Esau's Descendants

36 These are the generations of Esau (that is, ^(A)Edom). ² Esau ^(B)took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, ^(C)Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter^[a] of Zibeon the Hivite, ³ and ^(D)Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. ⁴ And Adah bore to Esau, ^(E)Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel; ⁵ and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his beasts, and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. He went into a land away from his brother Jacob. ^7 (F)For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together. ^(G)The land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock. ⁸ So Esau settled in ^(H)the hill country of Seir. (^(I)Esau is Edom.)

⁹ These are the generations of Esau the father of ^(J)the Edomites in the hill country of Seir. ¹⁰ These are the names of Esau's sons: ^(K)Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau. ¹¹ The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹² (Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son; she bore ^(L)Amalek to Eliphaz.) These are the sons of Adah, Esau's wife. ¹³ These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife. ¹⁴ These are the sons of ^(M)Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

¹⁵ These are ^(N)the chiefs of the sons of Esau. ^(O)The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, ¹⁶ Korah, Gatam, and Amalek; these are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. ¹⁷ These are the sons of ^(P)Reuel, Esau's son: the chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife. ¹⁸ These are the sons of ^(Q)Oholibamah, Esau's wife: the chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the chiefs born of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife. ¹⁹ These are the sons of Esau (^(R)that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

^20 (S)These are the sons of ^(T)Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. ²² The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna. ²³ These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. ²⁴ These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father. ²⁵ These are the children of Anah: Dishon and ^(U)Oholibamah the daughter of Anah. ²⁶ These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. ²⁷ These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. ²⁸ These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. ²⁹ These are the chiefs of the Horites: the ^(V)chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ³⁰ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, chief by chief in the land of Seir.

^31 (W)These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites. ³² Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah. ³³ Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. ³⁴ Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. ³⁵ Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place, the name of his city being Avith. ³⁶ Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. ³⁷ Samlah died, and Shaul of ^(X)Rehoboth on the Euphrates^[b] reigned in his place. ³⁸ Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. ³⁹ Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place, the name of his city being Pau; his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab.

⁴⁰ These are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their clans and their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, ⁴¹ Oholibamah, Elah, ^(Y)Pinon, ⁴² Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁴³ Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of ^(Z)Edom), according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession.

Joseph's Dreams

37 Jacob lived in ^(AA)the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan.

² These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought ^(AB)a bad report of them to their father. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was ^(AC)the son of his old age. And he made him ^(AD)a robe of many colors.^{[c] 4} But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

⁵ Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: ⁷ Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, ^(AE)my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and ^(AF)bowed down to my sheaf.” ⁸ His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹ Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰ But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and ^(AG)your mother and your brothers indeed come ^(AH)to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” ¹¹ And ^(AI)his brothers were jealous of him, ^(AJ)but his father kept the saying in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near ^(AK)Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ¹⁴ So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of ^(AL)Hebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵ And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” ¹⁶ “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” ¹⁷ And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to ^(AM)Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at ^(AN)Dothan.

¹⁸ They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them ^(AO)they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰ Come now, ^(AP)let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.^[d] Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” ²¹ But when ^(AQ)Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” ²² And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—^(AR)that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. ²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, ^(AS)the robe of many colors that he wore. ²⁴ And they took him and ^(AT)threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a ^(AU)caravan of ^(AV)Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing ^(AW)gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶ Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it ^(AX)if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^(AY)let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. ²⁸ Then ^(AZ)Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and ^(BA)sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels^[e] of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he ^(BB)tore his clothes ³⁰ and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy ^(BC)is gone, and I, where shall I go?” ³¹ Then they took ^(BD)Joseph's robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. ³² And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son's robe or not.” ³³ And he identified it and said, “It is my son's robe. ^(BE)A fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons and all his daughters ^(BF)rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, ^(BG)I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. ³⁶ Meanwhile ^(BH)the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, ^(BI)the captain of the guard.

Judah and Tamar

38 It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and ^(BJ)turned aside to a certain ^(BK)Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ² There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^(BL)Shua. He took her and went in to her, ³ and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name ^(BM)Er. ⁴ She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name ^(BN)Onan. ⁵ Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name ^(BO)Shelah. Judah^[f] was in Chezib when she bore him.

⁶ And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷ But Er, Judah's firstborn, ^(BP)was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to ^(BQ)your brother's wife and ^(BR)perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” ⁹ But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother's wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother. ¹⁰ And what he did was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, ^(BS)“Remain a widow in your father's house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and remained ^(BT)in her father's house.

¹² In the course of time the wife of Judah, Shua's daughter, died. When Judah ^(BU)was comforted, he went up to ^(BV)Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³ And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” ¹⁴ she took off her widow's garments ^(BW)and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to ^(BX)Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, ^(BY)and she had not been given to him in marriage. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶ He turned to her at the roadside and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” ¹⁷ He answered, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” And she said, “If you give me a pledge, until you send it—” ¹⁸ He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, ^(BZ)“Your signet and your cord and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹ Then she arose and went away, and taking off ^(CA)her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰ When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite to take back the pledge from the woman's hand, he did not find her. ²¹ And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute^[g] who was at ^(CB)Enaim at the roadside?” And they said, “No cult prostitute has been here.” ²² So he returned to Judah and said, “I have not found her. Also, the men of the place said, ‘No cult prostitute has been here.’” ²³ And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, or we shall be laughed at. You see, I sent this young goat, and you did not find her.”

²⁴ About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law ^(CC)has been immoral.^[h] Moreover, she is pregnant by immorality.”^[i] And Judah said, “Bring her out, and ^(CD)let her be burned.” ²⁵ As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, ^(CE)the signet and the cord and the staff.” ²⁶ Then Judah identified them and said, ^(CF)“She is more righteous than I, since ^(CG)I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her again.

²⁷ When the time of her labor came, there were twins in her womb. ²⁸ And when she was in labor, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out. And she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called ^(CH)Perez.^{[j] 30} Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called ^(CI)Zerah.

The Parable of the Sower

13 That same day Jesus went out of the house ^(A)and sat beside the sea. ² And great crowds gathered about him, ^(B)so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³ And ^(C)he told them many things in parables, saying: ^(D)“A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶ but ^(E)when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, ^(F)they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among ^(G)thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some ^(H)a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ^9 (I)He who has ears,^[a] let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

¹⁰ Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And he answered them, ^(J)“To you it has been given to know ^(K)the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ^12 (L)For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, ^(M)even what he has will be taken away. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because ^(N)seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, ^(O)nor do they understand. ¹⁴ Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

¹⁶ But ^(U)blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. ^17 (V)For truly, I say to you, ^(W)many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Parable of the Sower Explained

^18 (X)“Hear then the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of ^(Y)the kingdom and ^(Z)does not understand it, ^(AA)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. ²⁰ As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately ^(AB)receives it with joy, ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but ^(AC)endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately ^(AD)he falls away.^{[b] 22} As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but ^(AE)the cares of ^(AF)the world and ^(AG)the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²³ As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and ^(AH)understands it. He indeed ^(AI)bears fruit and yields, in one case ^(AJ)a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

The Parable of the Weeds

²⁴ He put another parable before them, saying, ^(AK)“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵ but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds^[c] among the wheat and went away. ²⁶ So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. ²⁷ And the servants^[d] of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ ²⁹ But he said, ^(AL)‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ^(AM)“Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

³¹ He put another parable before them, saying, ^(AN)“The kingdom of heaven is like ^(AO)a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. ³² It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

³³ He told them another parable. ^(AP)“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in ^(AQ)three measures of flour, till it was ^(AR)all leavened.”

Prophecy and Parables

^34 (AS)All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. ³⁵ This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:^[e]

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

³⁶ Then he left the crowds and went into ^(AW)the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, ^(AX)“Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” ³⁷ He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed is ^(AY)the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are ^(AZ)the sons of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. ^(BA)The harvest is ^(BB)the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ Just as the weeds ^(BC)are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at ^(BD)the end of the age. ^41 (BE)The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all ^(BF)causes of sin and ^(BG)all law-breakers, ^42 (BH)and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place ^(BI)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then ^(BJ)the righteous will shine like the sun ^(BK)in the kingdom of their Father. ^(BL)He who has ears, let him hear.

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven ^(BM)is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy ^(BN)he goes and sells all that he has and ^(BO)buys that field.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, ⁴⁶ who, on finding ^(BP)one pearl of great value, ^(BQ)went and sold all that he had and ^(BR)bought it.

The Parable of the Net

⁴⁷ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is ^(BS)like a net that was thrown into the sea and ^(BT)gathered fish of every kind. ⁴⁸ When it was full, ^(BU)men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. ⁴⁹ So it will be at ^(BV)the end of the age. The angels will come out and ^(BW)separate the evil from the righteous ^50 (BX)and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place ^(BY)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

New and Old Treasures

^51 (BZ)“Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” ⁵² And he said to them, “Therefore every ^(CA)scribe ^(CB)who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who ^(CC)brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

⁵³ And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, ^54 (CD)and coming to ^(CE)his hometown ^(CF)he taught them in their synagogue, so that ^(CG)they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? ^55 (CH)Is not this ^(CI)the carpenter's^[f] son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not ^(CJ)his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶ And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” ⁵⁷ And ^(CK)they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, ^(CL)“A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” ⁵⁸ And he did not do many mighty works there, ^(CM)because of their unbelief.

I Will Bless the Lord

Of David.