From the Greek Septuagint text as was used by First Century Christians.
Compiled by Moses, covering the period from the beginning of creation up to the death of JoSeph, which we calculate as happening around 1847-BCE. However, JoSeph is also identified with ImHotep, who served as chancellor to the Third-Dynasty king Djoser, which some date to 2600-BCE, because the record that is written on the Egyptian ‘Famine Stela‘ speaks of a seven-year famine on Egypt and of ImHotep doing the same things that the Bible attributes to JoSeph. But note that the dating for the life of ImHotep appears to be several hundred years earlier than our Bible chronology would suggest for the life of JoSeph. This aberration is likely the result of a historical mis-attribution by those who engraved the stele sometime around the Second Century BCE, priests of the pagan god Khnum, in order to raise the prestige of their gods by attributing the well-known miracles of the time of JoSeph to a more acceptable and famed Egyptian person, ImHotep.

Chapter 1

¹ In the beginning, The God created the sky and the land. ² However, the land was unsightly and unfinished, darkness covered its depths, and God’s Breath moved over its waters.

³ Then The God spoke, saying:
‘Let there be light.’

So, light came to be, ⁴ and God saw that the light was beautiful.

Then The God brought a division between the light and the darkness. ⁵ He called the light day and the darkness night. So came the evening and the morning of the first day.

⁶ And The God spoke, saying:
‘Let there be space between all the waters and a dividing of the waters and the waters.’

And that’s what happened. ⁷ For God ordered a space to divide the waters that were under the space from the waters that were over the space. ⁸ God then called that space the sky, and He saw that this was beautiful. So came the evening and the morning of the second day.

⁹ Then The God said:
‘Let the waters under the skies be brought together in one place so the land can be seen.’

And that’s what happened. ¹⁰ God called the dry land earth and the collected waters the seas, and God saw that this was beautiful.

¹¹ Then The God spoke, saying:
‘Let the land sprout with pastures of grasses that bear seeds [each] of its own kind and appearance. And let there be fruit trees that bear fruit with its seeds, [each] of its own kind.’

And that’s what happened. ¹² The ground sprouted with pastures of grasses that [each] bore seeds of its own kind and appearance, and the fruit trees bore fruit with their seeds, [each] of its own kind, upon the land. And God saw that this was beautiful. ¹³ So came the evening and the morning of the third day.

¹⁴ Then The God spoke, saying:
‘Let there be lights in the heavenly space to illuminate the ground to make the division between day and night, and to serve as signs for the seasons, days, and years. ¹⁵ Let them serve as sources of light in the skies to shine upon the ground.’

And that’s what happened. ¹⁶ God made the two huge lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light and stars to rule the night. ¹⁷ And God assigned them space in the sky to shine upon the earth, ¹⁸ to dominate the days and nights, and to make the divisions between light and darkness. And God saw that it was beautiful. ¹⁹ So came the evening and the morning of the fourth day.

²⁰ Then The God spoke, saying:
‘Let the waters give birth to living, slithering animals, as well as to winged creatures that will fly above the earth in the space of the skies.’

And that’s what happened.

²¹ Then The God created the great sea creatures and all the living, slithering animals that live in the water, according to their types, and all the feathered flying creatures, according to their types; and God saw that it was beautiful. ²² So God blest them, saying:
‘Reproduce and multiply in the water until you fill the seas, and let the winged creatures multiply on the earth.’

²³ Thus came the evening and the morning of the fifth day.

²⁴ Then The God spoke, saying:
‘Let the land give birth to living animals, each of its own kind… four-footed animals, slithering animals, and wild animals of the ground, each of its own kind.’

And that’s what happened. ²⁵ For Then The God made the wild animals of the ground (each of its own kind), the herding animals (each of its own kind) and all the earth’s slithering animals (each of its own kind). And God saw that they were beautiful.

²⁶ Then The God spoke, saying:
‘Let us make men in our image and like us, so that they will rule the creatures in the seas, the winged creatures of the skies, the herding animals of the ground, and all the slithering animals that crawl on the ground.’

²⁷ So then, God created mankind (gr. anthropon). He created mankind in the image of the Gods as a male and a female. ²⁸ Then The God blest them, saying:
‘Reproduce and multiply… fill the earth and control it. Rule over the sea creatures, the winged creatures of the skies, all the herding animals of the ground, all the slithering animals that crawl on the ground, and the whole earth.’

²⁹ Then The God said:
‘Look, I’ve given you all the seed-bearing plants upon the entire earth to plant, as well as all the seed-bearing trees to plant as your food. ³⁰ And [I’ve given] greenish-yellow plants as food for all the earth’s wild animals, all the winged creatures of the skies, and all the slithering animals that crawl on the ground and have the breath of life.’

And that’s what happened.

³¹ Then The God viewed everything that He had made, and {Look!} it was very beautiful. So came the evening and the morning of the sixth day.

Chapter 2

¹ So with that, the skies and the lands were complete, as was all the arranging of them. ² For after The God finished the work that He did on the sixth day; He then rested from all the works that He had done on the seventh day. ³ Then God blest the seventh day and He declared it to be holy, for by then He had finished all the work that He had started to do.

⁴ This was the scroll of the origins of the skies and the lands, and of when they came to be in the day that The God spoke the sky and the land, ⁵ as well as when all the greenish-yellow plants for it began [to grow] on the ground, and all the grasses of the fields started growing from it.

However, because Jehovah God had not yet provided rain on the earth and there were no men to cultivate it, ⁶ springs poured from the ground and watered the entire surface of the land.

⁷ Then The God formed the man from the dust of the ground, breathed the breath of life against his face, and He became a living creature.

⁸ Thereafter, God planted a Paradise east of Edem, where He put the man whom he had formed. ⁹ And it was there that God caused every tree that was attractive to look at and worthy as food to spring from the ground. [He also] put the Tree of Life in the middle of the Paradise, as well as the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

¹⁰ There was also a river that flowed out of Edem to water the Paradise… for from there [came the] head [waters] of four [rivers].

¹¹ The name of the [first river] is Phison. It flows around the land of Evilat, where there is gold, ¹² and the gold from that land is good. There is also coal and ornamental stone there.

¹³ The name of the second river is Geon. It runs around the land of Kush.

¹⁴ The third river is the Tigris. It flows over toward the Assyrians. And the fourth river is the EuPhrates.

¹⁵ Then Jehovah God took the man that He had formed and put him in the Paradise of Delights so that He could cultivate it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And Jehovah God gave these instructions to Adam:
‘You may to eat from all the trees of Paradise, ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. For on whatever day you eat from it, your life will end and you will die.’

¹⁸ Then Jehovah God said:
‘It isn’t good for the man to be alone, so let’s make a helper for him.’

¹⁹ Well, after God had made all the wild animals of the plains and all the winged creatures of the skies (from the [dirt]), He brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living animal was what its name became.

²⁰ So Adam named all the cattle, all the winged creatures of the skies, and all the wild animals of the plains. Yet, a suitable helper that was like Adam couldn’t be found.

²¹ God then put Adam into a trance, and while he was sleeping, He took one of his ribs and filled the place where it was with flesh. ²² Then The God built the rib that He took from Adam into a woman and brought her to Adam. ²³ And Adam said:
‘This is now bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh. She will be called woman, because she was taken from man. ²⁴ And because of this, a man will leave his father and mother and bond with his woman, and the two will become one flesh.’

Chapter 3

¹ [Well at the time], both of them (the man and the woman) were naked and unashamed.

² Then the snake (which was the wiliest of the animals that Jehovah had made on the earth) asked the woman:
‘Why did God tell you that you shouldn’t eat from all of the trees in the Paradise?’

³ And the woman replied to the snake:
‘We can eat the fruit from the trees of Paradise, but God said that we shouldn’t eat the fruit from the tree in the middle of Paradise – that we shouldn’t even touch it – or we will die.’

⁴ Then the snake said to the woman:
‘You won’t stop living and die, ⁵ for God knows that on whatever day you eat from it your eyes will be opened wide and you will be like the gods knowing good and evil.’

⁶ Well, the woman saw that the tree was worthy as food, it was a pleasant sight to her eyes, and it was a beautiful thing to think about. So, after picking its fruit, she ate it. Then she gave some to her man (who was with her), and they ate it [together]. ⁷ And thereafter, the eyes of both of them were opened wide and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made skirts to go around themselves.

⁸ Well thereafter, when they heard the voice of Jehovah God as He walked around in Paradise at dusk, Adam and his woman hid from the face of Jehovah God among the trees in the Paradise.

⁹ So, Jehovah God called to Adam, asking:
‘Where are you Adam?’

¹⁰ And [Adam] replied to God:
‘I heard Your voice as You were walking through Paradise, but I was afraid because of my nakedness, so I hid myself.’

¹¹ Then The God asked him:
‘If you haven’t eaten from the only tree about which I commanded you not to eat; then, who told you that you were naked?’

¹² And Adam replied:
‘It was this woman whom You gave to me as a companion… she gave me some [fruit] from the tree, and I ate it.’

¹³ Then Jehovah God asked the woman:
‘Why did you do this?’

And the woman replied:
‘The snake deceived me, so I ate it.’

¹⁴ Then Jehovah God said to the snake:
‘Because you did this; among all the cattle and wild animals of the earth, you [alone] are doomed to be punished. Therefore, you will now travel on your chest and belly and you will have to eat from the ground all the days of your life. ¹⁵ I’m also going to create hatred between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will then watch for your head and you will watch for his heel.’

¹⁶ And after that, He said to the woman:
‘I will now make your sorrow and moaning [much] worse; for when you give birth to children, you will do so and groan. You will also have to submit to your man and he will dominate you.’

¹⁷ Then He said to Adam:
‘Because you listened to your woman’s voice and ate from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat (and from which you went ahead and ate); all the work that you will do on the ground will be cursed, and you will groan as you eat from it all the days of your life. ¹⁸ Briars and thistles will grow for you, and your food will be the grasses in the fields. ¹⁹ You will eat your bread through the sweat on your face until you return to the ground from which you were taken… yes, you were taken from the ground and that’s where you will return!’

²⁰ Well, thereafter, Adam called his woman’s name Life, because she was to be the mother of all [human] life.

²¹ Then Jehovah God made leather clothing for Adam and his woman, and He dressed them in it. ²² And after that, The God said:
‘Look, Adam has now become one of us in knowing good and evil!'

Therefore, to keep him from reaching out to pick and eat from the Tree of Life so as to gain age-long life, ²³ Jehovah God then put Adam outside of the Paradise of Delights, where he thereafter had to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ He drove Adam out and made him live next to the Paradise of Delights. Then He stationed the [heavenly] cherubs with their flaming, spinning swords to guard the way to the Tree of Life.

Chapter 4

¹ Well thereafter, Adam had [sexual relations] with Eue, his woman, so she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. And she said:
‘I have gained a man through God.’

² Then she again gave birth to his brother, Abel.

Abel [grew up to be] a herder of sheep, while Cain worked the ground.

³ Then after many days, Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground as an offering to Jehovah, ⁴ while Abel brought the first-born of his sheep and his belongings.

Well, God looked favorably upon Abel and his gifts, ⁵ but He paid no attention to Cain and his sacrifices, which made Cain very sad, and his face [reflected] this. ⁶ So Jehovah God asked Cain:
‘Why are you so sad and why is your face so long? ⁷ For, even if you didn’t bring righteously, you didn’t sin by sharing. Overlook this, because [Abel] will submit to you and you will [rule] over him!’

⁸ But thereafter, Cain said to his brother Abel: ‘Let’s go out into the fields.’

Then, while they were in their fields, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

⁹ And when Jehovah God asked Cain, ‘Where is your brother?’ he replied:
‘I don’t know… I’m not my brother’s keeper!’

¹⁰ Then Jehovah God asked:
‘What have you done? I hear the blood of your brother calling out to Me from the ground! ¹¹ Therefore, you will now be cursed by the ground, which has opened her mouth wide to [drink] the blood of your brother from your hand. ¹² So from here on, whenever you work the ground, it will [no longer] give you its strength, and you will groan and tremble on the earth.’

¹³ Then Cain said to Jehovah God:
‘My crime is too great to be forgiven. ¹⁴ So, if you [drive me] away from Your face and the face of this land today, I will have to hide, groaning and trembling on the land… for anyone who finds me will kill me!’

¹⁵ And Jehovah God replied:
‘That isn’t so! For whoever kills Cain will pay seven penalties.’

Then Jehovah God put a mark on Cain so that nobody that found him would kill him. ¹⁶ And thereafter, Cain left the presence of God and lived in Nod, which also borders Edem.

¹⁷ There, Cain [had sex] with his woman and she became pregnant, giving birth to Enoch. [Then Cain] built a city, which he named after his son, Enoch.

¹⁸ Enoch fathered GaiDad; GaiDad fathered MalaleEl; MalaleEl fathered MethuSelah; and MethuSelah fathered Lamech. ¹⁹ Then Lamech took two women; the first was Ada and the second was SelLa. ²⁰ Ada gave birth to JoBel, who was the ancestor of those who lived in tents and herded cattle. ²¹ He had a brother named JuBal, who invented the lute and the harp. ²² SelLa also gave birth to ThoBel, who worked iron and brass. And he had a sister named NoEma.

²³ Then Lamech said this to his women (Ada and SelLa):
‘Listen to me, [my] women and remember; I have killed a man who wounded me… a young man who whipped me. ²⁴ So, if the vengeance [for killing] Cain was seven punishments; mine will be seven times that.’

²⁵ Well, Adam [again had sex with] his woman Eue and she became pregnant, giving birth to a son whom she named Seth. For she said:
‘God has [provided me with] another son to replace Abel, who was murdered by Cain.’

²⁶ Then Seth had a son whom he named Enos, who hoped to call upon the Name of The God, Jehovah.

Chapter 5

¹ This was the scroll of the early [days] of mankind, when God fathered Adam, forming him in [His] image. ² He created the male and the female and He blest them. And in the day that He created him, He named him Adam (heb. HaAdama).

³ Adam was two hundred and thirty years old when he fathered a son who was just like him and looked like him, that he named Seth. ⁴ Then after fathering Seth, Adam lived on for seven hundred years, as he fathered other sons and daughters. ⁵ So, Adam was nine hundred and thirty years old when he died.

⁶ Now, Seth was two hundred and five years old when he fathered Enos. ⁷ And after fathering Enos, he lived on for seven hundred and seven more years, as he fathered other sons and daughters. ⁸ So, Seth was nine hundred and twelve years old when he died.

⁹ Enos was a hundred and ninety years old when he fathered Kainan. ¹⁰ Then after fathering Kainan, he lived on for another seven hundred and fifteen years, as he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹¹ So, Enos was nine hundred and five years old when he died.

¹² Kainan was a hundred and seventy years old when he fathered MaleLeal. ¹³ Then after fathering MaleLeal, he lived on for some seven hundred and forty years, as he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁴ So, Kainan was nine hundred and ten years old when he died.

¹⁵ MaleLeal was a hundred and sixty five years old when he fathered Jared. ¹⁶ And after fathering Jared, he lived on for seven hundred and thirty years, as he fathered other sons and daughters. ¹⁷ So, MaleLeal was eight hundred and ninety-five years old when he died.

¹⁸ Jared was a hundred and sixty-two years old when he fathered Enoch. ¹⁹ Then after fathering Enoch, he lived on for another eight hundred years, as he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁰ So, Jared was nine hundred and sixty-two years old when he died.

²¹ Enoch was a hundred and sixty-five years old when he fathered MethuSelah. ²² And it was after he fathered MethuSelah that God found Enoch to be righteous, So, after he lived on for two hundred more years (and after he had fathered other sons and daughters)… ²³ when he was three hundred and sixty-five years old, ²⁴ and because he had pleased God, God transported him and he disappeared.

²⁵ Well, MethuSelah was a hundred and eighty-seven years old when he fathered Lamech. ²⁶ Then after fathering Lamech, he lived on for another seven hundred and eighty-two years, as he fathered other sons and daughters. ²⁷ So, MethuSelah was nine hundred and sixty-nine years old when he died.

²⁸ Lamech was a hundred and eighty-eight years old when he fathered a son ²⁹ whom he named Noah. And he said:
‘He will stop us from doing all the things that we are doing… and from working with our hands and from [living on] the ground that Jehovah has cursed.’

³⁰ Then, after he fathered Noah, [Lamech] lived on for some five hundred and sixty-five years, as he fathered other sons and daughters. ³¹ So, Lamech was seven hundred and fifty-three years old when he died.

³² Well, it was after Noah was five hundred years old that he fathered three sons; Shem, Ham, and JaPheth.

Chapter 6

¹ Now, as the population of men grew on the earth and they fathered daughters, ² the sons of The God noticed that the daughters of men were beautiful; so they took all whom they chose as their women.

³ Then Jehovah God said:
‘There’s no way that My Breath will stay with these men. They’re [just] flesh, so their [lives] will last just one hundred and twenty [more] years.’

⁴ Well, there were giants on the earth back in those days; for after that, the sons of The God continued to [had sex] with the daughters of mankind and fathered [children] for themselves who became the giants and the famous men of that age.

⁵ Well, Jehovah God saw that the badness of the people on the earth was getting much worse… for the things that they conceived in their hearts every day was all twisted toward evil. ⁶ So, God became disturbed (gr. enethumethe) that He had created humans on the earth… He shook His head (gr. dienoethe) ⁷ and declared:
‘I will wipe the humans that I made off the face of the earth… yes, the people, the cattle, and the winged creatures of the skies, for I’m sorry that I made them.’

⁸ However, Noah found mercy in the eyes of (The God) Jehovah.

⁹ This is the account of Noah’s generation:

Noah was a righteous man… perfect [when compared to] that generation, for Noah pleased God well. ¹⁰ Then he fathered three sons; Shem, Ham, and JaPheth.

¹¹ As God saw it, the land had become unclean and the earth was filled with unrighteousness. ¹² So when Jehovah God looked at the earth, all He saw was corruption, because all flesh had become corrupt in its ways.

¹³ Then Jehovah God told Noah:
‘A season is now before me [that will lead to the end of] all mankind, because the earth is filled with their unrighteousness. Look! I’m going to lay waste to them and to the whole earth! ¹⁴ So, [you must] make a chest of squared timbers for yourself and [divide the] chest into stalls, then cover both the inside and outside of it with tar.

¹⁵ ‘This is how you should build the chest: [Make it] five hundred feet long, eighty feet wide, and fifty feet tall. ¹⁶ You must also make a roof that is about twenty-inches thick, and put a door in the side of the chest… make a bottom floor, a second floor, and a third floor. ¹⁷ [For after it’s completed], {Look!} I’m going to bring a downpour of water upon the ground to destroy all flesh under the skies that has the breath of life… so, all that is on the ground will then come to an end. ¹⁸ And after that, I will establish an agreement between you and Me.’

¹⁹ ‘So, [I want you to] bring all [types of] cattle, slithering creatures, and wild animals – all [types of] flesh – into the chest by pairs of males and females. Then, bring in enough food for them and for yourselves. ²⁰ For, they will all be eating there with you… all the winged creatures, all types of cattle, and all varieties of slithering animals that crawl on the ground (both the males and the females). ²¹ Yes, you must gather all types of food for yourselves so that you will each have something to eat.’

²² And thereafter, Noah did everything that Jehovah God told him to do.

Chapter 7

¹ Then Jehovah God said to Noah: ‘Now you and your family must enter the chest, because I have found [just] you to be righteous among this generation. ² Take seven pairs (males and females) of [all the ] clean cattle in with you, and take in [single] pairs (males and females) of [all the] unclean animals.

³ ‘[Do the same with all] the winged creatures of the sky… bring in seven pairs (males and females) of the clean ones, and [just] pairs of all the unclean winged creatures, so that their seed will remain on the earth. ⁴ For in just seven days I will bring rain to the ground [that will last for] forty days and forty nights, and I will blot every creature that I’ve made off of the face of the entire earth!’

⁵ And thereafter, Noah did everything that Jehovah God had commanded him to do.

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the Downpour of waters started on the earth. ⁷ Then Noah, his woman, his sons, and their women went into the chest with him (because of the downpour of water). ⁸ And the clean winged creatures, the unclean winged creatures, the clean cattle, the unclean cattle, and all the wild animals as well as all the things that crawled on the ground ⁹ came to Noah and entered the chest in pairs of males and females, just as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ Then after seven days, the waters of the Downpour started falling on the earth.

¹¹ It was in the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the twenty-seventh day of the second month, that all the springs under the ground broke open, and the floodgates of the skies were opened. ¹² Then it rained on the earth for forty days and forty nights. ¹³ It started on the very day that Noah, his woman, as well as Shem, Ham, JaPheth (the sons of Noah and his woman) and their three women went into the chest with him.

¹⁴ Also, all the wild animals (each of its kind), all the cattle (each of its kind), all the slithering animals that move on the earth (each of its kind), ¹⁵ and all the winged creatures (each of its kind) went inside the chest to Noah in pairs of males and females… everything that had the breath of life. ¹⁶ Males and females of all flesh went inside, just as God had commanded Noah; then Jehovah God closed the chest from the outside.

¹⁷ Thereafter, the Downpour continued on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and the water got so deep that it lifted the chest high above the ground. ¹⁸ The water dominated and totally covered the land, and the chest was carried along on top of the water. ¹⁹ For the water dominated and covered even the tallest mountains under the whole sky… ²⁰ it covered the highest mountains by at least twenty-five feet.

²¹ So, everything that moved on the earth died… all the men, winged creatures, cattle, wild animals, and all the animals that slithered across the ground. ²² Everything that lived on the ground and had the breath of life, died. ²³ God blotted out all His creatures on the face of the earth… the men, the animals, the winged creatures, and the slithering animals. He blotted them all from the earth. The only ones that remained were Noah and those who were with him in the chest.

²⁴ Altogether, the water covered the land for a hundred and fifty days.

Chapter 8

¹ But God didn’t forget Noah or any of the wild animals, cattle, winged creatures, or crawling, slithering animals that were inside the chest. So God sent a wind to the earth that stopped the water… ² for the springs that were under the ground closed and the floodgates of the skies and the rain from the skies were held back.

³ Then the water level started to drop, flowing off the ground. And after a hundred and fifty days, the water lowered, and the chest came to rest on Mount Ararat on the twenty-seventh day of the seventh month.

⁴ Well, the water levels kept dropping through the tenth month, ⁵ and on the first day of the tenth month, they could see the mountaintops.

⁶ Then after forty days, Noah opened the window that he had made in the chest, and he sent out a crow, which left and didn’t return until the water had abated. ⁷ So it left and it did not return until the water had dried off the ground.

⁸ Then after that, he sent out a dove to see if the earth was still flooded. ⁹ But the dove couldn’t find a place to rest its feet, because the water was still covering all the ground, and it returned to the chest. So [Noah] stuck out his hand to take [the dove], and brought it to himself inside the chest.

¹⁰ Well, a week later, he sent the dove out from the chest once again. ¹¹ And that evening, the dove returned to him with a stem and leaf from an olive tree in its beak. That’s when Noah knew [for sure] that the water had left the ground. ¹² However, he continued to wait another week before he released the dove once more. And this time, it didn’t return at all.

¹³ So by the six hundred and first year of Noah’s life, on the first day of the first month, the water had poured off the ground.

Then Noah opened the roof that he had made for the chest, and he could finally see that the water had drained from the ground… ¹⁴ and by the twenty-second day of the second month, the ground was dry.

¹⁵ Then Jehovah God spoke to Noah and said:

¹⁶ ‘Come out of the chest… you, your woman, your sons, their women who are with you, ¹⁷ and all the wild animals that are with you. Bring out all the flesh that is with you – the winged creatures, the cattle, and the slithering animals that move on the ground – [so that they can] reproduce and multiply on the earth.’

¹⁸ So Noah, his woman, his sons, and his son’s women who were with him, came out. ¹⁹ And all the wild animals, all the cattle, all the winged creatures, and all the slithering animals that crawl on the ground (according to their kinds) came out of the chest.

²⁰ Then Noah built an altar to Jehovah, and he took some of the clean animals, as well as some from among all the clean winged creatures, and offered them whole… burning them on the altar.

²¹ And as Jehovah noticed the sweet smell, He thought about it and said:
‘I will never curse the ground again for the bad things that men do, because the imagination of men is totally bent toward doing bad things from the time they are young. Also, will I ever again [destroy] all living flesh as I have just done. ²² Then, during all the days of the earth, the seed time and harvesting, the heat and the cold, the spring and the summer, and the days and nights will never be brought to an end.’

Chapter 9

¹ Thereafter, God blest Noah and his sons and told them:
‘Now, reproduce and multiply… fill the earth and rule over it. ² For all the wild animals of the earth, all the winged creatures in the skies, and everything that moves on the ground (including all the creatures in the seas) will have a dread and fear of you. For I have put you in charge over all of them.

³ ‘Also, all the living and slithering animals can serve as meat for you… I have given them all to you as though they were green vegetation. ⁴ But you must not eat their flesh with its blood of life, ⁵ or I will require your blood at the hand of all those wild animals. I will also require a man’s life at the hands of his brothers… ⁶ for, whoever spills the blood of mankind will also have his blood spilled, since I made mankind in the image of God. ⁷ Now, reproduce and multiply… fill the earth and rule over it!’

⁸ Then The God spoke to Noah and his sons who were with him and said:

⁹ ‘Look; I am making an agreement between you and Me, [as well as] with your seed [that will come] after you ¹⁰ and with every living thing (the winged creatures, the [domesticated] animals, and all the wild animals of the earth)… with all that are with you and came out of the chest. ¹¹ This is My promise to you and to all flesh: I will never again send a downpour of water to kill all flesh, and never again will I send a downpour to destroy the whole earth.’

¹² Then The God said to Noah:
‘This is the sign of the Agreement that I have established between you and Me through ages of generations, as well as with every living creature that is with you: ¹³ I have put My bow in the clouds, which will serve as the sign of the Agreement between the earth and Me, ¹⁴ so that whenever I gather clouds over the earth, My bow will be seen in those clouds, ¹⁵ and this will remind Me of My agreement between you and Me, and with every living creature and all flesh, that never again will I send a downpour of water that will blot out all flesh. ¹⁶ My bow will be there in the clouds, and when I see it, I will remember the age-long agreement between Me and the earth, as well as with every living creature among all the flesh that is on the earth.’

¹⁷ And God said to Noah:
‘Yes, this is the sign of the Agreement that I made with all flesh that is on the earth and Myself.’

¹⁸ Now, the sons of Noah (who came out of the chest) were [named] Shem, Ham, and JaPheth (Ham was the father of CanaAn). ¹⁹ And it was from these three sons of Noah that all men came to be scattered over the whole earth.

²⁰ Thereafter, Noah took up farming and he planted some grapes. ²¹ [Then, one day], Noah was drinking some wine while he was naked in his house, and he got drunk. ²² But then, Ham (CanaAn’s father) saw his father’s nakedness, and he went outside and told his brothers about it. ²³ So, Shem and JaPheth grabbed a robe, put it over their backs, and walked backward to cover their father’s naked body. And because they were looking away, they didn’t see their father’s nakedness.

²⁴ Well, after Noah recovered from the wine, he realized what his son had done to him. ²⁵ So he said:
‘The servant CanaAn is cursed, and he will be a slave to his brothers.’

²⁶ Then he added:
‘May Jehovah, Shem's God, bless him… but let CanaAn be his houseboy. ²⁷ Also, may God make room for JaPheth and allow him to live in the tents of Shem… and may CanaAn then become his.’

²⁸ Well, after the Downpour, Noah lived on for another three hundred and fifty years. ²⁹ So he lived for nine hundred and fifty years, and then he died.

Chapter 10

¹ Now, these are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and JaPheth. And these are the sons that were born to them after the Downpour:

² JaPheth’s sons were Gamer, Magog [the Scythians], Madoi [the Medes], Jovan, EliSa, Thobel [of Tubal], Mosoch [possibly Moscow of Russia], and Thiras [Islands of the Aegean Sea].

³ Gamer’s sons were AshKenaz [Germans and Slavs], Riphath [of Northwestern Asia Minor], and Thorgama [the Armenians].

⁴ Jovan’s sons were EliShah [of Tyre], TarShish [of Spain], Cetian [of Cypress], and Rhodes [of Rhodes]… ⁵ [they settled the] islands, which lands were divided by tribe and nation among the ethnics, each according to his own language.

⁶ Ham’s sons were Kush [blacks], Mesrain [Egyptian tribes], Phud [Libyans], and CanaAn [Palestinians].

⁷ The sons of Kush were Saba [other blacks of southern Africa], Evilat, Sabatha, Rhegma, and Sabathaca [East Africans].

The sons of Rhegma were Saba [of thirteen Arabian Tribes], and Dadan [part of Arabia].

⁸ Kush fathered Nimrod, who became a giant on the earth. ⁹ He was a gigantic hunter before Jehovah God, and that’s why people speak of Nimrod as ‘the gigantic hunter before Jehovah.’ ¹⁰ His kingdom started with Babylon and ran to Orech, Archad, and ChalanNe, which were all in the land of Shinar. ¹¹ Then outside of that land, [he went to] Assyria and built Nineveh, the cities of RehobOth, Chalach, ¹² and Dase (between Nineveh, and Chalach), which is the great city.

¹³ Mesrain fathered the Lydim [Lydians], the MaphTuhim [people of Memphis, Egypt], the AnaMim [Libyans], the Lehabim [people of Lower Egypt], ¹⁴ the Pathrusim [people of Upper Egypt], the Casluhim [Cretans] (from whom the Philistines descended), and the GaphThoriim [also from the area of Crete].

¹⁵ CanaAn’s first-born son was Sidon. Then there were the Hittites, ¹⁶ the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, ¹⁷ the Hevites, the Arukites, the Sinites [Chinese?], the Asenites, ¹⁸ the Aradians, the Samarians [Northern Lebanon], and the Hamathites. But the CanaAnites were scattered, ¹⁹ so their territory ran from Sidon to Gerar (near Gaza), to Sodom and GomorRah, to Adama and to Seboim, as far as Dasa.

²⁰ These were the descendants of Ham by tribe, country, language, and nation.

²¹ Shem, who was the elder brother of JaPheth and the ancestor of all the sons of Heber, also had children born to him. ²² His sons were Elam, Assur, Arphaxad, Lud, Aram, and Kainan.

²³ Aram’s sons were Uz, Ul, Gater, and Mosoch.

²⁴ Arphaxad fathered [a son whom he named] Kainan, who fathered Sala, who fathered [a son he named] Heber. ²⁵ This Heber had two sons. He named the first Phaled (Division), because the land became divided in his day, and his brother’s name was JekTan.

²⁶ JekTan fathered ElModad, Saleth, SarMoth, Jarach, ²⁷ OdorRha, AiBel, Decla, ²⁸ Eval, AbiMaEl, Saba, ²⁹ Uphir, Evila, and Jobab. These were all the sons of JekTan. ³⁰ Their territory ran from MasSe all the way to Saphera, which is a mountain in the east.

³¹ These were the sons of Shem by tribe, language, country, and nation, ³² and these were the tribes of the sons of Noah by generations and nations. From them came the people of all the islands and nations that were scattered around the earth after the Downpour.

Chapter 11

¹ [At the time], the whole earth shared the same lips, because they all spoke the same language. ² And as they migrated from the east, they found a flat area of land in Shinar, and started living there. ³ Then one man said to his neighbor:
‘Come on, let’s make some bricks and bake them in an oven.’

So, bricks became their stone and tar served as their mortar.

⁴ And they said:
‘Come on; let’s build ourselves a city with a tower that reaches into the sky. And let’s create a name for ourselves, before we end up being scattered all over the face of the earth.’

⁵ Then Jehovah came down to see this city and its tower that the sons of men had built. ⁶ And Jehovah said:
‘Look; they’re all the same race and they share the same lips… and now they’ve started doing this. [Before long], they’ll be able to accomplish anything they set out to do. ⁷ Let’s go down there and change their language so that no one will be able to understand the voice of his neighbor.’

⁸ So, Jehovah scattered them from there over the entire face of the earth, and they stopped building the city and its tower. ⁹ That is why [the city] is named Confusion (Babylon), because, that’s where Jehovah confused all the languages of the earth and scattered them from there over all the face of the earth.

¹⁰ These are the generations of Shem:
Shem was a hundred years old when he became father to Arphaxad in the second year after the Downpour. ¹¹ And after Shem became father to Arphaxad, he lived three hundred and thirty five more years (fathering other sons and daughters), and then he died. ¹² Arphaxad was a hundred and thirty-five years old when became father to Kainan. ¹³ And after Arphaxad became the father to Kainan, he lived three hundred and thirty years more (as he fathered other sons and daughters), and then he died. Kainan was a hundred and thirty years old when he became father to Sala. And after he became father to Sala, he lived three hundred and thirty years (as he fathered other sons and daughters), and then he died.

¹⁴ Sala was a hundred and thirty years old when he became father to Heber. ¹⁵ And after he became father to Heber, he lived three hundred and thirty years more (as he fathered other sons and daughters), and then he died. ¹⁶ Heber was a hundred and thirty-four years old when he became father to Phaleg. ¹⁷ And after he became father to Phaleg, he lived two hundred and seventy years (as he fathered other sons and daughters), and then he died. ¹⁸ Phaleg was a hundred and thirty years old when he became father to Ragau. ¹⁹ After he became father to Ragau, he lived two hundred and nine years (as he fathered other sons and daughters), and then he died. ²⁰ Ragau was a hundred and thirty-two years old when he became father to Seruch. ²¹ After he became father to Seruch, he lived two hundred and seven years (as he fathered other sons and daughters), and then he died.

²² Seruch was a hundred and thirty years old when he became father to NaHor. ²³ And after he became father to NaHor, he lived two hundred years (as he fathered other sons and daughters), and then he died. ²⁴ NaHor was seventy-nine years old when he became father to Terah. ²⁵ And after he became father to Terah, he lived a hundred and twenty-nine years (as he fathered other sons and daughters), and then he died. ²⁶ After Terah was seventy years old, he became father to Abram, NaHor, and Haran.

²⁷ These are the generations of Terah:
Terah became father to Abram, NaHor, and Haran; and Haran became father to Lot. ²⁸ Haran died in the presence of Terah his father in the land where he was born, the country of the Chaldeans.

²⁹ Both Abram and NaHor then took women for themselves. Abram’s woman was named Sara, and NaHor’s woman was named Malcha. She was the daughter of Haran (the father of Malcha and Jescha). ³⁰ However, Sara was sterile, so she didn’t have any children.

³¹ Then Terah took his son Abram, Abram’s woman Sara (his daughter-in-law), and his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and led them from the land of the Chaldeans toward the land of CanaAn. However, when they got to Haran, they started living there. ³² And thereafter, Terah continued living in the land of Haran for the next two hundred and five years, and [that is where] he died.

Chapter 12

¹ Then Jehovah said to Abram:
‘Leave this land, as well as your family and your father’s home, and go to a land that I will to show you, ²because I’m going to make a great nation of you. I will bless you, make your name famous, and you will become a blessing [to others]. ³ I will bless those who praise you and curse those who curse you… all the tribes will be blest because of you.’

⁴ So Abram did just as Jehovah told him… and Lot went with him.

Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran, ⁵ taking along his woman Sara, his nephew Lot, all the many things that they owned, and all the souls that they had accumulated in Haran, as they traveled to the land of CanaAn. ⁶ Abram traveled down through the land to a place called Shechem, where there was a tall tree. And at the time, the CanaAnites were living in the land.

⁷ Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said:
‘I will give this land to your seed.’

So Abram built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.

⁸ Then he moved on from there to a mountain that was east of BethEl, and he pitched his tent near BethEl, close to the sea, east of AgGai. There he built an altar to Jehovah and started calling on the Name of the Lord. ⁹ Thereafter, Abram left that place and camped in the desert.

¹⁰ Well, there came a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to stay, because the famine had devastated the land. ¹¹ And as Abram was about to enter Egypt, he said to his woman Sara:
‘You’re a beautiful woman, ¹² [and I’m afraid] that when the Egyptians see you they’ll say, [Look at] his woman, and they’ll kill me… but they will allow you to live. ¹³ So, tell people that you’re my sister. That way, things will go well for me because of you, and my life will be safe because of you.’

¹⁴ And that’s what happened; when Abram entered Egypt and the Egyptians saw how beautiful his woman was, ¹⁵ one of Pharaoh’s princes praised her to Pharaoh (likely Pepi II) and brought her into Pharaoh’s [Palace]. ¹⁶ And because of her, Pharaoh treated Abram very well. So he accumulated [many] sheep, calves, burros, male and female servants, mules, and camels.

¹⁷ However, God cursed Pharaoh and his house with some very serious and difficult problems because of Sara (Abram’s woman). ¹⁸ So Pharaoh called Abram and asked:
‘What have you done to me? You didn’t tell me that she’s your woman. ¹⁹ Why did you tell us that she’s your sister? Look, I’ve already taken her as mine! Now, there’s your woman standing before you… she’s yours, so take her and leave quickly!’

²⁰ Then Pharaoh gave his men instructions about Abram, telling them to accompany him and his woman on their way, along with all the things that they owned.

Chapter 13

¹ So thereafter, Abram left Egypt and traveled into the desert along with his woman and with Lot, taking along everything that he owned ² (for by then, Abram had become very rich in cattle, silver, and gold). ³ So he returned to the place where he had come from (in the desert near BethEl, between BethEl and AgGai, where he had pitched his tent previously), ⁴ and to the place where he had earlier built the altar and ⁵ called on the Name of the Lord.

⁶ At the time, Lot (who had left [Egypt] along with Abram) had also accumulated many sheep, oxen, and tents; ⁷ so the land just wasn’t large enough for both of them to live together, because of their many possessions. ⁸ And since there wasn’t enough land to share, there were problems between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle, the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle, and with the CanaAnites and Pherezites who lived in that land. So Abram said to Lot:
‘There shouldn’t be problems between you and me, or between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, because we are brothers. ⁹ Look; the whole land lies before you, so leave me and choose your own way. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; or if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.’

¹⁰ So Lot surveyed all the country around the JorDan and noticed that it had plenty of water (this was before God overthrew Sodom and GomorRah). It looked like the Paradise of Jehovah and like the land of Egypt up to Zogora. ¹¹ So Lot chose all the country around the JorDan for himself and he traveled to the east, as the brothers parted ways.

Now, as Abram took up living in the land of CanaAn, ¹² Lot [chose] to live in a city among neighbors; so he moved to Sodom. ¹³ However, the men of Sodom were evil and they were sinning before God.

¹⁴ Then The God said to Abram (after Lot had separated from him):
‘Look around at this place where you’re standing… look to the north, to the south, to the east, and to the sea. ¹⁵ I will give all this land that you see before you, to you and your seed through the ages. ¹⁶ And I will make your seed like the dust of the ground. Why, if anyone is able to count all the dust of the earth, he should be able to count your seed. ¹⁷ So, get up and walk across the land… across its length and its breadth. I’m giving it all to you and to your seed through the ages!’

¹⁸ Well after that, Abram packed up his tent and started living by the big tree at MamRe in HebRon, and he built an altar there to Jehovah.

Chapter 14

¹ It was during the reign of AmarPhal (the king of Shinar) and AriOch (the king of ElLasar), that ChodolLogomor ² (the king of Elam) and Thargal (the king of the Gentiles) went to war with BalLa (the king of Sodom), BarSa (the king of GomorRah), Sennaar (the king of Adama), SymoBor (the king of Seboim), and Balac (or Segor). ³ So they all agreed to meet together at the Salt Valley (which is now the Dead Sea). ⁴ For they had served as vassals to ChodolLogomor for some twelve years, but in the thirteenth year they revolted.

⁵ So in the fourteenth year, ChodolLogomor and his allies attacked them, cutting the giants in AshtarOth CarNain, to pieces, along with the strong nations that were their allies (the OmMeans in the city of Saue and ⁶ the ChorRheans in the mountains of Seir) all the way to the turpentine trees of Pharan (in the desert). ⁷ And on their return, they stopped at the Well of Judgment (Cades), where they cut to pieces all the princes of Amalecites and the Amorites who were living in AsaSon/Thamar.

⁸ And then the kings of Sodom, GomorRah, Adama, Seboim, and Balac (or Segor) went out and set up battle lines against these other kings in the Salt Valley ⁹ – against ChodolLogomor (king of Elam), Thargal (king of the Gentiles), AmarPhal (king of Shinar), and AriOch (the king of ElLasar) – the four against five.

¹⁰ Now, there were slime pits in the Salt Valley, and the kings of Sodom and GomorRah fell into them as they were fleeing (as the rest were retreating into the mountains). ¹¹ So [the invaders] took all the horses and food in Sodom and GomorRah and they left, ¹² carrying away Abram’s nephew Lot (who lived in Sodom), along with all of his possessions.

¹³ Then one of those who had been rescued went and told Abram (the Hebrew) [what had happened]. At the time, he was living by the large tree [that belonged to] MamRe. ([MamRe] was an Amorite, the brother of Eschol and Aunan (who were Abram’s allies). ¹⁴ And when Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he gathered three hundred and eighteen of his personal home-born servants, and pursued them all the way to Dan.

¹⁵ Then when he and his servants caught up with them that night, he attacked them and pursued them all the way to Choba, which is to the left of Damascus. ¹⁶ So he recovered all the horses of Sodom, his nephew Lot and all of possessions and women, as well as the rest of the people.

¹⁷ Then after [Abram] returned from the slaughter of ChodolLogomor and the kings that were with him; the king of Sodom traveled to the valley of Saby (in the plain of the king) to meet with him. ¹⁸ And there, MelchiZedek (the king of Salem) brought him some loaves [of bread] and some wine.

This man was also the Priest of the Most High God, ¹⁹ and he blest Abram there, saying:
‘May Abram of the Most High God who made the heavens and the earth, be blest. ²⁰ And may the Most High God who delivered your enemies into your hands be praised.’

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything [that he had captured].

²¹ And the king of Sodom said to Abram:
‘Let me take all the men… you can keep the horses for yourself.’

²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom:
‘I swear by Jehovah, the Most High God who made the heavens and the earth, ²³ that I won’t take anything from you – not so much as a piece of string or a shoe lace – so you won’t be able to say, I’m the one who made Abram wealthy. ²⁴ [I will take] nothing other than what the young men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me… Eschol, Aunan, and MamRe… they will each take a portion.’

Chapter 15

¹ Well after that, Jehovah sent word to Abram in a vision, saying:
‘Don’t be afraid, Abram; for I am your shield and you will receive a huge reward.’

² Then Abram said:
‘O Almighty Jehovah; What can You give me, since I’m about to die without a son? EliEzer of Damascus, the home-born son of my [slave girl] Masek of Damascus, is my heir.’

³ And Abram continued:
‘I’m so very sad, because You haven’t given me a seed, and the home-born [of my slave girl] will be my heir.’

⁴ Well, the Lord immediately replied, saying:
‘He won’t be your heir… another who comes from you will be your heir.’

⁵ Then He took him outside and said:
‘Look up into the sky and count all the stars… that is, if you can come up with an accurate count.’

And He said: ‘This is how your seed will be.’

⁶ So Abram believed The God (gr. To Theo), and his [faith] was counted to him as righteousness.

⁷ Then [God] said to him:
‘I’m the God who brought you out of the land of the Chaldeans to give you this land as an inheritance.’

⁸ And [Abram] said:
‘My Lord and Master; How can I know [for sure] that I will inherit it?’

⁹ And He replied:
‘Collect for Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old nanny goat, a three-year-old billy goat, a dove, and a pigeon.’

¹⁰ So Abram brought all three of [the animals] to Him, cut them each into halves, and set [the halves] opposite each other… but he didn’t cut the winged creatures into halves.

¹¹ Well, birds then started landing on the bodies (the cut-up parts), as Abram sat there next to them.

¹² Then about sunset, Abram fell into a trance and {Look!} he had an ominous premonition. ¹³ For Abram was told:
‘You must know this for a fact; Your seed will have to live as aliens in a foreign land where they’ll be slaves who are treated badly and humbled for four hundred years. ¹⁴ Then I will judge the nation that they are to serve; and following that, [your seed] will return here with many possessions. ¹⁵ However, you will go to your fathers well fed and in peace at a ripe old age. ¹⁶ Then the fourth generation will return here; because even to this point, the sins of the Amorites haven’t yet reached their climax.’

¹⁷ Well, as the sun was setting, {look!} there was a flame that looked like a smoking furnace and like lamp fires that moved between the divided pieces [of the animals]. ¹⁸ This was the day that Jehovah made a Sacred Agreement with Abram. He said:
‘I will give this land – from the [Nile] River of Egypt to the great EuPhrates River – to your seed, ¹⁹ along with the Kainites, the Kenezites, the KedMoneans, the Hittites, the Pherezites, the Raphaim, ²⁰ the Amorites, the CanaAnites, the Hevites, the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.’

Chapter 16

¹ Well, Sara (Abram’s woman) hadn’t given him any children. However, she had an Egyptian handmaid whose name was Hagar. ² And so, Sara said to Abram:
‘Look; Jehovah has kept me from getting pregnant; so, [sleep with] my maid that I might have my children through her.’

Well, Abram accepted this offer from Sara, ³ so Sara (Abram’s woman) took Hagar her Egyptian handmaid (this was after Abram had lived in the land of CanaAn for ten years) and gave her to her man Abram as his woman. ⁴ Then [Abram] went in to [bed with] Hagar, and she became pregnant.

However, after she realized that she was going to have a child, she started being disrespectful to her mistress. ⁵ So Sara said to Abram:
‘I’ve really been hurt by you, for I gave you my handmaid [to sleep with], and when I saw that she was pregnant, she started treating me disrespectfully. So, may Jehovah judge between you and me!’

⁶ Then Abram told Sara:
‘Look, your handmaid is yours! Treat her any way that seems right to you!’

So Sara started treating [Hagar] badly, and she ran away.

⁷ Then a messenger from Jehovah found [Hagar] by a spring of water in the desert (the spring on the way to Sur). ⁸ And Jehovah’s messenger said to her:
‘Hagar, Sara’s maid; Where are you coming from and where are you going?’

And she replied:
‘I’m running away from my mistress, Sara.’

⁹ Then Jehovah’s messenger said:
‘Return to your mistress and obey her.’

¹⁰ And the messenger of Jehovah told her:
‘I will make your seed grow, and there will be so many that they can’t be counted.’

¹¹ The messenger of Jehovah then went on to say:
‘Look; You are pregnant with a child. You will give birth to a son, and you should name him IshMaEl (‘God has Noticed’), because Jehovah has noticed how you’ve been humiliated. ¹² He will be a wild man, for his fists [will be lifted] against everyone, and everyone [will lift] their fists against him. However, he will live in the midst of all his brothers.

¹³ Then she called upon the Name of the Lord God who was speaking to her, saying:
‘You are the God who watches over me,’ and she added, ‘because I openly saw the One who appeared to me.’

¹⁴ [So from that point on], she called that well, ‘The Well of The One Whom I Openly Saw.’ Look; it [still can be found] between Cades and Barad!

¹⁵ So, Hagar bore a son to Abram; and Abram named the son that Hagar bore to him, IshMaEl. ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore IshMaEl.

Chapter 17

¹ Then, when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him [again] and said:
‘I am your God; so be pleasing before Me and don’t do anything for which you can be blamed, ² and I will establish a Sacred Agreement between you and Me, and I will prosper you greatly!’

³ Well at that, Abram fell with his face [to the ground]. Then The God spoke to him [again], saying:

⁴ ‘Look; I am making My Sacred Agreement with you… since you will become the father of many nations, your name will no longer be called Abram, but AbraHam; ⁵ for I’ve made you the father of many nations. ⁶ I will make you grow tremendously, I will make nations come from you, and kings will descend from you.

⁷ ‘I will also extend my Sacred Agreement between you and Me to the seed that comes from you through its generations. It is a Sacred Agreement through the ages that [I] will be your God and the God of the seed that comes from you. ⁸ Also, I will give the land where you are [now] living as an alien to you and to your seed. This includes the entire land of CanaAn… it will become yours through the ages, and I will be their God.’

⁹ Then The God told AbraHam:
‘You must absolutely keep my Sacred Agreement… both you and your seed that descends from you through all their generations.

¹⁰ ‘This is the Sacred Agreement between you and your seed and Me through all its generations: All of your males must be circumcised… ¹¹ the foreskin of their flesh must be circumcised, for this will be the sign of the Sacred Agreement between you and Me. ¹² All of your male children must be circumcised by you when they are eight-days old, throughout all your generations. [This includes all your] home-born servants and those who are bought with money (the sons of aliens who are not your seed).

¹³ ‘Those who are born in your house and those who are bought with money must surely be circumcised. So, My Sacred Agreement will be in their flesh as [a sign of the] Sacred Agreement through the ages. ¹⁴ As for the uncircumcised males who aren’t circumcised in the flesh of their foreskin on the eighth day; such individuals must be totally destroyed from among their families for breaking My Sacred Agreement!’

¹⁵ Then The God told AbraHam:
‘Your woman Sara will no longer be called Sara… SarAh will be her name. ¹⁶ For I will bless her and give you a son from her, whom I will also bless… nations and kings of nations will come from him!’

¹⁷ Well with that, AbraHam fell to his face and laughed, asking in his heart:
‘Will a hundred-year-old [man] father a child? And will SarAh (who is ninety years old) give birth to it?’

¹⁸ Then AbraHam said to God:
‘Please accept IshMaEl to [stand] before You.’

¹⁹ But God told AbraHam:
‘Look; Your woman SarAh will give birth to your son, and you should name him IsaAc (Laughter). I will make my Sacred Agreement [with you] firm through him… it will be an age-long Sacred Agreement that I will be his God and [the God] of his seed that descends from him.

²⁰ ‘As for IshMaEl; {Look!} I have heard you and I have blest him. I will make him grow and multiply tremendously, so he will become the father of twelve nations that I will make a great people. ²¹ However, My Sacred Agreement will be established with IsaAc, whom SarAh will bear to you at this time next year.’

²² Then The God stopped talking to him, and He left AbraHam.

²³ Well thereafter, AbraHam took his son IshMaEl, all of his home-born servants, all of those whom he had bought with money… all the males in AbraHam’s house, and circumcised their foreskins on that very day, just as God had told him.

²⁴ AbraHam was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, ²⁵ and his son IshMaEl was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.

²⁶ Both AbraHam and his son IshMaEl were circumcised that very day, ²⁷ along with all the men of his house… those who were born there and the foreigners who were bought with money.

Chapter 18

¹ God [next] appeared to [AbraHam] around noon, as he was sitting at the entrance to his tent by the big tree at MamRe. ² For when he looked up, he saw three men standing in front of him. And when he noticed them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them, bowing all the way to the ground. ³ Then he said:
‘Lords; If I have indeed found favor in your sight, don’t pass your servant by. ⁴ [I’ll have] water brought and [my servants] will wash your feet. You just rest here under this tree. ⁵ I will also bring some bread for you to eat, and then you can continue your journey… allow your servant to offer you some refreshment.’

And they replied:
‘You may do as you have said.’

⁶ So AbraHam ran back to SarAh (who was in the tent) and said to her:
‘Hurry… knead three scoops of fine flour and make [some bread].’

⁷ Then AbraHam ran to the pens, where he took a young calf (a nice, tender one) and gave it to his servant, who quickly prepared it. ⁸ Next, he got some butter, some milk, and the calf that he had prepared, and set it all out before them… and they ate as he stood near them under the tree.

⁹ Then the Lord asked:
‘Where is your woman SarAh?’

And [AbraHam] replied:
‘Look, she’s there in the tent!’

¹⁰ So the Lord said:
‘I will return this way and come to see you during this season [next year], and your woman SarAh will have a son.’

Well, SarAh overheard this as she stood behind him at the entrance of the tent. ¹¹ And because AbraHam and SarAh were old, and SarAh was [well beyond the age of child bearing], she laughed inside herself, saying, ¹² ‘This hasn’t happened to me [in the past]… and now my lord is [too] old!’

¹³ And at that, the Lord asked AbraHam:
‘Why is SarAh laughing inside herself and asking, Will I give birth? I’m already old. ¹⁴ Is there anything that is impossible for Jehovah? I will return to you [next year] in this season, and SarAh will have a son!’

¹⁵ However, SarAh denied it, saying, ‘I didn’t laugh’ (she said this because she was afraid).

And the Lord replied:
‘Oh, but you did laugh.’

¹⁶ Then the men got up and headed toward Sodom and GomorRah, and AbraHam traveled along with them to assist in their journey.

¹⁷ So the Lord then asked:
‘Shall I hide the things that I’m about to do from my servant AbraHam? ¹⁸ For AbraHam will become a great and highly populated nation through whom all the nations of the earth will be blest, ¹⁹ because I know that he will order his sons and the house that is to come from him to keep the ways of Jehovah… to be righteous and just, so that Jehovah can bring all the things to AbraHam that He has promised.’

²⁰ Then the Lord told him this:
‘The cries that I’m hearing about Sodom and GomorRah keep growing, and their sins are very bad. ²¹ So I’m going down to see if they are as bad as the cries that I’m hearing have said. And if not, at least I will know [for sure].’

²² So at that, the men headed toward Sodom.

Meanwhile, AbraHam was still there in the Lord’s presence. ²³ So AbraHam went up to him and asked:
‘Are you going to destroy the righteous along with the wicked, treating the righteous as though they were wicked? ²⁴ If there are fifty righteous [people] in the city, will you destroy them? Wouldn’t you spare the whole place if there were fifty righteous [people] there? ²⁵ You would never do such a thing as to destroy the righteous along with the wicked and treat the righteous as though they were wicked… no way! Won’t you, the judge of the whole earth, do what is right?’

²⁶ And the Lord said:
‘If there are fifty righteous [people] in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole city and the whole place for their sakes.’

²⁷ Then AbraHam continued:
‘My Lord; Here I am speaking to you, and all I am is dirt and ashes. ²⁸ However, what if there weren’t fifty righteous [people] and there were only forty-five. Would you destroy the whole city because of the lack of five?’

And the Lord said:
‘I won’t destroy it if I can find forty-five there.’

²⁹ However, [AbraHam] just kept talking to him and said:
‘What if there are only forty? ³⁰ Would you not destroy it for the sake of the forty?’

And he went on, ‘Lord, please don’t hold it against me if I continue to speak; but, what if there are thirty?’

And the Lord replied:
‘I won’t destroy it for the sake of thirty.’

³¹ So he said:
‘Since I am allowed to speak to [my] Lord; What if you can only find twenty?’

And he said:
‘I won’t destroy it if I can only find twenty.’

³² Finally, he said:
‘Lord; Would you hold it against me if I were to say just one more thing? What if you were to find just ten [righteous people]?’

And he replied:
‘I won’t destroy it for the sake of the ten.’

³³ Then the Lord stopped speaking to AbraHam and left, and AbraHam returned to his [tent].

Chapter 19

¹ Well that evening, the two messengers [of God] finally arrived at Sodom, where they found Lot sitting by the [city] gate. And when Lot saw them, he got up [and went] to meet them, bowing low with his face to the ground. He said:

² ‘Look here, my lords; come to the house of your servant and rest from your journey. [Then you can] wash your feet and get up early in the morning to continue on your way.’

However, they said:
‘No, we’ll just sleep here in the street.’

³ But [Lot] kept insisting, so they went with him to his house. Then he baked fermentation-free bread and made a feast for them, which they ate.

⁴ [Well, that evening], before they went to bed, the men of the city of Sodom gathered around the house… all of them, from the young to the old, ⁵ and they shouted for Lot, saying:
‘Where are the men that came to your home this evening? Send them out to us, so we can [have sex] with them!’

⁶ Well, Lot went out on his porch, shut the door behind him, ⁷ and said:
‘Absolutely not, my brothers! Don’t do this wicked thing! ⁸ I have two daughters who have never [had sex] with a man. I will bring them out to you and you can do whatever you want with them. However, don’t harm these men! It was to avoid such a thing that [I brought them] under the shelter of my roof!’

⁹ But they replied:
‘Get out of the way! You came here to live among us, and have you now become our judge? We’re going to do more harm to you than we’ll do to them!’

¹⁰ So they started pushing Lot and were ready to break down his door. But the [messengers] reached out and grabbed Lot, dragged him back inside the house, and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both the great and the small… until they finally got tired of trying to find the door.

¹² And the [messengers] said to Lot:
‘If you have any sons, daughters, sons in law, or any friends in the city, you must take them away from this place, ¹³ because we’re going to destroy it! A great cry has been raised against [this city] to Jehovah, and [He] has sent us to destroy it.’

¹⁴ So Lot went and spoke to his [future] sons-in-law who [were engaged to] his daughters, and said:
‘Get up and leave this place, because Jehovah is going to destroy the city!’

However, to his [future] sons-in-law, it seemed as though he was joking.

¹⁵ Then the next morning, the messengers started to hurry Lot along, saying:
‘Get up! Take your woman and your two daughters and go, so you won’t be destroyed with the sins of this city!’

¹⁶ However, they were unsure. So the messengers grabbed the hands of Lot, his woman, and his two daughters… and that’s how Jehovah saved them.

¹⁷ Then, once they were outside [of the city], the [messengers] told them:
‘Now, do whatever you must to save your own lives. You must not turn around and look back at the things that are behind you… and don’t stay anywhere in the countryside around here. Run to the mountains, so you won’t be [destroyed along] with the rest!’

¹⁸ But Lot said:
‘I beg you, Lord; Your servant has been shown such mercy and you have shown such righteousness in the things that you’ve done for me to save my life. ¹⁹ However, I won’t be able to make it to the mountains, because the [destruction] will likely catch up with me and kill me. ²⁰ Look, there’s a town nearby… a small one that I can escape to and be spared. Isn’t this just a small thing? If you [allow] this, you will save my life!’

²¹ And [the messenger] told him:
‘Look; I will respect your wishes in this matter and I won’t destroy the town that you’re talking about. ²² But hurry and get out of here, because I won’t be able to do anything until you get there.’

And from that point on, [Lot] referred to that town as Segor (small).

²³ Well, the sun was already up by the time that Lot arrived in Segor, and that’s when ²⁴ Jehovah poured fire and sulfur from the sky upon Sodom and GomorRah. ²⁵ destroying those cities, all the countryside around them, and everyone who lived in the cities… including even the plants that grew on the ground. ²⁶ However, [Lot’s] woman had tuned and looked back, and she then became an upright block of salt.

²⁷ Well, that morning (as AbraHam arose early to go to the place where he had stood before the Lord); ²⁸ when he looked toward Sodom, GomorRah, and the surrounding countryside, he saw what looked like the flames and smoke of a furnace arising from that land! ²⁹ And this is how it all happened. However, when God destroyed all the cities around there, He remembered AbraHam and He brought Lot out of the midst of that destruction, when the Lord overthrew those cities where Lot had been living.

³⁰ Well after that, Lot and his daughters left Segor and they went to live in the mountains, because he was afraid to live in Segor. So he and his daughters went and lived in a cave.

³¹ [It was there that] the eldest [daughter] said to the younger:

‘Our father is old, and no one on earth will come to us here where we’re living. ³² So, let’s get our father drunk with wine and then we will sleep with him, so we can have the seed of our father.’

³³ Well that night, they brought their father some wine to drink, and the eldest went in and laid down with him. However, he wasn’t aware of when he went to sleep or when he got up.

³⁴ Then the next day, the eldest said to the younger:
‘Look; I slept with our father last night. So let’s get him some wine to drink again tonight, and then you go in and sleep with him, so we can raise a seed from our father.’

³⁵ So [once again], they got their father to drink wine, and the younger went in and slept with her father that night… and he didn’t know when he went to sleep or when he got up.

³⁶ As the result, the two daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. ³⁷ Then the eldest bore a son whom she called Moab, saying: ‘He’s of my father.’ ([Moab] is the father of the Moabites to this day). ³⁸ And the younger also bore a son whom she named AmMon, saying: ‘He’s the son of my family.’ ([AmMon] is the father of the AmMonites to this day).

Chapter 20

¹ Well, sometime after that, AbraHam moved to the southern part of the country and took up living between Cades and Sur, staying for a while in GeraRa. ² And [there] AbraHam [told the people] that his woman SarAh was his sister. He didn’t want to say, ‘She’s my woman,’ for fear that the men of that city would kill him because of her.

So, AbiMelech (the king of GeraRa) sent for SarAh and took her [to be his woman]. ³ But God came to AbiMelech at night in a dream and told him:
‘Look; You’re all going to die because of this woman you’ve taken, since she [already has] a man!’

⁴ Well, AbiMelech hadn’t touched her [yet], so he replied:
‘Lord, would you destroy a righteous nation that has sinned in ignorance? ⁵ Didn’t he tell me, She’s my sister? And didn’t she tell me, He’s my brother? I’ve done this with righteous hands and with a pure heart.’

⁶ Then The God replied to him in his [dream], saying:
‘Yes, I know that you did this with a pure heart. That’s why I’ve spared you and [kept you from] sinning against Me, and that’s why I also kept you from touching her. ⁷ So, return this man’s woman now, because he’s a Prophet. Then he will pray for you and you will continue to live. However, if you don’t return her, you and all that are yours will die.’

⁸ So, early the next morning, AbiMelech got up and called all his servants in; then he told them everything that was said, which frightened them. ⁹ And thereafter, AbiMelech called AbraHam in and asked:
‘What have you done to us? [What type of bad] have you seen in me that you should do such a thing? Have we sinned against you in some way so that you would draw my whole kingdom and me into such a great sin? Why, you’ve done something to me that no one should ever do!’

¹⁰ And AbiMelech continued: ‘What [bad] have you seen in me that you would do such a thing?’

¹¹ Then AbraHam replied:
‘[I thought] that this surely couldn’t be a place of godly people, so they will kill me for my woman. ¹² [And in fact], she really is my sister by my father (but not by my mother), whom I took as my woman. ¹³ So when God took me from my father’s house, I told her, I have a righteous thing that I want you to do for me: Wherever we go, tell [people] that I’m your brother.’

¹⁴ Then AbiMelech returned his woman SarAh, along with a thousand silver coins, as well as sheep, cattle, and male and female servants. ¹⁵ And AbiMelech said to AbraHam:
‘Look, my whole land lies before you. So now, go wherever you wish.’

¹⁶ Then he told SarAh:
‘Look, I’ve given your brother a thousand silver coins. These are yours as the price of your face and for all the women who are with you… but [in the future, you must] always tell the whole truth!’

¹⁷ So AbraHam prayed to God, and God healed AbiMelech. [He also healed AbiMelech’s] woman and his concubines, and they thereafter gave birth to children ¹⁸ (since Jehovah had closed all the wombs in AbiMelech’s house due to AbraHam’s woman, SarAh).

Chapter 21

¹ Then the Lord visited SarAh and did as [He had promised] to her. ² She became pregnant and bore a son to AbraHam in his old age, at the exact time that the Lord had specified. ³ And AbraHam named the son that was born to him through SarAh, IsaAc (Laughter). ⁴ Then on the eighth day, AbraHam circumcised IsaAc, just as God had instructed him.

⁵ AbraHam was a hundred years old when his son IsaAc was born. ⁶ And SarAh said:
‘Jehovah has created laughter for me, because everyone who hears [about this] will rejoice with me.’

⁷ Then she added:
‘Who could tell AbraHam that I’m nursing a child, because I’ve given birth in my old age?’

⁸ Thereafter, the child grew; and on the day that he was weaned, AbraHam prepared a great feast. ⁹ However, SarAh noticed Hagar’s son (the one who was born to AbraHam through the Egyptian [woman]) playfully making fun of their son IsaAc. ¹⁰ So she told AbraHam:
‘Throw this slave woman and her son out, because I won’t have the son of this slave receive an inheritance with my son IsaAc!’

¹¹ Now, those words about his son were very difficult for AbraHam. ¹² But God said to AbraHam:
‘Don’t allow this thing about your son and the slave woman to become too difficult for you. Listen to whatever SarAh tells you, because IsaAc will be the one who is called your seed. ¹³ However, I will make a great nation of this slave woman’s son, because he’s also your seed.’

¹⁴ So the next morning, AbraHam got up, gave Hagar some loaves [of bread] and a skin of water, put her son on her shoulders, and sent her away. Then she left there and wandered in the desert near the Well of the Promise.

¹⁵ However, [before long] the skin of water was empty. So she threw her child under a fir tree, ¹⁶ where she left him, and then she sat some distance across from him (a bow-shot away). And she said:
‘I can’t just watch my child die.’

So she sat there across from him as her child bawled and cried.

¹⁷ Well, God heard the voice of the child from the place where He was, and a messenger from God called to Hagar from the sky, and asked:
‘Why are you so concerned, Hagar? Don’t worry; for God has heard the child’s voice from where He is. ¹⁸ So now, get up and take the child by his hand, because I’m going to make a great nation of him.’

¹⁹ Then The God opened her eyes and she saw a life [sustaining] well of water; so she went and filled the skin with water and gave the child a drink.

²⁰ God was with that child, so he grew up living in the desert and he became an archer. ²¹ And as he was living there in the desert, his mother found a woman for him in Pharan, Egypt.

²² Now, the time came when AbiMelech, OchoZath (his trusted friend), and Pichol (the head of his army) [came to] AbraHam and said:
‘God is with you [and has blest] everything you do. ²³ So, swear to me by God that you won’t harm me, my seed, or my name; rather, you should deal with me in the same righteous way that I’ve dealt with you in this land in which you are living.’

²⁴ And AbraHam said:
‘I swear.’

²⁵ Then AbraHam complained to AbiMelech about some water wells that his servants had taken from him. ²⁶ And AbiMelech replied:
‘I don’t know who did this thing to you, nor did you tell me about it. Today is the first time I’ve heard of this.’

²⁷ And thereafter, AbraHam took some cattle and sheep and gave them to AbiMelech, and they made a treaty. ²⁸ Then AbraHam set aside seven female lambs. ²⁹ And AbiMelech asked him:
‘Why have you set those seven female lambs aside?’

³⁰ And AbraHam replied:
‘I’m giving my seven female lambs to you as testimony to the fact that I dug this well.’

³¹ Thereafter, he named that place, ‘The Well of the Promise,’ because that’s where they swore their oath ³² and made their treaty. So, AbiMelech, his trusted friend OchoZath, and Pichol (the head of his army) got up and returned [home] to the land of the Philistines.

³³ Then AbraHam planted a field at The Well of the Promise and started calling on the Name of the God of the ages, Jehovah. ³⁴ And he stayed there in the land of the Philistines for many days.

Chapter 22

¹ After that, God put AbraHam to the test. He called to him, saying:

‘AbraHam…AbraHam!’

And [AbraHam] replied:
‘Look! It’s me!’

² Then [God] said:
‘Take your beloved son (this one whom you so love, IsaAc) then go to the highlands and offer him there on one of the mountains that I’ll tell you about, as a burnt offering.’

³ So AbraHam got up in the morning, saddled his burro, and [prepared to] take two servants and his son IsaAc with him. Then, after splitting some wood for the offering, he got up and traveled toward the place about which God had spoken to him.

⁴ Well, it was on the third day that AbraHam looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ Then AbraHam said to his servants:
‘Stay here with the burros; for my son and I will go over there… and after we bow low [before God], we will return to you.’

⁶ So AbraHam took the wood for the offering and laid it on his son IsaAc’s [shoulders], and the two went off together, with him carrying both the fire and the knife in his own hands.

⁷Then IsaAc called out to his father (AbraHam) and said:
‘Father!’

And he replied:
‘What is it, son?’

And [IsaAc] continued:
‘Look! [We have the] the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the offering?’

⁸ Then AbraHam said:
‘God will provide His own sheep for the offering, son.’

So they both traveled on, and they ⁹ finally arrived at the place that God had spoken to him about.

Then AbraHam built the altar there and laid the wood on it, tied his son IsaAc’s feet together, and laid him on the wood on top of the altar. ¹⁰ And as AbraHam was reaching for the knife to slaughter his son, ¹¹ a messenger of Jehovah called to him from the sky, and said:
‘AbraHam… AbraHam!’

And he said:
‘Look, it’s me!’

¹² Then [the messenger] said:
‘Don’t lay a hand on the child and don’t do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you haven’t spared even your loved son for My sake!’

¹³ And when AbraHam looked up, he saw {Look!} a male goat that was caught by its horns on a bush in the thicket. So AbraHam went over and grabbed the male goat; [then he] offered it as a whole burnt offering instead of his son IsaAc.

¹⁴ Well, AbraHam thereafter named that place, ‘The Lord Was Seen.’ [He did that] so people today would say, ‘This is the mountain where the Lord was seen.’

¹⁵ Then a messenger of Jehovah called AbraHam a second time from the sky, saying:

¹⁶ ‘This is what Jehovah has said: I have sworn [an oath] by Myself that, because you’ve done this thing (because you haven’t spared your loved son for Me); ¹⁷ when it comes to blessings, I will bless you, and when it comes to multiplying, I will multiply your seed as the stars in the skies and as the sands on the sea shore. Your seed will inherit the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and all the nations of the earth will be blest by your seed, because you’ve listened to My voice.’

¹⁹ Well thereafter, AbraHam returned to his servants, and they all got up and traveled together to the Well of the Promise. Then AbraHam took up living there at the Well of the Promise.

²⁰ Then later on, AbraHam received this report:
‘Look! Melcha has given birth to sons by your brother NaHor! ²¹ Uz is the first-born, [then there is] Baux his brother, CamuEl (the father of the Syrians), Chazad, ²² Azav, Phaldes, JelDaph, and BathuEl (BathuEl was RebecKa’s father). ²³ Melcha bore these eight sons to AbraHam’s brother NaHor. ²⁴ In addition, his concubine (named RheUma) also gave birth to TaBec, TaAm, Tochos, and Mocha.’

Chapter 23

¹ Well, SarAh lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old, ² and then [she] died in the city of ArBoc (Hebron in the land of CanaAn), which is located in a valley.

So AbraHam went to SarAh to mourn for her. ³ And as AbraHam stood before his dead [woman], he spoke to the sons of Chet, saying:

⁴ ‘I’m just a visitor and a stranger among you; but [please] allow me to buy a burying-place among [your people], so I can bury my dead away from [my place].’

⁵ And the sons of Ket replied to AbraHam, saying:
‘No Sir! ⁶ Listen; You may live among us, but you’re [really] a king from God! So, bury your dead in our best tombs! None of us will ever withhold our tombs to keep you from burying your dead here!’

⁷ Then AbraHam arose and bowed low before the people of the land (the sons of Ket). ⁸ And AbraHam said to them:
‘If you approve of me burying my dead out of my sight, then listen to what I have to say and [please] speak on my behalf to EphRon, the son of SaAr. ⁹ [I want] him to give me the double cave that he owns, which is located in his field. I will [be happy to] pay whatever it’s worth for a burial-place among you.’

¹⁰ Now, EphRon happened to be sitting there in the midst of the children of Ket, and [he] answered AbraHam (speaking where he could be heard by all the sons of Ket and by all who were entering the city) saying:

¹¹ ‘Pay attention to me, my lord; Here before all my countrymen [I say], Bury your dead!’

¹² And at that, AbraHam bowed low before the people of the land, ¹³ and he told EphRon (before the people of the land):
‘Since you’re on my side, listen to me; Accept the price of the field from me and I’ll bury my dead there.’

¹⁴ However, EphRon answered AbraHam, saying:

¹⁵ ‘No, my lord! I’ve heard that the land [is worth] four hundred silver coins, but what value is that between you and me? No, just bury your dead.’

¹⁶ And though AbraHam heard what EphRon had said, he still paid [him] the money, just as he had vowed before the sons of Ket – four hundred silver coins that had been approved by the merchants.

¹⁷ So at that, the double cave that was in the field of EphRon opposite MamRe (the field, the cave that was in it, every tree in the field, and everything that was within its borders) was sold ¹⁸ to AbraHam as his possession, there in front of the sons of Ket and all those [who were] entering the city.

¹⁹ There, AbraHam buried his woman SarAh inside the field’s double cave, which is opposite Mamre (Hebron in the land of CanaAn). ²⁰ For the field and its cave were sold to AbraHam as his burying place by the sons of Ket.

Chapter 24

¹ By then, AbraHam was very old, and Jehovah had blest AbraHam in everything. ² So AbraHam said to his servant (the elder of his house who was in charge of all his possessions):
‘Put your hand under my thigh, ³ because I want you to swear by Jehovah the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you won’t take a woman for my son IsaAc from the daughters of the CanaAnites… these [people] among whom I am living. ⁴ Rather, I want you to go to my country – to the place where I was born and to my people – to find a woman for my son IsaAc.’

⁵ And his servant replied:
‘But if the woman isn’t happy and willing to return with me to this land, should I carry your son back to that land from which you came?’

⁶ And AbraHam said to him:
‘Make sure that you don’t carry my son back there. ⁷ For Jehovah (the God of heaven and the God of earth) who took me out of my father’s house and out of the land where I was born… who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, I will give this land to you and to your seed, will send His messenger ahead of you… and you must take a woman for my son from there. ⁸ However, if the woman isn’t willing to come with you into this land, you will be free from this oath. Just don’t carry my son back there.’

⁹ So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master AbraHam, and swore to him. ¹⁰ Then the servant took ten camels from his master’s herd and [some of] his master’s valuables, and he traveled through MesoPotamia to the city of NaHor.

¹¹ It was toward evening that he [stopped and] rested his camels outside of the city, by the well where the young women went to draw water. ¹² And he [prayed]:
‘O Jehovah, the God of my master AbraHam; Bless what I’m doing today, and be merciful to my master AbraHam. ¹³ {Look!} Here I am standing by the well where the daughters of those who live in this city come to draw water. ¹⁴ And may it be that whichever virgin to whom I say, Bring down the water jar so that I may have a drink, and she replies, Take a drink, and I will also [pour water] for your camels to drink until they are satisfied; I’ll know that this is the one You’ve prepared for Your servant IsaAc, and that You’ve been merciful to my master, AbraHam.’

¹⁵ Well, before he was even done speaking in his mind, {Look!} RebecKa, the daughter of BathuEl (who was the son of Melcha, the woman of NaHor, AbraHam’s brother) came there carrying a water jug on her shoulders. ¹⁶ This virgin was very beautiful, and she was in fact a virgin… no man ever had sexual relations with her. She went down to the well, filled her water jug, and [walked back] up.

¹⁷ Then [AbraHam’s] servant ran to meet her, and said:
‘Give me a little water to drink from your pitcher.’

¹⁸ And she said:
‘Have a drink, sir.’

So she quickly removed the pitcher [from her head] and allowed him to drink until he was finished.

¹⁹ Then she said:
‘I’ll also draw water for your camels, until they’ve all have enough to drink.’

²⁰ And she quickly emptied the water jug into the trough, and then she kept running to the well to draw, until she had drawn enough water for all the camels.

²¹ Well, the man paid attention to this, but he didn’t say anything, because he wanted to know whether this was Jehovah blessing. ²² Then, after all the camels were finished drinking, he gave her [two] gold earrings (each weighing about an eighth of an ounce), and he [put] two bracelets on her hands (they weighed about the same as ten gold coins), ²³ and he asked her,

‘Whose daughter are you… tell me! And is there room for us to lodge with your father?’

²⁴ Then she replied:
‘I’m the daughter of BathuEl, who is the son of Melcha and whose father was NaHor.’

²⁵ And she added:
‘We have straw, a lot of fodder, and a place for [you to] rest.’

²⁶ Well at that, the man (who was very happy) bowed low to Jehovah ²⁷ and said:
‘May Jehovah the God of my master AbraHam be praised, [because He] hasn’t allowed His righteousness or His truth to fail my master, since the Lord has led me right to the house of my lord’s brother!’

²⁸ Then the young maiden ran and reported what he said to the household of her mother.

²⁹ Now, RebecKa had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran all the way to the well to meet the man. ³⁰ For when he saw the earrings and the bracelets on his sister’s hands; and when he heard what his sister RebecKa said about what the man had told her, he went to the man as he was standing by the well with his camels ³¹ and said to him:
‘Come on in, you who are blest by Jehovah! Why are you standing outside? I’ve prepared the house and I’ve also made a place for your camels!’

³² So the man went into the house, and [Laban] unloaded the camels, gave them straw and fodder, and he drew water to wash the feet [of AbraHam’s servant] as well as the feet of the men who were with him; ³³ then he set loaves of bread before them to eat. However, [AbraHam’s servant] said:
‘I’m not going to eat until I’ve told you the reason why I’ve come here.’

And [Laban] said:
‘Then go ahead and speak.’

³⁴ So he said:
‘I’m a servant of AbraHam; ³⁵ and Jehovah has greatly blest my master. He is highly respected and has been given sheep, cattle, silver, gold, male and female servants, camels, and burros. ³⁶ And SarAh, my master’s woman, bore one son to my master after he had grown old, to whom he has given everything that he owns.

³⁷ ‘Now, my master made me swear [an oath], saying, You must not take a woman for my son from among the daughters of the CanaAnites… these [people] among whom I am living. ³⁸ But you should go to the house of my father and to my tribe, and take a woman for my son from there.

³⁹ ‘Then I asked my master: What if the woman is unhappy about coming along?

⁴⁰ ‘And he replied: Jehovah God, who has found me to be acceptable in His presence, will send His messenger along with you, and your journey will be blest. You should take a woman for my son from among my tribe and from the house of my father. ⁴¹ Then you will be free from the curse [of your oath]. And if they won’t give her to you when you get to my tribe, you will be freed from your oath.

⁴² ‘So today I came to this well, and I [prayed]: Jehovah, the God of my master AbraHam; If you will bless this journey that I’m now on, ⁴³ {Look!} I will stand by this well where the daughters of the people of this city come to draw water. And whichever young woman to whom I will say, Give me a little water to drink out of your pitcher, ⁴⁴ and she replies, Take a drink, and I will also [pour water] for your camels to drink until they are satisfied; this is the woman that Jehovah has prepared for His servant IsaAc, and that’s how I’ll know that You’ve been merciful to my master, AbraHam.

⁴⁵ ‘Well, before I had even finished speaking in my mind, RebecKa arrived with her pitcher on her shoulders. And [after] she went down to the well and drew water, I said to her, Give me a drink. ⁴⁶ Then she quickly took the pitcher from her head, and said, Take a drink, and I will also give your camels [something to] drink. So I drank, and then she watered the camels.

⁴⁷ ‘So I asked her: Whose daughter are you… tell me! And she replied: I’m the daughter of BathuEl, who is the son of Melcha and whose father was NaHor. And that’s when I gave her the earrings and put the bracelets on her hands.

⁴⁸ ‘Well, all of this made me so happy that I bowed low and praised Jehovah, the God of my master AbraHam, who has truly blest me in such a way that I might take the daughter of my master’s own brother for his son. ⁴⁹ Now, tell me whether you will be merciful and just with my lord, so I can know which way to turn.’

⁵⁰ And at this, Laban and BathuEl answered, saying:
‘Since this thing has come from Jehovah, we can’t answer you in either a bad way or a good way. ⁵¹ Look! There is RebecKa standing before you… take her and go! Let her be the woman of your master’s son, just as Jehovah has said.’

⁵² And when AbraHam’s servant heard these words, he bowed to the ground to Jehovah. ⁵³ Then he brought out silver and gold jewelry, as well as clothing, and gave it to RebecKa. He also gave gifts to her brother and to her mother. ⁵⁴ And afterward, both he and the men who were with him ate and drank; then they went to sleep.

Well, when he got up in the morning, he said to them:
‘Now allow me to leave, so I can return to my master.’

⁵⁵ And her brothers and mother said:
‘Let the virgin stay here with us for ten more days, and then she can go.’

⁵⁶ But he replied to them:
‘Don’t hold me back, because Jehovah has blest my journey. Send me away now, so I can return to my master!’

⁵⁷ And they said:
‘Let’s call the girl and ask [what she wants to do].

⁵⁸ So they called RebecKa and asked:
‘Will you go with this man?’

And she replied:
‘I’ll go.’

⁵⁹ So they [agreed to] send their sister RebecKa and all her possessions along with AbraHam’s servant and his attendants. ⁶⁰ Then they [gave] RebecKa a blessing, saying to her:
‘You are our sister; now become ten thousands of thousands, and may your seed own the cities of their enemies.’

⁶¹ Thereafter, RebecKa and her female attendants mounted the camels and went along with the man. And the servant, on having received RebecKa, departed.

⁶² Meanwhile, IsaAc had traveled through the desert toward the Well of the Vision, and he took up living in the southern portion of that land. ⁶³ It was toward evening that IsaAc had gone out into the plains to think (because he was discouraged). And when he looked up, he saw camels coming. ⁶⁴ It was then that RebecKa looked up and saw IsaAc. So she quickly dismounted the camel ⁶⁵ and asked the servant:
‘Who is the man that is walking across the plains to meet us?’

And the servant said:
‘This is my master.’

So, she took her veil and covered herself.

⁶⁶ Thereafter, the servant told IsaAc everything that he had done. ⁶⁷ And IsaAc went to the house of his mother and took RebecKa, so she became his woman… and he loved her… and IsaAc was given comfort for [the death of] his mother, SarAh.

Chapter 25

¹ Well, after that, AbraHam married again, and his woman’s name was KetTura. ² She bore to him ZomBran, JeZan, Madal, Midian, JesBoc, and SoYe.

³ JeZan fathered Saba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were the AsShurites, the Latusians, and the Laomim. ⁴ The sons of Midian were Gephar, Aphir, Enoch, Abida, and ElDaAh. These were all the sons of KetTura. ⁵ However, AbraHam had given all of his possessions to his son IsaAc. ⁶ He just gave gifts to the sons of his concubines, then he sent them away from his son IsaAc, to a country in the east.

⁷ AbraHam lived to be a hundred and seventy-five years old. ⁸ But AbraHam [eventually found himself in] failing health and he died at a ripe old age… an old man who had lived a full life; and he was [buried] with his family.

⁹ His sons, IsaAc and IshMaEl buried him in the double cave that was in the field of EphRon (the son of SaAr the Kettite), which is across from Mamre. ¹⁰ So AbraHam and his woman SarAh [were both buried] in that field, inside the cave that AbraHam bought from the sons of Ket.

¹¹ Well, after AbraHam died, God blest his son IsaAc. And IsaAc went to live by the Well of the Vision.

¹² These are the generations of IshMaEl, the son of AbraHam, whom Hagar (SarAh’s Egyptian handmaid) had born to AbraHam, ¹³ and these are the names of IshMaEl’s sons by each of their generations: The firstborn of IshMaEl was NabaiOth, then Kedar, NabDeEl, MasSam, ¹⁴ MasMa, Duma, MasSe, ¹⁵ ChodDan, ThaEman, Jetur, Naphes, and Kedma. ¹⁶ Those are all IshMaEl’s sons, whose names are on their tents and dwellings… twelve princes of their nations.

¹⁷ And this is how long IshMaEl lived: a hundred and thirty-seven years. Thereafter, [his health started to] fail and he died and was [buried with] his family.

¹⁸ [IshMaEl] and all his descendants lived [in the area] from Evilat [in the northeast] to Sur [in the southwest], and from Assyria to just across from Egypt.

¹⁹ And these are the generations of IsaAc, the son of AbraHam: ²⁰ AbraHam fathered IsaAc. And when IsaAc was forty years old, he took RebecKa (the daughter of BathuEl, the Syrian of Syrian MesoPotamia, the sister of Laban the Syrian) as his woman.

²¹ Then IsaAc prayed to Jehovah about his woman RebecKa, because she was sterile, and Jehovah heard him; so his woman (RebecKa) got pregnant. ²² And [one day], the babies that were inside her jumped. And she asked:
‘Why did this happen to me?’

So she went to ask Jehovah, ²³ and He told her:
‘There are two nations in your womb, and two races will be separated from your belly. One race will become greater than the other, and the older one will serve the younger.’

²⁴ Well, when it came time for her to deliver, she [found that] she indeed had twins in her womb. ²⁵ The first came out red and covered with hair all over his skin; and she named him Esau. ²⁶ Then his brother was born while holding onto the heel of Esau with his hand, so she named him Jacob (Snatcher of the Heel). IsaAc was sixty years old when RebecKa bore them.

²⁷ Well, after the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter who lived in the country, while Jacob was a simple man who lived in a house. ²⁸ And though IsaAc loved Esau (because he enjoyed venison), RebecKa loved Jacob.

²⁹ Then [one day], as Jacob was cooking up some stew, Esau came in from the plains tired and weak, ³⁰ he said to Jacob:
‘Let me have a taste of that red stew, because I’m weak.’ (That’s when he started to be called Edom [or Red]).

³¹ And Jacob replied to Esau:
‘Then sell me your right [as firstborn]… right now!’

³² So Esau said:
‘Look, I’m about to die! What good does this right [of the firstborn] mean to me?’

³³ And Jacob said to him:
‘Swear to me right now!’

So then he swore to him, and that’s when Esau sold his birthright to Jacob.

³⁴ Thereafter, Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew, which he ate and drank, then he got up and left. This is how Esau [showed little regard for] his birthright.

Chapter 26

¹ Thereafter, a famine came upon the land that was greater than past famines that had happened in the time of AbraHam. So IsaAc went to GeraRa to see AbiMelech, the king of the Philistines. ² And there the Lord appeared to him and said:
‘Do not go to Egypt! Rather, live in the land that I’m going to tell you about. ³ Stay in this land and I will be with you and bless you. I’m going to give all of this land to you and to your seed, for now I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father AbraHam. ⁴ I will increase your seed as the stars in the skies, I will give all of this land to your seed, and all the nations of the earth will be blest by your seed, ⁵ because AbraHam (your father) listened to My voice and did as I said… He obeyed My commandments, rules, and laws.’

⁶ So thereafter, IsaAc started living there in GeraRa.

⁷ Well, when the men in GeraRa asked him about RebecKa (his woman), he told them that she was his sister, because he was afraid to tell them that she was his woman, because she was very pretty and [he feared that] the men there would kill him for RebecKa.

⁸ Then, after he had lived there a long time, AbiMelech (the king of GeraRa) happened to lean over to look out his window, and he saw IsaAc playing with RebecKa, his woman. ⁹ So, AbiMelech called IsaAc and asked him:
‘Is she your woman? [And if so, then] why did you say she’s your sister?’

And IsaAc replied:
‘Well, I said this so that I wouldn’t be killed for her.’

¹⁰ And AbiMelech said:
‘Why would you do such a thing to us? Before long, one of my relatives would have had [sex] with your woman, and you would have brought a sin upon us in our ignorance!’

¹¹ So, AbiMelech gave a command to all his people, that said:
‘Any man who touches this man or his woman will die!’

¹² Then IsaAc planted grain in the land; and that year, the barley produced a hundred times [more than what he had planted], for Jehovah was blessing him. ¹³ So, he became highly regarded and very wealthy, as he continued to prosper. ¹⁴ For he owned many sheep, cattle, and tillable lands. But, as the result, the Philistines [started to] envy him, ¹⁵ and [they] stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in his time, filling them in with dirt.

¹⁶ Then AbiMelech told IsaAc:
‘[I want you to] leave us, because you’ve become much greater than us.’

¹⁷ So IsaAc left there, stopping to rest in the valley of GeraRa, where [he decided to] live.

¹⁸ And once more, IsaAc dug the [same type of] wells that his father’s servants had dug (which the Philistines had stopped up after AbraHam’s death). And he gave them each names, using the same names as his father had used. ¹⁹ Then when IsaAc’s servants dug in the valley of GeraRa, they found a live well of water. ²⁰ However, the shepherds of GeraRa argued with IsaAc’s shepherds, claiming that the water was theirs. So they named the well Injury, because [they claimed] injury over this matter.

²¹ As the result, he left that place and dug another well. [But then the people] started claiming [that it was theirs also]. So he named it Hatred. ²² And he left that place and dug another well, which no one else claimed to be theirs; so he named it Space, saying:
‘Jehovah has made space for us and He has prospered us in the land.’

²³ Then he traveled to the Well of the Promise, ²⁴ where Jehovah appeared to him that night and said:
‘I am the God of your father AbraHam. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you! Because of your father AbraHam, I will bless you and your seed will increase.’

²⁵ So he built an altar there, and he named it Jehovah. Then he pitched his tent, and IsaAc’s servants dug another well there in the valley of GeraRa.

²⁶ However, later, AbiMelech came to him from [the City of] GeraRa with his trusted friend OchoZath and with Phichol, the commander of his army. ²⁷ And IsaAc asked them:

‘Why have you come to me here, now that you’ve shown your hatred for me and driven me away?’

²⁸ And they replied:
‘We have seen that the Lord is surely with you. So we said, Let us swear an oath between him and us. Yes, we want to make an agreement with you, ²⁹ that you won’t do any wrong to us, and we won’t show any more hatred toward you. After all, isn’t it because we treated you well by sending you away peacefully that you are now being blest by Jehovah?’

³⁰ So, [IsaAc] prepared a feast for them, and they all ate and drank. ³¹ And when they got up the next morning, they each swore [an oath] to their neighbors. Then IsaAc sent them away, and they left him in safety.

³² However, that very same day, IsaAc’s servants came and [gave him news about] the well that they were digging. They said, ‘We’ve found water!’ ³³ So he named it and the city, ‘The Oath.’ This is why that city is called ‘The Well of the Promise‘ (BeerSheba) to this day.

³⁴ Then when Esau was forty years old, he took Judith, the daughter of BeOch the Kettite, and BaseMath (the daughter of Helon the Kettite). ³⁵ And [these women] made life very difficult for IsaAc and RebecKa.

Chapter 27

¹ Well, after IsaAc grew old, his eyes became so dim that he couldn’t see. Then he called Esau, his eldest son, and said to him:
‘Son!’

And [Esau] replied:
‘Look, here I am!’

² And [IsaAc] said:
‘{Look!} I’m old and I don’t know [how much longer I will live]. ³ So, go get your weapons, both your bow and your quiver, and go into the plains to get me some venison. ⁴ Then prepare the meat for me just the way I like it and bring it to me, so I can eat it. Thereafter, I will pass my blessing upon your life before I die.’

⁵ However, RebecKa overheard IsaAc speaking to his son Esau. And after Esau had gone out to the plains to get some venison for his father, ⁶ RebecKa said to her younger son Jacob:
‘{Look!} I overheard your father speaking to your brother Esau. And he told him ⁷ to bring him some venison and prepare the meat so he could eat it; then he would bless him in front of Jehovah, before he dies.

⁸ ‘Now, listen my son and do what I tell you! ⁹ Go out to the animals and bring two young goats to me ([make sure they’re] tender and good), and I’ll prepare the meat for your father just the way he likes it. ¹⁰ Then you must take it to your father, so he can eat it and bless you before he dies.’

¹¹ But Jacob said to his mother RebecKa:
‘My brother Esau is covered with hair, while [my body] is smooth. ¹² So if my father should [reach out] and feel me, it will look like I’m doing a bad thing to him, and that would bring a curse on me, not a blessing!’

¹³ However, his mother said to him:
‘May I receive your curses, my son. Just listen to what I’ve told you to do and bring [the young goats] to me.’

¹⁴ So he went out and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared the meat just the way his father liked it. ¹⁵ Then RebecKa took some of her eldest son Esau’s finest clothes that she had there in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob, ¹⁶ and she also covered his arms and the bare parts of his neck with the skins of the young goats. ¹⁷ Thereafter, she put the meat and the bread that she had prepared into the hands of Jacob, ¹⁸ and he brought it in to his father.

He said:
‘Father.’

And [IsaAc] replied:
‘Look, it’s me! Who are you, son?’

¹⁹ And Jacob said to his father:
‘It’s me, Esau your first-born! I’ve done what you told me to do; so, sit up and eat my venison… then you can pass your blessings on my life.’

²⁰ But IsaAc asked his son:
‘How did you find [the meat] so quickly?’

And he replied:
‘Jehovah your God set it before me.’

²¹ Then IsaAc told Jacob:
‘Come close to me so I can feel you, [to see] whether you are truly my son Esau!’

²² And Jacob drew close to his father, so IsaAc could feel him, and he said:
‘Your voice is that of Jacob, but your hands are the hands of Esau.’

²³ Therefore he didn’t recognize him, because his hands were hairy like the hands of his brother Esau… and this is how [IsaAc] came to bless [Jacob].

²⁴ Well after that, [IsaAc] again asked:
‘Are you my son Esau?’

And [Jacob] replied:
‘It’s me.’

²⁵ So he said:
‘Then, bring your venison over here and I’ll eat it, son, and I will pass my blessings on to your life.’

So he brought [the food] to him and he ate it, along with some wine, which he drank.

²⁶ Thereafter, IsaAc (his father) said to him:
‘Come close and kiss me, son.’

²⁷ So [Jacob] went over and kissed him; and [IsaAc] then sniffed the odor of his clothes and blest him, saying:
‘{Look!} This is the odor of my son. It has the smell of a wonderful field that has been blest by Jehovah. ²⁸ So may God give you the dew of the skies, the fatness of the land, and plenty of grain and wine. ²⁹ May the ethnics serve you, and may their princes bow low before you. May you be the lord of your brother, and may your father’s [other] sons show you respect. May anyone who curses you be cursed, and may all who praise you be blest.’

³⁰ Well, after IsaAc had blest his son Jacob (immediately after Jacob had left the presence of IsaAc his father), his brother Esau returned from his hunt. ³¹ He had also prepared some meat and brought it in to his father, and he said:
‘Get up father! Sit up and eat some of your son’s venison, so you can pass your blessings on my life.’

³² But his father IsaAc asked:
‘Who are you?’

And he said:
‘I’m your first-born son, Esau!’

³³ Well, IsaAc was shocked, and asked:
‘Then, who was it that [just] got the venison and brought it to me? I ate it all before you got here, and I blest him… so he’s the one that will be blest!’

³⁴ And when Esau heard what his father IsaAc said, he shouted loudly and bitterly:
‘I beg you, father; Bless me too!’

³⁵ And [IsaAc] told him:
‘Your brother slyly took your blessing.’

³⁶ Then [Esau] said:
‘He is well named Jacob, because {Look!} this is the second time that has he taken what was mine. First he took my right as the firstborn, and now he has taken my blessing!’

And again, Esau asked his father:
‘Don’t you have a blessing left for me, father?’

³⁷ Then IsaAc said to Esau:
‘I’ve already made him your lord and all of your brothers his servants. I have also empowered him with the wine and grain… so what more can I give you, my son?’

³⁸ But Esau asked his father:
‘Don’t you have just one blessing father? I beg you father, bless me too!’

Well, this really bothered IsaAc, because Esau was shouting and crying. ³⁹ So (his father) IsaAc answered and said:
‘Look; Your home will be in the fatness of the ground and in the dew of the skies up above. ⁴⁰ You will indeed live by your sword and you will serve your brother. However, the time will come when you will loosen and break his yoke from your neck.’

⁴¹ Well, Esau was very angry with Jacob over the blessing that his father had given to him. So Esau thought about it and then he said:
‘May the days of mourning my father come quickly, so I can kill my brother Jacob!’

⁴² Then when these words of Esau (her eldest son) were reported to RebecKa; she sent for her younger son Jacob, and said to him:
‘{Look!} Your brother Esau has threatened to kill you! ⁴³ So now, listen to me, my son; Get up and quickly leave for MesoPotamia… go to my brother Laban in Haran ⁴⁴ and live with him until all of your brother’s anger ⁴⁵ and rage against you has passed and he forgets what you’ve done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back. For I don’t want to be saddened over [the death] of both you [and your father] on the same day.’

⁴⁶ Then [later], RebecKa said [to IsaAc]:
‘I’m so tired of my life because of the daughters of the sons of Chet. And if Jacob were [also] to take a woman from the daughters of this land, where would I live?’

Chapter 28

¹ So IsaAc called for Jacob… he blest him and said to him:
‘You must not take a woman from among the daughters of the CanaAnites. ² Rather, get up quickly and travel to MesoPotamia, to the house of my father-in-law BathuEl, and find yourself a woman among the daughters of your mother’s brother Laban. ³ May my God bless you, prosper you, and make you increase; for you will indeed become a gathering of nations. ⁴ May He give the blessings of my father AbraHam to you and to your seed that comes after you, so that you will inherit this land in which you are living and which God had given to AbraHam.’

⁵ So thereafter, IsaAc sent Jacob away, and he went to [stay with] Laban, the son of BathuEl the Syrian, who was the brother of RebecKa (the mother of Jacob and Esau) in MesoPotamia.

⁶ Now, Esau knew that IsaAc had blest Jacob and that after he blest him, he’d sent him away to find a woman in Syrian MesoPotamia. [And he also knew that he told Jacob] not to take a woman from the daughters of the CanaAnites… ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother by going off to Syrian MesoPotamia. ⁸ For Esau recognized that his father IsaAc viewed the daughters of the CanaAnites as evil. ⁹ As the result, he went to see IshMaEl (the son of AbraHam) and he took MaEleth (IshMaEl’s daughter and NabeOth’s sister) to be another one of his wives.

¹⁰ Meanwhile, Jacob had left the Well of the Promise and traveled to Haran. ¹¹ And when he reached a certain place, he decided to sleep there, since the sun had gone down. So he chose a stone and placed it under his head, then he went to sleep in that place ¹² and he started to dream.

Well, {Look!} [in the dream] there was a stairway fastened to the ground that reached all the way into the heavens… and the messengers of God were ascending and descending upon it. ¹³ Then [he saw] Jehovah standing at the top of it, who said this to him:
‘I am the God of your father AbraHam and the God of IsaAc. Don’t be afraid, for I will give the land where you’re now lying to you and to your seed. ¹⁴ For your seed will become as many as the sands of the earth… they will spread from the sea to the north, south, and the east. And through you and your seed all the tribes of the earth will be blest. ¹⁵ Look; I am with you! [I will] always keep you safe no matter where you may go… and then I will return you to this land. I will never leave you until I’ve done everything that I said I will do for you.’

¹⁶ And when Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said:
‘Jehovah is here and I didn’t realize it.’

¹⁷ Well, this frightened him, and he said:
‘What a fearful place! For this is nothing other than the House of God and the Gate to Heaven!’

¹⁸ So after Jacob got up in the morning, he took the stone on which he had laid his head and erected it as a pillar. Then he anointed it with oil, ¹⁹ and he named that place, The House of God (BethEl). (Before that, the city had been called UlamLuz.)

²⁰ There Jacob made a vow to Jehovah, saying:
‘If You will be with me and guard me throughout this journey, giving enough me bread to eat and clothes to wear, ²¹ and then You bring me back safely to the house of my father; You will be my God. ²² Also, this stone that I have erected as a pillar will be a House of God to me, and I will return a tenth of everything that You give to me.’

Chapter 29

¹ So thereafter, Jacob [resumed his journey] eastward toward the land of Laban… to the son of BathuEl the Syrian and the brother of RebecKa (the mother of Jacob and Esau).

² {Look!} [Jacob] then spied a well in the plains where there were three flocks of sheep resting. It was a well that they used to water the flocks, and there was a large stone covering it. ³ For after all the flocks had gathered there, they used to roll the stone away from the mouth of the well to provide water for the [animals], then they’d push it back over the mouth of the well to cover it again.

⁴ So Jacob asked [those who were there]:
‘Brothers, where are you from?’

And they replied:
‘We’re from Haran.’

⁵ Then he asked:
‘Do you know Laban, the son of NaHor?’

And they answered:
‘We do!’

⁶ And he asked:
‘Is he doing well?’

Then they replied:
‘He is well. Look, here comes his daughter RachEl with his sheep!’

⁷ And Jacob said:
‘It’s still mid-day… it isn’t time for the flocks to be gathered yet. So, why don’t you just water the flocks, then take them back out to graze?’

⁸ But they said:
‘We can’t do that until all the shepherds arrive. They will roll away the stone from the mouth of the well and then we will all water our flocks.’

⁹ Well, while he was still speaking to them, {Look!} Laban’s daughter RachEl arrived with her father’s sheep, because she was in charge of grazing them. ¹⁰ And when Jacob saw RachEl (the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother) and the sheep of his mother’s brother Laban; Jacob went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered Laban’s sheep.

¹¹ Thereafter, Jacob kissed RachEl and shouted loudly, as he [started to] cry… ¹² for he explained to RachEl that he was a close relative of her father, and that he was the son of RebecKa. So she ran and told her father what he said. ¹³ And when Laban heard the name of Jacob (his sister’s son), he ran to meet him… he hugged and kissed him, then he led him into his house.

Then after [Jacob] explained to Laban [all that had happened to him], ¹⁴ Laban said to him:
‘You are my own flesh and bones!’

Well, after [Jacob] stayed had with [Laban] for a full month, ¹⁵ Laban said to Jacob:
‘Surely you aren’t going to serve me for nothing, for you’re my brother! Tell me how I can reward you!’

¹⁶ It so happened that Laban had two daughters. The name of the eldest was called LeAh, and the younger was called RachEl. ¹⁷ Though LeAh had weak eyes, RachEl was beautiful and had a very pretty face. ¹⁸ And because Jacob loved RachEl, he replied:
‘I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter, RachEl.’

¹⁹ So Laban said to him:
‘It’s better for me to give her to you than to some other man. Come and live with me!’

²⁰ Well, Jacob served [Laban] seven years for RachEl, but to him it seemed like just a few days, because he loved her so much. ²¹ Then Jacob told Laban:
‘Now, give me my woman, because I’ve served my time.’

²² So Laban assembled all the people and prepared a wedding banquet. ²³ Then that evening, he took his daughter LeAh and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob [had sex] with her. ²⁴ Laban also gave his servant ZelPha to his daughter LeAh, to be her handmaid.

²⁵ Well, it was [the next] morning before [Jacob realized] that it was LeAh. So Jacob [went to] Laban and asked:
‘What have you done to me? Didn’t I serve you for RachEl? Why have you deceived me?’

²⁶ And Laban answered:
‘In our country, it isn’t proper to give the younger before the eldest. ²⁷ Serve me for seven [more years] and I’ll give her to you also, in return for your labor of seven more years.’

²⁸ So, that’s what Jacob did… he served for seven [more years]. Then Laban also gave his daughter RachEl to be his woman. ²⁹ And Laban gave his servant BalLa to be his daughter’s handmaid.

³⁰ Thereafter, [Jacob had sex with] RachEl, and he loved RachEl more than LeAh… and this is why [he had been willing] to serve him for seven more years.

³¹ Well, when Jehovah God saw that [Jacob] wasn’t attracted to LeAh, He opened her womb, while RachEl remained barren. ³² So LeAh got pregnant and bore a son to Jacob, whom she named ReuBen (‘See, a Son!’). For she said:

, ‘Jehovah has seen my humiliation and given me a son, so that now my man will love me.’

³³ Then she got pregnant again and bore a second son to Jacob. [This time] she said:
‘Because Jehovah has heard that I’m hated, He has also given me this one.’

So, she named him SimeOn (‘He Has Heard’).

³⁴ Then she got pregnant a third time and bore a son, and said:
‘Now my man will stay with me, because I’ve born three sons to him.’

So she named him Levi (‘He Is Mine’).

³⁵ Thereafter, she got pregnant again and bore a [fourth] son. And she said:
‘I give thanks to Jehovah once more.’

So, she named him Judah (‘Praised’). And after that, she stopped having children.

Chapter 30

¹ Well, when RachEl realized that she wasn’t bearing children for Jacob, she became jealous of her sister, and she said to Jacob:
‘Give me children… for if you don’t, I’ll die!’

² This made Jacob very angry with RachEl, so he asked:
‘Am I in the position of God who has deprived you of the fruit of your womb?’

³ Then RachEl told Jacob:
‘Look; Here’s my handmaid BalLa. [Sleep] with her, and she will give birth [to children] on my knees… I will have children by her.’

⁴ So she gave him BalLa her handmaid to be his woman, and Jacob went in [and slept with] her. ⁵ As the result, BalLa (RachEl’s handmaid) got pregnant and bore a son to Jacob. ⁶ Then RachEl said:
‘God has given me justice and listened to my voice, for He has given me a son.’ So she named him Dan (‘Justice’).

⁷ Thereafter, BalLa (RachEl’s handmaid) got pregnant again and bore a second son to Jacob. ⁸ And RachEl said:
‘God has helped me… I fought with my sister and won.’

So she named him NaphTali (‘Struggle’).

⁹ Well when LeAh saw that she was no longer bearing children, she took ZelPha her handmaid and gave her to Jacob as his woman, and he went in to [sleep with] her. ¹⁰ So ZelPha, LeAh’s handmaid, got pregnant and bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ And LeAh said:
‘[Now I’m] happy!’

So shenamed him Gad (‘Happiness’).

¹² Then ZelPha, LeAh’s handmaid, got pregnant again and bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ This time LeAh said:
‘I am blest, because the women will call me blest.’

So she named him Asher (‘Blessings’).

¹⁴ Well, when it came time to harvest the barley, ReuBen went out to the field and found some mandrake apples [growing] there, and he brought them to his mother LeAh. Then RachEl said to her sister:
‘Give me some of your son’s mandrakes!’

¹⁵ And LeAh replied:
‘Isn’t it enough that you’ve taken my man… would you also take my son’s mandrakes?’

And RachEl said: ‘[I’ll] allow you to [sleep] with [Jacob] tonight for your son’s mandrakes.’

¹⁶ So, that evening, when Jacob came in from the field, LeAh went out to meet him and said:
‘You will [sleep] with me tonight, because I’ve hired you for my son’s mandrakes.’

So he slept with her that night, ¹⁷ and God listened to LeAh, so she got pregnant and bore a fifth son to Jacob. ¹⁸ And LeAh said:
‘God has rewarded me for giving my handmaid to my man.’

So she named him IshSachar (‘Reward’).

¹⁹ Then LeAh got pregnant again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. ²⁰ And LeAh said:
‘God has given me a fine gift this time. For my man will choose me, since I’ve given him six sons.’

So she named him ZebuLon (‘Gift’).

²¹ And after that, she gave birth to a daughter whom she named DinAh (‘Justified’).

²² Then The God remembered RachEl… He heard her and opened her womb, ²³ so she got pregnant and bore Jacob a son. And RachEl said:
‘Jehovah has removed my disgrace.’

²⁴ So she named him JoSeph (‘Jehovah Will Increase’), saying:
‘May God give me another son.’

²⁵ Well, after RachEl had given birth to JoSeph, Jacob said to Laban:
‘[Allow] me to leave now, so I may return to my country and my home. ²⁶ Free my women and children for whom I served you, so I can go… and don’t forget all the services that I’ve provided for you.’

²⁷ Then Laban replied:
‘If I’ve found favor in your eyes, it’s a good sign for me, because Jehovah has blest me by sending you here. ²⁸ Now, tell me how much I owe you and I’ll pay it.’

²⁹ And Jacob said:
‘You know how many ways I’ve served you and how many of your cattle I’m [responsible for]… ³⁰ you didn’t have many before I came here, and now there are many! So, Jehovah God has blest you since I arrived. Now, help me to establish my own house.’

³¹ Then Laban asked:
‘What should I give you?’

And Jacob replied:

‘Don’t give me anything… just do this one thing for me: I will continue to watch over your flocks and tend them, ³² and as your sheep pass by each day, let me set aside the dark sheep and the speckled and spotted goats as my reward. ³³ So by tomorrow, my righteousness will answer for me, because this will be my reward from you. You can steal back any goats that aren’t spotted or speckled, or any sheep that aren’t dark.’

³⁴ Well at that, Laban agreed, saying:
‘May it be as you’ve said.’

³⁵ However, that same day, [Laban craftily] separated the spotted and speckled billy goats and nanny goats, and all the dark sheep from those that were white, and he gave them to his sons. ³⁶ Then he sent [them away] on a three-day journey, while Jacob was tending the animals that were left behind.

³⁷ However, Jacob gathered some green rods from storax, walnut, and sycamore trees, and peeled them alternately [to create the look of] white and green stripes, which gave a [spotted] appearance to the rods. ³⁸ Then he laid the rods he had peeled at the bottom of the watering troughs, so that when the cattle came to drink, they would see the rods and mate there in front of the rods. ³⁹ And [that’s what happened]… the cattle did get pregnant at the rods and gave birth to [young with] speckles, streaks, and ash-colored spots. ⁴⁰ Then Jacob separated the lambs, setting aside the speckled goats and lambs for himself away from Laban’s sheep.

⁴¹ Thereafter, Jacob [continued] to put the rods in the troughs before the cattle, so they would mate in front of the rods. ⁴² And when the cattle gave birth, [he would give] the unmarked ones to Laban, but he set aside the marked ones as his. ⁴³ And [before long], he became very rich with many cattle, oxen, male and female servants, camels, and burros.

Chapter 31

¹ However, Jacob happened to overhear Laban’s sons saying, ‘Jacob has taken everything that belongs to our father and all our father’s property… all of his glory!’ ² So Jacob realized that Laban [wasn’t happy to see him anymore].

³ Then the Lord said to Jacob:
‘Now, return to your family and to your father’s land, and I will be with you.’

⁴ So Jacob sent for LeAh and RachEl, [who were] out in the plains with the flocks, ⁵ and he said to them:
‘I know that your father is no longer [happy to see me]. However, the God of my father is still with me. ⁶ For, though I’ve served your father with all my might, ⁷ and he deceived me by changing what he owed me to [just] ten lambs… God hasn’t allowed him to [wrong me]. ⁸ Because, if he would have said, The speckled will be your reward; then all the cattle would give birth to the speckled. And if he would have said, The white ones will be your reward; all the cattle would have been born white.

⁹ ‘Therefore, it was God who has taken all these cattle from your father and given them to me. ¹⁰ For, during the time that the cattle were pregnant with their young, I fell asleep and {Look!} I dreamed that I saw billy goats and rams jumping on the nanny goats and sheep that were all speckled, striped, and spotted with ash-colored spots.

¹¹ ‘Then a messenger from God called to me in that dream, shouting, Jacob! And I said, What is it? ¹² And he said, Look up and see the billy goats and rams jumping on the nanny goats and sheep… they are all speckled, striped, and spotted with ash-colored spots. I’ve seen all things that Laban did to you; ¹³ for I’m the God who appeared to you at BethEl where you poured oil out on a pillar to Me and [where you] swore an oath to Me.

‘So now, get up and leave this land. Return to the land of your birth, and I will be with you!’

¹⁴ Then RachEl and LeAh asked:
‘And what about our inheritances in the house of our father? ¹⁵ Does he now consider us strangers? He sold us and then he spent our money! ¹⁶ Therefore, all the wealth and glory that God has taken from our father also belongs to us and to our children. So, you should do whatever God has told you to do!’

¹⁷ Well at that, Jacob got up and mounted his women and children on their camels, ¹⁸ along with all the possessions and provisions he had obtained in MesoPotamia and all [the servants and animals] that belonged to him, so he could return to his father (IsaAc) in the land of CanaAn, ¹⁹ as Laban was off shearing his sheep.

But then, RachEl also stole her father’s idols.

²⁰ Jacob didn’t let Laban the Syrian know that he was running away… ²¹ he and all who were his just left, crossing the river and traveling on to Mount GileAd.

²² Well, it was three days later that Laban the Syrian was finally told that Jacob was gone. ²³ So he gathered his brothers and he chased after them, catching up with them after seven days at Mount GileAd. ²⁴ However, God came to Laban the Syrian in his sleep that night and said to him:
‘Be very careful not to say anything bad about Jacob.’

²⁵ So when Laban caught up with Jacob (Jacob had pitched his tent on the mountain, and Laban had stationed his brothers all around the mountain), ²⁶ he asked Jacob:
‘What have you done… why did you run away secretly, then steal from me and use swords to take my daughters as captives? ²⁷ If you had just told me first, I would have happily sent you away with singing, tambourines, and harps! ²⁸ Didn’t you consider me worthy to hug my children and my daughters before you did such a foolish thing?

²⁹ ‘And now, though I have enough power in my hands to harm you; the God of your father spoke to me yesterday and said, Be very careful to never say anything bad about Jacob. ³⁰ So, go on, because you really wanted to return to the house of your father.

‘However, why did you steal my gods?’

³¹ And Jacob replied to Laban:
‘[I left secretly] because I was afraid that you would take your daughters and all my possessions away from me!’

³² And he added:
‘But, whoever you find that has [stolen] your gods won’t [be allowed to] live in the presence of our family. Just look around for anything I might have that is yours and take it back!’

[Well, Laban searched], but he couldn’t find anything (Jacob didn’t realize that his woman RachEl had stolen [the idols]). ³³ Laban went in and searched LeAh’s tent, then Jacob’s tent, and then the tent of the two female servants, and he found nothing. Lastly, he entered RachEl’s tent. ³⁴ However, RachEl had hidden the idols among the camel’s packs and she was sitting on them. ³⁵ [And when her father asked to check her camel], she told him:
‘Don’t be impudent, sir! I can’t get up and stand before you, because it isn’t my way and it isn’t customary for women!’

Well, Laban searched throughout the [camp] and he couldn’t find the idols, ³⁶ which made Jacob very angry; so he argued with Laban and asked him:
‘What wrong have I done to you and what is my sin that caused you to chase after me ³⁷ and then search all the furnishings in my [tents]? What have you found [that ] came from your home? Lay it out here between your relatives and mine, and let them decide!

³⁸ ‘I’ve been with you for twenty years, and during all that time, your sheep and nanny goats didn’t fail to give birth… and I didn’t eat any of the rams from your herds. ³⁹ All that I ever took was the wild animals that I didn’t bring to you. I [even paid] for anything that was stolen during the day or night, ⁴⁰ as I was dried out with the heat of the day, [chilled] by frost in the night… and I seldom ever got much sleep!

⁴¹ ‘During those twenty years that I stayed in your house, I served you for fourteen years for your two daughters. [Then I spent the next] six years among your sheep… just to have you fraudulently set my wages as ten lambs! ⁴² So, if it weren’t for the God of my father AbraHam and for the fact that [you’re] afraid of IsaAc’s [God], you would have even sent me away empty-handed!

‘Yet, it was because God saw how I was humiliated and how hard I’ve worked for you, that He [scolded you] last night!’

⁴³ Then Laban replied:
‘These are my daughters and my sons… yes, the cattle are mine, and everything that you see belongs to my daughters and me! But, what should I do to them today, or to their children? ⁴⁴ Come on; let’s conclude a treaty between you and me that will serve as a witness between us. And though nobody else is here, {Look!} God will serve as the witness between you and me.’

⁴⁵ So then, Jacob found a [large] stone and he erected it as a pillar. ⁴⁶ And Jacob told his family to gather some stones. So they brought stones and made a pile; then they [shared bread] on top of the pile.

And thereafter, Laban said:
‘This [pile of stones] will serve as the witnesses between you and me today.’

⁴⁷ So, Laban called it ‘The [Stone] Pile of Testimony,’ while Jacob referred to it as ‘The Witness [Stone] Pile.'

⁴⁸ And Laban said to Jacob:
‘Look at this pile and pillar that I’ve erected between you and me… this Witness [Stone] Pile and this [Stone] Pile of Testimony. We will call them, the [Stone] Pile Witnesses.’

⁴⁹ And thereafter, [Laban] referred to this place as The Watchtower; for he said:
‘May God keep watch over you and me, because we are about to leave each other. ⁵⁰ But, if you should humble my daughters by taking other women in addition to them, you will see that someone who is with us is watching… for God is the witness between you and me.’

⁵¹ Then Laban continued:
‘Look! This pile of stones and this pillar are the witnesses ⁵² that I won’t come beyond this pillar to do anything bad to you, and you won’t come [beyond this pillar] to me. ⁵³ May the God of AbraHam and the God of NaHor judge between us!’

Then Jacob swore by the fear of his father IsaAc, ⁵⁴ and he offered a sacrifice on the mountain. He called his family together and they ate and drank, then they all went to sleep on the mountain. ⁵⁵ And when Laban got up in the morning, he kissed his daughters and [their] sons and blest them, and then Laban turned around and went back to his home.

Chapter 32

¹ Well, just as Jacob [was about to] continue on his journey, he looked up and he saw the camp of the army of God, and a messenger of God [coming to] meet him. ² So when Jacob saw this, he said:
‘This [place] is the campground of God!’

So he named that place MahaNahim (The Campgrounds).

³ Then Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir and the country of the Edomites. ⁴ He told them to say to Esau:
‘Lord, this is what your servant Jacob has said: I have visited with Laban and stayed there until now. ⁵ And [during this time], oxen, burros, sheep, and male and female servants were born to me. Now I’ve sent [my messengers] to beg you, my lord Esau, to help your servant find favor in your eyes.’

⁶ Well, the messengers then returned to Jacob and they told him:
‘We found your brother Esau, and {Look!} now he’s coming to meet you with four hundred men!’

⁷ Well, Jacob was upset and terrified by this. So he divided the people that were with him, as well as the cattle, camels, and sheep, into two camps. ⁸ And Jacob said:
‘If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the other camp will survive.’

⁹ Then Jacob [prayed]:
‘O Jehovah, the God of my father AbraHam and the God of my father IsaAc… You’re the One who told me to get up and return to the land where I was born, and that You would treat me well. ¹⁰ So, please remember all the justice and truth that You’ve brought about through Your servant.

‘Now, with this walking stick of mine, I have crossed the JorDan [River] divided into two camps. ¹¹ So, please save me from the hands of my brother – from the hands of Esau – because I’m afraid of him, since [he may] enjoy coming here to strike me down with the mothers and the children. ¹² [Don't forget that] you told me that You will treat me well and make my seed as the sands of the seas… so many that they can’t be counted.’

¹³ Well, after sleeping there that night, [Jacob selected] gifts to be carried to his brother Esau. ¹⁴ [He sent] two hundred nanny goats, twenty billy goats, two hundred sheep, twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty milk camels and their foals, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty burros, and ten colts. ¹⁶ He gave them to his servants and said to them:
‘Go ahead of me… and leave a space between each of the herds.’

¹⁷ Then he told the first group:
‘If you meet my brother Esau, and he asks, Who sent you, where are you headed, and whose animals are [being herded] in front of you? ¹⁸ you should say, [We were sent by] your servant Jacob. He is sending these as gifts to his lord Esau… {Look!} he’s [traveling] behind us.’

¹⁹ Then he gave the same instructions to the second group and then to the third… to everyone who traveled ahead of him (following the herds). He said:
‘This is what you should tell Esau when you find him… ²⁰ Look! Your servant Jacob is following behind us. For I want to impress Esau with the gifts that [are being sent] ahead of me, so I can see him face to face and hope that he will accept me.’

²¹ So the gifts were then sent out ahead of him, as he spent [part of] the night there in the camp.

²² But then, during the night, he got up and took his two women, the two female servants, and his eleven children, and they all crossed the Jaboch River… ²³ he led them and all his possessions through that raging river.

²⁴ It was there that, while Jacob was all by himself, a man came and wrestled with him until the next morning. ²⁵ [And when the man] saw that he wasn’t going to win, he touched the upper part of Jacob’s thigh, which became numb as they wrestled. ²⁶ Then [the man] told [Jacob]:
‘Let me go, because the sun is coming up!’

But [Jacob] said:
‘I’m not going to let you go until you give me a blessing!’

²⁷ So [the man] asked:
‘What is your name?’

And he answered:
‘Jacob.’

²⁸ And [the man] said to him:
‘Your name will no longer be Jacob. Rather, IsraEl will be your name; for you’ve grown stronger with God and mightier with men.’

²⁹ Then Jacob said:
‘Tell me your name.’

And he said:
‘Why do you [have to] ask my name?’

So He blest him there, ³⁰ and Jacob named that place, PeniEl (Face of God); for he said:
‘I’ve now seen God face to face and survived.’

³¹ Well, the sun was up by the time he left PeniEl (the place where he had been stopped by his thigh). ³² And this is why, to this very day, the children of IsraEl will never eat the part of meat that is on the thigh… because, that was the place on Jacob’s thigh that [God’s messenger] had numbed.

Chapter 33

¹ Well, when Jacob looked up, {Look!} he saw his brother Esau coming with four hundred men. So Jacob divided the children between LeAh, RachEl, and the two female servants. ² Then he put the two female servants and their children out in front, followed by LeAh and her children, then RachEl, and [finally, himself] at the rear… ³ but then Jacob stepped out ahead of them all and bowed to the ground seven times, as he approached his brother.

⁴ Well at that, Esau ran up to meet him! He hugged him, fell around his neck and kissed him… and they both started crying.

⁵ Then when Esau noticed the women and children, he asked: ‘What are they to you?’

And Jacob replied: ‘They’re the children with which God has so mercifully blest your servant.’

⁶ Then the female servants and their children came up and bowed low, ⁷ followed by LeAh and her children who also came up and bowed low. And finally RachEl [arrived] and bowed down next to JoSeph.

⁸ So [Esau] asked:
‘Then, what did all those groups that I met along the way have to do with you?’

And [Jacob] replied:
‘This was done so that your servant might find favor in your eyes, my lord.’

⁹ Then Esau said:
‘But I [already own] much, my brother. Keep what is yours!’

¹⁰ And Jacob said:
‘If I’ve found favor in your eyes, take the gifts from my hands; for seeing your face is like seeing the face of God. If you are happy with me, ¹¹ take the blessings that I’ve brought to you, because God has been merciful to me, and I have everything.’

And he kept insisting, so [Esau] took them. ¹² Then he said:
‘Now, let’s head back.’

¹³ But [Jacob] said:
‘My lord; You know that the children are frail, and the flocks and herds that I’ve brought also have [many] young ones. So if I drive them hard today, these cattle will die. ¹⁴ Therefore, my lord; go on ahead of your servant… I’ll take it easy along the way, so [I’ll have] enough strength [to make the long journey] that’s still ahead of me, and so that the children will have enough strength. Then I will [meet up with] my lord at Seir.’

¹⁵ And Esau said:
‘Then, let me leave some of my men with you.’

And [Jacob] asked:
‘Why? It’s enough that I’ve found your favor, my lord!’

¹⁶ So Esau returned to Seir that day, ¹⁷ and Jacob returned to the tents that he had set up to live in… and he also built pens for his cattle. So he named that place, SucCoth (The Pens).

¹⁸ Finally, Jacob arrived at Salem (Shechem’s city) in the land of CanaAn after traveling all the way from MesoPotamia of Syria. So he went to [the city gate] ¹⁹ and bought the field where he had pitched his tent from Hamor (the father of Shechem) for a hundred lambs. ²⁰ And there he erected an altar, where he called upon his (IsraEl’s) God.

Chapter 34

¹ Well, DinAh, the daughter that LeAh bore to Jacob, went to see the daughters of the local people. ² And Shechem, the son of Hamor the Tent Dweller (and the ruler of the land), noticed her. Then he humiliated her by taking her and [having sex] with her. ³ Yet, he was deeply drawn to the person of DinAh, Jacob’s daughter… he loved the girl and spoke kindly to her. ⁴ So Shechem told his father Hamor:
‘Take this girl for me to be my woman.’

⁵ Well, when Jacob heard that Hamor’s son had violated his daughter DinAh, he sent for his sons who were out in the fields with his cattle. And Jacob didn’t say a word until they all got there.

⁶ Then Hamor, Shechem’s father, went over to talk to Jacob, ⁷ arriving just as Jacob’s sons were returning from the fields.

Well, when [Jacob’s sons] heard [what had happened], they were very upset. It really hurt them, because he’d made a joke of IsraEl by [having sex] with Jacob’s daughter… it just shouldn’t have happened.

⁸ But Hamor spoke to them and said:
‘My son Shechem has decided in his heart to marry your daughter. So, give her to him to be his woman… ⁹ come and marry among us. Give us your daughters, and take our daughters for your sons… ¹⁰ come live among us! Look, there’s plenty of room for you, so live here in this land… trade [with us] and prosper here!’

¹¹ Then Shechem said to [DinAh’s] father and brothers:
‘I’ll do whatever I must to find your favor, and we’ll give you whatever you ask. ¹² Raise the bride price several times and I’ll pay whatever you say. Just give me this girl to be my woman!’

¹³ However, Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor cunningly, because he had violated their sister DinAh. ¹⁴ DinAh’s brothers (SimeOn and Levi) said to them:
‘We won’t be able to give our sister to someone who isn’t circumcised, because that would dishonor us. ¹⁵ The only way we can do what you say and live among you, is if you will become as we are… all your males must be circumcised. ¹⁶ Then we will give our daughters to you and take your daughters as our women and live with you as one race. ¹⁷ But if you refuse to listen and won’t get circumcised, we will just take our [sister] and leave.’

¹⁸ Well, what they said was agreeable to Hamor and his son Shechem. ¹⁹ And the young man didn’t delay when it came to doing this thing, because he was really attached to Jacob’s daughter. He was indeed the most honorable person in his father’s house.

²⁰ So then, Hamor and his son Shechem walked out to the city gate and they said to the men who were there:

²¹ ‘These are peaceable people, so let them live with us here in our land and trade in it. Look! There’s a lot of land before them; so, we will take their daughters to be our women and we’ll give them our daughters. ²² The only thing that they require to live among us as one people, is that all our males must be circumcised, just as they are circumcised. ²³ And then, won’t their cattle, their herds, and their possessions be ours? So, let’s do what they say and then they will live among us!’

²⁴ Well, everyone who was there at the city gate listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and thereafter, the foreskins of all the males were circumcised. ²⁵ But on the third day, while they were all aching in pain, Jacob’s two sons (DinAh’s brothers, SimeOn and Levi) each took their swords and crept into the city, then they killed every male… ²⁶ they killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, and then they took DinAh from Shechem’s house and left.

²⁷ Then when Jacob’s [other] sons came upon those who were wounded, they ravaged the city where DinAh (their sister) had been violated… ²⁸ they took all the sheep, oxen, burros, and everything in the city, as well as everything that was in their fields. ²⁹ Then they took all the people as captives (all their provisions and all their women) and they looted whatever was left in their city and in their homes.

³⁰ Well afterward, Jacob said to SimeOn and Levi:
‘You have made me an evil and hated [person] among the people who live in this land… all the CanaAnites and the Pherezites. And now, since there are only a few of us, they will band against me and cut me to pieces, destroying both me and my house!’

³¹ And they replied:
‘Not so! Would [you rather] have them treat our sister as a whore?’

Chapter 35

¹ Then The God told Jacob:
‘You must get up and go to the place [you named] BethEl, and live there. And then you must build an altar to the God that appeared to you there when you were running from your brother Esau.’

² So Jacob told his family and everyone that lived with him:
‘You must get rid of any strange gods that you may have, then wash yourselves, change your clothes, ³ and get ready, because we’re going up to BethEl, where we will build an altar to the God who listened to me, was with me, and kept me safe through my journeys and trials.’

⁴ So they gave Jacob all the strange gods that they owned and the earrings in their ears; and Jacob buried [these things] under a turpentine tree at Shechem, where they’ve remained destroyed down to this day.

⁵ Then IsraEl left Shechem, and because the cities around them had the fear of The God in them, they didn’t chase after the children of IsraEl.

⁶ Well, Jacob and all the people that were with him finally arrived at Luza in the land of CanaAn, which [he had earlier named] BethEl; ⁷ for it was there that he had built an altar and called it ‘the House of God,’ since that’s the place where God appeared to him as he was running from his brother Esau.

⁸ Well, thereafter, RebecKa’s nurse DeborAh died, and she was buried under an oak tree in BethEl that Jacob then named, AlLon-BaCuth (Oak Tree of Mourning).

⁹ It was at Luza that God appeared to Jacob as he was on his way back from MesoPotamia of Syria, and that’s when God blest him ¹⁰ and told him:
‘You will no longer be called Jacob; IsraEl will be your name.’

So, that’s when [God] first referred to him as IsraEl.

¹¹ Then The God said to him:
‘I am your God, so prosper and grow… nations and groups of nations will descend from you, and kings will come from your loins. ¹² I will now give this land to you that I gave to AbraHam and IsaAc, as well as to the seed that descends from you.’

¹³ Then The God left him there in that place where He spoke to him. ¹⁴ And Jacob erected a [stone] pillar [to honor] the place where he had been spoken to by God, pouring a drink offering and oil upon it. ¹⁵ And that’s when Jacob actually named this place where God spoke to him, BethEl (House of God).

¹⁶ [Well, after DeborAh died], Jacob left BethEl and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Gader. And as they were getting close to ChabRatha, on their way to EphRatha, RachEl had birth pains and then she went into hard labor. ¹⁷ And it was while she was in hard labor that the midwife told her, ‘Don’t worry, you’re going to have this son!’

¹⁸ Then, as she was giving up her life (she was dying), she named him BenOni (Son of My Pain). However, his father named him BenJamin (Son of My Right Hand).

¹⁹ So RachEl died there and was buried along the road to EphRatha (BethLehem). ²⁰ And Jacob erected a pillar over her tomb, [which is referred to as] The Pillar of RachEl’s Tomb to this day.

²¹ It was while IsraEl was living in this land that ReuBen went and [had sex] with BalLa, his father’s (Jacob’s) concubine. And when IsraEl heard about this, it really upset him.

²² Now, there were twelve sons of Jacob. ²³ The sons of LeAh were Jacob’s first-born ReuBen, then SimeOn, Levi, Judah, IshSachar, and ZebuLon. ²⁴ The sons of RachEl were JoSeph and BenJamin. ²⁵ The sons of BalLa (RachEl’s handmaid) were Dan and NaphTali. ²⁶ And the sons of ZelPha (Leah’s handmaid) were Gad and Asher. These sons were born to Jacob in MesoPotamia of Syria.

²⁷ Then Jacob returned to his father IsaAc in MamRe, to a city of the plains [called] Hebron (in the land of CanaAn), where AbraHam and IsaAc had stayed. ²⁸ For IsaAc had lived a hundred and eighty years ²⁹ before he stopped breathing and died. Then his sons Esau and Jacob buried him beside his family, after he had lived a long and full life.

Chapter 36

¹ And these are the generations of Esau (or Edom):

² Esau took these women from the daughters of theCanaAnites: There was Ada (the daughter of AiLom the Kettite), OliBema (the daughter of Ana [who was] the son of SebeGon the Hivite), ³ and BaseMath (the daughter of IshMaEl and the sister of NabaiOth).

⁴ Ada bore EliPhas to [Esau], BaseMath bore RaguEl, ⁵ and OliBema bore Jeus, Jeglom, and Core. These were Esau’s sons that were born to him in the land of CanaAn.

⁶ Then Esau took his women, his sons, his daughters, and everyone in his house, along with all his possessions, all his cattle… yes, everything that he had and absolutely everything that he’d acquired in the land of CanaAn, and he left the land of CanaAn [to get away from] his brother Jacob, ⁷ because they had both acquired so much that they could no longer live close to each other; for the land where they were staying couldn’t hold them, since they had so much. ⁸ So Esau [went to live] at Mount Seir (Esau is Edom).

⁹ These are the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites, when [he lived at] Mount Seir, ¹⁰ and these are the names of Esau’s [grand]sons through EliPhas (Ada’s son) and RaguEl (BaseMath’s son).

¹¹ The [grand]sons of Ada through EliPhas were ThaEman, Omar, Sophar, Gothom, and Kenez. ¹² Also, ThamNa (EliPhas’ concubine) bore Amalec to him.

¹³ The [grand]sons of BaseMath through RaguEl were NachOth, ZaRe, SoMe, and MoZe.

¹⁴ These are the sons of Esau’s woman OliBema (the daughter of Ana, who was the son of SebeGon): She bore JeUs, JegLom, and CoRe to Esau.

¹⁵ These are the chiefs of EliPhas, the first-born of Esau: Chief ThaEman, Chief Omar, Chief Sophar, Chief Kenez, ¹⁶ Chief CoRe, Chief Gothom, and Chief Amalec. They are the chiefs of [the family of] EliPhas (the sons of Ada), in the land of Edom.

¹⁷ And these are the chiefs of RaguEl, the son of Esau: Chief NachOth, Chief ZaRe, Chief SoMe, and Chief MoZe. They are the chiefs of [the family of] RaguEl (the sons of BaseMath) in the land of Edom.

¹⁸ And these are the chiefs of OliBema (the daughter of Ana), Esau’s woman: Chief JeUs, Chief JegLom, and Chief CoRe.

¹⁹ These were the sons of Esau. They are [all] chiefs, and they are [all] the sons of Edom.

²⁰ These are the sons of SeIr the ChorRhite who lived in the land:
LoTan, SoBal, SebeGon, Ana, ²¹ DeSon, Asar, and Rison.

And these are the chiefs of the son of SeIr the ChorRhite, in the land of Edom:
²² The sons of LoTan and his sister ThamNa were ChorRhi and HaEman. ²³ The sons of SoBal were GoLam, ManaChath, GaEbel, Sophar, and Omar. ²⁴ The sons of SebeGon were Aie, and Ana (this is the same Ana who found Jamin in the desert when he was tending his father SebeGon’s animals).

²⁵ Ana’s children were DeSon (his son) and OliBema (his daughter).

²⁶ DeSon’s sons were Amada, AsBan, IthRan, and CharRhan. ²⁷ Asar’s sons were BalaAm, ZuCam, and JuCam. ²⁸ Rison’s sons were Hos, and Aran.

²⁹ These are the chiefs of the ChorRites:
Chief LoTan, Chief SoBal, Chief SebeGon, Chief Ana, ³⁰ Chief DeSon, Chief Asar, and Chief Rison. They are the chiefs of the ChorRites in their own principalities in the land of Edom.

³¹ These are the kings that reigned in Edom before [the time of] the kings of IsraEl:
³² Balac (the son of Beor) reigned in Edom, and his [capital] city was DenNaba. ³³ After Balac died, Jobab (the son of Zara from BosorRha) reigned in his stead. ³⁴ After Jobab died, Asom (from the land of the ThaEmanites) reigned in his stead. ³⁵ After Asom died, Adad (the son of Barad, who cut off Midian in the plain of Moab) reigned in his stead. And his [capital] city was GetThaim.

³⁶ After Adad died, SaMada of MasSecca reigned in his stead. ³⁷ After SaMada died, Saul of RhoObOth by the River reigned in his stead. ³⁸ After Saul died, BalLenon (the son of AchObor) reigned in his stead. ³⁹ After BalLenon died, Arad (the son of Barad) reigned in his stead. The name of his [capital] city was Phogor, and the name of his woman was MeteBeel (the daughter of MatraIth, who was the son of MaiZoOb).

⁴⁰ These are the names of the tribal chiefs of Esau in their areas, countries, and nations:
Chief ThamNa, Chief Gola, Chief Jether, ⁴¹ Chief OliBema, Chief Helas, Chief Phinon, ⁴² Chief Kenez, Chief ThaEman, Chief Mazar, ⁴³ Chief MagediEl, and Chief Zaphoin. They are the chiefs of Edom in the areas where they live and in the lands that they own. And this is Esau, the father of [all] Edom.

⁴⁴ However, Jacob lived in the land where his father stayed, the land of CanaAn.

Chapter 37

¹ And these are the generations of Jacob:

² When JoSeph was seventeen years old (and because he was so young), he was accompanied by his brothers (the sons of his father’s women BalLa and ZelPha) as he grazed the sheep. And [at the time], they had been speaking of their father IsraEl in an evil way because of JoSeph, ³ since Jacob loved JoSeph more than the rest of his sons (he was the son of his old age). And because [Jacob] had just made a multi-colored coat for him, ⁴ his brothers could see that their father loved him more, so they hated him and they never spoke to him in a peaceful way.

⁵ Then JoSeph had a dream, and he told his brothers about it. ⁶ He said, ‘Listen to what I dreamed: ⁷ I saw you bundling stalks of grain in the middle of the field; and then suddenly my bundle stood straight up, and your bundles turned around and bowed low before mine.’

⁸ So his brothers asked:
‘[Does this mean] that you’re going to rule over us and you’re going to be our master?’

Well, this dream and the things he said made them hate him even more.

⁹ Then [JoSeph] had another dream, and he told his father and brothers about it, saying:
‘{Look!} I had another dream in which the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me.’

¹⁰ Well, his father scolded him over this, and he asked:
‘What kind of a dream is that? Do you think that your mother, brothers, and I will come and bow to the ground before you?’

¹¹ Nevertheless, although his brothers were jealous of him, his father still paid attention to the things that he was saying.

¹² Well, one day, JoSeph's brothers went to Shechem to graze their father’s sheep. ¹³ And IsraEl said to JoSeph:
‘Your brothers are grazing the flocks at Shechem and I want you to go to them.’

And he replied:
‘Look, here I am.’

¹⁴ So IsraEl said:
‘Go there to see if your brothers and the sheep are doing well, then come back and report to me.’

So he sent him from the HebRon Valley to Shechem.

¹⁵ Well, a man later found JoSeph wandering in the fields and asked him:
‘What are you looking for?’

¹⁶ And he said:
‘I’m looking for my brothers. Tell me where they are grazing [their flocks].’

¹⁷ And the man said:
‘They’ve left here. I heard them say, Let’s go to Dothaim.’

So JoSeph went after his brothers, and he found them in Dothaim. ¹⁸ However, they had spotted him in the distance before he got there, so they got together and wickedly started talking about killing him. ¹⁹ They were saying to each other:
‘Look, here comes the dreamer! ²⁰ Come on, let’s kill him and then throw his [body] into a ravine. We can say, An evil wild animal ate him… then let’s see what his dreams amount to.’

²¹ But when ReuBen heard this, he saved [JoSeph] from them by saying, ‘Let’s not kill him.’ ²² Then [he suggested]:
‘Don’t shed [his] blood; let’s throw him into one of these deep crevices in the desert… but don’t lay a hand on him.’

([Reuben] said this so that he could save [JoSeph] from them and return him safely to his father).

²³ Well, when JoSeph reached his brothers, they took off the multi-colored coat that he was wearing, ²⁴ then they threw him into a deep crevice that was empty and didn’t have any water. ²⁵ And after that, they sat down to eat some bread.

Thereafter, when they looked up, they noticed {Look!} an IshMaElite caravan that was coming from GileAd (their camels were loaded down with spices, resin, and myrrh that they were carrying to Egypt). ²⁶ And Judah said to his brothers:
‘What profit would it bring us if we kill our brother and just cover it up? ²⁷ Let’s sell him to these IshMaElites instead. We don’t want to lay a hand on him, because he’s our brother and our own flesh.’

Well, his brothers listened to this; ²⁸ so as the merchants of Midian were traveling by, [his brothers] pulled JoSeph out of the crevice and sold him to the IshMaElites for twenty gold coins… and [the IshMaElites] took JoSeph [with them] down to Egypt.

²⁹ Then, when ReuBen later returned to the crevice and saw that JoSeph wasn’t there, he started ripping his clothes. ³⁰ So he went to his brothers and said:
‘The boy isn’t [there]… where do I have to go [to find him]?’

³¹ Well after that, the men killed a young goat and dipped JoSeph’s coat in its blood. ³² Then they took JoSeph's multi-colored coat to their father and said:
‘We found this… do you recognize it as your son’s coat or not?’

Well, he recognized it and said:
‘It is my son’s coat! An evil wild animal has surely eaten him… a wild animal has carried off JoSeph!’

³³ Then Jacob tore his clothes and covered the lower part of his body with sackcloth; and thereafter, he spent a long time mourning over his son. ³⁴ Although all of his sons and daughters went there to comfort him, he didn’t want to be comforted. He said:
‘I will go to my grave mourning my son.’

And his father kept crying over him.

³⁵ Well, when they got to Egypt, the Midianites sold JoSeph to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s councilor and captain of the guard.

Chapter 38

¹ [Well, after all of this had happened], Judah left his brothers and he traveled for some distance, arriving [at the home] of an OdolLamite named Iras. ² And while he was there, Judah found the daughter of a CanaAnite man named Sava. He took her [as his woman] and [slept] with her, ³ and she got pregnant. Then she gave birth to a son whom she named Er. ⁴ And after that, she got pregnant again and gave birth to a son whom she named AuNan. ⁵ Then she gave birth to a [third] son whom she named SeLom (she was living in Chasbi when she gave birth to them).

⁶ [Well, sometime later], Judah took a woman named Tamar to be the wife of his first-born son, Er. ⁷ But Er was wicked before Jehovah, so God killed him. ⁸ Then Judah told Aunan:
‘You must go and [have sex] with your brother’s woman… since you’re her brother-in-law, you must take her so [she can] raise a seed for your brother.’

⁹ However, Aunan knew that the seed wouldn’t be [counted as] his. So when he [had sex with] his brother’s woman, he spilled [his semen] on the ground, so his brother’s woman wouldn’t [get pregnant]. ¹⁰ And his doing this appeared evil to God, so He killed him also.

¹¹ Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar:
‘Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son SeLom grows up… for I don’t want him to die like his brothers.’

So Tamar left and went to stay in her father’s home.

¹² Well, after several years, Judah’s woman Sava died. So while Judah was looking for comfort, he went to see his sheep shearers at ThamNa, along with his Shepherd, Iras the OdolLamite. ¹³ And when his daughter-in-law Tamar was told, ‘{Look!} Your father-in-law is going up to ThamNa to shear his sheep,’ ¹⁴ she took off her widow’s clothes, put on a veil and made up her face, and she went to sit by the gate of [the town of] AiNan, along the road that leads to ThamNa. She did this because [Judah’s son] Selom had already grown up and [Judah] hadn’t given [Tamar] to be his son’s woman.

¹⁵ Well, when Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, because she had her face covered and he didn’t recognize her. ¹⁶ So he stopped and said to her (not knowing that she was his daughter-in-law):
‘Let me [have sex with] you.’

And she asked:
‘What will you give to [have sex] with me?’

¹⁷ And he said:
‘I’ll send you a young goat from my flock.’

And she told him:
‘You must provide me some assurance that you’ll send it.’

¹⁸ So he asked:
‘What kind of assurance can I give you?’

And she said:
‘Give me your ring, your bracelet, and the walking stick you’re holding.’

So he gave them to her, [had sex with] her, and she got pregnant by him. ¹⁹ Then she got up and took off her veil, put her widow’s clothes back on, and left that place.

²⁰ Well later, Judah sent the young goat with his shepherd (the OdolLamite), to get back the things that he had left with the woman… but he couldn’t find her. ²¹ So he asked the local men:
‘Where’s that prostitute who used to sit by the road [here at] AiNan?’

And they replied:
‘There was no prostitute here.’

²² So he returned to Judah and said:
‘I couldn’t find her, and the local men say there wasn’t any prostitute there.’

²³ Then Judah told him:
‘Let her have [those things]. Although I sent the young goat, you couldn’t find her; so let’s not leave ourselves open to ridicule.’

²⁴ Well after three months, Judah was told:
‘Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the whore… and now look; she’s pregnant by her whoring!’

So Judah said:
‘Then drag her out and have her burned!’

²⁵ But as they were dragging her out, she called out to her father-in-law, and said:
‘I’m pregnant by the man who owns these things… just whose ring, bracelet, and walking stick are these?’

²⁶ Well, Judah recognized them [as his] and said:
‘Tamar is innocent… but not me, because I didn’t give her to my son Selom.’

And that was the last time [Judah had sex] with her.

²⁷ Then when she went into labor, it was found that she had twins in her womb. ²⁸ And as they were being born, one pushed his hand out. So the midwife took hold of the hand and tied some scarlet [thread around it], and said:
‘This is the firstborn.’

²⁹ But then he drew his hand back and his brother came out immediately thereafter. And she asked:
‘Why have you broken the barrier between you?’

So she named him Phares (Breach).

³⁰ It was then that his brother (around whose hand the scarlet thread was tied) was born. And she named him Zara (Scarlet).

Chapter 39

¹ Meanwhile, JoSeph was down in Egypt, where he had been bought by an Egyptian named Potiphar (Pharaoh’s councilor and captain of the guard). He had bought him from the IshMaElites who had carried him there.

² But Jehovah was with JoSeph and He blest him as he was living in the house of his Egyptian master. ³ Even [Potiphar] recognized that Jehovah was with [JoSeph] and that He was blessing everything he did; ⁴ so JoSeph was treated kindly by him, and [JoSeph did everything he could to] please his master well.

Then before long, the man put JoSeph in charge of his whole house… he was appointed to be in charge of everything that [his master] owned. ⁵ And because he put JoSeph in charge of his house and over everything that he owned, Jehovah blest the Egyptian’s house for JoSeph’s sake. He blest everything that the man had in his house and in his fields, ⁶ because he had entrusted everything he owned into JoSeph’s hands. So the man didn’t even know what belonged to him, other than the bread that he ate.

Well, JoSeph was extremely attractive… he had an excellent body and a very handsome face. ⁷ And so, after he had been [put in charge of the house], his master’s woman eyed JoSeph and said:
‘[Have sex] me.’

⁸ However, he wouldn’t. For he told his master’s woman:
‘Look, it’s because of me that my master doesn’t even know what’s going on in his own house! He has put everything that he owns into my hands. ⁹ Nobody in this house is over me, nor has anything been withheld from me, except you… and you’re his woman! So, how could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?’

¹⁰ Still, she pleaded with JoSeph every day… but he wouldn’t listen to her requests to sleep with her.

¹¹ Then one day, as JoSeph entered the house to do his work, he found that none of the household staff was around. ¹² That’s when she grabbed him by his clothes and said:
‘[Have sex] with me.’

But JoSeph just left his clothes there in her hands and ran from the house.

¹³ Well, when she saw that he had left his clothes in her hands and ran away, ¹⁴ the woman called [the family in] and said:
‘You see; He has brought in a Hebrew slave to make fun of us! Why, he came in and told me that he wanted to have sex with me, but I screamed. ¹⁵ And when he heard me scream, he left his clothes here and ran out of the house!’

¹⁶ So she kept the clothes close by, and when [her husband] got back home, ¹⁷ she said to him:
‘This Hebrew servant that you brought to us came here to make fun of me! He said to me, I’m going to [have sex] you. ¹⁸ But after he heard me scream, he left his clothes with me and ran out of the house.’

¹⁹ Well, when his master heard everything his woman said, he proclaimed:
‘Then he did it to me!’

²⁰ And because he was so angry, his master took JoSeph and had him thrown in prison… into the place where the king’s prisoners were kept.

²¹ Nevertheless, Jehovah was with JoSeph and He was very merciful to him. So He helped him find favor in the eyes of the prison’s warden. ²² Therefore, the warden put JoSeph in charge of the prison along with all the prisoners who were there and everything that they did. ²³ So the warden was unaware of what was going on there, because everything was in JoSeph’s hands. And Jehovah continued to bless everything that he was doing.

Chapter 40

¹ It was some time after this that the king’s chief cupbearer and his chief baker had wronged their lord, the king of Egypt. ² Pharaoh was furious with his two eunuchs (his chief cupbearer and his chief baker), ³ so he had them locked up in prison… in the same place where JoSeph was kept, ⁴ and the prison warden left them with JoSeph, who was to guard them.

Well, after they had spent some time in the prison, ⁵ they both had a dream one night. Each man had his own dream and each dream had its own interpretation.

⁶ Then the next morning when JoSeph went in to see them, they were both quite disturbed. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s eunuchs (who were there in the prison with him):
‘Why are you so sad today?’

⁸ And they replied:
‘We have [both] seen [visions] in our dreams, and nobody knows what they mean.’

So JoSeph said:
‘Doesn’t the interpretation of [dreams come] through God? Tell [me what you saw]!’

⁹ And the chief cupbearer told JoSeph his dream. He said:
‘In my dream [I saw] a vine ¹⁰ that had three stems which budded and put out blossoms; then [it formed] clusters of grapes that ripened. ¹¹ Then after that, [I found] Pharaoh’s cup in my hands. So I took the grapes and squeezed them into the cup, and then I gave the cup to Pharaoh.’

¹² Well at that, JoSeph said to him:
‘This is what [the dream] means: The three stems are three days. ¹³ So in three days, Pharaoh will remember what you did and he will give you back your position as chief cupbearer. Therefore, you will [once again] put Pharaoh’s cup in his hands, holding the same high position that you once had as his cupbearer.’

¹⁴ [Then he continued]:
‘Now, remember me when things are going well for you… be merciful to me and mention me to Pharaoh, so that I can be released from this dungeon. ¹⁵ You see; I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews. And though I’ve done nothing wrong here, I was thrown into this hole.’

¹⁶ Well, when the chief baker saw that he’d given [the first man] the right interpretation, he said to JoSeph:
‘I also had a dream. I remember looking up, and I found three baskets of bakery goods on top of my head. ¹⁷ In the top basket, there were all the kinds of things that Pharaoh enjoys. But birds in the sky came and ate them out of the basket that was on my head.’

¹⁸ Then JoSeph told him:
‘This is what it means: The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹ So in three days, Pharaoh will cut off your head and hang you on a tree, where the birds of the sky will eat your flesh.’

²⁰ Well, three days later, it was Pharaoh’s birthday when he held a banquet for all his servants. It was then that he remembered the offices that the cupbearer and the baker once held among them. ²¹ So he restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and once again he put Pharaoh’s cup into his hands. ²² However, he hanged the chief baker, just as JoSeph foretold. ²³ But then, the chief cupbearer soon forgot about JoSeph.

Chapter 41

¹ It was a full two years later that Pharaoh (likely AmenemHat 1) also had a dream. He dreamed that he was standing next to a river, ² then {Look!} he saw seven fat and good-looking cows come up out of the water to feed at the river’s edge. ³ And after that, seven more cows, which were skinny and ugly, came up out of the river to feed along its banks. ⁴ Then the seven skinny, ugly cows ate the seven fat and good-looking cows… and that’s when Pharaoh woke up.

⁵ Then he had another dream. {Look!} There were seven large and good-looking [heads] of grain that grew on a single stalk. ⁶ And {Look!} they were followed by [a stalk] with seven thin and windblown [heads] that grew up alongside them. ⁷ Then the [stalk] with the seven thin and windblown [heads] ate the ones with the seven large, good-looking [heads]… and that’s when Pharaoh woke up… and it was just a dream.

⁸ Well the next morning, he was deeply disturbed [by the dreams], so he sent for all the [dream] interpreters of Egypt and all the wise men. Pharaoh told them of his dreams, but no one could tell him what they meant. ⁹ And that’s when Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer told him:
‘I just remembered something that I’m responsible for. ¹⁰ [You were once] quite angry with your servants and you had us imprisoned in the house of the captain of the guard… both the chief baker and me. ¹¹ Each of us had a dream in that same night (both him and me)… but we each had our own dream. ¹² And there was a young man with us, a Hebrew servant of the captain of the guard, to whom we told [our dreams], and he interpreted [them] to us. ¹³ Well, everything that he said would happen, came true… I was restored to my office and [the baker] was hanged.’

¹⁴ So Pharaoh sent for JoSeph… they took him from the prison, shaved him and changed his clothes; then he went in to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ And Pharaoh said to JoSeph:
‘I had a vision that no one can interpret, and I’ve heard that you have listened to dreams and interpreted them.’

¹⁶ But JoSeph answered Pharaoh, saying:
‘Without God, [I couldn’t] give a safe answer to Pharaoh.’

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh told JoSeph:
‘In my dream, I was standing by the bank of the river. ¹⁸ Then out of the river came seven fat and good-looking cows that fed along the river’s edge. ¹⁹ And after that, {Look!} seven more cows came up out of the river that were evil, skinny, and ugly… I’ve never seen worse in the entire land of Egypt. ²⁰ Then the seven skinny, ugly cows ate the seven fat and good-looking cows… ²¹ they swallowed them down whole; yet, I couldn’t see that they had gone into their stomachs, because they still looked as ugly as they did before.

‘And after I woke up, I went to sleep again. ²² Then I saw what looked like seven large, good-looking [heads] of grain growing from a single stalk. ²³ And [after that, I saw] seven more [heads] that were thin and windblown, coming up next to them. ²⁴ Then the seven thin and wind-blown [heads] ate the seven large, good-looking [heads]. Now, I told all this to the [dream] interpreters, but none of them could explain it to me.’

²⁵ So JoSeph told Pharaoh:
‘Both of your dreams are the same, for The God has shown Pharaoh what He’s going to do.

²⁶ ‘The seven good-looking cows mean seven years, and the seven good-looking [grain heads] mean seven years… so Pharaoh’s dreams are both the same! ²⁷ Also, the seven skinny cattle that came up after them mean seven years, and the seven thin and windblown [heads] mean seven years… therefore, there will be seven years of famine.

²⁸ ‘Now, what I’m telling Pharaoh is that it’s God’s purpose to show you what He’s going to do. ²⁹ And look! Seven years are coming when there will be a great abundance throughout the land of Egypt; ³⁰ but they will be followed by seven years of famine, which will be so bad that the abundance Egypt had will be forgotten, and famine will consume the land. ³¹ Yes, the abundance in the land will be gone because of the famine that will follow, since it’s going to be an extremely bad time. ³² And the fact that Pharaoh saw the dream twice, proves that the things I’m telling you (which will come from The God) are true; for God will cause it to happen very soon!

³³ ‘Therefore, search for a wise and discerning man, and put him in charge over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Also, Pharaoh should appoint local governors over the land who must collect a fifth of all the produce in the land of Egypt during the seven abundant years. ³⁵ They must gather all the food that will come in during the seven good years, and have all the grain gathered into the hands of Pharaoh… and you must store the food in each city. ³⁶ This stored food will then [protect] the land during the seven years of famine that are coming upon Egypt, so [the country] won’t be totally destroyed by the famine.’

³⁷ Well, what [JoSeph] said appeared good to Pharaoh and to all of his servants. ³⁸ So [he] asked his servants:
‘Where can we find such a man as this… someone who has the Breath of God in him?’

³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to JoSeph:
‘Since God has shown all of these things to you; is there a man who is wiser or more discerning than you? ⁴⁰ I’ll appoint you to be over my house, and then all of my people must do whatever you say… only I will be greater than you on the throne.’

⁴¹ Then Pharaoh told JoSeph:
‘{Look!} Today, I’m putting you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.’

⁴² And at that, Pharaoh took the ring off of his hand and put it on JoSeph’s hand, [he had him dressed in] a robe of fine linen, and put a gold chain around his neck. ⁴³ Then he mounted [JoSeph] on his second-best chariot and had a herald walk in front of him to proclaim that [JoSeph] had been appointed over the whole land of Egypt.

⁴⁴ And Pharaoh said to JoSeph:
‘Although I am the Pharaoh; nobody will lift his hand anywhere in the land of Egypt without [your permission].’

⁴⁵ Thereafter, Pharaoh started calling JoSeph the Savior of the Age, and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Petephre, the priest of HelioPolis (Greek for City of the Sun), to be his woman.

⁴⁶ Well, JoSeph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.

So thereafter, JoSeph left the presence of Pharaoh and he traveled throughout the entire the land of Egypt.

⁴⁷ Well, the land did in fact produce well during the seven years of abundance… by the heaping handfuls. ⁴⁸ So during those seven years he gathered much food, because there was such abundance in the land, and he stored it away in each of the cities. He took the food that grew in the fields around each city and stored it in them. ⁴⁹ so the grain that JoSeph stored away became like the sands of the seas… so much that it couldn’t be calculated.

⁵⁰ Meanwhile, JoSeph had two sons born to him prior to the seven years of famine, by Asenath (the daughter of Petephre, the priest of HelioPolis). ⁵¹ And JoSeph named his firstborn ManasSeh (Forgotten), for he said:
‘God has made me forget all my hard work, and even the house of my father.’

⁵² Then he named his second son Ephraim (Double Fruitfulness); for he said:
‘God has caused me to grow in the land where I was humiliated.’

⁵³ Well, the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt soon passed, ⁵⁴ and then the seven years of famine began, just as JoSeph had said. However, though there was a famine throughout the entire earth, there was plenty [in Egypt]. ⁵⁵ Then, when the people of Egypt got hungry, they called out to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to [them]:
‘Go to JoSeph and do whatever he tells you to do.’

⁵⁶ Well, before long, the famine covered the entire earth; so JoSeph opened all the granaries and sold [the stored grain] to the Egyptians. ⁵⁷ Then all the countries roundabout started coming to Egypt to buy [food] from JoSeph, because the famine had become [so widespread].

Chapter 42

¹ Now, Jacob had noticed that they were still selling [grain] in Egypt. So he said to his sons:
‘Why don’t you do something? ² Look; I’ve heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go there and buy us a little food, so we don’t starve to death.’

³ Therefore, JoSeph’s ten brothers went down to Egypt to purchase grain. ⁴ However, JoSeph’s brother BenJamin wasn’t sent along with his brothers, ‘So he doesn’t get sick,’ Jacob said.

⁵ Of course, the Sons of IsraEl [traveled along with] many others to buy [grain], because the famine had affected the entire land of CanaAn.

⁶ Well, since JoSeph was the ruler of the land, he’s the one who sold [food] to all the people who were coming from these lands; so JoSeph’s brothers came to him and had to bow with their faces to the ground before him. ⁷ But when JoSeph saw his brothers (because he recognized them), he hid himself in front of them and spoke harshly to them, asking:
‘Where are you coming from?

And they replied:
‘[We came from] the land of CanaAn to buy food.’

⁸ Well, although JoSeph recognized his brothers, they didn’t recognize him. ⁹ Then JoSeph remembered his dreams and the things that he saw, and he said to them:
‘You are spies… you’ve come here to spy in our land!’

¹⁰ But they said:
‘No Sir; we’re just your servants who have come to buy food! ¹¹ We’re all the sons of one man and we are peace loving… your servants aren’t spies!’

¹² And he said to them:
‘No, you’ve come to spy [in our] land!’

¹³ Then they replied:
‘Your servants were once twelve brothers from the land of CanaAn. The youngest [of us] is with our father right now… but the other one is no more.’

¹⁴ Then JoSeph argued:
‘It’s just as I said; you’re spies! ¹⁵ Here’s how I will prove it: By the health of Pharaoh, you aren’t going to leave until your younger brother comes here. ¹⁶ One of you can go to get your brother, but the rest of you will stay in jail until what you’ve said can be [proven]… whether you’re telling the truth or not. And if not, then by the health of Pharaoh, you really are spies!’

¹⁷ So he had them all locked up in jail for three days. ¹⁸ Then on the third day, he said:
‘Do this and you will live, because I fear the gods (gr. ton Theon): ¹⁹ If you really are peace loving, I’ll allow just one of your brothers to be held in jail. So now, go and carry the grain that you bought [back to your home]. ²⁰ Then bring your younger brother to me, and I will believe what you said. But if you don’t, you will all die!’

And that’s what they did.

²¹ Well, each one was saying to his brother:
‘Yes, we are to blame when it comes to our brother. We didn’t pay attention to the anguish that he was going through, and when he looked to us, we didn’t listen to him. That’s why this bad thing is happening to us!’

²² Then ReuBen said:
‘Didn’t I tell you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn’t listen to me! Now look… his blood is [being avenged]!’

²³ However, they didn’t realize that JoSeph was standing right there in front of them, because an interpreter stood between them.

²⁴ Well at that, JoSeph left them and started crying. Then he returned and spoke to them, and he took SimeOn and had him bound before their eyes.

²⁵ And thereafter, JoSeph gave orders to fill their [sacks] with grain, and to return the money to each one’s sack before giving them permission to leave. And that’s what happened… ²⁶ the grain was loaded on their burros, and then they left.

²⁷ Well, when they stopped somewhere to rest, one of them opened his sack to feed the burros, and that’s when he saw his bundle of money lying in the top of his sack. ²⁸ So he said to his brothers:
‘They’ve returned my money. Look, its all here in my sack!’

Well, they were all dumbfounded and sick at heart. And they asked each other:
‘What has God done to us?’

²⁹ And when they got back to their father Jacob (in the land of CanaAn), they told him everything that had happened to them, saying:
³⁰ ‘This man who is the lord of the land spoke harshly to us and had us put in jail as spies. ³¹ But we told him that we are peaceful men… we aren’t spies. ³² We said that we are twelve brothers, the sons of our father. One [of us] is no more, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of CanaAn. ³³ However, this man who is the lord of the land said to us, Here’s how I will know that you are peaceful: Leave one of your brothers here with me and take the grain you bought, then return to your family ³⁴ and bring your younger brother to me so I will know that you aren’t spies, but men of peace. Then you can have your brother back and you can trade in this land.

³⁵ ‘But, as we were emptying our sacks, each man found his bundle of money inside his sack.’

So they [showed] their father their bundles of money, and they were all frightened.

³⁶ Then their father (Jacob) said to them:
‘Now you’ve made me very sad, for JoSeph is no more and neither is SimeOn. So, are you going to take BenJamin away also? [Why have] all these [bad] things come upon me?’

³⁷ Then ReuBen said to his father:
‘You can kill my two sons if I don’t bring him back to you. Give him to me, and I’ll bring him back!’

³⁸ But [Jacob] said:
‘I won’t allow my son to go with you, because his brother is already dead, and he’s the only one left. What if something happens to him on the way? This would bring such sorrow upon me in my old age that it would lead me to my grave.’

Chapter 43

¹ However, the famine continued in the land. ² And so, after they had finished eating the grain that they’d brought from Egypt, their father told them:
‘Go there to buy us a little food again.’

³ But Judah said to him:
‘That man who’s the lord of the land absolutely warned us, saying, You may not see my face again unless you have your younger brother with you. ⁴ So, if you’ll send our brother with us, we’ll go and buy you food. ⁵ But if you won’t send our brother with us, we won’t go.’

⁶ Then IsraEl asked:
‘Why did you do so much harm to me by telling the man that you had a brother?’

⁷ And they replied:
‘The man asked a lot of questions about our family. He asked, Is your father still alive? and, Do you have you a brother? All we did was answer his questions! How could we know that he would tell us to bring our brother?’

⁸ Then Judah said to his father IsraEl:
‘Send the boy with me and we’ll go… so we don’t all [starve] to death! ⁹ I’ll be responsible for him, and you can hold me to blame if anything happens to him. If I don’t return him and stand him before you, I will be guilty before you through the age. ¹⁰ If we hadn’t been delaying, we could could have already have gone there a second time!’

¹¹ And their father IsraEl said to them:
‘If that’s the case, then do this: Take along the fruit of the land in your sacks. Carry gifts of gum, honey, frankincense, oil of myrrh, turpentine, and walnuts to the man. ¹² Also, carry twice as much money – in addition to the money that was put back in your sacks – just in case that was a mistake. ¹³ Then take your brother along and go down to the man. ¹⁴ May my God allow you to find favor in the eyes of that man, so he sends you home with your other brother and BenJamin. For I’ve been saddened, and I’m very sad now.’

¹⁵ So the men loaded up their gifts and took twice as much money, as well as BenJamin, and headed down to Egypt, where they soon stood before JoSeph.

¹⁶ Well, when JoSeph saw them and his brother BenJamin (who was born to the same mother), he told his house manager:
‘Bring the men into [my] house, then butcher some animals and prepare them, because these men are to eat bread with me at noon.’

¹⁷ So the man did just as JoSeph said, and he brought them into JoSeph’s house.

¹⁸ Well, when the men realized that they had been taken to the house of JoSeph, they said:
‘We’ve been brought here because of the money that was returned to our sacks the first time. [This is being done] so witnesses can be called and we can be charged [with a crime]… then they will confiscate our burros and take us as slaves!’

¹⁹ So they went up to the man who was in charge of JoSeph’s house and spoke to him out on the porch. ²⁰ They said:
‘We are begging you, sir… we just came the first time to buy food. ²¹ But, as we were unloading and opening our sacks, [we found] this money in each sack. We have the full amount of money in our hands [and we wish] to return it. ²² We’ve also brought more money along to buy food with… we don’t know who put the money in our sacks!’

²³ And [the man] replied:
‘May God be merciful with you. Don’t be afraid, for it was your God and the God of your ancestors who put the treasures in your sacks. I have enough of your good money!’

Then he brought SimeOn out to them… ²⁴ as well as water to wash their feet and fodder for their burros.

²⁵ And after that, they started preparing their gifts for JoSeph’s arrival at noon, because they heard that he was going to dine there. ²⁶ So when JoSeph came home, they brought him the gifts that they had carried into the house… and then they bowed with their faces to the ground.

²⁷ Well he asked them:
‘How are you? Is your father, the old man that you spoke of, well? Is he still living?’

²⁸ And they replied:
‘Our father, your servant, is well. And yes, he’s still alive.’

Then JoSeph said:
‘May that man of God be blest!’

And at that, they all bowed low to show him respect.

²⁹ It was then that JoSeph looked up and saw his brother BenJamin (who was born to the same mother). And he asked:
‘Is this the younger brother that you said you would bring to me?’

Then he said:
‘May God have mercy on you, my son.’

³⁰ Well, JoSeph’s emotions overcame him, because he missed his brother so much, and he wanted to cry. So he went to his inner room and cried there. ³¹ Then he washed his face and regained his composure, and came out and said:
‘Now, bring on the bread!’

³² So they set out bread for JoSeph, for his servants, and for the Egyptians who were eating with him, but not for [his brothers], because the Egyptians considered it dishonorable to eat bread with Hebrews. ³³ They just sat there in front of him (in the order of their ages, from the firstborn to the youngest), as the brothers looked at each other in astonishment.

34 Thereafter, JoSeph gave them their portions to eat by themselves. However, BenJamin received five times as much as did the rest. They also drank with him until each one was full.

Chapter 44

¹ Then JoSeph gave instructions to his house manager. He said:
‘Now, fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each one’s money in the top of his sack. ² Also, put my silver cup in the sack that belongs to the youngest, along with the price of his grain.’

So, he did exactly as JoSeph said. ³ Then the next morning, the men and their burros were sent away.

⁴ Well, after they left the city (but before they had traveled very far), JoSeph said to his house manager:
‘Now, get up and chase after those men; and when you catch up with them, ask: Why have you returned evil for good… ⁵ why have you stolen my silver cup? Isn’t this the [cup] that our lord drinks from and the one that he uses to foretell the future? You’ve done an evil thing!’

⁶ So when he caught up with them, he said what [JoSeph] had told him to say. ⁷ And they replied:
‘Why is our lord saying such things? Your servants wouldn’t do anything like that. ⁸ If we returned the money to you that we found in our sacks all the way from the land of CanaAn, why would we steal silver or gold from the house of your lord? ⁹ May whichever of your servants that you find with the cup die, and then we will all be our lord’s slaves!’

¹⁰ So [JoSeph’s house manager] told them:
‘May it be just as you’ve said. But just the one who is found with the cup will be my slave… the rest of you can go free.’

¹¹ Then each man quickly took down his sack and put it on the ground, and opened their sacks. ¹² Then the man began his search, starting from the eldest to the youngest… and he found the cup in BenJamin’s sack.

¹³ Well at that, they all started ripping their clothes. Then each man put his sack back on his burro, and they all returned to the city, ¹⁴ where Judah and his brothers went to see JoSeph, who was [still at home].

There they fell to the ground before him, ¹⁵ and JoSeph asked them:
‘What have you done? Didn’t you realize that a man like me can see the future?’

¹⁶ And Judah replied:
‘What can we say to you, our lord? What can we say that will justify us? God has uncovered the unrighteousness of your servants. Look! We’re now our lord’s slaves… both us and the one who was found with your cup!’

¹⁷ But JoSeph said:
‘I wouldn’t do anything like that… just the man who was found with my cup will be my slave. [The rest of you] may return home safely to your father.’

¹⁸ Then Judah came up to him and said:
‘I beg you, sir; Allow your servant to say something to you, and don’t get angry, because you are next to Pharaoh. ¹⁹ Sir, you once asked your servants whether we have a father or a brother. ²⁰ And we replied, Yes Lord, we have a father who is an old man, and he has a young son of his old age. [Since this boy’s] brother is now dead, he’s the only one left who came from his mother, and his father loves him.

²¹ ‘Then you said to your servants: Bring him down here to me, and I will take care of him. ²² And we said to our lord, The child can’t leave his father, because if he leaves his father, [his father] will die. ²³ But you told your servants: Unless your younger brother comes down with you, you won’t see my face again. ²⁴ And so, when we went up to your servant our father, we told him what our lord said. ²⁵ Then, when our father said, Return and buy a little food for us, ²⁶ we said, We can’t return, unless our younger brother goes with us. We can go there, but we won’t be able to see the man unless we bring our younger brother along! ²⁷ And your servant (our father) said to us: You know that my woman gave birth to two [sons] for me. ²⁸ Now, one [of the two] is gone from me. For you told me that wild animals ate him, and I haven’t seen him since. ²⁹ So, if you take this one away from me also and something should happen to him along the road, the sorrow will bring me to the grave in my old age.

³⁰ ‘Therefore, if I should return to your servant (our father) and the boy doesn’t return with us (remember that his life depends on this [boy’s] life); ³¹ well, when he sees that the boy isn’t with us, he will die. And then your servants [will be responsible for] bringing your servant (our elderly father) to his grave in his sorrow. ³² For when I (your servant) took the boy from his father, I said, If I don’t return him to you and stand him before you, I will be guilty before my father through the age.

³³ ‘Now, may I stay here as your slave instead of the boy. I will work in my lord’s house; but let the boy [return home] with his brothers. ³⁴ For, how could I return to my father without the boy and cause evil things to happen to him?’

Chapter 45

¹ However, JoSeph couldn’t restrain himself when they were all standing there with him; so he said:
‘Everyone is dismissed.’

As the result, nobody [was there guarding] JoSeph when he told his brothers who he was… ² and as he spoke, he was crying.

Well, soon all the Egyptians heard about this, and it was reported to the house of Pharaoh. ³ For JoSeph said to his brothers:
‘I’m JoSeph! Is my father still alive?’

However, his brothers couldn’t answer him, because they were in shock!

⁴ Then JoSeph told his brothers:
‘Come closer to me,’ and they all came up to him.

And he said:
‘I’m your brother JoSeph whom you sold into Egypt! ⁵ But, don’t be upset and don’t feel guilty that you sold me here, because [it was] God who sent me ahead of you, so you could live. ⁶ For, this [is just] the second year of the famine on the earth, and there are still five years to come when there will be no plowing or reaping.

⁷ ‘It was God who sent me ahead of you so that some of you would survive on the earth to feed the rest of your crowd. ⁸ Therefore, you didn’t send me here, God did! And now He has made me like a father to Pharaoh… the master of his whole house and the ruler of the entire land of Egypt. ⁹ So, hurry and return to my father, and tell him that this is what your son JoSeph has said: God has made me the lord of the entire land of Egypt. So, come here to me, and don’t delay! ¹⁰ You will live in the land of Gesem in Arabia, where you will be close me… you, your sons, your grandsons, your sheep, your cattle, and everything that’s yours. ¹¹ I will feed you there, because the famine is going to last for five more years. This way, nothing that you own will be lost… not your sons or any of your possessions!

¹² ‘Look at me and see! And [you], my brother BenJamin; Use your eyes [and recognize] that it’s my mouth speaking to you! ¹³ So, report to my father about all the glory that I have in Egypt, and about everything that you’ve seen. Then hurry and bring my father down here.’

¹⁴ [Well, after that], he fell on his brother BenJamin’s neck and cried, and BenJamin cried on his neck. ¹⁵ Then he kissed all his brothers and cried over them, and his brothers [were finally able to] speak to him.

¹⁶ Well, the report of this was carried back to the house of Pharaoh, for he was told, ‘JoSeph’s brothers have come.’ And this made Pharaoh and his household very happy.

¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to JoSeph:
‘Tell your brothers to [get] wagons and return to the land of CanaAn ¹⁸ to get their father and all their possessions, and then come here to me. I will give them all the good things of Egypt, and they will eat from the [best] of our land.

¹⁹ ‘Now, you must give them these instructions: Tell them to take wagons from the land of Egypt to get their women, their children, and their father, and come here. ²⁰ [Tell them] not to worry about their possessions, because all the good things of Egypt will be theirs.’

²¹ So that’s what the children of IsraEl did. JoSeph gave them wagons, just as Pharaoh the king had said, and he gave them the things they would need for their journey. ²² He also gave each of them two suits of clothes… but he gave BenJamin five suits of clothes, plus three hundred gold coins. ²³ And he sent the same gifts to his father, plus ten burros that carried a sampling of all the good things of Egypt, along with ten mules that carried [provisions] for their journey.

²⁴ So he dismissed his brothers and they left. But before they left, he told them:
‘Don’t go away angry.’

²⁵ Then they left Egypt and returned to the land of CanaAn and to their father Jacob. ²⁶ There they reported everything to him, saying:
‘Your son JoSeph is ALIVE, and he’s now the ruler of the entire land of Egypt!’

Well, this was so amazing to Jacob that he didn’t believe them. ²⁷ But they told him everything that JoSeph said, no matter what it was that he said to them. Then he noticed the chariots that JoSeph had sent to pick him up, and that’s when the spirit of their father Jacob was restored. ²⁸ And IsraEl said:
‘If my son JoSeph is still alive, that’s wonderful! I want to go see him before I die!’

Chapter 46

¹ So IsraEl left with everything that he owned. And when he got to the Well of the Promise (BeerSheba), he offered a sacrifice to the God of his father IsaAc. ² Then The God spoke to IsraEl in a vision that night. He said:
‘Jacob! Jacob!’

And (Jacob) asked:
‘What is it?’

³ Then [God] said to him:
‘I am the God of your ancestors.

'Don’t be afraid to go down to Egypt, because I will make a great nation of you there. ⁴ I will be going down to Egypt with you and I will be bringing you back… for it will be JoSeph who will lay his hands over your eyes.’

⁵ Well after that, Jacob left the Well of the Promise, and IsraEl’s sons carried their father, their baggage, and their women on the wagons that JoSeph had sent to them. ⁶ They also brought along the goods and things that they had obtained in the land of CanaAn, and they went to the land of Egypt (Jacob and all his descendants – ⁷ his sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters)… he brought all of his seed with him down to Egypt.

⁸ These are the names of the grandsons of IsraEl that went to Egypt with their father Jacob:
The sons of Jacob’s first-born, ReuBen, were ⁹ Enoch, PhalLus, Asron, and Charmi.
¹⁰ The sons of SimeOn were JemuEl, Jamin, Aod, Achin, SaAr, and Saul (the son of a CanaAnite woman).
¹¹ The sons of Levi were Gedson, CaAth, and MeraRi.
¹² The sons of Judah were Er, Aunan (who died in the land of CanaAn), Selom, Phares, Zara, and Er. ¹³ Phares’ sons were EsRon and JemuEl.
The sons of IshSachar were: Thola, Phua, Asum, and SamBran.
¹⁴ The sons of ZebuLun were Sered, AlLon, and AchoEl.

¹⁵ These were the sons that LeAh gave birth to (for Jacob) in MesoPotamia of Syria, and those of his daughter Dina. Altogether, the sons and daughters numbered thirty-three.

¹⁶ The sons of Gad were Saphon, Angis, SanNis, ThasoBan, Aedis, AroEdis, and AreElis.
¹⁷ The sons of Asher were JemNa, JesShua, JeUl, BariJa, and their sister, SarAh. BariJa’s sons were Chobor, and MelchiEl.

¹⁸ These were the sons that ZelPha (whom Laban had given to his daughter LeAh) gave birth to for Jacob – sixteen people.

¹⁹ The sons of Jacob’s woman RachEl were JoSeph and BenJamin, ²⁰ and the sons that were born to JoSeph in the land of Egypt through Asenath (the daughter of Petephre, the priest of HelioPolis) were ManasSeh, and Ephraim. The son that was born to ManasSeh by his Syrian concubine was MachIr. Then MachIr fathered GalaAd.

Ephraim’s sons were SutalaAm and TaAm. SutalaAm’s son was Edom.
²¹ The sons of BenJamin were Bala, Bochor, and Asbel. Bala’s sons were Gera, NoEman, Anchis, Ros, and Mamphim. Then Gera fathered Arad.

²² These were the sons that RachEl gave birth to for Jacob. Altogether, there were eighteen people.

²³ The son of Dan was Hushim, ²⁴ and NaphTali’s sons were AsiEl, Goni, IshSaar, and SolLem.

²⁵ These were the sons that BalLa (whom Laban had given to his daughter RachEl) gave birth to for Jacob. [Altogether], there were seven people.

²⁶ Therefore, all the descendants of Jacob that came with him to Egypt (those – except his son’s women – that came from his loins) totaled sixty-six. ²⁷ And the sons of JoSeph who were born in the land of Egypt totaled nine. So, all the people of the house of Jacob who were with JoSeph in Egypt totaled seventy-five.

²⁸ Now, [Jacob] had sent Judah ahead of him to JoSeph, who told him to meet them at the City of HroOn (Mit El-Harun?) in the land of RaMesse. ²⁹ So JoSeph got his chariots ready and went to meet his father IsraEl at the City of HroOn. And when he got there, [JoSeph] fell on [Jacob’s] neck and cried profusely.

³⁰ Then IsraEl said to JoSeph:
‘Now that I’ve seen your face I can die happy, because you’re still alive!’

³¹ And JoSeph told his brothers:
‘I will go to Pharaoh and tell him that my brothers and my father’s household have arrived from the land of CanaAn. ³² I will also tell him that you are shepherds and cattlemen, and that you’ve brought along your cattle, herds, and all of your belongings. ³³ So if Pharaoh calls for you and asks you what you do for a living, ³⁴ you must say, Your servants have been shepherds since our youth… both our fathers and us. [You must say this], so you can live in the land of Gesem (Goshen) in Arabia, because shepherds are looked down on by the Egyptians.’

Chapter 47

¹ So JoSeph went and told Pharaoh that his father and brothers had arrived from the land of CanaAn with their cattle, oxen, and all their possessions, and that they would be staying in the land of Gesem.

² Then he took five of his brothers and brought them before Pharaoh. ³ And when Pharaoh asked them, ‘What is your occupation?’ they replied, ‘Your servants (we and our fathers) are shepherds.’

⁴ Then they said to Pharaoh:
‘We have come to stay in [your] land. And since there are no pastures for your servant’s flocks here, and because there is a famine in the land of CanaAn; please allow us to live in the land of Gesem.’

And Pharaoh told JoSeph:
‘Then, may they live in the land of Gesem. And if you know any among them who are more capable, put them in charge of my cattle also.’

So, that’s how Jacob and his sons came to JoSeph in Egypt. And after Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) learned about this, ⁵ he told JoSeph:
‘[Now that] your father and brothers have come to you, ⁶ {Look!} the whole land of Egypt is before you; so, choose the very best land as a place for your father and brothers to settle!’

⁷ Then later, JoSeph brought his father Jacob in and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blest Pharaoh. ⁸ Then Pharaoh asked Jacob:
‘How old are you?’

⁹ And Jacob replied to Pharaoh:
‘The years of my life that I’ve lived are a hundred and thirty. These years have been too few and too troubled, for I haven’t reached the age that my ancestors [achieved], back in the days when they lived.’

¹⁰ And after that, Jacob [again] blest Pharaoh, and left.

¹¹ So, just as Pharaoh commanded, JoSeph gave his father and brothers a tract of land as their possession and settled them in the land of Egypt, on the best of the land in the land of RaMesse. ¹² And thereafter, JoSeph provided grain for his father, brothers, and his father’s entire household.

¹³ However, there was no grain [growing on] the land at the time, so the famine was terrible. For both in the land of Egypt and in the land of CanaAn, people were weak from the famine. ¹⁴ As the result, JoSeph collected all the money that there was in the land of Egypt and in the land of CanaAn, for the people had spent all that they had for the grain that they were buying… and he took it all to the house of Pharaoh. ¹⁵ So before long, there was no more money left in the land of Egypt or in the land of CanaAn. And because of this, all the Egyptians came to JoSeph and said:
‘Give us bread! Do you want us to die here before you? All our money is gone!’

¹⁶ And JoSeph replied to them:
‘If all your money is gone, then bring me your cattle, and I’ll give you bread in exchange for them.’

¹⁷ So they brought their cattle to JoSeph, and he gave them bread in exchange for their horses, sheep, oxen, and burros. And JoSeph kept the people alive with bread that year in exchange for their cattle.

¹⁸ But after that year had passed, they came to him the second year and said:
‘Must we be consumed before you, our lord? For all our money is gone, and since we’ve brought all our possessions and our cattle to you, our lord, we don’t have anything left other than our bodies and our land. ¹⁹ Therefore, so that we won’t die before you, and so that our land isn’t devastated, please buy us and our land for bread, so that we and our land will become Pharaoh’s servants. Give us seeds to grow so we can live and not die, and so that our land won’t be devastated!’

²⁰ As the result, JoSeph bought all the land of the Egyptians for Pharaoh… they sold it all to Pharaoh, because the famine was so bad. Therefore, the entire land became Pharaoh’s, ²¹ and the people became his servants from one end of Egypt to the other… ²² that is, except for the land of the priests. JoSeph didn’t buy [their land], because Pharaoh gave [grain] as gifts to the priests. So they ate what Pharaoh gave them, and they didn’t have to sell their land.

²³ Then JoSeph told all the Egyptians:
‘{Look!} Today I have purchased both you and your land for Pharaoh. So now, take the seeds and plant the land. ²⁴ Then, when it produces, you must give a fifth of its produce to Pharaoh. You may keep the rest for yourselves as seeds for planting and as food for you and for all that are in your homes.’

²⁵ And they said:
‘You have saved us! We’ve found favor before you, our lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants!’

²⁶ As the result, JoSeph passed a law that we still have today: A fifth part [of the produce of the land of Egypt] is to be [given to] Pharaoh. The only exception is the land of the priests… that doesn’t belong to Pharaoh.

²⁷ Well thereafter, the IsraElites lived in the land of Gesem in Egypt and they owned an allotment [of land] there… so the [family] grew rapidly and profusely. ²⁸ Jacob also lived for seventeen more years there in the land of Egypt, until he was a hundred and forty-seven years old.

²⁹ Then, as the time for IsraEl to die drew near, he called his son JoSeph and said this to him:
‘If I’ve found favor before you, put your hand under my thigh and [swear] to me mercifully and truthfully that you won’t bury me in Egypt, ³⁰ but that I will sleep with my ancestors. [Swear that] you will carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their tomb.’

And JoSeph said:
‘I will do as you’ve asked.’

³¹ But [Jacob] said:
‘Swear to me!’

And he swore to him.

Then IsraEl bowed low, as he leaned on his cane.

Chapter 48

¹ Well, sometime after that, this report came to JoSeph:
‘{Look!} Your father is ill!’

So he took his two sons, ManasSeh and Ephraim, and they went to [see] Jacob.

² Then when Jacob was told that his son JoSeph had come to see him, IsraEl straightened himself and sat up on his bed. ³ And [he] said this to JoSeph:
‘My God appeared to me in Luza in the land of CanaAn and blest me. ⁴ Then He said to me, {Look!} I will make you grow and increase, and I will make many nations come from you. I will also give this land to you and to your seed that comes after you as an inheritance through the ages.

⁵ ‘Now, your two sons (Ephraim and ManasSeh) who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came here, are my [sons] the same as ReuBen and SimeOn are my [sons]. ⁶ And any children that you have from this point on will share in the names of their brothers; so, [the lands that they will] inherit will be named after them.

⁷ ‘As for me; After I left Assyrian MesoPotamia, your mother RachEl died in the land of CanaAn during the evening, near the ChabRatha racetrack while we were coming to EphRatha (or BethLehem). So I buried her beside the road at the racetrack of BethLehem.’

⁸ Then, when IsraEl noticed JoSeph’s sons, he asked:
‘Who are they?’

⁹ And JoSeph replied to his father:
‘They’re the sons that God has given to me here.’

And Jacob said:
‘Bring them here to me, so that I can bless them.’

¹⁰ Now, IsraEl’s eyes were weak due to his age, so he couldn’t see. But he drew them close, and he hugged and kissed them both.

¹¹ Then IsraEl said to JoSeph:
‘Look! I haven’t been deprived of seeing your face, and now {Look!} God has also shown me your seed.’

¹² So at that, JoSeph brought them out from [between] his [father’s] knees, and they bowed to [IsraEl] with their faces to the ground.

¹³ Then JoSeph took his two sons, with Ephraim at his right hand (but on the left of IsraEl), and ManasSeh at his left hand (but on the right of IsraEl), and led them near to him again. ¹⁴ However, IsraEl stuck out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head (he was the younger), and he put his left hand on ManasSeh’s head, with his arms crossed. ¹⁵ Then he blest them, saying:
‘May the God who found my fathers AbraHam and IsaAc pleasing (the God who fed me from my youth until now ¹⁶ and the messenger who protects me from all that is evil) bless these boys… and may they be called by my name and by the name of my fathers, AbraHam and IsaAc. Let them grow to be a vast number on the ground.’

¹⁷ Well, when JoSeph noticed that his father had put his right hand on Ephraim’s head, that seemed wrong to him. So JoSeph took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to ManasSeh’s head. ¹⁸ And JoSeph said:
‘Father! This is the first-born; lay your right hand on his head!’

¹⁹ But Jacob wouldn’t. He said:
‘I know, son, I know. [Your eldest son] will be a [tribe of] people, and he will be important. However, his younger brother will be greater, and his seed will become many nations.’

²⁰ So he blest them that day. And he said [to JoSeph]:
‘In your name, IsraEl will pronounce this blessing: May God make you like Ephraim and ManasSeh’… and he put Ephraim before ManasSeh.

²¹ Then IsraEl said to JoSeph:
‘Look, I’m dying! But my God will be with you and He will return you to the land of your fathers.

²² ‘I am giving you Shechem (a better portion than that of your brothers), which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.’

Chapter 49

¹ Then Jacob called the rest of his sons in and said to them: ² ‘Gather here so I can tell you what will happen to you in later years. Gather and listen to me, sons of Jacob. Listen to IsraEl… listen to your father!

³ ‘ReuBen;
You’re my firstborn and my strength. You’re the first of my children, but you’re hard to endure, [pig headed], ⁴ and you’re as unruly as water… bring an end to your violence! For you even climbed up on your father’s bed and dirtied the couch that you climbed on.

⁵ ‘SimeOn and Levi;
You are brothers who are good at the injustices that separated you. ⁶ May my soul pay no attention to the things that you say, and may my feelings never have any part in your conspiracies. For you’ve killed men in anger, and in your passion you’ve cut off the feet of bulls. ⁷ May your anger be cursed, because it is willful and cruel. So, I will separate you in [the land of] Jacob and scatter you in IsraEl.

⁸ ‘Judah;
Your brothers have spoken well of you, so your hands will stay on the backs of your enemies, and your father’s sons will bow to you… ⁹ for Judah is the cub of a lion.

‘My son: you’ve grown from the tender plant [you once were], and now you’re a young lion. So, by whom can you ever be beaten?

¹⁰ ‘There will always be a ruler from Judah,
And princes will come from his loins
Until the one we’re awaiting arrives…
The one who’s the hope of the nations.

¹¹ ‘[He’ll] tie his foal to a vine…
The foal of his burro to a branch,
And he’ll wash his robes in [fine] wine…
In the blood of grapes, he will wash his clothes;
¹² His eyes will be more more cheerful than wine;
And his teeth [will be] whiter than milk.

¹³ ‘ZebuLun;
You will live on the coast near a shipping port that reaches to Sidon.

¹⁴ ‘IshSachar;
You have desired the best thing… to rest among the [other] inheritances. ¹⁵ So, [when you find] a good resting place and fertile land,you will put you shoulders to work and become a farmer.

¹⁶ ‘Dan;
You will judge your people as a single tribe in IsraEl. ¹⁷ Dan will be a snake on the road that blocks the path and bites at the hooves of horses to cause their riders to fall, ¹⁸ while he awaits the salvation of Jehovah .

¹⁹ ‘Gad;
You will be looted by plunderers… but then tou will also follow and plunder them.

²⁰ ‘Asher;
You will have plenty of bread, and you will provide delicious things to princes.

²¹ ‘NaphTali;
You are a spreading vine [that will bear] beautiful fruit.

²² ‘JoSeph;
My son who has now grown [into a man];
My dearly-loved son who has been increased;
My younger son who has been returned;
²³ You're the one whom the evil have spoken against;
The one against whom they have plotted
And whom the archers [have tried to shoot down].
²⁴ But, their bows and arrows were quickly destroyed
By the hand of Jacob’s Almighty God,
Who then weakened the might of their arms…
You're the one the one who thereafter brought strength
From the God of IsraEl, to his father.

²⁵ ‘My God has helped you and blest you
With the blessings that come from above.
They’re the blessings of the ground that owns all…
They’re the blessings of the breasts and the womb.
²⁶ They’re the blessings of your father and mother,
Which last longer than the blessings on the mountains,
And [longer than] the hills of the ages.

‘These [blessings] will be upon JoSeph’s head,
And on the heads of the brothers
Over whom he will take the lead.

²⁷ ‘BenJamin;
You're a hungry wolf that will eat all morning long and also provide food in the evening.’

²⁸ All these are the twelve sons of Jacob, and that’s what their father said to them. He blest them… he blest each of them by the blessings that they would receive. ²⁹ Then he said to them:
‘Now I’m going to my people; so, bury me with my ancestors in the cave that is in the field of EphRon the Kettite. ³⁰ It’s the double cave across from MamRe in the land of CanaAn that AbraHam bought as a tomb from EphRon the Kettite, ³¹ and it’s where they buried AbraHam and his woman SarAh, IsaAc and his women RebecKa and LeAh, ³² in that part of the field where the caves of the sons of Ket are located.’

³³ Then Jacob stopped giving instructions to his sons, and he lifted his feet on the bed and died… then he was buried with his people.

Chapter 50

¹ Well at that, JoSeph fell over his father’s face, cried over him, and kissed him. ² Then JoSeph told his servants (the embalmers) to [take charge of] his father’s body, and the embalmers mummified IsraEl. ³ The process took forty days, because that’s how long it took to mummify someone. And all of Egypt mourned for him during the next seventy days.

⁴ Then when the days of mourning were completed, JoSeph spoke to the Pharaoh’s mighty ones and said:
‘If I’ve found favor in your eyes, talk to Pharaoh for me and tell him that ⁵ my father made me swear, saying, I want you to bury me in the tomb that I dug for myself in the land of CanaAn. So, I wish to go there and bury my father… and then I’ll return.’

⁶ And Pharaoh said to JoSeph:
‘Go up and bury your father, just as he made you swear.’

⁷ So JoSeph went up [to the land of CanaAn] to bury his father; and all of Pharaoh’s servants and elders of his house, as well as all the elders of the land of Egypt traveled with him ⁸ and the households of JoSeph and his brothers, as well as the household of his father and his relatives. However, they left the sheep and oxen behind in the land of Gesem… ⁹ the entourage also included many chariots and horsemen, and a large crowd of others.

¹⁰ Then, upon arriving at the threshing-floor of Atad (which is across the JorDan), they wailed for [Jacob] with a very deep grief, and they mourned there for [JoSeph's) father for the next seven days.

¹¹ Well, when the people of the land of CanaAn saw the mourning at the floor of Atad, they said:
‘This is a huge mourning to the Egyptians.’

So after that, they named the place The Mourning of Egypt Beyond the JorDan.

¹² Yes, that’s what his sons did for him. ¹³ His sons carried him up into the land of CanaAn and buried him in the double cave that AbraHam bought as his own burying place from EphRon the Kettite, which is across from MamRe.

¹⁴ Then JoSeph and his brothers returned to Egypt, along with all those who had come with him to bury his father.

¹⁵ Well, after JoSeph’s brothers saw that their father had died, they said:
‘Let’s not forget that JoSeph can decide to get even with us and pay us back for all the evil things that we did to him at any time.’ ¹⁶ So they went to JoSeph and said:
‘Before his death, your father made us swear. He instructed us ¹⁷ to tell JoSeph to forgive us for the bad things we’ve done and for our sins, because we’ve really done some evil things to you. Therefore, please forgive the injustice of the servants of the God of your father.’

Well, JoSeph started to weep while they were talking to him. ¹⁸ Then they came up to him and said:
‘We are your servants!’

¹⁹ And JoSeph said:
‘Don’t be afraid, for I [belong to] God. ²⁰ And though you once met and talked about doing evil things to me; God made what you said about me [turn out] for the good. And that’s why things happened as they have today… so that many people might be fed.’

²¹ Then he said to them:
‘Don’t be afraid; I’ll take care of you and your families.’

And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

²² Well, JoSeph continued to live in Egypt along with his brothers and his father’s family for a hundred and ten years. ²³ JoSeph [lived to] see Ephraim’s children through the third generation, and the sons of MachIr (ManasSeh’s son) were born at his side.

²⁴ Then JoSeph told his [family]:
‘I’m dying. But, God will surely come to you and take you from this land into the land that God swore to give to our ancestors, AbraHam, IsaAc, and Jacob.

²⁵ Then JoSeph made the Sons of IsraEl swear, saying:
‘When God comes for you, you must carry my bones back with you.’

²⁶ So, JoSeph died at the age of a hundred and ten (c. 1879-BCE), and they prepared his body, then they placed it in a [tomb] in Egypt.

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