Jacob and Esau Meet

33 Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, ^(A)Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. ² And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³ Then he crossed over before them and ^(B)bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

^4 (C)But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, ^(D)and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵ And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?”

So he said, “The children ^(E)whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶ Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down. ⁷ And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down.

⁸ Then Esau said, “What do you mean by ^(F)all this company which I met?”

And he said, “These are ^(G)to find favor in the sight of my lord.”

⁹ But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”

¹⁰ And Jacob said, “No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I ^(H)have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me. ¹¹ Please, take ^(I)my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt ^(J)graciously with me, and because I have ^[a]enough.” ^(K)So he urged him, and he took it.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.”

¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die. ¹⁴ Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, ^[b]are able to endure, until I come to my lord ^(L)in Seir.”

¹⁵ And Esau said, “Now let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.”

But he said, “What need is there? ^(M)Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷ And Jacob journeyed to ^(N)Succoth, built himself a house, and made ^[c]booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called ^[d]Succoth.

Jacob Comes to Canaan

¹⁸ Then Jacob came ^[e]safely to ^(O)the city of ^(P)Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city. ¹⁹ And ^(Q)he bought the parcel of ^[f]land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. ²⁰ Then he erected an altar there and called it ^(R)El^[g] Elohe Israel.

Jacob’s Return to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to ^(A)Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, ^(B)who appeared to you ^(C)when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

² And Jacob said to his ^(D)household and to all who were with him, “Put away ^(E)the foreign gods that are among you, ^(F)purify yourselves, and change your garments. ³ Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, ^(G)who answered me in the day of my distress ^(H)and has been with me in the way which I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign ^[a]gods which were in their hands, and the ^(I)earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under ^(J)the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.

⁵ And they journeyed, and ^(K)the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶ So Jacob came to ^(L)Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. ⁷ And he ^(M)built an altar there and called the place ^[b]El Bethel, because ^(N)there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.

⁸ Now ^(O)Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called ^[c]Allon Bachuth.

⁹ Then ^(P)God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and ^(Q)blessed him. ¹⁰ And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; ^(R)your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, ^(S)but Israel shall be your name.” So He called his name Israel. ¹¹ Also God said to him: ^(T)“I am God Almighty. ^(U)Be fruitful and multiply; ^(V)a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. ¹² The ^(W)land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land.” ¹³ Then God ^(X)went^[d] up from him in the place where He talked with him. ¹⁴ So Jacob ^(Y)set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it. ¹⁵ And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, ^(Z)Bethel.

Death of Rachel

¹⁶ Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor. ¹⁷ Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, “Do not fear; ^(AA)you will have this son also.” ¹⁸ And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name ^[e]Ben-Oni; but his father called him ^[f]Benjamin. ¹⁹ So ^(AB)Rachel died and was buried on the way to ^(AC)Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰ And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel’s grave ^(AD)to this day.

²¹ Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond ^(AE)the tower of Eder. ²² And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and ^(AF)lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it.

Jacob’s Twelve Sons

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: ²³ the sons of Leah were ^(AG)Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; ²⁴ the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin; ²⁵ the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali; ²⁶ and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.

Death of Isaac

²⁷ Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at ^(AH)Mamre, or ^(AI)Kirjath Arba^[g] (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt. ²⁸ Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. ²⁹ So Isaac breathed his last and died, and ^(AJ)was ^[h]gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And ^(AK)his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Joseph Dreams of Greatness

37 Now Jacob dwelt in the land ^(A)where his father was a ^[a]stranger, in the land of Canaan. ² This is the history of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought ^(B)a bad report of them to his father.

³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was ^(C)the son of his old age. Also he ^(D)made him a tunic of many colors. ⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they ^(E)hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

⁵ Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. ⁶ So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: ^7 (F)There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸ And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹ Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, ^(G)the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

¹⁰ So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and ^(H)your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?” ¹¹ And ^(I)his brothers envied him, but his father ^(J)kept the matter in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

¹² Then his brothers went to feed their father’s flock in ^(K)Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.”

So he said to him, “Here I am.”

¹⁴ Then he said to him, “Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me.” So he sent him out of the Valley of ^(L)Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

¹⁵ Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, “What are you seeking?”

¹⁶ So he said, “I am seeking my brothers. ^(M)Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks.”

¹⁷ And the man said, “They have departed from here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in ^(N)Dothan.

¹⁸ Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, ^(O)they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ Then they said to one another, “Look, this ^[b]dreamer is coming! ^20 (P)Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

²¹ But ^(Q)Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him.” ²² And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him”—that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.

²³ So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they ^(R)stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. ²⁴ Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.

^25 (S)And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of ^(T)Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, ^(U)balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt. ²⁶ So Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and ^(V)conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^(W)let not our hand be upon him, for he is ^(X)our brother and ^(Y)our flesh.” And his brothers listened. ²⁸ Then ^(Z)Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, ^(AA)and sold him to the Ishmaelites for ^(AB)twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹ Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he ^(AC)tore his clothes. ³⁰ And he returned to his brothers and said, “The lad ^(AD)is no more; and I, where shall I go?”

³¹ So they took ^(AE)Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. ³² Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

³³ And he recognized it and said, “It is my son’s tunic. A ^(AF)wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Then Jacob ^(AG)tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and ^(AH)mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ And all his sons and all his daughters ^(AI)arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, “For ^(AJ)I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.

³⁶ Now ^(AK)the ^[c]Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

Joseph a Slave in Egypt

39 Now Joseph had been taken ^(A)down to Egypt. And ^(B)Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, ^(C)bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. ^2 (D)The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³ And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord ^(E)made all he did ^[a]to prosper in his hand. ⁴ So Joseph ^(F)found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him ^(G)overseer of his house, and all that he had he put ^[b]under his authority. ⁵ So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that ^(H)the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. ⁶ Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s ^[c]hand, and he did not know what he had except for the ^[d]bread which he ate.

Now Joseph ^(I)was handsome in form and appearance.

⁷ And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife ^[e]cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ^(J)“Lie with me.”

⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. ⁹ There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. ^(K)How then can I do this great wickedness, and ^(L)sin against God?”

¹⁰ So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he ^(M)did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.

¹¹ But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, ¹² that she ^(N)caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. ¹³ And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, ¹⁴ that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought in to us a ^(O)Hebrew to ^[f]mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. ¹⁵ And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside.”

¹⁶ So she kept his garment with her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she ^(P)spoke to him with words like these, saying, “The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me; ¹⁸ so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside.”

¹⁹ So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did to me after this manner,” that his ^(Q)anger was aroused. ²⁰ Then Joseph’s master took him and ^(R)put him into the ^(S)prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. ²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He ^(T)gave^[g] him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²² And the keeper of the prison ^(U)committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. ²³ The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under ^[h]Joseph’s authority, because ^(V)the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

The Prisoners’ Dreams

40 It came to pass after these things that the ^(A)butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. ² And Pharaoh was ^(B)angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker. ^3 (C)So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. ⁴ And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.

⁵ Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, ^(D)had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation. ⁶ And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were ^[a]sad. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, ^(E)“Why do you look so sad today?”

⁸ And they said to him, ^(F)“We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.”

So Joseph said to them, ^(G)“Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.”

⁹ Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, ¹⁰ and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹² And Joseph said to him, ^(H)“This is the interpretation of it: The three branches ^(I)are three days. ¹³ Now within three days Pharaoh will ^(J)lift up your head and restore you to your ^[b]place, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. ¹⁴ But ^(K)remember me when it is well with you, and ^(L)please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. ¹⁵ For indeed I was ^(M)stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; ^(N)and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.”

¹⁶ When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there were three ^[c]white baskets on my head. ¹⁷ In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸ So Joseph answered and said, ^(O)“This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days. ^19 (P)Within three days Pharaoh will lift ^[d]off your head from you and ^(Q)hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

²⁰ Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s ^(R)birthday, that he ^(S)made a feast for all his servants; and he ^(T)lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹ Then he ^(U)restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and ^(V)he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. ²² But he ^(W)hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³ Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but ^(X)forgot him.