The name Genesis means ‘origin’. The book tells about the creation of the universe, the origin of mankind, the beginning of sin and suffering in the world, and about God’s way of dealing with mankind. Genesis can be divided into two main parts:
- Chapters 1-11 The creation of the world and the early history of the human race. Here are the accounts of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, and the Tower of Babylon.
- Chapters 12-50 The history of the early ancestors of the Israelites. The first is Abraham, who was notable for his faith and his obedience to God. Then follow the stories of his son Isaac, and grandson Jacob (also called Israel), and of Jacob’s twelve sons, who were the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. Special attention is given to one of the sons, Joseph, and the events that brought Jacob and his other sons with their families to live in Egypt.
While this book tells stories about people, it is first and foremost an account of what God has done. It begins with the affirmation that God created the universe, and it ends with a promise that god will continue to show his concern for his people. Throughout the book the main character is God, who judges and punishes those who do wrong, leads and helps his people, and shapes their history. This ancient book was written to record the story of a people’s faith and to help keep that faith alive.
Outline of contents
Creation of the universe and of mankind 1.1 – 2.25
The beginning of sin and suffering 3.1 – 24
From Adam to Noah 4.1 – 5.32
Noah and the flood 6.1 – 10.32
The tower of Babylon 11.1 – 9
From Shem to Abram 11.10 – 32
The patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob 12.1 – 35.29
The descendants of Esau 36.1 – 43
Joseph and his brothers 37.1 – 45.28
The Israelites in Egypt 46.1 – 50.26
Six Days of Creation and the Sabbath
Genesis
The name Genesis means ‘origin’. The book tells about the creation of the universe, the origin of mankind, the beginning of sin and suffering in the world, and about God’s way of dealing with mankind. Genesis can be divided into two main parts:
- Chapters 1-11 The creation of the world and the early history of the human race. Here are the accounts of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, and the Tower of Babylon.
- Chapters 12-50 The history of the early ancestors of the Israelites. The first is Abraham, who was notable for his faith and his obedience to God. Then follow the stories of his son Isaac, and grandson Jacob (also called Israel), and of Jacob’s twelve sons, who were the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. Special attention is given to one of the sons, Joseph, and the events that brought Jacob and his other sons with their families to live in Egypt.
While this book tells stories about people, it is first and foremost an account of what God has done. It begins with the affirmation that God created the universe, and it ends with a promise that god will continue to show his concern for his people. Throughout the book the main character is God, who judges and punishes those who do wrong, leads and helps his people, and shapes their history. This ancient book was written to record the story of a people’s faith and to help keep that faith alive.
Outline of contents
Creation of the universe and of mankind 1.1 – 2.25
The beginning of sin and suffering 3.1 – 24
From Adam to Noah 4.1 – 5.32
Noah and the flood 6.1 – 10.32
The tower of Babylon 11.1 – 9
From Shem to Abram 11.10 – 32
The patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob 12.1 – 35.29
The descendants of Esau 36.1 – 43
Joseph and his brothers 37.1 – 45.28
The Israelites in Egypt 46.1 – 50.26
The Story of Creation
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, when God created the universe,
Genesis 1:2 the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the power of God was moving over the water.
Genesis 1:3 Then God commanded, “Let there be light” – and light appeared.
Genesis 1:4 God was pleased with what he saw. Then he separated the light from the darkness,
Genesis 1:5 and he named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night”. Evening passed and morning came – that was the first day.
Genesis 1:6-7 Then God commanded, “Let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places” – and it was done. So God made a dome, and it separated the water under it from the water above it.
Genesis 1:8 He named the dome “Sky”. Evening passed and morning came-that was the second day.
Genesis 1:9 Then God commanded, “Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that the land will appear” – and it was done.
Genesis 1:10 He named the land “Earth,” and the water which had come together he named “Sea.” And God was pleased with what he saw.
Genesis 1:11 Then he commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of plants, those that bear grain and those that bear fruit”- and it was done.
Genesis 1:12 So the earth produced all kinds of plants, and God was pleased with what he saw.
Genesis 1:13 Evening passed and morning came – that was the third day.
Genesis 1:14 Then God commanded, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days years, and religious festivals begin;
Genesis 1:15 they will shine in the sky to give light to the earth” – and it was done.
Genesis 1:16 So God made the two larger lights, the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night; he also made the stars.
Genesis 1:17 He placed the lights in the sky to shine on the earth,
Genesis 1:18 to rule over the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God was pleased with what he saw.
Genesis 1:19 Evening passed and morning came – That was the fourth day.
Genesis 1:20 Then God commanded, “Let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings, and let the air be filled with birds.”
Genesis 1:21 So God created the great sea-monsters, all kinds of creatures that live in the water, and all kinds of birds. And God was pleased with what he saw.
Genesis 1:22 He blessed then all and told the creatures that live in the water to reproduce, and to fill the sea, and he told the birds to increase in number.
Genesis 1:23 Evening passed and morning came – that was the fifth day.
Genesis 1:24 Then God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small” – and it was done.
Genesis 1:25 So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small.”
Genesis 1:27 So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female,
Genesis 1:28 blessed them, and said, “Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.
Genesis 1:29 I have provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat;
Genesis 1:30 but for all the wild animals and for all the birds I have provided grass and leafy plants for food” – and it was done.
Genesis 1:31 God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased. Evening passed and morning came – that was the sixth day.
Genesis 2:1 And so the whole universe was completed.
Genesis 2:2 By the seventh day God finished what he had been doing and stopped working.
Genesis 2:3 He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation and stopped working.
Genesis 2:4 And that is how the universe was created.
The Garden of Eden
When the LORD God made the universe,
Genesis 2:5 there were no plants on the earth and no seeds had sprouted, because he had not sent any rain, and there was no one to cultivate the land;
Genesis 2:6 but water would come up from beneath the surface and water the ground.
Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.
Genesis 2:8 Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed.
Genesis 2:9 He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad.
Genesis 2:10 A stream flowed in Eden and watered the garden; beyond Eden it divided into four rivers.
Genesis 2:11 The first river is the Pishon; it flows round the country of Havilah.
Genesis 2:(12 Pure gold is found there and also rare perfume and precious stones.)
Genesis 2:13 The second river is the Gihon; it flows round the country of Cush.
Genesis 2:14 The third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria, and the fourth river is the Euphrates.
Genesis 2:15 Then the LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it.
Genesis 2:16 He said to him, “You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden,
Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day.”
Genesis 2:18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a suitable companion to help him.”
Genesis 2:19 So he took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and all the birds. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and that is how they all got their names.
Genesis 2:20 So the man named all the birds and all the animals; but not one of them was a suitable companion to help him.
Genesis 2:21 Then the LORD God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the flesh.
Genesis 2:22 He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him.
Genesis 2:23 Then the man said,
“At last, here is one of my own kind – Bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh.
‘Woman’ is her name because she was taken out of man.”
Genesis 2:24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one.
Genesis 2:25 The man and the woman were both naked, but they were not embarrassed.
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Genesis
Introduction
The name Genesis means ‘origin’. The book tells about the creation of the universe, the origin of mankind, the beginning of sin and suffering in the world, and about God’s way of dealing with mankind. Genesis can be divided into two main parts:
- Chapters 1-11 The creation of the world and the early history of the human race. Here are the accounts of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the flood, and the Tower of Babylon.
- Chapters 12-50 The history of the early ancestors of the Israelites. The first is Abraham, who was notable for his faith and his obedience to God. Then follow the stories of his son Isaac, and grandson Jacob (also called Israel), and of Jacob’s twelve sons, who were the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. Special attention is given to one of the sons, Joseph, and the events that brought Jacob and his other sons with their families to live in Egypt.
While this book tells stories about people, it is first and foremost an account of what God has done. It begins with the affirmation that God created the universe, and it ends with a promise that god will continue to show his concern for his people. Throughout the book the main character is God, who judges and punishes those who do wrong, leads and helps his people, and shapes their history. This ancient book was written to record the story of a people’s faith and to help keep that faith alive.
Outline of contents
Creation of the universe and of mankind 1.1 – 2.25
The beginning of sin and suffering 3.1 – 24
From Adam to Noah 4.1 – 5.32
Noah and the flood 6.1 – 10.32
The tower of Babylon 11.1 – 9
From Shem to Abram 11.10 – 32
The patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob 12.1 – 35.29
The descendants of Esau 36.1 – 43
Joseph and his brothers 37.1 – 45.28
The Israelites in Egypt 46.1 – 50.26
Chapter 1
The Story of Creation
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, when God created the universe,
Genesis 1:2 the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the power of God was moving over the water.
Genesis 1:3 Then God commanded, “Let there be light” – and light appeared.
Genesis 1:4 God was pleased with what he saw. Then he separated the light from the darkness,
Genesis 1:5 and he named the light “Day” and the darkness “Night”. Evening passed and morning came – that was the first day.
Genesis 1:6-7 Then God commanded, “Let there be a dome to divide the water and to keep it in two separate places” – and it was done. So God made a dome, and it separated the water under it from the water above it.
Genesis 1:8 He named the dome “Sky”. Evening passed and morning came-that was the second day.
Genesis 1:9 Then God commanded, “Let the water below the sky come together in one place, so that the land will appear” – and it was done.
Genesis 1:10 He named the land “Earth,” and the water which had come together he named “Sea.” And God was pleased with what he saw.
Genesis 1:11 Then he commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of plants, those that bear grain and those that bear fruit”- and it was done.
Genesis 1:12 So the earth produced all kinds of plants, and God was pleased with what he saw.
Genesis 1:13 Evening passed and morning came – that was the third day.
Genesis 1:14 Then God commanded, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate day from night and to show the time when days years, and religious festivals begin;
Genesis 1:15 they will shine in the sky to give light to the earth” – and it was done.
Genesis 1:16 So God made the two larger lights, the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night; he also made the stars.
Genesis 1:17 He placed the lights in the sky to shine on the earth,
Genesis 1:18 to rule over the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God was pleased with what he saw.
Genesis 1:19 Evening passed and morning came – That was the fourth day.
Genesis 1:20 Then God commanded, “Let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings, and let the air be filled with birds.”
Genesis 1:21 So God created the great sea-monsters, all kinds of creatures that live in the water, and all kinds of birds. And God was pleased with what he saw.
Genesis 1:22 He blessed then all and told the creatures that live in the water to reproduce, and to fill the sea, and he told the birds to increase in number.
Genesis 1:23 Evening passed and morning came – that was the fifth day.
Genesis 1:24 Then God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small” – and it was done.
Genesis 1:25 So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all animals, domestic and wild, large and small.”
Genesis 1:27 So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female,
Genesis 1:28 blessed them, and said, “Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.
Genesis 1:29 I have provided all kinds of grain and all kinds of fruit for you to eat;
Genesis 1:30 but for all the wild animals and for all the birds I have provided grass and leafy plants for food” – and it was done.
Genesis 1:31 God looked at everything he had made, and he was very pleased. Evening passed and morning came – that was the sixth day.
Chapter 2
Genesis 2:1 And so the whole universe was completed.
Genesis 2:2 By the seventh day God finished what he had been doing and stopped working.
Genesis 2:3 He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation and stopped working.
Genesis 2:4 And that is how the universe was created.
The Garden of Eden
When the LORD God made the universe,
Genesis 2:5 there were no plants on the earth and no seeds had sprouted, because he had not sent any rain, and there was no one to cultivate the land;
Genesis 2:6 but water would come up from beneath the surface and water the ground.
Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.
Genesis 2:8 Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed.
Genesis 2:9 He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad.
Genesis 2:10 A stream flowed in Eden and watered the garden; beyond Eden it divided into four rivers.
Genesis 2:11 The first river is the Pishon; it flows round the country of Havilah.
Genesis 2:(12 Pure gold is found there and also rare perfume and precious stones.)
Genesis 2:13 The second river is the Gihon; it flows round the country of Cush.
Genesis 2:14 The third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria, and the fourth river is the Euphrates.
Genesis 2:15 Then the LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it.
Genesis 2:16 He said to him, “You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden,
Genesis 2:17 except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day.”
Genesis 2:18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a suitable companion to help him.”
Genesis 2:19 So he took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and all the birds. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and that is how they all got their names.
Genesis 2:20 So the man named all the birds and all the animals; but not one of them was a suitable companion to help him.
Genesis 2:21 Then the LORD God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the flesh.
Genesis 2:22 He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him.
Genesis 2:23 Then the man said,
“At last, here is one of my own kind – Bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh.
‘Woman’ is her name because she was taken out of man.”
Genesis 2:24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one.
Genesis 2:25 The man and the woman were both naked, but they were not embarrassed.
Chapter 3
The Disobedience of Man
Genesis 3:1 Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”
Genesis 3:2 “We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden,” the woman answered
Genesis 3:3 “except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die.”
Genesis 3:4 The snake replied, “That’s not true: you will not die.
Genesis 3:5 God said that, because he knows that when you eat it you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad.”
Genesis 3:6 The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it.
Genesis 3:7 As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.
Genesis 3:8 That evening they heard the LORD God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees.
Genesis 3:9 But the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?”
Genesis 3:10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden; I was afraid and hid from you, because I was naked.”
Genesis 3:11 “Who told you that you were naked?’ God asked. “Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?”
Genesis 3:12 The man answered, “The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
Genesis 3:13 The Lord God asked the woman, “Why did you do this?”
She replied, “The snake tricked me into eating it.”
God Pronounces Judgment
Genesis 3:14 Then the LORD God said to the snake, “You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: From now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live.
Genesis 3:15 I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite their heel.”
Genesis 3:16 And he said to the woman, “I will increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth. In spite of this, you will still have desire for your husband, yet you will be subject to him.”
Genesis 3:17 And he said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate the fruit which I told you not to eat. Because of what you have done, the ground will be under a curse. You will have to work hard all your life to make it produce enough food for you.
Genesis 3:18 It will produce weeds and thorns, and you will have to eat wild plants.
Genesis 3:19 You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again.”
Genesis 3:20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all human beings.
Genesis 3:21 And the LORD God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them.
Adam and Eve Are Sent Out of the Garden
Genesis 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Now the man has become like one of us and has knowledge of what is good and what is bad. He must not be allowed to take fruit from the tree that gives life, eat it, and live for ever.”
Genesis 3:23 So the LORD God sent him out of the Garden of Eden and made him cultivate the soil from which he had been formed.
Genesis 3:24 Then at the east side of the garden he put living creatures and a flaming sword which turned in all directions. This was to keep anyone from coming near the tree that gives life.
Chapter 4
Cain and Abel
Genesis 4:1 Then Adam had intercourse with his wife and she became pregnant. She bore a son and said, “By the LORD’s help I have acquired a son.” So she named him Cain.
Genesis 4:2 Later she gave birth to another son, Abel. Abel became a shepherd, but Cain was a farmer.
Genesis 4:3 After some time, Cain brought some of his harvest and gave it as an offering to the LORD.
Genesis 4:4 Then Abel brought the first lamb born to one of his sheep, killed it, and gave the best parts of it as an offering. The LORD was pleased with Abel and his offering,
Genesis 4:5 but he rejected Cain and his offering. Cain became furious, and he scowled in anger.
Genesis 4:6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why that scowl on your face?
Genesis 4:7 If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling; but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door. It wants to rule you, but you must overcome it.”
Genesis 4:8 Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out in the fields,” When they were out in the fields, Cain turned on his brother and killed him.
Genesis 4:9 The LORD asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
He answered, “I don’t know. Am I supposed to take care of my brother?”
Genesis 4:10 Then the LORD said, “Why have you done this terrible thing? Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground, like a voice calling for revenge.
Genesis 4:11 Your are placed under a curse and can no longer farm the soil. It has soaked up your brother’s blood as if it had opened its mouth to receive it when you killed him.
Genesis 4:12 If you try to grow crops, the soil will not produce anything; you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”
Genesis 4:13 And Cain said to the LORD. “This punishment is too hard for me to bear.
Genesis 4:14 You are driving me off the land and away from your presence. I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth, and anyone who finds me will kill me.”
Genesis 4:15 But the LORD answered, “No. If anyone kills you, seven lives will be taken in revenge.” So the LORD put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who met him not to kill him.
Genesis 4:16 And Cain went away from the LORD’s presence and lived in a land called “Wandering,” which is east of Eden.
The Descendants of Cain
Genesis 4:17 Cain and his wife had a son and named him Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son.
Genesis 4:18 Enoch had a son named Irad, who was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael had a son named Methushael, who was the father of Lamech.
Genesis 4:19 Lamech had two wives, Adah and Zillah.
Genesis 4:20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the ancestor of those who raise livestock and live in tents.
Genesis 4:21 His brother was Jubal, the ancestor of all musicians who play the harp and the flute.
Genesis 4:22 Zillah gave birth to Tubal Cain, who made all kinds of tools out of bronze and Iron. The sister of Tubal Cain was Naamah.
Genesis 4:23 Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me: I have killed a young man because he struck me.
Genesis 4:24 If seven lives are taken to pay for killing Cain, Seventy-seven will be taken if anyone kills me.”
Seth and Enosh
Genesis 4:25 Adam and his wife had another son. She said, “God has given me a son to replace Abel, whom Cain killed.” So she named him Seth.
Genesis 4:26 Seth had a son whom he named Enosh. It was then that people began using the Lord’s holy name in worship.
Chapter 5
The Descendants of Adam
(1 Chr 1:1 – 4)
Genesis 5:1 This is the list of the descendants of Adam. (When God created human beings, he made them like himself.
Genesis 5:2 He created them male and female, blessed them, and named them “Mankind.”)
Genesis 5:3 When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son who was like him, and he named him Seth.
Genesis 5:4 After that, Adam lived another 800 years. He had other children
Genesis 5:5 and died at the age of 930.
Genesis 5:6 When Seth was 105, he had a son, Enosh,
Genesis 5:7 and then lived another 807 years. He had other children
Genesis 5:8 and died at the age of 912.
Genesis 5:9 When Enosh was 90, he had a son Kenan,
Genesis 5:10 and then lived another 815 years. He had other children
Genesis 5:11 and died at the age of 905.
Genesis 5:12 When Kenan was 70, he had a son, Mahalalel,
Genesis 5:13 and then lived another 840 years. He had other children
Genesis 5:14 and died at the age of 910.
Genesis 5:15 When Mahalalel was 65, he had a son, Jared,
Genesis 5:16 and then lived another 830 years. He had other children
Genesis 5:17 and died at the age of 895.
Genesis 5:18 When Jared was 162, he had a son, Enoch,
Genesis 5:19 and then lived another 800 years. He had other children
Genesis 5:20 and died at the age of 962.
Genesis 5:21 When Enoch was 65, he had a son, Methuselah.
Genesis 5:22 After that, Enoch lived in fellowship with God for 300 years and had other children.
Genesis 5:23 He lived to be 365 years old.
Genesis 5:24 He spent his life in fellowship with God, and then he disappeared, because God took him away.
Genesis 5:25 When Methuselah was 187, he had a son, Lamech,
Genesis 5:26 and then lived another 782 years. He had other children
Genesis 5:27 and died at the age of 969.
Genesis 5:28 When Lamech was 182, he had a son,
Genesis 5:29 and said, “Form the very ground on which the Lord put a curse, this child will bring us relief from all our hard work”; so he named him Noah.
Genesis 5:30 Lamech lived another 595 years. He had other children
Genesis 5:31 and died at the age of 777.
Genesis 5:32 After Noah was 500 years old, he had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Chapter 6
The Wickedness of Mankind
Genesis 6:1 When mankind had spread all over the world, and girls were being born,
Genesis 6:2 some of the heavenly beings saw that these girls were beautiful, so they took the ones they liked.
Genesis 6:3 Then the LORD said, “I will not allow people to live for ever; they are mortal. From now on they will live no longer than a hundred and twenty years.”
Genesis 6:4 In those days, and even later, there were giants on the earth who were descendants of human women and the heavenly beings. They were the great heroes and famous men of long ago.
Genesis 6:5 When the LORD saw how wicked everyone on earth was and how evil their thoughts were all the time,
Genesis 6:6 he was sorry that he had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret
Genesis 6:7 that he said, “I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them.”
Genesis 6:8 But the LORD was pleased with Noah.
Noah
Genesis 6:9-10 This is the story of Noah. He had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Noah had no faults and was the only good man of his time. He lived in fellowship with God,
Genesis 6:11 but everyone. Else was evil in God’s sight, and violence had spread everywhere.
Genesis 6:12 God looked at the world and saw that it was evil, for the people were all living evil lives.
Genesis 6:13 God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to all mankind. I will destroy them completely, because the world is full of their violent deeds.
Genesis 6:14 Build a boat for yourself out of good timber; make rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out.
Genesis 6:15 Make it 133 metres long, 22 metres wide, and 13 metres high.
Genesis 6:16 Make a roof for the boat and leave a space of 44 centimetres between the roof and the sides. Build it with three decks and put a door in the side.
Genesis 6:17 I am going to send a flood on the earth to destroy every living being. Everything on the earth will die,
Genesis 6:18 but I will make a covenant with you. Go into the boat with your wife, your sons, and their wives.
Genesis 6:19-20 Take into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and of every kind of bird, in order to keep them alive.
Genesis 6:21 Take along all kinds of food for you and for them.” 22Noah did everything that God commanded.
Chapter 7
The Flood
Genesis 7:1 The LORD said to Noah, “Go into the boat with your family; I have found that you are the only one in all the world who does what is right.
Genesis 7:2 Take with you seven pairs of each kind of ritually clean animal, but only one pair of each kind of unclean animal.
Genesis 7:3 Take also seven pairs of each kind of bird. Do this so that every kind of animal and bird will be kept alive to reproduce again on the earth.
Genesis 7:4 Seven days from now I am going to send rain that will fall for forty days and nights, in order to destroy all the living beings that I have made.”
Genesis 7:5 And Noah did everything that the LORD commanded.
Genesis 7:6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came on the earth.
Genesis 7:7 He and his wife, and his sons and their wives, went into the boat to escape the flood.
Genesis 7:8 A male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, whether ritually clean or unclean,
Genesis 7:9 went into the boat with Noah, as God had commanded.
Genesis 7:10 Seven days later the flood came.
Genesis 7:11 When Noah was six hundred years old, on the seventeenth day of the second month all the outlets of the vast body of water beneath the earth burst open, all the floodgates of the sky were opened,
Genesis 7:12 and rain fell on the earth for forty days and nights.
Genesis 7:13 On the same day Noah and his wife went into the boat with their three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives.
Genesis 7:14 With them went every kind of animal, domestic and wild, large and small, and every kind of bird.
Genesis 7:15 A male and a female of each kind of living being went into the boat with Noah,
Genesis 7:16 as God had commanded. Then the LORD shut the door behind Noah.
Genesis 7:17 The flood continued for forty days, and the water became deep enough for the boat to float.
Genesis 7:18 The water became deeper, and the boat drifted on the surface.
Genesis 7:19 It became so deep that is covered the highest mountains;
Genesis 7:20 it went on rising until it was about seven metres above the tops of the mountains.
Genesis 7:21 Every living being on the earth died – every bird, every animal, and every person.
Genesis 7:22 Everything on earth that breathed died.
Genesis 7:23 The LORD destroyed all living beings on the earth – human beings, animals, and birds. The only ones left were Noah and those who were with him in the boat.
Genesis 7:24 The water did not start going down for a hundred and fifty days.
Chapter 8
The End of the Flood
Genesis 8:1 God had not forgotten Noah and all the animals with him in the boat; he caused a wind to blow, and the water started going down.
Genesis 8:2 The outlets of the water beneath the earth and the flood gates of the sky were closed. The rain stopped,
Genesis 8:3 and the water gradually went down for a hundred and fifty days.
Genesis 8:4 On the seventeenth day of the seventh month the boat came to rest on a mountain in the Ararat range.
Genesis 8:5 The water kept going down, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared.
Genesis 8:6 After forty days Noah opened a window
Genesis 8:7 and sent out a raven. It did not come back, but kept flying around until the water was completely gone.
Genesis 8:8 Meanwhile Noah sent out a dove to see if the water had gone down,
Genesis 8:9 but since the water still covered all the land, the dove did not find a place to alight. It flew back to the boat, and Noah reached out and took it in.
Genesis 8:10 He waited another seven days and sent out the dove again.
Genesis 8:11 It returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. So Noah knew that the water had gone down.
Genesis 8:12 Then he waited another seven days and sent out the dove once more; this time it did not come back.
Genesis 8:13 When Noah was 601 years old, on the first day of the first month, the water was gone. Noah removed the covering of the boat, looked round, and saw that the ground was getting dry.
Genesis 8:14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.
Genesis 8:15 God said to Noah,
Genesis 8:16 “Go out of the boat with your wife, your sons, and their wives.
Genesis 8:17 Take all the birds and animals out with you, so that they may reproduce and spread over all the earth.”
Genesis 8:18 So Noah went out of the boat with his wife, his sons, and their wives.
Genesis 8:19 All the animals and birds went out of the boat in groups of their own kind.
Noah Offers a Sacrifice
Genesis 8:20 Noah built an altar to the LORD; he took one of each kind of ritually clean animal and bird, and burnt them whole as a sacrifice on the altar.
Genesis 8:21 The odour of the sacrifice pleased the LORD, and he said to himself, “Never again will I put the earth under a curse because of what man does; I know that from the time he is young his thoughts are evil. Never again will I destroy all living beings, as I have done this time.
Genesis 8:22 As long as the world exists, there will be a time for planting and a time for harvest. There will always be cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”
Chapter 9
God’s Covenant with Noah
Genesis 9:1 God blessed Noah and his sons and said, “Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth.
Genesis 9:2 All the animals, birds, and fish will live in fear of you. They are all placed under your power.
Genesis 9:3 Now you can eat them, as well as green plants; I give them all to you for food.
Genesis 9:4 The one thing you must not eat is meat with blood still in it; I forbid this because the life is in the blood.
Genesis 9:5 If anyone takes human life, he will be punished. I will punish with death any animal that takes a human life.
Genesis 9:6 Man was made like God, so whoever murders a man will himself be killed by his fellowman.
Genesis 9:7 “You must have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth.”
Genesis 9:8 God said to Noah and his sons,
Genesis 9:9 “I am now making my covenant with you and with your descendants,
Genesis 9:10 and with all living beings – all birds and all animals – everything that came out of the boat with you.
Genesis 9:11 With these words I make my covenant with you: I promise that never again will all living beings be destroyed by a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth.
Genesis 9:12 As a sign of this everlasting covenant which I am making with you and with all livings beings,
Genesis 9:13 I am putting my bow in the clouds. It will be the sign of my covenant with the world.
Genesis 9:14 Whenever I cover the sky with clouds and the rainbow appears,
Genesis 9:15 I will remember my promise to you and to all the animals that a flood will never again destroy all living beings.
Genesis 9:16 When the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between me and all living beings on earth.
Genesis 9:17 That is the sign of the promise which I am making to all livings beings.”
Noah and His Sons
Genesis 9:18 The sons of Noah who went out of the boat were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)
Genesis 9:19 These three sons of Noah were the ancestors of all the people on earth.
Genesis 9:20 Noah, who was a farmer, was the first man to plant a vineyard.
Genesis 9:21 After he drank some of the wine, he became drunk, took off his clothes, and lay naked in his tent.
Genesis 9:22 When Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked, he went out and told his two brothers.
Genesis 9:23 Then Shem and Japheth took a robe and held it behind them on their shoulders. They walked backwards into the tent and covered their father, keeping their faces turned away so as not to see him naked.
Genesis 9:24 When Noah was sober again and learnt what his youngest son had done to him,
Genesis 9:25 he said,
“A curse on Canaan!
He will be a slave to his brothers.
Genesis 9:26 Give praise to the Lord, the God of Shem!
Canaan will be the slave of Shem.
Genesis 9:27 May God cause Japheth to increase!
May his descendants live with the people of Shem!
Canaan will be the slave of Japheth.”
Genesis 9:28 After the flood Noah lived for 350 years
Genesis 9:29 and died at the age of 950.
Chapter 10
The Descendants of Noah’s Sons
(1 Chr 1:5 – 23)
Genesis 10:1 These are the descendants of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. These three had sons after the flood.
Genesis 10:2 The sons of Japheth – Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras – were the ancestors of the peoples who bear their names.
Genesis 10:3 The descendants of Gomer were the people of Ashkenaz, Riphath; and Togarmah.
Genesis 10:4 The descendants of Javan were the people of Elishah, Spain, Cyprus, and Rhodes;
Genesis 10:5 they were the ancestors of the people who live along the coast and on the islands. These are the descendants of Japheth, living in their different tribes and countries, each group speaking its own language.
Genesis 10:6 The sons of Ham – Cush, Egypt, Libya and Canaan – were the ancestors of the peoples who bear their names.
Genesis 10:7 The descendants of Cush were the people of Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah were the people of Sheba and Dedan.
Genesis 10:8 Cush had a son named Nimrod, who became the world’s first great conqueror.
Genesis 10:9 By the LORD’s help he was a great hunter, and that is why people say, “May the LORD make you as great a hunter as Nimrod!”
Genesis 10:10 At first his kingdom included Babylon, Erech, and Accad, all three of them in Babylonia.
Genesis 10:11 From that land he went to Assyria and built the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah,
Genesis 10:12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city of Calah.
Genesis 10:13 The descendants of Egypt were the people of Lydia, Anam, Lehab, Naphtuh,
Genesis 10:14 Pathrus, Casluh, and of Crete, from whom the Philistines are descended.
Genesis 10:15 Canaan’s sons – Sidon, the eldest, and Heth – were the ancestors of the peoples who bear their names.
Genesis 10:16 Canaan was also the ancestor of the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,
Genesis 10:17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,
Genesis 10:18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. The different tribes of the Canaanites spread out,
Genesis 10:19 until the Canaanite borders reached from Sidon southwards to Gerar near Gaza, and eastwards to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim near Lasha.
Genesis 10:20 These are the descendants of Ham, living in their different tribes and countries, each group speaking its own language.
Genesis 10:21 Shem, the elder brother of Japheth, was the ancestor of all the Hebrews.
Genesis 10:22 Shem’s sons Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram – were the ancestors of the peoples who bear their names.
Genesis 10:23 The descendants of Aram were the people of Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshek.
Genesis 10:24 Arpachshad was the father of Shelah, who was the father of Eber.
Genesis 10:25 Eber had two sons: one was named Peleg, because during his time the people of the world were divided; and the other was named Joktan.
Genesis 10:26 The descendants of Joktan were the people of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
Genesis 10:27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
Genesis 10:28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
Genesis 10:29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All of them were descended from Joktan.
Genesis 10:30 The land in which they lived extended from Mesha to Sephar in the eastern hill country.
Genesis 10:31 These are the descendants of Shem, living in their different tribes and countries, each group speaking its own language.
Genesis 10:32 All these peoples are the descendants of Noah, nation by nation, according to their different lines of descent. After the flood all the nations of the earth were descended from the sons of Noah.
Chapter 11
The Tower of Babylon
Genesis 11:1 At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words.
Genesis 11:2 As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there.
Genesis 11:3 They said to one another, “Come on! Let’s make bricks and bake them hard.” So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together.
Genesis 11:4 They said, “Now let’s build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth.”
Genesis 11:5 Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which those men had built,
Genesis 11:6 and he said, “Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want!
Genesis 11:7 Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand one another.”
Genesis 11:8 So the Lord scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city.
Genesis 11:9 The city was called Babylon, because there the LORD mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth.
The Descendants of Shem
(1 Chr 1:24 – 27)
Genesis 11:10 These are the descendants of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he had a son, Arpachshad.
Genesis 11:11 After that, he lived another 500 years and had other children.
Genesis 11:12 When Arpachshad was 35 years old, he had a son, Shelah;
Genesis 11:13 after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children.
Genesis 11:14 When Shelah was 30 years old, he had a son, Eber;
Genesis 11:15 after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children.
Genesis 11:16 When Eber was 34 years old, he had a son, Peleg;
Genesis 11:17 after that he lived another 430 years and had other children.
Genesis 11:18 When Peleg was 30 years old, he had a son, Reu;
Genesis 11:19 after that, he lived another 209 years and had other children.
Genesis 11:20 When Reu was 32 years old, he had a son, Serug;
Genesis 11:21 after that, he lived another 207 years and had other children.
Genesis 11:22 When Serug was 30 years old, he had a son, Nahor;
Genesis 11:23 after that, he lived another 200 years and had other children.
Genesis 11:24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he had a son, Terah;
Genesis 11:25 after that, he lived another 119 years and had other children.
Genesis 11:26 After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
The Descendants of Terah
Genesis 11:27 These are the descendants of Terah, who was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot,
Genesis 11:28 and Haran died in his native city, Ur in Babylonia, while his father was still living.
Genesis 11:29 Abram married Sarai, and Nahor married Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah.
Genesis 11:30 Sarai was not able to have children.
Genesis 11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, who was the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, Abram’s wife, and with them he left the city of Ur in Babylonia to go to the land of Canaan. They went as far as Haran and settled there.
Genesis 11:32 Terah died there at the age of two hundred and five.
Chapter 12
God’s Call to Abram
Genesis 12:1 The LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s home, and go to a land that I am going to show you.
Genesis 12:2 I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing.
Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you,
But I will curse those who curse you.
And through you I will bless all the nations.”
Genesis 12:4 When Abram was seventy-five years old, he started out from Haran, as the LORD had told him to do; and Lot went with him.
Genesis 12:5 Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the wealth and all the slaves they had acquired in Haran, and they started out for the land of Canaan.
When they arrived in Canaan,
Genesis 12:6 Abram travelled through the land until he came to the sacred tree of Moreh, the holy place at Shechem. (At that time the Canaanites were still living in the land.)
Genesis 12:7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “This is the country that I am going to give to your descendants.” Then Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Genesis 12:8 After that, he moved on south to the hill-country east of the city of Bethel and set up his camp between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There also he built an altar and worshipped the LORD.
Genesis 12:9 Then he moved on from place to place, going towards the southern part of Canaan.
Abram in Egypt
Genesis 12:10 But there was a famine in Canaan, and it was so bad that Abram went farther south to Egypt, to live there for a while.
Genesis 12:11 When he was about to cross the border into Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “You are a beautiful woman.
Genesis 12:12 When the Egyptians see you, they will assume that you are my wife, and so they will kill me and let you live.
Genesis 12:13 Tell them that you are my sister; then because of you they will let me live and treat me well.”
Genesis 12:14 When he crossed the border into Egypt, the Egyptians did see that his wife was beautiful.
Genesis 12:15 Some of the court officials saw her and told the king how beautiful she was; so she was taken to his palace.
Genesis 12:16 Because of her the king treated Abram well and gave him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, slaves, and camels.
Genesis 12:17 But because the king had taken Sarai, the LORD sent terrible diseases on him and on the people of his palace.
Genesis 12:18 Then the king sent for Abram and asked him, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife?
Genesis 12:19 Why did you say that she was your sister, and let me take her as my wife? Here is your wife; take her and get out!”
Genesis 12:20 The king gave orders to his men, so they took Abram and put him out of the country, together with his wife and everything he owned.
Chapter 13
Abram and Lot Separate
Genesis 13:1 Abram went north out of Egypt to the southern part of Canaan with his wife and everything he owned, and Lot went with him.
Genesis 13:2 Abram was a very rich man, with sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as silver and gold.
Genesis 13:3 Then he left there and moved from place to place, going towards Bethel. He reached the place between Bethel and Ai where he had camped before
Genesis 13:4 and had built an altar. There he worshipped the LORD.
Genesis 13:5 Lot also had sheep, goats, and cattle, as well as his own family and servants.
Genesis 13:6 And so there was not enough pasture land for the two of them to stay together, because they had too many animals.
Genesis 13:7 So quarrels broke out between the men who took care of Abram’s animals and those who took care of Lot’s animals. (At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were still living in the land.)
Genesis 13:8 Then Abram said to Lot, “We are relatives, and your men and my men shouldn’t be quarrelling.
Genesis 13:9 So let’s separate. Choose any part of the land you want. You go one way, and I’ll go the other.”
Genesis 13:10 Lot looked round and saw that the whole Jordan Valley, all the way to Zoar, had plenty of water, like the Garden of the LORD or like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD had destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.)
Genesis 13:11 So Lot chose the whole Jordan Valley for himself and moved away towards the east. That is how the two men parted.
Genesis 13:12 Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled among the cities in the valley and camped near Sodom,
Genesis 13:13 whose people were wicked and sinned against the LORD.
Abram Moves to Hebron
Genesis 13:14 After Lot had left, the LORD said to Abram, “From where you are, look carefully in all directions.
Genesis 13:15 I am going to give you and your descendants all the land that you see, and it will be yours for ever.
Genesis 13:16 I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth!
Genesis 13:17 Now, go and look over the whole land, because I am going to give it all to you.”
Genesis 13:18 So Abram moved his camp and settled near the sacred trees of Mamre at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.
Chapter 14
Abram Rescues Lot
Genesis 14:1 Four Kings, Amraphel of Babylonia, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim,
Genesis 14:2 went to war against five other kings: Bera of Sodom, Birsha of Gomorrah, Shinab of Admah, Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (or Zoar).
Genesis 14:3 These five kings had formed an alliance and joined forces in the Valley of Siddim, which is now the Dead Sea.
Genesis 14:4 They had been under the control of Chedorlaomer for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled against him.
Genesis 14:5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and his allies came with their armies and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in the plain of Kiriathaim,
Genesis 14:6 and the Horites in the mountains of Edom, pursuing them as far as Elparan on the edge of the desert.
Genesis 14:7 Then they turned round and came back to Kadesh (then known as Enmishpat). They conquered all the land of the Amalekites and defeated the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.
Genesis 14:8 Then the kings of Sodon, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela drew up their armies for battle in the Valley of Siddim and fought
Genesis 14:9 against the kings of Elam, Goiim, Babylonia, and Ellasar, five kings against four.
Genesis 14:10 The valley was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah tried to run away from the battle, they fell into the pits; but the other three kings escaped to the mountains.
Genesis 14:11 The four kings took everything in Sodom and Gomorrah, including the food, and went away.
Genesis 14:12 Lot, Abram’s nephew, was living in Sodom, so they took him and all his possessions.
Genesis 14:13 But a man escaped and reported all this to Abram, the Hebrew, who was living near the sacred trees belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner were Abram’s allies.
Genesis 14:14 When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he called together all the fighting men in his camp, 318 in all, and pursued the four kings all the way to Dan.
Genesis 14:15 There he divided his men into groups, attacked the enemy by night, and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus,
Genesis 14:16 and recovered the loot that had been taken. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other prisoners.
Melchizedek Blesses Abram
Genesis 14:17 When Abram came back from his victory over Chedorlaomer and the other kings, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (also called the King’s Valley).
Genesis 14:18 And Melchizedek, who was king of Salem and also a priest of the Most High God, brought bread and wine to Abram,
Genesis 14:19 blessed him, and said, “May the Most High God, who made heaven and earth, bless Abram!
Genesis 14:20 May the Most High God, who gave victory over your enemies, be praised!” And Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the loot he had recovered.
Genesis 14:21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Keep the loot, but give me back all my people.”
Genesis 14:22 Abram answered. “I solemnly swear before the LORD, the Most High God, Maker of heaven and earth,
Genesis 14:23 that I will not keep anything of yours, not even a thread or a sandal strap. Then you can never say. ‘I am the one who made Abram rich.’
Genesis 14:24 I will take nothing for myself. I will accept only what my men have used. But let my allies, Aner, Eshcol and Mamre, take their share.”
Chapter 15
God’s Covenant with Abram
Genesis 15:1 After this, Abram had a vision and heard the LORD say to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I will shield you from danger and give you a great reward.”
Genesis 15:2 But Abram answered, “Sovereign LORD, what good will your reward do me, since I have no children? My only heir is Eliezer of Damascus.
Genesis 15:3 You have given me no children, and one of my slaves will inherit my property.”
Genesis 15:4 Then he heard the LORD speaking to him again: “This slave Eliezer will not inherit your property; your own son will be your heir.”
Genesis 15:5 The LORD took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that.”
Genesis 15:6 Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the LORD was pleased with him and accepted him.
Genesis 15:7 Then the LORD said to him, “I am The Lord, who led you out of Ur in Babylonia, to give you this land as your own.”
Genesis 15:8 But Abram asked, “Sovereign LORD, how can I know that it will be mine?”
Genesis 15:9 He answered, “Bring me a cow, a goat, and a ram, each of them three years old, and a dove and a pigeon.”
Genesis 15:10 Abram brought the animals to God, cut them in half, and placed the halves opposite each other in two rows; but he did not cut up the birds.
Genesis 15:11 Vultures came down on the bodies, but Abram drove them off.
Genesis 15:12 When the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and fear and terror came over him.
Genesis 15:13 The Lord said to him, “Your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land; they will be slaves there and will be treated cruelly for four hundred years.
Genesis 15:14 But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and when they leave that foreign land, they will take great wealth with them.
Genesis 15:15 You yourself will live to a ripe old age, die in peace, and be buried.
Genesis 15:16 It will be four generations before your descendants come back here, because I will not drive out the Amorites until they become so wicked that they must be punished.”
Genesis 15:17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire-pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals.
Genesis 15:18 Then and there the LORD made a covenant with Abram. He said, “I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the River Euphrates,
Genesis 15:19 including the lands of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
Genesis 15:20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
Genesis 15:21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
Chapter 16
Hagar and Ishmael
Genesis 16:1 Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne him any children. But she had an Egyptian slave-girl named Hagar,
Genesis 16:2 and so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Why don’t you sleep with my slave-girl? Perhaps she can have a child for me.” Abram agreed with what Sarai said.
Genesis 16:3 So she gave Hagar to him to be his concubine. (This happened after Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years.)
Genesis 16:4 Abram had intercourse with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she found out that she was pregnant, she became proud and despised Sarai.
Genesis 16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “It’s your fault that Hagar despises me. I myself gave her to you, and ever since she found out that she was pregnant, she has despised me. May the LORD judge which of us is right, you or me!”
Genesis 16:6 Abram answered, “Very well, she is your slave and under your control; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so cruelly that she ran away.
Genesis 16:7 The angel of the LORD met Hagar at a spring in the desert on the road to Shur
Genesis 16:8 and said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”
She answered, “I am running away from my mistress.”
Genesis 16:9 He said, “Go back to her and be her slave.”
Genesis 16:10 Then he said, “I will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them.
Genesis 16:11 You are going to have a son, and you will name him Ishmael, because the LORD has heard your cry of distress.
Genesis 16:12 But your son will live like a wild donkey; he will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will live apart from all his relatives.”
Genesis 16:13 Hagar asked herself, “Have I really seen God and lived to tell about it?” So she called the LORD who had spoken to her “A God Who Sees.”
Genesis 16:14 That is why people call the well between Kadesh and Bered “The Well of the living One Who Sees Me.”
Genesis 16:15 Hagar bore Abram a son, and he named him Ishmael.
Genesis 16:16 Abram was eighty-six years old at the time.
Chapter 17
Circumcision, the Sign of the Covenant
Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the Almighty God. Obey me and always do what is right.
Genesis 17:2 I will make my covenant with you and give you many descendants.”
Genesis 17:3 Abram bowed down with his face touching the ground, and God said,
Genesis 17:4 “I make this covenant with you: I promise that you will be the ancestor of many nations.
Genesis 17:5 Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, because I am making you the ancestor of many nations. 6 I will give you many descendants, and some of them will be kings. You will have so many descendants that they will become nations.
Genesis 17:7 “I will keep my promise to you and to your descendants in future generations as an everlasting covenant. I will be your God and the God of your descendants.
Genesis 17:8 I will give to you and to your descendants this land in which you are now a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan will belong to your descendants for ever, and I will be their God.”
Genesis 17:9 God said to Abraham, “You also must agree to keep the covenant with me, both you and your descendants in future generations.
Genesis 17:10 You and your descendants must all agree to circumcise every male among you.
Genesis 17:11-12 From now on you must circumcise every baby boy when he is eight days old, including slaves born in your homes and slaves bought from foreigners. This will show that there is a covenant between you and me.
Genesis 17:13 Each one must be circumcised, and this will be a physical sign to show that my covenant with you is everlasting.
Genesis 17:14 Any male who has not been circumcised will no longer be considered one of my people, because he has not kept the covenant with me.”
Genesis 17:15 God said to Abraham, “You must no longer call your wife Sarai; from now on her name is Sarah.
Genesis 17:16 I will bless her, and I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become the mother of nations, and there will be kings among her descendants.”
Genesis 17:17 Abraham bowed down with his face touching the ground, but he began to laugh when he thought, “Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah have a child at ninety?”
Genesis 17:18 He asked God, “Why not let Ishmael be my heir?”
Genesis 17:19 But God Said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will name him Isaac. I will keep my covenant with him and with his descendants for ever. It is an everlasting covenant.
Genesis 17:20 I have heard your request about Ishmael, so I will bless him and give him many children and many descendants. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make a great nation of his descendants.
Genesis 17:21 But I will keep my covenant with your son Isaac, who will be born to Sarah about this time next year.”
Genesis 17:22 When God finished speaking to Abraham, he left him.
Genesis 17:23 On that same day Abraham obeyed God and circumcised his son Ishmael and all the other males in his household, including the slaves born in his home and those he had brought.
Genesis 17:24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,
Genesis 17:25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen.
Genesis 17:26 They were both circumcised on the same day,
Genesis 17:27 together with all Abraham’s slaves.
Chapter 18
A Son Is Promised to Abraham
Genesis 18:1 The LORD appeared to Abraham at the sacred trees of Mamre. As Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day,
Genesis 18:2 he looked up and saw three men standing there. As soon as he saw them, he ran out to meet them. Bowing down with his face touching the ground,
Genesis 18:3 he said, “Sirs, please do not pass by my home without stopping; I am here to serve you.
Genesis 18:4 Let me bring some water for you to wash your feet; you can rest here beneath this tree.
Genesis 18:5 I will also bring a bit of food; it will give you strength to continue your journey. You have honoured me by coming to my home, so let me serve you.”
They replied, “Thank you; we accept.”
Genesis 18:6 Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick, take a sack of your best flour, and bake some bread.”
Genesis 18:7 Then he ran to the herd and picked out a calf that was tender and fat, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to get it ready.
Genesis 18:8 He took some cream, some milk, and the meat, and set the food before the men. There under the tree he served them himself, and they ate.
Genesis 18:9 Then they asked him, “Where is your wife Sarah?”
“She is there in the tent,” he answered.
Genesis 18:10 One of them said, “Nine months from now I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah was behind him, at the door of the tent, listening.
Genesis 18:11 Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods.
Genesis 18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself and said, “Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too.”
Genesis 18:13 Then the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really have a child when I am so old?’
Genesis 18:14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”
Genesis 18:15 Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. “I didn’t laugh,” she said.
“Yes, you did,” he replied. “You laughed.”
Abraham Pleads for Sodom
Genesis 18:16 Then the men left and went to a place where they could look down at Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on their way.
Genesis 18:17 And the LORD said to himself, “I will not hide from Abraham what I am going to do.
Genesis 18:18 His descendants will become a great and mighty nation, and through him I will bless all the nations.
Genesis 18:19 I have chosen him in order that he may command his sons and his descendants to obey me and to do what is right and just. If they do, I will do everything for him that I have promised.”
Genesis 18:20 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “There are terrible accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sin is very great.
Genesis 18:21 I must go down to find out whether or not the accusations which I have heard are true.”
Genesis 18:22 Then the two men left and went on towards Sodom, but the LORD remained with Abraham.
Genesis 18:23 Abraham approached the LORD and asked, “Are you really going to destroy the innocent with the guilty?
Genesis 18:24 If there are fifty innocent people in the city, will you destroy the whole city? Won’t you spare it in order to save the fifty?
Genesis 18:25 Surely you won’t kill the innocent with the guilty. That’s impossible! You can’t do that. If you did, the innocent would be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly.”
Genesis 18:26 The LORD answered, “If I find fifty innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake.”
Genesis 18:27 Abraham spoke again: “Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. I am only a man and have no right to say anything.
Genesis 18:28 But perhaps there will be only forty-five innocent people instead of fifty. Will you destroy the whole city because there are five too few?’
The LORD answered, “I will not destroy the city, if I find forty-five innocent people.”
Genesis 18:29 Abraham spoke again: “Perhaps there will be only forty.”
He replied, “I will not destroy it if there are forty.”
Genesis 18:30 Abraham said, “Please don’t be angry Lord, but I must speak again. What if there are only thirty?”
He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty”
Genesis 18:31 Abraham said, “Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. Suppose that only twenty are found?”
He said, “I will not destroy the city if I find twenty.”
Genesis 18:32 Abraham said, “Please don’t be angry, Lord, and I will speak just once more. What if only ten are found?”
He said, “I will not destroy it if there are ten.”
Genesis 18:33 After he had finished speaking with Abraham, the LORD went away, and Abraham returned home.
Chapter 19
The Sinfulness of Sodom
Genesis 19:1 When the two angles came to Sodom that evening, Lot was sitting at the city gate. As soon as he saw them, he got up and went to meet them. He bowed down before them
Genesis 19:2 and said, “Sirs, I am here to serve you. Please come to my house. You can wash your feet and stay the night. In the morning you can get up early and go on your way.”
But they answered, “No, we will spend the night here in the city square.”
Genesis 19:3 He kept on urging them, and finally they went with him to his house. Lot ordered his servants to bake some bread and prepare a fine meal for the guests. When it was ready, they ate it.
Genesis 19:4 Before the guests went to bed, the men of Sodom surrounded the house. All the men of the city, both young and old, were there.
Genesis 19:5 They called out to Lot and asked, “Where are the men who came to stay with you tonight? Bring them out to us!” The men of Sodom wanted to have sex with them.
Genesis 19:6 Lot went outside and closed the door behind him.
Genesis 19:7 He said to them, “Friends I beg you, don’t do such a wicked thing!
Genesis 19:8 Look, I have two daughters who are still virgins. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want with them. But don’t do anything to these men; they are guests in my house, and I must protect them.”
Genesis 19:9 But they said, “Get out of our way, you foreigner! Who are you to tell us what to do? Out of our way, or we will treat you worse than them.” They pushed Lot back and moved up to break down the door.
Genesis 19:10 But the two men inside reached out, pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door.
Genesis 19:11 Then they stuck all the men outside with blindness, so that they couldn’t find the door.
Lot Leaves Sodom
Genesis 19:12 The two men said to Lot, “If you have anyone else here – sons, daughters, sons-in-law, or any other relatives living in the city – get them out of here,
Genesis 19:13 because we are going to destroy this place. The LORD has heard the terrible accusations against these people and has sent us to destroy Sodom.”
Genesis 19:14 Then Lot went to the men that his daughters were going to marry, and said, “Hurry up and get out of here; the LORD is going to destroy this place.” But they thought he was joking.
Genesis 19:15 At dawn the angles tried to make Lot hurry. “Quick!” they said. “Take your wife and your two daughters and get out so that you will not lose your lives when the city is destroyed.”
Genesis 19:16 Lot hesitated. The LORD, however, had pity on him; so the men took him, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and led them out of the city.
Genesis 19:17 Then one of the angels said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop in the valley. Run to the hills, so that you won’t be killed.”
Genesis 19:18 But Lot answered, “No, please don’t make us do that, sir.
Genesis 19:19 You have done me a great favour and saved my life. But the hills are too far away; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die before I get there.
Genesis 19:20 Do you see that little town? It is near enough. Let me go over there – you can see it is just a small place – and I will be safe.”
Genesis 19:21 He answered, “All right, I agree. I won’t destroy that town.
Genesis 19:22 Hurry! Run! I can’t do anything until you get there.”
Because Lot called it small, the town was named Zoar.
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
Genesis 19:23 The sun was rising when Lot reached Zoar.
Genesis 19:24 Suddenly the Lord rained burning sulphur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
Genesis 19:25 and destroyed them and the whole valley, along with all the people there and everything that grew on the land.
Genesis 19:26 But Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.
Genesis 19:27 Early the next morning Abraham hurried to the place where he had stood in the presence of the LORD.
Genesis 19: 28 He looked down at Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole valley and saw smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a huge furnace.
Genesis 19:29 But when God destroyed the cities of the valley where Lot was living, he kept Abraham in mind and allowed Lot to escape to safety.
The Origin of the Moabites and Ammonites
Genesis 19:30 Because Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar, he and his two daughters moved up into the hills and lived in a cave.
Genesis 19:31 The elder daughter said to her sister, “Our father is getting old, and there are no men in the whole world to marry us so that we can have children.
Genesis 19:32 Come on, let’s make our father drunk, so that we can sleep with him and have children by him.”
Genesis 19:33 That night they gave him wine to drink, and the elder daughter had intercourse with him. But he was so drunk that he didn’t know it.
Genesis 19:34 The next day the elder daughter said to her sister, “I slept with him last night now let’s make him drunk again tonight, and you sleep with him. Then each of us will have a child by our father.”
Genesis 19:35 So that night they made him drunk, and the younger daughter had intercourse with him. Again he was so drunk that he didn’t know it.
Genesis 19:36 In this way both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their own father.
Genesis 19:37 The elder daughter had a son, whom she named Moab. He was the ancestor of the present-day Moabites.
Genesis 19:38 The younger daughter also had a son, whom she named Benammi. He was the ancestor of the present-day Ammonites.
Chapter 20
Abraham and Abimelech
Genesis 20:1 Abraham moved from Mamre to the southern part of Canaan and lived between Kadesh and Shur. Later, while he was living in Gerar,
Genesis 20:2 he said that his wife Sarah was his sister. So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
Genesis 20:3 One night God appeared to him in a dream and said: “You are going to die, because you have taken this woman; she is already married.”
Genesis 20:4 But Abimelech had not come near her and he said, “Lord, I am innocent! Would you destroy me and my people?
Genesis 20:5 Abraham himself said that she was his sister, and she said the same thing. I did this with a clear conscience, and I have done no wrong.”
Genesis 20:6 God replied in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did it with a clear conscience; so I kept you from sinning against me and did not let you touch her.
Genesis 20:7 But now give the woman back to her husband. He is a prophet, and he will pray for you, so that you will not die. But if you do not give her back, I warn you that you are going to die, you and all your people.”
Genesis 20:8 Early the next morning Abimelech called all his officials and told them what had happened, and they were terrified.
Genesis 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? What wrong have I done to you to make you bring this disaster on me and my kingdom? No one should ever do what you have done to me.
Genesis 20:10 Why did you do it?”
Genesis 20:11 Abraham answered, “I thought that there would be no one here who has reverence for God and that they would kill me to get my wife.
Genesis 20:12 She really is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not of my mother, and I married her.
Genesis 20:13 So when God sent me from my father’s house into foreign lands, I said to her, ‘You can show how loyal you are to me by telling everyone that I am your brother.’”
Genesis 20:14 Then Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham, and at the same time he gave him sheep, cattle, and slaves.
Genesis 20:15 He said to Abraham, “Here is my whole land; live anywhere you like.”
Genesis 20:16 He said to Sarah, “I am giving your brother a thousand pieces of silver as proof to all who are with you that you are innocent; everyone will know that you have done no wrong.”
Genesis 20:17-18 Because of what had happened to Sarah, Abraham’s wife, the LORD had made it impossible for any woman in Abimelech’s palace to have children. So Abraham prayed for Ahimelech, and God healed him. He also healed his wife and his slave-girls, so that they could have children.
Chapter 21
The Birth of Isaac
Genesis 21:1 The LORD blessed Sarah, as he had promised,
Genesis 21:2 and she became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham when he was old. The boy was born at the time God had said he would be born.
Genesis 21:3 Abraham named him Isaac,
Genesis 21:4 and when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded.
Genesis 21:5 Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born.
Genesis 21:6 Sarah said, “God has brought me joy and laughter. Everyone who hears about it will laugh with me.”
Genesis 21:7 Then she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Genesis 21:8 The child grew, and on the day that he was weaned, Abraham gave a great feast.
Hagar and Ishmael Are Sent Away
Genesis 21:9 One day Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was playing with Sarah’s son Isaac.
Genesis 21:10 Sarah saw them and said to Abraham, “Send this slave-girl and her son away. The son of this woman must not get any part of your wealth, which my son Isaac should inherit.”
Genesis 21:11 This troubled Abraham very much, because Ishmael was also his son.
Genesis 21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Don’t be worried about the boy and your slave Hagar. Do whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I have promised.
Genesis 21:13 I will also give many children to the son of the slave-girl, so that they will become a nation. He too is your son.”
Genesis 21:14 Early the next morning Abraham gave Hagar some food and a leather bag full of water. He put the child on her back and sent her away. She left and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.
Genesis 21:15 When the water was all gone, she left the child under a bush
Genesis 21:16 and sat down about a hundred metres away. She said to herself, “I can’t bear to see my child die.” While she was sitting there, she began to cry.
Genesis 21:17 God heard the boy crying, and from heaven the angel of God spoke to Hagar, “What are you troubled about, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. God has heard the boy crying.
Genesis 21:18 Get up, go and pick him up, and comfort him. I will make a great nation out of his descendants.”
Genesis 21:19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well. She went and filled the leather bag with water and gave some to the boy.
Genesis 21:20 God was with the boy as he grew up; he lived in the wilderness of Paran and became a skilful hunter.
Genesis 21:21 His mother found an Egyptian wife for him.
The Agreement between Abraham and Abimelech
Genesis 21:22 At that time Abimelech went with Phicol, the commander of his army, and said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.
Genesis 21:23 So make a vow here in the presence of God that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. I have been loyal to you, so promise that you will also be loyal to me and to this country in which you are living.”
Genesis 21:24 Abraham said, “I promise.”
Genesis 21:25 Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well which the servants of Abimelech had seized.
Genesis 21:26 Abimelech said, “I don’t know who did this. You didn’t tell me about it, and this is the first I have heard of it.”
Genesis 21:27 Then Abraham gave some sheep and cattle to Abimelech, and the two of them made an agreement.
Genesis 21:28 Abraham separated seven lambs from his flock,
Genesis 21:29 and Abimelech asked him, “Why did you do that?”
Genesis 21:30 Abraham answered, “Accept these seven lambs. By doing this, you admit that I am the one who dug this well.”
Genesis 21:31 And so the place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them made a vow.
Genesis 21:32 After they had made this agreement at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol went back to Philistia.
Genesis 21:33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk-tree in Beersheba and worshipped the LORD, the Everlasting God.
Genesis 21:34 Abraham lived in Philistia for a long time.
Chapter 22
God Commands Abraham to Offer Isaac
Genesis 22:1 Some time later God tested Abraham; he called to him, “Abraham!” And Abraham answered, “Yes here I am!”
Genesis 22:2 “Take your son,” God said, “Your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land of Moriah. There on a mountain that I will show you, offer him as a sacrifice to me.”
Genesis 22:3 Early the next morning Abraham cut some wood for the sacrifice, loaded his donkey, and took Isaac and two servants with him. They started out for the place that God had told him about.
Genesis 22:4 On the third day Abraham saw the place in the distance.
Genesis 22:5 Then he said to the servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you.”
Genesis 22:6 Abraham made Isaac carry the wood for the sacrifice, and he himself carried a knife and live coals for starting the fire. As they walked along together,
Genesis 22:7 Isaac said, “Father!”
He answered, “Yes my son?”
Isaac asked, “I see that you have the coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?”
Genesis 22:8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide one.” And the two of them walked on together.
Genesis 22:9 When they came to the place which God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Genesis 22:10 Then he picked up the knife to kill him.
Genesis 22:11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!”
He answered, “Yes, here I am.”
Genesis 22:12 “Don’t hurt the boy or do anything to him,” he said. “Now I know that you honour and obey God, because you have not kept back your only son from me.”
Genesis 22:13 Abraham looked round and saw a ram caught in a bush by its horns. He went and got it and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Genesis 22:14 Abraham named that place “the Lord Provides.”r And even today people say “On the Lord’s mountain he provides.”s
Genesis 22:15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time,
Genesis 22:16 “I make a vow by my own name – the LORD is speaking – that I will richly bless you. Because you did this and did not keep back your only son from me,
Genesis 22:17 I promise that I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the seashore. Your descendants will conquer their enemies.
Genesis 22:18 All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed you descendants – all because you obeyed my command.”
Genesis 22:19 Abraham went back to his servants, and they went together to Beersheba, where Abraham settled.
The Descendants of Nahor
Genesis 22:20 Some time later Abraham learnt that Milcah had borne eight children to his brother Nahor:
Genesis 22:21 Uz the first-born, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,
Genesis 22:22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel,
Genesis 22:23 Rebecca’s father. Milcah bore these eight sons to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
Genesis 22:24 Reumah, Nahor’s concubine, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
Chapter 23
Sarah Dies and Abraham Buys a Burial-Ground
Genesis 23:1 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old.
Genesis 23:2 She died in Hebron in the land of Canaan, and Abraham mourned her death.
Genesis 23:3 He left the place where his wife’s body was lying, went to the Hittites, and said,
Genesis 23:4 “I am a foreigner living here among you; sell me some land, so that I can bury my wife.”
Genesis 23:5 They answered,
Genesis 23:6 ”Listen to us, sir. We look upon you as a mighty leader; bury you wife in the best grave that we have. Any of us would be glad to give you a grave, so that you can bury her.”
Genesis 23:7 Then Abraham bowed before them
Genesis 23:8 and said, “If you are willing to let me bury my wife here, please ask Ephron son of Zohar
Genesis 23:9 to sell me Machpelah Cave, which is near the edge of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for its full price, here in your presence, so that I can own it as a burial-ground.”
Genesis 23:10 Ephron himself was sitting with the other Hittites at the meeting-place at the city gate; he answered in the hearing of everyone there,
Genesis 23:11 ”Listen, sir; I will give you the whole field and the cave that is in it. Here in the presence of my own people, I will give it to you, so that you can bury your wife.”
Genesis 23:12 But Abraham bowed before the Hittites
Genesis 23:13 and said to Ephrom so that everyone could hear, “May I ask you, please, to listen. I will buy the whole field. Accept my payment, and I will bury my wife there.”
Genesis 23:14 Ephron answered,
Genesis 23:15 ”Sir, land worth only four hundred pieces of silver – what is that between us? Bury you wife in it.”
Genesis 23:16 Abraham agreed and weighed out the amount that Ephron had mentioned in the hearing of the people – four hundred pieces of silver, according to the standard weights used by the merchants.
Genesis 23:17 That is how the property which had belonged to Ephron at Machpelah, east of Mamre, became Abraham’s. It included the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees in the field up to the edge of the property.
Genesis 23:18 It was recognized as Abraham’s property by all the Hittites who were there at the meeting.
Genesis 23:19 Then Abraham buried his wife Sarah in that cave in the land of Canaan.
Genesis 23:20 So the field which had belonged to the Hittites, and the cave in it, became the property of Abraham for a burial-ground.
Chapter 24
A Wife for Isaac
Genesis 24:1 Abraham was now very old, and the LORD had blessed him in everything he did.
Genesis 24:2 He said to his oldest servant, who was in charge of all that he had, “Place your hand between my thighst and make a vow.
Genesis 24:3 I want you to make a vow in the name of the LORD, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from the people here in Canaan.
Genesis 24:4 You must go back to the country where I was born and get a wife fir my son Isaac from among my relatives.”
Genesis 24:5 But the servant asked, “What if the girl will not leave her home to come with me to this land? Shall I send your son back to the land you came from?”
Genesis 24:6 Abraham answered, “Make sure that you don’t send my son back there!
Genesis 24:7 The LORD, the God of heaven, brought me from the home of my father and from the land of my relatives, and he solemnly promised me that he would give this land to my descendants. He will send his angel before you, so that you can get a wife there for my son.
Genesis 24:8 If the girl is not willing to come with you, you will be free from this promise. But you must not under any circumstances take my son back there.”
Genesis 24:9 So the servant put his hand between the thighs of Abraham, his master, and made a vow to do what Abraham had asked.
Genesis 24:10 The servant, who was in charge of Abraham’s property, took ten of his master’s camels and went to the city where Nahor had lived in northern Mesopotamia.
Genesis 24:11 When he arrived, he made the camels kneel down at the well outside the city. It was late afternoon, the time when women came out to get water.
Genesis 24:12 He prayed, “LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today and keep your promise to my master.
Genesis 24:13 Here I am at the well where the young women of the city will be coming to get water.
Genesis 24:14 I will say to one of them, ‘Please, lower you jar and let me have a drink.’ If she says, ‘Drink, and I will also bring water for your camels,’ may she be the one that you have chosen for your servant Isaac. If this happens, I will know that you have kept your promise to my master.”
Genesis 24:15 Before he had finished praying, Rebecca arrived with a water-jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife Milcah.
Genesis 24:16 She was a very beautiful young girl and still a virgin. She went down to the well, filled her jar, and came back.
Genesis 24:17 The servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a drink of water from your jar.”
Genesis 24:18 She said, “Drink, sir,” and quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and held it while he drank.
Genesis 24:19 When he had finished, she said, “I will also bring water for your camels and let them have all they want.” 20 She quickly emptied her jar into the animal’s drinking-trough and ran to the well to get more water, until she had watered all his camels.
Genesis 24:21 The man kept watching her in silence, to see if the LORD had given him success.
Genesis 24:22 When she had finished, the man took an expensive gold ring and put it in her nose and put to large gold bracelets on her arms.
Genesis 24:23 He said, “Please tell me who your father is. Is there room in his house for my men and me to spend the night?”
Genesis 24:24 “My father is Bethuel son of Nahor and Milcah,” she answered.
Genesis 24:25 “There is plenty of straw and fodder at our house, and there is a place for you to stay.”
Genesis 24:26 Then the man knelt down and worshipped the LORD.
Genesis 24:27 He said, “Praise the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has faithfully kept his promise to my master. The LORD has led me straight to my master’s relatives.”
Genesis 24:28 The girl ran to her mother’s house and told the whole story.
Genesis 24:29 Now Rebecca had a brother named Laban, and he ran outside to go to the well where Abraham’s servant was.
Genesis 24:30 Laban had seen the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms and had heard her say what the man had told her. He went to Abraham’s servant, who was standing by his camels at the well,
Genesis 24:31 and said, “Come home with me. You are a man whom the LORD has blessed. Why are you standing out here? I have a room ready for you in my house, and there is a place for your camels.”
Genesis 24:32 So the man went into the house, and Laban unloaded the camels and gave them straw and fodder. Then he brought water for Abraham’s servant and his men to wash their feet.
Genesis 24:33 When food was brought, the man said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.”
Laban said, “Go on and speak.”
Genesis 24:34 “I am the servant of Abraham,” he began.
Genesis 24:35 “The Lord has greatly blessed my master and made him a rich man. He has given him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, silver, gold, male and female slaves, camels, and donkeys.
Genesis 24:36 Sarah, my master’s wife, bore him a son when she was old, and my master has given everything he owns to him.
Genesis 24:37 My master made me promise with a vow to obey his command. He said, ‘Do not choose a wife for my son from the girls in the land of Canaan.
Genesis 24:38 Instead, go to my father’s people, to my relatives, and choose a wife for him.’
Genesis 24:39 And I asked my master, ‘What if the girl will not come with me?’
Genesis 24:40 He answered, ‘The LORD, whom I have always obeyed, will send his angel with you and give you success. You will get for my son a wife from my own people, from my father’s family.
Genesis 24:41 There is only one way for you to be free from your vow: if you go to my relatives and they refuse you, then you will be free.’
Genesis 24:42 “When I came to the well today, I prayed, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, please give me success in what I am doing.
Genesis 24:43 Here I am at the well, when a young woman comes out to get water, I will ask her to give me a drink of water from her jar.
Genesis 24:44 If she agrees and also offers to bring water for my camels, may she be the one that you have chosen as the wife of my master’s son.’
Genesis 24:45 Before I had finished my silent prayer, Rebecca came with a water-jar on her shoulder and went down to the well to get water. I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’
Genesis 24:46 She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels.
Genesis 24:47 I asked her, ‘Who is your father?’ And she answered, ‘My father is Bethuel son of Nahor and Milcah.’ Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms.
Genesis 24:48 I knelt down and worshipped the LORD. I praised the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me straight to my master’s relative, where I found his daughter for my master’s son.
Genesis 24:49 Now, if you intend to fulfil your responsibility towards my master and treat him fairly, please tell me; if not, say so, and I will decide what to do.”
Genesis 24:50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “Since this matter comes from the LORD, it is not for us to make a decision.
Genesis 24:51 Here is Rebecca; take her and go. Let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD himself has said.”
Genesis 24:52 When the servant of Abraham heard this, he bowed down and worshipped the LORD.
Genesis 24:53 Then he brought out clothing and silver and gold jewellery, and gave them to Rebecca. He also gave expensive gifts to her brother and to her mother.
Genesis 24:54 Then Abraham’s servant and the men with him ate and drank, and spent the night there. When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me go back to my master.”
Genesis 24:55 But Rebecca’s brother and her mother said, “Let the girl stay with us a week or ten days, and then she may go.”
Genesis 24:56 But he said, “Don’t make us stay. The LORD has made my journey a success; let me go back to my master.”
Genesis 24:57 They answered, “Let’s call the girl and find out what she has to say.”
Genesis 24:58 So they called Rebecca and asked, “Do you want to go with this man?”
“Yes,” she answered.
Genesis 24:59 So they let Rebecca and her old family servant go with Abraham’s servant and his men.
Genesis 24:60 And they gave Rebecca their blessing in these words:
“May you, sister, become the mother of millions!
May your descendants conquer the cities of their enemies!”
Genesis 24:61 Then Rebecca and her young women got ready and mounted the camels to go with Abraham’s servant, and they all started out.
Genesis 24:62 Isaac had come into the wilderness ofv “The well of the Living One Who Sees Me” and was staying in the southern part of Canaan.
Genesis 24:63 He went out in the early evening to take a walk in the fields and saw camels coming.
Genesis 24:64 When Rebecca saw Isaac, she got down from her camel
Genesis 24:65 and asked Abraham’s servant. “Who is that man walking towards us in the field?”
“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her scarf and covered her face.
Genesis 24:66 The servant told Isaac everything he had done.
Genesis 24:67 Then Isaac brought Rebecca into the tent that his mother Sarah had lived in, and she became his wife. Isaac loved Rebecca, and so he was comforted for the loss of his mother.
Chapter 25
Other Descendants of Abraham
(1 Chr 1:32 – 33)
Genesis 25:1 Abraham married another wife, whose name was Keturah.
Genesis 25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
Genesis 25:3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan, and the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurim, the Letushim, and the Leummim.
Genesis 25:4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were Keturah’s descendants.
Genesis 25:5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac;
Genesis 25:6 but while he was still alive, he gave presents to the sons his other wives had borne him. Then he sent these sons to the land of the East, away from his son Isaac.
The Death and Burial of Abraham
Genesis 25:7-8 Abraham died at the ripe old age of a hundred and seventy-five.
Genesis 25:9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in Machpelah Cave, in the field east of Mamre that had belonged to Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.
Genesis 25:10 It was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites; both Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried there.
Genesis 25:11 After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”
The Descendants of Ishmael
(1 Chr 1:28-31)
Genesis 25:12 Ishmael, whom Hagar, the Egyptian slave of Sarah, bore to Abraham,
Genesis 25:13 had the following sons, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
Genesis 25:14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
Genesis 25:15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
Genesis 25:16 They were the ancestors of twelve tribes, and their names were given to their villages and camping-places.
Genesis 25:17 Ishmael was a hundred and thirty-seven years old when he died.
Genesis 25:18 The descendants of Ishmael lived in the territory between Havilah and Shur, to the east of Egypt on the way to Assyria. They lived apart from the other descendants of Abraham.
The Birth of Esau and Jacob
Genesis 25:19 This is the story of Abraham’s son Isaac.
Genesis 25:20 Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel (an Aramean from Mesopotamia) and sister of Laban.
Genesis 25:21 Because Rebecca had no children, Isaac prayed to the LORD for her. The LORD answered his prayer, and Rebecca became pregnant.
Genesis 25:22 She was going to have twins, and before they were born, they struggled against each other in her womb. She said, “Why should something like this happen to me?” So she went to ask the LORD for an answer.
Genesis 25:23 The LORD said to her,
“Two nations are within you;
You will give birth to two rival peoples.
One will be stronger than the other;
The older will serve the younger.”
Genesis 25:24 The time came for her to give birth, and she had twin sons.
Genesis 25:25 The first one was reddish, and his skin was like a hairy robe, so he was name Esau.w
Genesis 25:26 The second one was born holding on tightly to the heel of Esau, so he was named Jacob.x Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
Esau Sells His Rights as the First-Born Son
Genesis 25:27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skilled hunter, a man who loved the outdoor life, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.
Genesis 25:28 Isaac preferred Esau, because he enjoyed eating the animals Esau killed, but Rebecca preferred Jacob.
Genesis 25:29 One day while Jacob was cooking some bean soup, Esau came in from hunting. He was hungry
Genesis 25:30 and said to Jacob, “I’m starving; give me some of that red stuff.” (That is why he was called Edom.)y
Genesis 25:31 Jacob answered, “I will give it to you if you give me your rights as the first-born son.”
Genesis 25:32 Esau said, “All right! I am about to die; what good will my rights do me then?”
Genesis 25:33 Jacob answered, “First make a vow that you will give me your rights.”
Esau made the vow and gave his rights to Jacob.
Genesis 25:34 Then Jacob gave him some bread and some of the soup. He ate and drank and then got up and left. That was all Esau cared about his rights as the first-born son.
Chapter 26
Isaac Lives at Gerar
Genesis 26:1 There was another famine in the land besides the earlier one during the time of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.
Genesis 26:2 The LORD had appeared to Isaac and had said, “Do not go to Egypt; stay in this land, where I tell you to stay.
Genesis 26:3 Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham.
Genesis 26:4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants.
Genesis 26:5 I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands.”
Genesis 26:6 So Isaac lived at Gerar.
Genesis 26:7 When the men there asked about his wife, he said that she was his sister. He would not admit that she was his wife, because he was afraid that the men there would kill him to get Rebecca, who was very beautiful.
Genesis 26:8 When Isaac had been there for some time, King Abimelech looked down from his window and saw Isaac and Rebecca making love.
Genesis 26:9 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is your wife! Why did you say she was your sister?”
He answered, “I thought I would be killed if I said she was my wife.”
Genesis 26:10 “What have you done to us?”
Abimelech said. “One of my men might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have been responsible for our guilt.”
Genesis 26:11 Abimelech warned all the people: “Anyone who ill-treats this man or his wife will be put to death.”
Genesis 26:12 Isaac sowed seed in that land, and that year he harvested a hundred times as much as he had sown, because the Lord blessed him.
Genesis 26:13 He continued to prosper and became a very rich man.
Genesis 26:14 Because he had many herds of sheep and cattle and many servants, the Philistines were jealous of him.
Genesis 26:15 So they filled in all the wells which the servants of his father Abraham had dug while Abraham was alive.
Genesis 26:16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave our country. You have become more powerful than we are.”
Genesis 26:17 So Isaac left and set up his camp in the Valley of Gerar, where he stayed for some time.
Genesis 26:18 He dug once again the wells which had been dug during the time of Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham’s death. Isaac gave the wells the same names that his father had given them.
Genesis 26:19 Isaac’s servants dug a well in the valley and found water.
Genesis 26:20 The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds and said, “This water belongs to us.” So Isaac named the well “quarrel.”
Genesis 26:21 Isaac’s servants dug another well, and there was a quarrel about that one also, so he named it “Enmity.”
Genesis 26:22 He moved away from there and dug another well. There was no dispute about this one, so he named it “Freedom.” He said, “Now the LORD has given us freedom to live in the land, and we will be prosperous here.”
Genesis 26:23 Isaac left and went to Beersheba.
Genesis 26:24 That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid; I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my promise to my servant Abraham.”
Genesis 26:25 Isaac built an altar there and worshipped the lord. Then he set up his camp there, and his servants dug another well.
The Agreement between Isaac and Abimelech
Genesis 26:26 Abimelech came from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army to see Isaac.
Genesis 26:27 So Isaac asked, “Why have you now come to see me. When you were so unfriendly to me before and made me leave your country?”
Genesis 26:28 They answered, “Now we know that the LORD is with you, and we think that there should be a solemn agreement between us. We want you to promise
Genesis 26:29 that you will not harm us, just as we did not harm you. We were kind to you and let you leave peacefully. Now it is clear that the LORD has blessed you.”
Genesis 26:30 Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
Genesis 26:31 Early next morning each man made his promise and sealed it with a vow. Isaac said good-bye to them, and they parted as friends.
Genesis 26:32 On that day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug. They said, “We have found water.”
Genesis 26:33 He named the well “Vow.” That is how the city of Beershebaz got its name.
Esau’s Foreign Wives
Genesis 26:34 When Esau was forty years old, he married two Hittite girls, Judith the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath the dauther of Elon.
Genesis 26:35 They made life miserable for Isaac and Rebecca.
Chapter 27
Isaac Blesses Jacob
Genesis 27:1 Isaac was now old and had become blind. He sent for his elder son Esau and said to him, “My son!”
“Yes,” he answered.
Genesis 27:2 Isaac said, “You see that I am old and may die soon.
Genesis 27:3 Take you bow and arrows, go out into the country, and kill an animal for me.
Genesis 27:4 Cook me some of that tasty food that I like, and bring it to me. After I have eaten it, I will give you my final blessing before I die.”
Genesis 27:5 While Isaac was talking to Esau, Rebecca was listening. So when Esau went out to hunt,
Genesis 27:6 she said to Jacob, “I have just heard your father say to Esau,
Genesis 27:7 ‘Bring me an animal and cook it for me. After I have eaten it, I will give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.’
Genesis 27:8 Now, my son,” Rebecca continued, “listen to me and do what I say.
Genesis 27:9 Go to the flock and pick out two fat young goats, so that I can cook them and make some of that food your father likes so much.
Genesis 27:10 You can take it to him to eat, and he will give you his blessing before he dies.”
Genesis 27:11 But Jacob said to his mother, “You know that Esau is a hairy man, but I have smooth skin.
Genesis 27:12 Perhaps my father will touch me and find out that I am deceiving him; in this way I will bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.”
Genesis 27:13 His mother answered, “Let any curse against you fall on me, my son; just do as I say, and go and get the goats for me.”
Genesis 27:14 So he went to get them and brought them to her, and she cooked the kind of food that his father liked.
Genesis 27:15 Then she took Esau’s best clothes, which she kept in the house, and put them on Jacob.
Genesis 27:16 She put the skins of the goats on his arms and on the hairless part of his neck.
Genesis 27:17 She handed him the tasty food, together with the bread she had baked.
Genesis 27:18 Then Jacob went to his father and said, “Father!”
“Yes,” he answered. “Which of my sons are you?”
Genesis 27:19 Jacob answered, “I am your elder son Esau; I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of the meat that I have brought you, so that you can give me your blessing.”
Genesis 27:20 Isaac said, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”
Jacob answered, “The LORD your God helped me to find it.”
Genesis 27:21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so that I can touch you. Are you really Esau?”
Genesis 27:22 Jacob moved closer to his father, who felt him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob’s voice, but your arms feel like Esau’s arms.”
Genesis 27:23 He did not recognize Jacob, because his arms were hairy like Esau’s. He was about to give him his blessing,
Genesis 27:24 but asked again, “Are you really Esau?”
“I am,” he answered.
Genesis 27:25 Isaac said, “Bring me some of the meat. After I have eaten it, I will give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him, and he also brought him some wine to drink.
Genesis 27:26 Then his father said to him, “Come closer and kiss me, my son.”
Genesis 27:27 As he came up to kiss him, Isaac smelt his clothes – so he gave him his blessing. He said, “The pleasant smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed.
Genesis 27:28 May God give you dew from heaven and make your fields fertile! May he give you plenty of corn and wine!
Genesis 27:29 May nations be your servants, and may peoples bow down before you. May you rule over all relatives, and may your mother’s descendants bow down before you. May those who curse you be cursed, and may those who bless you be blessed.”
Esau Begs for Isaac’s Blessing
Genesis 27:30 Isaac finished giving his blessing and as soon as Jacob left, his brother Esau came in from hunting.
Genesis 27:31 He also cooked some tasty food and took it to his father. He said, “Please, father, sit up and eat some of the meat that I have brought you, so that you can give me your blessing.”
Genesis 27:32 “Who are you?” Isaac asked.
“Your elder son Esau,” he answered.
Genesis 27:33 Isaac began to tremble and shake all over, and he asked, “Who was it, then, who killed an animal and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came. I gave him my final blessing, and so it is his for ever.”
Genesis 27:34 When Esau heard this he cried out loudly and bitterly and said, “Give me your blessing also, father!”
Genesis 27:35 Isaac answered, “Your brother came and deceived me. He has taken away your blessing.”
Genesis 27:36 Esau said, “This is the second time that he has cheated me. No wonder his name is Jacob.a He took my rights as the first-born son, and now he has taken away my blessing. Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
Genesis 27:37 Isaac answered, “I have already made him master over you, and I have made all his relatives his slaves. I have given him corn and wine. Now there is nothing that I can do for you, my son!”
Genesis 27:38 Esau continued to plead with his father: “Have you only one blessing, father? Bless me too, father!” He began to cry.
Genesis 27:39 Then Isaac said to him,
“No dew from heaven for you,
No fertile fields for you.
Genesis 27:40 You will live by your sword,
But be your brother’s slave.
Yet when you rebel,b
You will break away from his control.”
Genesis 27:41 Esau hated Jacob, because his father had given Jacob the blessing. He thought, “The time to mourn my father’s death is near; then I will kill Jacob.”
Genesis 27:42 But when Rebecca heard about Esau’s plan, she sent for Jacob and said, “Listen, your brother Esau is planning to get even with you and kill you.
Genesis 27:43 Now, my son, do what I say. Go at once to my brother Laban in Haran,
Genesis 27:44 and stay with him for a while, until your brother’s anger cools down
Genesis 27:45 and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send someone to bring you back. Why should I lose both my sons on the same day?”
Isaac Sends Jacob to Laban
Genesis 27:46 Rebecca said to Isaac, “I am sick and tired of Esau’s foreign wives. If Jacob also marries one of these Hittite girls, I might as well die.”
Chapter 28
Genesis 28:1 Isaac called Jacob, greeted him, and said to him, “Don’t marry a Canaanite girl.
Genesis 28:2 Go instead to Mesopotamia, to the home of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of the girls there, one of your uncle Laban’s daughters.
Genesis 28:3 May Almighty God bless your marriage and give you many children, so that you will become the father of many nations!
Genesis 28:4 May he bless you and your descendants as he blessed Abraham, and may you take possession of this land, in which you have lived and which God gave to Abraham!”
Genesis 28:5 Isaac sent Jacob away to Mesopotamia, to Laban, who was the son of Bethuel the Aramean and the brother of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Esau Takes Another Wife
Genesis 28:6 Esau learnt that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Mesopotamia to find a wife. He also learnt that when Isaac blessed him, he commanded him not to marry a Canaanite women.
Genesis 28:7 He found out that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Mesopotamia.
Genesis 28:8 Esau then understood that his father Isaac did not approve of Canaanite women.
Genesis 28:9 So he went to Ishmael son of Abraham and married his daughter Mahalath, who was the sister of Nebaioth.
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
Genesis 28:10 Jacob left Beersheba and started towards Haran.
Genesis 28:11 At sunset he came to a holy placec and camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone.
Genesis 28:12 He dreamt that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it.
Genesis 28:13 And there was the LORD standing beside him.d “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham and Isaac,” he said. “I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying.
Genesis 28:14 They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations.e
Genesis 28:15 Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you.”
Genesis 28:16 Jacob woke up and said, “The Lord is here! He is in this place, and I didn’t know it!”
Genesis 28:17 He was afraid and said, “What a terrifying place this is! It must be the house of God; it must be the gate that opens into heaven.”
Genesis 28:18 Jacob got up early next morning, took the stone that was under his head, and set it up as a memorial. Then he poured olive-oil on it to dedicate it to God.
Genesis 28:19 He named the place Bethel.f (The town there was once known as Luz.)
Genesis 28:20 Then Jacob made a vow to the LORD: “If you will be with me and protect me on the journey I am making and give me food and clothing,
Genesis 28:21 and if I return safely to my father’s home, then you will be my God.
Genesis 28:22 This memorial stone which I have set up will be the place where you are worshipped, and I will give you a tenth of everything you give me.”
Chapter 29
Jacob Arrives at Laban’s Home
Genesis 29:1 Jacob continued on his way and went towards the land of the East.
Genesis 29:2 Suddenly he came upon a well out in the fields with three flocks of sheep lying round it. The flocks were watered from this well, which had a large stone over the opening.
Genesis 29:3 Whenever, all the flocks came together there, the shepherds would roll the stone back and water them. Then they would put the stone back in place.
Genesis 29:4 Jacob asked the shepherds, “My friends, where are you from?”
“From Haran,” they answered.
Genesis 29:5 He asked, “Do you know Laban son of Nahor?”
“Yes, we do,” they answered.
Genesis 29:6 “Is he well?” he asked.
“He is well,” they answered. “Look, here comes his daughter Rachel with his flock.”
Genesis 29:7 Jacob said, “Since it is still broad daylight and not yet time to bring the flocks in, why don’t you water them and take them back to pasture?”
Genesis 29:8 They answered. “We can’t do that until all the flocks are here and the stone has been rolled back; then we will water the flocks.”
Genesis 29:9 While Jacob was still talking to them, Rachel arrived with the flock.
Genesis 29:10 When Jacob saw Rachel with his uncle Laban’s flock, he went to the well, rolled the stone back, and watered the sheep.
Genesis 29:11 Then he kissed her and began to cry for joy.
Genesis 29:12 He told her, “I am your father’s relative, the son of Rebecca.
She ran to tell her father;
Genesis 29:13 and when he heard the news about his nephew Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged him and kissed him, and brought him into the house. When Jacob told Laban everything that had happened,
Genesis 29:14 Laban said, “Yes indeed, you are my own flesh and blood.” Jacob stayed there a whole month.
Jacob Serves Laban for Rachel and Leah
Genesis 29:15 Laban said to Jacob, “You shouldn’t work for me for nothing just because you are my relative. How much pay do you want?”
Genesis 29:16 Laban had two daughters; the elder was named Leah, and the younger Rachel.
Genesis 29:17 Leah had lovelyg eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful.
Genesis 29:18 Jacob was in love with Rachel, so he said, “I will work seven years for you, if you will let me marry Rachel.”
Genesis 29:19 Laban answered, “I would rather give her to you than to anyone else; stay here with me.”
Genesis 29:20 Jacob worked seven years so that he could have Rachel, and the time seemed like only a few days to him, because he loved her.
Genesis 29:21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “The time is up; let me marry your daughter.”
Genesis 29:22 So Laban gave a wedding-feast and invited everyone.
Genesis 29:23 But that night, instead of Rachel, he took Leah to Jacob, and Jacob had intercourse with her.
Genesis 29: (24 Laban gave his slave-girl Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maid.)
Genesis 29:25 Not until the next morning did Jacob discover that it was Leah. He went to Laban and said, “Why did you do this to me? I worked to get Rachel. Why have you tricked me?”
Genesis 29:26 Laban answered, “It is not the custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the elder.
Genesis 29:27 Wait until the week’s marriage celebrations are over, and I will give you Rachel, if you will work for me another seven years.”
Genesis 29:28 Jacob agreed, and when the week of marriage celebrations was over, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife.
Genesis 29: (29 Laban gave his slave-girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid.)
Genesis 29:30 Jacob had intercourse with Rachel also, and he loved her more than Leah. Then he worked for Laban another seven years.
The Children Born to Jacob
Genesis 29:31 When the LORD saw that Leah was loved less than Rachel, he made it possible for her to have children, but Rachel remained childless.
Genesis 29:32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said, “The LORD has seen my trouble and now my husband will love me”; so she named him Reuben.g
Genesis 29:33 She became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, “The LORD has given me this son also, because he heard that I was not loved”; so she named him Simeon.h
Genesis 29:34 Once again she became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She said, “Now my husband will be bound more tightly to me, because I have borne him three sons”; so she named him levi.i
Genesis 29:35 Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, “This time I will praise the LORD”; so she named him Judah.j Then she stopped having children.
Chapter 30
Genesis 30:1 But Rachel had not borne Jacob any children, and so she became jealous of her sister and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I will die.”
Genesis 30:2 Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “I can’t take the place of God. He is the one who keeps you from having children.”
Genesis 30:3 She said, “Here is my slave-girl Bilhah; sleep with her, so that she can have a child for me. In this way I can become a mother through her.”
Genesis 30:4 So she gave Bilhah to her husband and he had intercourse with her.
Genesis 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant and bore Jacob a son.
Genesis 30:6 Rachel said, “God has judged in my favour. He has heard my prayer and has given me a son”; so she named him Dan.k
Genesis 30:7 Bilhah became pregnant again and bore Jacob a second son.
Genesis 30:8 Rachel said, “I have fought a hard fight with my sister, but I have won”; so she named him Naphtali.l
Genesis 30:9 When Leah realized that she had stopped having children she gave her slave-girl Zilpah to Jacob as his wife.
Genesis 30:10 Then Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
Genesis 30:11 Leah said, “I have been lucky”; so she named him Gad.m
Genesis 30:12 Zilpah bore Jacob another son,
Genesis 30:13 and Leah said, “How happy I am! Now women will call me happy”; so she named him Asher.n
Genesis 30:14 During the wheat-harvest Reuben went into the fields and found mandrakes,o which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
Genesis 30:15 Leah answered, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken away my husband? Now you are even trying to take away my son’s mandrakes.”
Rachel said, “If you will give me your son’s mandrakes, you can sleep with Jacob tonight.”
Genesis 30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You are going to sleep with me tonight, because I have paid for you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had intercourse with her that night.
Genesis 30:17 God answered Leah’s prayer, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son.
Genesis 30:18 Leah said, “God has given me my reward, because I gave my slave to my husband”; so she named her son Issachar.p
Genesis 30:19 Leah became pregnant again and bore Jacob a sixth son.
Genesis 30:20 She said, “God has given me a fine gift. Now my husband will accept me, because I have borne him six sons”; so she named him Zebulun.q
Genesis 30:21 Later she bore a daughter whom she named Dinah.
Genesis 30:22 Then God remembered Rachel; he answered her prayer and made it possible for her to have children.
Genesis 30:23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said, “God has taken away my disgrace by giving me a son.
Genesis 30:24 May the LORD give me another son”; so she named him Joseph.r
Jacob’s Bargain with Laban
Genesis 30:25 After the birth of Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Let me go, so that I can return home.
Genesis 30:26 Give me my wives and children that I have earned by working for you, and I will leave. You know how well I have served you.”
Genesis 30:27 Laban said to him, “Let me say this: I have learnt by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.
Genesis 30:28 Name your wages, and I will pay them.”
Genesis 30:29 Jacob answered, “You know how I have worked for you and how your flocks have prospered under my care.
Genesis 30:30 The little you had before I came has grown enormously, and the LORD has blessed you wherever I went.s Now it is time for me to look out for my own interests.”
Genesis 30:31 “What shall I pay you?” Laban asked.
Jacob answered, “I don’t want any wages. I will continue to take care of your flocks if you agree to this suggestion:
Genesis 30:32 Let me go through all you flocks today and take every black lambt and every spotted or speckled young goat. That is all the wages I want.
Genesis 30:33 In the future you can easily find out if I have been honest. When you come to check up on my wages, if I have any goat that isn’t speckled or spotted or any sheep that isn’t black you will know that it has been stolen.”
Genesis 30:34 Laban answered, “Agreed. We will do as you suggest.”
Genesis 30:35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that had stripes or spots and all the females that were speckled and spotted or which had white on them; he also removed all the black sheep. He put his sons in charge of them,
Genesis 30:36 and then went away from Jacob with this flock as far as he could travel in three days. Jacob took care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.
Genesis 30:37 Jacob got green branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and stripped off some of the bark so that the branches had white stripes on them.
Genesis 30:38 He placed these branches in front of the flocks at their drinking-troughs. He put them there because the animals mated when they came to drink.
Genesis 30:39 So when the goats bred in front of the branches, they produced young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.
Genesis 30:40 Jacob kept the sheep separate from the goats and made them face in the direction of the streaked and black animals of Laban’s flock. In this way he built up his own flock and kept it apart from Laban’s
Genesis 30:41 When the healthy animals were mating, Jacob put the branches in front of them at the drinking-troughs, so that they would breed among the branches.
Genesis 30:42 But he did not put the branches in from of the weak animals. Soon Laban had all the weak animals, and Jacob all the healthy ones.
Genesis 30:43 In this way Jacob became very wealthy. He had many flocks, slaves, camels, and donkeys.
Chapter 31
Jacob Flees from Laban
Genesis 31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father. All his wealth has come from what our father owned.”
Genesis 31:2 He also saw that Laban was no longer as friendly as he had been earlier.
Genesis 31:3 Then the LORD said to him, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives. I will be with you.”
Genesis 31:4 So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where his flocks were.
Genesis 31:5 He said to them, “I have noticed that your father is not as friendly towards me as he used to be; but my father’s God has been with me.
Genesis 31:6 You both know that I have worked for your father with all my strength.
Genesis 31:7 Yet he has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not let him harm me.
Genesis 31:8 Whenever Laban said, ‘The speckled goats shall be your wages,’ all the flocks produced speckled young. When he said, “The striped goats shall be your wages,’ all the flocks produced striped young.
Genesis 31:9 God has taken flocks away from your father and given them to me.
Genesis 31:10 “During the breeding season I had a dream, and I saw that the male goats that were mating were striped, spotted, and speckled.
Genesis 31:11 The angle of God spoke to me in the dream and said, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Yes,’ I answered.
Genesis 31:12 ‘Look,’ he continued, ‘all the male goats that are mating are striped, spotted, and speckled. I am making this happen because I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.
Genesis 31:13 I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, where you dedicated a stone as a memorial by pouring olive-oil on it and where you made a vow to me. Now get ready to go back to the land where you were born.’”
Genesis 31:14 Rachel and Leah answered Jacob, “There is nothing left for us to inherit from our father.
Genesis 31:15 He treats us like foreigners. He sold us, and now he has spent all the money he was paid for us.
Genesis 31:16 All this wealth which God has taken from our father belongs to us and to our children. Do whatever God has told you.”
Genesis 31:17-18 So Jacob got ready to go back to his father in the land of Canaan. He put his children and his wives on the camels, and drove all his flocks ahead of him, with everything that he had acquired in Mesopotamia.
Genesis 31:19 Laban had
Genesis 31:20 Jacob deceived Laban by not letting him know that he was leaving.
Genesis 31:21 He took everything he owned and left in a hurry. He crossed the River Euphrates and started for the hill county of Gilead.
Laban Pursues Jacob
Genesis 31:22 Three days later Laban was told that Jacob had fled.
Genesis 31:23 He took his men with him and pursued Jacob for seven days until he caught up with him in the hill-country of Gilead.
Genesis 31:24 In a dream that night God came to Laban and said to him, “Be careful not to threaten Jacob in any way.” 25 Jacob had set up his camp on a mountain and Laban set up his camp with his kinsmen in the hill-country of Gilead.
Genesis 31:26 Laban said to Jacob, “Why did you deceive me and carry off my daughters like women captured in war?
Genesis 31:27 Why did you deceived me and slip away without telling me? If you had told me, I would have sent you on your way with rejoicing and singing to the music of tambourines and harps.
Genesis 31:28 You did not even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. That was a foolish thing to do!
Genesis 31:29 I have the power to do you harm, but last night the God of your father warned me not to threaten you in any way.
Genesis 31:30 I know that you left because you were so anxious to get back home, but why did you steal my household gods?”
Genesis 31:31 Jacob answered, “I was afraid, because I thought that you might take your daughters away from me.
Genesis 31:32 But if you find that anyone here has your gods, he will be put to death. Here, with our men as witnesses, look for anything that belongs to you and take what is yours.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen Laban’s gods.
Genesis 31:33 Laban went and searched Jacob’s tent; then he went into Leah’s tent, and the tent of the two slave-women, but he did not find his gods. Then he went into Rachel’s tent.
Genesis 31:34 Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in a camel’s saddlebag and was sitting on them. Laban searched through the whole tent, but did not find them.
Genesis 31:35 Rachel said to her father, “Do not be angry with me, sir, but I am not able to stand up in your presence; I am having my monthly period.” Laban searched but did not find his household gods.
Genesis 31:36 Then Jacob lost his temper. “What crime have I committed?” he asked angrily. “What law have I broken that gives you the right to hunt me down?
Genesis 31:37 Now that you have searched through all my belongings, what household article have you found that belongs to you? Put it out here where your men and mine can see it, and let them decide which one of us is right.
Genesis 31:38 I have been with you now for twenty years; your sheep and your goats have not failed to reproduce, and I have not eaten any rams from your flocks.
Genesis 31:39 Whenever a sheep was killed by wild animals, I always bore the loss myself. I didn’t take it to you to show that it was not my fault. You demanded that I make good anything that was stolen during the day or during the night.
Genesis 31:40 Many times I suffered from the heat during the day and from the cold at night. I was not able to sleep.
Genesis 31:41 It was like that for the whole twenty years I was with you. For fourteen years I worked to win your two daughters – and six years for your flocks. And even then, you changed my wages ten times.
Genesis 31:42 If the God of my fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac, had not been with me, you would have already sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my trouble and the work I have done, and last night he gave his judgment.”
The Agreement between Jacob and Laban
Genesis 31:43 Laban answered Jacob, “These girls are my daughters; their children belong to me, and these flocks are mine. In fact, everything you see here belongs to me. But since I can do nothing to keep my daughters and their children,
Genesis 31:44 I am ready to make an agreement with you. Let us make a pile of stones to remind us of our agreement.
Genesis 31:45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a memorial.
Genesis 31:46 He told his men to gather some rocks and pile them up. Then they ate a meal beside the pile of rocks.
Genesis 31:47 Laban named it Jegar Sahadutha,u while Jacob named it Galeed.v
Genesis 31:48 Laban said to Jacob, “This pile of rocks will be a reminder for both of us.” That is why that place was named Galeed.
Genesis 31:49 Laban also said, “May the LORD keep an eye on us while we are separated from each other.” So the place was also named Mizpah.w
Genesis 31:50 Laban went on, “If you ill-treat my daughters or if you marry other women, even though I don’t know about it, remember that God is watching us.
Genesis 31:51 Here are the rocks that I have piled up between us, and here is the memorial stone.
Genesis 31:52 Both this pile and this memorial stone are reminders. I will never go beyond this pile to attack you, and you must never go beyond it or beyond this memorial stone to attack me.
Genesis 31:53 The God of Abraham and the God of Nahorx will judge between us.” Then, in the name of the God whom his father Isaac worshipped, Jacob solemnly vowed to keep this promise.
Genesis 31:54 He killed an animal, which he offered as a sacrifice on the mountain, and he invited his men to the meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain.
Genesis 31:55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters good-bye, and left to go back home.
Chapter 32
Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau
Genesis 32:1 As Jacob went on his way, some angles met him.
Genesis 32:2 When he saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp”; so he called the place Mahanaim.y
Genesis 32:3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the country of Edom.
Genesis 32:4 He instructed them to say: “I, Jacob, your obedient servant, report to my master Esau that I have been staying with Laban and that I have delayed my return until now.
Genesis 32:5 I own cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, and slaves. I am sending you word, sir, in the hope of gaining your favour.”
Genesis 32:6 When the messengers came back to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and he is already on his way to meet you. He has four hundred men with him.”
Genesis 32:7 Jacob was frightened and worried. He divided into two groups the people who were with him, and also his sheep, goats, cattle, and camels.
Genesis 32:8 He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks the first group, the other may be able to escape.”
Genesis 32:9 Then Jacob prayed, “God of my grandfather Abraham and God of my father Isaac, hear me! You told me, LORD, to go back to my land and to my relatives, and you would make everything go well for me.
Genesis 32:10 I am not worth all the kindness and faithfulness that you have shown me, your servant. I crossed the Jordan with nothing but a walking-stick, and now I have come back with these two groups.
Genesis 32:11 Save me, I pray, from my brother Esau. I am afraid – afraid that he is coming to attack us and destroy us all, even the women and children.
Genesis 32:12 Remember that you promised to make everything go well for me and to give me more descendants than anyone could count, as many as the grains of sand along the seashore.”
Genesis 32:13-15 After spending the night there Jacob chose from his livestock as a present for his brother Esau: two hundred female goats and twenty males, two hundred female sheep and twenty males, thirty milk camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten males.
Genesis 32:16 He divided them into herds and put one of his servants in charge of each herd. He said to them, “Go ahead of me, and leave a space between each herd and the one behind it.”
Genesis 32:17 He ordered the first servant, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who is your master? Where are you going? Who owns these animals in front of you?’
Genesis 32:18 you must answer, “They belong to your servant Jacob. He sends them as a present to his master Esau. Jacob himself is just behind us,’”
Genesis 32:19 He gave the same order to the second, the third, and to all the others who were in charge of the herds: “This is what you must say to Esau when you meet him.
Genesis 32:20 You must say, ‘Yes, your servant Jacob is just behind us.’” Jacob was thinking, “I will win him over with the gifts, and when I meet him, perhaps he will forgive me.”
Genesis 32:21 He sent the gifts on ahead of him and spent that night in camp.
Jacob Wrestles at Peniel
Genesis 32:22 That same night Jacob got up, took his two wives, his two concubines, and his eleven children, and crossed the River Jabbok.
Genesis 32:23 After he had sent them across, he also sent across all that he owned,
Genesis 32:24 but he stayed behind, alone.
Then a man came and wrestled with him until just before daybreak.
Genesis 32:25 When the man saw that he was not winning the struggle, he struck Jacob on the hip, and it was thrown out of joint.
Genesis 32:26 The man said, “Let me go; daylight is coming.”
“I won’t, unless you bless me,” Jacob answered.
Genesis 32:27 “What is your name?” the man asked.
“Jacob,” he answered.
Genesis 32:28 The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. You have struggled with God and with men, and you have won; so your name will be Israel.”z
Genesis 32:29 Jacob said, “Now tell me your name.” But he answered, “Why do you want to know my name?” Then he blessed Jacob.
Genesis 32:30 Jacob said, “I have seen God face to face, and I am still alive”; so he named the place Peniel.a
Genesis 32:31 The sun rose as Jacob was leaving Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
Genesis 32:32 Even today the descendants of Israel do not eat the muscle which is on the hip-joint, because it was on this muscle that Jacob was struck.
Chapter 33
Jacob meets Esau
Genesis 33:1 Jacob saw Esau coming with his four hundred men, so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two concubines.
Genesis 33:2 He put the concubines and their children first, then Leah and her children, and finally Rachel and Joseph at the rear.
Genesis 33:3 Jacob went ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.
Genesis 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him, threw his arms round him, and kissed him. They were both crying.
Genesis 33:5 When Esau looked round and saw the women and the children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?”
“These, sir, are the children whom God has been good enough to give me,” Jacob answered.
Genesis 33:6 Then the concubines came up with their children and bowed down;
Genesis 33:7 then Leah and her children came, and last of all Joseph and Rachel came and bowed down.
Genesis 33:8 Esau asked, “What about that other group I met? What did that mean?”
Jacob answered, “It was to gain your favour.”
Genesis 33:9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have.”
Genesis 33:10 Jacob said, “No, please, if I have gained your favour, accept my gift. To see your face is for me like seeing the face of God, now that you have been so friendly to me.
Genesis 33:11 Please accept this gift which I have brought for you; God has been kind to me and given me everything I need.” Jacob kept on urging him until he accepted.
Genesis 33:12 Esau said, “Let’s prepare to leave. I will go ahead of you.”
Genesis 33:13 Jacob answered, “You know that the children are weak, and I must think of the sheep and livestock with their young. If they are driven hard for even one day, the whole herd will die.
Genesis 33:14 Please go on ahead of me, and I will follow slowly, going as fast as I can with the livestock and the children until I catch up with you in Edom.”
Genesis 33:15 Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”
But Jacob answered. “There is no need for that for I only want to gain your favour.”b
Genesis 33:16 So that day Esau started on his way back to Edom.
Genesis 33:17 But Jacob went to Sukkoth, where he built a house for himself and shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was named Sukkoth.c
Genesis 33:18 On his return from Mesopotamia Jacob arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan and set up his camp in a field near the city.
Genesis 33:19 He bought that part of the field from the descendants of Hamor father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver.
Genesis 33:20 He put up an altar there and named it after El, the God of Israel.
Chapter 34
The Rape of Dinah
Genesis 34:1 One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the Canaanite women.
Genesis 34:2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who was chief of that region, saw her, he took her and raped her.
Genesis 34:3 But he found the girl so attractive that he fell in love with her and tried to win her affection.d
Genesis 34:4 He said to his father, “I want you to get this girl for me as my wife.”
Genesis 34:5 Jacob learnt that his daughter had been disgraced, but because his sons were out in the fields with his livestock, he did nothing until they came back.
Genesis 34:6 Shechem’s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob,
Genesis 34:7 Just as Jacob’s sons were coming in from the fields. When they heard about it, they were shocked and furious that Shechem had done such a thing and had insulted the people of Israel by raping Jacob’s daughter.
Genesis 34:8 Hamor said to him, “My son Shechem has fallen in love with your daughter; please let him marry her.
Genesis 34:9 Let us make an agreement that there will be intermarriage between our people and yours.
Genesis 34:10 Then you may stay here in our country with us; you may live anywhere you wish, trade freely, and own property.”
Genesis 34:11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Do me this favour, and I will give you whatever you want.
Genesis 34:12 Tell me what presents you want, and set the payment for the bride as high as you wish; I will give you whatever you ask, if you will only let me marry her.”
Genesis 34:13 Because Shechem had disgraced their sister Dinah, Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor in a deceitful way.
Genesis 34:14 They said to him, “We cannot let out sister marry a man who is not circumcised; that would be a disgrace for us.
Genesis 34:15 We can agree only on the condition that you become like us by circumcising all your males.
Genesis 34:16 Then we will agree to intermarriage. We will settle among you and become one people with you.
Genesis 34:17 But if you will not accept our terms and be circumcised, we will take her and leave.”
Genesis 34:18 These terms seemed fair to Hamor and his son Shechem,
Genesis 34:19 and the young man lost no time in doing what was suggested, because he was in love with Jacob’s daughter. He was the most important member of his family.
Genesis 34:20 Hamor and his son Shechem went to the meeting-place at the city gate and spoke to their fellow-townsmen:
Genesis 34:21“These men are friendly; let them live in the land with us and travel freely. The land is large enough for them also. Let us marry their daughters and give them ours in marriage.
Genesis 34:22 But these men will agree to live among us and be one people with us only on condition that we circumcise all our males, as they are circumcised.
Genesis 34:23 Won’t all their livestock and everything else they own be ours? So let us agree that they can live among us.”
Genesis 34:24 All the citizens of the city agreed with what Hamor and Shechem proposed, and all the males were circumcised.
Genesis 34:25 Three days later, when the men were still sore from their circumcision, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Diah, took their swords, went into the city without arousing suspicion, and killed all the men,
Genesis 34:26 including Hamor and his son Shechem. Then they took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left.
Genesis 34:27 After the slaughter Jacob’s other sons looted the town to take revenge for their sister’s disgrace.
Genesis 34:28 They took the flocks, the cattle, the donkeys, and everything else in the city and in the fields.
Genesis 34:29 They took everything of value, captured all the women and children, and carried off everything in the houses.
Genesis 34:30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me; now the Canaanites, the Perizzites, and everybody else in the land will hate me. I haven’t many men; if they all band together against me and attack me, our whole family will be destroyed.”
Genesis 34:31 But they answered, “We cannot let our sister be treated like a common whore.”
Chapter 35
God Blesses Jacob at Bethel
Genesis 35:1 God said to Jacob, “Go to Bethel at once, and live there. Build an altar there to me, the God who appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau.”
Genesis 35:2 So Jacob said to his family and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that you have; purify yourselves and put on clean clothes.
Genesis 35:3 We are going to leave here and go to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who helped me in the time of my trouble and who has been with me everywhere I have gone.”
Genesis 35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that they had and also the ear-rings that they were wearing. He buried them beneath the oak-tree near Shechem.
Genesis 35:5 When Jacob and his sons started to leave, great fear fell on the people of the nearby towns, and they did not pursue them.
Genesis 35:6 Jacob came with all his people to Luz, which is now known as Bethel, in the land of Canaan.
Genesis 35:7 He built an altar there and named the place after the God of Bethel, because God had revealed himself to him there when he was running away from his brother.
Genesis 35:8 Rebecca’s nurse Deborah died and was buried beneath the oak south of Bethel. So it was named “Oak of Weeping.”
Genesis 35:9 When Jacob returned from Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again and blessed him.
Genesis 35:10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but from now on it will be Israel.” So God named him Israel.
Genesis 35:11 And God said to him, “I am Almighty God. Have many children. Nations will be descended from you, and you will be the ancestor of Kings.
Genesis 35:12 I will give you the land which I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, and I will also give it to your descendants after you.”
Genesis 35:13 Then God left him.
Genesis 35:14 There, where God had spoken to him, Jacob set up a memorial stone and consecrated it by pouring wine and olive-oil on it.
Genesis 35:15 He named the place Bethel.
The Death of Rachel
Genesis 35:16 Jacob and his family left Bethel, and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, the time came for Rachel to have her baby, and she was having difficult labour.
Genesis 35:17 When her labour pains were at their worst, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Rachel; it’s another boy.”
Genesis 35:18 But she was dying, and as she breathed her last, she named her son Benoni,e but his father named him Benjamin.f
Genesis 35:19 When Rachel died, she was buried beside the road to Ephrath, now know as Bethlehem.
Genesis 35:20 Jacob set up a memorial stone there, and it still marks Rachel’s grave to this day.
Genesis 35:21 Jacob moved on and set up his camp on the other side of the tower of Eder.
The Sons of Jacob
(1 Chron 2:1-2)
Genesis 35:22 While Jacob was living in that land, Reuben had sexual intercourse with Bilhah, one of his father’s concubines; Jacob heard about it and was furious.g
Jacob had twelve sons.
Genesis 35:23 The sons of Leah were Reuben (Jacob’s eldest son), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
Genesis 35:24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
Genesis 35:25 The sons of Rachel’s slave Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali.
Genesis 35:26 The sons of Leah’s slave Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These sons were born in Mesopotamia.
The Death of Isaac
Genesis 35:27 Jacob went to his father Isaac at Mamre, near Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had lived.
Genesis 35:28 Isaac lived to be a hundred and eighty years old
Genesis 35:29 and died at a ripe old age; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Chapter 36
The Descendants of Esau
(1 Chr 1:34-37)
Genesis 36:1 These are the descendants of Esau, also called Edom.
Genesis 36:2 Esau married Canaanite women: Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite; Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah sonh of Zibeon the Hivite;
Genesis 36:3 and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
Genesis 36:4 Adah bore Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel;
Genesis 36:5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. All these sons were born to Esau in the land of Canaan.
Genesis 36:6 Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the people of his house, together with all his livestock and all the possessions he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went away from his brother Jacob to another land.
Genesis 36:7 He left because the land where he and Jacob were living was not able to support them; they had too much livestock and could no longer stay together.
Genesis 36:8 So Esau lived in the hill-country of Edom.
Genesis 36:9 These are the descendants of Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites.
Genesis 36:10-13 Esau’s wife Adah bore him one son, Eliphaz, and Eliphaz had five sons: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. And by another wife, Timna, he had one more son, Amalek.
Esau’s wife Basemath bore him one son, Reuel, and Reuel had four sons: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
Genesis 36:14 Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah sonh of Zibeon, bore him three sons: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
Genesis 36:15 These are the tribes descended from Esau. Esau’s first son Eliphaz was the ancestor of the following tribes: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,
Genesis 36:16 Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These were all descendants of Esau’s wife Adah.
Genesis 36:17 Esau’s son Reuel was the ancestor of the following tribes: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were all descendants of Esau’s wife Basemath.
Genesis 36:18 The following tribes were descended from Esau by his wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
Genesis 36:19 All these tribes were descended from Esau.
The descendants of Seir
(1 Chr 1:38-42)
Genesis 36:20-21 The original inhabitants of the land of Edom were divided into tribes which traced their ancestry to the following descendants of Seir, a Horite: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
Genesis 36:22 Lotan was the ancestor of the clans of Hori and Heman. (Lotan had a sister named Timna.)
Genesis 36:23 Shobal was the ancestor of the clans of Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
Genesis 36:24 Zibeon had two sons, Aiah and Anah. (This is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness when he was taking care of his father’s donkeys.)
Genesis 36:25-26 Anah was the father of Dishon, who was the ancestor of the clans of Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. Anah also had a daughter named Oholibamah.
Genesis 36:27 Ezer was the ancestor of the clans of Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
Genesis 36:28 Dishan was the ancestor of the clans of Uz and Aran.
Genesis 36:29-30 These are the Horite tribes in the land of Edom: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
The Kings of Edom
(1 Chr 1:43-54)
Genesis 36:31-39 Before there were any kings in Israel, the following kings ruled over the land of Edom in succession:
Bela son of Beor from Dinhabah
Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah
Husham from the region of Teman
Hadad son of Bedad from Avith (he defeated the Midianites in a battle in the country of Moab)
Samlah from Masrekah
Shaul from Rehoboth-on-the-River
Baal Hanan son of Achbor
Hadad from Pau (his wife was, Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred and granddaughter of Mezahab)
Genesis 36:40-43 Esau was the ancestor of the following Edomite tribes: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz. Teman. Mibzar, Magdiel, and Iram. The area where each of these tribes lived was known by the name of the tribe.
Chapter 37
Joseph and His Brothers
Genesis 37:1 Jacob continued to live in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived.
Genesis 37:2 and this is the story of Jacob’s family. Joseph, a young man of seventeen, took care of the sheep and goats with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s concubines. He brought bad reports to his father about what his brothers were doing.
Genesis 37:3 Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he had been born to him when he was old. He made a long robe with full sleevesj for him.
Genesis 37:4 When his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved them, they hated their brother so much that they would not speak to him in a friendly manner.
Genesis 37:5 One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more.
Genesis 37:6 He said, “Listen to the dream I had.
Genesis 37:7 We were all in the field tying up sheaves of wheat, when my sheaf got up and stood up straight. Yours formed a circle round mine and bowed down to it.”
Genesis 37:8 “Do you think you are going to be a king and rule over us?” his brothers asked. So they hated him even more because of his dreams and because of what he said about them.
Genesis 37:9 Then Joseph had another dream and said to his brothers, “I had another dream, in which I saw the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down to me.”
Genesis 37:10 He also told the dream to his father, and his father scolded him: “What kind of a dream is that? Do you think that your mother, your brothers, and I are going to come and bow down to you?”
Genesis 37:11 Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept thinking about the whole matter.
Joseph Is Sold and Taken to Egypt
Genesis 37:12 One day when Joseph’s brothers had gone to Shechem to take care of their father’s flock,
Genesis 37:13 Jacob said to Joseph, “I want you to go to Shechem, where your brothers are taking care of the flock.”
Joseph answered, “I am ready.”
Genesis 37:14 His father said, “Go and see if your brothers are safe and if the flock is all right; then come back and tell me.” So his father sent him on his way from the Valley of Hebron.
Joseph arrived at Shechem
Genesis 37:15 and was wandering about in the country when a man saw him and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
Genesis 37:16 “I am looking for my brothers, who are taking care of their flock,” he answered. “Can you tell me where they are?”
Genesis 37:17 The man said, “They have already left. I heard them say that they were going to Dothan.” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
Genesis 37:18 They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted against him and decided to kill him.
Genesis 37:19 They said to one another, “Here comes that dreamer.
Genesis 37:20 Come on now, let’s kill him and throw his body into one of the dry wells. We can say that a wild animal killed him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams.”
Genesis 37:21 Reuben heard them and tried to save Joseph. “Let’s not kill him,” he said.
Genesis 37:22 “Just throw him into this well in the wilderness, but don’t hurt him.” He said this, planning to save him from them and send him back to his father.
Genesis 37:23 When Joseph came up to his brothers, they ripped off his long robe with full sleeves.k
Genesis 37:24 Then they took him and threw him into the well, which was dry.
Genesis 37:25 While they were eating, they suddenly saw a group of Ishmaelites travelling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were loaded with spices and resins.
Genesis 37:26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother and covering up the murder?
Genesis 37:27 Let’s sell him to these Ishmaelites. Then we won’t have to hurt him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed,
Genesis 37:28 and when some Midianite traders came by, the brothersl pulled Joseph out of the well and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
Genesis 37:29 When Reuben came back to the well and found that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes in sorrow.
Genesis 37:30 He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there! What am I going to do?”
Genesis 37:31 Then they killed a goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood.
Genesis 37:32 They took the robe to their father and said, “We found this. Does it belong to your son?”
Genesis 37:33 He recognized it and said, “Yes, it is his! Some wild animal has killed him. My son Joseph has been torn to pieces!”
Genesis 37:34 Jacob tore his clothes in sorrow and put on sackcloth. He mourned for his son a long time.
Genesis 37:35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “I will go down to the world of the dead still mourning for my son.” So he continued to mourn for his son Joseph.
Genesis 37:36 Meanwhile, in Egypt, the Midianites had sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of the king’s officers, who was the captain of the palace guard.
Chapter 38
Judah and Tamar
Genesis 38:1 About that time Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man named Hirah, who was from the town of Adullam.
Genesis 38:2 There Judah met a Canaanite girl whose father was named Shua. He married her,
Genesis 38:3 and she bore him a son, whom he named Er.
Genesis 38:4 She became pregnant again and bore another son and named him Onan.
Genesis 38:5 Again she had a son and named him Shelah. Judah was at Achzib when the boy was born.
Genesis 38:6 For his first son Er, Judah got a wife whose name was Tamar.
Genesis 38:7 Er’s conduct was evil, and it displeased the LORD, so the LORD killed him.
Genesis 38:8 Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and sleep with your brother’s widow. Fulfil your obligation to her as her husband’s brother, so that your brothers may have descendants.”
Genesis 38:9 But Onan knew that the children would not belong to him, so whenever he had intercourse with his brother’s widow, he let the semen spill on the ground, so that there would be no children for his brother.
Genesis 38:10 What he did displeased the LORD, and the LORD killed him also.
Genesis 38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Return to your father’s house and remain a widow until my son Shelah grows up.” He said this because he was afraid that Shelah would be killed, as his brothers had been. So Tamar went back home.
Genesis 38:12 After some time Judah’s wife died. When he had finished the time of mourning, he and his friend Hirah of Adullam went to Timnah, where his sheep were being sheared.
Genesis 38:13 Someone told Tamar that her father-in-law was going to Timnah to shear his sheep.
Genesis 38:14 So she changed from the widow’s clothes she had been wearing, covered her face with a veil, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, a town on the road to Timnah. As she well knew, Judah’s youngest son Shelah had now grown up, and yet she had not been given to him in marriage.
Genesis 38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, because she had her face covered.
Genesis 38:16 He went over to her at the side of the road and said, “All right, how much do you charge?” (He did not know that she was his daughter-in-law.)
She said, “What will you give me?”
Genesis 38:17 He answered, “I will send you a young goat from my flock.”
She said, “All right, if you will give me something to keep as a pledge until you send the goat.”
Genesis 38:18 “What shall I give you as a pledge?”
he asked
She answered, “Your seal with its cord and the stick you are carrying.” He gave them to her. Then they had intercourse, and she became pregnant.
Genesis 38:19 Tamar went home, took off her veil, and put her widow’s clothes back on.
Genesis 38:20 Judah sent his friend Hirah to take the goat and get back from the woman the articles he had pledged, but Hirah could not find her.
Genesis 38:21 He asked some men at Enaim, “Where is the prostitute who was here by the road?”
“There has never been a prostitute here,” they answered.
Genesis 38:22 He returned to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. The men of the place said that there had never been a prostitute there.”
Genesis 38:23 Judah said, “Let her keep the things. We don’t want people to laugh at us. I did try to pay her, but you couldn’t find her.”
Genesis 38:24 About three months later someone said to Judah, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has been acting like a whore, and now she is pregnant.”
Judah ordered, “Take her out and burn her to death.”
Genesis 38:25 As she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man who owns these things. Look at them and see whose they are – this seal with its cord and this tick.”
Genesis 38:26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is in the right. I have failed in my obligation to her – I should have given her to my son Shelah in marriage.” And Judah never had intercourse with her again.
Genesis 38:27 When the time came for her to give birth, it was discovered that she was going to have twins.
Genesis 38:28 While she was in labour, one of them put out an arm; the midwife caught it, tied a red thread round it, and said, “This one was born first.”
Genesis 38:29 But he pulled his arm back, and his brother was born first. Then the midwife said, “So this is how you break your way out!” So he was named Perez.m
Genesis 38:30 Then his brother was born with the red thread on his arm, and he was named Zerah.x
Chapter 39
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
Genesis 39:1 Now the Ishmaelites had taken Joseph to Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, one of the king’s officers, who was the captain of the palace guard.
Genesis 39:2 The LORD was with Joseph and made him successful. He lived in the house of his Egyptian master,
Genesis 39:3 who saw that the LORD was with Joseph and had made him successful in everything he did.
Genesis 39:4 Potiphar was pleased with him and made him his personal servant; so he put him in charge of his house and everything he owned.
Genesis 39:5 From then on, because of Joseph the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian and everything that he had in his house and in his fields.
Genesis 39:6 Potiphar handed over everything he had to the care of Joseph and did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
Joseph was well-built and good-looking,
Genesis 39:7 and after a while his master’s wife began to desire Joseph and asked him to go to bed with her.
Genesis 39:8 He refused and said to her, “Look, my master does not have to concern himself with anything in the house, because I am here. He has put me in charge of everything he has.
Genesis 39:9 I have as much authority in this house as he has, and he has not kept back anything from me except you. How then could I do such an immoral thing and sin against God?”
Genesis 39:10 Although she asked Joseph day after day, he would not go to bed with her.
Genesis 39:11 But one day when Joseph went into the house to do his work, none of the house servants was there.
Genesis 39:12 She caught him by his robe and said, “Come to bed with me.” But he escaped and ran outside, leaving his robe in her hand.
Genesis 39:13 When she saw that he had left his robe and had run out of the house,
Genesis 39:14 she called to her house servants and said, “Look at this! This Hebrew that my husband brought to the house is insulting us. He came into my room and tried to rape me, but I screamed as loud as I could.
Genesis 39:15 When he heard me scream, he ran outside, leaving his robe beside me.”
Genesis 39:16 She kept his robe with her until Joseph’s master came home.
Genesis 39:17 Then she told him the same story: “That Hebrew slave that you brought here came into my room and insulted me.
Genesis 39:18 But when I screamed, he ran outside, leaving his robe beside me.”
Genesis 39:19 Joseph’s master was furious
Genesis 39:20 and had Joseph arrested and put in the prison where the king’s prisoners were kept, and there he stayed.
Genesis 39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and blessed him, so that the jailer was pleased with him.
Genesis 39:22 He put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and made him responsible for everything that was done in the prison.
Genesis 39:23 The Jailer did not have to look after anything for which Joseph was responsible, because the LORD was with Joseph and made him succeed in everything he did.
Chapter 40
Joseph Interprets the Prisoner’s Dreams
Genesis 40:1 Some time later the king of Egypt’s wine steward and his chief baker offended the king.
Genesis 40:2 He was angry with these two officials
Genesis 40:3 and put them in prison in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same place where Joseph was being kept.
Genesis 40:4 They spent a long time in prison, and the captain assigned Joseph as their servant.
Genesis 40:5 One night there in prison the wine steward and the chief baker each had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings.
Genesis 40:6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were upset.
Genesis 40:7 He asked them, “Why do you look so worried today?”
Genesis 40:8 They answered, “Each of us had a dream, and there is no one here to explain what the dreams mean.”
“It is God who gives the ability to interpret dreams,” Joseph said. “Tell me your dreams.”
Genesis 40:9 So the wine steward said, “In my dream there was a grapevine in front of me
Genesis 40:10 with three branches on it. As soon as the leaves came out, the blossoms appeared, and the grapes ripened.
Genesis 40:11 I was holding the king’s cup; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into the cup and gave it to him.”
Genesis 40:12 Joseph said, “This is what it means: the three branches are three days.
Genesis 40:13 In three days the king will release you, pardon you, and restore you to your position. You will give him his cup as you did before when you were his wine steward.
Genesis 40:14 But please remember me when everything is going well for you, and please be kind enough to mention me to the king and help me to get out of this prison.
Genesis 40:15 After all, I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here in Egypt I didn’t do anything to deserve being put in prison.”
Genesis 40:16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the wine steward’s dream was favourable, he said to Joseph, “I had a dream too; I was carrying three bread-baskets on my head.
Genesis 40:17 In the top basket there were all kinds of pastries for the king, and the birds were eating them.”
Genesis 40:18 Joseph answered, “This is what it means: the three baskets are three days.
Genesis 40:19 In the three days the king will release you – and have your head cut off! Then he will hang your body on a pole, and the birds will eat your flesh.”
Genesis 40:20 On his birthday three days later the king gave a banquet for all his officials; he released his wine steward and his chief baker and brought them before his officials.
Genesis 40:21 He restored the wine steward to his former position,
Genesis 40:22 but he executed the chief baker. It all happened just as Joseph had said.
Genesis 40:23 But the wine steward never gave Joseph another thought – he forgot all about him.
Chapter 41
Joseph Interprets the King’s Dreams
Genesis 41:1 After two years had passed, the king of Egypt dreamt that he was standing by the River Nile,
Genesis 41:2 When seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the river and began to feed on the grass.
Genesis 41:3 Then seven other cows came up; they were thin and bony. They came and stood by the other cows on the river-bank,
Genesis 41:4 and the thin cows ate up the fate cows. Then the king woke up.
Genesis 41:5 He fell asleep again and had another dream. Seven ears of corn, full and ripe, were growing on one stalk,
Genesis 41:6 Then seven other ears of corn sprouted, thin and scorched by desert wind,
Genesis 41:7 and the thin ears of corn swallowed the full ones. The king woke up and realized that he had been dreaming,
Genesis 41:8 In the morning he was worried, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. He told them his dreams, but no one could explain them to him.
Genesis 41:9 Then the wine steward said to the king, “I must confess today that I have done wrong.
Genesis 41:10 You were angry with the chief baker and me, and put us in prison in the house of the captain of the guard.
Genesis 41:11 One night each of us had a dream, and the dreams had different meanings.
Genesis 41:12 A young Hebrew was there with us, a slave of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us.
Genesis 41:13 Things turned out just as he said: you restored me to my position, but you executed the baker.”
Genesis 41:14 The king sent for Joseph, and he was immediately brought from the prison. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came into the king’s presence.
Genesis 41:15 The king said to him, “I have had a dream, and so no one can explain it. I have been told that you can interpret dreams.”
Genesis 41:16 Joseph answered, “I cannot, Your Majesty, but God will give a favourable interpretation.”
Genesis 41:17 The king said, “I dreamt that I was standing on the bank of the Nile,
Genesis 41:18 when seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the river and began feeding on the grass.
Genesis 41:19 Then seven other cows came up which were thin and bony. They were the poorest cows I have ever seen anywhere in Egypt.
Genesis 41:20 The thin cows ate up the fat ones,
Genesis 41:21 but no one would have known it, because they looked just as bad as before. Then I woke up.
Genesis 41:22 I also dreamt that I saw seven ears of corn which were full and ripe, growing on one stalk.
Genesis 41:23 Then seven ears of corn sprouted, thin and scorched by the desert wind,
Genesis 41:24 and the thin ears of corn swallowed the full ones. I told the dreams to the magicians, but none of them could explain them to me.”
Genesis 41:25 Joseph said to the king, “The two dreams mean the same thing; God has told you what he is going to do.
Genesis 41:26 The seven fat cows are seven years, and the seven full ears of corn are also seven years; they have the same meaning.
Genesis 41:27 The seven thin cows which came up later and the seven thin ears of corn scorched by the desert wind are seven years of famine.
Genesis 41:28 It is just as I told you – God has shown you what he is going to do.
Genesis 41:29 There will be seven years of great plenty in all the land of Egypt.
Genesis 41:30 After that, there will be seven years of famine, and all the good years will be forgotten, because the famine will ruin the country.
Genesis 41:31 The time of plenty will be entirely forgotten, because the famine which follows will be so terrible.
Genesis 41:32 The repetition of your dream means that the matter is fixed by God and that he will make it happen in the near future.
Genesis 41:33 “Now you should choose some man with wisdom and insight and put him in charge of the country.
Genesis 41:34 You must also appoint other officials and take a fifth of the crops during the seven years of plenty.
Genesis 41:35 Order them to collect all the food during the good years that are coming, and give them authority to store up corn in the cities and guard it.
Genesis 41:36 The food will be a reserve supply for the country during the seven years of famine which are going to come on Egypt. In this way the people will not starve.”
Joseph is Made Governor of Egypt
Genesis 41:37 The king and his officials approved this plan,
Genesis 41:38 and he said to them, “We will never find a better man than Joseph, a man who has God’s spirit in him.”
Genesis 41:39 The king said to Joseph, “God has shown you all this, so it is obvious that you have greater wisdom and insight than anyone else.
Genesis 41:40 I will put you in charge of my country, and all my people will obey your orders. Your authority will be second only to mine.
Genesis 41:41 I now appoint you governor over all Egypt.”
Genesis 41:42 The king removed from his finger the ring engraved with the royal seal and put it on Joseph’s finger. He put a fine linen robe on him, and placed a gold chain round his neck.
Genesis 41:43 He gave him the second royal chariot to ride in, and his guard of honour went ahead of him and cried out, “Make way! Make way!” And so Joseph was appointed governor over all Egypt.
Genesis 41:44 The king said to him, “I am the king – and no one in all Egypt shall so much as lift a hand or a foot without your permission.”
Genesis 41:45-46 He gave Joseph the Egyptian name Zaphenath Paneah, and he gave him a wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in the city of Heliopolis.
Joseph was thirty years old when he began to serve the king of Egypt. He left the king’s court and travelled all over the land.
Genesis 41:47 During the seven years of plenty the land produced abundant crops,
Genesis 41:48 all of which Joseph collected and stored in the cities. In each city he stored the food from the fields around it.
Genesis 41:49 There was so much corn that Joseph stopped measuring it – it was like the sand of the sea.
Genesis 41:50 Before the years of famine came Joseph had two sons by Asenath.
Genesis 41:51 He said, “God has made me forget all my sufferings and all my father’s family”; so he named his first son Manasseh,o
Genesis 41:52 He also said, “God has given me children in the land of my trouble”; so he named his second son Ephraim.p
Genesis 41:53 The seven years of plenty that the land of Egypt had enjoyed came to an end,
Genesis 41:54 and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every other country, but there was food throughout Egypt.
Genesis 41:55 When the Egyptians began to be hungry, they cried out to the king for food. So he ordered them to go to Joseph and so what he told them.
Genesis 41:56 The famine grew worse and spread over the whole country, so Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold corn to the Egyptians.
Genesis 41:57 People came to Egypt from all over the world to buy corn from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.
Chapter 42
Joseph’s Brothers Go to Egypt to Buy Corn
Genesis 42:1 When Jacob learnt that there was corn in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why don’t you do something?
Genesis 42:2 I hear that there is corn in Egypt; go there and buy some to keep us from starving to death.”
Genesis 42:3 So Joseph’s ten half-brothers went to buy corn in Egypt,
Genesis 42:4 but Jacob did not send Joseph’s full-brother Benjamin with them, because he was afraid that something might happen to him.
Genesis 42:5 The sons of Jacob came with others to buy corn, because there was famine in the land of Canaan.
Genesis 42:6 Joseph, as governor of the land of Egypt, was selling corn to people from all over the world. So Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.
Genesis 42:7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he acted as if he did not know them. He asked them harshly, “Where do you come from?”
“We have come from Canaan to buy food,” they answered.
Genesis 42:8 Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.
Genesis 42:9 He remembered the dreams he had dreamt about them and said, “You are spies; you have come to find out where our country is weak.”
Genesis 42:10 “No, sir,” they answered. “We have come as your slaves, to buy food.
Genesis 42:11 We are all brothers. We are not spies, sir, we are honest men.”
Genesis 42:12 Joseph said to them, “No! You have come to find out where our country is weak.”
Genesis 42:13 They said, “We were twelve brothers in all, sir, sons of the same man in the land of Canaan. One brother is dead, and the youngest is now with out father.”
Genesis 42:14 “It is just as I said,” Joseph answered. “You are spies.
Genesis 42:15 This is how you will be tested: I swear by the name of the king that you will never leave unless your youngest brother comes here.
Genesis 42:16 One of you must go and get him. The rest of you will be kept under guard until the truth of what you say can be tested. Otherwise, as sure as the king lives, you are spies.”
Genesis 42:17 Then he put them in prison for three days.
Genesis 42:18 On the third day Joseph said to them, ‘I am a God-fearing man, and I will spare your lives on one condition.
Genesis 42:19 To prove that you are honest, one of you will stay in the prison where you have been kept; the rest of you may go and take back to your starving families the corn that you have bought.
Genesis 42:20 Then you must bring your youngest brother to me. This will prove that you have been telling the truth, and I will not put you to death.”
They agreed to this
Genesis 42:21 and said to one another, “Yes, now we are suffering the consequences of what we did to our brother; we saw the great trouble he was in when he begged for help, but we would not listen. That is why we are in this trouble now.”
Genesis 42:22 Reuben said, “I told you not to harm the boy, but you wouldn’t listen. And now we are being paid back for his death.”
Genesis 42:23 Joseph understood what they said, but they did not know it, because they had been speaking to him through an interpreter.
Genesis 42:24 Joseph left them and began to cry. When he was able to speak again, he came back, picked out Simeon, and had him tied up in front of them.
Joseph’s Brothers Return to Canaan
Genesis 42:25 Joseph gave orders to fill his brother’s packs with corn, to put each man’s money back in his sack, and to give them food for the journey. This was done.
Genesis 42:26 The brothers loaded their donkeys with the corn they had bought, and then they left.
Genesis 42:27 At the place where they spent the night, one of them opened his sack to feed his donkey and found his money at the top of the sack.
Genesis 42:28 “My money has been returned to me,” he called to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack!” Their hearts sank, and in fear they asked one another, “What has god done to us?”
Genesis 42:29 When they came to their father Jacob in Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them:
Genesis 42:30 “The governor of Egypt spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying against his country.
Genesis 42:31 ‘We are not spies,’ we answered, ‘we are honest men.
Genesis 42:32 We were twelve brothers in all, sons of the same father. One brother is dead, and the youngest is still in Canaan with out father.’
Genesis 42:33 The man answered, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men: One of you will stay with me; the rest will take corn for your starving families and leave.
Genesis 42:34 Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but honest men; I will give your brother back to you, and you can stay here and trade.’”
Genesis 42:35 Then when they emptied out their sacks, every one of them found his bad of money; and when they saw the money, they and their father Jacob were afraid.
Genesis 42:36 Their father said to them, “Do you want to make me lose all my children? Joseph is gone; Genesis 42:37 Reuben said to his father, “If I do not bring Benjamin back to you, you can kill my two sons. Put him in my care, and I will bring him back.”
Genesis 42:38 But Jacob said, “My son cannot go with you; his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. Something might happen to him on the way. I am an old man, and the sorrow you would cause me would kill me.”
Chapter 43
Joseph’s Brothers Return to Egypt with Benjamin
Genesis 43:1 The famine in Canaan got worse,
Genesis 43:2 and when the family of Jacob had eaten all the corn which had been brought from Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, “Go back and buy a little food for us.”
Genesis 43:3 Judah said to him, “The man sternly warned us that we would not be admitted to his presence unless we had our brother with us.
Genesis 43:4 If you are willing to send our brother with us, we will go and buy food for you.
Genesis 43:5 If you are not willing, we will not go, because the man told us we would not be admitted to his presence unless our brother was with us.”
Genesis 43:6 Jacob said, “Why did you cause me so much trouble by telling the man that you had another brother?”
Genesis 43:7 They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family, ‘Is your father still living? Have you got another brother?’ We had to answer his questions. How could we know that he would tell us to bring our brother with us?”
Genesis 43:8 Judah said to his father, “Send the boy with me, and we will leave at once. Then none of us will starve to death.
Genesis 43:9 I will pledge my own life, and you can hold me responsible for him. If I do not bring him back to you safe and sound, I will always bear the blame.
Genesis 43:10 If we had not waited so long, we could have been there and back twice by now.”
Genesis 43:11 Their father said to them, “If that is how it has to be, then take the best products of the land in your packs as a present for the governor: a little resin, a little honey, spices, pistachio nuts, and almonds.
Genesis 43:12 Take with you also twice as much money, because you must take back the money that was returned in the top of your sacks. Maybe it was a mistake.
Genesis 43:13 Take your brother and return at once.
Genesis 43:14 May Almighty God cause the man to have pity on you, so that he will give Benjamin and your brother back to you. As for me, if I must lose my children, I must lose them.”
Genesis 43:15 So the brothers took the gifts and twice as much money, and set out for Egypt with Benjamin. There they presented themselves to Joseph.
Genesis 43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant in charge of his house, “Take these men to my house. They are going to eat with me at noon, so kill an animal and prepare it.”
Genesis 43:17 The servant did as he was commanded and took the brothers to Joseph’s house.
Genesis 43:18 As they were being brought to the house, they were afraid and thought, “We are being brought here because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time. They will suddenly attack us, take our donkeys, and make us his slaves.”
Genesis 43:19 So at the door of the house, they said to the servant in charge,
Genesis 43:20 “If you please, sir, we came here once before to buy food.
Genesis 43:21 When we set up camp on the way home, we opened our sacks, and each man found his money in the top of his sack – every bit of it. We have brought it back to you.
Genesis 43:22 We have also brought some more money with us to buy more food. We do not know who put our money back in our sacks.”
Genesis 43:23 The servant said, “Don’t worry. Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, must have put the money in your sacks for you. I received your payment.” Then he brought Simeon to them.
Genesis 43:24 The servant took the brothers into the house. He gave them water so that they could wash their feet, and he fed their donkeys.
Genesis 43:25 They got their gifts ready to present to Joseph when he arrived at noon, because they had been told that they were to eat with him.
Genesis 43:26 When Joseph got home, they took the gifts into the house to him and bowed down to the ground before him.
Genesis 43:27 He asked about their health and then said, “You told me about your old father – how is he? Is he still alive and well?”
Genesis 43:28 They answered, “Your humble servant, our father, is still alive and well.” And they knelt and bowed down before him.
Genesis 43:29 When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin, he said, “So this is your youngest brother, the one you told me about. God bless you, my son.”
Genesis 43:30 Then Joseph left suddenly, because his heart was full of tender feelings for his brother. He was about to break down, so he went to his room and cried.
Genesis 43:31 After he had washed his face, he came out, and controlling himself, he ordered the meal to be served.
Genesis 43:32 Joseph was served at one table and his brothers at another. The Egyptians who were eating there were served separately, because they considered it beneath their dignity to eat with Hebrews.
Genesis 43:33 The brothers had been seated at table, facing Joseph, in the order of their age from the eldest to the youngest. When they saw how they had been seated, they looked at one another in amazement.
Genesis 43:34 Food was served to them from Joseph’s table, and Benjamin was served five times as much as the rest of them. So they ate and drank with Joseph until they were drunk.
Chapter 44
The Missing Cup
Genesis 44:1 Joseph commanded the servant in charge of his house, “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the top of his sack.
Genesis 44:2 Put my silver cup in the top of the youngest brother’s sack, together with the money for his corn.” He did as he was told.
Genesis 44:3 Early in the morning the brothers were sent on their way with their donkeys.
Genesis 44:4 When they had gone only a short distance from the city, Joseph said to the servant in charge of his house, “Hurry after those men. When you catch up with them, ask them, ‘Why have you paid back evil for good?
Genesis 44:5 Why did you steel my master’s silver cup?q It is the one he drinks from, the one he used for divination. You have committed a serious crime!’”
Genesis 44:6 When the servant caught up with them, he repeated these words.
Genesis 44:7 They answered him, “What do you mean, sir, by talking like this? We swear that we have done no such thing.
Genesis 44:8 You know that we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found in the top of our sacks. Why then should we steal silver or gold from your master’s house?
Genesis 44:9 Sir, if any one of us is found to have it, he will be out to death, and the rest of us will become your slaves.”
Genesis 44:10 He said, “I agree; but only the one who has taken the cup will become my slave, and the rest of you can go free.”
Genesis 44:11 So they quickly lowered their sacks to the ground, and each man opened his sack.
Genesis 44:12 Joseph’s servant searched carefully, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.
Genesis 44:13 The brothers tore their clothes in sorrow, loaded their donkeys, and returned to the city.
Genesis 44:14 When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there. They bowed down before him,
Genesis 44:15 and Joseph said, “What have you done? Didn’t you know that a man in my position could find you out by practising divination?”
Genesis 44:16 “What can we say to you, sir?” Judah answered. “How can we argue? How can we clear ourselves? God has uncovered our guilt. All of us are now your slaves and not just the one with whom the cup was found.”
Genesis 44:17 Joseph said, “Oh, no! I would never do that! Only the one who had the cup will be my slave. The rest of you may go back safe and sound to your father.”
Judah Pleads for Benjamin
Genesis 44:18 Judah went up to Joseph and said, “Please, sir, allow me to speak with you freely. Don’t be angry with me; you are like the king himself.
Genesis 44:19 Sir, you asked us, ‘Have you got a father or another brother?’
Genesis 44:20 We answered, ‘We have a father who is old and a younger brother, born to him in his old age. The boy’s brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s children still alive; his father loves him very much.’
Genesis 44:21 Sir, you told us to bring him here, so that you could see him,
Genesis 44:22 and we answered that the boy could not leave his father; if he did, his father would die.
Genesis 44:23 Then you said, ‘You will not be admitted to my presence again unless your youngest brother comes with you.’
Genesis 44:24 “When we went back to our father we told him what you had said.
Genesis 44:25 Then he told us to return and buy a little food.
Genesis 44:26 We answered, ‘We cannot go; we will not be admitted to the man’s presence unless our youngest brother is with us. We can go only if our youngest brother goes also.’
Genesis 44:27 Our father said to us, ‘You know that my wife Rachel bore me only two sons.
Genesis 44:28 One of them has already left me. He must have been torn to pieces by wild animals, because I have not seen him since he left.
Genesis 44:29 If you take this one from me now and something happens to him, the sorrow you would cause me would kill me, old as I am.’
Genesis 44:30-31 “And now, sir,” Judah continued, “if I go back to my father without the boy, as soon as he sees that the boy is not with me, he will die. His life is wrapped up with the life of the boy, and he is so old that the sorrow we would cause him would kill him.
Genesis 44:32 What is more, I pledged my life to my father for the boy. I told him that if I did not bring the boy back to him, I would bear the blame all my life.
Genesis 44:33 And now, sir, I will stay here as you slave in place of the boy; let him go back with his brothers.
Genesis 44:34 How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I cannot bear to see this disaster come upon my father.”
Chapter 45
Joseph Tell His Brothers Who He Is
Genesis 45:1 Joseph was no longer able to control his feelings in front of his servants, so he ordered them all to leave the room. No one else was with him when Joseph told his brothers who he was.
Genesis 45:2 He cried with such loud sobs that the Egyptians heard it, and the news was taken to the king’s place.
Genesis 45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But when his brothers heard this, they were so terrified that they could not answer.
Genesis 45:4 Then Joseph said to them, “Please come closer.” They did, and he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.
Genesis 45:5 Now do not be upset or blame yourselves because you sold me here. It was really God who sent me ahead of you to save people’s lives.
Genesis 45:6 This is only the second year of famine in the land; there will be five more years in which there will be neither ploughing nor reaping.
Genesis 45:7 God sent me ahead of you to rescue you in this amazing way and to make sure that you and your descendants survive.
Genesis 45:8 So it was not really you who sent me here, but God. He has made me the king’s highest official. I am in charge of his whole country; I am the ruler of all Egypt.
Genesis 45:9 “Now hurry back to my father and tell him that this is what his son Joseph says: “God has made me ruler of all Egypt come to me without delay.
Genesis 45:10 You can live in the region of Goshen, where you can be near me-you, your children, your grandchildren, your sheep, your goats, your cattle, and everything else that you have.
Genesis 45:11 If you are in Goshen, I can take care of you. There will still be five years of famine; and I do not want you, your family, and your livestock to starve.’”
Genesis 45:12 Joseph continued, “Now all of you, and you too, Benjamin, can see that I am really Joseph.
Genesis 45:13 Tell my father how powerful I am here in Egypt and tell him about everything that you have seen. Then hurry and bring him here.”
Genesis 45:14 He threw his arms round his brother Benjamin and began to cry; Benjamin also cried as he hugged him.
Genesis 45:15 Then, still weeping, he embraced each of his brothers and kissed them. After that, his brothers began to talk with him.
Genesis 45:16 When the news reached the palace that Joseph’s brothers had come, the king and his officials were pleased.
Genesis 45:17 He said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers to load their animals and to return to the land of Canaan.
Genesis 45:18 Let them get their father and their families and come back here. I will give them the best land in Egypt, and they will have more than enough to live on.
Genesis 45:19 Tell them also to take wagons with them from Egypt for their wives and small children and to bring their father with them.
Genesis 45:20 They are not to worry about leaving their possessions behind; the best in the whole land of Egypt will be theirs.”
Genesis 45:21 Jacob’s sons did as they were told. Joseph gave them wagons, as the king had ordered, and food for the journey.
Genesis 45:22 He also gave each of them a change of clothes, but he gave Benjamin three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothes.
Genesis 45:23 He sent his father ten donkeys loaded with the best Egyptian goods and ten donkeys loaded with corn, bread, and other food for the journey.
Genesis 45:24 He sent his brothers off and as they left, he said to them, “Don’t quarrel on the way.”
Genesis 45:25 They left Egypt and went back home to their father Jacob in Canaan.
Genesis 45:26 “Joseph is still alive!” they told him. “He is the ruler of all Egypt!” Jacob was stunned and could not believe them.
Genesis 45:27 But when they told him all that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to take him to Egypt, he recovered from the shock.
Genesis 45:28 “My son Joseph is still alive!” he said. “This is all I could ask for! I must go and see him before I die.”
Chapter 46
Jacob and His Family Go to Egypt
Genesis 46:1 Jacob packed up all he had and went to Beersheba, where he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
Genesis 46:2 God spoke to him in a vision at night and called, “Jacob, Jacob!”
“Yes, here I am,” he answered.
Genesis 46:3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go to Egypt; I will make your descendants a great nation there.
Genesis 46:4 I will go with you to Egypt, and I will bring your descendants back to this land. Joseph will be with you when you die.”
Genesis 46:5 Jacob set out from Beersheba. His sons put him, their small children, and their wives in the wagons which the king of Egypt had sent.
Genesis 46:6 They took their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan and went to Egypt. Jacob took all his descendants with him:
Genesis 46:7 his sons, his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters.
Genesis 46:8 The members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt with him were this eldest son Reuben
Genesis 46:9 and Reuben’s sons:Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
Genesis 46:10 Simeon and his sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.
Genesis 46:11 Levi and his sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Genesis 46:12 Judah and his sons: Shelah, Perez, and Zerah. (Judah’s other sons, Er and Onan, had died in Canaan.) Perez’ sons were Hezron and Hamul.
Genesis 46:13 Issachar and his sons:Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.
Genesis 46:14 Zebulum and his sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
Genesis 46:15 These are the sons that Leah had borne to Jacob in Mesopotamia, besides his daughter Dinah. In all his descendants by Leah numbered thiry-three.
Genesis 46:16 Gad and his sons: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arod, and Areli.
Genesis 46:17 Asher and his sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malchiel.
Genesis 46:18 These sixteen are the descendants of Jacob by Zilpah, the slave-girl whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah.
Genesis 46:19 Jacob’s wife Rachel bore him two sons: Joseph and Benjamin.
Genesis 46:20 In Egypt Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, by Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in Heliopolis.
Genesis 46:21 Benjamin’s sons were Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
Genesis 46:22 These fourteen are the descendants of Jacob by Rachel.
Genesis 46:23 Dan and his son Hushim.
Genesis 46:24 Naphtali and his sons: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
Genesis 46:25 These seven are the descendants of Jacob by Bilhah, the slave-girl whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel.
Genesis 46:26 The total number of the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt was sixty-six, not including his son’s wives.
Genesis 46:27 Two sons were born to Joseph in Egypt, bringing to seventy the total number of Jacob’s family who went there.
Jacob and His Family in Egypt
Genesis 46:28 Jacob sent Judah ahead to ask Joseph to meet them in Goshen. When they arrived,
Genesis 46:29 Joseph got in his chariot and went to Goshen to meet his father. When they met, Joseph threw his arms round his father’s neck and cried for a long time.
Genesis 46:30 Jacob said to Joseph, “I am ready to die, now that I have seen you and know that you are still alive.”
Genesis 46:31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and the rest of his father’s family, ‘I must go and tell the king that my brothers and all my father’s family, who were living in Canaan, have come to me.
Genesis 46:32 I will tell him that you are shepherds and take care of livestock and that you have brought your flocks and herds and everything else that belongs to you.
Genesis 46:33 When the king calls for you and asks what your occupation is,
Genesis 46:34 be sure to tell him that you have taken care of livestock all your lives, just as your ancestors did. In this way he will let you live in the region of Goshen.” Joseph said this because Egyptians will have nothing to do with shepherds.
Chapter 47
Genesis 47:1 So Joseph took five of his brothers and went to the king. He said, “My father and my brothers have come from Canaan with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own. They are now in the region of Goshen.”
Genesis 47:2 He then presented his brothers to the king.
Genesis 47:3 The king asked them, “What is your occupation?”
“We are shepherds, sir, just as our ancestors were,” they answered.
Genesis 47:4 “We have come to live in this country, because in the land of Canaan the famine is so severe that there is no pasture for our flocks. Please give us permission to live in the region of Goshen.”
Genesis 47:5 The king said to Joseph, “Now that your father and your brothers have arrived,
Genesis 47:6 the land of Egypt is theirs. Let them settle in the region of Goshen, the best part of the land. And if there are any capable men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
Genesis 47:7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob and presented him to the king. Jacob gave the king his blessing,
Genesis 47:8 and the king asked him, “How old are you?”
Genesis 47:9 Jacob answered, “My life of wandering has lasted a hundred and thirty years. Those years have been few and difficult, unlike the long years of my ancestors in their wanderings.”
Genesis 47:10 Jabcob gave the king a farewell blessing and left.
Genesis 47:11 Then Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt, giving them property in the best of the land near the city of Rameses, as the king had commanded.
Genesis 47:12 Joseph provided food for his father, his brothers, and all the rest of his father’s family, including the very youngest.
The Famine
Genesis 47:13 The famine was so severe that there was no food anywhere, and the people of Egypt and Canaan became weak with hunger.
Genesis 47:14 As they bought corn, Joseph collected all the money and took it to the palace.
Genesis 47:15 When all the money in Egypt and Canaan was spent, the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Don’t let us die, Do something! Our money is all gone.”
Genesis 47:16 Joseph answered, “Bring your livestock; I will give you food in exchange for it if your money is all gone.”
Genesis 47:17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. That year he supplied them with good in exchange for all their livestock.
Genesis 47:18 The following year they came to him and said, “We will not hide the fact from you, sir, that our money is all gone and our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left to give you except our bodies and our lands.
Genesis 47:19 Don’t let us die. Do something! Don’t let our fields be deserted. Buy us and our land in exchange for food. We will be the king’s slaves, and he will own our land. Give us corn to keep us alive and seed to sow in our fields.”
Genesis 47:20 Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for the king. Every Egyptian was forced to sell his land, because the famine was so severe; and all the land became the king’s property.
Genesis 47:21 Joseph made slaves of the people from one end of Egypt to the other.
Genesis 47:22 The only land he did not buy was the land that belonged to the priests. They did not have to sell their lands, because the king gave them an allowance to live on.
Genesis 47:23 Joseph said to the people, “You see, I have now bought you and your lands for the king. Here is seed for you to sow in your fields.
Genesis 47:24 At the time of harvest you must give one-fifth to the king. You can use the rest for seed and for food for yourselves and your families.”
Genesis 47:25 They answered, “You have saved our lives; you have been good to us, sir, and we will be the king’s slaves.”
Genesis 47:26 So Joseph made it a law for the land of Egypt that one-fifth of the harvest should belong to the king. This law still remains in force today. Only the lands of the priests did not become the king’s property.
Jacob’s Last Request
Genesis 47:27 The Israelites lived in Egypt in the region of Goshen, where they became rich and had many children.
Genesis 47:28 Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years, until he was a hundred and forty-seven years old.
Genesis 47:29 When the time drew near for him to die, he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “Place you hand between my thighsr and make a solemn vow that you will not bury me in Egypt.
Genesis 47:30 I want to be buried where my fathers are; carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”
Joseph answered, “I will do as you say.”
Genesis 47:31 Jacob said, “Make a vow that you will.” Joseph made the vow, and Jacob gave thanks there on his bed.
Chapter 48
Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
Genesis 48:1 Some time later Joseph was told that his father was ill. So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and went to see Jacob.
Genesis 48:2 When Jacob was told that his son Joseph had come to see him, he gathered his strength and sat up in bed.
Genesis 48:3 Jacob said to Joseph, “Almighty God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.
Genesis 48:4 He said to me, ‘I will give you many children, so that your descendants will become many nations; I will give this land to your descendants as their possession for ever.’”
Genesis 48:5 Jacob continued, “Joseph, your two sons, who were born to you in Egypt before I came here, belong to me; Ephraim and Manasseh are just as much my sons as Reuben and Simeon.
Genesis 48:6 If you have any more sons, they will not be considered mine; the inheritance they get will come through Ephraim and Manasseh.
Genesis 48:7 I am doing this because of your mother Rachel. To my great sorrow she died in the land of Canaan, not far from Ephrath, as I was returning from Mesopotamia. I buried her there beside the road of Ephrath.” (Ephrath is now known as Bethlehem.)
Genesis 48:8 When Jacob saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these boys?”
Genesis 48:9 Joseph answered, “These are my sons whom God has given me here in Egypt.”
Jacob said, “Bring them to me so that I may bless them.”
Genesis 48:10 Jacob’s eyesight was failing because of his age, and he could not see very well. Joseph brought the boys to him, and he hugged them and kissed them.
Genesis 48:11 Jacob said to Joseph, “I never expected to see you again, and now God has even let me see your children.”
Genesis 48:12 Then Joseph took them from Jacob’s lap and bowed down before him with his face to the ground.
Genesis 48:13 Joseph put Ephraim at Jacob’s left and Manasseh at his right.
Genesis 48:14 But Jacob crossed his hands, and put his right hand on the head of Ephraim, even though he was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, who was the elder.
Genesis 48:15 Then he blessed Joseph:s
“May the God whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac served bless
these boys!
May God, who has led me to this very
day, bless them!
Genesis 48:16 May the angel, who has rescued me
from all harm, bless them!
May my name and the name of my
fathers Abraham and Isaac live
on through these boys!
May they have many children, many
descendants!”
Genesis 48:17 Joseph was upset when he saw that his father had put his right hand on Ephraim’s head; so he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to the head of Manasseh.
Genesis 48:18 He said to his father, “Not that way, father. This is the elder boy; put your right hand on his head.”
Genesis 48:19 His father refused, saying, “I know, my son, I know. Manasseh’s descendants will also become a great people. But his younger brother will be a greater than he, and his descendants will become great nations.”
Genesis 48:20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “The Israelites will use your names when they pronounce blessings. They will say, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” In this way Jacob put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Genesis 48:21 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “As you see, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to the land of your ancestors. 22It is to you and not to your brothers that I am giving Shechem, that fertile region which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”
Chapter 49
The Last Words of Jacob
Genesis 49:1 Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather round, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the future:
Genesis 49:2 “Come together and listen, sons of Jacob.
Listen to your father Israel.
Genesis 49:3 “Reuben, my first-born, you are my strength
And the first child of my manhood,
The proudest and strongest of all my sons.
Genesis 49:4 You are like a raging flood,
But you will not be the most important,
For you slept with my concubine
And dishonoured your father’s bed.
Genesis 49:5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers.
They use their weapons to commit
violence.
Genesis 49:6 I will not join in their secret talks,
Nor will I take part in their meetings,
For they killed men in anger
And they crippled bulls for sport.
Genesis 49:7 A curse be on their anger, because it
is so fierce,
And on their fury, because it is so cruel.
I will scatter them throughout the land
of Israel.
I will disperse them among its people.
Genesis 49:8 “Judah your brothers will praise you.
You hold your enemies by the neck.
Your brothers will bow down before you.
Genesis 49:9 Judah is like a lion,
Killing his victim and returning to his den,
Stretching out and lying down.
No one dares disturb him.
Genesis 49:10 Judah will hold the royal sceptre,
And his descendants will always rule.
Nations will bring him tributes
And bow in obedience before him.
Genesis 49:11 He ties his young donkey to a grapevine,
To the very best of the vines.
He washes his clothes in blood-red wine.
Genesis 49:12 His eyes are bloodshot from drinking wine,
His teeth white from drinking milk.t
Genesis 49:13 “Zebulun will live beside the sea.
His shore will be a haven for ships.
His territory will reach as far as Sidon.
Genesis 49:14 “Issachar is no better than a donkey
That lies stretched out between its saddlebags.
Genesis 49:15 But he sees that the resting-place is good
And that the land is delightful.
So he bends his back to carry the load
And is forced to work as a slave.
Genesis 49:16 “Dan will be a ruler for his people.
They will be like the other tribes of Israel.
Genesis 49:17 Dan will be a snake at the side of the road,
A poisonous snake beside the path,
That strikes at the horse’s heel,
So that the rider is thrown off backwards.
Genesis 49:18 “I wait for your deliverance, LORD.
Genesis 49:19 “Gad will be attacked by a band of robbers,
But he will turn and pursue them.
Genesis 49:20 “Asher’s land will produce rich food.
He will provide food fit for a king.
Genesis 49:21 “Naphtali is a deer that runs free,
Who bears lovely fawns.u
Genesis 49:22 “Joseph is like a wild donkey by a spring,
A wild colt on a hillside.v
Genesis 49:23 His enemies attack him fiercely
And pursue him with their bows and arrows.
Genesis 49:24 But his bow remains steady,
And his arms are made strongw
By the power of the Mighty God of Jacob,
By the Shepherd, the Protector of Israel.
Genesis 49:25 It is your father’s God who helps you.
The Almighty God who blesses you
With blessings of rain from above
And of deep waters from beneath the ground,
Blessings of many cattle and children,
Genesis 49:26 Blessings of corn and flowers,x
Blessings of ancient mountains,y
Delightful things from everlasting hills.
May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph,
On the brow of the one set apart from his brothers.
Genesis 49:27 “Benjamin is like a vicious wolf.
Morning and evening he kills and devours.”
Genesis 49:28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel,
and this is what their father said as he
spoke a suitable word of farewell to each son.
The Death and Burial of Jacob
Genesis 49:29 Then Jacob commanded his sons, “Now that I am going to join my people in death, bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the filed of Ephron the Hittite,
Genesis 49:30 at Machpelah, east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan. Abraham bought this cave and field from Ephron for a burial-ground.
Genesis 49:31 That is where they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; that is where they buried Isaac and his wife Rebecca; and that is where I buried Leah.
Genesis 49:32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites. Bury me there.”
Genesis 49:33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he lay down again and died.
Chapter 50
Genesis 50:1 Joseph threw himself on his father, crying and kissing his face.
Genesis 50:2 Then Joseph gave orders to embalm his father’s body.
Genesis 50:3 It took forty days, the normal time for embalming. The Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
Genesis 50:4 When the time of mourning was over, Joseph said to the king’s officials, “Please take this message to the king:
Genesis 50:5 ‘When my father was about to die, he made me promise him that I would bury him in the tomb which he had prepared in the land of Canaan. So please let me go and bury my father, and then I will come back.’”
Genesis 50:6 The king answered, “Go and bury your father, as you promised you would.”
Genesis 50:7 So Joseph went to bury his father. All the king’s officials, the senior men of his court, and all the leading men of Egypt went with Joseph.
Genesis 50:8 His family, his brothers, and the rest of his father’s family all went with him. Only their small children and their sheep, goats, and cattle stayed in the region of Goshen.
Genesis 50:9 Men in chariots and men on horseback also went with him; it was a huge group.
Genesis 50:10 When they came to the threshing place at Atad east of the Jordan, they mourned loudly for a long time, and Joseph performed mourning ceremonies for seven days.
Genesis 50:11 When the citizens of Canaan saw those people mourning at Atad, they said, “What a solemn ceremony of mourning the Egyptians are holding!” That is why the place was named Abel Mizraim.z
Genesis 50:12 So Jacob’s sons did as he had commanded them;
Genesis 50:13 they carried his body to Canaan and buried it in the cave at Machpelah, east of Mamre, in the field which Abraham had bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial-ground.
Genesis 50:14 After Joseph had buried his father, he returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone with him for the funeral.
Joseph reassures His Brothers
Genesis 50:15 After the death of their father, Joseph’s brothers said, “What is Joseph still hates us and plans to pay us back for all the harm we did to him?”
Genesis 50:16 So they sent a message to Joseph: “Before our father died,
Genesis 50:17 he told us to ask you, ‘Please forgive the crime your brothers committed when they wronged you.’ Now please forgive us the wrong that we, the servants of your father’s God, have done.” Joseph cried when he received this message.
Genesis 50:18 Then his brothers themselves came and bowed down before him. “Here we are before you as your slaves,” they said.
Genesis 50:19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid; I can’t put myself in the place of God.
Genesis 50:20 You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good, in order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened.
Genesis 50:21 You have nothing to fear. I will take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them with kind words that touched their hearts.
The Death of Joseph
Genesis 50:22 Joseph continued to live in Egypt with his father’s family; he was a hundred and ten years old when he died.
Genesis 50:23 He lived to see Ephraim’s children and grand children. He also lived to receive the children of Machir son of Manasseh into the family.
Genesis 50:24 He said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will certainly take care of you and lead you out of this land to the land he solemnly promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Genesis 50:25 Then Joseph asked his people to make a vow. “Promise me,” he said, “that when God leads you to that land, you will take may body with you.”
Genesis 50:26 So Joseph died in Egypt at the age of a hundred and ten. They embalmed his body and put it in a coffin.