1 In the beginning, God[fn] created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty and darkness covered the surface of the depth waters and God’s spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and light came into existence,[ref] 4 and God observed that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God named the light daytime, and the darkness he named nighttime. Then evening came, and later morning came, and that was the end of the first day.

6 Then God said, “Let there be a ≈large space[fn] in the middle of the waters, and let it separate the two lots of waters.”[ref] 7 So God made the ≈large space and separated between the waters that were underneath from the waters that were above it.[fn] Everything happened exactly as he commanded, 8 and he named the ≈space sky. Then evening came, and later morning came, and that was the end of the second day.

9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear.” Everything happened exactly as he commanded, 10 and he named the ground that appeared land, and he named the gathered waters seas, and he saw that what he had done was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout vegetation: every plant yielding seed, every fruit tree bearing its own fruit that has its seed inside it, on the earth.” Everything happened exactly as he commanded, 12 so the land started producing vegetation, every plant producing its own seed, and every tree bearing fruit that has its seed inside it. And God saw that what he had done was good. 13 Then evening came, and later morning came, and that was the end of the third day.

14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the sky to separate daytime from nighttime, so they’ll be signs, and for indicating seasons, and for tracking days and years. 15 They must function as lights in the sky that shine light on the earth.” Everything happened exactly as he commanded, 16 so God made the two large lights, the larger, brighter light to rule the day, and the smaller light to rule the night, and he also made the stars. 17 He put those lights in the sky to shine light on the earth, 18 and to oversee the daytime and the nighttime, and to distinguish between the light and the darkness. And God saw that what he had done was good. 19 Then evening came, and later morning came, and that was the end of the fourth day.

20 Then God said, “Let the waters be full of with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly in the sky above the earth.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every kind of living creature that moves which the waters swarm with, and every kind of winged bird. And God saw that what he had done was good, 22 and he blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 Then evening came, and later morning came, and that was the end of the fifth day.

24 Then God said, “Let the land bring forth every kind of living creature: livestock and every crawling creature and every kind of living thing on the earth.” Everything happened exactly as he commanded, 25 so he made every kind of creature of the earth, and every kind of livestock, and every kind of crawling creature on the ground. And God saw that what he had done was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every creature moving on the earth.”[ref] 27 Then God created humankind in his image, yes, created in the image of God—male and female he created them.[ref] 28 Then God blessed them and told them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and take control of it. You’re in charge of the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Look, I’ve given you every plant throughout the whole earth that yields seed, and every tree that has fruit with a seed or seeds inside it. They will be yours for food, 30 and to every living thing on the earth, and to every bird in the sky, and to everything moving on the earth that has living breath in it, I’ve given every green plant for food.” Everything happened exactly as he commanded, 31 and he saw everything that he’d made, and wow, it was very good. Then evening came, and later morning came, and that was the end of the sixth day.

2 So the heavens and the earth were completed, along with everything in them. 2 By the seventh day God had finished his work, so he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he’d done.[ref] 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and declared it to be different from the other days, because on that first Saturday, he rested from all his work of creating.

4 What follows tells[fn] more details about the history of what God did when he created the heavens and the earth:

The Garden of Eden; The Man and Woman in Eden; Another Account of the Creation

During the time when Yahweh GodLORD which is NOT a translation of ‘יהוה’ (which means ‘I am’), but which represents confusion over the more recent Jewish (but non-Biblical) custom of not pronouncing God’s name (and which makes one wonder what’s the use of telling people your name if they’re then not allowed to use it).">[fn] made the earth and the heavens, 5 there weren’t yet any bushes growing on the earth, and no plants had yet sprung up in the fields, because Yahweh God had not yet made it rain, and nor were there any people yet to till the ground. 6 However, a mist came up from the ground and watered the entire surface of the land.

7 Then Yahweh God formed the first man out of the dust on the ground and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living person.[ref]

8 Now in the east, Yahweh God had planted a garden in Eden, and he put the man there that he had formed. 9 He also caused all kinds of trees to grow there—some that are pleasant to look at and good for food. In the middle of the garden was the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil[ref]

10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and then from there it split into four rivers. 11 The first river was named Pishon, and it winds around through the entire region of Havilah, where there’s gold. 12 The gold from there is very pure, and there’s also a type of fragrant resin and onyx gemstones there. 13 The second river was named Gihon, and it winds through the entire region of Cush. 14 The third river was named Tigris, and it flowed east of the Asshur region, and then the fourth river was named Frat.

15 Yahweh God took the man and put him in the garden at Eden to cultivate and maintain it 16 and instructed him, “You can eat as much fruit as you want from any tree in the garden, 17 but you mustn’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because the day you eat its fruit you’ll certainly die.”

18 Then Yahweh God said, “It’s not good for the man to be alone, so I’ll make a suitable helper for him.”

19 Now Yahweh God had formed every living thing of the field and every bird of the sky from the ground, so he brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that would become its name. 20 The man gave names to all the various livestock and to the birds of the sky and to every living creature in the fields, but none of them was a suitable companion to help him.

21 So Yahweh God caused the man to go into a deep sleep, and then while he was sleeping, he removed one of his ribs and closed up over its place with flesh. 22 Then Yahweh God used the rib which he had taken from the man to form into a woman, and he brought her to the man, 23 and the man said:

“Now this is bone from my bones

and flesh from my flesh.

She’ll be named ‘woman’

because she came from a man.”

24 So that’s why a man leaves his father and mother, and becomes united to his wife, and the two of them become one being.[ref]

25 At that time, both the man and his wife were naked, but they had no sense of shame.

3 Now the snake was the craftiest of all the ≈wild animals that Yahweh God had created, and one day he asked the woman, “Did God really command you to not eat fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”[ref]

2 “No,” answered the woman, “we can eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden, 3 except from the tree that is in the centre. He commanded us to not eat that fruit or even touch it, because if we do, we will die!”

4 But the serpent said to the woman, “It’s not definite that you’ll die. 5 Actually, God knows that as soon as you eat fruit from that tree, you’ll understand new things, so that you will know what’s right and what’s wrong just like God does.”

6 The woman saw that the tree’s fruit looked good to eat and that the tree itself was very attractive, plus she wanted to eat the fruit so that it would make her wise. So she picked some of the fruit and ate it and she also gave some of it to her husband who was there with her, and he ate it too. 7 Immediately they both had new understanding and they felt their nakedness. So they sewed some fig leaves together and made skirts for themselves.

8 Late that afternoon, during the cool time of the day, the man and his wife heard Yahweh God’s voice as he walked in the garden, but they hid from him behind some trees in the garden, 9 so Yahweh God called out to the man, “Adam, where are you?”

10 “I heard you walking in the garden,” he replied, “but I was scared because I was naked, so I hid myself.”

11 “Who told you that you’re naked?” Yahweh God asked. “Have you eaten the fruit that I told you not to eat?”

12 “The woman that you put here beside me,” answered the man, “she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.”

13 Then Yahweh God asked the woman, “What did you do?”[ref]

“The snake tricked me, so I ate some of the fruit,” the woman replied.

14 Then Yahweh God said to the snake,

“Because you’ve done this you’ll be cursed more than all the livestock,

and more than every ≈wild animal.

Now you’ll move along on your belly,

and you’ll eat dust all the rest of your life.

15 I’ll put hostility between you and the woman

between your descendants and hers.

He will crush your head

and you’ll strike his heel.”[ref]

16 To the woman God said,

“I’ll sharply increase your pain in childbirth.

You’ll produce children in pain.

Your desire will be for your husband

and he will rule over you.”

17 Then God said to the man,[ref]

“Because you did what your wife told you

and ate from that tree

that I’d told you not to eat from,

then the ground will be cursed because of you.

You’ll have to work hard to get food from it

all the rest of your life.

18 It’ll produce thorns and thistles for you

although you’ll eat the crops of the fields.

19 You’ll eat bread with sweat drops on your nose

until you return to the ground

because you were taken out of the ground.

Yes, you were created from dust,

and you’ll return back to dust.”

20 Then the man named his wife ‘Havvah’ (which means ‘living’) because she would become the mother of all future people. 21 Then Yahweh God made clothes from animal skins for Adam and his wife and he dressed them.

22 Then Yahweh God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, being aware of good and evil. But now, he mustn’t be allowed to reach out his hand and also take fruit from the tree of life and eat it and live forever.”[ref] 23 So Yahweh God expelled them out of the garden in Eden to work the soil from which Adam had been taken.

24 After he expelled them, he placed sentries on the east side of the garden in Eden, as well as a fiery sword that swung around in every direction to guard the path to the tree of life.

4 Then Adam slept with his wife, and she conceived and in due course gave birth to Kayin (Cain). “Yahweh has enabled me to produce a man,” she said. 2 Eventually she also gave birth to Kayin’s brother, Abel. Abel became a shepherd, while Kayin became a crop farmer. 3 Some months later, Kayin brought some of what he’d grown in the ground as an offering to Yahweh, 4 and also Abel brought the best portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. Now Yahweh was pleased with Abel and his offering,[ref] 5 but he didn’t even look towards Kayin and his offering. Kayin got very angry and his face showed his displeasure. 6 Then Yahweh said to Kayin, “Why are you so angry? And why are you frowning like that? 7 If you do what’s right, won’t you be honoured? But if you don’t do what’s right, sin is crouching in the doorway wanting to have you, but you have the control over it.”

8 One day, Kayin spoke to his brother Abel when they were out in the field, and then Kayin attacked him and killed him.[ref]

9 Later Yahweh asked Kayin, “Where’s your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, “It’s not my job to look after my brother.”

10 “What have you done?” Yahweh asked. “Your brother’s blood is calling out to me from the ground.[ref] 11 So now you’re cursed and banished from the soil that your brother’s blood soaked into as a result of your actions. 12 Whenever you till and plant the ground, it will no longer produce good yields for you. You’ll be a fugitive and wandering refugee on the earth.”

13 “My punishment is more than I can bear,” Kayin complained to Yahweh. 14 “Look, you’re now driving me away from the ground I’ve been cultivating to somewhere where you won’t be able to see me. I’ll be a wandering refugee on the earth, and anyone who finds me will kill me.”

15 “Very well,”, replied Yahweh and declared, “If anyone kills Kayin, then that person will receive a seven times greater sentence.” Then Yahweh marked Kayin so that no one who found him would kill him, 16 and Kayin left Yahweh’s presence and settled in the land of Nod to the east of Eden.

17 Then Kayin slept with his wife and she conceived and gave birth to Hanoch (Enoch). Then Kayin founded a town and named it Hanoch after his son. 18 Eventually Hanoch fathered Irad, and Irad fathered Mehuyael, and Mehuyael father Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lemech (Lamech). 19 Lemech had two wives: the first was named Adah and the second was Tsillah (Zillah). 20 Adah gave birth to Yaval (Jabal) who became the ancestor of people who live in tents and rear cattle. 21 His brother’s name was Yuval (Jubal) and he became the ancestor of people who play stringed and wind instruments. 22 Tsillah gave birth to Tuval-Kayin (Tubal-Cain) who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. His sister was named Naamah. 23 Then Lemech said to his wives:

“Adah and Tsillah, listen to me.

My wives, take notice of my words;

I killed a man who had wounded me;

I killed a young man who hurt me.

24 If killers of Kayin would be sentenced seven times as much,

then anyone who kills me should be sentenced seventy-seven times as much.”

25 Then Adam slept with his wife again and she bore a son and named him Shet (Seth) (which means ‘given’) because she had said, “God has given me another son in place of Abel who was killed by Kayin.” 26 Eventually Shet also had a son and named him Enosh. That was when people began using Yahweh’s name ≈when they prayed for help.

(1 Chronicles 1.1-4)

5 This is the list of Adam’s descendants. When God had created humankind, he made them in his own likeness.[ref] 2 He created them as male and female, and he blessed them and named them ‘humans’.[ref] 3 When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son who was like him in many ways, and he named him Shet (Seth). 4 After Shet’s birth, Adam lived another 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 5 So Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.

6 When Shet was 105 years old, he had a son named Enosh. 7 After Enosh’s birth, Seth lived another 807 years and had other sons and daughters. 8 So Shet lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.

9 When Enosh was 90 years old, he had a son named Kenan. 10 After Kenan’s birth, Enosh lived another 815 years and had other sons and daughters. 11 So Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died.

12 When Kenan was 70 years old, he had a son named Mahalalel. 13 After Mahalalel’s birth, Kenan lived another 840 years and had other sons and daughters. 14 So Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died.

15 When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he had a son named Yared (Jared). 16 After Yared’s birth, Mahalalel lived another 830 years and had other sons and daughters. 17 So Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died.

18 When Yared was 162 years old, he had a son named Hanoch (Enoch). 19 After Hanoch’s birth, Yared lived another 800 years and had other sons and daughters. 20 So Yared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died.

21 When Hanoch was 65 years old, he had a son named Metushalah (Methuselah). 22 After Metushalah’s birth, Hanoch walked with God for 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 So Hanoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Hanoch walked with God, and then he was not there, because God took him away.[ref]

25 When Metushalah was 187 years old, he had a son named Lemek (Lamech). 26 After Lemek’s birth, Metushalah lived another 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 So Metushalah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.

28 When Lemek was 182 years old, he had a son 29 and he named him Noah (which sounds like the Hebrew word for ‘relief’) because he said, “This son will give us relief from the difficult work that we have to do because Yahweh has cursed the ground.” 30 After Noah’s birth, Lemek lived another 595 years and had other sons and daughters. 31 So Lemek lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.

32 After Noah was 500 years old, he had sons whose names were Yafet (Japheth), Shem, and Ham.[fn]

6 When people began to multiply on the earth’s surface, and they were having daughters,[ref] 2 God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives. 3 Then Yahweh said, “My Spirit won’t tolerate people forever, because they are physical beings, therefore their remaining time will be 120 years.” 4 The NEFILIM were on the earth in those days and also after that, when the sons of God went to the daughters of humankind and they bore children for them. INVESTIGATE They were the mighty warriors of long ago—those famous men.[ref]

5 Then Yahweh saw that the humankind’s wickedness on the earth was extensive, and that every inclination of their inner thoughts was only evil all day long.[ref] 6 So Yahweh regretted that he had made humankind on the earth and he was deeply saddened, 7 so he said, “This humankind that I created, I will completely destroy them from the surface of the ground, along with the animals, and crawling creatures and the birds of the sky, because I regret that I made them.” 8 However, Yahweh noticed Noah and was pleased with him.

9 This is the account of Noah: He was a man who obeyed God, blameless among the people of his time and he walked around with God.[ref] 10 Noah had three sons: Yafet (Japheth), Shem, and Ham.

11 Now God noticed that humankind was corrupt and very violent. 12 Yes, God looked at the earth, and wow, all the living creatures on the earth had corrupted their behaviour.

13 So God told Noah, “I’ve decided to put an end to all people on earth because the earth is filled with violence because of them. So listen, I myself am going to destroy all of them, along with the earth. 14 Make yourself a wooden chest[fn] out of cypress. Build rooms inside it, and seal it both inside and outside with resin. 15 These are the dimensions for it: 140m long, 23m wide, and 14m high. 16 It must have a roof, but the last half a metre between the sides and the roof should remain open. Put the door in its side, and build lower, middle, and upper decks. 17 You see, I’m going to flood the earth with water to destroy every creature that breathes. Everything that’s on the earth will die. 18 But I’ll make an agreement with you, so you must go into this chest along with your wife and sons and their wives, 19 and you must take a pair, male and female, of everything that lives into the chest to keep alive with you. 20 Pairs of every kind of bird and animal, including every kind of creature that moves on the ground, will come to you so that you keep them alive, 21 and you must take with you some of every different kind of food and store it in there for you and them to eat. 22 So Noah did that exactly as God had specified.[ref]

7 Then Yahweh said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, because I’ve seen that you’re the only one who obeys me in this generation. 2 Take in seven male and female pairs of every kind of ‘clean’ animal, and one male and female pair of the ‘unclean’ animals, 3 as well as seven male and female pairs of every kind of flying bird in order to preserve their kinds on the earth. 4 Seven days from now I’ll send forty days and nights of rain on the earth, and I’ll eliminate every living thing that I’ve made that’s still on the ground. 5 So Noah did everything that Yahweh had instructed him to do.

6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood covered the earth, 7 and he went into the wooden chest along with his wife, his three sons and their wives, in order to escape from the floodwaters.[ref] 8 ‘Clean’ and ‘unclean’ animals, the birds, and everything that lived on the ground 9 came to Noah in male and female pairs and went into the chest, just like God had instructed Noah. 10 Then when the seven days were up, water started to flood the earth.

11 When Noah was 600 years old (and around the beginning of May), deep underwater geysers in the ocean started spouting out water, and the skies began to drop heavy rain[ref] 12 that continued day and night for forty days. 13 That was the very day that Noah and Yafet and Shem and Ham and their wives had all entered the wooden chest. 14 They had with them every kind of living creature, including every kind of livestock and every other kind of creature that lives on the land, and every kind of bird and everything else that flies. 15 They had come to Noah in order to enter the chest—two by two of every creature with the breath of life. 16 So pairs of males and females of every creature entered just as God had instructed Noah, then Yahweh closed the door and they were shut in.

17 Then the flood came onto the earth for forty days, and the water rose so that the wooden chest was lifted up right off the land. 18 The water continued to rise and get deeper on the earth, and the chest floated along on top of the water. 19 Eventually the water on the earth got so deep that all the high mountains everywhere under the sky were under water—20 in fact the water rose over seven metres above the tops of them. 21 By then every living creature that lived on the earth had drowned—birds, livestock, animals, every creature that swarms upon the earth, and all humankind. 22 Everything that had the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils, everything that lived on dry land, died. 23 That’s how Yahweh completely annihilated every living creature off the earth, including humankind and livestock and crawling creatures and even the birds. Everything was annihilated except for Noah and those with him in the floating chest, 24 and the earth remained in full flood for 150 days.

8 Then God considered Noah and all the living things and all the livestock that were with him in the floating chest, and he caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters started to subside 2 and the underwater geysers and the rain was stopped. 3 Then the water steadily receded from the earth and after five months the water had gone down enough 4 that by October the wooden chest was left sitting on one of the Ararat mountains. 5 The water continued to recede until December when the tops of the mountains became visible.

6 Then after another forty days, Noah opened a window near the top of the chest 7 and he released a raven which kept flying out and returning until the land started to dry out. 8 Then Noah also released a dove to see if the land was really out of the water, 9 but the dove didn’t find anywhere to land so it returned to the window because the surface of the earth was still wet, and he stretched out his arm and brought the dove back inside. 10 Noah waited another week and then he released the dove again 11 and it returned to him in the evening and wow, it had a fresh, green olive leaf in its beak. So now Noah knew that the land was out of the water. 12 Then he waited another week, and released the dove again, but this time it didn’t come back to him.

13 So it was when Noah was 601 years old (in the month of WHAT MONTH on the first day of the Jewish new year) the land was still drying out. So Noah made an opening in the top of the wooden chest and saw that the land surface there was almost dry. 14 By the end of the next month, the land was fully dry.

15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Leave the wooden chest along with your sons and each of your wives. 17 Take out all the living creatures that are with you, including the birds and livestock, and everything that crawls (CHECK FOR WORD CONSISTENCY) on the ground, so that they’ll proliferate and increase their numbers all over the earth. 18 So Noah went outside, along with his sons and each of their wives. 19 Every living creature, every crawling thing and every bird, everything moving on the earth, went outside kind by kind.

20 Then Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and he took some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird, and he offered them as burnt offerings on the altar. 21 When Yahweh smelt the pleasant aroma, he said to himself, “I’ll never curse the ground because of humankind again, even though the humankind’s hearts are inclined from their youth to do evil things. And I’ll never again destroy every living thing again like I’ve just done.

22 As long as the earth continues to exist,

seedtime and harvest time,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night,

will never stop happening.

9 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.[ref] 2 Now every living creature on the earth will be afraid and terrified of you, including every bird that flies in the sky, along with every creature that moves on land, and all the fish in the ocean. I have put them all under your authority. 3 From now on every creature that is alive and moves can be eaten as food—just like I previously provided you green plants for food, now I provide you everything for food—4 the only exception is meat with it’s life blood still in it.[ref] 5 Also, I will certainly require blood as payment for people’s lives: if anyone murders another person, I require that the murderer must die, and even if an animal kills a human being, I require that it must die. 6 Yes, if anyone sheds human blood, the others must shed the murderer’s blood, because God made human beings in his image.[ref] 7 So then, be fruitful and multiply—have children on the earth and become numerous.[ref]

8 Then God said to Noah and his sons, 9 “Now listen, I am making an agreement with you and your future descendants, 10 and it’s also with every living creature that is with you: with the birds, the livestock, and every living thing on the earth with you, from all that came out of the wooden chest to every future living thing on the earth. 11 My agreement that I’m establishing with you is that all living things will never die from a flood again. That’s right, I will never use a flood again to destroy everything on the earth.” 12 Then God added, “This is how I’ll show everyone that I’ve made this agreement with you and with all the living creatures that are with you, along with all future generations: 13 I’ll place my rainbow among the clouds, and it’ll be a sign of the agreement between me and all life on the earth. 14 So whenever I cause clouds to form in the sky and a rainbow is visible in the clouds, 15 then I’ll remember my agreement that’s between me and you and every kind of living creature, and a flood will never again destroy everything living. 16 So whenever a rainbow appears among the clouds, I’ll see it and remember my permanent agreement with every living creature that lives and will live on the earth.” 17 Then God said to Noah, “The rainbow is the sign of the agreement that I have established between me and every living thing on the earth.”

18 Noah’s sons who came out of the wooden chest after the flood were Yafet (Japheth), Shem, and Ham. (Ham became Canaan’s father). 19 They were Noah’s three sons and from them the whole earth became populated.

20 After a while, Noah, who was a farmer, planted some grape vines, 21 and in due course he drank some of his wine and got drunk, and he fell asleep naked in his tent. 22 Then Ham (Canaan’s father) saw his father’s nakedness then went outside and told his brothers what he’d seen. 23 So Shem and Yafet took a robe, and holding it between their shoulders they walked backwards into the tent and covered their father’s nakedness. (Their faces were towards the tent entrance, so they didn’t see his nakedness.) 24 Eventually, Noah woke up from his drunken sleep and found out what his youngest son (Ham) had done to him 25 and said, “May Canaan be cursed and become a slave of slaves to his brothers!” 26 Then he added, “Praise Yahweh who’s Shem’s God. May Canaan become Shem’s slave. 27 May God expand Yafet’s territory and may he live in Shem’s tents. May Canaan also become a slave of Yafet.”

28 After the flood, Noah lived another 350 years, 29 and so he was 950 years old when he died.

(1 Chronicles 1.5-23)

10 These are the generations of Noah’s sons, Yafet (Japheth), Shem, and Ham, and their descendants born to them after the flood:

10:2 Yafet’s (Japheth’s) descendants

Descendants of Japheth

The Japhethites

2 Yafet’s (Japheth’s) sons were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Yavan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 Gomer’s sons were Ashkenaz, Rifath, and Togarmah. 4 Yavan’s sons were Elishah and Tarshish, and Kittim[fn] and Dodanim. 5 From all those descendants, people spread out into areas near the coast, each group with their own language, and with all the clans making up their nations.

10:6 Ham’s descendants

Descendants of Ham

The Hamites

6 Ham’s sons were Cush, Egypt (Hebrew: Mitsrayim), Put, and Canaan. 7 Cush’s sons were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtekah. Then Raamah’s sons were Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush was also the father of Nimrod who became a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 Nimrod also became a terrific hunter noticed by Yahweh, so people said, “Like Nimrod, a terrific hunter noticed by Yahweh.” 10 His kingdom began in the cities of Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, all in the Shinar region. 11 From that area he extended to Asshur[fn] where he built the cities of Nineveh, Rehobot-Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen, between Nineveh and the large city of Calah.

13 Mitsrayim fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naftuhim, 14 Pathrusim, and Casluhim (who the Philistines came from), and Caftorim.

15 Canaan fathered Tsidon his firstborn, then Het,[fn] 16 Yebusi, Emori, Girgashi. 17 Hivi, Arqi, Sini, 18 Arvadi, Tsemari, and Hamati. Later on, the Canaan clans spread in all directions 19 and their border went from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 Those are Ham’s descendants according to their clans, languages, regions, and nations.

10:21 Shem’s descendants

Descendants of Shem

The Semites

21 Shem (the younger brother of Yafet) also had some sons and became the ancestor of all the descendants of Eber. 22 Shem’s sons were Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 Aram’s sons were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad fathered Shelah, then Shelah fathered Eber. 25 Eber’s two sons were Peleg and Yoktan. (Peleg’s name means ‘division’, because it was during his lifetime that the earth was divided.[fn]) 26 Yoktan fathered Almodad, Shelef, Hazarmaveth, Yerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ofir, Havilah, and Yobab. (All of those were the sons of Yoktan.) 30 They lived in the area from Mesha then to Sefar in the eastern hills. 31 Those are Shem’s descendants according to their clans, languages, regions, and nations.

32 All of those are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their generations and nations, and from them the nations spread out across the earth after the flood.

11 Now the whole world had a single language and the same words, 2 and as they migrated from the east, they discovered a plain in the Shinar region and settled there. 3 Then they said to each other, “Come on, let’s make bricks and cure them with fire.” So they had bricks instead of stones, and they had tar for mortar.

4 Then they said, “Come on, let’s build a city for ourselves and a tower with its top in the sky, and let’s make a reputation for ourselves, so that we don’t get scattered all over the whole earth.” 5 Then Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that the humans were building 6 and he said, “Look, they’re just one people group, and they all speak the same language. This is only the beginning of what they can do together—soon they’ll be capable of doing anything they plan to do. 7 Come on then, let’s go down and confuse their language so that they won’t be able to understand each other’s words.” 8 So then they stopped building the city and Yahweh caused them to scatter over the whole world. 9 That’s why they named the city ‘Babel’ (meaning ‘mixed-up’) because it was there that Yahweh mixed up everyone’s language and then scattered them over the whole world.

(1 Chronicles 1.24-27)

10 This is the record of Shem’s descendants: Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he had a son named Arpakshad. 11 After Arpakshad was born, Shem lived another 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arpakshad was thirty-five years old, he had a son named Shalah. 13 After Shalah was born, Arpakshad lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

14 When Shalah was thirty years old, he had a son named Eber. 15 After Eber was born, Shelah lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber was thirty-four years old, he had a son named Peleg. 17 After Peleg was born, Eber lived another 430 years and had other sons and daughters

18 When Peleg was thirty years old, he had a son named Reu. 19 After Reu was born, Peleg lived another 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu was thirty-two years old, he had a son named Serug. 21 After Serug was born, Reu lived another 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug was thirty years old, he had a son named Nahor. 23 After Nahor was born, Serug lived another 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor was twenty-nine years old, he had a son named Terah. 25 After Terah was born, Nahor lived another 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 After Terah was seventy years old, he had sons whose names were Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 This is the record of Terah’s descendants: Terah’s sons were Abram, Nahor, and Haran and Haran had a son named Lot. 28 While his father was still alive, Haran died in the land where he was born, in the city of Ur where the Chaldeans lived. 29 Meanwhile Abram married Sarai and Nahor married Milcah. (Milcah and her sister Iscah were the daughters of Nahor’s brother Haran.) 30 However, Sarai wasn’t able to get pregnant so they didn’t have any children.

31 Then one day, Terah gathered his son Abram and his grandson Lot (who was Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai (who was Abram’s wife), and they all left from the city of Ur (where the Chaldeans lived), to travel to the region of Canaan, but when they arrived at the city of Haran, they decided to live there. 32 Then when Terah was 205 years old, he died there in Haran.

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] 2 I’ll bless you and make you into a great nation. I’ll make you famous and you’ll be a blessing to others. 3 I’ll bless everyone who blesses you, but I’ll curse anyone who curses you. All the families on the earth will be blessed because of you.[ref]

4 So Abram left there just as Yahweh had told him, and Lot also went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left the city of Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot and all their possessions that they had accumulated and the people who they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan.

When they arrived in the Canaan region, 6 they continued travelling as far as the city of Shekem, to Moreh’s oak tree. (The Canaanites were still living in that region at that time.) 7 Then Yahweh came to Abram and told him, “I’ll give this land to your descendants.” So Abram built an altar there and made a burnt offering to Yahweh, who had appeared to him.[ref] 8 Then from there he went on to the hills to the east of Beyt-El (Beyt-El) and pitched his tents, with Beyt-El on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to Yahweh there, and sacrificed and prayed to Yahweh 9 before continuing south down toward the Negev desert.

10 One time when there was a drought causing a severe food shortage, Abram and his household travelled west across to Egypt (Mitsrayim) to stay there. 11 Just before they arrived in Mitsrayim, Abram said to his wife Sarai, “Listen, you’re a very beautiful woman, 12 so when the Egyptians see you they’ll say, ‘This is his wife,’ and they’ll kill me but let you live. 13 Please tell them that you’re my sister so they’ll treat me well because of you and let me live.”[ref] 14 So that’s what happened when they entered Mitsrayim—the Egyptians indeed noticed that Sarai was very beautiful, 15 and when Far’oh’s (Pharaoh’s) officials saw her, so they told him about her beauty, and she was taken into Far’oh’s palace. 16 He treated Abram well (thinking he was the brother), so he was given flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.

17 But Yahweh directed terrible plagues onto Far’oh and his household because of his taking Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Far’oh called for Abram and said, “What’s this you’ve done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she’s your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her in as a wife? Now then, here’s your wife. Take her and get out of here.” 20 Then Far’oh commanded his officers, and they sent Abram and his wife away and everything that belonged to him.

13 Then Abram left Egypt with his wife and everything that belonged to him, and their nephew Lot. They returned to the Negev 2 and now Abram had become very wealthy, with both livestock, and silver and gold. 3 Then they continued north through the Negev as far as Beyt-El, to the place where his tents had been at the beginning—between Beyt-El and Ai—4 to the place where he’d previously built an altar,[ref] and Abram sacrificed and prayed to Yahweh there.

5 Now Lot, who was travelling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 but the land couldn’t support them all while they stayed together. Because the needs of their combined assets were so demanding, they couldn’t all thrive in one place 7 and that led to strife between Abram’s and Lot’s herdsmen. Also, the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.

8 So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have quarrelling between you and I, or between yours herdsmen and mine, because we’re relatives. 9 Isn’t the whole land available to you? So let’s separate. If you go to the left then I’ll go right, or if you go to the right then I’ll go left.” 10 Lot looked all around and saw that all the plain of the Yordan river valley was well-watered through towards Tso’ar, just like Yahweh’s garden had been before he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and like the land of Egypt.[ref] 11 Lot chose all of the Yordan plain for himself, and so he travelled to the east and they separated from each other. 12 So Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled in the cities of the plain and moved his tents as far as Sodom. 13 However, the people of Sodom were extremely wicked, constantly disobeying Yahweh.

14 After Lot had left, Yahweh told Abram, “Look all around you towards the north, the south, the east, and the west, 15 because all that land that you can see, I’ll give it to you and to your descendants to have forever.[ref] 16 I’ll make your descendants as numerous as dust particles. Your descendants will only be able to be counted if someone’s able to count all the dust particles on the earth. 17 So, go and start walking throughout the land—through its length and its width, because I’m giving it all to you.” 18 So Abram moved his tents and went and settled by the terebinth trees at Mamre (near Hebron), and he built an altar to Yahweh there.

14 At the time when Amrafel was king of Shinar, Arioch was king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer was king of Elam, and Tidal was king of the Goyim, 2 they went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also known as Tso’ar). 3 Those latter five kings joined forces in the Siddim valley (also known as the Salt Sea valley). 4 They had been subject to King Kedorlaomer for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

5 Then in the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him went and attacked the Refaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-Kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in the hill country of Se’ir as far as El Paran, which is near the wilderness. 7 Then those four kings turned back and went to En Mishpat (also called Kadesh) and they attacked the entire territories of the Amalekites and also the Amorites, who were living in Hazezon Tamar.

8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also called Zoar) went out into the Siddim Valley and arranged their troops for battle 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amrafel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar—five kings defending themselves against the four. 10 Now the Siddim Valley had many tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into the pits, but the rest fled up into the hills. 11 Then the four attacking kings took all the peoples’ possessions from Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food and left.

12 Abram’s nephew Lot and all his possessions also got taken because he was living in the city of Sodom, 13 but someone who escaped came and reported this news to Abram the Hebrew. At that time, Abram was still living by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner, and the three of them had formed an alliance together. 14 When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he led out his 318 trained men who’d all been born in his house, and he pursued his enemies as far as the town of Dan. 15 During the night, Abram split in his slaves into groups and they attacked the four kings and their soldiers and pursued them to Hobah (north of Damascus). 16 They were able to bring back all the possessions, as well as his nephew Lot and his possessions, and also the women and the other people who’d been captured.

17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and his allied kings, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram in Shaveh valley (also called the king’s valley) .

Melchizedek blesses Abram

18 Then Melchizedek the king of Salem brought out bread and wine—he was a priest to the most high God.[ref] 19 Melchizedek blessed Abram, saying:

“May Abram be blessed by the most high God,

the owner of heaven and earth.

20 Praise the most high God,

who enabled you to defeat your enemies.”

Then Abram gave to Melchizedek a tenth of everything he had recovered.

21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give my people back to me, but keep the possessions for yourself.”

22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I promise by Yahweh, most high God, the owner of heaven and earth, 23 that I won’t take anything of yours, not even the strap of a sandal, so that you won’t be able to say that it was you who made me wealthy. 24 I’ll take nothing, except what the young fighters have eaten, and the share of the other men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their share.”

15 After those events, Yahweh spoke to Abram in a vision, telling him, “Don’t be afraid, Abram, because I’ll protect you and I’ll generously and richly reward you.”

2 “My master Yahweh,” replied Abram, “what will you give me, since we have no children and it’s Eliezer (my chief slave from Damascus) who’ll inherit all my possessions?” 3 Then he continued, “Yes, you haven’t given me a child so wow, my heir is a slave from my household!”

4 Then listen, Yahweh’s word came to Abram saying, “That man won’t be your heir, but on the contrary, it’ll be your biological son.” 5 Then Yahweh took Abram outside and said, “Look up at the sky and see if you can count the stars.” Then he said to him, “Your descendants will be like that.”[ref]

6 Abram believed in Yahweh, and Yahweh considered that faith of Abram’s as an act of obedience.[ref]

7 Then Yahweh told Abram, “I’m Yahweh who brought you out of Ur (where the Chaldeans lived) so I could give you this land to possess it.”

8 “My master Yahweh,” Abram asked, “how will I know that I will possess it?”

9 “Bring me a three-year-old heifer,” Yahweh replied, “and a three-year-old she-goat and a three-year-old ram and a turtledove and a young pigeon.” 10 So Abram brought all those to Yahweh, and then he cut the animals (but not the birds) in half down the middle and laid the halves opposite to each other. 11 Then some birds of prey flew down to the carcasses, but Abram shooed them away.

12 Later as the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and it suddenly became completely dark and he became terrified,[ref] 13 and Yahweh said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that doesn’t belong to them, and they’ll serve the rulers of that land and those rulers will persecute them for 400 years.[ref] 14 But just as certain, I’ll punish the nation that they serve and after that they’ll come out with many possessions.[ref] 15 And as for you, you’ll go to your ancestors in peace—you’ll be buried at a good old age. 16 Then in the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, because the Amorites’ sins won’t be complete until then.”

17 Then the sun went down and darkness came, and wow, there was a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch that passed between those animal halves. 18 On that day Yahweh made an agreement with Abram, saying, “I’ve given this land to your descendants, from Egypt’s river to the famous Euphrates River.[ref] 19 That includes the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Refaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Yebusites.”

16 Now Abram’s wife Sarai hadn’t been able to give him any children, but she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar, 2 so Sarai said to Abram, “Listen, Yahweh has prevented me from having children so please sleep with my slave. Perhaps I can have a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai had suggested. 3 So Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife for him. 4 So he slept with Hagar and she got pregnant, but once she realised that she began to despise her mistress.

5 So Sarai complained to Abram, “This is all your fault. I let you sleep with my slave, but now that she’s pregnant she looks down on me. May Yahweh judge between me and you.”

6 “Listen,” Abram replied, “She’s your slave to do what she’s told. Do whatever you think best.” So Sarai started mistreating Hagar, and so she ran away.

7 Then Yahweh’s messenger found her in the wilderness at a spring—the spring beside the road to Shur, 8 and asked her, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave, where have you come from and where are you going?”

“I am running away from Sarai, my mistress,” she ≈replied.

9 Then Yahweh’s messenger instructed her, “Return to your mistress and do whatever she tells you,” 10 then added, “I’ll give you so many descendants that they won’t even be able to be counted because there’ll be so many.” 11 Then the messenger told her,

“Listen here: you’re pregnant and will give birth to a son,

and you’ll name him ‘Yishma’el’ (which means ‘God hears’)

because Yahweh has heard your cries of misery.

12 He’ll be a wild donkey of a man

and he’ll be hostile to everyone

and everyone will be against him.

He’ll live right in front of his brothers.”

13 Then Hagar realised that it was Yahweh who had spoken to her and said, “You’re ‘The God who sees me’,” because she thought, “Did I really just see the back of the God who sees me?” 14 So that’s why that well between Kadesh and Bered is now called ‘The well of the living one who sees me’.

15 Then Hagar gave birth to a son for Abram, and Abram named him Yishma’el.[ref] 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Yishma’el for him.

17 Many years later when Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to him and said, “I’m the all-powerful God. Obey me and don’t disobey 2 and I’ll establish my agreement with you and will cause you to have very many descendants.” 3 Then Abram knelt down with his face to the ground and God told him, 4 “Listen, my agreement with you is that you’ll become the father of many nations, 5 so you’ll no longer be called ‘Abram’, but now your name will be ‘Abraham’ (which means ‘father of many nations’) because I’m making you the father of many nations.[ref] 6 I’ll make you and your descendants very fruitful so that they form nations and some of them will become kings.

7 I’ll establish my agreement with you and your future descendants for all the following generations. It will be an agreement that never ends, that I’ll be the your God and God of your future descendants.[ref] 8 I’ll give this land that you’re staying in—the entire region of Canaan—to you and your descendants as a permanent possession, and I’ll be their God.”[ref]

The Sign of Circumcision

9 Then God told Abraham, “For your part,, you and your descendants after you throughout all their generations must follow the requirements of our agreement. 10 This is the agreement that you and all your future descendants are to follow: every male among you must be circumcised.[ref] 11 This removal of the foreskin will be a physical mark confirming the agreement between me and you. 12 All male babies must be circumcised when they’re eight days old. This includes all those born in your own house, as well as any that have been bought from foreigners even if they’re not your biological descendants. 13 Yes, they definitely must be circumcised either way if they’re born in your house or purchased as slaves. This way, my agreement will be manifested in your physical bodies as a never-ending agreement. 14 Any males who isn’t circumcised must be excluded from his people because he will have broken my agreement.”

Sarai Is Named Sarah

15 God also told Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, don’t call her Sarai anymore, because from now on her name will be ‘Sarah’ 16 and I will bless her, and I’ll also give you a son from her. Yes, I’ll bless her and she’ll become the mother of nations—kings of peoples will come from her.”

17 Abraham fell to his knees and he laughed and said to himself, “How can a hundred year old man father a child? And what about Sarah who’s ninety-nine years old having a baby!” 18 Then Abraham said to God, “If only you’d bless Yishma’el as my heir.”

19 “No,” God ≈replied, “It’ll be your wife Sarah who gives you a son, and you’ll name him ‘Yitshak’ (or ‘Isaac’, meaning ‘one who laughs’). I’ll establish my agreement with him as a never-ending commitment to him and his descendants. 20 But as for Yishma’el, I’ve heard your request. Listen, I’ll bless him and make him fruitful and give him very many descendants. He’ll father twelve rulers and I’ll make him into a great nation, 21 however, my agreement will be established with Yitshak, who Sarah will give birth to by this time next year.” 22 Then having finished speaking with Abraham, God went up away from him.

23 Then Abraham took every male from his household and circumcised them that very day, just as God had instructed him. That included his son Yishma’el, all those born in his house, and everyone bought with his money. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised 25 and his son Yishma’el was thirteen years old when Abraham circumcised him. 26 So it was, on that same day, both Abraham and his son Yishma’el were circumcised 27 and all the other males in his household, whether born there or bought from foreigners, were circumcised with him.

18 Then one day Yahweh appeared again to Abraham at the oak trees on Mamre’s land, while Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and was surprised to see three men standing a short distance away. He ran from the tent opening to meet them and bowed respectfully,[ref] 3 and said, “My masters, if I’ve found favour in your eyes, please don’t just carry on past your slave. 4 Let me get some water so that you can wash your feet and rest here under this tree. 5 I’ll go and get some food so that you can refresh yourselves before you leave, since you’ve come to your slave.”

“Alright, do as you have said,” they ≈answered.

6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and told Sarah, “Quickly, grind three measures of fine flour and knead it and make some bread.” 7 He ran to the herd and selected a tender and choice calf and took it to a slave who hurried to prepare it. 8 Then he took yogurt and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and he set the meal down in front of the visitors, standing there under the tree by them while they ate.

9 Then they asked him, “Where’s your wife Sarah?”

“See, over there in the tent,” he ≈replied.

10 “I’ll definitely return to you here in the spring next year,” the visitor continued. “You see, your wife Sarah will have a son then.”[ref]

Now Sarah was at the opening of the tent listening, but the visitor was facing the other direction. 11 Abraham and Sarah were pretty old at this stage and Sarah had passed the age of being able to have children, 12 so when she heard that, she laughed to herself and said, “Now that my body’s worn out, will I have the pleasure of a child? Even my master’s too old.”[ref]

13 Then Yahweh spoke to Abraham, “Why is it that Sarah laughed, saying, ‘Will I really have a child when I’m old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for Yahweh? I’ll return here to you next year in the spring and Sarah will have a son.”[ref]

15 But Sarah was afraid and denied it by saying, “I didn’t laugh.”

“No, because you did laugh,” he said.

16 Then the three men got up to leave and looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to see them off. 17 Then Yahweh said to himself, “Should I hide what I’m about to do from Abraham? 18 His descendants are certainly going to become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him and them, 19 because I’m aware that he’ll command his children and his household after him, and they’ll follow Yahweh’s path by their right and just behaviour, so that Yahweh will bring about for Abraham what he’s said to him.”

20 Then Yahweh said, “Because there’s so many people crying out about Sodom and Gomorrah, and because their sin is very grievous, 21 I’ll go down there now and see if what I’ve heard about them is true, and if not, I’ll also find that out.”

22 Then the other two men left and started descending toward Sodom, and Abraham was still standing there in front of Yahweh, 23 so he went closer to Yahweh and asked, “Will you really destroy obedient people along with those who are evil? 24 What if there were fifty people in the city who’ve obeyed you? Would you really destroy the city and all its people and not save it for the sake of those fifty? 25 Surely you wouldn’t do anything like that—killing the good people along with the evil ones, so that they all just get treated the same? Certainly you wouldn’t do that? Wouldn’t the one who judges the entire world be more fair?”

26 “If I find fifty godly people in Sodom,” Yahweh answered, “then I’ll spare the whole city for their sake.”

27 “Listen, I’ve been bold enough to question my master, even though I’m just dust and ashes,” Abraham said again. 28 “Suppose they’re five short of the fifty? Would you destroy the whole city because of five?”

“I won’t destroy it if I find forty-five there,” he replied.

29 Abraham continued to make his request, “Suppose there’s forty there?”

“I won’t do it for the sake of the forty,” he agreed.

30 My master, don’t get angry but let me speak,” Abraham said, “suppose thirty are found there?”

“I won’t do it if I find thirty there,” he said.

31 “Listen, I’ve taken it upon myself to speak to my master,” Abraham asked again, “suppose twenty are found there?”

“I won’t do it for the sake of the twenty,” he agreed.

32 “My master, don’t get angry and let me speak one last time,” Abraham added, “suppose ten are found there?”

“I won’t do it for the sake of the ten,” Yahweh conceded 33 and then he left and Abraham returned home.

19 So the two messengers arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting at the city gate. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and knelt down in front of them with his face to the ground. 2 Then he said, “Listen, my masters: Come with me to your slave’s home and wash your feet and stay the night. Then you can get up early and continue on your way.”

But they said, “No, rather we’ll just spend the night in the street.” 3 However, Lot insisted, so they followed him off the main road and went into his house. Then he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

4 However, before they went to bed, the men of Sodom surrounded the house—there were young and old from all parts of the city—5 and they called out to Lot, “Where are the men who came to your place tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can ‘use’ them.”[ref]

6 So Lot went out to them at the entrance of the house and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “My brothers, don’t do this evil. 8 Listen, I’ve got two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you and you can treat them however you like. But don’t do anything to these men, because they’ve entered my house and so I’m responsible for them.”

9 But they insisted, “Stand back!” Then they said to each other, “This guy came to stay with us, and now he’s judging us. We’ll treat you worse than them!” Then they started pushing hard against Lot and came closer to break down the door. 10 But the two visitors reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house and shut the door again. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the entrance of the house with blindness—all of them from the lowly to the prominent men—so that they gave up trying to find the door.[ref]

12 Then the men said to Lot, “Who else belongs to you here, a son-in-law or your sons or your daughters or anyone else who belongs to you in the city? Take them out from this place, 13 because we’re about to destroy it. The people have repeatedly cried out to Yahweh, so he’s sent us to destroy the city.”

14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his future sons-in-law who were engaged to his daughters, and he told them, “Hurry, get out of this place, because Yahweh is going to destroy the city!” But they thought he was just joking.

15 At dawn the next day, the two messengers urged Lot, saying, “Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, so that all of you won’t be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 When Lot hesitated, because of Yahweh’s mercy for him, the men grabbed his hand and his wife’s hand and the hands of their daughters, and led them out beyond the edge of the city.[ref] 17 At that point one of them told Lot, “Flee for your lives! Don’t turn around and look behind you and don’t stop anywhere down in the plain. Escape up to the hills so you don’t get swept away!”

18 But Lot argued, “Not right now, my masters. 19 Listen, you’ve been kind to me and show us mercy by saving my life, but I won’t be able to make it to the hills because the disaster will overtake me and I’ll die. 20 Listen, there’s a small town nearby that I could flee to. Let me escape there. It’s only small. Then my life would be saved.”

21 “Okay then,” the man replied, “I’ll also grant your request about this so I won’t overthrow the town that you’re talking about. 22 Hurry up, escape there, because I am not able to do a thing until you go there.”

That’s why they renamed the town to ‘Zoar’ (which means ‘small’).

23 The sun had already risen by the time Lot and family reached Zoar. 24 Then Yahweh rained burning sulfur down onto Sodom and Gomorrah,[ref] 25 and he destroyed those cities and all their inhabitants as well, as all of the plain including all the vegetation. 26 But Lot’s wife who was following him looked back and she turned into a pillar of salt.[ref]

27 Meanwhile, Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before Yahweh, 28 and he looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah and the land of the plain. From there he saw, wow, that smoke was rising from the land like a furnace chimney. 29 So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham and had Lot removed out of the middle of the destruction when he destroyed the cities that Lot had been living in.

30 Then Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled up in the hills, because he was afraid to stay in Zoar. So he lived in a cave up there with his two daughters. 31 Then the older girl said to the younger, “Dad’s old and there isn’t a single man up here to marry us like happens to other women in the world. 32 So let’s get Dad drunk and then we can lie with him, so that at least we can have some descendants through our father.” 33 So then, they got their father to drink wine that evening, and the oldest daughter went and lay with her father, but he wasn’t aware of her coming or going.

34 Then the next day, the older girl said to the younger, Listen, last night I lay with my father. Let’s get him drunk again tonight then you go lie with him so that we’ll give life to descendants through our father.” 35 So that next evening also, they got their father to drink wine and the younger girl went and lay with him, but again he wasn’t aware of her coming or going. 36 In that way, both of Lot’s daughters got themselves pregnant through their father. 37 Then the eldest daughter gave birth to a son and she named him Moab (which means ‘from my father’). (He’s the ancestor of the Moabites to this day.) 38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and she named him Ben-Ammi (which means ‘son of my people’). (He’s the ancestor of Ammonites to this day.)

20 Then Abraham travelled from there to the Negev region and he settled between Kadesh and Shur, staying in Gerar for a while. 2 Abraham had told people his wife Sarah was his sister, so Abimelech the king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.[ref] 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream in the night and told him, “Listen, you’re as good as dead because of that woman you took because she is married to a husband.”

4 Now Abimelech hadn’t gone near to her, so he said, “My master, would you destroy a nation even though it’s innocent? 5 Didn’t Abraham himself tell me that she was his sister? And she herself also said that he was her brother. I did this with a clear conscience and with clean hands.”

6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience and indeed I kept you from sinning against me. I didn’t allow you to touch her for that reason. 7 So now, return that man’s wife because he’s a prophet, and he’ll pray for you and you’ll live. But if you don’t return her, be certain that you and all your people will surely die.”

8 So King Abimelech got up early in the morning and called for all of his slaves to come, and he explained the entire situation to them and they were very scared. 9 Then he sent for Abraham and asked him, “What have you done to us? What did I do to you that you would cause all this trouble for me and my people? What you did to me should never have happened.” 10 Then he asked again, “What were you thinking when you did that?”

11 “Because I thought that there’s probably no one around here who obeys God,” replied Abraham “so they might kill me because of my wife. 12 Besides that, Sarah actually is my half-sister. We have the same father, but different mothers, and then it was her that I took as a wife. 13 Later when God got me to leave my father’s home, I said to her, ‘You could do this one kindness do for me: Everywhere we go, just tell them that he’s your brother.’ ”

14 Then King Abimelech returned Sarah his wife to him and also gave him flocks and herds, and male and female slaves, 15 and he told him, “Look, my land is in front of you. Settle wherever looks good to you.” 16 Then he said to Sarah, “Listen, I’ve given 1,000 pieces of silver to your brother. That’s for you to demonstrate that you did nothing wrong, so that you’re completely cleared.”

17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his slave women so that they could have children, 18 because Yahweh had made every woman in Abimelech’s household barren because of what had been happening to Abraham’s wife, Sarah.

21 In due course, Yahweh visited Sarah just as he’d said and he did for her exactly what he’d said, 2 so that Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age at the very time of the year that God had told him.[ref] 3 Abraham named their son Yitshak, 4 and he circumcised him when he was eight days old, just as God had commanded him.[ref] 5 Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Yitshak was born, 6 and Sarah said, “God has brought laughter to me. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” 7 And she continued, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would breastfeed children, yet I have given him a son in his old age.”

8 The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a large feast on the day Yitshak was weaned.

9 But Sarah noticed that Yishma’el (the son of Hagar the Egyptian who she had given birth to for Abraham) was mocking, 10 so Sarah said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, because that slave woman’s son won’t be inheriting anything along with my son Yitshak.”[ref] 11 Now this stressed out Abraham who also cared for that son, 12 but God told him, “Don’t get distressed because of the boy and your slave woman. Listen to what Sarah’s telling you, because it’s in Yitshak that your descendants will be called yours.[ref] 13 But I’ll also make the descendants of the slave woman’s son into a nation, because he’s also your son.”

14 Abraham got up early the next morning, and got some bread and a skin of water and helped Hagar put them on her shoulder. Then he gave her the child and sent her away, and she left and wandered in the wilderness around Be’er-Sheva. 15 But when the water from the skin was gone, she threw the child under one of the bushes, 16 and she went and she went a short distance away (about as far as a bow can shoot an arrow) and sat down there, because she said, “I don’t want to watch my child die.” And as she sat at a distance, she sobbed loudly.

17 Now God heard the boy’s voice, so one of God’s messengers called Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s the matter, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, because God has heard the boy’s voice over there. 18 Get up and get the boy and hold on to him by the hand, because I’ll make his descendants into a great nation.” 19 Then God enabled her to see a well, so she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

20 As the boy grew up, God kept watch over him, and he lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow and arrow. 21 He settled in the Paran wilderness, and in due course his mother found an Egyptian girl for him to marry.

22 One day King Abimelech and Ficol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “We can see that God is with you in everything you do. [ref] 23 So then, swear to me here by God that you won’t treat me or my children or my descendants badly, and that’ll you’ll be kind to this country just as I showed kindness to you.”

24 “I swear it,” Abraham replied.

25 But Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that had been taken over by Abimelech’s slaves. 26 “I don’t know who did that,” Abimelech responded, “and you hadn’t told me about it, so I’ve only just heard about it today.” 27 Then Abraham gave some sheep and cattle to Abimelech to confirm their agreement together, 28 and then he separated seven female lambs from the rest of the flock. 29 “Why did you pen those seven lambs,” Abimelech asked.

30 “Because I want you to take them,” Abraham insisted. “I want them to be the verification that it was me who dug this well.” 31 So that’s why the place was named ‘Beer-Sheva’ (which means ‘Well of the seven’ or ‘Well of the oath’), because that’s where the two of them made their agreement.

32 So the agreement was made at Be’er-Sheva, then Abimelech and Ficol, the commander of his army, got up and returned home to the Philistine region. 33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree there at Be’er-Sheva, and he prayed to Yahweh, the God of eternity. 34 Then Abraham continued his stay in the Philistine region for quite some time.

22 Several years later, God decided to test Abraham, calling him, “Abraham.”[ref]

“Here I am,” he replied.

2 “Take your son Yitshak who you love, your only son,” God commanded him, “and go to the Moriah region and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I’ll point out to you.”[ref]

3 So Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. Then he took two of his young men with him and his son Yitshak, and he cut some firewood for the burnt offering. Then they left to go to the place that God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up ahead and he could see the place from a distance, 5 so he said to his young men, “Stay here by yourselves with the donkey while the boy and I go over there to worship God, then we’ll come back to you here.”

6 So Abraham took the firewood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Yitshak, and he carried the fire pot and the knife. Then the two of them went on together, 7 and Yitshak asked his father Abraham his father, “My father?”

“Yes, son?”, he replied.

“We’ve got the fire and the wood,”, he continued, “but where’s the lamb for the burnt offering?”

8 “God will provide the lamb for the burnt offering himself, my son,” Abraham answered, and then the two of them continued on together.

9 Then they came to the place that God had told him, and Abraham built an altar there and arranged the firewood on it. Then he tied up his son Yitshak and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.[ref] 10 Then Abraham took the knife and raised his arm to kill his son, 11 but one of Yahweh’s messengers called to him from the sky and said, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am.” he answered.

12 “Don’t lift up your hand against the boy,” the messenger continued. “And don’t do anything to him, because now I know that you respect and obey God, since you haven’t withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

13 Then Abraham raised his head and looked around, and wow, there was a ram was behind him, caught by its horns in the thicket. So Abraham went and grabbed the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham named that place ‘Yahweh will provide’, and to this day it’s still said, “Yahweh will provide on his mountain.”

15 Then the Yahweh’s messenger called Abraham from the sky a second time 16 saying, “I, Yahweh, make this declaration by my authority and truth that because you did that and didn’t withhold your only son,[ref] 17 I’ll bless you tremendously and I’ll cause your descendants to be as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the beach, and your descendants will be victorious over their enemies.[ref] 18 Because you obeyed what I said, all the nations of the earth will be blessed through your descendants.”[ref] 19 Then Abraham returned to his young men and they all continued on home together to Beer-Sheva, and Abraham continued living there.

20 Some time later, Abraham heard the news, Look, your brother Nahor’s wife Milcah has also given birth to sons: 21 Uz his eldest son, and Buz his brother and Kemuel, the father of Aram, 22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Yidlaf, and Bethuel.” 23 Those are the eight sons that Milcah gave birth to for Abraham’s brother Nahor, and Bethuel went on to father Rebekah. 24 In addition, Nahor’s slave-wife Reumah also gave birth to four sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

23 Sarah went on to be 127 years old 2 when she died in the city of Kiriat-Arba (now called Hebron) in the Canaan region. Abraham went in by her bed to weep and mourn for her.

3 After a time, Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and he spoke to the Hitties, requesting, 4 “I’m a foreigner and just staying among you. Give me property for a burial place on your land so that I can bury my dead wife.”[ref]

5 Those descendants of Het replied to Abraham, telling him, 6 “My master, listen to us. You’re a ≈godly leader among us. Go ahead and bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. We’ve all agreed not to prevent you from burying your dead in any of our cemeteries.”

7 Then Abraham stood and bowed to the Hittites who were the land-owners, 8 and asked them, “Since you’re all allowing me to bury my dead, listen to me and intercede for me with Zohar’s son Efron, 9 so that he’ll sell me Makpelah’s cave which belongs to him and which is at the end of his field. I’ll pay full price if he’ll give it to me to use as a burial place.”

10 Now Efron (a Hittite) was sitting there among Het’s other descendants, so he responded to Abraham while the other land-owners were listening, along with everyone else at the city gate, 11 “No, my master. Listen to me: I’ll give you the field and the cave that’s in it. I give it to you in front of all these others, then you can bury your dead.”

12 Then Abraham bowed before the people of the land, 13 and he told Efron while all the others were listening, “But if you would, please listen to me. I’ll pay the value of the field. Accept it from me, then I’ll bury my dead there.”

14 Efron responded to Abraham, 15 “My master, listen to me. That land’s worth 400 shekels of silver, but that’s nothing between me and you. Just go ahead and bury your dead.” 16 So Abraham accepted Efron’s words and weighed out for Efron the price that he had mentioned in the hearing of Het’s descendants: 400 shekels of silver (the currency among the merchants).

17 So Efron’s field that was in Makpelah which faced Mamre (including the field and the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field that was within all of its surrounding borders) was deeded 18 to Abraham as the new owner as witnessed by Het’s descendants and everyone else who had come to the city gate. 19 Then after that, Abraham laid the body of his wife Sarah to rest in the cave in Makpelah’s field facing Mamre (also called Hebron, in the Canaan region). 20 So the field was deeded as property to Abraham by Het’s descendants, including the cave in it for a burial place.

24 Abraham was now getting very old, and Yahweh had blessed him in every way. 2 Then Abraham said to his oldest slave in his household who was in charge of everything that belonged to him, “Please put your hand under my thigh, 3 and I want you to vow by Yahweh, the God of the heavens and the God of the earth, that you won’t select a wife for my son Yitshak from any of the Canaanite women in this area where we’re living. 4 Rather, you should go back to my country and to my relatives, and find a wife for him there.”

5 “Suppose the woman isn’t willing to come back with me to this place?” the slave asked. “Should I take your son back to the country that you came from?”

6 “Make sure that you don’t take my son back there,” Abraham answered. 7 “Yahweh, the God of the heavens, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my relatives, and who spoke to me and who promised me, saying, ‘I’ll give this land to your descendants,’ he’ll send his messenger ahead of you, and you’ll be guaranteed to bring back a wife for my son from there. 8 If it turned out that the woman isn’t willing to come back with you, then you’re released from this vow to me. But still in that case, don’t take my son back there!” 9 Then the slave put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and promised his that he’d follow those instructions..

10 Then the slave took ten of his master’s camels and loaded them with all kinds of good things from his master, and with his own slaves, he travelled to the city of Nahor in the Aram-Naharaim region. 11 Then on that first evening, he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well. It was the time that women come out to fetch water, 12 and he prayed, “Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, please cause it to happen right in front of me today that you show kindness toward my master Abraham. 13 See, I’m standing by this well, and the young women from the city will be coming out here to fetch water. 14 Let it be that if I say to a young woman, ‘Please let me have a drink from your water jar,’ and she says, ‘Sure, and I’ll also get more for your camels,’ let her be the one you have appointed for your slave Yitshak. And by finding her, I’ll know that you’ve shown kindness toward my master.”

15 Now before he’d even finished speaking, then wow, Rebekah arrived with her empty water jar on her shoulder. (She was Bethuel’s daughter—Bethuel being the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife Milcah.) 16 The young woman was very beautiful and a virgin who hadn’t slept with a man. She went down to the well and filled her jar and came back up. 17 The slave ran to meet her and said, “Can I have a small drink of water from your jar.”

18 “Drink, my master,” she said and quickly lowered her jar to her hands and gave him a drink, 19 and after she’d finished giving him a drink, she said, “I’ll also get water for your camels until they have finished drinking.” 20 Then she hurried and emptied her jar into the trough and ran back to the well to draw more water, and she drew enough water for all his camels 21 while Abraham’s slave watched her silently to determine whether Yahweh had made his journey successful or not.

22 Then when the camels had finished drinking, the slave took out an expensive gold nose ring and two solid gold bracelets for her arms. 23 “Tell me, whose daughter are you?” he asked her. “Is there room at your father’s house for us to stay?”

24 “I’m Bethuel’s daughter. He’s the son of Nahor and Milcah,” she answered. 25 “We’ve got plenty of both straw and fodder for the camels, and there’s also a room where you could stay.”

26 Then the slave bowed down and worshipped Yahweh 27 and said, “Praised be Yahweh, my master Abraham’s God, who hasn’t relented from his kindness and faithfulness toward my master. As for me, Yahweh has led me on the road to the home of my master’s relatives.”

28 Then the young woman ran home and told her mother’s household what had happened. 29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Lavan (Laban), and he ran out to the man at the well. 30 He had seen the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and when he’d heard his sister Rebekah’s words saying, “This is what the man said to me,” then he went to the man, and indeed, he was there standing by the camels at the spring 31 and he invited him, “Come, you who are blessed by Yahweh. Why are you standing out here? I’ve already prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

32 So Abraham’s slave went to the house. Then he unloaded the camels and gave them straw and fodder, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.[fn] 33 Then food was set out for them to eat, but Abraham’s slave said, “I won’t eat until I have said what I have to say.”

“Speak then,” Lavan responded.

34 “I’m one of Abraham’s slaves,” he said, 35 and Yahweh has blessed my master a lot, so that he has become wealthy. Yahweh has given him cattle, sheep and goats, silver and gold, male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys. 36 And my master’s wife Sarah gave birth to a son for my master despite her old age, and my master has given him everything that he owns. 37 My master made promises, saying, ‘You mustn’t get a wife for my son from Canaanite women whose land I am living in, 38 but rather you must go to my father’s house and to my clan, and find a wife for my son there.’ 39 Then I asked my master, ‘Suppose the woman refuses to come with me?’ 40 And he ≈replied, ‘The God Yahweh that I obey, he’ll send his messenger with you and make your journey succeed, so that you’ll find a wife for my son from my clan, and from my father’s house. 41 Then you’ll be free of your promise: When you go to my clan, and if they won’t allow her to return with you, then you’ll be clear from this promise.’

42 “Then today I came to the well, and I said, ‘Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, if it’s what you want, make my journey succeed that I have come on. 43 Listen, I’m standing by this well, so let it be that the young woman who comes out to fetch water and I say to her, “Please give me a little water to drink from your jar,” 44 and she replies to me, “Sure, drink, and I will also get water for your camels,” let her be the wife that Yahweh has chosen for the my master’s son.’ 45 Before I’d finished speaking in my heart, then wow, Rebekah was coming out with her jar on her shoulder. And she went down to the well and drew water, and I asked her, ‘Can I have a drink.’ 46 So she hurried and lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll also water your camels.’ So I drank and she also watered the camels. 47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, a son of Nahor and his wife Milcah.’ Then I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. 48 Then I bowed down and worshipped and praised my master Abraham’s God Yahweh, who led me on the right way to find the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 And now if you all want to show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me, so that I can decide what to do next.”

50 Then Lavan and Bethuel answered, “This matter has come from Yahweh, so we’re not able to tell you bad or good. 51 But listen, Rebekah’s right here. Take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, as Yahweh has indicated.” 52 Now when Abraham’s slave heard their reply, he bowed down to the ground before Yahweh. 53 Then he brought out silver and gold jewellery, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. And he gave valuable things to her brother and her mother.

54 Then Abraham’s slave and the men with him ate and drank and stayed there overnight. Then in the morning they got up, and he said, “Let me leave now and return back to my master.”

55 But Rebekah’s brother and her mother said, “Let the girl stay with us a few days, at least ten. After that she can go.”

56 “Don’t detain me,” he told them, “since Yahweh has made my journey successful. Send me off so that I can return to my master.”

57 “Let’s call for the young woman and find out what she wants to do.” they responded. 58 So they called for Rebekah and asked her, “Are you prepared to leave now with this man?”

“Yes, I’ll go.” she answered.

59 So they got ready to send off their sister Rebekah with Abraham’s slave and his men, along with her childhood nurse. 60 They prayed a blessed for Rebekah, saying

“Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands,

and may your descendants defeat all of their enemies.”

61 Then Rebekah got up with her maids, and they mounted the camels and went with the man. So the slave took Rebekah and left.

62 Meanwhile Yitshak was living in the Negev region, and had just returned from visiting Be’er-Lahai-Roi. 63 Late on afternoon, he went out to a field to meditate, and when he looked up, he saw some camels approaching. 64 Rebekah also looked up and saw Yitshak, and dismounted from her camel, 65 asking the slave, “Who’s that man in the field who is coming to meet us?”

“He’s my master,” the slave replied, so she took the veil and covered herself.

66 Then the slave reported everything that he’d done to Yitshak. 67 Then Yitshak brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother, and he took Rebekah as his wife. And Yitshak loved her and he was comforted after his mother’s death.

(1 Chronicles 1.32,33)

25 Then Abraham married another woman named Keturah, 2 and she gave birth to Zimran, Yokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Yokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan, and the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurim, the Letushim, and the Leummim. 4 Midian’s sons were Efah, Efer, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All of those were Keturah’s descendants.

5-7 Abraham went on to live to be 175 years old. He gave valuable gifts to all the sons of his slave wives, then he forced them to move to the east to ensure that they would be removed from his son Yitshak. Then he left everything else he owned to Yitshak.

The Death and Burial of Abraham; The Death of Abraham

8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, elderly and satisfied, and he joined his ancestors in death. 9 His sons Yitshak and Yishma’el buried him in Makpelah’s cave (in the field of Efron, Zohar the Hittite’s son, which faced Mamre)—10 the field that Abraham had bought from Het’s sons. So Abraham’s body was laid there alongside that of his wife Sarah.[ref] 11 After his death, God blessed his son Yitshak who lived near Be’er-Lahai-Roi.

12 Now these are the generations of Yishma’el the son of Abraham, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s female slave, had given birth to for Abraham. 13 These are the names of Yishma’el’s sons, by their names according to their births: Yishma’el’s firstborn was Nevayot, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Yetur, Nafish, and Kedermah. 16 Those were Yishma’el’s sons, and those are their names by their settlements and by their camps—twelve rulers according to their tribes. 17 Yishma’el went on to live to be 137 years old, before breathing his last and dying and joining those who’d gone before. 18 His descendants settled from Havilah to Shur (which is near Egypt as you go toward Asshur). He fell in the face of all his brothers.[fn]

19 These are the generations of Abraham’s son Yitshak: Abraham fathered Yitshak 20 and Yitshak was forty years old when he married Rebekah. (She was the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-Aram, the sister of Lavan the Aramean.) 21 In due course, Yitshak prayed to Yahweh on his wife’s behalf because she was barren. Yahweh ≈answered his prayer and his wife Rebekah got pregnant, 22 but the twins kept jostling each other within her womb, so she asked, “Why’s this happening to me?” She also asked Yahweh about it 23 and he responded,[ref]

“There’s two nations inside your womb—

two different peoples will come from within you.

One group will become stronger than the other,

and the older will serve the younger.”

24 When the time came to give birth, she gave birth to twin boys. 25 The firstborn came out quite red and covered with hair like a fur coat, so they named him ‘Esaw’ (which means ‘hairy’). 26 Then his brother was born and his hand grabbed Esaw’s heel, so he was named ‘Yacob’ (which means ‘heel-grabber’). Yitshak was sixty years old when they were born.

27 As the boys grew up, Esaw got good at hunting, a man of the outdoors, but Yacob was a quiet man who stayed around the tents. 28 Yitshak liked the taste of game meat so he loved Esaw, but Rebekah loved Yacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright

29 One day, Yacob was cooking some stew when Esaw arrived home from being out, and he was very hungry 30 and asked Yacob, “Can I have some of that red stuff because I’m starving.” (Esaw’s nickname became ‘Edom’, meaning ‘red’, because of that.)

31 “Well, today,” Yacob answered, “sell me your future inheritance.”

32 “Listen, I’m dying of starvation,” said Esaw, “so what use would a future inheritance be to me?”

33 “Well now, make a vow to me,” insisted Yacob.[ref]

So Esaw promised him, effectively selling his future inheritance to Yacob, 34 and Yacob gave him some of the lentil stew and some bread. So Esaw ate and drank and left again, thus despising his own inheritance as firstborn son.

26 Then there was a famine in the region (a different one from the earlier famine that was in the days of Abraham) so Yitshak moved to Gerar, the region of Abimelech, the Philistines king. 2 Then Yahweh appeared to Yitshak and told him, “Don’t go down to Egypt—stay in the area that I’ll tell you. 3 Stay as a guest in this region, and I’ll be with you and bless you, because I’ll give all this land to you and to your descendants, and I’ll confirm the oath that I made to your father Abraham.[ref] 4 I’ll multiply your descendants to be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I’ll give all this region to them. And all the nations on the earth will be blessed through your descendants, 5 because Abraham obeyed me by keeping my requirements, my commands, my decrees, and my laws.”

6 So Yitshak settled there in Gerar. 7 Then the men of the place asked about his wife, and he said, “She’s my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She’s my wife.” He was thinking, “What if the men in this place kill me because Rebekah is so beautiful to look at.”[ref] 8 Then when he’d been in that area for quite a while, the Philistine King Abimelech looked down from a window and saw that to his surprise, Yitshak was laughing together with his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelech called for Yitshak and said, “Hey, she’s really your wife! So how could you say, ‘She’s my sister’?”

“Because I said to myself, ‘I might die because of her.’,” Yitshak replied.

10 “What’s this that you’ve done to us?” continued Abimelech. “One of my people might easily have slept with your wife and you would have brought condemnation onto us!” 11 Then King Abimelech ordered all the people, “Whoever touches this man or his wife will certainly be killed.”

Conflict over Water Rights

12 Then Yitshak planted a crop in that land and Yahweh blessed him and gave him one hundred times as much as he’d planted. 13 Hence he became wealthier and that repeated until eventually he was very powerful. 14 He also owned sheep and goats, and cattle, and many slaves. Because the Philistines now envied him, 15 they blocked up all the wells that his father’s slaves had dug when his father Abraham had been alive, and they filled them with dirt.

16 Then King Abimelech told Yitshak, “You all need to leave this area because you’ve become more powerful than us.” 17 So Yitshak left that place and set up camp in the Gerar Valley and settled there. 18 Then he returned and dug out the water wells that they had dug in the days of Abraham his father and that the Philistines had blocked up after Abraham’s death, and he called them similar names to the ones that his father had called them.

19 Then Yitshak’s slaves dug in the valley and found an underground spring with flowing water there. 20 But the herdsmen from Gerar quarrelled with Yitshak’s herdsmen, saying, “The water belongs to us.” So he named the well ‘Esek’ (which means ‘dispute’), because they disputed with him.

21 Yitshak’s men dug another well, but they quarrelled over it too, so he named it ‘Sitnah’ (which means ‘opposition’). 22 Then he moved from there and dug another well, and they didn’t quarrel over it, so he named it ‘Rehoboth’ (which means ‘space’), and he said, “Because now Yahweh has made space for us and we’ll be productive in this area.”

23 Then from there Yitshak moved down to Beer-Sheba, 24 and Yahweh appeared to him during that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Don’t be afraid, because I’m with you and I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my slave Abraham.” 25 So Yitshak built an altar there and he prayed to Yahweh. He set up his tents there and his slaves dug a well there.

26 Then King Abimelech came to Yitshak from Gerar along with his friend Ahuzzath and Ficol the commander of his army[ref] 27 and Yitshak asked them, “Why have you come here since you hate me and you forced me away from you?”

28 “We have clearly seen that Yahweh has been with you,” they ≈answered, “so we said, ‘There should be an agreement between us’—between us and you. So let us make an agreement with you, 29 that you won’t do anything evil against us, just as we did not touch you, and just as we did only did good to you and sent you away in peace. Now you are blessed by Yahweh.” 30 Then Yitshak prepared a feast for them, and they all ate and drank together. 31 The visitors got up early the next morning and make promises to each other. Then Yitshak sent them on their way, and they left from there in peace.

32 That very day, Yitshak’s slaves came and updated him about the well that they had just been digging and told him, “We’ve found water.” 33 So Yitshak named the well ‘Shibah’ (which sounds like the Hebrew word meaning ‘promise’), so that’s why that city is named ‘Beer-Sheva’ (meaning ‘well of the promise’) to this day.

34 When Esaw was forty years old, he married two Hittite women: Be’eri’s daughter Yudit and Elon’s daughter Basemat, 35 but this brought grief to his parents Yitshak and Rebekah.

27 When Yitshak grew old and could no longer see, he called his older son Esaw and said to him, “My son.”

“I’m here,” Esaw replied.

2 “Please listen,” Yitshak continued, “I’m old and don’t know how long I’ve got before I die. 3 So please take your weapons—your quiver, and your bow—and go out into the countryside and hunt game for me 4 and cook me a tasty meal in the way that I love it, and bring it to me so I can eat it, so that I can bless you before I die.”

5 Now Rebekah had been listening while Yitshak spoke to Esaw. Then Esaw went out to the countryside to hunt game and bring it back. 6 Meanwhile Rebekah said to her son Yacob, “Listen, I heard your father speaking to your brother Esaw, saying, 7 ‘Get some game meat for me and prepare me a tasty meal so that I can eat it, and then I can bless you in Yahweh’s presence before I die.’ 8 So now Yacob, listen to what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and get me two of the best young goats so that I can prepare a tasty meal from them that your father loves. 10 Then you can take it in to your father, and after he’s eaten it he’ll bless you before he dies.”

11 “Look,” Yacob said to his mother, “My brother Esaw is very hairy, whereas my skin is smooth. 12 What if my father touches me? Then he’ll think of me as a deceiver and he’ll curse me rather than bless me.”

13 “Let your curse be on me, my son,” his mother ≈replied, “Just do what I said and go get the young goats for me.” 14 So he went and slaughtered them and brought them to his mother. Then she prepared tasty food the way his father loved it. 15 She then got Esaw’s best clothes that were in the house and got her younger son Yacob to put them on, 16 then she tied the skins of the young goats over his hands and around the smooth part of his neck.

17 Then she handed the tasty food and the bread to Yacob, 18 and he went in to his elderly father and said, “My father.”

“I’m here,” he said, “Which son are you?” 19 “I’m your oldest son Esaw,” Yacob ≈replied to his father. “I’ve done what you told me. Please get up, and come and sit up and eat some of my game, so that you’ll bless me.” 20 “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” Yitshak asked.

“Because your God Yahweh helped me when I went out hunting,” Yacob ≈answered.

21 Then Yitshak said to Yacob, “Please come close so that I can touch you, my son, and to be sure whether you’re really my son Esaw or not.” 22 So Yacob went close to his father and Yitshak felt his skin and said to himself, “It’s Yacob’s voice, but these are definitely Esaw’s hands.” 23 So he didn’t recognise that it was Yacob, because his hands were hairy like Esaw’s hands, so he was about to bless him 24 but asked once more, “Are you really my son Esaw?”

“Yes, I am,” Yacob answered.

25 So Yitshak told him, “Bring the food here and I’ll eat some of my son’s game, so that my I can then bless you.” So Yacob took it to him and he ate, and then he brought wine to him and he drank. 26 Then Yitshak asked Yacob, “My son, please come close and kiss me.” 27 So he went close and kissed him. His dad noticed the smell of his clothes, so he blessed him saying,[ref]

“Ah yes, the smell of my son

is like the pleasant smell of a field

that Yahweh has blessed.

28 May God give you dew from the sky

and riches from the land,

to produce plenty of grain and wine.

29 May peoples serve you,

and may nations bow down to you.

Be master over your brothers,

and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.

May those who curse you be cursed,[ref]

and may those who bless you be blessed.”

30 Then just as Yitshak had finished blessing Yacob, and as Yacob had only just gone out from his father’s presence, his brother Esaw his brother returned from his hunting. 31 Then he too prepared some tasty food and brought it in to his father and said, “Let my father get up and eat from the game that his son hunted so that you can bless me.”

32 But Yitshak asked him, “Which son are you?”

“I’m your oldest son Esaw.” he ≈answered.

33 Then Yitshak started to trembled badly and he said, “Then who was it that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all just before you came in, and I blessed that man and indeed, he’ll be blessed.”

34 When Esaw heard that, then he let out a very loud and exceedingly bitter wail, and then begged his father, “Bless me too, my father.”

35 But Yitshak replied, “Your brother came in and deceived me and he’s taken your blessing!”

36 “Yes, his name Yacob (meaning ‘deceiver’) suits him exactly!”[ref] said Esaw. “First he took my inheritance and man, now he’s also taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you at least saved a blessing for me?”

37 But Yitshak replied, “Listen, I’ve made him master over you, and I’ve given all his brothers to him as slaves. And I’ve sustained him with grain and wine. So then, what else can I do for you, my son?”

38 “Did you only have one blessing that you could give, my father? Esaw asked. “Bless me too, my father!” Then Esaw sobbed loudly.[ref]

39 Then his father Yitshak responded and said to him,[ref]

“Listen, you and your descendants will live

away from the most fertile land on the earth[fn]

in a place that doesn’t get dew from the sky.

40 You and your descendants will live by your sword,[ref]

and you’ll serve your brother.

But when you become restless

you’ll all break away from serving them.

Jacob Flees to Paddan-Aram; Jacob Flees to Laban; Jacob Escapes Esau’s Fury

41 From that time onwards, Esaw hated Yacob because of the blessing that their father had blessed him with, and Esaw said to himself, “My father’s funeral can’t be that far away—after that I’ll kill my brother Yacob.”

42 But Rebekah got to hear about Esaw’s plans, so she sent for her younger son Yacob and told him, “Listen, your brother Esaw is coping with what happened by planning to kill you. 43 So my son, listen to what I’m saying: for your own sake, pack up and flee to my brother Lavan’s place in Haran 44 and stay with him for a while until your brother cools down. 45 When he’s no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, then I’ll send for you from there so you can return here. I don’t want to lose both of you on the same day?”

46 Then Rebekah told her husband Yitshak, “I’m quite disgusted with those daughters of Het. If Yacob chooses a wife like Het’s daughters from this culture around us here, I wouldn’t be able to bear it.”

28 So Yitshak called for Yacob and blessed him, and instructed him, “Don’t take a wife from the Caananite girls. 2 Pack up and go to Paddan-Aram—to the home of your mother’s father Bethuel and get yourself a wife from there—from the daughters of your mother’s brother Lavan. 3 And may the powerful God bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you so that you become a community of peoples. 4 May he give the same blessing of Abraham to you—to you and to your offspring with you—so that you will own the land where you’ve been staying and which God gave to Abraham.”[ref] 5 Then Yitshak sent Yacob away, and he went to Paddan-Aram—to Lavan, the son of Bethuel the Aramean and the brother of Yacob and Esaw’s mother Rebekah.

6 Now Esaw noticed that Yitshak had blessed Yacob and sent him to Paddan-Aram to take a wife for himself from there. He’d also noticed that when Yitshak had blessed him, he’d instructed him not to take a wife from the Canaanite girls, 7 and that Yacob had listened to his parents and travelled to Paddan-Aram. 8 As a result, Esaw realised that his father wasn’t happy about the Canaanite girls 9 so he went to Yishma’el and he took Mahalath as an additional wife. She was the daughter of Abraham’s son Yishma’el, and was the sister of Nevayot.

10 Meanwhile, Yacob had left Be’er-Sheva and was enroute to Haran. 11 One night after he’d stopped when the sun had gone down, he laid down in that place and used one of the stones there to put under his head for a pillow. 12 While he was sleeping, he had a dream, and wow, a stairway was set up on the earth and its top reached to the heavens, and look, God’s messengers were ascending and descending on it.[ref] 13 And look, Yahweh was standing above it and he said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your grandfather and the God of Yitshak. I will give the land that you are lying on to you and to your descendants[ref] 14 and they will be as numerous as dust particles, and you’ll all spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.[ref] 15 So listen, I’m with you and I’ll watch over you everywhere you go. I’ll bring you back to this land because I won’t leave you until I’ve done what I told you.”

16 Then Yacob woke up and said to himself, “Yahweh is certainly here in this place, but I didn’t realise it.” 17 So he was afraid and said to himself, “This place is spine-chilling—it’s nothing other than God’s house, and it’s heaven’s gateway.”

18 Then in the morning Yacob got up early, and he took the stone that he’d put under his head and stood it up longways as a pillar, and he poured oil over the top of it. 19 He named that place ‘Beyt-El’ (which means ‘God’s house’), even though that town had been named Luz before then. 20 Then Yacob made a promise to God, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this road that I’m walking on, and give me bread to eat and clothes to wear, 21 and if I’m able to return safely to my father’s home, then I’ll make Yahweh my God, 22 and this stone that I’ve stood up as a pillar will be God’s house, and I’ll give you a tenth of everything that you give to me.”

29 Then Yacob got on the road again and went to the land of the eastern peoples. 2 Close to his destination, he looked ahead, and wow, there was a well in the field, and what’s more, three flocks of sheep and goats were lying there near it, because the flocks were watered from that well but the stone over the mouth of the well was large and heavy. 3 Once all the flocks were gathered there, then they would roll the stone from over the mouth of the well and water the animals. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

4 So Yacob asked the farmers, “My brothers, where are you from?”

“We’re from Haran,” they ≈replied.

5 “Do you know Nahor’s grandson Lavan?” Yacob asked.

“Yes, we know him,” they ≈replied.

6 “Is he doing well?” Yacob asked.

“Yes, he’s fine,” they said, “and here comes his daughter Rahel with their flock.”

7 “Look, it’s still broad daylight,” Yacob told them. “It’s not time for the livestock to be brought it. Water the flock, and go pasture them.”

8 “We can’t,” they said, “until all the flocks are gathered here and they roll the stone off the top of the well. Then we will water the sheep.”

9 He was still talking with them when Rahel came with her father’s flock, because she was the one who looked after them. 10 When Yacob saw Rahel (the daughter of his mother’s brother, Lavan) with Lavan’s flock, he went over and rolled the stone off the top of the well and watered the sheep and goats. 11 Then he gave Rahel a kiss and happily cried out loud. 12 Then he told Rahel that he was a relative of her father and that he was a son of Rebekah.

Then she ran and told her father, 13 and when Lavan heard the news about his sister’s son Yacob, he ran out to meet him. Then he embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then Yacob told Lavan everything that had happened up until then, 14 and Lavan told him, “You are indeed a close relative.”

After Yacob had stayed with Lavan and worked for him for a whole month, 15 Lavan said to him, “Should you work for me for nothing just because you’re my relative? Tell me, what should I pay you?”

16 Now Lavan had two daughters: the older one was named Le’ah, and the younger one was named Rahel (Rachel). 17 Le’ah had pretty eyes, but Rahel was extremely beautiful in every way.

18 Now Yacob was in love with Rahel, so he ≈answered, “I’ll work for you for seven years so I can marry your younger daughter Rahel.”

19 “Okay, stay with me then,” said Lavan. “It’s better for me to give her to you than to give her to some other man.”

20 So Yacob worked seven years for Rahel, but it only seemed like a few days to him because of his love for her, 21 then he said to Lanan, “Give me my wife to marry now because I’ve worked the agreed seven years.” 22 So Lavan invited all the local people and held a wedding reception, 23 but that evening Lavan brought his other daughter Le’ah to Yacob, and he slept with her. 24 (Lavan also gave his female slave Zilpah to Le’ah to be her personal slave.) 25 But in the morning, Yacob saw that wow, it was Leah! “Hey, what’s this that you’ve done to me?” Yacob demanded of Lavan. “Wasn’t it Rahel that I worked for you for? So why did you deceive me?”

26 “It’s not our custom here,” Lavan answered, “for the younger daughter to marry before the older one. 27 Stay with just this one for the marriage week, and then we’ll also give you the younger one in return for another seven year’s work.”

28 So Yacob agreed and spent the week with Le’ah, then Lavan also gave him his daughter Rahel to be his wife. 29 (Lavan also gave his female slave Bilhah to Rahel to be her personal slave.)

30 So Yacob also slept with Rahel, but he also loved her more than Le’ah. Then he worked for Lavan for another seven years.

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 learnt 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 “Okay 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 ‘Yegar 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 Yordan 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 Yabbok 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, “Okay, 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.

Dinah’s Brothers Avenge Their Sister

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 Efrath. 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’).

19 Thus Rahel died and was buried on the path to Efrath (which is now called Bethlehem). 20 Yacob set up a stone pillar over her grave—that’s the pillar of Rahel’s grave to this day. 21 Then Yisra’el and his household moved on and pitched their tents beyond Migdal Eder.

22 While they were living in that area, Yisra’el’s son Reuben slept with his father’s slave-wife Bilhah, and Yisra’el found out about it.[ref]

Yisra’el now had twelve sons. 23 Le’ah’s sons were his eldest son Rueben, and then to Simeon, Levi, Yihudah, Yissashkar, and Zebulun. 24 Rahel’s sons were Yosef and Benyamin. 25 The sons of Rahel’s slave woman Bilhah were Dan and Naftali. 26 The sons of Leah’s slave women Zilpah were Gad and Asher. Those were Yisra’el’s sons who were nearly all born in Paddan-Aram.

27 Then Yisra’el went VISIT OR LIVE? to his father Yitshak in Mamre (also named Kiriat-Arba or Hebron), where Abraham and Yitshak had lived for a time.[ref] 28 Yitshak lived to be 180 years old. 29 Then Yitshak, having lived a long and full life, breathed his last and died and joined his ancestors, and his sons Esaw and Yisra’el buried him.

36 These are the descendants of Esaw (who’s also known as Edom): 2 Esaw had married two local women from the Canaan region: Adah (the Hittite Elon’s daughter) and Oholibamah (Anah’s daughter and granddaughter of the Hivite Zibeon)[ref] 3 and Basemat (Yishma’el’s daughter and the sister of Nevayot).[ref]

4 Esaw’s wife Adah gave birth to Elifaz, and Basemat gave birth to Reuel. 5 Oholibamah gave birth to Yeush and Yalam and Korah. Those were Esaw’s sons who were born in the Canaan region.

6 Then Esaw took his wives and his sons and daughters and all his household, and his livestock and all his animals and all his possessions that he had acquired in the Canaan region, and he went to a place far away from his brother Yisra’el, 7 because they had too many possessions for them to remain together, and the land they were staying in wasn’t able to support both of them because of all their livestock. 8 So Esaw (also known as Edom) settled his household in the Se’ir hills.

9 Now these are the following generations of Esaw, the father of the Edomites in the Se’ir hills: 10 Two of Esaw’s sons were Elifaz, who he had with his wife Adah, and Reuel, who he had with his wife Basemat.

11 Elifaz’s sons were Teman, Omar, Zefo and Gatam and Kenaz. 12 Elifaz and his slave-wife Timna had a son they named Amalek. (Elifaz’s sons were all grandsons of Esaw and his wife Adah.) 13 Reuel’s sons were Nahat, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. (They were the grandsons of Esaw and his wife Basemat.) 14 Esaw and his wife Oholibamah had Yeush, Yalam, and Korah. (Oholibamah was the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon.)

Clans and Kings of Edom

15 These were Esaw’s sons who became leaders: the sons of Elifaz (Esaw’s eldest son) which were Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zefo, Chief Kenaz, 16 Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, Chief Amalek. Those were the chiefs of Elifaz in the Edom region. (They were the grandsons of Esaw and his wife Adah.)

17 These were the sons of Esaw’s son Reuel: Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah, Chief Mizzah. Those were the chiefs of Reuel in the Edom region. (They were the grandsons of Esaw and his wife Basemath.)

18 These were the sons of Esaw’s wife Oholibamah: Chief Yeush, Chief Yalam, Chief Korah. (They were the chiefs from Esaw’s wife Oholibamah—Anah’s daughter.) 19 Those were the sons of Esaw (also known as Edom), and those were their chiefs.

20 These were the sons of Se’ir the Horite who were inhabiting that area: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. Those were the chiefs of the Horites, Se’ir’s sons, in the Edom region. 22 Lotan’s sons were Hori and Hemam, and his sister was Timna. 23 Shobal’s sons were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shefo, and Onam. 24 Zibeon’s sons were Aiah and Anah. This is the same Anah who discovered some hot springs while he was out in the desert grazing his father’s donkeys. 25 Anah’s children were his son Dishon and his daughter Oholibamah. 26 Dishon’s sons were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran. 27 Ezer’s sons were Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. 28 Dishan’s sons were Uz and Aran. 29 These were the chiefs of the Horites: Chief Lotan, Chief Shobal, Chief Zibeon, Chief Anah,

The Kings of Edom

(1 Chronicles 1.43-54)

30 Chief Dishon, Chief Ezer, Chief Dishan. Those were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their clans in the Se’ir region.

31 And these were the kings who reigned in Edom region before the tribes of Yisra’el had a king: 32 Beor’s son Bela reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. 33 Then Bela died, and Zerah’s son Yobab from Bozrah reigned in his place. 34 Then Yobab died, and Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 35 Then Husham died, and Bedad’s son Hadad reigned in his place, and the name of his city was Avith. He was the one who attacked the Midianites in the field of Moab. 36 Then Hadad died, and Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place. 37 Then Samlah died, and Sha’ul from Rehoboth by the river reigned in his place. 38 Then Sha’ul died, and Acbor’s son Baal-Hanan reigned in his place. 39 Then (Acbor’s son) Baal-Hanan died, and Hadar reigned in his place, and the name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel (and she was the daughter of Matred’s daughter and the granddaughter of Me-Zahab).

40 And these are the names of the chiefs of Esaw, according to their clans, according to their places, by their names: Chief Timna, Chief Alvan, Chief Yetet, 41 Chief Oholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon, 42 Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar, 43 Chief Magdiel, and Chief Iram. They were the chiefs of Edom, according to their dwellings in the land of their possession. That was the record about Esaw, the ancestor of the Edomites.

37 Yisra’el (Israel/Yacob/Jacob) lived in the area where his father Yitshak had stayed, in the Canaan region. 2 This is the record of his descendants:

When Yosef (Joseph) was seventeen, he was shepherding the flocks with his brothers. He was younger than his brothers who were the sons of his father’s slave wives Bilhah and Zilpah. One day Yosef gave a tell-tale bad report about them to their father.

3 Now Yisra’el loved Yosef more than all of his other sons because he was born to him when he was already old, so he made a multicoloured robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved Yosef more than all of his brothers, they hated him and couldn’t make themselves say anything nice to him.

5 One night Yosef had a dream, and he told his brothers about it, but that made them hate him even more. 6 He ≈told them, “Please listen about this dream that I had: 7 See, we were tying up bundles of grain stalks in the middle of a field, and wow, my bundle got up and stood upright. Then would you believe it, your bundles gathered around and bowed down to my one.”

8 “Will you really reign over us?” his brothers retorted. “Do you think you’ll really rule over us?” So they continued to hate him even more because of his dreams and because of what he said.

9 Then Yosef had another dream, and again he told his brothers, “Listen, I had another dream, and wow, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

10 When he told his father and his brothers, his father scolded him, “What’s this dream that you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come to bow down to the ground to you?” 11 Consequently his brothers envied him, but his father kept pondering it.[ref]

12 Sometime after that, Yosef’s brothers went to shepherd their father’s flocks near Shekem. 13 One day, Yisra’el said to Yosef, “Aren’t your brothers away shepherding near Shekem? Come we’ll get some supplies and I’ll send you to them.”

“Sure,” Yosef ≈replied.

14 Then he ≈told him, “Please go and see how your brothers are doing and the flocks as well, then come and let me know.”

So he sent Yosef off from the Hebron valley, and he went to Shekem. 15 When he got there, a man noticed him wandering around the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”

16 “I’m looking for my brothers,” he answered. “Please tell me where they’re looking after our flocks.”

17 “They’ve left here,” the man responded. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ”

Joseph Sold into Slavery

So Yosef continued on after his brothers and found them at Dotan, 18 but they saw him from a distance and before he got close to them, they made plans among themselves to kill him. 19 “Look, that master dreamer is coming,” they said to each other. 20 “Here’s our chance to kill him and throw his body into one of the pits around here. We’ll say that a wild animal attacked him. Then we’ll see what his dreams turn into.”

21 But Reuben heard what they were saying, and he tried to rescue Yosef by insisting, “Let’s not take his life.” 22 “Don’t shed blood,” he continued. “Throw him into that pit in the wilderness, but don’t wound him.” He said this because he was planning to rescue Yosef later and return him home to their father. 23 So when Yosef reached his brothers, they grabbed him and ripped off the coloured robe that he was wearing. 24 Then they took him and dropped him into the pit. (The pit was empty with no water in the bottom).

25 Then they sat down to eat, and a bit later when they looked up, look, there was a caravan of Yishma’elites coming towards them. They had left Gilead carrying spices and balm and myrrh on their camels that they were going to take down to Egypt. 26 Then Yehudah (Judah) said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Let’s sell him to these Ishmaelites so we won’t be guilty of killing him. After all, he’s our brother—our own flesh and blood.” And his brothers agreed. 28 So when the Midianite traders came past, the brothers pulled Yosef up and lifted him out of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. Then the traders took Yosef onwards with them to Mitsrayim.[ref]

29 Later on, Reuben returned to the pit, but wow, Yosef wasn’t down there, so he tore his clothes in despair 30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there. What am I going to do?”

31 Then they slaughtered a young goat and took Yosef’s robe and dipped it in the blood. 32 Then they sent the coloured robe back to their father with this message: “We found this. Please examine whether or not it’s your son’s robe.”

33 Yisra’el recognised it and said, “It is my son’s robe. A wild animal must have eaten him. Yosef was almost certainly torn to pieces.” 34 Then Yacob ripped his clothes and put sackcloth around his waist, and he mourned for his son many days. 35 All his other sons and all his daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “I will go down to my son in the grave mourning.” So his father wept for him.

36 Meanwhile, the Midianites arrived in Egypt and sold him to Potifar—Far’oh’s captain of the guards.

38 Around that time, Yehudah (Judah) went down the hills from where his brothers were and settled near an Adullamite man named Hirah. 2 There Yehudah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife. He slept with her 3 and she got pregnant and in due course, gave birth to a son who Yehudah named Er. 4 Then she got pregnant again and gave birth a another son, and she named him Onan. 5 Then she got pregnant yet again and gave birth to a third son, and she named him Shelah. (Yehudah was in Kezib when she Onan was born.)

6 In due course, Yehudah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. 7 But Er was evil in Yahweh’s eyes, so Yahweh killed him. 8 Then Yehudah said to Onan, “Go to your brother’s wife and perform your brotherly duty to her to produce children for your brother.” 9 However, Onan knew that any children wouldn’t be his, so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground so that he wouldn’t give children to his late brother. 10 But Yahweh considered what he did to be evil, so he killed him also. 11 Then Yehudah ≈told his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” This was because he’d said, “So that he doesn’t also die like his brothers!” So Tamar went and lived in the house of her father.

12 A long time afterwards, Yehudah’s wife (Shua’s daughter) died. After Yehudah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah (the Adullamite) went to Timnah to where the men were shearing his sheep. 13 Then Tamar was told, “Look, your father-in-law is going to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 14 So she changed out of her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself up. Then she sat at the entrance of Enaim which is on the road to Timnah. She was doing this because she had seen that Shelah had grown up, but she hadn’t been given to him as a wife.

15 In due course, Yehudah saw her and because she had covered her face, he thought she was a prostitute. 16 So he turned to her beside the road and asked, “Please let me lie with you,” because he didn’t know that she was his daughter-in-law.

“What will you give me in exchange?” she asked.

17 “I’ll send you a young goat from my flock,” he replied.

“But what about something to keep now as a pledge until you send it,” she bartered.

18 “What pledge should I give you?” he asked.

“Your signet ring and its cord, and your staff that you’re holding.” So he handed them to her and went and lay with her, and she became pregnant as a result. 19 Then Tamar got up and left, and she took off her veil and put her widow’s clothes back on.

20 Then Yehudah sent his friend the Adullamite to take the young goat and get the pledge back from the woman, but he couldn’t find her, 21 so he asked some of the local men, “Where’s the temple prostitute who was at Enaim beside the road?”

But they answered, “There’s never been a temple prostitute around here.”

22 So Hirah returned to Yehudah and ≈told him, “I couldn’t find her. What’s more, the men of the place said that there hasn’t been a temple prostitute at that place.”

23 “Oh well,” said Yehudah. “Let her keep those things for herself so that we don’t become a laughingstock. Anyway, I did my duty by sending the goat, but you couldn’t find her.”

24 About three months later, Yehudah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and not only that, she’s pregnant from doing it.”

“Bring her out and let her be burnt to death.” Yehudah demanded.

25 So they got her and brought her out, but she sent a message to her father-in-law, saying, “It was the man who these things belong to that got me pregnant.” Then she added, “Please identify whose signet ring and cords and staff these are.”

26 When Yehudah recognised the items, he admitted, “She’s more in the right than I am,[ref] because I didn’t give my son Shelah to her.” But he didn’t lie with her again.

27 When the time came for Tamar to give birth, wow, she was going to have twins. 28 While she was giving birth, one of the babies poked out a hand and the midwife tied a scarlet thread around its wrist, saying, “This one came out first.” 29 However, it pulled its hand back in, then wow, its brother was delivered first. Then she[fn] said, “How did you manage to break out first?” So he named him ‘Perez’ (which means ‘break out’). 30 After that, his brother who had the scarlet thread on his wrist was delivered, and he named him Zerah.

39 Meanwhile, Yosef had been taken down to Egypt, and an Egyptian man named Potifar had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. Potifar was the chief of the guards for Far’oh (Pharaoh). 2 Yosef lived in the house of his Egyptian master, and Yahweh was with him and he was successful at his work.[ref] 3 His master noticed that Yahweh was with him and that Yahweh made everything that he did succeed, 4 so Yosef earned his favour as he served him. Then Potifar put him in charge of his entire household and everything that he owned. 5 From that time onwards, Yahweh blessed that Egyptian household because of Yosef, and Yahweh’s blessing even extended from everything in the home all the way out to their fields. 6 Potifar left all his belonging in Yosef’s charge, so much so that he didn’t have to think about anything else beyond what he wanted to eat.

Now Yosef had developed into a well-built and handsome young man, 7 and after a while, his master’s wife started to develop a crush on him and told him, “Come to bed with me.” 8 But he refused and told her, “Listen, with me here, my master doesn’t have to think about what’s in the house and he’s put me in charge of everything. 9 In this house, he doesn’t even have more authority than I do and he hasn’t kept anything back from me, except for you, his wife. How could I do this very wicked thing and sin against God. 10 But she kept persisting with Yosef day after, but he wouldn’t lie with her like she wanted.

11 Then one day when he went into the house to do his work and there were no other men of the house around, 12 Potifar’s wife grabbed Yosef’s cloak and demanded, “Come to bed with me.” But he pulled away and fled outside the house, leaving her there holding his cloak. 13 As soon as it registered that he’d fled outside leaving his cloak behind, 14 she yelled for the other male slaves and told them, “Look, he brought a Hebrew here man to mock at us. He tried to get me onto the bed, but I yelled out loudly. 15 When he grasped that I was screaming for help, he left his cloak here and just took off outside.”

16 Potifar’s wife kept the cloak beside her until her husband, Yosef’s master, got home, 17 then she told him the same story, “That Hebrew slave that you brought into our home came to me to mock me, 18 but when I yelled out, he left his cloak here and took off outside.”

Joseph Put in Prison

19 When Yosef’s master heard his wife tell what his slave had tried to do to her, he became furious. 20 He took him and threw him into the prison built for the king’s prisoners. 21 But Yahweh was with Yosef and was kind to him and caused the prison warden to be pleased with him,[ref] 22 so the warden put him in charge of all the other prisoners and Yosef ended up being in charge of everything that happened inside. 23 Then the warden didn’t need to concern himself with anything that was going on because Yahweh was with Yosef and helped him succeed in everything he did.

40 Sometime after that the Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker sinned against their master, also known as Far’oh. 2 Far’oh was angry at those two officials 3 and he put them in the custody of the chief of the guards—in the prison where Yosef was also being held. 4 There the chief of the guards assigned Yosef to serve them.

After they’d been in custody for quite some time, 5 the king’s cupbearer and baker in prison each had separate dreams on the same night, and each man’s dream had its own interpretation. 6 The next morning, Yosef came to them, and wow, they were worried, 7 so he asked the two former officials of Far’oh, “Why are you looking so upset today?”

8 “We each had a dream last night,” they answered, “but there’s no one here who can tell us what our dreams mean.”

“God is the only one who gives someone the ability to interpret the meaning of dreams,” Yosef replied. “Please tell me what you dreamed.”

9 Then the chief of the cupbearers went first and told his dream to Yosef, “Listen, in my dream there was a grapevine in front of me 10 with three branches on it. Then as soon as the buds appeared on the branches, its blossoms came out straight away and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Then I was holding Far’oh’s cup and I took the grapes and squeezed them into it and I gave the cup to Far’oh.”

12 “This is the interpretation,” Yosef responded. “The three branches represent three days. 13 Within three days, Far’oh will display you publicly and then restore you to your position. Then you’ll place Far’oh’s cup into his hand, just like you used to before when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when it all goes well for you, if you remember me then please be kind and mention me to Far’oh to get me out of this prison, 15 because indeed I was trafficked from the land of the Hebrews. And even here, I didn’t do anything to deserve being held in this pit.”

16 Now when the chief of the bakers saw that this first dream was interpreted so favourably, he told Yosef, “I also was in my dream, and listen, there were three baskets of white bread on my head. 17 In the top basket there were various kinds of food for Far’oh—baker’s goods—but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.” 18 “This is the interpretation,” Yosef responded. “The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days, Far’oh will display you publicly and then impale you on a pole, and the birds will eat your flesh off your bones.”

20 Then three days later, it was Far’oh’s birthday and he held a feast for all his officials and he got the chief of the cupbearers and the chief of the bakers brought in to stand publicly in the middle of everyone. 21 Then he restored the chief of the cupbearers to his position, and the man carried the cup across to Far’oh, 22 but he had the chief of the bakers executed, just like Yosef had described in the interpretation of the dream. 23 However, the chief of the cupbearers completely forgot about Yosef.

41 Some two years later, King Far’oh had a dream and in it, he was standing beside the Nile River. 2 Then, wow, seven fine-looking and well-fed cows came up out of the river, and they grazed among the reeds. 3 But wow, seven ugly, skinny cows came up out of the river after them, and they stood beside the other cows on the river bank. 4 Then the ugly, skinny cows ate the seven nice, fat cows, and then Far’oh woke up. 5 Then he fell asleep again and had a second dream. And wow, seven good, fat heads of grain came up on one stalk. 6 But wow, seven thin heads of grain sprouted after them—these heads of grain had been scorched by the hot, desert wind. 7 Then the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good, fat heads. At that point, Far’oh woke up, and realised that it had been a dream. 8 That morning, Far’oh’s spirit was troubled, so he sent for all the sorcerers and wise men of Egypt and he told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for the king.[ref]

9 Then the chief of the cupbearers spoke with Far’oh saying, “I’ve just remembered my broken promise today. 10 The king had been angry with his servants, and he put me in the custody of the chief of the guards in his prison—me and the chief of the bakers. 11 The two of us each had a dream one night, and each of the dreams had different interpretations. 12 There was a young Hebrew man in there with us—a slave of the chief of the guards. When we told him our dreams, he interpreted our two different dreams for us. 13 And it all happened just as he’d interpreted them—I was restored to my position and the baker was executed.

14 So Far’oh sent for Yosef, and they quickly brought him in from the pit. When he’d shaved and changed his clothes, he was brought in to the king 15 who told him, “I had a dream but no one could interpret it. However, I heard that you could listen to a dream and explain what it means.”

16 “No, it’s not my ability,” Yosef responded, “but God will answer the king to give him peace.”

17 “In my dream,” Far’oh told Yosef, “wow, I was standing on the river bank 18 and then listen, up from the river came seven cows. They were well-fed and good-looking, and they grazed among the reeds. 19 Then listen, seven other cows came up after them. They were in poor condition and very ugly and skinny—I haven’t seen cows that ugly anywhere in Egypt. 20 Then the skinny, ugly cows ate the first seven fat cows, 21 but you wouldn’t know it because their bellies were just as skinny as before and they looked just as ugly as they had before. Then I woke up.

22 “Then I had another dream, and listen, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk. They were full and good. 23 Then listen, seven more heads of grain sprouted after them, but they were withered and thin, and scorched by the east wind. 24 Then the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told these dreams to the sorcerers, but no one could explain them to me.”

25 Then Yosef said to Far’oh, “The king’s dreams are one and the same. God has shown Far’oh what he’s going to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years—both dreams mean the same. 27 And the seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and so are the seven thin heads of grain scorched by the east wind. There will be seven years of drought. 28 That’s why I told Far’oh that God has shown him what he’s going to do. 29 Listen, there’s seven years coming of plentiful harvests throughout all of Egypt, 30 but seven years of drought will follow after them, such that the years of plenty will be quickly forgotten and famine will devastate the land. 31 Yes, the time of plenty won’t be remembered because of the famine that follows—it’ll be very severe. 32 And as for having two dreams with the same meaning, it’s because the matter has been established by God, and God will do it soon.

33 “So now the king should find a man who’s discerning and wise, and appoint him over all Egypt. 34 Then the king should get him to appoint supervisors all across the country to collect twenty percent of the crops during the seven years of plenty. 35 They should collect that surplus food in the coming good years, and store it in the cities under the king’s authority. It should be kept 36 and used as a reserve for the seven years of famine that will affect the country, so that the people will survive.

37 This idea sounded good to Far’oh and to all his servants, 38 so he asked them, “Do we have any other man like this who has God’s spirit in him?” 39 Then he told Yosef, “Since God has shown you all this, there’s no one as discerning and wise as you. 40 You’ll be over my household, and all my people will obey your every word. Only I on the throne will be greater than you.”[ref]

Joseph in Charge of Egypt

41 Then he added, “See, I’ve put you over all the entire country.” 42 Then he removed his signet ring from his hand and put it on Yosef’s hand, and he had him dressed in fine linen clothes, and put a gold chain around his neck.[ref] 43 He had Yosef ride in his #2 chariot, and they called out in front of him, “Bow down!” So the king put him over the entire country of Egypt. 44 Far’oh also told him, “I’m Far’oh, and no person in all Egypt will lift their hand or foot without your permission.” 45 Then Far’oh gave him the Egyptian name ‘Zafenath-Paneah’ (which means ‘the one who reveals secrets’), and he presented him with Asenath, the daughter of Potifera the priest of On, as a wife. And Yosef travelled throughout the land of Egypt.

46 Yosef was thirty years old when he’d been called to stand before Far’oh king of Egypt. When he left Far’oh’s presence, he travelled throughout the land of Egypt 47 and the land produced outstanding harvests during the seven years of plenty. 48 For seven years, he gathered all the food throughout the land of Egypt and had it stored in the cities. The food from the fields that surrounded each city, he put inside that city. 49 So Yosef stored up so much grain that it was like sand on the beaches, until he eventually stopped measuring it because it too much to calculate.

50 Before the years of the famine came, Yosef had two sons that Asenath (the daughter of Potifera, the priest of On) gave birth to. 51 Yosef named the oldest son ‘Manasseh’ (which means ‘forget’), because he said, “God has made me forget all my hardships and all of my family.” 52 His second son he named ‘Efrayim’ (which means ‘fruitful’), because he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my difficulties.”

53 Then the seven years of plenty in Egypt came to an end 54 and the seven years of famine started, just as Yosef had said. The famine covered the entire wider region, but it was different in Egypt.[ref] 55 All the land of Egypt became famished, and the people cried to the king for food, so Far’oh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Yosef and do whatever he tells you.”[ref] 56 The famine was right across the country, so Yosef opened all the grain stores and sold grain to the Egyptians. But the famine in Egypt was really severe. 57 Then people from much further away started coming to Egypt to buy grain from Yosef, because the famine was severe in the entire wider region.

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] 3 So ten of Yosef’s brothers travelled down to Egypt to buy grain, 4 but Yacob wouldn’t send Benyamin (Yosef’s youngest brother) with the others, because he said, “I don’t want any harm to come to him.”

5 So Yisra’el’s sons found themselves among many others who went to buy grain, because the famine was also throughout the Canaan region. 6 Now Yosef was the governor over all of Egypt and he was the one there who was selling grain to all the people. So Yosef’s brothers approached and bowed down to him with their noses to the ground. 7 When Yosef saw his brothers, he recognized them and acted like a stranger to them, and he spoke harshly with them (through an interpreter), “Where are you lot from?”

“From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they ≈answered.

8 Yosef had recognised his brothers, but they hadn’t recognised him, 9 and just then he remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them, so he said to them, “You are spies. You’ve all come to discover any weak points in this country’s defences.”[ref]

10 “No, my master,” they ≈answered. “Your servants have only come to buy food. 11 We’re all sons of the same man. We’re being honest. Your servants are not spies.”

12 “No, you’ve definitely all come here to see where our land is vulnerable,” Yosef insisted.

13 “Your servants are twelve brothers,” they protested. “We’re all sons of one man in the Canaan region. It’s all true—the youngest is home with our father, and one has passed away.”

14 “Yes, it’s just as I said,” retorted Yosef. “You’re spies! 15 But this is how we’ll test you all: On Far’oh’s life, you won’t ever leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 16 Select one among you to go and get your brother, and the rest of you will be imprisoned. Then we’ll find out if you’ve all been telling the truth. And if not, on Far’oh’s life, you’re certainly spies.” 17 Then he had them locked up together for three days.

18 On the third day, Yosef told them, “I’m a man who reveres God. So if you do exactly what I say, I’ll let you live. 19 If you are actually honest, leave one of your brothers in prison here, and you others go and take grain back to feed your families. 20 Then when you will bring me your youngest brother so that I can verify your statements, then you won’t die.” So they agreed, 21 saying to each other (in Hebrew), “We are truly guilty concerning our brother Yosef, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, but we didn’t take any notice. That’s why this predicament has happened to us.”

22 “Didn’t I beg you all not to sin against the lad?” Reuben spoke up. “But you wouldn’t listen, so now, see, now we’re having to account for his blood.”[ref] 23 (But they didn’t know that Yosef understood them, because he and them had been speaking through an interpreter.) 24 Yosef turned away from them briefly so they couldn’t see his tears, then he turned back toward them and spoke to them. Then he had Simeon separated from the group and tied up in front of them. 25 Then Yosef ordered his servants and they filled their bags with grain, and he quietly ordered them to return each man’s silver back to his sack and to give them provisions to them for the road.

After Yosef had provided for his brothers, 26 they loaded their grain onto their donkeys and departed. 27 At a lodging place that night, one of them opened his sack to feed his donkey and to his horror, he saw his silver inside the top of the sack. 28 “My silver’s been returned,” he told his brothers, “and it’s right here in my sack!”

29 When they got home to Yacob their father in Canaan, they told him everything that had happened to them, 30 “This man, the master of Egypt, spoke harshly to us and treated us as if we were spying out his country, 31 but we told him, ‘We’re honest—we’re not spies. 32 We’re twelve brothers, the sons of our father. One is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father today back in Canaan.’ 33 Then that man told us, ‘I’ll find out if you’re honest: Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for your families and go. 34 Then bring me your youngest brother so that I’ll know you’re not spies—that you’re telling the truth. Then I’ll release your brother and you can trade here freely.’ ”

35 Then when they started emptying their sacks, wow, each man’s pouch of silver was inside his sack. When the brothers and their father saw their pouches of silver, they were afraid. 36 “You’ve deprived me of another son,” Yacob exclaimed. Yosef is gone! Simeon’s gone! And then you want to take Benyamin as well! Why’s everything going so wrong for me?” 37 Then Reuben offered to his father, “You can kill my two sons if I don’t bring Benyamin back to you. Let me take responsibility for him, and I’ll make sure that he returns to you.” 38 “My son will not go with you,” Yacob countered, “because his brother is dead, and he alone is left. And if harm were to meet him on the road that you’re going on, then you’d bring my gray head down to the grave in grief.”

43 However, the famine in the region was still very severe, 2 so when they’d used up all the grain that they’d brought from Egypt, their father instructed them, “Go back there and buy some food for us.”

3 But Yehudah challenged him, “That man ≈told us that he won’t even see us unless our brother is with us. 4 We can only go there to buy food for you if you’ll agree to send our youngest brother with us. 5 If you don’t, it’s not even worth going, because that man clearly told us that he won’t even see us unless our brother is with us.

6 “Why did you all treat me badly by telling the man you have a younger brother?” their father Yisra’el asked.

7 “The man kept asking about us and our relatives,” they answered. “He asked, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ We just answered what he asked. How could we possibly know that he would insist that we bring our youngest brother there?”

8 Then Yehudah said to his father, “Entrust the young man to me, and we’ll pack up and go so that both we and you and our little ones will live and not die. 9 I myself will guarantee him. If anything happens to him, you can charge it to me. If I don’t get him safely back to you, then I’ll personally carry the blame for the rest of my life. 10 If we hadn’t sat around here doing nothing for so long, certainly by now we could have been there and back twice!”

11 “Well, if that’s our only choice,” their father acceded, “then do this: Take some of the best produce from around here in your bags, and take it down to the man as a gift: a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, and some pistachio nuts and almonds. 12 And take double the amount of silver, because you must repay the silver that was returned in the tops of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake. 13 So take your brother and go and return to the man. 14 May the provider God Almighty cause the man to treat you kindly, and may he send your other brother and Benyamin back with you. And as for me, if I lose another son, I’ll just have to mourn him.”

15 So the brothers took the gifts and double the amount of silver. Then taking Benyamin, they travelled down to Egypt and presented themselves to Yosef. 16 When Yosef saw Benyamin with them, he told his head house-servant, “Take these men to the house, and slaughter an animal and prepare a meal, because they’ll eat with me at noon.” 17 The man did what he’d been instructed and brought the men to Yosef’s house.

18 But the brothers were afraid when they found out that they’d been brought to wait outside Yosef’s house, and said to each other, “We must have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our sacks the first time. He wants to overpower us, then arrest us and confiscate our donkeys and take us as slaves.”

A Feast at Joseph’s Palace

19 So they approached the head servant and spoke to him at the entrance of the house, 20 explaining, “Please, my master, honestly, we came down here the first time to buy food. 21 But when we got to our lodging place that evening, we opened our sacks and got a shock because each man’s silver was in the top of his sack—the full amount of our silver was there. So we’ve brought it back here on this trip, 22 plus we’ve brought more silver to buy food. We don’t know who put that silver in our sacks.” 23 But he said, “Peace to you—don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you hidden treasure in your sacks—I received your previous payment.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

24 Then the servant took the brothers into Yosef’s house. He had water given to them and they washed their feet, and he had fodder given to their donkeys. 25 Then they got theirs gifts ready for when Yosef would arrive at midday, because they’d heard that they would be given lunch there. 26 When Yosef arrived there, they brought their gifts and they bowed to the ground in front of him. 27 Then he asked them about their living situation at home and questioned, “Is everything ok for your elderly father that you ≈told me about? Is he still alive?”

28 “Things are well for your servant our father. And yes, he’s still alive.” Then they bowed their heads and bowed to the ground again.

29 Then Yosef looked around and saw his full-brother Benyamin, and asked, “Is this your youngest brother that you spoke to me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” 30 At that point, Yosef had to hurry out of the room, because he was so overcome with emotion for his younger brother that he needed to cry, so he went to his inner room and cried there. 31 Then he washed his face and came out, controlling himself and ordering, “Serve the meal.” 32 So the servants served Yosef at his own table, and served the brothers separately and the Egyptians who were eating with him separately again (because Egyptians won’t eat together with Hebrews, because Egyptians would find that demeaning). 33 At their table, the brothers were astonished to discover that they had been seated in order from the oldest to the youngest. 34 Then they were served food Yosef’s table, but Benyamin’s serving was five times larger than any of the others, and they drank and they and Yosef all got a bit tiddly.

44 Then Yosef commanded his head servant, “Fill the men’s sacks with grain, as much as they are able to carry, and put each man’s payment back into the top of his sack. 2 And put my own silver cup in the top of the youngest one’s sack along with his payment.” So he did what he was instructed. 3 The next morning at daylight, the brothers and their donkeys were sent off to start their trip home. 4 They hadn’t gone very far out of the city when Yosef ≈told his head servant, “Get up and, follow after those men. When you overtake them, ask them, ‘Why did you repay good with evil? 5 Isn’t this the cup that my master drinks from and indeed, what he divines with? You’ve done evil taking that.’ ”

6 So the servant overtook them and did exactly what he’d been instructed to do. 7 But they asked him, “Why does my master say that? Far be it from your servants to do something like that. 8 Listen, we brought the silver that we found in the top of our sacks back to you from the land of Canaan. So why would we then steal silver or gold from the house of your master? 9 If you find anything stolen with any of us, that person can be executed, and the rest of us can also be taken as slaves for my master.”

10 “Indeed,” the servant replied, “according to your words, that’s how it’ll be: whoever is found with the stolen cup will become my slave, but you others will be free to go.” 11 So each of the brothers quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each one opened his sack. 12 Then Yosef’s servant searched beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was found in Benyamin’s sack. 13 Seeing this, the brothers tore their clothes (as a sign of their distress), and each one loaded up his donkey, and they all returned to the city.

14 When Yehudah and his brothers got to Yosef’s house, he was still there, and they fell to their knees and bowed to the ground in front of him. 15 “What’s this that you’ve done?” Yosef demanded. “Didn’t you know that a man like me can certainly divine the truth?”

16 “What can we say to my master?” Yehudah ≈answered. “What words could we speak? How could we possibly justify ourselves? God has exposed the sin of your servants. So now, we are slaves for my master—both we and the one who was found with the cup.”

17 “Far be it from me to do that.” Yosef corrected them. “Only the man who had the cup will become my slave, and the rest of you can go back to your father in peace.”

18 Then Yehudah went closer to Yosef and said quietly, “Please, my master, please let your servant speak a word in my master’s ears, and don’t get angry with me, since you’re as powerful as Far’oh. 19 My master previously asked his servants if we had a father or another brother? 20 And we answered to my master, ‘Yes, we have an elderly father and also the youngest son of his old age. But that son’s brother is dead, so he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’ 21 Then you told your servants, ‘Bring the other son here so I can see him myself.’ 22 And we said to my master, ‘The young man isn’t able to leave his father, because if he does, then the old man will die.’ 23 But then you said to your servants, ‘If your youngest brother doesn’t come with you, you won’t get access to me again.’

24 “After all that, when we went back to your servant my father, we explained your words to him, my master. 25 Eventually, our father ≈told us, ‘Return there to buy some food for us.’ 26 But we ≈told him, ‘We can’t go back unless our youngest brother is with us, because we wouldn’t be able to get access to that man if our youngest brother wasn’t with us.’ 27 Then your servant my father told us, ‘You know that my wife gave birth to two sons for me. 28 One of them went away from me, and I’ve assumed that he was torn to pieces, and I’ve never seen him again. 29 So if you also take this son away and something happened to him, then you’d bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.’

30 “So now, if I was to return home to your servant my father without that young man, since his father’s soul is bound to his soul, 31 then as soon as he sees that the young man isn’t will us, then he’ll have a heart attack and so your servants will bring the gray head of your servant our father down to the grave in misery. 32 But your servant guaranteed the young man to my father, saying, ‘If I don’t get him back to you, then I will have sinned against my father all my life.’

33 “So now, please let your servant stay as a slave for my master instead of the young man, and let the young man go home with his brothers. 34 So now, how could I possibly go home to my father if that young man isn’t with me? I wouldn’t be able to cope with my father’s misery.”

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] 2 but he cried so loudly that many Egyptians heard it and Far’oh’s household listened. 3 “I’m Yosef!” he told his brothers. “Is my father still alive?” But his brothers weren’t able to answer him because they were terrified there in front of him. 4 “Please come close to me,” he said. So they came close, and he explained, “I’m your brother Yosef that you sold to be taken to Egypt. 5 But don’t be upset now or troubled that you sold me here, because it was God who sent me ahead of you so that lives would be saved. 6 There’s already been two years of famine in this region, but there’s still five more years to come without any ploughing or harvesting. 7 So God sent me ahead of you all so that some of you would be kept alive by this miracle and your children would be preserved. 8 You see, it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God. And he’s made me like a father to Far’oh, and master over all his house and the ruler in all the land of Egypt.

9 “So hurry back to my father and tell him, ‘This is what your son Yosef says, “God has made me master over all Egypt. Come down to me—don’t delay.[ref] 10 You can live in the Goshen region so that you’ll be near to me—you and your children and your children’s children and your flocks and your herds and everything that belongs to you. 11 I’ll provide for you here because there’s still five years of famine to come. That way, you won’t end up poor—you and your household and everyone with you.” ’ 12 Look at me! You yourselves and even my brother Benyamin can see that it’s really me who’s speaking to you. 13 So go and tell my father about all my very high position in Egypt and everything else that you’ve seen. Then hurry and bring my father down here.”

14 Then he hugged his brother Benyamin and cried, and Benyamin cried too while they hugged. 15 Then he kissed all his brothers and cried over them, and after that his brothers talked with him.

Pharaoh Invites Jacob to Egypt

16 When the report about the arrival of Yosef’s brothers reached Far’oh’s house, both him and his servants were pleased. 17 Then Far’oh instructed Yosef, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and leave. Go to Canaan 18 and get your father and your households, and come back here to me, and I’ll give to you the best of the land in Egypt, and you’ll eat the best of the country.’ 19 And you’re commanded, ‘Do this: Take carts with you from here for your little ones and for your wives, and get your father and come. 20 Don’t be upset about anything you have to leave behind, because the best of all the land in Egypt will be yours.’ ”

21 Then Yisra’el’s sons did what they had been instructed and Yosef gave them carts as per Far’oh’s orders as well as provisions for the journey. 22 Then he gave changes of clothes to each of them, but he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothes to Benyamin. 23 To his father he sent ten male donkeys loaded with the best of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provisions for his father for the road. 24 Then he sent off his brothers, and as they left, then he told them, “Don’t quarrel on the road.”

25 So they left Egypt and went back home to their father Yacob in Canaan 26 and told him, “Yosef is still alive! In fact, he’s the ruler over all of Egypt.” But Yacob was totally stunned and he couldn’t really believe them.

27 Then they told him everything that Yosef had told them. When he saw the carts that Yosef had sent to carry him, then he started to recover from the shock. 28 Then Yisra’el exclaimed, “Enough! I accept that my son Yosef is still alive. I’ll go and see him before I die.”

46 So Yisra’el started his trip, taking everything he had. When they stopped in Beer-Sheva, 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 Be’er-Sheva, 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.

8 These are the names of Yisrael’s sons who went to Egypt, that is Yacob and his sons: Yacob’s firstborn was Reuben, 9 and Reuben’s sons were Hanoch and Pallu and Hezron and Carmi. 10 Simeon’s sons were Yemuel, Yamin, Ohad, Yakin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 11 Levi’s sons were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 Yehudah’s sons were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah, but Er and Onan had died in Canaan. Perez’ sons were Hezron and Hamul. 13 Yissashkar’s sons were Tola, Puvah, Yob, and Shimron. 14 Zebulun’s sons were Sered, Elon, and Yahleel. 15 Those were all Le’ah’s sons that she bore for Yacob in Paddan-Aram, along with his daughter Dinah. The total number of those descendants was thirty-three.

16 Gad’s sons were Zifion,Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 Asher’s sons were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. And Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malkiel. 18 Those were all Zilpah’s sons, the slave woman that Lavan had given to his daughter Le’ah, and she gave birth to those sixteen descendants for Yacob.

19 Yacob’s wife Rahel’s sons were Yosef and Benyamin. 20 Yosef’s sons Manasseh and Efrayim were born in Egypt. Asenath, the daughter of Potifera the priest of On, gave birth to them for Yosef.[ref] 21 Benyamin’s sons were Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. 22 Those were all Rahel’s descendants—a total of fourteen.

23 Dan’s son was Hushim. 24 Naftali’s sons were Yahzeel, Guni, Yezer, and Shillem. 25 Those two were both Bilhah’s sons, the slave woman that Lavan had given to his daughter Rahel, and she gave birth to those seven descendants for Yacob.

26 The total count of those who went to Egypt with Yacob who were his descendants (not counting his daughters-in-law) was sixty-six. 27 As well as that, Yosef’s two sons were born in Egypt so that added up to a grand total of seventy.[ref]

28 As they all approached Egypt, Yacob sent Yehudah ahead of the others to find out from Yosef how to get to Goshen. As they all arrived in the Goshen area, 29 Yosef hooked up his chariot and went to meet his father Yisra’el there. He went up to his father, and hugged him for a long time as he cried. 30 “Now I can die,” Yisra’el said to Yosef, “since I’ve seen your face—seen that you’re still alive.”

31 Then Yosef spoke to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I’ll go and report to Far’oh and explain to him that my brothers and my father’s household who were living in Canaan have come to join me. 32 I’ll tell him that you’re herders of sheep—livestock farmers—and that you’ve brought your flocks and herds and everything that you own. 33 So when Far’oh calls for you and asks what your work is, 34 then you should answer, ‘Your servants have been livestock men from our youth and until now, both we and also our fathers,’ so that you can settle here in Goshen, because Egyptians despise sheep herders.”

Jacob Blesses Pharaoh

47 Then went Yosef to Far’oh and told him, “My father and brothers and their flocks and herds and everything that belongs to them, have come from Canaan and they’re here now Goshen area.” 2 Then he took five of his brothers and presented them to Far’oh, 3 and Far’oh asked them, “What’s your occupation?”

“Your servants have been shepherds for several generations,” they ≈replied. 4 Then they explained, “We’ve come to stay here for a while because in Canaan, there’s no pasture for our flocks because the drought is very severe. So now, please let your servants settle in the Goshen area.” 5 Then Far’oh turned to Yosef, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The entire country of Egypt is in front of you. Settle your father and your brothers in the best land, so let them settle in the Goshen area. And if you’re aware that some of them have special talents, then appoint them as overseers of my own livestock as well.”

7 Then Yosef brought his father Yacob and presented him to Far’oh, and Yacob blessed Far’oh. 8 “How old are you?” Far’oh asked him.

9 “I’ve been moving from place to place for 130 years,” Yacob ≈replied. “My life has been short and with many difficulties, so I haven’t reached the longer ages of my ancestors in their moving around.” 10 Then he blessed Far’oh again and departed from his presence. 11 So Yosef gave his father and his brothers some of the best land in Egypt and helped them settle there—in the Rameses district just as Far’oh had commanded. 12 He also provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with bread—each family according to the number of children.

13 Then the time came when there was no bread in that entire part of the world, because the drought was now extremely severe, and both Egypt and Canaan were suffering from food shortages. 14 People all over came to buy grain, and over time Yosef had received in payment all the silver that could be found in Egypt and Canaan, and he in turn took it to Far’oh’s house. 15 So once there was no more silver left in Egypt and in Canaan, all the Egyptians demanded from Yosef, “Give us food. Why should we die right here in front of you? All our money is gone!”

16 “Bring your livestock,” Yosef ≈answered, “and I’ll give grain to you in exchange for them, since the silver is gone.” 17 So the people brought their livestock to him, and he gave them grain in exchange for their horses and sheep and cattle and donkeys. So he provided them with food that year in exchange for all their livestock.

18 The next year they came to Yosef and begged, “We can’t hide it from our master that since there’s no silver left and since all the livestock now belongs to our lord, there’s nothing left to offer other than our bodies and our lands. 19 Why should we die right in front of you—both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Far’oh. And give us seed so that we’ll live and not die, and so that the land won’t be barren.”

20 So Yosef bought all the farmland of Egypt for Far’oh, because every Egyptian sold his field. In that way, all the land became Far’oh’s because the famine was so extreme. 21 As for the people, he moved them to the cities[fn] from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 The only land he didn’t buy was that of the priests, because they were given a regular allowance by Far’oh. Because they could live on what they were supplied with, they didn’t need to sell their land. 23 Then Yosef told the people, “Listen, now that I’ve bought you and your land for Far’oh, here is seed for you so that you can work the ground. 24 Every time you harvest a crop, you must give a fifth of it to Far’oh. The other four parts will be for you to use as seed and as food for yourselves and your households and your young children.”

25 “You’ve kept us alive,” they agreed. “Master, continue to show us your favour, and we’ll be slaves for Far’oh.” 26 So Yosef established it as a law to this day concerning the Egyptian farmland: that the fifth belongs to Far’oh. (Only the priests’ land didn’t become Far’oh’s.)

27 So Yisra’el (Yacob) and his descendants settled in the Goshen region of Egypt and prospered. The had many children and quickly increased in number. 28 Yacob resided there for seventeen years, and by then he was 147 years old 29 and he was getting close to death, so he called for his son Yosef and asked him, “If, please, I have found favour in your eyes, please give me your hand and promise to deal with me in kindness and faithfulness. Please don’t bury me in Egypt.[ref] 30 When I die, I want to be buried with my ancestors, so carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their tomb.”

“I’ll do what you’ve requested,” Yosef agreed.

31 “Promise me,” he insisted. So Yosef promised him and Yisra’el bowed at the head of the bed.[fn]

48 Some time after that, Yosef was told, “Listen, your father is sick.” So Yosef went to him, taking his two sons with him—Manasseh and Efrayim. 2 When someone told Yacob that Yosef had arrived, he exerted himself and sat up in bed, 3 then he told him, “God the provider appeared to me at Luz in Canaan, and he blessed me[ref] 4 and said to me, ‘Listen, I’ll make you fruitful, and I’ll multiply you and make you into a community of peoples. And I’ll give this land to your offspring after you to be their possession forever.’ 5 “And now, your two sons, who were born for you here in Egypt before I came here, I adopt them as my own—Efrayim and Manasseh—just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any other children that you father after them will be yours. Their inheritance will only be through their older brothers. 7 As for me, when I was coming into Canaan from Paddan, Rahel died beside on the way when we were still quite some distance from Efrath, and I buried her there beside the road of Efrath (which is Bethlehem).”[ref]

8 Then Yisra’el noticed Yosef’s two sons and asked, “Who are these?”

9 “They are my sons that God has given me here in this place.” Yosef ≈replied to his father.

“Please bring them to me, and I will bless them,” Yacob requested. 10 Now Yisra’el’s sight was poor in his old age, so he wasn’t able to see much. So Yosef brought them over to him, and Yisra’el kissed them and embraced them. 11 “I never expected to see you again” he said to Yosef, “but wow, God has even let me see your children as well.” 12 Then Yosef removed his sons from his father’s knees and bowed with his face to the ground.

13 Then Yosef took both of them—Efrayim on his right toward Yisra’el’s left and Manasseh (the eldest) on his left toward Yisra’el’s right—and brought them close to him. 14 But Yisra’el intentionally extended his right hand and placed it on the Efrayim’s head (the younger one), and crossing his arms, he placed his left hand on Manasseh’s head. 15 Then he blessed Yosef saying,

“May the God who my grandfather Abraham and my father Yitshak served,

the God who has been shepherding me for my entire life,

16 the messenger who’s turned all harm intended for me into good,

may he bless these young men.

May they be recognised as my descendants,

and as descendants of Abraham and Yitshak,

and grow to increase in number on the earth.

17 Then Yosef noticed that his father had placed his right hand on Efrayim’s head and he was upset about it, so he picked up his father’s hand to move it across to Manasseh’s head, 18 telling his father, “My father, that’s wrong because that one is my oldest son. Put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father pushed back, “I know, my son, I know. Manasseh will also become a people, and he will also be great. Nevertheless his younger brother will be the greater one, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”

20 So Yisra’el blessed Efrayim and Manasseh that day saying,[ref]

“After this, my descendants will bless people by saying,

‘May God make you like Efrayim and like Manasseh.’ ”

(Notice that he put Efrayim before Manasseh.)

21 Then Yisra’el told Yosef, “Listen, I’m about to die, and God will be with you and take you back to the land of your ancestors. 22 I’m giving Shekem to you as an additional inheritance over that of your brothers. I captured it with my sword and my bow from the descendants of Amor and it’s now yours.”

49 Then Yacob called for all his sons and said, “Gather together, and I’ll reveal to you what will happen to you all in the years ahead.

2 Gather around and listen you sons of Yacob,

≈listen to your father Yisra’el.

3 Reuben you’re my eldest,

≈my power and the beginning of my strength.

With excellence in dignity,

≈and excelling in power.

4 But you’re destructive like strong waters.

You climbed into my bed (with my slave wife).

≈You got onto my couch and defiled it.

5 Simeon and Levi are alike.

Their swords are weapons of violence.

6 Don’t let my thoughts enter into their discussion.

≈Don’t let my honour join in their assembly.

They killed a man in their anger,

≈and they hamstrung an ox just for their pleasure.

7 Their fierce anger is cursed,

≈and their severe anger is determined.

I will divide them out among Yacob’s descendants,

≈and scatter them across Yisra’el.

8 Yehudah, you’ll be praised by your brothers.

You’ll be a powerful force against your enemies.

Your father’s sons will bow down to you.

9 Yehudah is a lion cub.[ref]

My son, you’ve stood up after feasting on your prey.

He stretches and lies down like a lion.

As with a lioness, who will dare wake him?

10 Yehudah will never leave the ruling position,

≈nor will his descendants be without the ruler’s staff,

until the messiah arrives

and the people groups obey him.

11 He’ll tie his donkey to the grapevine,[fn]

≈and the donkey’s colt to the best branch.

He’ll wash his clothes in wine

≈and his robes in the blood of grapes.

12 His eyes will be darker than wine,

≈and his teeth will be white from milk.

13 Zebulun will settle near the coast,

and be like a safe harbour for ships.

His border will extend up to Tsidon.

14 Yissashkar (Issachar) is a strong donkey

lying down between the sheep pens.[fn]

15 He’ll see that his resting place is good

and that the land is pleasant.

He’ll strain his shoulders to carry a burden.

≈He’ll be forced to labour for others.

16 Dan (which means ‘judge’) will judge his people

like one of Yisra’el’s tribes.

17 He’ll be a snake beside the road,

≈a viper on the path,

that bites a horse’s heels

and its rider falls backwards.

18 Yahweh, I’m waiting for you to save us.

19 Gad will be attacked by riders,

but he’ll attack them from behind.

20 Asher will enjoy delicious food,

and he’ll provide delicacies for a king.

21 Naftali is a doe that’s been untied.

He says beautiful words.[fn]

22 Yosef is part of a fruit-bearing vine—

≈part of a fruit-bearing vine at a spring.

His branches will climb over the wall.

23 Expert archers will attack him,

and shoot and harass him.

24 But his bow will stay steady

≈and his arms will be made agile

by the hands of the mighty one of Yacob,

≈because of the shepherd who’s Yisra’el’s rock,

25 by the God of your father, and he will help you,

and with the provider,

and he will bless you with blessings from the heavens above

blessings of the deep that lies below,

and blessings of breasts and womb.

26 I’ve been blessed more than my ancestors were—

even with being gifted those ancient hills.

May those blessings now transfer to Yosef—

the one who was separated from all his brothers.

27 Benyamin is a ravenous wolf.

In the morning he devours his prey,

≈and in the evening he divides the plunder.

28 Those are Yisra’el’s twelve sons (that led to the twelve tribes) and that’s what their father said to them from his bed as he blessed each one of them—each one blessed appropriately.

29 Then Yacob instructed them, “I’m about to go and join my ancestors. Bury me with them in the cave in the field that was bought from Efron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in Makpelah’s field in front of Mamre in Canaan. That’s the cave that my grandfather Abraham bought with the field from Efron the Hittite as property for a burial place.[ref] 31 Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried there, along with their son Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and I also buried my wife Le’ah there.[ref] 32 That field and the cave in it was bought from the descendants of Het. 33 When Yacob finished giving those instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet up into the bed and lay and breathed his last and his spirit joined his ancestors.[ref]

50 Then Yosef hugged his father and cried over him and kissed him. 2 Then he commanded those of his servants who were physicians to embalm his father. So Yisra’el’s body was embalmed 3 over the next forty days (which is the normal time for embalming), and the Egyptians mourned for him for seventy days.

4 After those mourning days were over, Yosef spoke to Far’oh’s servants, saying, “Please, if I have found favour in your eyes, please tell Far’oh that 5 my father made me swear, saying, ‘Listen, I am dying. You must bury me in my grave that I dug for myself in Canaan.’ So now, please ask Far’oh to let me go up there and bury my father, then I’ll return.”[ref]

6 “Go up and bury your father just like he made you promise.” was the reply back from Far’oh.

7 So Yosef went up to Canaan to bury his father. Far’oh’s servants went with him, along with the elders from Far’oh’s household and all the elders of the land of Egypt. 8 Yosef’s own household also went, along with his brothers and his father’s household. They only left their children and their livestock behind in Goshen. 9 There were chariots as well as soldiers mounted on horses so it was a very large procession.

10 After they crossed the Yordan river, they arrived at Atad’s threshing floor, and they mourned there for seven days with very loud wailing. 11 The local Canaanite people saw the mourning at Atad’s threshing floor, and they said, “This is very serious mourning for the Egyptians.” That’s why they then named that place across the Yordan ‘Abel-Mizraim’ (which means ‘the Egyptians mourned here’).

12 So Yacob’s sons did everything just how he’d instructed them. 13 They carried his embalmed body to Canaan and buried him in the cave in Makpelah’s field. Abraham had bought with the field with the included cave from Efron the Hittite as property for a burial place, in front of Mamre.[ref]

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

14 Then after his father’s burial was completed, Yosef returned to Egypt along with his brothers and everyone who had gone up with him to bury him.

15 Now that their father was no longer alive, Yosef’s brothers said to each other, “What if Yosef hates us and now he decides to repay us for all the evil things that we did to him?” 16 So they sent a messenger to Yosef to tell him, “Before he died, your father ordered that 17 you be given this message: ‘I beg you, please forgive your brothers’ crime and their sin, because they did evil things to you.’ So now, please forgive the crime of the servants of your father’s God.” When Yosef heard their message, he started crying.

18 Then his brothers also came and bowed to the ground in front of him and pleaded, “Here we are. We belong to you as slaves.”

19 “Don’t be afraid,” Yosef answered. “I’m not God and it’s not my job to decide on your punishment. 20 You all plotted evil things against me, but God intended it for good in order to do what he’s doing this very day: to save many people. 21 So now, don’t be afraid. I’ll support you and your little ones.” So he reassured them and he spoke kindly to them.

22 Yosef continued to live in Egypt, along with the rest of his father Yacob’s family, until he was 110 years old. 23 He lived long enough to see his son Efrayim’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The children of his grandson Machir, who was Manasseh’s son, also grew up around him. 24 Then one day Yosef said to his brothers, “I’m about to die, but God will definitely help you all and take you and your descendants from this country to the land that he vowed to give to Abraham, Yitshak, and Yacob. 25 When God does that, you must take my body back to Canaan with you and bury it there.” Then Yosef had his brothers and the rest of the descendants of Yisra’el vow that they would do that.[ref] 26 Then Yosef died at the age of 110, and the specialists embalmed his body and it was put in a coffin in a tomb in Egypt.