Genesis 35; Genesis 36; Genesis 37

Genesis 35

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.

Genesis 36

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.

Genesis 37

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.