.’ v34 Then Jacob tore his clothes. He dressed himself in rough cloth. He wept for his son for many days. v35 All his sons and all his daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused their comfort. He said, ‘I shall be very sad as I go down to the place of dead people. I shall meet my son there.’ So his father wept for him.

v36 Meanwhile the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar in Egypt. Potiphar was an officer of *Pharaoh. He was the captain of the guards.

v1 At that time, Judah left his brothers. He stayed with a member of the *tribe of Adullam, whose name was Hirah. v2 There Judah saw the daughter of Shua, who was a *Canaanite. Judah married her. He had sex with her v3 and she became *pregnant. A son was born to her and Judah called him Er. v4 Another son was born to her and she called him Onan. v5 And again, a son was born to her and she called him Shelah. She was in Chezib when he was born. v6 And Judah took a wife for Er, who was his oldest son. Her name was Tamar.

v7 But the *Lord saw that Er, who was Judah’s oldest son, was wicked. And the *Lord killed him. v8 Then Judah said to Onan, ‘Lie with your brother’s wife. Do the duty of a husband’s brother to her. Produce a child for your brother.’ v9 But Onan knew that the child would not be his. So whenever he lay with his brother’s wife he spilled his seed on the ground. So he did not produce a child for his brother. v10 And the *Lord was not pleased with what Onan did. So the *Lord killed him also.

v11 Then Judah spoke to Tamar, who was his son’s wife. He said, ‘Stay as a widow in your father’s house. Stay there until my son Shelah is older.’ He was afraid that Shelah would die, as his brothers had died. So Tamar went to her father’s house and she lived there.

v12 After a long time Judah’s wife, who was Shua’s daughter, died. Judah wept for her for a time. After that time, he went to Timnah, where his servants were cutting the wool from his sheep. He went there with his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

v13 People said to Tamar, ‘Your husband’s father goes to Timnah. There they are cutting the wool from his sheep.’ v14 Tamar had realised that Shelah had become a man. And he had not taken her as a wife. So she took off her widow’s clothes and she covered her face. She put perfume on herself. Then she sat at the gate to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah.

v15 Judah saw her there. He thought that she was a woman who had sex for money. He thought that because she had covered her face. v16 He went to her at the side of the road. He said, ‘Let me lie with you.’ He did not know that she was his son’s widow. She said, ‘What will you give me, so that you may lie with me?’ v17 He answered, ‘I will send to you a young goat from my animals.’ And she said, ‘How may I know that you will send it? Will you give me a sign?’ v18 He said, ‘What sign shall I give to you?’ She replied, ‘Give your seal and its string to me. And give to me also your stick that is in your hand.’ So he gave them to her. Then he had sex with her and she became *pregnant by him. v19 Then she rose up and she went away. She uncovered her face. And she put on again the clothes that a widow wears.

v20 Judah sent his friend the Adullamite to look for the woman. The Adullamite took the young goat that Judah had promised to give. He intended to receive from the woman Judah’s seal and his stick. But the Adullamite could not find the woman. v21 He asked the men of the place, ‘Where is the woman who has sex for money? She was at the side of the road at Enaim.’ And they said, ‘No such woman has been here.’

v22 So the Adullamite returned to Judah. He said, ‘I have not found her. And the men of the place said, “No such woman has been here.” ’ v23 And Judah replied, ‘Let her keep the things. Let them be hers. Otherwise, people will laugh at us. And I did send this young goat to her but you could not find her.’

v24 About 3 months later people said to Judah, ‘Tamar, your son’s widow, has had sex for money. And because of that she is *pregnant.’ And Judah said, ‘Bring her here. We must burn her.’ v25 As they brought her, she sent a message to her husband’s father. She said, ‘These belong to my child’s father.’ And she said, ‘Please look at these things. Discover whose are the seal and the string and the stick.’ v26 Then Judah said that the things were his. He said, ‘She has done better things than I have done. I did not give her as a wife to my son Shelah.’ And he did not lie with her again.

v27 The time of the birth came. Tamar realised that she had two children in her. v28 One child put out a hand. And the nurse who helped at the birth took the hand. She tied a red string on his hand. She said, ‘This one came out before the other one.’ v29 But he pulled his hand back and his brother came out. And the nurse said, ‘You certainly broke out!’ Therefore he was called Perez. v30 Then his brother came out and the red string was on his hand. He was called Zerah.

v1 The Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt. Now Potiphar was an Egyptian. He was an officer of *Pharaoh, who was the king of Egypt. Potiphar was the captain of the guards. He bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites who had brought Joseph to Egypt. v2 The *Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man. He stayed in his master Potiphar’s house.

v3 Joseph’s master saw that the *Lord was with Joseph. He saw that the *Lord made all that Joseph did successful. v4 So Joseph’s master was pleased with Joseph and he made Joseph his own servant. He made Joseph the manager of his house. And he gave Joseph authority over all that he had. v5 From the time that he did that, the *Lord blessed Potiphar’s house. The *Lord made all that he had do well, in his house and in the field. The *Lord did this because of Joseph. v6 So Potiphar let Joseph manage all that he had. Because of Joseph, Potiphar did not need to think about anything. He only needed to think about his food.

Now Joseph was handsome and attractive. v7 And, after a time, his master’s wife looked at Joseph. And she said, ‘Have sex with me.’ v8 But he refused. He said, ‘My master has appointed me to manage the house. He does not think about anything that is in the house. He has given to me authority over all that he has. v9 He is not more powerful in this house than I am. And he has put everything in my care except you, because you are his wife. So I cannot do this very wicked thing. I cannot do this evil thing against God.’ v10 And although she spoke to Joseph every day, he refused to listen to her. He refused to lie with her. He refused to be with her.

v11 But one day Joseph went into the house in order to do his work. None of the servants was there in the house. v12 Potiphar’s wife seized Joseph’s coat. She said, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his coat in her hands and he ran away from her. He went out of the house. v13 And she had his coat in her hand. She saw that he had run out of the house. v14 So she called the servants. She said to them, ‘Look! My husband has brought a *Hebrew among us so that he can insult us. The *Hebrew came to me in order to have sex with me. So I called out loudly. v15 When he heard my loud cry, he ran away. He left his coat with me and he ran out of the house.’ v16 Then she kept his coat by her until his master came home.

v17 She told the same story to her husband. She said, ‘The *Hebrew servant whom you brought among us came in to me. He insulted me, v18 but I cried out. Then he left his coat with me and he ran out of the house.’ v19 Joseph’s master heard what his wife said. She told him what his servant had done to her. Then he was very angry. v20 He took Joseph and he put him into the prison. He put him in the place where the king’s prisoners were. And Joseph remained there in prison.

v21 But the *Lord was with Joseph. The *Lord showed him constant love. He made the prison keeper pleased with him. v22 And the prison keeper let Joseph look after all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever anybody did in the prison, Joseph did it. v23 The prison keeper did not need to think about anything that was in Joseph’s care. The *Lord was with him. The *Lord made all that Joseph did successful.

v1 Some time after this, the king of Egypt’s *cup-bearer offended his master the king. And the king’s baker also offended him. v2 *Pharaoh was angry with his two servants. He was angry with the chief *cup-bearer and with the chief baker. v3 He put them in prison. He put them in the prison where Joseph was. That was the house of the captain of the guards. v4 The captain of the guards told Joseph to look after them. So Joseph was responsible for them. And they remained in prison for a long time.

v5 And one night they both dreamed. The king of Egypt’s *cup-bearer dreamed and his baker dreamed. Each one had his own dream and each dream had its own meaning.

v6 In the morning, Joseph came to them. He saw that they were worried. v7 So he spoke to *Pharaoh’s servants who were with him in the prison. He asked them, ‘Why are your faces sad today?’ v8 And they said to him, ‘We have had dreams. And there is nobody who can explain their meanings to us.’ And Joseph said to them, ‘God knows the meanings. Please tell the dreams to me.’

v9 So the chief *cup-bearer told his dream to Joseph. He said to him, ‘In my dream there was a vine plant. v10 The vine had 3 branches. The flowers appeared and they grew very quickly. Then the grapes appeared and they became ripe. v11 I held *Pharaoh’s cup in my hand. So I took the grapes. And I squeezed them so that the juice ran into *Pharaoh’s cup. Then I put the cup into *Pharaoh’s hand.’

v12 Then Joseph said to him, ‘This is what the dream means. The 3 branches mean 3 days. v13 In 3 days, *Pharaoh will forgive you and he will put you back in your job. And you shall put *Pharaoh’s cup into his hand as you did before. You shall again be his *cup-bearer. v14 But please remember me, when things are well with you. Please be kind to me and mention me to *Pharaoh. Then he may let me leave this prison. v15 I did not deserve that they should put me into the prison. People seized me and they brought me here from the land of the *Hebrews. And while I have been here in Egypt I have not done a wrong deed.’

v16 The chief baker realised that the meaning of the *cup-bearer’s dream was good. So the chief baker said to Joseph, ‘I also had a dream. There were 3 baskets on my head. v17 In the highest basket there were bread and cakes for *Pharaoh. But the birds ate the food that was in the basket. They ate it while the basket was on my head.’ v18 And Joseph answered, ‘This is the meaning of the dream. The 3 baskets mean 3 days. v19 In 3 days *Pharaoh will cut off your head and he will hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat the meat from your body.’

v20 The third day was *Pharaoh’s birthday. So he made a big meal for all his servants. He sent for the chief *cup-bearer and the chief baker. People brought them and they put them in front of *Pharaoh among his servants. v21 *Pharaoh took the chief *cup-bearer back into his job. So the *cup-bearer again put the cup into *Pharaoh’s hand. v22 But *Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had said to them.

v23 But the chief *cup-bearer did not remember Joseph. He forgot him.

v1 After two whole years, *Pharaoh had a dream. He dreamed that he stood by the river Nile. v2 And he saw 7 cows, which came up out of the river Nile. The cows were healthy and fat. They fed among the plants that were by the river. v3 And *Pharaoh saw 7 other cows, which came up out of the river Nile after the first cows. These cows were ugly and thin. They stood by the first 7 cows near the river Nile. v4 And the ugly, thin cows ate the healthy, fat cows. And *Pharaoh awoke.

v5 *Pharaoh slept again and he dreamed again. He saw a stem of corn that had 7 grains. Each grain was fat and good. The grains grew on one stem. v6 And he saw 7 more grains that grew after the first grains. These grains were thin, as if a cold wind had blown on them from the east. v7 And the thin grains swallowed the 7 fat grains. And *Pharaoh awoke. He realised that it was a dream.

v8 So in the morning, *Pharaoh was worried. He sent for all the people in Egypt who knew magic. He sent for all the wise men and he told his dreams to them. But nobody could explain to *Pharaoh the meaning of his dreams.

v9 Then the chief *cup-bearer said to *Pharaoh, ‘I remember my faults today. v10 I remember that *Pharaoh was angry with his servants. He put me and the chief baker in prison. He put us in the house of the captain of the guards. v11 We both dreamed on the same night. The baker and I both dreamed. We each had a dream that had its own meaning. v12 A young *Hebrew was there with us. He was a servant of the captain of the guards. And when we told him our dreams, he explained to us their meanings. He explained to each man the meaning of his dream. v13 And the meanings that he explained to us actually happened. I came back to my job, but *Pharaoh hanged the baker.’

v14 Then *Pharaoh sent for Joseph. So people brought Joseph quickly out of the prison. Joseph shaved himself and he put on other clothes. Then he came in front of *Pharaoh. v15 And *Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I have had a dream. There is nobody who can tell me its meaning. I have heard that you can explain the meaning of a dream. If someone tells you the dream you can explain the meaning.’ v16 Joseph answered *Pharaoh, ‘I do not have the power to do that. But God will give the right answer to *Pharaoh.’

v17 Then *Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I saw in my dream that I stood near to the river Nile. v18 And 7 cows came up out of the river Nile. They were fat and healthy. They fed among the plants that were by the river. v19 And 7 other cows came up after them. Those cows were poor and ugly and thin. I have never seen cows anywhere in Egypt that were like those. v20 And the thin, ugly cows ate the first 7 fat cows. v21 But when they had eaten them, they were not fatter. Nobody would have known that they had eaten them. They were still as ugly as they were at the beginning. Then I awoke.

v22 I also saw in my dream 7 grains that grew on one stem of corn. The grains were fat and good. v23 And 7 other grains grew after them. Those grains were poor and thin. They seemed as if a cold wind had blown on them from the east. v24 And the thin grains swallowed the 7 good grains. I told these dreams to the people who know magic. But there was nobody who could explain the meaning to me.’

v25 Then Joseph said to *Pharaoh, ‘*Pharaoh’s two dreams are one. God has shown to *Pharaoh what he will do. v26 The 7 good cows are 7 years. And the 7 good grains are 7 years. The two dreams are one. v27 The 7 thin, ugly cows that came up after them are 7 years. And the 7 empty grains that the wind from the east blew are also 7 years. They are 7 years when there will be no food. v28 What I said to *Pharaoh is true. God has shown to *Pharaoh what he will do. v29 There will be 7 years when food will be plentiful in all Egypt. v30 But after those years, there will be 7 years when there will be no food. The inhabitants of Egypt will forget the plenty. The *famine will ruin the land. v31 People will not remember the plenty because of the *famine that will follow. The *famine will be very bad. v32 And *Pharaoh’s dream was double. That means that God has decided this thing. God will soon make it happen. ‘

v33 Joseph continued, ‘Now therefore let *Pharaoh select a man who is clever and wise. And let *Pharaoh give him authority over the whole country, Egypt. v34 Let *Pharaoh appoint managers over the land. And let them take parts of the crops that the land produces. Let them take one part out of every 5 parts. Let them do this during the 7 years of plenty. v35 And let them gather all the food during these good years that will come. Let them store grain as *Pharaoh gives authority to them. The grain shall be food for the people who live in the cities. Let the managers store the grain until people need it. v36 The grain shall be a reserve of food for the country. People will need that food during the 7 years when there will be no food in Egypt. So the inhabitants of the country shall not die. The lack of food shall not kill them.’

v37 *Pharaoh and his servants considered that this proposal was good. v38 And *Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘We could not find another man who is like this man. God’s Spirit is in him.’ v39 So *Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘God has shown all this to you. Nobody is as clever and as wise as you are. v40 Therefore you shall have authority over my house. All my people shall do as you *command them. Only I, who sit on the king’s high chair, will be greater than you are.’

v41 And *Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I have given you authority over the whole country, Egypt.’ v42 Then *Pharaoh took his ring of authority from his hand. He put it on Joseph’s hand. He dressed Joseph in linen clothes. He put a gold chain round Joseph’s neck. v43 He made Joseph ride in his second *chariot. And men shouted in front of his *chariot, ‘Make way!’ So *Pharaoh put Joseph over all Egypt. v44 Moreover *Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I am *Pharaoh. But nobody shall move a hand or a foot in all Egypt if you do not permit it.’

v45 *Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah. He gave Asenath to Joseph as his wife. Asenath was Potiphera’s daughter and Potiphera was a priest of On. So Joseph had authority over all Egypt. v46 Joseph was 30 years of age when he became a servant of *Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from *Pharaoh’s palace and he travelled through the whole country, Egypt.

v47 During the 7 years of plenty, the earth produced a large quantity of food. v48 And Joseph gathered all the food during the 7 years when there was plenty in Egypt. He stored food in the cities. He stored in the cities the food that came from the fields. He stored in each city the food that came from its neighbourhood. v49 And Joseph stored a great amount of grain. It was an amount like the sand that is by the sea. And Joseph stopped measuring it, because nobody could measure it.

v50 Before the years of *famine came, Joseph had two sons. Their mother was Asenath, who was Potiphera’s daughter. Potiphera was a priest of On. v51 Joseph called his older son Manasseh. He said, ‘God has made me forget all my trouble. He has made me forget my father’s house.’ v52 He called his second son Ephraim. He said, ‘God has made me able to produce in the country where I have had much trouble.’

v53 The 7 years of plenty in Egypt finished. v54 The 7 years when there was no food began. It happened as Joseph had said. There was a *famine in every country. But in all Egypt there was bread. v55 When all the inhabitants of Egypt were hungry, they cried for bread. They cried to *Pharaoh. And *Pharaoh said to all the inhabitants of Egypt, ‘Go to Joseph. Do what he tells you to do.’

v56 So when the whole country had a lack of food, Joseph opened all the stores. He sold grain to the inhabitants of Egypt. He did this because there was a *famine in all Egypt. v57 Moreover, people from all the earth came to Egypt. They came to Joseph in order to buy grain. They did this because the *famine was very bad in all the earth.

v1 Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt. So he said to his sons, ‘You look at each other and you do nothing! v2 I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go there and buy grain for us. Then we shall live and we shall not die.’

v3 So Joseph’s 10 brothers went to Egypt in order to buy grain. v4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, who was Joseph’s brother, with the other brothers. He was afraid that some evil thing might happen to him. v5 So Israel’s sons came to Egypt. They were among many other people who came to Egypt. They came to buy grain, because the lack of food was serious in their own country, *Canaan.

v6 Now Joseph was the ruler over the whole country, Egypt. He was the one who sold grain to all the inhabitants of the country. And Joseph’s brothers came and they bent themselves down to the ground in front of Joseph. v7 Joseph saw his brothers and he knew them. But he acted toward them as if they were foreigners. He spoke severely to them. ‘From where have you come?’ he said. They said, ‘We have come from *Canaan in order to buy food.’ v8 And Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him.

v9 Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them. And he said to them, ‘You are spies. You have come to see the weak places of this country. You are discovering how an enemy might attack it.’ v10 They said to him, ‘No, sir! Your servants have come in order to buy food. v11 We are all one man’s sons. We are honest men. Your servants are not spies.’ v12 He said to them, ‘No, you have come to see the weak places of this country.’ v13 And they said, ‘We, your servants, are 12 brothers. We are the sons of one man, who lives in *Canaan. The youngest brother is now with our father. And one brother is dead.’

v14 But Joseph said to them, ‘What I said is true. You are spies. v15 But I will test you. You shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. That is as certain as that *Pharaoh lives. v16 Let one person go. Let him bring your brother, while you remain in prison here. I will test your words. I will discover whether you say true things. If you do not, you are certainly spies. That is as certain as that *Pharaoh lives.’ v17 And Joseph put all the brothers together in prison for 3 days.

v18 On the third day, Joseph spoke to them. He said, ‘Do what I *command. So I will let you live, because I respect God. v19 If you are honest men, let one remain in the prison. Let the other men go. Let them carry grain for your families, who have no food. v20 And bring your youngest brother to me. In this way I will test whether your words are true. So you shall not die.’ And they did so.

v21 Then they spoke to each other. They said, ‘Truly we are guilty for what we did to our brother, Joseph. We saw his great fear. He appealed to us and we refused to listen. Therefore this trouble has come on us.’ v22 And Reuben answered them, ‘I told you not to hurt the boy. But you did not listen to me. So now this is a punishment for his death.’ v23 They did not know that Joseph understood them. When they spoke to Joseph, somebody interpreted their words into the Egyptian language. v24 Joseph turned away from them and he wept. Then he returned to them and he spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them. He bound Simeon while they watched him.

v25 And Joseph told his servants to fill the brothers’ bags with grain. He told his servants to put each brother’s money in his sack. And he told his servants to give food to the brothers for the journey. His servants did what Joseph *commanded. v26 Then the brothers loaded their grain onto their *donkeys and they set off.

v27 The brothers reached the place where they would stay for the night. One brother opened his sack in order to give food to his *donkey. And he saw his money, which was in the mouth of his sack. v28 And he said to his brothers, ‘Somebody has put my money back. It is here! It is in the top of my sack!’ Then they were very anxious. They looked at each other and they trembled. They said, ‘What has God done to us?’

v29 They reached their own country, *Canaan, and they came to Jacob their father. They told him all that had happened. They said, v30 ‘The man who is the ruler of the country spoke severely to us. He said that we were spies. v31 But we said to him, “We are honest men and we are not spies. v32 We are 12 brothers. We are sons of one father. One brother is dead and the youngest brother is now with our father in *Canaan.” v33 Then the man who is the ruler of the country spoke to us. He said, “I shall know that you are honest men in this way. Leave one brother with me and go on your way. Take grain for your families, who have no food. v34 And bring your youngest brother to me. Then I shall know that you are not spies. Then I shall know that you are honest men. And I will give your brother back to you and you shall trade in this country.” ’

v35 The brothers emptied their sacks. Then they saw that every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. They and their father saw their bundles of money. They were all very worried. v36 And Jacob their father said to them, ‘You have taken my children away from me. Joseph is dead. We have lost Simeon. And now you want to take Benjamin away. All these evil things have happened to me.’ v37 Then Reuben said to his father, ‘Kill my two sons if I do not bring Benjamin back to you. Let me look after Benjamin and I will bring him back to you.’ v38 But Jacob said, ‘My son shall not go to Egypt with you. His brother is dead and only he remains. Perhaps some evil thing will happen to him during the journey that you will make. You would send me and my grey hairs sadly to my grave.’

v1 Now there was an extreme lack of food in the region. v2 And they had eaten the grain that the brothers had brought from Egypt. So their father said to them, ‘Go again. Buy a little food for us.’ v3 But Judah said to him, ‘The man warned us definitely. He said, “You shall not see my face again unless your brother is with you.” v4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go. We will go to Egypt and we will buy food for you. v5 But if you will not send him, we will not go. The man said to us, “You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.” ’

v6 Israel said, ‘Why were you so cruel to me? Why did you tell the man that you had another brother?’ v7 They replied, ‘The man asked us all about ourselves and about our relatives. He said, “Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?” We gave him answers to these questions. We could not know what he would say. But he said, “Bring your brother here.” ’

v8 And Judah spoke to Israel his father. He said, ‘Send the boy with me and we will set out on the journey. So we and you and our children may live and we may not die. v9 I will be responsible for him. If anybody hurts him, you shall blame me. I shall bring him back to you and I shall put him in front of you again. And if I do not, then the blame shall be on me for all ages. v10 If we had not delayed, we would now have gone and returned twice.’

v11 Then their father Israel said to them, ‘If it must be so, then obey me. Take in your bags some of this country’s best products. Carry a present to the man. Take balm, honey, spice, myrrh, nuts and almonds. v12 Take double money with you. Carry back with you the money that came back in the tops of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. v13 Take also your brother. And set out and go again to the man. v14 I pray to the God who can do anything. I pray that God will protect you when you are in front of the man. I pray that the man will send back your other brother and Benjamin. If I lose my children, I lose everything.’

v15 So the brothers took the present and they took the double money with them. They took Benjamin and they set out. They went to Egypt and they stood in front of Joseph.

v16 Joseph saw that Benjamin was with them. So he said to the manager of his house, ‘Bring these men into my house. Kill an animal and prepare a meal. These men shall eat with me at noon.’ v17 The manager did what Joseph told him to do. And he brought the brothers to Joseph’s house.

v18 The brothers were afraid because men brought them to Joseph’s house. They said, ‘They have brought us here because of the money that they returned to our sacks before. That is the reason why they brought us here. He wants to show that we are guilty. They will attack us. He will make us slaves and he will take our *donkeys.’

v19 So they went to the manager of Joseph’s house and they spoke with him. They spoke at the door of the house. v20 They said, ‘Oh, sir! We came here the first time in order to buy food. v21 Then we reached the place where we stopped for the night. There we opened our sacks. And we discovered every man’s money! The money was in the tops of the sacks. All our money was there. So we have brought it again with us. v22 And we have brought other money so that we may buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.’ v23 The manager of Joseph’s house replied, ‘Do not worry. Do not be afraid. Your God and your father’s God put money in your sacks for you. I received your money.’ Then he brought Simeon out to them.

v24 The manager of Joseph’s house led the brothers into the house. He gave water to them and they washed their feet. And he gave food to their *donkeys. v25 The brothers heard that Joseph would return at noon. And they heard that they would eat a meal in Joseph’s house. So they prepared the present that they had brought. v26 And when Joseph came home, the brothers brought the present to him. They bent themselves down to the ground in front of him.

v27 Joseph asked whether they were well. And he said, ‘Is your father well, the old man, whom you mentioned? Is he still alive?’ v28 They said, ‘Your servant our father is well. He is still alive.’ And they bent their heads down in honour of Joseph. v29 And Joseph saw Benjamin, who was his brother. Benjamin was his mother’s son. Joseph said, ‘Is this your youngest brother, whom you mentioned to me? Let God be kind to you, my son!’ v30 Then Joseph went quickly out of the room, because of his emotion when he saw his brother. He looked for a place where he might weep. And he entered his own room and he wept there. v31 Then he washed his face and he came out. He controlled himself. And he said, ‘Bring the food.’

v32 The servants brought food to Joseph apart from the other men. The brothers also were apart. And the Egyptians who ate with Joseph were apart. The Egyptians did not eat with the *Hebrews, because Egyptians never eat with foreigners. v33 The brothers were sitting as Joseph directed. The oldest brother sat at the head of the table. That was his right because he was the oldest son. And the youngest brother sat at the other end. And the brothers looked at each other in great surprise. v34 A servant took shares to them from Joseph’s table. But Benjamin’s share was 5 times bigger than the share of the other brothers. So they ate and drank with Joseph.

v1 Then Joseph *commanded the manager of his house. He said to him, ‘Fill the men’s bags with grain. Give to them as much grain as they can carry. And put each man’s money in the top of his sack. v2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the top of the youngest one’s sack. Put it there with the money that he paid for the grain.’ And Joseph’s manager did as Joseph *commanded him.

v3 As soon as the morning came, Joseph sent the brothers away with their *donkeys. v4 When the brothers had gone only a short distance from the city, Joseph spoke to his manager. He said, ‘Go! Follow the men. When you catch up with them, speak to them. Say, “You have done an evil thing to us after we did good things for you. You have stolen the silver cup. v5 My master drinks from this cup. He also uses it to find the truth by magic. You have done a very wrong thing.” ’

v6 When the manager caught up with the brothers, he spoke these words to them. v7 They said to him, ‘My master should not say such words as these. We, who are your servants, would never do such a thing. v8 We found the money that was in the tops of our sacks. And we brought it back to you from our own country, *Canaan. We have no reason to steal silver or gold from your master’s house. v9 If you find the cup among one person’s possessions, let him die. And we also will be my master’s slaves.’ v10 The manager said, ‘We will do what you say. He who has the cup shall be my slave. The other men shall be without blame.’ v11 Then every man quickly put his sack down on the ground and every man opened his sack. v12 And the manager searched. He began with the oldest brother and he finished with the youngest brother. And he found the cup in Benjamin’s sack. v13 Then they tore their clothes. Every man loaded his *donkey and they returned to the city.

v14 When Judah and his brothers reached Joseph’s house, Joseph was still there. They fell to the ground in front of him. v15 Joseph said to them, ‘You have done an evil deed. You should have known that a man like me can certainly find the truth by magic.’ v16 And Judah said, ‘We do not know what to say to my master. We do not know how to speak. We cannot show that we are honest. God has shown that we are guilty. We are my master’s slaves. Both we and the one who had the cup are my master’s slaves.’ v17 But Joseph said, ‘I would certainly not do that! Only the man who had the cup shall be my slave. But you other men, go in peace to your father.’

v18 Then Judah went closer to Joseph. And he said, ‘Sir, please let your servant say a word to my master. And let not your anger be fierce against your servant. Truly you are like *Pharaoh himself. v19 My master asked his servants, “Have you a father or a brother?” v20 And we said to my master, “We have a father, who is an old man. And we have a young brother. He was born while his father was already old. He had another brother by the same mother, but he is dead. He is the only child of his mother who remains. His father loves him.” v21 Then you said to your servants, “Bring your brother to me, so that I may see him.” v22 We said to my master, “The boy cannot leave his father. If he should leave his father, his father would die.” v23 Then you said to your servants, “Unless your youngest brother is with you, you shall not see my face again.” v24 Then we went back to your servant my father. And we told him what my master had said.’

v25 Judah continued, ‘Then our father said, “Go again and buy some food for us.” v26 We said, “We cannot go there. If our youngest brother goes with us, we will go there. But we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.” v27 Then your servant my father spoke to us. He said, “You know that my wife produced two sons for me. v28 One son left me. And I said: Certainly wild animals have torn him apart. I have never seen him since that time. v29 If you take this son also from me, then perhaps some evil thing will happen to him. You would send me and my grey hairs sadly to my grave.” ’

v30 And Judah continued, ‘I shall come to your servant my father, and the boy will not be with us. His father’s life depends on the boy’s life. v31 Therefore, when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. Your servants will send our father and his grey hairs sadly to his grave. v32 And I, your servant, became responsible for the boy. I said, “If I do not bring him back, then the blame shall be on me for all ages.” v33 Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the boy. I will be a slave to my *lord. But let the boy go back with his brothers. v34 I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I am afraid of the evil thing that would happen to my father.’

v1 Then Joseph could not control himself in front of all those who stood by him. He cried, ‘Make every one go out from me.’ So nobody stayed with Joseph when he showed himself to his brothers. v2 Joseph wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him. And the people who were in *Pharaoh’s court heard.

v3 And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers could not answer him, because Joseph astonished them. v4 So Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come near to me.’ And they came near to him. And he said, ‘I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. v5 And now, do not be worried. Do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me here. God sent me here before you. He did that so as to keep us alive. v6 The *famine has lasted for 2 years. And for another 5 years, people will not plough and they will not harvest crops. v7 And God sent me before you so that your families should remain on the earth. He sent me so that many people would remain alive. v8 So you did not send me here, but God sent me. And he has made me like a father to *Pharaoh. God has made me the master over *Pharaoh’s house. He has made me the ruler over all Egypt.’

v9 Joseph continued, ‘Hurry! Go to my father. Say to him, “Your son Joseph says: ‘God has made me the master of all Egypt. Come to me here and do not delay. v10 You shall live in the district that is called *Goshen. So you shall be near to me. You and your children and your grandchildren shall live there. Bring your sheep and your cows. Bring all that you have. v11 There will still be a *famine for a further 5 years, but I will provide for you. Otherwise, you will starve. Your family will starve. And all that you have will starve.’ ” v12 And now it is I who speak to you. You can see that it is I. My brother Benjamin can see that it is I. v13 You must tell my father how important I am in Egypt. Tell him about all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father here.’

v14 Then Joseph put his arms round his brother Benjamin’s neck and he wept. And Benjamin put his arms round Joseph. v15 Joseph kissed all his brothers and he wept with them. And after that, his brothers talked with him.

v16 *Pharaoh and his servants heard that Joseph’s brothers had come. They were very pleased. v17 And *Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Say to your brothers, “Do this! Load your animals and go back to your country, *Canaan. v18 Bring your father and all your people to me. I will give you the best things in Egypt. And you shall eat the best food in the country.” v19 *Command your brothers also, “Do this! Take wagons from Egypt so that your children and your wives may ride. And come and bring your father. v20 Do not worry about your goods. The best things in all Egypt are yours.” ’

v21 Israel’s sons did so. And Joseph gave to them wagons, as *Pharaoh *commanded. And he gave to them food for the journey. v22 He gave new clothes to each of them. But to Benjamin he gave 300 pieces of silver. And he gave to him 5 sets of clothes. v23 Moreover he sent to his father 10 *donkeys, which carried products of Egypt. And he sent 10 female *donkeys, which carried grain, bread and other food. These things were for his father on the journey. v24 Then Joseph sent his brothers away. And as they left, he spoke to them. He said, ‘Do not quarrel during the journey.’

v25 So the brothers left Egypt and they came to their father Jacob in their own country, *Canaan. v26 And they told their father, ‘Joseph is still alive! And he is the ruler of all Egypt.’ Their words astonished Jacob and he did not believe them. v27 But they told him all that Joseph had said to them. And Jacob saw the wagons that Joseph had sent. He recovered from the shock. v28 And Israel said, ‘Now I believe what you say. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go. I will see him before I die.’

v1 So Israel set out on his journey and he took all his possessions with him. He came to Beer-sheba. And there he gave *offerings to the God of his father Isaac. v2 And God spoke to Israel in dreams. He said, ‘Jacob, Jacob.’ And Israel said, ‘I am here.’ v3 Then God said, ‘I am God. I am your father’s God. Do not be afraid to go to Egypt. There I will make from you a great nation. v4 I will go with you to Egypt and I will also bring you back again. And when you die Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.’

v5 Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba. And Israel’s sons carried Jacob their father. And they carried their children and their wives. They carried them in the wagons that *Pharaoh had sent for them. v6 They also took their cows and their possessions, which they had gained in *Canaan. And they came into Egypt. Jacob and all his family came with him into Egypt. v7 He brought his sons and his sons’ sons. He brought his daughters and his sons’ daughters. He brought all his family with him into Egypt.

v8 These are the names of Israel’s family who entered Egypt. They were Jacob and his sons. Jacob’s oldest son was Reuben.

v9  Reuben’s sons were

  Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

v10  Simeon’s sons were

  Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar and Shaul.

  (Shaul’s mother was a *Canaanite woman.)

v11  Levi’s sons were

  Gershon, Kohath and Merari.

v12  Judah’s sons were

  Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah.

  (But Er and Onan died in *Canaan.)

  And Perez’s sons were Hezron and Hamul.

v13  Issachar’s sons were

  Tola, Phuvah, Iob and Shimron.

v14  Zebulun’s sons were

  Sered, Elon and Jahleel.

v15 These are Leah’s sons. They were born to Jacob in Paddan-aram. His daughter Dinah was also born there. The number of these sons and daughters of Jacob was 33.

v16  Gad’s sons were

  Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Areli.

v17  Asher’s sons were

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

  And Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malchiel.

v18 These are Zilpah’s sons. Laban gave Zilpah to Leah his daughter. These 16 children were born to Jacob.

v19  Rachel’s sons (Rachel was Jacob’s wife) were

  Joseph and Benjamin.

v20 Joseph became the father of Manasseh and Ephraim. They were born in Egypt and their mother was Asenath. She was Potiphera’s daughter. Potiphera was the priest of On.

v21  Benjamin’s sons were

  Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard

v22 These are Rachel’s sons. These 14 children were born to Jacob.

v23  Dan’s son was

  Hushim.

v24  Naphtali’s sons were

  Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem.

v25 These are Bilhah’s sons. Laban gave Bilhah to Rachel his daughter. These 7 children were born to Jacob.

v26 The number of people who came into Egypt was 66. Those were Jacob’s own relatives. That number does not include Jacob’s sons’ wives. v27 And Joseph’s sons, who were born to him in Egypt, were 2. The number of all the persons of Jacob’s family who entered Egypt was 70.

v28 Jacob sent Judah before him to Joseph. He asked Joseph to meet him in the district that is called *Goshen. And they came into *Goshen. v29 Then Joseph prepared his *chariot and he went to meet Israel his father in *Goshen. He presented himself to his father and he put his arms round his father’s neck. He wept for a time. v30 Israel said to Joseph, ‘Now I am ready to die. I have seen your face. And I know that you are still alive.’

v31 Joseph spoke to his brothers and to his father’s family. He said, ‘I will go and I will speak to *Pharaoh. I will say to him, “My brothers and my father’s family, who were in *Canaan, have come to me. v32 The men are keepers of animals. They have their own sheep and cows. They have brought their sheep and cows and they have brought all their possessions.” v33 When *Pharaoh calls you, he will say, “What is your occupation?” v34 And you shall say, “Your servants have kept animals for our whole lives. Our fathers did the same thing before us.” In that way you may live in the district that is called *Goshen. The inhabitants of Egypt avoid those who keep animals.’

v1 So Joseph went to *Pharaoh. He said to him, ‘My father and my brothers have come from *Canaan. They have brought their sheep and their cows and all their possessions. They are now in *Goshen.’ v2 Joseph had chosen 5 out of his brothers and he introduced them to *Pharaoh. v3 *Pharaoh said to Joseph’s brothers, ‘What is your occupation?’ And they said to *Pharaoh, ‘Your servants keep animals. Our fathers did the same thing.’ v4 They said to *Pharaoh, ‘We have come to this land because there is no food for your servants’ sheep. The lack of food is serious in our own country, *Canaan. And now, please, let your servants live in *Goshen.’

v5 Then *Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘So your father and your brothers have come to you. v6 The land of Egypt is in front of you. Let your father and your brothers live in the best part of the land. Let them live in *Goshen. And if you know any capable men among them, let them look after my cows.’

v7 Then Joseph brought Jacob his father and he introduced him to *Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed *Pharaoh. v8 *Pharaoh said to Jacob, ‘How many are the years of your life?’ v9 And Jacob said to *Pharaoh, ‘The years that I have stayed on the earth are 130 years. The years of my life have been few and evil. They have been fewer than the years of my fathers who were before me.’ v10 And Jacob blessed *Pharaoh. And he went out from *Pharaoh.

v11 Then Joseph gave a place to live to his father and to his brothers. He gave them a possession in Egypt. It was in the best part of the country. It was in the region that is called Rameses. That was as *Pharaoh had *commanded.

v12 And Joseph provided food for his father and for his brothers. He provided enough food for all the people who lived in his father’s house.

v13 Now there was no food in all the country. The *famine was very bad. It ruined all Egypt and it ruined all *Canaan. v14 And Joseph gathered all the money that was in Egypt and in *Canaan. People gave it to him when they bought grain. And Joseph brought the money into *Pharaoh’s house.

v15 And the inhabitants of Egypt and the inhabitants of *Canaan spent all the money that they had. Then the inhabitants of Egypt came to Joseph. They said, ‘Give us food. If you do not do so, we will die. We will die because we have spent all our money.’ v16 And Joseph answered, ‘Give me your animals. I will take your animals and I will give food to you. I will do that because you have no money.’ v17 So they brought their animals to Joseph. And Joseph took the animals and he gave food to the people. Joseph took their horses, their sheep, their cows and their *donkeys. He took their animals and he gave food to them during all that year.

v18 So that year ended. And in the next year, the people came to Joseph. They said to him, ‘We will not hide from our master that we have spent all our money. All our animals belong to you, our master. We have nothing else that we can give to our master except our bodies and our lands. v19 It is not right that we and our land should die. Take us and take our land. And give food to us. We will be *Pharaoh’s slaves and our land shall belong to *Pharaoh. And give us seed so that we may sow it. So we may live and not die. And so the land may not become a desert.’

v20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for *Pharaoh. All the inhabitants of Egypt sold their fields, because the *famine was so bad. The land became *Pharaoh’s. v21 And Joseph made the people slaves in all Egypt. v22 But Joseph did not buy the land of the priests, because *Pharaoh gave to them a regular payment. The priests lived on the payment that *Pharaoh gave to them. Therefore, the priests did not sell their land.

v23 Then Joseph said to the people, ‘I have bought you and your land for *Pharaoh. Now I give seed to you. Sow the seed on the land. v24 And at the harvests, you shall give a part of the crops to *Pharaoh. You shall give to *Pharaoh one part in every 5 parts. And 4 parts in every 5 parts shall be your own. It shall be seed for the field. And it shall be food for yourselves and for your families and for your children.’ v25 And the people said, ‘You have saved us and we are still alive. We will be slaves to *Pharaoh, if that pleases you, our master.’ v26 So Joseph made a law, which still stands in Egypt. The law says that *Pharaoh should have one part in every 5 parts. Only the priests’ land did not become *Pharaoh’s.

v27 Israel and his family lived in Egypt. They lived in the district that is called *Goshen. They gained possessions in it. They had large families and they increased greatly. v28 And Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 years. So Jacob’s life was 147 years.

v29 And when the time of Israel’s death was near, he called his son Joseph. He said to him, ‘If now you are pleased with me, put your hand under my leg. Promise that you will be honest and true toward me. Do not bury me in Egypt, v30 but let me lie with my fathers. Carry my body out of Egypt. Bury me in the place where people buried my fathers.’ Joseph answered, ‘I will do as you have said.’ v31 And Israel said, ‘Make a firm promise to me’. And Joseph made a firm promise to him. Then Israel bent himself down over the head of his bed.

v1 After this, Joseph heard that his father was ill. So he went to his father and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. v2 And someone said to Jacob, ‘Your son Joseph has come to you’. Then, by an effort, Israel sat up in his bed. v3 And Jacob said to Joseph, ‘God, who can do anything, appeared to me at Luz. That is in the land that is called *Canaan. He blessed me. v4 And he said to me, “I will make you have large families. I will make you have many *descendants. I will make from you a group of peoples. And I will give this land to your *descendants who shall be after you. They shall possess it for all ages.” ’

v5 Jacob continued, ‘And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, shall be mine. They were born to you here in this country, Egypt, before I came here. But they shall be called my sons, as Reuben and Simeon are my sons. v6 And the children who shall be born to you after them shall be called your sons. When they come to their own land, they shall be called by their brothers’ names. v7 When I came from Paddan, Rachel died during the journey. I was very sad that she died. She died in *Canaan, when we were still some distance from Ephrath. I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, which is called Bethlehem.’

v8 Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons. And he said, ‘Who are these?’ v9 Joseph said to his father, ‘These are my sons, whom God has given to me here.’ And Israel said, ‘Bring them to me, please, so that I may bless them.’ v10 Now Israel’s eyes were weak because of his age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near to him. And Israel kissed them and he hugged them. v11 And Israel said to Joseph, ‘I did not expect to see your face. But God has let me see your children also.’ v12 Then Joseph took the children from Israel’s knees. And he bent himself down with his face to the earth.

v13 And Joseph took the two children. He took Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand. And he took Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand. And he brought them near to Israel. v14 And Israel reached out his right hand and he put it on Ephraim’s head. But Ephraim was the younger son. And Israel reached out his left hand and he put it on Manasseh’s head. But Manasseh was the older son. So Israel held one arm across the other arm.

v15 And Israel blessed them. He said,

  ‘My fathers Abraham and Isaac lived in front of God’s face.

  And God has led me through all my life to this day.

v16  He is the *angel who has rescued me from all evil things.

  He shall bless these boys.

  They shall be called by my name

  and by the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

  Let them increase greatly on the earth.’

v17 Joseph saw that his father put his right hand on Ephraim’s head. That did not please Joseph. He took his father’s hand so as to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. v18 And Joseph said to his father, ‘No, my father! This one is the older son. Put your right hand on his head.’ v19 But his father refused. And he said, ‘I know, my son. I know. He also shall become a nation and he also shall be great. But his younger brother shall be greater than he shall. And his family shall become many nations.’ v20 So Israel blessed them that day. He said,

  ‘The nation of Israel will use your names when they bless people.

  They will say,

  “Let God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.” ’

So Israel made Ephraim more important than Manasseh.

v21 Then Israel said to Joseph, ‘I shall die very soon, but God will be with you. He will bring you back to the country where your fathers lived. v22 Moreover I give Shechem to you rather than to your brothers. I took it from the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.’

v1 Then Jacob called his sons. He said to them, ‘Gather yourselves together. I will tell you what shall happen to you in the future.’

v2  ‘Come near to me and listen, Jacob’s sons.

  Listen to Israel your father.

v3  Reuben, you are my oldest son.

  You are my strength and you have come out of my strength.

  You are very proud and you are very powerful.

v4  But you flow as water flows. You shall not be first,

  because you had sex with your father’s extra wife.

  You did a very wrong thing. You went into my bed.’

v5  ‘Simeon and Levi are brothers.

  They make plans for deeds of war.

v6  I do not join in with their plans.

  I do not go with them.

  They are angry and they kill men.

  They are fierce and they kill animals.

v7  Their anger is evil, because it is so fierce.

  Their deeds are wicked, because they are so cruel.

  I will divide them in Jacob

  and I will scatter them in Israel.’

v8  ‘Judah, your brothers shall praise you.

  Your hand shall be on your enemies’ necks.

  Your father’s sons shall bend themselves down in front of you.

v9  Judah is like a young lion.

  You have returned with the animal that you killed, my son.

  You prepare to attack and you lie down like a lion.

  You are like a female lion. Nobody dares to wake you.

v10  There shall always be a king in Judah.

  There shall always be a ruler in the *tribe of Judah.

  Then he shall receive the things that belong to him.

  All the peoples must obey him.

v11  He shall tie his *donkey to the vine.

  He shall tie a young *donkey to the red vine.

  He washes his clothes in wine.

  He washes his coat in the new wine.

v12  His eyes shall be darker than wine.

  His teeth shall be whiter than milk.’

v13  ‘Zebulun shall live at the sea’s shore.

  He shall become a harbour for ships

  and his border shall be at Sidon.

v14  Issachar is like a strong *donkey,

  which lies in the sheep’s pens.

v15  He sees that his home is good

  and that the land is pleasant.

  So he lifts up his load

  and he becomes a willing worker.’

v16  ‘Dan shall be a judge for his people.

  They shall be as the other families in Israel.

v17  Dan shall be like a snake on the way.

  He shall be like a snake that waits by the path.

  It bites the horse’s feet

  so that the rider falls from the horse.

v18  I wait until you save me, *Lord.

v19  Robbers shall attack Gad,

  but he shall attack them from behind.

v20  Asher shall eat good food every day.

  He shall provide food that is for a king.

v21  Naphtali is a wild animal that goes free.

  Its young ones are lovely.’

v22  ‘Joseph is like a young wild *donkey.

  He is like a young *donkey, which is drinking at a pool.

  He is like a young *donkey by the side of a rock.

v23  Those who use bows attack him fiercely.

  They shoot arrows at him in order to kill him.

v24  But the bow broke.

  The strong arms trembled.

  The hand of the strong one of Jacob helps him.

  The keeper, who is Israel’s rock, supports him.

v25  You stand by your father’s God, who helps you.

  The God who can do anything blesses you.

  He blesses you from heaven that is above.

  He blesses you from the deep place that is underneath.

  He blesses the mothers and their children.

v26  Your father’s *blessings are strong.

  They are stronger than the high mountains.

  They are stronger than the hills that last for all ages.

  Let these *blessings be on Joseph’s head.

  He was a prince over his brothers.’

v27  ‘Benjamin is a hungry wild dog.

  In the morning, he eats what he has killed.

  In the evening, he shares the things that he has taken.’

v28 These are the 12 *tribes of Israel. And their father said these words to his sons as he blessed them. He blessed each one with the *blessing that was suitable for him.

v29 Then Jacob *commanded his sons. He said to them, ‘I will soon go to be with my fathers. Bury me in the cave where people buried my fathers. The cave is in the field of Ephron the *Hittite. v30 It is in the field at Machpelah. It is east of Mamre, in *Canaan. Abraham bought the field and the cave from Ephron the *Hittite. He bought it so as to use it as a grave. v31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife. And there I buried Leah. v32 Abraham bought the field from the *Hittites. And he bought the cave that is in the field.’

v33 Then Jacob finished *commanding his sons. He drew his feet up into his bed and he died. So he went to be with his fathers.

v1 Then Joseph bent himself down over his father’s face. He wept over him and he kissed him. v2 And Joseph told his servants the doctors to embalm his father’s body. So the doctors embalmed Israel’s body. v3 They did that in 40 days, because 40 days are necessary to embalm a body. And the Egyptians wept for him 70 days.

v4–5 And when the days for weeping were over, Joseph spoke to *Pharaoh’s servants. He said, ‘If you are pleased with me, please speak to *Pharaoh. Please tell *Pharaoh that my father made me give a firm promise. He said to me, “I will die soon. Bury me in the grave that I bought in *Canaan.” Therefore, please let me go to bury my father. After I do that, I will return.’ v6 And *Pharaoh answered, ‘Go! Bury your father. Do what you promised to him.’

v7 So Joseph went to bury his father. And all *Pharaoh’s servants went with Joseph. The leaders of *Pharaoh’s court went and all the important inhabitants of Egypt went. v8 Joseph’s brothers went. Joseph’s servants and his father’s servants went. Only the children and the sheep and the cows stayed in *Goshen. v9 And *chariots and horsemen also went with Joseph. Very many people went together.

v10 They came to the farm of Atad, which was near the river Jordan. They stopped there and they wept loudly and bitterly. There Joseph wept for his father for 7 days. v11 The *Canaanites, who lived in the region, saw the weeping at the farm of Atad. They said, ‘The inhabitants of Egypt weep bitterly.’ Therefore, they called the place Abel-mizraim. It is near the river Jordan.

v12 And so Jacob’s sons did for him as he had *commanded them. v13 They carried him to his own country, *Canaan. And they buried him in the cave that is at Machpelah. It is east of Mamre. The cave is in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the *Hittite. He bought it so as to use it as a grave. v14 When Joseph had buried his father, he returned to Egypt with his brothers. And all those people who had gone with him returned to Egypt.

v15 After the death of their father, Joseph’s brothers said, ‘Perhaps Joseph will hate us. Perhaps he will punish us for all the evil things that we did to him.’ v16 So they sent a message to Joseph. They said, ‘Your father *commanded us before he died. v17 He said, “Say to Joseph: ‘Please forgive your brothers’ faults and their evil deeds. I know that they did evil things to you.’ ” So please forgive the evil deeds that we have done. Remember that we are the servants of your father’s God.’ Joseph wept when they spoke to him. v18 Joseph’s brothers also came to him and they fell down in front of him. They said, ‘We are your servants.’

v19 But Joseph said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I am not a judge, as God is. v20 You intended to do evil things to me. But God intended to do good things. The purpose of his plan was to keep many people alive. And they are alive today. v21 So do not be afraid. I will provide for you and I will provide for your children.’ And so, Joseph took away his brothers’ fear and he comforted them.

v22 So Joseph lived in Egypt. He and his father’s family lived there. And Joseph lived for 110 years. v23 Joseph saw Ephraim’s grandchildren. The children of Machir, who was Manasseh’s son, were born on Joseph’s knees.

v24 And Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I will soon die. But God will be with you and he will bring you out of this country, Egypt. He will bring you to the country, *Canaan, that he promised. He promised it to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.’ v25 Then Joseph made Israel’s sons give him a firm promise. Joseph said, ‘With God’s help you shall carry my bones away from here.’ v26 So Joseph died when he had lived for 110 years. The doctors embalmed Joseph’s body. And they put Joseph’s body in a box in Egypt.