12 Then Yahweh said to Abram, “You must leave your land and your relatives and your father’s house and go to the land that I’ll show you.[ref]

31 Now Yahweh saw that Le’ah was spurned, so he allowed her to conceive, but Rahel was unable to get pregnant. 32 So Leah got pregnant and gave birth to a son, and she named him ‘Reuben’ (which means ‘Look, a son’) because she said, “Because Yahweh has looked on my misery, surely my husband will love me now.” 33 Then she got pregnant again and gave birth to a second son, and she said, “Because Yahweh heard that I am hated, then he also gave me this son.” So she called his name ‘Simeon’ (which means ‘he hears’). 34 Then she got pregnant again and gave birth to a third son, and she said, “This time now my husband will hold me close to him, because I’ve given him three sons.” That’s why she named the baby ‘Levi’ (which means ‘hold close’). 35 Then Le’ah got pregnant again and gave birth to a fourth son, and she said, “This time I will praise Yahweh.” That’s why she named him ‘Yehudah’ (which means ‘praise’). Then she stopped getting pregnant.

30 Now Rahel realised that she wasn’t producing any children for Yacob, so she envied her sister Le’ah, and she demanded from Yacob, “Give me children, and if you don’t, I’ll die!”

2 But Yacob’s anger flared up against Rahel and he asked, “Am I in the place of God who’s kept you from getting pregnant?”

3 Rahel answered, “Listen, here’s my slave Bilhah. Sleep with her so that she’ll have children on my behalf and I’ll also be able to have a family through her.” 4 Then she gave Bilhah to him as a slave wife and Yacob slept with her, 5 so then Bilhah got pregnant and produced a son for Yacob. 6 Rahel said, “God has vindicated me, and indeed he’s listened to my request and given me a son!” That’s why she named him ‘Dan’ (which means ‘he judged (in my favour)’). 7 Later on, Rahel’s slave Bilhah got pregnant again and gave birth to a second son for Yacob 8 so Rahel said, “I’ve had a difficult battle with my sister but I’ve succeeded in the end!” So she named the baby ‘Naftali’ (which means ‘my struggle’).

9 Now when Le’ah noticed that she wasn’t getting pregnant any more, she gave her female slave Zilpah to Yacob as a slave wife. 10 Then eventually Le’ah’s slave Zilpah produced a son for Yacob, 11 and Le’ah said, “What good fortune!” So she named him ‘Gad’ (which means ‘fortunate’). 12 Then Le’ah’s slave Zilpah produced a second son for Yacob, 13 and Le’ah said, “How blessed I am because women will call me blessed.” So she named him ‘Asher’ (which means ‘blessed’).

14 One day during the wheat harvest, Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants[fn] in the field and brought them home to Le’ah his mother. Then Rahel asked Le’ah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

15 “Is it a small matter you have taken my husband?” Le’ah snapped back. “And would you also take my son’s mandrakes?”

“Well, he can sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” Rahel answered. 16 So that evening when Yacob came home from the field, Leah went out to meet him and told him, “You must come to me tonight because I’ve hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.

17 God listened to Le’ah and she got pregnant and produced a fifth son for Yacob, 18 saying, “God has given me my reward because I gave my slave to my husband to sleep with.” So she named him ‘Yissashkar’ (which means ‘reward’). 19 Then Le’ah got pregnant again and produced a sixth son for Yacob, 20 saying, “God has given me a nice present. This time my husband will honour me because I have produced six sons for him.” So she called his name ‘Zebulun’ (which might mean ‘honour’). 21 Later on, Le’ah had a daughter and named her Dinah.

22 Then God paid attention to Rahel and listened to her and enabled her to conceive, 23 so she got pregnant and produced a son, and said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” 24 She named him ‘Yosef’ (which means ‘may he give another’), saying, “May Yahweh add another son to me.”

25 Sometime after Rahel had given birth to Yosef, Yacob said to Lavan, “Send me off now, so that I can return to my place and to my land. 26 Let me take my wives that I worked for you for, and take my children so that I can leave, because you yourself know how long and hard I’ve worked for you.”

27 But Lavan replied, “Please stay, if I’ve found favour in your eyes because I’ve learned by divination that Yahweh has blessed me because of you.” 28 Then he added, “Tell me how much you want and I’ll pay you that.”

29 “You yourself know how well I’ve served you and how your livestock have prospered with me.” Yacob replied. 30 Before I came, you didn’t have much, but now you have plenty because Yahweh has blessed you wherever I was involved. But now, when will I also do something for my own household?”

31 “What should I give you?” Lavan asked.

“You don’t have to give me anything,” Yacob replied. “If you’ll do this one thing for me, I’ll continue taking care of your flocks: 32 Let me look through all your flocks today and separate out from them all the lambs that are speckled, spotted, or dark-coloured, and all the young goats that are spotted or speckled. They will be my pay. 33 So in the future, you’ll be able to see that I’ve been honest because you’ll be able to see it for yourself: any goat that’s not speckled and spotted, and any sheep that’s not dark-coloured, if it’s in my flock then it must have been stolen.”

34 “Ok then, let’s do it your way.” Lavan agreed. 35 But that very day, he removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, any that had white on it, and all the dark-coloured ones among the lambs. Then he gave them to his sons to look after, 36 and they took them a three-day journey away from where Yacob was, so Yacob was left just tending the rest of Lavan’s flocks.

37 Then Yacob got some freshly cut branches of poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them by exposing the white that was inside the branches. 38 Then he put the branches that he had peeled in the water troughs where the flocks would see them when they came to drink, and they mated when they came to drink. 39 Thus the flocks would mate by the striped branches, and they would bear young who were streaked, speckled, and spotted.

40 Then Yacob separated out those young animals into a separate flock, and he made the older flocks look at the streaked and all the dark-coloured animals in Lavan’s flocks. So he kept his own flocks by themselves and didn’t mix them with Lavan’s flocks.

41 So whenever the strong animals were ready to mate, then Yacob put the branches in the troughs in front of the flocks so that they would mate by the branches, 42 but when the animals were weak, he didn’t put them in. So the weak animals went to Lavan and the strong ones to Yacob 43 so he became very wealthy, and he owned large flocks as well as male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.

31 One day, Yacob overheard the words of Lavan’s sons who were saying, “Yacob has taken everything that belonged to our father, and from what originally belonged to our father he has gained all this wealth.” 2 Then Yacob also noticed that Lavan’s attitude towards him had changed, and he wasn’t in favour of him like he’d been in the past. 3 Then Yahweh told Yacob, “Go back to the land of your ancestors and to your relatives, and I’ll be with you.”

4 So Yacob sent for Rahel and Le’ah to come to him out in the field where he was with his flocks 5 and he told them, “I’ve noticed your father’s attitude and that he’s not positive toward me like he was a few days ago, but my father’s God has been with me. 6 You both know that I’ve served your father with all my strength, 7 but your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times. However, God hasn’t allowed him to harm me. 8 When he told me: ‘The speckled animals will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled young. But when he told me: ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young. 9 In that way, God took your father’s animals away from him and gave them to me.

10 “One day during the season when the flocks were mating, I looked up and saw in a dream that, wow, the male goats that were mounting the flocks were streaked, speckled, and spotted. 11 Then God’s messenger said to me in the dream, ‘Yacob!’ and I said, ‘I’m listening.’ 12 Then he told me, ‘Please look up and observe that all the male goats that are mounting the flocks are streaked, speckled, and spotted, because I have seen everything that Lavan is doing to you. 13 I’m the God of Beyt-el, where you anointed a pillar—where you vowed a vow to me. Now pack up and depart from this land, and return to the land where you were born.’ ”[ref]

14 Then Rahel and Le’ah replied, “Yes, we’re not expecting any portion or inheritance from our father’s property. 15 Doesn’t he just treat us like foreigners now? Yes, he sold us and then he frittered away all the money that should have been ours, 16 so all the wealth that God took from our father belonged to us and to our children anyway. So yes, go ahead and do everything that God’s told you to do.”

17 So Yacob packed up and put his wives and children on the camels. 18 Then he drove all his livestock and all his property that he had acquired—the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan Aram—to go back to Isaac his father in the Canaan region. 19 Now Lavan had gone off for several days to shear his sheep, so Rahel stole the idols that belonged to her father, 20 and Yacob deceived Lavan (the Syrian) by not telling him that they all were leaving. 21 So Yacob took his household and everything that belonged to them and crossed the Euphrates River and headed upward toward the hill-country of Gilead.

22 Three days later, Lavan was informed that Yacob had fled with his family, 23 so he took some of his relatives with him and chased after Yacob and his family for seven days until they overtook them in the hill-country of Gilead. 24 But that night God appeared to Lavan the Syrian in a dream and told him, “Watch yourself that you don’t say anything to Yacob, either good or bad.” 25 When Lavan had caught up to Yacob, Yacob had pitched their tents in the hills, so Lavan with his relatives also pitched theirs on the Gilead hills.

26 Then Lavan said to Yacob, “What have you done? You’ve deceived me and carried away my daughters like prisoners of war. 27 Why did you flee secretly and deceive me and not tell me? I would have sent you all off with music and singing and a cheery party. 28 You didn’t let me kiss my grandchildren goodbye and my daughters, instead you made a foolish decision. 29 I have the right and the ability to punish you, but last night your father’s God told me, ‘Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Yacob.’ 30 So now, you probably left because you miss your father’s place badly, but why did you steal my gods?”

31 “We left like that,” Yacob answered Lavan, “because I was afraid, because I said that perhaps you would use force to take your married daughters from me. 32 As for your idols, whoever you find your gods with will be put to death. Look through everything we have and take back anything that belongs to you, with our relatives as witnesses.” (Now Yacob didn’t know that Rahel had stolen them.)

33 So Lavan inspected Yacob’s and Le’ah’s tents, and the tent of the two slave women, but he didn’t find anything. Then he came out of Le’ah’s tent and went into Rahel’s tent. 34 Now Rahel had taken the idols and put them in the camel’s saddle which she was now sitting on, so although Lavan searched throughout her entire tent, he didn’t find them, 35 and she said to her father, “Don’t let my master be upset that I’m not able to stand up in your presence, because I have the regular female concern at the moment.” So he searched, but he didn’t find the idols.

36 So Yacob got very angry and he argued with Lavan, demanding from him, “What’s my crime? What’s my sin, that you’ve hotly chased after me? 37 Since you’ve searched through all our things, what things from your house have you found? Put it here in front of my relatives and your relatives, and let them judge between the two of us!

38 “I’ve worked for you for twenty years. Your ewes and your female goats didn’t miscarry, and I haven’t eaten rams from your flocks. 39 I didn’t bring dead sheep or goats to you that had been attacked by wild animals—I bore the loss of those myself. You required that I cover anything stolen during the day or during the night. 40 I was always out there—during the day the heat tormented me, and at night the frost so bad that I couldn’t sleep. 41 That’s how it was for me for twenty years in your house. I worked for you for fourteen years for your two daughters, then six more years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times to your advantage. 42 If my father’s God—the God of Abraham and the one Yitshak respected—had not been with me, surely you would have sent me away empty-handed now. God has seen my suffering and my hard work, and last night, he rebuked you.”

43 Then Lavan responded and told Yacob, “These women are my daughters, and the children are my grandchildren, and the flocks are my flocks. Everything that you see here belongs to me. But what can I do today about these daughters of mine or about their children that they gave birth to? 44 So come now, let’s make an agreement, I and you, and let it be a witness between me and you.”

45 So Yacob took a stone and stood it up longways as a pillar, 46 then he instructed his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they fetched stones and made a pile, then they ate there by the pile. 47 Lavan gave the pile the Aramaic name ‘Jegar Sahadutha’ (which means ‘pile that reminds’) while Yacob gave it the Hebrew name ‘Gale’ed’ (which has the same meaning).

48 Then Lavan said, “This pile is a witness of the agreement between me and you today.” (That’s why he’d named it Galeed.) 49 It’s also named ‘Mitspah’ (which means ‘watchtower’), because he said, “May Yahweh watch between me and you when we are hidden one from the other. 50 If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, even though there’s not someone there to see it, listen, God will be a witness between me and you.” 51 Then Lavan said to Yacob, “Look at this pile of stones, and look at the pillar which I set up between me and you. 52 This pile is a witness and the pillar is a witness that I won’t go past these to you, and that you won’t go past these to me to do harm. 53 May Abraham’s God and the gods of their ancestor Nahor judge between us.” Then Yacob swore by the one respected by his father Yitshak, 54 and Yacob offered a sacrifice on the hill. Then he called his relatives to eat bread and they ate bread and spent the night on the hill. 55 In the morning, Lavan got up early and gave his grandchildren and his daughters a kiss, and he blessed them. Then he left and returned to his place.

32 Then Yacob continued on his way with his family and flocks, and some of God’s messengers met him 2 and when he saw them, Yacob said, “This must be God’s army camp.” So he named that place ‘Mahanaim’ (which means ‘two camps’).

3 Then Yacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esaw in the Se’ir region in the country of Edom, 4 instructing them, “This is what you’ll say to my master, to Esaw: ‘This is what your servant Yacob says, “I have been staying with Uncle Lavan and have remained there until now. 5 Now I have cattle and donkeys, flocks, and male and female slaves. And I’ve sent these messengers to speak with my master, so that I’ll find favour in your eyes.” ’ ”

6 In due course the messengers returned to Yacob, saying, “We went to your brother Esaw and now he’s coming to meet you along with his four hundred men!” 7 This made Yacob very scared and distressed, so he divided the people who were with him and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two groups, 8 reasoning, “If Esaw comes and attacks one camp, then the camp that’s left can escape.”

9 Then he prayed, “Yahweh, God of my grandfather Abraham, and God of my father Yitshak, who said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives, and I will cause things to prosper with you,’ 10 I’m unworthy of all the kindnesses and of all the faithfulness that you have shown me your slave, because I crossed this Jordan River with only my staff, but now I’ve become two camps. 11 Please save me from my brother Esaw, because I’m afraid that he’ll come and attack me and the mothers with the children. 12 But you said,[ref] ‘I will surely cause things to prosper with you, and I’ll make your descendants as numerous as the sand grains on the beach which are too many to be counted.’ ”

13 Then he stayed there for that night and he selected gifts for his brother Esaw from what he had with him: 14 two hundred female and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milk camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female and ten male donkeys. 16 Then he handed them over to his slaves, each herd by itself, and he told them, “Go ahead of me one by one, and keep a space between each herd.” 17 And he instructed the first one, saying, “When Esaw my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going? And who do those animals belong to?’ 18 then you should answer, ‘They belong to your servant Yacob. They are a gift sent to my master Esaw. In fact, he’s coming along behind us.’ ” 19 Then Yacob also instructed the second and third slaves, as well as everyone who followed behind the herds, telling them, “Say the same thing to Esaw when you find him, 20 and also say, ‘Look, your servant Yacob is behind us.’ ” Yacob was thinking, “I’ll cheer him up with the gifts that are going ahead of me, and after that, when I see him in person, perhaps he’ll accept me.” 21 So the gifts went ahead of him, and he himself stayed in the camp for that night.

22 Then during that night, Yacob got up and took his two wives and their two female slaves and his eleven sons and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok Stream. 23 After crossing the stream, he also sent across everything else that belonged to him. 24 Then Yacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until dawn.[ref] 25 When the man realised he wasn’t gaining on him, he touched Yacob on the socket of his hip so that it became dislocated as they wrestled with each other. 26 Then the man said, “Release me now, because it’s already dawning.”

“I won’t release you until you bless me,” Yacob responded. 27 “What’s your name?” the man asked.

“Yacob,” he replied.

28 “You won’t be called Yacob anymore,” the man said, “but you’ll be ‘Yisra’el’ (or ‘Israel’, which means ‘he struggled with God’), because you have struggled with God and with men, and you won.”[ref]

29 “Please tell me your name,” Yacob requested.[ref]

“Why would you want to know my name?” the man replied, then he blessed Yacob there.

30 So Yacob named the place ‘Penu’el’ (also spelt ‘Peni’el’, which means ‘God’s face’), because he said, “I saw God face to face, yet my life was preserved.” 31 And the sun rose above him as he passed through Penu’el, and he was limping because of his hip. 32 That’s why Israelis don’t eat the muscle of the tendon that is on the hip socket to this day, because the man touched the socket of Yacob’s hip on the muscle of the tendon.

33 Then Yacob raised his head and looked ahead, and wow, Esaw was coming towards him along with his four hundred men. Then Yacob quickly divided the children among Le’ah and Rahel and their two female slaves, 2 and he put the slave women and their children first, and then Le’ah and her children after them, and finally Rahel and Yosef after them. 3 Then he himself went ahead of them, and he bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. 4 But Esaw ran forward to meet him and embraced him and threw his arms around his neck and kissed him, and they both cried together. 5 Then Esaw looked up and saw the women and the children, and asked, “Who are these others with you?”

“The children that God has graciously given to your servant,” Yacob replied. 6 Then the two female slaves approached with their children, and they bowed down. 7 Next Le’ah also approached with her children, and they bowed down. Then after that, Yosef and Rahel approached, and they bowed down.

8 Then Esaw asked, “What were all these groups that I met?”

“To win my master’s favour,” Yacob replied.

9 “I’ve got plenty, my brother,” said Esaw. “Keep what belongs to you.”

10 “No, please,” Yacob insisted. “If I’ve won your favour, then take my gifts. Because indeed, I’ve seen you face-to-face, which is like seeing God’s face, and you’ve received me favourably. 11 Please take my gifts that were brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have way more than I need.”

And he urged him, so Esaw took it 12 and said, “Ok, let’s get moving and go, and I’ll go ahead of you.”

13 But Yacob replied, “My master knows that the children are tender plus I have flocks and herds with young animals. If they drive them harder today, then all the flocks will die. 14 Please let my master go on before his servant, and I’ll lead them on at my gentle pace—at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me and at the pace of the children—until I come to my master’s place in Se’ir.”

15 “At least let me leave some of my men with you all,” said Esaw.

“Why do that?” contradicted Yacob. “May my master allow me to decide.” 16 So Esaw and his men started heading home to Se’ir, 17 but Yacob travelled to Succot where he built a house for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That’s why he named the place ‘Succot’ (which means ‘shelters’).

18 Then Yacob, having come from Paddan Aram, arrived peacefully at the city of Shekem in the Canaan region, and he camped outside the city. 19 In due course, he bought the portion of the field where he’d pitched his tents from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shekem, for a hundred pieces of silver.[ref] 20 He set up an altar there and he named it ‘El Elohe Yisra’el’ (which means ‘God, the God of Yisra’el’).

34 One day, Yacob and Le’ah’s daughter Dinah, went out to visit some of the local women, 2 but Shekem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of the land, saw her and he grabbed her and raped her. 3 Shekem admired Dinah so much that he fell in love with her and spoke sweetly to her to try to cultivate a relationship. 4 Then he asked Hamor his father, “Get this girl for me as a wife.”

5 When Yacob heard that Shekem had dishonoured his daughter Dinah, his sons were out in the fields with his livestock, so Yacob waited quietly until they got home. 6 Meanwhile Shekem’s father Hamor took Shekem to negotiate with Yacob. 7 In due course Yacob’s sons came home from the fields. When they heard what had happened, then they were very angry and upset, because Shekem had done something disgraceful to Yisra’el by taking advantage of Yacob’s daughter. Something like that should never have happened. 8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “My son Shekem my son is madly in love with your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9 In fact, why don’t you allow us to marry your daughters, and you people could have our daughters to marry, 10 then you could settle here permanently with us. This region would open up to you all so settle in it and trade with us and you could buy more land around here.”

11 Then Shekem spoke to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Look kindly on my request and I’ll give whatever you ask for. 12 Set any very high amount for the bride-price and gifts from me, and I’ll give whatever you ask—just give the young woman to me as a wife.”

13 But because Shekem had abused their sister Dinah, Yacob’s sons gave a false answer to Shekem and his father, 14 stating, “Sorry, we can’t do that because it would be a disgrace in our culture to allow a man with a foreskin to marry her. 15 We’d only consent to your proposal if you’d become like us by circumcising every male among you, 16 Then we’d give our daughters to you to marry, and we’d take your daughters for us to marry. And we’d settle among you, and we all would become one united people. 17 But if you all won’t agree to get circumcised, then we’ll just take Dinah and go.”

18 This idea pleased Hamor and his son, 19 so Shekem didn’t delay implementing the plan because he was the most honoured son in his father’s household, and he was so delighted with Yacob’s daughter.

20 So Hamor and Shekem went to the city elders at the gate of their city, and they spoke to them, saying, 21 “These men are peaceful towards us, so let them settle in the land, and let them trade in it. And look, the land is plenty wide enough for them as well. We can take their daughters for ourselves as wives, and we can give our daughters to them to marry. 22 But they’ll only consent to settle among us and unite with us on this condition: we would need to circumcise all of the males amongst us, just like they’re circumcised. 23 Won’t all of their livestock and their property and all their animals then belong to us? So let’s agree with their condition and then they’ll settle among us.” 24 All the elders at the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shekem, and so every male who passed through the city gate was circumcised.

25 Three days later when all those men were in pain from the cutting, two of Yacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi who were Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and boldly attacked the city and slaughtered every male, 26 including Hamor and his son Shekem. Then they retrieved Dinah from Shekem’s house and left the city. 27 Then when Yacob’s other sons discovered that a slaughter had taken place, they looted the city because their sister had been violated— 28 taking flocks and herds and donkeys—anything the was in the city or out in the fields. 29 They captured their women and children and took all their wealth and everything that was in their houses.

30 Afterwards, Yacob scolded Simeon and Levi, saying, “You two have made trouble for me by destroying my reputation with those who live in the land—the Canaanites and the Perizzites. There’s only a few of us, and if they gather together to attack me and my household, then we’ll be destroyed—me and all my household.”

31 But they responded, “Should he have gotten away with treating our sister like a prostitute?”

35 Then God told Yacob, “Pack up and move to Beyt-el and settle there, and make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esaw.”[ref]

2 So Yacob instructed his household and everyone with him, “Remove any foreign idols that are among you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. 3 Then we’ll leave here and make the uphill trip to Beyt-el, and I’ll make an altar there to God, who answered me when I was distressed. He’s been with me wherever I’ve gone.” 4 So they gave Yacob all their idols and their earrings, and he buried them under the terebinth tree that was near Shekem.

5 Then they started their journey but and the people of the cities around them were afraid of Yacob’s God so they didn’t attack them. 6 So Yacob and everyone with him eventually arrived at Luz in the Canaan region (which is now named Beyt-el). 7 He built an altar there and named the place ‘El Beyt-el’ (which means ‘the God of Beyt-el’), because God had revealed himself to him there when he was fleeing from his brother Esaw. 8 Then Rebekah’s nurse Deborah died and was buried under the oak tree below Beyt-el so he named the place ‘Allon Bakut’ (which means ‘oak of weeping’).

9 Now that Yacob had left Paddan Aram and come back to Beyt-el, God appeared to him there again and blessed him 10 and told him, “Your name is Yacob but you won’t be called Yacob anymore. From now on, you’ll be called Yisra’el (‘Israel’).” So again[ref] God called him Yisra’el. 11 Then God also told him, “I’m God the provider. Be fruitful and multiply. Out of you will come a nation and a community of nations, and kings will come from your descendants,[ref] 12 and I’ll give you the land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, and in the future, I’ll give the land to your descendants after you.” 13 After God finished talking to Yacob, he left him and went back up. 14 Then Yacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had spoken with him, and he poured a drink offering over it, followed by oil,[ref] 15 and he named that place ‘Beyt-el’ (which means ‘God’s house’) because God had spoken to him there.

16 Then they moved on from Beyt-el, and there was still quite a distance to go to reach to the town of Ephrath. Then Rahel went into labour, but was having great difficulty in delivering the baby. 17 At one point when she was in hard labour, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid. You’ve got another son.” 18 But Rahel was dying, and as her spirit was leaving her, she named the baby ‘Ben’oni’ (which means ‘son of my sorrow’), but afterwards Yacob renamed him ‘Benyamin’ (which means ‘son of my right hand’).

42 Meanwhile (up in the Canaan region), Yacob heard that there was grain available in Egypt, so he said to his sons, “Why are you just standing there looking at each other? 2 Listen, I’ve heard that they’re selling grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us so that we won’t just starve to death here.”[ref]

45 By now, Yosef wasn’t able to control himself in front of everyone who was standing around, and he called out, “Send everyone else out!” So Yosef was alone when he revealed himself to his brothers,[ref]

46 So Yisra’el started his trip, taking everything he had. When they stopped in Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Yitshak. 2 During the night, God spoke to Yisra’el in visions sayings, “Yacob, Yacob.”

“I’m listening,” he answered. 3 Then God told him, “I’m God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down to Egypt, because I’ll make you into a great nation there. 4 I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I myself will also surely bring you back here. And Yosef will be there with you when you die.”

5 Then Yacob departed from Beersheba, and his sons carried their father and their little ones and their wives in the carts that Far’oh had sent to carry him. 6 They had also brought along all their livestock and their possessions that they had acquired in Canaan. Then they arrived in Egypt—Yacob and all of his offspring with him:[ref] 7 his sons and his sons’ sons with him, and his daughters and his sons’ daughters. So he brought all his offspring with him to Egypt.

11 Later on when Mosheh was fully grown, he went out to visit the Hebrews and saw their forced labour, and he saw an Egyptian man beating a Hebrew man—one of his own people.[ref] 12 Mosheh looked around to check that no one was watching, then he hit the Egyptian, killing him, then he hid his body in the sand. 13 The next day, he went out again and wow, two Hebrew men were fighting each other, and he said to the man in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”

14 “Who made you the ruler and judge over us?” the man replied. “Are you planning to kill me like you killed that Egyptian?” Then Mosheh was afraid because he realised that what he’d done had probably become widely known. 15 Indeed, when Far’oh heard about it, he ordered Mosheh to be killed. So Mosheh had to flee from the king and he took off east to live in Midian and he stayed near the well.[ref]

3 One time Mosheh (Moses) was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Yetro (or Jethro, the priest at Midian), and he led the flock beyond the wilderness and came to a hill. (This was later known as the mountain of God at Horev). 2 While he was there. Yahweh’s messenger appeared to him in a flame coming from the middle of a bush, and as Mosheh looked, to his surprise he saw that the bush was burning in the fire yet not actually being burnt up.[ref] 3 “I’ve got to go and see this amazing sight,” Mosheh said to himself. “How come the bush isn’t burning up?”

4 When Yahweh saw that he’d left his path in order to look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Mosheh, Mosheh.”

“I’m here,” he replied.

5 “Don’t come any closer,” Yahweh said. “Take off your sandals because the place where you’re standing is HOLY ground. 6 I’m the God of your father and the God of Abraham, Yitshak, and Yacob.” So Mosheh covered hid his face because he was scared to look at God.

7 “I’ve certainly noticed the suffering of my people in Egypt,” Yahweh continued, “I’ve heard their cries as the slave drivers oppress them—I’m unmistakingly aware of their pain. 8 So I’ve come down to set them free from Egyptian control and to bring them up from there to a good and wide land—a land flowing with milk and honey. It’s currently the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Yebusites. 9 Yes, the cry of the Israelis has now reached me and what’s more, I’ve seen how much the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So go now and I’ll send you to Far’oh (Pharaoh) and bring my people—Yisra’el’s descendants—out from Egypt.”

19 The Israelis entered the Sinai wilderness in the third month after exiting Egypt. 2 After they had departed from Refidim, they had entered the Sinai wilderness and camped there at the base of the mountain. 3 Yahweh called Mosheh from the mountain, so he climbed up and God gave him this message and asked him to pass it on to Yacob’s descendants, the Israelis:

4 “You yourselves saw what I did to the Egyptians—how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you all here to myself. 5 And now, if you all carefully listen to my words and keep my agreement, then your nation will be my possession, separate from all the others, because all the earth is mine,[ref] 6 So you all will be my kingdom of priests and a nation dedicated to me.” (That’s the message to pass on to the Israelis.)[ref] 7 So Mosheh descended again and summoned the Israeli elders, then he passed on that message just as Yahweh had commanded him, 8 and all the people responded together, agreeing, “We’ll do everything that Yahweh has said.” Then Mosheh took the people’s response back to Yahweh 9 and Yahweh told him, “Look, I’ll come to you in a thick cloud so that the people will be able to hear when I speak with you so they’ll also continue to trust you.”

Then Mosheh told Yahweh the people’s words 10 and Yahweh responded, “Go down to the people and purify them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be prepared for the third day, because on the third day I will come down to Mt. Sinai while all the people watch. 12 Set boundaries for the people all around, and tell them, ‘Don’t climb on the mountain or touch its edge, because anyone who does will definitely be executed.[ref] 13 Anyone who touches the mountain mustn’t be touched by anyone else—they must be executed by throwing rocks at them or shooting them with a bow. No person or animal who touches the mountain can stay alive.’ Only after a long trumpet blast should they start to climb the mountain.” 14 So Mosheh went down the mountain to the people. He purified them and they all washed their clothes, 15 and he told them, “Abstain from sexual relations, and be ready by the third day.”

16 So on the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightning and a thick cloud on the mountain, and an extremely loud horn blast, and all the people in the camp were trembling.[ref] 17 Then Mosheh led the people out of the camp to go and meet God, and they stationed themselves at the foot of the mountain. 18 Yahweh descended onto Mount Sinai surrounded by fire and the entire mountain smoked. Its smoke went up like the smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. 19 Then it happened after the sound of the horn got extremely loud, that Mosheh was speaking and God was answering him in a voice. 20 Yahweh had descended onto the top of Mt. Sinai, and he called Mosheh up to the top of the mountain, so Mosheh ascended. 21 But Yahweh told him, “Go back down and warn the people in case they force their way through to look at me and many of them perish. 22 Also, the priests who come nearer to me, they must be very careful to purify themselves in case I suddenly punish them.” 23 But Mosheh questioned Yahweh, “The people aren’t able to come up on Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us,[ref] ‘Set boundaries all around the mountain to keep it sacred.’ ” 24 “Go back down,” Yahweh responded, “and bring Aharon back up with you. However, the priests and the people must not cross the boundary to come up to me, in case I suddenly punish them.” 25 So Mosheh went down and spoke to the people.

20 Then God gave these instructions to the Israelis: 2 I’m your God Yahweh, who rescued you[fn] from where you were enslaved in Egypt.

3 You mustn’t own any other gods in my sight. 4 You mustn’t make a carved figure for yourself, nor carve a copy of anything in the sky above or in the earth below, or that’s in the water under the earth.[ref] 5 Don’t bow down to idols and don’t serve them, because I, your God Yahweh, am a jealous God. I remember the sins of the fathers and punish the children of even the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,[ref] 6 but I faithfully fulfil my promises to thousands of generations of those who love me and who obey my instructions.

7 You mustn’t wrongly promote the name of Yahweh your God, because I will not leave anyone unpunished who does that.[ref]

8 Keep Saturday different from all the other days—[ref] 9 there’s six days every week for working.[ref] 10 The seventh day is a rest day for Yahweh your God: you mustn’t do any work—not you, or your children, or your male or female servants, or your cattle, or the foreigners live among you— 11 because Yahweh made the heavens and earth, the sea, and everything that’s in them in six days. Then he rested on the seventh day, so that’s why he blessed the rest day and made it sacred.[ref]

12 Honour your father and your mother, so that you’ll have a long life on the land that your God Yahweh is about to give you.[ref]

13 You mustn’t murder.[ref]

14 You mustn’t commit adultery.[ref]

15 You mustn’t steal.[ref]

16 You mustn’t lie in court.[ref]

17 You mustn’t covet your neighbour’s house or spouse, or their male or female servants, or their animals, or anything else they own.[ref]

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32 Meanwhile, the people had noticed that Mosheh had been up on the mountain for a long time, so they people gathered themselves around Aharon and told him, “Come on. Make some gods for us that can go ahead of us, because we don’t know what’s happened to that Mosheh—the man[fn] who brought us out of Egypt.”[ref]

7 Then the king moved into his palace, and Yahweh allowed him to have a time of peace from all his enemies. 2 One day the king said to the prophet Natan, “Look, I’m here living in a house made of cedar, but God’s box is still there in a tent.”

3 “Go and do whatever you consider best,” Natan replied, “because Yahweh is with you.” 4 But that night, Yahweh spoke to Natan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David that Yahweh says, ‘Will you build a house for me to live in? 6 I haven’t lived in a house since I brought the Israelis out of Egypt right up until now, but rather I was living in a tent as they moved around. 7 In all those places, I never once queried the leaders to ask why they never built a cedar house for me.’

8 “But now you should tell my servant David that commander Yahweh says, ‘I myself took you out of the grass field where you looked after the sheep and goats to become the leader of my people the Israelis. 9 Everywhere you’ve gone, I’ve been with you and destroyed your enemies in front of you, and I will make you famous like all the famous people on the earth. 10 I will establish a place for the Israelis and put them there to live, and they won’t be afraid because evil people won’t continue to oppress them like happened in the past 11 when I appointed heroes (traditionally ‘judges’) over my people Israel. I will give you peace from all your enemies, and I, Yahweh, will enable your descendants to rule after you. 12 when your time on earth comes to an end and you’re laid down with your ancestors, I will appoint one of your sons to be king and I will establish his kingdom.[ref] 13 He’s the one who’ll build a temple for me, and I will make his descendents reign forever. 14 I myself will become like a father to him, and he’ll become like a son to me. When he disobeys, I’ll punish him like fathers punish their sons.[ref] 15 But my kindness won’t turn away from you like I turned away from Sha’ul—the one who I removed ahead of you. 16 Your descendants and your kingdom will remain forever. Your throne will be established forever.’ ”[ref]

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6 So it was that four hundred and eighty years after the Israelis left Egypt, in the second month of the fourth year of Shelomoh’s reign over Israel, he began the construction of Yahweh’s residence. 2 It would be twenty-seven metres long, nine metres wide, and fourteen metres high.[fn] 3 The five-metre wide porch on the front was the same length as the temple width, so nine metres long. 4 The window openings narrowed towards the outer edge of the wall. 5 Against the outside of the back wall and the two sides, he built three-storey (but lower than the wall) side rooms. 6 The lowest level was just over two metres wide, the middle level was half a metre wider, and the top level the same again (because the temple wall got thinner as it went up). The temple walls had ledges built into them for the beams to sit on, so they wouldn’t have to go through the walls.

7 While the temple was being built, all of the huge stones were dressed at the quarry site, so there was no noise from any hammer or axe or iron tool at the construction site.

8 The entrance to the bottom level of siderooms was on the south side of the temple, then from there, stairs went up to the middle level, and more stairs to the top level. 9 So he built the temple walls, then it was roofed with cedar beams and planks, 10 and he built the siderooms—each level just over two metres high and attached to the temple with cedar beams.

11 Then Yahweh had this message sent to Shelomoh, 12 “This residence that you’re building, if you comply with my regulations and follow my judgements and obey all my commands, then I’ll ensure that everything I promised your father David will come to pass. 13 I will live among you Israelis and I’ll never abandon my people Israel.”

14 So Shelomoh finished the construction of the temple, 15 and on the inside he made walls of cedar boards. The floor was made with cypress boards, and the walls were panelled from the floor to the ceiling. 16 Inside the temple, nine metres at the rear were closed off to make an inner room called ‘the very holy place’. That too had walls made of cedar boards.[ref] 17 That left the main temple room as eighteen metres long, 18 and it had cedar boards on the walls decorated with carvings of buds and flowers in blosom. All the internal walls were covered with cedar so none of the large stones were visible.

19 The inner room at the back was to house the box containing Yahweh’s agreement, 20 and the room (nine metres long and wide and high) was overlaid with pure gold and equipped with an incense altar overlaid with cedar. 21 Then Shelomoh overlaid the main room with pure gold, and he hung gold chains crossing across the entrance to the inner room that was overlaid with gold. 22 He overlaid the interior of the entire temple with gold until it was all finished, including overlaying the altar belonging to the inner room with gold.[ref]

23 In the inner room, he made two winged creatures that were five metres high and made of olive wood.[ref] 24 Each wing was over two metres long, giving each one a total wingspan of four and a half metres. 25 Both creatures were the same size and shape, 26 and they were both five metres high. 27 The two winged creatures were placed across the inner room where their wingtips touched each other in the centre and their outer wings touched the walls. 28 Both of the wooden carvings were overlaid with gold.

29 He had all the interior walls of the temple engraved with winged creatures and palm trees and flowers in bloom, 30 and he overlaid the floor of both rooms with gold.

31 He made doors and doorposts for the inner room with olive wood, 32 and both doors were decorated with carvings of winged creatures and palm trees and flowers in bloom, then they were overlaid with gold that was hammered over the carvings. 33 He made the doorposts for the main temple entrance with olive wood, 34 and the two folding doors themselves each had two folding sections made of cypress. 35 These doors were also decorated with carvings of winged creatures and palm trees and flowers in bloom, and then overlaid with gold smoothed down over the carvings.

36 He built the inner courtyard with three rows of dressed stones and a row of cedar beams.

37 The foundation for Yahweh’s residence was laid in the second month of the fourth year of Shelomoh’s reign, 38 and it was completed in the eighth month of his eleventh year—meeting all his specifications and requirements. So it took over seven years to build it.

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