Genesis 35; Genesis 36; Genesis 37

Genesis 35

1 Then God said to Jacob, "Go up to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to honor me. That's where I appeared to you when you were running away from your brother Esau."

2 So Jacob spoke to his family and to everyone who was with him. He said, "Get rid of the strange gods you have with you. Make yourselves pure, and change your clothes.

3 Come, let's go up to Bethel. There I'll build an altar to honor God. He answered me when I was in trouble. He's been with me everywhere I've gone."

4 So they gave Jacob all of the strange gods they had. They also gave him their earrings. Jacob buried them under the oak tree at Shechem.

5 Then Jacob and everyone who was with him started out. The terror of God fell on the towns all around them. So no one chased them.

6 Jacob and all of the people who were with him came to Luz. Luz is also called Bethel. It's in the land of Canaan.

7 Jacob built an altar at Luz. He named the place El Bethel. There God made himself known to Jacob when he was running away from his brother.

8 Rebekah's attendant Deborah died. They buried her body under the oak tree below Bethel. So it was called Allon Bacuth.

9 After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again. And God blessed him.

10 God said to him, "Your name is Jacob. But you will not be called Jacob anymore. Your name will be Israel." So he named him Israel.

11 God said to him, "I am the Mighty God. Have children and increase your numbers. A nation and a community of nations will come from you. Kings will come from your body.

12 I am giving you the land I gave to Abraham and Isaac. I will also give it to your children after you."

13 Then God left him at the place where he had talked with him.

14 Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him. He poured out a drink offering on it. He also poured oil on it.

15 Jacob named the place Bethel. That's where God had talked with him.

16 They moved on from Bethel. Ephrath wasn't very far away when Rachel began to have a baby. She was having a very hard time of it.

17 The woman who helped her saw that she was having problems. So she said to her, "Don't be afraid. You have another son."

18 But Rachel was dying. As she took her last breath, she named her son Ben-Oni. But his father named him Benjamin.

19 So Rachel died. Her body was buried beside the road to Ephrath. Ephrath was also called Bethlehem.

20 Jacob set up a pillar over her tomb. The pillar marks the place of Rachel's tomb to this very day.

21 Israel moved on again. He set up his tent beyond Migdal Eder.

22 While Israel was living in that area, Reuben went in and made love to Bilhah. She was the concubine of Reuben's father. And Israel heard about it. Here are the 12 sons Jacob had.

23 Leah was the mother of Reuben, Jacob's oldest son. Her other sons were Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.

24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

25 The sons of Rachel's female servant Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali.

26 The sons of Leah's female servant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. Those were Jacob's sons. They were born in Paddan Aram.

27 Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre. Mamre is near Kiriath Arba, where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. The place is also called Hebron.

28 Isaac lived 180 years.

29 Then he took his last breath and died. He was very old when he joined the members of his family who had already died. His sons Esau and Jacob buried his body.

Genesis 36

1 Here is the story of Esau. Esau was also called Edom.

2 Esau got his wives from among the women of Canaan. He married Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. He also married Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite.

3 And he married Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael and the sister of Nebaioth.

4 Adah had Eliphaz by Esau. Basemath had Reuel.

5 Oholibamah had Jeush, Jalam and Korah. All of them were Esau's sons. They were born in Canaan.

6 Esau moved to a land far away from his brother Jacob. He took with him his wives, his sons and daughters, and all of the people who lived with him. He also took his livestock and all of his other animals. He took everything he had gotten in Canaan.

7 Jacob and Esau owned so much that they couldn't remain together. There wasn't enough land for both of them. They had too much livestock.

8 So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. Esau was also called Edom.

9 Here is the story of Esau. He's the father of the people of Edom. They live in the hill country of Seir.

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

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

12 Esau's son Eliphaz also had a concubine named Timna. She had Amalek by Eliphaz. They were grandsons of Esau's wife Adah.

13 The sons of Reuel were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. They were grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath.

14 Esau's wife Oholibamah was the daughter of Anah and the granddaughter of Zibeon. She had Jeush, Jalam and Korah by Esau.

15 Here are the chiefs who were among Esau's sons. Eliphaz was Esau's oldest son. The sons of Eliphaz were Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,

16 Korah, Gatam and Amalek. They were the chiefs in Edom who were sons of Eliphaz. They were Adah's grandsons.

17 The sons of Esau's son Reuel were Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. They were the chiefs in Edom who were sons of Reuel. They were grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath.

18 The sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah were Chiefs Jeush, Jalam and Korah. They were the chiefs who were sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah. She was Anah's daughter.

19 That was the family line of Esau. And those were the chiefs. Esau was also called Edom.

20 Seir the Horite had sons living in the same area. They were Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

21 Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. The sons of Seir in Edom were Horite chiefs.

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. He was the Anah who discovered the hot springs of water in the desert. He found them while he was taking care of the donkeys that belonged to his father Zibeon.

25 The children of Anah were Dishon and Oholibamah. Oholibamah was the 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 The Horite chiefs were Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

30 Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. They were the Horite chiefs in the land of Seir. They are listed tribe by tribe.

31 Before Israel had a king, there were kings who ruled in Edom.

32 Bela became the king of Edom. Bela was the son of Beor. Bela's city was called Dinhabah.

33 When Bela died, Jobab became the next king. Jobab was the son of Zerah from Bozrah.

34 When Jobab died, Husham became the next king. Husham was from the land of the Temanites.

35 When Husham died, Hadad became the next king. Hadad was the son of Bedad. Hadad had won the battle over Midian in the country of Moab. Hadad's city was called Avith.

36 When Hadad died, Samlah became the next king. Samlah was from Masrekah.

37 When Samlah died, Shaul became the next king. Shaul was from Rehoboth on the river.

38 When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan became the next king. Baal-Hanan was the son of Acbor.

39 When Baal-Hanan died, Hadad became the next king. Hadad's city was called Pau. His wife's name was Mehetabel. She was the daughter of Matred. Matred was the daughter of Me-Zahab.

40 Here are the chiefs who were in the family line of Esau. They are listed by name as chiefs in charge of their tribes and territories. They are Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,

41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,

42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,

43 Magdiel and Iram. They were the chiefs of Edom. They ruled over their settlements in the land where they lived. That's the end of the story of Esau. He was the father of the people of Edom.

Genesis 37

1 Jacob lived in the land of Canaan. It's the land where his father had stayed.

2 Here is the story of Jacob. Joseph was a young man. He was 17 years old. He was taking care of the flocks with some of his brothers. They were the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought their father a bad report about them.

3 Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. Joseph had been born to him when he was old. Israel made him a beautiful robe.

4 Joseph's brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them. So they hated Joseph. They couldn't even speak one kind word to him.

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

6 He said to them, "Listen to the dream I had.

7 We were tying up bundles of grain out in the field. Suddenly my bundle rose and stood up straight. Your bundles gathered around my bundle and bowed down to it."

8 His brothers said to him, "Do you plan to be king over us? Will you really rule over us?" So they hated him even more because of his dream. They didn't like what he had said.

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

10 He told his father as well as his brothers. Then his father objected. He said, "What about this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers really do that? Will we really come and bow down to the ground in front of you?"

11 His brothers were jealous of him. But his father kept the matter in mind.

12 Joseph's brothers had gone to take care of their father's flocks near Shechem.

13 Israel said to Joseph, "As you know, your brothers are taking care of the flocks near Shechem. Come. I'm going to send you to them." "All right," Joseph replied.

14 So Israel said to him, "Go to your brothers. See how they are doing. Also see how the flocks are doing. Then come back and tell me." So he sent him away from the Hebron Valley. Joseph arrived at Shechem.

15 A man found him wandering around in the fields. He asked Joseph, "What are you looking for?"

16 He replied, "I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are taking care of their flocks?"

17 "They've moved on from here," the man answered. "I heard them say, 'Let's go to Dothan.' " So Joseph went to look for his brothers. He found them near Dothan.

18 But they saw him a long way off. Before he reached them, they made plans to kill him.

19 "Here comes that dreamer!" they said to one another.

20 "Come. Let's kill him. Let's throw him into one of these empty wells. Let's say that a wild animal ate him up. Then we'll see whether his dreams will come true."

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

22 "Let's not spill any blood. Throw him into this empty well here in the desert. But don't harm him yourselves." Reuben said that to save Joseph from them. He was hoping he could take him back to his father.

23 When Joseph came to his brothers, he was wearing his beautiful robe. They took it away from him.

24 And they threw him into the well. The well was empty. There wasn't any water in it.

25 Then they sat down to eat their meal. As they did, they saw some Ishmaelite traders coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, lotion and myrrh. They were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

26 Judah said to his brothers, "What will we gain if we kill our brother and try to cover up what we've done?

27 Come. Let's sell him to these traders. Let's not harm him ourselves. After all, he's our brother. He's our own flesh and blood." Judah's brothers agreed with him.

28 The traders from Midian came by. Joseph's brothers pulled him up out of the well. They sold him to the Ishmaelite traders for eight ounces of silver. Then the traders took him to Egypt.

29 Later, Reuben came back to the empty well. He saw that Joseph wasn't there. He was so upset that he tore his clothes.

30 He went back to his brothers and said, "The boy isn't there! Now what should I do?"

31 Then they got Joseph's beautiful robe. They killed a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.

32 They took it back to their father. They said, "We found this. Take a look at it. See if it's your son's robe."

33 Jacob recognized it. He said, "It's my son's robe! A wild animal has eaten him up. Joseph must have been torn to pieces."

34 Jacob tore his clothes. He put on black clothes. Then he sobbed over his son for many days.

35 All of Jacob's other sons and daughters came to comfort him. But they weren't able to. He said, "I'll be full of sorrow when I go down into the grave to be with my son." So Joseph's father sobbed over him.

36 But the traders from Midian sold Joseph to Potiphar in Egypt. Potiphar was one of Pharaoh's officials. He was the captain of the palace guard.