The Sons of Jacob

30 Now when Rachel saw that ^(A)she had not borne Jacob any children, ^[a]she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “^(B)Give me children, or else I am going to die.” ² Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has ^(C)withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³ Then she said, “^(D)Here is my female slave Bilhah: have relations with her that she may ^(E)give birth ^[b]on my knees, so that ^[c](F)by her I too may obtain a child.” ⁴ So ^(G)she gave him her slave Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had relations with her. ⁵ Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has ^[d](H)vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she named him ^[e]Dan. ⁷ And Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ So Rachel said, “With ^[f]mighty wrestling I have ^[g]wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “^[h]How fortunate!” So she named him ^[i]Gad. ¹² And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, “^[j]Happy am I! For women ^(I)will call me happy.” So she named him ^[k]Asher.

¹⁴ Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found ^(J)mandrake fruits in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶ When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must have relations with me, for I have indeed hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night. ¹⁷ God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has given me my ^[l]reward, because I gave my slave to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. ¹⁹ And Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; finally my husband ^[m]will acknowledge me as his wife, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she gave birth to a daughter, and named her Dinah.

²² Then ^(K)God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and ^(L)opened her womb. ²³ So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and said, “God has ^(M)taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ And she named him Joseph, saying, “^(N)May the Lord ^[n]give me another son.”

Jacob Prospers

²⁵ Now it came about, when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “^(O)Send me away, so that I may go to my own place and to my own country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children ^(P)for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you yourself know my service which I have ^[o]rendered you.” ²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If ^[p]it pleases you at all, stay with me; I have determined by divination ^(Q)that the Lord has blessed me on your account.” ²⁸ He ^[q]continued, “^(R)Name me your wages, and I will give them.” ²⁹ But Jacob said to him, “^(S)You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have ^[r]fared with me. ³⁰ For you had little before ^[s]I came, and it has ^[t]increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you ^[u]wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?” ³¹ So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock: ³² let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every ^(T)speckled or spotted sheep and every black sheep among the lambs, and the spotted or speckled among the goats; and those shall be my wages. ³³ So my ^[v]honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my ^[w]wages. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.” ³⁴ Laban said, “^[x]Good, let it be according to your word.” ³⁵ So he removed on that day the striped or spotted male goats, and all the speckled or spotted female goats, every one with white on it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and put them in the ^[y]care of his sons. ³⁶ And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Then Jacob ^[z]took fresh rods of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white that was ^[aa]in the rods. ³⁸ He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the drinking troughs, that is, in the watering channels where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink. ³⁹ So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks delivered striped, speckled, and spotted offspring. ⁴⁰ Then Jacob separated the lambs, and ^[ab]made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the drinking troughs, so that they would mate by the rods; ⁴² but when the flock was sickly, he did not put them in; so the sickly were Laban’s, and the stronger were Jacob’s. ⁴³ So ^(U)the man ^[ac]became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Jacob Leaves Secretly for Canaan

31 Now ^[ad]Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what belonged to our father he has made all this ^[ae]wealth.” ² And Jacob saw the ^[af]attitude of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as it had been before. ³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “^(V)Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and ^(W)I will be with you.” ⁴ So Jacob sent word and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field, ⁵ and said to them, “^(X)I see your father’s ^[ag]attitude, that it is not friendly toward me as it was before, but ^(Y)the God of my father has been with me. ^6 (Z)You know that I have served your father with all my strength. ⁷ Yet your father has ^(AA)cheated me and ^(AB)changed my wages ten times; however, ^(AC)God did not allow him to do me harm. ⁸ If ^(AD)he said this: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flock delivered speckled; and if he said this: ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock delivered striped. ⁹ So God has ^(AE)taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me. ¹⁰ And it came about at the time when the flock was breeding that I raised my eyes and saw in a dream—and behold—the male goats that were ^[ah]mating were striped, speckled, or mottled. ¹¹ Then ^(AF)the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob’; and I said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹² He said, ‘Now raise your eyes and see that all the male goats that are ^[ai]mating are striped, speckled, or mottled; for ^(AG)I have seen everything that Laban has been doing to you. ¹³ I am ^(AH)the God of Bethel, where you ^(AI)anointed a memorial stone, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, ^[aj]leave this land, and ^(AJ)return to the land of your birth.’” ¹⁴ Rachel and Leah said to him, “Do we still have any share or inheritance in our father’s house? ¹⁵ Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For ^(AK)he has sold us, and has also ^[ak]entirely consumed our ^[al]purchase price. ¹⁶ Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has told you.”

¹⁷ Then Jacob stood up and put his children and his wives on camels; ¹⁸ and he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had acquired, the livestock he possessed which he had acquired in Paddan-aram, ^(AL)to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. ¹⁹ Laban had gone to shear his flock, and Rachel stole the ^[am](AM)household idols that were her father’s. ²⁰ And Jacob ^[an]deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing. ²¹ So he fled with all that he had; and he got up and crossed the Euphrates River, and set ^[ao]out for the hill country of ^(AN)Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

²² When Laban was informed on the third day that Jacob had fled, ²³ he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ However, ^(AO)God came to Laban the Aramean in a ^(AP)dream of the night and said to him, “^[ap](AQ)Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.”

²⁵ And Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁶ Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done ^[aq]by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? ²⁷ Why did you flee secretly and ^[ar]deceive me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with ^(AR)tambourine and with ^(AS)lyre; ²⁸ and did not allow me ^(AT)to kiss my ^[as]grandchildren and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. ²⁹ It is in ^[at]my power to do you harm, but ^(AU)the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘^[au](AV)Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.’ ³⁰ Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal ^(AW)my gods?” ³¹ Then Jacob replied to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. ^32 (AX)The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our relatives ^[av]point out what is yours ^[aw]among my belongings and take it for yourself.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

³³ So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two slave women, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. ³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the ^[ax]household idols and put them in the camel’s saddlebag, and she sat on them. So Laban searched through all the tent, but did not find them. ³⁵ And she said to her father, “May my lord not be angry that I cannot ^(AY)stand in your presence, because the ^[ay]way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the ^[az](AZ)household idols.

³⁶ Then Jacob became angry and argued with Laban; and Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? ³⁷ Though you have searched through all my property, what have you found of all your household property? Set it here in front of my relatives and your relatives, so that they may decide between the two of us. ³⁸ For these twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks. ³⁹ I did not even bring to you that which was torn by wild animals; I took the loss myself. You demanded it of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ⁴⁰ This is how I was: by day the ^[ba]heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹ For these twenty years I have been in your house; ^(BA)I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you ^(BB)changed my wages ten times. ⁴² If ^(BC)the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. ^(BD)God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, so He ^(BE)rendered judgment last night.”

The Covenant of Mizpah

⁴³ Then Laban replied to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the ^[bb]children are my ^[bc]grandchildren, ^(BF)the flocks are my flocks, and everything that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these daughters of mine or to their children to whom they have given birth? ⁴⁴ So now come, let’s ^(BG)make a covenant, ^[bd]you and I, and ^(BH)it shall be a witness between ^[be]you and me.” ⁴⁵ Then Jacob took ^(BI)a stone and set it up as a memorial stone. ⁴⁶ Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷ Now Laban ^(BJ)called it ^[bf]Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it ^[bg]Galeed. ⁴⁸ Laban said, “^(BK)This heap is a witness between ^[bh]you and me this day.” Therefore it was named Galeed, ⁴⁹ and ^[bi](BL)Mizpah, for he said, “May the Lord keep watch between ^[bj]you and me when we are ^[bk]absent one from the other. ⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, ^(BM)God is witness between ^[bl]you and me.” ⁵¹ Laban also said to Jacob, “Behold this heap and behold the memorial stone which I have set between ^[bm]you and me. ⁵² This heap is a witness, and the memorial stone is a witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this heap and this memorial stone to me, for harm. ^53 (BN)The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, ^(BO)judge between us.” So Jacob swore by ^(BP)the fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴ Then Jacob ^(BQ)offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his relatives to ^[bn]the meal; and they ate ^[bo]the meal and spent the night on the mountain. ^55 [bp]Then early in the morning Laban got up, and ^(BR)kissed his ^[bq]grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.

Jacob’s Fear of Esau

32 Now as Jacob went on his way, ^(BS)the angels of God met him. ² And when he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s ^[br]camp.” So he named that place ^[bs](BT)Mahanaim.

³ Then Jacob ^(BU)sent messengers ahead of himself to his brother Esau in the land of ^(BV)Seir, the ^[bt]country of ^(BW)Edom. ⁴ He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says the following: “I have resided with Laban, and ^(BX)stayed until now; ⁵ and ^(BY)I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent messengers to tell my lord, ^(BZ)so that I may find favor in your sight.”’”

⁶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore ^(CA)he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” ⁷ Then Jacob was ^(CB)greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two companies; ⁸ for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and ^[bu]attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”

⁹ Then Jacob said, “^(CC)God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, Lord, who said to me, ‘^(CD)Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will ^[bv]make you prosper,’ ^10 [bw]I am unworthy ^(CE)of all the ^[bx]favor and of all the ^[by]faithfulness, which You have shown to Your servant; for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. ^11 (CF)Save me, please, ^(CG)from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and ^[bz]attack me and the ^(CH)mothers with the children. ¹² For You said, ‘^(CI)I will assuredly ^[ca]make you prosper and ^(CJ)make your ^[cb]descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be counted.’”

¹³ So he spent the night there. Then he ^[cc]selected from what ^[cd]he had with him a ^(CK)gift for his brother Esau: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ Then he placed them in the ^[ce]care of his servants, every flock by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me, and put a space between flocks.” ¹⁷ And he commanded the ^[cf]one in front, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?’ ¹⁸ then you shall say, ‘These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a gift sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’” ¹⁹ Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the flocks, saying, “In this way you shall speak to Esau when you find him; ²⁰ and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.’” For he said, “I will appease him with the gift that goes ahead of me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹ So the gift passed on ahead of him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.

²² Now he got up that same night and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his eleven children, and crossed the shallow place of the ^(CL)Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.

Jacob Wrestles

²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone, and a man ^(CM)wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of ^[cg]Jacob’s hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “^(CN)I will not let you go unless you bless me.” ²⁷ So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ Then ^(CO)he said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but ^[ch]Israel; for you have contended with God and with men, and have prevailed.” ²⁹ And ^(CP)Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. ³⁰ So Jacob named the place ^[ci]Peniel, for he said, “^(CQ)I have seen God face to face, yet my ^[cj]life has been ^[ck]spared.” ³¹ Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over ^(CR)Penuel, and he was limping on his hip. ³² Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the tendon of the hip which is on the socket of the hip, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the tendon of the hip.

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Then Jacob raised his eyes and looked, and behold, ^(CS)Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children ^[cl]among Leah and Rachel, and the two slave women. ² He put the slave women and their children ^[cm]in front, and Leah and her children ^[cn]next, and Rachel and Joseph ^[co]last. ³ But he himself passed on ahead of them and ^(CT)bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴ Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and ^(CU)fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵ He raised his eyes and saw the women and the children, and said, “^[cp]Who are these with you?” So he said, “^(CV)The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶ Then the slave women came forward ^[cq]with their children, and they bowed down. ⁷ And Leah likewise came forward with her children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph came forward with Rachel, and they bowed down. ⁸ And he said, “What do you mean by ^(CW)all this company which I have met?” And he said, “^(CX)To find favor in the sight of my lord.” ⁹ But Esau said, “^(CY)I have plenty, my brother; let what you have be your own.” ¹⁰ Jacob said, “No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then accept my gift from my hand, ^[cr]for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably. ¹¹ Please accept my ^[cs](CZ)gift which has been brought to you, ^(DA)because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have ^[ct]plenty.” So he urged him, and he accepted it.

¹² Then ^[cu]Esau said, “Let’s journey on and go, and I will go ahead of you.” ¹³ But he said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds that are nursing are ^[cv]a matter of concern to me. And if they are driven hard just one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴ Please let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will proceed at my leisure, at the pace of the cattle that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children, until I come to my lord at ^(DB)Seir.”

¹⁵ Then Esau said, “Please let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “^[cw]What need is there? ^(DC)Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷ But Jacob journeyed to ^[cx](DD)Succoth, and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock; therefore the place is named Succoth.

Jacob Settles in Shechem

¹⁸ Now Jacob came safely to the city of ^(DE)Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from ^(DF)Paddan-aram, and camped before the city. ^19 (DG)He bought the plot of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred ^[cy]pieces of money. ²⁰ Then he erected there an altar and called it ^[cz]El-Elohe-Israel.

The Treachery of Jacob’s Sons

34 Now ^(DH)Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to ^[da]visit the daughters of the land. ² When Shechem the son of Hamor ^(DI)the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took her and lay with her and raped her. ³ But ^[db]he was deeply attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and ^[dc]spoke tenderly to her. ⁴ So Shechem ^(DJ)spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.” ⁵ Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob said nothing until they came in. ⁶ Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. ⁷ Now the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard about it; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry because he had done a ^[dd](DK)disgraceful thing in Israel by ^[de]sleeping with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.

⁸ But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him ^[df]in marriage. ⁹ And intermarry with us; give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰ So you will live with us, and ^(DL)the land shall be ^[dg]open to you; live and ^(DM)trade in it and ^(DN)acquire property in it.” ¹¹ Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and I will give whatever you tell me. ¹² Demand of me ever so much bridal payment and gift, and I will give whatever you tell me; but give me the girl ^[dh]in marriage.”

¹³ But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor with deceit, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, that is, give our sister to a ^(DO)man who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. ¹⁵ Only on this condition will we consent to you: if you will become like us, in that every male of you will be circumcised, ¹⁶ then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live with you and become one people. ¹⁷ But if you do not listen to us to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”

¹⁸ Now their words seemed ^[di]reasonable to Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. ¹⁹ The young man did not delay to do ^[dj]this, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was more respected than all the household of his father. ²⁰ So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the ^(DP)gate of their city and spoke to the people of their city, saying, ²¹ “These men are ^[dk]friendly to us; therefore let them live in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is ^[dl]large enough for them. We will take their daughters ^[dm]in marriage, and give our daughters to them. ²² Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised. ²³ Will their livestock and their property and all their animals not be ours? Let’s just consent to them, and they will live with us.” ^24 (DQ)All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem, and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

²⁵ Now it came about on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of Jacob’s sons—^(DR)Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers—each took his sword and came upon the city undetected, and killed every male. ²⁶ They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. ²⁷ Jacob’s sons came upon those killed and looted the city, because they had defiled their sister. ²⁸ They took their flocks, their herds, and their donkeys, and that which was in the city and that which was in the field; ²⁹ and they captured and looted all their wealth and all their little ones and their wives, even everything that was in the houses. ³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have ^(DS)brought trouble on me by ^(DT)making me repulsive among the inhabitants of the land, among ^(DU)the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and ^[dn](DV)since my men are few in number, they will band together against me and ^[do]attack me, and I will be destroyed, I and my household!” ³¹ But they said, “Should he ^[dp]treat our sister like a prostitute?”

Jacob Moves to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to ^(DW)Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to ^(DX)God, who appeared to you ^(DY)when you fled ^[dq]from your brother Esau.” ² So Jacob said to his ^(DZ)household and to all who were with him, “Remove ^(EA)the foreign gods which are among you, and ^(EB)purify yourselves and change your garments; ³ and let’s arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make ^(EC)an altar there to God, ^(ED)who answered me on the day of my distress and ^(EE)has been with me ^[dr]wherever I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which ^[ds]they had and the rings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the ^[dt]oak which was near Shechem.

⁵ As they journeyed, there was ^[du](EF)a great terror upon the cities which were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶ So Jacob came to ^(EG)Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. ⁷ Then ^(EH)he built an altar there, and called the place ^[dv]El-bethel, because there God had revealed Himself to him when he fled ^[dw]from his brother. ⁸ Now ^(EI)Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and it was named ^[dx]Allon-bacuth.

Jacob Is Named Israel

⁹ Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He ^(EJ)blessed him. ^10 (EK)God said to him,

So He called ^[dz]him Israel. ¹¹ God also said to him,

¹³ Then ^(EQ)God went up from him at the place where He had spoken with him. ¹⁴ So Jacob set up ^(ER)a memorial stone in the place where He had spoken with him, a memorial of stone, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it. ¹⁵ And Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, ^[ef](ES)Bethel.

¹⁶ Then they journeyed on from Bethel; but when there was still some distance to go to ^(ET)Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe difficulties in her labor. ¹⁷ And when she was suffering severe difficulties in her labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for ^(EU)you have another son!” ¹⁸ And it came about, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him ^[eg]Ben-oni; but his father called him ^[eh]Benjamin. ¹⁹ So ^(EV)Rachel died and was buried on the way to ^(EW)Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰ And Jacob set up a memorial stone over her grave; that is the ^(EX)memorial stone of Rachel’s grave to this day. ²¹ Then Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the ^[ei](EY)tower of ^[ej]Eder.

The Sons of Israel

²² And it came about, while Israel was living in that land, that ^(EZ)Reuben went and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it.

Now there were twelve sons of Jacob— ^23 (FA)the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; ^24 (FB)the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; ²⁵ and ^(FC)the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s female slave, were Dan and Naphtali; ²⁶ and ^(FD)the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s female slave, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

²⁷ Jacob came to his father Isaac at ^(FE)Mamre of ^(FF)Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had resided.

²⁸ Now the days of Isaac were ^(FG)180 years. ²⁹ Then Isaac breathed his last and died, and was ^(FH)gathered to his people, an ^(FI)old man ^[ek]of ripe age; and ^(FJ)his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Esau Moves

36 Now these are the records of the generations of ^(FK)Esau (that is, Edom).

² Esau ^(FL)took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and ^(FM)Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the ^[el](FN)granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite; ³ also Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. ⁴ Adah bore ^(FO)Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath gave birth to Reuel, ⁵ and Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

^6 (FP)Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all ^[em]his household, and his livestock and all his cattle, and all his property which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to another land away from his brother Jacob. ^7 (FQ)For their possessions had become too great for them to live together, and the ^(FR)land where they ^(FS)resided could not support them because of their livestock. ⁸ So Esau lived in the hill country of ^(FT)Seir; Esau is ^(FU)Edom.

Descendants of Esau

⁹ These then are the records of the generations of Esau the father of ^[en]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, ^[eo]Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹² Timna was a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, and she bore ^(FV)Amalek to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Adah. ¹³ And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹⁴ And these were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the ^[ep]granddaughter of Zibeon: ^[eq]she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

¹⁵ These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau, are chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, ¹⁶ chief Korah, chief Gatam, and chief Amalek. These are the chiefs ^[er]descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. ¹⁷ And these are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, and chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs ^[es]descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. ¹⁸ And these are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, and chief Korah. These are the chiefs ^[et]descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. ¹⁹ These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

²⁰ These are the sons of Seir ^(FW)the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs ^[eu]descended from the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom. ²² And the sons of Lotan were Hori and ^[ev]Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna. ²³ And these are the sons of Shobal: ^[ew]Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, ^[ex]Shepho, and Onam. ²⁴ And these are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah—he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness when he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon. ²⁵ And these are the children of Anah: Dishon, and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. ²⁶ And these are the sons of ^[ey](FX)Dishon: ^[ez]Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. ²⁷ These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and ^[fa]Akan. ²⁸ These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. ²⁹ These are the chiefs ^[fb]descended from the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, ³⁰ chief Dishon, chief Ezer, and chief Dishan. These are the chiefs ^[fc]descended from the Horites, according to their various chiefs in the land of Seir.

³¹ Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any ^(FY)king reigned over the sons of Israel. ^32 [fd](FZ)Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. ³³ Then Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah became king in his place. ³⁴ Then Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites became king in his place. ³⁵ Then Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who ^[fe]defeated Midian in the field of Moab, became king in his place; and the name of his city was Avith. ³⁶ Then Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah became king in his place. ³⁷ Then Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates River became king in his place. ³⁸ Then Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor became king in his place. ³⁹ Then Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and ^[ff]Hadar became king in his place; and the name of his city was ^[fg]Pau; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab.

⁴⁰ Now these are the names of the chiefs ^[fh]descended from Esau, according to their families and their localities, by their names: chief Timna, chief ^[fi]Alvah, chief Jetheth, ⁴¹ chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, ⁴² chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, ⁴³ chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of ^[fj]the Edomites), according to their settlements in the land of their possession.

Joseph’s Dreams

37 Now Jacob lived in ^(GA)the land where his father had lived as a stranger, in the land of Canaan. ² These are the records of the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, when he was ^(GB)seventeen years of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers, while he was still a youth, along with ^(GC)the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought back a ^(GD)bad report about them to their father. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he was ^(GE)the son of his old age; and he made him a ^[fk](GF)multicolored tunic. ⁴ And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they ^(GG)hated him and could not speak to him ^[fl]on friendly terms.

⁵ Then Joseph ^[fm](GH)had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have ^[fn]had; ⁷ for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf stood up and also remained standing; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and ^(GI)bowed down to my sheaf.” ⁸ Then his brothers said to him, “^(GJ)Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹ Then he ^[fo]had yet another dream, and informed his brothers of it, and said, “Behold, I have ^[fp]had yet another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰ He also told it to his father as well as to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have ^[fq]had? Am I and your mother and ^(GK)your brothers actually going to come to bow down to the ground before you?” ¹¹ And ^(GL)his brothers were jealous of him, but his father ^(GM)kept the matter in mind.

¹² Then his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock in Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are your brothers not pasturing the flock in ^(GN)Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “^[fr]I will go.” ¹⁴ Then he said to him, “Go now and see about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Valley of ^(GO)Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

¹⁵ A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “^[fs]What are you looking for?” ¹⁶ He said, “I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.” ¹⁷ Then the man said, “They have moved from here; for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to ^(GP)Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

The Plot against Joseph

^18 [ft]When they saw him from a distance, and before he came closer to them, they ^(GQ)plotted against him to put him to death. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “^[fu]Here comes this dreamer! ²⁰ Now then, come and let’s kill him, and throw him into one of the pits; and ^(GR)we will say, ‘A vicious animal devoured him.’ Then we will see what will become of his dreams!” ²¹ But ^(GS)Reuben heard this and rescued him out of their hands ^[fv]by saying, “Let’s not ^[fw]take his life.” ²² Then Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—so that later he might rescue him out of their hands, to return him to his father. ²³ So it came about, when Joseph ^[fx]reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the ^[fy]multicolored tunic that was on him; ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.

²⁵ Then they sat down to eat ^[fz]a meal. But as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a caravan of ^(GT)Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying ^(GU)labdanum resin, ^(GV)balsam, and ^[ga]myrrh, ^[gb]on their way to bring them down to Egypt. ²⁶ And Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and ^(GW)cover up his blood? ^27 (GX)Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. ²⁸ Then some ^(GY)Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him out and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and ^(GZ)sold ^[gc]him to the Ishmaelites for ^[gd]twenty shekels of silver. So ^(HA)they brought Joseph into Egypt.

²⁹ Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he ^(HB)tore his garments. ³⁰ He returned to his brothers and said, “^(HC)The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?” ³¹ So ^(HD)they took Joseph’s tunic, and slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood; ³² and they sent the ^[ge]multicolored tunic and brought it to their father and said, “We found this; please ^[gf]examine it to see whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” ³³ Then he ^[gg]examined it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. ^(HE)A vicious animal has devoured him; ^(HF)Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” ³⁴ So Jacob ^(HG)tore his clothes, and put on a sackcloth undergarment over his waist, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ Then all his sons and all his daughters got up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will ^(HH)go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him. ³⁶ Meanwhile, the ^[gh]Midianites ^(HI)sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

Judah and Tamar

38 And it came about at that time, that Judah ^[gi]departed from his brothers and ^[gj]visited a certain ^(HJ)Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ² Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was ^(HK)Shua; and he took her as a wife and had relations with her. ³ And she conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him ^(HL)Er. ⁴ Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and she named him ^(HM)Onan. ⁵ She gave birth to yet another son and named him ^(HN)Shelah; and it was at Chezib ^[gk]that she gave birth to him.

⁶ Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷ But ^(HO)Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord took his life. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “^(HP)Have relations with your brother’s wife and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a ^[gl]child for your brother.” ⁹ Now Onan knew that the ^[gm](HQ)child would not be his; so when he had relations with his brother’s wife, he ^[gn]wasted his seed on the ground so that he would not give ^[go]a child to his brother. ¹⁰ But what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord; so He ^(HR)took his life also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “^(HS)Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”; for he ^[gp]thought, “I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

¹² Now ^[gq]after a considerable time Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and when ^[gr]the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his sheepshearers at ^(HT)Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³ And Tamar was told, “Behold, your father-in-law is going up to ^(HU)Timnah to shear his sheep.” ¹⁴ So she ^[gs]removed her widow’s garments and ^(HV)covered herself with a ^[gt]veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of ^[gu]Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and ^(HW)she had not been given to him as a wife. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he assumed she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶ So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, “^[gv]Here now, let me have relations with you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give me, that you may have relations with me?” ¹⁷ He said, therefore, “I will send you a ^[gw]young goat from the flock.” She then said, “Will you give a pledge until you send it?” ¹⁸ He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “^(HX)Your seal and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had relations with her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹ Then she got up and departed, and ^[gx]removed her ^[gy]veil and put on her widow’s garments.

²⁰ When Judah sent the ^[gz]young goat by his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, he did not find her. ²¹ He asked the people of her place, saying, “Where is the temple prostitute who was by the road at Enaim?” But they said, “There has been no temple prostitute here.” ²² So he returned to Judah, and said, “I did not find her; and furthermore, the people of the place said, ‘There has been no temple prostitute here.’” ²³ Then Judah said, “Let her ^[ha]keep them, otherwise we will become a laughingstock. ^[hb]After all, I sent this young goat, but you did not find her.”

²⁴ Now it was about three months later that Judah was ^[hc]informed, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and behold, she is also pregnant by prostitution.” Then Judah said, “Bring her out and ^(HY)have her burned!” ²⁵ It was while she was being brought out that she sent word to her father-in-law, saying, “I am pregnant by the man to whom these things belong.” She also said, “^(HZ)Please examine and see, whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?” ²⁶ And Judah recognized them, and said, “^(IA)She is more righteous than I, since ^(IB)I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not ^[hd]have relations with her again.

²⁷ It came about at the time she was giving birth, that behold, there were ^(IC)twins in her womb. ²⁸ Moreover, it took place while she was giving birth, that one baby put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ But it came about as he drew back his hand that behold, his brother came out. Then she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named ^[he](ID)Perez. ³⁰ Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand; and he was named ^[hf](IE)Zerah.

Joseph’s Success in Egypt

39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him ^[hg]from the ^(IF)Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. ² And ^(IG)the Lord was with Joseph, so he became a ^[hh]successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. ³ Now his master ^(IH)saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord ^(II)made all that he did prosper in his hand. ⁴ So Joseph ^(IJ)found favor in his sight and ^[hi]became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and ^[hj]put him in charge of ^(IK)all that he owned. ⁵ It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord ^(IL)blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; so ^(IM)the Lord’s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. ⁶ So he left ^[hk]Joseph in charge of everything that he owned; and with him there he did not ^[hl]concern himself with anything except the ^[hm]food which he ^[hn]ate.

Now Joseph was ^(IN)handsome in form and appearance. ⁷ And it came about after these events ^(IO)that his master’s wife ^[ho]had her eyes on Joseph, and she said, “^(IP)Sleep with me.” ⁸ But ^(IQ)he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master ^[hp]does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has ^[hq]put me in charge of all that he owns. ^9 [hr](IR)There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and ^(IS)sin against God?” ¹⁰ Though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her. ¹¹ Now it happened ^[hs]one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the people of the household was there inside. ¹² So she grabbed him by his garment, saying, “Sleep with me!” But he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside. ^13 [ht]When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, ¹⁴ she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought in a ^[hu]Hebrew to us to make fun of us; he came in to me to sleep with me, and I ^[hv]screamed. ¹⁵ When he heard that I raised my voice and ^[hw]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.” ¹⁶ So she ^[hx]left his garment beside her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she ^(IT)spoke to him ^[hy]with these ^[hz]words: “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make fun of me; ¹⁸ but when I raised my voice and ^[ia]screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”

Joseph Imprisoned

¹⁹ Now when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying, “^[ib]This is what your slave did to me,” ^(IU)his anger burned. ²⁰ So Joseph’s master took him and ^(IV)put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the prison. ²¹ But ^(IW)the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him, and ^(IX)gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison. ²² And the warden of the prison ^[ic](IY)put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison; so that whatever was done there, he was ^[id]responsible for it. ^23 (IZ)The warden of the prison did not supervise anything ^[ie]under Joseph’s authority, because ^(JA)the Lord was with him; and, ^(JB)the Lord made whatever he did prosper.

Joseph Interprets Dreams

40 Then it came about after these things, that ^(JC)the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. ² And Pharaoh was ^(JD)furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. ³ So he put them in confinement in the house of the ^(JE)captain of the bodyguard, in the prison, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. ⁴ And the captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he ^[if]took care of them; and they were in confinement for ^[ig]some time. ⁵ Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. ^6 [ih]When Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them, ^[ii]behold, they were dejected. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “^[ij](JF)Why are your faces so sad today?” ⁸ And they said to him, “^(JG)We have ^[ik]had a dream, and there is no one to interpret it.” Then Joseph said to them, “^(JH)Do interpretations not belong to God? Tell it to me, please.”

⁹ So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, ^[il]saying to him, “In my dream, ^[im]behold, there was a vine in front of me; ¹⁰ and on the vine were three branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out, and its clusters produced ripe grapes. ¹¹ Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s ^[in]hand.” ¹² Then Joseph said to him, “This is the ^(JI)interpretation of it: the three branches are three days; ¹³ within three more days Pharaoh will ^[io]lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand as in your former practice when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ Only ^[ip]keep me in mind when it goes well for you, and please ^(JJ)do me a kindness ^[iq]by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this ^[ir]prison. ¹⁵ For ^(JK)I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the ^[is]dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that he had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, “I also saw in my dream, and behold, there were three baskets of white bread on my head; ¹⁷ and in the top basket there were some of all ^[it]kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” ¹⁸ Then Joseph answered and said, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; ¹⁹ within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a wooden post, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.”

²⁰ So it came about on the third day, which was ^(JL)Pharaoh’s birthday, that he held a feast for all his servants; ^(JM)and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹ He restored the chief cupbearer to his ^[iu]office, and ^(JN)he put the cup into Pharaoh’s ^[iv]hand; ²² but ^(JO)he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but ^(JP)forgot him.

Pharaoh’s Dream

41 Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile. ² And behold, from the Nile seven cows came up, fine-looking and ^[iw]fat; and they grazed in the ^(JQ)marsh grass. ³ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, ugly and ^[ix]thin, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. ⁴ Then the ugly and ^[iy]thin cows ate the seven fine-looking and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke. ⁵ But he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good. ⁶ Then behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them. ⁷ And the thin ears swallowed the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. ⁸ Now in the morning ^(JR)his spirit was troubled, so he sent messengers and called for all the ^(JS)soothsayer priests of Egypt, and all its ^(JT)wise men. And Pharaoh told them his ^[iz]dreams, but ^(JU)there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.

⁹ Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I would make mention today of ^(JV)my own ^[ja]offenses. ¹⁰ Pharaoh was ^(JW)furious with his servants, and ^(JX)he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker. ¹¹ Then ^(JY)we had a dream one night, ^[jb]he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. ¹² Now a Hebrew youth was there with us, a ^(JZ)servant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we told him the dreams, and ^(KA)he interpreted our dreams for us. For each man he interpreted according to his own dream. ¹³ And just ^(KB)as he interpreted for us, so it happened; Pharaoh restored me in my office, but he hanged ^[jc]the chief baker.”

Joseph Interprets

¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent word and ^(KC)called for Joseph, and they ^(KD)hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, ^(KE)but no one can interpret it; and ^(KF)I have heard ^[jd]it said about you, that ^[je]when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” ¹⁶ Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “^[jf](KG)It has nothing to do with me; ^(KH)God will ^[jg]give Pharaoh an answer for his own good.” ¹⁷ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream, there I was, standing on the bank of the Nile; ¹⁸ and behold, seven cows, ^[jh]fat and fine-looking came up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the marsh grass. ¹⁹ Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ^[ji]ugly and ^[jj]thin, such as I had never seen for ^[jk]ugliness in all the land of Egypt; ²⁰ and the thin and ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows. ²¹ Yet when they had ^[jl]devoured them, it could not be ^[jm]detected that they had ^[jn]devoured them, ^[jo]for they were just as ugly as ^[jp]before. Then I awoke. ²² I saw also in my dream, and behold, seven ears of grain, full and good, came up on a single stalk; ²³ and behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and scorched by the east wind sprouted up after them; ²⁴ and the thin ears swallowed the seven good ears. Then ^(KI)I told it to the soothsayer priests, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵ And Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s ^[jq]dreams are one and the same; ^(KJ)God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the ^[jr]dreams are one and the same. ²⁷ The seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind ^(KK)will be seven years of famine. ^28 [js]It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: ^(KL)God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹ Behold, ^(KM)seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; ³⁰ and after them ^(KN)seven years of famine will ^[jt]come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ^[ju]ravage the land. ³¹ So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe. ³² Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that ^(KO)the matter is confirmed by God, and God will quickly bring it about. ³³ So now let Pharaoh look for a man ^(KP)discerning and wise, and appoint him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers ^[jv]in charge of the land, and let him take a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt as a tax in the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Then have them ^(KQ)collect all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and have them guard it. ³⁶ Let the food be used as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine.”

³⁷ Now the ^[jw]proposal seemed good ^[jx]to Pharaoh and ^[jy]to all his servants.

Joseph Is Made a Ruler of Egypt

³⁸ Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, ^(KR)in whom there is a divine spirit?” ³⁹ So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one as ^(KS)discerning and wise as you are. ^40 (KT)You shall be ^[jz]in charge of my house, and all my people shall ^[ka]be obedient to you; only regarding the throne will I be greater than you.” ⁴¹ Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “See, I have placed you ^(KU)over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴² Then Pharaoh ^(KV)took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen, and ^(KW)put the gold necklace around his neck. ⁴³ And he had him ride in ^[kb]his second chariot; and they proclaimed ahead of him, “^[kc]Bow the knee!” And he placed him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet ^(KX)without ^[kd]your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵ Then Pharaoh named Joseph ^[ke]Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of ^[kf](KY)On, to be his wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶ Now Joseph was ^(KZ)thirty years old when he ^[kg]stood in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷ During the seven years of plenty the land produced ^[kh]abundantly. ⁴⁸ So he collected all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and put the food in the cities; he put in every city the food from its own surrounding fields. ⁴⁹ Joseph stored up grain ^[ki]in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped ^[kj]measuring it, for it was ^[kk]beyond measure.

The Sons of Joseph

⁵⁰ Now before the year of famine came, ^(LA)two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of ^[kl]On, bore to him. ⁵¹ Joseph named the firstborn ^[km]Manasseh; “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all of my father’s household.” ⁵² And he named the second ^[kn]Ephraim; “For,” he said, “^(LB)God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³ When the seven years of plenty which had taken place in the land of Egypt came to an end, ⁵⁴ and ^(LC)the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵ So when all the land of Egypt suffered famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; ^(LD)whatever he says to you, you shall do.” ⁵⁶ When the famine was spread over the entire face of the earth, then Joseph opened all ^[ko]the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ Then the people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because ^(LE)the famine was severe in all the earth.

Joseph’s Brothers Sent to Egypt

42 Now ^(LF)Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?” ² Then he said, “Look, ^(LG)I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from ^[kp]that place, ^(LH)so that we may live and not die.” ³ So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother ^(LI)Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “^(LJ)I am afraid that harm may happen to him.” ⁵ So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, ^(LK)because the famine was also in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Now ^(LL)Joseph was the ruler over the land; he was the one who sold grain to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and ^(LM)bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he disguised himself to them and ^(LN)spoke to them harshly. He said to them, “Where have you come from?” And they said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”

⁸ But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although ^(LO)they did not recognize him. ⁹ And Joseph ^(LP)remembered the dreams which he ^[kq]had about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to look at the ^[kr]undefended parts of our land.” ¹⁰ And they said to him, “No, ^(LQ)my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We are all sons of one man; we are ^(LR)honest men, your servants are not spies.” ¹² Yet he said to them, “No, but you have come to look at the ^[ks]undefended parts of our land!” ¹³ But they said, “Your servants are twelve brothers in all, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with ^(LS)our father today, and ^(LT)one is no longer alive.” ¹⁴ Yet Joseph said to them, “It is as I said ^[kt]to you, you are spies; ¹⁵ by this you will be tested: ^(LU)by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here! ¹⁶ Send one of you and have him get your brother, while you remain confined, so that your words may be tested, whether there is ^(LV)truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, you are certainly spies!” ¹⁷ So he put them all together in ^(LW)prison for three days.

¹⁸ Now Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and live, for ^(LX)I fear God: ¹⁹ if you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined in ^[ku]your prison; but as for the rest of you, go, carry grain for the famine of your households, ²⁰ and ^(LY)bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified, and you will not die.” And they did so. ²¹ Then they said to one another, “^(LZ)Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; for that reason this distress has happened to us.” ²² Reuben answered them, saying, “^(MA)Did I not tell ^[kv]you, ‘Do not sin against the boy’; and you would not listen? ^[kw](MB)Now justice for his blood is required.” ²³ They did not know, however, that Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴ Then he turned away from them and ^(MC)wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to them, he ^(MD)took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes. ^25 (ME)Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, but also to return every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And that is what was done for them.

²⁶ So they loaded their donkeys with their grain and departed from there. ²⁷ But when one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the overnight campsite, he saw his ^(MF)money; and behold, it was in the opening of his sack! ²⁸ So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned, and look, it is right in my sack!” Then their hearts ^[kx]sank, and they turned ^[ky]trembling to one another, saying, “^(MG)What is this that God has done to us?”

Simeon Is Held Hostage

²⁹ When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them, saying, ³⁰ “The man, the lord of the land, ^(MH)spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹ But we said to him, ‘We are ^(MI)honest men; we are not spies. ³² We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’ ³³ But the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘^(MJ)By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and go. ³⁴ But bring your youngest brother to me so that I may know that you are not spies, but ^[kz]honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may ^(MK)trade in the land.’”

³⁵ Now it came about, as they were emptying their sacks, that behold, ^(ML)every man’s bag of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bags of money, they were afraid. ³⁶ And their father Jacob said to them, “You have ^(MM)deprived me of my sons: Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and now you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” ³⁷ Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my ^[la]care, and I will return him to you.” ³⁸ But ^[lb]Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his ^(MN)brother is dead, and he alone is left. ^(MO)If harm should happen to him on the journey ^[lc]you are taking, then you will ^(MP)bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”

The Return to Egypt

43 ^(MQ)Now the famine was severe in the land. ² So it came about, when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, “Go back, buy us a little food.” ³ Judah spoke to him, however, saying, “^(MR)The man sternly warned ^[ld]us, ‘You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴ If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food. ⁵ But if you do not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’” ⁶ Then Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, ^[le]by telling the man whether you still had another brother?” ⁷ But they said, “The man specifically asked about us and our relatives, saying, ‘^(MS)Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ So we ^[lf]answered his questions. Could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” ⁸ So Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will arise and go, ^(MT)so that we may live and not die, we as well as you and our little ones. ^9 (MU)I myself will take responsibility for him! You may demand him back from ^[lg]me. If I do not bring him back to you and present him to you, then ^[lh]you can let me take the blame forever. ¹⁰ For if we had not delayed, surely by now we could have returned twice.”

¹¹ Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the best products of the land in your ^[li]bags, and carry down to the man ^(MV)as a gift, a little ^(MW)balsam and a little honey, labdanum resin and ^[lj]myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. ¹² And take double the money in your hand, and take back in your hand ^(MX)the money that was returned in the opening of your sacks; perhaps it was a mistake. ¹³ Take your brother also, and arise, return to the man; ¹⁴ and may ^[lk](MY)God Almighty ^(MZ)grant you compassion in the sight of the man, so that he will release to you ^(NA)your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, ^(NB)if I am bereaved of my sons, I am bereaved!” ¹⁵ So the men took ^(NC)this gift, and they took double the money in their hand, and Benjamin; then they set out and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

Joseph Sees Benjamin

¹⁶ When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his ^(ND)house steward, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make preparations; for the men are to dine with me at noon.” ¹⁷ So the man did as Joseph said, and ^[ll]brought the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸ Now the men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “It is because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time that we are being brought in, so that he may ^[lm]attack us and ^[ln]overpower us, and take us as slaves with our donkeys.” ¹⁹ So they approached Joseph’s house steward, and spoke to him at the entrance of the house, ²⁰ and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food, ²¹ and it happened when we came to the campsite, that we opened our sacks, and behold, ^(NE)each man’s money was in the opening of his sack, our money in ^[lo]full. So ^(NF)we have brought it back in our hand. ²² We have also brought down other money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks.” ²³ But he said, “Peace be to you, do not be afraid. ^(NG)Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; your ^[lp]money was in my possession.” Then ^(NH)he brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴ Then the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and ^(NI)gave them water, and they ^(NJ)washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed. ²⁵ So they prepared ^(NK)the gift ^[lq]for Joseph’s arrival at noon; for they had heard that they were to eat ^[lr]a meal there.

²⁶ When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the gift which was in their hand, and they ^(NL)bowed down to the ground before him. ²⁷ Then he asked them about their welfare, and said, “^(NM)Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” ²⁸ And they said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” Then ^(NN)they bowed down again ^[ls]in homage. ²⁹ And as he raised his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this ^(NO)your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” Then he said, “^(NP)May God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰ Joseph then hurried out, for ^[lt](NQ)he was deeply stirred over his brother, and he looked for a place to weep; so he entered his chamber and ^(NR)wept there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and came out; and he ^(NS)controlled himself and said, “^[lu]Serve the meal.” ³² Then they served him by himself, and ^[lv]Joseph’s brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an ^(NT)abomination to the Egyptians. ³³ Now they ^[lw]were seated before him, from ^(NU)the firstborn according to his birthright to the youngest according to his youth, and the men looked at one another in astonishment. ³⁴ Then he took portions to them from ^[lx]his own table, ^(NV)but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank freely with him.

The Brothers Are Brought Back

44 ^(NW)Then he commanded his house steward, saying, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the opening of his sack. ² And put my cup, the silver cup, in the opening of the sack of the youngest, and his money for the grain.” And he did ^[ly]as Joseph had told him. ^3 [lz]As soon as it was light, the men were sent away, they with their donkeys. ⁴ They had just left ^(NX)the city, and were not far away, when Joseph said to his house steward, “Up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good? ⁵ Is this not that from which my lord drinks, and which he indeed uses for ^(NY)divination? You have done wrong in doing this!’”

⁶ So ^[ma]he overtook them and spoke these words to them.