Beginning
Jacob goes back to Bethel
35 After these things had happened, God said to Jacob, ‘Go to Bethel and live there. Build an altar to worship me. I am the God who appeared to you when you were running away from Esau.’ 2 So Jacob told the people in his house and everyone who was with him, ‘Throw out all the foreign idols that you have with you. Wash your body very well and put on clean clothes. 3 Then we will go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to worship God. He is the one who answered me when I was in trouble. And he has been with me everywhere that I went.’
4 So the people gave to Jacob all their idols and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob buried these things under the oak tree near Shechem city. 5 Then they began their journey. All the towns near there were afraid of God's power. So no one attacked Jacob and his people.
6 Jacob and everyone with him arrived at Luz, now called Bethel. That is in the land of Canaan. 7 Jacob built an altar there. He called the place El Bethel, because that was where God appeared to him.[a] God had appeared to him when he was running away from his brother Esau.
8 Rebekah's nurse, Deborah, died at that time. Jacob buried her under the oak tree near Bethel. That is why they call the place Allon Bacuth.[b]
9 After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again. God blessed Jacob. 10 He said to Jacob, ‘Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob. Instead, your name will be Israel.’ So God gave the name Israel to Jacob.[c]
11 Then God said to him, ‘I am Almighty God. Give birth to many children so that your descendants become very many. They will become many nations and some of them will be kings. 12 I give to you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, I will give this land to your descendants that come after you.’[d]
13 Then God went away from the place where he spoke to Jacob. 14 Jacob set up a special stone on the ground. It showed the place where God had spoken to him. He poured a drink offering on the stone. He also poured olive oil on it. 15 In that way, Jacob called the place where God spoke to him Bethel.
16 Then they left Bethel and they continued to travel. When they were still a long way from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth. She had a lot of pain. 17 As she was having even more pain, the woman who was helping her said, ‘Do not be afraid. You have another son!’ 18 But Rachel was dying. With her last breath, she gave to her son the name Ben-Oni. But Jacob, his father, called him Benjamin.[e]
19 After Rachel died, they buried near the road that goes to Ephrath.[f] 20 Jacob set up a special stone over the place where they buried Rachel. This stone still shows the place.
21 Israel then travelled on again.[g] He put up his tents beyond Migdal Eder. 22 While Israel stayed there, his son Reuben had sex with Bilhah. She was Israel's slave wife, and Israel heard what had happened.
Jacob had 12 sons:
23 The sons of Leah were Jacob's firstborn, Reuben, then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.
24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Rachel's servant, Bilhah, were Dan and Naphtali.
26 The sons of Leah's servant, Zilpah, were Gad and Asher.
Those were Jacob's sons who were born to him in Paddan Aram.
27 Jacob arrived back at his father Isaac's home. This was in Mamre, also called Kiriath Arba, or Hebron. It was the place where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. 28 Isaac lived for 180 years. 29 Then he died and he joined his ancestors. He was an old man who had lived a long life. His sons, Esau and Jacob, buried him.
Esau's family
36 This is the report about Esau and his family. (Esau is also called Edom.)
2 Esau took women from Canaan to be his wives. They were:
Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite,
Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite,
3 and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
4 Esau's wife Adah gave birth to a son called Eliphaz. Basemath gave birth to a son called Reuel. 5 Oholibamah gave birth to three sons: Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were Esau's sons that were born in the land of Canaan.
6 Esau went to a land that was a long way from his brother Jacob. He took with him his wives, his sons and daughters and everyone in his house. He took his animals and all the things that he had got while he lived in Canaan. 7 Esau and Jacob both had too many animals to live together in the same place. There was not enough land to give food to all their animals. 8 So Esau went to live in the hills of Seir. He was also called Edom.
9 This is a list of Esau's descendants, the Edomites. They lived in the hill country of Seir.
10 These are the names of Esau's sons:
Eliphaz, the son of Esau's wife, Adah,
and Reuel, the son of Esau's wife, Basemath.
11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz. 12 Esau's son Eliphaz also had a slave wife. Her name was Timna. She gave birth to a son called Amalek. Those were the grandsons of Esau's wife, Adah.
13 The sons of Reuel were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. Those were grandsons of Esau's wife, Basemath. 14 Esau's wife Oholibamah was the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon. Her sons were Jeush, Jalam and Korah.
15 These were Esau's descendants who became leaders of their clans: The sons of Esau's firstborn son, Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, 16 Korah, Gatam and Amalek. These were the clan leaders who were descendants of Eliphaz in Edom. They were grandsons of Adah.
17 The sons of Esau's son, Reuel, who became clan leaders in Edom were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. They were grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath.
18 The sons of Esau's wife, Oholibamah, who became clan leaders were Jeush, Jalam and Korah. Oholibamah was the daughter of Anah.
19 All those were the sons of Esau and they became the leaders of their clans.
20 These were the descendants of Seir the Horite. They lived in that land before Esau arrived there. They were Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These descendants of Seir were leaders of the Horite clans in Edom. 22 Lotan's sons were Hori and Homam. Lotan's sister was Timna. 23 Shobal's sons were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam. 24 Zibeon's sons were Aiah and Anah. This was the same Anah who found a place with hot water in the wilderness when he was taking care of his father Zibeon's donkeys. 25 Anah's children were Dishon and Oholibamah (his daughter). 26 Dishon's sons were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran. 27 Ezer's sons were Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan. 28 Dishan's sons were Uz and Aran.
29 These were the leaders of the Horite clans in the land of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 30 Dishon, Ezer and Dishan.
31 Before any kings ruled over the Israelites, these kings ruled in the land of Edom: 32 Beor's son Bela became king of Edom. His city was called Dinhabah. 33 When Bela died, Zerah's son Jobab became the next king. 34 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites became the next king. 35 When Husham died, Bedad's son Hadad became the next king. Bedad had won the war against the Midianites in the region of Moab. Hadad's city was called Avith. 36 When Hadad died, Samlah became the next king. He was from Masrekah. 37 When Samlah died, Shaul became the next king. He was from Rehoboth on the river. 38 When Shaul died, Akbor's son Baal-Hanan became the next king. 39 When Baal-Hanan died, Hadad became the next king. His city was called Pau. Hadad's wife was Mehetabel. She was the daughter of Matred, and the granddaughter of Me-Zahab.
40 These descendants of Esau were the leaders of their clans: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 43 Magdiel and Iram. These were the leaders who lived with their families in different places in the land. Each place was called the same name as the clan leader who lived there.
All those people are the descendants of Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites.
Joseph and his brothers
37 Jacob lived in Canaan, the land where his father had lived.[h]
2 This is the report about Jacob and his family.
Joseph was Jacob's son. When he was 17 years old, he took care of his father's sheep and goats. He did this together with his brothers. These were the sons of his father's wives, Bilhah and Zilpah. Sometimes Joseph told his father bad things about his brothers.
3 Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved any of his other sons. This was because Joseph was born when Jacob was old. So Jacob made a special coat for Joseph. 4 Joseph's brothers knew that Jacob loved him more than he loved them. So they hated Joseph. They could not say anything nice to him.
5 One night, Joseph had a dream and he told his brothers about it. When they heard about the dream, Joseph's brothers hated him even more than they did before. 6 Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Listen to what happened in my dream: 7 We were out in the field tying the crops together into bundles. Then my bundle stood up. Your bundles stood in a circle round my bundle. And all your bundles bent down to respect my bundle.’
8 Joseph's brothers said to him, ‘Do you really think that you will be like a king and rule over us like that?’ They hated Joseph even more because of what he told them about his dream.
9 Then Joseph had another dream and he told his brothers about it. He said, ‘Listen to me. I have had another dream. This is what happened: The sun, the moon and 11 stars bent down in front of me.’ 10 Joseph told his father and his brothers about the dream. Jacob, his father, was angry with him. He said to Joseph, ‘You should not tell us about a dream like that! Do you really think that I, your mother and your brothers will come and bend down in front of you?’ 11 Joseph's brothers were very jealous of him. But Jacob thought carefully about what Joseph had said.
12 One day, Joseph's brothers had taken their father's sheep to eat grass in the fields. This was near Shechem city. 13 Jacob said to Joseph, ‘You know that your brothers have taken my sheep to eat grass near Shechem. I want you to go to them.’ Joseph replied, ‘I am ready to go.’ 14 So Jacob said to Joseph, ‘Go and see if your brothers are well. See if the sheep have enough grass to eat. Then come back and tell me news about them.’ Then Jacob sent Joseph from the Valley of Hebron to go to them. 15 When Joseph arrived near Shechem and he was walking in the fields there, a man met him. He asked Joseph, ‘What are you looking for?’ 16 Joseph replied, ‘I am looking for my brothers. They have taken the sheep to eat grass. Please tell me where they are.’ 17 The man said, ‘They have moved away from here. I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan.” ’
So Joseph went to look for his brothers. He found them at Dothan. 18 But his brothers recognized Joseph, while he was still far away. Before he had arrived where they were, they decided on a way to kill him. 19 They said to each other, ‘Here comes the man who likes to dream! 20 We will kill him. We can throw him into one of the dry wells. We can tell people that a wild animal ate him. Then his dreams will never become true!’
21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to save Joseph from the other brothers. He said, ‘We should not kill him. 22 Do not even get his blood on your hands. Just throw him into this dry well here in the wilderness. But do not attack him.’ Reuben said this to save Joseph, so that his brothers would not kill him. Then later, Reuben could take Joseph back to his father.
23 So Joseph arrived at where his brothers were. He was wearing his special coat, but they took it off him. 24 Then they took hold of Joseph and they threw him into the empty well. It had no water in it.
25 Then the brothers sat down to eat their meal. They looked up and they saw a group of Ishmaelites coming towards them. They were coming from Gilead region. They were riding on camels that carried spices, and different kinds of oils for medicine. They were taking them to sell in Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, ‘We could kill our brother and then hide his body. But then we will not get anything for ourselves. 27 So let us sell him to these Ishmaelites. We do not need to hurt him. Then we will not have to kill him. We should remember that he is our brother. He is our own relative.’ Judah's brothers agreed with what he said. 28 When the Midianite traders came near to Joseph's brothers, they pulled him out of the dry well. They sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 silver coins. The Ishmaelites took Joseph with them to Egypt.
29 Later, Reuben returned to the dry well. He saw that Joseph was not there. He tore his clothes because he was very upset. 30 Reuben went back to his brothers. He said to them, ‘The boy is not in the well! What can I do now?’[i]
31 Then the brothers killed a goat. They took its blood and they put the blood all over Joseph's special coat. 32 They took the coat back to their father and they told him, ‘We found this coat. Look at it. Tell us if it is your son's coat.’ 33 Jacob saw that it was Joseph's coat. He said, ‘It is my son's coat! A wild animal must have eaten him! The animal has torn Joseph's body into pieces.’
34 Jacob was so upset that he tore his own clothes. He put on clothes made from sackcloth to show how sad he was. He wept for many days because his son had died.
35 All Jacob's sons and daughters came to comfort him. But Jacob was very sad, so they could not make him happy. Jacob said, ‘I will be sad until the day that I die, because my son is dead.’ Jacob wept because Joseph was dead.
36 While this was happening, the Midianites took Joseph into Egypt. They sold him to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officers. Potiphar had authority over all of Pharaoh's guards.
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