Genesis 36; Genesis 37; Genesis 38; Matthew 10:21-42

Genesis 36

1 These are the family records of Esau (that is, Edom).

2 Esau took his wives from the Canaanite women: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite;

3 and Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

4 Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel,

5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were Esau's sons, who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

6 Esau took his wives, sons, daughters, and all the people of his household, as well as his herds, all his livestock, and all the property he had acquired in Canaan; he went to a land away from his brother Jacob.

7 For their possessions were too many [for them] to live together, and because of their herds, the land where they stayed could not support them.

8 So Esau (that is, Edom) lived in the mountains of Seir.

9 These are the family records of Esau, father of the Edomites in the mountains of Seir.

10 These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz son of Esau's wife Adah, and Reuel son of Esau's wife Basemath.

11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

12 Timna, a concubine of Esau's son Eliphaz, bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Esau's wife Adah.

13 These are Reuel's sons: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Esau's wife Basemath.

14 These are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon: She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah to Edom.

15 These are the chiefs of Esau's sons: the sons of Eliphaz, Esau's firstborn: Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,

16 Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Adah.

17 These are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Esau's wife Basemath.

18 These are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah: Chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the chiefs of Esau's wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

19 These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom.

22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Heman. Timna was Lotan's sister.

23 These are Shobal's sons: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

24 These are Zibeon's sons: Aiah and Anah. This was the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness while he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.

25 These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

26 These are Dishon's sons: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.

27 These are Ezer's sons: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

28 These are Dishan's sons: Uz and Aran.

29 These are the chiefs of the Horites: Chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs of the Horites, according to their divisions, in the land of Seir.

31 These are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites:

32 Bela son of Beor ruled in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.

33 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah ruled in his place.

34 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites ruled in his place.

35 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad ruled in his place. He defeated Midian in the field of Moab; the name of his city was Avith.

36 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah ruled in his place.

37 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth-on-the-River ruled in his place.

38 When Shaul died, Baal-hanan son of Achbor ruled in his place.

39 When Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, Hadar ruled in his place. His city was Pau, and his wife's name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred daughter of Me-zahab.

40 These are the names of Esau's chiefs, according to their families and their localities, by their names: Chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,

41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,

42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,

43 Magdiel, and Iram. These are Edom's chiefs, according to their settlements in the land they possessed. Esau was father of the Edomites.

Genesis 37

1 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.

2 These are the family records of Jacob. At 17 years of age, Joseph tended sheep with his brothers. The young man [was working] with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought a bad report about them to their father.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons because Joseph was a son [born to him] in his old age, and he made a robe of many colors for him.

4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not bring themselves to speak peaceably to him.

5 Then Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

6 He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had:

7 There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the field. Suddenly my sheaf stood up, and your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf."

8 "Are you really going to reign over us?" his brothers asked him. "Are you really going to rule us?" So they hated him even more because of his dream and what he had said.

9 Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers. "Look," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and 11 stars were bowing down to me."

10 He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him. "What kind of dream is this that you have had?" he said. "Are your mother and brothers and I going to bow down to the ground before you?"

11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter [in mind].

12 His brothers had gone to pasture their father's flocks at Shechem.

13 Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers, you know, are pasturing [the flocks] at Shechem. Get ready. I'm sending you to them." "I'm ready," Joseph replied.

14 Then Israel said to him, "Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring word back to me." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

15 A man found him there, wandering in the field, and asked him, "What are you looking for?"

16 "I'm looking for my brothers," Joseph said. "Can you tell me where they are pasturing [their flocks]?"

17 "They've moved on from here," the man said. "I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.' " So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

18 They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him.

19 They said to one another, "Here comes that dreamer!

20 Come on, let's kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we'll see what becomes of his dreams!"

21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from them. He said, "Let's not take his life."

22 Reuben also said to them, "Don't shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don't lay a hand on him"-intending to rescue him from their hands and return him to his father.

23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off his robe, the robe of many colors that he had on.

24 Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

25 Then they sat down to eat a meal. They looked up, and there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt.

26 Then Judah said to his brothers, "What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

27 Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our [own] flesh." His brothers agreed.

28 When Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt.

29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.

30 He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy is gone! What am I going to do?"

31 So they took Joseph's robe, slaughtered a young goat, and dipped the robe in its blood.

32 They sent the robe of many colors to their father and said, "We found this. Examine it. Is it your son's robe or not?"

33 His father recognized it. "It is my son's robe," he said. "A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has been torn to pieces!"

34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

35 All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. "No," he said. "I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning." And his father wept for him.

36 Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard.

Genesis 38

1 At that time Judah left his brothers and settled near an Adullamite named Hirah.

2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua; he took her as a wife and slept with her.

3 She conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him Er.

4 She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and named him Onan.

5 She gave birth to another son and named him Shelah. It was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.

6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

7 Now Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the Lord's sight, and the Lord put him to death.

8 Then Judah said to Onan, "Sleep with your brother's wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and produce offspring for your brother."

9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother's wife, he released his semen on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother.

10 What he did was evil in the Lord's sight, so He put him to death also.

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, "He might die too, like his brother." So Tamar went to live in her father's house.

12 After a long time Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah to the sheepshearers.

13 Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep."

14 So she took off her widow's clothes, veiled [her face], covered herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.

15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.

16 He went over to her and said, "Come, let me sleep with you," for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, "What will you give me for sleeping with me?"

17 "I will send you a young goat from my flock," he replied. But she said, "Only if you leave something [with me] until you send it."

18 "What should I give you?" he asked. She answered, "Your signet ring, your cord, and the staff in your hand." So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she got pregnant by him.

19 She got up and left, then removed her veil and put her widow's clothes back on.

20 When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get back the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her.

21 He asked the men of the place, "Where is the cult prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?" "There has been no cult prostitute here," they answered.

22 So the Adullamite returned to Judah, saying, "I couldn't find her, and furthermore, the men of the place said, 'There has been no cult prostitute here.' "

23 Judah replied, "Let her keep [the items] for herself; otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send this young goat, but you couldn't find [her]."

24 About three months later Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law has been acting like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant." "Bring her out!" Judah said. "Let her be burned [to death]!"

25 As she was being brought out, she sent her father-in-law [this message]: "I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong." And she added, "Examine them. Whose signet ring, cord, and staff are these?"

26 Judah recognized [them] and said, "She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah." And he did not know her intimately again.

27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb.

28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand, and the midwife took it and tied a scarlet [thread] around it, announcing, "This one came out first."

29 But then he pulled his hand back, and his brother came out. Then she said, "You have broken out [first]!" So he was named Perez.

30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet [thread] tied to his hand, came out, and was named Zerah.

Matthew 10:21-42

21 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will even rise up against their parents and have them put to death.

22 You will be hated by everyone because of My name. But the one who endures to the end will be delivered.

23 When they persecute you in one town, escape to another. For I assure you: You will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

24 A disciple is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master.

25 It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they called the head of the house 'Beelzebul,' how much more the members of his household!

26 "Therefore, don't be afraid of them, since there is nothing covered that won't be uncovered, and nothing hidden that won't be made known.

27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in a whisper, proclaim on the housetops.

28 Don't fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

29 Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's consent.

30 But even the hairs of your head have all been counted.

31 Don't be afraid therefore; you are worth more than many sparrows.

32 "Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven.

33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.

34 Don't assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

35 For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

36 and a man's enemies will be the members of his household.

37 The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the person who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.

38 And whoever doesn't take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.

39 Anyone finding his life will lose it, and anyone losing his life because of Me will find it.

40 "The one who welcomes you welcomes Me, and the one who welcomes Me welcomes Him who sent Me.

41 Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. And anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he's righteous will receive a righteous person's reward.

42 And whoever gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple -I assure you: He will never lose his reward!"