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11 Then all the people who were at the gate, along with the elders, said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you produce children[a] in Ephrathah and bestow a name in Bethlehem;(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 4.11 Or wealth

32 Leah conceived and bore a son, and she named him Reuben,[a] for she said, “Because the Lord has looked on my affliction, surely now my husband will love me.”(A) 33 She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also,” and she named him Simeon.[b] 34 Again she conceived and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons”; therefore he was named Levi.[c](B) 35 She conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the Lord,” therefore she named him Judah;[d] then she ceased bearing.(C)

30 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister, and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”(D) Jacob became very angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”(E) Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees and that I too may have children through her.”(F) So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her.(G) And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. Then Rachel said, “God has judged me and has also heard my voice and given me a son”; therefore she named him Dan.[e](H) Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed,” so she named him Naphtali.[f](I)

When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.(J) 10 Then Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, “Good fortune!” So she named him Gad.[g] 12 Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For the women will call me happy,” so she named him Asher.[h](K)

14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”(L) 15 But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”(M) 16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17 And God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my hire because I gave my maid to my husband,” so she named him Issachar.[i] 19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons,” so she named him Zebulun.[j](N) 21 Afterwards she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.

22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God heeded her and opened her womb.(O) 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach,”(P) 24 and she named him Joseph,[k] saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”(Q)

Footnotes

  1. 29.32 That is, see, a son
  2. 29.33 In Heb Simeon resembles the verb for has heard
  3. 29.34 In Heb Levi resembles the verb for will be joined
  4. 29.35 In Heb Judah resembles the verb for I will praise
  5. 30.6 That is, he judged
  6. 30.8 In Heb Naphtali resembles the verb for I have wrestled
  7. 30.11 That is, fortune
  8. 30.13 That is, happy
  9. 30.18 In Heb Issachar resembles the word for my hire
  10. 30.20 In Heb Zebulun resembles the verb for honor
  11. 30.24 That is, he adds

‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,
for from you shall come a ruler
    who is to shepherd[a] my people Israel.’ ”(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 2.6 Or rule

The Ruler from Bethlehem

[a]But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
    who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
    one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
    from ancient days.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 5.2 5.1 in Heb

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
    within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
    around your table.(A)
Thus shall the man be blessed
    who fears the Lord.

The Lord bless you from Zion.
    May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
    all the days of your life.(B)
May you see your children’s children.
    Peace be upon Israel!(C)

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Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord,
    the fruit of the womb a reward.(A)
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
    are the sons of one’s youth.
Happy is the man who has
    his quiver full of them.
He shall not be put to shame
    when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.(B)

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We heard of it in Ephrathah;
    we found it in the fields of Jaar.(A)

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The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon[a] and Chilion;[b] they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 1.2 That is, sickly
  2. 1.2 That is, frail

then his brother’s wife shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal off his foot, spit in his face, and declare, ‘This is what is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’(A)

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A Census of the New Generation

26 After the plague the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar[a] the priest, “Take a census of the whole congregation of the Israelites, from twenty years old and up, by their ancestral houses, everyone in Israel able to go to war.”(A) Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, “Take a census of the people,[b] from twenty years old and up,” as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt were:

Reuben, the firstborn of Israel. The descendants of Reuben: of Hanoch, the clan of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the clan of the Palluites;(B) of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the clan of the Carmites. These are the clans of the Reubenites; the number of those enrolled was forty-three thousand seven hundred thirty. And the descendants of Pallu: Eliab. The descendants of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are the same Dathan and Abiram, chosen from the congregation, who rebelled against Moses and Aaron in the congregation of Korah, when they rebelled against the Lord,(C) 10 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that congregation died, when the fire devoured two hundred fifty men, and they became a warning.(D) 11 Notwithstanding, the sons of Korah did not die.(E)

12 The descendants of Simeon by their clans: of Nemuel, the clan of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the clan of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the clan of the Jachinites; 13 of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the clan of the Shaulites.[c] 14 These are the clans of the Simeonites: twenty-two thousand two hundred.(F)

15 The descendants of Gad by their clans: of Zephon, the clan of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the clan of the Haggites; of Shuni, the clan of the Shunites;(G) 16 of Ozni, the clan of the Oznites; of Eri, the clan of the Erites; 17 of Arod, the clan of the Arodites; of Areli, the clan of the Arelites. 18 These are the clans of the descendants of Gad by the number of those enrolled: forty thousand five hundred.(H)

19 The sons of Judah: Er and Onan; Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20 The descendants of Judah by their clans were: of Shelah, the clan of the Shelanites; of Perez, the clan of the Perezites; of Zerah, the clan of the Zerahites. 21 The descendants of Perez were: of Hezron, the clan of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the clan of the Hamulites. 22 These are the clans of Judah by the number of those enrolled: seventy-six thousand five hundred.(I)

23 The descendants of Issachar by their clans: of Tola, the clan of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the clan of the Punites; 24 of Jashub, the clan of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the clan of the Shimronites.(J) 25 These are the clans of Issachar by the number of those enrolled: sixty-four thousand three hundred.(K)

26 The descendants of Zebulun by their clans: of Sered, the clan of the Seredites; of Elon, the clan of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the clan of the Jahleelites. 27 These are the clans of the Zebulunites by the number of those enrolled: sixty thousand five hundred.(L)

28 The sons of Joseph by their clans: Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The descendants of Manasseh: of Machir, the clan of the Machirites; and Machir was the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the clan of the Gileadites. 30 These are the descendants of Gilead: of Iezer, the clan of the Iezerites; of Helek, the clan of the Helekites;(M) 31 and of Asriel, the clan of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the clan of the Shechemites; 32 and of Shemida, the clan of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the clan of the Hepherites. 33 Now Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, only daughters, and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34 These are the clans of Manasseh; the number of those enrolled was fifty-two thousand seven hundred.

35 These are the descendants of Ephraim according to their clans: of Shuthelah, the clan of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the clan of the Becherites; of Tahan, the clan of the Tahanites.(N) 36 And these are the descendants of Shuthelah: of Eran, the clan of the Eranites. 37 These are the clans of the Ephraimites by the number of those enrolled: thirty-two thousand five hundred. These are the descendants of Joseph by their clans.(O)

38 The descendants of Benjamin by their clans: of Bela, the clan of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the clan of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the clan of the Ahiramites;(P) 39 of Shephupham, the clan of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the clan of the Huphamites.(Q) 40 And the sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the clan of the Ardites; of Naaman, the clan of the Naamites.(R) 41 These are the descendants of Benjamin by their clans; the number of those enrolled was forty-five thousand six hundred.(S)

42 These are the descendants of Dan by their clans: of Shuham, the clan of the Shuhamites. These are the clans of Dan by their clans.(T) 43 All the clans of the Shuhamites by the number of those enrolled: sixty-four thousand four hundred.(U)

44 The descendants of Asher by their clans: of Imnah, the clan of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the clan of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the clan of the Beriites. 45 Of the descendants of Beriah: of Heber, the clan of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the clan of the Malchielites. 46 And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. 47 These are the clans of the descendants of Asher by the number of those enrolled: fifty-three thousand four hundred.(V)

48 The descendants of Naphtali by their clans: of Jahzeel, the clan of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the clan of the Gunites; 49 of Jezer, the clan of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the clan of the Shillemites. 50 These are the clans of Naphtali by their clans; the number of those enrolled was forty-five thousand four hundred.(W)

51 This was the number of the Israelites enrolled: six hundred and one thousand seven hundred thirty.

52 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 53 “To these the land shall be apportioned for inheritance according to the number of names.(X) 54 To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; every tribe shall be given its inheritance according to its enrollment.(Y) 55 But the land shall be apportioned by lot; according to the names of their ancestral tribes they shall inherit.(Z) 56 Their inheritance shall be apportioned according to lot between the larger and the smaller.”

57 This is the enrollment of the Levites by their clans: of Gershon, the clan of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the clan of the Kohathites; of Merari, the clan of the Merarites. 58 These are the clans of Levi: the clan of the Libnites, the clan of the Hebronites, the clan of the Mahlites, the clan of the Mushites, the clan of the Korahites. Now Kohath was the father of Amram. 59 The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt, and she bore to Amram: Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.(AA) 60 To Aaron were born Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.(AB) 61 But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unholy fire before the Lord.(AC) 62 The number of those enrolled was twenty-three thousand, every male one month old and up, for they were not enrolled among the Israelites because there was no allotment given to them among the Israelites.(AD)

63 These were those enrolled by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who enrolled the Israelites in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64 Among these there was not one of those enrolled by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had enrolled the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai.(AE) 65 For the Lord had said of them, “They shall die in the wilderness.” Not one of them was left, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.(AF)

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Footnotes

  1. 26.1 Gk OL: Heb Eleazar son of Aaron
  2. 26.4 Heb lacks take a census of the people
  3. 26.13 Or Saul . . . Saulites

Now these are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his offspring, who came to Egypt. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn,(A) and the children of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The children of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.(B) 11 The children of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.(C) 12 The children of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan), and the children of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.(D) 13 The children of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Jashub,[a] and Shimron. 14 The children of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; in all, his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three. 16 The children of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 The children of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. The children of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.(E) 18 These are the children of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah, and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons.(F) 19 The children of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.(G) 20 To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.(H) 21 The children of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.(I) 22 These are the children of Rachel who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all. 23 The children of Dan: Hashum.[b](J) 24 The children of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.(K) 25 These are the children of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all.(L) 26 All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt who were his own offspring, not including the wives of his sons, were sixty-six persons in all.(M) 27 The children of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy.(N)

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Footnotes

  1. 46.13 Compare Sam Gk: MT Iob
  2. 46.23 Gk: Heb Hushim

The Birth of Benjamin and the Death of Rachel

16 Then they journeyed from Bethel, and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor. 17 When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for now you have another son.”(A) 18 As her soul was departing, for she was dying, she named him Ben-oni,[a] but his father called him Benjamin.[b] 19 And Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem,(B) 20 and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 35.18 That is, son of my sorrow
  2. 35.18 That is, son of the right hand or son of the south

60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

“May you, our sister, become
    thousands of myriads;
may your offspring gain possession
    of the gates of their foes.”(A)

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14 The wise woman[a] builds her house,
    but the foolish tears it down with her own hands.

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Footnotes

  1. 14.1 Heb Wisdom of women