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1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth--

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness [was] over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God [was] hovering over the surface of the waters.

3 And God said, "Let there be light!" And there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that [it was] good, and God caused [there to be] a separation between the light and between the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, [the] first day.

6 And God said, "Let there be a vaulted dome in the midst of the waters, and {let it cause a separation between the waters}."

7 So God made the vaulted dome, and he caused a separation between the waters which [were] under the vaulted dome and between the waters which were over the vaulted dome. And it was so.

8 And God called the vaulted dome "heaven." And there was evening, and there was morning, a second day.

9 And God said, "Let the waters under heaven be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear." And it was so.

10 And God called the dry ground "earth," and he called the collection of the waters "seas." And God saw that [it was] good.

11 And God said, "Let the earth produce green plants [that will] bear seed--fruit trees bearing fruit {in which there is seed}--according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth green plants bearing seed according to its kind, and trees bearing fruit {in which there was seed} according to its kind. And God saw that [it was] good.

13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.

14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the vaulted dome of heaven {to separate day from night}, and let them be as signs and for appointed times, and for days and years,

15 and they shall be as lights in the vaulted dome of heaven to give light on the earth." And it [was] so.

16 And God made two lights, the greater light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night, and the stars.

17 And God placed them in the vaulted dome of heaven to give light on the earth

18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to {separate light from darkness}. And God saw that [it was] good.

19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

20 And God said, "Let the waters swarm [with] swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth across the face of the vaulted dome of heaven.

21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature [that] moves, [with] which the waters swarm, according to their kind, and every bird [with] wings according to its kind. And God saw that [it was] good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth."

23 And there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.

24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind: cattle and moving things, and wild animals according to their kind." And it was so.

25 So God made wild animals according to their kind and the cattle according to their kind, and every creeping thing of the earth according to its kind. And God saw that [it was] good.

26 And God said, "Let us make humankind in our image and according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every moving thing that moves upon the earth."

27 So God created humankind in his image, in the likeness of God he created him, male and female he created them.

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 the birds of heaven, and over every animal that moves upon the earth."

29 And God said, "Look--I am giving to you every plant [that] bears seed which [is] on the face of the whole earth, and every kind of tree {that bears fruit}. They shall be yours as food."

30 And to every kind of animal of the earth and to every bird of heaven, and to everything that moves upon the earth in which [there is] life [I am giving] every green plant as food." And it was so.

31 And God saw everything that he had made and, behold, [it was] very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.

1 And heaven and earth and all their array were finished.

2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

3 And God blessed the seventh day, and he sanctified it, because on it he rested from all his work {of creating that [there was] to do}.

4 These are the generations of heaven and earth when they were created, in the day [that] Yahweh God made earth and heaven--

5 {before any plant of the field was} on earth, and [before] {any plant of the field} had sprung up, because Yahweh God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no human being to cultivate the ground,

6 but a stream [would] rise from the earth and water the whole face of the ground--

7 when Yahweh God formed the man [of] dust from the ground, and he blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

8 And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9 And Yahweh God caused to grow every tree [that] was pleasing to the sight and good for food. And the tree of life [was] in the midst of the garden, {along with} the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 Now a river flowed out from Eden that watered the garden, and from there it diverged and became four branches.

11 The name of the first [is] the Pishon. It went around all the land of Havilah, where [there is] gold.

12 (The gold of that land [is] good; bdellium and onyx stones [are] there.)

13 And the name of the second [is] Gihon. It went around all the land of Cush.

14 And the name of the third [is] Tigris. It flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river [is] the Euphrates.

15 And Yahweh God took the man and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it.

16 And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, "From every tree of the garden {you may freely eat},

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}."

18 Then Yahweh God said, "[it is] not good [that] the man is alone. I will make for him a helper {as his counterpart}."

19 And out of the ground Yahweh God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and he brought [each] to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called that living creature [was] its name.

20 And the man {gave names} to every domesticated animal and to the birds of heaven and to all the wild animals. But for [the] man there was not found a helper {as his counterpart}.

21 And Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man. While he slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up {the flesh where it had been}.

22 And Yahweh God fashioned the rib which he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.

23 And the man said, "{She is now} bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh; {she} shall be called 'Woman,' for {she was taken} from man."

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh.

25 And the man and his wife, both of them, were naked, and they were not ashamed.

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other {wild animal} which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God indeed say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

2 The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat,

3 but from the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God said, 'You shall not eat from it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die'."

4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You shall not surely die.

5 For God knows that on the day you [both] eat from it, then your eyes will be opened and you [both] shall be like gods, knowing good and evil."

6 When the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food and that it [was] a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make [one] wise, then she took from its fruit and she ate. And she gave [it] also to her husband with her, and he ate.

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked. And they sewed together fig leaves and they made for themselves coverings.

8 Then they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden {at the windy time of day}. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.

9 And Yahweh God called to the man and said to him, "Where [are] you?"

10 And he replied, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I [am] naked, so I hid myself."

11 Then he asked, "Who told you that you [were] naked? Have you eaten from {the tree from which I forbade you to eat}?"

12 And the man replied, "The woman whom you gave [to be] with me--she gave to me from the tree and I ate."

13 Then Yahweh God said to the woman, "What [is] this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

14 Then Yahweh God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you [will be] cursed more than any domesticated animal and more than any wild animal. On your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

15 And I will put hostility between you and between the woman, and between your offspring and between her offspring; he will strike you [on the] head, and you will strike him [on the] heel."

16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase {your pain in childbearing}; in pain you shall bear children. And to your husband [shall be] your desire. And he shall rule over you."

17 And to Adam he said, "Because you listened to the voice of your wife and you ate from the tree {from which I forbade you to eat}, the ground [shall be] cursed on your account. In pain you shall eat [from] it all the days of your life.

18 And thorns and thistles shall sprout for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field.

19 By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until your return to the ground. For from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

20 And the man {named} his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all life.

21 And Yahweh God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and he clothed them.

22 And Yahweh God said, "Look--the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil. {What if} he stretches out his hand and takes also from the tree of life and eats, and lives forever?"

23 And Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.

24 So he drove the man out, and placed cherubim east of the garden of Eden, and {a flaming, turning sword} to guard the way to the tree of life.

1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. And she said, "I have given birth to a man with [the help of] Yahweh."

2 {Then she bore} his brother Abel. And Abel became a keeper of sheep, and Cain became a tiller of the ground.

3 And {in the course of time} Cain brought an offering from the fruit of the ground to Yahweh,

4 and Abel also brought [an offering] from {the choicest firstlings of his flock}. And Yahweh looked with favor to Abel and to his offering,

5 but to Cain and to his offering he did not look with favor. And Cain became very angry, and his face fell.

6 And Yahweh said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why is your face fallen?

7 If you do well {will I not accept you}? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire [is] for you, but you must rule over it."

8 Then Cain said to his brother Abel, ["Let us go out into the field."] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

9 Then Yahweh said to Cain, "Where [is] Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"

10 And he said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.

11 So now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand.

12 When you till the ground {it shall no longer yield its strength to you}. You shall be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth."

13 And Cain said to Yahweh, "My punishment [is] greater than [I can] bear.

14 Look, you have driven me out today from the face of the ground, and from your face I must hide. I will be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth, and it will happen that whoever finds me will kill me."

15 Then Yahweh said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain will be avenged sevenfold." Then Yahweh put a sign on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him.

16 And Cain went out from the presence of Yahweh, and he settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. And when he built a city {he named the city after his son, Enoch}.

18 And to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.

19 And Lamech took to himself two wives. The name of the first [was] Adah, and the name of the second [was] Zillah.

20 And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and [those who have] livestock.

21 And the name of his brother [was] Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and wind instruments.

22 Then Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain who forged all [kinds of] tools of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain [was] Naamah.

23 Then Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, listen to my voice; O wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, Even a young man for injuring me.

24 If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech [will be avenged] seventy and seven [times].

25 Then Adam knew his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. And she called his name Seth, for [she said] "God has appointed to me another child in the place of Abel, because Cain killed him."

26 And as for Seth, he also fathered a son, and he called his name Enosh. At that time he began to call on the name of Yahweh.

1 This is the record of the generations of Adam. When God created Adam, he made him in the likeness of God.

2 Male and female he created them. And he blessed them. And he called their name "Humankind" when they were created.

3 And when Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he fathered a child in his likeness, according to his image. And he called his name Seth.

4 And the days of Adam after he fathered Seth were eight hundred years. And he fathered sons and daughters.

5 And all the days of Adam which he lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

6 When Seth had lived one hundred and five years, he fathered Enosh.

7 And after Seth had fathered Enosh he lived eight hundred and seven years, and fathered sons and daughters.

8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.

9 When Enosh lived ninety years, he fathered Kenan.

10 And after Enosh fathered Kenan he lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and fathered sons and daughters.

11 And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died.

12 When Kenan had lived seventy years, he fathered Mahalalel.

13 And after Kenan had fathered Mahalalel, he lived eight hundred and forty years, and fathered sons and daughters.

14 And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

15 When Mahalalel had lived sixty-five years, he fathered Jared.

16 And after Mahalalel had fathered Jared, he lived eight hundred and thirty years, and fathered sons and daughters.

17 And all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.

18 When Jared had lived one hundred and sixty-two years, he fathered Enoch.

19 And after Jared had fathered Enoch, he lived eight hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters.

20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.

21 When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he fathered Methuselah.

22 And Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah three hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters.

23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.

24 And Enoch walked with God, and he was no more, for God took him.

25 When Methuselah had lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, he fathered Lamech.

26 And after Methuselah had fathered Lamech, he lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and fathered sons and daughters.

27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.

28 When Lamech had lived one hundred and eighty-two years, he fathered a son.

29 And he called his name Noah, saying, "This one {shall relieve us} from our work, and from the hard labor of our hands, from the ground which Yahweh had cursed.

30 And after Lamech had fathered Noah he lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and he fathered sons and daughters.

31 All the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died.

32 When Noah {was five hundred years old}, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

1 And it happened [that], when humankind began to multiply on the face of the ground, daughters were born to them.

2 Then the sons of God saw the daughters of humankind, that they [were] beautiful. And they took for themselves wives from all that they chose.

3 And Yahweh said, "My Spirit shall not abide with humankind forever in that he [is] also flesh. And his days [shall be] one hundred and twenty years."

4 The Nephilim [were] upon the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God went into the daughters of humankind, and they bore children to them.

5 And Yahweh saw that the evil of humankind [was] great upon the earth, and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart [was] always only evil.

6 And Yahweh regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and {he was grieved in his heart}.

7 And Yahweh said, "I will destroy humankind whom I created from upon the face of the earth, from humankind, to animals, to creeping things, and to the birds of heaven, for I regret that I have made them."

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.

9 These [are] the generations of Noah. Noah [was] a righteous man, without defect in his generations. Noah walked with God.

10 And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 And the earth [was] corrupted before God, and the earth was filled [with] violence.

12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth.

13 And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh [has] come before me, for the earth was filled [with] violence because of them. Now, look, I [am going] to destroy them [along] with the earth.

14 Make for yourself an ark of cypress wood; you must make the ark [with] rooms, then you must cover it with pitch, inside and outside.

15 And this [is] how you must make it: the length of the ark, three hundred cubits; its width fifty cubits; its height, thirty cubits.

16 You must make a roof for the ark, and {finish it to a cubit above}. And [as for] the door of the ark, you must put [it] in its side. You must make it [with] a lower, second, and a third [deck].

17 And I, behold, I [am] about to bring the flood waters over the earth to destroy all flesh in which [is] the breath of life from under the heaven; everything that [is] on the earth shall perish.

18 And I will establish my covenant with you, and you must go into the ark--you, and your sons, and your wife, and the wives of your sons with you.

19 And of every living thing, from all flesh, you must bring two from every [kind] into the ark to keep [them] alive with you; they shall be male and female.

20 From the birds according to their kind, and from the animals according to their kind, from every creeping thing [on] the ground according to its kind--two from every kind shall come to you to keep [them] alive.

21 And [as for] you, take for yourself from every kind of food that is eaten. And you must gather [it] to yourself. And it shall be for you and for them for food."

22 And Noah did according to all that God commanded him; thus he did.

1 Then Yahweh said to Noah, "Go--you and all your household--into the ark, for I have seen you [are] righteous before me in this generation.

2 From all the clean animals you must take for yourself {seven pairs}, a male and its mate. And from the animals that [are] not clean [you must take] two, a male and its mate,

3 as well as from the birds of heaven {seven pairs}, male and female, {to keep their kind alive} on the face of the earth.

4 For {within seven days} I will send rain upon the earth [for] forty days and forty nights. And I will blot out all the living creatures that I have made from upon the face of the ground."

5 And Noah did according to all that Yahweh commanded him.

6 Noah {was six hundred years old} when the flood waters came upon the earth.

7 And Noah and his sons and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.

8 Of clean animals, and of animals which [are] not clean, and of the birds, and everything that creeps upon the ground,

9 {two of each} went to Noah, into the ark, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

10 And it happened [that] after seven days the waters of the flood came over the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month--on that day all the springs of the great deep were split open, and the windows of heaven were opened.

12 And the rain came upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

13 On this same day, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark,

14 they and all the living creatures according to their kind, and all the domesticated animals according to their kind, and all the creatures that creep upon the earth according to their kind, all the birds according to their kind, every winged creature.

15 And they came to Noah to the ark, {two of each}, from every living thing in which [was] the breath of life.

16 And those that came, male and female, of every living thing, came as God had commanded him. And Yahweh shut the door behind him.

17 And the flood came forty days and forty nights upon the earth. And the waters increased, and lifted the ark, and it rose up from the earth.

18 And the waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth. And the ark went upon the surface of the waters.

19 And the waters prevailed {overwhelmingly} upon the earth, and they covered all the high mountains which were under the entire heaven.

20 {The waters swelled fifteen cubits above the mountains, covering them}.

21 And every living thing that moved on the earth perished--the birds, and the domesticated animals, and the wild animals, and everything that swarmed on the earth, and all humankind.

22 Everything in whose nostrils [was] {the breath of life}, among all that [was] on dry land, died.

23 And he blotted out every living thing upon the surface of the ground, from humankind, to animals, to creeping things, and to the birds of heaven; they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah and those who [were] with him in the ark remained.

24 And the waters prevailed over the earth one hundred and fifty days.

1 And God remembered Noah and all the wild animals, and all the domesticated animals that [were] with him in the ark. And God caused a wind to blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.

2 And the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, and the rain from the heavens was restrained.

3 And the waters receded from the earth {gradually}, and the waters abated at the end of one hundred and fifty days.

4 And the ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.

5 And the waters {continued to recede} to the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.

6 And it happened [that] at the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made.

7 And he sent out a raven; {it went to and fro} until the waters were dried up from upon the earth.

8 And {he sent out a dove} to see [whether] the waters had subsided from upon the ground.

9 But the dove did not find a resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned to him into the ark, for the waters [were still] on the face of the earth. And he stretched out his hand and took her, and brought her to himself into the ark.

10 And he waited another seven days, and {again he sent out} the dove from the ark.

11 And the dove came to him {in the evening}, and behold, a freshly-picked olive tree leaf [was] in her mouth. And Noah knew that the waters had subsided from upon the earth.

12 And he waited {seven more days}, and he sent out the dove. But it did not return again to him.

13 And it happened that, in the six hundred and first year, in the first [month], on the first [day] of the month, the waters dried up from upon the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked. And behold, the face of the ground was dried up.

14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

15 And God spoke to Noah, saying:

16 "Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you.

17 Bring out with you all the living things which [are] with you, from all the living creatures--birds, and animals, and everything that creeps on the earth, and let them swarm on the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth."

18 So Noah went out, with his sons and his wife, and the wives of his sons with him.

19 Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, [and] everything [that] moves upon the earth, according to its families, went out from the ark.

20 And Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and he took from all the clean animals and from all the clean birds, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21 And Yahweh smelled the soothing fragrance, and Yahweh said {to himself}, "{Never again will I curse} the ground for the sake of humankind, because the inclination of the heart of humankind [is] evil from his youth. {Nor will I ever again destroy} all life as I have done.

22 {As long as the earth endures}, seed and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will not cease.

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

2 And fear of you and dread of you shall be upon every animal of the earth, and on every bird of heaven, [and] on everything that moves upon the ground, and on all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they shall be given.

3 Every moving thing that lives shall be for you as food. As [I gave] the green plants to you, I have [now] given you everything.

4 Only you shall not eat {raw flesh with blood in it}.

5 And {your lifeblood} I will require; from {every animal} I will require it. And from the hand of humankind, from the hand of [each] man to his brother I will require the life of humankind.

6 "[As for] the one shedding the blood of humankind, by humankind his blood shall be shed, for God made humankind in his own image.

7 "And you, be fruitful and multiply, swarm on the earth and multiply in it."

8 And God said to Noah and to his sons with him,

9 "As for me, behold, I am establishing my covenant with you and with your seed after you,

10 and with every living creature that [is] with you--the birds, the animals, and every animal of the earth with you, from all [that] came out of the ark to all the animals of the earth.

11 I am establishing my covenant with you, that never again will all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, nor will there ever be a flood that destroys the earth."

12 And God said, "This [is] the sign of the covenant that I am making between me and you, and between every living creature that [is] with you for future generations.

13 My bow I have set in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of [the] covenant between me and between the earth.

14 And when I make clouds appear over the earth the bow shall be seen in the clouds.

15 Then I will remember my covenant that [is] between me and you, and between every living creature, with all flesh. And the waters of a flood will never again {cause the destruction} of all flesh.

16 The bow shall be in the clouds, and I will see it, so as to remember [the] everlasting covenant between God and between every living creature, with all flesh that [is] upon the earth."

17 And God said to Noah, "This [is] the sign of the covenant which I am establishing between me and all flesh that [is] upon the earth.

18 Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark [were] Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham [was] the father of Canaan.)

19 These three [were] the sons of Noah, and from these {the whole earth was populated}.

20 And Noah began [to be] a man of the ground, and he planted a vineyard.

21 And he drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he exposed himself in the midst of his tent.

22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and he told his two brothers outside.

23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, and the two of them put [it] on [their] shoulders and, walking backward, they covered the nakedness of their father. And their faces [were turned] backward, so that they did not see the nakedness of their father.

24 Then Noah awoke from his drunkenness, and he knew what his youngest son had done to him.

25 And he said, "Cursed [be] Canaan, a slave of slaves he shall be to his brothers."

26 Then he said, "Blessed [be] Yahweh, the God of Shem, and let Canaan be a slave to them.

27 May God make space for Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be a slave for him."

28 And Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.

29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.

1 These [are] the generations of the sons of Noah--Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Children were born to them after the flood.

2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

3 And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

4 And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

5 From these the coastland peoples spread out through their lands, each according to his own language by their own families, in their nations.

6 And the sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.

7 And the sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

8 And Cush fathered Nimrod. {He was the first on earth to be a mighty warrior}.

9 He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it was said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Yahweh."

10 Now, the beginning of his kingdom [was] Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

11 From that land he went out [to] Assyria, and he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,

12 Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that [is] the great city.

13 And Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim,

14 Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.

15 Canaan fathered Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth,

16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,

17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,

18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad.

19 And the territory of the Canaanites [was] from Sidon {in the direction of} Gerar as far as Gaza, and {in the direction of} Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

20 These [are] the descendants of Ham, according to their families and their languages, in their lands, and in their nations.

21 And to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the older brother of Japheth, [children] were also born.

22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

23 And the sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.

24 And Arphaxad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber.

25 And to Eber two sons were born. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and the name of his brother [was] Joktan.

26 And Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,

27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,

28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these [were] the sons of Joktan.

30 And their dwelling [place] {extended from} Mesha {in the direction of} Sephar [to] the hill country of the east.

31 These [are] the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, and according to their nations.

32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations [and] in their nations. And from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

1 Now the whole earth [had] one language and the same words.

2 And as people migrated from the east they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

3 And they said {to each other}, "Come, let us make bricks and {burn them thoroughly}." And they had brick for stone and they had tar for mortar.

4 And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top [reaches to] the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

5 Then Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that {humankind} was building.

6 And Yahweh said, "Behold, {they are one people with one language}, and {this is only the beginning of what they will do}. So now nothing that they intend to do will be impossible for them.

7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand {each other's language}."

8 So Yahweh scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city.

9 Therefore its name was called Babel, for there Yahweh confused the language of the whole earth, and there Yahweh scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

10 These are the generations of Shem. When Shem {was one hundred years old}, he fathered Arphaxad, two years after the flood.

11 And Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arphaxad, and he fathered [other] sons and daughters.

12 When Arphaxad had lived thirty-five years, he fathered Shelah.

13 And Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered [other] sons and daughters.

14 When Shelah had lived thirty years, he fathered Eber.

15 And Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he fathered Eber, and he fathered [other] sons and daughters.

16 When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he fathered Peleg.

17 And Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered [other] sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg had lived thirty years, he fathered Reu.

19 And Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he fathered Reu, and he fathered [other] sons and daughters.

20 When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he fathered Serug.

21 And Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he fathered Serug, and he fathered [other] sons and daughters.

22 When Serug had lived thirty years, he fathered Nahor.

23 And Serug lived two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and he fathered [other] sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he fathered Terah.

25 And Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he fathered Terah, and he fathered [other] sons and daughters.

26 When Terah had lived seventy years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot.

28 And Haran died in the presence of Terah his father in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of the wife of Abram [was] Sarai, and the name of the wife of Nahor [was] Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.

30 And Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, {his grandson}, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son, and went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to Haran, and they settled there.

32 And the days of Terah [were] two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

1 And Yahweh said to Abram, "Go out from your land and from your relatives, and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you.

2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing.

3 And I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse. And all families of the earth will be blessed in you."

4 And Abram went [out] as Yahweh had told him, and Lot went with him. Now Abram {was seventy-five years old} when he went out from Haran.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot {his nephew}, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and all the persons that they had acquired in Haran, and they went out to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to the land of Canaan.

6 And Abram traveled through the land up to the place of Shechem, to the Oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites [were] in the land at that time.

7 And Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." And he built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him.

8 And he moved on from there to the hill country, east of Bethel. And he pitched his tent at Bethel on the west, and at Ai on the east. And he built an altar there to Yahweh. And he called on the name of Yahweh.

9 {And Abram kept moving on}, toward the Negev.

10 And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down to Egypt to dwell as an alien there, for the famine was severe in the land.

11 And it happened [that] as he drew near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, "Look now, I know that you are a woman beautiful of appearance,

12 and it shall happen [that], if the Egyptians see you, then they will say, 'This [is] his wife,' then they will kill me but let you live.

13 Please say you are my sister so that it will go well for me on your account. {Then I will live} on account of you."

14 And it happened [that] as Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman, that she [was] very beautiful.

15 And the officials of Pharaoh saw her, and they praised her [beauty] to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh.

16 And he dealt well with Abram on account of her, and he had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

17 Then Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues on account of the matter of Sarai the wife of Abram.

18 Then Pharaoh called for Abram and said, "What [is] this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she [was] your wife?

19 Why did you say 'She [is] my sister,' so that I took her to myself as a wife? Now then, here [is] your wife. Take her and go."

20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and then sent him and his wife and all that [was] with him away.

1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that [was] with him. And Lot [went] with him to the Negev.

2 Now Abram [was] very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

3 And he went according to his journey from the Negev, then to Bethel, to the place where his tent was at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,

4 to the place where he had made an altar at the beginning. And Abram called on the name of Yahweh there.

5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had herds and tents.

6 And the land could not {support them} [so as] to live together, because their possessions were [so] many that they were not able to live together.

7 And there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of the livestock of Abram and the herdsmen of the livestock of Lot. Now at that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land.

8 Then Abram said to Lot, "Please, let there not be quarreling between me and you, and between my shepherds and your shepherds, for we men [are] brothers.

9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If [you want what is on] the left, then I will go right; if [you want what is on] the right, I will go left."

10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw the whole plain of the Jordan, that all of it [was] well-watered land--[this was] before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah--like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt {in the direction of} Zoar.

11 So Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan. And Lot journeyed from the east, and so they separated {from each other}.

12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot settled in the cities of the plain. And he pitched his tent toward Sodom.

13 Now the men of Sodom {were extremely wicked sinners against Yahweh}.

14 And Yahweh said to Abram after Lot had separated from him, "Now, lift up your eyes and look from the place where you [are] to the north, and to the south, and to the east and to the west,

15 for all the land which you see I will give to you, and to your descendants, forever.

16 I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth which, if anyone were able to count the dust of the earth, your descendants would be [so] counted.

17 Arise, go through the length of the land and through its breadth, for I will give it to you."

18 So Abram pitched his tent, and he came and settled at the oaks of Mamre, which [were] at Hebron. And there he built an altar to Yahweh.

1 And it happened [that] in the days of Amraphel, the king of Shinar, Arioch, the king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer, the king of Elam, and Tidal, the king of Goiim,

2 made war with Bera, the king of Sodom, and Birsha, the king of Gomorrah, Shinab, the king of Admah, and Shemeber, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that [is], Zoar).

3 All these joined forces at the valley of Siddim (that [is], the sea of the salt).

4 Twelve years they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

5 In the fourteenth year Kedorlaomer and the kings who [were] with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-Kiriathaim,

6 And the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El-Paran, which is at the wilderness.

7 Then they turned back and came to En-Mishpat (that [is], Kadesh). And they defeated the whole territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were living in Hazazon-Tamar.

8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that [is], Zoar) went out, and {they took up battle position} in the Valley of Siddim

9 with Kedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar, four kings against five.

10 Now the Valley of Siddim {was full of tar pits}. And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and {fell into them}, but the rest fled to the mountains.

11 So they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions, and they left.

12 And they took Lot, the son of the brother of Abram, and his possessions, and left. (Now he had been living in Sodom.)

13 Then one who escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew. And he was living at the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner. {They were allies with Abram}.

14 When Abram heard that his {relative} was taken captive, he summoned his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen [of them], and he went in pursuit up to Dan.

15 And he divided [his trained men] against them at night, he and his servants. And he defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, which [is] north of Damascus.

16 And he brought back all the possessions. And he also brought back Lot, his {relative}, and his possessions, and the women and the people as well.

17 After his return from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who [were] with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that [is], the Valley of the King).

18 And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. (He was the priest of God Most High).

19 And he blessed him and said, "Blessed [be] Abram by God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth.

20 And blessed [be] God Most High who delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave to him a tenth of everything.

21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, but the possessions take for yourself."

22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth,

23 {that neither a thread nor} a thong of a sandal would I take from all that [belongs] to you, that you might not say, 'I made Abram rich.'

24 {Nothing besides what} the servants have eaten and the share of the men who went out with me [will I take.] Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share."

1 After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying: "Do not be afraid, Abram; I [am] your shield, [and] your reward [shall be] very great."

2 Then Abram said, "O Yahweh, my Lord, what will you give me? {I continue to be} childless, and {my heir} is Eliezer of Damascus."

3 And Abram said, "Look, you have not given me a descendant, and here, {a member of my household} [is] {my heir}."

4 And behold, the word of Yahweh [came] to him saying, "This [person] will not {be your heir}, but {your own son will be your heir}."

5 And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them." And he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

6 And he believed in Yahweh, and he reckoned it to him [as] righteousness.

7 And he said to him, "I [am] Yahweh, who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give this land to you, to possess it."

8 And he said, "O Yahweh God, how shall I know [that] I will possess it?"

9 And he said to him, "Take for 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."

10 And he took for him all these and cut them in pieces down the middle. And he put each piece opposite {the other}, but the birds he did not cut.

11 And the birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

12 And it happened, as the sun {went down}, then a deep sleep fell upon Abram and, behold, a great terrifying darkness fell upon him.

13 And he said to Abram, "{You must surely know} that your descendants shall be [as] aliens in a land {not their own}. And they shall serve them and they shall oppress them four hundred years.

14 And also the nation that they serve I will judge. Then afterward they shall go out with great possessions.

15 And [as for] you, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.

16 And the fourth generation shall return here, for the guilt of the Amorites {is not yet complete}."

17 And after the sun had gone down and it [was] dusk, behold, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between those half pieces.

18 On that day Yahweh {made} a covenant with Abram saying, "To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates river,

19 [the land of] the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,

20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,

21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."

1 Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had borne him no children. And she had a female Egyptian servant, and her name [was] Hagar.

2 And Sarai said to Abram, "Look, please, Yahweh has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my servant; perhaps {I will have children by her}." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

3 Then Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar, her Egyptian servant, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband as his wife.

4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And [when] she saw that she had conceived, then her mistress grew small in her eyes.

5 And Sarai said to Abram, "may my harm [be] upon you. {I had my servant sleep with you}, and [when] she saw that she had conceived, {she no longer respected me}. May Yahweh judge between me and you!"

6 And Abram said to Sarai, "Look, your servant [is] {under your authority}. Do to her that which [is] good in your eyes." And Sarai mistreated her, and she fled from her presence.

7 And the angel of Yahweh found her at a spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring by the road of Shur.

8 And he said to Hagar, the servant of Sarai, "{From where} have you come, and where are you going?" And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of Sarai my mistress."

9 Then the angel of Yahweh said to her, "Return to your mistress and submit yourself under {her authority}."

10 And the angel of Yahweh said to her, "{I will greatly multiply} your offspring, so that they cannot be counted for [their] abundance."

11 And the angel of Yahweh said to her: "Behold, you are pregnant and shall have a son. And you shall call his name Ishmael, for Yahweh has listened to your suffering.

12 And he shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand [will be] against everyone, and the hand of everyone [will be] against him, and he will live {in hostility with all his brothers}."

13 So she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, "You [are] El-Roi," for she said, "Here I have seen after he who sees me."

14 Therefore the well was called Beer-Lahai-Roi; behold, it [is] between Kadesh and Bered.

15 And Hagar had a child for Abram, a son. And Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore to him, Ishmael.

16 And Abram [was] eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

1 When Abram [was] ninety-nine years old Yahweh appeared to Abram. And he said to him, "I [am] El-Shaddai; walk before me and be blameless

2 so that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you {exceedingly}."

3 Then Abram fell upon his face and God spoke with him, saying,

4 "[As for] me, behold, my covenant [shall be] with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.

5 Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.

6 And I will make you {exceedingly} fruitful. I will make you a nation, and kings shall go out from you.

7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and between your offspring after you, throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant to be as God for you and to your offspring after you.

8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you {the land in which you are living as an alien}, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting property. And I will be to them as God."

9 And God said to Abraham, "Now [as for] you, you must keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you, throughout their generations.

10 This [is] my covenant which you shall keep, between me and you, and [also] with your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

12 And {at eight days of age} you shall yourselves circumcise every male [belonging] to your generations [and] {the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner} who is not from your offspring.

13 {You must certainly circumcise} {the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner}. And my covenant shall be with your flesh as an everlasting covenant.

14 And [as for any] uncircumcised male who has not circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.

15 And God said to Abraham, "[as for] Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [shall be] her name.

16 And I will bless her; moreover, I give to you from her a son. And I will bless her, and {she shall give rise to nations}. Kings of peoples shall come from her."

17 And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. And he said in his heart, "{Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old}, or {can Sarah bear a child at ninety}?"

18 And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!"

19 And God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear a son for you, and you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant to his offspring after him.

20 And [as for] Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I will bless him and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him {exceedingly}. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this appointed time next year."

22 When he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.

23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son and all who were born of his house, and all [those] acquired by his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on the same day that God spoke with him.

24 Abraham [was] ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin.

25 And Ishmael his son [was] thirteen years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin.

26 Abraham and his son Ishmael [were] circumcised on the same day.

27 And all the men of his house, {those born in the house, and those acquired by money from a foreigner}, were circumcised with him.

1 And Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And he was sitting in the doorway of the tent at the heat of the day.

2 And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing near him. And he saw [them] and ran from the doorway of the tent to meet them. And he bowed down to the ground.

3 And he said, "My lord, if I have found favor in your eyes do not pass by your servant.

4 Let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and rest under the tree.

5 And let me bring a piece of bread, then refresh {yourselves}. Afterward you can pass on, {once} you have passed by with your servant." Then they said, "Do so as you have said."

6 Then Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and he said, "Quickly--make three seahs of fine flour for kneading and make bread cakes!"

7 And Abraham ran to the cattle and took a {calf}, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, and he made haste to prepare it.

8 Then he took curds and milk, and the calf which he prepared, and set [it] before them. And he was standing by them under the tree while they ate.

9 And they said to him, "Where [is] Sarah your wife?" And he said, "Here, in the tent."

10 And he said, "I will certainly return to you {in the spring}, and look, Sarah your wife [will have] a son." Now Sarah [was] listening at the doorway of the tent, and which [was] behind him.

11 Now Abraham and Sarah [were] old, {advanced in age}; {the way of women} had ceased to be for Sarah.

12 So Sarah laughed to herself saying, "After I am worn out and my husband is old, shall [this] pleasure be to me?"

13 Then Yahweh said to Abraham, "What [is] this [that] Sarah laughed, saying, 'Is it indeed true [that] I will bear a child, now [that] I have grown old?'

14 Is anything too difficult for Yahweh? At the appointed time I will return to you {in the spring} and Sarah [shall have] a son."

15 But Sarah denied [it], saying, "I did not laugh," because she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh."

16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked down upon Sodom. And Abraham went with them {to send them on their way}.

17 Then Yahweh said, "Shall I conceal from Abraham what I [am going] to do?

18 Abraham will surely become a great and strong nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed on account of him.

19 For I have chosen him, that he will command his children and his household after him that they will keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice, so that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham that which he said to him."

20 Then Yahweh said, "Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah [is] great and because their sin [is] very {serious},

21 I will go down and I will see. Have they done altogether according to its cry of distress [which] has come to me? If not, I will know."

22 And the men turned from there and went toward Sodom. And Abraham [was] still standing before Yahweh.

23 And Abraham drew near [to Yahweh] and said, "Will you also sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

24 If perhaps there are fifty righteous in the midst of the city, will you also sweep [them] away and not forgive the place on account of the fifty righteous in her midst?

25 Far be it from you to do such a thing as this, to kill [the] righteous with [the] wicked, that the righteous would be as the wicked! Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do justice?"

26 And Yahweh said, "If I find fifty righteous in Sodom, in the midst of the city, then I will forgive the whole place for their sake."

27 Then Abraham answered and said, "Look, please, I was bold to speak to my Lord, but I [am] dust and ashes.

28 Perhaps the fifty righteous are lacking five--will you destroy the whole city on account of the five?" And he answered, "I will not destroy [it] if I find forty-five there."

29 And {once again he spoke} to him and said, "What if forty are found there?" And he answered, "I will not do [it] on account of the forty."

30 And he said, "Please, let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if thirty be found there?" And he answered, "I will not do [it] if I find thirty there."

31 And he said, "Please, now, I was bold to speak to my Lord. What if twenty be found there?" And he answered, "I will not destroy [it] for the sake of the twenty."

32 And he said, "Please, let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak only once more. What if ten are found there?" And he answered, "I will not destroy [it] for the sake of the ten."

33 Then Yahweh left, as he finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

1 And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening. And Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. Then Lot saw [them] and stood up to meet them. And he bowed down [with his] face to the ground.

2 And he said, "Behold, my lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you can rise early and go on your way." And they said, "No, but we will spend the night in the square."

3 But {he urged them strongly}, and they turned aside with him and came into his house. And he made a meal for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

4 Before they laid down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people {to the last man}, surrounded the house.

5 And they called to Lot and said to him, "Where [are] the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may know them."

6 But Lot went out to them at the entrance, and he shut the door behind him.

7 And he said, "No, my brothers, please do not do [such a] wrong [thing].

8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known a man. Please, let me bring them out to you; then do to them as [it seems] good in your eyes. Only to these men do not do [this] thing, since they came under{ my roof} for protection."

9 But they said, "Step aside!" Then they said, "{This fellow} came to dwell as a foreigner and he acts as a judge! Now we shall do worse to you than them!" And they pressed very hard against the man, against Lot, and they drew near to break the door.

10 Then the men reached out [with] their hands and brought Lot in to them, into the house, and they shut the door.

11 And the men who [were] at the entrance of the house they struck with blindness, both small and great, and they were unable to find the entrance.

12 Then the men said to Lot, "Who [is] here with you? Bring out from the place [your] sons-in-law, and your sons and your daughters, and all who [are] with you in the city.

13 For we are [about to] destroy this place, because their cry has become great before Yahweh. Yahweh sent us to destroy it."

14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law [who were] taking his daughters and said, "Get up! Go out from this place, because Yahweh [is going] to destroy the city!" But {it seemed like a joke} in the eyes of his sons-in-law.

15 And as the dawn came up the angels urged Lot saying, "Get up, take your wife and your two daughters {who are staying with you}, lest you be destroyed with the punishment of the city."

16 But [when] he lingered, the men seized him by his hand and his wife's hand, and his two daughters by hand, on account of the mercy of Yahweh upon him. And they brought him out and set him outside of the city.

17 And after bringing them outside [one] said, "Flee for your life; do not look behind you, and do not stand anywhere in the plain. Flee to the mountains lest you be destroyed."

18 And Lot said to them, "No, please, my lords.

19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your eyes and {you have shown me great kindness} in saving my life. But I cannot flee to the mountains, lest the disaster overtake me and I die.

20 Behold, this city [is] near [enough] to flee there, and it [is a] little [one]. Please, let me flee there. Is it not a little [one]? Then my life shall be saved."

21 And he said to him, "Behold, {I will grant this favor as well}; that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.

22 Escape there quickly, for I cannot do [this] thing until you get there." Therefore, there name of the city was called Zoar.

23 [After] the sun {had risen} upon the earth and Lot had entered Zoar,

24 Yahweh rained down from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh.

25 And he overthrew those cities and the whole plain, and the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground.

26 But his wife looked {back}, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 And Abraham arose early in the morning [and went] to the place where he had stood before Yahweh.

28 And he looked down upon the surface of Sodom and Gomorrah, and upon the whole surface of the land, the plain. And he saw that, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a smelting furnace.

29 So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out from the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

30 And Lot went out from Zoar and settled in the hill country with his two daughters, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. So he lived in a cave, he and his two daughters.

31 And the firstborn [daughter] said to the younger one, "Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to come in to us according to the manner of all the land.

32 Come, let us give our father wine to drink and let us lie with him that {we may secure descendants through our father}."

33 And they gave their father wine to drink that night, and the firstborn went and lay with her father, but he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

34 And it happened [that], the next day the firstborn said to the younger one, "Look, I laid with my father last night. Let us give him wine to drink also tonight, then go and lie with him that {we may secure descendants through our father}."

35 And they gave their father wine to drink again that night, and the younger got up and lay with him, but he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

36 And the two daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father.

37 The firstborn gave birth to a son, and she called his name Moab. He [is] the father of Moab until this day.

38 And the younger, she also gave birth to a son, and she called his name Ben-Ammi. He [is] the father of the {Ammonites} until this day.

1 And Abraham journeyed from there to the land of the Negev, and he settled between Kadesh and Shur. And he dwelled as an alien in Gerar.

2 And Abraham said about Sarah his wife, "She [is] my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

3 And God came to Abimelech in a dream at night. And he said to him, "Look, you [are] a dead man on account of the woman you have taken. For she [is] {a married woman}."

4 Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, "my Lord, will you even kill a righteous people?"

5 Did not he himself say to me, 'She [is] my sister'? And she herself said, 'He [is] my brother.' With integrity of my heart and with cleanness of my hands I did this."

6 Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you did this, and I also {kept you from sinning} against me. Therefore, I did not allow you to touch her.

7 So now, return the wife of the man, for he [is] a prophet, so that he will pray for you and you will live. And {if you do not return her}, know that you will certainly die, and all that [are] yours."

8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning. And he called all his servants and {told them all these things}, and the men were very afraid.

9 And Abimelech called for Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you that you brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? You have done things to me that should not be done."

10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, "{What were you thinking} that you did this thing?"

11 And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place; they will kill me on account of the matter of my wife.

12 {Besides}, she [is] my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife.

13 And it happened [that] as God caused me to wander from the house of my father I said to her, 'This [is] your loyal kindness that you must do for me at every place where we come: say concerning me, "He [is] my brother." '"

14 And Abimelech took sheep and cattle and male slaves and female slaves, and he gave [them] to Abraham. And he returned Sarah his wife to him.

15 And Abimelech said, "Here [is] my land before you; settle {where it pleases you}."

16 And to Sarah he said, "Look, I have given a thousand [pieces of] silver to your brother. It [shall be] {an exoneration}. {You are vindicated before all who are with you}."

17 And Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his female servants so that they [could] bear children [again].

18 For Yahweh had completely closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of the matter of Sarah, the wife of Abraham.

1 And Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said. And Yahweh did to Sarah as he had promised.

2 And she conceived, and Sarah bore to Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him.

3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.

4 And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son [when he was] eight days old, as God had commanded him.

5 And Abraham [was] one hundred years old when Isaac his son was born to him.

6 And Sarah said, "God has made laughter for me; all who hear will laugh for me."

7 And she said, "Who would announce to Abraham [that] Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son [to Abraham] in his old age."

8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned.

9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne Abraham, mocking.

10 Then she said to Abraham, "Drive out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman will not be heir with my son, with Isaac."

11 And the matter {displeased Abraham very much} on account of his son.

12 Then God said to Abraham, "{Do not be displeased} on account of the boy and on account of the slave woman. {Listen to everything that Sarah said to you}, for through Isaac [your] offspring will be named.

13 And I will also make the son of the slave woman into a nation, for he is your offspring."

14 Then Abraham rose up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave [it] to Hagar, putting [it] on her shoulder. And he sent her away with the child, and she went, wandering about in the wilderness, in Beersheba.

15 And when the water was finished from the skin, she put the child under one of the bushes.

16 And she went and {she sat a good distance away}, for she said, "Let me not see the child's death." So she sat away from him and lifted up her voice and wept.

17 And God heard the cry of the boy and the angel of God called to Hagar from the heavens and said to her, "{What is the matter} Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the cry of the boy {from where he is}.

18 Get up, take up the boy and take him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation."

19 And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave a drink to the boy.

20 And God was with the boy, and he grew and lived in the wilderness. And he became {an expert with a bow}.

21 And he lived in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

22 And it happened [that] at that time, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, "God [is] with you, in all that you do.

23 So now, swear to me here by God [that] you will not deal with me falsely, or with my descendants, or my posterity. According to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall [pledge] to do with me and with the land where you have dwelled as an alien."

24 And Abraham said, "I swear."

25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelech on account of the well of water that servants of Abimelech had seized.

26 And Abimelech said, "I do not know who did this thing, neither did you tell me, nor have I heard [of it] except for today."

27 And Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave [them] to Abimelech. And the two of them {made} a covenant.

28 Then Abraham set [off] seven ewe-lambs of the flock by themselves.

29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What [is the meaning of] these seven ewe-lambs that you have set [off] by themselves?"

30 And he said, "You shall take the seven ewe-lambs from my hand {as proof on my behalf} that I dug this well."

31 Therefore that place is called Beersheba, because there the two of them swore an oath.

32 And they {made} a covenant at Beersheba. And Abimelech, and Phicol his army commander stood and returned to the land of the Philistines.

33 And he planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of Yahweh, {the everlasting God}.

34 And Abraham dwelled as an alien in the land of the Philistines many days.

1 And it happened [that] after these things, God tested Abraham. And he said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I [am]."

2 And he said, "Take your son, your only child, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains where I will tell you."

3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. And he took two of his servants with him, and Isaac his son. And he chopped wood for a burnt offering. And he got up and went to the place which God had told him.

4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he saw the place at a distance.

5 And Abraham said to his servants, "You stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go up there. We will worship, then we will return to you."

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and placed [it] on Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand and the knife, and the two of them went together.

7 And Isaac said to Abraham his father, "My father!" And he said, "Here I [am], my son." And he said, "Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

8 And Abraham said, "{God will provide} the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went together.

9 And they came to the place that God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood. Then he bound Isaac his son and placed him on the altar atop the wood.

10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

11 And the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham! Abraham!" And he said, "Here I [am]."

12 And he said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the boy; do not do anything to him. For now I know that you are {one who fears} God, since you have not withheld your son, your only child, from me."

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, a ram was caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of that place "Yahweh {will provide}," {for which reason} it is said today, "on the mountain of Yahweh {it shall be provided}."

15 And the angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time from heaven.

16 And he said, "I swear by myself, declares Yahweh, that because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only child,

17 that I will certainly bless you and greatly multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the shore of the sea. And your offspring will take possession of the gate of his enemies.

18 All the nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring, because you have listened to my voice."

19 And Abraham returned to his servants, and they got up and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived in Beersheba.

20 And it happened [that] after these things, it was told to Abraham, "Look, Milcah has also borne children to your brother Nahor:

21 Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,

22 and Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel."

23 (Now, Bethuel fathered Rebekah). These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, the brother of Abraham.

24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

1 And {Sarah lived} one hundred and twenty-seven years; [these were] the years of the life of Sarah.

2 And Sarah died in Kiriath Arba; that [is] Hebron, in the land of Canaan.

3 And Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from his dead, and he spoke to the Hittites [and] said,

4 "I [am] a stranger and an alien among you; give to me {my own burial site} among you so that I may bury my dead from before me.

5 And the Hittites answered Abraham [and] said to him,

6 "Hear us, my lord, you [are] a mighty prince in our midst. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial sites. None of us {will withhold his burial site} from you [for] burying your dead."

7 And Abraham rose up and bowed to the people of the land, to the Hittites.

8 And he spoke with them, saying, "{If you are willing} [that] I bury my dead from before me, hear me and intercede for me with Ephron the son of Zohar,

9 that he may sell to me the cave of Machpelah which {belongs to him}, which [is] at the end of his field. At full value let him sell [it] to me in your midst as {a burial site}."

10 Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city, [and] said,

11 "No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field and the cave which [is] in it, I [also] give it to you in the sight of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead."

12 And Abraham bowed before the people of the land.

13 And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "{If only you will hear me}--I give the price of the field. Take [it] from me that I may bury my dead there."

14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him

15 "My lord, hear me. A [piece of] land [worth] four hundred shekels of silver--what [is] that between me and you? Bury your dead."

16 Then Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver {at the merchants' current rate}.

17 So the field of Ephron which [was] in the Machpelah, which [was] near Mamre--the field and the cave which [was] in it, with all the trees that [were] in the field, which [were] within all its surrounding boundaries--{passed}

18 to Abraham as a property in the presence of the Hittites, with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city.

19 And thus afterward Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah near Mamre; that [is] Hebron, in the land of Canaan

20 And the field and the cave which [was] in it {passed} to Abraham as {a burial site} from the Hittites.

1 Now Abraham [was] old, {advanced in age}, and Yahweh had blessed Abraham in everything.

2 And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all he had, "Please put your hand under my thigh

3 that I may make you swear by Yahweh, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose midst I am dwelling,

4 but that you will go to my land and to my family, and take a wife for my son, for Isaac."

5 And the servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman will not be willing {to follow} me to this land--must I then return your son to the land from whence you came?"

6 Abraham said to him, "{You must take care} that you do not return my son there.

7 Yahweh, the God of heaven who took me from the house of my father and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, 'to your offspring I will give this land,' he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.

8 And if the woman is not willing {to follow} you, then you shall be released from this oath of mine--only you must not return my son there."

9 Then the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and he swore to him concerning this matter.

10 And the servant took ten camels from his master's camels, and he went with all [kinds of] his master's good things in his hand. And he arose and went to Aram-Naharaim, to the city of Nahor.

11 And he made the camels kneel outside the city at the well of water, at the time of evening, toward the time [the women] went out to draw water.

12 And he said, "O Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show loyal love to my master Abraham.

13 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are going out to draw water.

14 And let it be [that] the girl to whom I shall say, 'Please, offer your jar that I may drink' and [who] says, 'Drink--and I will also water your camels,' she [is the one] you have chosen for your servant, for Isaac. By her I will know that you have shown loyal love to my master."

15 And it happened [that] before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah--who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham--came out, and her jar [was] on her shoulder.

16 Now the girl [was] very pleasing in appearance. [She was] a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up.

17 And the servant ran to meet her. And he said, "Please, let me drink a little of the water from your jar."

18 And she said, "Drink, my lord." And she quickly lowered her jar in her hand and gave him a drink.

19 When she finished giving him a drink she said, "I will also draw water for your camels until they finish drinking."

20 And she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water. And she drew water for all his camels.

21 And the man [was] gazing at her silently to know [if] Yahweh had made his journey successful or not.

22 And it happened [that] as the camels finished drinking the man took a gold ring of a half shekel in weight and two bracelets for her arms, ten shekels in weight,

23 and said, "Please tell me, whose daughter [are] you? Is there a place [at] the house of your father for us to spend the night?"

24 And she said to him, "I [am] the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor."

25 Then she said to him, "We have both straw and fodder in abundance, as well as a place to spend the night."

26 And the man knelt down and worshiped Yahweh.

27 And he said, "Blessed [be] Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld his loyal love and his faithfulness from my master. I [was] on the way [and] Yahweh led me [to] the house of my master's brother."

28 Then the girl ran and reported these things to the household of her mother.

29 Now Rebekah had a brother, and his name [was] Laban. And Laban ran out to the man toward the spring.

30 And when he saw the ring and the bracelets on the arms of his sister and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, [who] said, "Thus the man spoke to me," he went to the man. And behold, [he was] standing with the camels at the spring.

31 And he said, "Come, O blessed [one] of Yahweh. Why do you stand outside? Now I have prepared the house and a place for the camels."

32 And the man came to the house and unloaded the camels. And he gave straw and fodder to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who [were] with him.

33 {And food was placed before him} to eat. And he said, "I will not eat until {I have told my errand}." And he said, "Speak."

34 And he said, "I [am] the servant of Abraham.

35 Now Yahweh has blessed my master exceedingly, and he has become great. He has given to him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male slaves and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.

36 And Sarah, the wife of my master, has borne a son to my master after her old age. And he has given to him all that he has.

37 And my master made me swear, saying, 'Do not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I am living.

38 But you shall go to the house of my father, and to my family, and you shall take a wife for my son.'

39 And I said to my master, 'Perhaps the woman will not {follow} me.'

40 And he said to me, 'Yahweh, before whom I have walked, shall send his angel with you and will make your journey successful. And you shall take a wife for my son from my family, and from the house of my father.

41 Then you shall be released from my oath, when you come to my family. And if they will not give [a woman] to you, then you will be released from my oath.'

42 Then today I came to the spring, and I said, 'O Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, {if you would please make my journey successful}, upon which I am going.

43 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let it be [that] the young woman who comes out to draw water and to whom I say, "Please give me a little water to drink from your jar,"

44 let her say to me, "Drink; I will also draw water for your camels," she [is] the woman whom Yahweh has appointed for the son of my master.'

45 I had not yet finished speaking to myself when, behold, Rebekah [was] coming out with her jar on her shoulder. And she went down to the spring and drew water. And I said to her, 'Please give me a drink.'

46 And she hastened and let down her jar {from her shoulder} and said, 'Drink, and I will give a drink to your camels also.' Then I drank and she gave a drink to the camels also.

47 Then I asked her and said, 'Whose daughter [are] you?' And she said, 'The daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.' And I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms.

48 And I knelt down and worshiped Yahweh, and I praised Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who led me on the right way, to take the daughter of the brother of my master for his son.

49 So now, {if you are going to deal loyally and truly} with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, so that I may turn to [the] right or to [the] left."

50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered, and they said, "The matter has gone out from Yahweh; we are not able to speak bad or good to you.

51 Here [is] Rebekah before you. Take [her] and go; let her be a wife for the son of your master as Yahweh has spoken."

52 And it happened [that] when the servant of Abraham heard their words he bowed down to the ground to Yahweh.

53 And the servant brought out silver jewelry and gold jewelry, and garments, and he gave [them] to Rebekah. And he gave precious gifts to her brother and to her mother.

54 And he and the men who [were] with him ate and drank, and they spent the night. And they got up in the morning, and he said, "Let me go to my master."

55 And her brother and her mother said, "Let the girl remain with us ten days [or so]; after [that] she may go."

56 And he said to them, "Do not delay me. Now, Yahweh has made my journey successful. Let me go. I must go to my master."

57 And they said, "Let us call the girl and ask {her opinion}."

58 And they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go."

59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and the servant of Abraham and his men.

60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "You [are] our sister; may you become countless thousands; and may your offspring take possession of the gate of his enemies."

61 And Rebekah and her maidservants arose, and they mounted the camels and {followed} the man. And the servant took Rebekah and left.

62 Now Isaac [was] coming from the direction of Beer-Lahai-Roi. And he [was] living in the land of the Negev.

63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field {early in the evening}, and he lifted up his eyes and saw--behold, camels were coming.

64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac. And she got down from the camel.

65 And she said to the servant, "Who [is] this man walking around in the field to meet us?" And the servant said, "That [is] my master." And she took her veil and covered herself.

66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

67 And Isaac brought her to the tent of Sarah his mother. And he took Rebekah, and she became his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after [the death of] his mother.

1 Now Abraham again took a wife, and her name [was] Keturah.

2 And she bore to him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

3 And Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.

4 And the sons of Midian [were] Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All of these [were] the children of Keturah.

5 And Abraham gave all he had to Isaac.

6 But to the sons of Abraham's concubines Abraham gave gifts. And while he [was] still living he sent them away eastward, [away] from his son Isaac, to the land of the east.

7 Now these [are] the days of the years of {the life of Abraham}: one hundred and seventy-five years.

8 And Abraham passed away and died in a good old age, old and full of years. And he was gathered to his people.

9 And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, son of Zohar the Hittite, that [was] east of Mamre,

10 the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried and Sarah his wife.

11 And it happened [that] after the death of Abraham God blessed Isaac his son, and Isaac settled at Beer-Lahai-Roi.

12 Now these [are] the generations of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, that Hagar the Egyptian, the maidservant of Sarah, bore to Abraham.

13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names according to their family records. The firstborn of Ishmael [was] Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

16 These [are] the sons of Ishmael, and these [are] their names by their villages and by their encampments--12 leaders according to their tribes.

17 Now these [are] the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. And he passed away and died, and was gathered to his people.

18 They settled from Havilah to Shur, which [was] opposite Egypt, going toward Asshur, opposite; he {settled} opposite all his brothers.

19 Now these [are] the generations of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac,

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, as his wife.

21 And Isaac prayed to Yahweh on behalf of his wife, for she [was] barren. And Yahweh responded to his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

22 And the children in her womb jostled each other, and she said, "{If it is going to be like this, why be pregnant}?" And she went to inquire of Yahweh.

23 And Yahweh said to her, "Two nations [are] in your womb, and two peoples {from birth} shall be divided. And {one people shall be stronger than the other}. And [the] elder shall serve [the] younger."

24 And when her days to give birth were completed, then--behold--twins [were] in her womb.

25 And the first came out red, all {his body} [was] like a hairy coat, so they called his name Esau.

26 And afterward his brother came out, and his hand grasped the heel of Esau, so his name was called Jacob. And Isaac {was sixty years old} at their birth.

27 And the boys grew up. And Esau [was] a skilled hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob [was] a peaceful man, living [in] tents.

28 And Isaac loved Esau because {he could eat of his game}, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 Once Jacob cooked a thick stew, and Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted.

30 And Esau said to Jacob, "Give me {some of that red stuff} to gulp down, for I am exhausted!" (Therefore his name was called Edom).

31 Then Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright {first}."

32 And Esau said, "Look, I am going to die; now what [is] this birthright to me?"

33 Then Jacob said, "Swear to me {first}." And he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread, and thick lentil stew, and he ate and drank. Then he got up and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.

1 And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine which was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar.

2 And Yahweh appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land which I will show to you.

3 Dwell as an alien in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham you father.

4 And I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and I will give to your descendants all these lands. And all nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring,

5 because Abraham listened to my voice and kept my charge: my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.

7 When the men of the place asked concerning his wife, he said, "She [is] my sister," for he was afraid to say, "my wife," thinking "the men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for {she was beautiful}."

8 And it happened [that], {when he had been there a long time}, Abimelech the king of the Philistines looked through the window, and saw--behold--Isaac [was] fondling Rebekah his wife.

9 And Abimelech called Isaac and said, "Surely she [is] your wife. Now why did you say 'She [is] my sister'?" And Isaac said to him, "Because I thought I would die on account of her."

10 And Abimelech said, "What [is] this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have slept with your wife! Then you would have brought guilt upon us!"

11 Then Abimelech instructed all the people, saying, "The [one who] touches this man or his wife shall certainly die."

12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in that [same] year a hundredfold, and Yahweh blessed him.

13 And the man {became wealthier and wealthier} until he was exceedingly wealthy.

14 And he possessed sheep and cattle and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him.

15 And the Philistines stopped up all the wells that the servants of his father had dug in the days of Abraham his father. They filled them with earth.

16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go [away] from us, for you have become much too powerful for us."

17 So Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and settled there.

18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after the death of Abraham. And he gave to them {the same names} which his father had given them.

19 And when the servants of Isaac dug in the valley, they found a well of fresh water there.

20 Then the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, "The water is ours." And he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.

21 And they dug another well, and they quarreled over it also. And he called its name Sitnah.

22 Then he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. And he called its name Rehoboth, and said, "Now Yahweh has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."

23 And from there he went up to Beersheba.

24 And Yahweh appeared to him that night and said, "I [am] the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I [am] with you, and I will bless you and make your descendants numerous for the sake of my servant Abraham."

25 And he built an altar there and called on the name of Yahweh. And he pitched his tent there, and the servants of Isaac dug a well there.

26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his friend and Phicol his army commander.

27 And Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me? You hate me and sent me away from you."

28 And they said, "We see clearly that Yahweh has been with you, so we thought let there be an oath between us--between us and you--and let us {make} a covenant with you

29 that you may not do us harm just as we have not touched you, but have only done good to you and sent you away in peace. You [are] now blessed by Yahweh."

30 So he made a meal for them, and they ate and drank.

31 And they arose early in the morning and each one swore to the other, and Isaac sent them away. And they left him in peace.

32 And it happened [that] on that same day the servants of Isaac came and told him about the well that they had dug. And they said, "We have found water!"

33 And he called it Sheba. Therefore the name of the city [is] Beersheba unto this day.

34 And [when] Esau was forty years old he took as wife Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite.

35 And {they made life bitter} for Isaac and Rebekah.

1 And it happened [that] when Isaac [was] old and {his eyesight was weak}, he called Esau his older son and said to him, "My son." And he said to him, "Here I [am]."

2 And he said, "Look, I [am] old; I do not know the day of my death.

3 So now, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt food for me.

4 Then make for me tasty food like I love, and bring [it] to me. And I will eat [it] so that I can bless you before I die.

5 Now Rebekah [was] listening as Isaac spoke to Esau his son, and [when] Esau went to the field to hunt wild game to bring [back],

6 Rebekah said to Jacob her son, "Look, I heard your father speaking to Esau your brother saying,

7 'Bring wild game to me and prepare tasty food so I can eat [it] and bless you before Yahweh before my death.'

8 So now, my son, listen to my voice, to what I command you.

9 Go to the flock and take two good young goats from it for me, and I will prepare them [as] tasty food for your father, just as he likes.

10 Then you must take it to your father and he will eat [it] so that he may bless you before his death."

11 Then Jacob said to his mother, "Behold, Esau my brother [is] a hairy man, but I [am] a smooth man.

12 Perhaps my father will feel me and I will be in his eyes [as] a mocker, and he will bring upon me a curse and not a blessing."

13 Then his mother said to him, "Your curse be upon me, my son, only listen to my voice--go and get [them] for me."

14 So he went and took [them], and brought [them] to his mother, and his mother prepared tasty food as his father liked.

15 Then Rebekah took [some of] her older son Esau's best garments that [were] with her in the house, and she put [them] on Jacob her younger son.

16 And she put the skins of the young goats over his hands and over the smooth [part of] his neck.

17 And she put the tasty food and the bread that she had made into the hand of Jacob, her son.

18 And he went to his father and said, "My father." And he said, "Here I [am]. Who [are] you, my son?"

19 And Jacob said to his father, "I [am] Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please get up, sit up and eat from my wild game so that you may bless me."

20 Then Isaac said to his son, "{How} did you find [it] so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because Yahweh your God {caused me to find it}."

21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please, come near and let me feel you, my son. {Are you really} my son Esau or not?"

22 And Jacob drew near 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."

23 And he did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like the hands of Esau his brother. And he blessed him.

24 And he said, "{Are you really} my son Esau?" And he said, "I [am]."

25 Then he said, "Bring [it] near to me that I may eat from the game of my son, so that I may bless you." And he brought [it] to him, and he ate. And he brought wine to him, and he drank.

26 Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come near and kiss me, my son."

27 And he drew near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his garments, and he blessed him and said, "Look, the smell of my son [is] like the smell of a field that Yahweh has blessed!

28 May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth, and abundance of grain and new wine.

29 Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you; Be lord of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. Cursed be those cursing you, and blessed be those blessing you."

30 And as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, {immediately after} Jacob had gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came [back] from his hunting.

31 He too prepared tasty food and brought [it] to his father. And he said to his father, "Let my father arise and eat from the wild game of his son, that you may bless me."

32 And Isaac his father said to him, "Who [are] you?" And he said, "I [am] your son, your firstborn, Esau."

33 Then Isaac {trembled violently}. Then he said, "Who then [was] he that hunted wild game and brought [it] to me, and I ate [it] all before you came, and I blessed him? Moreover, he will be blessed!"

34 When Esau heard the words of his father he cried out [with] a great and exceedingly bitter cry of distress. And he said to his father, "Bless me as well, my father!"

35 And he said, "Your brother came in deceit and took your blessing."

36 Then he said, "{Isn't that why he is named Jacob}? He has deceived me these two times. He took my birthright and, look, now he has taken my blessing!" Then he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"

37 Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, "Behold, I have made him lord over you and I have given him all his brothers as servants, and [with] grain and wine I have sustained him. Now what can I do for you, my son?"

38 And Esau said to his father, "Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me also, my father!" And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him, "Your home shall be from the fatness of the land, and from the dew of heaven above.

40 But by your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother. But it shall be [that] when free yourself you shall tear off his yoke from your neck.

41 Then Esau held a grudge against Jacob on account of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are coming, then I will kill Jacob my brother."

42 But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. And she sent and called for her younger son Jacob. And she said to him, "Look, Esau your brother [is] consoling himself concerning you, [intending] to kill you.

43 Now then, my son, listen to my voice; arise and flee to Haran to Laban my brother.

44 Stay with him a few days until the wrath of your brother has turned--

45 until the anger of your brother turns from you and he has forgotten what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I lose the two of you in one day?"

46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from Hittite women like these, from the {native women}, {what am I living for}?"

1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. And he instructed him and said to him, "You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.

2 Arise, go to Paddan-Aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.

3 Now, may El-Shaddai bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, so that you become an assembly of peoples.

4 And may he give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojourning, which God gave to Abraham."

5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-Aram, to take for himself a wife from there, and he blessed him and instructed him, saying, "You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,"

7 and [that] Jacob listened to his father and to his mother and went to Paddan-Aram.

8 Then Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan [were] evil in the eyes of Isaac his father,

9 then Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham, sister of Nebaioth, as a wife, in addition to the wives he had.

10 Then Jacob went out from Beersheba and went to Haran.

11 And he arrived at 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 slept at that place.

12 And he dreamed, and behold, a stairway was set on the earth, and its top touched the heavens. And behold, angels of God [were] going up and going down on it.

13 And behold, Yahweh [was] standing beside him, and he said, "I [am] Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you [were] sleeping I will give to you and to your descendants.

14 Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and through your descendants.

15 Now behold, I [am] with you, and I will keep you wherever you go. And I will bring you to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to you."

16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely Yahweh {is indeed} in this place and I did not know!"

17 Then he was afraid and said, "How awesome [is] this place! {This is nothing else than the house of God}, and this is the gate of heaven!"

18 And Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up [as] a stone pillar, and poured oil on top of it.

19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; however, the name of the city [was] formerly Luz.

20 And Jacob made a vow saying, "If God will be with me and protect me on this way that I am going, and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear,

21 and [if] I return in peace to the house of my father, then Yahweh will become my God.

22 And this stone that I have set up [as] a pillar shall be the house of God, and [of] all that you give to me I will certainly give a tenth to you."

1 And Jacob {continued his journey} and went to the land of the Easterners.

2 And he looked, and behold, [there was] a well in the field, and behold, there [were] three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. And the stone on the mouth of the well [was] large.

3 And [when] all the flocks were gathered there, they rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well. And they watered the sheep and returned the stone upon the mouth of the well to its place.

4 And Jacob said to them, "My brothers, where [are] you from?" And they said, "We [are] from Haran."

5 And he said to them, "Do you know Laban, son of Nahor?" And they said, "We know [him]."

6 And he said to them, "{Is he well}?" And they said, "[He is] well. Now look, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep."

7 And he said, "Look, [it is] still {broad daylight}; it is not the time [for] the livestock to be gathered. Give water to the sheep and go, pasture them."

8 And they said, "We are not able, until all the flocks are gathered. Then the stone is rolled away from the mouth of the well, and we water the sheep."

9 While he was speaking with them, Rachel came with the sheep which belonged to her father, for she was pasturing [them].

10 And it happened [that], when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother, Jacob drew near and rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother.

11 And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept.

12 And Jacob told Rachel that he [was] the relative of her father, and that he [was] the son of Rebekah. And she ran and told her father.

13 And it happened [that] when Laban heard the message about Jacob, the son of his sister, he ran to meet him. And he embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things.

14 And Laban said to him, "Surely you [are] my flesh and my bone!" And he stayed with him a month.

15 Then Laban said to Jacob, "[Just] because you [are] my brother should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wage [should be]."

16 Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older [was] Leah, and the name of the younger [was] Rachel.

17 Now the eyes of Leah [were] dull, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance.

18 And Jacob loved Rachel and said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter."

19 Then Laban said, "Better [that] I give her to you than I give her to another man. Stay with me."

20 And Jacob worked for Rachel seven years, but they were as a few days in his eyes because he loved her.

21 And Jacob said to Laban, "Give [me] my wife, that I may go in to her, for {my time} is completed."

22 So Laban gathered all the men of the place and prepared a feast.

23 And it happened [that] in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to him, and he went in to her.

24 And Laban gave Zilpah his female servant to her, to Leah his daughter [as] a female servant.

25 And it happened [that] in the morning, behold, it [was] Leah! And he said to Laban, "What [is] this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Now why did you deceive me?"

26 Then Laban said, "{It is not the custom} in our country to give the younger before the firstborn.

27 Complete the week of this one, then I will also give you the other, {on the condition that you will work for me} another seven years."

28 And Jacob did so. So he completed the week of this [one], then he gave Rachel his daughter to him as a wife.

29 And Laban gave Bilhah his female servant to Rachel his daughter as a female servant.

30 Then he also went in to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with him yet another seven years.

31 When Yahweh saw that Leah [was] unloved he opened her womb, but Rachel [was] barren.

32 Then Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, "Because Yahweh has noticed my misery, that I [am] unloved. Now my husband will love me."

33 And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. And she said, "[It is] because Yahweh has heard that I [am] unloved that he gave me this [son] also." And she called his name Simeon.

34 And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. Then she said, "Now this time my husband will be joined to me, for I have borne him three sons." Therefore, she called his name Levi.

35 And she conceived again and gave birth to a son. And she said, "This time I will praise Yahweh." Therefore she called his name Judah. And she ceased bearing children.

1 When Rachel saw that she could not bear children to Jacob, Rachel envied her sister. And she said to Jacob, "Give me children--if not, I will die!"

2 And Jacob {became angry} with Rachel. And he said, "[Am] I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"

3 Then she said, "Here [is] my servant girl Bilhah; go in to her that she may bear children {as my surrogate}. Then I will even {have children} by her."

4 Then she gave him Bilhah, her female servant, as a wife, and Jacob went in to her

5 And Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son for Jacob.

6 Then Rachel said, "God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan.

7 And Bilhah, Rachel's servant, conceived again and bore a second son to Jacob.

8 And Rachel said, "I have struggled a mighty struggle with my sister and have prevailed." And she called his name Naphtali.

9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took Zilpah her female servant and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

10 And Zilpah, the female slave of Leah, bore a son to Jacob.

11 Then Leah said, "Good fortune!" And she called his name Gad.

12 And Zilpah, Leah's female servant, bore a second son to Jacob.

13 Then Leah said, "How happy [am] I! For women have called me happy." So she called his name Asher.

14 And in the days of the wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and he brought them to Leah his mother. And Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."

15 And she said to her, "[Is] your taking my husband [such] a small [thing] that you will also take the mandrakes of my son?" Then Rachel said, "Then he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes."

16 When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him. And she said, "Come in to me, for {I have hired} you with my son's mandrakes." And he slept with her that night.

17 And God listened to Leah and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob.

18 Then Leah said, "God has given [me] my wage since I gave my servant girl to my husband." And she called his name Issachar.

19 And Leah conceived again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob.

20 And Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good gift. This time my husband will acknowledge me, because I bore him six sons." And she called his name Zebulun.

21 And afterward she gave birth to a daughter. And she called her name Dinah.

22 Then God remembered Rachel and listened to her, and God opened her womb.

23 And she conceived and gave birth to a son. And she said, "God has taken away my disgrace."

24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, "Yahweh has added to me another son."

25 And it happened [that] as soon as Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away that I may go to my place and my land.

26 Give [me] my wives and my children for which I have served you, and let me go. For you yourself know my service that I have rendered to you."

27 But Laban said to him, "Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, I have learned by divination that Yahweh has blessed me because of you."

28 And he said, "Name your wage to me and I will give [it]."

29 Then he said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have been with me.

30 For you had little before me, and it has increased abundantly. And Yahweh has blessed you {wherever I turned}. So then, when shall I provide for my own family also?"

31 And he said, "What shall I give you?" And Jacob said, "Do not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flocks and keep [them].

32 Let me pass through all your flocks today, removing all the speckled and spotted sheep from them, along with every dark-colored sheep among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. That shall be my wages.

33 And my righteousness will answer for me {later} when you come concerning my wages before you. Every [one] that [is] not speckled or spotted among the goats, or dark-colored among the sheep shall be stolen [if it is] with me."

34 Then Laban said, "Look! Very well. It shall be according to your word."

35 But that day he removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats, all that [had] white on it, and every dark-colored ram, and {put them in the charge of his sons}.

36 And he put a journey of three days between him and Jacob, and Jacob pastured the remainder of Laban's flock.

37 Then Jacob took fresh branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled white strips on them, exposing the white which [was] on the branches.

38 And he set the branches that he had peeled in front of the flocks, in the troughs [and] in the water containers. And they were in heat when they came to drink.

39 And the flocks mated by the branches, so the flocks bore streaked, speckled, and spotted.

40 And Jacob separated the lambs and turned the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the dark-colored in Laban's flocks. And he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with the flocks of Laban.

41 And whenever any of the stronger of the flocks were in heat, Jacob put the branches {in full view} of the flock in the troughs that they might mate among the branches.

42 But with the more feeble of the flock he would not put [them there]. So the feebler were Laban's and the stronger [were] Jacob's.

43 And the man became {exceedingly} rich and had large flocks, female slaves, male slaves, camels, and donkeys.

1 Now he heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying, "Jacob has taken all that our father has," and "From that which [was] our father's he has gained all this wealth."

2 Then Jacob saw the face of Laban and, behold, {it was not like it had been in the past}.

3 And Yahweh said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your ancestors and to your family, and I will be with you."

4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flocks,

5 and he said to them, "Look, I see the face of your father, that {it is not like it has been toward me in the past}. But the God of my father is with me.

6 Now you yourselves know that I have served your father with all my strength,

7 and your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God has not allowed him to harm me.

8 If thus he said, 'Speckled shall be your wage,' then all the flock bore speckled. And [if] he said, 'Streaked shall be your wage,' then all the flock bore streaked.

9 God has taken away your father's livestock and given [them] to me.

10 Now it happened [that] at the time of the mating of the flock I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams mounting the flock [were] streaked, speckled, and dappled.

11 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I [am].'

12 And he said, 'Lift up your eyes and see--all the rams mounting the flock [are] streaked, speckled, and dappled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.

13 I [am] the God of Bethel where you anointed a stone pillar, where you made a vow to me. Now get up, go out from this land and return to the land of your birth.'"

14 Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, "[Is there] yet a portion for us, and an inheritance in the house of our father?

15 Are we not regarded [as] foreigners by him, because he has sold us and completely consumed our money?

16 For all the wealth that God has taken away from our father, it belongs to us and to our sons. So now, all that God has said to you, do."

17 Then Jacob got up and put his children and his wives on the camels.

18 And he drove all his livestock and his possessions that he had acquired, the livestock of his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-Aram, in order to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan.

19 Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole the idols that belonged to her father.

20 And Jacob {tricked} Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he [intended to] flee.

21 Then he fled with all that he had, and arose and crossed the Euphrates and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

22 And on the third day it was told to Laban that Jacob had fled.

23 Then he took his kinsmen with him and pursued after him, a seven-day journey, and he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.

24 And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, "{Take care} that you not speak with Jacob, whether good or evil."

25 And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his kinsmen pitched [their tents] in the hill country of Gilead.

26 Then Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done that you {tricked me} and have carried off my daughters like captives of the sword?

27 Why did you hide [your intention] to flee and {trick me}, and did not tell me so that I would have sent you away with joy and song and tambourine and lyre?

28 And [why] did you not give me opportunity to kiss my grandsons and my daughters [goodbye]? Now you have behaved foolishly [by] doing [this].

29 {It is in my power} to do harm to you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night saying, '{Take care} from speaking with Jacob, whether good or evil.'

30 Now, you have surely gone because you desperately longed for the house of your father, [but] why did you steal my gods?"

31 Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, "Because I [was] afraid, for I thought, 'Lest you take your daughters from me by force.'

32 [But] with whomever you find your gods, he shall not live. In the presence of your kinsmen [now] identify what [is] with me [that is] yours and take it." Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

33 Then Laban went into Jacob's tent and Leah's tent and the tent of the two female servants and did not find [his gods]. And he came out of Leah's tent and went into Rachel's tent.

34 Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them in the saddle bag of the camel and sat on them. And Jacob searched the whole tent thoroughly but did not find them.

35 And she said to her father, "Let there not be anger in the eyes of my lord, for I am not able to rise before you, for the way of women [is] with me. And he searched carefully and did not find the idols.

36 Then Jacob became angry and quarreled with Laban. Jacob answered and said to Laban, "What [is] my offense? What [is] my sin that you pursued after me?

37 For you have searched all my possessions and what did you find among all the possessions of my household? Set it before my kinsmen and your kinsmen that they may decide between the two of us!

38 These twenty years I [was] with you; your ewes and your female goats did not miscarry, and the rams of your flocks I did not eat.

39 I brought no mangled carcass to you--I bore its loss. From my hand you sought it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.

40 [There] I was, during the day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.

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 have changed my wages ten times.

42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac had not been with me, indeed now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my misery and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night."

43 Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, "The daughters [are] my daughters and the grandsons [are] my grandsons, and the flocks [are] my flocks, and all that you see, it [is] mine. Now, what can I do for these my daughters today, or for their children whom they have borne?

44 So now, come, let us {make} a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between me and you."

45 And Jacob took a stone and set it up [as] a stone pillar.

46 And Jacob said to his kinsmen, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a pile of stones, and they ate there by the pile of stones.

47 And Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.

48 Then Laban said, "This pile of stones [is] a witness between me and you today." Therefore its name is called Galeed,

49 and Mizpah, because he said, "Yahweh watch between me and you when {we are out of sight of each other}.

50 If you mistreat my daughters, and if you take wives besides my daughters, [when] there is no man with us, see--God [is] a witness between me and you."

51 And Laban said to Jacob, "See, this pile of stones, and see the pillar that I have set up between me and you.

52 This pile of stones [is] a witness, and the pillar [is] a witness, that I will not pass beyond this pile of stones to you, and that you will not pass beyond this pile of stones and this pillar to me intending harm.

53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father judge between us." Then Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

54 And Jacob sacrificed a sacrifice on the hill, and he called his kinsmen to eat the meal. And they ate the meal and spent the night on the hill.

55 And Laban arose early in the morning and kissed his grandsons and his daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his homeland.

1 And Jacob went on his way, and angels of God met him.

2 And when he saw them, Jacob said, "This [is] the camp of God!" And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

3 Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother, to the land of Seir, the territory of Edom.

4 And he instructed them, saying, "Thus you must say to my lord, to Esau, 'Thus says your servant Jacob, I have dwelled as an alien with Laban, and I have remained [there] until now.

5 And I have acquired cattle, male donkeys, flocks, and male and female slaves, and I have sent to tell my lord, to find favor in your eyes.'"

6 And the messengers returned to Jacob [and] said, "We came to your brother, to Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men [are] with him."

7 Then Jacob was very frightened and distressed. So he divided the people, flocks, cattle, and camels that [were] with him into two companies.

8 And he thought, "If Esau comes to one company and destroys it, the remaining company will be [able] to escape."

9 Then Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Yahweh, who said to me, 'Return to your land and to your family, and I will deal well with you.'

10 {I am not worthy} of all the loyal love and all the faithfulness that you have shown your servant, for with [only] my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.

11 Please rescue me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and attack mother and children [alike].

12 Now you yourself said, 'I will surely deal well with you and make your offspring as the sand of the sea that cannot be counted for abundance.'"

13 And he lodged there that night. Then he took {from what he had with him} a gift for Esau his brother:

14 two hundred female goats, twenty male goats, two hundred ewes, twenty rams,

15 thirty milk camels with their young, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten male donkeys.

16 And he put [them] under the hand of his servants, {herd by herd}, and said to his servants, "Cross on ahead before me, and put some distance {between herds}.

17 And he instructed the foremost, saying, "When Esau my brother comes upon you and asks you, saying, 'Whose [are] you and where are you going? To whom do these [animals] belong ahead of you?'

18 Then you must say, 'To your servant, to Jacob. It [is] a gift sent to my lord, to Esau. Now behold, he [is] also [coming] after us.'"

19 And he also instructed the second [servant] and the third, and everyone [else] who [was] behind the herds, saying, "You must speak to Esau according to this word when you find him.

20 And moreover, you shall say, 'Look, your servant Jacob [is] behind us.'" For he thought, "{Let me appease him} with the gift going before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will {show me favor}."

21 So the gift passed on before him, but he himself spent that night in the camp.

22 That night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

23 And he took them and sent them across the stream. Then he sent across all his possessions.

24 And Jacob remained alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the dawn.

25 And when he saw that he could not prevail against him, he struck his hip socket, so that Jacob's hip socket was sprained as he wrestled with him.

26 Then he said, "Let me go, for dawn is breaking." But he answered, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

27 Then he said to him, "What [is] your name?" And he said, "Jacob."

28 And he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed."

29 Then Jacob asked and said, "Please tell me your name." And he said, "Why do you ask this--for my name?" And he blessed him there.

30 Then Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [which means] "I have seen God face to face and my life was spared."

31 Then the sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.

32 Therefore the {Israelites} do not eat the sinew of the sciatic nerve that [is] upon the socket of the hip unto this day, because he struck the socket of the thigh of Jacob at the sinew of the sciatic nerve.

1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, Esau [was] coming and four hundred men [were] with him. And he divided the children among Leah and among Rachel, and among the two of his female servants.

2 And he put the female slaves and their children first, then Leah and her children next, then Rachel with Joseph last.

3 And he himself passed on before them and bowed down to the ground seven times until he came to his brother.

4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell upon his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

5 Then Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and the children and said, "Who [are] these with you?" And he said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant."

6 Then the female servants drew near, they and their children, and they bowed down.

7 Then Leah and her children drew near and bowed down, and afterward Joseph and Rachel drew near and they bowed down.

8 And he said, "{What do you mean by} all this company that I have met?" Then he said, "To find favor in the eyes of my lord."

9 Then Esau said, "{I have enough} my brother; {keep what you have}."

10 And Jacob said, "No, please, if I have found favor in your eyes, you must take my gift from my hand, for then I have seen your face [which is] like seeing the face of God, and you have received me.

11 Please take my gift which has been brought to you, for God has dealt graciously with me, and because {I have enough}." And he urged him, so he took [it].

12 Then he said, "Let us journey and go [on], and I will go ahead of you."

13 But he said to him, "My lord knows that the children [are] frail, and the flocks and the cattle [which are] nursing [are a concern] to me. Now [if] they drove them hard for a day all the flocks would die.

14 Let my lord pass on before his servant and I will move along slowly at the pace of the livestock that are ahead of me, and at the pace of the children until I come to my lord in Seir."

15 And Esau said, "Let me leave some of my people with you." But he said, "{What need is there}? Let me find favor in the eyes of my lord."

16 So Esau turned that day on his way to Seir.

17 But Jacob traveled on to Succoth, and he built for himself a house, and he made shelters for his livestock. Therefore he called the name of the place Succoth.

18 And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem which [is] in the land of Canaan, {on his way} from Paddan-Aram. And he camped before the city.

19 And he bought a piece of land where he pitched his tent for one hundred pieces of money from the hand of the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem.

20 And there he erected an altar and called it "El Elohe Israel."

1 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.

2 And Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. And he took her and lay with her and raped her.

3 And his soul clung to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke {tenderly} to the girl.

4 So Shechem said to Hamor his father, saying, "Get this girl for me as a wife."

5 And Jacob heard that Dinah his daughter had been defiled, but his sons were with his flocks in the field. And Jacob kept silent until they came.

6 And Hamor, father of Shechem, went out to Jacob to speak with him.

7 And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard [it]. And the men were distressed and very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by having sexual relations with the daughter of Jacob--{something that} should not be done.

8 And Hamor spoke with them saying, "Shechem my son {is in love with} your daughter. Please give her to him for a wife.

9 Make marriages with us. Give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves.

10 You shall dwell with us and the land shall be before you; settle and trade in it, and acquire [property] in it."

11 Then Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will do.

12 {Make the bride price and gift as high as you like}; I will give what you say to me. But give me the girl as a wife."

13 Then the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor speaking deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.

14 And they said to them, "We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who [is] uncircumcised, for that [is] a disgrace for us.

15 Only on this [condition] will we give consent to you; if you will become like us--every male among you to be circumcised.

16 Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take for ourselves your daughters, and we will live with you and become one family.

17 But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our daughters and we will go."

18 And their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem, the son of Hamor.

19 And the young man did not delay to do the thing, for he wanted the daughter of Jacob. Now he [was] the most honored of his father's house.

20 Then Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city, and they spoke to the men of their city, saying,

21 "These men [are] at peace with us. Let them dwell in the land and let them trade in it. Now, behold, the land is {broad enough for them}. Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give our daughters to them.

22 Only on this [condition] will they give consent to us, to live with us [and] to become one family--when every male among us [is] circumcised as they are circumcised.

23 Will not their livestock and their property and all their animals [be] ours? Only let us give consent to them so they will live among us."

24 And all those who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and Shechem. Every male was circumcised, all those who went out of the gate of his city.

25 And it happened [that] on the third day, while they were in pain, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, each took his sword and came against the unsuspecting city and killed all the males.

26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, and they took Dinah from the house of Shechem and went out.

27 The [other] sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister.

28 They took their flocks and their cattle and their donkeys, and whatever [was] in the field.

29 They captured and plundered all that [was] in the houses--all their wealth, their little ones, and their women.

30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me, making me stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites! I [am] few in number! If they gather against me and attack me, I will be destroyed--I and my household!"

31 But they said, "Shall he treat our sister like a prostitute?"

1 And God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there, and make an altar to the God who appeared to you when you fled from before Esau your brother."

2 Then Jacob said to his household and to all who [were] with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods that [are] in your midst and purify yourselves and change your garments.

3 Then let us make ready and let us go up to Bethel, so that I can make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my trouble, and who has been with me on the way that I have gone."

4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that [were] in their hands, and the ornamental rings that [were] in their ears. And Jacob buried them under the oak which [was] near Shechem.

5 Then they set out on their journey, and the terror of God was upon the cities that [were] all around them, so that they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.

6 And Jacob came to Luz which [was] in the land of Canaan (that [is] Bethel), he and all the people that [were] with him.

7 And he built an altar there and called the place El-Bethel, for there God had appeared to him when he fled before his brother.

8 And Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, died. And she was buried below Bethel, under the oak. And its name was called Allon-Bacuth.

9 And God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-Aram, and he blessed him.

10 And God said to him, "Your name [is] Jacob. Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." Then his name was called Israel.

11 And God said to him, "I [am] El-Shaddai. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and an assemblage of nations shall be from you, and kings shall go out from your loins.

12 And [as for] the land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, I will give it to you. And to your descendants after you I will give the land.

13 And God went up from him at the place where he spoke with him.

14 And Jacob set up a pillar at the place where God had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. And he poured out a drink offering upon it, and poured oil on it.

15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. And {when they were still some distance} from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor. And she had hard labor.

17 And {when her labor was the most difficult} the midwife said to her, "Do not be afraid {for you have another son}."

18 And it happened [that] when her life was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-Oni. But his father called him Benjamin.

19 And Rachel died and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that [is], Bethlehem).

20 And Jacob erected a pillar at her burial site. That [is] the pillar of the burial site of Rachel unto this day.

21 And Israel journeyed [on] and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

22 And while Israel was living in that land Reuben went and had sexual relations with Bilhah, his father's concubine. And Israel heard [about it].

23 The sons of Leah: The firstborn of Jacob [was] Reuben. Then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

25 The sons of Bilhah, the female servant of Rachel: Dan and Naphtali.

26 The sons of Zilpah, the female servant of Leah: Gad and Asher. These [were] the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-Aram.

27 And Jacob came to Isaac his father [at] Mamre, [or] Kiriath-Arba (that [is], Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac dwelled as aliens.

28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.

29 And Isaac passed away and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

1 Now these [are] the descendants of Esau (that [is], Edom).

2 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah, daughter of Elon, the Hittite, and Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, the Hivite,

3 and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael, the sister of Nebaioth.

4 And Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz; and Basemath bore Reuel;

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.

6 And Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters, and all the persons of his household, and his sheep and goats, and all his cattle, and all the goods that he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to a land away from his brother Jacob.

7 For their possessions were {too many to live together}, so that the land of their sojourning was not able to support them on account of their livestock.

8 So Esau dwelled in the hill country of Seir (Esau, that [is] Edom).

9 Now these [are] the descendants of Esau, the father of Edom, in the hill country of Seir.

10 These [are] the names of the sons of Esau: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esau; Reuel, the son of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

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

12 (Now Timnah was the concubine of Eliphaz, the son of Esau. And she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.) These [are] the sons of Adah, the wife of Esau.

13 Now these [are] the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These [are] the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

14 Now these [are] the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon, the wife of Esau: She bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

15 These [are] the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau: the chiefs of 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 Now these [are] the sons Reuel, the son of Esau: the chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These [are] the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom. These [are] the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

18 Now these [are] the sons of Oholibamah, the wife of Esau: the chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These [are] the chiefs born of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the wife of Esau.

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

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 And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. And Lotan's sister [was] Timna.

23 Now these [are] the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

24 Now these [are] the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah--he [is] Anah who found the hot springs in the desert while he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father.

25 Now these [are] the sons of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

26 Now these [are] the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.

27 These [are] the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

28 These [are] the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

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

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

31 Now these [are] the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the {Israelites}.

32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom. And the name of his city [was] Dinhabah.

33 And Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zerah from Bozrah, reigned in his place.

34 And Jobab died, and Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

35 And Husham died, and Hadad, son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the field of Moab reigned in his place. And the name of his city [was] Avith.

36 And Hadad died, and Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place.

37 And Samlah died, and Shaul from Rehoboth [on] the Euphrates reigned in his place.

38 And Shaul died, and Baal-Hanan, the son of Acbor, reigned in his place.

39 And Baal-Hanan the son of Acbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place. And the name of his city [was] Pau, and the name of his wife [was] Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab.

40 Now these [are] the names of the chiefs of Esau according to their families, according to their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,

41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,

42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,

43 Magdiel, and Iram. These [are] the chiefs of Edom (that [is], Esau, the father of Edom) according to their settlements in the land of their possession.

1 And Jacob settled in the land of the sojourning of his father, in the land of Canaan.

2 These [are] the generations of Jacob. Joseph, [being] seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers. Now he [was] a helper with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, for he [was] a son of his old age. And he made a robe with long sleeves for him.

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

5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told [it] to his brothers. And {they hated him even more}.

6 And he said to them, "Listen now to this dream that I dreamed.

7 Now behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field and, behold, my sheaf stood up and it remained standing. Then behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf."

8 Then his brothers said to him, "Will you really rule over us?" And {they hated him even more} on account of his dream and because of his words.

9 Then he dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brothers. And he said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream again, and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

10 And he told [it] to his father and to his brothers. And his father rebuked him and said to him, "What [is] this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the ground to you?"

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

12 Now his brothers went to pasture the flock of their father in Shechem.

13 And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing in Shechem? Come, let me send you to them." And he said, "Here I [am]."

14 Then he said to him, "Go now, see {if it goes well for your brothers and for the flock}, then return word to me." And he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he arrived at Shechem.

15 And a man found him, and behold, he was wandering about in a field. And the man asked him, "What do you seek?"

16 And he said, "I am seeking my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are pasturing."

17 And the man said, "They have moved on from here, for I heard [them] saying, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" Then Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.

18 And they saw him from a distance. And before he drew near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.

19 And each said to his brothers, "Look, this master of dreams is coming.

20 Now then, come, let us kill him and throw him in one of the pits. Then we will say a wild animal devoured him. Then we will see what his dreams become."

21 And Reuben heard [it] and delivered him from their hand and said, "We must not take his life."

22 And Reuben said to them, "You must not shed blood. Throw him into this pit that [is] in the desert, but do not lay a hand on him"--so that he might rescue him from their hand to return him to his father.

23 And it happened [that] as Joseph came to his brothers they stripped Joseph of his robe, the robe with long sleeves, that [was] upon him.

24 And 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 [some] food. And they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead. And their camels were carrying aromatic gum and balm and spices {on the way} to Egypt.

26 Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit [is there] if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be against him, for he [is] our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers agreed.

28 Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and brought [him] up from the pit, and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty [pieces of] silver. And they brought Joseph to Egypt.

29 Then Reuben returned to the pit and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit. And he tore his clothes.

30 And he returned to his brothers and said, "The boy {is gone}! Now I, {what can I do}?"

31 Then they took the robe of Joseph and slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood.

32 Then they sent the robe with long sleeves and they brought [it] to their father and said, "We found this; please examine [it]. [Is] it the robe of your son or not?"

33 And he recognized it and said, "The robe of my son! A wild animal has devoured him! Joseph [is] surely torn to pieces!"

34 And Jacob tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.

35 And all his sons and daughters tried to console him, but he refused to be consoled. And he said, "No, I shall go down to my son, to Sheol, mourning." And his father wept for him.

36 And the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, a court official of Pharaoh, a commander of the imperial guard.

1 And it happened [that] at that time Judah went down from his brothers and pitched his tent near a certain Adullamite, whose name [was] Hirah.

2 And Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite there whose name [was] Shua. And he took her and went in to her.

3 And she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.

4 And she conceived again and bore a son, and he called his name Onan.

5 And once again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. And he was in Chezib when she bore him.

6 And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name [was] Tamar.

7 And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh killed him.

8 Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to the wife of your brother and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother."

9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be for him, so whenever he went in to the wife of his brother he would waste [it] on the ground so as not to give offspring to his brother.

10 And what he did was evil in the sight of Yahweh, so he killed him also.

11 Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, "Stay a widow in your father's house until Shelah my son grows up," for {he feared he would also die} like his brother. So Tamar went and stayed in the house of her father.

12 {And in the course of time} the daughter of Shua, the wife of Judah, died. When Judah was consoled he went up to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite, to Timnah.

13 And it was told to Tamar, saying, "Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep."

14 So she removed the clothes of her widowhood and covered [herself] with the veil and disguised herself. And she sat at the entrance to Eynayim, which [is] on the way to Timnah, for she saw that Shelah was grown but she had not been given to him as a wife.

15 And Judah saw her and reckoned her to [be] a prostitute, for she had covered her face.

16 And he turned aside to her at the roadside and said, "Please come, 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 to me that you may come in to me?"

17 And he said, "I will send a kid from the goats of the flock." And she said, "[Only] if you give a pledge until you send [it]."

18 And he said, "What [is] the pledge that I must give to you?" And she said, "your seal, your cord, and your staff that [is] in your hand." And he gave [them] to her and went in to her. And she conceived by him.

19 And she arose and left, and she removed her veil from herself and put on the garments of her widowhood.

20 And Judah sent the kid from the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite to take [back] the pledge from the hand of the woman, but he could not find her.

21 So he asked the men of her place, saying, "Where [is] that cult prostitute [that was] at Eynayim by the roadside?" And they said, "There is no cult prostitute here."

22 Then he returned to Judah and said, "I could not find her. Morever, the men of the place said, 'There is no cult prostitute here.'"

23 And Judah said, "Let her take [them] for herself, lest we be {laughed at}. Behold, I sent this kid, but you could not find her."

24 And {about three months later} it was told to Judah, "Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the whore, and now, behold, she has conceived by prostitution." And Judah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned."

25 She was brought out, but she sent to her father-in-law saying, "By the man to whom these [belong] I have conceived." And she said, "Now discern to whom these [belong]: the seal and cord and the staff."

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

27 And it happened [that] at the time she gave birth that, behold, twins [were] in her womb.

28 And it happened [that] at her labor one [child] put out a hand. And the midwife took [it] and tied a crimson thread on his hand saying, "This [one] came out first."

29 Then his hand drew back and, behold, his brother came out, and she said, "What a breach you have made for yourself!" And she called his name Perez.

30 And afterward his brother who [had] the crimson thread on his hand came out. And his name was called Zerah.

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