The book of Genesis Creation and New Beginnings
	Home / Bible / Pentateuch / Genesis

Verse by verse, account of the book of Genesis.

Genesis: chapter 1

Creation: God spoke all into existence.

¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ²The earth was without form, darkness was over the waters and God's Spirit hovered over the waters.

1^st day

³God said; Let there be light, and there was light. ⁴And God saw that the light was good, for it divided the light from the darkness. ⁵And God called the light Day and the darkness Night.

2^nd day

⁶God said; Let there be an expanse in the waters separating the waters from the waters, ⁷thus dividing the heavens from the earth. ⁸And God called the expanse Heaven.

3^rd day

⁹God said; Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together and let the dry land appear. ¹⁰And God called the dry land earth and the waters the sea. And God saw that it was good. ^11-13Then God said; Let the earth bring forth grass, herbs and fruit trees, whose seed is within itself and produces after it own kind. And God saw that it was good.

4^th day

¹⁴God said; Let there be light in the heavens, to divide the day from the night, let them be for signs, seasons, days and years. ¹⁵And let them shine light upon the earth. ¹⁶God then made two great lights, the greater light, (the sun) to rule the day and the lesser light, (the moon) to rule the night, making also the stars. ^17-19And He set them in the heavens, to give light upon the earth. And God saw that it was good.

5^th day

^20-21God said; Let the waters abound with sea creatures and let birds fly above the earth, in the heavens. And God saw that it was good. ^22-23God then blessed them saying; Be fruitful and multiply, filling the waters and the seas and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.

6^th day

^24-25God said; Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their own kind, cattle, beasts of the earth and creeping things. And God saw that it was good.
²⁶Then God said; Let Us make man in Our own image, let them have dominion over every living thing that moves on the earth, the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, over the cattle and over every creeping thing on the earth. ²⁷So God created man in His own image, the image of God. He created them male and female. ²⁸God then blessed them, saying; Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, ruling over all that moves on the earth. ²⁹Then God said; See, I have given you every herb and every fruit bearing tree and they shall be as food for you. ³⁰Also shall they be food to every beast of the earth, every bird of the air and every creeping thing. ³¹And God saw everything that He had made and it was very good.

Genesis: chapter 2

¹Thus the heavens and the earth was a completed work.

²And on the seventh day, God ended His work, for the creation of the heavens and the earth were finished and He rested from all His work. ³He then blessed and sanctified the seventh day, because on it, God rested from all His work.

⁴This is a history of the heavens and the earth, when they were created. ⁵Before the earth had either plant or herb on it, it had not yet rained upon the earth. For there was no man to till the ground. ⁶But a mist came up from the earth and watered the whole earth. ⁷And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, breathing into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.

⁸God then prepared a garden and He put the man, who He had made in the Garden of Eden, (the word "Eden" means delight). ⁹The LORD God made every type of tree that was pleasant to the eye and good for food. In the garden was also the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ¹⁰A river was there to water the garden and as it went out it divided into four river head's. ¹¹The name of the first river is Pishon, it surrounds the land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹²The gold is good and there are also precious stones in the land. ¹³The name of the second river is Gihon, it surrounds the land of Cush. ¹⁴The name of the third river is Tigris, it runs toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. ¹⁵The LORD then put the man in the garden to work and tend it.

¹⁶The LORD God then commanded the man, saying; You may freely eat of every tree, ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.

¹⁸Then the Lord God said, it is not good for man to be alone, I will make him a helper, compatible with him. ¹⁹The LORD God then brought every best of the field and every bird of the air, that He had formed out of the ground, to Adam to see what he would call them. ²⁰So Adam gave names to all the animals, but there was not found a suitable helper for Adam.

²¹So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to come over Adam and then took one of Adam's ribs, then closing up his flesh. ²²From the rib the LORD God made woman and brought the woman to the man. ²³Adam said, this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. ²⁴Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. ²⁵Now the man Adam and his wife were both naked and they were not ashamed.

Genesis: chapter 3

The fall of man.

¹Now the serpent in the garden, which the LORD God had made, was more cunning than any other beast of the field and he, (Satan) said to the woman; has God really said, you shall not eat of every tree in the garden? ²The woman replied, we may eat from the trees in the garden, ³Except of the tree in the middle of the garden, for God has said, you shall not eat of it nor shall you touch it, least you die. ⁴But serpent said to the woman, you will not die! ⁵For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

⁶When the woman saw that the fruit was good for food, appealing to the eyes and desirable to make one wise. She took the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and ate. She also gave the fruit to her husband who was with her and he also ate. ⁷Then the eyes of both of them were open and they knew they were naked and they sowed fig leaves together as coverings. ⁸Later, they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden, in the cool of the day and they hid themselves among the trees.

⁹Then the LORD God called to Adam, saying: Where are you? ¹⁰And Adam replied, I heard Your voice but was afraid, for I was naked, so I hid myself.

¹¹The Lord then said; Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree that I commanded you not to eat of? ¹²And the man answered, the woman that You gave me, she gave me the fruit of the tree and I ate of it. ¹³The LORD God then said to the woman; What have you done?. And she replied, the serpent deceived me and I ate.

¹⁴So the Lord God said to the serpent, Because of this, you are cursed above every other beast of the field, you shall crawl on your belly and eat the dust of this earth, all the days of your life. ¹⁵I will put enmity between your seed and the woman, her Seed (Christ) He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heal.

¹⁶And to the Woman the Lord said; I shall greatly increase your sorrow in childbirth, in labor you shall bring forth children and your desire shall be for your husband, but he shall rule over you.

¹⁷To Adam the Lord said; Because you have listened to and heeded the voice of your wife, eating from the tree, I commanded you not to eat from. The ground is cursed because of you, in much labor shall you eat of it all the days of your life. ¹⁸It shall produce both thorns and thistles and you shall eat the herbs of the field. ¹⁹By the sweat of your brow, you shall eat your bread until you return to the ground. For from dust you came and dust you will return.

²⁰Adam then called his wife Eve, for she was the mother of all living. ²¹And the Lord God then made Adam and his wife, tunics of skins for coverings.

²²Then the LORD God said; The man has now become like one of Us, (the trinity itself), knowing good and evil. Now least he eats of the tree of life and lives forever. ²³Therefore the LORD God drove Adam and his wife out of the garden, to work the ground, the same ground from which they had been formed from. ²⁴So the LORD God drove out the man and He stationed an angel, east of the garden of Eden with a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis: chapter 4

Cain kills his brother Abel.

¹Now, Adam knew his wife Eve and she gave birth to a son, calling his name Cain, and she said; I have acquired a man from the LORD, (the name Cain means: acquired). ²She then gave birth again to his brother Abel, (the name Abel means: vanity or weakness). Now Abel was a keeper of sheep and Cain was a tiller of the ground.

³In the process of time, Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD ⁴and Abel brought the firstborn of his flock. Now the LORD respected Abel and his offering, ⁵but the LORD did not respect Cain's offering . So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.

⁶So the LORD said to Cain; Why are you angry? And why do you look sad? ⁷If you do well, will you not be accepted? But, if not, sin lies at the door and desires to rule over you, but you must rule over it.

⁸And when both brothers were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. ⁹Shortly afterwards the LORD asked Cain; Where is your brother Abel? And Cain replied, I don't know, Am I my brother's keeper?. ¹⁰The LORD then said; What have you done, your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹And now you are cursed from the earth, that holds your brother's blood, shed by your hands. ¹²The ground shall no longer yield its fullness to you and you shall wander the earth as a vagabond.

¹³Cain replied to the LORD, my punishment is greater than I can bear! ¹⁴You have driven me out this day, Your face will be hidden from me and as a vagabond I shall walk the earth and whoever finds me shall kill me. ¹⁵Therefore the LORD set a mark on Cain, saying; Whomever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him seven fold.

Cain's genealogy, shown below.

¹⁶Then Cain went out from the presents of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod. ¹⁷Cain knew his wife and she bore him a son and called his son Enoch. Cain then built a city and named it after his son. ¹⁸Five generations from Cain, (see chart on the side), Lamech was born.

¹⁹Lamech took for himself two wives, Adah and Zillah. ²⁰Adah bore Jabal, He was the father of those who dwell in tents, keeping livestock. ²¹And his brother's name was Jubal, he was the father of those who played the flute and the harp. ²²And Zillah bore Tubal-Cain an instructor of craftsmen and bore a daughter named Naamah.

²³Now one day Lamech announced to his two wives, that he had killed a young man for wounding him. ²⁴And he said, if Cain was avenged seven fold, then I shall surly be avenged seventy-seven fold. (This tells of, how corrupt man's thinking had become over time).

²⁵When Adam was one hundred thirty years he had his third son and they called him Seth and Eve said, God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel whom Cain killed. ²⁶And Seth begot a son named Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of the LORD.

Genesis: chapter 5

¹These are the generations of Adam. When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. ²He created them male and female and blessed them. And He called their name man in the day of their creation.

^3-32The Genealogy of Adam to Noah and his three sons.

Name	at age	Begot	Notes
Adam	130	Seth	Adam's third son, Adam begot sons and daughters and lived 930 years
Seth	105	Enosh	Seth begot sons and daughters and lived 912 years
Enosh	90	Cainan	Enosh begot sons and daughters and lived 905 years
Cainan	70	Mahalalel	Cainan begot sons and daughters and lived 910 years
Mahalalel	65	Jared	Mahalalel begot sons and daughters and lived 895 years
Jared	162	Enoch	Jared begot sons and daughters and lived 962 years
Enoch	65	Methuselah	Enoch walked with God, begot sons and daughters, lived 365 years and God took him
Methuselah	187	Lamech	Methuselah begot sons and daughters and lived 969 years
Lamech	182	Noah	Lamech said, "Noah will comfort us", begot sons and daughters and lived 777 years
Noah	500	begot Shem, Ham and Japheth

Genesis: chapter 6

The Flood on the earth.

¹When men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them. ²The sons of God saw that the daughters of man were beautiful and they begin to take whomever they desired as a wife.

³And the LORD said; My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for he is but flesh and his days shall be one hundred and twenty years. ⁴In those days there were giants on the earth. As the sons of God came into the daughters of men, children were born to them, these were the mighty men of old.

⁵The LORD God saw that the wickedness of these men was great in the earth and that all of their thoughts were fixed upon evil. ⁶The LORD was grieved in His heart being sorry that He had ever made man. ⁷And the LORD said; I will destroy both man and beast the birds of the air and every creeping thing on the earth, for I am sorry that I ever made man. ⁸But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

⁹Noah was a just man, perfect in his generation and he walked with God. ¹⁰Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. ¹¹Now the earth was corrupt and it was filled with violence. ¹²And God looked upon the earth and saw that all flesh had corrupted itself.

¹³So God said to Noah; The end of all life has come before Me for the earth is corrupt and filled with violence through men, Therefore, I will destroy them, together with the earth. ¹⁴Build for yourself an ark, (a great boat), of gopher-wood, there shall be rooms in the ark and cover it inside and outside with pitch. ¹⁵The ark shall be 450 feet in length, 75 feet in width and 45 feet in height. ¹⁶It shall have a window a foot and a half from the top, with a door on the side, there shall be three decks to the ark. ¹⁷For I will bring floodwaters on the earth and all flesh on the earth that has the breath of life shall die. ¹⁸But I will establish My covenant with you. And you shall take on the ark with you, your wife, your sons and their wives. ¹⁹You shall bring into the ark two of every kind, both male and female, of every living thing, so as to preserve life with you. ²⁰Two of every kind will come to you, birds of the air, cattle and everything that creeps on the earth. ²¹Also take all the food that will be needed, for both you and for them. ²²And Noah did according to all that God had commanded him to do.

Genesis: chapter 7

¹Then the LORD said to Noah; You and your household shall enter into the ark, for I have seen that you are righteous before Me. ²You shall take with you seven pairs of every clean animal, male and female, along with a pair of every unclean animal, male and female. ³You shall also take seven pairs of the birds of the air, male and female, so as to preserve their life upon the earth. ⁴For in seven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights and all living things that I have made on the earth will be destroyed.

⁵Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him to do. ⁶And was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came upon the earth. ⁷Noah then went into the ark together with his sons, his wife and his sons' wives. ⁸Taking with him, the clean animals, the unclean animals, the birds of the air and everything that creeps on the earth, ⁹Two by two they came to Noah and entered into the ark, male and female. ¹⁰And after seven days the floodwaters came upon the earth.

¹¹When Noah was six hundred years old, in the second month and the seventeenth day. The windows of heaven were opened and the fountains of the deep were released. ¹²And it rained upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. ¹³This same day, Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth and Noah's wife and his sons three wives, entered into the ark. ¹⁴They went in, along with the animals, the cattle, every creeping thing and the birds of the air. ¹⁵They all entered into the ark, in pairs, two by two, all flesh that has the breath of life. ¹⁶Male and female and the LORD shut them in.

^17-18It then rained on the earth for forty days and the waters increased lifting up the ark to float above the earth. ^19-20The waters prevailed on the earth until even the highest mountain was covered by twenty-two feet of water. ²¹Thus all flesh upon the earth died, birds, cattle, every creeping thing and every man, ²²Everything that had been on dry land that had the breath of life, died. ²³Together with every living thing on the earth, from man to cattle, every creeping thing and the birds of the air. Were all destroyed, only Noah was left and those that were with him in the ark. ²⁴And the floodwaters prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days.

Genesis: chapter 8

¹Then God remembered Noah and all the living animals inside the ark. And He formed a wind to pass over the earth and the waters subsided. ²The fountains of the deep were shut off, the windows of heaven were closed, the rain was stopped. ³And after one hundred and fifty days the waters began to decrease.

⁴And on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, (five months after Noah entered the ark), the ark came to rest on mount Ararat. ⁵And by the tenth month the tops of the mountains were able to be seen.

⁶After forty more days had passed, Noah opened the window of the ark. ⁷And sent out a raven, but the raven kept on flying to and fro until the waters had dried up on the earth. ⁸He also sent forth a dove, to see if the waters had receded enough. ⁹But the dove found no resting place and returned to Noah in the ark. ¹⁰Seven days later Noah sent out the dove again, ¹¹this time the dove returned with an olive leaf in her beak and Noah knew that the flood waters had receded from the earth. ¹²After seven more days he sent the dove out again, but this time the dove did not return to him.

¹³After a year Noah removed the covering from the ark and the ground was dry. ^14-15After having been in the ark for a year and ten days, God spoke to Noah saying; ¹⁶Go out of the ark, you and your wife, your sons and their wives. ¹⁷Bring out with you every living thing, the birds of the air, the cattle and every creeping thing, so that they may abound and multiply on the earth. ^18-19So Noah and all his family went out from the ark, together with every animal that was in the ark.

²⁰Noah then built an altar to the LORD and took from every kind of clean animal and every clean bird and offered them up as burnt offerings, pleasing to the LORD. ²¹The LORD smelled the aroma of the offerings and said in His heart; I will never again curse the ground because of man, even though the imaginations of man's heart are evil from his youth, nor will I destroy every living thing on the earth as I have done.

The covenant of day and night.

²²And the LORD said; While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer and day and night, Shall not cease.

Genesis: chapter 9

¹So God blessed Noah and his sons and said; Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. ²And the fear of man shall be on every beast of the earth, birds of the air, all that moves upon the earth and on the fish of the sea. They are all given into your hand. ³Every living thing that moves shall be food for you along with the vegetables and green plants I have given you. ⁴However do not eat flesh with its blood, for its life is within its blood. ⁵And if the lifeblood of man is shed, I will require an accounting from animal or from man himself, I shall require their life. ⁶Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man, for man was made in God's own image. ⁷And let man be fruitful and multiply, bringing forth an abundance in the earth.

Noah's covenant.

⁸God then spoke to Noah and his sons, saying; ⁹I have established My covenant with you and with your descendants ¹⁰and with every living creature that came out of the ark. ¹¹Never again shall all flesh be cut off by flood waters, nor shall the earth be destroyed by a flood.

¹²And this shall be the sign of My covenant, between Myself and man and every living creature. ¹³I will set My rainbow in the sky and it shall be a sign of the everlasting covenant. ¹⁴For when I bring a cloud over the earth, the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud. ^15-16Then I shall remember My everlasting covenant and the waters shall be restrained from becoming a flood and destroying all flesh. ¹⁷This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh on the earth.

Noah's youngest son, Ham and his sin.

¹⁸Noah's sons that came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Now Ham's son was the founder of the people of Canaan, thus Ham became the father of the Canaanite people. ¹⁹And from Noah's three sons the whole earth was populated.

²⁰Noah began to cultivate the ground and he planted a vineyard. ²¹Drinking the wine from it, he became drunk and was uncovered in his tent. ²²Now Noah's younger son Ham, the father of the Canaanite's, found his father in his tent and seeing his father's nakedness, he went and told his two brothers. ²³So Shem and Japheth took a blanket, put it over their shoulders and walked backwards, (so as not to see their father's nakedness) and they covered Noah.

²⁴When Noah awoke, he knew what his youngest son had done. ²⁵Noah then said, cursed be Canaan, (Ham's descendants) a servant of servants, he shall be to your brothers. ²⁶Blessed be the Lord the God of Shem, may Canaan, (Ham's descendants) be his servants. ²⁷May God increase Japheth and let him dwell in the tents of Shem and let Canaan, (Ham's descendants) also be his servants.

²⁸Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood, ²⁹so all of his years were nine hundred and fifty.

Genesis: chapter 10

Start of the Nations, Noah's genealogy, his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.

^1-31Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.

³²These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations. And from these the nations of the earth were divided after the flood.

Genesis: chapter 11

The tower of Babel.

¹Now the whole earth had one language and was united. ²As they traveled from the east, they came to the plain of Shinar and dwelt there. ³There they agreed among themselves to use bricks and asphalt for mortar. ⁴To build a city with a tower that its top reached to the heavens. That we might make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered across the earth.

⁵Now the LORD came down and saw the city and the tower that the men had built. ⁶And the LORD said; The people are now one and they have one language and look what they have started. As long as they are one, nothing that they propose to do will be held back from them. ⁷Let Us go down there and confused their language, so they do not understand each other. ⁸So the LORD scattered the people over all the face of the earth. And those remaining ceased building the city. ⁹Thus the city was called Babel, because the LORD scattered the people over the entire earth and confused their language.

^10-26The genealogy of Shem, (the line of Christ), to Abraham.

Name	at age	Begot	Notes
Shem	100	Arphaxad	Two years after the flood, Shem begot sons and daughters and lived 600 years
Arphaxad	35	Salah	Seth begot sons and daughters and lived 438 years
Salah	30	Eber	Salah begot sons and daughters and lived 433 years
Eber	34	Peleg	Eber begot sons and daughters and lived 464 years
Peleg	30	Reu	Peleg begot sons and daughters and lived 239 years
Reu	32	Serug	Reu begot sons and daughters and lived 239 years
Serug	30	Nahor	Serug begot sons and daughters and lived 230 years
Nahor	29	Terah	Nahor begot sons and daughters and lived 148 years
Terah	70	Terah begot three sons, Abram, Nahor and Haran and lived 205.

The genealogy of Terah, Abram, (Abraham) takes Sarai, (Sarah) as his wife.

²⁷Terah begot Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran fathered Lot. ²⁸However, Haran died in the land of his birth. ²⁹Both Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai. The name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran. ³⁰But Sarai was barren, for she had no child.

³¹Terah then together with his son Abram and Lot his grandson, (the son of Haran) and their wives. And left the land of Ur of the Chaldees and dwelt in the city of Haran in the land of Canaan. ³²And Terah lived two hundred five years and died in Haran.

Genesis: chapter 12

Abraham's history and the promise given to him.

¹Now the LORD had said to Abram; Depart from your native country and your family of your father's house, to a land that I will show you. ²I will make you a great nation and bless you. Making your name great and you shall be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. And through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

⁴Abram was seventy-five years old when he left his native land of Haran, as the LORD had spoken to him and Lot went with him. ⁵Abram then took Sarai, his wife and Lot his brother's son. His possessions and the servants he had acquired and departed for the land of Canaan.

⁶As they passed through Canaan, there were Canaanite's in the land. ⁷The LORD appeared to Abram and told him that He would give his descendent's this land. So Abram built an alter to the LORD there. ⁸From there he moved to a mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent there, with Bethel toward the sea and Hai on the east. There he also built an altar to the LORD and began to call upon the LORD. ⁹He then journeyed on towards the south.

Sarai, (she's my sister), Abram was about seventy-five years old.

¹⁰Now there was a severe famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to dwell. ¹¹As Abram was entering Egypt, knowing that Sarai, his wife was very beautiful, he said to her. ¹²When the Egyptians see you, they will say to themselves, this is his wife and they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³I beg of you to say that you are my sister, so that it might be well with me and I may live because of you, (NOTE: Sarai was actually Abram's half sister, however she was also his wife).

¹⁴When Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful. ¹⁵Also Pharaoh's princes saw her and brought her before Pharaoh house. ¹⁶Abram was thus treated well because of Sarai and was given livestock and servants. ¹⁷However the LORD plagued Pharaoh's house because of Sarai, Abram's wife. ¹⁸And Pharaoh realizing this, called for Abram and said, what is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me she was your wife? ¹⁹Rather you told me she was your sister, I could have taken her as his a wife. Therefore, here is your wife, take her and leave Egypt. ²⁰And Pharaoh had his men escort them out of Egypt. So Abram left Egypt with Saria, taking with them all that they had and all that they were given.

Genesis: chapter 13

Abraham and Lot depart.

¹Abram and his wife, together with Lot, his brother's son and all of their possessions left Egypt and went southward. ²Abram was now very rich in livestock, silver and gold. ³And he journeyed back to the place where he had stayed before between Bethel and Ai. ⁴The place where Abram had first built an alter to the LORD and began to call on His name.

⁵However, Lot who went with Abram by now also had great numbers of livestock ⁶and the land was not able to support both of their herds. ⁷And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram and lot, for at that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites also dwelt in the land. ⁸At that time, Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife, between us, or our herdsmen, for we are men and brothers. ⁹And the entire land is before us, lets separate from each other. Whatever way you go, I will go the other way.

¹⁰Lot then looked over the plain of Jordan and seeing that it was well watered, (this was before the LORD had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah). For it was like the garden of the LORD. ¹¹Lot then chose the well watered land of the Jordan for himself, so Abram and Lot separated themselves from one another. ¹²So Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot dwelt in the cities of the Jordan, on the outskirts of the city of Sodom. ¹³However the men of Sodom were extremely wicked and sinful before the LORD.

¹⁴After Abram and Lot parted company, the LORD spoke to Abram, saying; All the land that you see around you, north, south, east and west, ¹⁵I give you and your descendants forever. ¹⁶I will make your descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth, that if a man could but count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. ¹⁷Walk through the land, its width and its length, for I have given it to you. ¹⁸Abram then moved his tent to the plains of Mamre, in Hebron. And built an altar to the LORD there.

Genesis: chapter 14

The battle of the kings and Lot being taken captive.

^1-3Now there was a Great War in the valley of Siddim, (which is the valley of the salt sea). Four kingdoms against five kingdoms. ⁴For twelve years the people of the five kingdoms served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year the people rebelled. ^5-6In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the three other kings that had aligned themselves with him, invaded several lands. ⁷They then came to Kadesh and attacked the country of the Amorites. ⁸Now the five kings went out to battle in the valley of Siddim, ⁹against Chedorlaomer and the three other kings. ¹⁰But the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. Some of the men fell there and the remainder of the men fled to the mountains. ¹¹So Chedorlaomer and the three other kings took the spoil and went their way. ¹²They also took Lot, who dwelt just outside Sodom captive and all his provisions.

¹³However one who had escaped came and told these things to Abram. ¹⁴When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he armed three hundred eighteen of his trained servants. And went to overtake the captors. ¹⁵Abram divided his forces by night, attacked them and drove the enemy back to the surrounding cities. ¹⁶And Abram brought back all the spoil, his nephew Lot and his possessions, the women and they that were taken captive. ¹⁷Now the king of Sodom, who had been defeated by Chedorlaomer went out to meet Abram.

Melchizedek comes out to meet Abram, a foreshadow of Christ.

¹⁸Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, for He was the priest of the Most High God. (NOTE: Melchizedek is a type of Christ, a priest forever. references to Melchizedek can be found in, Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 7:1-17). ¹⁹This priest blessed Abram, saying;

Blessed and favored are you Abram by the God of the Most High, who possesses both heaven and earth. ²⁰Blessed be God the Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hands.

And Abram gave Him a tithe of all that he had.

²¹The king of Sodom, said to Abram, let me take my people and you can keep all the spoils. ²²But Abram, said to the king, I have sworn to the LORD God the Most High, ²³That I will not take even the smallest thing of yours, least you turn and say, I have made Abram rich. ²⁴Except for reimbursement for myself of what your men have eaten. And the men who went with me in battle, let them take their share of the spoil.

Genesis: chapter 15

¹After these things, the Word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision. Saying; Do not be afraid, I am your shield and your great reward. ²But Abram said, what will You give me, since I go childless and the heir of my house is my chief servant? ³You have not given me an offspring and a servant born in my house is my heir. ⁴And the Word of the LORD came to Abram saying; Your heir shall come out of your own body and shall not be from one of your servants. ⁵Then He brought Abram outside and had him look up at the stars and said to him; As vast as the number of the stars in the sky, so also will be the number of your descendants. ⁶And Abram believed the LORD and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

⁷The LORD then said; I am the LORD who has brought you out of the land of your birth to inherit the land. ⁸Abram then asked how he would know, that he would inherit the land? ⁹So the LORD told Abram to prepare sacrifices of a three year old heifer, a three year old female goat, a three year old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon. ¹⁰Abram brought these to the LORD and split them in two, each down the middle, but he did not split the birds in two. ¹¹And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

¹²Now when the sun was going down Abram fell into a deep sleep and fearful darkness fell upon him. ¹³Then Abram heard the Words of the LORD, saying; Know that your descendants will be strangers in a land that was not theirs and be made to serve, having many afflictions put upon them, for four hundred years, Exodus chapter 1. ¹⁴I shall judge the nation that they serve and they shall come out of this nation with great possessions, Exodus 12:36. ¹⁵As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶But in the fourth generation your descendants shall come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.

¹⁷Now as the sun went down, a thick darkness came down as a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between the sacrifices. ¹⁸That day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying; I have given the land to your descendants, from the river of Egypt to the great Euphrates river. ¹⁹the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰the Hittites, the Perizzites, the giants, ²¹the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites, all their land shall be yours.

Genesis: chapter 16

Sarai's handmaid, Hagar gives birth to Ishmael.

¹(NOTE: Now ten years, after the promise that, Abram's descendants would be as numerous as the sands of the sea), Abram's wife Sarai was still without child, but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. ²So Sarai told Abram, that the LORD had kept her childless and that he should go into her maidservant, that they might obtain a child from her. ³So Sarai gave Hagar to Abram, to take as a wife, for they had now dwelt in the land of Canaan for ten years. ⁴So Abram went into Hagar and she conceived. Now when Hagar knew that she had conceived, Hagar began to despise her mistress Sarai.

⁵Sarai then said to Abram, may the responsibility of my wrong be upon you! I gave you my handmaid as a wife and when she knew that she was with child, I became despised in her eyes. Therefore, let the LORD judge between you and me. ⁶Abram replied, your handmaid is in your hands, do to her as you please. So Sarai dealt harshly with her and Hagar fled from Saria's presence.

⁷Now the Angel of the Lord found Hagar, by a spring of water in the wilderness, on her way to a large city. ⁸And asked her; Where have you come from and are you going? And Hagar replied, I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai. ⁹Then the Angel of the Lord, said; Go back and submit to your mistress. ¹⁰And I will multiply your descendants, but they shall be numbered fewer than a multitude. ¹¹You will have a son and you are to name him Ishmael. ¹²He shall be a wild man, his hand shall be against every man and ever man shall be against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

¹³Then Hagar called the One whom had spoken to her, LORD. And said; You are a God of vision! Even in this place have I looked upon Him and He has seen me. ¹⁴Therefore she called the well of water, Beer-lahai-roi, (which means, The Well to the Living One who keeps me) and it is between Kadesh and Bered. ¹⁵Hagar then bore Abram a son and Abram called him Ishmael, Ishmael means (God hears). ¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael.

Genesis: chapter 17

The LORD's covenant and promise to Abraham.

¹Thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael, Abram now being ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him; I am the Almighty God, walk before Me and be blameless. ²I will establish My covenant between you and Me and will exceedingly multiply you. ³Abram then fell on his face and God said to him;

⁴My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. ⁵No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, (meaning: father of a multitude), for I have made you the father of many nations. ⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful, for nations and kings shall come forth from you.

⁷This shall be an everlasting covenant that I shall establish with you and your descendants, that I will be God to you and to your descendants after you. ⁸I also shall give you and your descendants the land of Canaan, that you are now strangers in, as an everlasting possession. And I shall be their God. ⁹And you and your descendants shall keep My covenant.

^10-11The foreskin of every male child among you shall be circumcised and this shall be a sign of the covenant. ¹²Every male of eight days shall be circumcised among you, whether he is of your offspring or a stranger bought with your money as a servant. ¹³Both must be circumcised in their flesh, as a marking of My everlasting covenant. ¹⁴The male among you whose flesh is not circumcised, shall be cut off from his people, for he has broken My covenant.

¹⁵Sarai's name shall also be changed to Sarah, ¹⁶And I shall bless her, she will have a son and will be the mother of many nations, for kings and nations shall come from her, (The name Sarah means: noble lady).

(NOTE: The significance of the name changes of both Sarai and Abram was adding or modifying the names to have the ah in the names, that is the last two letters of the word Jehovah).

¹⁷When Abraham heard that Sarah would have a child, he laughed and said within his heart, Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old and to Sarah, who is ninety years old? ¹⁸Abraham then said to the LORD, rather, may Ishmael live before the LORD. ¹⁹The LORD replied; No, your wife Sarah shall have a son and you shall call him Isaac, (the name Isaac means laughter). I will establish My everlasting covenant with him and his descendants. ²⁰As for Ishmael, I will bless him and multiply him exceedingly, twelve nations shall rise up out of him, (Ishmael's genealogy Genesis 25:12-16). ²¹But My covenant shall be with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you this time next year. ²²When God finished talking, He went up from Abraham.

²³That very same day, Abraham took Ishmael, all his servants and the men born in his house and circumcised them. ²⁴Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised ²⁵and Ishmael was thirteen years old. ²⁶Both were circumcised on this day. ²⁷Also all the men who were born in his house or strangers bought as slaves were circumcised that day.

Genesis: chapter 18

Abraham's promise of Isaac his son.

¹As Abraham was sitting in the door of his tent, during the heat of the day, the LORD appeared to him. ²For Abraham looked up and saw three men, when he saw them, he ran to greet them and bowed down before them. ³Then Abraham spoke saying, my LORD, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. ⁴Please allow me bring some water, to wash Your feet and that You may rest a bit under this tree. ⁵That I may also prepare a meal for You, that You may also refresh Your hearts. After that You can pass by, for that is why You have come to Your servant. And They agreed, saying; Do all that you have said.

⁶Abraham then quickly went to the tent saying to Sarah, quickly prepare three measures of fine meal and make cakes of it. ⁷Then taking a tender calf from the herd, giving it to one of his servants to dress. ⁸Taking butter and milk, the calf that he had dressed, Abraham served it to them and as he stood with them under the tree, as they ate it.

⁹Then they asked Abraham, where his wife Sarah was? Now Sarah was in the tent, within hearing range. ¹⁰Then the Man said; I will certainly return to you according to the time of life and Sarah your wife shall have a son. And Sarah overheard this behind the tent door. ¹¹Now both Abraham and Sarah were old and she was well past the age of childbearing. ¹²Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying to herself, shall I have pleasure and delight, when I am old and my husband being old also?

¹³The LORD then spoke to Abraham saying; Why did Sarah laugh, saying, shall I really bear a child, now when I am old? ¹⁴Is anything too hard for the LORD? I say again, at the appointed time I shall return and Sarah will have a son! ¹⁵Sarah however, denied that she laughed, (for she was afraid), but, the LORD said; Yes, you did laugh.

The Lord's judgment on Sodom and Abraham's intercession.

¹⁶Then the men rose from there and looked towards Sodom and Abraham was with them. ¹⁷Then the LORD questioned if He should conceal from Abraham what He was about to do? ¹⁸Since Abraham would become a great and mighty nation and every nation would be blessed in him. ¹⁹For I have known and chosen him, so that he may continue to teach and command his children and his house in the ways of the LORD, to act righteous and do justice. ²⁰The LORD then said; The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, for their sin is very grievous. ²¹I will go down Myself to see if the outcry against the city is true. ²²Then the men turn and went towards Sodom, but Abraham stood before the LORD.

²³And Abraham said: Would You destroy the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴If there are fifty righteous in the city, would You still destroy it? ²⁵How could You do such a thing, slay the righteous with the wicked, that the righteous might perish as the wicked do. Shall not the judge of the earth do what is right? ²⁶And the LORD said; I will spare the city for fifty righteous souls. ²⁷Then Abraham replied to the LORD, I, whom am but dust, have taken upon myself to speak to the LORD. ²⁸If five souls are lacking from the fifty righteous, would You still destroy the city? And the LORD answered; If there are forty-five, I will not destroy it. ²⁹Abraham spoke again, saying, if only forty are found. And the LORD said; I will not destroy it if forty are found. ³⁰Abraham again said, may the LORD not be angry with me, if there are but thirty righteous found there. And the LORD said; I will not destroy it if I find thirty there. ³¹Abraham spoke again, saying, lo now, I speak yet again to the LORD. if there are but twenty found there. And the LORD said; I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty righteous. ³²Abraham yet spoke again, saying, LORD, please do not be angry with me, for I shall only speak this one last time. If there are only ten righteous to be found there. And the LORD said, I will not destroy it for the sake of ten righteous. ³³After that The LORD went His way and Abraham returned to his place.

Genesis: chapter 19

¹Now, in the evening when the two angels came to the city of Sodom, Lot, Abraham's brother's son was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose up to greet them and bowed his face towards the ground. ²Lot then spoke saying, my Lords, Please stay the night at my house, wash up and be rested, then you can rise early and go your way. But, the men said; We will spend the night in the open square. ³But Lot strongly insisted that the men stay the night with him, so they entered into his house and lot prepared a meal for them of unleavened bread.

⁴That evening all the men from every quarter of the city, both old and young came out and surrounded the house. ⁵Calling to Lot to bring out the men, so they could know them intimately. ⁶Lot then went out to them, shutting the door behind him. ⁷Pleading with the men not to do such an evil thing. ⁸And saying, I have two virgin daughters, let me bring them out to you and you can do to them as you wish. But, do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof. ⁹The men of the city replied, these men have come here to judge us, but now we shall also deal with you. And the men pressed hard against Lot, to the point of nearly breaking down the door. ¹⁰But the men inside the house, reached out and pulled Lot into the house, shutting the door behind them. ¹¹Then They struck all the men who continued to press against the door with blindness, so that they could not any longer find the door of the house.

The city of Sodom and Gomorrah torched.

¹²The men inside then said to Lot; Do you have any other family living within the city? If so get them out of the city! ¹³For the outcry of the city is great before the LORD and we have been sent to destroy the city. ¹⁴However when Lot told his sons-in-laws, that the LORD would destroy the city, they perceived that he was jesting.

¹⁵Early in the morning the Angels urged Lot to hurry, saying; Take your wife and your two daughters and leave quickly, least you be consumed in the destruction of the city. ¹⁶To further motivate Lot and his family, the Angels took the four by the hand and lead them out of the city, (for the LORD was merciful to them). ¹⁷When they were outside the city, the Angels said to them; Escape for your life, do not look back, nor stay anywhere in the plains but flee to the mountains, least you be destroyed. ¹⁸But Lot spoke and said, please not that, ¹⁹for I cannot escape to the mountains least some evil overtakes me and I die. ²⁰If I could but flee to this small nearby city called Zoar and my soul shall live. ²¹The Angels then said to Lot; You have found favor with us, we will not destroy this city that you have spoken of. ²²Hurry then, for we cannot do anything until you arrive there.

Lot's wife looks back at Sodom and becomes a pillar of salt.

²³When Lot arrived in the city of Zoar, the sun had risen on the earth. ²⁴Then the LORD rained fire and brimstone down upon Sodom and Gomorrah from the heavens. ²⁵He destroyed all the cities in the plain and even the plants that grew on the ground. ²⁶But, lot's wife looked back and became a pillar of salt, (in verse 17, they were told not to look back). ²⁷Early the next morning, Abraham went to the place where he had stood with the LORD. ²⁸He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring plains and saw the smoke coming off the land as from a fiery furnace. ²⁹But before God had destroyed the land, He remembered Abraham and had sent Lot away from the city.

Lot's two sons, fathered through his daughters incest.

³⁰After Lot had entered the city of Zoar, he became afraid to dwell there and fled with his two daughters to the mountains to dwell in a cave. ³¹While in the cave Lot's two daughters conspire to keep their family lineage alive. The older said to the younger, our father is old and there is not a man near to live with us and come into us. ³²Let us make our father drink wine and we shall lie with him, so that we may preserve our family name. ³³So that night the firstborn laid with her father. And Lot did not know when she lay down with him or when she arose. ³⁴The next day, the older said to the younger, last night I laid with my father. Let us have him drink wine this night also and you can also go in and lie with him, so that we may preserve our family name. ³⁵So that night the younger daughter lay with him. And Lot did not know when she lay down with him or when she arose.

³⁶Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. ³⁷The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He became the father of the Moabites, (the name Moab means: from father). ³⁸The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi. He became the father of the sons of Ammon, (the name Ben-ammi means: son of my people).

Genesis: chapter 20

Sarah, (she's my sister), Abraham is now about ninety-nine years old.

¹Now Abraham journeyed to the land of Gerar, which is between Kadesh and Shur. ²There Abraham told the officials of Gerar that, Sarah was his sister and Abimelech, the king of Gerar took her away. (NOTE: Abraham did this once before when he and Sarai were down in Egypt, Genesis 12:10).

³But God came to the king in a dream saying; Surly you are as good as dead, for the woman you have taken is a man's wife. ⁴But Abimelech had not come near her and he said, LORD will you slay a righteous nation also? ⁵Did he not said to me, she was his sister and she also told me he was her brother. I have done this from the integrity of my heart and in innocence. ⁶The LORD agreed and said; I know that you have done this out of integrity, for I also kept you from sinning against Me, by not letting you touch her. ⁷Restore the man's wife for he is a prophet and he shall pray for you and you shall live, but if you don't restore her, you and all your household, shall surly die.

⁸The next day Abimelech rose early in the morning and informed all his servants about the matter and they all were very much afraid. ⁹Abimelech then called for Abraham and said to him, what have you done to us? Have I offended you that you have brought this sin upon my kingdom and me? You should not have done this to me. ¹⁰What was your motive behind doing such a thing? ¹¹Abraham spoke and said, I did not think the fear of God was on this nation, thinking that you would kill me because of my wife. ¹²For she is truly my sister also, my half sister on my father's side. ¹³When I was called out from my father's house, it was agreed upon as a kindness to me that everywhere we would go, she would say, he is my brother.

¹⁴Abimelech then gave Abraham gifts as he also restored Sarah to him. ¹⁵Saying also to Abraham, my land is before you dwell wherever you please. ¹⁶Abimelech also said to Sarah, I have given your brother one thousand silver pieces, this will recompense me of this, but know that he is the veil over your eyes and by the words of Abimelech, Sarah was rebuked. ¹⁷So Abraham prayed to the LORD and God heal Abimelech, his wife and his female servants and they were once again able to bear children. ¹⁸For the LORD had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah.

Genesis: chapter 21

Abraham and Sarah give birth to their son Isaac.

¹The LORD visited Sarah and did as He had spoken. ²Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the set time the LORD had spoken of. ³Abraham called his name him Isaac, (the name Isaac means: laughter). ⁴And he circumcised Isaac on the eighth day, as God had commanded him. ⁵When Isaac was born, Abraham was one hundred years old. ⁶And at the birth of Isaac Sarah said, God has made me to rejoice with laughter and they who hear of it will also rejoice with me. ⁷Who would have thought in our old age, I would be nursing a child.

⁸The child grew and on the day when the child was weaned, Abraham held a great feast. ⁹On that day Sarah saw Ishmael, the son of Hagar the Egyptian woman, whose son was also born to Abraham mocking the situation. ¹⁰Therefore she said to Abraham, cast out this bondwoman and her son, for her son shall not be an heir with Isaac. ¹¹Hearing this was very displeasing to Abraham. ¹²But God spoke to Abraham saying; Do not let this thing displease you. Listen to whatever Sarah has said to you, for only through Isaac shall the seed be called. ¹³And I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, for he is also your seed.

¹⁴So Abraham rose early in the morning, gave Hagar some food and water and sent her away. Hagar then departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵When the water and the provisions had run out, Hagar sat her son under a bush and sat down across from him, a great distance away. For she did not want to see the death of the boy. And she lifted up her voice and wept. ¹⁶God heard the voice of the lad and then the Angel of God called to Hagar. Saying; Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad. ¹⁸Rise up and get the lad and hold him with your hand, for he shall be a great nation. ¹⁹Then God opened Hagar's eyes and she saw a well of water, she refilled her skin with water and gave the boy a drink. ²⁰God was with the lad in the wilderness and the boy grew to be an archer. ²¹They dwelt in the wilderness of Paran and his mother brought a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

The oath between Abraham and king Abimelech, at Beersheba.

²²Now Abraham had stayed in Gerar and Abimelech, the king of Gear and the commander of his army came to him. Saying, we know that God is with you in all that you do. ²³Therefore, swear that you will not deal falsely with me, my family or my kingdom. But, rather according to the kindness that I have granted you. ²⁴Abraham said, I do swear. ²⁵Then Abraham told Abimelech of a well of water which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away from him. ²⁶But Abimelech said he had not heard of such a thing, saying that, you have not informed me of such a thing. ²⁷Abraham then took sheep and oxen and made a covenant with Abimelech. ²⁸Abraham then took seven ewe lambs and set them aside. ²⁹When Abimelech asked what they were for? ³⁰Abraham said, you shall accept this as a witness that I have dug this well. ³¹Thus Abraham called the place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there, (Beersheba means: well of the oath). ³²Abimelech then left with his commander and returned to the land of the Philistines.

³³There Abraham planted a tree and called on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God. ³⁴And he stayed in the Philistines' land many days.

Genesis: chapter 22

Abraham tested by God, to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.

¹After these things, God tested Abraham, calling him and Abraham said: here I am. ²God then said; Take your son Isaac, your only son whom you love and go to the land of Moriah. There offer Isaac up as a burnt sacrifice on the mountain that I will show you.

³So Abraham rose early the next day, saddled up his donkey, taking Isaac, two of his male servants and the split wood for the burnt offering and went to the place that God had told him of. ⁴After a three day journey, Abraham saw the place from afar. ⁵He then said to the two servants, stay here while the lad and I go and worship and we will come back to you. ⁶So Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, provisions for making a fire and a knife and the two of them went off together. ⁷Isaac then said to his father, we have the wood and the supplies for the burnt offering, but where is the lamb? ⁸Abraham answered him, saying; the Lord will provide for Himself the lamb and the two of them went on. ⁹When they came to the place which God had told him of, Abraham built an alter, arranged the wood, placed Isaac on the altar and bound him there. ¹⁰He then took his knife and raised up his hand, to slay his son, Isaac.

¹¹But the Angel of the LORD called to him and Abraham said, here I am. ¹²The Angel then said; Do not harm the boy, for now I know that you fear God. Since you have not withheld your only son from Me. ¹³Abraham then looked up and there was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. He went and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering, instead of his son. ¹⁴Abraham then called that place The-LORD-Will-Provide, as it is to this very day in the Mount of the LORD.

¹⁵The Angel of the Lord then spoke to Abraham a second time, ¹⁶saying: Because you have not withheld your only son from Me, I have sworn, By Myself alone. ¹⁷to bless you and multiply your descendants, as the stars of the heavens. And your descendants shall possess the lands of their enemies. ¹⁸Through your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. ¹⁹Abraham and his men servants then returned to Beersheba.

²⁰After these things, Abraham was told that Milcah, had also born children to his brother Nahor ^21-23Now having eight children by his wife Milcah ²⁴and four children through his concubine.

Genesis: chapter 23

Sarah dies at one hundred twenty-seven years of age and is buried.

¹The years of Sarah's life were one hundred twenty-seven. ²Sarah died in Kirjath-arba, later to be named Hebron in the land of Canaan. There Abraham mourned and wept for her.

Abraham buys the cave in the field of Machpelah, as a burial place.

³At the death of Sarah, Abraham spoke to the men of that land, saying; ⁴I am a sojourner in your land, allow me to obtain a apiece of land so that I can bury my dead. ⁵And the men of that land replied; ⁶My lord, You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choice land that you choose, for none of us shall withhold from you his land to burry your dead. ⁷Abraham then bowed himself to the men of that land. ⁸Abraham then said, if you are willing to grant me a burial place, I ask Ephron the son of Zohar, ⁹that he may sell me the cave of Machpelah, that is at the end of his field and I shall pay the going price. ¹⁰Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, in the presents of all the men and said; ¹¹No, my lord, allow me to give you the field and the cave that is at the end of it. In the presence of everyone here I give it to you, so you can bury your dead.

¹²Abraham bowed before the people of the land. ¹³Speaking to Ephron in the presents of all the people, saying, please allow me to pay what the field is worth and I will burry my dead there. ¹⁴So Ephron answered Abraham, saying; ¹⁵My lord, the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between us? Take the land and bury your dead.

¹⁶Abraham listened to Ephron. However, he weighed out four hundred shekels of silver, the price that he had named in the presence of all the men. ¹⁷The field of Machpelah and the cave that was in it was then sold to Abraham. ¹⁸With the men of that land as witnesses. ¹⁹After that Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave at the field of Machpelah in the plains of Mamre, of Hebron, in the land of Canaan. ²⁰And the land was recorded as Abraham's permanent possession.

Genesis: chapter 24

Abraham's son Isaac the promise son.

¹Abraham was now well advanced in age and the LORD had blessed him in all things. ²So he made an oath with his eldest man servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had. ³And had him swear by the LORD God, that he would not take a wife for his son, Isaac, from the daughters of Canaan, where he had dwelt. ⁴Rather go to my family in my homeland and take a wife for my son Isaac there.

⁵But his servant replied, what if the woman is not willing to follow me back to this land? Shall I bring your son with me? ⁶But Abraham said to him, do not take my son back with you. ⁷The LORD God who has brought me up out of that land has given me His promise, He will send His Angel before you and you shall take a wife for my son from that land. ⁸If the woman is unwilling to come back with you to Canaan, then you are released from this oath, but do not take my son back with you. ⁹The servant then agreed to this oath.

¹⁰The servant then took ten of Abraham's camels and departed for the city of Nahor, for all Abraham's goods were available to him. ¹¹At evening time, when he arrived at the city, the time when the women come out to draw water. Abraham's servant had all the camels kneel down by the well of water. ¹²He then spoke a prayer to God, to give him success and show kindness to his master Abraham. ¹³Saying: I stand here by this well of water and it is the time when the daughters come out to draw water. ¹⁴May it be that the young woman to whom I say, Please let down your pitcher that I may drink. She shall give me a drink and shall also give the camels a drink. She shall be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac and by this, I shall know that You have shown kindness to my master.

¹⁵Before he had finished speaking Rebecca, Abraham's brother's daughter came out with a water pitcher on her shoulder. ¹⁶Now she was very beautiful and a virgin, she went to the well, filled her pitcher and came back up. ¹⁷Now Abraham's servant ran to meet her and said: Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher. ¹⁸She answered, drink my lord, then lowering her pitcher, she gave him a drink. ¹⁹And when he had finished drinking, she said, I will draw water for your camels also until they have finished drinking. ²⁰She then emptied her water pitcher into a trough for the camels, and returned to the well for more water, until all the camels had drunk. ²¹At this Abraham's servant questioned within himself whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous.

²²After the camels had finished drinking, Abraham's servant put two gold bracelets and a gold nose ring on Rebecca. ²³Asking her whose daughter she was? Tell me also if there is room in your father's house for us to stay? ²⁴Rebecca replied, I am the daughter of Bethuel, whom was born to Nahor. ²⁵Also we have straw and feed for the camels and room for lodging. ²⁶Then the man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD, ²⁷Saying, blessed be the LORD God of my master who has mercy towards Abraham, for the LORD has led me to the house of my master's brethren. ²⁸Rebecca then ran ahead and told her mother's household of these things.

²⁹Now Rebecca had a brother named Laban and he ran out to the man at the well. ³⁰After Laban had seen the nose ring and the bracelets on Rebecca's wrists and had heard her own words. Thus Laban went out to the man, for Abraham's servant was still standing at the well. ³¹And Laban welcomed him into their home, acknowledging him as being blessed of the LORD, saying, we have prepared the house and a place for your camels.

³²Abraham's servant then came to the house and Laban unloaded the camels, providing straw for the camels and water to wash their feet. ³³Food was then set before him, but he refused to eat until he told of his mission and Laban said speak on. ³⁴So he spoke, saying, I am Abraham's servant. ³⁵The LORD has blessed my master and he has become great. Having flocks, herds, silver and gold, female and male servants, camels and donkeys. ³⁶His wife gave birth to a son in her old age and he is the heir of the entire estate. ³⁷Now my master had me take an oath, that I would not take a wife for his son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in the land where he dwells. ³⁸But told me to go back to his father's house and take a wife for his son from there. ³⁹I questioned, if the woman would follow me back. ⁴⁰But my master said to me, the LORD, before whom I walk, will send his Angel with you and your way shall be prosperous. You shall take a wife for my son from my father's house. ⁴¹However, he told me that I would be released from my oath, if his family refuses to send a daughter back with you.

⁴²This day, I came to the well and prayed that the LORD God of my master Abraham, would prosper my journey. ⁴³And I stood by the well of water and prayed, that it should be that when the virgin daughters come out to draw water. I would ask her for a little water from her pitcher to drink, ⁴⁴And if she replies, drink and I will also draw water for your camels. By this, I will know that she is the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master's son. ⁴⁵Before I had even finished speaking this in my heart, Rebecca came out and she went down to the well to draw water. And I said to her, please let me drink. ⁴⁶She then quickly gave me a drink and said I will also give your camels a drink.

⁴⁷Then I asked her whose daughter she was? And when I learned, she was of Abraham's household, I put the nose ring and the bracelets on her wrists. ⁴⁸I then bowed my head and worshiped the LORD God of my master, who had led me right to the door of my master's family, to get a wife for his son. ⁴⁹Now tell me if you intend to deal kindly with my master Abraham, if not let me know and I will depart.

⁵⁰Laban and Rebecca's father spoke, this thing is of the LORD, we cannot speak of it either bad or good. ⁵¹Here is Rebecca, take her and be on your way and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has spoken. ⁵²When Abraham's servant heard this, he again bowed to the floor and worship the LORD. ⁵³He then brought out more jewelry and fine clothing and gave them to Rebecca, also giving her brother and mother gifts. ⁵⁴He and the men with him, ate and drank that night and in the morning Abraham's servant was looking to depart back to his master. ⁵⁵But Laban and the girl's mother said, let the girl stay with us, at least ten more days. ⁵⁶But the servant said, please do not hinder me, since the LORD has prospered me thus far. ⁵⁷So it was agreed on to ask the girl ⁵⁸and Rebecca said that she would go with him. ⁵⁹So they sent Rebecca and her nurse with Abraham's servant. ⁶⁰As Rebecca left, they blessed her, saying, may you be the mother of thousands of millions and may your descendants possess the lands of those who hate them. ⁶¹After that Rebecca, her nurse, each rode on a camel, following Abraham's servant and they departed.

^62-63Now Isaac was out in the field meditating in the early evening and he looked up to see the camels coming. ⁶⁴When Rebecca saw a man walking towards them in the field, she dismounted her camel. ⁶⁵However when she found out it was Isaac, she veiled her face. ⁶⁶The servant then told Isaac all things that he had done. ⁶⁷Isaac then brought Rebecca into his mother's tent and Rebecca became his wife. And Isaac loved Rebecca and was comforted after his mother's death.

Genesis: chapter 25

¹After Sarah's death, Abraham took a wife named Keturah ²and she bore him six sons, (Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah). ³Jokshan begot, Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim. ⁴Midian begot, Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. ⁵Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac, ⁶Giving only gifts to the sons of his concubines. And while he was still living, he sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac.

Abraham dies at age one hundred seventy-five and is buried with his wife Sarah.

⁷Abraham lived one hundred seventy-five years. ⁸He died at a good old age and was buried with his people. ⁹His two sons Isaac and Ishmael burred him in the cave of Machpelah. ¹⁰The field that Abraham had purchased back in Canaan, where his wife Sarah was buried. ¹¹After the death of Sarah God blessed Isaac, and Isaac dwelt in the valley of Beer-Lahai-Roi.

The genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham's son born of the Hagar, the bond woman.

¹²This is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bore to Abraham. ^13-15These are the names of the twelve sons of Ishmael, according to their birth order: (Nebajoth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah). ¹⁶These are the sons of Ishmael, each a chief according to their nations. ¹⁷The years of Ishmael, were one hundred thirty-seven years. ¹⁸And his sons dwelt in lands that are before Egypt and Ishmael dwelt close to all his brethren.

Isaac & Rebecca's birth of twins, Easu & Jacob.

¹⁹This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham's son. ²⁰Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebecca for his wife, the daughter of Bethuel, Abraham's nephew and sister of Laban. ²¹Rebecca remained barren for twenty years, so Isaac prayed to the LORD on her behalf and the Lord granted his prayer and Rebecca conceived. ²²However, the children struggled greatly in her womb and Rebecca wondering if all was well, inquired of the LORD. ²³And the LORD said her; Two nations are in your womb, they shall separate from one another, one shall be stronger than the other and the older shall serve the younger. ²⁴When Rebecca gave birth, she gave birth to twins. ²⁵The firstborn was red and harry and they called him Esau. (The name means: harry or rough). ²⁶Afterwards his brother came out and his hand took hold of Esau's heal, so they called him Jacob. (The name means: supplanter). Isaac was sixty when they were born.

Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew.

²⁷Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the outdoors, but Jacob was a mild mannered man, dwelling in tents. ²⁸Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his wild game, but Rebecca loved Jacob.

²⁹One day Esau came in from the field and was very weary and famished and Jacob had just cooked a pot of stew. ³⁰When Esau asked for some of the stew, saying, I am very weary. ³¹Jacob replied, sell me your birthright. ³²And Esau said, I am at the point of death, so what good is this birthright to me anyway? ³³Then Jacob made Esau swear to him as of this day. So for a bowl of stew, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴Jacob then gave Esau bread and stew and he ate and drank and he then went on his way. Thus it is said that Esau despised his birthright.

Genesis: chapter 26

The LORD restates the Abrahamic covenant to son Isaac.

¹There was a famine in the land that Isaac was dwelling in, as had also been in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went down to the land of Gerar, where Abimelech was still the king of the Philistines, where his father had been before. ²Then the LORD appeared to Isaac and said; Do not go down to Egypt, but dwell in the land that I shall tell you. ³Dwell in this land, for I will be with you and bless you and give all this land to you and your descendants, establishing the oath that I made with Abraham your father. ⁴Increasing your descendants as the stars in the sky, giving them all these lands. And in your Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. ⁵I do this because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, statures and laws.

Like father like son, Isaac says Rebecca is my sister, Isaac is about sixty year old.

⁶So Isaac stayed in the land of Gerar. ⁷And when the officials of Gerar asked about Rebecca, his wife. Isaac told them; she's my sister. For he was afraid to say, she is my wife, for fear the men of that land might kill him because of Rebecca. (NOTE: Abraham also did this same thing twice with his wife Sarah, {1}, {2}). ⁸As Isaac and Rebecca stayed in the land. One day king Abimelech looked out his window and saw Isaac caressing Rebecca. ⁹The king then called for Isaac and confronted Isaac about this. Saying, it is obvious that Rebecca is your wife, why did you tell us that she was your sister? Isaac said, I thought I might even die on her account. ¹⁰Abimelech then reprimanded Isaac, saying, one of our people could have laid with your wife and you would have bought guilt on us. ¹¹Abimelech then let all his people know that they were not to touch either Isaac or Rebecca, least they be put to death.

¹²Isaac planted seed that year and reaped a harvest of a hundred fold, in the land of the Philistines, for the LORD was blessing him. ¹³As he began to prosper and he continued to prosper greatly. ¹⁴To where he had great possessions of flocks and herds and great numbers of servants, so much so that the Philistines grew envious. ¹⁵So the Philistines filled up all his wells with dirt, that Isaac used to draw water for his herds. The same wells that Abraham had his servants dig. ¹⁶Then Abimelech, the king of Gerar told Isaac to go away from us, saying, you are mightier than we are. ¹⁷So Isaac left the city of Gear and dwelt in the valley of Gerar.

¹⁸In the valley Isaac unplugged the wells that were dug, in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had plugged them up, after Abraham's death. ¹⁹Isaac's servants dug the first well and found water from an underground spring, ²⁰But the herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, the water is ours, so Isaac named the well 'Esek' (meaning: quarrel). ²¹He then dug another well and they argued over that one as well as well, so he named the well 'Sitnah' (meaning: enmity). ²²Then Isaac moved on from there and dug another well, this time, there were no disputes, so he named that well 'Rehoboth' (meaning: room, broad space). For he said, the LORD has made room for us and we will be fruitful in the land.

God speaks to Isaac at Beersheba.

²³Then Isaac went up to Beersheba, a land that his father Abraham had also been in, Genesis 21:22-34. ²⁴That same night the Lord appeared to Isaac and said: I am the God of your father Abraham, do not fear for I am with you, I will bless you and multiply your descendants, for My servant Abraham's sake. ²⁵Isaac then built an alter and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent and had his servants dig a well.

²⁶Then Abimelech, the king of Gerar, came to Isaac with the commander of his army. ²⁷Isaac questioned the visit, saying, why have you come to me, since you hate me, having sent me away? ²⁸Abimelech said, we have seen how the LORD is with you, so we wish to make an oath and a covenant with you. ²⁹That you will do us no harm, since we have done you no harm and sent you away in peace. ³⁰So Isaac made a feast for them and they ate and drank. ³¹And early in the morning, they swore an oath to each other, then Isaac sent them away in peace. ³²That same day, the well that had originally been dug by Abraham, when he and Abimelech made an oath, Genesis 21:22-34, ran dry. ³³So the well was called, 'Shebah', (meaning: well of seven). Therefore, the name of the city is called 'Beersheba', (meaning: well of the oath).

³⁴Now when Esau was forty years old he took two Hittite wives, ³⁵to the disapproval of Isaac and Rebecca.

Genesis: chapter 27

Jacob steals Esau blessing, deception at its best.

¹As Isaac was getting old and his eyes were becoming dim, where he could hardly see. He called to his older son and Esau said, here I am. ²Isaac said, I am now old and I do not know the number of my days. ³Therefore, I pray that you will hunt some game for me. ⁴And prepare me a meal for me as I love, that I may eat of it and bless you before I die. ⁵Now Rebecca was listening and saw Esau go into the field to hunt game.

⁶She then called to Jacob her son and told him what she had heard Isaac speaking to Esau. ⁷That, Isaac wishes to bless Esau in the presence of the LORD before his death. ⁸Therefore my son, do as I command. ⁹Bring me two choice young goats and I will make a meal for your father such as he loves. ¹⁰Then you shall take it to your father, that he my bless you before his death. ¹¹But Jacob replied, Esau is a harry man and I am of smooth skin. ¹²What if my father feels me, then I shall be seen as a deceiver and shall reap a curse and not a blessing. ¹³But his mother said, if so, let the curse be on me, now obey my words and bring them to me.

¹⁴So Jacob went and brought the two goats to Rebecca and she made savory food, such as his father loved. ¹⁵She then picked out Esau's choice clothes and put them on Jacob, her younger son. ¹⁶Also putting the goat skins on his hands and his neck, ¹⁷then putting the food that she had prepared into his hands.

¹⁸So Jacob went to his father and said, here I am father and Isaac replied, who are you my son? ¹⁹And Jacob answered, I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me to, please arise and eat so your soul may bless me. ²⁰Isaac asked, how is it that you found all so quickly my son? And Jacob replied, because the LORD your God brought it to me. ²¹Isaac then said to Jacob, please come near me that I might feel you and tell whether you are really Esau or not. ²²When Isaac felt him, he said, the voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. ²³For Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brothers, Esau's hands. And Jacob blessed him. ²⁴Isaac asked again, are you really my son Esau? And Jacob said I am. ²⁵Isaac then said, Bring the food here and I will eat of my son's game, so that my soul may bless you. And he brought it to him and Isaac ate and drank wine.

²⁶Isaac then said, come near now and kiss me, my son. ²⁷And Jacob came near kissed his father and Isaac smelled his clothes and blessed his son, saying;

Jacob's blessing stolen from his brother Easu, given by his father Isaac.

The smell of my son, is as the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed. ²⁸Therefore may God give you the favor of the Lord and the abundance of the earth, with much grain and wine. ²⁹People shall serve you, nations will bow down to you and you shall be master over your own brethren. Let even your mother's sons bow down to you. Blessed be those who bless you and cursed be them who curse you.

³⁰Now when Isaac finished blessing Jacob and seconds after Jacob had left the presence of his father, Esau came in. ³¹Esau also had prepared a meal for his father and he said, arise my father and eat of your son's game, that you may bless me. ³²But his father said to him, who are you? And Esau replied, I am Esau, your firstborn. ³³Then Isaac greatly trembled and said, one was here who hunted game and brought me a meal. I ate of it before you came and bless him and indeed he shall be blessed. ³⁴When Esau heard this, he cried out and pleaded with his father to bless him also. ³⁵Isaac said, your brother deceitfully came and has taken away your blessing. ³⁶And Esau said, is he not rightly named Jacob for he has now deceived me these two times. He first took away my birthright and now he has taken away my blessing. The name Jacob means (supplanter or deceiver) . Esau then said to his father, have you not reserved a blessing for me? ³⁷Isaac said in reply, I have made him to be your master and his brethren his servants and he shall have the abundance of the earth. What can I now do for you, my son? ³⁸But Esau said, have you only one blessing my father, bless me also and as he wept he said, bless me also. ³⁹Then Isaac said;

Your dwelling shall be of the fullness of the land and you shall be under the dew of heaven. ⁴⁰By the sword you shall live and you shall serve your brother. It shall be that when you become restless, you shall break his yoke from around your neck.

⁴¹So Esau hated Jacob and Esau's plan was to kill Jacob after his father's death. ⁴²However Esau's plan was told to Rebecca, so she turned and call for Jacob. Telling him that his brother intends to comfort himself by killing you. ⁴³Therefore, my son obey my voice, flee to my brother's house in Haran. ⁴⁴Stay with him a few days until Esau's anger fades. ⁴⁵When his anger subsides and he forgets what you have done to him, I will then send word to you and bring you back from there. Why should I undergo two deaths in one day. ⁴⁶Then Rebecca told Isaac that she was concerned that Jacob might take a wife of this land and what good would my life then be to me?

Genesis: chapter 28

Jacob flees from his brother Esau, for stealing his blessing.

¹Isaac then called Jacob and blessed him, instructing him not to take a wife from the daughters of this land of Canaan. ²But rather go to the house of your mother's brother, Laban and take a wife from there. ³So Isaac then sent Jacob on his way, with this blessing;

May God Almighty bless you, multiply you and make you fruitful. That you may be an assembly of people, ⁴And give you the blessing of Abraham, both, you and your descendants. That you may inherit the land where you dwell as a stranger, as is the promise, God gave to Abraham.

⁵Isaac then sent Jacob on his way to go to Laban, the brother of Rebecca.

⁶Now Esau saw that Isaac blessed Jacob sending him away to Haran, Abraham's home land, to take a wife from there. And he knew that Isaac did not wish for Jacob to take a wife from the daughters of the land of Canaan. ⁷Seeing that Jacob obeyed his father and mother and left for Haran. ⁸And knowing that the daughters of Canaan displeased his father. ⁹Esau, in rebellion went to Ishmael, Abraham's son through the bondwoman and took Ishmael's daughter, Basemath, in marriage along with the wives which he already had.

Jacob's dream at Bethel, (known as Jacob's ladder).

¹⁰As Jacob traveled to Haran, ¹¹He stopped for the night along the way to sleep, taking a stone to lay his head on. ¹²As he slept he had a dream, where a ladder was set up on the earth, its top reached into the heavens and angels of God were ascending and descending upon it. ¹³With the LORD standing above and saying; I am the LORD God of Abraham and of your father Isaac. I will give to you and your descendants the land that you are on. ¹⁴Your descendants shall be as plentiful the dust of the earth, they shall spread to all corners of the earth and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ¹⁵I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, I will not leave you until I have done as I have spoken of.

At Bethel, Jacob sets up an altar to God.

¹⁶When Jacob woke up he said, surly the LORD is in this place and I did not know it. ¹⁷And being afraid, he said, this place is to be feared and reverenced! This is the house of God and the gate of heaven. ¹⁸Then Jacob took the stone that he laid his head on, set it up as a pillar and poured oil on it. ¹⁹Jacob then called the name of that place Bethel, (Bethel, means: House of God), for the city had previous been called Luz.

²⁰Jacob then made a vow to the LORD, saying, if God will be with me and keep me in the way that I am going, giving me bread to eat and clothes to wear. ²¹So that I can return to my father's house in peace. Then the LORD will be my God ²²This stone that I set up as a pillar shall be God's house and all that You give me, I shall surly give a tenth.

Genesis: chapter 29

Jacob meets Rebecca's brother Laban, in Haran.

¹Jacob continued his journey and came to the eastern side of the city of Haran. ²There he saw a well and nearby it were three flocks of sheep. Now the well had a large stone over its mouth ³and they would uncover the well, water the sheep and then cover the well back up again. ⁴Jacob ask the men there where they were from? And they replied from Haran. ⁵So he asked if they knew of Laban? And they said, yes. ⁶Then he asked, is he well? And they replied, yes and just at that moment, Laban's daughter Rachel was coming, leading her father's sheep.

⁷Jacob then said to the shepherds, it is still daylight. It is not yet time to gather the flocks together in their folds. Water the sheep and then return them back to graze in the pasture. ⁸But the shepherds replied, We cannot, for until all the shepherds get here we cannot manage to roll away the stone from the well, then we water the sheep. ⁹While they were still speaking, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, herding the sheep. ¹¹He came near, rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flocks of Laban his mother's brother. ¹¹Jacob then kissed Rachel and wept out loud. ¹²And told Rachel that he was a relative of her fathers, Rebecca's son and Rachel ran back and told her father, Laban.

¹³When Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister's son, he ran to meet him, embraced and kissed him and brought him to the house. And Jacob then told Laban all the things that had happened. ¹⁴Laban then said, you are family and Jacob stayed with him for a month.

Jacob takes two wives, sisters (Leah and Rachel).

¹⁵Laban said to Jacob, just because you are my relative you do not need to work for me for nothing. Tell me what should your wages be? ¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters, the elder one was named Leah and the younger one was named Rachel. ¹⁷Now Leah's eyes were tender but dull, while Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. ¹⁸ Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter. ¹⁹And Laban said, It is better that I give her to you, than to another man. ²⁰So Jacob served Laban seven years and because he loved her so, it seemed to him as only a few days. ²¹At the end of the seven years Jacob said to Laban, give me my wife, so that I may go into her. ²²So Laban gathered together all the men of that place and put on a wedding feast. ²³Now when evening had come, Laban took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob and Jacob went into her. ²⁴And Laban gave Zilpah his servant to Leah to be her handmaid.

²⁵Now in the morning, Jacob realized that Laban had given him Leah. And he said to Laban, what have you done to me, was it not for Rachel that I served you, why have you deceived me? ²⁶Laban replied, it is not the custom in our land to give the younger in marriage before the older. ²⁷Fulfill the week of Leah's wedding feast and we will give you Rachel as well, for working for me seven more years. ²⁸So Jacob fulfilled seven more years for Rachel, so Laban gave Rachel as a wife to Jacob also. ²⁹And Laban gave Bilhah his servant to Rachel to be her handmaid. ³⁰Jacob then also went into Rachel, for he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he stayed on and served with Laban yet seven more years.

Jacob's twelve sons, the beginning of the twelve tribes of Israel.

³¹Now when the LORD saw that Leah was unloved and despised, He opened her womb able to bear children, but Rachel was barren. ³²Leah then gave birth to a son and called his name Reuben. For she said, The LORD has looked on my affliction, now my husband will love me. ³³Again she bore a son and named him Simeon. For she said, Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has given me this son also. ³⁴Again she bore a son and named him Levi. For she said, Now, my husband will be a companion to me, because I have bore him three sons. ³⁵And a fourth son she also bore and she named him Judah. For she said, Now I will praise the LORD. Then she stopped bearing children.

Genesis: chapter 30

¹It grieved Rachel that she bore Jacob no children and she envied her sister Leah, so Rachel said to Jacob, give me children or I die! ²Jacob's anger was then aroused and he replied, am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you? ³So Rachel gave Jacob her maid, Bilhah, to take as a wife, so that through her she too could have children. ⁴So Jacob took Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid as a wife and he went into her. ⁵Bilhah then bore Jacob a son ⁶and Rachel name him Dan. For she said, God has heard my plea, judged my case, vindicated me and has given me a son. ⁷Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸Rachel named him Naphtali. For she said, I have wrestled with my sister and I have prevailed.

⁹When Leah saw that she had stooped conceiving. She gave Jacob her maid, Zilpah as a wife. ¹⁰Zilpah then bore Jacob a son ¹¹and Leah named him Glad. For she said, A troupe comes. ¹²Zilpah then conceived again, bore a second son ¹³and Leah name him Asher. For she said, I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.

¹⁴Now Reuben, Leah's first born, found in the fields, at harvest time, mandrakes and brought them to Leah. (NOTE: the mandrake plant, its fruit is thought to promote conception, also known as a love apple). Rachel then asked Leah for some of her mandrakes. ¹⁵But Leah replied, is it not enough that you have taken away my husband and now you wish also to take away my son's mandrakes. Rachel replied, in exchange for your sons mandrakes, Jacob shall lie with you tonight. ¹⁶So when Jacob came out of the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, you must come into me tonight, for I have surly paid the price with my son's mandrakes. So that night Jacob slept with Leah. ¹⁷God heard Leah and she bore Jacob a fifth son ¹⁸and named him Issachar. For she said, God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband. ¹⁹Leah then bore Jacob a sixth son ²⁰and named him Zibulun. For she said, God has blessed me with good a good dowry, now my husband shall dwell with me, because I have given him six sons. ²¹Then Leah bore a daughter and she named her Dinah.

²²God then remembered Rachel, listened to her and opened her womb. ²³Rachel then bore a son, saying, God has taken away my reproach. ²⁴And Rachel called his name Joseph, (Joseph, means: may God add), and she said, LORD add to me yet another son.

²⁵After Rachel had bore Joseph, Jacob informed Laban, that he wished to go back to his own land, wishing Laban to send him off. ²⁶Saying, give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you for many years and let me go my way. ²⁷However, Laban said to Jacob, I pray that you will stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I know that God had blessed me because of you. ²⁸Laban then said to Jacob, name your wages and I will give it to you. ²⁹Jacob replied, I have served you well. ³⁰Before I came your flock was small but now is quite large, thus the LORD has blessed you since my coming. Now I shall provide for my own house.

³¹Laban said to Jacob, what shall I give you? And Jacob replied, if you will agree to this, you do not need to give me anything. ³²This day I will pass through all the flocks, removing the speckled and spotted sheep and goats and the brown ones among the lambs and these shall be my wages. ³³My righteousness will then answer for me when you question my wages, for everyone that is not specked or spotted, that is with me will be considered to be stolen. ³⁴Laban agreed, saying let it be done according to your word. ³⁵However that day Laban took all the speckled and spotted animals, removed them from the flock and put them under the care of his sons. ³⁶Then he put a three day journey between them and where Jacob was tending Laban's flock.

^37-39Now Jacob was able to breed Laban's remaining cattle so they produced either speckled or spotted offspring. ^40-42Also by selective breading Jacob was able to keep the stronger livestock for himself while leaving Laban with the more feeble flocks. And once the flocks had breed he kept them separate. ⁴³Thus Jacob became very prosperous having large flocks, camels and donkeys, female and male servants.

Genesis: chapter 31

¹Jacob then heard Laban's sons grumbling and accusing him of stealing from his father's flocks, becoming rich at Laban's expense. ²Jacob also knew that he was losing favor, for Laban's countenance was becoming cold towards him. ³Then the Lord said to Jacob; Return to the land of your father and your family, for I will be with you. ⁴So Jacob called Rachel and Leah to the field, where the flock was. ⁵Telling them that he was losing favor with their father but the God of my father is with me. ⁶You know how hard I have worked for your father. ⁷Yet your father has deceived me and has changed my wages ten times, but God has not allowed him to hurt me. ⁸When Laban agreed that all the speckled or streaked of the flock were mine, all the offspring became speckled or streaked. ⁹For God had taken away your father's livestock and given them to me. ¹⁰Now when the flocks begin to conceive, I had a dream and the rams that mated with the flocks were streaked, speckled or spotted. ¹¹Then in the dream the Angel of God said to me, Jacob. And I said, yes. ¹²Look all that mate with the flocks are speckled, streaked or spotted, for I have seen what Laban had done to you. ¹³I am the God from Bethel where you anointed the pillar and made a vow to Me. Now leave this land and return to the land of your father, Genesis 28:10-22.

¹⁴Both Leah and Rachel spoke and said, there does not seem to be any inheritance for us in our father's house. ¹⁵We are considered as strangers by him For he has sold us and consumed our money. ¹⁶And all these riches that God has taken from our father is rightfully ours, therefore, whatever God has told you to do, do it.

¹⁷Jacob then placed his sons and wives on camels. ¹⁸And lead them away together with all his cattle and all his goods, ¹⁹while Laban was busy shearing his sheep. But, before leaving, Rachel stole her father's household idols. ²⁰And while Laban was gone, Jacob slipped away secretly. ²¹Leaving with all that was his, he passed over the river going towards Mount Gilead. ²²And on the third day Laban was informed that Jacob had left. ²³He and a party of his brethren, pursued them and overtook them after seven days in the mountains of Gilead. ²⁴However, God had warned Laban in a dream, to neither speak good nor bad to Jacob.

²⁵When Laban overtook Jacob, he made camp on the same hill. ²⁶He then confronted Jacob and said, why did you leave unknown to me and carry away my daughters as captives? ²⁷If I had known I could have sent you away with joy and song. ²⁸You did not even allow me to kiss my sons and daughters, you have foolishly done this. ²⁹It is within my power to do you harm, but the God of your father has warned me in a dream not to speak evil to you. ³⁰I know you have gone because you long for your father's house, but why have you stolen my gods? ³¹Jacob responded to both Laban's questions and said, I left because I was afraid and thought that you might take your daughters from me by force. ³²As for who took your gods, do not let them live, identify what is yours and take it with you. (Jacob said this because he did not know that Rachel had taken them).

³³Laban then searched Jacob's tent, Leah's tent and the two maids tents, but did not find his idols. Then he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent. ³⁴Now Rachel had taken the idols and had put them in a saddle bag and was sitting on them. Laban searched her tent but did not find them. ³⁵And Rachel said to her father, let it not displease my lord, but I cannot rise before you since the period of women is upon me. After Laban had searched and found nothing.

³⁶Jacob then became angry and rebuked him. Saying, am I guilty, that you have pursued me? ³⁷You have searched my camp, what have you found? Set what you have found before the brethren and let them judge between us! ³⁸For twenty years I have served you, your flocks have increased nor have I eaten from them. ³⁹You required of me, the losses of your own flock. ⁴⁰And I watched them night and day, whether it be in the heat or the cold. ⁴¹I have served you fourteen years for your daughters and six years for your flock and you have changed my wages ten times. ⁴²If not for the blessing of the God of my father, the God of Abraham and for the respect you have for my father Isaac, you would surely have sent me away empty handed. God has seen how you have treated me and has rebuked you in a dream last night.

⁴³Laban then spoke in response to Jacob and said, these are my daughters, these are my children and my flocks, all that you see here is mine. But, what can I now do? ⁴⁴Therefore let us make a covenant and it shall be as a witness between you and me. ⁴⁵So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶Then telling Laban and all the brethren to also gather stones. Together they made a heap of stones and ate there on the heap. ⁴⁷They both call the heap of stones, the witness heap, but Laban used the Aramaic language while Jacob used the Hebrew language. ⁴⁸And Laban said, this heap of stones is a witness between us today, therefore he called the name of it Galeed. ⁴⁹And they called the pillar Jacob set up, 'Mizpah' (meaning: watchtower), for he said, may the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent from one another. ⁵⁰For if you afflict my daughters or take other wives, God shall be your witness. ⁵¹Laban then said to Jacob, this heap and this pillar which I have set up between us. ⁵²Also acts as a witness and a dividing line between us. That neither of us shall pass over this boundary line to the others harm ⁵³May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, judge between us, but Jacob swore only by the one true God. ⁵⁴Jacob then offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called his brothers to eat bread, staying that night on the mountain. ⁵⁵Early in the morning Laban kissed and blessed his sons and his daughters and departed and returned to his place.

Genesis: chapter 32

Jacob sends word to his brother Esau.

¹Jacob continued his journey to his father's home and on his way the angels of God met him. ²When he saw them he said, this is God's camp and called the place Mahanaim. ³Jacob then sent messengers to his brother Esau, in the country of Edom. ⁴And Jacob commanded them to say to Esau, your servant Jacob has dwelt with Laban until now. ⁵I come having oxen, flock, herds, male and female servants, telling my lord this, that I may find favor in his sight. ⁶When the messengers had returned, they informed Jacob that Esau is coming to meet you along with four hundred men.

Jacob prepares to meet his brother Esau.

⁷Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed, so he divided the people and the flocks into two companies. ⁸Thinking that if Esau attacked one camp the other camp could escape. ⁹Then Jacob called upon God, saying, God of my father Abraham and Isaac. You are the LORD, who told me to return to my own country, saying I will deal well with you. ¹⁰I am not worthy of the mercies and the truth that You have shown Your servant. For I have crossed over the Jordan only with my staff and now I have become two companies. ¹¹Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I fear him, least he attack me, my wives and children. ¹²For You have said, that You would treat me well and make my descendants as the sand of the sea.

¹³Jacob lodged in that place for the night and put together a gift for Esau, what came to his mind. ¹⁴The gift included, two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams. ¹⁵Thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. ¹⁶Jacob then gave instructions to his herdsmen to, go before him. Keeping every drove by itself with some distance between successive droves. ¹⁷Jacob told the first herdsman to say to Esau when he questions you, as to whose they are and where are you going. ¹⁸Say, they belong to your servant Jacob, this is a present sent to my lord Esau. And Jacob also is behind us. ¹⁹To the herdsmen of the rest of the droves, he had them say. ²⁰Your servant Jacob is behind us. For he wishes to appease you with this present and afterward, when you see his face perhaps he will be acceptable to you. ²¹The present of the flocks then left camp and went before him. And Jacob himself lodged that night in the camp.

Jacob wrestles with God and receives a new name (Israel).

²²That night Jacob took his wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed over a brook of Jabbok. ²³Sending them over the brook and giving them what provisions he had. ²⁴Then Jacob was left alone and he wrestled with a Man until the light of morning. ²⁵When the Man saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip. Causing the socket of Jacob's hip to be out of joint, as Jacob wrestled with Him. ²⁶Then the Man said; Let Me go, for the day breaks. But, Jacob said, I will not let You go unless you bless me! ²⁷So the Man said to him; What is your name? And he replied, Jacob. ²⁸He then said; Your name will no longer be Jacob, but it shall now be Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed, ²⁹Jacob then said, please tell me Your name. And He replied, Why do you ask Me My name? And He blessed Jacob there. ³⁰Jacob called the name of that place, Penuel, for there he said, I have seen the face of God and my life is preserved. ³¹As Jacob walked back the sun rose upon him and he limped upon his thigh. ³²Therefore the sons of Israel do not eat of the thigh, which is on the hip-socket.

Genesis: chapter 33

Jacob and Esau meet and all is well.

¹When Jacob looked up Esau was coming and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Rachel, Leah and the two maid servants. ²Putting the maid servants and their children up front, Leah next and Rachel and her child Joseph last. ³Then he went before them and bowed to the ground seven times until he was near to his brother. ⁴But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, fell on his neck, kissed him and together they wept.

⁵Esau then looked and saw the women and children and ask who are these with you? And Jacob replied, the children whom God has graciously given your servant. ⁶Then the maidservants and their children came near and bowed down. ⁷Followed by Leah and her children and they bowed down. And last Rachel came near and bowed down. ⁸Esau then ask about all the livestock that he had passed. And Jacob replied, this is so I might find favor in your sight, my lord. ⁹But Esau said to Jacob, I have enough my brother, keep what you have for yourself. ¹⁰However, Jacob said, No, please receive my present, if I have now found grace in your sight. For just seeing your face, is as I have seen the face of God, for you received me favorably. ¹¹Please take my blessing, because God has dealt graciously with me, for I do have enough. Esau then accepted Jacob's gift.

¹²Esau then said, lets go and continue the journey and I will go before you. ¹³But Jacob replied, the children are weak and the livestock that is nursing is with me, if we drive them hard they will die. ¹⁴Please go on ahead of your servant and I will come at a pace that the children and livestock are able to endure, then I shall meet my lord in Seir. ¹⁵Esau then offered to leave with him some of the people that were with him as hands, but Jacob said, there is no need, just let me find favor in the sight of my lord. ¹⁶So Esau left that day for Sier ¹⁷and Jacob traveled to Succoth, where he built a house and stables for his livestock. Therefore, the name of that place is called Succoth, (meaning: Booth).

¹⁸Jacob then came into the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan and he pitched his tent before the city. ¹⁹He then bought the piece of land that he was encamped upon, from Hamor, Shechrem's father for one hundred pieces of silver. ²⁰There he built an altar and called it, EL Elohe-Israel, (which translated is: God, the God of Israel).

Genesis: chapter 34

The Dinah incident and the pillaging of the city of Shechem.

¹While in the land of Canaan, Dinah, one of Jacob's daughters by Leah, went out of the camp to visit with the daughters of that land. ²Now when Shechem, the son of the Hivite, (prince of that country), saw Dinah, he took her, laid with her, defiled and disgraced her. ³For his soul longed for her and he loved her and spoke kindly to her. ⁴So Shechem spoke to his father, (the prince of that country), saying; get her for me as a wife! ⁵Now when Jacob heard that Shechem had raped Dinah, his daughter, he held his peace until his sons came in from the field.

⁶Then Hamor, the prince of that country and the father of Shechem, went out to speak to Jacob ⁷Now when his sons came in from the field and heard of this, they were grieved and very angry, for what had been done was disgraceful against Jacob. ⁸Hamor however, spoke with them saying, my son Shechem longs for your daughter, please give her to him as a wife. ⁹Join in marriage with our people, allowing us to marry your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves in marriage. ¹⁰Then you shall dwell with us, buying and trading in the land, acquiring possessions for yourself in it. ¹¹Then Shechem, the son spoke and said to Jacob and his sons, let me find favor in your sight and whatever you say, I shall give you. ¹²Whatever price you wish as a gift, I will give, only give me the young woman as a wife. ¹³But the sons of Jacob replied, (speaking deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister). ¹⁴Saying, we cannot give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us. ¹⁵But we will consent, if you and all the men of the city are willing to be circumcised, as we are, ¹⁶Then we shall give our daughters to you and take your daughters for ourselves in marriage, dwelling with you and we shall become one people. ¹⁷But if you will not do this then we will take our daughter and be gone.

¹⁸Their words were pleasing to Hamor and Shechem and all was agreed upon. ¹⁹Neither did the son delay in doing such, for he delighted in Jacob's daughter, for the son was honored above all the houses of his father. ²⁰The prince of the city and his son then spoke to the men of the city saying; ²¹These men are at peace with us, therefore, let them dwell and trade in the land, for the land is indeed large enough for all. And we shall take their daughters as wives and give them our daughters as wives. ²²Only under this one condition will the men consent to dwell with us that we might become one people. That every male among us becomes circumcised, as they also are circumcised. ²³Will not then their livestock and property become ours? If we only consent to them. ²⁴And all who went out of the city gate agreed with their word and every man was circumcised.

Reuben and Levi slay all the men at Shechem.

²⁵Now on the third day, when the men of that city were still in pain. Two of Dinah's biological brothers, Simeon and Levi each took their sword and killed every male in that city. ²⁶they also killed the prince and his son, taking Dinah out of Shechem's house. ²⁷The other sons of Jacob then came into the city and plundered it. ²⁸They took sheep, oxen, donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field. ²⁹They took the wealth that was in the houses and took captive their children and wives. ³⁰Jacob then said to Simeon and Levi, You have caused me great trouble, making me a target among the Canaanites and the Perizzites, who live in the land. We are few in number, for they shall gather together and destroy us. ³¹But they replied, should he be allowed to treat our sister as a whore.

Genesis: chapter 35

¹Then God said to Jacob; Go up to Bethel and dwell there, make an altar there to God, the same God that appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau. ²Jacob then instructed his household and those who were with him, to put away any foreign gods that they had, to purify themselves and change their garments. ³Then we will move to Bethel and I will make an altar there to God. The God who has answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the path I have walked. ⁴So the whole camp gave Jacob the foreign gods that they had and the earrings that were in their ears. And Jacob buried them underneath a tree, that was near Shechem. ⁵As they journeyed to Bethel, the terror of God, was on the cities that were around them and no one pursued or bothered the sons of Jacob.

⁶When Jacob and his camp, came into Bethel. ⁷He immediately built an altar there and called the place, EL Bethel, because this was the same place where God appeared to him when he fled from his brother Esau, Genesis 28:16-22.

⁸Deborah, Rebecca's nurse dies and was buried in the lower part of Bethel, under a tree.

The LORD restates His covenant to Jacob as seen in Genesis 32:22-32.

⁹God then appeared to Jacob and blessed him. ¹⁰Again saying; Your name is Jacob, it shall not be Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name. ¹¹I am God Almighty, Be fruitful and multiply: entire nations shall come from you and kings shall come from your body. ¹²The land that I gave Abraham and Isaac, I give to you and your descendants. ¹³Then God ascended from him in that place. ¹⁴So Jacob set up a pillar of stone and he poured a drink offering over it, also pouring oil over it. ¹⁵And that place where God spoke with him, he called Bethel.

The death of Rachel, Jacob's wife, dies in childbirth.

¹⁶As they journeyed from Bethel and were but a little distance from Bethlehem, Rachel labored in childbirth and it was a difficult labor. ¹⁷As she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, do not fear, you will have this son also. ¹⁸And it was that as Rachel was dying, she named the child, Ben-oni, (meaning: son of my pain), but his father called him Benjamin, (meaning: son of the right hand). ¹⁹Rachel was then buried on the way to Bethlehem ²⁰and Jacob set a pillar on her grave. ²¹Jacob, now called Israel then traveled on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

Reuben, Jacob's oldest son lays with Bilhah, his father's concubine.

²²As Israel dwelt there, his eldest son Reuben, lay with Bilhah, (Rachel's handmaid, but also Jacob's wife, Genesis 30:4), and Jacob, called Israel, heard about this.

The twelve sons of Jacob, also known as the twelve tribes of Israel.

²³The six sons of Leah are: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. ²⁴The two sons of Rachel are: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵The two sons of Bilhah, (Rachel's handmaid) are: Dan and Naphtali. ²⁶The two sons of Zilpah, (Leah's handmaid) are: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob born to him in Padan-aram. See chapters 29 & 30 for the telling of the births.

The death of Isaac, at one hundred eighty years.

²⁷When Jacob had come to his father's house in Hebron, where both Abraham and Isaac had dwelt. ²⁸Isaac was now one hundred eighty years. ²⁹He then breathed his last being old and full of years and he died. And was buried by his sons Esau and Jacob.

Genesis: chapter 36

Esau's genealogy, his sons and their sons, Esau the Father of Edom.

¹The generations of Esau, which is the start of Edom. ²Esau took wives from the daughters of Canaan, Adah, Aholibamah and Basemath were all Hivites. ³Basemath was the daughter of Ishmael. ⁴Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel. ⁵And Aholibamah bore Jeush, Jaalam and Korah. These were the five sons of Esau, that were born in Canaan.

⁶Esau then took his wives, sons, daughters, all those who were in his house, his livestock, together with all his substance and went into a land a goodly distance away from his brother Jacob.

⁷For their riches were more than that they might dwell together. For their native land could not bear them because of the great number of their cattle. ⁸Thus Esau lived in Mount Seir and began the land of Edom.

^9-19And these are the generations of Esau children, also known as the chiefs of Edom. The chiefs of Eliphaz were: Teman, Omar, Zepho and Gatam and Kenaz. Timna was Eliphaz's concubine and she bore to him Amalek. The chiefs of Reuel were: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. The chiefs that Aholibamah bore were: Jeush and Jaalam and Korah.

^20-27The sons of Seir, descendants of Ishmael, known as the chiefs of Horites.

The listing of the eight kings of Edom, before Israel had any kings.

order	king's reign in Edom
1st	Bela son of Beor.
2nd	Jabab son of Zerah.
3rd	Husham of the Temanites.
4th	Hadad son of Bedad.
5th	Samlah of Masrekah.
6th	Saul of Rehoboth-by-the-River.
7th	Baal-Hanan son of Achbor.
8th	Hadar.

³¹These were the kings that reigned in Edom before Israel had a king. ³²Bela reigned in Edom, in the city of Dinhabah. ³³His successor was Jobab the son of Zerah. ³⁴His successor was Husham of the Temanites. ³⁵His successor was Hadad, who reigned from the city Avith and went to war against Midian in the field of Moab. ³⁶His successor was Samlah from Masrekah. ³⁷His successor was Shaul of Rehoboth by the river. ³⁸His successor was Baalhanan the son of Achbor. ³⁹His successor was Hadar, who reigned from the city Pau and his wife's name was Mehetabel.

⁴⁰And these were the names of the Dukes of Esau, according to their families and their places: Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth, ⁴¹Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁴²Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁴³Magdiel and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom and Esau the father of the Edomites.

Genesis: chapter 37

Joseph's dreams of greatness.

¹Jacob was now dwelling in the land of Canaan where his father had also been a stranger. ²Joseph was now seventeen and feeding the flock with his brothers and he brought a bad report, concerning his brothers to his father. ³Jacob, (now called Israel), loved and favored Joseph more than all his other children, because he was the son of his old age and the firstborn of Rachel. Therefore, he made for Joseph a coat of many colors. ⁴But when his brothers saw this favoritism and knew that his father love him more than they, they hated him and could not even speak peaceably to him.

⁵Joseph had a dream and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. ⁶And he said to them, please listen to this dream I had. ⁷All of us were in the field binding sheaves. Then my sheave stood upright and all your sheaves bowed down to my sheave. ⁸When Joseph's brothers heard that they said, shall you reign and have dominion over us? And they hated him even more. ⁹Then Joseph had yet another dream and he again told his brothers. Of how the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed down to me. ¹⁰He also told it to his father along with his brothers and his father rebuked him, saying, shall we all come and bow down before you? ¹¹At this his brothers envied him, but his father noted the matter.

Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers and taken to Egypt.

¹²Now Jacob's sons were feeding the flock down in Shechem. ¹³And Jacob, (known as Israel), called Joseph to go down to Shechem. ¹⁴So that Joseph might bring back word, whether all was well. ^15-17When Joseph got down to Shechem, he did not find his brothers. But, he learned that they had gone, about fifteen miles, down to Dothan.

¹⁸As Joseph arrived, his brothers saw him while he was still far off and they conspired to kill him. ¹⁹They said to one another, look, this dreamer is coming. ²⁰Let us kill him and throw him into a pit, then we shall see what his dreams shall amount to. ²¹However Reuben, the eldest brother, delivered him out of their hands saying, lets not shed his blood. ²²But rather let us simply throw him into this pit, (He said this that he could buy some time and deliver him back to his father). ²³So when Joseph had come near, they striped him of the coat of many colors that he was wearing ²⁴and cast him into a dry pit.

²⁵As the brothers sat down to eat a meal, a caravan of Ishmaelite's and Arabians dealers passed by them on their way down to Egypt to trade their goods. ²⁶So Judah said to the other brothers, what profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal the fact of shedding his blood? ²⁷Let us sell him to the Ishmaelite's and Midianite's. Then his blood won't be on us, for he is our brother and the other brothers agreed. ²⁸So the brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty shekels of silver and Joseph was carried down to Egypt. ²⁹When Reuben returned, he looked in the pit, only to find it empty and then tore his clothes, (showing great grief). ³⁰He then went to his brothers and said, he is gone! And now what shall I do?

³¹The brothers then took Joseph's coat of many colors, killed a goat and dipped the coat in the goat's blood. ³²Bringing the coat back to his father, they said, we have found this coat, do you know if it was your son's coat or not? ³³Jacob recognized the coat and assumed that Joseph had been devoured by a wild beast. ³⁴Jacob then tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist and mourned for his son for many days. ³⁵Refusing to be comforted by his sons or his daughters. For he said, I shall go to my grave in mourning to my son.

³⁶When the Midianite's got down to Egypt, they sold Joseph to a man named Potiphar, an officer and caption of the guard within Pharaoh's courts.

Genesis: chapter 38

Judah and Tamar.

¹Now Judah departed from his brothers and went to visit a man from Adullam named Hirah. ^2-5There Judah married a Canaanite wife named Shua and she bore him three sons, (Er, Onan and Shelah).

⁶When Er, his eldest son was of age, Judah took a wife for him and her name was Tamar. ⁷However, Er was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD killed him, ⁸leaving Tamar without an heir. So Judah told his second born son Onan to marry Tamar, (NOTE: this was done according to Mosaic law, Deuteronomy 25:5-10) and raise up an heir for your brother. ⁹However Onan knew that the child would be his brothers descendent and not his. Therefore, whenever he would go into Tamar, he would spill his seed on the ground, least he should give her a child. ¹⁰This displeased the LORD and the LORD also killed him and again Tamar was left childless. ¹¹Judah then said to Tamar, remain a widow in your father's house until my third son Shelah is grown. (However, Judah thought, why should I give him to her, least he also die like his brothers). But, Tamar did not yet know this and she then put on widow garments and went down to her father's house.

¹²After much time, Judah's wife died. Now when Judah had quit his mourning, he went up to shear his sheep, along with his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³Tamar being informed of this and knowing that Judah's third son was now grown and she had not been given to him as a wife. ¹⁴She therefore, took off her widow's garments and veiled her face and sat in an open place by the roadside where she knew Judah would be passing by. ¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot because she had covered her face ¹⁶And he turned to her and said, please let me come into you, for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. Tamar then asked, what will you give me? ¹⁷Judah replied, I will send you a young goat. And she said, will you give me a pledge until you send it? ¹⁸Asking for Judah's personal signet, cord and staff and Judah gave them to her. Judah then went into her and she conceived by him. ¹⁹She then returned to her father's house and put the widow's clothes back on. ²⁰Upon Judah's return, he sent the young goat by the hand of his friend Hirah, the Adullamite to the woman and to retrieve his pledge, but she was not to be found. ²¹And as he acquired of the whereabouts of the harlot who stood by the wayside, the men of that place said, there was no harlot here. ²²So Hirah returned telling Judah that the harlot was not to be found. ²³Judah then said, let us drop the matter and she can keep the pledge, least we be put to shame.

²⁴Approximately, three months later, Judah was informed that Tamar had played the harlot and was with child. Judah then said bring her out and let her be burnt! ²⁵When Tamer came out, she brought with her the signet, cord and staff and asked Judah to identify them. Saying that they belonged to the father of her child. ²⁶When Judah acknowledged them as his own, he declared her as being more righteous than he, because I did not give you my youngest son. And Judah did not know Tamar again.

²⁷Tamar gave birth to twins. ²⁸And as she was giving birth, one of the babies put his arm out and the midwife tied a scarlet thread around it, saying, this one came out first. ²⁹The baby then retracted his hand and his brother came out first. And she said; how did you break through? This breach be upon you. The one that came out first was named Perez, the name means: Breakthrough. ³⁰Afterwards his brother came out, having the scarlet thread around his arm and they named him Zerah, The name means: sprout.

NOTE: Judah and his son Perez, by Tamar, are recorded in both Matthew's and Luke's genealogy accounts of the line of Christ.

Genesis: chapter 39

¹Down in Egypt, Joseph had been sold to a man named Potiphar, an officer and caption of the guard within Pharaoh's courts. ²However the LORD was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man even as he dwelt in the house of the Egyptian. ³And Potiphar could see that the Lord was with Joseph, for all that was put under Joseph, the LORD prospered. ⁴So Joseph found favor in the sight of the man and Potiphar gave Joseph authority over his entire household. ⁵And it was that when Joseph was overseeing Potiphar's household, the LORD made and blessed all that was in his household and in the field to prosper, for Joseph's sake. ⁶Thus Potiphar left all that he had in Joseph's hand and he did not concern himself with what he had except for the bread that he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

⁷However Potiphar's wife cast her eyes upon him and said, lie with me. ⁸but Joseph said to her, my master, your husband, has no household concerns, he has put all that he has in my care. ⁹No one is greater in this house than I and only you has he withheld from me, for you are his wife. How then could I do such a great wickedness and sin against God. ¹⁰But day after day she kept on trying to get Joseph to lie with her. ¹¹And one day, when Joseph went into the house to do his work and none of the other men were in the house. ¹²She caught Joseph by his garment and said come lie with me. But, Joseph fled leaving his coat in her hands.

¹³When she realized that she had his garment in her hands. ¹⁴She called in the other men of the house and stated that Joseph tired to rape her, ¹⁵only to leave his garment here when I cried out. ¹⁶So she kept the garment with her until his master came home. ^17-19When Potiphar, (Joseph's master), returned home and his wife told him her story, his anger arose.

²⁰Potiphar then sent Joseph to prison, a place where the king's prisoners were confined. (NOTE: As a slave, Joseph could have been sentenced to death or put into a low common dungeon, rather he was put in with the king's prisoners). ²¹But, the LORD was also with him in prison, showing him mercy and giving him favor with the jailor. ²²For the keeper of the prison committed all the prisoners there to be under Joseph's hand. ²³Nor did he any longer look into any matters that were under Joseph's authority. For the LORD was with Joseph and all things that he did the LORD made to prosper.

Genesis: chapter 40

¹While Joseph was in the prison, Pharaoh's chief butler and baker had offended the king of Egypt. ²Pharaoh became angry with his two officers. ³And gave them over to the caption of the guard whom was over Joseph. ⁴And the caption of the guard sentence them, putting them under Joseph's charge.

⁵Now on the same night, both the butler and the baker had a dream. ⁶And in the morning when Joseph came to them, he found them both looking sad. ⁷So he asked them why they look sad today? ⁸And they said, each of us had a dream and we have no interpretation of it. And Joseph said to them, are not interpretations of God, please tell it to me.

⁹The chief butter spoke first and said, in my dream a vine was before me. ¹⁰In the vine there were three branches, each branch budded and the blossoms brought forth clusters of ripe grapes. ¹¹Pharaoh's cup was then in my hand, I pressed the grapes into the cup and placed it into Pharaoh's hand. ¹²Joseph said to him, the interpretation is such. The three branches are three days. ¹³Within three day Pharaoh will restore you to your place and you will once again serve him as you did before. ¹⁴When it is well with you, please show kindness to me, make mention of me to Pharaoh and get me out of here. ¹⁵For I was forcibly bought down to Egypt from my Hebrew land and I have done no wrong that I should be here in this prison.

¹⁶When the interpretation came up favorable, the baker also told Joseph his dream. In my dream there were three baskets filled with white bread upon my head. ¹⁷In the top basket there were many baked goods for Pharaoh and the birds came and ate them up. ¹⁸Joseph said to him, the interpretation is such. The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹Within three days, Pharaoh will lift off your head, hang you from a tree and the birds will come and eat your flesh.

²⁰Now on the third day, which happened to be Pharaoh's birthday, Pharaoh held a big feast for all his servants. Releasing both the butter and the baker from prison. ²¹The butler was restored to his position and he once again placed the cup into Pharaoh's hands. ²²And the baker was hung, just as Joseph had interpreted. ²³However when the butler was restored, he forgot to mention of Joseph to Pharaoh.

Genesis: chapter 41

¹Two years later, Pharaoh had a dream. And in the dream he stood by a river. ²Suddenly seven hearty cows came out of the river and began grazing on the tall grass in the meadow. ³Then seven ugly and extremely lean cows came up out of the river. ⁴And the ugly and lean cows ate up the other seven healthy cows. And Pharaoh then awoke from the dream. ⁵When he went back to sleep, he had another dream. He dreamed that seven heads of grain came up on a stalk, pump and full. ⁶Then seven heads sprung up after them, having been dried up by the east wind. ⁷And the seven thin heads devoured the seven plump and full heads. And Pharaoh woke up again from his dream. ⁸In the morning, Pharaoh's was troubled and send for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt and told them the dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them.

^9-10Then the chief butter spoke to Pharaoh and said, this day I remember, that when I and the chief baker were in the king's prison. ¹¹We both had dreams one night. ¹²There was a young Hebrew man there, a servant to the caption of the guard. And when we told him our dreams he interpreted them for us. ¹³Both interpretations came to pass just as he said, I was restored to my position and the baker was hung.

¹⁴Pharaoh then called for Joseph and he was brought out quickly, shaved and changed into clean clothes and presented to Pharaoh. ¹⁵Pharaoh then said to Joseph, that he had a dream and finding no one in his country who could interpret. I sent for you, for I heard you can interpret dreams. ¹⁶Joseph replied, it is not I, but God will give you an answer of peace.

^17-24Pharaoh then told Joseph both dreams and Joseph gave the interpretation. ²⁵Both dreams are one in the same, God has shown you what He is about to do. ²⁶The seven good cows are seven good years and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. ²⁷The seven thin and ugly cows and the seven empty heads, are seven years of famine. ²⁸God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. ²⁹Egypt will have seven years of great plenty, ^30-31followed by seven years of famine. In the years of famine, the years of plenty will be forgotten about, for the famine will be very severe and will deplete the land. ³²The dream was given to Pharaoh twice, for this has been established by God and will shortly come to pass.

³³Joseph then said to Pharaoh, therefore, let Pharaoh select a wise and discerning man and let him be set over the land of Egypt. ³⁴Let this man appoint officers over the land to collect one-fifth of what the land produces in the plentiful years. ³⁵Gathering up the food in the good years, under the authority of Pharaoh, keeping food in the cities. ³⁶So there will be reserves stored up for the years of famine, that will be in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish in those years.

Joseph's rise to power at the age of Thirty in Egypt.

³⁷Pharaoh saw that Joseph's advice was good, both in his eyes and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸And Pharaoh asked his servants, if there was such a person as this man in whom the Spirit of God is on? ³⁹Pharaoh then said to Joseph, God has shown you all this and we have no one in this land who is as wise and discerning as you. ⁴⁰You shall be over my house and my people shall be ruled according to your word, only in regard to my throne shall I be greater than you.

⁴¹So Pharaoh set Joseph second in command over all the land of Egypt. ⁴²Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring and put it on Joseph's hand, giving him fine garments to put on and placing a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³Pharaoh had Joseph ride in the second chariot and the servants pulling the chariot cried out, bow the knee. And Pharaoh said to him, I have placed you over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴Without your consent no man many lift his hand or foot in all of Egypt. ⁴⁵Pharaoh then gave Joseph a new name, the name of Zaphnath-Paaneah, (NOTE: This is a pure Egyptian word, its meaning is not completely known, it may mean: preserver of life). He then gave Joseph a wife, a daughter of a priest.

⁴⁶Joseph was thirty when he stood before Pharaoh, then he went out and inspected and toured all of Egypt. ⁴⁷Now in the seven years of plenty the ground brought forth an abundance. ⁴⁸And Joseph gathered up the food and the grain in the various cities, ⁴⁹until the grain was as the sands of the sea and then he stopped counting, for it became immeasurable.

⁵⁰During the seven years of plenty, Joseph had two sons by his wife, Asenath. ⁵¹The firstborn he called Manasseh for Joseph said, God has made me to forget all my toil and my father's house, (the name means: causing to forget). ⁵²Joseph's second born son he called Ephraim, for he said, God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction, (the name means: doubly fruitful).

⁵³When the seven years of plenty in the land of Egypt were over. ⁵⁴The seven years of famine came, just as Joseph had said. The famine was in all the surrounding lands, but in Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵As the famine began, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh answered the people and said, go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you to do. ⁵⁶So Joseph opened up the storehouses and sold the gain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe. ⁵⁷Now the famine was throughout the surrounding countries and because the famine was severe, people from other countries also came to Egypt to buy food.

Genesis: chapter 42

Jacob sends ten of his sons down to Egypt to buy food.

¹Now in the land of Canaan, Jacob, heard that there was grain in Egypt. ^2-3So he sent his ten son's, down to Egypt to buy grain. ⁴But he left Benjamin, the youngest at home with him, fearing that some calamity might befall him. ⁵So the brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt, along with the other traveling to Egypt. ⁶When the brother's got to Egypt, they bowed down before Joseph, for he was the governor over all the land and the one who sold to all the people.

^7-8Now Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him, so he acted as a stranger to them and spoke harshly to them. Asking them where they came from? And they answered from the land of Canaan to buy food. ⁹Then Joseph remembered his dream about them and he said, you are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land. ¹⁰And they replied, no my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹We are all son's of one man, we are honest men and are not spies. ¹²But Joseph replied, I know you have come to spy out the land. ¹³They answered, we are twelve brothers, the youngest son is with our father in the land of Canaan and the other brother is no more. ¹⁴Hearing this Joseph said to them, it is as I said, you are spies! ¹⁵You shall be tested in this manor. You shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶One of you shall be sent to bring back your younger brother and you shall be kept here in prison to prove your words and to see if there is any truth in you, otherwise you are for sure spies. ¹⁷And with that Joseph put them all in prison for three days.

¹⁸After three days he said to them, do this and you shall live, for I do fear God. ¹⁹If you are honest men let one brother be confined in this prison. Go back to your land, taking grain for the famine of your house. ²⁰And then bring your youngest brother to me. That way I will know that your words are true and you shall not die.

²¹The brothers discussed this in prison and said among themselves, we are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the distress of his soul as he pleaded with us and we would not hear him. Therefore, this has come upon us. ²²Then Reuben spoke up and said, did I not tell you not to sin against the boy, therefore, his blood is now required of us. ²³But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for Joseph spoke to them through an interpreter. ²⁴When he heard this, he turned himself away from them and he wept. Then he return to them, took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.

²⁵Before the brothers left, Joseph commanded his servants to fill up their sacks with grain and to also restore every mans money to their sacks. ²⁶The brothers then loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there. ²⁷When they stopped and as one of the brothers opened his sack of grain, to feed the donkeys. He also saw that his money had been restored to his bag. ²⁸At this, all the brothers were greatly afraid and they said to one another, what is this that God has done to us?

²⁹When they had returned to their father Jacob, they told him all that had happened to them, saying; ³⁰The man who is lord of the land spoke harshly to us and he called us spies. ^31-32But we told him we were honest men and twelve brothers, that one brother is no more and the youngest is with our father back in the land of Canaan. ³³He then said to us that he would know if we were honest men if we would bring our youngest brother back to him and for this reason is he is holding Simeon. ³⁴For he said to us, when you bring your brother back with you, I will know that you are not spies and will release your other brother to you. ³⁵Then they told their father that everyone's money had been restored into his own sack. And when Jacob had seen the bundles of money, he was also afraid.

³⁶Jacob then said to them, you have troubled me greatly, Joseph is gone, now Simeon is gone and now you want to take Benjamin. ³⁷Then Reuben spoke and said, I will stake the life of my two sons, if I do not bring Benjamin back to you, put Benjamin in my care and I will bring him back to you. ³⁸But Jacob replied, you shall not take my son Benjamin down to Egypt with you. For his brother is dead and only he is left, (NOTE: Jacob was speaking that both Joseph and Benjamin were the only son's of the birth mother Rachel). If anything should happen to him, you would bring me down to my grave in sorrow.

Genesis: chapter 43

The brothers second trip down to Egypt with Benjamin.

¹Now the famine was server in the land of Canaan. ²And when they had eaten all of their grain supply, Jacob told the brothers to go back to Egypt and buy more food. ³But Judah spoke and said, the man warned to us, saying, you shall not see my face unless your younger brother is with you. ⁴If we can take Benjamin with us we will go down and buy more food, ⁵otherwise we will not go down. ⁶Jacob, called Israel said, why did you tell him you had yet another brother, by doing so you did me wrong. ⁷But the brothers replied, the man asked us specifically about our family, asking, if our father was still alive? and if we had yet another brother? And we answered him according to his words. How could we have known that he would say, Bring your brother down. ⁸Then Judah said, send the boy with me, that we can buy food and we can all live and not perish. ⁹I myself will be security for him, if I do not bring him back to you, let me bear the blame forever. ¹⁰Let us not linger any longer, for we could have been there and back by now.

¹¹Jacob then reluctantly sent Benjamin with them. Saying take some of the best fruit of the land as a gift for this man, a little balm, a little honey, spices, myrrh, nuts and almonds. ¹²Take double money plus what was returned in your sacks, perhaps that was just an oversight. ¹³Take your brother and go back to the man. ¹⁴May God give you mercy before the man, that you may all come back safely. If I am troubled, then I am troubled. ¹⁵So the brothers took all the provisions and went down to Egypt.

^16-17In Egypt the men and Benjamin stood before Joseph. When Joseph saw Benjamin, he said to the steward of his house, take these men to my house and have a meal prepared, for we will dine at noon. ¹⁸When the brothers were brought into Joseph's house, they were afraid, thinking it was because of the money that was found in their sacks. ¹⁹So as they came near the door of the house they talked with the steward of the house. ²⁰Saying, sir, when we came down the first time it was just to buy food. ²¹but we discovered as we left each mans money was restored to him in his own sack. So we have brought it back, we know not how it got there. ²²And we have also brought other money to buy food with. ²³But the steward of the house said, peace be with you, do not fear, your God has given you treasure in your sakes, for I restored your money to you. Then he also brought Simon out to them. ²⁴The servants then brought the men into Joseph's house, gave them water and washed their feet, stabled and feed their donkeys. ²⁵The brothers then prepared their gift for when Joseph would get there.

²⁶When Joseph arrived home, the men presented him with the present and bowed down to him. ²⁷Then Joseph asked them about their well-being and if their father was alive? ²⁸And they replied, yes he is well and they bowed once more to the ground. ²⁹When Joseph saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, he asked, is this your younger brother of whom you spoke of? And Joseph blessed Benjamin.

³⁰Now Joseph yearned for his brother, so he quickly sought out a private place to weep. ³¹He then washed his face, went out and recomposed himself and said, let the meal be served. ³²The servants set forth the meal, for Joseph and his brothers and for the Egyptians who ate with him. But, not all the servants ate with him, for Egyptians may not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. ³³Now the seating order at the table was by birth order, the youngest to the oldest and the men marveled at one another. ³⁴Joseph then served portions to them, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.

Genesis: chapter 44

¹After the meal, Joseph had his servants fill each mans sack with grain and to restore again each brother's money. ²Putting also my silver cup in Benjamin's grain sack. ³The next morning, the brothers left on their donkeys. ⁴Now when the men were outside the city, not that far off. Joseph sent his servants to overtake them and to say to the men, why have you repaid us evil for good? ⁵Do you not have my master's cup, the cup that he drinks from and foresee the future from. ⁶So the servants overtook them and spoke these words to them. ⁷But the brothers said to the servants, why would my lord say such things? ⁸We brought back the money we found in our sacks, why would we then take either gold or silver from your lord's house? ⁹Whomever's sack you find this cup, let him die and we shall be your lord's slaves. ¹⁰Joseph's servants said, let it be according to your words, that whoever's sack the cup is found in, he will become our servant. ¹¹Each brother then let his bag down to the ground and opened his sack. ¹²They began searching the bags, starting with the oldest to the youngest and found the cup in Benjamin's bag. ¹³When the cup was found in Benjamin's bag, all the brothers tore their clothes in distress, got back on their donkey and returned to the city.

¹⁴When they had come to Joseph's house, Joseph came out and the brothers fell on the ground before him. ¹⁵Joseph then spoke and said, what kind of a deed is this? Did you not realize that a man in my position, carefully observes. ¹⁶Then Judah spoke up saying, what can we say, how can we clear our name? We are our lord's servants, both we and in whom's sack the cup was found. ¹⁷But Joseph replied, only the man in whose sack the cup was found shall be my servant, as for the rest of you, go back to your father in peace.

¹⁸Judah then spoke pleading, saying, my lord, please hear me and do not burn with anger, for you are also great such as Pharaoh. ¹⁹My lord asked us if we had a father or a brother? ²⁰And we said that our father was old and had a child of his old age. His biological brother is dead and he is left alone, whom his father loves. ²¹You then said to us, bring him down for me to see ²²and we said the boy cannot leave his father. For if he does, his father will die. ²³But you gave us no other option but to bring the boy down. ²⁴So we told our father, the words that you spoke. ²⁵Then when our father told us to go down to Egypt and buy some food. ²⁶We said to him, unless our youngest brother is with us, we cannot go down, for we were told we shan't see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us. ²⁷Our father then said, my wife bore me two sons. ²⁸And one was taken from me. ²⁹And now if you take this one from me and harm befalls him, you shall bring me to my grave, with gray hairs. ³⁰If I go back to my father and the boy is not with us, since his life is so attached to the lad's life. ³¹It shall be that when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die. ³²For I became security for the boy and if he doesn't come back, I will bear the blame forever. ³³Therefore please take me as a servant instead of the boy and allow the lad to go back with his brothers. ³⁴For how can I even go back to my father if the lad is not with me, least I see the evil that might befall my father.

Genesis: chapter 45

Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers.

¹Joseph then could not retrain himself before his brothers any longer. So he spoke to the servants around him and told them to all go out and leave them in private. ²He then wept aloud and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. ³Then Joseph said to his brothers, I am your brother Joseph, does my father still live? But, his brothers could not answer for they were stunned by his presence. ⁴Joseph then told his brothers to come close and said to them, I am Joseph your brother who you sold down to Egypt into slavery. ⁵But do not be grieved with yourself, for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶The famine has been in the land for these two years and there are five more years to come. ⁷God sent me before you to preserve your ancestry and to save you through a great deliverance. ⁸So it was actually not you that sent me here but God and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord over all Pharaoh's house, ruler over all Egypt.

⁹Joseph then instructed his brothers to go quickly back to Canaan and tell their father, that God has made him lord over all Egypt and to come down quickly. ¹⁰For you shall dwell in the land of Goshen and you and all your descendants shall be near to me. ¹¹Here I will provide for you and your household, least you come to poverty, for there are five more years of this famine. ¹²For your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin can testify that it's me Joseph. ¹³Hurry, go and tell my father of all my glory here in Egypt and what you have seen and bring my father down here. ¹⁴Then Joseph fell on his brother Benjamin neck and wept and likewise, Benjamin also wept on his neck. ¹⁵He then kissed all his brothers and they all talked.

¹⁶The report that Joseph's brothers had come, was heard in Pharaoh's house and this pleased Pharaoh and his servants. ¹⁷Pharaoh then told Joseph to have his brothers pack up their animals and processions and depart from the land of Canaan. ¹⁸Bring your father and your household and come to Egypt, where I will give you the best of the land and they shall eat from the fat of the land. ¹⁹Then he commanded Joseph to take as many carts as needed to provide them to make the trip. ²⁰And let them not be concerned about their goods, for the best of the land of Egypt is theirs. ²¹Joseph then gave his brother's carts and provisions for the journey, according to the order of Pharaoh. ²²He gave all of them a change of garments and to Benjamin, he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five garments. ²³And he sent as a gift to his father ten donkeys packed with good things of Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and food for the journey. ²⁴And sent the brothers away, with a word of peace.

²⁵When they arrived at their fathers. ²⁶They told him that Joseph is alive and ruler over all Egypt. At hearing this Jacob was stunned, for he did not believe them. ²⁷But as they told him of all the words Joseph had said to them and Jacob saw the carts and the gifts, he believed them. ²⁸Then Jacob, now called Israel said, it is enough that my son Joseph is alive, I will go and see him before I die.

NOTE: (Jacob / Israel was one hundred thirty years old when he went down to Egypt).

Genesis: chapter 46

Jacob's descendants, the seventy that went down to Egypt.

¹So Jacob, called Israel took all that he had and journeyed to Beersheba and there he offered sacrifices to God. (where God had spoken to his fathers Abraham and Isaac before, Genesis 26:23-25) ²God then spoke to Israel in a dream, saying; Jacob, Jacob! And Jacob answered, here I am. ³God then said; Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt. For I will make you a great nation there. ⁴I shall go down with you and Joseph shall be at your side when you die.

⁵Then Jacob left Beersheba with their children and their wives, in the carts that Pharaoh had provided for their travel. ⁶They took their livestock and their possessions, ⁷their sons and daughters and all their children and brought them down to Egypt. ^8-25These are the names of the children of Israel and the house of Jacob, according to their tribe, who went down to Egypt.

²⁶All the that came with Jacob into Egypt, not counting the sons' wives, were sixty-six. ²⁷And Joseph in Egypt, had two sons. So all the persons of the house of Jacob, together with Joseph and Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy.

²⁸Jacob then sent Judah on before him to Joseph, to lead them into the land of Goshen. ²⁹Goshen is where Joseph presented himself to his father Israel. There each embraced and wept for a good while. ³⁰And his father, Israel said, now let me die, for I have seen you and you are alive and well. ³¹Then Joseph said to his father and his father's house, I will go up and tell Pharaoh that my brothers and their children have come from the land of Canaan. ³²The men herd their flock for an occupation and have brought their herds and flocks, for they are feeders of livestock. ³³So when Pharaoh calls you in and asks you your occupation? ³⁴You shall say, "Your servants have always worked with livestock, from our youth until now, even as our fathers also did", so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen. For shepherds are an abomination to the Egyptians.

Genesis: chapter 47

¹Joseph then let Pharaoh know that his father and brothers with their herds and possessions were now in the land of Goshen. ²And he brought five of his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. ³Then Pharaoh asked the brothers, what their occupation was? And they said, since our father's time your servants have been shepherds. ⁴We have come to Egypt for we have no pasture land in the land of Canaan, for the drought is severe. Therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen. ⁵Pharaoh then spoke to Joseph, saying, your father and brothers have come to you ⁶and the land of Egypt is before you. Let them dwell in the best of the land, let them live in Goshen. And if any of your brothers are competent men make them chief herdsman's over my livestock.

⁷Joseph then brought his father before Pharaoh and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸Pharaoh then asked him how old he was? ⁹Jacob replied to Pharaoh that he was one hundred thirty years, it has been a short and hard life, though fewer days that my ancestors were given. ¹⁰Jacob then again blessed Pharaoh and then left his presence. ¹¹Then as Pharaoh had commanded, Joseph settled his brothers in the land of Goshen ¹²and he provided each household with food, according to the number of people.

¹³Now the famine was very severe for there was no bread in all the land and the lands of Egypt and Canaan also suffered because of it. ¹⁴So by the sale of the grain, Joseph gathered up all the Egyptian's money and brought it into Pharaoh's house.

¹⁵The next year, when the money was exhausted in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan. The people came to Joseph and said, give us bread to eat, why should we perish in your presence, for our money is gone? ^16-17And Joseph gave them grain in exchange for their livestock, their horses, flocks, cattle and donkeys.

¹⁸The next year, when their livestock was depleted, the people came to Joseph and explained that their money and livestock is gone and there is nothing left but their persons and their lands. ¹⁹Why should we perish before your eyes, buy our lands and we shall be servants of Pharaoh. ²⁰So Joseph bought the people's fields in exchange for grain and the lands became Pharaoh's. ²¹And the people were moved into the cities. ²²The only land that Joseph did not buy was the land the priests had been allotted by Pharaoh, for they ate of the food given to them by Pharaoh.

²³After the people's money, livestock and land had been sold, Joseph bought the people as servants and gave them gain to sow the land. ²⁴Requiring the people to sow the land and at the harvest, give Pharaoh one-fifth of their crop. Saying that the remaining four-fifths was theirs to eat from and to re-seed the ground with. ²⁵The people seeing that Joseph had saved their lives agreed and said, may we find favor in the sight of our lord, we shall become Pharaoh's servants. ²⁶Joseph then made it a law over the land of Egypt, with the exception of the priests, that Pharaoh should always get one-fifth.

²⁷Jacob, now called Israel dwelt in the land of Goshen and the Hebrews grew and multiplied exceedingly. ²⁸Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years and all his years were one hundred forty-seven years. ²⁹When the time of Israel's (Jacob's) death was approaching, he called for Joseph and requested that he not be buried in Egypt, ³⁰but with my fathers in their burial place. Israel then had Joseph swear to this.

Genesis: chapter 48

¹Shortly after Jacob had made his burial arrangements, Joseph was informed that his father was sick and Joseph took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. ²When Jacob knew that Joseph was coming, he sat up in his bed. ³Then Jacob, called Israel told Joseph that God had spoken to him at Bethel and had blessed him. ⁴Saying; I will make you fruitful and multiply you, you shall be a multitude of people and I give this land to your descendants, after you as an everlasting possession, Genesis 28:10-22.

⁵Now your two sons Manasseh and Ephraim, I call just as my own, equal to my other sons, such as Reuben and Simeon. ⁶Any children born to you after them, shall be yours they shall come after these two in maters of inheritance. ⁷As for me, when I was coming from Padan going back to Bethlehem, Rachel, (your birth mother), died in the land of Canaan, Genesis 35:16-20.

Jacob, (known as Israel) blesses Manasseh and Ephraim.

⁹Israel then said to Joseph, bring your sons close to me and I shall bless them. ¹⁰Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near and Israel kissed them and embraced them. ¹¹Then He said to Joseph, I did not think I would even see your face, but God has also shown me your offspring. ¹²Joseph then brought the children out and he bowed down to the earth. ¹³Joseph took Ephraim, (his second born son) by his right hand toward Israel's left hand and Manasseh, (his firstborn son) in his left hand toward Israel's right hand. And he brought them to him. ¹⁴Israel then purposely reversed what had been positioned by Joseph, placing his left hand on Manasseh's head and his right hand on Ephraim's head ¹⁵and he blessed Joseph and said;

The God of my father's Abraham and Isaac, who has carried me all my days ¹⁶and has redeemed me from evil. Bless the youth, Let my name be upon them and the name of my fathers. May they increase as a multitude within the earth.

¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father's right hand was on the younger child, it displeased him. And Joseph started to put his father's right hand on Manasseh and his left hand on Ephraim. ¹⁸But his father would not allow his hands to be switched and he said, I know this is your firstborn and he shall become a great people, but his younger brother shall be greater than he is, for his descendants shall be the fullness of nations. ²⁰So Israel blessed them that day, saying, through you shall Israel, (the nation), bless one another, may God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh. And he put the younger above the elder.

²¹Israel then said to Joseph, I am about to die, but God shall be with you and shall bring you back to the land of your fathers. ²²I give to you Joseph, the portion of land (Shechem), rather than your brothers, that I purchased and later defended from the Amorites with the sword,Genesis 33:18-20.

Genesis: chapter 49

The blessing / prophecies to the twelve sons, also know as the twelve tribes of Israel.

¹Jacob then calls in his twelve sons, to tell them what shall come upon them in days to come. ²All the sons of Jacob, gathered together and listen to their father Israel.

• ³Reuben my firstborn, my might and the beginning of my strength. Even though the source of your power is excellent, ⁴it is unstable as water, you shall not excel. Because you went up into your father's bed and defiled it, laying with Bilhah my concubine, Genesis 35:22.
• ⁶Simeon and Levi you are brothers. Weapons of war are in your dwelling places, may I not enter into your cruel council, nor shall my honor be united to your assembly. For I knew not of your plot and in your anger you slew a whole town, Genesis 34:25-31. ⁷Cursed be your anger for it is fierce and your wrath is cruel. You shall be divided and scattered in the land they possess.
• ⁸Judah, your brothers shall praise you. You shall have control over your enemies and your brother's descendants shall honor you. ⁹Like a lion cub in from his prey, he crouches as a lion, no one shall stir him. ¹⁰The authority and power shall not depart from him, nor will justice escape him, until it goes to [Christ] who it belongs and all the people obey. ¹¹He shall have royal steeds and rich shall be his garments. ¹²His eyes shall be darker than wine and his teeth shall be whiter than milk.
• ¹³Zebulum, shall dwell by the haven of the sea. He shall provide a haven for ships and his borders shall touch Sidon.
• ¹⁴Issachar, is a strong donkey without knowledge. ¹⁵He finds that the land is good and taking on too much, he became a slave to the land.
• ¹⁶Dan, shall judge his own people within the tribes of Israel. ¹⁷Resorting to craftily ways that brings people down. ¹⁸Dan shall long for the day of salvation.
• ¹⁹Glad, shall be open to attacks, yet he shall arise victorious.
• ²⁰Asher, shall be rich with breads and shall provide royal delights.
• ²¹Naphtali, is swift a-foot, his words are beautiful and elegant.
• ²²Joseph is a fruitful son by a fountain, who provides refreshing for all. ²³Though people have grieved him, ²⁴he has been made strong by the hands of the Almighty. ²⁵From God who will help you and bless you with all blessings. ²⁶You have been greatly blessed, even above what my ancestors have blessed. You shall wear a crown to set you apart from your brothers.
• ²⁷Benjamin, is as a ravenous wolf. By morning he devours his pray and by night he divides up the spoil.

²⁸This is the blessing and the prophecy that Israel spoke over his twelve sons, the twelve tribes of Israel and he blessed each one according to his own blessing.

Jacob's death and burial, at age one hundred forty-seven.

²⁹Jacob then said to them, now I shall be gathered to my people, bury me with my fathers. ³⁰The cave in the field of Machpelah, in the land of Canaan, that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burying place, Genesis 23:3-11. ³¹For Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca and Leah are buried there. ³³After Jacob had spoken this, he drew his feet up into the bed and took his last breath and was gathered to his people.

Genesis: chapter 50

¹When his father died, Joseph fell on his father's face and wept and kissed him. ²Joseph then commanded his servants, the physicians to embalm his father. ³Forty days were devoted to him, for that is the required number of days the Egyptians take for embalming and they mourned for him a total of seventy days. ⁴When the days of mourning were over Joseph spoke to the nobles of Pharaoh asking them to speak to Pharaoh for him, for he was still dressed in mourning clothes and could not do so himself. ⁵Saying, Joseph's father had him swear that he would be buried in his home land of Canaan, in the grave that he dug for himself. ⁶And Pharaoh told him to go and bury his father as was agreed upon.

⁷So Joseph went down to Canaan and with him went all the servants of Pharaoh and all the elders of Egypt. ⁸The entire household of Joseph, his brothers and his father's household. Only the small children, the flocks and the herds were left in Goshen. ⁹Both chariots and horsemen went up from Egypt, for it was a very great gathering.

¹⁰When they stopped beyond the Jordan there Joseph observed seven days of mourning for his father. ¹¹Now when the Canaanites of that land observed the deep mourning of the Egyptians, they called that place, Abel-Mizzaim, (which means: mourning of the Egyptians). ¹²So Jacob's sons did all for him as he had requested them to do. ¹³For they carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave with his fathers, that Abraham had bought. ¹⁴After Joseph had burred his father, they all returned to Egypt.

¹⁵Now that their father was dead, Joseph's brothers were concerned that Joseph might now seek revenge against them, for the evil that they had done against him. ¹⁶So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, before our father's death, he charged us to do this. ¹⁷We pray that you might forgive us of our past sin against you, (selling you into slavery, Genesis 37:12), for we did evil to you. Now please forgive the servants of the God of your father. When Joseph received and read their note, he wept. ¹⁸His brothers also came to him and fell down before him, saying we are your servants. ¹⁹However Joseph said to them, do not fear, that I am in the place God in the land of Egypt. ²⁰You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good to bring me to this day and save many. ²¹Do not be afraid, I will continue to provide for you and your children and he comforted them with words of kindness.

Joseph's death and burial, at age one hundred and ten.

²²Joseph and his father's household stayed in Egypt, Now Joseph live one hundred and ten years. ²³To where he saw his son, Ephraim's children down to the third generation and the child of Machir the son of Manasseh. ²⁴Now as Joseph was dying, he said to his brethren, God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land as He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, .Genesis 15:13-14. ²⁵Joseph then had his brothers take up an oath that, When God does visit, they shall surly carry up my bones out of Egypt, Exodus 13:19. ²⁶So Joseph died at age one hundred and ten and he was embalmed and put in a coffin in Egypt.