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Genesis 1
1 At the first God made the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was waste and without form; and it was dark on
the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God was moving on the
face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God, looking on the light, saw that it was good: and God
made a division between the light and the dark,
5 Naming the light, Day, and the dark, Night. And there was
evening and there was morning, the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a solid arch stretching over the
waters, parting the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the arch for a division between the waters which
were under the arch and those which were over it: and it was so.
8 And God gave the arch the name of Heaven. And there was
evening and there was morning, the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven come together in
one place, and let the dry land be seen: and it was so.
10 And God gave the dry land the name of Earth; and the waters
together in their place were named Seas: and God saw that it was
good.
11 And God said, Let grass come up on the earth, and plants
producing seed, and fruit-trees giving fruit, in which is their
seed, after their sort: and it was so.
12 And grass came up on the earth, and every plant producing
seed of its sort, and every tree producing fruit, in which is
its seed, of its sort: and God saw that it was good.
13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the arch of heaven, for
a division between the day and the night, and let them be for
signs, and for marking the changes of the year, and for days and
for years:
15 And let them be for lights in the arch of heaven to give
light on the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made the two great lights: the greater light to be
the ruler of the day, and the smaller light to be the ruler of
the night: and he made the stars.
17 And God put them in the arch of heaven, to give light on the
earth;
18 To have rule over the day and the night, and for a division
between the light and the dark: and God saw that it was good.
19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters be full of living things, and
let birds be in flight over the earth under the arch of heaven.
21 And God made great sea-beasts, and every sort of living and
moving thing with which the waters were full, and every sort of
winged bird: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God gave them his blessing, saying, Be fertile and have
increase, making all the waters of the seas full, and let the
birds be increased in the earth.
23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth give birth to all sorts of living
things, cattle and all things moving on the earth, and beasts of
the earth after their sort: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after its sort, and the
cattle after their sort, and everything moving on the face of
the earth after its sort: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, like us: and let
him have rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the
air and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every
living thing which goes flat on the earth.
27 And God made man in his image, in the image of God he made
him: male and female he made them.
28 And God gave them his blessing and said to them, Be fertile
and have increase, and make the earth full and be masters of it;
be rulers over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air
and over every living thing moving on the earth.
29 And God said, See, I have given you every plant producing
seed, on the face of all the earth, and every tree which has
fruit producing seed: they will be for your food:
30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air
and every living thing moving on the face of the earth I have
given every green plant for food: and it was so.
31 And God saw everything which he had made and it was very
good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth
day.
Genesis 2
1 And the heaven and the earth and all things in them were
complete.
2 And on the seventh day God came to the end of all his work;
and on the seventh day he took his rest from all the work which
he had done.
3 And God gave his blessing to the seventh day and made it holy:
because on that day he took his rest from all the work which he
had made and done.
4 These are the generations of the heaven and the earth when
they were made.
5 In the day when the Lord God made earth and heaven there were
no plants of the field on the earth, and no grass had come up:
for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no
man to do work on the land.
6 But a mist went up from the earth, watering all the face of
the land.
7 And the Lord God made man from the dust of the earth,
breathing into him the breath of life: and man became a living
soul.
8 And the Lord God made a garden in the east, in Eden; and there
he put the man whom he had made.
9 And out of the earth the Lord made every tree to come,
delighting the eye and good for food; and in the middle of the
garden, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil.
10 And a river went out of Eden giving water to the garden; and
from there it was parted and became four streams.
11 The name of the first is Pishon, which goes round about all
the land of Havilah where there is gold.
12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the
onyx stone.
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: this river goes
round all the land of Cush.
14 And the name of the third river is Tigris, which goes to the
east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
15 And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of
Eden to do work in it and take care of it.
16 And the Lord God gave the man orders, saying, You may freely
take of the fruit of every tree of the garden:
17 But of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil you may not take; for on the day when you take of it, death
will certainly come to you.
18 And the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be by
himself: I will make one like himself as a help to him
19 And from the earth the Lord God made every beast of the field
and every bird of the air, and took them to the man to see what
names he would give them: and whatever name he gave to any
living thing, that was its name.
20 And the man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the
air and to every beast of the field; but Adam had no one like
himself as a help.
21 And the Lord God sent a deep sleep on the man, and took one
of the bones from his side while he was sleeping, joining up the
flesh again in its place:
22 And the bone which the Lord God had taken from the man he
made into a woman, and took her to the man.
23 And the man said, This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my
flesh: let her name be Woman because she was taken out of Man.
24 For this cause will a man go away from his father and his
mother and be joined to his wife; and they will be one flesh.
25 And the man and his wife were without clothing, and they had
no sense of shame.
Genesis 3
1 Now the snake was wiser than any beast of the field which the
Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God truly said
that you may not take of the fruit of any tree in the garden?
2 And the woman said, We may take of the fruit of the trees in
the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God
has said, If you take of it or put your hands on it, death will
come to you.
4 And the snake said, Death will not certainly come to you:
5 For God sees that on the day when you take of its fruit, your
eyes will be open, and you will be as gods, having knowledge of
good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and a
delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise, she
took of its fruit, and gave it to her husband.
7 And their eyes were open and they were conscious that they had
no clothing and they made themselves coats of leaves stitched
together.
8 And there came to them the sound of the Lord God walking in
the garden in the evening wind: and the man and his wife went to
a secret place among the trees of the garden, away from the eyes
of the Lord God.
9 And the voice of the Lord God came to the man, saying, Where
are you?
10 And he said, Hearing your voice in the garden I was full of
fear, because I was without clothing: and I kept myself from
your eyes.
11 And he said, Who gave you the knowledge that you were without
clothing? Have you taken of the fruit of the tree which I said
you were not to take?
12 And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she
gave me the fruit of the tree and I took it.
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And
the woman said, I was tricked by the deceit of the snake and I
took it.
14 And the Lord God said to the snake, Because you have done
this you are cursed more than all cattle and every beast of the
field; you will go flat on the earth, and dust will be your food
all the days of your life:
15 And there will be war between you and the woman and between
your seed and her seed: by him will your head be crushed and by
you his foot will be wounded.
16 To the woman he said, Great will be your pain in childbirth;
in sorrow will your children come to birth; still your desire
will be for your husband, but he will be your master.
17 And to Adam he said, Because you gave ear to the voice of
your wife and took of the fruit of the tree which I said you
were not to take, the earth is cursed on your account; in pain
you will get your food from it all your life.
18 Thorns and waste plants will come up, and the plants of the
field will be your food;
19 With the hard work of your hands you will get your bread till
you go back to the earth from which you were taken: for dust you
are and to the dust you will go back.
20 And the man gave his wife the name of Eve because she was the
mother of all who have life.
21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of
skins for their clothing.
22 And the Lord God said, Now the man has become like one of us,
having knowledge of good and evil; and now if he puts out his
hand and takes of the fruit of the tree of life, he will go on
living for ever.
23 So the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to be a
worker on the earth from which he was taken.
24 So he sent the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden
he put winged ones and a flaming sword turning every way to keep
the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 4
1 And the man had connection with Eve his wife, and she became
with child and gave birth to Cain, and said, I have got a man
from the Lord.
2 Then again she became with child and gave birth to Abel, his
brother. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a farmer.
3 And after a time, Cain gave to the Lord an offering of the
fruits of the earth.
4 And Abel gave an offering of the young lambs of his flock and
of their fat. And the Lord was pleased with Abel's offering;
5 But in Cain and his offering he had no pleasure. And Cain was
angry and his face became sad.
6 And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? and why is your
face sad?
7 If you do well, will you not have honour? and if you do wrong,
sin is waiting at the door, desiring to have you, but do not let
it be your master.
8 And Cain said to his brother, Let us go into the field: and
when they were in the field, Cain made an attack on his brother
Abel and put him to death.
9 And the Lord said to Cain, Where is your brother Abel? And he
said, I have no idea: am I my brother's keeper?
10 And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's
blood is crying to me from the earth.
11 And now you are cursed from the earth, whose mouth is open to
take your brother's blood from your hand;
12 No longer will the earth give you her fruit as the reward of
your work; you will be a wanderer in flight over the earth.
13 And Cain said, My punishment is greater than my strength.
14 You have sent me out this day from the face of the earth and
from before your face; I will be a wanderer in flight over the
earth, and whoever sees me will put me to death.
15 And the Lord said, Truly, if Cain is put to death, seven
lives will be taken for his. And the Lord put a mark on Cain so
that no one might put him to death.
16 And Cain went away from before the face of the Lord, and made
his living-place in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.
17 And Cain had connection with his wife and she became with
child and gave birth to Enoch: and he made a town, and gave the
town the name of Enoch after his son.
18 And Enoch had a son Irad: and Irad became the father of
Mehujael: and Mehujael became the father of Methushael: and
Methushael became the father of Lamech.
19 And Lamech had two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and
the name of the other Zillah.
20 And Adah gave birth to Jabal: he was the father of such as
are living in tents and keep cattle.
21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all
players on instruments of music.
22 And Zillah gave birth to Tubal-cain, who is the father of
every maker of cutting instruments of brass and iron: and the
sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
23 And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, give ear to my
voice; you wives of Lamech, give attention to my words, for I
would put a man to death for a wound, and a young man for a
blow;
24 If seven lives are to be taken as punishment for Cain's
death, seventy-seven will be taken for Lamech's.
25 And Adam had connection with his wife again, and she gave
birth to a son to whom she gave the name of Seth: for she said,
God has given me another seed in place of Abel, whom Cain put to
death.
26 And Seth had a son, and he gave him the name of Enosh: at
this time men first made use of the name of the Lord in worship.
Genesis 5
1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when
God made man, he made him in the image of God;
2 Male and female he made them, naming them Man, and giving them
his blessing on the day when they were made.
3 Adam had been living for a hundred and thirty years when he
had a son like himself, after his image, and gave him the name
of Seth:
4 And after the birth of Seth, Adam went on living for eight
hundred years, and had sons and daughters:
5 And all the years of Adam's life were nine hundred and thirty:
and he came to his end.
6 And Seth was a hundred and five years old when he became the
father of Enosh:
7 And he went on living after the birth of Enosh for eight
hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters:
8 And all the years of Seth's life were nine hundred and twelve:
and he came to his end.
9 And Enosh was ninety years old when he became the father of
Kenan:
10 And after the birth of Kenan, Enosh went on living for eight
hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters:
11 And all the years of Enosh were nine hundred and five: and he
came to his end.
12 And Kenan was seventy years old when he became the father of
Mahalalel:
13 And after the birth of Mahalalel, Kenan went on living for
eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters:
14 And all the years of Kenan's life were nine hundred and ten;
and he came to his end.
15 And Mahalalel was sixty-five years old when he became the
father of Jared:
16 And after the birth of Jared, Mahalalel went on living for
eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters:
17 And all the years of Mahalalel's life were eight hundred and
ninety-five: and he came to his end.
18 And Jared was a hundred and sixty-two years old when he
became the father of Enoch:
19 And Jared went on living after the birth of Enoch for eight
hundred years, and had sons and daughters:
20 And all the years of Jared's life were nine hundred and
sixty-two: and he came to his end.
21 And Enoch was sixty-five years old when he became the father
of Methuselah:
22 And after the birth of Methuselah, Enoch went on in God's
ways for three hundred years, and had sons and daughters:
23 And all the years of Enoch's life were three hundred and
sixty-five:
24 And Enoch went on in God's ways: and he was not seen again,
for God took him.
25 And Methuselah was a hundred and eighty-seven years old when
he became the father of Lamech:
26 And after the birth of Lamech, Methuselah went on living for
seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters:
27 And all the years of Methuselah's life were nine hundred and
sixty-nine: and he came to his end.
28 And Lamech was a hundred and eighty-two years old when he had
a son:
29 And he gave him the name of Noah, saying, Truly, he will give
us rest from our trouble and the hard work of our hands, because
of the earth which was cursed by God.
30 And after the birth of Noah, Lamech went on living for five
hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters:
31 And all the years of Lamech's life were seven hundred and
seventy-seven: and he came to his end.
32 And when Noah was five hundred years old, he became the
father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 6
1 And after a time, when men were increasing on the earth, and
had daughters,
2 The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and
they took wives for themselves from those who were pleasing to
them.
3 And the Lord said, My spirit will not be in man for ever, for
he is only flesh; so the days of his life will be a hundred and
twenty years.
4 There were men of great strength and size on the earth in
those days; and after that, when the sons of God had connection
with the daughters of men, they gave birth to children: these
were the great men of old days, the men of great name.
5 And the Lord saw that the sin of man was great on the earth,
and that all the thoughts of his heart were evil.
6 And the Lord had sorrow because he had made man on the earth,
and grief was in his heart.
7 And the Lord said, I will take away man, whom I have made,
from the face of the earth, even man and beast and that which
goes on the earth and every bird of the air; for I have sorrow
for having made them.
8 But Noah had grace in the eyes of God.
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was an upright man and
without sin in his generation: he went in the ways of God.
10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 And the earth was evil in God's eyes and full of violent
ways.
12 And God, looking on the earth, saw that it was evil: for the
way of all flesh had become evil on the earth.
13 And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come; the
earth is full of their violent doings, and now I will put an end
to them with the earth.
14 Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood with rooms in it, and
make it safe from the water inside and out.
15 And this is the way you are to make it: it is to be three
hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high.
16 You are to put a window in the ark, a cubit from the roof,
and a door in the side of it, and you are to make it with a
lower and second and third floors.
17 For truly, I will send a great flow of waters over the earth,
for the destruction from under the heaven of all flesh in which
is the breath of life; everything on the earth will come to an
end.
18 But with you I will make an agreement; and you will come into
the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives
with you.
19 And you will take with you into the ark two of every sort of
living thing, and keep them safe with you; they will be male and
female.
20 Two of every sort of bird and cattle and of every sort of
living thing which goes on the earth will you take with you to
keep them from destruction.
21 And make a store of every sort of food for yourself and them.
22 And all these things Noah did; as God said, so he did.
Genesis 7
1 And the Lord said to Noah, Take all your family and go into
the ark, for you only in this generation have I seen to be
upright.
2 Of every clean beast you will take seven males and seven
females, and of the beasts which are not clean, two, the male
and his female;
3 And of the birds of the air, seven males and seven females, so
that their seed may still be living on the face of the earth.
4 For after seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty
days and forty nights, for the destruction of every living thing
which I have made on the face of the earth.
5 And Noah did everything which the Lord said he was to do.
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the waters came
flowing over all the earth.
7 And Noah, with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives, went
into the ark because of the flowing of the waters.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts which are not clean, and of
birds, and of everything which goes on the earth,
9 In twos, male and female, they went into the ark with Noah, as
God had said.
10 And after the seven days, the waters came over all the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second
month, on the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of
the great deep came bursting through, and the windows of heaven
were open;
12 And rain came down on the earth for forty days and forty
nights.
13 On the same day Noah, with Shem, Ham, and Japheth, his sons,
and his wife and his sons' wives, went into the ark;
14 And with them, every sort of beast and cattle, and every sort
of thing which goes on the earth, and every sort of bird.
15 They went with Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh in
which is the breath of life.
16 Male and female of all flesh went in, as God had said, and
the ark was shut by the Lord.
17 And for forty days the waters were over all the earth; and
the waters were increased so that the ark was lifted up high
over the earth.
18 And the waters overcame everything and were increased greatly
on the earth, and the ark was resting on the face of the waters.
19 And the waters overcame everything on the earth; and all the
mountains under heaven were covered.
20 The waters went fifteen cubits higher, till all the mountains
were covered.
21 And destruction came on every living thing moving on the
earth, birds and cattle and beasts and everything which went on
the earth, and every man.
22 Everything on the dry land, in which was the breath of life,
came to its end.
23 Every living thing on the face of all the earth, man and
cattle and things moving on the face of the earth, and birds of
the air, came to destruction: only Noah and those who were with
him in the ark, were kept from death.
24 And the waters were over the earth a hundred and fifty days.
Genesis 8
1 And God kept Noah in mind, and all the living things and the
cattle which were with him in the ark: and God sent a wind over
the earth, and the waters went down.
2 And the fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were
shut, and the rain from heaven was stopped.
3 And the waters went slowly back from the earth, and at the end
of a hundred and fifty days the waters were lower.
4 And on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came
to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
5 And still the waters went on falling, till on the first day of
the tenth month the tops of the mountains were seen.
6 Then, after forty days, through the open window of the ark
which he had made,
7 Noah sent out a raven, which went this way and that till the
waters were gone from the earth.
8 And he sent out a dove, to see if the waters had gone from the
face of the earth;
9 But the dove saw no resting-place for her foot, and came back
to the ark, for the waters were still over all the earth; and he
put out his hand, and took her into the ark.
10 And after waiting another seven days, he sent the dove out
again;
11 And the dove came back at evening, and in her mouth was an
olive-leaf broken off: so Noah was certain that the waters had
gone down on the earth.
12 And after seven days more, he sent the dove out again, but
she did not come back to him.
13 And in the six hundred and first year, on the first day of
the first month, the waters were dry on the earth: and Noah took
the cover off the ark and saw that the face of the earth was
dry.
14 And on the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth
was dry.
15 And God said to Noah,
16 Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your
sons' wives.
17 Take out with you every living thing which is with you, birds
and cattle and everything which goes on the earth, so that they
may have offspring and be fertile and be increased on the earth.
18 And Noah went out with his sons and his wife and his sons'
wives;
19 And every beast and bird and every living thing of every sort
which goes on the earth, went out of the ark.
20 And Noah made an altar to the Lord, and from every clean
beast and bird he made burned offerings on the altar.
21 And when the sweet smell came up to the Lord, he said in his
heart, I will not again put a curse on the earth because of man,
for the thoughts of man's heart are evil from his earliest days;
never again will I send destruction on all living things as I
have done.
22 While the earth goes on, seed time and the getting in of the
grain, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will not
come to an end.
Genesis 9
1 And God gave his blessing to Noah and his sons, and said, Be
fertile, and have increase, and make the earth full.
2 And the fear of you will be strong in every beast of the earth
and every bird of the air; everything which goes on the land,
and all the fishes of the sea, are given into your hands.
3 Every living and moving thing will be food for you; I give
them all to you as before I gave you all green things.
4 But flesh with the life-blood in it you may not take for food.
5 And for your blood, which is your life, will I take payment;
from every beast I will take it, and from every man will I take
payment for the blood of his brother-man.
6 Whoever takes a man's life, by man will his life be taken;
because God made man in his image.
7 And now, be fertile and have increase; have offspring on the
earth and become great in number.
8 And God said to Noah and to his sons,
9 Truly, I will make my agreement with you and with your seed
after you,
10 And with every living thing with you, all birds and cattle
and every beast of the earth which comes out of the ark with
you.
11 And I will make my agreement with you; never again will all
flesh be cut off by the waters; never again will the waters come
over all the earth for its destruction.
12 And God said, This is the sign of the agreement which I make
between me and you and every living thing with you, for all
future generations:
13 I will put my bow in the cloud and it will be for a sign of
the agreement between me and the earth.
14 And whenever I make a cloud come over the earth, the bow will
be seen in the cloud,
15 And I will keep in mind the agreement between me and you and
every living thing; and never again will there be a great flow
of waters causing destruction to all flesh.
16 And the bow will be in the cloud, and looking on it, I will
keep in mind the eternal agreement between God and every living
thing on the earth.
17 And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the agreement which
I have made between me and all flesh on the earth.
18 And the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham,
and Japheth; and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19 These three were the sons of Noah and from them all the earth
was peopled.
20 In those days Noah became a farmer, and he made a
vine-garden.
21 And he took of the wine of it and was overcome by drink; and
he was uncovered in his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father unclothed, and
gave news of it to his two brothers outside.
23 And Shem and Japheth took a robe, and putting it on their
backs went in with their faces turned away, and put it over
their father so that they might not see him unclothed.
24 And, awaking from his wine, Noah saw what his youngest son
had done to him, and he said,
25 Cursed be Canaan; let him be a servant of servants to his
brothers.
26 And he said, Praise to the Lord, the God of Shem; let Canaan
be his servant.
27 May God make Japheth great, and let his living-place be in
the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.
28 And Noah went on living three hundred and fifty years after
the great flow of waters;
29 all the years of his life were nine hundred and fifty: and he
came to his end.
Genesis 10
1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham,
and Japheth: these are the sons which they had after the great
flow of waters
2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and
Tubal and Meshech and Tiras.
3 And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah.
4 And the sons of Javan: Elishah and Tarshish, the Kittim and
the Dodanim.
5 From these came the nations of the sea-lands, with their
different families and languages.
6 And the sons of Ham: Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan.
7 And the sons of Cush: Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah
and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
8 And Cush was the father of Nimrod, who was the first of the
great men of the earth.
9 He was a very great bowman, so that there is a saying, Like
Nimrod, a very great bowman.
10 And at the first, his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad
and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
11 From that land he went out into Assyria, building Nineveh
with its wide streets and Calah,
12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah, which is a very great
town.
13 And Mizraim was the father of the Ludim and Anamim and
Lehabim and Naphtuhim;
14 And Pathrusim and Casluhim and Caphtorim, from whom came the
Philistines.
15 And Canaan was the father of Zidon, who was his oldest son,
and Heth,
16 And the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite,
17 And the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite,
18 And the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; after
that the families of the Canaanites went far and wide in all
directions;
19 Their country stretching from Zidon to Gaza, in the direction
of Gerar; and to Lasha, in the direction of Sodom and Gomorrah
and Admah and Zeboiim.
20 All these, with their different families, languages, lands,
and nations, are the offspring of Ham.
21 And Shem, the older brother of Japheth, the father of the
children of Eber, had other sons in addition.
22 These are the sons of Shem: Elam and Asshur and Arpachshad
and Lud and Aram.
23 And the sons of Aram: Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash.
24 And Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became
the father of Eber.
25 And Eber had two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, because
in his time the peoples of the earth became separate; and his
brother's name was Joktan.
26 And Joktan was the father of Almodad and Sheleph and
Hazarmaveth and Jerah
27 And Hadoram and Uzal and Diklah
28 And Obal and Abimael and Sheba
29 And Ophir and Havilah and Jobab; all these were the sons of
Joktan.
30 And their country was from Mesha, in the direction of Sephar,
the mountain of the east.
31 These, with their families and their languages and their
lands and their nations, are the offspring of Shem.
32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, in the order of
their generations and their nations: from these came all the
nations of the earth after the great flow of waters.
Genesis 11
1 And all the earth had one language and one tongue.
2 And it came about that in their wandering from the east, they
came to a stretch of flat country in the land of Shinar, and
there they made their living-place.
3 And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks,
burning them well. And they had bricks for stone, putting them
together with sticky earth.
4 And they said, Come, let us make a town, and a tower whose top
will go up as high as heaven; and let us make a great name for
ourselves, so that we may not be wanderers over the face of the
earth.
5 And the Lord came down to see the town and the tower which the
children of men were building.
6 And the Lord said, See, they are all one people and have all
one language; and this is only the start of what they may do:
and now it will not be possible to keep them from any purpose of
theirs.
7 Come, let us go down and take away the sense of their
language, so that they will not be able to make themselves clear
to one another.
8 So the Lord God sent them away into every part of the earth:
and they gave up building their town.
9 So it was named Babel, because there the Lord took away the
sense of all languages and from there the Lord sent them away
over all the face of the earth.
10 These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years
old when he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the
great flow of waters;
11 And after the birth of Arpachshad, Shem went on living for
five hundred years, and had sons and daughters:
12 And Arpachshad was thirty-five years old when he became the
father of Shelah:
13 And after the birth of Shelah, Arpachshad went on living for
four hundred and three years, and had sons and daughters:
14 And Shelah was thirty years old when he became the father of
Eber:
15 And after the birth of Eber, Shelah went on living for four
hundred and three years, and had sons and daughters:
16 And Eber was thirty-four years old when he became the father
of Peleg:
17 And after the birth of Peleg, Eber went on living for four
hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters:
18 And Peleg was thirty years old when he became the father of
Reu:
19 And after the birth of Reu, Peleg went on living for two
hundred and nine years, and had sons and daughters:
20 And Reu was thirty-two years old when he became the father of
Serug:
21 And after the birth of Serug, Reu went on living for two
hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters:
22 And Serug was thirty years old when he became the father of
Nahor:
23 And after the birth of Nahor, Serug went on living for two
hundred years, and had sons and daughters:
24 And Nahor was twenty-nine years old when he became the father
of Terah:
25 And after the birth of Terah, Nahor went on living for a
hundred and nineteen years, and had sons and daughters:
26 And Terah was seventy years old when he became the father of
Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 These are the generations of Terah: Terah was the father of
Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.
28 And death came to Haran when he was with his father Terah in
the land of his birth, Ur of the Chaldees.
29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves: the name of
Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah,
the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.
30 And Sarai had no child.
31 And Terah took Abram, his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, and
Sarai, his daughter-in-law, the wife of his son Abram and they
went out from Ur of the Chaldees, to go to the land of Canaan;
and they came to Haran, and were there for some time.
32 And all the years of Terah's life were two hundred and five:
and Terah came to his end in Haran.
Genesis 12
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, Go out from your country and from
your family and from your father's house, into the land to which
I will be your guide:
2 And I will make of you a great nation, blessing you and making
your name great; and you will be a blessing:
3 To them who are good to you will I give blessing, and on him
who does you wrong will I put my curse: and you will become a
name of blessing to all the families of the earth.
4 So Abram went as the Lord had said to him, and Lot went with
him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went away from
Haran.
5 And Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son,
and all their goods and the servants which they had got in
Haran, and they went out to go to the land of Canaan.
6 And Abram went through the land till he came to Shechem, to
the holy tree of Moreh. At that time, the Canaanites were still
living in the land.
7 And the Lord came to Abram, and said, I will give all this
land to your seed; then Abram made an altar there to the Lord
who had let himself be seen by him.
8 And moving on from there to the mountain on the east of
Beth-el, he put up his tent, having Beth-el on the west and Ai
on the east: and there he made an altar and gave worship to the
name of the Lord.
9 And he went on, journeying still to the South.
10 And because there was little food to be had in that land, he
went down into Egypt.
11 Now when he came near to Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife,
Truly, you are a fair woman and beautiful to the eye;
12 And I am certain that when the men of Egypt see you, they
will say, This is his wife: and they will put me to death and
keep you.
13 Say, then, that you are my sister, and so it will be well
with me because of you, and my life will be kept safe on your
account.
14 And so it was that when Abram came into Egypt, the men of
Egypt, looking on the woman, saw that she was fair.
15 And Pharaoh's great men, having seen her, said words in
praise of her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh's
house.
16 And because of her, he was good to Abram, and he had sheep
and oxen and asses, and men-servants and women-servants, and
camels.
17 And the Lord sent great troubles on Pharaoh's house because
of Sarai, Abram's wife.
18 Then Pharaoh sent for Abram, and said, What have you done to
me? why did you not say that she was your wife?
19 Why did you say that she was your sister? so that I took her
for my wife: now, take your wife and go on your way.
20 And Pharaoh gave orders to his men, and they sent him on his
way, with his wife and all he had.
Genesis 13
1 And Abram went up out of Egypt with his wife and all he had,
and Lot with him, and they came in to the South.
2 Now Abram had great wealth of cattle and silver and gold.
3 And travelling on from the South, he came to Beth-el, to the
place where his tent had been before, between Beth-el and Ai;
4 To the place where he had made his first altar, and there
Abram gave worship to the name of the Lord.
5 And Lot, who went with him, had flocks and herds and tents;
6 So that the land was not wide enough for the two of them:
their property was so great that there was not room for them
together.
7 And there was an argument between the keepers of Abram's
cattle and the keepers of Lot's cattle: at that time the
Canaanites and Perizzites were still living in the land.
8 Then Abram said to Lot, Let there be no argument between me
and you, and between my herdmen and your herdmen, for we are
brothers.
9 Is not all the land before you? then let us go our separate
ways: if you go to the left, I will go to the right; or if you
take the right, I will go to the left.
10 And Lot, lifting up his eyes and looking an the valley of
Jordan, saw that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord
had sent destruction on Sodom and Gomorrah; it was like the
garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, on the way to Zoar.
11 So Lot took for himself all the valley of Jordan, and went to
the east, and they were parted from one another.
12 Abram went on living in the land of Canaan, and Lot went to
the lowland towns, moving his tent as far as Sodom.
13 Now the men of Sodom were evil, and great sinners before the
Lord.
14 And the Lord had said to Abram, after Lot was parted from
him, From this place where you are take a look to the north and
to the south, to the east and to the west:
15 For all the land which you see I will give to you and to your
seed for ever.
16 And I will make your children like the dust of the earth, so
that if the dust of the earth may be numbered, then will your
children be numbered.
17 Come, go through all the land from one end to the other for I
will give it to you.
18 And Abram, moving his tent, came and made his living-place by
the holy tree of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and made an altar
there to the Lord.
Genesis 14
1 Now in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of
Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim,
2 They made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king
of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of
Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (which is Zoar).
3 All these came together in the valley of Siddim (which is the
Salt Sea).
4 For twelve years they were under the rule of Chedorlaomer, but
in the thirteenth year they put off his control.
5 And in the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who
were on his side, overcame the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, and
the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,
6 And the Horites in their mountain Seir, driving them as far as
El-paran, which is near the waste land.
7 Then they came back to En-mishpat (which is Kadesh), making
waste all the country of the Amalekites and of the Amorites
living in Hazazon-tamar.
8 And the king of Sodom with the king of Gomorrah and the king
of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is
Zoar), went out, and put their forces in position in the valley
of Siddim,
9 Against Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim,
and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar: four
kings against the five.
10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of holes of sticky earth;
and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were put to flight and came
to their end there, but the rest got away to the mountain.
11 And the four kings took all the goods and food from Sodom and
Gomorrah and went on their way.
12 And in addition they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who was
living in Sodom, and all his goods.
13 And one who had got away from the fight came and gave word of
it to Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the holy tree of
Mamre, the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and Aner, who were
friends of Abram.
14 And Abram, hearing that his brother's son had been made a
prisoner, took a band of his trained men, three hundred and
eighteen of them, sons of his house, and went after them as far
as Dan.
15 And separating his forces by night, he overcame them, putting
them to flight and going after them as far as Hobah, which is on
the north side of Damascus.
16 And he got back all the goods, and Lot, his brother's son,
with his goods and the women and the people.
17 And when he was coming back after putting to flight
Chedorlaomer and the other kings, he had a meeting with the king
of Sodom in the valley of Shaveh, that is, the King's Valley.
18 And Melchizedek, king of Salem, the priest of the Most High
God, took bread and wine,
19 And blessing him, said, May the blessing of the Most High
God, maker of heaven and earth, be on Abram:
20 And let the Most High God be praised, who has given into your
hands those who were against you. Then Abram gave him a tenth of
all the goods he had taken.
21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the prisoners
and take the goods for yourself.
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have taken an oath to
the Lord, the Most High God, maker of heaven and earth,
23 That I will not take so much as a thread or the cord of a
shoe of yours; so that you may not say, I have given wealth to
Abram:
24 Give me nothing but the food which the fighting-men who went
with me have had; but let Aner and Eshcol and Mamre have their
part of the goods.
Genesis 15
1 After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a
vision, saying, Have no fear, Abram: I will keep you safe, and
great will be your reward.
2 And Abram said, What will you give me? for I have no child and
this Eliezer of Damascus will have all my wealth after me.
3 And Abram said, You have given me no child, and a servant in
my house will get the heritage.
4 Then said the Lord, This man will not get the heritage, but a
son of your body will have your property after you.
5 And he took him out into the open air, and said to him, Let
your eyes be lifted to heaven, and see if the stars may be
numbered; even so will your seed be.
6 And he had faith in the Lord, and it was put to his account as
righteousness.
7 And he said to him, I am the Lord, who took you from Ur of the
Chaldees, to give you this land for your heritage.
8 And he said, O Lord God, how may I be certain that it will be
mine?
9 And he said, Take a young cow of three years old, and a
she-goat of three years old, and a sheep of three years old, and
a dove and a young pigeon.
10 All these he took, cutting them in two and putting one half
opposite the other, but not cutting the birds in two.
11 And evil birds came down on the bodies, but Abram sent them
away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep came on Abram,
and a dark cloud of fear.
13 And he said to Abram, Truly, your seed will be living in a
land which is not theirs, as servants to a people who will be
cruel to them for four hundred years;
14 But I will be the judge of that nation whose servants they
are, and they will come out from among them with great wealth.
15 As for you, you will go to your fathers in peace; at the end
of a long life you will be put in your last resting-place.
16 And in the fourth generation they will come back here; for at
present the sin of the Amorite is not full.
17 Then when the sun went down and it was dark, he saw a smoking
fire and a flaming light which went between the parts of the
bodies.
18 In that day the Lord made an agreement with Abram, and said,
To your seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt to
the great river, the river Euphrates:
19 The Kenite, the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite,
20 And the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim,
21 And the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and
the Jebusite.
Genesis 16
1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had given him no children; and she
had a servant, a woman of Egypt whose name was Hagar.
2 And Sarai said to Abram, See, the Lord has not let me have
children; go in to my servant, for I may get a family through
her. And Abram did as Sarai said.
3 So after Abram had been living for ten years in the land of
Canaan, Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian servant, and gave her to
Abram for his wife.
4 And he went in to Hagar and she became with child, and when
she saw that she was with child, she no longer had any respect
for her master's wife.
5 And Sarai said to Abram, May my wrong be on you: I gave you my
servant for your wife and when she saw that she was with child,
she no longer had any respect for me: may the Lord be judge
between you and me.
6 And Abram said, The woman is in your power; do with her
whatever seems good to you. And Sarai was cruel to her, so that
she went running away from her.
7 And an angel of the Lord came to her by a fountain of water in
the waste land, by the fountain on the way to Shur.
8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai's servant, where have you come from
and where are you going? And she said, I am running away from
Sarai, my master's wife.
9 And the angel said to her, Go back, and put yourself under her
authority.
10 And the angel of the Lord said, Your seed will be greatly
increased so that it may not be numbered.
11 And the angel of the Lord said, See, you are with child and
will give birth to a son, to whom you will give the name
Ishmael, because the ears of the Lord were open to your sorrow.
12 And he will be like a mountain ass among men; his hand will
be against every man and every man's hand against him, and he
will keep his place against all his brothers.
13 And to the Lord who was talking with her she gave this name,
You are a God who is seen; for she said, Have I not even here in
the waste land had a vision of God and am still living?
14 So that fountain was named, Fountain of Life and Vision: it
is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 And Hagar gave birth to a child, the son of Abram, to whom
Abram gave the name of Ishmael.
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to
Ishmael.
Genesis 17
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord came to him,
and said, I am God, Ruler of all; go in my ways and be upright
in all things,
2 And I will make an agreement between you and me, and your
offspring will be greatly increased.
3 And Abram went down on his face on the earth, and the Lord God
went on talking with him, and said,
4 As for me, my agreement is made with you, and you will be the
father of nations without end.
5 No longer will your name be Abram, but Abraham, for I have
made you the father of a number of nations.
6 I will make you very fertile, so that nations will come from
you and kings will be your offspring.
7 And I will make between me and you and your seed after you
through all generations, an eternal agreement to be a God to you
and to your seed after you.
8 And to you and to your seed after you, I will give the land in
which you are living, all the land of Canaan for an eternal
heritage; and I will be their God.
9 And God said to Abraham, On your side, you are to keep the
agreement, you and your seed after you through all generations.
10 And this is the agreement which you are to keep with me, you
and your seed after you: every male among you is to undergo
circumcision.
11 In the flesh of your private parts you are to undergo it, as
a mark of the agreement between me and you.
12 Every male among you, from one generation to another, is to
undergo circumcision when he is eight days old, with every
servant whose birth takes place in your house, or for whom you
gave money to someone of another country, and not of your seed.
13 He who comes to birth in your house and he who is made yours
for a price, all are to undergo circumcision; so that my
agreement may be marked in your flesh, an agreement for all
time.
14 And any male who does not undergo circumcision will be cut
off from his people: my agreement has been broken by him.
15 And God said, As for Sarai, your wife, from now her name will
be not Sarai, but Sarah.
16 And I will give her a blessing so that you will have a son by
her: truly my blessing will be on her, and she will be the
mother of nations: kings of peoples will be her offspring.
17 Then Abraham went down on his face, and laughing, said in his
heart, May a man a hundred years old have a child? will Sarah,
at ninety years old, give birth?
18 And Abraham said to God, If only Ishmael's life might be your
care!
19 And God said, Not so; but Sarah, your wife, will have a son,
and you will give him the name Isaac, and I will make my
agreement with him for ever and with his seed after him.
20 As for Ishmael, I have given ear to your prayer: truly I have
given him my blessing and I will make him fertile and give him
great increase; he will be the father of twelve chiefs, and I
will make him a great nation.
21 But my agreement will be with Isaac, to whom Sarah will give
birth a year from this time.
22 And having said these words, God went up from Abraham.
23 And Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all whose birth had
taken place in his house, and all his servants whom he had made
his for a price, every male of his house, and on that very day
he gave them circumcision in the flesh of their private parts as
God had said to him.
24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he underwent
circumcision.
25 And Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he
underwent circumcision.
26 Abraham and Ishmael, his son, underwent circumcision on that
very day.
27 And all the men of his house, those whose birth had taken
place in the house and those whom he had got for money from men
of other lands, underwent circumcision with him.
Genesis 18
1 Now the Lord came to him by the holy tree of Mamre, when he
was seated in the doorway of his tent in the middle of the day;
2 And lifting up his eyes, he saw three men before him; and
seeing them, he went quickly to them from the door of the tent,
and went down on his face to the earth;
3 And said, My Lord, if now I have grace in your eyes, do not go
away from your servant:
4 Let me get water for washing your feet, and take your rest
under the tree:
5 And let me get a bit of bread to keep up your strength, and
after that you may go on your way: for this is why you have come
to your servant. And they said, Let it be so.
6 Then Abraham went quickly into the tent, and said to Sarah,
Get three measures of meal straight away and make cakes.
7 And running to the herd, he took a young ox, soft and fat, and
gave it to the servant and he quickly made it ready;
8 And he took butter and milk and the young ox which he had made
ready and put it before them, waiting by them under the tree
while they took food.
9 And they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said,
She is in the tent.
10 And he said, I will certainly come back to you in the spring,
and Sarah your wife will have a son. And his words came to the
ears of Sarah who was at the back of the tent-door.
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was past the
time for giving birth.
12 And Sarah, laughing to herself, said, Now that I am used up
am I still to have pleasure, my husband himself being old?
13 And the Lord said, Why was Sarah laughing and saying, Is it
possible for me, being old, to give birth to a child?
14 Is there any wonder which the Lord is not able to do? At the
time I said, in the spring, I will come back to you, and Sarah
will have a child.
15 Then Sarah said, I was not laughing; for she was full of
fear. And he said, No, but you were laughing.
16 And the men went on from there in the direction of Sodom; and
Abraham went with them on their way.
17 And the Lord said, Am I to keep back from Abraham the
knowledge of what I do;
18 Seeing that Abraham will certainly become a great and strong
nation, and his name will be used by all the nations of the
earth as a blessing?
19 For I have made him mine so that he may give orders to his
children and those of his line after him, to keep the ways of
the Lord, to do what is good and right: so that the Lord may do
to Abraham as he has said.
20 And the Lord said, Because the outcry against Sodom and
Gomorrah is very great, and their sin is very evil,
21 I will go down now, and see if their acts are as bad as they
seem from the outcry which has come to me; and if they are not,
I will see.
22 And the men, turning from that place, went on to Sodom: but
Abraham was still waiting before the Lord.
23 And Abraham came near, and said, Will you let destruction
come on the upright with the sinners?
24 If by chance there are fifty upright men in the town, will
you give the place to destruction and not have mercy on it
because of the fifty upright men?
25 Let such a thing be far from you, to put the upright to death
with the sinner: will not the judge of all the earth do right?
26 And the Lord said, If there are fifty upright men in the
town, I will have mercy on it because of them.
27 And Abraham answering said, Truly, I who am only dust, have
undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord:
28 If by chance there are five less than fifty upright men, will
you give up all the town to destruction because of these five?
And he said, I will not give it to destruction if there are
forty-five.
29 And again he said to him, By chance there may be forty there.
And he said, I will not do it if there are forty.
30 And he said, Let not the Lord be angry with me if I say, What
if there are thirty there? And he said, I will not do it if
there are thirty.
31 And he said, See now, I have undertaken to put my thoughts
before the Lord: what if there are twenty there? And he said, I
will have mercy because of the twenty.
32 And he said, O let not the Lord be angry and I will say only
one word more: by chance there may be ten there. And he said, I
will have mercy because of the ten.
33 And the Lord went on his way when his talk with Abraham was
ended, and Abraham went back to his place.
Genesis 19
1 And at nightfall the two angels came to Sodom; and Lot was
seated at the way into the town: and when he saw them he got up
and came before them, falling down on his face to the earth.
2 And he said, My masters, come now into your servant's house
and take your rest there for the night, and let your feet be
washed; and early in the morning you may go on your way. And
they said, Not so, but we will take our night's rest in the
street.
3 But he made his request more strongly, so they went with him
into his house; and he got food ready for them, and made
unleavened bread, of which they took.
4 But before they had gone to bed, the men of the town, all the
men of Sodom, came round the house, young and old, from every
part of the town;
5 And crying out to Lot, they said, Where are the men who came
to your house this night? Send them out to us, so that we may
take our pleasure with them.
6 And Lot went out to them in the doorway, shutting the door
after him.
7 And he said, My brothers, do not this evil.
8 See now, I have two unmarried daughters; I will send them out
to you so that you may do to them whatever seems good to you:
only do nothing to these men, for this is why they have come
under the shade of my roof.
9 And they said, Give way there. This one man, they said, came
here from a strange country, and will he now be our judge? now
we will do worse to you than to them; and pushing violently
against Lot, they came near to get the door broken in.
10 But the men put out their hands and took Lot into the house
to them, shutting the door again.
11 But the men who were outside the door they made blind, all of
them, small and great, so that they were tired out with looking
for the door.
12 Then the men said to Lot, Are there any others of your family
here? sons-in-law or sons or daughters, take them all out of
this place;
13 For we are about to send destruction on this place, because a
great outcry against them has come to the ears of the Lord; and
the Lord has sent us to put an end to the town.
14 And Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were
married to his daughters, Come, let us go out of this place, for
the Lord is about to send destruction on the town. But his
sons-in-law did not take him seriously.
15 And when morning came, the angels did all in their power to
make Lot go, saying, Get up quickly and take your wife and your
two daughters who are here, and go, for fear that you come to
destruction in the punishment of the town.
16 But while he was waiting, the men took him and his wife and
his daughters by the hand, for the Lord had mercy on them, and
put them outside the town.
17 And when they had put them out, he said, Go for your life,
without looking back or waiting in the lowland; go quickly to
the mountain or you will come to destruction.
18 And Lot said to them, Not so, O my Lord;
19 See now, your servant has had grace in your eyes and great is
your mercy in keeping my life from destruction, but I am not
able to get as far as the mountain before evil overtakes me and
death;
20 This town, now, is near, and it is a little one: O, let me go
there (is it not a little one?) so that my life may be safe.
21 And he said, See, I have given you your request in this one
thing more: I will not send destruction on this town.
22 Go there quickly, for I am not able to do anything till you
have come there. For this reason, the town was named Zoar.
23 The sun was up when Lot came to Zoar.
24 Then the Lord sent fire and flaming smoke raining down from
heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah.
25 And he sent destruction on those towns, with all the lowland
and all the people of those towns and every green thing in the
land.
26 But Lot's wife, looking back, became a pillar of salt.
27 And Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place
where he had been talking with the Lord:
28 And looking in the direction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the
lowland, he saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of
an oven.
29 So it came about that when God sent destruction on the towns
of the lowland, he kept his word to Abraham, and sent Lot safely
away when he put an end to the towns where he was living.
30 Then Lot went up out of Zoar to the mountain, and was living
there with his two daughters, for fear kept him from living in
Zoar: and he and his daughters made their living-place in a hole
in the rock.
31 And the older daughter said to her sister, Our father is old,
and there is no man to be a husband to us in the natural way:
32 Come, let us give our father much wine, and we will go into
his bed, so that we may have offspring by our father,
33 And that night they made their father take much wine; and the
older daughter went into his bed; and he had no knowledge of
when she went in or when she went away.
34 And on the day after, the older daughter said to the younger,
Last night I was with my father; let us make him take much wine
this night again, and do you go to him, so that we may have
offspring by our father.
35 And that night again they made their father take much wine;
and the younger daughter went into his bed; and he had no
knowledge of when she went in or when she went away.
36 And so the two daughters of Lot were with child by their
father.
37 And the older daughter had a son, and she gave him the name
Moab: he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
38 And the younger had a son and gave him the name Ben-ammi:
from him come the children of Ammon to this day.
Genesis 20
1 And Abraham went on his way from there to the land of the
South, and was living between Kadesh and Shur, in Gerar.
2 And Abraham said of Sarah, his wife, She is my sister: and
Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah.
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream in the night, and said to
him, Truly you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have
taken; for she is a man's wife.
4 Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, Lord, will
you put to death an upright nation?
5 Did he not say to me himself, She is my sister? and she
herself said, He is my brother: with an upright heart and clean
hands have I done this.
6 And God said to him in the dream, I see that you have done
this with an upright heart, and I have kept you from sinning
against me: for this reason I did not let you come near her.
7 So now, give the man back his wife, for he is a prophet, and
let him say a prayer for you, so your life may be safe: but if
you do not give her back, be certain that death will come to you
and all your house.
8 So Abimelech got up early in the morning and sent for all his
servants and gave them word of these things, and they were full
of fear.
9 Then Abimelech sent for Abraham, and said, What have you done
to us? what wrong have I done you that you have put on me and on
my kingdom so great a sin? You have done to me things which are
not to be done.
10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, Why did you do this thing?
11 And Abraham said, Because it seemed to me that there was no
fear of God in this place, and that they might put me to death
because of my wife.
12 And, in fact, she is my sister, the daughter of my father,
but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife:
13 And when God sent me wandering from my father's house, I said
to her, Let this be the sign of your love for me; wherever we
go, say of me, He is my brother.
14 Then Abimelech gave to Abraham sheep and oxen and
men-servants and women-servants, and gave him back his wife
Sarah.
15 And Abimelech said, See, all my land is before you; take
whatever place seems good to you.
16 And he said to Sarah, See, I have given to your brother a
thousand bits of silver so that your wrong may be put right; now
your honour is clear in the eyes of all.
17 Then Abraham made prayer to God, and God made Abimelech well
again, and his wife and his women-servants, so that they had
children.
18 For the Lord had kept all the women of the house of Abimelech
from having children, because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
Genesis 21
1 And the Lord came to Sarah as he had said and did to her as he
had undertaken.
2 And Sarah became with child, and gave Abraham a son when he
was old, at the time named by God.
3 And Abraham gave to his son, to whom Sarah had given birth,
the name Isaac.
4 And when his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham made him
undergo circumcision, as God had said to him.
5 Now Abraham was a hundred years old when the birth of Isaac
took place.
6 And Sarah said, God has given me cause for laughing, and
everyone who has news of it will be laughing with me.
7 And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would
have a child at her breast? for see, I have given him a son now
when he is old.
8 And when the child was old enough to be taken from the breast,
Abraham made a great feast.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian playing with
Isaac.
10 So she said to Abraham, Send away that woman and her son: for
the son of that woman is not to have a part in the heritage with
my son Isaac.
11 And this was a great grief to Abraham because of his son.
12 But God said, Let it not be a grief to you because of the boy
and Hagar his mother; give ear to whatever Sarah says to you,
because it is from Isaac that your seed will take its name.
13 And I will make a nation of the son of your servant-woman,
because he is your seed.
14 And early in the morning Abraham got up, and gave Hagar some
bread and a water-skin, and put the boy on her back, and sent
her away: and she went, wandering in the waste land of
Beer-sheba.
15 And when all the water in the skin was used up, she put the
child down under a tree.
16 And she went some distance away, about an arrow flight, and
seating herself on the earth, she gave way to bitter weeping,
saying, Let me not see the death of my child.
17 And the boy's cry came to the ears of God; and the angel of
God said to Hagar from heaven, Hagar, why are you weeping? have
no fear, for the child's cry has come to the ears of God.
18 Come, take your child in your arms, for I will make of him a
great nation.
19 Then God made her eyes open, and she saw a water-spring, and
she got water in the skin and gave the boy a drink.
20 And God was with the boy, and he became tall and strong, and
he became a bowman, living in the waste land.
21 And while he was in the waste land of Paran, his mother got
him a wife from the land of Egypt.
22 Now at that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the captain of his
army, said to Abraham, I see that God is with you in all you do.
23 Now, then, give me your oath, in the name of God, that you
will not be false to me or to my sons after me, but that as I
have been good to you, so you will be to me and to this land
where you have been living.
24 And Abraham said, I will give you my oath.
25 But Abraham made a protest to Abimelech because of a
water-hole which Abimelech's servants had taken by force.
26 But Abimelech said, I have no idea who has done this thing;
you never gave me word of it, and I had no knowledge of it till
this day.
27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech,
and the two of them made an agreement together.
28 And Abraham put seven young lambs of the flock on one side by
themselves.
29 Then Abimelech said, What are these seven lambs which you
have put on one side?
30 And he said, Take these seven lambs from me as a witness that
I have made this water-hole.
31 So he gave that place the name Beer-sheba, because there the
two of them had given their oaths.
32 So they made an agreement at Beer-sheba, and Abimelech and
Phicol, the captain of his army, went back to the land of the
Philistines.
33 And Abraham, after planting a holy tree in Beer-sheba, gave
worship to the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.
34 And Abraham went on living in the land of the Philistines as
in a strange country.
Genesis 22
1 Now after these things, God put Abraham to the test, and said
to him, Abraham; and he said, Here am I.
2 And he said to him, Take your son, your dearly loved only son
Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and give him as a burned
offering on one of the mountains of which I will give you
knowledge.
3 And Abraham got up early in the morning, and made ready his
ass, and took with him two of his young men and Isaac, his son,
and after the wood for the burned offering had been cut, he went
on his way to the place of which God had given him word.
4 And on the third day, Abraham, lifting up his eyes, saw the
place a long way off.
5 Then he said to his young men, Keep here with the ass; and I
and the boy will go on and give worship and come back again to
you.
6 And Abraham put the wood for the burned offering on his son's
back, and he himself took the fire and the knife in his hand,
and the two of them went on together.
7 Then Isaac said to Abraham, My father; and he said, Here am I,
my son. And he said, We have wood and fire here, but where is
the lamb for the burned offering?
8 And Abraham said, God himself will give the lamb for the
burned offering: so they went on together.
9 And they came to the place of which God had given him
knowledge; and there Abraham made the altar and put the wood in
place on it, and having made tight the bands round Isaac his
son, he put him on the wood on the altar.
10 And stretching out his hand, Abraham took the knife to put
his son to death.
11 But the voice of the angel of the Lord came from heaven,
saying, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Let not your hand be stretched out against the
boy to do anything to him; for now I am certain that the fear of
God is in your heart, because you have not kept back your son,
your only son, from me.
13 And lifting up his eyes, Abraham saw a sheep fixed by its
horns in the brushwood: and Abraham took the sheep and made a
burned offering of it in place of his son.
14 And Abraham gave that place the name Yahweh-yireh: as it is
said to this day, In the mountain the Lord is seen.
15 And the voice of the angel of the Lord came to Abraham a
second time from heaven,
16 Saying, I have taken an oath by my name, says the Lord,
because you have done this and have not kept back from me your
dearly loved only son,
17 That I will certainly give you my blessing, and your seed
will be increased like the stars of heaven and the sand by the
seaside; your seed will take the land of those who are against
them;
18 And your seed will be a blessing to all the nations of the
earth, because you have done what I gave you orders to do.
19 Then Abraham went back to his young men and they went
together to Beer-sheba, the place where Abraham was living.
20 After these things, Abraham had news that Milcah, the wife of
his brother Nahor, had given birth to children;
21 Uz the oldest, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel, the father of
Aram,
22 And Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel.
23 Bethuel was the father of Rebekah: these eight were the
children of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham's brother.
24 And his servant Reumah gave birth to Tebah and Gaham and
Tahash and Maacah.
Genesis 23
1 Now the years of Sarah's life were a hundred and twenty-seven.
2 And Sarah's death took place in Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron,
in the land of Canaan: and Abraham went into his house, weeping
and sorrowing for Sarah.
3 And Abraham came from his dead and said to the children of
Heth,
4 I am living among you as one from a strange country: give me
some land here as my property, so that I may put my dead to
rest.
5 And in answer the children of Heth said to Abraham,
6 My lord, truly you are a great chief among us; take the best
of our resting-places for your dead; not one of us will keep
back from you a place where you may put your dead to rest.
7 And Abraham got up and gave honour to the children of Heth,
the people of that land.
8 And he said to them, If you will let me put my dead to rest
here, make a request for me to Ephron, the son of Zohar,
9 That he will give me the hollow in the rock named Machpelah,
which is his property at the end of his field; let him give it
to me for its full price as a resting-place for my dead among
you.
10 Now Ephron was seated among the children of Heth: and Ephron
the Hittite gave Abraham his answer in the hearing of the
children of Heth, and of all those who came into his town,
saying,
11 No, my lord, I will give you the field with the hollow in the
rock; before all the children of my people will I give it to you
for a resting-place for your dead.
12 And Abraham went down on his face before the people of the
land.
13 And Abraham said to Ephron, in the hearing of the people of
the land, If only you will give ear to me, I will give you the
price of the field; take it, and let me put my dead to rest
there.
14 So Ephron said to Abraham,
15 My lord, give ear to me: the value of the land is four
hundred shekels; what is that between me and you? so put your
dead to rest there.
16 And Abraham took note of the price fixed by Ephron in the
hearing of the children of Heth, and gave him four hundred
shekels in current money.
17 So Ephron's field at Machpelah near Mamre, with the hollow in
the rock and all the trees in the field and round it,
18 Became the property of Abraham before the eyes of the
children of Heth and of all who came into the town.
19 Then Abraham put Sarah his wife to rest in the hollow rock in
the field of Machpelah near Mamre, that is, Hebron in the land
of Canaan.
20 And the field and the hollow rock were handed over to Abraham
as his property by the children of Heth.
Genesis 24
1 Now Abraham was old and far on in years: and the Lord had
given him everything in full measure.
2 And Abraham said to his chief servant, the manager of all his
property, Come now, put your hand under my leg:
3 And take an oath by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of
the earth, that you will not get a wife for my son Isaac from
the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am living;
4 But that you will go into my country and to my relations and
get a wife there for my son Isaac.
5 And the servant said, If by chance the woman will not come
with me into this land, am I to take your son back again to the
land from which you came?
6 And Abraham said, Take care that you do not let my son go back
to that land.
7 The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and
from the land of my birth, and made an oath to me, saying, To
your seed I will give this land: he will send his angel before
you and give you a wife for my son in that land.
8 And if the woman will not come with you, then you are free
from this oath; only do not take my son back there.
9 And the servant put his hand under Abraham's leg, and gave him
his oath about this thing.
10 And the servant took ten of his master's camels, and all
sorts of good things of his master's, and went to Mesopotamia,
to the town of Nahor.
11 And he made the camels take their rest outside the town by
the water-spring in the evening, at the time when the women came
to get water.
12 And he said, O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, let me do
well in what I have undertaken this day, and give your mercy to
my master Abraham.
13 See, I am waiting here by the water-spring; and the daughters
of the town are coming out to get water:
14 Now, may the girl to whom I say, Let down your vessel and
give me a drink, and who says in answer, Here is a drink for you
and let me give water to your camels: may she be the one marked
out by you for your servant Isaac: so may I be certain that you
have been good to my master Abraham.
15 And even before his words were ended, Rebekah, the daughter
of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, who was the wife of Nahor,
Abraham's brother, came out with her water-vessel on her arm.
16 She was a very beautiful girl, a virgin, who had never been
touched by a man: and she went down to the spring to get water
in her vessel.
17 And the servant came running to her and said, Give me a
little water from your vessel.
18 And she said, Take a drink, my lord: and quickly letting down
her vessel onto her hand, she gave him a drink.
19 And having done so, she said, I will get water for your
camels till they have had enough.
20 And after putting the water from her vessel into the animals'
drinking-place, she went quickly back to the spring and got
water for all the camels.
21 And the man, looking at her, said nothing, waiting to see if
the Lord had given his journey a good outcome.
22 And when the camels had had enough, the man took a gold
nose-ring, half a shekel in weight, and two ornaments for her
arms of ten shekels weight of gold;
23 And said to her, Whose daughter are you? is there room in
your father's house for us?
24 And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of
Milcah, Nahor's wife.
25 And she said, We have a great store of dry grass and
cattle-food, and there is room for you.
26 And with bent head the man gave worship to the Lord;
27 And said, Praise be to the Lord, the God of my master
Abraham, who has given a sign that he is good and true to my
master, by guiding me straight to the house of my master's
family.
28 So the girl went running and took the news of these things to
her mother's house
29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he came out
quickly to the man at the water-spring.
30 And when he saw the nose-ring and the ornaments on his
sister's hands, and when she gave him word of what the man had
said to her, then he went out to the man who was waiting with
the camels by the water-spring.
31 And he said to him, Come in, you on whom is the blessing of
the Lord; why are you waiting outside? for I have made the house
ready for you, and a place for the camels.
32 Then the man came into the house, and Laban took their cords
off the camels and gave them dry grass and food, and he gave to
him and the men who were with him water for washing their feet.
33 And meat was put before him, but he said, I will not take
food till I have made my business clear to you. And they said,
Do so.
34 And he said, I am Abraham's servant.
35 The Lord has given my master every blessing, and he has
become great: he has given him flocks and herds and silver and
gold, and men-servants and women-servants and camels and asses.
36 And when Sarah, my master's wife, was old, she gave birth to
a son, to whom he has given all he has.
37 And my master made me take an oath, saying, Do not get a wife
for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am
living;
38 But go to my father's house and to my relations for a wife
for my son.
39 And I said to my master, What if the woman will not come with
me?
40 And he said, The Lord, whom I have ever kept before me, will
send his angel with you, who will make it possible for you to
get a wife for my son from my relations and my father's house;
41 And you will be free from your oath to me when you come to my
people; and if they will not give her to you, you will be free
from your oath.
42 And I came today to the water-spring, and I said, O Lord, the
God of my master Abraham, if it is your purpose to give a good
outcome to my journey,
43 Let it come about that, while I am waiting here by the
water-spring, if a girl comes to get water and I say to her,
Give me a little water from your vessel, and she says,
44 Take a drink, and I will get water for your camels; let her
be the woman marked out by the Lord for my master's son.
45 And even while I was saying this to myself, Rebekah came out
with her vessel on her arm; and she went down to the spring to
get water; and I said to her, Give me a drink.
46 And straight away she took down her vessel from her arm, and
said, Take a drink, and I will get water for your camels.
47 And questioning her, I said, Whose daughter are you? And she
said, The daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, and Milcah his
wife. Then I put the ring on her nose and the ornaments on her
hands.
48 And with bent head I gave worship and praise to the Lord, the
God of my master Abraham, by whom I had been guided in the right
way, to get the daughter of my master's brother for his son.
49 And now, say if you will do what is good and right for my
master or not, in order that it may be clear to me what I have
to do.
50 Then Laban and Bethuel said in answer, This is the Lord's
doing: it is not for us to say Yes or No to you.
51 See, here is Rebekah: take her and go, and let her be your
master's son's wife, as the Lord has said.
52 And at these words, Abraham's servant went down on his face
and gave praise to the Lord.
53 Then he took jewels of silver and jewels of gold and fair
robes and gave them to Rebekah: and he gave things of value to
her mother and her brother.
54 Then he and the men who were with him had food and drink, and
took their rest there that night; and in the morning he got up,
and said, Let me now go back to my master.
55 But her brother and her mother said, Let the girl be with us
a week or ten days, and then she may go.
56 And he said, Do not keep me; the Lord has given a good
outcome to my journey; let me now go back to my master.
57 And they said, We will send for the girl, and let her make
the decision.
58 And they sent for Rebekah and said to her, Are you ready to
go with this man? And she said, I am ready.
59 So they sent their sister Rebekah and her servant with
Abraham's servant and his men.
60 And they gave Rebekah their blessing, saying, O sister, may
you be the mother of thousands and ten thousands; and may your
seed overcome all those who make war against them.
61 So Rebekah and her servant-women went with the man, seated on
the camels; and so the servant took Rebekah and went on his way.
62 Now Isaac had come through the waste land to Beer-lahai-roi;
for he was living in the South.
63 And when the evening was near, he went wandering out into the
fields, and lifting up his eyes he saw camels coming.
64 And when Rebekah, looking up, saw Isaac, she got down from
her camel,
65 And said to the servant, Who is that man coming to us through
the field? And the servant said, It is my master: then she took
her veil, covering her face with it.
66 Then the servant gave Isaac the story of all he had done.
67 And Isaac took Rebekah into his tent and she became his wife;
and in his love for her, Isaac was comforted after his father's
death.
Genesis 25
1 And Abraham took another wife named Keturah.
2 She became the mother of Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and
Midian and Ishbak and Shuah.
3 And Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And from
Dedan came the Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.
4 And from Midian came Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and
Eldaah. All these were the offspring of Keturah.
5 Now Abraham gave all his property to Isaac;
6 But to the sons of his other women he gave offerings, and sent
them away, while he was still living, into the east country.
7 Now the years of Abraham's life were a hundred and
seventy-five.
8 And Abraham came to his death, an old man, full of years; and
he was put to rest with his people.
9 And Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, put him to rest in the hollow
rock of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the
Hittite, near Mamre;
10 The same field which Abraham got from the children of Heth:
there Abraham was put to rest with Sarah, his wife.
11 Now after the death of Abraham, the blessing of God was with
Isaac, his son.
12 Now these are the generations of Ishmael, the son of Abraham,
whose mother was Hagar the Egyptian, the servant of Sarah:
13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their
generations: Ishmael's first son was Nebaioth; then Kedar and
Adbeel and Mibsam
14 And Mishma and Dumah and Massa,
15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:
16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names in
their towns and their tent-circles; twelve chiefs with their
peoples.
17 And the years of Ishmael's life were a hundred and
thirty-seven: and he came to his end, and was put to rest with
his people.
18 And their country was from Havilah to Shur which is east of
Egypt: they took their place to the east of all their brothers.
19 Now these are the generations of Abraham's son Isaac:
20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter
of Bethuel the Aramaean of Paddan-aram, and the sister of Laban
the Aramaean, to be his wife.
21 Isaac made prayer to the Lord for his wife because she had no
children; and the Lord gave ear to his prayer, and Rebekah
became with child.
22 And the children were fighting together inside her, and she
said, If it is to be so, why am I like this? So she went to put
her question to the Lord.
23 And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your body, and
two peoples will come to birth from you: the one will be
stronger than the other, and the older will be the servant of
the younger.
24 And when the time came for her to give birth, there were two
children in her body.
25 And the first came out red from head to foot like a robe of
hair, and they gave him the name of Esau.
26 And after him, his brother came out, gripping Esau's foot;
and he was named Jacob: Isaac was sixty years old when she gave
birth to them.
27 And the boys came to full growth; and Esau became a man of
the open country, an expert bowman; but Jacob was a quiet man,
living in tents.
28 Now Isaac's love was for Esau, because Esau's meat was
greatly to his taste: but Rebekah had more love for Jacob.
29 And one day Jacob was cooking some soup when Esau came in
from the fields in great need of food;
30 And Esau said to Jacob, Give me a full meal of that red soup,
for I am overcome with need for food: for this reason he was
named Edom.
31 And Jacob said, First of all give me your birthright.
32 And Esau said, Truly, I am at the point of death: what profit
is the birthright to me?
33 And Jacob said, First of all give me your oath; and he gave
him his oath, handing over his birthright to Jacob.
34 Then Jacob gave him bread and soup; and he took food and
drink and went away, caring little for his birthright.
Genesis 26
1 Then came a time of great need in the land, like that which
had been before in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to
Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.
2 And the Lord came to him in a vision and said, Do not go down
to Egypt; keep in the land of which I will give you knowledge:
3 Keep in this land, and I will be with you and give you my
blessing; for to you and to your seed will I give all these
lands, giving effect to the oath which I made to your father
Abraham;
4 I will make your seed like the stars of heaven in number, and
will give them all these lands, and your seed will be a blessing
to all the nations of the earth;
5 Because Abraham gave ear to my voice and kept my words, my
rules, my orders, and my laws.
6 So Isaac went on living in Gerar;
7 And when he was questioned by the men of the place about his
wife, he said, She is my sister; fearing to say, She is my wife;
for, he said, the men of the place may put me to death on
account of Rebekah; because she is very beautiful.
8 And when he had been there for some time, Abimelech, king of
the Philistines, looking through a window, saw Isaac playing
with Rebekah his wife.
9 And he said to Isaac, It is clear that she is your wife: why
then did you say, She is my sister? And Isaac said, For fear
that I might be put to death because of her.
10 Then Abimelech said, What have you done to us? one of the
people might well have had connection with your wife, and the
sin would have been ours.
11 And Abimelech gave orders to his people that anyone touching
Isaac or his wife was to be put to death.
12 Now Isaac, planting seed in that land, got in the same year
fruit a hundred times as much, for the blessing of the Lord was
on him.
13 And his wealth became very great, increasing more and more;
14 For he had great wealth of flocks and herds and great numbers
of servants; so that the Philistines were full of envy.
15 Now all the water-holes, which his father's servants had made
in the days of Abraham, had been stopped up with earth by the
Philistines.
16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you are
stronger than we are.
17 So Isaac went away from there, and put up his tents in the
valley of Gerar, making his living-place there.
18 And he made again the water-holes which had been made in the
days of Abraham his father, and which had been stopped up by the
Philistines; and he gave them the names which his father had
given them.
19 Now Isaac's servants made holes in the valley, and came to a
spring of flowing water.
20 But the herdmen of Gerar had a fight with Isaac's herdmen,
for they said, The spring is ours: so he gave the spring the
name of Esek, because there was a fight about it.
21 Then they made another water-hole, and there was a fight
about that, so he gave it the name of Sitnah.
22 Then he went away from there, and made another water-hole,
about which there was no fighting: so he gave it the name of
Rehoboth, for he said, Now the Lord has made room for us, and we
will have fruit in this land.
23 And from there he went on to Beer-sheba.
24 That night the Lord came to him in a vision, and said, I am
the God of your father Abraham: have no fear for I am with you,
blessing you, and your seed will be increased because of my
servant Abraham.
25 Then he made an altar there, and gave worship to the name of
the Lord, and he put up his tents there, and there his servants
made a water-hole.
26 And Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his
friend and Phicol, the captain of his army.
27 And Isaac said to them, Why have you come to me, seeing that
in your hate for me you sent me away from you?
28 And they said, We saw clearly that the Lord was with you: so
we said, Let there be an oath between us and you, and let us
make an agreement with you;
29 That you will do us no damage, even as we put no hand on you,
and did you nothing but good, and sent you away in peace: and
now the blessing of the Lord is on you.
30 Then he made a feast for them, and they all had food and
drink.
31 And early in the morning they took an oath one to the other:
then Isaac sent them away and they went on their way in peace.
32 And that day Isaac's servants came to him and gave him word
of the water-hole which they had made, and said to him, We have
come to water.
33 And he gave it the name of Shibah: so the name of that town
is Beer-sheba to this day.
34 And when Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives
Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the
daughter of Elon the Hittite:
35 And Isaac and Rebekah had grief of mind because of them.
Genesis 27
1 Now when Isaac was old and his eyes had become clouded so that
he was not able to see, he sent for Esau, his first son, and
said to him, My son: and he said, Here am I.
2 And he said, See now, I am old, and my death may take place at
any time:
3 So take your arrows and your bow and go out to the field and
get meat for me;
4 And make me food, good to the taste, such as is pleasing to
me, and put it before me, so that I may have a meal and give you
my blessing before death comes to me.
5 Now Isaac's words to his son were said in Rebekah's hearing.
Then Esau went out to get the meat.
6 And Rebekah said to Jacob, her son, Your father said to your
brother Esau in my hearing,
7 Go and get some roe's meat and make me a good meal, so that I
may be full, and give you my blessing before the Lord before my
death.
8 Now, my son, do what I say.
9 Go to the flock and get me two fat young goats; and I will
make of them a meal to your father's taste:
10 And you will take it to him, so that he may have a good meal
and give you his blessing before his death.
11 And Jacob said to Rebekah, his mother, But Esau my brother is
covered with hair, while I am smooth:
12 If by chance my father puts his hand on me, it will seem to
him that I am tricking him, and he will put a curse on me in
place of a blessing.
13 And his mother said, Let the curse be on me, my son: only do
as I say, and go and get them for me.
14 So he went and got them and took them to his mother: and she
made a meal to his father's taste.
15 And Rebekah took the fair robes of her oldest son, which were
with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son:
16 And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on
the smooth part of his neck:
17 And she gave into the hand of Jacob, her son, the meat and
the bread which she had made ready.
18 And he came to his father, and said, My father: and he said,
Here am I: who are you, my son?
19 And Jacob said, I am Esau, your oldest son; I have done as
you said: come now, be seated and take of my meat, so that you
may give me a blessing.
20 And Isaac said, How is it that you have got it so quickly, my
son? And he said, Because the Lord your God made it come my way.
21 And Isaac said, Come near so that I may put my hand on you,
my son, and see if you are truly my son Esau or not.
22 And Jacob went near his father Isaac: and he put his hands on
him; and he said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are
the hands of Esau.
23 And he did not make out who he was, because his hands were
covered with hair like his brother Esau's hands: so he gave him
a blessing.
24 And he said, Are you truly my son Esau? And he said, I am.
25 And he said, Put it before me and I will take of my son's
meat, so that I may give you a blessing. And he put it before
him and he took it; and he gave him wine, and he had a drink.
26 And his father Isaac said to him, Come near now, my son, and
give me a kiss.
27 And he came near and gave him a kiss; and smelling the smell
of his clothing, he gave him a blessing, and said, See, the
smell of my son is like the smell of a field on which the
blessing of the Lord has come:
28 May God give you the dew of heaven, and the good things of
the earth, and grain and wine in full measure:
29 Let peoples be your servants, and nations go down before you:
be lord over your brothers, and let your mother's sons go down
before you: a curse be on everyone by whom you are cursed, and a
blessing on those who give you a blessing.
30 And when Isaac had come to the end of blessing Jacob, and
Jacob had not long gone away from Isaac his father, Esau came in
from the field.
31 And he made ready a meal, good to the taste, and took it to
his father, and said to him, Let my father get up and take of
his son's meat, so that you may give me a blessing.
32 And Isaac his father said to him, Who are you? And he said, I
am your oldest son, Esau.
33 And in great fear Isaac said, Who then is he who got meat and
put it before me, and I took it all before you came, and gave
him a blessing, and his it will be?
34 And hearing the words of his father, Esau gave a great and
bitter cry, and said to his father, Give a blessing to me, even
to me, O my father!
35 And he said, Your brother came with deceit, and took away
your blessing.
36 And he said, Is it because he is named Jacob that he has
twice taken my place? for he took away my birthright, and now he
has taken away my blessing. And he said, Have you not kept a
blessing for me?
37 And Isaac answering said, But I have made him your master,
and have given him all his brothers for servants; I have made
him strong with grain and wine: what then am I to do for you, my
son?
38 And Esau said to his father, Is that the only blessing you
have, my father? give a blessing to me, even me! And Esau was
overcome with weeping.
39 Then Isaac his father made answer and said to him, Far from
the fertile places of the earth, and far from the dew of heaven
on high will your living-place be:
40 By your sword will you get your living and you will be your
brother's servant; but when your power is increased his yoke
will be broken from off your neck.
41 So Esau was full of hate for Jacob because of his father's
blessing; and he said in his heart, The days of weeping for my
father are near; then I will put my brother Jacob to death.
42 Then Rebekah, hearing what Esau had said, sent for Jacob, her
younger son, and said to him, It seems that your brother Esau is
purposing to put you to death.
43 So now, my son, do what I say: go quickly to Haran, to my
brother Laban;
44 And be there with him for a little time, till your brother's
wrath is turned away;
45 Till the memory of what you have done to him is past and he
is no longer angry: then I will send word for you to come back;
are the two of you to be taken from me in one day?
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, My life is a weariness to me
because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob takes a wife from
among the daughters of Heth, such as these, the women of this
land, of what use will my life be to me?
Genesis 28
1 Then Isaac sent for Jacob, and blessing him, said, Do not take
a wife from among the women of Canaan;
2 But go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's
father, and there get yourself a wife from the daughters of
Laban, your mother's brother.
3 And may God, the Ruler of all, give you his blessing, giving
you fruit and increase, so that you may become an army of
peoples.
4 And may God give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to
your seed, so that the land of your wanderings, which God gave
to Abraham, may be your heritage.
5 So Isaac sent Jacob away: and he went to Paddan-aram, to
Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramaean, the brother of Rebekah, the
mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 So when Esau saw that Isaac had given Jacob his blessing, and
sent him away to Paddan-aram to get a wife for himself there,
blessing him and saying to him, Do not take a wife from among
the women of Canaan;
7 And that Jacob had done as his father and mother said and had
gone to Paddan-aram;
8 It was clear to Esau that his father had no love for the women
of Canaan,
9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of
Abraham's son Ishmael, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife in
addition to the wives he had.
10 So Jacob went out from Beer-sheba to go to Haran.
11 And coming to a certain place, he made it his resting-place
for the night, for the sun had gone down; and he took one of the
stones which were there, and putting it under his head he went
to sleep in that place.
12 And he had a dream, and in his dream he saw steps stretching
from earth to heaven, and the angels of God were going up and
down on them.
13 And he saw the Lord by his side, saying, I am the Lord, the
God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: I will give to
you and to your seed this land on which you are sleeping.
14 Your seed will be like the dust of the earth, covering all
the land to the west and to the east, to the north and to the
south: you and your seed will be a name of blessing to all the
families of the earth.
15 And truly, I will be with you, and will keep you wherever you
go, guiding you back again to this land; and I will not give you
up till I have done what I have said to you.
16 And Jacob, awaking from his sleep, said, Truly, the Lord is
in this place and I was not conscious of it.
17 And fear came on him, and he said, This is a holy place; this
is nothing less than the house of God and the doorway of heaven.
18 And early in the morning Jacob took the stone which had been
under his head, and put it up as a pillar and put oil on it.
19 And he gave that place the name of Beth-el, but before that
time the town was named Luz.
20 Then Jacob took an oath, and said, If God will be with me,
and keep me safe on my journey, and give me food and clothing to
put on,
21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace, then I
will take the Lord to be my God,
22 And this stone which I have put up for a pillar will be God's
house: and of all you give me, I will give a tenth part to you.
Genesis 29
1 Then Jacob went on his journey till he came to the land of the
children of the East.
2 And there he saw a water-hole in a field, and by the side of
it three flocks of sheep, for there they got water for the
sheep: and on the mouth of the water-hole there was a great
stone.
3 And all the flocks would come together there, and when the
stone had been rolled away, they would give the sheep water, and
put the stone back again in its place on the mouth of the
water-hole.
4 Then Jacob said to the herdmen, My brothers, where do you come
from? And they said, From Haran.
5 And he said to them, Have you any knowledge of Laban, the son
of Nahor? And they said, We have.
6 And he said to them, Is he well? And they said, He is well,
and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.
7 Then Jacob said, The sun is still high and it is not time to
get the cattle together: get water for the sheep and go and give
them their food.
8 And they said, We are not able to do so till all the flocks
have come together and the stone has been rolled away from the
mouth of the water-hole; then we will get water for the sheep.
9 While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her
father's sheep, for she took care of them.
10 Then when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his
mother's brother, coming with Laban's sheep, he came near, and
rolling the stone away from the mouth of the hole, he got water
for Laban's flock.
11 And weeping for joy, Jacob gave Rachel a kiss.
12 And Rachel, hearing from Jacob that he was her father's
relation and that he was the son of Rebekah, went running to
give her father news of it.
13 And Laban, hearing news of Jacob, his sister's son, came
running, and took Jacob in his arms, and kissing him, made him
come into his house. And Jacob gave him news of everything.
14 And Laban said to him, Truly, you are my bone and my flesh.
And he kept Jacob with him for the space of a month.
15 Then Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my brother are you
to be my servant for nothing? say now, what is your payment to
be?
16 Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the older was Leah,
and the name of the younger was Rachel.
17 And Leah's eyes were clouded, but Rachel was fair in face and
form.
18 And Jacob was in love with Rachel; and he said, I will be
your servant seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.
19 And Laban said, It is better for you to have her than another
man: go on living here with me.
20 And Jacob did seven years' work for Rachel; and because of
his love for her it seemed to him only a very little time.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife so that I may have
her, for the days are ended.
22 And Laban got together all the men of the place and gave a
feast.
23 And in the evening he took Leah, his daughter, and gave her
to him, and he went in to her.
24 And Laban gave Zilpah, his servant-girl, to Leah, to be her
waiting-woman.
25 And in the morning Jacob saw that it was Leah: and he said to
Laban, What have you done to me? was I not working for you so
that I might have Rachel? why have you been false to me?
26 And Laban said, In our country we do not let the younger
daughter be married before the older.
27 Let the week of the bride-feast come to its end and then we
will give you the other in addition, if you will be my servant
for another seven years.
28 And Jacob did so; and when the week was ended, Laban gave him
his daughter Rachel for his wife.
29 And Laban gave Rachel his servant-girl Bilhah to be her
waiting-woman.
30 Then Jacob took Rachel as his wife, and his love for her was
greater than his love for Leah; and he went on working for Laban
for another seven years.
31 Now the Lord, seeing that Leah was not loved, gave her a
child; while Rachel had no children.
32 And Leah was with child, and gave birth to a son to whom she
gave the name Reuben: for she said, The Lord has seen my sorrow;
now my husband will have love for me.
33 Then she became with child again, and gave birth to a son;
and said, Because it has come to the Lord's ears that I am not
loved, he has given me this son in addition: and she gave him
the name Simeon.
34 And she was with child again, and gave birth to a son; and
said, Now at last my husband will be united to me, because I
have given him three sons: so he was named Levi.
35 And she was with child again, and gave birth to a son: and
she said, This time I will give praise to the Lord: so he was
named Judah; after this she had no more children for a time.
Genesis 30
1 Now Rachel, because she had no children, was full of envy of
her sister; and she said to Jacob, If you do not give me
children I will not go on living.
2 But Jacob was angry with Rachel, and said, Am I in the place
of God, who has kept your body from having fruit?
3 Then she said, Here is my servant Bilhah, go in to her, so
that she may have a child on my knees, and I may have a family
by her.
4 So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went
in to her.
5 And Bilhah became with child, and gave birth to a son.
6 Then Rachel said, God has been my judge, and has given ear to
my voice, and has given me a son; so he was named Dan.
7 And again Bilhah, Rachel's servant, was with child, and gave
birth to a second son.
8 And Rachel said, I have had a great fight with my sister, and
I have overcome her: and she gave the child the name Naphtali.
9 When it was clear to Leah that she would have no more children
for a time, she gave Zilpah, her servant, to Jacob as a wife.
10 And Zilpah, Leah's servant, gave birth to a son.
11 And Leah said, It has gone well for me: and she gave him the
name Gad.
12 And Zilpah, Leah's servant, gave birth to a second son.
13 And Leah said, Happy am I! and all women will give witness to
my joy: and she gave him the name Asher.
14 Now at the time of the grain-cutting, Reuben saw some
love-fruits in the field, and took them to his mother Leah. And
Rachel said to her, Let me have some of your son's love-fruits.
15 But Leah said to her, Is it a small thing that you have taken
my husband from me? and now would you take my son's love-fruits?
Then Rachel said, You may have him tonight in exchange for your
son's love-fruits.
16 In the evening, when Jacob came in from the field, Leah went
out to him and said, Tonight you are to come to me, for I have
given my son's love-fruits as a price for you. And he went in to
her that night.
17 And God gave ear to her and she became with child, and gave
Jacob a fifth son.
18 Then Leah said, God has made payment to me for giving my
servant-girl to my husband: so she gave her son the name
Issachar.
19 And again Leah became with child, and she gave Jacob a sixth
son.
20 And she said, God has given me a good bride-price; now at
last will I have my husband living with me, for I have given him
six sons: and she gave him the name Zebulun.
21 After that she had a daughter, to whom she gave the name
Dinah.
22 Then God gave thought to Rachel, and hearing her prayer he
made her fertile.
23 And she was with child, and gave birth to a son: and she
said, God has taken away my shame.
24 And she gave him the name Joseph, saying, May the Lord give
me another son.
25 Now after the birth of Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, Let me go
away to my place and my country.
26 Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have been your
servant, and let me go: for you have knowledge of all the work I
have done for you.
27 And Laban said, If you will let me say so, do not go away;
for I have seen by the signs that the Lord has been good to me
because of you.
28 Say then what your payment is to be and I will give it.
29 Then Jacob said, You have seen what I have done for you, and
how your cattle have done well under my care.
30 For before I came you had little, and it has been greatly
increased; and the Lord has given you a blessing in everything I
have done; but when am I to do something for my family?
31 And Laban said, What am I to give you? And Jacob said, Do not
give me anything; but I will again take up the care of your
flock if you will only do this for me:
32 Let me go through all your flock today, taking out from among
them all the sheep which are marked or coloured or black, and
all the marked or coloured goats: these will be my payment.
33 And so you will be able to put my honour to the test in time
to come; if you see among my flocks any goats which are not
marked or coloured, or any sheep which is not black, you may
take me for a thief.
34 And Laban said, Let it be as you say.
35 So that day he took all the he-goats which were banded or
coloured, and all the she-goats which were marked or coloured or
had white marks, and all the black sheep, and gave them into the
care of his sons;
36 And sent them three days' journey away: and Jacob took care
of the rest of Laban's flock.
37 Then Jacob took young branches of trees, cutting off the skin
so that the white wood was seen in bands.
38 And he put the banded sticks in the drinking-places where the
flock came to get water; and they became with young when they
came to the water.
39 And because of this, the flock gave birth to young which were
marked with bands of colour.
40 These lambs Jacob kept separate; and he put his flock in a
place by themselves and not with Laban's flock.
41 And whenever the stronger ones of the flock became with
young, Jacob put the sticks in front of them in the
drinking-places, so that they might become with young when they
saw the sticks.
42 But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put the sticks
before them; so that the feebler flocks were Laban's and the
stronger were Jacob's.
43 So Jacob's wealth was greatly increased; he had great flocks
and women-servants and men-servants and camels and asses.
Genesis 31
1 Now it came to the ears of Jacob that Laban's sons were
saying, Jacob has taken away all our father's property, and in
this way he has got all this wealth.
2 And Jacob saw that Laban's feeling for him was no longer what
it had been before.
3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, Go back to the land of your
fathers, and to your relations, and I will be with you.
4 And Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah to come to him in the field
among his flock.
5 And he said to them, It is clear to me that your father's
feeling is no longer what it was to me; but the God of my father
has been with me
6 And you have seen how I have done all in my power for your
father,
7 But your father has not kept faith with me, and ten times he
has made changes in my payment; but God has kept him from doing
me damage.
8 If he said, All those in the flock which have marks are to be
yours, then all the flock gave birth to marked young; and if he
said, All the banded ones are to be yours, then all the flock
had banded young.
9 So God has taken away your father's cattle and has given them
to me.
10 And at the time when the flock were with young, I saw in a
dream that all the he-goats which were joined with the she-goats
were banded and marked and coloured.
11 And in my dream the angel of the Lord said to me, Jacob: and
I said, Here am I.
12 And he said, See how all the he-goats are banded and marked
and coloured: for I have seen what Laban has done to you.
13 I am the God of Beth-el, where you put oil on the pillar and
took an oath to me: now then, come out of this land and go back
to the country of your birth.
14 Then Rachel and Leah said to him in answer, What part or
heritage is there for us in our father's house?
15 Are we not as people from a strange country to him? for he
took a price for us and now it is all used up.
16 For the wealth which God has taken from him is ours and our
children's; so now, whatever God has said to you, do.
17 Then Jacob put his wives and his sons on camels;
18 And sending on before him all his cattle and his property
which he had got together in Paddan-aram, he made ready to go to
Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.
19 Now Laban had gone to see to the cutting of the wool of his
sheep; so Rachel secretly took the images of the gods of her
father's house.
20 And Jacob went away secretly, without giving news of his
flight to Laban the Aramaean.
21 So he went away with all he had, and went across the River in
the direction of the hill-country of Gilead.
22 And on the third day Laban had news of Jacob's flight.
23 And taking the men of his family with him, he went after him
for seven days and overtook him in the hill-country of Gilead.
24 Then God came to Laban in a dream by night, and said to him,
Take care that you say nothing good or bad to Jacob.
25 Now when Laban overtook him, Jacob had put up his tent in the
hill-country; and Laban and his brothers put up their tents in
the hill-country of Gilead.
26 And Laban said to Jacob, Why did you go away secretly, taking
my daughters away like prisoners of war?
27 Why did you make a secret of your flight, not giving me word
of it, so that I might have sent you away with joy and songs,
with melody and music?
28 You did not even let me give a kiss to my sons and my
daughters. This was a foolish thing to do.
29 It is in my power to do you damage: but the God of your
father came to me this night, saying, Take care that you say
nothing good or bad to Jacob.
30 And now, it seems, you are going because your heart's desire
is for your father's house; but why have you taken my gods?
31 And Jacob, in answer, said to Laban, My fear was that you
might take your daughters from me by force.
32 As for your gods, if anyone of us has them, let him be put to
death: make search before us all for what is yours, and take it.
For Jacob had no knowledge that Rachel had taken them.
33 So Laban went into Jacob's tent and into Leah's tent, and
into the tents of the two servant-women, but they were not
there; and he came out of Leah's tent and went into Rachel's.
34 Now Rachel had taken the images, and had put them in the
camels' basket, and was seated on them. And Laban, searching
through all the tent, did not come across them.
35 And she said to her father, Let not my lord be angry because
I do not get up before you, for I am in the common condition of
women. And with all his searching, he did not come across the
images.
36 Then Jacob was angry with Laban, and said, What crime or sin
have I done that you have come after me with such passion?
37 Now that you have made search through all my goods, what have
you seen which is yours? Make it clear now before my people and
your people, so that they may be judges between us.
38 These twenty years I have been with you; your sheep and your
goats have had young without loss, not one of your he-goats have
I taken for food.
39 Anything which was wounded by beasts I did not take to you,
but myself made up for the loss of it; you made me responsible
for whatever was taken by thieves, by day or by night.
40 This was my condition, wasted by heat in the day and by the
bitter cold at night; and sleep went from my eyes.
41 These twenty years I have been in your house; I was your
servant for fourteen years because of your daughters, and for
six years I kept your flock, and ten times was my payment
changed.
42 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 with
nothing in my hands. But God has seen my troubles and the work
of my hands, and this night he kept you back.
43 Then Laban, answering, said, These women are my daughters and
these children my children, the flocks and all you see are mine:
what now may I do for my daughters and for their children?
44 Come, let us make an agreement, you and I; and let it be for
a witness between us.
45 Then Jacob took a stone and put it up as a pillar.
46 And Jacob said to his people, Get stones together; and they
did so; and they had a meal there by the stones.
47 And the name Laban gave it was Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob
gave it the name of Galeed.
48 And Laban said, These stones are a witness between you and me
today. For this reason its name was Galeed,
49 And Mizpah, for he said, May the Lord keep watch on us when
we are unable to see one another's doings.
50 If you are cruel to my daughters, or if you take other wives
in addition to my daughters, then though no man is there to see,
God will be the witness between us.
51 And Laban said, See these stones and this pillar which I have
put between you and me;
52 They will be witness that I will not go over these stones to
you, and you will not go over these stones or this pillar to me,
for any evil purpose.
53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their
father, be our judge. Then Jacob took an oath by the Fear of his
father Isaac.
54 And Jacob made an offering on the mountain, and gave orders
to his people to take food: so they had a meal and took their
rest that night on the mountain.
55 And early in the morning Laban, after kissing and blessing
his daughters, went on his way back to his country.
Genesis 32
1 And on his way Jacob came face to face with the angels of God.
2 And when he saw them he said, This is the army of God: so he
gave that place the name of Mahanaim.
3 Now Jacob sent servants before him to Esau, his brother, in
the land of Seir, the country of Edom;
4 And he gave them orders to say these words to Esau: Your
servant Jacob says, Till now I have been living with Laban:
5 And I have oxen and asses and flocks and men-servants and
women-servants: and I have sent to give my lord news of these
things so that I may have grace in his eyes.
6 When the servants came back they said, We have seen your
brother Esau and he is coming out to you, and four hundred men
with him.
7 Then Jacob was in great fear and trouble of mind: and he put
all the people and the flocks and the herds and the camels into
two groups;
8 And said, If Esau, meeting one group, makes an attack on them,
the others will get away safely.
9 Then Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, the God of my
father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, Go back to your country
and your family and I will be good to you:
10 I am less than nothing in comparison with all your mercies
and your faith to me your servant; for with only my stick in my
hand I went across Jordan, and now I have become two armies.
11 Be my saviour from the hand of Esau, my brother: for my fear
is that he will make an attack on me, putting to death mother
and child.
12 And you said, Truly, I will be good to you, and make your
seed like the sand of the sea which may not be numbered.
13 Then he put up his tent there for the night; and from among
his goods he took, as an offering for his brother Esau,
14 Two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred
females and twenty males from the sheep,
15 Thirty camels with their young ones, forty cows, ten oxen,
twenty asses, and ten young asses.
16 These he gave to his servants, every herd by itself, and he
said to his servants, Go on before me, and let there be a space
between one herd and another.
17 And he gave orders to the first, saying, When my brother Esau
comes to you and says, Whose servant are you, and where are you
going, and whose are these herds?
18 Then say to him, These are your servant Jacob's; they are an
offering for my lord, for Esau; and he himself is coming after
us.
19 And he gave the same orders to the second and the third and
to all those who were with the herds, saying, This is what you
are to say to Esau when you see him;
20 And you are to say further, Jacob, your servant, is coming
after us. For he said to himself, I will take away his wrath by
the offering which I have sent on, and then I will come before
him: it may be that I will have grace in his eyes.
21 So the servants with the offerings went on in front, and he
himself took his rest that night in the tents with his people.
22 And in the night he got up, and taking with him his two wives
and the two servant-women and his eleven children, he went over
the river Jabbok.
23 He took them and sent them over the stream with all he had.
24 Then Jacob was by himself; and a man was fighting with him
till dawn.
25 But when the man saw that he was not able to overcome Jacob,
he gave him a blow in the hollow part of his leg, so that his
leg was damaged.
26 And he said to him, Let me go now, for the dawn is near. But
Jacob said, I will not let you go till you have given me your
blessing.
27 Then he said, What is your name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel:
for in your fight with God and with men you have overcome.
29 Then Jacob said, What is your name? And he said, What is my
name to you? Then he gave him a blessing.
30 And Jacob gave that place the name of Peniel, saying, I have
seen God face to face, and still I am living.
31 And while he was going past Peniel, the sun came up. And he
went with unequal steps because of his damaged leg.
32 For this reason the children of Israel, even today, never
take that muscle in the hollow of the leg as food, because the
hollow of Jacob's leg was touched.
Genesis 33
1 Then Jacob, lifting up his eyes, saw Esau coming with his four
hundred men. So he made a division of the children between Leah
and Rachel and the two women-servants.
2 He put the servants and their children in front, Leah and her
children after them, and Rachel and Joseph at the back.
3 And he himself, going before them, went down on his face to
the earth seven times till he came near his brother.
4 Then Esau came running up to him, and folding him in his arms,
gave him a kiss: and the two of them were overcome with weeping.
5 Then Esau, lifting up his eyes, saw the women and the
children, and said, Who are these with you? And he said, The
children whom God in his mercy has given to your servant.
6 Then the servants and their children came near, and went down
on their faces.
7 And Leah came near with her children, and then Joseph and
Rachel, and they did the same.
8 And he said, What were all those herds which I saw on the way?
And Jacob said, They were an offering so that I might have grace
in my lord's eyes.
9 But Esau said, I have enough; keep what is yours, my brother,
for yourself.
10 And Jacob said, Not so; but if I have grace in your eyes,
take them as a sign of my love, for I have seen your face as one
may see the face of God, and you have been pleased with me.
11 Take my offering then, with my blessing; for God has been
very good to me and I have enough: so at his strong request, he
took it.
12 And he said, Let us go on our journey together, and I will go
in front.
13 But Jacob said, My lord may see that the children are only
small, and there are young ones in my flocks and herds: one
day's over-driving will be the destruction of all the flock.
14 Do you, my lord, go on before your servant; I will come on
slowly, at the rate at which the cattle and the children are
able to go, till I come to my lord at Seir.
15 And Esau said, Then keep some of my men with you. And he
said, What need is there for that, if my lord is pleased with
me?
16 So Esau, turning back that day, went on his way to Seir.
17 And Jacob went on to Succoth, where he made a house for
himself and put up tents for his cattle: for this reason the
place was named Succoth.
18 So Jacob came safely from Paddan-aram to the town of Shechem
in the land of Canaan, and put up his tents near the town.
19 And for a hundred bits of money he got from the children of
Hamor, the builder of Shechem, the field in which he had put up
his tents.
20 And there he put up an altar, naming it El, the God of
Israel.
Genesis 34
1 Now Dinah, the daughter whom Leah had by Jacob, went out to
see the women of that country.
2 And when Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite who was the
chief of that land, saw her, he took her by force and had
connection with her.
3 Then his heart went out in love to Dinah, the daughter of
Jacob, and he said comforting words to her.
4 And Shechem said to Hamor, his father, Get me this girl for my
wife.
5 Now Jacob had word of what Shechem had done to his daughter;
but his sons were in the fields with the cattle, and Jacob said
nothing till they came.
6 Then Hamor, the father of Shechem, came out to have a talk
with Jacob.
7 Now the sons of Jacob came in from the fields when they had
news of it, and they were wounded and very angry because of the
shame he had done in Israel by having connection with Jacob's
daughter; and they said, Such a thing is not to be done.
8 But Hamor said to them, Shechem, my son, is full of desire for
your daughter: will you then give her to him for a wife?
9 And let our two peoples be joined together; give your
daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.
10 Go on living with us, and the country will be open to you; do
trade and get property there.
11 And Shechem said to her father and her brothers, If you will
give ear to my request, whatever you say I will give to you.
12 However great you make the bride-price and payment, I will
give it; only let me have the girl for my wife.
13 But the sons of Jacob gave a false answer to Shechem and
Hamor his father, because of what had been done to Dinah their
sister.
14 And they said, It is not possible for us to give our sister
to one who is without circumcision, for that would be a cause of
shame to us:
15 But on this condition only will we come to an agreement with
you: if every male among you becomes like us and undergoes
circumcision;
16 Then we will give our daughters to you and take your
daughters to us and go on living with you as one people.
17 But if you will not undergo circumcision as we say, then we
will take our daughter and go.
18 And their words were pleasing to Hamor and his son Shechem.
19 And without loss of time the young man did as they said,
because he had delight in Jacob's daughter, and he was the
noblest of his father's house.
20 Then Hamor and Shechem, his son, went to the meeting-place of
their town, and said to the men of the town,
21 It is the desire of these men to be at peace with us; let
them then go on living in this country and doing trade here, for
the country is wide open before them; let us take their
daughters as wives and let us give them our daughters.
22 But these men will make an agreement with us to go on living
with us and to become one people, only on the condition that
every male among us undergoes circumcision as they have done.
23 Then will not their cattle and their goods and all their
beasts be ours? so let us come to an agreement with them so that
they may go on living with us.
24 Then all the men of the town gave ear to the words of Hamor
and Shechem his son; and every male in the town underwent
circumcision.
25 But on the third day after, before the wounds were well, two
of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took
their swords and came into the town by surprise and put all the
males to death.
26 And Hamor and his son they put to death with the sword, and
they took Dinah from Shechem's house and went away.
27 And the sons of Jacob came on them when they were wounded and
made waste the town because of what had been done to their
sister;
28 They took their flocks and their herds and their asses and
everything in their town and in their fields,
29 And all their wealth and all their little ones and their
wives; everything in their houses they took and made them waste.
30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have made trouble for
me and given me a bad name among the people of this country,
among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and because we are
small in number they will come together against me and make war
on me; and it will be the end of me and all my people.
31 But they said, Were we to let him make use of our sister as a
loose woman?
Genesis 35
1 And God said to Jacob, Go up now to Beth-el and make your
living-place there: and put up an altar there to the God who
came to you when you were in flight from your brother Esau.
2 Then Jacob said to all his people, Put away the strange gods
which are among you, and make yourselves clean, and put on a
change of clothing:
3 And let us go up to Beth-el: and there I will make an altar to
God, who gave me an answer in the day of my trouble, and was
with me wherever I went.
4 Then they gave to Jacob all the strange gods which they had,
and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob put them away
under the holy tree at Shechem.
5 So they went on their journey: and the fear of God was on the
towns round about, so that they made no attack on the sons of
Jacob.
6 And Jacob came to Luz in the land of Canaan (which is the same
as Beth-el), he and all his people.
7 And there he made an altar, naming the place El-beth-el:
because it was there he had the vision of God when he was in
flight from his brother.
8 And Deborah, the servant who had taken care of Rebekah from
her birth, came to her end, and was put to rest near Beth-el,
under the holy tree: and they gave it the name of Allon-bacuth.
9 Now when Jacob was on his way from Paddan-aram, God came to
him again and, blessing him, said,
10 Jacob is your name, but it will be so no longer; from now
your name will be Israel; so he was named Israel.
11 And God said to him, I am God, the Ruler of all: be fertile,
and have increase; a nation, truly a group of nations, will come
from you, and kings will be your offspring;
12 And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give
to you; and to your seed after you I will give the land.
13 Then God went up from him in the place where he had been
talking with him.
14 And Jacob put up a pillar in the place where he had been
talking with God, and put a drink offering on it, and oil.
15 And he gave to the place where God had been talking with him,
the name of Beth-el.
16 So they went on from Beth-el; and while they were still some
distance from Ephrath, the pains of birth came on Rachel and she
had a hard time.
17 And when her pain was very great, the woman who was helping
her said, Have no fear; for now you will have another son.
18 And in the hour when her life went from her (for death came
to her), she gave the child the name Ben-oni: but his father
gave him the name of Benjamin.
19 So Rachel came to her end and was put to rest on the road to
Ephrath (which is Beth-lehem).
20 And Jacob put up a pillar on her resting-place; which is
named, The Pillar of the resting-place of Rachel, to this day.
21 And Israel went journeying on and put up his tents on the
other side of the tower of the flock.
22 Now while they were living in that country, Reuben had
connection with Bilhah, his father's servant-woman: and Israel
had news of it.
23 Now Jacob had twelve sons: the sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob's
first son, and Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and
Zebulun;
24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin;
25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant: Dan and Naphtali;
26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant: Gad and Asher; these are
the sons whom Jacob had in Paddan-aram.
27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, at Kiriath-arba,
that is, Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had been living.
28 And Isaac was a hundred and eighty years old.
29 Then Isaac came to his end and was put to rest with his
father's people, an old man after a long life: and Jacob and
Esau, his sons, put him in his last resting-place.
Genesis 36
1 Now these are the generations of Esau, that is to say, Edom.
2 Esau's wives were women of Canaan: Adah, the daughter of Elon
the Hittite, and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter
of Zibeon the Hivite,
3 And Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.
4 Adah had a son Eliphaz; and Basemath was the mother of Reuel;
5 Oholibamah was the mother of Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these
are the sons of Esau, whose birth took place in the land of
Canaan.
6 Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters, and all
the people of his house, and his beasts and his cattle and all
his goods which he had got together in the land of Canaan, and
went into the land of Seir, away from his brother Jacob.
7 For their wealth was so great that the land was not wide
enough for the two of them and all their cattle.
8 So Esau made his living-place in the hill-country of Seir
(Esau is Edom).
9 And these are the generations of Esau, the father of the
Edomites in the hill-country of Seir:
10 These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz, the son of
Esau's wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau's wife Basemath.
11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and
Kenaz.
12 And Eliphaz, the son of Esau, had connection with a woman
named Timna, who gave birth to Amalek: all these were the
children of Esau's wife Adah.
13 And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and
Mizzah: they were the children of Esau's wife Basemath.
14 And these are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah, the
daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon: she was the mother of
Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
15 These were the chiefs among the sons of Esau: the sons of
Eliphaz, Esau's first son: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,
16 Korah, Gatam, Amalek: all these were chiefs in the land of
Edom, the offspring of Eliphaz, the seed of Adah.
17 And these are the sons of Esau's son Reuel: Nahath, Zerah,
Shammah, Mizzah: these were the chiefs of Reuel in the land of
Edom, the children of Esau's wife Basemath.
18 And these are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah: Jeush,
Jalam, and Korah: these were the chiefs who came from Esau's
wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah.
19 These were the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these were
their chiefs.
20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite who were living in that
country; Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan: these are the chiefs of the
Horites, offspring of Seir in the land of Edom.
22 The children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; Lotan's sister was
Timna.
23 And these are the children of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal,
Shepho, and Onam.
24 And these are the children of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; that
same Anah who made the discovery of the water-springs in the
waste land, when he was looking after the asses of his father
Zibeon.
25 And these are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah his
daughter.
26 These are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and
Keran.
27 These are the children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
28 These are the children of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
29 These were the Horite chiefs: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. Such were the Horite chiefs in
their order in the land of Seir.
31 And these are the kings who were ruling in the land of Edom
before there was any king over the children of Israel.
32 Bela, son of Beor, was king in Edom, and the name of his
chief town was Dinhabah.
33 At his death, Jobab, son of Zerah of Bozrah, became king in
his place.
34 And at the death of Jobab, Husham, from the country of the
Temanites, became king in his place.
35 And at the death of Husham, Hadad, son of Bedad, who overcame
the Midianites in the field of Moab, became king; his chief town
was named Avith.
36 And at the death of Hadad, Samlah of Masrekah became king.
37 And at the death of Samlah, Shaul of Rehoboth by the River
became king in his place.
38 And at the death of Shaul, Baal-hanan, son of Achbor, became
king.
39 And at the death of Baal-hanan, Hadar became king in his
place; his chief town was named Pau, and his wife's name was
Mehetabel; she was the daughter of Matred, the daughter of
Me-zahab.
40 These are the names of the chiefs of Esau in the order of
their families and their places: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,
41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,
42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,
43 Magdiel, Iram; these are the Edomite chiefs, in their places
in their heritage; this is Esau, the father of the Edomites.
Genesis 37
1 Now Jacob was living in the land where his father had made a
place for himself, in the land of Canaan.
2 These are the generations of Jacob: Joseph, a boy seventeen
years old, was looking after the flock, together with his
brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and
Joseph gave their father a bad account of them.
3 Now the love which Israel had for Joseph was greater than his
love for all his other children, because he got him when he was
an old man: and he had a long coat made for him.
4 And because his brothers saw that Joseph was dearer to his
father than all the others, they were full of hate for him, and
would not say a kind word to him.
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he gave his brothers an account of
it, which made their hate greater than ever.
6 And he said to them, Let me give you the story of my dream.
7 We were in the field, getting the grain stems together, and my
grain kept upright, and yours came round and went down on the
earth before mine.
8 And his brothers said to him, Are you to be our king? will you
have authority over us? And because of his dream and his words,
their hate for him became greater than ever.
9 Then he had another dream, and gave his brothers an account of
it, saying, I have had another dream: the sun and the moon and
eleven stars gave honour to me.
10 And he gave word of it to his father and his brothers; but
his father protesting said, What sort of a dream is this? am I
and your mother and your brothers to go down on our faces to the
earth before you?
11 And his brothers were full of envy; but his father kept his
words in mind.
12 Now his brothers went to keep watch over their father's flock
in Shechem.
13 And Israel said to Joseph, Are not your brothers with the
flock in Shechem? come, I will send you to them. And he said to
him, Here am I.
14 And he said to him, Go now, and see if your brothers are well
and how the flock is; then come back and give me word. So he
sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
15 And a man saw him wandering in the country, and said to him,
What are you looking for?
16 And he said, I am looking for my brothers; please give me
word of where they are keeping their flock.
17 And the man said, They have gone away from here, for they
said in my hearing, Let us go to Dothan. So Joseph went after
them and came up with them at Dothan.
18 But they saw him when he was a long way off, and before he
came near them they made a secret design against him to put him
to death;
19 Saying to one another, See, here comes this dreamer.
20 Let us now put him to death and put his body into one of
these holes, and we will say, An evil beast has put him to
death: then we will see what becomes of his dreams.
21 But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands,
saying, Let us not take his life.
22 Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in
one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their
hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again.
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off his long
coat which he had on;
24 And they took him and put him in the hole: now the hole had
no water in it.
25 Then seating themselves, they took their meal: and looking
up, they saw a travelling band of Ishmaelites, coming from
Gilead on their way to Egypt, with spices and perfumes on their
camels.
26 And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in
putting our brother to death and covering up his blood?
27 Let us give him to these Ishmaelites for a price, and let us
not put violent hands on him, for he is our brother, our flesh.
And his brothers gave ear to him.
28 And some traders from Midian went by; so pulling Joseph up
out of the hole, they gave him to the Ishmaelites for twenty
bits of silver, and they took him to Egypt.
29 Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there;
and giving signs of grief,
30 He went back to his brothers, and said, The child is gone;
what am I to do?
31 Then they took Joseph's coat, and put on it some of the blood
from a young goat which they had put to death,
32 And they took the coat to their father, and said, We came
across this; is it your son's coat or not?
33 And he saw that it was, and said, It is my son's coat; an
evil beast has put him to death; without doubt Joseph has come
to a cruel end.
34 Then Jacob, giving signs of grief, put on haircloth, and went
on weeping for his son day after day.
35 And all his sons and all his daughters came to give him
comfort, but he would not be comforted, saying with weeping, I
will go down to the underworld to my son. So great was his
father's sorrow for him.
36 And in Egypt the men of Midian gave him for a price to
Potiphar, a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house.
Genesis 38
1 Now at that time, Judah went away from his brothers and became
the friend of a man of Adullam named Hirah.
2 And there he saw the daughter of a certain man of Canaan named
Shua, and took her as his wife.
3 And she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name Er.
4 And again she gave birth to a son, and he gave him the name
Onan.
5 Then she had another son, to whom she gave the name Shelah;
she was at Chezib when the birth took place.
6 And Judah took a wife for his first son Er, and her name was
Tamar.
7 Now Er, Judah's first son, did evil in the eyes of the Lord,
so that he put him to death.
8 Then Judah said to Onan, Go in to your brother's wife and do
what it is right for a husband's brother to do; make her your
wife and get offspring for your brother.
9 But Onan, seeing that the offspring would not be his, went in
to his brother's wife, but let his seed go on to the earth, so
that he might not get offspring for his brother.
10 And what he did was evil in the eyes of the Lord, so that he
put him to death, like his brother.
11 Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Go back to
your father's house and keep yourself as a widow till my son
Shelah becomes a man: for he had in his mind the thought that
death might come to him as it had come to his brothers. So Tamar
went back to her father's house.
12 And after a time, Bath-shua, Judah's wife, came to her end;
and after Judah was comforted for her loss, he went to Timnah,
where they were cutting the wool of his sheep, and his friend
Hirah of Adullam went with him.
13 And when Tamar had news that her father-in-law was going up
to Timnah to the wool-cutting,
14 She took off her widow's clothing, and covering herself with
her veil, she took her seat near Enaim on the road to Timnah;
for she saw that Shelah was now a man, but she had not been made
his wife.
15 When Judah saw her he took her to be a loose woman of the
town, because her face was covered.
16 And turning to her by the roadside, he said to her, Let me
come in to you; for he had no idea that she was his
daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me as my
price?
17 And he said, I will give you a young goat from the flock. And
she said, What will you give me as a sign till you send it?
18 And he said, What would you have? And she said, Your ring and
its cord and the stick in your hand. So he gave them to her and
went in to her, and she became with child by him.
19 Then she got up and went away and took off her veil and put
on her widow's clothing.
20 Then Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat, to get
back the things which he had given as a sign to the woman: but
she was not there.
21 And he put questions to the men of the place, saying, Where
is the loose woman who was in Enaim by the wayside? And they
said, There was no such woman there.
22 So he went back to Judah, and said, I have not seen her, and
the men of the place say that there is no such woman there.
23 And Judah said, Let her keep the things, so that we may not
be shamed; I sent the young goat, but you did not see the woman.
24 Now about three months after this, word came to Judah that
Tamar, his daughter-in-law, had been acting like a loose woman
and was with child. And Judah said, Take her out and let her be
burned.
25 And while she was being taken out, she sent word to her
father-in-law, saying, The man whose property these things are,
is the father of my child: say then, whose are this ring and
this cord and this stick?
26 Then Judah said openly that they were his, and said, She is
more upright than I am, for I did not give her to Shelah my son.
And he had no more connection with her.
27 And when the time came for her to give birth, it was clear
that there were two children in her body.
28 And while she was in the act of giving birth, one of them put
out his hand; and the woman who was with her put a red thread
round his hand, saying, This one came out first.
29 But then he took his hand back again, and his brother came
first to birth: and the woman said, What an opening you have
made for yourself! So he was named Perez.
30 And then his brother came out, with the red thread round his
hand, and he was named Zerah.
Genesis 39
1 Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar the Egyptian,
a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house, got him for a
price from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
2 And the Lord was with Joseph, and he did well; and he was
living in the house of his master the Egyptian.
3 And his master saw that the Lord was with him, making
everything he did go well.
4 And having a high opinion of Joseph as his servant, he made
him the overseer of his house and gave him control over all he
had.
5 And from the time when he made him overseer and gave him
control of all his property, the blessing of the Lord was with
the Egyptian, because of Joseph; the blessing of the Lord was on
all he had, in the house and in the field.
6 And he gave Joseph control of all his property, keeping no
account of anything, but only the food which was put before him.
Now Joseph was very beautiful in form and face.
7 And after a time, his master's wife, looking on Joseph with
desire, said to him, Be my lover.
8 But he would not, and said to her, You see that my master
keeps no account of what I do in his house, and has put all his
property in my control;
9 So that no one has more authority in this house than I have;
he has kept nothing back from me but you, because you are his
wife; how then may I do this great wrong, sinning against God?
10 And day after day she went on requesting Joseph to come to
her and be her lover, but he would not give ear to her.
11 Now one day he went into the house to do his work; and not
one of the men of the house was inside.
12 And pulling at his coat, she said, Come to my bed; but
slipping out of his coat, he went running away.
13 And when she saw that he had got away, letting her keep his
coat,
14 She sent for the men of her house and said to them, See, he
has let a Hebrew come here and make sport of us; he came to my
bed, and I gave a loud cry;
15 And hearing it he went running out without his coat.
16 And she kept his coat by her, till his master came back.
17 Then she gave him the same story, saying, The Hebrew servant
whom you have taken into our house came in to make sport of me;
18 And when I gave a loud cry he went running out without his
coat.
19 And hearing his wife's account of what his servant had done,
he became very angry.
20 And Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, in the
place where the king's prisoners were kept in chains, and he was
there in the prison-house.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph, and was good to him, and made
the keeper of the prison his friend.
22 And the keeper of the prison put all the prisoners under
Joseph's control, and he was responsible for whatever was done
there.
23 And the keeper of the prison gave no attention to anything
which was under his care, because the Lord was with him; and the
Lord made everything he did go well.
Genesis 40
1 Now after these things the chief servant who had the care of
the wine, and the chief bread-maker in Pharaoh's house, did
something against Pharaoh's orders;
2 And Pharaoh was angry with his two servants, with the chief
wine-servant and the chief bread-maker;
3 And he put them in prison under the care of the captain of the
army, in the same prison where Joseph himself was shut up.
4 And the captain put them in Joseph's care, and he did what was
needed for them; and they were kept in prison for some time.
5 And these two had a dream on the same night; the chief
wine-servant and the chief bread-maker of the king of Egypt, who
were in prison, the two of them had dreams with a special sense.
6 And in the morning when Joseph came to them he saw that they
were looking sad.
7 And he said to the servants of Pharaoh who were in prison with
him, Why are you looking so sad?
8 Then they said to him, We have had a dream, and no one is able
to give us the sense. And Joseph said, Does not the sense of
dreams come from God? what was your dream?
9 Then the chief wine-servant gave Joseph an account of his
dream, and said, In my dream I saw a vine before me;
10 And on the vine were three branches; and it seemed as if it
put out buds and flowers, and from them came grapes ready for
cutting.
11 And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and
crushing them into Pharaoh's cup, gave the cup into Pharaoh's
hand.
12 Then Joseph said, This is the sense of your dream: the three
branches are three days;
13 After three days Pharaoh will give you honour, and put you
back into your place, and you will give him his cup as you did
before, when you were his wine-servant.
14 But keep me in mind when things go well for you, and be good
to me and say a good word for me to Pharaoh and get me out of
this prison:
15 For truly I was taken by force from the land of the Hebrews;
and I have done nothing for which I might be put in prison.
16 Now when the chief bread-maker saw that the first dream had a
good sense, he said to Joseph, I had a dream; and in my dream
there were three baskets of white bread on my head;
17 And in the top basket were all sorts of cooked meats for
Pharaoh; and the birds were taking them out of the baskets on my
head.
18 Then Joseph said, This is the sense of your dream: the three
baskets are three days;
19 After three days Pharaoh will take you out of prison, hanging
you on a tree, so that your flesh will be food for birds.
20 Now the third day was Pharaoh's birthday, and he gave a feast
for all his servants; and he gave honour to the chief
wine-servant and the chief bread-maker among the others.
21 And he put the chief wine-servant back in his old place; and
he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
22 But the chief bread-maker was put to death by hanging, as
Joseph had said.
23 But the wine-servant did not keep Joseph in mind or give a
thought to him.
Genesis 41
1 Now after two years had gone by, Pharaoh had a dream; and in
his dream he was by the side of the Nile;
2 And out of the Nile came seven cows, good-looking and fat, and
their food was the river-grass.
3 And after them seven other cows came out of the Nile,
poor-looking and thin; and they were by the side of the other
cows.
4 And the seven thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows.
Then Pharaoh came out of his sleep.
5 But he went to sleep again and had a second dream, in which he
saw seven heads of grain, full and good, all on one stem.
6 And after them came up seven other heads, thin and wasted by
the east wind.
7 And the seven thin heads made a meal of the good heads. And
when Pharaoh was awake he saw it was a dream.
8 And in the morning his spirit was troubled; and he sent for
all the wise men of Egypt and all the holy men, and put his
dream before them, but no one was able to give him the sense of
it.
9 Then the chief wine-servant said to Pharaoh, The memory of my
sin comes back to me now;
10 Pharaoh had been angry with his servants, and had put me in
prison in the house of the captain of the army, together with
the chief bread-maker;
11 And we had a dream on the same night, the two of us, and the
dreams had a special sense.
12 And there was with us a young Hebrew, the captain's servant,
and when we put our dreams before him, he gave us the sense of
them.
13 And it came about as he said: I was put back in my place, and
the bread-maker was put to death by hanging.
14 Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they took him quickly out
of prison; and when his hair had been cut and his dress changed,
he came before Pharaoh.
15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have had a dream, and no one is
able to give me the sense of it; now it has come to my ears that
you are able to give the sense of a dream when it is put before
you.
16 Then Joseph said, Without God there will be no answer of
peace for Pharaoh.
17 Then Pharaoh said, In my dream I was by the side of the Nile:
18 And out of the Nile came seven cows, fat and good-looking,
and their food was the river-grass;
19 Then after them came seven other cows, very thin and
poor-looking, worse than any I ever saw in the land of Egypt;
20 And the thin cows made a meal of the seven fat cows who came
up first;
21 And even with the fat cows inside them they seemed as bad as
before. And so I came out of my sleep.
22 And again in a dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and
good, coming up on one stem:
23 And then I saw seven other heads, dry, thin, and wasted by
the east wind, coming up after them:
24 And the seven thin heads made a meal of the seven good heads;
and I put this dream before the wise men, but not one of them
was able to give me the sense of it.
25 Then Joseph said, These two dreams have the same sense: God
has made clear to Pharaoh what he is about to do.
26 The seven fat cows are seven years, and the seven good heads
of grain are seven years: the two have the same sense.
27 The seven thin and poor-looking cows who came up after them
are seven years; and the seven heads of grain, dry and wasted by
the east wind, are seven years when there will be no food.
28 As I said to Pharaoh before, God has made clear to him what
he is about to do.
29 Seven years are coming in which there will be great wealth of
grain in Egypt;
30 And after that will come seven years when there will not be
enough food; and the memory of the good years will go from men's
minds; and the land will be made waste by the bad years;
31 And men will have no memory of the good time because of the
need which will come after, for it will be very bitter.
32 And this dream came to Pharaoh twice, because this thing is
certain, and God will quickly make it come about.
33 And now let Pharaoh make search for a man of wisdom and good
sense, and put him in authority over the land of Egypt.
34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him put overseers over the land
of Egypt to put in store a fifth part of the produce of the land
in the good years.
35 And let them get together all the food in those good years
and make a store of grain under Pharaoh's control for the use of
the towns, and let them keep it.
36 And let that food be kept in store for the land till the
seven bad years which are to come in Egypt; so that the land may
not come to destruction through need of food.
37 And this seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.
38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants, Where may we get such a
man as this, a man in whom is the spirit of God?
39 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Seeing that God has made all this
clear to you, there is no other man of such wisdom and good
sense as you:
40 You, then, are to be over my house, and all my people will be
ruled by your word: only as king will I be greater than you.
41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have put you over all the
land of Egypt.
42 Then Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it on
Joseph's hand, and he had him clothed with the best linen, and
put a chain of gold round his neck;
43 And he made him take his seat in the second of his carriages;
and they went before him crying, Make way! So he made him ruler
over all the land of Egypt.
44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh; and without your
order no man may do anything in all the land of Egypt.
45 And Pharaoh gave Joseph the name of Zaphnath-paaneah; and he
gave him Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, the priest of On,
to be his wife. So Joseph went through all the land of Egypt.
46 Now Joseph was thirty years old when he came before Pharaoh,
king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from before the face of
Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.
47 Now in the seven good years the earth gave fruit in masses.
48 And Joseph got together all the food of those seven years,
and made a store of food in the towns: the produce of the fields
round every town was stored up in the town.
49 So he got together a store of grain like the sand of the sea;
so great a store that after a time he gave up measuring it, for
it might not be measured.
50 And before the time of need, Joseph had two sons, to whom
Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On, gave birth.
51 And to the first he gave the name Manasseh, for he said, God
has taken away from me all memory of my hard life and of my
father's house.
52 And to the second he gave the name Ephraim, for he said, God
has given me fruit in the land of my sorrow.
53 And so the seven good years in Egypt came to an end.
54 Then came the first of the seven years of need as Joseph had
said: and in every other land they were short of food; but in
the land of Egypt there was bread.
55 And when all the land of Egypt was in need of food, the
people came crying to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to the
people, Go to Joseph, and whatever he says to you, do it.
56 And everywhere on the earth they were short of food; then
Joseph, opening all his store-houses, gave the people of Egypt
grain for money; so great was the need of food in the land of
Egypt.
57 And all lands sent to Egypt, to Joseph, to get grain, for the
need was great over all the earth.
Genesis 42
1 Now Jacob, hearing that there was grain in Egypt, said to his
sons, Why are you looking at one another?
2 And he said, I have had news that there is grain in Egypt: go
down there and get grain for us, so that life and not death may
be ours.
3 So Joseph's ten brothers went down to get grain from Egypt.
4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph's brother, with them,
for fear, as he said, that some evil might come to him.
5 And the sons of Israel came with all the others to get grain:
for they were very short of food in the land of Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was ruler over all the land, and it was he who gave
out the grain to all the people of the land; and Joseph's
brothers came before him and went down on their faces to the
earth.
7 And when Joseph saw his brothers, it was clear to him who they
were, but he made himself strange to them, and talking roughly
to them, said, Where do you come from? And they said, From the
land of Canaan, to get food.
8 Now though Joseph saw that these were his brothers, they had
no idea who he was.
9 Then the memory of his dreams about them came back to Joseph,
and he said to them, You have come secretly to see how poor the
land is.
10 And they said to him, Not so, my lord: your servants have
come with money to get food.
11 We are all one man's sons, we are true men; we have not come
with any secret purpose.
12 And he said to them, No, but you have come to see how poor
the land is.
13 Then they said, We your servants are twelve brothers, sons of
one man in the land of Canaan; the youngest of us is now with
our father, and one is dead.
14 And Joseph said, It is as I said; you have come with some
secret purpose;
15 But in this way will you be put to the test: by the life of
Pharaoh, you will not go away from this place till your youngest
brother comes here.
16 Send one of your number to get your brother, and the rest of
you will be kept in prison, so that your words may be tested to
see if you are true; if not, by the life of Pharaoh, your
purpose is certainly secret.
17 So he put them in prison for three days.
18 And on the third day Joseph said to them, Do this, if you
would keep your lives: for I am a god-fearing man:
19 If you are true men, let one of you be kept in prison, while
you go and take grain for the needs of your families;
20 And come back to me with your youngest brother, so that your
words may be seen to be true, and you will not be put to death.
This is what you are to do.
21 And they said to one another, Truly, we did wrong to our
brother, for we saw his grief of mind, and we did not give ear
to his prayers; that is why this trouble has come on us.
22 And Reuben said to them, Did I not say to you, Do the child
no wrong? but you gave no attention; so now, punishment has come
on us for his blood.
23 They were not conscious that the sense of their words was
clear to Joseph, for he had been talking to them through one who
had knowledge of their language.
24 And turning away from them, he was overcome with weeping;
then he went on talking to them again and took Simeon and put
chains on him before their eyes.
25 Then Joseph gave orders for their bags to be made full of
grain, and for every man's money to be put back into his bag,
and for food to be given them for the journey: which was done.
26 Then they put the bags of grain on their asses and went away.
27 Now at their night's resting-place one of them, opening his
bag to give his ass some food, saw his money in the mouth of the
bag.
28 And he said to his brothers, My money has been given back: it
is in my bag; then their hearts became full of fear, and turning
to one another they said, What is this which God has done to us?
29 So when they came to Jacob their father, in the land of
Canaan, they gave him an account of all their experiences,
saying,
30 The man who is the ruler of the country was rough with us and
put us in prison, saying that we had come with a secret evil
purpose.
31 And we said to him, We are true men, we have no evil designs;
32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is dead, and
the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.
33 And the ruler of the land said, In this way I may be certain
that you are true men; let one of you be kept here with me,
while you go and take grain for the needs of your families;
34 And come back to me with your youngest brother: then I will
be certain that you are true men, and I will give your brother
back to you and let you do trade in the land.
35 And when they took the grain out of their bags, it was seen
that every man's parcel of money was in his bag; and when they
and their father saw the money, they were full of fear.
36 And Jacob their father said to them, You have taken my
children from me: Joseph is gone and Simeon is gone, and now you
would take Benjamin away; all these things have come on me.
37 And Reuben said, Put my two sons to death if I do not come
back to you with him; let him be in my care and I will give him
safely back to you.
38 And he said, I will not let my son go down with you; for his
brother is dead and he is all I have: if evil overtakes him on
the journey, then through you will my grey head go down to the
underworld in sorrow.
Genesis 43
1 Now the land was in bitter need of food.
2 And when the grain which they had got in Egypt was all used
up, their father said to them, Go again and get us a little
food.
3 And Judah said to him, The man said to us with an oath, You
are not to come before me again without your brother.
4 If you will let our brother go with us, we will go down and
get food:
5 But if you will not send him, we will not go down: for the man
said to us, You are not to come before me if your brother is not
with you.
6 And Israel said, Why were you so cruel to me as to say to him
that you had a brother?
7 And they said, The man put a number of questions to us about
ourselves and our family, saying, Is your father still living?
have you another brother? And we had to give him answers; how
were we to have any idea that he would say, Come back with your
brother?
8 Then Judah said to Israel, his father, Send the boy with me,
and let us be up and going, so that we and you and our little
ones may not come to destruction.
9 Put him into my care and make me responsible for him: if I do
not give him safely back to you, let mine be the sin for ever.
10 Truly, if we had not let the time go by, we might have come
back again by now.
11 Then their father Israel said to them, If it has to be so,
then do this: take of the best fruits of the land in your
vessels to give the man, perfumes and honey and spices and nuts:
12 And take twice as much money with you; that is to say, take
back the money which was put in your bags, for it may have been
an error;
13 And take your brother and go back to the man:
14 And may God, the Ruler of all, give you mercy before the man,
so that he may give you back your other brother and Benjamin. If
my children are to be taken from me; there is no help for it.
15 So they took what their father said for the man, and twice as
much money in their hands, and Benjamin, and went on their
journey to Egypt, and came before Joseph.
16 And when Joseph saw Benjamin, he said to his chief servant,
Take these men into my house, and make ready a meal, for they
will take food with me in the middle of the day.
17 And the servant did as Joseph said, and took the men into
Joseph's house.
18 Now the men were full of fear because they had been taken
into Joseph's house and they said, It is because of the money
which was put back in our bags the first time; he is looking for
something against us, so that he may come down on us and take us
and our asses for his use.
19 So they went up to Joseph's chief servant at the door of the
house,
20 And said, O my lord, we only came down the first time to get
food;
21 And when we came to our night's resting-place, on opening our
bags we saw that every man's money was in the mouth of his bag,
all our money in full weight: and we have it with us to give it
back;
22 As well as more money, with which to get food: we have no
idea who put our money in our bags.
23 Then the servant said, Peace be with you: have no fear: your
God, even the God of your father, has put wealth in your bags
for you: I had your money. Then he let Simeon come out to them.
24 And the servant took them into Joseph's house, and gave them
water for washing their feet; and he gave their asses food.
25 And they got ready the things for Joseph before he came in
the middle of the day: for word was given to them that they were
to have a meal there.
26 And when Joseph came in, they gave him the things which they
had for him, and went down to the earth before him.
27 And he said, How are you? is your father well, the old man of
whom you were talking to me? is he still living?
28 And they said, Your servant, our father, is well, he is still
living. And they went down on their faces before him.
29 Then, lifting up his eyes, he saw Benjamin, his brother, his
mother's son, and he said, Is this your youngest brother of whom
you gave me word? And he said, God be good to you, my son.
30 Then Joseph's heart went out to his brother, and he went
quickly into his room, for he was overcome with weeping.
31 Then, after washing his face, he came out, and controlling
his feelings said, Put food before us.
32 And they put a meal ready for him by himself, and for them by
themselves, and for the Egyptians who were with him by
themselves; because the Egyptians may not take food with the
Hebrews, for that would make them unclean.
33 And they were all given their seats before him in order of
birth, from the oldest to the youngest: so that they were
looking at one another in wonder.
34 And Joseph sent food to them from his table, but he sent five
times as much to Benjamin as to any of the others. And they took
wine freely with him.
Genesis 44
1 Then he gave orders to the servant who was over his house,
saying, Put as much food into the men's bags as will go into
them, and put every man's money in the mouth of his bag;
2 And put my cup, my silver cup, in the youngest one's bag, with
his money. So he did as Joseph said.
3 And at dawn the men, with their asses, were sent away.
4 And when they had gone only a little way out of the town,
Joseph said to the servant who was over his house, Go after
them; and when you overtake them, say to them, Why have you done
evil in reward for good?
5 Is not this the cup from which my lord takes wine and by which
he gets knowledge of the future? Truly, you have done evil.
6 So he overtook them and said these words to them.
7 And they said to him, Why does my lord say such words as
these? far be it from your servants to do such a thing:
8 See, the money which was in the mouth of our bags we gave back
to you when we came again from Canaan: how then might we take
silver or gold from your lord's house?
9 If it comes to light that any of your servants has done this,
let him be put to death, and we will be your lord's servants.
10 And he said, Let it be as you say: he in whose bag it is seen
will become my servant; and you will not be responsible.
11 Then every man quickly got his bag down and undid it.
12 And he made a search, starting with the oldest and ending
with the youngest; and the cup was in Benjamin's bag.
13 Then in bitter grief they put the bags on the asses again and
went back to the town.
14 So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house; and he was
still there: and they went down on their faces before him.
15 And Joseph said, What is this thing which you have done? had
you no thought that such a man as I would have power to see what
is secret?
16 And Judah said, What are we to say to my lord? how may we put
ourselves right in his eyes? God has made clear the sin of your
servants: now we are in your hands, we and the man in whose bag
your cup was seen.
17 Then he said, Far be it from me to do so: but the man who had
my cup will be my servant; and you may go back to your father in
peace.
18 Then Judah came near him, and said, Let your servant say a
word in my lord's ears, and let not your wrath be burning
against your servant: for you are in the place of Pharaoh to us.
19 My lord said to his servants, Have you a father or a brother?
20 And we said to my lord, We have an old father and a young
child, whom he had when he was old; his brother is dead and he
is the only son of his mother, and is very dear to his father.
21 And you said to your servants, Let him come down to me with
you, so that I may see him.
22 And we said to my lord, His father will not let him go; for
if he went away his father would come to his death.
23 But you said to your servants, If your youngest brother does
not come with you, you will not see my face again.
24 And when we went back to your servant, our father, we gave
him an account of my lord's words.
25 And our father said, Go again and get us a little food.
26 And we said, Only if our youngest brother goes with us will
we go down; for we may not see the man's face again if our
youngest brother is not with us.
27 And our father said to us, You have knowledge that my wife
gave me two sons;
28 The one went away from me, and I said, Truly he has come to a
violent death; and from that time I have not seen him,
29 If now you take this one from me, and some evil comes to him,
you will make my grey head go down in sorrow to the underworld.
30 If then I go back to your servant, my father, without the
boy, because his life and the boy's life are one,
31 When he sees that the boy is not with us, he will come to his
death, and our father's grey head will go down in sorrow to the
underworld.
32 For I made myself responsible for the boy to my father,
saying, If I do not give him safely back to you, let mine be the
sin for ever.
33 So now let me be my lord's servant here in place of the boy,
and let him go back with his brothers.
34 For how may I go back to my father without the boy, and see
the evil which will come on my father?
Genesis 45
1 Then Joseph, unable to keep back his feelings before those who
were with him, gave orders for everyone to be sent away, and no
one was present when he made clear to his brothers who he was.
2 And so loud was his weeping, that it came to the ears of the
Egyptians and all Pharaoh's house.
3 And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph: is my father
still living? But his brothers were not able to give him an
answer for they were troubled before him.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me. And they
came near, And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sent
into Egypt.
5 Now do not be troubled or angry with yourselves for sending me
away, because God sent me before you to be the saviour of your
lives.
6 For these two years have been years of need, and there are
still five more years to come in which there will be no
ploughing or cutting of grain.
7 God sent me before you to keep you and yours living on earth
so that you might become a great nation.
8 So now it was not you who sent me here, but God: and he has
made me as a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and
ruler over all the land of Egypt.
9 Now go quickly to my father, and say to him, Your son Joseph
says, God has made me ruler over all the land of Egypt: come
down to me straight away:
10 The land of Goshen will be your living-place, and you will be
near me; you and your children and your children's children, and
your flocks and herds and all you have:
11 And there I will take care of you, so that you and your
family may not be in need, for there are still five bad years to
come.
12 Now truly, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin
see, that it is my mouth which says these things to you.
13 Give my father word of all my glory in Egypt and of all you
have seen; and come back quickly with my father.
14 Then, weeping, he took Benjamin in his arms, and Benjamin
himself was weeping on Joseph's neck.
15 Then he gave a kiss to all his brothers, weeping over them;
and after that his brothers had no fear of talking to him.
16 And news of these things went through Pharaoh's house, and it
was said that Joseph's brothers were come; and it seemed good to
Pharaoh and his servants.
17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Say to your brothers, Put your
goods on your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan;
18 And get your father and your families and come back to me:
and I will give you all the good things of Egypt, and the fat of
the land will be your food.
19 And say to them, This you are to do: take carts from the land
of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and get your
father and come back.
20 And take no thought for your goods, for the best of all the
land of Egypt is yours.
21 And the children of Israel did as he said; and Joseph gave
them carts as had been ordered by Pharaoh, and food for their
journey.
22 To every one of them he gave three changes of clothing; but
to Benjamin he gave three hundred bits of silver and five
changes of clothing.
23 And to his father he sent ten asses with good things from
Egypt on their backs, and ten she-asses with grain and bread and
food for his father on the journey.
24 And he sent his brothers on their way, and said to them, See
that you have no argument on the road.
25 So they went up from Egypt and came to the land of Canaan, to
their father Jacob.
26 And they said to him, Joseph is living, and is ruler over all
the land of Egypt. And at this word Jacob was quite overcome,
for he had no faith in it.
27 And they gave him an account of everything Joseph had said to
them; and when he saw the carts which Joseph had sent for them,
his spirit came back to him:
28 And Israel said, It is enough: Joseph my son is still living;
I will go and see him before my death.
Genesis 46
1 And Israel went on his journey with all he had, and came to
Beer-sheba, where he made offerings to the God of his father
Isaac.
2 And God said to Israel in a night-vision, Jacob, Jacob. And he
said, Here am I.
3 And he said, I am God, the God of your father: go down to
Egypt without fear, for I will make a great nation of you there:
4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will see that you come
back again, and at your death Joseph will put his hands on your
eyes.
5 Then Jacob went on from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Jacob took
their father and their little ones and their wives in the carts
which Pharaoh had sent for them.
6 And they took their cattle and all the goods which they had
got in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, even Jacob and all
his seed:
7 His sons and his sons' sons, his daughters and his daughters'
sons and all his family he took with him into Egypt.
8 And these are the names of the children of Israel who came
into Egypt, even Jacob and all his sons: Reuben, Jacob's oldest
son;
9 And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch and Pallu and Hezron and Carmi;
10 And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin
and Zohar and Shaul, the son of a woman of Canaan;
11 And the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari;
12 And the sons of Judah: Er and Onan and Shelah and Perez and
Zerah: but Er and Onan had come to their death in the land of
Canaan; and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 And the sons of Issachar: Tola and Puah and Job and Shimron;
14 And the sons of Zebulun: Sered and Elon and Jahleel;
15 All these, together with his daughter Dinah, were the
children of Leah, whom Jacob had by her in Paddan-aram; they
were thirty-three in number.
16 And the sons of Gad: Ziphion and Haggi, Shuni and Ezbon, Eri
and Arodi and Areli;
17 And the sons of Asher: Jimnah and Ishvah and Ishvi and
Beriah, and Sarah, their sister; and the sons of Beriah: Heber
and Malchiel.
18 These are the children of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his
daughter Leah, and Jacob had these sixteen children by her.
19 The sons of Jacob's wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
20 And Joseph had Manasseh and Ephraim in the land of Egypt, by
Asenath, the daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On.
21 And the sons of Benjamin were Belah and Becher and Ashbel,
Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Muppim and Huppim and Ard.
22 All these were the children of Rachel whom Jacob had by her,
fourteen persons.
23 And the son of Dan was Hushim.
24 And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel and Guni and Jezer and
Shillem.
25 These were the children of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his
daughter Rachel, seven persons.
26 All the persons who came with Jacob into Egypt, the offspring
of his body, were sixty-six, without taking into account the
wives of Jacob's sons.
27 And the sons of Joseph whom he had in Egypt were two. Seventy
persons of the family of Jacob came into Egypt.
28 Now he had sent Judah before him to Goshen, to get word from
Joseph; and so they came to the land of Goshen.
29 And Joseph got his carriage ready and went to Goshen for the
meeting with his father; and when he came before him, he put his
arms round his neck, weeping.
30 And Israel said to Joseph, Now that I have seen you living
again, I am ready for death.
31 And Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's people, I
will go and give the news to Pharaoh, and say to him, My
brothers and my father's people, from the land of Canaan, have
come to me;
32 And these men are keepers of sheep and owners of cattle, and
have with them their flocks and their herds and all they have.
33 Now when Pharaoh sends for you and says, What is your
business?
34 You are to say, Your servants have been keepers of cattle
from our early days up to now, like our fathers; in this way you
will be able to have the land of Goshen for yourselves; because
keepers of sheep are unclean in the eyes of the Egyptians.
Genesis 47
1 Then Joseph went to Pharaoh, and said, My father and my
brothers with their flocks and their herds and all they have,
are come from Canaan, and are now in the land of Goshen.
2 And he took five of his brothers to Pharaoh.
3 And Pharaoh said to them, What is your business? And they
said, Your servants are keepers of sheep, as our fathers were
before us.
4 And they said to Pharaoh, We have come to make a living in
this land, because we have no grass for our flocks in the land
of Canaan; so now let your servants make a place for themselves
in the land of Goshen.
5 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Let them have the land of Goshen;
and if there are any able men among them, put them over my
cattle.
6 And Jacob and his sons came to Joseph in Egypt, and when word
of it came to the ears of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, he said to
Joseph, Your father and brothers have come to you; all the land
of Egypt is before you; let your father and your brothers have
the best of the land for their resting-place.
7 Then Joseph made his father Jacob come before Pharaoh, and
Jacob gave him his blessing.
8 And Pharaoh said to him, How old are you?
9 And Jacob said, The years of my wanderings have been a hundred
and thirty; small in number and full of sorrow have been the
years of my life, and less than the years of the wanderings of
my fathers.
10 And Jacob gave Pharaoh his blessing, and went out from before
him.
11 And Joseph made a place for his father and his brothers, and
gave them a heritage in the land of Egypt, in the best of the
land, the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had given orders.
12 And Joseph took care of his father and his brothers and all
his father's people, giving them food for the needs of their
families.
13 Now there was no food to be had in all the land, so that all
Egypt and Canaan were wasted from need of food.
14 And all the money in Egypt and in the land of Canaan which
had been given for grain, came into the hands of Joseph: and he
put it in Pharaoh's house.
15 And when all the money in Egypt and Canaan was gone, the
Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, Give us bread; would you
have us come to destruction before your eyes? for we have no
more money.
16 And Joseph said, Give me your cattle; I will give you grain
in exchange for your cattle if your money is all gone.
17 So they took their cattle to Joseph and he gave them bread in
exchange for their horses and flocks and herds and asses, so all
that year he gave them food in exchange for their cattle.
18 And when that year was ended, they came to him in the second
year, and said, We may not keep it from our lord's knowledge
that all our money is gone, and all the herds of cattle are my
lord's; there is nothing more to give my lord but our bodies and
our land;
19 Are we to come to destruction before your eyes, we and our
land? take us and our land and give us bread; and we and our
land will be servants to Pharaoh; and give us seed so that we
may have life and the land may not become waste.
20 So Joseph got all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh; for every
Egyptian gave up his land in exchange for food, because of their
great need; so all the land became Pharaoh's.
21 And as for the people, he made servants of them, town by
town, from one end of Egypt to the other.
22 Only he did not take the land of the priests, for the priests
had their food given them by Pharaoh, and having what Pharaoh
gave them, they had no need to give up their land.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, I have made you and your land
this day the property of Pharaoh; here is seed for you to put in
your fields.
24 And when the grain is cut, you are to give a fifth part to
Pharaoh, and four parts will be yours for seed and food, and for
your families and your little ones.
25 And they said to him, Truly you have kept us from death; may
we have grace in your eyes, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
26 Then Joseph made a law which is in force to this day, that
Pharaoh was to have the fifth part; only the land of the priests
did not become his.
27 And so Israel was living among the Egyptians in the land of
Goshen; and they got property there, and became very great in
numbers and in wealth.
28 And Jacob was living in the land of Goshen for seventeen
years; so the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.
29 And the time of his death came near, and he sent for his son
Joseph and said to him, If now I am dear to you, put your hand
under my leg and take an oath that you will not put me to rest
in Egypt;
30 But when I go to my fathers, you are to take me out of Egypt
and put me to rest in their last resting-place. And he said, I
will do so.
31 And he said, Take an oath to me; and he took an oath to him:
and Israel gave worship on the bed's head.
Genesis 48
1 Now after these things, word came to Joseph that his father
was ill: and he took with him his sons Manasseh and Ephraim.
2 And when they said to Jacob, Your son Joseph is coming to see
you: then Israel, getting all his strength together, had himself
lifted up in his bed.
3 And Jacob said to Joseph, God, the Ruler of all, came to me in
a vision at Luz in the land of Canaan, and gave me his blessing,
4 And said to me, Truly, I will make you fertile and give you
increase and will make of you a great family of nations: and I
will give this land to your seed after you to be their heritage
for ever.
5 And now your two sons who came to birth in Egypt before I came
to you here, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, in the
same way as Reuben and Simeon are.
6 And any other offspring which you have after them, will be
yours, and will be named after their brothers in their heritage.
7 And as for me, when I came from Paddan, death overtook Rachel
on the way, when we were still some distance from Ephrath; and I
put her to rest there on the road to Ephrath, which is
Beth-lehem.
8 Then Israel, looking at Joseph's sons, said, Who are these?
9 And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has
given me in this land. And he said, Let them come near me, and I
will give them a blessing.
10 Now because Israel was old, his eyes were no longer clear,
and he was not able to see. So he made them come near to him,
and he gave them a kiss, folding them in his arms.
11 And Israel said to Joseph, I had no hope of seeing your face
again, but God in his mercy has let me see you and your
children.
12 Then Joseph took them from between his knees, and went down
on his face to the earth.
13 Then taking Ephraim with his right hand, Joseph put him at
Israel's left side, and with his left hand he put Manasseh at
Israel's right side, placing them near him.
14 And Israel, stretching out his right hand, put it on the head
of Ephraim, the younger, and his left hand on the head of
Manasseh, crossing his hands on purpose, for Manasseh was the
older.
15 And he gave Joseph a blessing, saying, May the God to whom my
fathers, Abraham and Isaac, gave worship, the God who has taken
care of me all my life till this day,
16 The angel who has been my saviour from all evil, send his
blessing on these children: and let my name and the name of my
fathers, Abraham and Isaac, be given to them; and let them
become a great nation in the earth.
17 Now when Joseph saw that his father had put his right hand on
the head of Ephraim, it did not seem right to him; and lifting
his father's hand he would have put it on the head of Manasseh.
18 And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is
the older; put your right hand on his head.
19 But his father would not, saying, I am doing it on purpose,
my son; he will certainly become a nation and a great one; but
his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will
become a great family of nations.
20 So he gave them his blessing that day, saying, You will be
the sign of blessing in Israel, for they will say, May God make
you like Ephraim and Manasseh; and he put Ephraim before
Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, Now my death is near; but God
will be with you, guiding you back to the land of your fathers.
22 And I have given you more than your brothers, even Shechem as
your heritage, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and
my bow.
Genesis 49
1 And Jacob sent for his sons, and said, Come together, all of
you, so that I may give you news of your fate in future times.
2 Come near, O sons of Jacob, and give ear to the words of
Israel your father.
3 Reuben, you are my oldest son, the first-fruit of my strength,
first in pride and first in power:
4 But because you were uncontrolled, the first place will not be
yours; for you went up to your father's bed, even his bride-bed,
and made it unclean.
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; deceit and force are their
secret designs.
6 Take no part in their secrets, O my soul; keep far away, O my
heart, from their meetings; for in their wrath they put men to
death, and for their pleasure even oxen were wounded.
7 A curse on their passion for it was bitter; and on their wrath
for it was cruel. I will let their heritage in Jacob be broken
up, driving them from their places in Israel.
8 To you, Judah, will your brothers give praise: your hand will
be on the neck of your haters; your father's sons will go down
to the earth before you.
9 Judah is a young lion; like a lion full of meat you have
become great, my son; now he takes his rest like a lion
stretched out and like an old lion; by whom will his sleep be
broken?
10 The rod of authority will not be taken from Judah, and he
will not be without a law-giver, till he comes who has the right
to it, and the peoples will put themselves under his rule.
11 Knotting his ass's cord to the vine, and his young ass to the
best vine; washing his robe in wine, and his clothing in the
blood of grapes:
12 His eyes will be dark with wine, and his teeth white with
milk.
13 The resting-place of Zebulun will be by the sea, and he will
be a harbour for ships; the edge of his land will be by Zidon.
14 Issachar is a strong ass stretched out among the flocks:
15 And he saw that rest was good and the land was pleasing; so
he let them put weights on his back and became a servant.
16 Dan will be the judge of his people, as one of the tribes of
Israel.
17 May Dan be a snake in the way, a horned snake by the road,
biting the horse's foot so that the horseman has a fall.
18 I have been waiting for your salvation, O Lord.
19 Gad, an army will come against him, but he will come down on
them in their flight.
20 Asher's bread is fat; he gives delicate food for kings.
21 Naphtali is a roe let loose, giving fair young ones.
22 Joseph is a young ox, whose steps are turned to the fountain;
23 He was troubled by the archers; they sent out their arrows
against him, cruelly wounding him:
24 But their bows were broken by a strong one, and the cords of
their arms were cut by the Strength of Jacob, by the name of the
Stone of Israel:
25 Even by the God of your father, who will be your help, and by
the Ruler of all, who will make you full with blessings from
heaven on high, blessings of the deep stretched out under the
earth, blessings of the breasts and of the fertile body:
26 Blessings of sons, old and young, to the father: blessings of
the oldest mountains and the fruit of the eternal hills: let
them come on the head of Joseph, on the crown of him who was
separate from his brothers.
27 Benjamin is a wolf, searching for meat: in the morning he
takes his food, and in the evening he makes division of what he
has taken.
28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel: and these are the
words their father said to them, blessing them; to every one he
gave his blessing.
29 And he gave orders to them, saying, Put me to rest with my
people and with my fathers, in the hollow of the rock in the
field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 In the rock in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land
of Canaan, which Abraham got from Ephron the Hittite, to be his
resting-place.
31 There Abraham and Sarah his wife were put to rest, and there
they put Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I put Leah to
rest.
32 In the rock in the field which was got for a price from the
people of Heth.
33 And when Jacob had come to the end of these words to his
sons, stretching himself on his bed, he gave up his spirit, and
went the way of his people.
Genesis 50
1 And Joseph put his head down on his father's face, weeping and
kissing him.
2 And Joseph gave orders to his servants who had the necessary
knowledge, to make his father's body ready, folding it in linen
with spices, and they did so.
3 And the forty days needed for making the body ready went by:
and there was weeping for him among the Egyptians for seventy
days.
4 And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph said to
the servants of Pharaoh, If now you have love for me, say these
words to Pharaoh:
5 My father made me take an oath, saying, When I am dead, put me
to rest in the place I have made ready for myself in the land of
Canaan. So now let me go and put my father in his last
resting-place, and I will come back again.
6 And Pharaoh said, Go up and put your father to rest, as you
gave your oath to him.
7 So Joseph went up to put his father in his last resting-place;
and with him went all the servants of Pharaoh, and the chief men
of his house and all the chiefs of the land of Egypt,
8 And all the family of Joseph, and his brothers and his
father's people: only their little ones and their flocks and
herds they did not take with them from the land of Goshen.
9 And carriages went up with him and horsemen, a great army.
10 And they came to the grain-floor of Atad on the other side of
Jordan, and there they gave the last honours to Jacob, with
great and bitter sorrow, weeping for their father for seven
days.
11 And when the people of the land, the people of Canaan, at the
grain-floor of Atad, saw their grief, they said, Great is the
grief of the Egyptians: so the place was named Abel-mizraim, on
the other side of Jordan.
12 So his sons did as he had given them orders to do:
13 For they took him into the land of Canaan and put him to rest
in the hollow rock in the field of Machpelah, which Abraham got
with the field, for a resting-place, from Ephron the Hittite at
Mamre.
14 And when his father had been put to rest, Joseph and his
brothers and all who had gone with him, went back to Egypt.
15 Now after the death of their father, Joseph's brothers said
to themselves, It may be that Joseph's heart will be turned
against us, and he will give us punishment for all the evil
which we did to him.
16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, Your father, before his
death, gave us orders, saying,
17 You are to say to Joseph, Let the wrongdoing of your brothers
be overlooked, and the evil they did to you: now, if it is your
pleasure, let the sin of the servants of your father's God have
forgiveness. And at these words, Joseph was overcome with
weeping.
18 Then his brothers went, and falling at his feet, said, Truly,
we are your servants.
19 And Joseph said, Have no fear: am I in the place of God?
20 As for you, it was in your mind to do me evil, but God has
given a happy outcome, the salvation of numbers of people, as
you see today.
21 So now, have no fear: for I will take care of you and your
little ones. So he gave them comfort with kind words.
22 Now Joseph and all his father's family went on living in
Egypt: and the years of Joseph's life were a hundred and ten.
23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation:
and the children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, came to birth
on Joseph's knees.
24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, The time of my death has
come; but God will keep you in mind and take you out of this
land into the land which he gave by his oath to Abraham and
Isaac and Jacob.
25 Then Joseph made the children of Israel take an oath, saying,
God will certainly give effect to his word, and you are to take
my bones away from here.
26 So Joseph came to his death, being a hundred and ten years
old: and they made his body ready, and he was put in a chest in
Egypt.
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