Genesis

Genesis

In the beginning,

Elohim created the sky and the land.

Now the land was wild and empty,

darkness was over the face of the deep,

and the Breath of Elohim hovered

over the waters.

Then Elohim said,

“Let there be light,”

and there was light.

Elohim saw that the light was good.

And He separated the light from the darkness.

He called the light Day,

and the darkness He called Night.

There was evening,

and there was morning—

the first time-marker.

Elohim said,

“Let there be a space between the waters,

to separate water from water.”

So Elohim made the space

and separated the water beneath

from the water above.

And it was so.

Elohim called the space Sky.

There was evening,

and there was morning—

the second time-marker.

Elohim said,

“Let the waters beneath the sky

be gathered to one place,

and let dry ground appear.”

And it was so.

Elohim called the dry ground Land,

and the gathered waters He called Sea.

And Elohim saw that it was good.

Then Elohim said,

“Let the land produce vegetation—

plants bearing seed,

and fruit trees bearing fruit with seed in it,

each according to its kind.”

And it was so.

The land produced plants and trees,

each according to their kind,

and Elohim saw that it was good.

There was evening,

and there was morning—

the third time-marker.

Elohim said,

“Let there be lights in the sky

to separate the day from the night,

and let them mark sacred times, days, and seasons.

Let them give light on the earth.”

And it was so.

Elohim made two great lights—

the greater to govern the day,

the lesser to govern the night—

and also the stars.

He placed them in the sky

to give light on the land,

to govern day and night,

and to separate light from darkness.

And Elohim saw that it was good.

There was evening,

and there was morning—

the fourth time-marker.

Elohim said,

“Let the waters teem with living creatures,

and let birds fly above the earth

across the sky.”

So He created the great sea creatures

and every living thing that moves in the waters,

and every winged bird,

each according to its kind.

And Elohim saw that it was good.

He blessed them and said,

“Be fruitful and increase in number.

Fill the waters in the seas,

and let the birds multiply on the land.”

There was evening,

and there was morning—

the fifth time-marker.

Elohim said,

“Let the land produce living creatures:

livestock, creeping things,

and wild animals,

each according to its kind.”

And it was so.

And Elohim saw that it was good.

Then Elohim said,

“Let Us make humanity in Our image—

after Our likeness—

to reflect Our character and care for the land.”

So Elohim created the human (adam)

in His image.

In the image of Elohim He created them—

male and female He created them.

And He blessed them and said,

“Be fruitful, multiply, fill the land,

and care for it.

Rule over the fish of the sea,

the birds of the sky,

and every living creature that moves on the land.”

Then Elohim said,

“See, I give you every seed-bearing plant

on the face of the whole earth

and every tree with fruit that has seed in it—

they will be your food.

And to all animals, birds, and crawling things

I give every green plant for food.”

And it was so.

Elohim saw everything He had made,

and behold—it was very good.

There was evening,

and there was morning—

the sixth time-marker.

———

Thus the sky and the land

and all their vast array were completed.

By the seventh time-marker,

Elohim had finished the work He had been doing.

So on the seventh, He ceased from all His work.

And Elohim blessed the seventh day

and made it set-apart,

because on it He stopped

from all the work of creating that He had done.

This is the story

of the sky and the land

when they were created—

when YHWH Elohim made earth and sky.

Now no bush had yet appeared on the land,

and no plant had yet sprung up,

for YHWH Elohim had not sent rain,

and there was no human to cultivate the soil.

But a mist arose from the land

and watered the whole surface of the ground.

Then YHWH Elohim formed the human

from the dust of the soil,

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life—

and the human became a living being.

The Garden of Delight

Now YHWH Elohim had planted a garden

in the east, in Eden—

and there He placed the human He had formed.

And YHWH Elohim caused

every kind of tree to grow from the soil—

pleasing to the eye and good for nourishment.

In the middle of the garden

were the tree of life

and the tree of the knowledge of good and harm.

A river flowed from Eden to water the garden,

and from there it divided into four streams:

The first is Pishon, which winds through Havilah,

where there is gold (the gold of that land is good),

and aromatic resin and onyx also are there.

The second is Gihon,

winding through the land of Cush.

The third is Tigris,

running east of Asshur.

The fourth is Euphrates.

The Human’s Role and Freedom

YHWH Elohim took the human

and placed him in the garden of Eden

to work it and watch over it.

And YHWH Elohim commanded the human:

“You are free to eat

from any tree in the garden—

but from the tree of the knowledge of good and harm,

you must not eat,

for in the day you eat from it,

you will certainly begin to die.”

A Companion Like No Other

Then YHWH Elohim said:

“It is not good

for the human to be alone.

I will make a helper

suited to him.”

Now YHWH Elohim had formed

from the soil all the wild animals

and all the birds of the sky.

He brought them to the human

to see what he would call them—

and whatever the human called each living creature,

that was its name.

So the human gave names

to all the livestock,

the birds of the sky,

and all the wild animals.

But for the human

no companion was found

that was his equal and counterpart.

The Woman Formed

So YHWH Elohim caused the human

to fall into a deep sleep,

and while he slept

He took one of his sides

and closed the place with flesh.

Then YHWH Elohim fashioned the side

He had taken from the human

into a woman,

and He brought her to the human.

And the human said:

“This one—at last!

Bone of my bones,

and flesh of my flesh!

She shall be called ‘woman,’

because she was taken out of man.”

One Flesh

For this reason

a man leaves his father and mother

and clings to his wife,

and the two become one flesh.

The human and his wife were both naked,

and they felt no shame.

———

Now the serpent

was more shrewd

than any of the wild animals

YHWH Elohim had made.

It said to the woman,

“Did God really say,

‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent,

“We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,

but God said,

‘You must not eat from the tree

in the middle of the garden,

and you must not touch it,

or you will die.’”

“You will not surely die,”

the serpent said to the woman.

“For God knows that when you eat from it

your eyes will be opened,

and you will be like gods,

knowing good and harm.”

The Choice

When the woman saw

that the tree was good for food,

pleasing to the eye,

and desirable for gaining wisdom,

she took from its fruit and ate.

She also gave some to her man,

who was with her,

and he ate.

Then the eyes of both were opened,

and they realized they were naked.

So they sewed fig leaves together

and made coverings for themselves.

The Voice in the Garden

Then they heard the sound of YHWH Elohim

walking in the garden

in the cool of the day,

and the human and his wife

hid themselves among the trees of the garden.

But YHWH Elohim called to the human:

“Where are you?”

He answered,

“I heard You in the garden,

and I was afraid

because I was naked,

so I hid.”

And He said:

“Who told you that you were naked?

Have you eaten from the tree

I commanded you not to eat from?”

The man said,

“The woman You gave to be with me—

she gave me fruit from the tree,

and I ate.”

Then YHWH Elohim said to the woman,

“What is this you have done?”

The woman said,

“The serpent deceived me,

and I ate.”

The Consequences

Then YHWH Elohim said to the serpent:

**“Because you have done this,

cursed are you

above all livestock and wild animals.

You will crawl on your belly

and eat dust

all the days of your life.

And I will place hostility

between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers.

He will strike your head,

and you will strike his heel.”**

To the woman He said:

“I will greatly increase your sorrow in childbearing;

with pain you will bring forth children.

Your desire will be for your man,

and he will rule over you.”

To the man He said:

**“Because you listened to your wife

and ate from the tree

I commanded you not to eat from:

Cursed is the ground because of you;

through hard toil

you will eat from it

all the days of your life.

It will produce thorns and thistles,

and you will eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your face

you will eat bread

until you return to the soil—

for from it you were taken.

Dust you are,

and to dust you will return.”**

The Covering and the Exile

The man named his wife Eve

(Chavah, Life-Giver),

because she would become

the mother of all living.

YHWH Elohim made garments of skin

for the human and his wife

and clothed them.

Then YHWH Elohim said:

“The human has become like one of Us,

knowing good and harm.

He must not be allowed

to reach out his hand

and also take from the tree of life and eat,

and live forever.”

So YHWH Elohim sent them out from the garden of Eden

to work the soil from which they had been taken.

He drove out the human,

and at the east of the garden of Eden

He placed the cherubim

and a flaming sword

flashing back and forth

to guard the way

to the tree of life.

———

A Reflection Between Genesis 3 & 4

For centuries, Genesis 3 has been called “The Fall of Man.”

But what if that name has led us to mishear the story?

The word fall implies a sudden drop from perfection into depravity—like a perfect angel turning demon. But Genesis 3 tells no such story. There’s no mention of Satan, original sin, or a cosmic legal verdict. Instead, we see something more human—and perhaps more healing.

In Eden, the human and the woman are:

naked and unashamed

walking with YHWH Elohim in the cool of the day

free to eat from all trees except one

Then comes a whisper. A voice.

Not a battle, not a betrayal of cosmic proportions—just a shift in trust.

They eat. Their eyes open.

And what do they see? Not evil. Not horror.

They see themselves—and suddenly feel shame.

They hide.

There is no mention that the humans were perfect.

They were innocent, immature, and becoming.

They were not angels—but embodied image-bearers learning to walk with freedom and love.

Their “fall” wasn’t down a moral staircase.

It was a fracture—a break in relational trust:

With themselves (they felt shame)

With each other (they blamed)

With creation (they now feared toil)

With God (they hid from love)

And yet, God never hid from them.

The first divine words after the rupture are not:

“What have you done?”

They are:

“Where are you?”

This is not a wrathful judge speaking.

It’s a wounded Lover, a faithful Parent, a Creator still walking in the garden,

longing for reconnection.

Even in exile, they are clothed.

Even after failure, they are named.

And even after hiding, God still speaks.

To call Genesis 3 a Fall is to emphasize punishment and shame.

To call it a Fracture is to emphasize relationship and repair.

The story that begins in Eden is not about a perfect people who blew it.

It is about a good but fragile humanity, learning to love and trust the One who made them.

And it is about a God

who still whispers,

“Where are you?”

———

Now the human knew his wife Eve,

and she conceived and bore Cain, saying:

“With the help of YHWH

I have brought forth a man.”

Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks,

and Cain worked the soil.

In the course of time,

Cain brought an offering to YHWH

from the fruit of the soil.

And Abel brought an offering, too—

from the firstborn of his flock,

from their fat portions.

YHWH regarded Abel and his offering,

but He did not regard Cain and his offering.

So Cain burned with anger,

and his face fell.

A Warning and a Choice

Then YHWH said to Cain:

**“Why are you angry?

Why has your face fallen?

If you do what is good,

will you not be lifted up?

But if you do not do what is good,

sin is crouching at your door.

Its desire is for you—

but you must rule over it.”**

The First Bloodshed

Cain said to his brother Abel,

“Let’s go out to the field.”

And while they were in the field,

Cain rose up against Abel his brother

and killed him.

Then YHWH said to Cain:

“Where is Abel your brother?”

He said,

“I do not know.

Am I my brother’s keeper?”

And YHWH said:

**“What have you done?

Listen—your brother’s blood

cries out to Me from the soil.

Now you are cursed from the ground,

which opened its mouth

to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

When you work the soil,

it will no longer yield its strength to you.

You will be a restless wanderer on the land.”**

The Mark of Mercy

Cain said to YHWH:

“My punishment is more than I can bear.

Today You are driving me from the soil,

and I will be hidden from Your face.

I will be a fugitive and a wanderer,

and whoever finds me may kill me.”

But YHWH said to him:

“Not so.

If anyone harms Cain,

vengeance will be taken sevenfold.”

Then YHWH put a mark on Cain

so that no one who found him would kill him.

So Cain went out from the presence of YHWH

and settled in the land of Nod,

east of Eden.

The Line of Cain

Cain knew his wife,

and she conceived and bore Enoch.

Cain built a city

and named it after his son Enoch.

To Enoch was born Irad,

and Irad fathered Mehujael,

and Mehujael fathered Methushael,

and Methushael fathered Lamech.

Lamech took two wives—

the name of one was Adah,

and the name of the other was Zillah.

Adah gave birth to Jabal—

he became the father of those who dwell in tents

and raise livestock.

His brother’s name was Jubal—

he became the father of all

who play the harp and flute.

Zillah also bore Tubal-Cain,

who forged tools out of bronze and iron.

Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.

Lamech’s Song

Lamech said to his wives:

**“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

wives of Lamech, listen to my song:

I have killed a man for wounding me,

a young man for striking me.

If Cain is avenged sevenfold,

then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”**

Another Beginning

Adam knew his wife again,

and she bore a son and named him Seth,

saying:

“God has appointed for me another child

in place of Abel,

since Cain killed him.”

Seth also had a son,

and he named him Enosh.

At that time,

people began to call upon the name of YHWH.

———

This is the scroll

of the generations of Adam.

When Elohim created humanity,

He made them in His own image.

Male and female He created them,

and He blessed them

and called them human (adam)

in the day they were created.

When Adam had lived 130 years,

he fathered a son in his likeness, in his image,

and named him Seth.

After Seth was born,

Adam lived 800 years

and had other sons and daughters.

So Adam lived a total of 930 years,

and then he died.

When Seth had lived 105 years,

he fathered Enosh.

After Enosh was born,

Seth lived 807 years

and had other sons and daughters.

So Seth lived 912 years,

and then he died.

When Enosh had lived 90 years,

he fathered Kenan.

After Kenan was born,

Enosh lived 815 years

and had other sons and daughters.

So Enosh lived 905 years,

and then he died.

When Kenan had lived 70 years,

he fathered Mahalalel.

After Mahalalel was born,

Kenan lived 840 years

and had other sons and daughters.

So Kenan lived 910 years,

and then he died.

When Mahalalel had lived 65 years,

he fathered Jared.

After Jared was born,

Mahalalel lived 830 years

and had other sons and daughters.

So Mahalalel lived 895 years,

and then he died.

When Jared had lived 162 years,

he fathered Enoch.

After Enoch was born,

Jared lived 800 years

and had other sons and daughters.

So Jared lived 962 years,

and then he died.

When Enoch had lived 65 years,

he fathered Methuselah.

After Methuselah was born,

Enoch walked with God

300 more years

and had other sons and daughters.

So Enoch lived 365 years.

And Enoch walked with God—

then he was no more,

because God took him.

When Methuselah had lived 187 years,

he fathered Lamech.

After Lamech was born,

Methuselah lived 782 years

and had other sons and daughters.

So Methuselah lived 969 years,

and then he died.

When Lamech had lived 182 years,

he fathered a son.

He named him Noah, saying:

“This one will comfort us

in the labor and toil of our hands

caused by the soil YHWH has cursed.”

After Noah was born,

Lamech lived 595 years

and had other sons and daughters.

So Lamech lived 777 years,

and then he died.

After Noah was 500 years old,

he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

———

(A Reflection Between Genesis 5 and 6)

In the midst of a chapter filled with repetition—“and then he died”... “and then he died”...—suddenly, the rhythm breaks.

“Enoch walked with God—then he was no more, because God took him.”

No death. No burial. No curse.

Just a quiet departure.

A holy interruption.

Enoch’s legacy isn’t power or offspring or longevity.

It’s this:

He walked with God.

This phrase isn’t theological jargon.

It speaks of closeness, of ongoing relationship.

Of moving through days in step with the Divine.

Enoch’s life is summarized not by what he did, but who he journeyed with.

Genesis 5 is a graveyard of names—holy and ancient—but all ending the same way.

Until Enoch.

His life breaks the pattern.

It whispers, “There’s something else possible.”

That death does not have the final word.

That closeness with God is not limited to Eden.

That to walk with God is to step outside the curse—even if just for one soul, one moment, one glimpse.

Enoch’s departure is left unexplained.

No chariots. No spectacle.

Just the subtle phrase: “God took him.”

It’s a mystery.

And like all good biblical mysteries, it opens a door of longing:

Could it be that intimacy with God leads not to death, but to transformation?

Could there be a storyline where trust rewrites endings?

Could this be the first whisper of resurrection hope?

Enoch is a prototype—a seed planted in early soil that will later bloom in Elijah, and then explode in Jesus, the firstborn from among the dead.

Most of us will not avoid death.

But Genesis wants you to know: you are not stuck in the cycle.

You can walk with God.

You can live a life so attuned to the Divine

that even if your body returns to dust, your spirit does not vanish.

Enoch didn’t build a city.

He didn’t rule a kingdom.

He walked.

And that was enough for God to say, “Come with Me.”

———

When people began to multiply on the face of the land

and daughters were born to them,

the sons of Elohim

saw that the daughters of humanity were beautiful,

and they took as wives whomever they chose.

Then YHWH said:

“My Breath will not contend with humanity forever,

for they are only flesh.

Their days will be limited to 120 years.”

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—

and also afterward—

when the sons of Elohim went to the daughters of humans

and had children by them.

These were the mighty ones of old,

the warriors of reputation.

Then YHWH saw

that human wickedness was great on the earth,

and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart

was only evil all the time.

YHWH regretted

that He had made humanity on the earth,

and His heart was deeply troubled.

So YHWH said:

“I will wipe from the face of the land

the human beings I have created—

people, animals, creeping things,

and birds of the sky—

for I regret that I have made them.”

But Noah

found favor in the eyes of YHWH.

The Legacy of Noah

This is the account of Noah’s line:

Noah was a righteous man,

blameless among his generation.

Noah walked with God.

Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight

and filled with violence.

Elohim looked upon the earth,

and saw how corrupt it had become—

for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth.

So Elohim said to Noah:

**“I have decided to bring an end to all flesh,

for the earth is filled with violence because of them.

I am going to destroy them along with the earth.

Make yourself an ark

of gopher wood.

Make rooms in the ark,

and cover it inside and out with pitch.

This is how you are to build it:

— 300 cubits long

— 50 cubits wide

— 30 cubits high

Make a roof for the ark,

and finish it to within a cubit of the top.

Put a door in the side of the ark,

and make lower, middle, and upper decks.”**

The Covenant of Rescue

**“Behold,

I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth

to destroy all flesh

in which is the breath of life under the sky.

Everything that is on the earth shall perish.

But I will establish My covenant with you,

and you will enter the ark—

you, your sons, your wife,

and your sons’ wives with you.

You are to bring into the ark

two of every living thing—

male and female—

to keep them alive with you.

Two of every kind of bird,

of every kind of animal,

and of every kind of creature that crawls on the ground

will come to you to be kept alive.

Also take for yourself every kind of food that is eaten

and store it.

It will be food for you and for them.”**

Noah did everything

just as Elohim commanded him.

———

Then YHWH said to Noah:

**“Go into the ark—

you and all your household—

because I have seen that you are righteous before Me

in this generation.

Take with you seven pairs

of every kind of clean animal,

a male and its mate,

and one pair

of every kind of animal that is not clean,

a male and its mate.

Also seven pairs

of every kind of bird,

male and female,

to keep their species alive

on the face of the land.

For in seven days

I will send rain on the earth

for forty days and forty nights,

and I will wipe from the face of the land

every living thing I have made.”**

And Noah did all that YHWH commanded him.

Noah was 600 years old

when the floodwaters came upon the earth.

So Noah and his sons,

his wife and his sons’ wives,

entered the ark

to escape the waters of the flood.

Pairs of clean and unclean animals,

of birds,

and of all creatures that move along the ground,

male and female,

came to Noah

and entered the ark,

as God had commanded.

And after the seven days,

the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

The Flood Begins

In the six-hundredth year of Noah’s life,

on the seventeenth day of the second month—

on that day

all the springs of the great deep burst forth,

and the windows of the sky were opened.

Rain fell on the earth

for forty days and forty nights.

On that very day,

Noah and his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—

along with his wife and the wives of his sons,

entered the ark.

They had with them

every kind of wild animal,

every kind of livestock,

every kind of creature that moves along the ground,

and every kind of bird—

everything with wings.

Pairs of all living creatures

that have the breath of life

came to Noah and entered the ark.

Those that entered,

male and female of all flesh,

went in as Elohim had commanded,

and YHWH shut the door behind him.

The Waters Prevail

The flood kept coming on the earth

for forty days,

and the waters rose and lifted the ark high above the land.

The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth,

and the ark floated on the surface of the waters.

They rose higher and higher on the earth,

and all the high mountains under the whole sky

were covered.

The waters rose more than fifteen cubits above the mountains.

Every living thing that moved on the land perished—

birds, livestock, wild animals,

all the creatures that swarm over the earth,

and all humanity.

Everything on dry land

that had the breath of life

in its nostrils died.

Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out—

people and animals

and the creatures that move along the ground

and the birds of the sky—

they were wiped from the earth.

Only Noah was left,

and those with him in the ark.

And the waters prevailed on the earth

for 150 days.

———

But Elohim remembered Noah

and all the wild animals

and the livestock that were with him in the ark.

And Elohim sent a wind across the earth,

and the waters began to recede.

The springs of the deep

and the windows of the sky were closed,

and the rain from the sky was restrained.

The waters receded steadily from the earth.

At the end of 150 days,

the waters had gone down.

On the seventeenth day of the seventh month,

the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

The waters continued to decrease

until the tenth month,

and on the first day of the tenth month

the tops of the mountains became visible.

After forty more days,

Noah opened a window he had made in the ark

and sent out a raven,

and it kept flying back and forth

until the waters had dried up from the earth.

Then he sent out a dove

to see if the waters had receded

from the surface of the ground.

But the dove found no place to rest its feet

and returned to him in the ark,

for the waters were still over the surface of the earth.

So he reached out his hand,

took the dove,

and brought it back to himself in the ark.

He waited seven more days

and again sent out the dove from the ark.

When the dove returned to him in the evening,

there in its beak

was a freshly plucked olive leaf!

Then Noah knew

that the waters had receded from the earth.

He waited seven more days

and sent the dove out again,

but this time it did not return to him.

The Earth Dries

By the first day of the first month

of Noah’s 601st year,

the waters had dried up from the earth.

Noah removed the covering from the ark

and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.

By the twenty-seventh day of the second month,

the earth was completely dry.

Then Elohim said to Noah:

**“Come out of the ark—

you and your wife,

your sons and their wives.

Bring out every kind of living creature with you—

the birds, the animals,

and all the creatures that move along the ground—

so they may multiply on the earth

and be fruitful and increase in number.”**

So Noah came out,

along with his sons, his wife,

and his sons’ wives.

All the animals and every crawling thing,

every bird and every creature that moves along the ground,

came out of the ark—

kind by kind.

The First Altar

Then Noah built an altar to YHWH,

and taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds,

he offered them as burnt offerings on the altar.

YHWH smelled the pleasing aroma

and said in His heart:

**“Never again will I curse the soil because of humans,

even though the thoughts of their hearts

are bent toward harm from youth onward.

And never again will I destroy

all living things as I have done.

As long as the earth endures:

Seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night

shall never cease.”**

———

Then Elohim blessed Noah and his sons

and said to them:

**“Be fruitful and multiply,

and fill the earth.

The fear and dread of you

will rest on all the beasts of the earth,

and on all the birds of the sky,

on every creature that moves along the ground,

and on all the fish of the sea—

they are given into your hands.

Everything that lives and moves

will be food for you.

Just as I gave you green plants,

I now give you everything.

But you must not eat meat

that still has its lifeblood in it.

And for your own lifeblood I will surely seek justice:

from every beast and from every human

I will call for an accounting.

Whoever sheds human blood,

by humans shall their blood be shed—

for in the image of Elohim

has He made humanity.

Now be fruitful and multiply,

spread out across the earth,

and fill it.”**

The First Covenant

Then Elohim said to Noah and to his sons:

**“Behold,

I establish My covenant with you

and with your descendants after you,

and with every living creature that is with you—

the birds, the livestock,

and every beast of the earth—

all that came out of the ark with you.

I establish My covenant with you:

Never again will all life be cut off

by the waters of a flood;

never again will there be a flood

to destroy the earth.”**

And Elohim said:

**“This is the sign of the covenant

I am making between Me and you

and every living creature with you,

a covenant for all generations to come:

I have set My rainbow in the cloud,

and it will be a sign

of the covenant between Me and the earth.

Whenever I bring clouds over the earth

and the rainbow appears in the clouds,

I will remember My covenant

between Me and you

and all living creatures.

Never again will the waters become a flood

to destroy all life.

When the rainbow is in the clouds,

I will see it

and remember the everlasting covenant

between Elohim and all living creatures

of every kind on the earth.”**

So Elohim said to Noah:

“This is the sign of the covenant

I have established

between Me and all life on the earth.”

The Brokenness of Noah

The sons of Noah who came out of the ark

were Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

(Ham was the father of Canaan.)

These three were the sons of Noah,

and from them

the whole earth was populated.

Noah, a man of the soil,

planted a vineyard.

He drank some of its wine,

and became drunk,

and lay uncovered inside his tent.

Ham, the father of Canaan,

saw the nakedness of his father

and told his two brothers outside.

But Shem and Japheth took a garment,

placed it on their shoulders,

and walked backward

to cover their father’s nakedness.

Their faces were turned away

so they would not see him exposed.

When Noah awoke from his wine

and learned what his youngest son had done to him,

he said:

“Cursed be Canaan!

The lowest of servants

shall he be to his brothers.”

He also said:

**“Blessed be YHWH, the God of Shem!

May Canaan be his servant.

May Elohim expand Japheth,

and may he dwell in the tents of Shem,

and may Canaan be his servant.”**

After the flood,

Noah lived 350 more years.

Noah lived a total of 950 years,

and then he died.

———

This is the account of the generations

of Shem, Ham, and Japheth,

the sons of Noah,

who had sons after the flood.

The Sons of Japheth

The sons of Japheth:

Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

The sons of Gomer:

Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

The sons of Javan:

Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

From these the coastland peoples spread out

into their territories,

each with their own language,

by clans within their nations.

The Sons of Ham

The sons of Ham:

Cush, Egypt (Mizraim), Put, and Canaan.

The sons of Cush:

Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteka.

The sons of Raamah:

Sheba and Dedan.

Cush fathered Nimrod,

who began to be powerful on the earth.

He was a mighty hunter before YHWH;

that is why it is said,

“Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before YHWH.”

The beginning of his kingdom was Babel,

Erech, Akkad, and Calneh,

in the land of Shinar.

From that land he went to Assyria

and built Nineveh,

Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,

and Resen—

between Nineveh and Calah—

that great city.

Mizraim (Egypt) fathered:

the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites,

Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came),

and the Caphtorites.

Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,

as well as the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites,

Hivites, Arkites, Sinites,

Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites.

Later the Canaanite clans scattered,

and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon

toward Gerar, as far as Gaza,

then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboyim,

as far as Lasha.

These were the sons of Ham,

by clans and languages,

in their lands and nations.

The Sons of Shem

Sons were also born to Shem,

the elder brother of Japheth,

and the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.

The sons of Shem:

Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

The sons of Aram:

Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.

Arphaxad fathered Shelah,

and Shelah fathered Eber.

To Eber were born two sons:

one was named Peleg (division),

because in his days

the earth was divided;

his brother was named Joktan.

Joktan fathered:

Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,

Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,

Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab.

All these were sons of Joktan.

Their territory extended from Mesha toward Sephar,

in the eastern hill country.

These were the sons of Shem,

by clans and languages,

in their lands and nations.

One Family, Many Nations

These are the clans of Noah’s sons,

according to their genealogies,

by their nations.

From these,

the nations spread out over the earth

after the flood.

———

Now the whole earth

had one language

and the same words.

As people moved eastward,

they found a plain in the land of Shinar

and settled there.

They said to each other:

“Come,

let us make bricks

and bake them thoroughly.”

They used brick instead of stone,

and tar for mortar.

Then they said:

“Come,

let us build for ourselves a city,

with a tower that reaches to the heavens,

so that we may make a name for ourselves

and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Divine Intervention

But YHWH came down

to see the city and the tower

the humans were building.

YHWH said:

**“Look,

they are one people

with one language,

and this is only the beginning

of what they will do.

Now nothing they plan

will be restrained from them.

Come,

let Us go down

and confuse their language

so they will not understand each other.”**

So YHWH scattered them from there

over the face of the whole earth,

and they stopped building the city.

That is why it was called Babel—

because there YHWH confused the language of the whole earth.

From there YHWH scattered them

over the face of all the land.

From Scattering to Lineage

This is the account of Shem’s generations:

Two years after the flood,

when Shem was 100 years old,

he became the father of Arphaxad.

After that, he lived 500 years

and had other sons and daughters.

Arphaxad lived 35 years

and fathered Shelah.

He lived 403 more years

and had other sons and daughters.

Shelah lived 30 years

and fathered Eber.

He lived 403 more years

and had other sons and daughters.

Eber lived 34 years

and fathered Peleg.

He lived 430 more years

and had other sons and daughters.

Peleg lived 30 years

and fathered Reu.

He lived 209 more years

and had other sons and daughters.

Reu lived 32 years

and fathered Serug.

He lived 207 more years

and had other sons and daughters.

Serug lived 30 years

and fathered Nahor.

He lived 200 more years

and had other sons and daughters.

Nahor lived 29 years

and fathered Terah.

He lived 119 more years

and had other sons and daughters.

After Terah had lived 70 years,

he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

From Terah to Abram

This is the account of Terah’s line:

Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Haran fathered Lot,

but Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans,

his native land,

while Terah was still alive.

Abram and Nahor both married:

Abram’s wife was named Sarai,

and Nahor’s wife was Milcah,

daughter of Haran (father of Milcah and Iscah).

But Sarai was barren;

she had no child.

Terah took his son Abram,

his grandson Lot (son of Haran),

and his daughter-in-law Sarai,

and set out from Ur of the Chaldeans

to go to the land of Canaan.

But when they came to Haran,

they settled there.

Terah lived 205 years,

and he died in Haran.

———

Then YHWH said to Abram:

**“Leave your land,

your relatives,

and your father’s household,

and go to the land that I will show you.

I will make you into a great nation.

I will bless you.

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever dishonors you, I will bring low.

And through you,

all the families of the earth

will be blessed.”**

So Abram went,

just as YHWH had said to him,

and Lot went with him.

Abram was seventy-five years old

when he left Haran.

He took his wife Sarai,

his nephew Lot,

and all the possessions and people

they had acquired in Haran,

and they set out for the land of Canaan.

When they arrived in Canaan,

Abram traveled through the land

as far as the great tree of Moreh at Shechem.

At that time the Canaanites were in the land.

Then YHWH appeared to Abram and said:

“To your offspring

I will give this land.”

So he built an altar there to YHWH,

who had appeared to him.

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel

and pitched his tent,

with Bethel on the west

and Ai on the east.

There he built another altar to YHWH

and called upon the name of YHWH.

Then Abram set out

and continued toward the Negev.

Abram in Egypt

Now there was a famine in the land,

and Abram went down to Egypt

to stay there for a while,

because the famine was severe.

As he was about to enter Egypt,

he said to Sarai his wife:

**“Look, I know you are a beautiful woman.

When the Egyptians see you, they will say,

‘This is his wife,’

and they will kill me but let you live.

Please say you are my sister,

so that it will go well for me because of you,

and my life will be spared on your account.”**

When Abram came to Egypt,

the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful.

Pharaoh’s officials saw her

and praised her to Pharaoh,

and she was taken into Pharaoh’s house.

Because of her,

he treated Abram well—

and Abram acquired sheep, cattle, male and female donkeys,

male and female servants, and camels.

But YHWH struck Pharaoh and his household

with great plagues

because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.

So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said:

**“What have you done to me?

Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?

Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’

so that I took her to be my wife?

Now then,

here is your wife—take her and go!”**

Then Pharaoh gave orders

to his men concerning Abram,

and they sent him away

with his wife and everything he had.

———

So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev,

he and his wife and everything he had,

and Lot with him.

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

From the Negev he went from place to place

until he came to Bethel,

to the place between Bethel and Ai,

where his tent had been earlier

and where he had first built an altar.

There Abram called on the name of YHWH.

Conflict Over the Land

Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram,

also had flocks and herds and tents.

But the land could not support them both

while they stayed together,

for their possessions were so great

that they could not remain together.

And there was quarreling

between the herders of Abram’s livestock

and the herders of Lot’s livestock.

(At that time the Canaanites and Perizzites

were also living in the land.)

So Abram said to Lot:

**“Let there be no strife between you and me,

or between your herders and mine,

for we are close relatives.

Is not the whole land before you?

Let’s part ways.

If you go to the left,

then I will go to the right.

If you go to the right,

then I will go to the left.”**

Lot’s Choice

Lot looked up

and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan

was well-watered—like the garden of YHWH,

like the land of Egypt—before YHWH destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

So Lot chose for himself

the entire plain of the Jordan

and set out toward the east.

The two men parted company.

Abram lived in the land of Canaan,

while Lot lived among the cities of the plain

and pitched his tents near Sodom.

Now the people of Sodom

were wicked and corrupt before YHWH—

greatly so.

The Promise Renewed

After Lot had gone,

YHWH said to Abram:

**“Lift up your eyes

from where you are,

and look north and south,

east and west.

All the land you see—

I will give it to you

and to your offspring forever.

I will make your descendants

like the dust of the earth,

so that if anyone could count the dust,

then your offspring could be counted.

Go—walk through the length and breadth of the land,

for I am giving it to you.”**

So Abram moved his tent

and went to live near the oaks of Mamre,

at Hebron,

and there he built an altar to YHWH.

———

In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar,

Arioch king of Ellasar,

Kedorlaomer king of Elam,

and Tidal king of Goiim,

they went to war against:

Bera king of Sodom,

Birsha king of Gomorrah,

Shinab king of Admah,

Shemeber king of Zeboyim,

and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

All these latter kings joined forces

in the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea).

For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer,

but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

In the fourteenth year,

Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him

defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-Karnaim,

the Zuzites in Ham,

the Emites in Shaveh-Kiriathaim,

and the Horites in the hill country of Seir,

as far as El-Paran, near the desert.

They turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh),

and conquered all the territory of the Amalekites,

and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.

Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboyim, and Bela

marched out and took up battle positions

in the Valley of Siddim

against Kedorlaomer and his allies.

Now the Valley of Siddim

was full of tar pits,

and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled,

some fell into them,

and the rest fled to the hills.

The four kings seized all the goods

of Sodom and Gomorrah

and all their food;

then they went away.

They also took Lot,

Abram’s nephew,

and his possessions,

since he was living in Sodom.

Abram the Rescuer

One who had escaped

came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew,

who was living near the oaks of Mamre the Amorite,

a brother of Eshcol and Aner—Abram’s allies.

When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive,

he called out the 318 trained men

born in his household

and pursued them as far as Dan.

During the night Abram divided his forces

and attacked them.

He routed them,

pursuing them as far as Hobah,

north of Damascus.

He recovered all the goods,

and brought back his nephew Lot

and all his possessions,

together with the women and the rest of the people.

The King of Salem

Then Melchizedek king of Salem

brought out bread and wine.

He was priest of El Elyon—God Most High.

And he blessed Abram, saying:

**“Blessed be Abram

by El Elyon, Creator of sky and land.

And blessed be El Elyon,

who delivered your enemies into your hand.”**

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

The king of Sodom said to Abram:

“Give me the people,

but keep the goods for yourself.”

But Abram said to the king of Sodom:

**“I have lifted my hand to YHWH,

El Elyon, Maker of sky and land,

and I will take nothing that belongs to you—

not even a thread or a sandal strap—

so you can never say,

‘I made Abram rich.’

I will accept only

what my young men have eaten

and the share that belongs

to Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre.

Let them take their portion.”**

———

After these things,

the word of YHWH came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.

I am your shield,

your very great reward.”

But Abram said:

“Master YHWH,

what can You give me,

since I remain childless,

and the one who will inherit my household

is Eliezer of Damascus?”

And Abram said:

“You have given me no children,

so a servant in my house will be my heir.”

Then the word of YHWH came to him:

“This one will not be your heir,

but one who will come from your own body

will be your heir.”

He brought him outside and said:

“Look up at the sky

and count the stars—

if indeed you can count them.”

Then He said to him:

“So shall your offspring be.”

And Abram trusted YHWH,

and it was credited to him as rightness.

He also said to him:

“I am YHWH

who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans

to give you this land to possess.”

But Abram said:

“Master YHWH,

how can I know

that I will take possession of it?”

So He said to him:

“Bring Me a heifer,

a goat, and a ram—each three years old—

along with a dove and a young pigeon.”

Abram brought all these to Him,

cut them in two

and arranged the halves opposite each other;

the birds, however, he did not cut in half.

Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses,

but Abram drove them away.

The Deep Sleep and the Fiery Covenant

As the sun was going down,

a deep sleep fell upon Abram,

and a thick and dreadful darkness fell over him.

Then YHWH said to him:

**“Know this for certain:

Your descendants will be strangers

in a land not their own,

where they will be enslaved and oppressed

for four hundred years.

But I will judge the nation they serve,

and afterward they will come out

with great possessions.

You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace

and be buried at a good old age.

In the fourth generation,

your descendants will return here,

for the guilt of the Amorites

has not yet reached its full measure.”**

When the sun had set

and it was dark,

a smoking firepot and a blazing torch

passed between the pieces.

On that day

YHWH made a covenant with Abram, saying:

**“To your offspring

I give this land—

from the river of Egypt

to the great river, the Euphrates—

the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,

Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”**

———

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife,

had borne him no children.

But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.

So Sarai said to Abram:

“Look, YHWH has kept me from bearing children.

Go, sleep with my servant;

perhaps I can build a family through her.”

Abram agreed to what Sarai said.

So after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan,

Sarai took her Egyptian servant Hagar

and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

He slept with Hagar,

and she conceived.

When she saw that she was pregnant,

her attitude toward Sarai changed.

Then Sarai said to Abram:

**“May the wrong done to me be on you!

I gave my servant into your arms,

and now that she knows she is pregnant,

she despises me.

May YHWH judge between you and me!”**

Abram replied:

“Look, your servant is in your hands;

do with her whatever you think is best.”

Then Sarai mistreated Hagar,

so she fled from her.

The God Who Sees

The messenger of YHWH found Hagar

near a spring in the wilderness—

the spring on the way to Shur.

And he said:

“Hagar, servant of Sarai,

where have you come from,

and where are you going?”

She answered:

“I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.”

Then the messenger of YHWH said to her:

“Return to your mistress

and submit to her.”

Then he added:

“I will greatly multiply your offspring

so they cannot be counted.”

The messenger of YHWH also said to her:

**“You are now pregnant

and will give birth to a son.

You shall name him Ishmael

(God hears),

for YHWH has heard your affliction.

He will be a wild donkey of a man;

his hand against everyone

and everyone’s hand against him,

and he will dwell

to the east of all his relatives.”**

El Roi — The God Who Sees

So Hagar gave this name to YHWH who spoke to her:

“You are El Roi”

(God Who Sees Me).

For she said:

“Here I have seen

the One who sees me.”

That is why the well was called Beer-lahai-roi

(“Well of the Living One who sees me”);

it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

So Hagar bore Abram a son,

and Abram named him Ishmael.

Abram was 86 years old

when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

———

When Abram was ninety-nine years old,

YHWH appeared to him and said:

**“I am El Shaddai.

Walk before Me faithfully

and be whole.

I will establish My covenant

between Me and you,

and I will greatly increase your numbers.”**

Abram fell facedown,

and Elohim said to him:

**“As for Me,

this is My covenant with you:

You will be the father of many nations.

No longer will you be called Abram

(exalted father);

your name will be Abraham

(father of many),

for I have made you

a father of many nations.

I will make you exceedingly fruitful;

I will make nations of you,

and kings will come from you.

I will establish My covenant

as an everlasting covenant

between Me and you

and your descendants after you

for the generations to come,

to be your God

and the God of your descendants.

The whole land of Canaan,

where you now live as a stranger,

I will give as a lasting possession

to you and your offspring after you—

and I will be their God.”**

The Sign of the Covenant

Then Elohim said to Abraham:

**“As for you,

you must keep My covenant—

you and your descendants

for generations to come.

This is My covenant

you are to keep:

Every male among you

shall be circumcised.

You are to undergo circumcision,

and it will be the sign of the covenant

between Me and you.

For the generations to come,

every male who is eight days old

must be circumcised,

including those born in your household

or bought with money from a foreigner.

Whether born in your house

or purchased,

they must be circumcised.

My covenant in your flesh

is to be an everlasting covenant.

Any male not circumcised

will be cut off from his people—

he has broken My covenant.”**

Sarah Named, Isaac Promised

Elohim also said to Abraham:

**“As for Sarai your wife,

you are no longer to call her Sarai;

her name will be Sarah (princess).

I will bless her

and will surely give you a son by her.

I will bless her

so that she will be the mother of nations;

kings of peoples will come from her.”**

Abraham fell facedown and laughed.

He said to himself:

“Will a child be born

to a man a hundred years old?

Will Sarah bear a child at ninety?”

And Abraham said to Elohim:

“If only Ishmael might live

under Your blessing!”

Then Elohim said:

**“Yes, but your wife Sarah

will bear you a son,

and you will call him Isaac (laughter).

I will establish My covenant with him

as an everlasting covenant

for his descendants.

And as for Ishmael,

I have heard you.

I will bless him,

make him fruitful,

and greatly increase his numbers.

He will be the father of twelve rulers,

and I will make him into a great nation.

But My covenant I will establish with Isaac,

whom Sarah will bear to you

by this time next year.”**

When He had finished speaking with Abraham,

Elohim went up from him.

Obedience Sealed in Flesh

On that very day,

Abraham took his son Ishmael

and all those born in his household

or bought with his money—

every male in his household—

and he circumcised them,

just as Elohim had told him.

Abraham was ninety-nine years old

when he was circumcised,

and Ishmael his son was thirteen.

On the same day,

Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised.

And every male in his household—

born or purchased—was circumcised with him.

———

After these things, the word of YHWH came to Abram in a vision:

"Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your very great reward."

But Abram said: "Master YHWH, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my household is Eliezer of Damascus?"

And Abram said, "You have given me no offspring; so a servant in my house will be my heir."

Then the word of YHWH came to him:

"This one will not be your heir. But one who comes from your own body will be your heir."

He brought him outside and said:

"Look up at the sky and count the stars—if you can count them." Then He said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

And Abram trusted YHWH, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

He also said to him:

"I am YHWH who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess."

But Abram said: "Master YHWH, how can I know that I will possess it?"

YHWH said to him:

"Bring Me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon."

Abram brought all these to Him, cut them in two, and laid the halves opposite each other. But he did not cut the birds in half.

Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

As the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and behold—a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.

Then YHWH said to Abram:

**"Know this for certain: Your descendants will be strangers in a land not their own; they will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.

But I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age.

In the fourth generation, they will return here, for the guilt of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."**

When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking firepot and a blazing torch passed between the pieces.

On that day YHWH cut a covenant with Abram, saying:

**"To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river—the Euphrates—

the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, the Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, the Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."**

———

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.

But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.

So Sarai said to Abram:

“Look, YHWH has kept me from bearing children.

Go, please, and sleep with my servant—

perhaps I can build a family through her.”

And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan,

Sarai took her Egyptian servant Hagar

and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife.

He slept with Hagar,

and she conceived.

But when Hagar knew she was pregnant,

she began to despise her mistress.

Then Sarai said to Abram:

“My wrong be upon you!

I gave my servant into your arms,

and now that she knows she is pregnant,

she treats me with contempt.

May YHWH judge between you and me.”

But Abram said to Sarai:

“Look, your servant is in your hands.

Do with her whatever seems right to you.”

Then Sarai mistreated Hagar,

and Hagar fled from her presence.

But the Messenger of YHWH found Hagar

near a spring in the wilderness—

the spring along the road to Shur.

He said:

“Hagar, servant of Sarai,

where have you come from,

and where are you going?”

She answered:

“I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”

Then the Messenger of YHWH said to her:

“Return to your mistress

and humble yourself under her hand.”

Then He said:

“I will greatly multiply your offspring—

they will be too many to count.”

Then the Messenger of YHWH said to her:

**“You are now pregnant,

and you will give birth to a son.

You are to name him Ishmael—

for YHWH has heard your cry.

He will be a wild donkey of a man—

his hand against everyone,

and everyone’s hand against him;

and he will dwell apart,

facing all his brothers.”**

Then she gave this name to YHWH who spoke to her:

“You are El Roi”—

for she said,

“Have I truly seen the One who sees me?”

That is why the well is called Be’er Lahai Roi—

the Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.

It lies between Kadesh and Bered.

So Hagar bore Abram a son,

and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she bore.

Abram was 86 years old

when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

———

When Abram was 99 years old,

YHWH appeared to him and said:

**“I am El Shaddai.

Walk before Me,

and be wholehearted.

I will establish My covenant between Me and you,

and I will multiply you greatly.”**

Then Abram fell face down,

and God said to him:

**“As for Me—this is My covenant with you:

You will be the father of many nations.

No longer will you be called Abram;

your name will be Abraham,

for I have made you a father of many nations.

I will make you exceedingly fruitful.

I will make nations come from you,

and kings will come from your line.

I will establish My covenant

as an everlasting covenant

between Me and you

and your descendants after you

for generations to come—

to be God to you

and to your descendants.

To you and your offspring

I will give the land where you are residing—

all the land of Canaan—

as an everlasting possession.

And I will be their God.”**

Then God said to Abraham:

**“As for you,

you must keep My covenant—

you and your descendants after you

for the generations to come.

This is My covenant which you shall keep:

Every male among you shall be circumcised.

You are to undergo circumcision,

and it will be the sign of the covenant

between Me and you.

Throughout your generations,

every male who is eight days old

must be circumcised—

whether born in your household

or bought with money from a foreigner.

My covenant will be in your flesh

as an everlasting sign.

But the uncircumcised male,

who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin—

he shall be cut off from his people.

He has broken My covenant.”**

Then God said to Abraham:

**“As for Sarai your wife,

you are not to call her Sarai,

but her name will be Sarah.

I will bless her

and will surely give you a son by her.

I will bless her

so that she will become nations—

kings of peoples will come from her.”**

Then Abraham fell facedown

and laughed.

He said in his heart:

“Can a child be born to a man who is 100 years old?

Can Sarah bear a child at the age of 90?”

And Abraham said to God:

“If only Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”

But God said:

**“No.

Sarah your wife will bear you a son,

and you shall call him Isaac (Yitzhak – ‘he laughs’).

I will establish My covenant with him

as an everlasting covenant

for his descendants after him.

As for Ishmael:

I have heard you.

I will bless him,

make him fruitful,

and greatly increase his numbers.

He will be the father of twelve rulers,

and I will make him into a great nation.

But My covenant

I will establish with Isaac,

whom Sarah will bear to you

by this time next year.”**

When He had finished speaking with Abraham,

God ascended from him.

Then Abraham took his son Ishmael

and all those born in his household

or bought with his money—every male in his household—

and circumcised them that very day,

as God had said to him.

Abraham was 99 years old

when he was circumcised,

and Ishmael his son was 13.

On that same day,

Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised,

along with all the men of his household.

———

YHWH appeared to Abraham

by the oaks of Mamre

while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent

in the heat of the day.

He looked up and saw three men

standing near him.

When he saw them,

he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them

and bowed low to the ground.

He said:

**“My lord,

if I have found favor in your eyes,

please do not pass by your servant.

Let a little water be brought,

and wash your feet,

and rest yourselves under the tree.

Let me bring a piece of bread

so you can refresh yourselves,

and then go on your way—

now that you have come to your servant.”**

They answered:

“Do as you have said.”

So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said:

“Quick!

Knead three measures of fine flour

and bake bread cakes.”

Then Abraham ran to the herd,

chose a tender, good calf,

and gave it to a servant,

who quickly prepared it.

He brought curds and milk,

and the calf that had been prepared,

and set them before them.

He stood by them under the tree

while they ate.

Then they said to him:

“Where is Sarah your wife?”

He replied:

“There, in the tent.”

Then one said:

“I will surely return to you

at the appointed time next year,

and behold—Sarah your wife

will have a son.”

Now Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him.

Abraham and Sarah were already old,

well advanced in years,

and Sarah was past childbearing.

So Sarah laughed to herself, saying:

“After I am worn out,

and my master is old,

shall I now have this delight?”

Then YHWH said to Abraham:

**“Why did Sarah laugh and say,

‘Shall I really bear a child, now that I’m old?’

Is anything too wondrous for YHWH?

At the appointed time I will return to you—

next year—and Sarah will have a son.”**

But Sarah denied it, saying:

“I did not laugh,”

because she was afraid.

But He said:

“No.

You did laugh.”

When the men got up to leave,

they looked down toward Sodom,

and Abraham walked along with them

to send them on their way.

Then YHWH said:

**“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation,

and all the nations of the earth

will be blessed through him.

For I have chosen him

so that he may instruct his children and his household after him

to keep the way of YHWH—

by doing righteousness and justice—

so that YHWH may bring about for Abraham

what He has promised him.”**

Then YHWH said:

**“The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great,

and their wrongdoing is very heavy.

I will go down and see

whether they have done altogether

according to the cry that has come to Me.

If not, I will know.”**

The men turned away and went toward Sodom,

but Abraham remained standing before YHWH.

Then Abraham approached and said:

**“Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

What if there are fifty righteous people in the city?

Will You really wipe it away and not spare the place

for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?

Far be it from You to do such a thing—

to kill the righteous with the wicked,

so that the righteous and the wicked fare alike.

Far be it from You!

Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”**

And YHWH said:

“If I find fifty righteous within the city of Sodom,

I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

Then Abraham answered:

**“Now that I’ve begun, let me speak to my Lord—

though I am but dust and ashes.

What if five less than fifty righteous are found there?”**

He said:

“I will not destroy it if I find forty-five.”

Abraham pressed further:

“What if only forty are found there?”

He said:

“For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”

Then he said:

“Let not my Lord be angry,

but what if thirty are found?”

He answered:

“I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

Abraham said:

“Now I have ventured to speak—

what if twenty are found?”

YHWH said:

“For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”

Then Abraham said:

“Let my Lord not be angry,

but let me speak just once more—

what if ten are found there?”

He answered:

“For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

When YHWH had finished speaking with Abraham,

He departed,

and Abraham returned to his place.

———

The two messengers arrived at Sodom in the evening,

and Lot was sitting at the city gate.

When he saw them,

he rose to meet them,

bowed face down,

and said:

“Please, my lords,

turn aside to your servant’s house.

Spend the night,

wash your feet,

and then rise early and be on your way.”

They replied:

“No, we will spend the night in the town square.”

But he urged them strongly,

so they turned aside with him and entered his house.

He prepared a meal for them,

baking unleavened bread,

and they ate.

Before they lay down,

the men of the city—the men of Sodom, young and old—

surrounded the house,

everyone from every quarter.

They called to Lot and said:

“Where are the men who came to you tonight?

Bring them out to us, so we may violate them.”

Lot went out to them at the entrance,

shutting the door behind him.

He said:

“Please, my brothers, do not do this evil thing!

Look, I have two daughters who have not known a man.

Let me bring them out to you,

and you may do to them what is good in your eyes.

Only do nothing to these men,

for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

But they said:

“Stand back!”

And they said,

“This fellow came here as a foreigner,

and now he acts like a judge!

We’ll deal worse with you than with them!”

Then they lunged at Lot

and moved to break down the door.

But the messengers reached out,

pulled Lot back into the house,

and shut the door.

Then they struck the men at the entrance

with blindness—both small and great—

so they wore themselves out trying to find the door.

Then the messengers said to Lot:

“Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone in the city who belongs to you?

Get them out of here!

For we are about to destroy this place.

The outcry has reached YHWH,

and He has sent us to bring it down.”

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law,

the men pledged to marry his daughters.

He said:

“Get up and leave this place,

for YHWH is about to destroy the city!”

But they thought he was joking.

At dawn, the messengers urged Lot, saying:

“Get up!

Take your wife and your two daughters who are here,

or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”

But Lot hesitated.

So the men took hold of his hand,

his wife’s hand,

and the hands of his two daughters—

YHWH’s compassion was upon him—

and they brought him out

and set him outside the city.

As they brought them out, one said:

“Flee for your life!

Do not look back,

and do not stop anywhere in the plain.

Escape to the hills,

or you will be swept away.”

But Lot said to them:

**“Please, no, my lord!

Look, your servant has found favor in your eyes,

and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life.

But I cannot flee to the hills—

disaster may overtake me and I will die.

Look, there is a small town nearby—let me flee there.

Is it not a little one? Let me go there,

and my life will be spared.”**

He said:

“Very well.

I grant you this request too:

I will not overthrow the town you speak of.

Hurry! Flee there,

for I can do nothing until you arrive.”

That is why the town was called Zoar (Little).

By the time Lot reached Zoar,

the sun had risen over the land.

Then YHWH rained down burning sulfur

on Sodom and Gomorrah—

out of the heavens.

He overthrew those cities,

the entire plain,

all the inhabitants,

and all the vegetation.

But Lot’s wife,

behind him,

looked back—

and she became a pillar of salt.

Early the next morning,

Abraham went to the place

where he had stood before YHWH.

He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah,

toward all the land of the plain,

and he saw dense smoke rising from the land,

like smoke from a furnace.

So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain,

that He remembered Abraham

and brought Lot out of the catastrophe

that overthrew the cities

where Lot had lived.

Lot went up from Zoar

and lived in the hills with his two daughters,

for he was afraid to stay in Zoar.

He and his two daughters lived in a cave.

Then the firstborn said to the younger:

“Our father is old,

and there is no man around here

to marry us, as is the custom everywhere.

Come, let us give our father wine to drink

and lie with him

so we can preserve our family line through our father.”

That night they gave their father wine to drink,

and the firstborn went in and lay with him.

He was unaware of when she lay down or got up.

The next day the firstborn said to the younger:

“Last night I lay with my father.

Let’s give him wine again tonight,

and you go in and lie with him,

so we may preserve our family line.”

So they gave him wine again that night,

and the younger went in and lay with him.

He was unaware of when she lay down or got up.

So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.

The firstborn bore a son and named him Moab—

he is the ancestor of the Moabites.

The younger also bore a son

and named him Ben-Ammi—

he is the ancestor of the Ammonites.

———

Abraham moved on from there

into the region of the Negev

and settled between Kadesh and Shur.

While staying in Gerar,

Abraham said of Sarah his wife,

“She is my sister.”

So Abimelech king of Gerar

sent for Sarah

and took her.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said:

“Look, you are as good as dead

because of the woman you have taken—

for she is married.”

But Abimelech had not gone near her,

and he said:

“My Lord, will You destroy an innocent nation?

Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’?

And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’

I did this with a clear conscience

and clean hands.”

Then God said to him in the dream:

**“Yes, I know you did this with a pure heart,

and I have kept you from sinning against Me.

That is why I did not let you touch her.

Now return the man’s wife,

for he is a prophet,

and he will pray for you

so that you will live.

But if you do not return her,

know that you and all who are yours will surely die.”**

Early the next morning,

Abimelech called all his servants

and told them all these things,

and the men were very afraid.

Then Abimelech called Abraham and said:

“What have you done to us?

How have I sinned against you

that you have brought this great guilt upon me and my kingdom?

You have done things to me that should never be done!”

And Abimelech said:

“What was your reason for doing this?”

Abraham replied:

**“I said to myself,

‘Surely there is no reverence for God in this place,

and they will kill me because of my wife.’

Besides, she really is my sister—

the daughter of my father,

though not the daughter of my mother—

and she became my wife.

And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house,

I said to her,

‘This is how you can show your loyalty to me:

wherever we go, say of me,

“He is my brother.”’”**

Then Abimelech took sheep and cattle,

male and female servants,

and gave them to Abraham,

and he returned Sarah his wife to him.

And Abimelech said:

“Look, my land is before you;

settle wherever you please.”

To Sarah he said:

“I am giving your brother

a thousand shekels of silver.

It is a sign of your innocence

before all who are with you—

you are fully vindicated.”

Then Abraham prayed to God,

and God healed Abimelech,

his wife,

and his female servants,

so they could bear children again—

for YHWH had closed the wombs of all in Abimelech’s household

because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

———

YHWH visited Sarah

just as He had said,

and YHWH did for Sarah

what He had promised.

Sarah conceived

and bore a son to Abraham in his old age,

at the appointed time

that God had spoken to him.

Abraham named the son

born to him—

the one Sarah bore—

Isaac (Yitzhak – “He Laughs”).

Abraham circumcised Isaac

on the eighth day,

just as God had commanded him.

Abraham was one hundred years old

when his son Isaac was born to him.

And Sarah said:

“God has brought me laughter,

and everyone who hears will laugh with me.”

And she said:

“Who would have said to Abraham

that Sarah would nurse children?

Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

The child grew

and was weaned,

and on the day Isaac was weaned,

Abraham held a great feast.

But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian—

the one she had borne to Abraham—

mocking.

And she said to Abraham:

“Drive out this servant woman and her son,

for the son of this servant

will not share the inheritance

with my son Isaac.”

This matter was very distressing to Abraham

on account of his son.

But God said to Abraham:

**“Do not be distressed about the boy or your servant.

Listen to Sarah in all she says to you,

for through Isaac

your offspring will be named.

But I will also make the son of the servant

into a nation,

because he is your child too.”**

So early in the morning,

Abraham took bread and a skin of water,

gave them to Hagar,

and placed the boy on her shoulder.

Then he sent her away.

She departed

and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

When the water in the skin was gone,

she left the boy under one of the bushes.

Then she went and sat down nearby,

a bowshot away,

for she said:

“I cannot watch the boy die.”

And as she sat nearby,

she lifted her voice

and wept.

Then God heard the voice of the boy,

and the messenger of God called to Hagar from heaven:

**“What troubles you, Hagar?

Do not be afraid,

for God has heard the voice of the boy

where he is.

Get up, lift the boy,

and hold him by the hand,

for I will make him into a great nation.”**

Then God opened her eyes,

and she saw a well of water.

She went and filled the skin with water

and gave the boy a drink.

God was with the boy as he grew.

He lived in the wilderness

and became a skilled archer.

He lived in the wilderness of Paran,

and his mother found him a wife

from the land of Egypt.

At that time,

Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army,

said to Abraham:

“God is with you in everything you do.

Now swear to me here before God

that you will not deal falsely with me

or with my descendants,

but as I have shown kindness to you,

you will show to me

and to the land where you have stayed.”

Abraham said:

“I swear it.”

But Abraham reproached Abimelech

about a well of water

that Abimelech’s servants had seized.

Abimelech said:

“I don’t know who did this.

You didn’t tell me,

and I heard about it only today.”

So Abraham took sheep and cattle

and gave them to Abimelech,

and the two men made a covenant.

Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock,

and Abimelech said to Abraham:

“What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs

you have set apart?”

Abraham replied:

“Accept these seven lambs from my hand

as a witness

that I dug this well.”

That is why the place is called Beersheba—

“the Well of the Oath”—

because the two of them swore an oath there.

So they made a covenant at Beersheba.

Then Abimelech and Phicol,

the commander of his army,

returned to the land of the Philistines.

Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba,

and there he called on the name of YHWH,

the Everlasting God (El Olam).

And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines

for many days.

———

After these things,

God tested Abraham.

He said to him:

“Abraham.”

And he replied:

“Here I am.”

God said:

“Take your son—your only son,

the one you love, Isaac—

and go to the land of Moriah.

Offer him there as a burnt offering

on one of the mountains I will show you.”

Early the next morning,

Abraham rose,

saddled his donkey,

and took with him two of his young men

and his son Isaac.

He cut the wood for the burnt offering,

set out,

and went to the place God had told him about.

On the third day,

Abraham looked up

and saw the place from a distance.

He said to his young men:

“Stay here with the donkey.

I and the boy will go over there,

we will worship,

and we will return to you.”

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering

and placed it on his son Isaac.

He himself carried the fire and the knife.

As the two of them walked on together,

Isaac spoke to Abraham:

“My father.”

Abraham replied:

“Here I am, my son.”

Isaac said:

“The fire and the wood are here,

but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered:

“God will provide Himself the lamb

for the burnt offering, my son.”

And the two of them walked on together.

When they reached the place

God had told him about,

Abraham built the altar,

arranged the wood,

bound his son Isaac,

and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.

Then Abraham reached out his hand

and took the knife

to slay his son.

But the messenger of YHWH called out to him from the heavens:

“Abraham! Abraham!”

And he replied:

“Here I am.”

The messenger said:

“Do not lay your hand on the boy.

Do not do anything to him.

For now I know that you revere God,

since you have not withheld from Me your son,

your only one.”

Abraham looked up

and saw behind him a ram

caught by its horns in a thicket.

So he went and took the ram

and offered it as a burnt offering

in place of his son.

So Abraham called that place:

“YHWH Yireh” (YHWH Will Provide)—

and to this day it is said:

“On the mountain of YHWH

it will be provided.”

Then the messenger of YHWH

called to Abraham from the heavens a second time:

**“By Myself I have sworn,” declares YHWH,

“because you have done this

and have not withheld your son, your only one:

I will surely bless you,

and I will surely multiply your descendants

like the stars of the sky

and the sand on the seashore.

Your descendants will possess

the gates of their enemies.

And through your seed

all the nations of the earth will be blessed—

because you have listened to My voice.”**

Then Abraham returned to his young men,

and they rose and went together to Beersheba.

And Abraham lived in Beersheba.

After these things,

it was reported to Abraham:

“Milcah has also borne children

to your brother Nahor:

Uz his firstborn,

Buz his brother,

Kemuel the father of Aram,

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

Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.

These eight Milcah bore to Nahor,

Abraham’s brother.

His concubine, whose name was Reumah,

also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maakah.

———

Sarah lived 127 years.

These were the years of Sarah’s life.

She died in Kiriath-Arba (that is, Hebron)

in the land of Canaan,

and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah

and to weep over her.

Then Abraham rose from beside his dead

and spoke to the Hittites:

“I am a sojourner and foreigner among you.

Sell me a burial site among you,

so I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

The Hittites replied to Abraham:

“Listen to us, my lord.

You are a prince of God among us.

Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs.

None of us will withhold his tomb from you

for burying your dead.”

Then Abraham rose

and bowed before the people of the land, the Hittites.

He said:

“If you are willing to let me bury my dead,

hear me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf.

Let him sell me the cave of Machpelah,

which belongs to him and is at the end of his field.

Let him sell it to me at the full price

in your presence,

as a burial site.”

Ephron the Hittite was sitting among the people,

and he answered Abraham in the hearing of all:

“No, my lord.

Listen to me:

I give you the field,

and I give you the cave that is in it.

I give it to you in the sight of my people.

Bury your dead.”

Abraham bowed down

before the people of the land

and said to Ephron in their hearing:

“If you are willing, please hear me.

I will pay the price for the field.

Accept it from me,

so I may bury my dead there.”

Ephron answered Abraham:

“Listen to me, my lord.

The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver—

what is that between you and me?

Bury your dead.”

Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms

and weighed out for him the silver he had named

in the hearing of the Hittites—

four hundred shekels of silver,

according to the commercial standard.

So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—

the field, the cave in it,

and all the trees within its borders—

was deeded to Abraham

as a possession

in the presence of the Hittites

who had come to the gate of the city.

Afterward,

Abraham buried his wife Sarah

in the cave of the field of Machpelah

near Mamre (that is, Hebron)

in the land of Canaan.

So the field and the cave in it

were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites

as a burial site.

———

Abraham was now old,

well advanced in years,

and YHWH had blessed him in every way.

He said to his chief servant,

the one in charge of all he had:

**“Put your hand under my thigh,

and swear by YHWH,

God of the heavens and the earth,

that you will not take a wife for my son

from among the daughters of the Canaanites,

in whose land I dwell.

Instead, go to my land and my relatives,

and get a wife for my son Isaac.”**

The servant said:

“What if the woman is unwilling to come back with me?

Should I take your son back to the land you came from?”

Abraham replied:

**“Be very careful not to take my son back there.

YHWH, the God of heaven,

who took me from my father’s house

and my native land,

and who spoke to me and swore to me,

‘To your seed I will give this land’—

He will send His messenger before you.

If the woman is unwilling to come with you,

you will be released from this oath.

Only do not take my son back there.”**

So the servant placed his hand under Abraham’s thigh

and swore an oath to him

concerning this matter.

Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels

and departed—

taking with him all kinds of choice gifts from his master.

He journeyed to Aram-Naharaim,

to the town of Nahor.

He made the camels kneel down

near a well outside the town

in the evening—

the time when the women go out to draw water.

Then he prayed:

**“YHWH, God of my master Abraham,

please show kindness to my master today.

Let it be that when I say to a young woman,

‘Please lower your jar so I may drink,’

and she says, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels too,’—

let her be the one You have chosen for Your servant Isaac.

By this I will know

that You have shown kindness to my master.”**

Before he had finished praying,

Rebekah came out

with her jar on her shoulder.

She was the daughter of Bethuel,

son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor—Abraham’s brother.

The young woman was very beautiful,

a virgin—no man had known her.

She went down to the spring,

filled her jar,

and came up again.

The servant ran to meet her and said:

“Please let me sip a little water from your jar.”

She replied:

“Drink, my lord.”

And she quickly lowered her jar to her hands

and gave him a drink.

After she had given him a drink, she said:

“I’ll draw water for your camels too,

until they have had enough to drink.”

So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough,

ran back to the well,

and drew water for all his camels.

Without saying a word,

the man watched her closely

to learn whether YHWH had made his journey successful.

When the camels had finished drinking,

the man took out a gold nose ring

weighing half a shekel,

and two gold bracelets for her wrists

weighing ten shekels.

He asked:

“Whose daughter are you?

Is there room in your father’s house

for us to spend the night?”

She answered:

“I am the daughter of Bethuel,

the son of Milcah,

whom she bore to Nahor.”

And she added,

“We have plenty of straw and fodder,

and space for you to stay the night.”

Then the man bowed down

and worshiped YHWH:

“Blessed be YHWH,

God of my master Abraham,

who has not forsaken His kindness and truth.

As for me, YHWH has led me on the journey

to the house of my master’s relatives.”

The young woman ran

and told her mother’s household what had happened.

Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban,

and he hurried out to the man at the spring.

As soon as he saw the nose ring and the bracelets,

and heard Rebekah’s story,

he said:

“Come, blessed of YHWH.

Why are you standing outside?

I have prepared the house

and a place for the camels.”

So the man entered the house,

and the camels were unloaded.

Straw and fodder were brought,

water was provided for washing,

and food was set before him.

But he said:

“I will not eat

until I have told you what I came to say.”

They said:

“Speak.”

Then the servant recounted the entire story—

his oath to Abraham,

his prayer at the well,

Rebekah’s response,

and his worship of YHWH.

He ended by saying:

“Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master,

tell me;

if not, tell me,

so I may turn elsewhere.”

Laban and Bethuel replied:

**“This is from YHWH;

we cannot say anything to the contrary.

Here is Rebekah—take her and go.

Let her become the wife of your master’s son,

just as YHWH has spoken.”**

When Abraham’s servant heard their words,

he bowed to the ground before YHWH.

He brought out silver and gold jewelry,

garments, and gifts for Rebekah,

and he also gave costly gifts to her family.

Then they ate and drank

and spent the night there.

When they got up the next morning,

he said:

“Send me on my way to my master.”

But her brother and mother said:

“Let the young woman stay with us ten days or so—then she may go.”

He replied:

“Do not delay me.

YHWH has made my journey successful.

Send me off so I may go to my master.”

They said:

“Let us call the young woman

and ask her.”

So they called Rebekah and asked her:

“Will you go with this man?”

She said:

“I will go.”

So they sent away their sister Rebekah

and her nurse

with Abraham’s servant and his men.

And they blessed Rebekah, saying:

“Our sister, may you become

thousands upon thousands.

May your descendants possess

the gates of their enemies.”

Then Rebekah and her attendants

mounted the camels

and followed the man.

So the servant took Rebekah

and left.

Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi,

for he was living in the Negev.

He went out in the field one evening to meditate,

and looking up,

he saw camels approaching.

Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac.

She got down from her camel

and asked the servant:

“Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”

The servant replied:

“He is my master.”

Then she took her veil

and covered herself.

The servant told Isaac

all that he had done.

Then Isaac brought Rebekah

into the tent of his mother Sarah,

and he took her as his wife.

He loved her,

and Isaac was comforted

after the loss of his mother.

———

Abraham took another wife,

whose name was Keturah.

She bore him:

Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan.

The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites.

The sons of Midian were:

Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida, and Eldaah.

All these were descendants of Keturah.

Abraham gave all that he had

to Isaac.

But to the sons of his concubines

he gave gifts,

and while he was still alive,

he sent them away from his son Isaac

eastward, to the land of the east.

Abraham lived 175 years.

Then Abraham breathed his last

and died at a good old age—

an old man, full of days—

and he was gathered to his people.

His sons Isaac and Ishmael

buried him in the cave of Machpelah,

in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite,

near Mamre—

the same field Abraham had bought

from the Hittites.

There Abraham was buried

with Sarah, his wife.

After Abraham’s death,

God blessed his son Isaac,

who lived near Beer Lahai Roi.

These are the generations of Ishmael,

Abraham’s son,

whom Hagar the Egyptian,

Sarah’s servant,

bore to Abraham:

These are the names of the sons of Ishmael,

by their names according to their generations:

Nebaioth (firstborn of Ishmael)

Kedar

Adbeel

Mibsam

Mishma

Dumah

Massa

Hadad

Tema

Jetur

Naphish

Kedemah

These were the sons of Ishmael,

and these are their names by their settlements and encampments—

twelve tribal rulers, according to their clans.

Ishmael lived 137 years.

Then he breathed his last and died,

and was gathered to his people.

They settled from Havilah to Shur,

near the border of Egypt,

as you go toward Asshur.

And Ishmael lived in opposition

to all his relatives.

These are the generations of Isaac, son of Abraham.

Abraham became the father of Isaac,

and Isaac was forty years old

when he took Rebekah

as his wife—

the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-Aram,

and the sister of Laban the Aramean.

Isaac pleaded with YHWH on behalf of his wife,

because she was barren.

And YHWH was moved by his prayer,

and Rebekah his wife conceived.

But the children struggled within her,

and she said:

“Why is this happening to me?”

So she went to inquire of YHWH,

and YHWH said to her:

“Two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples will be separated from within you.

One will be stronger than the other,

and the older will serve the younger.”

When the time came for her to give birth,

there were twins in her womb.

The first came out red,

and his whole body was like a hairy cloak,

so they named him Esau.

Afterward, his brother came out

grasping Esau’s heel,

so he was named Jacob (Ya'aqov – “heel-grabber” or “follower”).

Isaac was sixty years old

when they were born.

The boys grew up.

Esau became a skillful hunter,

a man of the open country,

while Jacob was a quiet man,

dwelling among the tents.

Isaac loved Esau

because he had a taste for wild game,

but Rebekah loved Jacob.

One day,

Jacob was cooking some stew

when Esau came in from the field,

exhausted.

He said to Jacob:

“Let me have some of that red stew!

I’m famished!”

(That is why he was also called Edom.)

Jacob said:

“First, sell me your birthright.”

Esau said:

“Look, I’m about to die.

What good is a birthright to me?”

But Jacob said:

“Swear to me first.”

So he swore an oath to him,

selling his birthright to Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew.

He ate and drank,

got up,

and went away.

So Esau despised his birthright.

———

Now there was a famine in the land—

besides the earlier famine in Abraham’s time—

and Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines in Gerar.

YHWH appeared to him and said:

**“Do not go down to Egypt.

Stay in the land I tell you about.

Live as a sojourner in this land,

and I will be with you and bless you.

For to you and your seed

I will give all these lands,

and I will confirm the oath

I swore to your father Abraham.

I will multiply your descendants

like the stars of the sky

and give them all these lands.

And through your seed

all the nations of the earth will be blessed—

because Abraham listened to My voice

and kept My charge,

My commands, My statutes, and My instructions.”**

So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

When the men of the place asked about his wife,

he said:

“She is my sister”—

because he was afraid to say,

“She is my wife,”

thinking,

“The men of this place might kill me because of Rebekah,

for she is beautiful.”

But when he had been there a long time,

Abimelech, king of the Philistines,

looked out through a window

and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah his wife.

Abimelech called Isaac and said:

“Look! She is your wife!

Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac answered:

“Because I thought I might be killed on account of her.”

Then Abimelech said:

“What is this you have done to us?

One of the people could have lain with your wife,

and you would have brought guilt upon us!”

So Abimelech commanded all the people:

“Whoever touches this man or his wife

shall surely be put to death.”

Isaac sowed seed in that land,

and in that same year

he reaped a hundredfold,

for YHWH blessed him.

He became rich,

and his wealth continued to grow

until he was very prosperous.

He had flocks, herds, and many servants,

so the Philistines envied him.

They stopped up all the wells

that his father’s servants had dug

in the days of Abraham,

filling them with earth.

Then Abimelech said to Isaac:

“Move away from us,

for you have become too powerful for us.”

So Isaac departed from there

and encamped in the Valley of Gerar,

where he settled.

Isaac dug again the wells

that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham

but had been stopped up by the Philistines after Abraham’s death.

He gave them the same names his father had given them.

Isaac’s servants dug in the valley

and found a well of flowing water.

But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying:

“The water is ours!”

So he named the well Esek (“Dispute”),

because they quarreled with him.

Then they dug another well,

but they quarreled over that one also,

so he named it Sitnah (“Opposition”).

He moved on from there

and dug another well,

and they did not quarrel over it.

He named it Rehoboth (“Broad Spaces”) and said:

“Now YHWH has made room for us,

and we will flourish in the land.”

From there Isaac went up to Beersheba.

YHWH appeared to him that night and said:

“I am the God of your father Abraham.

Do not be afraid,

for I am with you.

I will bless you and multiply your offspring

for the sake of My servant Abraham.”

So Isaac built an altar there,

called on the name of YHWH,

pitched his tent there,

and his servants dug a well.

Meanwhile, Abimelech came to him from Gerar,

with Ahuzzath his adviser

and Phicol the commander of his army.

Isaac said to them:

“Why have you come to me,

since you hated me

and sent me away from you?”

They answered:

**“We clearly see that YHWH is with you.

Let there now be an oath between us—

a covenant between you and us.

Swear that you will do us no harm,

just as we have not harmed you

but have always treated you well

and sent you away in peace.

Now you are blessed by YHWH.”**

So Isaac prepared a feast for them,

and they ate and drank.

They got up early the next morning

and swore an oath to one another.

Isaac sent them on their way,

and they left him in peace.

That same day,

Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug:

“We have found water!”

So he called it Shibah,

and the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

When Esau was forty years old,

he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite,

and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite.

They were a source of bitterness of spirit

to Isaac and Rebekah.

———

When Isaac was old

and his eyes were dim so that he could not see,

he called his elder son Esau and said to him:

“My son.”

Esau answered:

“Here I am.”

Isaac said:

“I am now old,

and I do not know the day of my death.

Now then, take your weapons—your quiver and your bow—

and go out to the field to hunt game for me.

Prepare for me the kind of tasty food I love,

and bring it to me to eat,

so that I may bless you before I die.”

Rebekah was listening

as Isaac spoke to his son Esau.

When Esau went to the field to hunt game,

Rebekah said to her son Jacob:

**“Look, I overheard your father

telling your brother Esau to bring him game

and receive a blessing before he dies.

Now, my son, listen to me and do what I say:

Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats.

I’ll prepare them the way your father loves.

Then take it to your father to eat,

so that he may bless you before his death.”**

Jacob said to Rebekah:

“But my brother Esau is a hairy man,

and I have smooth skin.

What if my father touches me?

I would appear to be deceiving him

and bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.”

His mother said:

“Let your curse be on me, my son.

Just do what I say

and bring them to me.”

So he brought the goats to his mother,

and she prepared the food the way Isaac loved.

Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau,

her older son,

which she had in the house,

and put them on her younger son Jacob.

She covered his hands

and the smooth part of his neck

with the goatskins.

Then she handed to Jacob

the tasty food and the bread she had made.

He went to his father and said:

“My father.”

Isaac replied:

“Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

Jacob said:

“I am Esau, your firstborn.

I have done as you told me.

Please sit up and eat of my game,

so you may bless me.”

Isaac asked:

“How did you find it so quickly, my son?”

He answered:

“Because YHWH your God gave me success.”

Isaac said:

“Come near so I can touch you, my son,

to know whether you are really my son Esau.”

Jacob approached his father,

who touched him and said:

“The voice is Jacob’s voice,

but the hands are Esau’s hands.”

He did not recognize him,

for his hands were hairy like Esau’s.

So he blessed him.

Isaac asked again:

“Are you really my son Esau?”

He replied:

“I am.”

Then Isaac said:

“Bring it to me and let me eat

so that I may bless you.”

Jacob brought it to him, and he ate;

he brought wine, and he drank.

Then Isaac said:

“Come near and kiss me, my son.”

So Jacob came near and kissed him.

When Isaac smelled his clothes,

he blessed him and said:

“Ah, the smell of my son

is like the smell of a field

that YHWH has blessed.

May God give you

the dew of heaven,

and the richness of the earth—

abundance of grain and new wine.

May nations serve you

and peoples bow down to you.

Be lord over your brothers,

and may your mother’s sons bow to you.

Cursed be those who curse you,

and blessed be those who bless you.”

Just as Isaac finished blessing Jacob,

and Jacob had barely left his father’s presence,

Esau returned from hunting.

He also prepared tasty food

and brought it to his father:

“Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game,

so you may bless me.”

Isaac asked:

“Who are you?”

He said:

“I am your son,

your firstborn, Esau.”

Then Isaac trembled violently and said:

“Who was it, then,

who hunted game and brought it to me?

I ate all of it before you came,

and I blessed him—

and indeed, he is blessed!”

When Esau heard his father’s words,

he cried out with a loud and bitter cry:

“Bless me—me too, my father!”

But Isaac said:

“Your brother came deceitfully

and took your blessing.”

Esau said:

“Isn’t he rightly named Jacob?

He has supplanted me these two times:

he took my birthright,

and now he has taken my blessing!”

He asked:

“Haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?”

Isaac answered:

“I have made him lord over you,

and I have given him all his relatives as servants.

I have sustained him with grain and new wine.

What is left that I can do for you, my son?”

Esau said:

“Do you have only one blessing, my father?

Bless me too!”

And Esau wept aloud.

Then Isaac his father answered:

“Your dwelling will be

away from the richness of the earth,

and away from the dew of heaven above.

You will live by the sword,

and you will serve your brother.

But when you grow restless,

you will break his yoke from your neck.”

Esau held a grudge against Jacob

because of the blessing his father had given him.

He said to himself:

“The days of mourning for my father are near;

then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

When Rebekah was told what Esau had said,

she sent for Jacob and said:

“Your brother Esau is planning to kill you.

Now, my son, listen to me:

Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.

Stay with him for a while

until your brother’s fury subsides.

When his anger turns away

and he forgets what you’ve done,

I’ll send for you to come back.

Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

Then Rebekah said to Isaac:

“I’m sick of my life

because of these Hittite women.

If Jacob marries one of them,

what good will my life be to me?”

———

So Isaac called Jacob,

blessed him,

and instructed him, saying:

**“Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

Go at once to Paddan-Aram,

to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father.

Take a wife for yourself there

from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.

May El Shaddai bless you,

make you fruitful and multiply you,

so that you become a community of peoples.

May He give you the blessing of Abraham—

to you and your descendants—

so that you may take possession of the land

where you now dwell as a stranger,

the land God gave to Abraham.”**

Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way,

and he went to Paddan-Aram,

to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean,

the brother of Rebekah,

the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob

and sent him away to Paddan-Aram to take a wife from there,

and that he had instructed Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman—

and that Jacob obeyed his father and mother and had gone.

Esau realized that the Canaanite women displeased his father Isaac,

so he went to Ishmael

and married Mahalath,

the daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham,

and sister of Nebaioth—

in addition to the wives he already had.

Jacob left Beersheba

and set out toward Haran.

When he reached a certain place,

he stopped for the night,

because the sun had set.

He took one of the stones from that place,

put it under his head,

and lay down to sleep.

Then he dreamed:

A stairway was set up on the earth,

with its top reaching into the heavens.

Messengers of God were ascending and descending on it.

And there, above it,

stood YHWH, who said:

**“I am YHWH,

the God of Abraham your father

and the God of Isaac.

The land where you are lying

I will give to you

and to your seed.

Your descendants will be

like the dust of the earth,

and you will spread out

to the west and to the east,

to the north and to the south.

Through you and your seed

all the families of the earth

will be blessed.

Behold, I am with you

and will watch over you wherever you go.

I will bring you back to this land.

I will not leave you

until I have done what I have promised.”**

Jacob awoke from his sleep and said:

“Surely YHWH is in this place,

and I did not know it.”

He was afraid and said:

“How awe-inspiring is this place!

This is none other than the house of God—

this is the gate of the heavens.”

Early the next morning,

Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head,

set it up as a pillar,

and poured oil on top of it.

He named that place Bethel (House of God),

though previously the city was called Luz.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying:

**“If God will be with me,

and watch over me on this journey I am taking,

and give me food to eat and clothes to wear,

so that I return safely to my father’s house—

then YHWH will be my God.

And this stone I have set up as a pillar

will be God’s house,

and of all that You give me,

I will surely give a tenth back to You.”**

———

Jacob continued on his journey

and came to the land of the people of the east.

He looked and saw a well in the open country

with three flocks of sheep lying nearby,

because the flocks were watered from that well.

A large stone covered the mouth of the well.

When all the flocks were gathered there,

the shepherds would roll the stone from the well’s mouth,

water the sheep,

and then replace the stone over the mouth of the well.

Jacob asked them:

“My brothers, where are you from?”

They answered:

“We’re from Haran.”

He asked:

“Do you know Laban, grandson of Nahor?”

They said:

“We know him.”

Then Jacob asked:

“Is he well?”

They replied:

“He is well.

And look—his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep.”

Jacob said:

“Look, the sun is still high;

it’s not time for the flocks to be gathered.

Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.”

But they replied:

“We cannot until all the flocks are gathered

and the stone is rolled away from the mouth of the well.

Then we water the sheep.”

While he was still speaking with them,

Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep,

for she was a shepherdess.

When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of Laban,

his mother’s brother,

and the sheep of Laban,

Jacob went over,

rolled the stone from the mouth of the well,

and watered the flock.

Then Jacob kissed Rachel

and wept aloud.

He told her he was a relative of her father

and the son of Rebekah.

She ran and told her father.

When Laban heard the news about Jacob,

his sister’s son,

he ran to meet him, embraced him, kissed him,

and brought him to his home.

Jacob told Laban all these things.

Then Laban said:

“Surely you are my own flesh and blood.”

Jacob stayed with him for a month.

Then Laban said:

“Just because you are my relative,

should you work for me for nothing?

Tell me what your wages should be.”

Now Laban had two daughters:

the older was named Leah,

and the younger was named Rachel.

Leah had soft eyes,

but Rachel was lovely in form and appearance.

Jacob loved Rachel and said:

“I will work for you seven years

in exchange for Rachel, your younger daughter.”

Laban replied:

“It is better that I give her to you

than to another man.

Stay with me.”

So Jacob served seven years for Rachel,

but they seemed like only a few days to him

because of his love for her.

Then Jacob said to Laban:

“Give me my wife,

for my time is completed,

and I want to be with her.”

So Laban brought together all the people of the place

and held a feast.

But when evening came,

he took Leah his daughter

and brought her to Jacob,

and Jacob lay with her.

Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah

as her handmaid.

When morning came—there was Leah!

So Jacob said to Laban:

“What is this you have done to me?

Didn’t I serve you for Rachel?

Why have you deceived me?”

Laban replied:

**“It is not our custom here

to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older.

Finish this week with Leah,

and we will also give you Rachel

in exchange for another seven years of work.”**

Jacob agreed and finished the bridal week with Leah.

Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife.

Laban gave his servant Bilhah

to his daughter Rachel as her handmaid.

So Jacob lay with Rachel also,

and he loved Rachel more than Leah.

And he served Laban for another seven years.

When YHWH saw that Leah was unloved,

He opened her womb,

but Rachel remained barren.

Leah conceived and gave birth to a son,

and she named him Reuben (“Look, a son!”)

for she said:

“YHWH has seen my misery.

Surely now my husband will love me.”

She conceived again and gave birth to a son,

and said:

“Because YHWH heard that I am unloved,

He has given me this one too.”

So she named him Simeon (“Heard”).

She conceived again and gave birth to a son,

and said:

“Now at last my husband will become attached to me,

because I have borne him three sons.”

So he was named Levi (“Joined”).

She conceived yet again and gave birth to a son,

and said:

“This time I will praise YHWH.”

So she named him Judah (“Praise”).

Then she stopped having children.

———

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing children for Jacob,

she became envious of her sister.

She said to Jacob:

“Give me children, or I will die!”

Jacob became angry with Rachel and said:

“Am I in the place of God,

who has withheld children from you?”

Then she said:

“Here is my maidservant Bilhah.

Sleep with her so that she may bear children for me,

and I too can build a family through her.”

So Rachel gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife,

and Jacob slept with her.

Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

Then Rachel said:

“God has judged in my favor.

He has heard my plea and given me a son.”

So she named him Dan (“He judged”).

Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again

and bore Jacob a second son.

Then Rachel said:

“I have wrestled mightily with my sister and have prevailed.”

So she named him Naphtali (“My wrestling”).

When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing children,

she took her servant Zilpah

and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

Then Leah said:

“Good fortune has come!”

So she named him Gad (“Fortune”).

Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.

Then Leah said:

“How happy I am!

The women will call me happy.”

So she named him Asher (“Happy”).

During the wheat harvest,

Reuben went out and found mandrakes in the field

and brought them to his mother Leah.

Rachel said to Leah:

“Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

But Leah replied:

“Wasn’t it enough that you took my husband?

Now you want my son’s mandrakes too?”

Rachel said:

“Very well.

He may sleep with you tonight

in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”

So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening,

Leah went out to meet him and said:

“You must come to me,

for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.”

So he slept with her that night.

God listened to Leah,

and she conceived

and bore Jacob a fifth son.

Then Leah said:

“God has rewarded me

for giving my servant to my husband.”

So she named him Issachar (“Reward”).

Leah conceived again

and bore Jacob a sixth son.

Then she said:

“God has endowed me with a precious gift.

Now my husband will honor me,

because I have borne him six sons.”

So she named him Zebulun (“Honor”).

Some time later,

Leah gave birth to a daughter

and named her Dinah.

Then God remembered Rachel.

He listened to her and opened her womb.

She conceived and gave birth to a son.

She said:

“God has taken away my disgrace.”

So she named him Joseph (“May He add”) and said:

“May YHWH add to me another son.”

After Rachel gave birth to Joseph,

Jacob said to Laban:

“Send me on my way

so I can return to my homeland.

Give me my wives and children,

for whom I have served you,

and let me go.

You know how hard I have worked for you.”

But Laban said:

“If I have found favor in your eyes,

please stay.

I have learned by divination

that YHWH has blessed me because of you.”

And he added:

“Name your wages,

and I will pay them.”

Jacob said:

“You know how I have worked for you

and how your livestock has fared under my care.

Before I came, you had little,

but it has increased greatly,

for YHWH has blessed you wherever I have been.

But when may I do something for my own household?”

Laban asked:

“What shall I give you?”

Jacob replied:

**“You shall give me nothing.

If you will do this one thing,

I will continue to tend your flock and watch over it:

Let me go through your flock today

and remove every speckled or spotted sheep,

every dark-colored lamb,

and every spotted or speckled goat.

These will be my wages.

In the future, when you check on my wages,

my honesty will testify for me:

any goat not speckled or spotted,

or any lamb not dark-colored,

will be considered stolen.”**

Laban agreed and said:

“Good. Let it be as you have said.”

That same day

Laban removed all the male goats

that were streaked or spotted,

and all the speckled or spotted female goats—

every one that had white on it—

and every dark-colored lamb,

and put them in the care of his sons.

Then he put a three-day journey

between himself and Jacob,

while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban’s flocks.

Jacob took fresh-cut branches

from poplar, almond, and plane trees.

He peeled the bark

to expose white streaks on the inner wood

and placed the peeled branches in the watering troughs

so the flocks would face them while they drank and mated.

When the flocks mated in front of the branches,

they bore young that were streaked, speckled, or spotted.

Jacob set the young apart

and made them face the streaked and dark-colored animals

belonging to Laban.

He kept his flocks separate

and did not mix them with Laban’s animals.

Whenever the stronger females were in heat,

Jacob placed the branches in the troughs

so they would mate near them.

But if the animals were weak,

he did not place them there.

So the weak animals went to Laban,

and the strong ones to Jacob.

In this way, Jacob became exceedingly prosperous.

He acquired large flocks,

female and male servants,

camels,

and donkeys.

———

Jacob heard what Laban’s sons were saying:

“Jacob has taken everything our father owned

and gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.”

Jacob also noticed

that Laban’s attitude toward him had changed.

Then YHWH said to Jacob:

“Return to the land of your fathers

and to your kindred,

and I will be with you.”

So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah

to come out to the fields where his flocks were.

He said to them:

**“I see that your father’s attitude toward me has changed,

but the God of my father has been with me.

You know that I’ve worked for your father

with all my strength,

yet he has cheated me

and changed my wages ten times.

But God has not allowed him to harm me.

If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’

then all the flocks bore speckled young.

And if he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’

then all the flocks bore streaked young.

So God has taken your father’s livestock

and given them to me.

In breeding season,

I had a dream in which I saw

that the male goats mating with the flock

were streaked, speckled, or spotted.

And the angel of God said to me in the dream,

‘Jacob.’

And I said, ‘Here I am.’

And He said,

‘Look around and see that all the male goats

mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted,

for I have seen all that Laban has done to you.

I am the God of Bethel,

where you anointed a pillar

and made a vow to Me.

Now arise, leave this land,

and return to your native land.’”**

Then Rachel and Leah replied:

**“Do we still have any share or inheritance

in our father’s house?

Does he not regard us as foreigners?

He has sold us

and used up what was paid for us.

Surely all the wealth

that God took from our father belongs to us

and to our children.

So do whatever God has told you.”**

Then Jacob arose,

put his children and wives on camels,

and drove all his livestock ahead of him.

He took all the possessions he had acquired in Paddan-Aram

to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep,

and Rachel stole her father’s household gods (teraphim).

Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean

by not telling him he was running away.

So he fled with all he had,

crossed the Euphrates,

and headed toward the hill country of Gilead.

On the third day,

Laban was told that Jacob had fled.

He took his relatives with him,

pursued Jacob for seven days,

and overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.

But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said:

“Be careful not to say anything to Jacob—

either good or bad.”

Laban caught up with Jacob,

who had pitched his tent in the hill country.

Laban and his relatives camped nearby.

Then Laban said to Jacob:

**“What have you done?

You’ve deceived me

and carried off my daughters like captives of war!

Why did you run off secretly and deceive me?

Why didn’t you tell me,

so I could send you away with joy and singing?

You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and daughters goodbye.

You have done a foolish thing.

I have the power to harm you,

but last night the God of your father said to me,

‘Be careful not to say anything to Jacob.’”**

Laban continued:

“Now you have gone off

because you long to return to your father’s house.

But why did you steal my gods?”

Jacob answered:

**“I was afraid,

because I thought you would take your daughters from me by force.

But if you find anyone who has your gods,

they shall not live.

Search, and if you find them with anyone here,

they will be handed over.”**

Jacob did not know

that Rachel had stolen them.

So Laban went into Jacob’s tent,

and then into Leah’s tent,

and into the tent of the two maidservants,

but found nothing.

He came out of Leah’s tent

and entered Rachel’s.

Now Rachel had taken the household gods

and hidden them in the camel’s saddle

and was sitting on them.

Laban searched everything in the tent

but found nothing.

Rachel said to her father:

“Don’t be angry, my lord,

that I cannot stand in your presence;

I am having my monthly flow.”

So he searched

but did not find the household gods.

Then Jacob became angry

and confronted Laban:

**“What is my offense?

What sin have I committed

that you pursue me like this?

You’ve searched through all my goods—

have you found anything that belongs to you?

Set it here before your relatives and mine,

and let them judge between us.

I have been with you for twenty years.

Your ewes and female goats never miscarried,

and I never ate the rams of your flocks.

I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts;

I bore the loss myself.

I was consumed by heat in the day

and by cold at night,

and sleep fled from my eyes.

It was like this for the twenty years I spent in your household—

I served you fourteen years for your two daughters,

and six years for your flocks,

and you changed my wages ten times.

If the God of my father,

the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac,

had not been with me,

you would have sent me away empty-handed.

But God saw my hardship and the labor of my hands,

and last night He rebuked you.”**

Laban answered:

**“The daughters are my daughters,

the children are my children,

the flocks are my flocks.

All you see is mine.

But what can I do today

about my daughters

or the children they have borne?

Come now, let us make a covenant—

you and I—

and let it serve as a witness between us.”**

So Jacob took a stone

and set it up as a pillar.

He said to his relatives:

“Gather stones.”

They took stones and made a heap,

and they ate there by the heap.

Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha (Aramaic: “Heap of Witness”),

and Jacob called it Galeed (Hebrew: “Witness Pile”).

Laban said:

“This heap is a witness between you and me today.”

That is why it was called Galeed and Mizpah,

for he said:

**“May YHWH watch between you and me

when we are absent from one another.

If you mistreat my daughters,

or take other wives besides them,

even though no one is with us,

remember—God is witness between you and me.”**

Laban also said:

**“Here is the heap, and here is the pillar

I have set up between you and me.

This heap is a witness,

and this pillar is a witness,

that I will not pass beyond this heap to harm you,

and you will not pass beyond this heap and pillar to harm me.

May the God of Abraham

and the God of Nahor—

the God of their father—judge between us.”**

So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

He offered a sacrifice on the mountain

and invited his relatives to eat.

After they had eaten,

they spent the night on the mountain.

Early the next morning,

Laban kissed his grandchildren and daughters

and blessed them.

Then he departed and returned home.

———

Jacob also went on his way,

and messengers of God met him.

When he saw them, Jacob said:

“This is God’s camp!”

So he named that place Mahanaim (“Two Camps”).

Jacob sent messengers ahead of him

to his brother Esau

in the land of Seir,

the country of Edom.

He instructed them:

“Say to my lord Esau:

‘Your servant Jacob says,

I have been staying with Laban and remained there until now.

I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male and female servants.

I am sending this message to my lord

that I may find favor in your eyes.’”

When the messengers returned, they said:

“We went to your brother Esau,

and now he is coming to meet you—

with four hundred men.”

Jacob was terrified and distressed.

He divided the people with him

into two camps,

as well as the flocks, herds, and camels.

He thought:

“If Esau comes and attacks one camp,

the other can escape.”

Then Jacob prayed:

“O God of my father Abraham,

God of my father Isaac,

YHWH, who said to me,

‘Return to your land and your kindred,

and I will make you prosper’—

I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness

You have shown Your servant.

I had only my staff

when I crossed this Jordan,

but now I have become two camps.

Deliver me, I pray,

from the hand of my brother Esau,

for I am afraid he will come and attack me,

and also the mothers with the children.

But You have said,

‘I will surely make you prosper

and make your offspring like the sand of the sea,

too numerous to count.’”

Jacob stayed there that night.

From what he had with him,

he selected a gift for his brother Esau:

200 female goats and 20 male goats

200 ewes and 20 rams

30 milk camels with their young

40 cows and 10 bulls

20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys

He put them in the care of his servants,

each herd by itself, and said:

“Go ahead of me,

and keep some distance between the herds.”

He instructed the first one:

**“When Esau meets you and asks,

‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going,

and whose animals are these?’—

say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob.

They are a gift sent to my lord Esau,

and he is coming behind us.’”**

He gave the same instruction

to the second and third,

and all who followed the herds.

He thought:

“I will appease him with the gifts that go ahead of me.

Later, when I see him, perhaps he will accept me.”

So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him,

but he himself spent the night in the camp.

That night Jacob got up,

took his two wives, his two female servants,

and his eleven sons

and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

After he had sent them across,

he was left alone.

And a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

When the man saw

that he could not overpower him,

he touched Jacob’s hip socket,

so that his hip was wrenched

as he wrestled with the man.

Then the man said:

“Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.”

But Jacob replied:

“I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

The man asked:

“What is your name?”

He answered:

“Jacob.”

Then he said:

“Your name will no longer be Jacob,

but Israel (“He wrestles with God”),

because you have struggled with God and with men,

and have prevailed.”

Then Jacob asked:

“Please tell me your name.”

But he replied:

“Why do you ask my name?”

And he blessed him there.

So Jacob called the place Peniel (“Face of God”), saying:

“I have seen God face to face,

yet my life was spared.”

The sun rose above him

as he passed Peniel,

and he was limping

because of his hip.

That is why to this day

the people of Israel do not eat the tendon

attached to the hip socket,

because the socket of Jacob’s hip

was touched near the tendon.

———

Jacob looked up

and saw Esau coming,

with four hundred men.

So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants.

He put the maidservants and their children in front,

Leah and her children next,

and Rachel and Joseph last.

He himself went on ahead

and bowed down to the ground seven times

as he approached his brother.

But Esau ran to meet Jacob,

embraced him,

threw his arms around his neck,

kissed him,

and they wept.

Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children and asked:

“Who are these with you?”

Jacob answered:

“They are the children

God has graciously given your servant.”

Then the maidservants and their children approached

and bowed down.

Next Leah and her children came and bowed down.

Last of all came Joseph and Rachel,

and they too bowed down.

Esau asked:

“What do you mean by all these herds I met?”

Jacob said:

“To find favor in your eyes, my lord.”

But Esau said:

“I already have plenty, my brother.

Keep what you have for yourself.”

Jacob replied:

**“No, please!

If I have found favor in your eyes,

accept this gift from me.

For to see your face

is like seeing the face of God—

now that you have received me with kindness.

Please take this blessing that has been brought to you,

because God has dealt graciously with me,

and I have all I need.”**

Because Jacob insisted,

Esau accepted it.

Then Esau said:

“Let us be on our way;

I’ll go ahead of you.”

But Jacob said:

**“My lord knows

that the children are frail,

and I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing.

If they are driven hard,

even one day,

all the flocks will die.

Please let my lord go ahead of his servant,

while I move along slowly

at the pace of the livestock and the children,

until I come to my lord in Seir.”**

Esau said:

“Then let me leave some of my men with you.”

But Jacob said:

“Why should you do that?

Just let me find favor in your eyes, my lord.”

So Esau returned that day

on his way to Seir.

But Jacob went to Succoth,

where he built a house for himself

and shelters for his livestock.

That is why the place is called Succoth (“Shelters”).

After Jacob came from Paddan-Aram,

he arrived safely at the city of Shechem,

in the land of Canaan,

and camped within sight of the city.

For a hundred pieces of silver,

he bought from the sons of Hamor (father of Shechem)

the piece of land where he had pitched his tent.

There he set up an altar

and called it El-Elohe-Israel (“God, the God of Israel”).

———

Now Dinah,

the daughter of Leah,

whom she had borne to Jacob,

went out to visit the daughters of the land.

When Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite,

the ruler of that region, saw her,

he seized her,

lay with her,

and humiliated her.

Yet his heart was drawn to Dinah,

and he loved the young woman

and spoke tenderly to her.

Shechem said to his father Hamor:

“Get me this girl as my wife.”

Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah,

but his sons were in the field with the livestock,

so he remained silent until they returned.

Hamor, Shechem’s father, went out to speak with Jacob.

Just then Jacob’s sons came in from the field,

and when they heard what had happened,

they were deeply grieved and very angry

because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel—

something that should not be done.

Hamor said to them:

**“My son Shechem longs for your daughter.

Please give her to him as a wife.

Intermarry with us;

give us your daughters

and take our daughters for yourselves.

You may settle among us.

The land is open to you.

Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property.”**

Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers:

**“Let me find favor in your eyes,

and I will give whatever you ask.

Demand a high bride-price and gift—

I will pay whatever you say.

Only give me the girl as my wife.”**

Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and Hamor

deceitfully,

because Shechem had defiled their sister Dinah.

They said to them:

**“We cannot give our sister

to a man who is uncircumcised.

That would be a disgrace to us.

We will consent to this

on one condition:

that every male among you

be circumcised as we are.

Then we will give you our daughters

and take your daughters for ourselves.

We will settle among you

and become one people.

But if you do not agree to be circumcised,

we will take our sister and go.”**

Hamor and Shechem were pleased with their response.

Shechem, eager because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter,

was the most honored in his father’s household.

So Hamor and Shechem went to the gate of their city

and spoke to the men:

**“These people are peaceable toward us.

Let them live in the land and trade in it.

There’s plenty of room.

Let us marry their daughters

and give them ours.

But they will consent only if every male among us

is circumcised as they are.

Will not their livestock, their property,

and all their animals become ours?

Let us agree to their terms,

so they will settle among us.”**

All the men of the city listened to Hamor and Shechem,

and every male was circumcised—

all who went out of the city gate.

On the third day,

when the men were still in pain,

Simeon and Levi,

Dinah’s brothers,

took their swords

and attacked the unsuspecting city.

They killed every male.

They put Hamor and Shechem to the sword

and took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left.

Jacob’s other sons came upon the dead

and plundered the city

because their sister had been defiled.

They seized their flocks, herds, donkeys,

and everything in the city and in the field.

They carried off all their wealth,

all the women and children,

and everything in the houses.

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi:

**“You have brought trouble on me,

making me odious to the inhabitants of the land—

the Canaanites and Perizzites.

We are few in number,

and if they unite against me and attack,

I and my household will be destroyed.”**

But they replied:

“Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?”

———

Then God said to Jacob:

“Arise, go up to Bethel,

and settle there.

Build an altar there to the God

who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

So Jacob said to his household

and to all who were with him:

“Put away the foreign gods among you,

purify yourselves,

and change your garments.

Then let us arise and go up to Bethel.

There I will build an altar to the God

who answered me in the day of my distress

and has been with me wherever I have gone.”

So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had,

and the rings in their ears,

and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem.

Then they set out,

and the terror of God fell upon the cities around them,

so no one pursued them.

Jacob and all who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel)

in the land of Canaan.

He built an altar there and called the place

El-Bethel (“God of the House of God”),

because it was there that God had revealed Himself

when Jacob fled from his brother.

Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse,

died and was buried under the oak below Bethel.

So it was named Allon-bachuth (“Oak of Weeping”).

After Jacob returned from Paddan-Aram,

God appeared to him again and blessed him.

God said to him:

“Your name is Jacob,

but you shall no longer be called Jacob—

your name shall be Israel.”

So He named him Israel.

And God said to him:

“I am El Shaddai—God Almighty.

Be fruitful and multiply.

A nation and a community of nations

will come from you,

and kings shall come from your body.

The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac,

I give to you;

and to your offspring after you

I give this land.”

Then God went up from him

at the place where He had spoken.

Jacob set up a pillar of stone

at the place where God had spoken to him.

He poured out a drink offering on it

and also poured oil on it.

Jacob called the place where God had spoken to him

Bethel.

They moved on from Bethel,

and while they were still some distance from Ephrath,

Rachel began to give birth

and had great difficulty.

During her labor, the midwife said:

“Do not fear,

for you have another son.”

As her soul was departing—for she was dying—

she named him Ben-Oni (“Son of My Sorrow”).

But his father called him Benjamin (“Son of the Right Hand”).

So Rachel died

and was buried on the way to Ephrath

(that is, Bethlehem).

Jacob set up a pillar over her grave,

and it marks Rachel’s tomb to this day.

Israel moved on again

and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.

While Israel was living in that land,

Reuben went in and lay with Bilhah,

his father’s concubine—

and Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:

Reuben – Jacob’s firstborn

Simeon

Levi

Judah

Issachar

Zebulun

(these were the sons of Leah)

Joseph

Benjamin

(these were the sons of Rachel)

Dan

Naphtali

(these were the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant)

Gad

Asher

(these were the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant)

These were born to Jacob in Paddan-Aram.

Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre,

near Kiriath-Arba (that is, Hebron),

where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.

Isaac lived 180 years.

Then he breathed his last and died,

and was gathered to his people,

old and full of days.

And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

———

“These are the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).”

Esau took wives from the daughters of Canaan:

Adah, daughter of Elon the Hittite

Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite

Basemath, daughter of Ishmael, sister of Nebaioth

Children of Esau:

By Adah: Eliphaz

By Basemath: Reuel

By Oholibamah: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah

Esau took his family, livestock, and possessions

and settled in the hill country of Seir,

because the land of Canaan could not support both him and Jacob.

“So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir.

Esau is Edom.”

These are the descendants of Esau, father of the Edomites in Seir.

Eliphaz (son of Adah) had sons:

Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

Eliphaz also had a concubine, Timna, who bore Amalek.

Reuel (son of Basemath) had sons:

Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.

Oholibamah bore:

Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

These sons became chiefs (clan leaders) in the land of Edom.

These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who lived in the land before Esau’s people:

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

Their sons included Anah (who found hot springs in the wilderness)

and Oholibamah (who became Esau’s wife).

Each of Seir’s sons became chiefs of the Horites,

who were eventually overtaken or absorbed by Esau’s descendants.

“These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom

before any king reigned over the Israelites:”

Bela son of Beor (city: Dinhabah)

Jobab son of Zerah (from Bozrah)

Husham (from the land of the Temanites)

Hadad son of Bedad (defeated Midian in Moab)

Samlah (from Masrekah)

Shaul (from Rehoboth on the River)

Baal-Hanan son of Achbor

Hadar (city: Pau; his wife was Mehetabel daughter of Matred)

These kings appear to rule independently—unlike Israel, which still awaited divine kingship.

These are the names of the chiefs (clans) descended from Esau,

according to their families and dwelling places:

Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,

Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, and Iram.

“These are the chiefs of Edom,

according to their settlements in the land they possessed.

This is Esau, the father of the Edomites.”

———

Jacob lived in the land of Canaan,

where his father had stayed—

the land of his sojourning.

These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, a young man of seventeen,

was tending the flocks with his brothers—

the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives.

He brought a bad report about them to their father.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons,

because he was the son of his old age,

and he made him a long robe with sleeves (or richly ornamented coat).

When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them,

they hated him

and could not speak peaceably to him.

Joseph had a dream,

and when he told it to his brothers,

they hated him even more.

He said:

**“Listen to this dream I had:

We were binding sheaves of grain in the field,

when suddenly my sheaf stood upright,

and your sheaves gathered around it

and bowed down to it.”**

His brothers said:

“Do you intend to reign over us?

Will you actually rule us?”

And they hated him all the more

because of his dreams and what he had said.

Then he had another dream

and told it to his brothers:

**“Look, I had another dream:

The sun and moon and eleven stars

were bowing down to me.”**

When he told his father as well,

his father rebuked him and said:

“What is this dream you had?

Shall I and your mother and your brothers

really come to bow down to the ground before you?”

His brothers were jealous of him,

but his father kept the matter in mind.

One day, when his brothers had gone

to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem,

Israel said to Joseph:

“Go now and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flock,

and bring word back to me.”

Joseph went from the Valley of Hebron

and came to Shechem.

A man found him wandering in the fields and asked:

“What are you looking for?”

Joseph said:

“I’m looking for my brothers.

Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”

The man said:

“They’ve moved on from here.

I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”

So Joseph went after his brothers

and found them in Dothan.

But when they saw him from a distance,

before he reached them,

they plotted to kill him.

They said to one another:

“Here comes this dreamer!

Come now, let’s kill him

and throw him into one of the pits.

We’ll say a wild animal devoured him.

Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams.”

But when Reuben heard this,

he tried to rescue him:

“Let’s not take his life.

Don’t shed blood.

Throw him into this cistern in the wilderness,

but don’t lay a hand on him.”

(Reuben said this to rescue him later and bring him back to his father.)

So when Joseph came to his brothers,

they stripped him of his robe—

the richly ornamented robe he wore—

took him,

and threw him into the cistern.

The cistern was empty;

there was no water in it.

As they sat down to eat,

they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites

coming from Gilead—

their camels loaded with spices, balm, and myrrh,

on their way to Egypt.

Judah said:

**“What will we gain if we kill our brother

and cover up his blood?

Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites

and not lay our hands on him.

After all, he is our brother, our own flesh.”**

His brothers agreed.

So when the Midianite traders came by,

they pulled Joseph out of the cistern

and sold him for twenty shekels of silver.

And they took Joseph to Egypt.

When Reuben returned to the cistern

and saw that Joseph was not there,

he tore his clothes.

He went back to his brothers and said:

“The boy is gone!

What am I to do?”

They took Joseph’s robe,

slaughtered a goat,

and dipped the robe in the blood.

Then they brought it to their father and said:

“We found this.

Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”

Jacob recognized it and said:

“It is my son’s robe!

A wild animal has devoured him.

Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”

Then Jacob tore his clothes,

put on sackcloth,

and mourned for his son many days.

All his sons and daughters came to comfort him,

but he refused to be comforted:

“No, I will go down to the grave mourning for my son.”

And he wept for him.

Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt

to Potiphar,

an officer of Pharaoh

and captain of the guard.

———

At that time,

Judah left his brothers

and settled near a man of Adullam named Hirah.

There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua.

He married her and made love to her,

and she conceived and bore a son, whom he named Er.

She conceived again and gave birth to Onan,

then yet again to Shelah,

who was born at Kezib.

Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn;

her name was Tamar.

But Er, Judah’s firstborn,

was wicked in YHWH’s sight,

so YHWH put him to death.

Then Judah said to Onan:

“Go in to your brother’s wife,

and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her,

and raise up offspring for your brother.”

But Onan knew

that the offspring would not be his.

So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife,

he spilled his semen on the ground,

so he would not give offspring to his brother.

What he did was evil in YHWH’s sight,

so YHWH put him to death also.

Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law:

“Live as a widow in your father’s house

until my son Shelah grows up.”

(For he thought, “He too may die, like his brothers.”)

So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died.

When Judah had recovered from his grief,

he went up to Timnah to his sheep shearers,

with his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

When Tamar was told,

“Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”

she took off her widow’s clothes,

covered herself with a veil,

and sat at the entrance to Enaim,

which is on the way to Timnah.

She saw that Shelah had grown up,

but she had not been given to him as a wife.

When Judah saw her,

he thought she was a prostitute,

for she had covered her face.

He turned aside to her by the road and said:

“Come now, let me come in to you,”

not realizing she was his daughter-in-law.

She said:

“What will you give me to come in to me?”

He answered:

“I’ll send you a young goat from my flock.”

She said:

“Will you give me a pledge until you send it?”

He asked:

“What pledge shall I give you?”

She replied:

“Your seal, your cord, and the staff in your hand.”

So he gave them to her

and slept with her,

and she became pregnant by him.

Then she left,

took off her veil,

and put on her widow’s clothes again.

Judah sent the young goat by his friend Hirah

to retrieve his pledge from the woman,

but he could not find her.

He asked the men of the place:

“Where is the shrine prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?”

They said:

“There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.”

So he returned to Judah and said:

“I didn’t find her.”

Judah replied:

“Let her keep the things,

or we will become a laughingstock.

I sent her this young goat,

but you didn’t find her.”

About three months later,

Judah was told:

“Your daughter-in-law Tamar

has played the prostitute,

and now she is pregnant by prostitution!”

Judah said:

“Bring her out and let her be burned!”

As she was being brought out,

she sent a message to her father-in-law:

“I am pregnant by the man who owns these.”

And she said:

“Please recognize whose these are:

the seal, the cord, and the staff.”

Judah recognized them and said:

“She is more righteous than I,

since I didn’t give her to my son Shelah.”

And he did not sleep with her again.

When the time came for her to give birth,

there were twins in her womb.

As she was giving birth,

one put out his hand,

and the midwife tied a scarlet thread on it, saying:

“This one came out first.”

But he drew back his hand,

and his brother came out instead.

So she said:

“What a breach you have made for yourself!”

And he was named Perez (“breach”).

Then his brother with the scarlet thread came out,

and he was named Zerah (“shining”).

———

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt,

and Potiphar, an Egyptian official of Pharaoh

and captain of the guard,

bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.

YHWH was with Joseph,

so that he became successful,

and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.

When his master saw

that YHWH was with him

and that YHWH gave him success in everything he did,

Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant.

Potiphar made him overseer of his household

and entrusted to him everything he owned.

From the time Potiphar made Joseph overseer in his house

and over all he had,

YHWH blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake.

The blessing of YHWH was on all that he had,

both in the house and in the field.

So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care.

With Joseph in charge,

he paid attention to nothing except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

After some time,

his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said:

“Lie with me.”

But he refused and said:

**“Look, my master does not concern himself

with anything in the house,

and he has entrusted everything to me.

No one is greater in this house than I am.

He has withheld nothing from me—except you,

because you are his wife.

How then could I do such a wicked thing

and sin against God?”**

And though she spoke to Joseph day after day,

he refused to go to bed with her

or even be with her.

One day he went into the house to do his work,

and none of the household servants was inside.

She caught him by his garment and said:

“Lie with me!”

But he left his garment in her hand,

fled,

and ran outside.

When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand

and had run away,

she called to the servants and said:

“Look! This Hebrew has been brought to us to mock us!

He came in to lie with me,

but I screamed.

And when he heard me raise my voice and scream,

he left his garment beside me and fled.”

She kept his garment beside her

until his master came home.

Then she told him this story:

“That Hebrew slave you brought us

came in to mock me.

But as soon as I screamed,

he left his garment beside me and ran away.”

When his master heard his wife’s words,

his anger burned.

So Joseph’s master took him

and put him in the prison,

the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.

But YHWH was with Joseph

and extended kindness to him;

He gave him favor

in the eyes of the prison warden.

So the warden put Joseph in charge

of all the prisoners in the prison.

Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.

The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care,

because YHWH was with Joseph

and gave him success in whatever he did.

———

Some time later,

the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt

offended their master, Pharaoh.

Pharaoh was angry with his two officials—

the chief cupbearer and the chief baker—

and put them in custody

in the house of the captain of the guard,

in the same prison where Joseph was confined.

The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph,

and he attended them.

After they had been in custody for some time,

each of the two men had a dream the same night,

and each dream had its own meaning.

When Joseph came to them in the morning,

he saw they were troubled.

So he asked Pharaoh’s officials:

“Why do you look so downcast today?”

They replied:

“We both had dreams,

but there is no one to interpret them.”

Then Joseph said:

“Do not interpretations belong to God?

Tell me your dreams.”

So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream:

**“In my dream,

I saw a vine in front of me.

On the vine were three branches.

As soon as it budded, it blossomed,

and clusters of ripe grapes appeared.

Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand,

and I took the grapes,

squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup,

and put the cup in his hand.”**

Joseph said:

**“This is its interpretation:

The three branches are three days.

Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head

and restore you to your position,

and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand

just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.

But when all goes well with you,

remember me and show kindness.

Mention me to Pharaoh

and get me out of this prison.

I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews,

and even here I have done nothing

to deserve being put in this dungeon.”**

When the chief baker saw the interpretation was favorable,

he said to Joseph:

“I too had a dream:

On my head were three baskets of bread.

In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh,

but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

Joseph answered:

“This is its interpretation:

The three baskets are three days.

Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head

and impale you on a pole.

And the birds will eat away your flesh.”

On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday,

he gave a feast for all his officials.

He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer

and the chief baker in the presence of his officials:

He restored the chief cupbearer to his position,

so he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

But he impaled the chief baker,

just as Joseph had said in his interpretation.

Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph;

he forgot him.

———

Two full years later,

Pharaoh had a dream:

He was standing by the Nile,

when seven sleek and fat cows came up out of the river

and grazed among the reeds.

Then seven other cows, ugly and thin,

came up out of the Nile after them,

and stood beside them on the riverbank.

The ugly, thin cows ate up the seven sleek, fat cows.

Then Pharaoh woke up.

He fell asleep again and had a second dream:

Seven ears of grain, full and good,

were growing on a single stalk.

After them, seven thin and scorched ears sprouted up.

The thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears.

Then Pharaoh woke up—

it had been a dream.

In the morning, his spirit was troubled,

so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt.

Pharaoh told them his dreams,

but no one could interpret them for him.

Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh:

**“Today I am reminded of my shortcomings.

Once, Pharaoh was angry with his servants,

and put me and the chief baker in custody.

Each of us had a dream the same night,

and a young Hebrew was there with us—

a servant of the captain of the guard.

We told him our dreams,

and he interpreted them for us,

giving each of us the meaning of his dream.

And everything turned out exactly as he said.”**

So Pharaoh sent for Joseph,

and he was quickly brought from the dungeon.

He shaved, changed his clothes,

and came before Pharaoh.

Pharaoh said to Joseph:

“I had a dream,

and no one can interpret it.

But I’ve heard it said of you

that when you hear a dream, you can interpret it.”

Joseph replied:

“I cannot do it,

but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”

Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams—about the seven fat cows,

and the seven thin cows that devoured them;

and about the seven full ears of grain,

and the seven thin ears that swallowed them.

Then Joseph said:

“Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same.

God has revealed to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

The seven good cows are seven years,

and the seven good ears of grain are seven years.

It is the same dream.

The seven lean cows and the seven empty ears

are seven years of famine.

It is just as I said:

God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.

There will be seven years of great abundance

throughout the land of Egypt,

followed by seven years of famine.

All the abundance will be forgotten,

because the famine will be so severe.

The reason the dream was given twice

is because the matter has been firmly decided by God,

and God will do it soon.”**

Joseph continued:

**“Now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man

and set him over the land of Egypt.

Let him appoint overseers

to collect one-fifth of the harvest during the seven good years.

Store up the grain under Pharaoh’s authority,

in cities for food during the years of famine,

so that the country may not perish.”**

The plan pleased Pharaoh and all his officials.

So Pharaoh asked:

“Can we find anyone like this man,

in whom is the Spirit of God?”

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph:

**“Since God has made all this known to you,

there is no one as discerning and wise as you.

You shall be in charge of my palace,

and all my people shall obey your word.

Only in respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”**

Pharaoh took off his signet ring

and put it on Joseph’s hand.

He dressed him in robes of fine linen

and put a gold chain around his neck.

He had him ride in the second chariot,

and men shouted before him:

“Bow the knee!”

Thus Pharaoh made Joseph ruler over all the land of Egypt.

He gave Joseph a new name: Zaphenath-paneah,

and gave him Asenath,

daughter of Potiphera priest of On,

as his wife.

Joseph was thirty years old

when he entered Pharaoh’s service.

During the seven years of abundance,

the land produced plentifully.

Joseph collected and stored grain in vast quantities,

beyond measure—like the sand of the sea.

Before the famine, Joseph had two sons:

The first he named Manasseh (“God has made me forget all my trouble”)

The second he named Ephraim (“God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering”)

Then the seven years of famine began,

just as Joseph had said.

There was famine in all the lands,

but in Egypt there was grain.

When all Egypt grew hungry,

the people cried to Pharaoh,

and he said:

“Go to Joseph. Do what he tells you.”

So Joseph opened the storehouses

and sold grain to the Egyptians.

And the famine was severe in all the world.

All the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph,

because the famine was severe everywhere.

———

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt,

he said to his sons:

“Why are you just staring at each other?

I’ve heard there is grain in Egypt.

Go down there and buy some for us,

so that we may live and not die.”

Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s full brother,

for he said:

“I’m afraid harm might come to him.”

So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain,

for the famine was severe in the land of Canaan.

Now Joseph was governor over the land,

the one who sold grain to all its people.

So when his brothers came,

they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

Joseph recognized his brothers,

but they did not recognize him.

He remembered his dreams about them and said:

“You are spies!

You have come to see where our land is unprotected.”

They replied:

“No, my lord.

Your servants have come to buy food.

We are all sons of one man.

We are honest men.

Your servants are not spies.”

But he said:

“No! You’ve come to see the nakedness of the land.”

They said:

“Your servants were twelve brothers,

the sons of one man in Canaan.

The youngest is now with our father,

and one is no more.”

Joseph said:

**“It is just as I told you: You are spies!

Here is how you will be tested:

As surely as Pharaoh lives,

you will not leave this place

unless your youngest brother comes here.

Send one of you to get your brother;

the rest will be kept in prison,

so that your words may be tested—whether you are telling the truth.”**

Then he put them all in custody for three days.

On the third day, Joseph said to them:

**“Do this and live, for I fear God.

If you are honest men,

let one of your brothers stay confined here in prison,

while the rest go and take grain back to your starving households.

But bring your youngest brother to me,

so that your words may be verified

and you may not die.”**

They agreed to this.

Then they said to one another:

“Surely we are guilty

concerning our brother.

We saw the distress of his soul

when he pleaded with us,

but we would not listen.

That is why this distress has come upon us.”

Reuben replied:

“Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy?

But you wouldn’t listen.

Now we must give an account for his blood!”

They did not realize

that Joseph understood them,

since he was using an interpreter.

He turned away from them and wept.

Then he came back and spoke to them.

He took Simeon from them

and had him bound before their eyes.

Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain,

to return each man’s silver to his sack,

and to give them provisions for their journey.

This was done for them.

They loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.

At the place where they stopped for the night,

one of them opened his sack

to feed his donkey,

and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack.

He said:

“My silver has been returned!

Here it is in my sack!”

Their hearts sank,

and they turned to each other trembling and said:

“What is this that God has done to us?”

When they came to their father Jacob in Canaan,

they told him everything that had happened.

They said:

**“The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us

and accused us of spying.

But we said, ‘We are honest men, not spies…’

Then he said:

‘Leave one of your brothers with me,

take food for your families, and go.

But bring your youngest brother to me,

so I will know you are not spies

but honest men.

Then I will release your brother

and you may trade in the land.’”**

As they emptied their sacks,

there was silver in each man’s sack!

When they and their father saw the money,

they were afraid.

Jacob said:

**“You have bereaved me of my children!

Joseph is no more.

Simeon is no more.

And now you want to take Benjamin?

Everything is against me!”**

Then Reuben said:

“You may put both my sons to death

if I do not bring Benjamin back to you.

Entrust him to my care,

and I will return him.”

But Jacob said:

“My son will not go down with you.

His brother is dead,

and he is the only one left.

If harm comes to him on the journey,

you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.”

———

Now the famine was still severe in the land.

When the grain they had brought from Egypt was gone,

Jacob said to his sons:

“Go back and buy us a little more food.”

But Judah said to him:

**“The man warned us solemnly,

‘You will not see my face again

unless your brother is with you.’

If you send our brother with us,

we’ll go down and buy food.

But if you do not send him,

we will not go.”**

Israel asked:

“Why did you bring this trouble on me

by telling the man you had another brother?”

They replied:

“The man questioned us carefully

about our family:

‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’

We simply answered his questions.

How could we know he would say,

‘Bring your brother down’?”

Then Judah said to Israel his father:

**“Send the boy with me,

and we will go at once,

so that we and you and our children may live and not die.

I myself will be guarantor for him.

You may hold me personally responsible.

If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you,

I will bear the blame all my life.

If we had not delayed,

we could have gone and returned twice by now.”**

Then their father Israel said:

**“If it must be so, then do this:

Take some of the best products of the land in your sacks

and carry a gift down to the man:

a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh,

pistachio nuts and almonds.

Take double the silver with you,

for you must return the silver

that was put back in your sacks.

Take your brother also,

and go back to the man at once.

And may El Shaddai grant you mercy before the man,

so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin.

As for me—if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”**

The men took the gifts and double the silver,

and Benjamin,

and hurried down to Egypt.

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them,

he said to his steward:

“Bring the men to my house.

Slaughter an animal and prepare a meal,

for they are to dine with me at noon.”

The man did as Joseph said

and brought them to Joseph’s house.

They were afraid and said:

“We were brought here because of the silver

that was returned in our sacks last time.

He wants to attack us and overpower us

and seize us as slaves—and take our donkeys!”

So they approached Joseph’s steward and said:

**“Please, sir, we came down before to buy food,

but at the place where we stopped for the night,

we opened our sacks and found each man’s silver

in the mouth of his sack.

So we brought it back with us.

We have also brought more silver to buy food.

We don’t know who put the silver in our sacks.”**

“Peace to you,” said the steward.

“Do not be afraid.

Your God and the God of your father

has given you treasure in your sacks;

I received your silver.”

Then he brought Simeon out to them.

He took the men into Joseph’s house,

gave them water to wash their feet,

and provided fodder for their donkeys.

They prepared their gifts

for Joseph’s arrival at noon,

for they had heard they were to eat there.

When Joseph came home,

they presented him with the gifts

they had brought into the house

and bowed down before him.

He asked how they were and said:

“Is your aged father you spoke of well?

Is he still alive?”

They answered:

“Your servant our father is well and still alive.”

And they bowed low again.

As he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin,

his own mother’s son,

he asked:

“Is this your youngest brother,

the one you told me about?”

And he said:

“God be gracious to you, my son.”

Deeply moved at the sight of his brother,

Joseph hurried out

and looked for a place to weep.

He went into a private room and wept there.

After he had washed his face,

he came out,

controlled himself,

and said:

“Serve the food.”

They were served separately:

Joseph by himself,

the brothers by themselves,

and the Egyptians with him by themselves,

because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews—

it was detestable to them.

They were seated in order of their birth,

from the firstborn to the youngest,

and the men looked at each other in amazement.

Portions were served to them from Joseph’s table,

but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as anyone else’s.

So they feasted and drank freely with him.

———

Joseph gave instructions to his steward:

“Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry,

and put each man’s silver back in his sack.

Then put my silver cup in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack,

along with the silver for his grain.”

And the steward did as Joseph said.

At dawn, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.

They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward:

“Go after them. When you catch up, say:

‘Why have you repaid good with evil?

Isn’t this the cup my master drinks from

and uses for divination?

You have done wrong.’”

When the steward caught up with them and repeated these words,

they said:

**“Why does my lord say such things?

Far be it from us to do such a thing!

If any of us is found with it,

he shall die,

and the rest of us will become your slaves.”**

The steward replied:

“Very well then.

Whoever is found with it shall become my slave;

the rest of you will be free from blame.”

Each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.

Starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest,

the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.

At this, they tore their clothes.

Then each man loaded his donkey

and returned to the city.

Joseph was still in his house

when Judah and his brothers came in,

and they threw themselves to the ground before him.

Joseph said:

“What is this you have done?

Do you not know that a man like me

can find things out by divination?”

Judah replied:

**“What can we say to my lord?

What can we speak?

How can we prove our innocence?

God has uncovered your servants’ guilt.

We are now my lord’s slaves—both we and the one

who was found to have the cup.”**

But Joseph said:

“Far be it from me to do that!

Only the man who was found to have the cup

will become my slave.

The rest of you, go back to your father in peace.”

Then Judah approached him and said:

**“Please, my lord,

let your servant speak a word in your ear.

Do not be angry,

though you are equal to Pharaoh himself.

My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or brother?’

We answered, ‘We have an aged father,

and there is a young son born to him in his old age.

His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left,

and his father loves him.’

You told us to bring him down,

and we said, ‘The boy cannot leave his father.

If he leaves, his father will die.’

But you said, ‘You will not see my face again

unless your youngest brother comes with you.’

So we went back and told our father.

And when he told us to return and buy more food,

we said, ‘We cannot go without the boy.’”**

**“Then our father said,

‘You know my wife bore me two sons.

One is gone, and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.”

If you take this one too and harm comes to him,

you will bring my gray head down to the grave in sorrow.’

Now, if I return to my father

and the boy is not with us,

his life is bound up with the boy’s life.

When he sees the boy is not there, he will die.

And we, your servants, will bring his gray head

down to the grave in sorrow.

I guaranteed the boy’s safety to my father.

I said, ‘If I do not bring him back,

I will bear the blame before you all my life.’”**

**“Now therefore,

please let your servant remain here

as my lord’s slave in place of the boy.

Let the boy return with his brothers.

How can I go back to my father

if the boy is not with me?

No! Do not let me see the misery

that would come upon my father.”**

———

Then Joseph could no longer control himself

before all his attendants, and he cried out:

“Have everyone leave my presence!”

So no one stayed with him

when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.

And he wept aloud,

so loudly that the Egyptians heard it,

and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.

Joseph said to his brothers:

“I am Joseph!

Is my father still alive?”

But his brothers were stunned and terrified

and could not answer him.

Then Joseph said to them:

“Come close to me.”

When they did, he said:

**“I am your brother Joseph,

the one you sold into Egypt.

And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves

for selling me here,

because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life.

For two years now there has been famine in the land,

and five more years will come without plowing or harvest.

But God sent me ahead of you

to preserve for you a remnant on earth

and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.

He made me father to Pharaoh,

lord of all his house,

and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”**

**“Now hurry back to my father and say to him:

‘This is what your son Joseph says:

God has made me lord of all Egypt.

Come down to me; don’t delay.

You shall live in the land of Goshen

and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren,

your flocks and herds, and all that you have.

I will provide for you there,

because five years of famine are still to come—

otherwise you and your household will become destitute.’”**

“You can see for yourselves—and so can my brother Benjamin—

that it is really I who am speaking to you.

Tell my father about all my honor in Egypt

and about everything you have seen.

And bring my father down here quickly.”

Then he threw his arms around Benjamin and wept,

and Benjamin embraced him, weeping.

And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them.

Afterward, his brothers talked with him.

When the news reached Pharaoh’s palace that Joseph’s brothers had come,

Pharaoh and his officials were pleased.

Pharaoh said to Joseph:

“Tell your brothers,

‘Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan,

and bring your father and your families back to me.

I will give you the best of the land of Egypt

and you can enjoy the fat of the land.’”

**“You are also instructed to tell them:

‘Take carts from Egypt for your children and wives,

and get your father and come.

Never mind your belongings,

because the best of all Egypt will be yours.’”**

So the sons of Israel did this.

Joseph gave them carts as Pharaoh had commanded,

and he gave them provisions for their journey.

To each of them he gave a set of new garments,

but to Benjamin he gave 300 shekels of silver

and five sets of clothes.

And he sent to his father ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt,

and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provisions for the journey.

Then he sent his brothers away, and as they were leaving, he said:

“Do not quarrel on the way.”

So they went up out of Egypt

and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.

They told him:

“Joseph is still alive!

In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.”

Jacob was stunned;

he did not believe them.

But when they told him everything Joseph had said,

and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent,

the spirit of Jacob revived.

Then Israel said:

“It is enough.

My son Joseph is still alive!

I will go and see him before I die.”

———

So Israel set out with all that was his,

and came to Beersheba,

where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

That night God spoke to Israel in a vision and said:

“Jacob! Jacob!”

And he said:

“Here I am.”

Then God said:

“I am El, the God of your father.

Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt,

for there I will make you into a great nation.

I Myself will go down with you to Egypt,

and I will surely bring you up again.

And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”

Then Jacob left Beersheba,

and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob,

their children, and their wives

in the carts Pharaoh had sent to transport them.

They also took with them their livestock

and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan.

So Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt—

sons and grandsons, daughters and granddaughters—

all his descendants.

These are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob) who went to Egypt:

Leah’s children:

Reuben (and his sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi)

Simeon (sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul by a Canaanite woman)

Levi (sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari)

Judah (sons: Er and Onan—who died in Canaan—and Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. Perez’s sons: Hezron and Hamul)

Issachar (sons: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron)

Zebulun (sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel)

These were the children of Leah, born to Jacob in Paddan-Aram, plus Dinah.

Total: 33 persons.

Zilpah’s children (Leah’s servant):

Gad (sons: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli)

Asher (sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah; their sister was Serah. Beriah’s sons: Heber and Malkiel)

These were Zilpah’s descendants: 16 persons.

Rachel’s children:

Joseph (sons in Egypt: Manasseh and Ephraim, born to Asenath, daughter of Potiphera)

Benjamin (sons: Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard)

Rachel’s descendants: 14 persons.

Bilhah’s children (Rachel’s servant):

Dan (son: Hushim)

Naphtali (sons: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem)

Bilhah’s descendants: 7 persons.

All those who went to Egypt with Jacob—his direct descendants, not counting the wives of his sons—numbered 66 persons.

With Joseph and his two sons already in Egypt,

the total number of Jacob’s family in Egypt was 70.

Jacob sent Judah ahead to Joseph

to get directions to Goshen.

When they arrived in the region of Goshen,

Joseph had his chariot made ready

and went to meet his father Israel.

As soon as Joseph appeared before him,

he threw his arms around his father

and wept for a long time.

Israel said to Joseph:

“Now I can die,

since I have seen for myself that you are still alive.”

Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household:

**“I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and say,

‘My brothers and my father’s household,

who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.

The men are shepherds,

and they have brought their flocks and herds and all they own.’

When Pharaoh calls you and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’

say, ‘Your servants have tended livestock from our youth until now.’”**

“Then you will be allowed to settle in Goshen,

for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.”

———

Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh:

“My father and brothers,

with their flocks and herds and all they own,

have come from the land of Canaan

and are now in Goshen.”

He chose five of his brothers

and presented them before Pharaoh.

Pharaoh asked the brothers:

“What is your occupation?”

They answered:

“Your servants are shepherds,

as were our fathers.

We have come to live here awhile,

because there is no pasture in Canaan

for your servants’ flocks—

for the famine is severe.

Please let your servants settle in Goshen.”

Pharaoh said to Joseph:

**“Your father and brothers have come to you,

and the land of Egypt is before you.

Settle them in the best part of the land—Goshen.

And if you know any among them with special ability,

put them in charge of my livestock.”**

Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in

and presented him before Pharaoh.

Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

Pharaoh asked him:

“How old are you?”

Jacob answered:

“The years of my sojourning are 130.

Few and difficult have been the years of my life,

and they do not equal the years of the sojourning

of my fathers.”

Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh again and left his presence.

So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt,

and gave them property in the best part of the land—

in Rameses, as Pharaoh had directed.

Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers,

and all his father’s household,

according to the number of their dependents.

There was no food in the whole region,

for the famine was very severe.

Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine.

Joseph collected all the silver found in Egypt and Canaan

in exchange for grain,

and brought it to Pharaoh’s palace.

When the silver was gone,

the Egyptians came to Joseph:

“Give us food.

Why should we die before your eyes?

Our money is gone.”

So Joseph said:

“Then bring your livestock.”

They brought their livestock,

and he gave them food in exchange for horses,

flocks, herds, and donkeys.

He brought them through that year with food for livestock.

The following year they said:

**“We cannot hide from my lord

that our money is gone

and our livestock belongs to you.

We have nothing left but our bodies and our land.

Why should we die before your eyes?

Buy us and our land in exchange for food.

We and our land will be Pharaoh’s servants.

Give us seed that we may live and not die,

and that the land may not become desolate.”**

So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh.

Every Egyptian sold their field,

because the famine was severe.

The land became Pharaoh’s,

and the people became servants from one end of Egypt to the other.

Only the land of the priests Joseph did not buy,

because they received a fixed allowance from Pharaoh.

Joseph said to the people:

**“I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh.

Here is seed for you to sow the land.

But when the harvest comes,

you must give one-fifth to Pharaoh.

The other four-fifths you may keep

as seed and food for your households.”**

They replied:

“You have saved our lives.

May we find favor in your eyes.

We will be Pharaoh’s servants.”

So Joseph made it a law in Egypt—still in place at the time this was written—

that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh,

except for the land of the priests.

So Israel settled in Egypt, in the region of Goshen.

They acquired property, were fruitful, and greatly multiplied.

Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years,

and the years of his life were 147.

When the time drew near for Israel to die,

he called for his son Joseph and said:

**“If I have found favor in your eyes,

put your hand under my thigh

and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness.

Do not bury me in Egypt.

When I rest with my ancestors,

carry me out of Egypt

and bury me where they are buried.”**

Joseph said:

“I will do as you say.”

Jacob said:

“Swear to me.”

So Joseph swore to him.

Then Israel bowed in worship at the head of his bed.

———

Some time later, Joseph was told:

“Your father is ill.”

So he took with him his two sons,

Manasseh and Ephraim.

When Jacob was told,

“Your son Joseph has come to you,”

Israel rallied his strength and sat up in bed.

Jacob said to Joseph:

“El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan,

and He blessed me and said:

‘I will make you fruitful and increase your numbers.

I will make you a community of peoples,

and I will give this land to your descendants

as an everlasting possession.’

“Now then, your two sons

born to you in Egypt before I came—Ephraim and Manasseh—

shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.

Any children born to you after them will be yours,

but they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers

in their inheritance.

As I was returning from Paddan,

to my sorrow, Rachel died

in the land of Canaan on the way,

while there was still some distance to Ephrath.

I buried her there on the way to Ephrath”

(that is, Bethlehem).

When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he asked:

“Who are these?”

Joseph said:

“They are my sons,

whom God has given me here.”

Israel said:

“Bring them to me, so I may bless them.”

Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age,

and he could hardly see.

So Joseph brought them close,

and his father kissed them and embraced them.

Israel said to Joseph:

“I never expected to see your face again,

and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”

Then Joseph removed them from his knees

and bowed with his face to the ground.

Joseph took both of them:

Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand,

Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand,

and brought them close.

But Israel reached out his right hand

and put it on Ephraim’s head,

though he was the younger,

and his left hand on Manasseh’s head—

he crossed his hands,

though Manasseh was the firstborn.

Then he blessed Joseph and said:

**“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked—

the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

the Angel who has redeemed me from all harm—

may He bless these boys.

May they be called by my name

and by the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,

and may they increase greatly upon the earth.”**

When Joseph saw that his father’s right hand

was on Ephraim’s head, he was displeased.

He took hold of his father’s hand

to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s.

“Not so, my father,” Joseph said.

“This one is the firstborn;

put your right hand on his head.”

But his father refused and said:

“I know, my son, I know.

He too will become a people,

and he too will be great.

Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater,

and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”

So he blessed them that day and said:

“In you shall Israel bless, saying:

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

Thus he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

Then Israel said to Joseph:

**“I am about to die,

but God will be with you

and bring you back to the land of your ancestors.

And to you, as one who is over your brothers,

I give the ridge of land

I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”**

———

Then Jacob called his sons and said:

“Gather around so I can tell you

what will happen to you in days to come.

Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob;

listen to your father Israel.”

**“Reuben, you are my firstborn,

my might, the first sign of my strength,

excelling in honor, excelling in power.

But you are unstable as water,

and you will no longer excel,

because you went up onto your father’s bed,

onto my couch and defiled it.”**

**“Simeon and Levi are brothers—

their swords are weapons of violence.

Let me not enter their council,

let me not join their assembly,

for they killed men in their anger

and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.

Cursed be their anger, so fierce,

and their fury, so cruel!

I will scatter them in Jacob

and disperse them in Israel.”**

**“Judah, your brothers will praise you;

your hand will be on the neck of your enemies.

Your father’s sons will bow down to you.

You are a lion’s cub, Judah;

you return from the prey, my son.

Like a lion he crouches and lies down—

who dares rouse him?

The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until Shiloh comes,

and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

He will tether his donkey to a vine,

his colt to the choicest branch;

he will wash his garments in wine,

his robes in the blood of grapes.

His eyes will be darker than wine,

his teeth whiter than milk.”**

“Zebulun will live by the seashore

and become a haven for ships;

his border will extend toward Sidon.”

**“Issachar is a strong donkey

lying down between the saddlebags.

He saw that his resting place was good

and his land was pleasant,

so he bent his shoulder to bear a burden

and submitted to forced labor.”**

**“Dan will provide justice for his people

as one of the tribes of Israel.

Dan will be a serpent by the roadside,

a viper along the path,

that bites the horse’s heels

so that its rider tumbles backward.

I wait for your deliverance, O YHWH.”**

“Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders,

but he will attack them at their heels.”

“Asher’s food will be rich;

he will provide delicacies fit for a king.”

“Naphtali is a doe set free

that bears beautiful fawns.”

**“Joseph is a fruitful vine,

a fruitful vine near a spring,

whose branches climb over a wall.

With bitterness archers attacked him;

they shot at him with hostility.

But his bow remained steady,

his strong arms stayed limber,

because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,

the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

because of your father’s God who helps you,

because of the Almighty who blesses you

with blessings of the heavens above,

blessings of the deep that lies below,

blessings of the breasts and womb.

Your father’s blessings are greater

than the blessings of the ancient mountains,

than the bounty of the age-old hills.

Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,

on the brow of the prince among his brothers.”**

“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;

in the morning he devours the prey,

in the evening he divides the plunder.”

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel,

and this is what their father said as he blessed them,

giving each the blessing appropriate to him.

Then he gave these instructions:

**“I am about to be gathered to my people.

Bury me with my fathers

in the cave in the field of Machpelah,

near Mamre in the land of Canaan.

There Abraham and Sarah were buried,

there Isaac and Rebekah were buried,

and there I buried Leah.

The field and the cave in it were bought

from the Hittites.”**

When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons,

he drew his feet up into the bed,

breathed his last,

and was gathered to his people.

———

Then Joseph threw himself on his father

and wept over him and kissed him.

Joseph commanded the physicians in his service

to embalm his father Israel,

and they did so.

It took forty days for the embalming,

and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.

When the mourning was over,

Joseph said to Pharaoh’s court:

“If I have found favor in your eyes,

speak to Pharaoh for me:

‘My father made me swear, saying,

“I am about to die.

Bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in Canaan.”

Now let me go and bury my father;

then I will return.’”

Pharaoh said:

“Go and bury your father,

as he made you swear to do.”

So Joseph went up to bury his father,

accompanied by all Pharaoh’s officials—

the dignitaries of his court and all the leaders of Egypt.

Chariots and horsemen also went up with him.

It was a very great company.

When they reached the threshing floor of Atad,

beyond the Jordan,

they lamented loudly and bitterly;

and Joseph observed seven days of mourning for his father.

When the Canaanites saw this, they said:

“This is a solemn mourning of the Egyptians.”

So that place was named Abel Mizraim (“Mourning of Egypt”).

Then his sons carried him to the land of Canaan

and buried him in the cave of Machpelah,

near Mamre, in the field Abraham had bought.

After burying his father,

Joseph returned to Egypt,

along with his brothers and all who had gone with him.

When Joseph’s brothers saw their father was dead, they said:

“What if Joseph holds a grudge against us

and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?”

So they sent word to Joseph:

“Your father left these instructions before he died:

‘This is what you are to say to Joseph:

Forgive your brothers the sins and wrongs they committed

in treating you so badly.’

Now please forgive the sins of the servants

of the God of your father.”

When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him:

“We are your slaves,” they said.

But Joseph said to them:

**“Do not be afraid.

Am I in the place of God?

You intended to harm me,

but God intended it for good,

to accomplish what is now being done—

the saving of many lives.

So then, do not be afraid.

I will provide for you and your children.”**

And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Joseph stayed in Egypt,

along with all his father’s family.

He lived to be 110 years old,

and saw the third generation of Ephraim’s children.

Also the children of Makir, son of Manasseh,

were placed at birth on Joseph’s knees.

Then Joseph said to his brothers:

“I am about to die.

But God will surely come to your aid

and take you up out of this land

to the land He promised on oath

to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath:

“God will surely come to your aid,

and then you must carry my bones up from this place.”

So Joseph died at the age of 110.

They embalmed him,

and he was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

———

Genesis began in a garden and ends with a coffin in a foreign land. But even in Egypt, hope lives on. The seed of Abraham has not been buried—only planted. Exodus will bring forth the next movement of God's redemption.