GEN 1:1 In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
GEN 1:2 And the earth was formless and void,
and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and
the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the
waters.
GEN 1:3 Then God said, "Let there be light";
and there was light.
GEN 1:4 And God saw that the light was good;
and God separated the light from the darkness.
GEN 1:5 And God called the light day, and the
darkness He called night. And there was evening and
there was morning, one day.
GEN 1:6 Then God said, "Let there be an
expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it
separate the waters from the waters."
GEN 1:7 And God made the expanse, and
separated the waters which were below the expanse
from the waters which were above the expanse; and it
was so.
GEN 1:8 And God called the expanse heaven.
And there was evening and there was morning, a
second day.
GEN 1:9 Then God said, "Let the waters below
the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the
dry land appear"; and it was so.
GEN 1:10 And God called the dry land earth,
and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and
God saw that it was good.
GEN 1:11 Then God said, "Let the earth sprout
vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees
bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them,
on the earth"; and it was so.
GEN 1:12 And the earth brought forth
vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind,
and trees bearing fruit, with seed in them, after
their kind; and God saw that it was good.
GEN 1:13 And there was evening and there was
morning, a third day.
GEN 1:14 Then God said, "Let there be lights
in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day
from the night, and let them be for signs, and for
seasons, and for days and years;
GEN 1:15 and let them be for lights in the
expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth
";and it was so.
GEN 1:16 And God made the two great lights,
the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser
light to govern the night; He made the stars also.
GEN 1:17 And God placed them in the expanse
of the heavens to give light on the earth,
GEN 1:18 and to govern the day and the night,
and to separate the light from the darkness; and God
saw that it was good.
GEN 1:19 And there was evening and there was
morning, a fourth day.
GEN 1:20 Then God said, "Let the waters teem
with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly
above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens."
GEN 1:21 And God created the great sea
monsters, and every living creature that moves, with
which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every
winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was
good.
GEN 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be
fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the
seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."
GEN 1:23 And there was evening and there was
morning, a fifth day.
GEN 1:24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring
forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and
creeping things and beasts of the earth after their
kind"; and it was so.
GEN 1:25 And God made the beasts of the earth
after their kind, and the cattle after their kind,
and everything that creeps on the ground after its
kind; and God saw that it was good.
GEN 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in
Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them
rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of
the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth."
GEN 1:27 And God created man in His own
image, in the image of God He created him; male and
female He created them.
GEN 1:28 And God blessed them; and God said
to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the
earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the
sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every
living thing that moves on the earth."
GEN 1:29 Then God said, "Behold, I have given
you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface
of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit
yielding seed; it shall be food for you;
GEN 1:30 and to every beast of the earth and
to every bird of the sky and to every thing that
moves on the earth which has life, I have given
every green plant for food ";and it was so.
GEN 1:31 And God saw all that He had made,
and behold, it was very good. And there was evening
and there was morning, the sixth day.
Top of Page
GEN 2:1 Thus the
heavens and the earth were completed, and all their
hosts.
GEN 2:2 And by the seventh day God completed
His work which He had done; and He rested on the
seventh day from all His work which He had done.
GEN 2:3 Then God blessed the seventh day and
sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His
work which God had created and made.
GEN 2:4 This is the account of the heavens
and the earth when they were created, in the day
that the Lord God made earth and heaven.
GEN 2:5 Now no shrub of the field was yet in
the earth, and no plant of the field had yet
sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon
the earth; and there was no man to cultivate the
ground.
GEN 2:6 But a mist used to rise from the
earth and water the whole surface of the ground.
GEN 2:7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust
from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living being.
GEN 2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden
toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the
man whom He had formed.
GEN 2:9 And out of the ground the Lord God
caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the
sight and good for food; the tree of life also in
the midst of the garden, and the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil.
GEN 2:10 Now a river flowed out of Eden to
water the garden; and from there it divided and
became four rivers.
GEN 2:11 The name of the first is Pishon; it
flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there
is gold.
GEN 2:12 And the gold of that land is good;
the bdellium and the onyx stone are there.
GEN 2:13 And the name of the second river is
Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush.
GEN 2:14 And the name of the third river is
Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth
river is the Euphrates.
GEN 2:15 Then the Lord God took the man and
put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and
keep it.
GEN 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man,
saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat
freely;
GEN 2:17 but from the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day
that you eat from it you shall surely die."
GEN 2:18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not
good for the man to be alone; I will make him a
helper suitable for him."
GEN 2:19 And out of the ground the Lord God
formed every beast of the field and every bird of
the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he
would call them; and whatever the man called a
living creature, that was its name.
GEN 2:20 And the man gave names to all the
cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every
beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found
a helper suitable for him.
GEN 2:21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep
to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one
of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place.
GEN 2:22 And the Lord God fashioned into a
woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and
brought her to the man.
GEN 2:23 And the man said, "This is now bone
of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be
called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."
GEN 2:24 For this cause a man shall leave his
father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife;
and they shall become one flesh.
GEN 2:25 And the man and his wife were both
naked and were not ashamed.
Top of Page
GEN 3:1 Now the
serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field
which the Lord God had made. And he said to the
woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat
from any tree of the garden'?"
GEN 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent,
"From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may
eat;
GEN 3:3 but from the fruit of the tree which
is in the middle of the garden, God has said,' You
shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.' "
GEN 3:4 And the serpent said to the woman,
"You surely shall not die!
GEN 3:5 "For God knows that in the day you
eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will
be like God, knowing good and evil."
GEN 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was a delight to the
eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make {one}
wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave
also to her husband with her, and he ate.
GEN 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were
opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they
sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin
coverings.
GEN 3:8 And they heard the sound of the Lord
God walking in the garden in the cool of the day,
and the man and his wife hid themselves from the
presence of the Lord God among the trees of the
garden.
GEN 3:9 Then the Lord God called to the man,
and said to him, "Where are you?"
GEN 3:10 And he said, "I heard the sound of
Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was
naked; so I hid myself."
GEN 3:11 And He said, "Who told you that you
were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I
commanded you not to eat?"
GEN 3:12 And the man said, "The woman whom
Thou gavest {to be} with me, she gave me from the
tree, and I ate."
GEN 3:13 Then the Lord God said to the woman,
"What is this you have done?" And the woman said,
"The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
GEN 3:14 And the Lord God said to the
serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you
more than all cattle, And more than every beast of
the field; On your belly shall you go, And dust
shall you eat All the days of your life;
GEN 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you
and the woman, And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall
bruise him on the heel."
GEN 3:16 To the woman He said, "I will
greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain
you shall bring forth children; Yet your desire
shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over
you."
GEN 3:17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you
have listened to the voice of your wife, and have
eaten from the tree about which I commanded you,
saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the
ground because of you; In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
GEN 3:18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall
grow for you; And you shall eat the plants of the
field;
GEN 3:19 By the sweat of your face You shall
eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because
from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to
dust you shall return."
GEN 3:20 Now the man called his wife's name
Eve, because she was the mother of all {the} living.
GEN 3:21 And the Lord God made garments of
skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
GEN 3:22 Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the
man has become like one of Us, knowing good and
evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and
take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live
forever" - -
GEN 3:23 therefore the Lord God sent him out
from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground
from which he was taken.
GEN 3:24 So He drove the man out; and at the
east of the garden of Eden He stationed the
cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every
direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Top of Page
GEN 4:1 Now the
man had relations with his wife Eve, and she
conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I
have gotten a manchild with {the help of} the Lord."
GEN 4:2 And again, she gave birth to his
brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but
Cain was a tiller of the ground.
GEN 4:3 So it came about in the course of
time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of
the fruit of the ground.
GEN 4:4 And Abel, on his part also brought of
the firstlings of his flock and of their fat
portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for
his offering;
GEN 4:5 but for Cain and for his offering He
had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his
countenance fell.
GEN 4:6 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are
you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
GEN 4:7 "If you do well, will not {your
countenance} be lifted up? And if you do not do
well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire
is for you, but you must master it."
GEN 4:8 And Cain told Abel his brother. And
it came about when they were in the field, that Cain
rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
GEN 4:9 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is
Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am
I my brother's keeper?"
GEN 4:10 And He said, "What have you done?
The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me
from the ground.
GEN 4:11 "And now you are cursed from the
ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your
brother's blood from your hand.
GEN 4:12 "When you cultivate the ground, it
shall no longer yield its strength to you; you shall
be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth."
GEN 4:13 And Cain said to the Lord, "My
punishment is too great to bear!
GEN 4:14 "Behold, Thou hast driven me this
day from the face of the ground; and from Thy face I
shall be hidden, and I shall be a vagrant and a
wanderer on the earth, and it will come about that
whoever finds me will kill me."
GEN 4:15 So the Lord said to him, "Therefore
whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him
sevenfold." And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain,
lest anyone finding him should slay him.
GEN 4:16 Then Cain went out from the presence
of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of
Eden.
GEN 4:17 And Cain had relations with his wife
and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he
built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch,
after the name of his son.
GEN 4:18 Now to Enoch was born Irad; and Irad
became the father of Mehujael; and Mehujael became
the father of Methushael; and Methushael became the
father of Lamech.
GEN 4:19 And Lamech took to himself two
wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of
the other, Zillah.
GEN 4:20 And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was
the father of those who dwell in tents and {have}
livestock.
GEN 4:21 And his brother's name was Jubal; he
was the father of all those who play the lyre and
pipe.
GEN 4:22 As for Zillah, she also gave birth
to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of
bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was
Naamah.
GEN 4:23 And Lamech said to his wives, "Adah
and Zillah, Listen to my voice, You wives of Lamech,
Give heed to my speech, For I have killed a man for
wounding me; And a boy for striking me;
GEN 4:24 If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then
Lamech seventy-sevenfold."
GEN 4:25 And Adam had relations with his wife
again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him
Seth, for, {she said,} "God has appointed me another
offspring in place of Abel; for Cain killed him."
GEN 4:26 And to Seth, to him also a son was
born; and he called his name Enosh. Then {men} began
to call upon the name of the Lord.
Top of Page
GEN 5:1 This is
the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when
God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.
GEN 5:2 He created them male and female, and
He blessed them and named them Man in the day when
they were created.
GEN 5:3 When Adam had lived one hundred and
thirty years, he became the father of {a son} in his
own likeness, according to his image, and named him
Seth.
GEN 5:4 Then the days of Adam after he became
the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he
had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 5:5 So all the days that Adam lived were
nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.
GEN 5:6 And Seth lived one hundred and five
years, and became the father of Enosh.
GEN 5:7 Then Seth lived eight hundred and
seven years after he became the father of Enosh, and
he had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 5:8 So all the days of Seth were nine
hundred and twelve years, and he died.
GEN 5:9 And Enosh lived ninety years, and
became the father of Kenan.
GEN 5:10 Then Enosh lived eight hundred and
fifteen years after he became the father of Kenan,
and he had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 5:11 So all the days of Enosh were nine
hundred and five years, and he died.
GEN 5:12 And Kenan lived seventy years, and
became the father of Mahalalel.
GEN 5:13 Then Kenan lived eight hundred and
forty years after he became the father of Mahalalel,
and he had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 5:14 So all the days of Kenan were nine
hundred and ten years, and he died.
GEN 5:15 And Mahalalel lived sixty-five
years, and became the father of Jared.
GEN 5:16 Then Mahalalel lived eight hundred
and thirty years after he became the father of
Jared, and he had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 5:17 So all the days of Mahalalel were
eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.
GEN 5:18 And Jared lived one hundred and
sixty-two years, and became the father of Enoch.
GEN 5:19 Then Jared lived eight hundred years
after he became the father of Enoch, and he had
{other} sons and daughters.
GEN 5:20 So all the days of Jared were nine
hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.
GEN 5:21 And Enoch lived sixty-five years,
and became the father of Methuselah.
GEN 5:22 Then Enoch walked with God three
hundred years after he became the father of
Methuselah, and he had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 5:23 So all the days of Enoch were three
hundred and sixty-five years.
GEN 5:24 And Enoch walked with God; and he
was not, for God took him.
GEN 5:25 And Methuselah lived one hundred and
eighty-seven years, and became the father of Lamech.
GEN 5:26 Then Methuselah lived seven hundred
and eighty-two years after he became the father of
Lamech, and he had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 5:27 So all the days of Methuselah were
nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.
GEN 5:28 And Lamech lived one hundred and
eighty-two years, and became the father of a son.
GEN 5:29 Now he called his name Noah, saying,
"This one shall give us rest from our work and from
the toil of our hands {arising} from the ground
which the Lord as cursed."
GEN 5:30 Then Lamech lived five hundred and
ninety-five years after he became the father of
Noah, and he had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 5:31 So all the days of Lamech were seven
hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.
GEN 5:32 And Noah was five hundred years old,
and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and
Japheth.
Top of Page
GEN 6:1 Now it
came about, when men began to multiply on the face
of the land, and daughters were born to them,
GEN 6:2 that the sons of God saw that the
daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives
for themselves, whomever they chose.
GEN 6:3 Then the Lord said, "My Spirit shall
not strive with man forever, because he also is
flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred
and twenty years."
GEN 6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in
those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God
came in to the daughters of men, and they bore
{children} to them. Those were the mighty men who
{were} of old, men of renown.
GEN 6:5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness
of man was great on the earth, and that every intent
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually.
GEN 6:6 And the Lord was sorry that He had
made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His
heart.
GEN 6:7 And the Lord said, "I will blot out
man whom I have created from the face of the land,
from man to animals to creeping things and to birds
of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them."
GEN 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of
the Lord.
GEN 6:9 These are {the records of} the
generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man,
blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.
GEN 6:10 And Noah became the father of three
sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
GEN 6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in the
sight of God, and the earth was filled with
violence.
GEN 6:12 And God looked on the earth, and
behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted
their way upon the earth.
GEN 6:13 Then God said to Noah, "The end of
all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is
filled with violence because of them; and behold, I
am about to destroy them with the earth.
GEN 6:14 "Make for yourself an ark of gopher
wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall
cover it inside and out with pitch.
GEN 6:15 "And this is how you shall make it:
the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its
breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
GEN 6:16 "You shall make a window for the
ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set
the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall
make it with lower, second, and third decks.
GEN 6:17 "And behold, I, even I am bringing
the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all
flesh in which is the breath of life, from under
heaven; everything that is on the earth shall
perish.
GEN 6:18 "But I will establish My covenant
with you; and you shall enter the ark - - you and
your sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with
you.
GEN 6:19 "And of every living thing of all
flesh, you shall bring two of every {kind} into the
ark, to keep {them} alive with you; they shall be
male and female.
GEN 6:20 "Of the birds after their kind, and
of the animals after their kind, of every creeping
thing of the ground after its kind, two of every
{kind} shall come to you to keep {them} alive.
GEN 6:21 "And as for you, take for yourself
some of all food which is edible, and gather {it} to
yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for
them."
GEN 6:22 Thus Noah did; according to all that
God had commanded him, so he did.
Top of Page
GEN 7:1 Then the
Lord said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your
household; for you {alone} I have seen {to be}
righteous before Me in this time.
GEN 7:2 "You shall take with you of every
clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and
of the animals that are not clean two, a male and
his female;
GEN 7:3 also of the birds of the sky, by
sevens, male and female, to keep offspring alive on
the face of all the earth.
GEN 7:4 "For after seven more days, I will
send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights;
and I will blot out from the face of the land every
living thing that I have made."
GEN 7:5 And Noah did according to all that
the Lord had commanded him.
GEN 7:6 Now Noah was six hundred years old
when the flood of water came upon the earth.
GEN 7:7 Then Noah and his sons and his wife
and his sons' wives with him entered the ark because
of the water of the flood.
GEN 7:8 Of clean animals and animals that are
not clean and birds and everything that creeps on
the ground,
GEN 7:9 there went into the ark to Noah by
twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.
GEN 7:10 And it came about after the seven
days, that the water of the flood came upon the
earth.
GEN 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's
life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of
the month, on the same day all the fountains of the
great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky
were opened.
GEN 7:12 And the rain fell upon the earth for
forty days and forty nights.
GEN 7:13 On the very same day Noah and Shem
and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's
wife and the three wives of his sons with them,
entered the ark,
GEN 7:14 they and every beast after its kind,
and all the cattle after their kind, and every
creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its
kind, and every bird after its kind, all sorts of
birds.
GEN 7:15 So they went into the ark to Noah,
by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of
life.
GEN 7:16 And those that entered, male and
female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded
him; and the Lord closed {it} behind him.
GEN 7:17 Then the flood came upon the earth
for forty days; and the water increased and lifted
up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.
GEN 7:18 And the water prevailed and
increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark
floated on the surface of the water.
GEN 7:19 And the water prevailed more and
more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains
everywhere under the heavens were covered.
GEN 7:20 The water prevailed fifteen cubits
higher, and the mountains were covered.
GEN 7:21 And all flesh that moved on the
earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and
every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and
all mankind;
GEN 7:22 of all that was on the dry land, all
in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of
life, died.
GEN 7:23 Thus He blotted out every living
thing that was upon the face of the land, from man
to animals to creeping things and to birds of the
sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and
only Noah was left, together with those that were
with him in the ark.
GEN 7:24 And the water prevailed upon the
earth one hundred and fifty days.
Top of Page
GEN 8:1 But God
remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the
cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused
a wind to pass over the earth, and the water
subsided.
GEN 8:2 Also the fountains of the deep and
the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain
from the sky was restrained;
GEN 8:3 and the water receded steadily from
the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty
days the water decreased.
GEN 8:4 And in the seventh month, on the
seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon
the mountains of Ararat.
GEN 8:5 And the water decreased steadily
until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the
first day of the month, the tops of the mountains
became visible.
GEN 8:6 Then it came about at the end of
forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark
which he had made;
GEN 8:7 and he sent out a raven, and it flew
here and there until the water was dried up from the
earth.
GEN 8:8 Then he sent out a dove from him, to
see if the water was abated from the face of the
land;
GEN 8:9 but the dove found no resting place
for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him
into the ark; for the water was on the surface of
all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took
her, and brought her into the ark to himself.
GEN 8:10 So he waited yet another seven days;
and again he sent out the dove from the ark.
GEN 8:11 And the dove came to him toward
evening; and behold, in her beak was a freshly
picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was
abated from the earth.
GEN 8:12 Then he waited yet another seven
days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return
to him again.
GEN 8:13 Now it came about in the six hundred
and first year, in the first {month,} on the first
of the month, the water was dried up from the earth.
Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and
looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was
dried up.
GEN 8:14 And in the second month, on the
twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
GEN 8:15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying,
GEN 8:16 "Go out of the ark, you and your
wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you.
GEN 8:17 "Bring out with you every living
thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and
animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth,
and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."
GEN 8:18 So Noah went out, and his sons and
his wife and his sons' wives with him.
GEN 8:19 Every beast, every creeping thing,
and every bird, everything that moves on the earth,
went out by their families from the ark.
GEN 8:20 Then Noah built an altar to the
Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every
clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
GEN 8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing
aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, "I will never
again curse the ground on account of man, for the
intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I
will never again destroy every living thing, as I
have done.
GEN 8:22 "While the earth remains, Seedtime
and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and
winter, And day and night Shall not cease."
Top of Page
GEN 9:1 And God
blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be
fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
GEN 9:2 "And the fear of you and the terror
of you shall be on every beast of the earth and on
every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps
on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into
your hand they are given.
GEN 9:3 "Every moving thing that is alive
shall be food for you; I give all to you, as {I
gave} the green plant.
GEN 9:4 "Only you shall not eat flesh with
its life, {that is,} its blood.
GEN 9:5 "And surely I will require your
lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And
from {every} man, from every man's brother I will
require the life of man.
GEN 9:6 "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man
his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He
made man.
GEN 9:7 "And as for you, be fruitful and
multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply
in it."
GEN 9:8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his
sons with him, saying,
GEN 9:9 "Now behold, I Myself do establish My
covenant with you, and with your descendants after
you;
GEN 9:10 and with every living creature that
is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast
of the e
arth with you; of all that comes out of the ark,
even every beast of the earth.
GEN 9:11 "And I establish My covenant with
you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by
the water of the flood, neither shall there again be
a flood to destroy the earth."
GEN 9:12 And God said, "This is the sign of
the covenant which I am making between Me and you
and every living creature that is with you, for all
successive generations;
GEN 9:13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it
shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the
earth.
GEN 9:14 "And it shall come about, when I
bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be
seen in the cloud,
GEN 9:15 and I will remember My covenant,
which is between Me and you and every living
creature of all flesh; and never again shall the
water become a flood to destroy all flesh.
GEN 9:16 "When the bow is in the cloud, then
I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting
covenant between God and every living creature of
all flesh that is on the earth."
GEN 9:17 And God said to Noah, "This is the
sign of the covenant which I have established
between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."
GEN 9:18 Now the sons of Noah who came out of
the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham was
the father of Canaan.
GEN 9:19 These three {were} the sons of Noah;
and from these the whole earth was populated.
GEN 9:20 Then Noah began farming and planted
a vineyard.
GEN 9:21 And he drank of the wine and became
drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.
GEN 9:22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw
the nakedness of his father, and told his two
brothers outside.
GEN 9:23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment
and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked
backward and covered the nakedness of their father;
and their faces were turned away, so that they did
not see their father's nakedness.
GEN 9:24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he
knew what his youngest son had done to him.
GEN 9:25 So he said, "Cursed be Canaan; A
servant of servants He shall be to his brothers."
GEN 9:26 He also said, "Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.
GEN 9:27 "May God enlarge Japheth, And let
him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be
his servant."
GEN 9:28 And Noah lived three hundred and
fifty years after the flood.
GEN 9:29 So all the days of Noah were nine
hundred and fifty years, and he died.
Top of Page
GEN 10:1 Now
these are {the records of} the generations of Shem,
Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were
born to them after the flood.
GEN 10:2 The sons of Japheth {were} Gomer and
Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and
Tiras.
GEN 10:3 And the sons of Gomer {were}
Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah.
GEN 10:4 And the sons of Javan {were} Elishah
and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim.
GEN 10:5 From these the coastlands of the
nations were separated into their lands, every one
according to his language, according to their
families, into their nations.
GEN 10:6 And the sons of Ham {were} Cush and
Mizraim and Put and Canaan.
GEN 10:7 And the sons of Cush {were} Seba and
Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the
sons of Raamah {were} Sheba and Dedan.
GEN 10:8 Now Cush became the father of
Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth.
GEN 10:9 He was a mighty hunter before the
Lord; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty
hunter before the Lord."
GEN 10:10 And the beginning of his kingdom
was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the
land of Shinar.
GEN 10:11 From that land he went forth into
Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah,
GEN 10:12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah;
that is the great city.
GEN 10:13 And Mizraim became the father of
Ludim and Anamim and Lehabim and Naphtuhim
GEN 10:14 and Pathrusim and Casluhim (from
which came the Philistines) and Caphtorim.
GEN 10:15 And Canaan became the father of
Sidon, his first-born, and Heth
GEN 10:16 and the Jebusite and the Amorite
and the Girgashite
GEN 10:17 and the Hivite and the Arkite and
the Sinite
GEN 10:18 and the Arvadite and the Zemarite
and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the
Canaanite were spread abroad.
GEN 10:19 And the territory of the Canaanite
extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far
as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and
Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
GEN 10:20 These are the sons of Ham,
according to their families, according to their
languages, by their lands, by their nations.
GEN 10:21 And also to Shem, the father of all
the children of Eber, {and} the older brother of
Japheth, children were born.
GEN 10:22 The sons of Shem {were} Elam and
Asshur and Arpachshad and Lud and Aram.
GEN 10:23 And the sons of Aram {were} Uz and
Hul and Gether and Mash.
GEN 10:24 And Arpachshad became the father of
Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber.
GEN 10:25 And two sons were born to Eber; the
name of the one {was} Peleg, for in his days the
earth was divided; and his brother's name {was}
Joktan.
GEN 10:26 And Joktan became the father of
Almodad and Sheleph and Hazarmaveth and Jerah
GEN 10:27 and Hadoram and Uzal and Diklah
GEN 10:28 and Obal and Abimael and Sheba
GEN 10:29 and Ophir and Havilah and Jobab;
all these were the sons of Joktan.
GEN 10:30 Now their settlement extended from
Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the hill country of
the east.
GEN 10:31 These are the sons of Shem,
according to their families, according to their
languages, by their lands, according to their
nations.
GEN 10:32 These are the families of the sons
of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their
nations; and out of these the nations were separated
on the earth after the flood.
Top of Page
GEN 11:1 Now the
whole earth used the same language and the same
words.
GEN 11:2 And it came about as they journeyed
east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar
and settled there.
GEN 11:3 And they said to one another, "Come,
let us make bricks and burn {them} thoroughly." And
they used brick for stone, and they used tar for
mortar.
GEN 11:4 And they said, "Come, let us build
for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top {will
reach} into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a
name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of
the whole earth."
GEN 11:5 And the Lord came down to see the
city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
GEN 11:6 And the Lord said, "Behold, they are
one people, and they all have the same language. And
this is what they began to do, and now nothing which
they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
GEN 11:7 "Come, let Us go down and there
confuse their language, that they may not understand
one another's speech."
GEN 11:8 So the Lord scattered them abroad
from there over the face of the whole earth; and
they stopped building the city.
GEN 11:9 Therefore its name was called Babel,
because there the Lord confused the language of the
whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them
abroad over the face of the whole earth.
GEN 11:10 These are {the records of} the
generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old,
and became the father of Arpachshad two years after
the flood;
GEN 11:11 and Shem lived five hundred years
after he became the father of Arpachshad, and he had
{other} sons and daughters.
GEN 11:12 And Arpachshad lived thirty-five
years, and became the father of Shelah;
GEN 11:13 and Arpachshad lived four hundred
and three years after he became the father of Shelah,
and he had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 11:14 And Shelah lived thirty years, and
became the father of Eber;
GEN 11:15 and Shelah lived four hundred and
three years after he became the father of Eber, and
he had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 11:16 And Eber lived thirty-four years,
and became the father of Peleg;
GEN 11:17 and Eber lived four hundred and
thirty years after he became the father of Peleg,
and he had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 11:18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and
became the father of Reu;
GEN 11:19 and Peleg lived two hundred and
nine years after he became the father of Reu, and he
had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 11:20 And Reu lived thirty-two years, and
became the father of Serug;
GEN 11:21 and Reu lived two hundred and seven
years after he became the father of Serug, and he
had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 11:22 And Serug lived thirty years, and
became the father of Nahor;
GEN 11:23 and Serug lived two hundred years
after he became the father of Nahor, and he had
{other} sons and daughters.
GEN 11:24 And Nahor lived twenty-nine years,
and became the father of Terah;
GEN 11:25 and Nahor lived one hundred and
nineteen years after he became the father of Terah,
and he had {other} sons and daughters.
GEN 11:26 And Terah lived seventy years, and
became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
GEN 11:27 Now these are {the records of} the
generations of Terah. Terah became the father of
Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father
of Lot.
GEN 11:28 And Haran died in the presence of
his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of
the Chaldeans.
GEN 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for
themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and
the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of
Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.
GEN 11:30 And Sarai was barren; she had no
child.
GEN 11:31 And Terah took Abram his son, and
Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his
daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went
out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to
enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as
Haran, and settled there.
GEN 11:32 And the days of Terah were two
hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.
Top of Page
GEN 12:1 Now the
Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And
from your relatives And from your father's house, To
the land which I will show you;
GEN 12:2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you, And make your name great; And
so you shall be a blessing;
GEN 12:3 And I will bless those who bless
you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in
you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
GEN 12:4 So Abram went forth as the Lord had
spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was
seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
GEN 12:5 And Abram took Sarai his wife and
Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they
had accumulated, and the persons which they had
acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of
Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.
GEN 12:6 And Abram passed through the land as
far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now
the Canaanite {was} then in the land.
GEN 12:7 And the Lord appeared to Abram and
said, "To your descendants I will give this land."
So he built an altar there to the Lord who had
appeared to him.
GEN 12:8 Then he proceeded from there to the
mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his
tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east;
and there he built an altar to the Lord and called
upon the name of the Lord.
GEN 12:9 And Abram journeyed on, continuing
toward the Negev.
GEN 12:10 Now there was a famine in the land;
so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for
the famine was severe in the land.
GEN 12:11 And it came about when he came near
to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now,
I know that you are a beautiful woman;
GEN 12:12 and it will come about when the
Egyptians see you, that they will say,' This is his
wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you
live.
GEN 12:13 "Please say that you are my sister
so that it may go well with me because of you, and
that I may live on account of you."
GEN 12:14 And it came about when Abram came
into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was
very beautiful.
GEN 12:15 And Pharaoh's officials saw her and
praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into
Pharaoh's house.
GEN 12:16 Therefore he treated Abram well for
her sake; and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys
and male and female servants and female donkeys and
camels.
GEN 12:17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his
house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's
wife.
GEN 12:18 Then Pharaoh called Abram and said,
"What is this you have done to me? Why did you not
tell me that she was your wife?
GEN 12:19 "Why did you say, 'She is my
sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then,
here is your wife, take her and go."
GEN 12:20 And Pharaoh commanded {his} men
concerning him; and they escorted him away, with his
wife and all that belonged to him.
Top of Page
GEN 13:1 So Abram
went up from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and
all that belonged to him; and Lot with him.
GEN 13:2 Now Abram was very rich in
livestock, in silver and in gold.
GEN 13:3 And he went on his journeys from the
Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent
had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
GEN 13:4 to the place of the altar, which he
had made there formerly; and there Abram called on
the name of the Lord.
GEN 13:5 Now Lot, who went with Abram, also
had flocks and herds and tents.
GEN 13:6 And the land could not sustain them
while dwelling together; for their possessions were
so great that they were not able to remain together.
GEN 13:7 And there was strife between the
herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of
Lot's livestock. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite
were dwelling then in the land.
GEN 13:8 Then Abram said to Lot, "Please let
there be no strife between you and me, nor between
my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers.
GEN 13:9 "Is not the whole land before you?
Please separate from me: if {to} the left, then I
will go to the right; or if {to} the right, then I
will go to the left."
GEN 13:10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw
all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well
watered everywhere - - {this was} before the Lord
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah - - like the garden of
the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar.
GEN 13:11 So Lot chose for himself all the
valley of the Jordan; and Lot journeyed eastward.
Thus they separated from each other.
GEN 13:12 Abram settled in the land of
Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the
valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom.
GEN 13:13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked
exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.
GEN 13:14 And the Lord said to Abram, after
Lot had separated from him, "Now lift up your eyes
and look from the place where you are, northward and
southward and eastward and westward;
GEN 13:15 for all the land which you see, I
will give it to you and to your descendants forever.
GEN 13:16 "And I will make your descendants
as the dust of the earth; so that if anyone can
number the dust of the earth, then your descendants
can also be numbered.
GEN 13:17 "Arise, walk about the land through
its length and breadth; for I will give it to you."
GEN 13:18 Then Abram moved his tent and came
and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron,
and there he built an altar to the Lord.
Top of Page
GEN 14:1 And it
came about in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar,
Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam,
and Tidal king of Goiim,
GEN 14:2 {that} they made war with Bera king
of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab
king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the
king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
GEN 14:3 All these came as allies to the
valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
GEN 14:4 Twelve years they had served
Chedorlaomer, but the thirteenth year they rebelled.
GEN 14:5 And in the fourteenth year
Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, came
and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim and
the Zuzim in Ham and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,
GEN 14:6 and the Horites in their Mount Seir,
as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness.
GEN 14:7 Then they turned back and came to
En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and conquered all the
country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites,
who lived in Hazazon-tamar.
GEN 14:8 And the king of Sodom and the king
of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of
Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came
out; and they arrayed for battle against them in the
valley of Siddim,
GEN 14:9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam
and Tidal king of Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar
and Arioch king of Ellasar - - four kings against
five.
GEN 14:10 Now the valley of Siddim was full
of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah
fled, and they fell into them. But those who
survived fled to the hill country.
GEN 14:11 Then they took all the goods of
Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and
departed.
GEN 14:12 And they also took Lot, Abram's
nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was
living in Sodom.
GEN 14:13 Then a fugitive came and told Abram
the Hebrew. Now he was living by the oaks of Mamre
the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner,
and these were allies with Abram.
GEN 14:14 And when Abram heard that his
relative had been taken captive, he led out his
trained men, born in his house, three hundred and
eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
GEN 14:15 And he divided his forces against
them by night, he and his servants, and defeated
them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is
north of Damascus.
GEN 14:16 And he brought back all the goods,
and also brought back his relative Lot with his
possessions, and also the women, and the people.
GEN 14:17 Then after his return from the
defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with
him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the
valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).
GEN 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem
brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of
God Most High.
GEN 14:19 And he blessed him and said,
"Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of
heaven and earth;
GEN 14:20 And blessed be God Most High, Who
has delivered your enemies into your hand."And he
gave him a tenth of all.
GEN 14:21 And the king of Sodom said to
Abram, "Give the people to me and take the goods for
yourself."
GEN 14:22 And Abram said to the king of
Sodom, "I have sworn to the Lord God Most High,
possessor of heaven and earth,
GEN 14:23 that I will not take a thread or a
sandal thong or anything that is yours, lest you
should say,' I have made Abram rich.'
GEN 14:24 "I will take nothing except what
the young men have eaten, and the share of the men
who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them
take their share."
Top of Page
GEN 15:1 After
these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a
vision, saying, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield
to you; Your reward shall be very great."
GEN 15:2 And Abram said, "O Lord God, what
wilt Thou give me, since I am childless, and the
heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"
GEN 15:3 And Abram said, "Since Thou hast
given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my
heir."
GEN 15:4 Then behold, the word of the Lord
came to him, saying, "This man will not be your
heir; but one who shall come forth from your own
body, he shall be your heir."
GEN 15:5 And He took him outside and said,
"Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars,
if you are able to count them." And He said to him,
"So shall your descendants be."
GEN 15:6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He
reckoned it to him as righteousness.
GEN 15:7 And He said to him, "I am the Lord
who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give
you this land to possess it."
GEN 15:8 And he said, "O Lord God, how may I
know that I shall possess it?"
GEN 15:9 So He said to him, "Bring Me a three
year old heifer, and a three year old female goat,
and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a
young pigeon."
GEN 15:10 Then he brought all these to Him
and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the
other; but he did not cut the birds.
GEN 15:11 And the birds of prey came down
upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
GEN 15:12 Now when the sun was going down, a
deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror {and}
great darkness fell upon him.
GEN 15:13 And {God} said to Abram, "Know for
certain that your descendants will be strangers in a
land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved
and oppressed four hundred years.
GEN 15:14 "But I will also judge the nation
whom they will serve; and afterward they will come
out with many possessions.
GEN 15:15 "And as for you, you shall go to
your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good
old age.
GEN 15:16 "Then in the fourth generation they
shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite
is not yet complete."
GEN 15:17 And it came about when the sun had
set, that it was very dark, and behold, {there
appeared} a smoking oven and a flaming torch which
passed between these pieces.
GEN 15:18 On that day the Lord made a
covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I
have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far
as the great river, the river Euphrates:
GEN 15:19 the Kenite and the Kenizzite and
the Kadmonite
GEN 15:20 and the Hittite and the Perizzite
and the Rephaim
GEN 15:21 and the Amorite and the Canaanite
and the Girgashite and the Jebusite."
Top of Page
GEN 16:1 Now
Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no {children,} and
she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.
GEN 16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, "Now behold,
the Lord has prevented me from bearing {children.}
Please go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain
children through her." And Abram listened to the
voice of Sarai.
GEN 16:3 And after Abram had lived ten years
in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar
the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband
Abram as his wife.
GEN 16:4 And he went in to Hagar, and she
conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived,
her mistress was despised in her sight.
GEN 16:5 And Sarai said to Abram, "May the
wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your
arms; but when she saw that she had conceived, I was
despised in her sight. May the Lord judge between
you and me."
GEN 16:6 But Abram said to Sarai, "Behold,
your maid is in your power; do to her what is good
in your sight." So Sarai treated her harshly, and
she fled from her presence.
GEN 16:7 Now the angel of the Lord found her
by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the
spring on the way to Shur.
GEN 16:8 And he said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid,
where have you come from and where are you going?"
And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my
mistress Sarai."
GEN 16:9 Then the angel of the Lord said to
her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself
to her authority."
GEN 16:10 Moreover, the angel of the Lord
said to her, "I will greatly multiply your
descendants so that they shall be too many to
count."
GEN 16:11 The angel of the Lord said to her
further, "Behold, you are with child, And you shall
bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael,
Because the Lord has given heed to your affliction.
GEN 16:12 "And he will be a wild donkey of a
man, His hand {will be} against everyone, And
everyone's hand {will be} against him; And he will
live to the east of all his brothers."
GEN 16:13 Then she called the name of the
Lord who spoke to her, "Thou art a God who sees";
for she said, "Have I even remained alive here after
seeing Him?"
GEN 16:14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi;
behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
GEN 16:15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and
Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore,
Ishmael.
GEN 16:16 And Abram was eighty-six years old
when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.
Top of Page
GEN 17:1 Now when
Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared
to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk
before Me, and be blameless.
GEN 17:2 "And I will establish My covenant
between Me and you, And I will multiply you
exceedingly."
GEN 17:3 And Abram fell on his face, and God
talked with him, saying,
GEN 17:4 "As for Me, behold, My covenant is
with you, And you shall be the father of a multitude
of nations.
GEN 17:5 "No longer shall your name be called
Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I will
make you the father of a multitude of nations.
GEN 17:6 "And I will make you exceedingly
fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings
shall come forth from you.
GEN 17:7 "And I will establish My covenant
between Me and you and your descendants after you
throughout their generations for an everlasting
covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants
after you.
GEN 17:8 "And I will give to you and to your
descendants after you, the land of your sojournings,
all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting
possession; and I will be their God."
GEN 17:9 God said further to Abraham, "Now as
for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your
descendants after you throughout their generations.
GEN 17:10 "This is My covenant, which you
shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants
after you: every male among you shall be
circumcised.
GEN 17:11 "And you shall be circumcised in
the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be the sign
of the covenant between Me and you.
GEN 17:12 "And every male among you who is
eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your
generations, a {servant} who is born in the house or
who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is
not of your descendants.
GEN 17:13 "A {servant} who is born in your
house or who is bought with your money shall surely
be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your
flesh for an everlasting covenant.
GEN 17:14 "But an uncircumcised male who is
not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that
person shall be cut off from his people; he has
broken My covenant."
GEN 17:15 Then God said to Abraham, "As for
Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai,
but Sarah {shall be} her name.
GEN 17:16 "And I will bless her, and indeed I
will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her,
and she shall be {a mother of} nations; kings of
peoples shall come from her."
GEN 17:17 Then Abraham fell on his face and
laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be
born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah,
who is ninety years old, bear {a child?}"
GEN 17:18 And Abraham said to God, "Oh that
Ishmael might live before Thee!"
GEN 17:19 But God said, "No, but Sarah your
wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his
name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with
him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants
after him.
GEN 17:20 "And as for Ishmael, I have heard
you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him
fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He
shall become the father of twelve princes, and I
will make him a great nation.
GEN 17:21 "But My covenant I will establish
with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this
season next year."
GEN 17:22 And when He finished talking with
him, God went up from Abraham.
GEN 17:23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son,
and all {the servants} who were born in his house
and all who were bought with his money, every male
among the men of Abraham's household, and
circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very
same day, as God had said to him.
GEN 17:24 Now Abraham was ninety-nine years
old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his
foreskin.
GEN 17:25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen
years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of
his foreskin.
GEN 17:26 In the very same day Abraham was
circumcised, and Ishmael his son.
GEN 17:27 And all the men of his household,
who were born in the house or bought with money from
a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Top of Page
GEN 18:1 Now the
Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, while he
was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day.
GEN 18:2 And when he lifted up his eyes and
looked, behold, three men were standing opposite
him; and when he saw {them,} he ran from the tent
door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth,
GEN 18:3 and said, "My lord, if now I have
found favor in your sight, please do not pass your
servant by.
GEN 18:4 "Please let a little water be
brought and wash your feet, and rest yourselves
under the tree;
GEN 18:5 and I will bring a piece of bread,
that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may
go on, since you have visited your servant."And they
said," So do, as you have said."
GEN 18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to
Sarah, and said, "Quickly, prepare three measures of
fine flour, knead {it,} and make bread cakes."
GEN 18:7 Abraham also ran to the herd, and
took a tender and choice calf, and gave {it} to the
servant; and he hurried to prepare it.
GEN 18:8 And he took curds and milk and the
calf which he had prepared, and placed {it} before
them; and he was standing by them under the tree as
they ate.
GEN 18:9 Then they said to him, "Where is
Sarah your wife?" And he said, "Behold, in the
tent."
GEN 18:10 And he said, "I will surely return
to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah
your wife shall have a son." And Sarah was listening
at the tent door, which was behind him.
GEN 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old,
advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.
GEN 18:12 And Sarah laughed to herself,
saying, "After I have become old, shall I have
pleasure, my lord being old also?"
GEN 18:13 And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why
did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I indeed bear {a
child,} when I am {so} old?'
GEN 18:14 "Is anything too difficult for the
Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at
this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son."
GEN 18:15 Sarah denied {it} however, saying,
"I did not laugh"; for she was afraid. And He said,
"No, but you did laugh."
GEN 18:16 Then the men rose up from there,
and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was
walking with them to send them off.
GEN 18:17 And the Lord said, "Shall I hide
from Abraham what I am about to do,
GEN 18:18 since Abraham will surely become a
great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations
of the earth will be blessed?
GEN 18:19 "For I have chosen him, in order
that he may command his children and his household
after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing
righteousness and justice; in order that the Lord
may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about
him."
GEN 18:20 And the Lord said, "The outcry of
Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is
exceedingly grave.
GEN 18:21 "I will go down now, and see if
they have done entirely according to its outcry,
which has come to Me; and if not, I will know."
GEN 18:22 Then the men turned away from there
and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still
standing before the Lord.
GEN 18:23 And Abraham came near and said,
"Wilt Thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the
wicked?
GEN 18:24 "Suppose there are fifty righteous
within the city; wilt Thou indeed sweep {it} away
and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty
righteous who are in it?
GEN 18:25 "Far be it from Thee to do such a
thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so
that the righteous and the wicked are {treated}
alike. Far be it from Thee! Shall not the Judge of
all the earth deal justly?"
GEN 18:26 So the Lord said, "If I find in
Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will
spare the whole place on their account."
GEN 18:27 And Abraham answered and said, "Now
behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord,
although I am {but} dust and ashes.
GEN 18:28 "Suppose the fifty righteous are
lacking five, wilt Thou destroy the whole city
because of five?" And He said, "I will not destroy
{it} if I find forty-five there."
GEN 18:29 And he spoke to Him yet again and
said, "Suppose forty are found there?" And He said,
"I will not do {it} on account of the forty."
GEN 18:30 Then he said, "Oh may the Lord not
be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are
found there?" And He said, "I will not do {it} if I
find thirty there."
GEN 18:31 And he said, "Now behold, I have
ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are
found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy {it}
on account of the twenty."
GEN 18:32 Then he said, "Oh may the Lord not
be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose
ten are found there?" And He said, "I will not
destroy {it} on account of the ten."
GEN 18:33 And as soon as He had finished
speaking to Abraham the Lord departed; and Abraham
returned to his place.
Top of Page
GEN 19:1 Now the
two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was
sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw {them,}
he rose to meet them and bowed down {with his} face
to the ground.
GEN 19:2 And he said, "Now behold, my lords,
please turn aside into your servant's house, and
spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may
rise early and go on your way." They said however,
"No, but we shall spend the night in the square."
GEN 19:3 Yet he urged them strongly, so they
turned aside to him and entered his house; and he
prepared a feast for them, and baked unleavened
bread, and they ate.
GEN 19:4 Before they lay down, the men of the
city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both
young and old, all the people from every quarter;
GEN 19:5 and they called to Lot and said to
him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight?
Bring them out to us that we may have relations with
them."
GEN 19:6 But Lot went out to them at the
doorway, and shut the door behind him,
GEN 19:7 and said, "Please, my brothers, do
not act wickedly.
GEN 19:8 "Now behold, I have two daughters
who have not had relations with man; please let me
bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you
like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they
have come under the shelter of my roof."
GEN 19:9 But they said, "Stand aside."
Furthermore, they said, "This one came in as an
alien, and already he is acting like a judge; now we
will treat you worse than them." So they pressed
hard against Lot and came near to break the door.
GEN 19:10 But the men reached out their hands
and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut
the door.
GEN 19:11 And they struck the men who were at
the doorway of the house with blindness, both small
and great, so that they wearied {themselves trying}
to find the doorway.
GEN 19:12 Then the men said to Lot, "Whom
else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and
your daughters, and whomever you have in the city,
bring {them} out of the place;
GEN 19:13 for we are about to destroy this
place, because their outcry has become so great
before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy
it."
GEN 19:14 And Lot went out and spoke to his
sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and
said, "Up, get out of this place, for the Lord will
destroy the city." But he appeared to his
sons-in-law to be jesting.
GEN 19:15 And when morning dawned, the angels
urged Lot, saying, "Up, take your wife and your two
daughters, who are here, lest you be swept away in
the punishment of the city."
GEN 19:16 But he hesitated. So the men seized
his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of
his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord {>
was} upon him; and they brought him out, and put him
outside the city.
GEN 19:17 And it came about when they had
brought them outside, that one said, "Escape for
your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay
anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains,
lest you be swept away."
GEN 19:18 But Lot said to them, "Oh no, my
lords!
GEN 19:19 "Now behold, your servant has found
favor in your sight, and you have magnified your
lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my
life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest the
disaster overtake me and I die;
GEN 19:20 now behold, this town is near
{enough} to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me
escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be
saved."
GEN 19:21 And he said to him, "Behold, I
grant you this request also, not to overthrow the
town of which you have spoken.
GEN 19:22 "Hurry, escape there, for I cannot
do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the
name of the town was called Zoar.
GEN 19:23 The sun had risen over the earth
when Lot came to Zoar.
GEN 19:24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and
Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of
heaven,
GEN 19:25 and He overthrew those cities, and
all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the
cities, and what grew on the ground.
GEN 19:26 But his wife, from behind him,
looked {back;} and she became a pillar of salt.
GEN 19:27 Now Abraham arose early in the
morning {and went} to the place where he had stood
before the Lord;
GEN 19:28 and he looked down toward Sodom and
Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and
he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended
like the smoke of a furnace.
GEN 19:29 Thus it came about, when God
destroyed the cities of the valley, that God
remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of
the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which
Lot lived.
GEN 19:30 And Lot went up from Zoar, and
stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with
him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he
stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters.
GEN 19:31 Then the first-born said to the
younger, "Our father is old, and there is not a man
on earth to come in to us after the manner of the
earth.
GEN 19:32 "Come, let us make our father drink
wine, and let us lie with him, that we may preserve
our family through our father."
GEN 19:33 So they made their father drink
wine that night, and the first-born went in and lay
with her father; and he did not know when she lay
down or when she arose.
GEN 19:34 And it came about on the morrow,
that the first-born said to the younger, "Behold, I
lay last night with my father; let us make him drink
wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him,
that we may preserve our family through our father."
GEN 19:35 So they made their father drink
wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay
with him; and he did not know when she lay down or
when she arose.
GEN 19:36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were
with child by their father.
GEN 19:37 And the first-born bore a son, and
called his name Moab; he is the father of the
Moabites to this day.
GEN 19:38 And as for the younger, she also
bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the
father of the sons of Ammon to this day.
Top of Page
GEN 20:1 Now
Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the
Negev, and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he
sojourned in Gerar.
GEN 20:2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife,
"She is my sister." So Abimelech king of Gerar sent
and took Sarah.
GEN 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream
of the night, and said to him, "Behold, you are a
dead man because of the woman whom you have taken,
for she is married."
GEN 20:4 Now Abimelech had not come near her;
and he said, "Lord, wilt Thou slay a nation, even
{though} blameless?
GEN 20:5 "Did he not himself say to me, 'She
is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my
brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the
innocence of my hands I have done this."
GEN 20:6 Then God said to him in the dream,
"Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you
have done this, and I also kept you from sinning
against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.
GEN 20:7 "Now therefore, restore the man's
wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you,
and you will live. But if you do not restore {her,}
know that you shall surely die, you and all who are
yours."
GEN 20:8 So Abimelech arose early in the
morning and called all his servants and told all
these things in their hearing; and the men were
greatly frightened.
GEN 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and
said to him, "What have you done to us? And how have
I sinned against you, that you have brought on me
and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me
things that ought not to be done."
GEN 20:10 And Abimelech said to Abraham,
"What have you encountered, that you have done this
thing?"
GEN 20:11 And Abraham said, "Because I
thought, surely there is no fear of God in this
place; and they will kill me because of my wife.
GEN 20:12 "Besides, she actually is my
sister, the daughter of my father, but not the
daughter of my mother, and she became my wife;
GEN 20:13 and it came about, when God caused
me to wander from my father's house, that I said to
her,' This is the kindness which you will show to
me: everywhere we go, say of me, "He is my
brother."' "
GEN 20:14 Abimelech then took sheep and oxen
and male and female servants, and gave them to
Abraham, and restored his wife Sarah to him.
GEN 20:15 And Abimelech said, "Behold, my
land is before you; settle wherever you please."
GEN 20:16 And to Sarah he said, "Behold, I
have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver;
behold, it is your vindication before all who are
with you, and before all men you are cleared."
GEN 20:17 And Abraham prayed to God; and God
healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so that
they bore {children.}
GEN 20:18 For the Lord had closed fast all
the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of
Sarah, Abraham's wife.
Top of Page
GEN 21:1 Then the
Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, and the Lord
did for Sarah as He had promised.
GEN 21:2 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to
Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of
which God had spoken to him.
GEN 21:3 And Abraham called the name of his
son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him,
Isaac.
GEN 21:4 Then Abraham circumcised his son
Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had
commanded him.
GEN 21:5 Now Abraham was one hundred years
old when his son Isaac was born to him.
GEN 21:6 And Sarah said, "God has made
laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with
me."
GEN 21:7 And she said, "Who would have said
to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I
have borne him a son in his old age."
GEN 21:8 And the child grew and was weaned,
and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac
was weaned.
GEN 21:9 Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the
Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking.
GEN 21:10 Therefore she said to Abraham,
"Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of
this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac."
GEN 21:11 And the matter distressed Abraham
greatly because of his son.
GEN 21:12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not be
distressed because of the lad and your maid;
whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through
Isaac your descendants shall be named.
GEN 21:13 "And of the son of the maid I will
make a nation also, because he is your descendant."
GEN 21:14 So Abraham rose early in the
morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and
gave {them} to Hagar, putting {them} on her
shoulder, and {gave her} the boy, and sent her away.
And she departed, and wandered about in the
wilderness of Beersheba.
GEN 21:15 And the water in the skin was used
up, and she left the boy under one of the bushes.
GEN 21:16 Then she went and sat down opposite
him, about a bowshot away, for she said, "Do not let
me see the boy die." And she sat opposite him, and
lifted up her voice and wept.
GEN 21:17 And God heard the lad crying; and
the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and
said to her, "What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do
not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad
where he is.
GEN 21:18 "Arise, lift up the lad, and hold
him by the hand; for I will make a great nation of
him."
GEN 21:19 Then God opened her eyes and she
saw a well of water; and she went and filled the
skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.
GEN 21:20 And God was with the lad, and he
grew; and he lived in the wilderness, and became an
archer.
GEN 21:21 And he lived in the wilderness of
Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the
land of Egypt.
GEN 21:22 Now it came about at that time,
that Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his
army, spoke to Abraham, saying, "God is with you in
all that you do;
GEN 21:23 now therefore, swear to me here by
God that you will not deal falsely with me, or with
my offspring, or with my posterity; but according to
the kindness that I have shown to you, you shall
show to me, and to the land in which you have
sojourned."
GEN 21:24 And Abraham said, "I swear it."
GEN 21:25 But Abraham complained to Abimelech
because of the well of water which the servants of
Abimelech had seized.
GEN 21:26 And Abimelech said, "I do not know
who has done this thing; neither did you tell me,
nor did I hear of it until today."
GEN 21:27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen,
and gave them to Abimelech; and the two of them made
a covenant.
GEN 21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of
the flock by themselves.
GEN 21:29 And Abimelech said to Abraham,
"What do these seven ewe lambs mean, which you have
set by themselves?"
GEN 21:30 And he said, "You shall take these
seven ewe lambs from my hand in order that it may be
a witness to me, that I dug this well."
GEN 21:31 Therefore he called that place
Beersheba; because there the two of them took an
oath.
GEN 21:32 So they made a covenant at
Beersheba; and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander
of his army, arose and returned to the land of the
Philistines.
GEN 21:33 And {Abraham} planted a tamarisk
tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name
of the Lord, the Everlasting God.
GEN 21:34 And Abraham sojourned in the land
of the Philistines for many days.
Top of Page
GEN 22:1 Now it
came about after these things, that God tested
Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said,
"Here I am."
GEN 22:2 And He said, "Take now your son,
your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the
land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt
offering on one of the mountains of which I will
tell you."
GEN 22:3 So Abraham rose early in the morning
and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young
men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood
for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the
place of which God had told him.
GEN 22:4 On the third day Abraham raised his
eyes and saw the place from a distance.
GEN 22:5 And Abraham said to his young men,
"Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will
go yonder; and we will worship and return to you."
GEN 22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the
burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he
took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two
of them walked on together.
GEN 22:7 And Isaac spoke to Abraham his
father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I
am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the
wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
GEN 22:8 And Abraham said, "God will provide
for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my
son." So the two of them walked on together.
GEN 22:9 Then they came to the place of which
God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there,
and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac, and
laid him on the altar on top of the wood.
GEN 22:10 And Abraham stretched out his hand,
and took the knife to slay his son.
GEN 22:11 But the angel of the Lord called to
him from heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And
he said, "Here I am."
GEN 22:12 And he said, "Do not stretch out
your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him;
for now I know that you fear God, since you have not
withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
GEN 22:13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and
looked, and behold, behind {him} a ram caught in the
thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the
ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the
place of his son.
GEN 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that
place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this
day, "In the mount of the Lord it will be provided."
GEN 22:15 Then the angel of the Lord called
to Abraham a second time from heaven,
GEN 22:16 and said, "By Myself I have sworn,
declares the Lord, because you have done this thing,
and have not withheld your son, your only son,
GEN 22:17 indeed I will greatly bless you,
and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars
of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the
seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of
their enemies.
GEN 22:18 "And in your seed all the nations
of the earth shall be blessed, because you have
obeyed My voice."
GEN 22:19 So Abraham returned to his young
men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba;
and Abraham lived at Beersheba.
GEN 22:20 Now it came about after these
things, that it was told Abraham, saying, "Behold,
Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:
GEN 22:21 Uz his first-born and Buz his
brother and Kemuel the father of Aram
GEN 22:22 and Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and
Jidlaph and Bethuel."
GEN 22:23 And Bethuel became the father of
Rebekah: these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's
brother.
GEN 22:24 And his concubine, whose name was
Reumah, also bore Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and
Maacah.
Top of Page
GEN 23:1 Now
Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years;
{these were} the years of the life of Sarah.
GEN 23:2 And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that
is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went
in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
GEN 23:3 Then Abraham rose from before his
dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
GEN 23:4 "I am a stranger and a sojourner
among you; give me a burial site among you, that I
may bury my dead out of my sight."
GEN 23:5 And the sons of Heth answered
Abraham, saying to him,
GEN 23:6 "Hear us, my lord, you are a mighty
prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of
our graves; none of us will refuse you his grave for
burying your dead."
GEN 23:7 So Abraham rose and bowed to the
people of the land, the sons of Heth.
GEN 23:8 And he spoke with them, saying, "If
it is your wish {for me} to bury my dead out of my
sight, hear me, and approach Ephron the son of Zohar
for me,
GEN 23:9 that he may give me the cave of
Machpelah which he owns, which is at the end of his
field; for the full price let him give it to me in
your presence for a burial site."
GEN 23:10 Now Ephron was sitting among the
sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered
Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth; {even}
of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying,
GEN 23:11 "No, my lord, hear me; I give you
the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In
the presence of the sons of my people I give it to
you; bury your dead."
GEN 23:12 And Abraham bowed before the people
of the land.
GEN 23:13 And he spoke to Ephron in the
hearing of the people of the land, saying, "If you
will only please listen to me; I will give the price
of the field, accept {it} from me, that I may bury
my dead there."
GEN 23:14 Then Ephron answered Abraham,
saying to him,
GEN 23:15 "My lord, listen to me; a piece of
land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is
that between me and you? So bury your dead."
GEN 23:16 And Abraham listened to Ephron; and
Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver which he
had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four
hundred shekels of silver, commercial standard.
GEN 23:17 So Ephron's field, which was in
Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and cave
which was in it, and all the trees which were in the
field, that were within all the confines of its
border, were deeded over
GEN 23:18 to Abraham for a possession in the
presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in
at the gate of his city.
GEN 23:19 And after this, Abraham buried
Sarah his wife in the cave of the field at Machpelah
facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of
Canaan.
GEN 23:20 So the field, and the cave that is
in it, were deeded over to Abraham for a burial site
by the sons of Heth.
Top of Page
GEN 24:1 Now
Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the Lord had
blessed Abraham in every way.
GEN 24:2 And Abraham said to his servant, the
oldest of his household, who had charge of all that
he owned, "Please place your hand under my thigh,
GEN 24:3 and I will make you swear by the
Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that
you shall not take a wife for my son from the
daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live,
GEN 24:4 but you shall go to my country and
to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
GEN 24:5 And the servant said to him,
"Suppose the woman will not be willing to follow me
to this land; should I take your son back to the
land from where you came?"
GEN 24:6 Then Abraham said to him, "Beware
lest you take my son back there!
GEN 24:7 "The Lord, the God of heaven, who
took me from my father's house and from the land of
my birth, and who spoke to me, and who swore to me,
saying, 'To your descendants I will give this land,'
He will send His angel before you, and you will take
a wife for my son from there.
GEN 24:8 "But if the woman is not willing to
follow you, then you will be free from this my oath;
only do not take my son back there."
GEN 24:9 So the servant placed his hand under
the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him
concerning this matter.
GEN 24:10 Then the servant took ten camels
from the camels of his master, and set out with a
variety of good things of his master's in his hand;
and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city
of Nahor.
GEN 24:11 And he made the camels kneel down
outside the city by the well of water at evening
time, the time when women go out to draw water.
GEN 24:12 And he said, "O Lord, the God of my
master Abraham, please grant me success today, and
show lovingkindness to my master Abraham.
GEN 24:13 "Behold, I am standing by the
spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are
coming out to draw water;
GEN 24:14 now may it be that the girl to whom
I say,' Please let down your jar so that I may
drink,' and who answers,' Drink, and I will water
your camels also'; - - {may} she {be the one} whom
Thou hast appointed for Thy servant Isaac; and by
this I shall know that Thou hast shown
lovingkindness to my master."
GEN 24:15 And it came about before he had
finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah who was born
to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham's
brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her
shoulder.
GEN 24:16 And the girl was very beautiful, a
virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and
she went down to the spring and filled her jar, and
came up.
GEN 24:17 Then the servant ran to meet her,
and said, "Please let me drink a little water from
your jar."
GEN 24:18 And she said, "Drink, my lord"; and
she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave
him a drink.
GEN 24:19 Now when she had finished giving
him a drink, she said, "I will draw also for your
camels until they have finished drinking."
GEN 24:20 So she quickly emptied her jar into
the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and
she drew for all his camels.
GEN 24:21 Meanwhile, the man was gazing at
her in silence, to know whether the Lord had made
his journey successful or not.
GEN 24:22 Then it came about, when the camels
had finished drinking, that the man took a gold ring
weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her
wrists weighing ten shekels in gold,
GEN 24:23 and said, "Whose daughter are you?
Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in
your father's house?"
GEN 24:24 And she said to him, "I am the
daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she
bore to Nahor."
GEN 24:25 Again she said to him, "We have
plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge
in."
GEN 24:26 Then the man bowed low and
worshiped the Lord.
GEN 24:27 And he said, "Blessed be the Lord,
the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken
His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master;
as for me, the Lord has guided me in the way to the
house of my master's brothers."
GEN 24:28 Then the girl ran and told her
mother's household about these things.
GEN 24:29 Now Rebekah had a brother whose
name was Laban; and Laban ran outside to the man at
the spring.
GEN 24:30 And it came about that when he saw
the ring, and the bracelets on his sister's wrists,
and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister,
saying, "This is what the man said to me," he went
to the man; and behold, he was standing by the
camels at the spring.
GEN 24:31 And he said, "Come in, blessed of
the Lord! Why do you stand outside since I have
prepared the house, and a place for the camels?"
GEN 24:32 So the man entered the house. Then
Laban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and
feed to the camels, and water to wash his feet and
the feet of the men who were with him.
GEN 24:33 But when {food} was set before him
to eat, he said, "I will not eat until I have told
my business." And he said, "Speak on."
GEN 24:34 So he said, "I am Abraham's
servant.
GEN 24:35 "And the Lord has greatly blessed
my master, so that he has become rich; and He has
given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and
servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.
GEN 24:36 "Now Sarah my master's wife bore a
son to my master in her old age; and he has given
him all that he has.
GEN 24:37 "And my master made me swear,
saying, 'You shall not take a wife for my son from
the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I
live;
GEN 24:38 but you shall go to my father's
house, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my
son.'
GEN 24:39 "And I said to my master, 'Suppose
the woman does not follow me.'
GEN 24:40 "And he said to me, 'The Lord,
before whom I have walked, will send His angel with
you to make your journey successful, and you will
take a wife for my son from my relatives, and from
my father's house;
GEN 24:41 then you will be free from my oath,
when you come to my relatives; and if they do not
give her to you, you will be free from my oath.'
GEN 24:42 "So I came today to the spring, and
said, 'O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now
Thou wilt make my journey on which I go successful;
GEN 24:43 behold, I am standing by the
spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out
to draw, and to whom I say, "Please let me drink a
little water from your jar";
GEN 24:44 and she will say to me, "You drink,
and I will draw for your camels also"; let her be
the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my
master's son.'
GEN 24:45 "Before I had finished speaking in
my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her jar on
her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew;
and I said to her, 'Please let me drink.'
GEN 24:46 "And she quickly lowered her jar
from her {shoulder,} and said, 'Drink, and I will
water your camels also'; so I drank, and she watered
the camels also.
GEN 24:47 "Then I asked her, and said, 'Whose
daughter are you?' And she said, 'The daughter of
Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him'; and
I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her
wrists.
GEN 24:48 "And I bowed low and worshiped the
Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master
Abraham, who had guided me in the right way to take
the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son.
GEN 24:49 "So now if you are going to deal
kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if
not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand
or the left."
GEN 24:50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and
said, "The matter comes from the Lord; {so} we
cannot speak to you bad or good.
GEN 24:51 "Behold, Rebekah is before you,
take {her} and go, and let her be the wife of your
master's son, as the Lord has spoken."
GEN 24:52 And it came about when Abraham's
servant heard their words, that he bowed himself to
the ground before the Lord.
GEN 24:53 And the servant brought out
articles of silver and articles of gold, and
garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave
precious things to her brother and to her mother.
GEN 24:54 Then he and the men who were with
him ate and drank and spent the night. When they
arose in the morning, he said, "Send me away to my
master."
GEN 24:55 But her brother and her mother
said, "Let the girl stay with us {a few} days, say
ten; afterward she may go."
GEN 24:56 And he said to them, "Do not delay
me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me
away that I may go to my master."
GEN 24:57 And they said, "We will call the
girl and consult her wishes."
GEN 24:58 Then they called Rebekah and said
to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said,
"I will go."
GEN 24:59 Thus they sent away their sister
Rebekah and her nurse with Abraham's servant and his
men.
GEN 24:60 And they blessed Rebekah and said
to her, "May you, our sister, Become thousands of
ten thousands, And may your descendants possess The
gate of those who hate them."
GEN 24:61 Then Rebekah arose with her maids,
and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So
the servant took Rebekah and departed.
GEN 24:62 Now Isaac had come from going to
Beer-lahai-roi; for he was living in the Negev.
GEN 24:63 And Isaac went out to meditate in
the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, camels were coming.
GEN 24:64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and
when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel.
GEN 24:65 And she said to the servant, "Who
is that man walking in the field to meet us?" And
the servant said, "He is my master." Then she took
her veil and covered herself.
GEN 24:66 And the servant told Isaac all the
things that he had done.
GEN 24:67 Then Isaac brought her into his
mother Sarah's tent, and he took Rebekah, and she
became his wife; and he loved her; thus Isaac was
comforted after his mother's death.
Top of Page
GEN 25:1 Now
Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.
GEN 25:2 And she bore to him Zimran and
Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah.
GEN 25:3 And Jokshan became the father of
Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim
and Letushim and Leummim.
GEN 25:4 And the sons of Midian {were} Ephah
and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these
{were} the sons of Keturah.
GEN 25:5 Now Abraham gave all that he had to
Isaac;
GEN 25:6 but to the sons of his concubines,
Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and
sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the
land of the east.
GEN 25:7 And these are all the years of
Abraham's life that he lived, one hundred and
seventy-five years.
GEN 25:8 And Abraham breathed his last and
died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied
{with life;} and he was gathered to his people.
GEN 25:9 Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael
buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of
Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre,
GEN 25:10 the field which Abraham purchased
from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with
Sarah his wife.
GEN 25:11 And it came about after the death
of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and
Isaac lived by Beer-lahai-roi.
GEN 25:12 Now these are {the records of} the
generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar
the Egyptian, Sarah's maid, bore to Abraham;
GEN 25:13 and these are the names of the sons
of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their
birth: Nebaioth, the first-born of Ishmael, and
Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam
GEN 25:14 and Mishma and Dumah and Massa,
GEN 25:15 Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and
Kedemah.
GEN 25:16 These are the sons of Ishmael and
these are their names, by their villages, and by
their camps; twelve princes according to their
tribes.
GEN 25:17 And these are the years of the life
of Ishmael, one hundred and thirty-seven years; and
he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to
his people.
GEN 25:18 And they settled from Havilah to
Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward
Assyria; he settled in defiance of all his
relatives.
GEN 25:19 Now these are {the records of} the
generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham became
the father of Isaac;
GEN 25:20 and Isaac was forty years old when
he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean
of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to
be his wife.
GEN 25:21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord on
behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the
Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived.
GEN 25:22 But the children struggled together
within her; and she said, "If it is so, why then am
I {this way?}" So she went to inquire of the Lord.
GEN 25:23 And the Lord said to her, "Two
nations are in your womb; And two peoples shall be
separated from your body; And one people shall be
stronger than the other; And the older shall serve
the younger."
GEN 25:24 When her days to be delivered were
fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
GEN 25:25 Now the first came forth red, all
over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau.
GEN 25:26 And afterward his brother came
forth with his hand holding on to Esau's heel, so
his name was called Jacob; and Isaac was sixty years
old when she gave birth to them.
GEN 25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became
a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was
a peaceful man, living in tents.
GEN 25:28 Now Isaac loved Esau, because he
had a taste for game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.
GEN 25:29 And when Jacob had cooked stew,
Esau came in from the field and he was famished;
GEN 25:30 and Esau said to Jacob, "Please let
me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am
famished." Therefore his name was called Edom.
GEN 25:31 But Jacob said, "First sell me your
birthright."
GEN 25:32 And Esau said, "Behold, I am about
to die; so of what {use} then is the birthright to
me?"
GEN 25:33 And Jacob said, "First swear to
me"; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to
Jacob.
GEN 25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and
lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went
on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Top of Page
GEN 26:1 Now
there was a famine in the land, besides the previous
famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So
Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the
Philistines.
GEN 26:2 And the Lord appeared to him and
said, "Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of
which I shall tell you.
GEN 26:3 "Sojourn in this land and I will be
with you and bless you, for to you and to your
descendants I will give all these lands, and I will
establish the oath which I swore to your father
Abraham.
GEN 26:4 "And I will multiply your
descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give
your descendants all these lands; and by your
descendants all the nations of the earth shall be
blessed;
GEN 26:5 because Abraham obeyed Me and kept
My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My
laws."
GEN 26:6 So Isaac lived in Gerar.
GEN 26:7 When the men of the place asked
about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," for he
was afraid to say, "my wife," {thinking,} "the men
of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah,
for she is beautiful."
GEN 26:8 And it came about, when he had been
there a long time, that Abimelech king of the
Philistines looked out through a window, and saw,
and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah.
GEN 26:9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and
said, "Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then
did you say, 'She is my sister'?" And Isaac said to
him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die on account of
her.'"
GEN 26:10 And Abimelech said, "What is this
you have done to us? One of the people might easily
have lain with your wife, and you would have brought
guilt upon us."
GEN 26:11 So Abimelech charged all the
people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife
shall surely be put to death."
GEN 26:12 Now Isaac sowed in that land, and
reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the Lord
blessed him,
GEN 26:13 and the man became rich, and
continued to grow richer until he became very
wealthy;
GEN 26:14 for he had possessions of flocks
and herds and a great household, so that the
Philistines envied him.
GEN 26:15 Now all the wells which his
father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his
father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them
with earth.
GEN 26:16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go
away from us, for you are too powerful for us."
GEN 26:17 And Isaac departed from there and
camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there.
GEN 26:18 Then Isaac dug again the wells of
water which had been dug in the days of his father
Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up
after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the
same names which his father had given them.
GEN 26:19 But when Isaac's servants dug in
the valley and found there a well of flowing water,
GEN 26:20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled
with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, "The water is
ours!" So he named the well Esek, because they
contended with him.
GEN 26:21 Then they dug another well, and
they quarreled over it too, so he named it Sitnah.
GEN 26:22 And he moved away from there and
dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it;
so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, "At last the
Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful
in the land."
GEN 26:23 Then he went up from there to
Beersheba.
GEN 26:24 And the Lord appeared to him the
same night and said, "I am the God of your father
Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will
bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the
sake of My servant Abraham."
GEN 26:25 So he built an altar there, and
called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his
tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well.
GEN 26:26 Then Abimelech came to him from
Gerar with his adviser Ahuzzath, and Phicol the
commander of his army.
GEN 26:27 And Isaac said to them, "Why have
you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me
away from you?"
GEN 26:28 And they said, "We see plainly that
the Lord has been with you; so we said, 'Let there
now be an oath between us, {even} between you and
us, and let us make a covenant with you,
GEN 26:29 that you will do us no harm, just
as we have not touched you and have done to you
nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace.
You are now the blessed of the Lord.' "
GEN 26:30 Then he made them a feast, and they
ate and drank.
GEN 26:31 And in the morning they arose early
and exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and
they departed from him in peace.
GEN 26:32 Now it came about on the same day,
that Isaac's servants came in and told him about the
well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have
found water."
GEN 26:33 So he called it Shibah; therefore
the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
GEN 26:34 And when Esau was forty years old
he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite,
and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite;
GEN 26:35 and they brought grief to Isaac and
Rebekah.
Top of Page
GEN 27:1 Now it
came about, when Isaac was old, and his eyes were
too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau
and said to him, "My son." And he said to him, "Here
I am."
GEN 27:2 And Isaac said, "Behold now, I am
old {and} I do not know the day of my death.
GEN 27:3 "Now then, please take your gear,
your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field
and hunt game for me;
GEN 27:4 and prepare a savory dish for me
such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat,
so that my soul may bless you before I die."
GEN 27:5 And Rebekah was listening while
Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to
the field to hunt for game to bring {home,}
GEN 27:6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob,
"Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother
Esau, saying,
GEN 27:7 'Bring me {some} game and prepare a
savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in
the presence of the Lord before my death.'
GEN 27:8 "Now therefore, my son, listen to me
as I command you.
GEN 27:9 "Go now to the flock and bring me
two choice kids from there, that I may prepare them
{as} a savory dish for your father, such as he
loves.
GEN 27:10 "Then you shall bring {it} to your
father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you
before his death."
GEN 27:11 And Jacob answered his mother
Rebekah, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man and
I am a smooth man.
GEN 27:12 "Perhaps my father will feel me,
then I shall be as a deceiver in his sight; and I
shall bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing."
GEN 27:13 But his mother said to him, "Your
curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go,
get {them} for me."
GEN 27:14 So he went and got {them,} and
brought {them} to his mother; and his mother made
savory food such as his father loved.
GEN 27:15 Then Rebekah took the best garments
of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the
house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.
GEN 27:16 And she put the skins of the kids
on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
GEN 27:17 She also gave the savory food and
the bread, which she had made, to her son Jacob.
GEN 27:18 Then he came to his father and
said, "My father." And he said, "Here I am. Who are
you, my son?"
GEN 27:19 And Jacob said to his father, "I am
Esau your first-born; I have done as you told me.
Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that you may
bless me."
GEN 27:20 And Isaac said to his son, "How is
it that you have {it} so quickly, my son?" And he
said, "Because the Lord your God caused {it} to
happen to me."
GEN 27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please
come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you
are really my son Esau or not."
GEN 27:22 So Jacob came close to Isaac his
father, and he felt him and said, "The voice is the
voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of
Esau."
GEN 27:23 And he did not recognize him,
because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's
hands; so he blessed him.
GEN 27:24 And he said, "Are you really my son
Esau?" And he said, "I am."
GEN 27:25 So he said, "Bring {it} to me, and
I will eat of my son's game, that I may bless you."
And he brought {it} to him, and he ate; he also
brought him wine and he drank.
GEN 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him,
"Please come close and kiss me, my son."
GEN 27:27 So he came close and kissed him;
and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he
blessed him and said, "See, the smell of my son Is
like the smell of a field which the Lord has
blessed;
GEN 27:28 Now may God give you of the dew of
heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an
abundance of grain and new wine;
GEN 27:29 May peoples serve you, And nations
bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may
your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those
who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you."
GEN 27:30 Now it came about, as soon as Isaac
had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly
gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that
Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
GEN 27:31 Then he also made savory food, and
brought it to his father; and he said to his father,
"Let my father arise, and eat of his son's game,
that you may bless me."
GEN 27:32 And Isaac his father said to him,
"Who are you?" And he said, "I am your son, your
first-born, Esau."
GEN 27:33 Then Isaac trembled violently, and
said, "Who was he then that hunted game and brought
{it} to me, so that I ate of all {of it} before you
came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be
blessed."
GEN 27:34 When Esau heard the words of his
father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and
bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me,
{even} me also, O my father!"
GEN 27:35 And he said, "Your brother came
deceitfully, and has taken away your blessing."
GEN 27:36 Then he said, "Is he not rightly
named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two
times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now
he has taken away my blessing." And he said, "Have
you not reserved a blessing for me?"
GEN 27:37 But Isaac answered and said to
Esau, "Behold, I have made him your master, and all
his relatives I have given to him as servants; and
with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as
for you then, what can I do, my son?"
GEN 27:38 And Esau said to his father, "Do
you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me,
{even} me also, O my father." So Esau lifted his
voice and wept.
GEN 27:39 Then Isaac his father answered and
said to him, "Behold, away from the fertility of the
earth shall be your dwelling, And away from the dew
of heaven from above.
GEN 27:40 "And by your sword you shall live,
And your brother you shall serve; But it shall come
about when you become restless, That you shall break
his yoke from your neck."
GEN 27:41 So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob
because of the blessing with which his father had
blessed him; and Esau said to himself, "The days of
mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my
brother Jacob."
GEN 27:42 Now when the words of her elder son
Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called
her younger son Jacob, and said to him, "Behold your
brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you,
{by planning} to kill you.
GEN 27:43 "Now therefore, my son, obey my
voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban!
GEN 27:44 "And stay with him a few days,
until your brother's fury subsides,
GEN 27:45 until your brother's anger against
you subsides, and he forgets what you did to him.
Then I shall send and get you from there. Why should
I be bereaved of you both in one day?"
GEN 27:46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am
tired of living because of the daughters of Heth; if
Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like
these, from the daughters of the land, what good
will my life be to me?"
Top of Page
GEN 28:1 So Isaac
called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and
said to him, "You shall not take a wife from the
daughters of Canaan.
GEN 28:2 "Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the
house of Bethuel your mother's father; and from
there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of
Laban your mother's brother.
GEN 28:3 "And may God Almighty bless you and
make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may
become a company of peoples.
GEN 28:4 "May He also give you the blessing
of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you;
that you may possess the land of your sojournings,
which God gave to Abraham."
GEN 28:5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he
went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the
Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob
and Esau.
GEN 28:6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed
Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram, to take to
himself a wife from there, {and that} when he
blessed him he charged him, saying, "You shall not
take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,"
GEN 28:7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father
and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram.
GEN 28:8 So Esau saw that the daughters of
Canaan displeased his father Isaac;
GEN 28:9 and Esau went to Ishmael, and
married, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the
daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of
Nebaioth.
GEN 28:10 Then Jacob departed from Beersheba
and went toward Haran.
GEN 28:11 And he came to a certain place and
spent the night there, because the sun had set; and
he took one of the stones of the place and put it
under his head, and lay down in that place.
GEN 28:12 And he had a dream, and behold, a
ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to
heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending
and descending on it.
GEN 28:13 And behold, the Lord stood above it
and said, "I am the Lord, the God of your father
Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you
lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.
GEN 28:14 "Your descendants shall also be
like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out
to the west and to the east and to the north and to
the south; and in you and in your descendants shall
all the families of the earth be blessed.
GEN 28:15 "And behold, I am with you, and
will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you
back to this land; for I will not leave you until I
have done what I have promised you."
GEN 28:16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and
said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did
not know it."
GEN 28:17 And he was afraid and said, "How
awesome is this place! This is none other than the
house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
GEN 28:18 So Jacob rose early in the morning,
and took the stone that he had put under his head
and set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on its
top.
GEN 28:19 And he called the name of that
place Bethel; however, previously the name of the
city had been Luz.
GEN 28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If
God will be with me and will keep me on this journey
that I take, and will give me food to eat and
garments to wear,
GEN 28:21 and I return to my father's house
in safety, then the Lord will be my God.
GEN 28:22 "And this stone, which I have set
up as a pillar, will be God's house; and of all that
Thou dost give me I will surely give a tenth to
Thee."
Top of Page
GEN 29:1 Then
Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of
the sons of the east.
GEN 29:2 And he looked, and saw a well in the
field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying
there beside it, for from that well they watered the
flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was
large.
GEN 29:3 When all the flocks were gathered
there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth
of the well, and water the sheep, and put the stone
back in its place on the mouth of the well.
GEN 29:4 And Jacob said to them, "My
brothers, where are you from?" And they said, "We
are from Haran."
GEN 29:5 And he said to them, "Do you know
Laban the son of Nahor?" And they said, "We know
{him.}"
GEN 29:6 And he said to them, "Is it well
with him?" And they said, "It is well, and behold,
Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep."
GEN 29:7 And he said, "Behold, it is still
high day; it is not time for the livestock to be
gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them."
GEN 29:8 But they said, "We cannot, until all
the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone
from the mouth of the well; then we water the
sheep."
GEN 29:9 While he was still speaking with
them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she
was a shepherdess.
GEN 29:10 And it came about, when Jacob saw
Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother,
and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that
Jacob went up, and rolled the stone from the mouth
of the well, and watered the flock of Laban his
mother's brother.
GEN 29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and
lifted his voice and wept.
GEN 29:12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was a
relative of her father and that he was Rebekah's
son, and she ran and told her father.
GEN 29:13 So it came about, when Laban heard
the news of Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to
meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and
brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban
all these things.
GEN 29:14 And Laban said to him, "Surely you
are my bone and my flesh." And he stayed with him a
month.
GEN 29:15 Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because
you are my relative, should you therefore serve me
for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?"
GEN 29:16 Now Laban had two daughters; the
name of the older was Leah, and the name of the
younger was Rachel.
GEN 29:17 And Leah's eyes were weak, but
Rachel was beautiful of form and face.
GEN 29:18 Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said,
"I will serve you seven years for your younger
daughter Rachel."
GEN 29:19 And Laban said, "It is better that
I give her to you than that I should give her to
another man; stay with me."
GEN 29:20 So Jacob served seven years for
Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because
of his love for her.
GEN 29:21 Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give
{me} my wife, for my time is completed, that I may
go in to her."
GEN 29:22 And Laban gathered all the men of
the place, and made a feast.
GEN 29:23 Now it came about in the evening
that he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to
him; and {Jacob} went in to her.
GEN 29:24 Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to
his daughter Leah as a maid.
GEN 29:25 So it came about in the morning
that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban,
"What is this you have done to me? Was it not for
Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you
deceived me?"
GEN 29:26 But Laban said, "It is not the
practice in our place, to marry off the younger
before the first-born.
GEN 29:27 "Complete the week of this one, and
we will give you the other also for the service
which you shall serve with me for another seven
years."
GEN 29:28 And Jacob did so and completed her
week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his
wife.
GEN 29:29 Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to
his daughter Rachel as her maid.
GEN 29:30 So {Jacob} went in to Rachel also,
and indeed he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he
served with Laban for another seven years.
GEN 29:31 Now the Lord saw that Leah was
unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was
barren.
GEN 29:32 And Leah conceived and bore a son
and named him Reuben, for she said, "Because the
Lord has seen my affliction; surely now my husband
will love me."
GEN 29:33 Then she conceived again and bore a
son and said, "Because the Lord has heard that I am
unloved, He has therefore given me this {son} also."
So she named him Simeon.
GEN 29:34 And she conceived again and bore a
son and said, "Now this time my husband will become
attached to me, because I have borne him three
sons." Therefore he was named Levi.
GEN 29:35 And she conceived again and bore a
son and said, "This time I will praise the Lord."
Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped
bearing.
Top of Page
GEN 30:1 Now when
Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she
became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob,
"Give me children, or else I die."
GEN 30:2 Then Jacob's anger burned against
Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who
has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"
GEN 30:3 And she said, "Here is my maid
Bilhah, go in to her, that she may bear on my knees,
that through her I too may have children."
GEN 30:4 So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a
wife, and Jacob went in to her.
GEN 30:5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob
a son.
GEN 30:6 Then Rachel said, "God has
vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has
given me a son." Therefore she named him Dan.
GEN 30:7 And Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived
again and bore Jacob a second son.
GEN 30:8 So Rachel said, "With mighty
wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, {and} I
have indeed prevailed." And she named him Naphtali.
GEN 30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped
bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to
Jacob as a wife.
GEN 30:10 And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a
son.
GEN 30:11 Then Leah said, "How fortunate!" So
she named him Gad.
GEN 30:12 And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a
second son.
GEN 30:13 Then Leah said, "Happy am I! For
women will call me happy." So she named him Asher.
GEN 30:14 Now in the days of wheat harvest
Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and
brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to
Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."
GEN 30:15 But she said to her, "Is it a small
matter for you to take my husband? And would you
take my son's mandrakes also?" So Rachel said,
"Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for
your son's mandrakes."
GEN 30:16 When Jacob came in from the field
in the evening, then Leah went out to meet him and
said, "You must come in to me, for I have surely
hired you with my son's mandrakes." So he lay with
her that night.
GEN 30:17 And God gave heed to Leah, and she
conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.
GEN 30:18 Then Leah said, "God has given me
my wages, because I gave my maid to my husband." So
she named him Issachar.
GEN 30:19 And Leah conceived again and bore a
sixth son to Jacob.
GEN 30:20 Then Leah said, "God has endowed me
with a good gift; now my husband will dwell with me,
because I have borne him six sons." So she named him
Zebulun.
GEN 30:21 And afterward she bore a daughter
and named her Dinah.
GEN 30:22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God
gave heed to her and opened her womb.
GEN 30:23 So she conceived and bore a son and
said, "God has taken away my reproach."
GEN 30:24 And she named him Joseph, saying,
"May the Lord give me another son."
GEN 30:25 Now it came about when Rachel had
borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, "Send me
away, that I may go to my own place and to my own
country.
GEN 30:26 "Give {me} my wives and my children
for whom I have served you, and let me depart; for
you yourself know my service which I have rendered
you."
GEN 30:27 But Laban said to him, "If now it
pleases you, {stay with me;} I have divined that the
Lord has blessed me on your account."
GEN 30:28 And he continued, "Name me your
wages, and I will give it."
GEN 30:29 But he said to him, "You yourself
know how I have served you and how your cattle have
fared with me.
GEN 30:30 "For you had little before I came,
and it has increased to a multitude; and the Lord
has blessed you wherever I turned. But now, when
shall I provide for my own household also?"
GEN 30:31 So he said, "What shall I give
you?" And Jacob said, "You shall not give me
anything. If you will do this {one} thing for me, I
will again pasture {and} keep your flock:
GEN 30:32 let me pass through your entire
flock today, removing from there every speckled and
spotted sheep, and every black one among the lambs,
and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and
{such} shall be my wages.
GEN 30:33 "So my honesty will answer for me
later, when you come concerning my wages. Every one
that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and
black among the lambs, {if found} with me, will be
considered stolen."
GEN 30:34 And Laban said, "Good, let it be
according to your word."
GEN 30:35 So he removed on that day the
striped and spotted male goats and all the speckled
and spotted female goats, every one with #663300 in
it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave
them into the care of his sons.
GEN 30:36 And he put {a distance of} three
days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob
fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
GEN 30:37 Then Jacob took fresh rods of
poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled
#663300 stripes in them, exposing the #663300 which
{was} in the rods.
GEN 30:38 And he set the rods which he had
peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters, {even}
in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to
drink; and they mated when they came to drink.
GEN 30:39 So the flocks mated by the rods,
and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and
spotted.
GEN 30:40 And Jacob separated the lambs, and
made the flocks face toward the striped and all the
black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own
herds apart, and did not put them with Laban's
flock.
GEN 30:41 Moreover, it came about whenever
the stronger of the flock were mating, that Jacob
would place the rods in the sight of the flock in
the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods;
GEN 30:42 but when the flock was feeble, he
did not put {them} in; so the feebler were Laban's
and the stronger Jacob's.
GEN 30:43 So the man became exceedingly
prosperous, and had large flocks and female and male
servants and camels and donkeys.
Top of Page
GEN 31:1 Now
Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons, saying,
"Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and
from what belonged to our father he has made all
this wealth."
GEN 31:2 And Jacob saw the attitude of Laban,
and behold, it was not {friendly} toward him as
formerly.
GEN 31:3 Then the Lord said to Jacob, "Return
to the land of your fathers and to your relatives,
and I will be with you."
GEN 31:4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and
Leah to his flock in the field,
GEN 31:5 and said to them, "I see your
father's attitude, that it is not {friendly} toward
me as formerly, but the God of my father has been
with me.
GEN 31:6 "And you know that I have served
your father with all my strength.
GEN 31:7 "Yet your father has cheated me and
changed my wages ten times; however, God did not
allow him to hurt me.
GEN 31:8 "If he spoke thus, 'The speckled
shall be your wages,' then all the flock brought
forth speckled; and if he spoke thus, 'The striped
shall be your wages,' then all the flock brought
forth striped.
GEN 31:9 "Thus God has taken away your
father's livestock and given {them} to me.
GEN 31:10 "And it came about at the time when
the flock were mating that I lifted up my eyes and
saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which
were mating {were} striped, speckled, and mottled.
GEN 31:11 "Then the angel of God said to me
in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am.'
GEN 31:12 "And he said, 'Lift up, now, your
eyes and see {that} all the male goats which are
mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I
have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.
GEN 31:13 'I am the God {of} Bethel, where
you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me;
now arise, leave this land, and return to the land
of your birth.' "
GEN 31:14 And Rachel and Leah answered and
said to him, "Do we still have any portion or
inheritance in our father's house?
GEN 31:15 "Are we not reckoned by him as
foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also
entirely consumed our purchase price.
GEN 31:16 "Surely all the wealth which God
has taken away from our father belongs to us and our
children; now then, do whatever God has said to
you."
GEN 31:17 Then Jacob arose and put his
children and his wives upon camels;
GEN 31:18 and he drove away all his livestock
and all his property which he had gathered, his
acquired livestock which he had gathered in
Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his
father Isaac.
GEN 31:19 When Laban had gone to shear his
flock, then Rachel stole the household idols that
were her father's.
GEN 31:20 And Jacob deceived Laban the
Aramean, by not telling him that he was fleeing.
GEN 31:21 So he fled with all that he had;
and he arose and crossed the {Euphrates} River, and
set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.
GEN 31:22 When it was told Laban on the third
day that Jacob had fled,
GEN 31:23 then he took his kinsmen with him,
and pursued him {a distance of} seven days' journey;
and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.
GEN 31:24 And God came to Laban the Aramean
in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Be
careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good
or bad."
GEN 31:25 And Laban caught up with Jacob. Now
Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and
Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of
Gilead.
GEN 31:26 Then Laban said to Jacob, "What
have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my
daughters like captives of the sword?
GEN 31:27 "Why did you flee secretly and
deceive me, and did not tell me, so that I might
have sent you away with joy and with songs, with
timbrel and with lyre;
GEN 31:28 and did not allow me to kiss my
sons and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly.
GEN 31:29 "It is in my power to do you harm,
but the God of your father spoke to me last night,
saying, 'Be careful not to speak either good or bad
to Jacob.'
GEN 31:30 "And now you have indeed gone away
because you longed greatly for your father's house;
{but} why did you steal my gods?"
GEN 31:31 Then Jacob answered and said to
Laban, "Because I was afraid, for I said, 'Lest you
would take your daughters from me by force.'
GEN 31:32 "The one with whom you find your
gods shall not live; in the presence of our kinsmen
point out what is yours among my belongings and take
{it} for yourself." For Jacob did not know that
Rachel had stolen them.
GEN 31:18 and he drove away all his livestock
and all his property which he had gathered, his
acquired livestock which he had gathered in
Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his
father Isaac.
GEN 31:19 When Laban had gone to shear his
flock, then Rachel stole the household idols that
were her father's.
GEN 31:20 And Jacob deceived Laban the
Aramean, by not telling him that he was fleeing.
GEN 31:21 So he fled with all that he had;
and he arose and crossed the {Euphrates} River, and
set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.
GEN 31:22 When it was told Laban on the third
day that Jacob had fled,
GEN 31:23 then he took his kinsmen with him,
and pursued him {a distance of} seven days' journey;
and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.
GEN 31:24 And God came to Laban the Aramean
in a dream of the night, and said to him, "Be
careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good
or bad."
GEN 31:25 And Laban caught up with Jacob. Now
Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and
Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of
Gilead.
GEN 31:26 Then Laban said to Jacob, "What
have you done by deceiving me and carrying away my
daughters like captives of the sword?
GEN 31:27 "Why did you flee secretly and
deceive me, and did not tell me, so that I might
have sent you away with joy and with songs, with
timbrel and with lyre;
GEN 31:28 and did not allow me to kiss my
sons and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly.
GEN 31:29 "It is in my power to do you harm,
but the God of your father spoke to me last night,
saying, 'Be careful not to speak either good or bad
to Jacob.'
GEN 31:30 "And now you have indeed gone away
because you longed greatly for your father's house;
{but} why did you steal my gods?"
GEN 31:31 Then Jacob answered and said to
Laban, "Because I was afraid, for I said, 'Lest you
would take your daughters from me by force.'
GEN 31:32 "The one with whom you find your
gods shall not live; in the presence of our kinsmen
point out what is yours among my belongings and take
{it} for yourself." For Jacob did not know that
Rachel had stolen them.
GEN 31:33 So Laban went into Jacob's tent,
and into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the two
maids, but he did not find {them.} Then he went out
of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent.
GEN 31:34 Now Rachel had taken the household
idols and put them in the camel's saddle, and she
sat on them. And Laban felt through all the tent,
but did not find {them.}
GEN 31:35 And she said to her father, "Let
not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you,
for the manner of women is upon me." So he searched,
but did not find the household idols.
GEN 31:36 Then Jacob became angry and
contended with Laban; and Jacob answered and said to
Laban, "What is my transgression? What is my sin,
that you have hotly pursued me?
GEN 31:37 "Though you have felt through all
my goods, what have you found of all your household
goods? Set {it} here before my kinsmen and your
kinsmen, that they may decide between us two.
GEN 31:38 "These twenty years I {have been}
with you; your ewes and your female goats have not
miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your
flocks.
GEN 31:39 "That which was torn {of beasts} I
did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself.
You required it of my hand {whether} stolen by day
or stolen by night.
GEN 31:40 "{Thus} I was: by day the heat
consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep
fled from my eyes.
GEN 31:41 "These twenty years I have been in
your house; I served you fourteen years for your two
daughters, and six years for your flock, and you
changed my wages ten times.
GEN 31:42 "If the God of my father, the God
of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had not been for
me, surely now you would have sent me away
empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the
toil of my hands, so He rendered judgment last
night."
GEN 31:43 Then Laban answered and said to
Jacob, "The daughters are my daughters, and the
children are my children, and the flocks are my
flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I
do this day to these my daughters or to their
children whom they have borne?
GEN 31:44 "So now come, let us make a
covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between
you and me."
GEN 31:45 Then Jacob took a stone and set it
up {as} a pillar.
GEN 31:46 And Jacob said to his kinsmen,
"Gather stones." So they took stones and made a
heap, and they ate there by the heap.
GEN 31:47 Now Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha,
but Jacob called it Galeed.
GEN 31:48 And Laban said, "This heap is a
witness between you and me this day." Therefore it
was named Galeed;
GEN 31:49 and Mizpah, for he said, "May the
Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one
from the other.
GEN 31:50 "If you mistreat my daughters, or
if you take wives besides my daughters, {although}
no man is with us, see, God is witness between you
and me."
GEN 31:51 And Laban said to Jacob, "Behold
this heap and behold the pillar which I have set
between you and me.
GEN 31:52 "This heap is a witness, and the
pillar is a witness, that I will not pass by this
heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this
heap and this pillar to me, for harm.
GEN 31:53 "The God of Abraham and the God of
Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us."
So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac.
GEN 31:54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on
the mountain, and called his kinsmen to the meal;
and they ate the meal and spent the night on the
mountain.
GEN 31:55 And early in the morning Laban
arose, and kissed his sons and his daughters and
blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to
his place.
Top of Page
GEN 32:1 Now as
Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him.
GEN 32:2 And Jacob said when he saw them,
"This is God's camp." So he named that place
Mahanaim.
GEN 32:3 Then Jacob sent messengers before
him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the
country of Edom.
GEN 32:4 He also commanded them saying, "Thus
you shall say to my lord Esau: 'Thus says your
servant Jacob," I have sojourned with Laban, and
stayed until now;
GEN 32:5 and I have oxen and donkeys {and}
flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent
to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your
sight."'"
GEN 32:6 And the messengers returned to
Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and
furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four
hundred men are with him."
GEN 32:7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and
distressed; and he divided the people who were with
him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels,
into two companies;
GEN 32:8 for he said, "If Esau comes to the
one company and attacks it, then the company which
is left will escape."
GEN 32:9 And Jacob said, "O God of my father
Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who
didst say to me, 'Return to your country and to your
relatives, and I will prosper you,'
GEN 32:10 I am unworthy of all the
lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which
Thou hast shown to Thy servant; for with my staff
{only} I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become
two companies.
GEN 32:11 "Deliver me, I pray, from the hand
of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear
him, lest he come and attack me, the mothers with
the children.
GEN 32:12 "For Thou didst say, 'I will surely
prosper you, and make your descendants as the sand
of the sea, which cannot be numbered for
multitude.'"
GEN 32:13 So he spent the night there. Then
he selected from what he had with him a present for
his brother Esau:
GEN 32:14 two hundred female goats and twenty
male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
GEN 32:15 thirty milking camels and their
colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female
donkeys and ten male donkeys.
GEN 32:16 And he delivered {them} into the
hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and
said to his servants, "Pass on before me, and put a
space between droves."
GEN 32:17 And he commanded the one in front,
saying, "When my brother Esau meets you and asks
you, saying, 'To whom do you belong, and where are
you going, and to whom do these {animals} in front
of you belong?'
GEN 32:18 then you shall say,' {These} belong
to your servant Jacob; it is a present sent to my
lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.' "
GEN 32:19 Then he commanded also the second
and the third, and all those who followed the
droves, saying, "After this manner you shall speak
to Esau when you find him;
GEN 32:20 and you shall say,' Behold, your
servant Jacob also is behind us.' "For he said," I
will appease him with the present that goes before
me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he
will accept me."
GEN 32:21 So the present passed on before
him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.
GEN 32:22 Now he arose that same night and
took his two wives and his two maids and his eleven
children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
GEN 32:23 And he took them and sent them
across the stream. And he sent across whatever he
had.
GEN 32:24 Then Jacob was left alone, and a
man wrestled with him until daybreak.
GEN 32:25 And when he saw that he had not
prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his
thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated
while he wrestled with him.
GEN 32:26 Then he said, "Let me go, for the
dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you
go unless you bless me."
GEN 32:27 So he said to him, "What is your
name?" And he said, "Jacob."
GEN 32:28 And he said, "Your name shall no
longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven
with God and with men and have prevailed."
GEN 32:29 Then Jacob asked him and said,
"Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it
that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there.
GEN 32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel,
for {he said,} "I have seen God face to face, yet my
life has been preserved."
GEN 32:31 Now the sun rose upon him just as
he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his
thigh.
GEN 32:32 Therefore, to this day the sons of
Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on
the socket of the thigh, because he touched the
socket of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.
Top of Page
GEN 33:1 Then
Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau
was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he
divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the
two maids.
GEN 33:2 And he put the maids and their
children in front, and Leah and her children next,
and Rachel and Joseph last.
GEN 33:3 But he himself passed on ahead of
them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until
he came near to his brother.
GEN 33:4 Then Esau ran to meet him and
embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him,
and they wept.
GEN 33:5 And he lifted his eyes and saw the
women and the children, and said, "Who are these
with you?" So he said, "The children whom God has
graciously given your servant."
GEN 33:6 Then the maids came near with their
children, and they bowed down.
GEN 33:7 And Leah likewise came near with her
children, and they bowed down; and afterward Joseph
came near with Rachel, and they bowed down.
GEN 33:8 And he said, "What do you mean by
all this company which I have met?" And he said, "To
find favor in the sight of my lord."
GEN 33:9 But Esau said, "I have plenty, my
brother; let what you have be your own."
GEN 33:10 And Jacob said, "No, please, if now
I have found favor in your sight, then take my
present from my hand, for I see your face as one
sees the face of God, and you have received me
favorably.
GEN 33:11 "Please take my gift which has been
brought to you, because God has dealt graciously
with me, and because I have plenty." Thus he urged
him and he took {it.}
GEN 33:12 Then Esau said, "Let us take our
journey and go, and I will go before you."
GEN 33:13 But he said to him, "My lord knows
that the children are frail and that the flocks and
herds which are nursing are a care to me. And if
they are driven hard one day, all the flocks will
die.
GEN 33:14 "Please let my lord pass on before
his servant; and I will proceed at my leisure,
according to the pace of the cattle that are before
me and according to the pace of the children, until
I come to my lord at Seir."
GEN 33:15 And Esau said, "Please let me leave
with you some of the people who are with me." But he
said, "What need is there? Let me find favor in the
sight of my lord."
GEN 33:16 So Esau returned that day on his
way to Seir.
GEN 33:17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth; and
built for himself a house, and made booths for his
livestock, therefore the place is named Succoth.
GEN 33:18 Now Jacob came safely to the city
of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he
came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city.
GEN 33:19 And he bought the piece of land
where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the
sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred
pieces of money.
GEN 33:20 Then he erected there an altar, and
called it El-Elohe-Israel.
Top of Page
GEN 34:1 Now
Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to
Jacob, went out to visit the daughters of the land.
GEN 34:2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor
the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he took
her and lay with her by force.
GEN 34:3 And he was deeply attracted to Dinah
the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and
spoke tenderly to her.
GEN 34:4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor,
saying, "Get me this young girl for a wife."
GEN 34:5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled
Dinah his daughter; but his sons were with his
livestock in the field, so Jacob kept silent until
they came in.
GEN 34:6 Then Hamor the father of Shechem
went out to Jacob to speak with him.
GEN 34:7 Now the sons of Jacob came in from
the field when they heard {it;} and the men were
grieved, and they were very angry because he had
done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with
Jacob's daughter, for such a thing ought not to be
done.
GEN 34:8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying,
"The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter;
please give her to him in marriage.
GEN 34:9 "And intermarry with us; give your
daughters to us, and take our daughters for
yourselves.
GEN 34:10 "Thus you shall live with us, and
the land shall be {open} before you; live and trade
in it, and acquire property in it."
GEN 34:11 Shechem also said to her father and
to her brothers, "If I find favor in your sight,
then I will give whatever you say to me.
GEN 34:12 "Ask me ever so much bridal payment
and gift, and I will give according as you say to
me; but give me the girl in marriage."
GEN 34:13 But Jacob's sons answered Shechem
and his father Hamor, with deceit, and spoke to
them, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.
GEN 34:14 And they said to them, "We cannot
do this thing, to give our sister to one who is
uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.
GEN 34:15 "Only on this {condition} will we
consent to you: if you will become like us, in that
every male of you be circumcised,
GEN 34:16 then we will give our daughters to
you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves,
and we will live with you and become one people.
GEN 34:17 "But if you will not listen to us
to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter
and go."
GEN 34:18 Now their words seemed reasonable
to Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son.
GEN 34:19 And the young man did not delay to
do the thing, because he was delighted with Jacob's
daughter. Now he was more respected than all the
household of his father.
GEN 34:20 So Hamor and his son Shechem came
to the gate of their city, and spoke to the men of
their city, saying,
GEN 34:21 "These men are friendly with us;
therefore let them live in the land and trade in it,
for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let
us take their daughters in marriage, and give our
daughters to them.
GEN 34:22 "Only on this {condition} will the
men consent to us to live with us, to become one
people: that every male among us be circumcised as
they are circumcised.
GEN 34:23 "Will not their livestock and their
property and all their animals be ours? Only let us
consent to them, and they will live with us."
GEN 34:24 And all who went out of the gate of
his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem,
and every male was circumcised, all who went out of
the gate of his city.
GEN 34:25 Now it came about on the third day,
when they were in pain, that two of Jacob's sons,
Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his
sword and came upon the city unawares, and killed
every male.
GEN 34:26 And they killed Hamor and his son
Shechem with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah
from Shechem's house, and went forth.
GEN 34:27 Jacob's sons came upon the slain
and looted the city, because they had defiled their
sister.
GEN 34:28 They took their flocks and their
herds and their donkeys, and that which was in the
city and that which was in the field;
GEN 34:29 and they captured and looted all
their wealth and all their little ones and their
wives, even all that {was} in the houses.
GEN 34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi,
"You have brought trouble on me, by making me odious
among the inhabitants of the land, among the
Canaanites and the Perizzites; and my men being few
in number, they will gather together against me and
attack me and I shall be destroyed, I and my
household."
GEN 34:31 But they said, "Should he treat our
sister as a harlot?"
Top of Page
GEN 35:1 Then God
said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and live
there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared
to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
GEN 35:2 So Jacob said to his household and
to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods
which are among you, and purify yourselves, and
change your garments;
GEN 35:3 and let us arise and go up to
Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who
answered me in the day of my distress, and has been
with me wherever I have gone."
GEN 35:4 So they gave to Jacob all the
foreign gods which they had, and the rings which
were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak
which was near Shechem.
GEN 35:5 As they journeyed, there was a great
terror upon the cities which were around them, and
they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
GEN 35:6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is,
Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all
the people who were with him.
GEN 35:7 And he built an altar there, and
called the place El-bethel, because there God had
revealed Himself to him, when he fled from his
brother.
GEN 35:8 Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died,
and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; it
was named Allon-bacuth.
GEN 35:9 Then God appeared to Jacob again
when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him.
GEN 35:10 And God said to him, "Your name is
Jacob; You shall no longer be called Jacob, But
Israel shall be your name." Thus He called him
Israel.
GEN 35:11 God also said to him, "I am God
Almighty; Be fruitful and multiply; A nation and a
company of nations shall come from you, And kings
shall come forth from you.
GEN 35:12 "And the land which I gave to
Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, And I will
give the land to your descendants after you."
GEN 35:13 Then God went up from him in the
place where He had spoken with him.
GEN 35:14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the
place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of
stone, and he poured out a libation on it; he also
poured oil on it.
GEN 35:15 So Jacob named the place where God
had spoken with him, Bethel.
GEN 35:16 Then they journeyed from Bethel;
and when there was still some distance to go to
Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she suffered
severe labor.
GEN 35:17 And it came about when she was in
severe labor that the midwife said to her, "Do not
fear, for now you have {another} son."
GEN 35:18 And it came about as her soul was
departing (for she died), that she named him Ben-oni;
but his father called him Benjamin.
GEN 35:19 So Rachel died and was buried on
the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
GEN 35:20 And Jacob set up a pillar over her
grave; that is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this
day.
GEN 35:21 Then Israel journeyed on and
pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
GEN 35:22 And it came about while Israel was
dwelling in that land, that Reuben went and lay with
Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heard {of
it.} Now there were twelve sons of Jacob - -
GEN 35:23 the sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob's
first-born, then Simeon and Levi and Judah and
Issachar and Zebulun;
GEN 35:24 the sons of Rachel: Joseph and
Benjamin;
GEN 35:25 and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's
maid: Dan and Naphtali;
GEN 35:26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah's
maid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who
were born to him in Paddan-aram.
GEN 35:27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac
at Mamre of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where
Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.
GEN 35:28 Now the days of Isaac were one
hundred and eighty years.
GEN 35:29 And Isaac breathed his last and
died, and was gathered to his people, an old man of
ripe age; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Top of Page
GEN 36:1 Now
these are {the records of} the generations of Esau
(that is, Edom).
GEN 36:2 Esau took his wives from the
daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the
Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and the
granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
GEN 36:3 also Basemath, Ishmael's daughter,
the sister of Nebaioth.
GEN 36:4 And Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and
Basemath bore Reuel,
GEN 36:5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush and Jalam
and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born
to him in the land of Canaan.
GEN 36:6 Then Esau took his wives and his
sons and his daughters and all his household, and
his livestock and all his cattle and all his goods
which he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and
went to {another} land away from his brother Jacob.
GEN 36:7 For their property had become too
great for them to live together, and the land where
they sojourned could not sustain them because of
their livestock.
GEN 36:8 So Esau lived in the hill country of
Seir; Esau is Edom.
GEN 36:9 These then are {the records of} the
generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in
the hill country of Seir.
GEN 36:10 These are the names of Esau's sons:
Eliphaz the son of Esau's wife Adah, Reuel the son
of Esau's wife Basemath.
GEN 36:11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman,
Omar, Zepho and Gatam and Kenaz.
GEN 36:12 And Timna was a concubine of Esau's
son Eliphaz and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These
are the sons of Esau's wife Adah.
GEN 36:13 And these are the sons of Reuel:
Nahath and Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the
sons of Esau's wife Basemath.
GEN 36:14 And these were the sons of Esau's
wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and the
granddaughter of Zibeon: she bore to Esau, Jeush and
Jalam and Korah.
GEN 36:15 These are the chiefs of the sons of
Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the first-born of Esau,
are chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief
Kenaz,
GEN 36:16 chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief
Amalek. These are the chiefs descended from Eliphaz
in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah.
GEN 36:17 And these are the sons of Reuel,
Esau's son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah,
chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs descended from
Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of
Esau's wife Basemath.
GEN 36:18 And these are the sons of Esau's
wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief
Korah. These are the chiefs descended from Esau's
wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.
GEN 36:19 These are the sons of Esau (that
is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.
GEN 36:20 These are the sons of Seir the
Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan and
Shobal and Zibeon and Anah,
GEN 36:21 and Dishon and Ezer and Dishan.
These are the chiefs descended from the Horites, the
sons of Seir in the land of Edom.
GEN 36:22 And the sons of Lotan were Hori and
Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna.
GEN 36:23 And these are the sons of Shobal:
Alvan and Manahath and Ebal, Shepho and Onam.
GEN 36:24 And these are the sons of Zibeon:
Aiah and Anah - - he is the Anah who found the hot
springs in the wilderness when he was pasturing the
donkeys of his father Zibeon.
GEN 36:25 And these are the children of Anah:
Dishon, and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.
GEN 36:26 And these are the sons of Dishon:
Hemdan and Eshban and Ithran and Cheran.
GEN 36:27 These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan
and Zaavan and Akan.
GEN 36:28 These are the sons of Dishan: Uz
and Aran.
GEN 36:29 These are the chiefs descended from
the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon,
chief Anah,
GEN 36:30 chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief
Dishan. These are the chiefs descended from the
Horites, according to their {various} chiefs in the
land of Seir.
GEN 36:31 Now these are the kings who reigned
in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the
sons of Israel.
GEN 36:32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in
Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
GEN 36:33 Then Bela died, and Jobab the son
of Zerah of Bozrah became king in his place.
GEN 36:34 Then Jobab died, and Husham of the
land of the Temanites became king in his place.
GEN 36:35 Then Husham died, and Hadad the son
of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the field of Moab,
became king in his place; and the name of his city
was Avith.
GEN 36:36 Then Hadad died, and Samlah of
Masrekah became king in his place.
GEN 36:37 Then Samlah died, and Shaul of
Rehoboth on the {Euphrates} River became king in his
place.
GEN 36:38 Then Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the
son of Achbor became king in his place.
GEN 36:39 Then Baal-hanan the son of Achbor
died, and Hadar became king in his place; and the
name of his city was Pau; and his wife's name was
Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of
Mezahab.
GEN 36:40 Now these are the names of the
chiefs descended from Esau, according to their
families {and} their localities, by their names:
chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth,
GEN 36:41 chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief
Pinon,
GEN 36:42 chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief
Mibzar,
GEN 36:43 chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These
are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of
the Edomites), according to their habitations in the
land of their possession.
Top of Page
Chapter 37
GEN 37:1 Now
Jacob lived in the land where his father had
sojourned, in the land of Canaan.
GEN 37:2 These are {the records of} the
generations of Jacob. Joseph, when seventeen years
of age, was pasturing the flock with his brothers
while he was {still} a youth, along with the sons of
Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives.
And Joseph brought back a bad report about them to
their father.
GEN 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than
all his sons, because he was the son of his old age;
and he made him a varicolored tunic.
GEN 37:4 And his brothers saw that their
father loved him more than all his brothers; and
{so} they hated him and could not speak to him on
friendly terms.
GEN 37:5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he
told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
GEN 37:6 And he said to them, "Please listen
to this dream which I have had;
GEN 37:7 for behold, we were binding sheaves
in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also
stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered
around and bowed down to my sheaf."
GEN 37:8 Then his brothers said to him, "Are
you actually going to reign over us? Or are you
really going to rule over us?" So they hated him
even more for his dreams and for his words.
GEN 37:9 Now he had still another dream, and
related it to his brothers, and said, "Lo, I have
had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the
moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
GEN 37:10 And he related {it} to his father
and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and
said to him, "What is this dream that you have had?
Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually
come to bow ourselves down before you to the
ground?"
GEN 37:11 And his brothers were jealous of
him, but his father kept the saying {in mind.}
GEN 37:12 Then his brothers went to pasture
their father's flock in Shechem.
GEN 37:13 And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not
your brothers pasturing {the flock} in Shechem?
Come, and I will send you to them." And he said to
him, "I will go."
GEN 37:14 Then he said to him, "Go now and
see about the welfare of your brothers and the
welfare of the flock; and bring word back to me." So
he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came
to Shechem.
GEN 37:15 And a man found him, and behold, he
was wandering in the field; and the man asked him,
"What are you looking for?"
GEN 37:16 And he said, "I am looking for my
brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing
{the flock.}"
GEN 37:17 Then the man said, "They have moved
from here; for I heard {them} say, 'Let us go to
Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and
found them at Dothan.
GEN 37:18 When they saw him from a distance
and before he came close to them, they plotted
against him to put him to death.
GEN 37:19 And they said to one another, "Here
comes this dreamer!
GEN 37:20 "Now then, come and let us kill him
and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say,
'A wild beast devoured him.' Then let us see what
will become of his dreams!"
GEN 37:21 But Reuben heard {this} and rescued
him out of their hands and said, "Let us not take
his life."
GEN 37:22 Reuben further said to them, "Shed
no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the
wilderness, but do not lay hands on him" - - that he
might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him
to his father.
GEN 37:23 So it came about, when Joseph
reached his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of
his tunic, the varicolored tunic that was on him;
GEN 37:24 and they took him and threw him
into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any
water in it.
GEN 37:25 Then they sat down to eat a meal.
And as they raised their eyes and looked, behold, a
caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with
their camels bearing aromatic gum and balm and
myrrh, on their way to bring {them} down to Egypt.
GEN 37:26 And Judah said to his brothers,
"What profit is it for us to kill our brother and
cover up his blood?
GEN 37:27 "Come and let us sell him to the
Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; for he is
our brother, our {own} flesh." And his brothers
listened {to him.}
GEN 37:28 Then some Midianite traders passed
by, so they pulled {him} up and lifted Joseph out of
the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty
{shekels} of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into
Egypt.
GEN 37:29 Now Reuben returned to the pit, and
behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his
garments.
GEN 37:30 And he returned to his brothers and
said, "The boy is not {there;} as for me, where am I
to go?"
GEN 37:31 So they took Joseph's tunic, and
slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the tunic in the
blood;
GEN 37:32 and they sent the varicolored tunic
and brought it to their father and said, "We found
this; please examine {it} to {see} whether it is
your son's tunic or not."
GEN 37:33 Then he examined it and said, "It
is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him;
Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!"
GEN 37:34 So Jacob tore his clothes, and put
sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many
days.
GEN 37:35 Then all his sons and all his
daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be
comforted. And he said, "Surely I will go down to
Sheol in mourning for my son." So his father wept
for him.
GEN 37:36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him
in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh's officer, the captain
of the bodyguard.
Top of Page
Chapter 38
GEN 38:1 And it
came about at that time, that Judah departed from
his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite,
whose name was Hirah.
GEN 38:2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a
certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; and he took
her and went in to her.
GEN 38:3 So she conceived and bore a son and
he named him Er.
GEN 38:4 Then she conceived again and bore a
son and named him Onan.
GEN 38:5 And she bore still another son and
named him Shelah; and it was at Chezib that she bore
him.
GEN 38:6 Now Judah took a wife for Er his
first-born, and her name {was} Tamar.
GEN 38:7 But Er, Judah's first-born, was evil
in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord took his life.
GEN 38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to
your brother's wife, and perform your duty as a
brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for
your brother."
GEN 38:9 And Onan knew that the offspring
would not be his; so it came about that when he went
in to his brother's wife, he wasted his seed on the
ground, in order not to give offspring to his
brother.
GEN 38:10 But what he did was displeasing in
the sight of the Lord; so He took his life also.
GEN 38:11 Then Judah said to his
daughter-in-law Tamar, "Remain a widow in your
father's house until my son Shelah grows up"; for he
thought, "{I am afraid} that he too may die like his
brothers." So Tamar went and lived in her father's
house.
GEN 38:12 Now after a considerable time
Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died; and when
the time of mourning was ended, Judah went up to his
sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the
Adullamite.
GEN 38:13 And it was told to Tamar, "Behold,
your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear
his sheep."
GEN 38:14 So she removed her widow's garments
and covered {herself} with a veil, and wrapped
herself, and sat in the gateway of Enaim, which is
on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had
grown up, and she had not been given to him as a
wife.
GEN 38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought she
{was} a harlot, for she had covered her face.
GEN 38:16 So he turned aside to her by the
road, and said, "Here now, let me come in to you";
for he did not know that she was his
daughter-in-law. And she said, "What will you give
me, that you may come in to me?"
GEN 38:17 He said, therefore, "I will send
you a kid from the flock." She said, moreover, "Will
you give a pledge until you send {it?}"
GEN 38:18 And he said, "What pledge shall I
give you?" And she said, "Your seal and your cord,
and your staff that is in your hand." So he gave
{them} to her, and went in to her, and she conceived
by him.
GEN 38:19 Then she arose and departed, and
removed her veil and put on her widow's garments.
GEN 38:20 When Judah sent the kid by his
friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from
the woman's hand, he did not find her.
GEN 38:21 And he asked the men of her place,
saying, "Where is the temple prostitute who was by
the road at Enaim?" But they said, "There has been
no temple prostitute here."
GEN 38:22 So he returned to Judah, and said,
"I did not find her; and furthermore, the men of the
place said, 'There has been no temple prostitute
here.'"
GEN 38:23 Then Judah said, "Let her keep
them, lest we become a laughingstock. After all, I
sent this kid, but you did not find her."
GEN 38:24 Now it was about three months later
that Judah was informed, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar
has played the harlot, and behold, she is also with
child by harlotry." Then Judah said, "Bring her out
and let her be burned!"
GEN 38:25 It was while she was being brought
out that she sent to her father-in-law, saying, "I
am with child by the man to whom these things
belong." And she said, "Please examine and see,
whose signet ring and cords and staff are these?"
GEN 38:26 And Judah recognized {them,} and
said, "She is more righteous than I, inasmuch as I
did not give her to my son Shelah." And he did not
have relations with her again.
GEN 38:27 And it came about at the time she
was giving birth, that behold, there were twins in
her womb.
GEN 38:28 Moreover, it took place while she
was giving birth, one put out a hand, and the
midwife took and tied a scarlet {thread} on his
hand, saying, "This one came out first."
GEN 38:29 But it came about as he drew back
his hand, that behold, his brother came out. Then
she said, "What a breach you have made for
yourself!" So he was named Perez.
GEN 38:30 And afterward his brother came out
who had the scarlet {thread} on his hand; and he was
named Zerah.
Top of Page
Chapter 39
GEN 39:1 Now
Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar,
an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the
bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had
taken him down there.
GEN 39:2 And the Lord was with Joseph, so he
became a successful man. And he was in the house of
his master, the Egyptian.
GEN 39:3 Now his master saw that the Lord was
with him and {how} the Lord caused all that he did
to prosper in his hand.
GEN 39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight,
and became his personal servant; and he made him
overseer over his house, and all that he owned he
put in his charge.
GEN 39:5 And it came about that from the time
he made him overseer in his house, and over all that
he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house on
account of Joseph; thus the Lord's blessing was upon
all that he owned, in the house and in the field.
GEN 39:6 So he left everything he owned in
Joseph's charge; and with him {there} he did not
concern himself with anything except the food which
he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and
appearance.
GEN 39:7 And it came about after these events
that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph,
and she said, "Lie with me."
GEN 39:8 But he refused and said to his
master's wife, "Behold, with me {here,} my master
does not concern himself with anything in the house,
and he has put all that he owns in my charge.
GEN 39:9 "There is no one greater in this
house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me
except you, because you are his wife. How then could
I do this great evil, and sin against God?"
GEN 39:10 And it came about as she spoke to
Joseph day after day, that he did not listen to her
to lie beside her, {or} be with her.
GEN 39:11 Now it happened one day that he
went into the house to do his work, and none of the
men of the household was there inside.
GEN 39:12 And she caught him by his garment,
saying, "Lie with me!" And he left his garment in
her hand and fled, and went outside.
GEN 39:13 When she saw that he had left his
garment in her hand, and had fled outside,
GEN 39:14 she called to the men of her
household, and said to them, "See, he has brought in
a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me
to lie with me, and I screamed.
GEN 39:15 "And it came about when he heard
that I raised my voice and screamed, that he left
his garment beside me and fled, and went outside."
GEN 39:16 So she left his garment beside her
until his master came home.
GEN 39:17 Then she spoke to him with these
words, "The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us,
came in to me to make sport of me;
GEN 39:18 and it happened as I raised my
voice and screamed, that he left his garment beside
me and fled outside."
GEN 39:19 Now it came about when his master
heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him,
saying, "This is what your slave did to me," that
his anger burned.
GEN 39:20 So Joseph's master took him and put
him into the jail, the place where the king's
prisoners were confined; and he was there in the
jail.
GEN 39:21 But the Lord was with Joseph and
extended kindness to him, and gave him favor in the
sight of the chief jailer.
GEN 39:22 And the chief jailer committed to
Joseph's charge all the prisoners who were in the
jail; so that whatever was done there, he was
responsible {for it.}
GEN 39:23 The chief jailer did not supervise
anything under Joseph's charge because the Lord was
with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made to
prosper.
Top of Page
Chapter 40
GEN 40:1 Then it
came about after these things the cupbearer and the
baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the
king of Egypt.
GEN 40:2 And Pharaoh was furious with his two
officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.
GEN 40:3 So he put them in confinement in the
house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail,
the {same} place where Joseph was imprisoned.
GEN 40:4 And the captain of the bodyguard put
Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them;
and they were in confinement for some time.
GEN 40:5 Then the cupbearer and the baker for
the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both
had a dream the same night, each man with his {own}
dream {and} each dream with its {own}
interpretation.
GEN 40:6 When Joseph came to them in the
morning and observed them, behold, they were
dejected.
GEN 40:7 And he asked Pharaoh's officials who
were with him in confinement in his master's house,
"Why are your faces so sad today?"
GEN 40:8 Then they said to him, "We have had
a dream and there is no one to interpret it." Then
Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong
to God? Tell {it} to me, please."
GEN 40:9 So the chief cupbearer told his
dream to Joseph, and said to him, "In my dream,
behold, {there was} a vine in front of me;
GEN 40:10 and on the vine {were} three
branches. And as it was budding, its blossoms came
out, {and} its clusters produced ripe grapes.
GEN 40:11 "Now Pharaoh's cup was in my hand;
so I took the grapes and squeezed them into
Pharaoh's cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh's
hand."
GEN 40:12 Then Joseph said to him, "This is
the interpretation of it: the three branches are
three days;
GEN 40:13 within three more days Pharaoh will
lift up your head and restore you to your office;
and you will put Pharaoh's cup into his hand
according to your former custom when you were his
cupbearer.
GEN 40:14 "Only keep me in mind when it goes
well with you, and please do me a kindness by
mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this
house.
GEN 40:15 "For I was in fact kidnapped from
the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done
nothing that they should have put me into the
dungeon."
GEN 40:16 When the chief baker saw that he
had interpreted favorably, he said to Joseph, "I
also {saw} in my dream, and behold, {there were}
three baskets of #663300 bread on my head;
GEN 40:17 and in the top basket {there were}
some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the
birds were eating them out of the basket on my
head."
GEN 40:18 Then Joseph answered and said,
"This is its interpretation: the three baskets are
three days;
GEN 40:19 within three more days Pharaoh will
lift up your head from you and will hang you on a
tree; and the birds will eat your flesh off you."
GEN 40:20 Thus it came about on the third
day, {which was} Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a
feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the
head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the
chief baker among his servants.
GEN 40:21 And he restored the chief cupbearer
to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh's
hand;
GEN 40:22 but he hanged the chief baker, just
as Joseph had interpreted to them.
GEN 40:23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not
remember Joseph, but forgot him.
Top of Page
Chapter 41
GEN 41:1 Now it
happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh
had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the
Nile.
GEN 41:2 And lo, from the Nile there came up
seven cows, sleek and fat; and they grazed in the
marsh grass.
GEN 41:3 Then behold, seven other cows came
up after them from the Nile, ugly and gaunt, and
they stood by the {other} cows on the bank of the
Nile.
GEN 41:4 And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up
the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.
GEN 41:5 And he fell asleep and dreamed a
second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up
on a single stalk, plump and good.
GEN 41:6 Then behold, seven ears, thin and
scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them.
GEN 41:7 And the thin ears swallowed up the
seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and
behold, {it was} a dream.
GEN 41:8 Now it came about in the morning
that his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called
for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise
men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was
no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
GEN 41:9 Then the chief cupbearer spoke to
Pharaoh, saying, "I would make mention today of my
{own} offenses.
GEN 41:10 "Pharaoh was furious with his
servants, and he put me in confinement in the house
of the captain of the bodyguard, {both} me and the
chief baker.
GEN 41:11 "And we had a dream on the same
night, he and I; each of us dreamed according to the
interpretation of his {own} dream.
GEN 41:12 "Now a Hebrew youth {was} with us
there, a servant of the captain of the bodyguard,
and we related {them} to him, and he interpreted our
dreams for us. To each one he interpreted according
to his {own} dream.
GEN 41:13 "And it came about that just as he
interpreted for us, so it happened; he restored me
in my office, but he hanged him."
GEN 41:14 Then Pharaoh sent and called for
Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the
dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed
his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.
GEN 41:15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have
had a dream, but no one can interpret it; and I have
heard it said about you, that when you hear a dream
you can interpret it."
GEN 41:16 Joseph then answered Pharaoh,
saying, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a
favorable answer."
GEN 41:17 So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, "In my
dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the
Nile;
GEN 41:18 and behold, seven cows, fat and
sleek came up out of the Nile; and they grazed in
the marsh grass.
GEN 41:19 "And lo, seven other cows came up
after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such as I
had never seen for ugliness in all the land of
Egypt;
GEN 41:20 and the lean and ugly cows ate up
the first seven fat cows.
GEN 41:21 "Yet when they had devoured them,
it could not be detected that they had devoured
them; for they were just as ugly as before. Then I
awoke.
GEN 41:22 "I saw also in my dream, and
behold, seven ears, full and good, came up on a
single stalk;
GEN 41:23 and lo, seven ears, withered, thin,
{and} scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after
them;
GEN 41:24 and the thin ears swallowed the
seven good ears. Then I told it to the magicians,
but there was no one who could explain it to me."
GEN 41:25 Now Joseph said to Pharaoh,
"Pharaoh's dreams are one {and the same;} God has
told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.
GEN 41:26 "The seven good cows are seven
years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the
dreams are one {and the same.}
GEN 41:27 "And the seven lean and ugly cows
that came up after them are seven years, and the
seven thin ears scorched by the east wind shall be
seven years of famine.
GEN 41:28 "It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh:
God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.
GEN 41:29 "Behold, seven years of great
abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt;
GEN 41:30 and after them seven years of
famine will come, and all the abundance will be
forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will
ravage the land.
GEN 41:31 "So the abundance will be unknown
in the land because of that subsequent famine; for
it {will be} very severe.
GEN 41:32 "Now as for the repeating of the
dream to Pharaoh twice, {it means} that the matter
is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it
about.
GEN 41:33 "And now let Pharaoh look for a man
discerning and wise, and set him over the land of
Egypt.
GEN 41:34 "Let Pharaoh take action to appoint
overseers in charge of the land, and let him exact a
fifth {of the produce} of the land of Egypt in the
seven years of abundance.
GEN 41:35 "Then let them gather all the food
of these good years that are coming, and store up
the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh's
authority, and let them guard {it.}
GEN 41:36 "And let the food become as a
reserve for the land for the seven years of famine
which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the
land may not perish during the famine."
GEN 41:37 Now the proposal seemed good to
Pharaoh and to all his servants.
GEN 41:38 Then Pharaoh said to his servants,
"Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine
spirit?"
GEN 41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since
God has informed you of all this, there is no one so
discerning and wise as you are.
GEN 41:40 "You shall be over my house, and
according to your command all my people shall do
homage; only in the throne I will be greater than
you."
GEN 41:41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See I
have set you over all the land of Egypt."
GEN 41:42 Then Pharaoh took off his signet
ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and
clothed him in garments of fine linen, and put the
gold necklace around his neck.
GEN 41:43 And he had him ride in his second
chariot; and they proclaimed before him, "Bow the
knee!" And he set him over all the land of Egypt.
GEN 41:44 Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph,
"{Though} I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission
no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land
of Egypt."
GEN 41:45 Then Pharaoh named Joseph
Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the
daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as his wife. And
Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt.
GEN 41:46 Now Joseph was thirty years old
when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And
Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and
went through all the land of Egypt.
GEN 41:47 And during the seven years of
plenty the land brought forth abundantly.
GEN 41:48 So he gathered all the food of
{these} seven years which occurred in the land of
Egypt, and placed the food in the cities; he placed
in every city the food from its own surrounding
fields.
GEN 41:49 Thus Joseph stored up grain in
great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he
stopped measuring {it,} for it was beyond measure.
GEN 41:50 Now before the year of famine came,
two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the
daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.
GEN 41:51 And Joseph named the first-born
Manasseh, "For," {he said,} "God has made me forget
all my trouble and all my father's household."
GEN 41:52 And he named the second Ephraim,
"For," {he said,} "God has made me fruitful in the
land of my affliction."
GEN 41:53 When the seven years of plenty
which had been in the land of Egypt came to an end,
GEN 41:54 and the seven years of famine began
to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was
famine in all the lands; but in all the land of
Egypt there was bread.
GEN 41:55 So when all the land of Egypt was
famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread;
and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to
Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do."
GEN 41:56 When the famine was {spread} over
all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all
the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the
famine was severe in the land of Egypt.
GEN 41:57 And {the people of} all the earth
came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the
famine was severe in all the earth.
Top of Page
Chapter 42
GEN 42:1 Now
Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob
said to his sons, "Why are you staring at one
another?"
GEN 42:2 And he said, "Behold, I have heard
that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy
{some} for us from that place, so that we may live
and not die."
GEN 42:3 Then ten brothers of Joseph went
down to buy grain from Egypt.
GEN 42:4 But Jacob did not send Joseph's
brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, "I
am afraid that harm may befall him."
GEN 42:5 So the sons of Israel came to buy
grain among those who were coming, for the famine
was in the land of Canaan {also.}
GEN 42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler over the
land; he was the one who sold to all the people of
the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed down
to him with {their} faces to the ground. GEN 42:7
When Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them, but
he disguised himself to them and spoke to them
harshly. And he said to them, "Where have you come
from?" And they said, "From the land of Canaan, to
buy food."
GEN 42:8 But Joseph had recognized his
brothers, although they did not recognize him.
GEN 42:9 And Joseph remembered the dreams
which he had about them, and said to them, "You are
spies; you have come to look at the undefended parts
of our land."
GEN 42:10 Then they said to him, "No, my
lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
GEN 42:11 "We are all sons of one man; we are
honest men, your servants are not spies."
GEN 42:12 Yet he said to them, "No, but you
have come to look at the undefended parts of our
land!"
GEN 42:13 But they said, "Your servants are
twelve brothers {in all,} the sons of one man in the
land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is with our
father today, and one is no more."
GEN 42:14 And Joseph said to them, "It is as
I said to you, you are spies;
GEN 42:15 by this you will be tested: by the
life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place
unless your youngest brother comes here!
GEN 42:16 "Send one of you that he may get
your brother, while you remain confined, that your
words may be tested, whether there is truth in you.
But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are
spies."
GEN 42:17 So he put them all together in
prison for three days.
GEN 42:18 Now Joseph said to them on the
third day, "Do this and live, for I fear God:
GEN 42:19 if you are honest men, let one of
your brothers be confined in your prison; but as for
{the rest of} you, go, carry grain for the famine of
your households,
GEN 42:20 and bring your youngest brother to
me, so your words may be verified, and you will not
die."And they did so.
GEN 42:21 Then they said to one another,
"Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because
we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with
us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress
has come upon us."
GEN 42:22 And Reuben answered them, saying,
"Did I not tell you, 'Do not sin against the boy';
and you would not listen? Now comes the reckoning
for his blood."
GEN 42:23 They did not know, however, that
Joseph understood, for there was an interpreter
between them.
GEN 42:24 And he turned away from them and
wept. But when he returned to them and spoke to
them, he took Simeon from them and bound him before
their eyes.
GEN 42:25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill
their bags with grain and to restore every man's
money in his sack, and to give them provisions for
the journey. And thus it was done for them.
GEN 42:26 So they loaded their donkeys with
their grain, and departed from there.
GEN 42:27 And as one {of them} opened his
sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place,
he saw his money; and behold, it was in the mouth of
his sack.
GEN 42:28 Then he said to his brothers, "My
money has been returned, and behold, it is even in
my sack." And their hearts sank, and they {turned}
trembling to one another, saying, "What is this that
God has done to us?"
GEN 42:29 When they came to their father
Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that
had happened to them, saying,
GEN 42:30 "The man, the lord of the land,
spoke harshly with us, and took us for spies of the
country.
GEN 42:31 "But we said to him, 'We are honest
men; we are not spies.
GEN 42:32 'We are twelve brothers, sons of
our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with
our father today in the land of Canaan.'
GEN 42:33 "And the man, the lord of the land,
said to us, 'By this I shall know that you are
honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and
take {grain for} the famine of your households, and
go.
GEN 42:34 'But bring your youngest brother to
me that I may know that you are not spies, but
honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you
may trade in the land.' "
GEN 42:35 Now it came about as they were
emptying their sacks, that behold, every man's
bundle of money {was} in his sack; and when they and
their father saw their bundles of money, they were
dismayed.
GEN 42:36 And their father Jacob said to
them, "You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph
is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would
take Benjamin; all these things are against me."
GEN 42:37 Then Reuben spoke to his father,
saying, "You may put my two sons to death if I do
not bring him {back} to you; put him in my care, and
I will return him to you."
GEN 42:38 But Jacob said, "My son shall not
go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he
alone is left. If harm should befall him on the
journey you are taking, then you will bring my gray
hair down to Sheol in sorrow."
Top of Page
Chapter 43
GEN 43:1 Now the
famine was severe in the land.
GEN 43:2 So it came about when they had
finished eating the grain which they had brought
from Egypt, that their father said to them, "Go
back, buy us a little food."
GEN 43:3 Judah spoke to him, however, saying,
"The man solemnly warned us, 'You shall not see my
face unless your brother is with you.'
GEN 43:4 "If you send our brother with us, we
will go down and buy you food.
GEN 43:5 "But if you do not send {him,} we
will not go down; for the man said to us, 'You shall
not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"
GEN 43:6 Then Israel said, "Why did you treat
me so badly by telling the man whether you still had
{another} brother?"
GEN 43:7 But they said, "The man questioned
particularly about us and our relatives, saying, 'Is
your father still alive? Have you {another}
brother?' So we answered his questions. Could we
possibly know that he would say, 'Bring your brother
down'?"
GEN 43:8 And Judah said to his father Israel,
"Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go,
that we may live and not die, we as well as you and
our little ones.
GEN 43:9 "I myself will be surety for him;
you may hold me responsible for him. If I do not
bring him {back} to you and set him before you, then
let me bear the blame before you forever.
GEN 43:10 "For if we had not delayed, surely
by now we could have returned twice."
GEN 43:11 Then their father Israel said to
them, "If {it must be} so, then do this: take some
of the best products of the land in your bags, and
carry down to the man as a present, a little balm
and a little honey, aromatic gum and myrrh,
pistachio nuts and almonds.
GEN 43:12 "And take double {the} money in
your hand, and take back in your hand the money that
was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it
was a mistake.
GEN 43:13 "Take your brother also, and arise,
return to the man;
GEN 43:14 and may God Almighty grant you
compassion in the sight of the man, that he may
release to you your other brother and Benjamin. And
as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am
bereaved."
GEN 43:15 So the men took this present, and
they took double {the} money in their hand, and
Benjamin; then they arose and went down to Egypt and
stood before Joseph.
GEN 43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them,
he said to his house steward, "Bring the men into
the house, and slay {an animal} and make ready; for
the men are to dine with me at noon."
GEN 43:17 So the man did as Joseph said, and
brought the men to Joseph's house.
GEN 43:18 Now the men were afraid, because
they were brought to Joseph's house; and they said,
"{It is} because of the money that was returned in
our sacks the first time that we are being brought
in, that he may seek occasion against us and fall
upon us, and take us for slaves with our donkeys."
GEN 43:19 So they came near to Joseph's house
steward, and spoke to him at the entrance of the
house,
GEN 43:20 and said, "Oh, my lord, we indeed
came down the first time to buy food,
GEN 43:21 and it came about when we came to
the lodging place, that we opened our sacks, and
behold, each man's money was in the mouth of his
sack, our money in full. So we have brought it back
in our hand.
GEN 43:22 "We have also brought down other
money in our hand to buy food; we do not know who
put our money in our sacks."
GEN 43:23 And he said, "Be at ease, do not be
afraid. Your God and the God of your father has
given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money."
Then he brought Simeon out to them.
GEN 43:24 Then the man brought the men into
Joseph's house and gave them water, and they washed
their feet; and he gave their donkeys fodder.
GEN 43:25 So they prepared the present for
Joseph's coming at noon; for they had heard that
they were to eat a meal there.
GEN 43:26 When Joseph came home, they brought
into the house to him the present which was in their
hand and bowed to the ground before him.
GEN 43:27 Then he asked them about their
welfare, and said, "Is your old father well, of whom
you spoke? Is he still alive?"
GEN 43:28 And they said, "Your servant our
father is well; he is still alive." And they bowed
down in homage.
GEN 43:29 As he lifted his eyes and saw his
brother Benjamin, his mother's son, he said, "Is
this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to
me?" And he said, "May God be gracious to you, my
son."
GEN 43:30 And Joseph hurried {out} for he was
deeply stirred over his brother, and he sought {a
place} to weep; and he entered his chamber and wept
there.
GEN 43:31 Then he washed his face, and came
out; and he controlled himself and said, "Serve the
meal."
GEN 43:32 So they served him by himself, and
them by themselves, and the Egyptians, who ate with
him, by themselves; because the Egyptians could not
eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is loathsome to
the Egyptians.
GEN 43:33 Now they were seated before him,
the first-born according to his birthright and the
youngest according to his youth, and the men looked
at one another in astonishment.
GEN 43:34 And he took portions to them from
his own table; but Benjamin's portion was five times
as much as any of theirs. So they feasted and drank
freely with him.
Top of Page
Chapter 44
GEN 44:1 Then he
commanded his house steward, saying, "Fill the men's
sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put
each man's money in the mouth of his sack.
GEN 44:2 "And put my cup, the silver cup, in
the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his money
for the grain." And he did as Joseph had told {him}.
GEN 44:3 As soon as it was light, the men
were sent away, they with their donkeys.
GEN 44:4 They had {just} gone out of the
city, {and} were not far off, when Joseph said to
his house steward, "Up, follow the men; and when you
overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid
evil for good?
GEN 44:5 'Is not this the one from which my
lord drinks, and which he indeed uses for
divination? You have done wrong in doing this.' "
GEN 44:6 So he overtook them and spoke these
words to them.
GEN 44:7 And they said to him, "Why does my
lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your
servants to do such a thing.
GEN 44:8 "Behold, the money which we found in
the mouth of our sacks we have brought back to you
from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal
silver or gold from your lord's house?
GEN 44:9 "With whomever of your servants it
is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's
slaves."
GEN 44:10 So he said, "Now let it also be
according to your words; he with whom it is found
shall be my slave, and {the rest of} you shall be
innocent."
GEN 44:11 Then they hurried, each man lowered
his sack to the ground, and each man opened his
sack.
GEN 44:12 And he searched, beginning with the
oldest and ending with the youngest, and the cup was
found in Benjamin's sack.
GEN 44:13 Then they tore their clothes, and
when each man loaded his donkey, they returned to
the city.
GEN 44:14 When Judah and his brothers came to
Joseph's house, he was still there, and they fell to
the ground before him.
GEN 44:15 And Joseph said to them, "What is
this deed that you have done? Do you not know that
such a man as I can indeed practice divination?"
GEN 44:16 So Judah said, "What can we say to
my lord? What can we speak? And how can we justify
ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your
servants; behold, we are my lord's slaves, both we
and the one in whose possession the cup has been
found."
GEN 44:17 But he said, "Far be it from me to
do this. The man in whose possession the cup has
been found, he shall be my slave; but as for you, go
up in peace to your father."
GEN 44:18 Then Judah approached him, and
said, "Oh my lord, may your servant please speak a
word in my lord's ears, and do not be angry with
your servant; for you are equal to Pharaoh.
GEN 44:19 "My lord asked his servants,
saying, 'Have you a father or a brother?'
GEN 44:20 "And we said to my lord, 'We have
an old father and a little child of {his} old age.
Now his brother is dead, so he alone is left of his
mother, and his father loves him.'
GEN 44:21 "Then you said to your servants,
'Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on
him.'
GEN 44:22 "But we said to my lord, 'The lad
cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his
father, his father would die.'
GEN 44:23 "You said to your servants,
however, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down
with you, you shall not see my face again.'
GEN 44:24 "Thus it came about when we went up
to your servant my father, we told him the words of
my lord.
GEN 44:25 "And our father said, 'Go back, buy
us a little food.'
GEN 44:26 "But we said, 'We cannot go down.
If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go
down; for we cannot see the man's face unless our
youngest brother is with us.'
GEN 44:27 "And your servant my father said to
us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons;
GEN 44:28 and the one went out from me, and I
said, "Surely he is torn in pieces," and I have not
seen him since.
GEN 44:29 'And if you take this one also from
me, and harm befalls him, you will bring my gray
hair down to Sheol in sorrow.'
GEN 44:30 "Now, therefore, when I come to
your servant my father, and the lad is not with us,
since his life is bound up in the lad's life,
GEN 44:31 it will come about when he sees
that the lad is not {with us}, that he will die.
Thus your servants will bring the gray hair of your
servant our father down to Sheol in sorrow.
GEN 44:32 "For your servant became surety for
the lad to my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him
{back} to you, then let me bear the blame before my
father forever.'
GEN 44:33 "Now, therefore, please let your
servant remain instead of the lad a slave to my
lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.
GEN 44:34 "For how shall I go up to my father
if the lad is not with me, lest I see the evil that
would overtake my father?"
Top of Page
Chapter 45
GEN 45:1 Then
Joseph could not control himself before all those
who stood by him, and he cried, "Have everyone go
out from me." So there was no man with him when
Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
GEN 45:2 And he wept so loudly that the
Egyptians heard {it}, and the household of Pharaoh
heard {of it}.
GEN 45:3 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I
am Joseph! Is my father still alive?" But his
brothers could not answer him, for they were
dismayed at his presence.
GEN 45:4 Then Joseph said to his brothers,
"Please come closer to me." And they came closer.
And he said, "I am your brother Joseph, whom you
sold into Egypt.
GEN 45:5 "And now do not be grieved or angry
with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God
sent me before you to preserve life.
GEN 45:6 "For the famine {has been} in the
land these two years, and there are still five years
in which there will be neither plowing nor
harvesting.
GEN 45:7 "And God sent me before you to
preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep
you alive by a great deliverance.
GEN 45:8 "Now, therefore, it was not you who
sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father
to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler
over all the land of Egypt.
GEN 45:9 "Hurry and go up to my father, and
say to him, 'Thus says your son Joseph," God has
made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not
delay.
GEN 45:10 "And you shall live in the land of
Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your
children and your children's children and your
flocks and your herds and all that you have.
GEN 45:11 "There I will also provide for you,
for there are still five years of famine {to come},
lest you and your household and all that you have be
impoverished."'
GEN 45:12 "And behold, your eyes see, and the
eyes of my brother Benjamin {see}, that it is my
mouth which is speaking to you.
GEN 45:13 "Now you must tell my father of all
my splendor in Egypt, and all that you have seen;
and you must hurry and bring my father down here."
GEN 45:14 Then he fell on his brother
Benjamin's neck and wept; and Benjamin wept on his
neck.
GEN 45:15 And he kissed all his brothers and
wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with
him.
GEN 45:16 Now when the news was heard in
Pharaoh's house that Joseph's brothers had come, it
pleased Pharaoh and his servants.
GEN 45:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Say
to your brothers, 'Do this: load your beasts and go
to the land of Canaan,
GEN 45:18 and take your father and your
households and come to me, and I will give you the
best of the land of Egypt and you shall eat the fat
of the land.'
GEN 45:19 "Now you are ordered, 'Do this:
take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little
ones and for your wives, and bring your father and
come.
GEN 45:20 'And do not concern yourselves with
your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is
yours.' "
GEN 45:21 Then the sons of Israel did so; and
Joseph gave them wagons according to the command of
Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey.
GEN 45:22 To each of them he gave changes of
garments, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred
{pieces of} silver and five changes of garments.
GEN 45:23 And to his father he sent as
follows: ten donkeys loaded with the best things of
Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and
bread and sustenance for his father on the journey.
GEN 45:24 So he sent his brothers away, and
as they departed, he said to them, "Do not quarrel
on the journey."
GEN 45:25 Then they went up from Egypt, and
came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob.
GEN 45:26 And they told him, saying, "Joseph
is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the
land of Egypt." But he was stunned, for he did not
believe them.
GEN 45:27 When they told him all the words of
Joseph that he had spoken to them, and when he saw
the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the
spirit of their father Jacob revived.
GEN 45:28 Then Israel said, "It is enough; my
son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him
before I die."
Top of Page
Chapter 46
GEN 46:1 So
Israel set out with all that he had, and came to
Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his
father Isaac.
GEN 46:2 And God spoke to Israel in visions
of the night and said, "Jacob, Jacob." And he said,
"Here I am."
GEN 46:3 And He said, "I am God, the God of
your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt,
for I will make you a great nation there.
GEN 46:4 "I will go down with you to Egypt,
and I will also surely bring you up again; and
Joseph will close your eyes."
GEN 46:5 Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and
the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob and
their little ones and their wives, in the wagons
which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
GEN 46:6 And they took their livestock and
their property, which they had acquired in the land
of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his
descendants with him:
GEN 46:7 his sons and his grandsons with him,
his daughters and his granddaughters, and all his
descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
GEN 46:8 Now these are the names of the sons
of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt:
Reuben, Jacob's first-born.
GEN 46:9 And the sons of Reuben: Hanoch and
Pallu and Hezron and Carmi.
GEN 46:10 And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel and
Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the
son of a Canaanite woman.
GEN 46:11 And the sons of Levi: Gershon,
Kohath, and Merari.
GEN 46:12 And the sons of Judah: Er and Onan
and Shelah and Perez and Zerah (but Er and Onan died
in the land of Canaan). And the sons of Perez were
Hezron and Hamul.
GEN 46:13 And the sons of Issachar: Tola and
Puvvah and Iob and Shimron.
GEN 46:14 And the sons of Zebulun: Sered and
Elon and Jahleel.
GEN 46:15 These are the sons of Leah, whom
she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, with his daughter
Dinah; all his sons and his daughters {numbered}
thirty-three.
GEN 46:16 And the sons of Gad: Ziphion and
Haggi, Shuni and Ezbon, Eri and Arodi and Areli.
GEN 46:17 And the sons of Asher: Imnah and
Ishvah and Ishvi and Beriah and their sister Serah.
And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.
GEN 46:18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom
Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and she bore to
Jacob these sixteen persons.
GEN 46:19 The sons of Jacob's wife Rachel:
Joseph and Benjamin.
GEN 46:20 Now to Joseph in the land of Egypt
were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the
daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.
GEN 46:21 And the sons of Benjamin: Bela and
Becher and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh,
Muppim and Huppim and Ard.
GEN 46:22 These are the sons of Rachel, who
were born to Jacob; {there were} fourteen persons in
all.
GEN 46:23 And the sons of Dan: Hushim.
GEN 46:24 And the sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel
and Guni and Jezer and Shillem.
GEN 46:25 These are the sons of Bilhah, whom
Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and she bore
these to Jacob; {there were} seven persons in all.
GEN 46:26 All the persons belonging to Jacob,
who came to Egypt, his direct descendants, not
including the wives of Jacob's sons, {were}
sixty-six persons in all,
GEN 46:27 and the sons of Joseph, who were
born to him in Egypt were two; all the persons of
the house of Jacob, who came to Egypt, {were}
seventy.
GEN 46:28 Now he sent Judah before him to
Joseph, to point out {the way} before him to Goshen;
and they came into the land of Goshen.
GEN 46:29 And Joseph prepared his chariot and
went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon
as he appeared before him, he fell on his neck and
wept on his neck a long time.
GEN 46:30 Then Israel said to Joseph, "Now
let me die, since I have seen your face, that you
are still alive."
GEN 46:31 And Joseph said to his brothers and
to his father's household, "I will go up and tell
Pharaoh, and will say to him, 'My brothers and my
father's household, who {were} in the land of
Canaan, have come to me;
GEN 46:32 and the men are shepherds, for they
have been keepers of livestock; and they have
brought their flocks and their herds and all that
they have.'
GEN 46:33 "And it shall come about when
Pharaoh calls you and says, 'What is your
occupation?'
GEN 46:34 that you shall say,' Your servants
have been keepers of livestock from our youth even
until now, both we and our fathers,' that you may
live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is
loathsome to the Egyptians."
Top of Page
Chapter 47
GEN 47:1 Then
Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, "My
father and my brothers and their flocks and their
herds and all that they have, have come out of the
land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of
Goshen."
GEN 47:2 And he took five men from among his
brothers, and presented them to Pharaoh.
GEN 47:3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers,
"What is your occupation?" So they said to Pharaoh,
"Your servants are shepherds, both we and our
fathers."
GEN 47:4 And they said to Pharaoh, "We have
come to sojourn in the land, for there is no pasture
for your servants' flocks, for the famine is severe
in the land of Canaan. Now, therefore, please let
your servants live in the land of Goshen."
GEN 47:5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your
father and your brothers have come to you.
GEN 47:6 "The land of Egypt is at your
disposal; settle your father and your brothers in
the best of the land, let them live in the land of
Goshen; and if you know any capable men among them,
then put them in charge of my livestock."
GEN 47:7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob
and presented him to Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed
Pharaoh.
GEN 47:8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many
years have you lived?"
GEN 47:9 So Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The years
of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty; few and
unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have
they attained the years that my fathers lived during
the days of their sojourning."
GEN 47:10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went
out from his presence.
GEN 47:11 So Joseph settled his father and
his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land
of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of
Rameses, as Pharaoh had ordered.
GEN 47:12 And Joseph provided his father and
his brothers and all his father's household with
food, according to their little ones.
GEN 47:13 Now there was no food in all the
land, because the famine was very severe, so that
the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished
because of the famine.
GEN 47:14 And Joseph gathered all the money
that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land
of Canaan for the grain which they bought, and
Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
GEN 47:15 And when the money was all spent in
the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the
Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us food,
for why should we die in your presence? For {our}
money is gone."
GEN 47:16 Then Joseph said, "Give up your
livestock, and I will give you {food} for your
livestock, since {your} money is gone."
GEN 47:17 So they brought their livestock to
Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for
the horses and the flocks and the herds and the
donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for
all their livestock that year.
GEN 47:18 And when that year was ended, they
came to him the next year and said to him, "We will
not hide from my lord that our money is all spent,
and the cattle are my lord's. There is nothing left
for my lord except our bodies and our lands.
GEN 47:19 "Why should we die before your
eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for
food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh.
So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and
that the land may not be desolate."
GEN 47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of
Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his
field, because the famine was severe upon them. Thus
the land became Pharaoh's.
GEN 47:21 And as for the people, he removed
them to the cities from one end of Egypt's border to
the other.
GEN 47:22 Only the land of the priests he did
not buy, for the priests had an allotment from
Pharaoh, and they lived off the allotment which
Pharaoh gave them. Therefore, they did not sell
their land.
GEN 47:23 Then Joseph said to the people,
"Behold, I have today bought you and your land for
Pharaoh; now, {here} is seed for you, and you may
sow the land.
GEN 47:24 "And at the harvest you shall give
a fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your
own for seed of the field and for your food and for
those of your households and as food for your little
ones."
GEN 47:25 So they said, "You have saved our
lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord,
and we will be Pharaoh's slaves."
GEN 47:26 And Joseph made it a statute
concerning the land of Egypt {valid} to this day,
that Pharaoh should have the fifth; only the land of
the priests did not become Pharaoh's.
GEN 47:27 Now Israel lived in the land of
Egypt, in Goshen, and they acquired property in it
and were fruitful and became very numerous.
GEN 47:28 And Jacob lived in the land of
Egypt seventeen years; so the length of Jacob's life
was one hundred and forty-seven years.
GEN 47:29 When the time for Israel to die
drew near, he called his son Joseph and said to him,
"Please, if I have found favor in your sight, place
now your hand under my thigh and deal with me in
kindness and faithfulness. Please do not bury me in
Egypt,
GEN 47:30 but when I lie down with my
fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me
in their burial place."And he said," I will do as
you have said."
GEN 47:31 And he said, "Swear to me." So he
swore to him. Then Israel bowed {in worship} at the
head of the bed.
Top of Page
Chapter 48
GEN 48:1 Now it
came about after these things that Joseph was told,
"Behold, your father is sick." So he took his two
sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.
GEN 48:2 When it was told to Jacob, "Behold,
your son Joseph has come to you," Israel collected
his strength and sat up in the bed.
GEN 48:3 Then Jacob said to Joseph, "God
Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan
and blessed me,
GEN 48:4 and He said to me,' Behold, I will
make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you
a company of peoples, and will give this land to
your descendants after you for an everlasting
possession.'
GEN 48:5 "And now your two sons, who were
born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to
you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall
be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.
GEN 48:6 "But your offspring that have been
born after them shall be yours; they shall be called
by the names of their brothers in their inheritance.
GEN 48:7 "Now as for me, when I came from
Paddan, Rachel died, to my sorrow, in the land of
Canaan on the journey, when there was still some
distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on
the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)."
GEN 48:8 When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he
said, "Who are these?"
GEN 48:9 And Joseph said to his father, "They
are my sons, whom God has given me here." So he
said, "Bring them to me, please, that I may bless
them."
GEN 48:10 Now the eyes of Israel were {so}
dim from age {that} he could not see. Then Joseph
brought them close to him, and he kissed them and
embraced them.
GEN 48:11 And Israel said to Joseph, "I never
expected to see your face, and behold, God has let
me see your children as well."
GEN 48:12 Then Joseph took them from his
knees, and bowed with his face to the ground.
GEN 48:13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim
with his right hand toward Israel's left, and
Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right,
and brought them close to him.
GEN 48:14 But Israel stretched out his right
hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the
younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head,
crossing his hands, although Manasseh was the
first-born.
GEN 48:15 And he blessed Joseph, and said,
"The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac
walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life
to this day,
GEN 48:16 The angel who has redeemed me from
all evil, Bless the lads; And may my name live on in
them, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of
the earth."
GEN 48:17 When Joseph saw that his father
laid his right hand on Ephraim's head, it displeased
him; and he grasped his father's hand to remove it
from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.
GEN 48:18 And Joseph said to his father, "Not
so, my father, for this one is the first-born. Place
your right hand on his head."
GEN 48:19 But his father refused and said, "I
know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people
and he also shall be great. However, his younger
brother shall be greater than he, and his
descendants shall become a multitude of nations."
GEN 48:20 And he blessed them that day,
saying, "By you Israel shall pronounce blessing,
saying, 'May God make you like Ephraim and
Manasseh!'" Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
GEN 48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph,
"Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with
you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
GEN 48:22 "And I give you one portion more
than your brothers, which I took from the hand of
the Amorite with my sword and my bow."
Top of Page
Chapter 49
GEN 49:1 Then
Jacob summoned his sons and said, "Assemble
yourselves that I may tell you what shall befall you
in the days to come.
GEN 49:2 "Gather together and hear, O sons of
Jacob; And listen to Israel your father.
GEN 49:3 "Reuben, you are my first-born; My
might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent
in dignity and preeminent in power.
GEN 49:4 "Uncontrolled as water, you shall
not have preeminence, Because you went up to your
father's bed; Then you defiled {it} - - he went up
to my couch.
GEN 49:5 "Simeon and Levi are brothers; Their
swords are implements of violence.
GEN 49:6 "Let my soul not enter into their
council; Let not my glory be united with their
assembly; Because in their anger they slew men, And
in their self-will they lamed oxen.
GEN 49:7 "Cursed be their anger, for it is
fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. I will
disperse them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel.
GEN 49:8 "Judah, your brothers shall praise
you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father's sons shall bow down to you.
GEN 49:9 "Judah is a lion's whelp; From the
prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies
down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him
up?
GEN 49:10 "The scepter shall not depart from
Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes, And to him {shall be} the
obedience of the peoples.
GEN 49:11 "He ties {his} foal to the vine,
And his donkey's colt to the choice vine; He washes
his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of
grapes.
GEN 49:12 "His eyes are dull from wine, And
his teeth #663300 from milk.
GEN 49:13 "Zebulun shall dwell at the
seashore; And he {shall be} a haven for ships, And
his flank {shall be} toward Sidon.
GEN 49:14 "Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying
down between the sheepfolds.
GEN 49:15 "When he saw that a resting place
was good And that the land was pleasant, He bowed
his shoulder to bear {burdens}, And became a slave
at forced labor.
GEN 49:16 "Dan shall judge his people, As one
of the tribes of Israel.
GEN 49:17 "Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
A horned snake in the path, That bites the horse's
heels, So that his rider falls backward.
GEN 49:18 "For Thy salvation I wait, O Lord.
GEN 49:19 "As for Gad, raiders shall raid
him, But he shall raid {at} their heels.
GEN 49:20 "As for Asher, his food shall be
rich, And he shall yield royal dainties.
GEN 49:21 "Naphtali is a doe let loose, He
gives beautiful words.
GEN 49:22 "Joseph is a fruitful bough, A
fruitful bough by a spring; {Its} branches run over
a wall.
GEN 49:23 "The archers bitterly attacked him,
And shot {at him} and harassed him;
GEN 49:24 But his bow remained firm, And his
arms were agile, From the hands of the Mighty One of
Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of
Israel),
GEN 49:25 From the God of your father who
helps you, And by the Almighty who blesses you
{With} blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the
deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and
of the womb.
GEN 49:26 "The blessings of your father Have
surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the
utmost bound of the everlasting hills; May they be
on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head
of the one distinguished among his brothers.
GEN 49:27 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In
the morning he devours the prey, And in the evening
he divides the spoil."
GEN 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of
Israel, and this is what their father said to them
when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one
with the blessing appropriate to him.
GEN 49:29 Then he charged them and said to
them, "I am about to be gathered to my people; bury
me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field
of Ephron the Hittite,
GEN 49:30 in the cave that is in the field of
Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of
Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field
from Ephron the Hittite for a burial site.
GEN 49:31 "There they buried Abraham and his
wife Sarah, there they buried Isaac and his wife
Rebekah, and there I buried Leah - -
GEN 49:32 the field and the cave that is in
it, purchased from the sons of Heth."
GEN 49:33 When Jacob finished charging his
sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his
last, and was gathered to his people.
Top of Page
Chapter 50
GEN 50:1 Then
Joseph fell on his father's face, and wept over him
and kissed him.
GEN 50:2 And Joseph commanded his servants
the physicians to embalm his father. So the
physicians embalmed Israel.
GEN 50:3 Now forty days were required for it,
for such is the period required for embalming. And
the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.
GEN 50:4 And when the days of mourning for
him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of
Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found favor in your
sight, please speak to Pharaoh, saying,
GEN 50:5 'My father made me swear, saying,
"Behold, I am about to die; in my grave which I dug
for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall
bury me." Now therefore, please let me go up and
bury my father; then I will return.' "
GEN 50:6 And Pharaoh said, "Go up and bury
your father, as he made you swear."
GEN 50:7 So Joseph went up to bury his
father, and with him went up all the servants of
Pharaoh, the elders of his household and all the
elders of the land of Egypt,
GEN 50:8 and all the household of Joseph and
his brothers and his father's household; they left
only their little ones and their flocks and their
herds in the land of Goshen.
GEN 50:9 There also went up with him both
chariots and horsemen; and it was a very great
company.
GEN 50:10 When they came to the threshing
floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they
lamented there with a very great and sorrowful
lamentation; and he observed seven days mourning for
his father.
GEN 50:11 Now when the inhabitants of the
land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the
threshing floor of Atad, they said, "This is a
grievous mourning for the Egyptians." Therefore it
was named Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
GEN 50:12 And thus his sons did for him as he
had charged them;
GEN 50:13 for his sons carried him to the
land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the
field of Machpelah before Mamre, which Abraham had
bought along with the field for a burial site from
Ephron the Hittite.
GEN 50:14 And after he had buried his father,
Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and
all who had gone up with him to bury his father.
GEN 50:15 When Joseph's brothers saw that
their father was dead, they said, "What if Joseph
should bear a grudge against us and pay us back in
full for all the wrong which we did to him!"
GEN 50:16 So they sent {a message} to Joseph,
saying, "Your father charged before he died, saying,
GEN 50:17 'Thus you shall say to Joseph,
"Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of
your brothers and their sin, for they did you
wrong."' And now, please forgive the transgression
of the servants of the God of your father."And
Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
GEN 50:18 Then his brothers also came and
fell down before him and said, "Behold, we are your
servants."
GEN 50:19 But Joseph said to them, "Do not be
afraid, for am I in God's place?
GEN 50:20 "And as for you, you meant evil
against me, {but} God meant it for good in order to
bring about this present result, to preserve many
people alive.
GEN 50:21 "So therefore, do not be afraid; I
will provide for you and your little ones." So he
comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
GEN 50:22 Now Joseph stayed in Egypt, he and
his father's household, and Joseph lived one hundred
and ten years.
GEN 50:23 And Joseph saw the third generation
of Ephraim's sons; also the sons of Machir, the son
of Manasseh, were born on Joseph's knees.
GEN 50:24 And Joseph said to his brothers, "I
am about to die, but God will surely take care of
you, and bring you up from this land to the land
which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and
to Jacob."
GEN 50:25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel
swear, saying, "God will surely take care of you,
and you shall carry my bones up from here."
GEN 50:26 So Joseph died at the age of one
hundred and ten years; and he was embalmed and
placed in a coffin in Egypt.