Bible in 90 Days

²⁰ Then Jacob made a promise to God. He said, ‘While I am on this journey, I want God to be with me and to take care of me. I want him to give me food to eat and clothes to wear. ²¹ Then I want to return to my father's house. If God keeps me safe, then the Lord will be my God. ²² This special stone that I have put here will be God's house. And from everything that God gives me, I will give God one tenth.’

Jacob and Laban

29 Jacob continued on his journey. He came to the land where the people from the east live. ² He saw a well in a field. Three groups of sheep lay near it. Shepherds took water from the well to give to their sheep. There was a large stone that covered the top of the well. ³ The shepherds waited until all the sheep were there together. Then they removed the stone from the top of the well. They gave their sheep water to drink, and then they put the stone back on the top of the well.

⁴ Jacob asked the shepherds, ‘My brothers, where are you from?’ The shepherds replied, ‘We are from Haran.’ ⁵ Jacob said, ‘Do you know Laban? He is Nahor's grandson.’ The shepherds replied, ‘Yes, we know him.’ ⁶ Jacob asked them, ‘Is he in good health?’ They replied, ‘Yes, he is. Look. Here comes his daughter now, with their sheep. Her name is Rachel.’ ⁷ Jacob said to them, ‘The sun is still high in the sky. It is not yet the right time to bring all the sheep together. So give them some water now. Then they can go back to the fields and eat more grass.’ ⁸ The shepherds said, ‘We cannot do that. We have to wait until all the sheep are here together. Then we can remove the big stone from the well and we can give water to the sheep.’

⁹ When Jacob was speaking to the shepherds, Rachel arrived there. She brought her father's sheep with her. She was taking care of them.

¹⁰ Jacob saw Rachel. She was the daughter of his uncle Laban. Jacob saw that she had Laban's sheep with her. So Jacob went to the well and he removed the big stone. Then he gave water to Laban's sheep. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel. He began to weep loudly.^[a]

¹² Jacob told Rachel that he was a relative of her father, Laban. He told her that he was Rebekah's son. So Rachel ran home to tell her father.

¹³ When Laban heard what Rachel said, he went quickly to meet Jacob, his sister's son. He put his arms round Jacob and he kissed him. Laban brought Jacob to his home. Jacob told Laban all his news. ¹⁴ Then Laban said, ‘Yes, you really are my own relative.’ So Jacob stayed with Laban for a month.

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, ‘You should not work for me for nothing because you are my relative. Tell me what I should pay you.’ ¹⁶ Laban had two daughters. The name of the older daughter was Leah. The name of the younger daughter was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah had weak eyes. But Rachel's face and her body were beautiful. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel. He said to Laban, ‘I will work for you for seven years. In return, I want to marry your younger daughter, Rachel.’ ¹⁹ Laban said, ‘It is better for you to marry her than another man. Stay here with me.’

²⁰ Jacob worked for seven years to have Rachel as his wife. But the years passed very quickly because Jacob loved Rachel very much. Seven years seemed like only a few days to Jacob.

Jacob marries Leah and Rachel

²¹ After seven years, Jacob said to Laban, ‘Give me my wife. My time to work for you is finished and I want to marry her.’ ²² Laban called all the people in that place to come together. He prepared a big meal for them to eat. ²³ When evening came, Laban took his daughter Leah and he gave her to Jacob. Jacob slept that night with her as his wife. ²⁴ Laban gave his female servant to Leah to be her servant. Her name was Zilpah.

²⁵ When morning came, Jacob saw that he had slept with Leah! He said to Laban, ‘You have done a very bad thing to me! I worked for you to get Rachel as my wife. Why have you deceived me?’ ²⁶ Laban replied, ‘In our land, we do not give the younger daughter to a man first. We let the older daughter marry first. ²⁷ So finish this week of Leah's marriage. Then we will give you Rachel to marry too. But you must work for another seven years.’^[b]

²⁸ So Jacob did what Laban said. He finished the marriage week with Leah. Then Laban gave Rachel to Jacob to be his wife. ²⁹ Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to Rachel to become her servant. ³⁰ Jacob also slept with Rachel. He loved Rachel more than he loved Leah. He worked for Laban for seven more years.

³¹ The Lord saw that Jacob did not love Leah. So he let her become pregnant. But Rachel did not give birth to any children. ³² Leah became pregnant and she gave birth to a son. She called him Reuben. She said, ‘It is because the Lord has seen how sad I am. My husband will love me now because I have given birth to a son.’

³³ Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son. She said, ‘The Lord has given me another son because he knows that I am not loved.’ She called this son Simeon.

³⁴ Leah became pregnant again. Later, she gave birth to another son. She said, ‘Now I have given my husband three sons, so he will want to stay with me.’ She called this son Levi.

³⁵ Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son. She said, ‘This time I will praise the Lord.’ She called this son Judah. Then she stopped giving birth to children.

Jacob's family

30 Rachel now knew that she could not give birth to any children for Jacob. So she became jealous of her sister. Rachel said to Jacob, ‘Please give me children. If not, I will die.’^{[c] 2} Jacob became angry with Rachel. He said, ‘Am I God? God has stopped you from giving birth to children!’ ³ Rachel said, ‘Take my servant Bilhah and have sex with her. Then she can have children on my behalf. Through her, I can have a family.’^[d]

⁴ So Rachel gave her servant Bilhah to Jacob to become his wife. ⁵ Bilhah became pregnant and she gave birth to a son for Jacob. ⁶ Rachel said, ‘God has shown that I am right. He has listened to me and he has given a son to me.’ Because of this, she called the boy Dan. ⁷ Rachel's servant Bilhah became pregnant again. She gave birth to another son for Jacob. ⁸ Rachel said, ‘I have fought with my sister and I have won.’ She called this son Naphtali.

⁹ Leah saw that she had stopped having children. So she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Zilpah became pregnant and she gave birth to a son for Jacob. ¹¹ Leah said, ‘This is very good.’ She called the boy Gad. ¹² Leah's servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. ¹³ Leah said, ‘I am very happy! Women will call me happy.’ So she called this boy Asher.

¹⁴ It was the time for the harvest of wheat. Reuben went out and he found some mandrake plants in a field. He took them to his mother, Leah. Rachel said to Leah, ‘Please give me some of the mandrakes that your son gave to you.’^{[e] 15} But Leah said to Rachel, ‘You took my husband from me. That was bad enough! Now you want to take my son's mandrakes too!’ Rachel said, ‘OK. If you give me some of your son's mandrakes, Jacob can sleep with you tonight.’

¹⁶ In the evening, Jacob came in from the fields. Leah went out to meet him. She said, ‘You must sleep with me tonight. I have paid for you with my son's mandrakes.’ So Jacob slept with Leah that night. ¹⁷ God listened to Leah and she became pregnant again. She gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. ¹⁸ Leah said, ‘God has helped me because I gave my servant to Jacob as a wife.’ She called her son Issachar.

¹⁹ Leah became pregnant again and she gave Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ Leah said, ‘God has given me this valuable gift. Now my husband will respect me because I have given him six sons.’ She called this son Zebulun.

²¹ After some time, Leah became pregnant again. She gave birth to a daughter. She called her daughter Dinah.

²² Then God decided to help Rachel. He listened to her and he let her become pregnant. ²³ She became pregnant and she gave birth to a son. Rachel said, ‘I am not ashamed any longer, because God has given me a son.’ ²⁴ Rachel called her son Joseph. She said, ‘I pray that the Lord will give me another son.’

Jacob's sheep

²⁵ After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob spoke to Laban. He said, ‘Let me go away now. I want to go home to my own land. ²⁶ Let me take my wives and my children with me. I have worked for you so that I could have them. You must let me leave, because you know how much I have worked for you.’

²⁷ Laban said to Jacob, ‘If you are happy with me then please stay here. I know that the Lord has blessed me because you are here with me. I have used magic to know that.’ ²⁸ Laban also said to Jacob, ‘Tell me how much I should pay you for your work. I will pay whatever you want.’

²⁹ Jacob replied, ‘You know how much I have worked for you. You know that you have many more animals now, because I have taken care of them. ³⁰ Before I came, you had only a few sheep and goats. Now you have many more valuable things. Wherever I have worked for you, the Lord has blessed you. But now I want to work to help my own family. I must do that soon.’

³¹ Laban asked, ‘What must I give to you?’ Jacob replied, ‘You do not need to give me anything. But just do one thing for me. Then I will still take care of your animals. I will make sure that nothing bad happens to them. ³² Do this: Let me go among all your animals today. Let me remove any animal that has a mark on it or that has more than one colour on its skin. I will also take any black lambs. That is what you will give me for my work. ³³ In the future, this will show that I am honest. You can check on my animals whenever you want to. I will only have sheep or goats that have marks on their skin, or black lambs. If I have any other animals, you may call me a robber.’ ³⁴ Laban said, ‘I agree to this. It will be as you have said.’

³⁵ On that same day, Laban went to his animals. He quickly removed all the goats that had marks, both male and female goats. He also removed all the black lambs. He gave these animals to his sons to take care of them.^{[f] 36} He sent those animals a long way away. It would take Jacob three days to reach them. While this was happening, Jacob was taking care of Laban's other animals.

³⁷ Jacob took branches that he had cut from trees. He took them from poplar trees, almond trees and plane trees. He cut white lines on the branches. He stripped off the outside part of the wood to show white lines. ³⁸ Then he put the branches in the place where there were big bowls of water for the animals to drink. They were in front of the animals when they came to drink. The animals could see the branches when it was the right time for them to have sex together. ³⁹ When they had sex in front of the branches, they gave birth to babies that had skin with marks. ⁴⁰ Jacob kept these lambs separate from Laban's animals. He took the rest of Laban's female animals to join with the animals that had marks or were black. In that way he got more animals that would belong to him. He kept them separate from Laban's animals.

⁴¹ Jacob waited until the stronger female animals were ready to have sex. Then he put the special branches in front of them, near the big bowls of water. Then these animals would see the branches when they had sex together. ⁴² But if the female animals were weak, he did not put the branches in front of them when they had sex. As a result, the weak animals would belong to Laban, but Jacob would keep the strong animals.

⁴³ In this way, Jacob became very rich. Many sheep and goats belonged to him. He also had female servants and male servants, as well as camels and donkeys.

Jacob runs away from Laban

31 Jacob heard that Laban's sons were complaining about him. They were saying, ‘Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father. He has taken things from our father and he has become rich himself.’

² And Jacob could see that Laban was not as nice to him as he had been before.

³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, ‘Go back to the land where your father and grandfather lived. Go back to your relatives. I will be with you there.’ ⁴ Jacob sent a message to Rachel and Leah. He said that they must come to the field where he was taking care of his animals. ⁵ Jacob said to them, ‘I see that your father is not as nice to me now as he was before. But the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You know that I have worked very hard for your father. I have worked as well as I can. ⁷ But your father has cheated me many times. He has changed what I receive for my work at least ten times. But God has protected me from him. ⁸ Sometimes Laban said, “I will pay you with the animals that have different colours on their skin.” If he said that, all the animals gave birth to babies with different colours on their skins. Sometimes he said, “I will pay you with the animals that have marks on them.” Then all the animals gave birth to babies with marks on them. ⁹ In this way God took away your father's animals, and he gave them to me.

¹⁰ One night I had a dream. It was at the time when the animals were becoming pregnant. In the dream, I saw that the male goats had marks and different colours on their skin. ¹¹ The angel of God spoke to me in the dream. He said, “Jacob.” I replied, “Yes, here I am.” ¹² The angel said, “Look carefully. See all the male goats that are having sex with the female goats. They all have marks and different colours on their skin. I am helping you because I have seen the bad things that Laban has done to you. ¹³ I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel. That is where you poured oil on the special stone and you made a promise to me. Now I am telling you to leave this land. Go back to the land where you were born.” ’

¹⁴ Rachel and Leah replied, ‘Our father will not give us anything more when he dies. ¹⁵ He now thinks of us like foreigners. You worked hard for him so that we could become your wives. He has cheated us as well as you! ¹⁶ So everything that God has taken away from our father really belongs to us and to our children. So you must do everything that God has told you to do.’

¹⁷ So Jacob put his children and wives on his camels. ¹⁸ He put together all his animals and everything that he had received in Paddan Aram. He took them with him to go to the land of Canaan. He left to go back to his father Isaac. ¹⁹ Before they left, Laban had gone to cut the wool from his sheep. While he was away from the house, Rachel took the idols that Laban worshipped in his house.^[g]

²⁰ Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean. He did not tell Laban that he was going away. ²¹ Jacob went away quickly and he took all his things. He went across the Euphrates river. He went towards the hill country of Gilead.

²² After three days, someone told Laban that Jacob had gone away. ²³ So Laban took his relatives with him and he followed Jacob. After seven days, he found him in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ Then God appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night. God warned him, ‘Be careful what you say to Jacob. Do not say anything good or bad to him.’

²⁵ Jacob had put up his tent in the hill country of Gilead. That is where Laban found him. So Laban and his relatives also put up their tents in that place. ²⁶ Laban said to Jacob, ‘Why did you do that? You have deceived me. You have taken my daughters away as if you had caught them in a war. ²⁷ Why did you go away secretly? Yes, you have deceived me. You should have told me that you were leaving. Then I would have prepared a big meal. We would have been happy together, with songs and music. ²⁸ But you did not even let me say “goodbye” to my daughters or my grandchildren. What you have done is not right. ²⁹ I have the power to hurt you. But last night the God of your father appeared to me. He told me, “Be careful what you say to Jacob. Do not say anything good or bad against him.” ³⁰ I know that you want very much to return to your father's house. That is why you have left my home. But why did you take my idols?’

³¹ Jacob replied, ‘I left secretly because I was afraid. I thought that you might fight me to take your daughters away from me. ³² But if you find your idols with anyone here, that person must die. While our relatives watch, you may look for anything that belongs to you. If you find anything then take it.’

Jacob did not know that Rachel had taken her father's idols.

³³ So Laban went into Jacob's tent. Then he went into Leah's tent. He also went into the female servants' tent. But he did not find the idols. When he left Leah's tent, he went into Rachel's tent. ³⁴ Rachel had taken the idols and she had put them inside her camel's seat. Now she was sitting on them. Laban looked everywhere in Rachel's tent but he did not find the idols. ³⁵ Rachel said to him, ‘Do not be angry with me, sir. I cannot stand up in front of you. It is the time of my monthly blood loss.’^[h] So Laban looked everywhere for the idols, but he did not find them.

³⁶ Then Jacob became angry and he quarrelled with Laban. He asked Laban, ‘What have I done wrong? What sin have I done against you so that you had to catch me? ³⁷ Now you have looked through everything that I have. Did you find anything that belongs to you? If you have found anything, put it here. Then your relatives and my relatives can see it. Our relatives can decide which of us is right, you or me!’

³⁸ Jacob continued to say to Laban, ‘I have worked for you for 20 years. Your female sheep and goats have all safely given birth to young ones. I have not taken any of your male animals as food for myself. ³⁹ If wild animals attacked your sheep or goats, I did not show them to you. I myself paid you for them. If any animal was lost, in the day or at night, you said that I must pay you for it. ⁴⁰ This is what it was like to work for you: I worked in the strong heat of the sun in the day. I had pain from the cold at night. I could not always sleep. ⁴¹ It was like this for 20 years as I worked like a slave for you. I worked for 14 years to pay you for your two daughters. Then I worked for six years for your sheep and goats. You changed what you paid me at least ten times! ⁴² The God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac was with me.^[i] If he had not helped me, then you would have sent me away with nothing. But God has seen what you have done to hurt me. He has seen how hard I have worked for you. So last night he told you that you had done wrong.’

⁴³ Laban replied to Jacob, ‘These women are my daughters. Their children are my grandchildren. The animals are my animals. Everything that you have with you here belongs to me. But there is nothing that I can do today about my daughters or about their children. ⁴⁴ So we should be friends. Let us make an agreement together. It will show that we have agreed to be friends.’

⁴⁵ So Jacob took a large stone and made it stand up in the ground. ⁴⁶ He said to his relatives, ‘Go and get some stones.’ So they brought some stones and they put them together on the ground. Then they all ate a meal together, near the heap of stones.^[j]

⁴⁷ Laban called that place Jegar Sahadutha. Jacob called it Galeed.^[k]

⁴⁸ Laban said, ‘These stones show that we have made an agreement today.’ That is why the place was called Galeed. ⁴⁹ The place was also called Mizpah. That was because Laban said, ‘May the Lord watch you and me when we are away from each other. ⁵⁰ Remember that God is watching you. If you do wrong to my daughters, God will see it. And if you marry any other women, remember this. God is watching you. Even if no one else sees you, God will know.’

⁵¹ Laban also said, ‘I have put this special stone here, and the heap of stones near it. They stand there between your land and my land. ⁵² I will not go past the stones to your side to hurt you. And you must not go past them to my side to hurt me. ⁵³ Let the God of Abraham, Nahor, and their ancestors decide if one of us is guilty.’

So Jacob made a promise in the name of the God that his father Isaac worshipped. ⁵⁴ He offered a sacrifice to God there in the hill country. He asked his relatives to eat a meal with him. After they had eaten, they stayed the night there.

⁵⁵ Early the next morning, Laban got up to return home. He kissed his grandchildren and his daughters. He said ‘goodbye’ and he blessed them. Then he left and he went back to his home.

Jacob's journey home

32 Jacob continued on his journey to his father's house. On his way the angels of God met him.^{[l] 2} When Jacob saw them, he said, ‘This is where God's army has put up their tents!’ So he called that place Mahanaim.

³ Jacob sent men with a message to his brother Esau. Esau was living in the land of Seir, also called Edom. ⁴ Jacob told his men, ‘This is what you must say to my master Esau: Your servant Jacob says, “I have been staying with Laban until now. ⁵ I have cows, donkeys, sheep and goats. I have male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord so that you will be happy with me.” ’

⁶ When the men returned, they said to Jacob, ‘We went to your brother Esau. Now he is coming to meet you and he has 400 men with him.’ ⁷ Jacob was very frightened and upset when he heard this. So he separated his people into two groups. He also separated his animals. ⁸ He thought, ‘If Esau attacks one group, the other group may run away safely.’

⁹ Then Jacob prayed, ‘God of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac, Lord, you said to me, “Go back to your country and to your relatives. I will do good things for you there.” ¹⁰ You have always loved me. You have continued to be kind to me. I do not deserve this. When I crossed the Jordan River to go to Haran, I only had my stick. But now I can make two big groups of people and animals. ¹¹ I pray that you will save me from the power of my brother Esau. I am afraid that he will come and attack me. He may also attack my family. ¹² But you have said, “I will give you many good things. I will give you so many descendants that nobody will be able to count them. They will be as many as the pieces of sand on the shore of the sea.” ’^[m]

¹³ Jacob stayed in that place for the night. He chose some of his animals as a gift for Esau. ¹⁴ He chose 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep. ¹⁵ He also chose 30 female camels, with their young ones, 40 cows and ten bulls, 20 female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ He told his servants to take care of them. He separated each group of animals from the other groups. Jacob said to his servants, ‘Go in front of me. Keep some space between each group of animals.’ ¹⁷ He told the servant who led the first group of animals, ‘When my brother Esau meets you, he may ask, “Who do you belong to? Where are you going? Who do all these animals belong to?” ¹⁸ Then you must say, “They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift that he has sent to my lord Esau. Jacob himself is coming behind us.” ’ ¹⁹ Jacob also told the servants who led the other groups of animals, as well as the servants who followed behind them, ‘You are to say the same thing to Esau, when you meet him. ²⁰ You must also say “Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.” ’

Jacob thought, ‘Esau will be happy to receive my gifts. He will no longer be angry with me. Then, when I meet him, he will not hurt me.’ ²¹ So Jacob sent the men with his gifts to go on to meet Esau. But he himself stayed in that place for the night.

²² During the night Jacob took with him his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons. They went across the Jabbok river where there was a place to cross.^{[n] 23} After Jacob had sent his family across, he also sent all his things across the stream. ²⁴ Then Jacob was alone. A man came and fought with him for a long time.^[o] They continued until dawn.

²⁵ The man saw that he was not winning the fight against Jacob. So he hit Jacob's hip while they were fighting.^[p] In that way, Jacob's hip moved out of its proper place. ²⁶ Then the man said to Jacob, ‘Now let me go because dawn has come.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’

²⁷ The man asked Jacob, ‘What is your name?’ Jacob replied, ‘My name is Jacob.’ ²⁸ Then the man said, ‘Your name will not be Jacob any longer. Your name will now be Israel.^[q] That is because you have fought with God and you have fought with men. And you have won!’

²⁹ Then Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But the man said, ‘Why do you want to know my name?’ Then he blessed Jacob in that place. ³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel.^[r] He said, ‘I have seen God face to face, and I am still alive!’

³¹ The sun rose in the sky as Jacob passed through Peniel. He could not walk properly because of his hip.

³² Even today, the Israelite people do not eat the meat of an animal where it joins to the hip. This is because God touched Jacob's hip.^[s]

Jacob meets Esau

33 Jacob looked up. He saw Esau with 400 men coming towards him. So he separated his children into groups. Some went with Leah, some went with Rachel, and some went with his two female servants. ² He put his female servants and their children at the front of the group. Then came Leah and her children. But Jacob put his son Joseph with Rachel at the back of the group. ³ Jacob himself went in front of these groups. He bent down to the ground to respect Esau. He did this seven times as he came nearer to his brother.

⁴ But Esau ran to meet Jacob and he hugged him. He put his arms round Jacob's neck and he kissed him. They both wept.

⁵ Then Esau looked up. He saw the women and children. He asked, ‘Who are these people with you?’ Jacob replied, ‘They are the children that God has given to me, your servant.’

⁶ Then the female servants and their children came to Esau. As they came near to him, they bent down to the ground. ⁷ Then Leah and her children came and they bent down in front of Esau. Last of all, Joseph and Rachel came to Esau and they also bent down to the ground. ⁸ Esau asked Jacob, ‘Why did you send all those animals in front of you?’ Jacob replied, ‘So that you would be happy to see me, my lord.’ ⁹ But Esau said, ‘Keep your animals for yourself, my brother. I have enough animals of my own.’ ¹⁰ But Jacob replied, ‘No! If you are happy to see me, please accept these animals as a gift from me. When you met me and I saw your face, it was as if I saw the face of God himself. I am happy that you have met me as a friend. ¹¹ So please accept the gift that I brought to you. God has been very kind to me so that I have everything that I need.’ So Esau accepted the gifts because Jacob would not agree to keep them.

¹² Then Esau said, ‘Let us continue to go on our way. I will travel with you.’ ¹³ But Jacob said, ‘My lord, the children are not very strong. Many of the animals have young babies. If we go too far in one day, then all the animals will die. ¹⁴ So you should go in front of me, my lord. I will travel slowly with the animals and children, so that they are comfortable. Then, my lord, I will come to you in Seir.’

¹⁵ Esau said, ‘Then let me leave some of my men to travel with you.’ But Jacob replied, ‘You do not need to do that. All I want is for you to be happy with me.’

¹⁶ So Esau began his journey back to Seir that same day. ¹⁷ But Jacob went to Succoth instead. He built a house for himself, and he made huts for his animals. That is why the place is called Succoth.^[t]

¹⁸ After Jacob left Paddan Aram, he travelled safely to Canaan. He put up his tents there, near the city of Shechem. ¹⁹ He bought the piece of ground where he had put up his tents. He paid 100 pieces of silver to Hamor's sons to buy the land. Hamor was the father of Shechem.

²⁰ Jacob built an altar in that place. He called the altar ‘The God of Israel is the true God’.

Dinah

34 Dinah was the daughter of Leah and Jacob. One day she went out to visit the young women who lived near Shechem city. ² Hamor the Hivite ruled that region. When his son, Shechem, saw Dinah, he took hold of her. Dinah could not get free and Shechem had sex with her. ³ He liked Dinah very much. He loved her. He spoke kind words to her so that she would love him too. ⁴ Shechem said to his father, Hamor, ‘I want to marry this girl. Please get her for me.’ ⁵ Jacob heard that Shechem had had sex with his daughter. At that time, Jacob's sons were taking care of his animals in the fields. So he did not do anything until his sons came home.

⁶ Shechem's father, Hamor, went to talk to Jacob about Dinah. ⁷ Jacob's sons now heard what had happened and they came home from the fields. They were very angry because Shechem had done such a bad thing. When he caught Dinah and had sex with her, he had brought shame on Jacob's family. It was a bad thing that nobody should ever do.

⁸ Hamor said to Jacob and his sons, ‘My son Shechem loves your daughter. Please give her to him so that she can be his wife. ⁹ There should be more marriages between your people and our people. Our men should marry your daughters and our daughters should become wives for your men. ¹⁰ Then you can live among us. You can live anywhere you want to in this land. You should live here, buy and sell things. Buy land and houses here.’^[u]

¹¹ Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, ‘I would like to make you happy. So ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you. ¹² I will pay you the gifts that you ask for Dinah. It can be as much as you like. I will pay it all, because I want to have Dinah as my wife.’

¹³ Because of the bad thing that Shechem had done to Dinah, Jacob's sons decided to deceive him. And they deceived his father Hamor too. ¹⁴ They said, ‘We cannot give our sister to a man who has not been circumcised. We would be ashamed to do this. ¹⁵ If you want to marry Dinah, you must do one thing. You must circumcise all your males. Then you will become like us and we will agree for you to marry Dinah. ¹⁶ Then we will give you our daughters so that your men can marry them. And our men will marry your daughters. We will live among you, so that we become one people with you. ¹⁷ But your men must agree to be circumcised. If not, we will take our sister with us and we will leave this place.’

¹⁸ This idea seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. ¹⁹ Shechem's family respected him as an important person. So Shechem and his father quickly did what Jacob's sons told them. Shechem agreed to do it because he wanted very much to marry Dinah. ²⁰ So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of the city. They spoke to their men there. ²¹ They said, ‘Jacob's family are our friends. Let them live in our land, and buy and sell things. This land is big enough for them and us. We can marry their daughters, and they can marry our daughters. ²² But we must do the one thing that they have asked us to do. We must circumcise all our males in the same way that they do. If we do that, they will agree to live among us. ²³ Then their things and their animals will all become our things. So we should agree to be circumcised, as they ask. Then they will live among us.’

²⁴ All the men who were at the city gate agreed with Hamor and Shechem. So every male in the city was circumcised.

²⁵ Three days after the men were circumcised, they still had a lot of pain. Then two of Jacob's sons attacked Shechem's men with their swords. None of the men were ready to fight. Jacob's two sons were Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers. They killed every male in the city. ²⁶ They killed Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah from Shechem's house and they left.

²⁷ Jacob's other sons also saw that the men of the city were dead. So they took everything that they wanted from the city. They did that because it was the place where Shechem had done a very bad thing against their sister. ²⁸ They took all the sheep, goats, cows and donkeys. They took everything that was in the city and in the fields near there. ²⁹ They carried away every valuable thing for themselves. They also took all the men's wives and their children. They took everything from the houses in the city.

³⁰ When they returned to Jacob, he said to Simeon and Levi, ‘You have brought bad trouble to me! The people who live in this land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, will hate me. I will be like a bad smell to them. We do not have many men to fight for us. If the Perizzites and Canaanites join together and they attack us, they will destroy our whole family!’ ³¹ But Simeon and Levi replied, ‘Shechem should not have had sex with our sister as if she were a prostitute.’

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.^[v] 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.^[w]

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.^[x]

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.’^[y]

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.^[z]

¹⁹ After Rachel died, they buried near the road that goes to Ephrath.^{[aa] 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.^[ab] 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:

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:

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.^[ac]

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?’^[ad]

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.

Judah's family^[ae]

38 At that time, Judah left his brothers. He went to stay with a man from the town of Adullam. His name was Hirah. ² While he was there, Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man called Shua. Judah married her and he had sex with her. ³ She became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son. Judah gave him the name ‘Er’. ⁴ His wife became pregnant again, and she gave birth to another son. She gave him the name ‘Onan’. ⁵ Later, she gave birth to another son. She gave him the name ‘Shelah’. She gave birth to Shelah in Kezib.

⁶ Judah found a wife for his oldest son, Er. Her name was Tamar. ⁷ But the Lord saw that Er, Judah's firstborn son, was very bad. So the Lord caused him to die. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, ‘You should marry your dead brother's wife and have sex with her. You are her dead husband's brother. You must have a son who will become your dead brother's descendant.’^[af]

⁹ But Onan did not want Tamar to give birth to his child. He knew that the child would not belong to him. So when he had sex with his brother's wife Tamar, he made his semen go onto the ground. Onan did this so that Tamar would not give birth to a child for his dead brother.

¹⁰ What Onan did was bad, and the Lord was not pleased with him. So the Lord caused Onan to die too. ¹¹ Then Judah said to his son's widow, Tamar, ‘Go back to your father's house and live there as a widow. Stay there until my son Shelah grows older.’ Judah thought, ‘I do not want Shelah to die in the way that his brothers died.’ So Tamar went to live in her father's house.

¹² After a long time, Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had stopped being sad because of her death, he left his home to travel. He went with his friend, Hirah the Adullamite, to a place called Timnah. He went to see the men who were cutting the wool from his sheep. ¹³ Someone told Tamar, ‘Your husband's father is going to Timnah to get the wool from his sheep.’

¹⁴ Tamar knew that Judah's son Shelah had now become a man. But Judah had not yet let Shelah marry her. So Tamar took off her widow's clothes and she put on other clothes. She covered her head with a veil. She did not want anyone to recognize her. Then she sat at the gate of Enaim. Enaim is a town on the road that goes to Timnah.

¹⁵ Judah saw her as she sat there. He thought that she was a prostitute, because she had covered her face. ¹⁶ He did not know that she was his son's widow. He went to her at the side of the road. He said, ‘Let me have sex with you.’ Tamar asked him, ‘If I have sex with you, what will you give me?’ ¹⁷ Judah replied, ‘I will take a young goat from my animals and I will give it to you.’ Tamar said, ‘Please give me something now to show me that you will really send the goat to me.’ ¹⁸ Judah asked her, ‘What should I give you?’ Tamar replied, ‘Give me your special ring and the string that holds it. And give me the stick that is in your hand.’^[ag] So Judah gave them to her. He had sex with her. As a result, she became pregnant.

¹⁹ After this, Tamar left there and she took off her veil. She put her widow's clothes on again.

²⁰ Judah sent his friend Hirah, the Adullamite, to take a young goat back to where the woman had been. Judah wanted to get his special things back from the woman. But Hirah could not find the woman. ²¹ He asked some men who lived there, ‘Where is the temple prostitute who sat by the road at Enaim?’^[ah] But the men said, ‘There has not been any prostitute here.’

²² So Hirah went back to Judah, with the goat. He told him, ‘I did not find her. The men who lived there said, “There has not been any temple prostitute here.” ’ ²³ So Judah said, ‘Let her keep the things that I gave to her. People will laugh at me if you go back there again. I sent this young goat for her, as I promised, but you could not find her.’

²⁴ Three months later, someone told Judah, ‘Your dead son's wife, Tamar, has become a prostitute and now she is pregnant.’ Judah said, ‘Take her out of the town and burn her to death!’ ²⁵ So they took Tamar away to kill her. But she sent a message to her dead husband's father. She said, ‘The man that these things belong to had sex with me. That is why I am pregnant. Look at these things carefully. Do you know who the ring, its string, and the stick belong to?’

²⁶ Judah saw that the things belonged to him. He said, ‘She is more honest than I am. She has done this because I would not give her to my son, Shelah, as his wife.’ Judah did not have sex with Tamar again.

²⁷ The time came for Tamar to give birth, and there were twins! ²⁸ While she was giving birth, one baby put out his hand. The woman who was helping Tamar tied a red string to that baby's arm. She said, ‘This baby came out first.’ ²⁹ But then the baby moved his hand back inside and his brother came out first. The woman said, ‘You have opened a way for yourself to come out!’ So they gave him the name ‘Perez’.^{[ai] 30} Then his brother came out, with the red string on his arm. They gave him the name ‘Zerah’.

Joseph in Egypt

39 The Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt and they sold him there as a slave. Potiphar bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites. He was one of Pharaoh's officers. He had authority over all the guards. ² The Lord was with Joseph, so that good things happened to him. Joseph lived in the house of Potiphar, his Egyptian master. ³ Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph. He saw that the Lord helped Joseph to do good work. ⁴ So Joseph pleased Potiphar. Potiphar gave Joseph authority as his special servant. Joseph took care of everything that belonged to Potiphar. ⁵ From the time that Potiphar gave Joseph authority over everything in his house, the Lord blessed the people of Potiphar's house, his animals and his crops. The Lord blessed Potiphar because of Joseph.

⁶ So Potiphar told Joseph to take care of everything that belonged to him. Potiphar did not worry about anything in his house. The only thing that he thought about was the food that he ate.

Joseph was a strong and handsome man. ⁷ After some time had passed, Potiphar's wife saw that Joseph was handsome. She said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ ⁸ But Joseph refused to do that. He said, ‘My master does not need to think about anything in the house. I take care of everything that belongs to him. ⁹ No one has more authority in this house than I do. My master keeps nothing from me, except you. That is because you are his wife. I could not do such a bad thing. I could not do a sin that is against God.’

¹⁰ Potiphar's wife continued to speak to Joseph every day. But he would not agree to go to bed with her. He would not even go near her. ¹¹ One day Joseph went into the house to do his work. None of the other servants were there in the house. ¹² Potiphar's wife suddenly took hold of Joseph's coat. She said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ Joseph left his coat in her hand and he ran out of the house.

¹³ Potiphar's wife saw that Joseph had left his coat in her hand. She saw that he had run out of the house. ¹⁴ So she called her servants to come. She said to them, ‘Look at this! The Hebrew man that Potiphar brought to work here does not respect us! He came in here and he tried to have sex with me. But I screamed loudly. ¹⁵ When he heard me scream like that, he ran out of the house. But he left his coat here with me.’

¹⁶ Potiphar's wife kept the coat beside her until Joseph's master, Potiphar, came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him this story: ‘The Hebrew slave that you brought to us tried to insult me. He wanted to sleep with me. ¹⁸ But I screamed loudly for help. So he left his coat with me and he ran out of the house.’

¹⁹ Joseph's master heard the story that his wife told him. She said, ‘This is what your slave did to me.’ When Potiphar heard that, he was very angry. ²⁰ He took hold of Joseph, and he put him in prison. It was the place where the king put his own prisoners. ²¹ While Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was still with him. He was kind to Joseph. He caused the leader of the prison guards to like Joseph. ²² So this man gave Joseph authority over all the other prisoners. Joseph was responsible for everything that they did in the prison. ²³ The prison guard did not worry about anything that Joseph had authority over. He saw that the Lord was with Joseph. Whatever Joseph did, the Lord helped him to do it well.

Joseph tells two people what their dreams mean

40 Some time later, two of the king's officers made him angry. One of them was the king's cupbearer.^[aj] The other was the king's baker.

² Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, both the cupbearer and the baker. ³ Pharaoh put them in the same prison that Joseph was in. That was in the house of the captain of the king's guards. ⁴ They were in the prison for a long time. The captain of the guards made Joseph their servant, to help them. ⁵ One night, both of the king's officers had a dream. Each dream had its own meaning.

⁶ When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were upset. ⁷ So Joseph asked the two officers, ‘What are you sad about?’ ⁸ They replied, ‘We both had dreams last night, but there is nobody to tell us what they mean.’ Joseph said, ‘Only God can tell you the meaning of dreams. Tell your dreams to me.’

⁹ So the king's cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said, ‘In my dream I saw a vine in front of me. ¹⁰ There were three branches on it. New leaves came on the branches, and then flowers came. After that, there were grapes which became ripe. ¹¹ Pharaoh's cup was in my hand. I took the grapes and I squeezed them. Then I put the juice into the cup and I gave the cup to Pharaoh.’