The Daily Audio Bible

35 God said to Ya‘akov, “Get up, go up to Beit-El and live there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled ‘Esav your brother.” ² Then Ya‘akov said to his household and all the others with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that you have with you, purify yourselves, and put on fresh clothes. ³ We’re going to move on and go up to Beit-El. There I will build an altar to God, who answered me when I was in such distress and stayed with me wherever I went.” ⁴ They gave Ya‘akov all the foreign gods in their possession and the earrings they were wearing, and Ya‘akov buried them under the pistachio tree near Sh’khem. ⁵ While they were traveling, a terror from God fell upon the cities around them, so that none of them pursued the sons of Ya‘akov.

⁶ Ya‘akov and all the people with him arrived at Luz (that is, Beit-El) in the land of Kena‘an. ⁷ He built there an altar and called the place El-Beit-El [God of Beit-El], because it was there that God was revealed to him, at the time when he was fleeing from his brother.

⁸ Then D’vorah, Rivkah’s nurse, died. She was buried below Beit-El under the oak, which was given the name Alon-Bakhut [oak of weeping].

⁹ After Ya‘akov arrived from Paddan-Aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him. ¹⁰ God said to him, “Your name is Ya‘akov, but you will be called Ya‘akov no longer; your name will be Isra’el.” Thus he named him Isra’el. ¹¹ God further said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation, indeed a group of nations, will come from you; kings will be descended from you. (A: vi) ¹² Moreover, the land which I gave to Avraham and Yitz’chak I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.” ¹³ Then God went up from him there where he had spoken with him. (S: vi) ¹⁴ Ya‘akov set up a standing-stone in the place where he had spoken with him, a stone pillar. Then he poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. ¹⁵ Ya‘akov called the place where God spoke with him Beit-El.

¹⁶ Then they traveled on from Beit-El, and while there was still some distance to go before arriving in Efrat, Rachel went into labor, and she had great difficulty with it. ¹⁷ While she was undergoing this hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Don’t worry, this is also a son for you.” ¹⁸ But she died in childbirth. As she was dying she named her son Ben-Oni [son of my grief], but his father called him Binyamin [son of the right hand, son of the south]. ¹⁹ So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Efrat (that is, Beit-Lechem). ²⁰ Ya‘akov set up a standing-stone on her grave; it is the standing-stone of Rachel’s grave to this day.

²¹ Isra’el continued his travels and pitched his tent on the other side of Migdal-‘Eder. ²² It was while Isra’el was living in that land that Re’uven went and slept with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Isra’el heard about it.

Ya‘akov had twelve sons. ²³ The sons of Le’ah were Re’uven Ya‘akov’s firstborn, Shim‘on, Levi, Y’hudah, Yissakhar and Z’vulun. ²⁴ The sons of Rachel were Yosef and Binyamin. ²⁵ The sons of Bilhah Rachel’s slave-girl were Dan and Naftali. ²⁶ And the sons of Zilpah Le’ah’s slave-girl were Gad and Asher. These were Ya‘akov’s sons, born to him in Paddan-Aram.

²⁷ Ya‘akov came home to his father Yitz’chak at Mamre, near Kiryat-Arba (also known as Hevron), where Avraham and Yitz’chak had lived as foreigners. ²⁸ Yitz’chak lived to be 180 years old. ²⁹ Then he breathed his last, died and was gathered to his people, an old man full of years; and his sons ‘Esav and Ya‘akov buried him.

36 This is the genealogy of ‘Esav (that is, Edom). ² ‘Esav chose Kena‘ani women as his wives: ‘Adah the daughter of Eilon the Hitti; Oholivamah the daughter of ‘Anah the daughter of Tziv‘on the Hivi; ³ and Basmat Yishma‘el’s daughter, sister of N’vayot. ⁴ ‘Adah bore to ‘Esav Elifaz, Basmat bore Re‘u’el, ⁵ and Oholivamah bore Ye‘ush, Ya‘lam and Korach. These were the sons of ‘Esav born to him in the land of Kena‘an.

⁶ ‘Esav took his wives, his sons and daughters, the others in his household, his cattle and other animals and everything else he owned, which he had acquired in the land of Kena‘an, and went off to a country distant from his brother Ya‘akov. ⁷ For their possessions had become too great for them to live together, and the countryside through which they were traveling couldn’t support so much livestock. ⁸ So ‘Esav lived in the hill-country of Se‘ir. (‘Esav is Edom.)

⁹ This is the genealogy of ‘Esav the father of Edom in the hill-country of Se‘ir. ¹⁰ The names of ‘Esav’s sons were Elifaz, son of ‘Adah the wife of ‘Esav, and Re‘u’el the son of Basmat the wife of ‘Esav.

¹¹ The sons of Elifaz were Teman, Omar, Tzefo, Ga‘tam and K’naz. ¹² Timnah was the concubine of Elifaz ‘Esav’s son, and she bore to Elifaz ‘Amalek. These were the descendants of ‘Adah ‘Esav’s wife.

¹³ The sons of Re‘u’el were Nachat, Zerach, Shammah and Mizah. These were the sons of Basmat ‘Esav’s wife.

¹⁴ These were the sons of Oholivamah, the daughter of ‘Anah the daughter of Tziv‘on, ‘Esav’s wife: she bore to ‘Esav Ye‘ush, Ya‘lam and Korach.

¹⁵ The chieftains of the sons of ‘Esav were the sons of Elifaz the firstborn of ‘Esav and the chieftains of Teman, Omar, Tzefo, K’naz, ¹⁶ Korach, Ga‘tam and ‘Amalek. These were the chieftains descended from Elifaz in Edom and from ‘Adah.

¹⁷ The sons of Re‘u’el ‘Esav’s son were the chieftains of Nachat, Zerach, Shammah and Mizah. These were the chieftains descended from Re‘u’el in the land of Edom and from Basmat ‘Esav’s wife.

¹⁸ The sons of Oholivamah ‘Esav’s wife were the chieftains of Ye‘ush, Ya‘lam and Korach. These were the chieftains descended from Oholivamah the daughter of ‘Anah, ‘Esav’s wife.

¹⁹ These were the descendants of ‘Esav (that is, Edom), and these were their chieftains.

(vii) ²⁰ These were the descendants of Se‘ir the Hori, the local inhabitants: Lotan, Shoval, Tziv‘on, ‘Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Etzer and Dishan. They were the chieftains descended from the Hori, the people of Se‘ir in the land of Edom. ²² The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; Lotan’s sister was Timnah. ²³ The sons of Shoval were ‘Alvan, Manachat, ‘Eival, Sh’fo and Onam. ²⁴ The sons of Tziv‘on were Ayah and ‘Anah. This is the ‘Anah who found the hot springs in the desert while pasturing his father Tziv‘on’s donkeys. ²⁵ The children of ‘Anah were Dishon and Oholivamah the daughter of ‘Anah. ²⁶ The sons of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Yitran and K’ran. ²⁷ The sons of Etzer were Bilhan, Za‘avan and ‘Akan. ²⁸ The sons of Dishan were ‘Utz and Aran. ²⁹ These were the chieftains descended from the Hori: the chieftains of Lotan, Shoval, Tziv‘on, ‘Anah, ³⁰ Dishon, Etzer and Dishan. They were the chieftains descended from the Hori by their clans in Se‘ir.

³¹ Following are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king had reigned over the people of Isra’el. ³² Bela the son of B‘or reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhavah. ³³ When Bela died, Yovav the son of Zerach from Botzrah reigned in his place. ³⁴ When Yovav died, Husham from the land of the Temani reigned in his place. ³⁵ When Husham died, Hadad the son of B’dad, who killed Midyan in the field of Mo’av, reigned in his place; the name of his city was ‘Avit. ³⁶ When Hadad died, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. ³⁷ When Samlah died, Sha’ul of Rechovot-by-the-River reigned in his place. ³⁸ When Sha’ul died, Ba‘al-Chanan the son of ‘Akhbor reigned in his place. ³⁹ When Ba‘al-Chanan died, Hadar reigned in his place; the name of his city was Pa’u; and his wife’s name was M’heitav’el the daughter of Matred the daughter of Mei-Zahav.

(Maftir) ⁴⁰ These are the names of the chieftains descended from ‘Esav, according to their clans, places and names: the chieftains of Timna, ‘Alvah, Y’tet, ⁴¹ Oholivamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁴² Kenaz, Teman, Mivtzar, ⁴³ Magdi’el and ‘Iram. These were the chieftains of Edom according to their settlements in the land they owned. This is ‘Esav the father of Edom.

Haftarah Vayishlach: Hoshea (Hosea) 11:7–12:12(11) (A); ‘Ovadyah (Obadiah) 1–21 (S)

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Vayishlach: 1 Corinthians 5:1–13; Revelation 7:1–12

12 One Shabbat during that time, Yeshua was walking through some wheat fields. His talmidim were hungry, so they began picking heads of grain and eating them. ² On seeing this, the P’rushim said to him, “Look! Your talmidim are violating Shabbat!” ³ But he said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what David did when he and those with him were hungry? ⁴ He entered the House of God and ate the Bread of the Presence!” — which was prohibited, both to him and to his companions; it is permitted only to the cohanim. ⁵ “Or haven’t you read in the Torah that on Shabbat the cohanim profane Shabbat and yet are blameless? ⁶ I tell you, there is in this place something greater than the Temple! ⁷ If you knew what ‘I want compassion rather than animal-sacrifice’^[a] meant, you would not condemn the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man is Lord of Shabbat!”

⁹ Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue. ¹⁰ A man there had a shriveled hand. Looking for a reason to accuse him of something, they asked him, “Is healing permitted on Shabbat?” ¹¹ But he answered, “If you have a sheep that falls in a pit on Shabbat, which of you won’t take hold of it and lift it out? ¹² How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore, what is permitted on Shabbat is to do good.” ¹³ Then to the man he said, “Hold out your hand.” As he held it out, it became restored, as sound as the other one. ¹⁴ But the P’rushim went out and began plotting how they might do away with Yeshua. ¹⁵ Aware of this, he left that area.

Many people followed him; and he healed them all ¹⁶ but warned them not to make him known. ¹⁷ This was to fulfill what had been spoken through Yesha‘yahu the prophet,