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1 In the beginning God created the sky and the earth.

2 The earth was empty and had no form. Darkness covered the ocean, and God's Spirit was moving over the water.

3 Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

4 God saw that the light was good, so he divided the light from the darkness.

5 God named the light "day" and the darkness "night." Evening passed, and morning came. This was the first day.

6 Then God said, "Let there be something to divide the water in two."

7 So God made the air and placed some of the water above the air and some below it.

8 God named the air "sky." Evening passed, and morning came. This was the second day.

9 Then God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered together so the dry land will appear." And it happened.

10 God named the dry land "earth" and the water that was gathered together "seas." God saw that this was good.

11 Then God said, "Let the earth produce plants -- some to make grain for seeds and others to make fruits with seeds in them. Every seed will produce more of its own kind of plant." And it happened.

12 The earth produced plants with grain for seeds and trees that made fruits with seeds in them. Each seed grew its own kind of plant. God saw that all this was good.

13 Evening passed, and morning came. This was the third day.

14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the sky to separate day from night. These lights will be used for signs, seasons, days, and years.

15 They will be in the sky to give light to the earth." And it happened.

16 So God made the two large lights. He made the brighter light to rule the day and made the smaller light to rule the night. He also made the stars.

17 God put all these in the sky to shine on the earth,

18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that all these things were good.

19 Evening passed, and morning came. This was the fourth day.

20 Then God said, "Let the water be filled with living things, and let birds fly in the air above the earth."

21 So God created the large sea animals and every living thing that moves in the sea. The sea is filled with these living things, with each one producing more of its own kind. He also made every bird that flies, and each bird produced more of its own kind. God saw that this was good.

22 God blessed them and said, "Have many young ones so that you may grow in number. Fill the water of the seas, and let the birds grow in number on the earth."

23 Evening passed, and morning came. This was the fifth day.

24 Then God said, "Let the earth be filled with animals, each producing more of its own kind. Let there be tame animals and small crawling animals and wild animals, and let each produce more of its kind." And it happened.

25 So God made the wild animals, the tame animals, and all the small crawling animals to produce more of their own kind. God saw that this was good.

26 Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image and likeness. And let them rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the tame animals, over all the earth, and over all the small crawling animals on the earth."

27 So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female.

28 God blessed them and said, "Have many children and grow in number. Fill the earth and be its master. Rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

29 God said, "Look, I have given you all the plants that have grain for seeds and all the trees whose fruits have seeds in them. They will be food for you.

30 I have given all the green plants as food for every wild animal, every bird of the air, and every small crawling animal." And it happened.

31 God looked at everything he had made, and it was very good. Evening passed, and morning came. This was the sixth day.

1 So the sky, the earth, and all that filled them were finished.

2 By the seventh day God finished the work he had been doing, so he rested from all his work.

3 God blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day, because on that day he rested from all the work he had done in creating the world.

4 This is the story of the creation of the sky and the earth. When the Lord God first made the earth and the sky,

5 there were still no plants on the earth. Nothing was growing in the fields because the Lord God had not yet made it rain on the land. And there was no person to care for the ground,

6 but a mist would rise up from the earth and water all the ground.

7 Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and formed a man from it. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nose, and the man became a living person.

8 Then the Lord God planted a garden in the east, in a place called Eden, and put the man he had formed into it.

9 The Lord God caused every beautiful tree and every tree that was good for food to grow out of the ground. In the middle of the garden, God put the tree that gives life and also the tree that gives the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river flowed through Eden and watered the garden. From there the river branched out to become four rivers.

11 The first river, named Pishon, flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

12 The gold of that land is excellent. Bdellium and onyxn are also found there.

13 The second river, named Gihon, flows around the whole land of Cush.

14 The third river, named Tigris, flows out of Assyria toward the east. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The Lord God put the man in the garden of Eden to care for it and work it.

16 The Lord God commanded him, "You may eat the fruit from any tree in the garden,

17 but you must not eat the fruit from the tree which gives the knowledge of good and evil. If you ever eat fruit from that tree, you will die!"

18 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is right for him."

19 From the ground God formed every wild animal and every bird in the sky, and he brought them to the man so the man could name them. Whatever the man called each living thing, that became its name.

20 The man gave names to all the tame animals, to the birds in the sky, and to all the wild animals. But Adamn did not find a helper that was right for him.

21 So the Lord God caused the man to sleep very deeply, and while he was asleep, God removed one of the man's ribs. Then God closed up the man's skin at the place where he took the rib.

22 The Lord God used the rib from the man to make a woman, and then he brought the woman to the man.

23 And the man said, "Now, this is someone whose bones came from my bones, whose body came from my body. I will call her 'woman,' because she was taken out of man."

24 So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one body.

25 The man and his wife were naked, but they were not ashamed.

1 Now the snake was the most clever of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day the snake said to the woman, "Did God really say that you must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden?"

2 The woman answered the snake, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden.

3 But God told us, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch it, or you will die.'"

4 But the snake said to the woman, "You will not die.

5 God knows that if you eat the fruit from that tree, you will learn about good and evil and you will be like God!"

6 The woman saw that the tree was beautiful, that its fruit was good to eat, and that it would make her wise. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of the fruit to her husband, and he ate it.

7 Then, it was as if their eyes were opened. They realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made something to cover themselves.

8 Then they heard the Lord God walking in the garden during the cool part of the day, and the man and his wife hid from the Lord God among the trees in the garden.

9 But the Lord God called to the man and said, "Where are you?"

10 The man answered, "I heard you walking in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid."

11 God asked, "Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat fruit from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?"

12 The man said, "You gave this woman to me and she gave me fruit from the tree, so I ate it."

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "How could you have done such a thing?" She answered, "The snake tricked me, so I ate the fruit."

14 The Lord God said to the snake, "Because you did this, a curse will be put on you. You will be cursed as no other animal, tame or wild, will ever be. You will crawl on your stomach, and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

15 I will make you and the woman enemies to each other. Your descendants and her descendants will be enemies. One of her descendants will crush your head, and you will bite his heel."

16 Then God said to the woman, "I will cause you to have much trouble when you are pregnant, and when you give birth to children, you will have great pain. You will greatly desire your husband, but he will rule over you."

17 Then God said to the man, "You listened to what your wife said, and you ate fruit from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat. "So I will put a curse on the ground, and you will have to work very hard for your food. In pain you will eat its food all the days of your life.

18 The ground will produce thorns and weeds for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

19 You will sweat and work hard for your food. Later you will return to the ground, because you were taken from it. You are dust, and when you die, you will return to the dust."

20 The man named his wife Eve, because she is the mother of everyone who has ever lived.

21 The Lord God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife and dressed them.

22 Then the Lord God said, "The man has become like one of us; he knows good and evil. We must keep him from eating some of the fruit from the tree of life, or he will live forever."

23 So the Lord God forced the man out of the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

24 After God forced the man out of the garden, he placed angels and a sword of fire that flashed around in every direction on its eastern border. This kept people from getting to the tree of life.

1 Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve, and she became preg- nant and gave birth to Cain. Eve said, "With the Lord's help, I have given birth to a man."

2 After that, Eve gave birth to Cain's brother Abel. Abel took care of flocks, and Cain became a farmer.

3 Later, Cain brought some food from the ground as a gift to God.

4 Abel brought the best parts from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift,

5 but he did not accept Cain and his gift. So Cain became very angry and felt rejected.

6 The Lord asked Cain, "Why are you angry? Why do you look so unhappy?

7 If you do things well, I will accept you, but if you do not do them well, sin is ready to attack you. Sin wants you, but you must rule over it."

8 Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out into the field." While they were out in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

9 Later, the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" Cain answered, "I don't know. Is it my job to take care of my brother?"

10 Then the Lord said, "What have you done? Your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.

11 And now you will be cursed in your work with the ground, the same ground where your brother's blood fell and where your hands killed him.

12 You will work the ground, but it will not grow good crops for you anymore, and you will wander around on the earth."

13 Then Cain said to the Lord, "This punishment is more than I can stand!

14 Today you have forced me to stop working the ground, and now I must hide from you. I must wander around on the earth, and anyone who meets me can kill me."

15 The Lord said to Cain, "No! If anyone kills you, I will punish that person seven times more." Then the Lord put a mark on Cain warning anyone who met him not to kill him.

16 So Cain went away from the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

17 He had sexual relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. At that time Cain was building a city, which he named after his son Enoch.

18 Enoch had a son named Irad, Irad had a son named Mehujael, Mehujael had a son named Methushael, and Methushael had a son named Lamech.

19 Lamech married two women, Adah and Zillah.

20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who became the first person to live in tents and raise cattle.

21 Jabal's brother was Jubal, the first person to play the harp and flute.

22 Zillah gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who made tools out of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

23 Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice! You wives of Lamech, listen to what I say. I killed a man for wounding me, a young man for hitting me.

24 If Cain's killer is punished seven times, then Lamech's killer will be punished seventy-seven times."

25 Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Sethn and said, "God has given me another child. He will take the place of Abel, who was killed by Cain."

26 Seth also had a son, and they named him Enosh. At that time people began to pray to the Lord.

1 This is the family history of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them in his own likeness.

2 He created them male and female, and on that day he blessed them and named them human beings.

3 When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of another son in his likeness and image, and Adam named him Seth.

4 After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.

5 So Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.

6 When Seth was 105 years old, he had a son named Enosh.

7 After Enosh was born, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters.

8 So Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.

9 When Enosh was 90 years old, he had a son named Kenan.

10 After Kenan was born, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters.

11 So Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died.

12 When Kenan was 70 years old, he had a son named Mahalalel.

13 After Mahalalel was born, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters.

14 So Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died.

15 When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he had a son named Jared.

16 After Jared was born, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters.

17 So Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died.

18 When Jared was 162 years old, he had a son named Enoch.

19 After Enoch was born, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 So Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died.

21 When Enoch was 65 years old, he had a son named Methuselah.

22 After Methuselah was born, Enoch walked with God 300 years more and had other sons and daughters.

23 So Enoch lived a total of 365 years.

24 Enoch walked with God; one day Enoch could not be found, because God took him.

25 When Methuselah was 187 years old, he had a son named Lamech.

26 After Lamech was born, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters.

27 So Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.

28 When Lamech was 182, he had a son.

29 Lamech named his son Noahn and said, "He will comfort us in our work, which comes from the ground the Lord has cursed."

30 After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters.

31 So Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.

32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

1 The number of people on earth began to grow, and daughters were born to them.

2 When the sons of God saw that these girls were beautiful, they married any of them they chose.

3 The Lord said, "My Spirit will not remain in human beings forever, because they are flesh. They will live only 120 years."

4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also later. That was when the sons of God had sexual relations with the daughters of human beings. These women gave birth to children, who became famous and were the mighty warriors of long ago.

5 The Lord saw that the human beings on the earth were very wicked and that everything they thought about was evil.

6 He was sorry he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

7 So the Lord said, "I will destroy all human beings that I made on the earth. And I will destroy every animal and everything that crawls on the earth and the birds of the air, because I am sorry I have made them."

8 But Noah pleased the Lord.

9 This is the family history of Noah. Noah was a good man, the most innocent man of his time, and he walked with God.

10 He had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 People on earth did what God said was evil, and violence was everywhere.

12 When God saw that everyone on the earth did only evil,

13 he said to Noah, "Because people have made the earth full of violence, I will destroy all of them from the earth.

14 Build a boat of cypress wood for yourself. Make rooms in it and cover it inside and outside with tar.

15 This is how big I want you to build the boat: four hundred fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high.

16 Make an opening around the top of the boat that is eighteen inches high from the edge of the roof down. Put a door in the side of the boat. Make an upper, middle, and lower deck in it.

17 I will bring a flood of water on the earth to destroy all living things that live under the sky, including everything that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will die.

18 But I will make an agreement with you -- you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives will all go into the boat.

19 Also, you must bring into the boat two of every living thing, male and female. Keep them alive with you.

20 Two of every kind of bird, animal, and crawling thing will come to you to be kept alive.

21 Also gather some of every kind of food and store it on the boat as food for you and the animals."

22 Noah did everything that God commanded him.

1 Then the Lord said to Noah, "I have seen that you are the best person among the people of this time, so you and your family can go into the boat.

2 Take with you seven pairs, each male with its female, of every kind of clean animal, and take one pair, each male with its female, of every kind of unclean animal.

3 Take seven pairs of all the birds of the sky, each male with its female. This will allow all these animals to continue living on the earth after the flood.

4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth. It will rain forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe off from the earth every living thing that I have made."

5 Noah did everything the Lord commanded him.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came.

7 He and his wife and his sons and their wives went into the boat to escape the waters of the flood.

8 The clean animals, the unclean animals, the birds, and everything that crawls on the ground

9 came to Noah. They went into the boat in groups of two, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah.

10 Seven days later the flood started.

11 When Noah was six hundred years old, the flood started. On the seventeenth day of the second month of that year the underground springs split open, and the clouds in the sky poured out rain.

12 The rain fell on the earth for forty days and forty nights.

13 On that same day Noah and his wife, his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives went into the boat.

14 They had every kind of wild and tame animal, every kind of animal that crawls on the earth, and every kind of bird.

15 Every creature that had the breath of life came to Noah in the boat in groups of two.

16 One male and one female of every living thing came, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them.

17 Water flooded the earth for forty days, and as it rose it lifted the boat off the ground.

18 The water continued to rise, and the boat floated on it above the earth.

19 The water rose so much that even the highest mountains under the sky were covered by it.

20 It continued to rise until it was more than twenty feet above the mountains.

21 All living things that moved on the earth died. This included all the birds, tame animals, wild animals, and creatures that swarm on the earth, as well as all human beings.

22 So everything on dry land that had the breath of life in it died.

23 God destroyed from the earth every living thing that was on the land -- every man, animal, crawling thing, and bird of the sky. All that was left was Noah and what was with him in the boat.

24 And the waters continued to cover the earth for one hundred fifty days.

1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild and tame animals with him in the boat. He made a wind blow over the earth, and the water went down.

2 The underground springs stopped flowing, and the clouds in the sky stopped pouring down rain.

3

4 The water that covered the earth began to go down. After one hundred fifty days it had gone down so much that the boat touched land again. It came to rest on one of the mountains of Araratn on the seventeenth day of the seventh month.

5 The water continued to go down so that by the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains could be seen.

6 Forty days later Noah opened the window he had made in the boat, and

7 he sent out a raven. It flew here and there until the water had dried up from the earth.

8 Then Noah sent out a dove to find out if the water had dried up from the ground.

9 The dove could not find a place to land because water still covered the earth, so it came back to the boat. Noah reached out his hand and took the bird and brought it back into the boat.

10 After seven days Noah again sent out the dove from the boat,

11 and that evening it came back to him with a fresh olive leaf in its mouth. Then Noah knew that the ground was almost dry.

12 Seven days later he sent the dove out again, but this time it did not come back.

13 When Noah was six hundred and one years old, in the first day of the first month of that year, the water was dried up from the land. Noah removed the covering of the boat and saw that the land was dry.

14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the land was completely dry.

15 Then God said to Noah,

16 "You and your wife, your sons, and their wives should go out of the boat.

17 Bring every animal out of the boat with you -- the birds, animals, and everything that crawls on the earth. Let them have many young ones so that they might grow in number."

18 So Noah went out with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives.

19 Every animal, everything that crawls on the earth, and every bird went out of the boat by families.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of all the clean birds and animals, and he burned them on the altar as offerings to God.

21 The Lord was pleased with these sacrifices and said to himself, "I will never again curse the ground because of human beings. Their thoughts are evil even when they are young, but I will never again destroy every living thing on the earth as I did this time.

22 "As long as the earth continues, planting and harvest, cold and hot, summer and winter, day and night will not stop."

1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Have many children; grow in number and fill the earth.

2 Every animal on earth, every bird in the sky, every animal that crawls on the ground, and every fish in the sea will respect and fear you. I have given them to you.

3 "Everything that moves, everything that is alive, is yours for food. Earlier I gave you the green plants, but now I give you everything for food.

4 But you must not eat meat that still has blood in it, because blood gives life.

5 I will demand blood for life. I will demand the life of any animal that kills a person, and I will demand the life of anyone who takes another person's life.

6 "Whoever kills a human being will be killed by a human being, because God made humans in his own image.

7 "As for you, Noah, I want you and your family to have many children, to grow in number on the earth, and to become many."

8 Then God said to Noah and his sons,

9 "Now I am making my agreement with you and your people who will live after you,

10 and with every living thing that is with you -- the birds, the tame and the wild animals, and with everything that came out of the boat with you -- with every living thing on earth.

11 I make this agreement with you: I will never again destroy all living things by a flood. A flood will never again destroy the earth."

12 And God said, "This is the sign of the agreement between me and you and every living creature that is with you.

13 I am putting my rainbow in the clouds as the sign of the agreement between me and the earth.

14 When I bring clouds over the earth and a rainbow appears in them,

15 I will remember my agreement between me and you and every living thing. Floods will never again destroy all life on the earth.

16 When the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and I will remember the agreement that continues forever between me and every living thing on the earth."

17 So God said to Noah, "The rainbow is a sign of the agreement that I made with all living things on earth.

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with him were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)

19 These three men were Noah's sons, and all the people on earth came from these three sons.

20 Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard.

21 When he drank wine made from his grapes, he became drunk and lay naked in his tent.

22 Ham, the father of Canaan, looked at his naked father and told his brothers outside.

23 Then Shem and Japheth got a coat and, carrying it on both their shoulders, they walked backwards into the tent and covered their father. They turned their faces away so that they did not see their father's nakedness.

24 Noah was sleeping because of the wine. When he woke up and learned what his youngest son, Ham, had done to him,

25 he said, "May there be a curse on Canaan! May he be the lowest slave to his brothers."

26 Noah also said, "May the Lord, the God of Shem, be praised! May Canaan be Shem's slave.

27 May God give more land to Japheth. May Japheth live in Shem's tents, and may Canaan be their slave."

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years.

29 He lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.

1 This is the family history of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah. After the flood these three men had sons.

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

3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim.

5 Those who lived in the lands around the Mediterranean Sea came from these sons of Japheth. All the families grew and became different nations, each nation with its own land and its own language.

6 The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

7 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

8 Cush also had a descendant named Nimrod, who became a very powerful man on earth.

9 He was a great hunter before the Lord, which is why people say someone is "like Nimrod, a great hunter before the Lord."

10 At first Nimrod's kingdom covered Babylon, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh in the land of Babylonia.

11 From there he went to Assyria, where he built the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, and Calah.

12 He also built Resen, the great city between Nineveh and Calah.

13 Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites,

14 Pathrusites, Casluhites, and the people of Crete. (The Philistines came from the Casluhites.)

15 Canaan was the father of Sidon, his first son, and of Heth.

16 He was also the father of the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites,

17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites,

18 Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. The families of the Canaanites scattered.

19 Their land reached from Sidon to Gerar as far as Gaza, and then to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

20 All these people were the sons of Ham, and all these families had their own languages, their own lands, and their own nations.

21 Shem, Japheth's older brother, also had sons. One of his descendants was the father of all the sons of Eber.

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

23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech.

24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, who was the father of Eber.

25 Eber was the father of two sons -- one named Peleg, because the earth was divided during his life, and the other was named Joktan.

26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,

27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,

28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

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

30 They lived in the area between Mesha and Sephar in the hill country in the East.

31 These are the people from the family of Shem, arranged by families, languages, countries, and nations.

32 This is the list of the families from the sons of Noah, arranged according to their nations. From these families came all the nations who spread across the earth after the flood.

1 At this time the whole world spoke one language, and everyone used the same words.

2 As people moved from the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.

3 They said to each other, "Let's make bricks and bake them to make them hard." So they used bricks instead of stones, and tar instead of mortar.

4 Then they said to each other, "Let's build a city and a tower for ourselves, whose top will reach high into the sky. We will become famous. Then we will not be scattered over all the earth."

5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had built.

6 The Lord said, "Now, these people are united, all speaking the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do. They will be able to do anything they want.

7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not be able to understand each other."

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

9 The place is called Babeln since that is where the Lord confused the language of the whole world. So the Lord caused them to spread out from there over the whole world.

10 This is the family history of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, his son Arphaxad was born.

11 After that, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arphaxad was 35 years old, his son Shelah was born.

13 After that, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

14 When Shelah was 30 years old, his son Eber was born.

15 After that, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber was 34 years old, his son Peleg was born.

17 After that, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg was 30 years old, his son Reu was born.

19 After that, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu was 32 years old, his son Serug was born.

21 After that, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug was 30 years old, his son Nahor was born.

23 After that, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor was 29 years old, his son Terah was born.

25 After that, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 After Terah was 70 years old, his sons Abram, Nahor, and Haran were born.

27 This is the family history of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot.

28 While his father, Terah, was still alive, Haran died in Ur in Babylonia, where he was born.

29 Abram and Nahor both married. Abram's wife was named Sarai, and Nahor's wife was named Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

30 Sarai was not able to have children.

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai (Abram's wife) and moved out of Ur of Babylonia. They had planned to go to the land of Canaan, but when they reached the city of Haran, they settled there.

32 Terah lived to be 205 years old, and then he died in Haran.

1 The Lord said to Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land I will show you.

2 I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.

3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will place a curse on those who harm you. And all the people on earth will be blessed through you."

4 So Abram left Haran as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. At this time Abram was 75 years old.

5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and everything they owned, as well as all the servants they had gotten in Haran. They set out from Haran, planning to go to the land of Canaan, and in time they arrived there.

6 Abram traveled through that land as far as the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. The Canaanites were living in the land at that time.

7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "I will give this land to your descendants." So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

8 Then he traveled from Shechem to the mountain east of Bethel and set up his tent there. Bethel was to the west, and Ai was to the east. There Abram built another altar to the Lord and worshiped him.

9 After this, he traveled on toward southern Canaan.

10 At this time there was not much food in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to live because there was so little food.

11 Just before they arrived in Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "I know you are a very beautiful woman.

12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This woman is his wife.' Then they will kill me but let you live.

13 Tell them you are my sister so that things will go well with me and I may be allowed to live because of you."

14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful.

15 The Egyptian officers saw her and told the king of Egypt how beautiful she was. They took her to the king's palace, and

16 the king was kind to Abram because he thought Abram was her brother. He gave Abram sheep, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

17 But the Lord sent terrible diseases on the king and all the people in his house because of Abram's wife Sarai.

18 So the king sent for Abram and said, "What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me Sarai was your wife?

19 Why did you say, 'She is my sister' so that I made her my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and leave!"

20 Then the king commanded his men to make Abram leave Egypt; so Abram and his wife left with everything they owned.

1 So Abram, his wife, and Lot left Egypt, taking everything they owned, and traveled to southern Canaan.

2 Abram was very rich in cattle, silver, and gold.

3 He left southern Canaan and went back to Bethel where he had camped before, between Bethel and Ai,

4 and where he had built an altar. So he worshiped the Lord there.

5 During this time Lot was traveling with Abram, and Lot also had flocks, herds, and tents.

6 Abram and Lot had so many animals that the land could not support both of them together,

7 so Abram's herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen began to argue. The Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at this time.

8 Abram said to Lot, "There should be no arguing between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, because we are brothers.

9 We should separate. The whole land is there in front of you. If you go to the left, I will go to the right. If you go to the right, I will go to the left."

10 Lot looked all around and saw the whole Jordan Valley and that there was much water there. It was like the Lord's garden, like the land of Egypt in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

11 So Lot chose to move east and live in the Jordan Valley. In this way Abram and Lot separated.

12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot lived among the cities in the Jordan Valley, very near to Sodom.

13 Now the people of Sodom were very evil and were always sinning against the Lord.

14 After Lot left, the Lord said to Abram, "Look all around you -- to the north and south and east and west.

15 All this land that you see I will give to you and your descendants forever.

16 I will make your descendants as many as the dust of the earth. If anyone could count the dust on the earth, he could count your people.

17 Get up! Walk through all this land because I am now giving it to you."

18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at the city of Hebron. There he built an altar to the Lord.

1 Now Amraphel was king of Babylonia, Arioch was king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer was king of Elam, and Tidal was king of Goiim.

2 All these kings went to war against several other kings: Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela. (Bela is also called Zoar.)

3 These kings who were attacked united their armies in the Valley of Siddim (now the Dead Sea).

4 They had served Kedorlaomer for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year, they all turned against him.

5 Then in the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings with him came and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, and the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim.

6 They also defeated the Horites in the mountains of Edom to El Paran (near the desert).

7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh). They defeated all the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.

8 At that time the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela went out to fight in the Valley of Siddim. (Bela is called Zoar.)

9 They fought against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Babylonia, and Arioch king of Ellasar -- four kings fighting against five.

10 There were many tar pits in the Valley of Siddim. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and their armies ran away, some of the soldiers fell into the tar pits, but the others ran away to the mountains.

11 Now Kedorlaomer and his armies took everything the people of Sodom and Gomorrah owned, including their food.

12 They took Lot, Abram's nephew who was living in Sodom, and everything he owned. Then they left.

13 One of the men who was not captured went to Abram, the Hebrew, and told him what had happened. At that time Abram was camped near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre was a brother of Eshcol and Aner, and they had all made an agreement to help Abram.

14 When Abram learned that Lot had been captured, he called out his 318 trained men who had been born in his camp. He led the men and chased the enemy all the way to the town of Dan.

15 That night he divided his men into groups, and they made a surprise attack against the enemy. They chased them all the way to Hobah, north of Damascus.

16 Then Abram brought back everything the enemy had stolen, the women and the other people, and Lot, and everything Lot owned.

17 After defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, Abram went home. As he was returning, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (now called King's Valley).

18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was a priest for God Most High

19 and blessed Abram, saying, "Abram, may you be blessed by God Most High, the God who made heaven and earth.

20 And we praise God Most High, who has helped you to defeat your enemies." Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything he had brought back from the battle.

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, "You may keep all these things for yourself. Just give me my people who were captured."

22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I make a promise to the Lord, the God Most High, who made heaven and earth.

23 I promise that I will not keep anything that is yours. I will not keep even a thread or a sandal strap so that you cannot say, 'I made Abram rich.'

24 I will keep nothing but the food my young men have eaten. But give Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre their share of what we won, because they went with me into battle."

1 After these things happened, the Lord spoke his word to Abram in a vision: "Abram, don't be afraid. I will defend you, and I will give you a great reward."

2 But Abram said, "Lord God, what can you give me? I have no son, so my slave Eliezer from Damascus will get everything I own after I die."

3 Abram said, "Look, you have given me no son, so a slave born in my house will inherit everything I have."

4 Then the Lord spoke his word to Abram: "He will not be the one to inherit what you have. You will have a son of your own who will inherit what you have."

5 Then God led Abram outside and said, "Look at the sky. There are so many stars you cannot count them. Your descendants also will be too many to count."

6 Abram believed the Lord. And the Lord accepted Abram's faith, and that faith made him right with God.

7 God said to Abram, "I am the Lord who led you out of Ur of Babylonia so that I could give you this land to own."

8 But Abram said, "Lord God, how can I be sure that I will own this land?"

9 The Lord said to Abram, "Bring me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old male sheep, a dove, and a young pigeon."

10 Abram brought them all to God. Then Abram killed the animals and cut each of them into two pieces, laying each half opposite the other half. But he did not cut the birds in half.

11 Later, large birds flew down to eat the animals, but Abram chased them away.

12 As the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep. While he was asleep, a very terrible darkness came.

13 Then the Lord said to Abram, "You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers and travel in a land they don't own. The people there will make them slaves and be cruel to them for four hundred years.

14 But I will punish the nation where they are slaves. Then your descendants will leave that land, taking great wealth with them.

15 And you, Abram, will die in peace and will be buried at an old age.

16 After your great-great-grandchildren are born, your people will come to this land again. It will take that long, because I am not yet going to punish the Amorites for their evil behavior."

17 After the sun went down, it was very dark. Suddenly a smoking firepot and a blazing torch passed between the halves of the dead animals.

18 So on that day the Lord made an agreement with Abram and said, "I will give to your descendants the land between the river of Egypt and the great river Euphrates.

19 This is the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,

21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites."

1 Sarai, Abram's wife, had no children, but she had a slave girl from Egypt named Hagar.

2 Sarai said to Abram, "Look, the Lord has not allowed me to have children, so have sexual relations with my slave girl. If she has a child, maybe I can have my own family through her." Abram did what Sarai said.

3 It was after he had lived ten years in Canaan that Sarai gave Hagar to her husband Abram. (Hagar was her slave girl from Egypt.)

4 Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. When Hagar learned she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress Sarai badly.

5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "This is your fault. I gave my slave girl to you, and when she became pregnant, she began to treat me badly. Let the Lord decide who is right -- you or me."

6 But Abram said to Sarai, "You are Hagar's mistress. Do anything you want to her." Then Sarai was hard on Hagar, and Hagar ran away.

7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the desert, by the road to Shur.

8 The angel said, "Hagar, Sarai's slave girl, where have you come from? Where are you going?" Hagar answered, "I am running away from my mistress Sarai."

9 The angel of the Lord said to her, "Go home to your mistress and obey her."

10 The angel also said, "I will give you so many descendants they cannot be counted."

11 The angel added, "You are now pregnant, and you will have a son. You will name him Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your cries.

12 Ishmael will be like a wild donkey. He will be against everyone, and everyone will be against him. He will attack all his brothers."

13 The slave girl gave a name to the Lord who spoke to her: "You are 'God who sees me,'" because she said to herself, "Have I really seen God who sees me?"

14 So the well there, between Kadesh and Bered, was called Beer Lahai Roi.

15 Hagar gave birth to a son for Abram, and Abram named him Ishmael.

16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty. Obey me and do what is right.

2 I will make an agreement between us, and I will make you the ancestor of many people."

3 Then Abram bowed facedown on the ground. God said to him,

4 "I am making my agreement with you: I will make you the father of many nations.

5 I am changing your name from Abramn to Abrahamnbecause I am making you a father of many nations.

6 I will give you many descendants. New nations will be born from you, and kings will come from you.

7 And I will make an agreement between me and you and all your descendants from now on: I will be your God and the God of all your descendants.

8 You live in the land of Canaan now as a stranger, but I will give you and your descendants all this land forever. And I will be the God of your descendants."

9 Then God said to Abraham, "You and your descendants must keep this agreement from now on.

10 This is my agreement with you and all your descendants, which you must obey: Every male among you must be circumcised.

11 Cut away your foreskin to show that you are prepared to follow the agreement between me and you.

12 From now on when a baby boy is eight days old, you will circumcise him. This includes any boy born among your people or any who is your slave, who is not one of your descendants.

13 Circumcise every baby boy whether he is born in your family or bought as a slave. Your bodies will be marked to show that you are part of my agreement that lasts forever.

14 Any male who is not circumcised will be cut off from his people, because he has broken my agreement."

15 God said to Abraham, "I will change the name of Sarai, your wife, to Sarah.

16 I will bless her and give her a son, and you will be the father. She will be the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will come from her."

17 Abraham bowed facedown on the ground and laughed. He said to himself, "Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah give birth to a child when she is ninety?"

18 Then Abraham said to God, "Please let Ishmael be the son you promised."

19 God said, "No, Sarah your wife will have a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will make my agreement with him to be an agreement that continues forever with all his descendants.

20 "As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will bless him and give him many descendants. And I will cause their numbers to grow greatly. He will be the father of twelve great leaders, and I will make him into a great nation.

21 But I will make my agreement with Isaac, the son whom Sarah will have at this same time next year."

22 After God finished talking with Abraham, God rose and left him.

23 Then Abraham gathered Ishmael, all the males born in his camp, and the slaves he had bought. So that day Abraham circumcised every man and boy in his camp as God had told him to do.

24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised.

25 And Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised.

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

27 Also on that day all the men in Abraham's camp were circumcised, including all those born in his camp and all the slaves he had bought from other nations.

1 Later, the Lord again appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre. Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day.

2 He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When Abraham saw them, he ran from his tent to meet them. He bowed facedown on the ground before them

3 and said, "Sir, if you think well of me, please stay awhile with me, your servant.

4 I will bring some water so all of you can wash your feet. You may rest under the tree,

5 and I will get some bread for you so you can regain your strength. Then you may continue your journey." The three men said, "That is fine. Do as you said."

6 Abraham hurried to the tent where Sarah was and said to her, "Hurry, prepare twenty quarts of fine flour, and make it into loaves of bread."

7 Then Abraham ran to his herd and took one of his best calves. He gave it to a servant, who hurried to kill it and to prepare it for food.

8 Abraham gave the three men the calf that had been cooked and milk curds and milk. While they ate, he stood under the tree near them.

9 The men asked Abraham, "Where is your wife Sarah?" "There, in the tent," said Abraham.

10 Then the Lord said, "I will certainly return to you about this time a year from now. At that time your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent which was behind him.

11 Abraham and Sarah were very old. Since Sarah was past the age when women normally have children,

12 she laughed to herself, "My husband and I are too old to have a baby."

13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, 'I am too old to have a baby'?

14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? No! I will return to you at the right time a year from now, and Sarah will have a son."

15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I didn't laugh." But the Lord said, "No. You did laugh."

16 Then the men got up to leave and started out toward Sodom. Abraham walked along with them a short time to send them on their way.

17 The Lord said, "Should I tell Abraham what I am going to do now?

18 Abraham's children will certainly become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.

19 I have chosen him so he would command his children and his descendants to live the way the Lord wants them to, to live right and be fair. Then I, the Lord, will give Abraham what I promised him."

20 Then the Lord said, "I have heard many complaints against the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. They are very evil.

21 I will go down and see if they are as bad as I have heard. If not, I will know."

22 So the men turned and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood there before the Lord.

23 Then Abraham approached him and asked, "Do you plan to destroy the good people along with the evil ones?

24 What if there are fifty good people in that city? Will you still destroy it? Surely you will save the city for the fifty good people living there.

25 Surely you will not destroy the good people along with the evil ones; then they would be treated the same. You are the judge of all the earth. Won't you do what is right?"

26 The Lord said, "If I find fifty good people in the city of Sodom, I will save the whole city because of them."

27 Then Abraham said, "Though I am only dust and ashes, I have been brave to speak to the Lord.

28 What if there are only forty-five good people in the city? Will you destroy the whole city for the lack of five good people?" The Lord said, "If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy the city."

29 Again Abraham said to him, "If you find only forty good people there, will you destroy the city?" The Lord said, "If I find forty, I will not destroy it."

30 Then Abraham said, "Lord, please don't be angry with me, but let me ask you this. If you find only thirty good people in the city, will you destroy it?" He said, "If I find thirty good people there, I will not destroy the city."

31 Then Abraham said, "I have been brave to speak to the Lord. But what if there are twenty good people in the city?" He answered, "If I find twenty there, I will not destroy the city."

32 Then Abraham said, "Lord, please don't be angry with me, but let me bother you this one last time. What if you find ten there?" He said, "If I find ten there, I will not destroy it."

33 When the Lord finished speaking to Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting near the city gate. When he saw them, he got up and went to them and bowed facedown on the ground.

2 Lot said, "Sirs, please come to my house and spend the night. There you can wash your feet, and then tomorrow you may continue your journey." The angels answered, "No, we will spend the night in the city's public square."

3 But Lot begged them to come, so they agreed and went to his house. Then Lot prepared a meal for them. He baked bread without yeast, and they ate it.

4 Before bedtime, men both young and old and from every part of Sodom surrounded Lot's house.

5 They called to Lot, "Where are the two men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sexual relations with them."

6 Lot went outside to them, closing the door behind him.

7 He said, "No, my brothers! Do not do this evil thing.

8 Look! I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. I will give them to you, and you may do anything you want with them. But please don't do anything to these men. They have come to my house, and I must protect them."

9 The men around the house answered, "Move out of the way!" Then they said to each other, "This man Lot came to our city as a stranger, and now he wants to tell us what to do!" They said to Lot, "We will do worse things to you than to them." They started pushing him back and were ready to break down the door.

10 But the two men staying with Lot opened the door, pulled him back inside the house, and then closed the door.

11 They struck those outside the door with blindness, so the men, both young and old, could not find the door.

12 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have any other relatives in this city? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or any other relatives? If you do, tell them to leave now,

13 because we are about to destroy this city. The Lord has heard of all the evil that is here, so he has sent us to destroy it."

14 So Lot went out and said to his future sons-in-law who were pledged to marry his daughters, "Hurry and leave this city! The Lord is about to destroy it!" But they thought Lot was joking.

15 At dawn the next morning, the angels begged Lot to hurry. They said, "Go! Take your wife and your two daughters with you so you will not be destroyed when the city is punished."

16 But Lot delayed. So the two men took the hands of Lot, his wife, and his two daughters and led them safely out of the city. So the Lord was merciful to Lot and his family.

17 After they brought them out of the city, one of the men said, "Run for your lives! Don't look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Run to the mountains, or you will be destroyed."

18 But Lot said to one of them, "Sir, please don't force me to go so far!

19 You have been merciful and kind to me and have saved my life. But I can't run to the mountains. The disaster will catch me, and I will die.

20 Look, that little town over there is not too far away. Let me run there. It's really just a little town, and I'll be safe there."

21 The angel said to Lot, "Very well, I will allow you to do this also. I will not destroy that town.

22 But run there fast, because I cannot destroy Sodom until you are safely in that town." (That town is named Zoar, because it is little.)

23 The sun had already come up when Lot entered Zoar.

24 The Lord sent a rain of burning sulfur down from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah

25 and destroyed those cities. He also destroyed the whole Jordan Valley, everyone living in the cities, and even all the plants.

26 At that point Lot's wife looked back. When she did, she became a pillar of salt.

27 Early the next morning, Abraham got up and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord.

28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the Jordan Valley and saw smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

29 God destroyed the cities in the valley, but he remembered what Abraham had asked. So God saved Lot's life, but he destroyed the city where Lot had lived.

30 Lot was afraid to continue living in Zoar, so he and his two daughters went to live in the mountains in a cave.

31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old. Everywhere on the earth women and men marry, but there are no men around here for us to marry.

32 Let's get our father drunk and have sexual relations with him. We can use him to have children and continue our family."

33 That night the two girls got their father drunk, and the older daughter went and had sexual relations with him. But Lot did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I had sexual relations with my father. Let's get him drunk again tonight so you can go and have sexual relations with him, too. In this way we can use our father to have children to continue our family."

35 So that night they got their father drunk again, and the younger daughter went and had sexual relations with him. Again, Lot did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.

37 The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the ancestor of all the Moabite people who are still living today.

38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ammi. He is the father of all the Ammonite people who are still living today.

1 Abraham left Hebron and traveled to south- ern Canaan where he stayed awhile between Kadesh and Shur. When he moved to Gerar,

2 he told people that his wife Sarah was his sister. Abimelech king of Gerar heard this, so he sent some servants to take her.

3 But one night God spoke to Abimelech in a dream and said, "You will die. The woman you took is married."

4 But Abimelech had not gone near Sarah, so he said, "Lord, would you destroy an innocent nation?

5 Abraham himself told me, 'This woman is my sister,' and she also said, 'He is my brother.' I am innocent. I did not know I was doing anything wrong."

6 Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, "Yes, I know you did not realize what you were doing. So I did not allow you to sin against me and touch her.

7 Give Abraham his wife back. He is a prophet. He will pray for you, and you will not die. But if you do not give Sarah back, you and all your family will surely die."

8 So early the next morning, Abimelech called all his officers and told them everything that had happened in the dream. They were very afraid.

9 Then Abimelech called Abraham to him and said, "What have you done to us? What wrong did I do against you? Why did you bring this trouble to my kingdom? You should not have done these things to me.

10 What were you thinking that caused you to do this?"

11 Then Abraham answered, "I thought no one in this place respected God and that someone would kill me to get Sarah.

12 And it is true that she is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but she is not the daughter of my mother.

13 When God told me to leave my father's house and wander in many different places, I told Sarah, 'You must do a special favor for me. Everywhere we go tell people I am your brother.'"

14 Then Abimelech gave Abraham some sheep, cattle, and male and female slaves. He also gave Sarah, Abraham's wife, back to him

15 and said, "Look around you at my land. You may live anywhere you want."

16 Abimelech said to Sarah, "I gave your brother Abraham twenty-five pounds of silver to make up for any wrong that people may think about you. I want everyone to know that you are innocent."

17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his servant girls so they could have children.

18 The Lord had kept all the women in Abimelech's house from having children as a punishment on Abimelech for taking Abraham's wife Sarah.

1 The Lord cared for Sarah as he had said and did for her what he had promised.

2 Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. Everything happened at the time God had said it would.

3 Abraham named his son Isaac, the son Sarah gave birth to.

4 He circumcised Isaac when he was eight days old as God had commanded.

5 Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born.

6 And Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.

7 No one thought that I would be able to have Abraham's child, but even though Abraham is old I have given him a son."

8 Isaac grew, and when he became old enough to eat food, Abraham gave a great feast.

9 But Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of Isaac. (Ishmael was the son of Abraham by Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian slave.)

10 So Sarah said to Abraham, "Throw out this slave woman and her son. Her son should not inherit anything; my son Isaac should receive it all."

11 This troubled Abraham very much because Ishmael was also his son.

12 But God said to Abraham, "Don't be troubled about the boy and the slave woman. Do whatever Sarah tells you. The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac.

13 I will also make the descendants of Ishmael into a great nation because he is your son, too."

14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a leather bag full of water. He gave them to Hagar and sent her away. Carrying these things and her son, Hagar went and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.

15 Later, when all the water was gone from the bag, Hagar put her son under a bush.

16 Then she went away a short distance and sat down. She thought, "My son will die, and I cannot watch this happen." She sat there and began to cry.

17 God heard the boy crying, and God's angel called to Hagar from heaven. He said, "What is wrong, Hagar? Don't be afraid! God has heard the boy crying there.

18 Help him up and take him by the hand. I will make his descendants into a great nation."

19 Then God showed Hagar a well of water. So she went to the well and filled her bag with water and gave the boy a drink.

20 God was with the boy as he grew up. Ishmael lived in the desert and became an archer.

21 He lived in the Desert of Paran, and his mother found a wife for him in Egypt.

22 Then Abimelech came with Phicol, the commander of his army, and said to Abraham, "God is with you in everything you do.

23 So make a promise to me here before God that you will be fair with me and my children and my descendants. Be kind to me and to this land where you have lived as a stranger -- as kind as I have been to you."

24 And Abraham said, "I promise."

25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about Abimelech's servants who had seized a well of water.

26 But Abimelech said, "I don't know who did this. You never told me about this before today."

27 Then Abraham gave Abimelech some sheep and cattle, and they made an agreement.

28 Abraham also put seven female lambs in front of Abimelech.

29 Abimelech asked Abraham, "Why did you put these seven female lambs by themselves?"

30 Abraham answered, "Accept these lambs from me to prove that you believe I dug this well."

31 So that place was called Beersheban because they made a promise to each other there.

32 After Abraham and Abimelech made the agreement at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, went back to the land of the Philistines.

33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba and prayed to the Lord, the God who lives forever.

34 And Abraham lived as a stranger in the land of the Philistines for a long time.

1 After these things God tested Abraham's faith. God said to him, "Abraham!" And he answered, "Here I am."

2 Then God said, "Take your only son, Isaac, the son you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Kill him there and offer him as a whole burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

3 Abraham got up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. He took Isaac and two servants with him. After he cut the wood for the sacrifice, they went to the place God had told them to go.

4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.

5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey. My son and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you."

6 Abraham took the wood for the sacrifice and gave it to his son to carry, but he himself took the knife and the fire. So he and his son went on together.

7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, "Father!" Abraham answered, "Yes, my son." Isaac said, "We have the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb we will burn as a sacrifice?"

8 Abraham answered, "God will give us the lamb for the sacrifice, my son." So Abraham and his son went on together

9 and came to the place God had told him about. Abraham built an altar there. He laid the wood on it and then tied up his son Isaac and laid him on the wood on the altar.

10 Then Abraham took his knife and was about to kill his son.

11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham! Abraham!" Abraham answered, "Yes."

12 The angel said, "Don't kill your son or hurt him in any way. Now I can see that you trust God and that you have not kept your son, your only son, from me."

13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a male sheep caught in a bush by its horns. So Abraham went and took the sheep and killed it. He offered it as a whole burnt offering to God, and his son was saved.

14 So Abraham named that place The Lord Provides. Even today people say, "On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided."

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time

16 and said, "The Lord says, 'Because you did not keep back your son, your only son, from me, I make you this promise by my own name:

17 I will surely bless you and give you many descendants. They will be as many as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, and they will capture the cities of their enemies.

18 Through your descendants all the nations on the earth will be blessed, because you obeyed me.'"

19 Then Abraham returned to his servants. They all traveled back to Beersheba, and Abraham stayed there.

20 After these things happened, someone told Abraham: "Your brother Nahor and his wife Milcah have children now.

21 The first son is Uz, and the second is Buz. The third son is Kemuel (the father of Aram).

22 Then there are Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel."

23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah was the mother of these eight sons, and Nahor, Abraham's brother, was the father.

24 Also Nahor had four other sons by his slave woman Reumah. Their names were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

1 Sarah lived to be one hundred twenty-seven years old.

2 She died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham was very sad and cried because of her.

3 After a while he got up from the side of his wife's body and went to talk to the Hittites. He said,

4 "I am only a stranger and a foreigner here. Sell me some of your land so that I can bury my dead wife.

5 The Hittites answered Abraham,

6 "Sir, you are a great leader among us. You may have the best place we have to bury your dead. You may have any of our burying places that you want, and none of us will stop you from burying your dead wife."

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

8 He said to them, "If you truly want to help me bury my dead wife here, speak to Ephron, the son of Zohar for me.

9 Ask him to sell me the cave of Machpelah at the edge of his field. I will pay him the full price. You can be the witnesses that I am buying it as a burial place."

10 Ephron was sitting among the Hittites at the city gate. He answered Abraham,

11 "No, sir. I will give you the land and the cave that is in it, with these people as witnesses. Bury your dead wife."

12 Then Abraham bowed down before the Hittites.

13 He said to Ephron before all the people, "Please let me pay you the full price for the field. Accept my money, and I will bury my dead there."

14 Ephron answered Abraham

15 "Sir, the land is worth ten pounds of silver, but I won't argue with you over the price. Take the land, and bury your dead wife."

16 Abraham agreed and paid Ephron in front of the Hittite witnesses. He weighed out the full price, ten pounds of silver, and they counted the weight as the traders normally did.

17

18 So Ephron's field in Machpelah, east of Mamre, was sold. Abraham became the owner of the field, the cave in it, and all the trees that were in the field. The sale was made at the city gate, with the Hittites as witnesses.

19 After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. (Mamre was later called Hebron in the land of Canaan.

20 So Abraham bought the field and the cave in it from the Hittites to use as a burying place.

1 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.

2 Abraham said to his oldest servant, who was in charge of everything he owned, "Put your hand under my leg.

3 Make a promise to me before the Lord, the God of heaven and earth. Don't get a wife for my son from the Canaanite girls who live around here.

4 Instead, go back to my country, to the land of my relatives, and get a wife for my son Isaac."

5 The servant said to him, "What if this woman does not want to return with me to this land? Then, should I take your son with me back to your homeland?"

6 Abraham said to him, "No! Don't take my son back there.

7 The Lord, the God of heaven, brought me from the home of my father and the land of my relatives. And he promised me, 'I will give this land to your descendants.' The Lord will send his angel before you to help you get a wife for my son there.

8 If the girl won't come back with you, you will be free from this promise. But you must not take my son back there."

9 So the servant put his hand under his master's leg and made a promise to Abraham about this.

10 The servant took ten of Abraham's camels and left, carrying with him many different kinds of beautiful gifts. He went to Northwest Mesopotamia to Nahor's city.

11 In the evening, when the women come out to get water, he made the camels kneel down at the well outside the city.

12 The servant said, "Lord, God of my master Abraham, allow me to find a wife for his son today. Please show this kindness to my master Abraham.

13 Here I am, standing by the spring, and the girls from the city are coming out to get water.

14 I will say to one of them, 'Please put your jar down so I can drink.' Then let her say, 'Drink, and I will also give water to your camels.' If that happens, I will know she is the right one for your servant Isaac and that you have shown kindness to my master."

15 Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, came out of the city. (Bethuel was the son of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham's brother.) Rebekah was carrying her water jar on her shoulder.

16 She was very pretty, a virgin; she had never had sexual relations with a man. She went down to the spring and filled her jar, then came back up.

17 The servant ran to her and said, "Please give me a little water from your jar."

18 Rebekah said, "Drink, sir." She quickly lowered the jar from her shoulder and gave him a drink.

19 After he finished drinking, Rebekah said, "I will also pour some water for your camels."

20 So she quickly poured all the water from her jar into the drinking trough for the camels. Then she kept running to the well until she had given all the camels enough to drink.

21 The servant quietly watched her. He wanted to be sure the Lord had made his trip successful.

22 After the camels had finished drinking, he gave Rebekah a gold ring weighing one-fifth of an ounce and two gold arm bracelets weighing about four ounces each.

23 He asked, "Who is your father? Is there a place in his house for me and my men to spend the night?"

24 Rebekah answered, "My father is Bethuel, the son of Milcah and Nahor."

25 Then she said, "And, yes, we have straw for your camels and a place for you to spend the night."

26 The servant bowed and worshiped the Lord

27 and said, "Blessed is the Lord, the God of my master Abraham. The Lord has been kind and truthful to him and has led me to my master's relatives."

28 Then Rebekah ran and told her mother's family about all these things.

29 She had a brother named Laban, who ran out to Abraham's servant, who was still at the spring.

30 Laban had heard what she had said and had seen the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms. So he ran out to the well, and there was the man standing by the camels at the spring.

31 Laban said, "Sir, you are welcome to come in; you don't have to stand outside. I have prepared the house for you and also a place for your camels."

32 So Abraham's servant went into the house. After Laban unloaded the camels and gave them straw and food, he gave water to Abraham's servant so he and the men with him could wash their feet.

33 Then Laban gave the servant food, but the servant said, "I will not eat until I have told you why I came." So Laban said, "Then tell us."

34 He said, "I am Abraham's servant.

35 The Lord has greatly blessed my master in everything, and he has become a rich man. The Lord has given him many flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, camels, and horses.

36 Sarah, my master's wife, gave birth to a son when she was old, and my master has given everything he owns to that son.

37 My master had me make a promise to him and said, 'Don't get a wife for my son from the Canaanite girls who live around here.

38 Instead, you must go to my father's people and to my family. There you must get a wife for my son.'

39 I said to my master, 'What if the woman will not come back with me?'

40 But he said, 'I serve the Lord, who will send his angel with you and will help you. You will get a wife for my son from my family and my father's people.

41 Then you will be free from the promise. But if they will not give you a wife for my son, you will be free from this promise.'

42 "Today I came to this spring. I said, 'Lord, God of my master Abraham, please make my trip successful.

43 I am standing by this spring. I will wait for a young woman to come out to get water, and I will say, "Please give me water from your jar to drink."

44 Then let her say, "Drink this water, and I will also get water for your camels." By this I will know the Lord has chosen her for my master's son.'

45 "Before I finished my silent prayer, Rebekah came out of the city with her water jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and got water. I said to her, 'Please give me a drink.'

46 She quickly lowered the jar from her shoulder and said, 'Drink this. I will also get water for your camels.' So I drank, and she gave water to my camels too.

47 When I asked her, 'Who is your father?' she answered, 'My father is Bethuel son of Milcah and Nahor.' Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms,

48 and I bowed my head and thanked the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, because he led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my master's brother for his son.

49 Now, tell me, will you be kind and truthful to my master? And if not, tell me so. Then I will know what I should do."

50 Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is clearly from the Lord, and we cannot change what must happen.

51 Rebekah is yours. Take her and go. Let her marry your master's son as the Lord has commanded."

52 When Abraham's servant heard these words, he bowed facedown on the ground before the Lord.

53 Then he gave Rebekah gold and silver jewelry and clothes. He also gave expensive gifts to her brother and mother.

54 The servant and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, the servant said, "Now let me go back to my master."

55 Rebekah's mother and her brother said, "Let Rebekah stay with us at least ten days. After that she may go."

56 But the servant said to them, "Do not make me wait, because the Lord has made my trip successful. Now let me go back to my master."

57 Rebekah's brother and mother said, "We will call Rebekah and ask her what she wants to do."

58 They called her and asked her, "Do you want to go with this man now?" She said, "Yes, I do."

59 So they allowed Rebekah and her nurse to go with Abraham's servant and his men.

60 They blessed Rebekah and said, "Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of people, and may your descendants capture the cities of their enemies."

61 Then Rebekah and her servant girls got on the camels and followed the servant and his men. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

62 At this time Isaac had left Beer Lahai Roi and was living in southern Canaan.

63 One evening when he went out to the field to think, he looked up and saw camels coming.

64 Rebekah also looked and saw Isaac. Then she jumped down from the camel

65 and asked the servant, "Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?" The servant answered, "That is my master." So Rebekah covered her face with her veil.

66 The servant told Isaac everything that had happened.

67 Then Isaac brought Rebekah into the tent of Sarah, his mother, and she became his wife. Isaac loved her very much, and so he was comforted after his mother's death.

1 Abraham married again, and his new wife was Keturah.

2 She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan's descendants were the people of Assyria, Letush, and Leum.

4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.

5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.

6 But before Abraham died, he did give gifts to the sons of his other wives, then sent them to the East to be away from Isaac.

7 Abraham lived to be one hundred seventy-five years old.

8 He breathed his last breath and died at an old age, after a long and satisfying life.

9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron east of Mamre. (Ephron was the son of Zohar the Hittite.)

10 So Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah in the same field that he had bought from the Hittites.

11 After Abraham died, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac was now living at Beer Lahai Roi.

12 This is the family history of Ishmael, Abraham's son. (Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian servant, was Ishmael's mother.)

13 These are the names of Ishmael's sons in the order they were born: Nebaioth, the first son, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

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

16 These were Ishmael's sons, and these are the names of the tribal leaders listed according to their settlements and camps.

17 Ishmael lived one hundred thirty-seven years and then breathed his last breath and died.

18 His descendants lived from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt stretching toward Assyria. They often attacked the descendants of his brothers.

19 This is the family history of Isaac. Abraham had a son named Isaac.

20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, who came from Northwest Mesopotamia. She was Bethuel's daughter and the sister of Laban the Aramean.

21 Isaac's wife could not have children, so Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord heard Isaac's prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant.

22 While she was pregnant, the babies struggled inside her. She asked, "Why is this happening to me?" Then she went to get an answer from the Lord.

23 The Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your body, and two groups of people will be taken from you. One group will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."

24 When the time came, Rebekah gave birth to twins.

25 The first baby was born red. Since his skin was like a hairy robe, he was named Esau.

26 When the second baby was born, he was holding on to Esau's heel, so that baby was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter. He loved to be out in the fields. But Jacob was a quiet man and stayed among the tents.

28 Isaac loved Esau because he hunted the wild animals that Isaac enjoyed eating. But Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 One day Jacob was boiling a pot of vegetable soup. Esau came in from hunting in the fields, weak from hunger.

30 So Esau said to Jacob, "Let me eat some of that red soup, because I am weak with hunger." (That is why people call him Edom.n)

31 But Jacob said, "You must sell me your rights as the firstborn son."

32 Esau said, "I am almost dead from hunger. If I die, all of my father's wealth will not help me."

33 But Jacob said, "First, promise me that you will give it to me." So Esau made a promise to Jacob and sold his part of their father's wealth to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and vegetable soup, and he ate and drank, and then left. So Esau showed how little he cared about his rights as the firstborn son.

1 Now there was a time of hunger in the land, besides the time of hunger that happened during Abraham's life. So Isaac went to the town of Gerar to see Abimelech king of the Philistines.

2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, "Don't go down to Egypt, but live in the land where I tell you to live.

3 Stay in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. I will give you and your descendants all these lands, and I will keep the oath I made to Abraham your father.

4 I will give you many descendants, as hard to count as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. Through your descendants all the nations on the earth will be blessed.

5 I will do this because your father Abraham obeyed me. He did what I said and obeyed my commands, my teachings, and my rules."

6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

7 His wife Rebekah was very beautiful, and the men of that place asked Isaac about her. Isaac said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to tell them she was his wife. He thought they might kill him so they could have her.

8 Isaac lived there a long time. One day as Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out his window, he saw Isaac holding his wife Rebekah tenderly.

9 Abimelech called for Isaac and said, "This woman is your wife. Why did you say she was your sister?" Isaac said to him, "I was afraid you would kill me so you could have her."

10 Abimelech said, "What have you done to us? One of our men might have had sexual relations with your wife. Then we would have been guilty of a great sin."

11 So Abimelech warned everyone, "Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death."

12 Isaac planted seed in that land, and that year he gathered a great harvest. The Lord blessed him very much,

13 and he became rich. He gathered more wealth until he became a very rich man.

14 He had so many slaves and flocks and herds that the Philistines envied him.

15 So they stopped up all the wells the servants of Isaac's father Abraham had dug. (They had dug them when Abraham was alive.) The Philistines filled those wells with dirt.

16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Leave our country because you have become much more powerful than we are."

17 So Isaac left that place and camped in the Valley of Gerar and lived there.

18 Long before this time Abraham had dug many wells, but after he died, the Philistines filled them with dirt. So Isaac dug those wells again and gave them the same names his father had given them.

19 Isaac's servants dug a well in the valley, from which a spring of water flowed.

20 But the herdsmen of Gerar argued with them and said, "This water is ours." So Isaac named that well Argue because they argued with him.

21 Then his servants dug another well. When the people also argued about it, Isaac named that well Fight.

22 He moved from there and dug another well. No one argued about this one, so he named it Room Enough. Isaac said, "Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be successful in this land."

23 From there Isaac went to Beersheba.

24 The Lord appeared to him that night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Don't be afraid, because I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my servant Abraham."

25 So Isaac built an altar and worshiped the Lord there. He also made a camp there, and his servants dug a well.

26 Abimelech came from Gerar to see Isaac. He brought with him Ahuzzath, who advised him, and Phicol, the commander of his army.

27 Isaac asked them, "Why have you come to see me? You were my enemy and forced me to leave your country."

28 They answered, "Now we know that the Lord is with you. Let us swear an oath to each other. Let us make an agreement with you

29 that since we did not hurt you, you will not hurt us. We were good to you and sent you away in peace. Now the Lord has blessed you."

30 So Isaac prepared food for them, and they all ate and drank.

31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them away, and they left in peace.

32 That day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug, saying, "We found water in that well."

33 So Isaac named it Shibahn and that city is called Beersheba even now.

34 When Esau was forty years old, he married two Hittite women -- Judith daughter of Beeri and Basemath daughter of Elon.

35 These women brought much sorrow to Isaac and Rebekah.

1 When Isaac was old, his eyesight was poor, so he could not see clearly. One day he called his older son Esau to him and said, "Son." Esau answered, "Here I am."

2 Isaac said, "I am old and don't know when I might die.

3 So take your bow and arrows and go hunting in the field for an animal for me to eat.

4 When you prepare the tasty food that I love, bring it to me, and I will eat. Then I will bless you before I die."

5 So Esau went out in the field to hunt. Rebekah was listening as Isaac said this to his son Esau.

6 She said to her son Jacob, "Listen, I heard your father saying to your brother Esau,

7 'Kill an animal and prepare some tasty food for me to eat. Then I will bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.'

8 So obey me, my son, and do what I tell you.

9 Go out to our goats and bring me two of the best young ones. I will prepare them just the way your father likes them.

10 Then you will take the food to your father, and he will bless you before he dies."

11 But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, "My brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am smooth!

12 If my father touches me, he will know I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me but will place a curse on me because I tried to trick him."

13 So Rebekah said to him, "If your father puts a curse on you, I will accept the blame. Just do what I said and go, get the goats for me."

14 So Jacob went out and got two goats and brought them to his mother, and she cooked them in the special way Isaac enjoyed.

15 She took the best clothes of her older son Esau that were in the house and put them on the younger son Jacob.

16 She also took the skins of the goats and put them on Jacob's hands and neck.

17 Then she gave Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

18 Jacob went in to his father and said, "Father." And his father said, "Yes, my son. Who are you?"

19 Jacob said to him, "I am Esau, your first son. I have done what you told me. Now sit up and eat some meat of the animal I hunted for you. Then bless me."

20 But Isaac asked his son, "How did you find and kill the animal so quickly?" Jacob answered, "Because the Lord your God helped me to find it."

21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near so I can touch you, my son. Then I will know if you are really my son Esau."

22 So Jacob came near to Isaac his father. Isaac touched him and said, "Your voice sounds like Jacob's voice, but your hands are hairy like the hands of Esau."

23 Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his hands were hairy like Esau's hands, so Isaac blessed him.

24 Isaac asked, "Are you really my son Esau?" Jacob answered, "Yes, I am."

25 Then Isaac said, "Bring me the food, and I will eat it and bless you." So Jacob gave him the food, and he ate. Jacob gave him wine, and he drank.

26 Then Isaac said to him, "My son, come near and kiss me."

27 So Jacob went to his father and kissed him. When Isaac smelled Esau's clothes, he blessed him and said, "The smell of my son is like the smell of the field that the Lord has blessed.

28 May God give you plenty of rain and good soil so that you will have plenty of grain and new wine.

29 May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. May you be master over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. May everyone who curses you be cursed, and may everyone who blesses you be blessed."

30 Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting.

31 He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. He said, "Father, rise and eat the food that your son killed for you and then bless me."

32 Isaac asked, "Who are you?" He answered, "I am your son -- your firstborn son -- Esau."

33 Then Isaac trembled greatly and said, "Then who was it that hunted the animals and brought me food before you came? I ate it, and I blessed him, and it is too late now to take back my blessing."

34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he let out a loud and bitter cry. He said to his father, "Bless me -- me, too, my father!"

35 But Isaac said, "Your brother came and tricked me. He has taken your blessing."

36 Esau said, "Jacob is the right name for him. He has tricked me these two times. He took away my share of everything you own, and now he has taken away my blessing." Then Esau asked, "Haven't you saved a blessing for me?"

37 Isaac answered, "I gave Jacob the power to be master over you, and all his brothers will be his servants. And I kept him strong with grain and new wine. There is nothing left to give you, my son."

38 But Esau continued, "Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me, too, Father!" Then Esau began to cry out loud.

39 Isaac said to him, "You will live far away from the best land, far from the rain.

40 You will live by using your sword, and you will be a slave to your brother. But when you struggle, you will break free from him."

41 After that Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing from Isaac. He thought to himself, "My father will soon die, and I will be sad for him. Then I will kill Jacob."

42 Rebekah heard about Esau's plan to kill Jacob. So she sent for Jacob and said to him, "Listen, your brother Esau is comforting himself by planning to kill you.

43 So, my son, do what I say. My brother Laban is living in Haran. Go to him at once!

44 Stay with him for a while, until your brother is not so angry.

45 In time, your brother will not be angry, and he will forget what you did to him. Then I will send a servant to bring you back. I don't want to lose both of my sons on the same day."

46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am tired of Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of these Hittite women here in this land, I want to die."

1 Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and com manded him, "You must not marry a Canaan ite woman.

2 Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, in Northwest Mesopotamia. Laban, your mother's brother, lives there. Marry one of his daughters.

3 May God Almighty bless you and give you many children, and may you become a group of many peoples.

4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing of Abraham so that you may own the land where you are now living as a stranger, the land God gave to Abraham."

5 So Isaac sent Jacob to Northwest Mesopotamia, to Laban the brother of Rebekah. Bethuel the Aramean was the father of Laban and Rebekah, and Rebekah was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Northwest Mesopotamia to find a wife there. He also learned that Isaac had commanded Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman

7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Northwest Mesopotamia.

8 So Esau saw that his father Isaac did not want his sons to marry Canaanite women.

9 Now Esau already had wives, but he went to Ishmael son of Abraham, and he married Mahalath, Ishmael's daughter. Mahalath was the sister of Nebaioth.

10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran.

11 When he came to a place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. He found a stone and laid his head on it to go to sleep.

12 Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder resting on the earth and reaching up into heaven, and he saw angels of God going up and coming down the ladder.

13 Then Jacob saw the Lord standing above the ladder, and he said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your grandfather, and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are now sleeping.

14 Your descendants will be as many as the dust of the earth. They will spread west and east, north and south, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.

15 I am with you and will protect you everywhere you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not know it."

17 He was afraid and said, "This place frightens me! It is surely the house of God and the gate of heaven."

18 Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone he had slept on and set it up on its end. Then he poured olive oil on the top of it.

19 At first, the name of that city was Luz, but Jacob named it Bethel.

20 Then Jacob made a promise. He said, "I want God to be with me and to protect me on this journey. I want him to give me food to eat and clothes to wear

21 so I will be able to return in peace to my father's house. If the Lord does these things, he will be my God.

22 This stone which I have set up on its end will be the house of God. And I will give God one-tenth of all he gives me."

1 Then Jacob continued his journey and came to the land of the people of the East.

2 He looked and saw a well in the field and three flocks of sheep lying nearby, because they drank water from this well. A large stone covered the mouth of the well.

3 When all the flocks would gather there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place.

4 Jacob said to the shepherds there, "My brothers, where are you from?" They answered, "We are from Haran."

5 Then Jacob asked, "Do you know Laban, grandson of Nahor?" They answered, "We know him."

6 Then Jacob asked, "How is he?" They answered, "He is well. Look, his daughter Rachel is coming now with his sheep."

7 Jacob said, "But look, it is still the middle of the day. It is not time for the sheep to be gathered for the night, so give them water and let them go back into the pasture."

8 But they said, "We cannot do that until all the flocks are gathered. Then we will roll away the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep."

9 While Jacob was talking with the shepherds, Rachel came with her father's sheep, because it was her job to care for the sheep.

10 When Jacob saw Laban's daughter Rachel and Laban's sheep, he went to the well and rolled the stone from its mouth and watered Laban's sheep. Now Laban was the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's mother.

11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and cried.

12 He told her that he was from her father's family and that he was the son of Rebekah. So Rachel ran home and told her father.

13 When Laban heard the news about his sister's son Jacob, he ran to meet him. Laban hugged him and kissed him and brought him to his house, where Jacob told Laban everything that had happened.

14 Then Laban said, "You are my own flesh and blood." Jacob stayed there a month.

15 Then Laban said to Jacob, "You are my relative, but it is not right for you to work for me without pay. What would you like me to pay you?"

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

17 Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was very beautiful.

18 Jacob loved Rachel, so he said to Laban, "Let me marry your younger daughter Rachel. If you will, I will work seven years for you."

19 Laban said, "It would be better for her to marry you than someone else, so stay here with me."

20 So Jacob worked for Laban seven years so he could marry Rachel. But they seemed like just a few days to him because he loved Rachel very much.

21 After seven years Jacob said to Laban, "Give me Rachel so that I may marry her. The time I promised to work for you is over."

22 So Laban gave a feast for all the people there.

23 That evening he brought his daughter Leah to Jacob, and they had sexual relations.

24 (Laban gave his slave girl Zilpah to his daughter to be her servant.)

25 In the morning when Jacob saw that he had had sexual relations with Leah, he said to Laban, "What have you done to me? I worked hard for you so that I could marry Rachel! Why did you trick me?"

26 Laban said, "In our country we do not allow the younger daughter to marry before the older daughter.

27 But complete the full week of the marriage ceremony with Leah, and I will give you Rachel to marry also. But you must serve me another seven years."

28 So Jacob did this, and when he had completed the week with Leah, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife.

29 (Laban gave his slave girl Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.)

30 So Jacob had sexual relations with Rachel also, and Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah. Jacob worked for Laban for another seven years.

31 When the Lord saw that Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, he made it possible for Leah to have children, but not Rachel.

32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, because she said, "The Lord has seen my troubles. Surely now my husband will love me."

33 Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Simeonn and said, "The Lord has heard that I am not loved, so he has given me this son."

34 Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Levin and said, "Now, surely my husband will be close to me, because I have given him three sons."

35 Then Leah gave birth to another son. She named him Judah, because she said, "Now I will praise the Lord." Then Leah stopped having children.

1 When Rachel saw that she was not having children for Jacob, she envied her sister Leah. She said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die!"

2 Jacob became angry with her and said, "Can I do what only God can do? He is the one who has kept you from having children."

3 Then Rachel said, "Here is my slave girl Bilhah. Have sexual relations with her so she can give birth to a child for me. Then I can have my own family through her."

4 So Rachel gave Bilhah, her slave girl, to Jacob as a wife, and he had sexual relations with her.

5 She became pregnant and gave Jacob a son.

6 Rachel said, "God has judged me innocent. He has listened to my prayer and has given me a son," so she named him Dan.

7 Bilhah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a second son.

8 Rachel said, "I have struggled hard with my sister, and I have won." So she named that son Naphtali.

9 Leah saw that she had stopped having children, so she gave her slave girl Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.

10 When Zilpah had a son,

11 Leah said, "I am lucky," so she named him Gad.

12 Zilpah gave birth to another son,

13 and Leah said, "I am very happy! Now women will call me happy," so she named him Asher.

14 During the wheat harvest Reuben went into the field and found some mandraken plants and brought them to his mother Leah. But Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."

15 Leah answered, "You have already taken away my husband, and now you are trying to take away my son's mandrakes." But Rachel answered, "If you will give me your son's mandrakes, you may sleep with Jacob tonight."

16 When Jacob came in from the field that night, Leah went out to meet him. She said, "You will have sexual relations with me tonight because I have paid for you with my son's mandrakes." So Jacob slept with her that night.

17 Then God answered Leah's prayer, and she became pregnant again. She gave birth to a fifth son

18 and said, "God has given me what I paid for, because I gave my slave girl to my husband." So Leah named her son Issachar.

19 Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son.

20 She said, "God has given me a fine gift. Now surely Jacob will honor me, because I have given him six sons," so she named him Zebulun.

21 Later Leah gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

22 Then God remembered Rachel and answered her prayer, making it possible for her to have children.

23 When she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, she said, "God has taken away my shame,"

24 and she named him Joseph. Rachel said, "I wish the Lord would give me another son."

25 After the birth of Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Now let me go to my own home and country.

26 Give me my wives and my children and let me go. I have earned them by working for you, and you know that I have served you well."

27 Laban said to him, "If I have pleased you, please stay. I know the Lord has blessed me because of you.

28 Tell me what I should pay you, and I will give it to you."

29 Jacob answered, "You know that I have worked hard for you, and your flocks have grown while I cared for them.

30 When I came, you had little, but now you have much. Every time I did something for you, the Lord blessed you. But when will I be able to do something for my own family?"

31 Laban asked, "Then what should I give you?" Jacob answered, "I don't want you to give me anything. Just do this one thing, and I will come back and take care of your flocks.

32 Today let me go through all your flocks. I will take every speckled or spotted sheep, every black lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. That will be my pay.

33 In the future you can easily see if I am honest. When you come to look at my flocks, if I have any goat that isn't speckled or spotted or any lamb that isn't black, you will know I stole it."

34 Laban answered, "Agreed! We will do what you ask."

35 But that day Laban took away all the male goats that had streaks or spots, all the speckled and spotted female goats (all those that had white on them), and all the black sheep. He told his sons to watch over them.

36 Then he took these animals to a place that was three days' journey away from Jacob. Jacob took care of all the flocks that were left.

37 So Jacob cut green branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled off some of the bark so that the branches had white stripes on them.

38 He put the branches in front of the flocks at the watering places. When the animals came to drink, they also mated there,

39 so the flocks mated in front of the branches. Then the young that were born were streaked, speckled, or spotted.

40 Jacob separated the young animals from the others, and he made them face the streaked and dark animals in Laban's flock. Jacob kept his animals separate from Laban's.

41 When the stronger animals in the flock were mating, Jacob put the branches before their eyes so they would mate near the branches.

42 But when the weaker animals mated, Jacob did not put the branches there. So the animals born from the weaker animals were Laban's, and those born from the stronger animals were Jacob's.

43 In this way Jacob became very rich. He had large flocks, many male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.

1 One day Jacob heard Laban's sons talking. They said, "Jacob has taken everything our father owned, and in this way he has become rich."

2 Then Jacob noticed that Laban was not as friendly as he had been before.

3 The Lord said to Jacob, "Go back to the land where your ancestors lived, and I will be with you."

4 So Jacob told Rachel and Leah to meet him in the field where he kept his flocks.

5 He said to them, "I have seen that your father is not as friendly with me as he used to be, but the God of my father has been with me.

6 You both know that I have worked as hard as I could for your father,

7 but he cheated me and changed my pay ten times. But God has not allowed your father to harm me.

8 When Laban said, 'You can have all the speckled animals as your pay,' all the animals gave birth to speckled young ones. But when he said, 'You can have all the streaked animals as your pay,' all the flocks gave birth to streaked babies.

9 So God has taken the animals away from your father and has given them to me.

10 "I had a dream during the season when the flocks were mating. I saw that the only male goats who were mating were streaked, speckled, or spotted.

11 The angel of God spoke to me in that dream and said, 'Jacob!' I answered, 'Yes!'

12 The angel said, 'Look! Only the streaked, speckled, or spotted male goats are mating. I have seen all the wrong things Laban has been doing to you.

13 I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel, where you poured olive oil on the stone you set up on end and where you made a promise to me. Now I want you to leave here and go back to the land where you were born.'"

14 Rachel and Leah answered Jacob, "Our father has nothing to give us when he dies.

15 He has treated us like strangers. He sold us to you, and then he spent all of the money you paid for us.

16 God took all this wealth from our father, and now it belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you to do."

17 So Jacob put his children and his wives on camels,

18 and they began their journey back to Isaac, his father, in the land of Canaan. All the flocks of animals that Jacob owned walked ahead of them. He carried everything with him that he had gotten while he lived in Northwest Mesopotamia.

19 While Laban was gone to cut the wool from his sheep, Rachel stole the idols that belonged to him.

20 And Jacob tricked Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was leaving.

21 Jacob and his family left quickly, crossed the Euphrates River, and traveled toward the mountains of Gilead.

22 Three days later Laban learned that Jacob had run away,

23 so he gathered his relatives and began to chase him. After seven days Laban found him in the mountains of Gilead.

24 That night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and said, "Be careful! Do not say anything to Jacob, good or bad."

25 So Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had made his camp in the mountains, so Laban and his relatives set up their camp in the mountains of Gilead.

26 Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You cheated me and took my daughters as if you had captured them in a war.

27 Why did you run away secretly and trick me? Why didn't you tell me? Then I could have sent you away with joy and singing and with the music of tambourines and harps.

28 You did not even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters good-bye. You were very foolish to do this!

29 I have the power to harm you, but last night the God of your father spoke to me and warned me not to say anything to you, good or bad.

30 I know you want to go back to your home, but why did you steal my idols?"

31 Jacob answered Laban, "I left without telling you, because I was afraid you would take your daughters away from me.

32 If you find anyone here who has taken your idols, that person will be killed! Your relatives will be my witnesses. You may look for anything that belongs to you and take anything that is yours." (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen Laban's idols.)

33 So Laban looked in Jacob's tent, in Leah's tent, and in the tent where the two slave women stayed, but he did not find his idols. When he left Leah's tent, he went into Rachel's tent.

34 Rachel had hidden the idols inside her camel's saddle and was sitting on them. Although Laban looked through the whole tent, he did not find them.

35 Rachel said to her father, "Father, don't be angry with me. I am not able to stand up before you because I am having my monthly period." So Laban looked through the camp, but he did not find his idols.

36 Then Jacob became very angry and said, "What wrong have I done? What law have I broken to cause you to chase me?

37 You have looked through everything I own, but you have found nothing that belongs to you. If you have found anything, show it to everyone. Put it in front of your relatives and my relatives, and let them decide which one of us is right.

38 I have worked for you now for twenty years. During all that time none of the lambs and kids died during birth, and I have not eaten any of the male sheep from your flocks.

39 Any time an animal was killed by wild beasts, I did not bring it to you, but made up for the loss myself. You made me pay for any animal that was stolen during the day or night.

40 In the daytime the sun took away my strength, and at night I was cold and could not sleep.

41 I worked like a slave for you for twenty years -- the first fourteen to get your two daughters and the last six to earn your flocks. During that time you changed my pay ten times.

42 But the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac, was with me. Otherwise, you would have sent me away with nothing. But he saw the trouble I had and the hard work I did, and last night he corrected you."

43 Laban said to Jacob, "These girls are my daughters. Their children belong to me, and these flocks are mine. Everything you see here belongs to me, but I can do nothing to keep my daughters and their children.

44 Let us make an agreement, and let us set up a pile of stones to remind us of it."

45 So Jacob took a large rock and set it up on its end.

46 He told his relatives to gather rocks, so they took the rocks and piled them up; then they ate beside the pile.

47 Laban named that place in his language A Pile to Remind Us, and Jacob gave the place the same name in Hebrew.

48 Laban said to Jacob, "This pile of rocks will remind us of the agreement between us." That is why the place was called A Pile to Remind Us.

49 It was also called Mizpah, because Laban said, "Let the Lord watch over us while we are separated from each other.

50 Remember that God is our witness even if no one else is around us. He will know if you harm my daughters or marry other women.

51 Here is the pile of rocks that I have put between us and here is the rock I set up on end.

52 This pile of rocks and this rock set on end will remind us of our agreement. I will never go past this pile to hurt you, and you must never come to my side of them to hurt me.

53 Let the God of Abraham, who is the God of Nahor and the God of their fathers, punish either of us if we break this agreement." So Jacob made a promise in the name of the God whom his father Isaac worshiped.

54 Then Jacob killed an animal and offered it as a sacrifice on the mountain, and he invited his relatives to share in the meal. After they finished eating, they spent the night on the mountain.

55 Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them, and then he left to return home.

1 When Jacob also went his way, the angels of God met him.

2 When he saw them, he said, "This is the camp of God!" So he named that place Mahanaim.

3 Jacob's brother Esau was living in the area called Seir in the country of Edom. Jacob sent messengers to Esau,

4 telling them, "Give this message to my master Esau: 'This is what Jacob, your servant, says: I have lived with Laban and have remained there until now.

5 I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants. I send this message to you and ask you to accept us.'"

6 The messengers returned to Jacob and said, "We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him."

7 Then Jacob was very afraid and worried. He divided the people who were with him and all the flocks, herds, and camels into two camps.

8 Jacob thought, "Esau might come and destroy one camp, but the other camp can run away and be saved."

9 Then Jacob said, "God of my father Abraham! God of my father Isaac! Lord, you told me to return to my country and my family. You said that you would treat me well.

10 I am not worthy of the kindness and continual goodness you have shown me. The first time I traveled across the Jordan River, I had only my walking stick, but now I own enough to have two camps.

11 Please save me from my brother Esau. I am afraid he will come and kill all of us, even the mothers with the children.

12 You said to me, 'I will treat you well and will make your children as many as the sand of the seashore. There will be too many to count.'"

13 Jacob stayed there for the night and prepared a gift for Esau from what he had with him:

14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred female sheep and twenty male sheep,

15 thirty female camels and their young, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten male donkeys.

16 Jacob gave each separate flock of animals to one of his servants and said to them, "Go ahead of me and keep some space between each herd."

17 Jacob gave them their orders. To the servant with the first group of animals he said, "My brother Esau will come to you and ask, 'Whose servant are you? Where are you going and whose animals are these?'

18 Then you will answer, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. He sent them as a gift to you, my master Esau, and he also is coming behind us.'"

19 Jacob ordered the second servant, the third servant, and all the other servants to do the same thing. He said, "Say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.

20 Say, 'Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.'" Jacob thought, "If I send these gifts ahead of me, maybe Esau will forgive me. Then when I see him, perhaps he will accept me."

21 So Jacob sent the gifts to Esau, but he himself stayed that night in the camp.

22 During the night Jacob rose and crossed the Jabbok River at the crossing, taking with him his two wives, his two slave girls, and his eleven sons.

23 He sent his family and everything he had across the river.

24 So Jacob was alone, and a man came and wrestled with him until the sun came up.

25 When the man saw he could not defeat Jacob, he struck Jacob's hip and put it out of joint.

26 Then he said to Jacob, "Let me go. The sun is coming up." But Jacob said, "I will let you go if you will bless me."

27 The man said to him, "What is your name?" And he answered, "Jacob."

28 Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob. Your name will now be Israel, because you have wrestled with God and with people, and you have won."

29 Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But the man said, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed Jacob there.

30 So Jacob named that place Peniel, saying, "I have seen God face to face, but my life was saved."

31 Then the sun rose as he was leaving that place, and Jacob was limping because of his leg.

32 So even today the people of Israel do not eat the muscle that is on the hip joint of animals, because Jacob was touched there.

1 Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and with him were four hundred men. So Jacob divided his children among Leah, Rachel, and the two slave girls.

2 Jacob put the slave girls with their children first, then Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph last.

3 Jacob himself went out in front of them and bowed down flat on the ground seven times as he was walking toward his brother.

4 But Esau ran to meet Jacob and put his arms around him and hugged him. Then Esau kissed him, and they both cried.

5 When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, "Who are these people with you?" Jacob answered, "These are the children God has given me. God has been good to me, your servant."

6 Then the two slave girls and their children came up to Esau and bowed down flat on the earth before him.

7 Leah and her children also came up to Esau and also bowed down flat on the earth. Last of all, Joseph and Rachel came up to Esau, and they, too, bowed down flat before him.

8 Esau said, "I saw many herds as I was coming here. Why did you bring them?" Jacob answered, "They were to please you, my master."

9 But Esau said, "I already have enough, my brother. Keep what you have."

10 Jacob said, "No! Please! If I have pleased you, then accept the gift I give you. I am very happy to see your face again. It is like seeing the face of God, because you have accepted me.

11 So I beg you to accept the gift I give you. God has been very good to me, and I have more than I need." And because Jacob begged, Esau accepted the gift.

12 Then Esau said, "Let us be going. I will travel with you."

13 But Jacob said to him, "My master, you know that the children are weak. And I must be careful with my flocks and their young ones. If I force them to go too far in one day, all the animals will die.

14 So, my master, you go on ahead of me, your servant. I will follow you slowly and let the animals and the children set the speed at which we travel. I will meet you, my master, in Edom."

15 So Esau said, "Then let me leave some of my people with you." "No, thank you," said Jacob. "I only want to please you, my master."

16 So that day Esau started back to Edom.

17 But Jacob went to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and shelters for his animals. That is why the place was named Succoth.

18 Jacob left Northwest Mesopotamia and arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan. There he camped east of the city.

19 He bought a part of the field where he had camped from the sons of Hamor father of Shechem for one hundred pieces of silver.

20 He built an altar there and named it after God, the God of Israel.

1 At this time Dinah, the daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land.

2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of the land, saw her, he took her and forced her to have sexual relations with him.

3 Shechem fell in love with Dinah, and he spoke kindly to her.

4 He told his father, Hamor, "Please get this girl for me so I can marry her."

5 Jacob learned how Shechem had disgraced his daughter, but since his sons were out in the field with the cattle, Jacob said nothing until they came home.

6 While he waited, Hamor father of Shechem went to talk with Jacob.

7 When Jacob's sons heard what had happened, they came in from the field. They were very angry that Shechem had done such a wicked thing to Israel. It was wrong for him to have sexual relations with Jacob's daughter; a thing like this should not be done.

8 But Hamor talked to Dinah's brothers and said, "My son Shechem is deeply in love with Dinah. Please let him marry her.

9 Marry our people. Give your women to our men as wives and take our women for your men as wives.

10 You can live in the same land with us. You will be free to own land and to trade here."

11 Shechem also talked to Jacob and to Dinah's brothers and said, "Please accept my offer. I will give anything you ask.

12 Ask as much as you want for the payment for the bride, and I will give it to you. Just let me marry Dinah."

13 Jacob's sons answered Shechem and his father with lies, because Shechem had disgraced their sister Dinah.

14 The brothers said to them, "We cannot allow you to marry our sister, because you are not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us.

15 But we will allow you to marry her if you do this one thing: Every man in your town must be circumcised like us.

16 Then your men can marry our women, and our men can marry your women, and we will live in your land and become one people.

17 If you refuse to be circumcised, we will take Dinah and leave."

18 What they asked seemed fair to Hamor and Shechem.

19 So Shechem quickly went to be circumcised because he loved Jacob's daughter. Now Shechem was the most respected man in his family.

20 So Hamor and Shechem went to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying,

21 "These people want to be friends with us. So let them live in our land and trade here. There is enough land for all of us. Let us marry their women, and we can let them marry our women.

22 But we must agree to one thing: All our men must be circumcised as they are. Then they will agree to live in our land, and we will be one people.

23 If we do this, their cattle and their animals will belong to us. Let us do what they say, and they will stay in our land."

24 All the people who had come to the city gate heard this. They agreed with Hamor and Shechem, and every man was circumcised.

25 Three days later the men who were circumcised were still in pain. Two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi (Dinah's brothers), took their swords and made a surprise attack on the city, killing all the men there.

26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem and then took Dinah out of Shechem's house and left.

27 Jacob's sons came upon the dead bodies and stole everything that was in the city, to pay them back for what Shechem had done to their sister.

28 So the brothers took the flocks, herds, and donkeys, and everything in the city and in the fields.

29 They took every valuable thing the people owned, even their wives and children and everything in the houses.

30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have caused me a lot of trouble. Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites who live in the land will hate me. Since there are only a few of us, if they join together to attack us, my people and I will be destroyed."

31 But the brothers said, "We will not allow our sister to be treated like a prostitute."

1 God said to Jacob, "Go to the city of Bethel and live there. Make an altar to the God who appeared to you there when you were running away from your brother Esau."

2 So Jacob said to his family and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods you have, and make yourselves clean, and change your clothes.

3 We will leave here and go to Bethel. There I will build an altar to God, who has helped me during my time of trouble. He has been with me everywhere I have gone."

4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had, and the earrings they were wearing, and he hid them under the great tree near the town of Shechem.

5 Then Jacob and his sons left there. But God caused the people in the nearby cities to be afraid, so they did not follow them.

6 And Jacob and all the people who were with him went to Luz, which is now called Bethel, in the land of Canaan.

7 There Jacob built an altar and named the place Bethel, after God, because God had appeared to him there when he was running from his brother.

8 Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under the oak tree at Bethel, so they named that place Oak of Crying.

9 When Jacob came back from Northwest Mesopotamia, God appeared to him again and blessed him.

10 God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. Your new name will be Israel." So he called him Israel.

11 God said to him, "I am God Almighty. Have many children and grow in number as a nation. You will be the ancestor of many nations and kings.

12 The same land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you and your descendants."

13 Then God left him.

14 Jacob set up a stone on edge in that place where God had talked to him, and he poured a drink offering and olive oil on it to make it special for God.

15 And Jacob named the place Bethel.

16 Jacob and his group left Bethel. Before they came to Ephrath, Rachel began giving birth to her baby,

17 but she was having much trouble. When Rachel's nurse saw this, she said, "Don't be afraid, Rachel. You are giving birth to another son."

18 Rachel gave birth to the son, but she herself died. As she lay dying, she named the boy Son of My Suffering, but Jacob called him Benjamin.

19 Rachel was buried on the road to Ephrath, a district of Bethlehem,

20 and Jacob set up a rock on her grave to honor her. That rock is still there.

21 Then Israeln continued his journey and camped just south of Migdal Eder.

22 While Israel was there, Reuben had sexual relations with Israel's slave woman Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons.

23 He had six sons by his wife Leah: Reuben, his first son, then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

24 He had two sons by his wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

25 He had two sons by Rachel's slave girl Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.

26 And he had two sons by Leah's slave girl Zilpah: Gad and Asher. These are Jacob's sons who were born in Northwest Mesopotamia.

27 Jacob went to his father Isaac at Mamre near Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had lived.

28 Isaac lived one hundred eighty years.

29 So Isaac breathed his last breath and died when he was very old, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

1 This is the family history of Esau (also called Edom).

2 Esau married women from the land of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite; and Oholibamah daughter of Anah, the son of Zibeon the Hivite;

3 and Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.

4 Adah gave birth to Eliphaz for Esau. Basemath gave him Reuel,

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

6 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the people who lived with him, his herds and other animals, and all the belongings he had gotten in Canaan, and he went to a land away from his brother Jacob.

7 Esau's and Jacob's belongings were becoming too many for them to live in the same land. The land where they had lived could not support both of them, because they had too many herds.

8 So Esau lived in the mountains of Edom. (Esau is also named Edom.)

9 This is the family history of Esau. He is the ancestor of the Edomites, who live in the mountains of Edom.

10 Esau's sons were Eliphaz, son of Adah and Esau, and Reuel, son of Basemath and Esau.

11 Eliphaz had five sons: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

12 Eliphaz also had a slave woman named Timna, and Timna and Eliphaz gave birth to Amalek. These were Esau's grandsons by his wife Adah.

13 Reuel had four sons: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were Esau's grandsons by his wife Basemath.

14 Esau's third wife was Oholibamah the daughter of Anah. (Anah was the son of Zibeon.) Esau and Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

15 These were the leaders that came from Esau: Esau's first son was Eliphaz. From him came these leaders: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,

16 Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These were the leaders that came from Eliphaz in the land of Edom. They were the grandsons of Adah.

17 Esau's son Reuel was the father of these leaders: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the leaders that came from Reuel in the land of Edom. They were the grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath.

18 Esau's wife Oholibamah gave birth to these leaders: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the leaders that came from Esau's wife Oholibamah the daughter of Anah.

19 These were the sons of Esau (also called Edom), and these were their leaders.

20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These sons of Seir were the leaders of the Horites in Edom.

22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam. (Timna was Lotan's sister.)

23 The sons of Shobal were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

24 The sons of Zibeon were Aiah and Anah. Anah is the man who found the hot springs in the desert while he was caring for his father's donkeys.

25 The children of Anah were Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

26 The sons of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.

27 The sons of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

28 The sons of Dishan were Uz and Aran.

29 These were the names of the Horite leaders: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

30 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These men were the leaders of the Horite families who lived in the land of Edom.

31 These are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom before the Israelites ever had a king:

32 Bela son of Beor was the king of Edom. He came from the city of Dinhabah.

33 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah became king. Jobab was from Bozrah.

34 When Jobab died, Husham became king. He was from the land of the Temanites.

35 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who had defeated Midian in the country of Moab, became king. Hadad was from the city of Avith.

36 When Hadad died, Samlah became king. He was from Masrekah.

37 When Samlah died, Shaul became king. He was from Rehoboth on the Euphrates River.

38 When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Acbor became king.

39 When Baal-Hanan son of Acbor died, Hadad became king. He was from the city of Pau. His wife's name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, who was the daughter of Me-Zahab.

40 These Edomite leaders, listed by their families and regions, came from Esau. Their names were Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,

41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,

42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,

43 Magdiel, and Iram. They were the leaders of Edom. (Esau was the father of the Edomites.) The area where each of these families lived was named after that family.

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

2 This is the family history of Jacob: Joseph was a young man, seventeen years old. He and his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives, cared for the flocks. Joseph gave his father bad reports about his brothers.

3 Since Joseph was born when his father Israeln was old, Israel loved him more than his other sons. He made Joseph a special robe with long sleeves.

4 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father loved him more than he loved them, they hated their brother and could not speak to him politely.

5 One time Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more.

6 Joseph said, "Listen to the dream I had.

7 We were in the field tying bundles of wheat together. My bundle stood up, and your bundles of wheat gathered around it and bowed down to it."

8 His brothers said, "Do you really think you will be king over us? Do you truly think you will rule over us?" His brothers hated him even more because of his dreams and what he had said.

9 Then Joseph had another dream, and he told his brothers about it also. He said, "Listen, I had another dream. I saw the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing down to me."

10 Joseph also told his father about this dream, but his father scolded him, saying, "What kind of dream is this? Do you really believe that your mother, your brothers, and I will bow down to you?"

11 Joseph's brothers were jealous of him, but his father thought about what all these things could mean.

12 One day Joseph's brothers went to Shechem to graze their father's flocks.

13 Israel said to Joseph, "Go to Shechem where your brothers are grazing the flocks." Joseph answered, "I will go."

14 His father said, "Go and see if your brothers and the flocks are all right. Then come back and tell me." So Joseph's father sent him from the Valley of Hebron. When Joseph came to Shechem,

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

16 Joseph answered, "I am looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing the flocks?"

17 The man said, "They have already gone. I heard them say they were going to Dothan." So Joseph went to look for his brothers and found them in Dothan.

18 Joseph's brothers saw him coming from far away. Before he reached them, they made a plan to kill him.

19 They said to each other, "Here comes that dreamer.

20 Let's kill him and throw his body into one of the wells. We can tell our father that a wild animal killed him. Then we will see what will become of his dreams."

21 But Reuben heard their plan and saved Joseph, saying, "Let's not kill him.

22 Don't spill any blood. Throw him into this well here in the desert, but don't hurt him!" Reuben planned to save Joseph later and send him back to his father.

23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they pulled off his robe with long sleeves

24 and threw him into the well. It was empty, and there was no water in it.

25 While Joseph was in the well, the brothers sat down to eat. When they looked up, they saw a group of Ishmaelites traveling from Gilead to Egypt. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh.

26 Then Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and hide his death?

27 Let's sell him to these Ishmaelites. Then we will not be guilty of killing our own brother. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood." And the other brothers agreed.

28 So when the Midianite traders came by, the brothers took Joseph out of the well and sold him to the Ishmaelites for eight ounces of silver. And the Ishmaelites took him to Egypt.

29 When Reuben came back to the well and Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes to show he was upset.

30 Then he went back to his brothers and said, "The boy is not there! What shall I do?"

31 The brothers killed a goat and dipped Joseph's robe in its blood.

32 Then they brought the long-sleeved robe to their father and said, "We found this robe. Look it over carefully and see if it is your son's robe."

33 Jacob looked it over and said, "It is my son's robe! Some savage animal has eaten him. My son Joseph has been torn to pieces!"

34 Then Jacob tore his clothes and put on rough cloth to show that he was upset, and he continued to be sad about his son for a long time.

35 All of his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he could not be comforted. He said, "I will be sad about my son until the day I die." So Jacob cried for his son Joseph.

36 Meanwhile the Midianites who had bought Joseph had taken him to Egypt. There they sold him to Potiphar, an officer to the king of Egypt and captain of the palace guard.

1 About that time, Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man named Hirah in the town of Adullam.

2 There Judah met a Canaanite girl, the daughter of a man named Shua, and married her. Judah had sexual relations with her,

3 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, whom Judah named Er.

4 Later she gave birth to another son and named him Onan.

5 Still later she had another son and named him Shelah. She was at Kezib when this third son was born.

6 Judah chose a girl named Tamar to be the wife of his first son Er.

7 But Er, Judah's oldest son, did what the Lord said was evil, so the Lord killed him.

8 Then Judah said to Er's brother Onan, "Go and have sexual relations with your dead brother's wife. It is your duty to provide children for your brother in this way."

9 But Onan knew that the children would not belong to him, so when he was supposed to have sexual relations with Tamar he did not complete the sex act. This made it impossible for Tamar to become pregnant and for Er to have descendants.

10 The Lord was displeased by this wicked thing Onan had done, so the Lord killed Onan also.

11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, "Go back to live in your father's house, and don't marry until my young son Shelah grows up." Judah was afraid that Shelah also would die like his brothers. So Tamar returned to her father's home.

12 After a long time Judah's wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah had gotten over his sorrow, he went to Timnah to his men who were cutting the wool from his sheep. His friend Hirah from Adullam went with him.

13 Tamar learned that Judah, her father-in-law, was going to Timnah to cut the wool from his sheep.

14 So she took off the clothes that showed she was a widow and covered her face with a veil to hide who she was. Then she sat down by the gate of Enaim on the road to Timnah. She did this because Judah's younger son Shelah had grown up, but Judah had not made plans for her to marry him.

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

16 So Judah went to her and said, "Let me have sexual relations with you." He did not know that she was Tamar, his daughter-in-law. She asked, "What will you give me if I let you have sexual relations with me?"

17 Judah answered, "I will send you a young goat from my flock." She answered, "First give me something to keep as a deposit until you send the goat."

18 Judah asked, "What do you want me to give you as a deposit?" Tamar answered, "Give me your seal and its cord, and give me your walking stick." So Judah gave these things to her. Then Judah and Tamar had sexual relations, and Tamar became pregnant.

19 When Tamar went home, she took off the veil that covered her face and put on the clothes that showed she was a widow.

20 Judah sent his friend Hirah with the young goat to find the woman and get back his seal and the walking stick he had given her, but Hirah could not find her.

21 He asked some of the people at the town of Enaim, "Where is the prostitute who was here by the road?" They answered, "There has never been a prostitute here."

22 So he went back to Judah and said, "I could not find the woman, and the people who lived there said, 'There has never been a prostitute here.'"

23 Judah said, "Let her keep the things. I don't want people to laugh at us. I sent her the goat as I promised, but you could not find her."

24 About three months later someone told Judah, "Tamar, your daughter-in-law, is guilty of acting like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant." Then Judah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned to death."

25 When the people went to bring Tamar out, she sent a message to her father-in-law that said, "The man who owns these things has made me pregnant. Look at this seal and its cord and this walking stick, and tell me whose they are."

26 Judah recognized them and said, "She is more in the right than I. She did this because I did not give her to my son Shelah as I promised." And Judah did not have sexual relations with her again.

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

28 While she was giving birth, one baby put his hand out. The nurse tied a red string on his hand and said, "This baby came out first."

29 But he pulled his hand back in, so the other baby was born first. The nurse said, "So you are able to break out first," and they named him Perez.

30 After this, the baby with the red string on his hand was born, and they named him Zerah.

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