Onkelos Genesis

The Creation of the World

1 In the beginning⁠a the Lord created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth was desolate and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and a wind from before the Lord blew over the surface of the waters. 3 And the Lord said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. 4 And the Lord saw that the light was good. And the Lord separated the light from the darkness. 5 And the Lord called the light daytime, and the darkness He called nighttime. And there was evening, and there was morning, one day. 6 And the Lord said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it separate one body of water from another.” 7 And the Lord made the expanse, and separated the waters below the expanse from the waters above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And the Lord called the expanse the heavens. And it was evening, and it was morning, the second day. 9 And the Lord said, “The waters shall gather under the heavens in one place, and the dry land shall appear.” And it was so. 10 And the Lord called the dry land earth, and the place where the waters gathered He called sea. And the Lord saw that it was good. 11 And the Lord said, “The earth shall produce grass, plants with seeds to sow, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit of their own kind with seeds in it.” And it was so. 12 And the earth produced grass, plants with seeds to sow, each of its own kind, and trees bearing fruit with seeds in it, each of its own kind. And the Lord saw that it was good. 13 And it was evening, and it was morning, the third day. 14 And the Lord said, “There shall be lights in the expanse of heaven, to separate day from night. They shall serve as signs, mark appointed times, and help count days and years. 15 And they shall be lights in the expanse of heaven to shine upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And the Lord made the two great lights: the greater light to rule during the day, and the smaller light to rule during the night, and the stars. 17 And the Lord set them in the expanse of heaven to shine upon the earth, 18 and to rule during the day and during the night, and to separate light from darkness. And the Lord saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning, the fourth day. 20 And the Lord said, “Let the waters produce living creatures that move, and let birds fly over the earth across the expanse of heaven.” 21 And the Lord created the great sea monsters and every living animal that moves that the waters produced, each of its own kind, and every bird that flies, each of its own kind. And the Lord saw that it was good. 22 And the Lord blessed them, saying, “Spread out and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas; and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And it was evening, and it was morning, the fifth day. 24 And the Lord said, “Let the earth produce living animals, each of its own kind: cattle, crawling creatures, and wild animals of the earth, each of its own kind.” And it was so. 25 And the Lord made the wild animals of the earth, each of its own kind, and cattle of their own kind, and every crawling creature of the earth of its own kind. And the Lord saw that it was good. 26 And the Lord said, “Let us make humans in Our image, in Our likeness. They shall rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that moves on the earth.” 27 And the Lord created Adam in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 And the Lord blessed them, and said to them, “Spread out and multiply, and fill the earth, and have power over it, and rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And the Lord said, “Look, I have given you every plant on all the earth that produces seed, and every tree whose fruit produces seed. It shall be yours for food. 30 And to every wild animal of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to every crawling creature on the earth in which is the breath of life, I have given every green plant to eat.” And it was so. 31 And the Lord saw all that He had made, and saw that it was firmly established.⁠b And it was evening, and it was morning, the sixth day.

The Seventh Day

1 The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their hosts.⁠a 2 And the Lord finished on the seventh day His work that He had done, and rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. 3 And the Lord blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all His work which the Lord had created to make.

Adam and the Garden

4 These are the history of the heavens and the earth, when they were created when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 And no trees of the field were yet on the earth, and no plants of the field had yet sprouted, because the Lord God had not caused rain to fall on the earth, and there was no human to cultivate the ground. 6 And a mist rose from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 And the Lord God created Adam from dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and Adam received the power of speech.⁠b 8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the beginning, and He settled the man whom He had created there. 9 And the Lord God made every tree that was pleasing to look at grow from the earth, and good for food, and the Tree of Life in the middle of the garden, and the Tree from which those who eat its fruit can discern between good and evil.⁠c 10 And a river flowed out from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided into four main rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon, which flows around all the land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 and the gold of that land is good; there is bedalcha and burilla-stones. 13 And the name of the second river is Gihon, which flows around all the land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is Tigris, which flows to the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 15 And the Lord God took Adam and placed him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it. 16 And the Lord God commanded Adam, saying, You may freely eat from every tree of the garden; 17 but you shall not eat from the tree whose fruit gives those who eat it knowledge of good and evil; for on the day you eat from it you shall certainly die.

A Wife for Adam

18 And the Lord God said, It is not right for Adam to be alone; I will make him a helper suited to him. 19 And the Lord God created from the earth every wild animal of the field and every bird of the heavens, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call each one; and whatever name Adam gave each living animal, that was its name. 20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and of the birds of the heavens, and of every wild animal of the field; but no helper suited to Adam was found. 21 And the Lord God caused sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and filled its place with flesh; 22 and the Lord God formed the rib which He took from Adam into a woman, and He brought her to Adam. 23 And Adam said, This at last is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh: this shall be called wife, because she was taken from her husband.⁠d 24 Therefore a man shall leave the sleeping quarters of his father and mother and cling to his wife, and they shall be of one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed.

The Serpent and the Forbidden Fruit

1 And the serpent was more cunning than all the animals of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Did the Lord really say, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, the Lord has said, You shall not eat of it, or⁠a approach it, or you will die. 4 And the serpent said to the woman, You certainly will not die: 5 for it is known to the Lord that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be as the⁠b Great-ones, knowing good and evil. 6 And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a cure for the eyes,⁠c and a tree desirable to look at; and she took some of its fruit and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed for themselves the leaves of the fig-tree, and made for themselves loincloths.

8 And they heard the voice of the Memra of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from before the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 And the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? 10 And he said, I heard the voice of Your Memra in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid. 11 And He said, Who showed you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat? 12 And Adam said, The woman whom you gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate. 13 And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And the woman said, The serpent led me astray, and I ate.

Judgment on the Serpent and the Humans

14 And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are more cursed than all cattle, and than all the wild animals of the field; you shall move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your son and her son. He will remember what you did to him from the beginning, and you shall watch for him at the end.⁠d 16 And to the woman He said, I will greatly increase⁠e your sorrows and your pains. You shall give birth to children in sorrow; and your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. 17 And to Adam He said, Because you have obeyed the word of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, the ground is cursed because of you. You shall eat from it through hard work all the days of your life. 18 It shall produce thorns and thistles for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 You shall eat bread by the sweat of your brow, until you return to the earth, because from it you were created; for you are dust, and to dust you will return. 20 And Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all human beings. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of honor⁠f to wear on their skin, and clothed them.

Expulsion from Eden

22 And the Lord God said, Look, man has become unique in the world by himself, knowing good and evil;⁠g and now he might reach out his hand and also take from the Tree of Life, eat, and live forever. 23 and the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to cultivate the ground from where he had been created. 24 And He drove out the man. In early times, he stationed the cherubim, and the sharp sword which turned⁠h to guard the way of the Tree of Life.

Cain and Abel

1 And Adam had relations with Eve his wife, and she conceived, and gave birth to Cain; and she said, I have acquired a male child from before the Lord. 2 And she also gave birth to his brother, Abel. And Abel was a shepherd of the flock, and Cain worked the ground. 3 And it was after some time, that Cain brought an offering from the produce of the earth before the Lord; 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his sheep and their fat. And there was favor before the Lord for Abel and his offering; 5 but there was no favor for Cain and his offering. And Cain was deeply upset, and his face was downcast. 6 And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you upset, and why is your face downcast? 7 If you do your work well, are you not forgiven? and if you do not do your work well, your sin is kept until the day of judgment, when punishment will be exacted from you if you do not repent: but if you repent, you are forgiven. 8 And Cain spoke with Abel his brother; and while they were in the field Cain attacked Abel his brother, and killed him. 9 And the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? And he said, I do not know; am I my brother's keeper? 10 And He said, What have you done? The voice of the blood of generations that were to come from your brother cries out before Me from the earth! 11 And now, you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth and received the blood of your brother from your hand. 12 When you cultivate the earth, it shall no longer yield its strength to you; you shall be an outcast and a wanderer on the earth. 13 And Cain said before the Lord, My guilt is too great to be forgiven. 14 Look, You have rejected me today from the face of the earth, and it is impossible to hide from Your presence; and I shall be a outcast and a wanderer in the earth, and anyone who finds me will kill me. 15 And the Lord said to him, Therefore anyone who kills Cain shall face punishment after seven generations. And the Lord gave Cain a sign so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 And Cain went out from before the Lord, and lived in the land of the wanderer and outcast, which was made for him in the beginning in the garden of Eden.

The Descendants of Cain

17 And Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch, and he became the builder of a city, and named the city after his son Enoch. 18 And there was born to Enoch Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael; and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 And Lamech married two wives, the name of the first Adah, and the name of the second Zillah. 20 And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the master of all who live in tents and own cattle. 21 And the name of his brother was Jubal. He was the master of all who play wind instruments, who know the song of the harp and of the pipe. 22 And Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, the master of all who know how to work bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah. 23 And Lamech said to his wives Adah and Zillah, Listen to my voice, wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words: I have not killed a man, that I should face a death sentence because of him; or destroyed a young man, that my descendants should be destroyed because of him. 24 If Cain's punishment is delayed for seven generations, will it not be delayed for seventy-seven for Lamech his son?

Seth and Enosh

25 And Adam had relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth; Because, she said, the Lord has given me another son instead of Abel, whom Cain killed. 26 And to Seth also was born a son, and he named him Enosh. Then in his days people stopped praying in the name of the Lord.

The Generations from Adam to Noah

1 This is the record of the descendants of Adam. When the Lord God created man, in the likeness of Elohim He made him; 2 male and female He created them; and He blessed them, and named them Human, when they were created. 3 And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and fathered a son in his likeness, like himself, and he named him Seth. 4 And the days of Adam after he had fathered Seth were eight hundred years, and he fathered sons and daughters. 5 And all the days of Adam which he lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died. 6 And Seth lived a hundred and five years, and fathered Enosh. 7 And Seth lived after he had fathered Enosh eight hundred and seven years, and fathered sons and daughters. 8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died. 9 And Enosh lived ninety years, and fathered Kenan. 10 And Enosh lived after he had fathered Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and fathered sons and daughters. 11 And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years, and he died. 12 And Kenan lived seventy years, and fathered Mahalalel. 13 And Kenan lived after he had fathered Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and fathered sons and daughters. 14 And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died. 15 And Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and fathered Jared. 16 And Mahalalel lived after he had fathered Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and fathered sons and daughters. 17 And all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died. 18 And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and fathered Enoch. 19 And Jared lived after he had fathered Enoch eight hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters. 20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died. 21 And Enoch lived sixty-five years, and fathered Methuselah. 22 And Enoch lived in reverence for the Lord, after he had fathered Methuselah, three hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters. 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch lived in reverence for the Lord; and he was no longer there; for the Lord took him and put him to death.⁠a 25 And Methuselah lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and fathered Lamech. 26 And Methuselah lived after he had fathered Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years, and fathered sons and daughters. 27 And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died. 28 And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and fathered a son. 29 And he named him Noah, saying, This shall comfort us in our work and the labor of our hands on the earth which the Lord has cursed. 30 And Lamech lived, after he had fathered Noah, five hundred and ninety-five years, and fathered sons and daughters. 31 And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died. 32 And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Human Wickedness

1 And it was when the human beings had begun to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of the mighty saw that the human daughters were beautiful, and married any of them they chose. 3 And the Lord said, This evil generation shall not stand before me forever, because they are flesh, and their works are evil. I will give them a period of a hundred and twenty years to repent. 4 Giants were in the earth in those days; and also after the sons of the mighty had relations with human daughters, giants were born to them, men renowned since ancient times. 5 And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man had multiplied in the earth, and that every thought formed in his heart was only evil every day. 6 And the Lord reversed through His Memra His decision to make humans on the earth, and said that He would break their strength as He pleased. 7 And the Lord said, I will wipe out the humans whom I have made from the face of the earth, along with animals, crawling creatures, and the birds of heaven; because I have reversed through My Memra My decision to make them. 8 But Noah found mercy before the Lord.

Noah and the Ark

9 These are the history of Noah. Noah was a righteous and blameless man in his generation; Noah lived in reverence for the Lord. 10 And Noah fathered three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 And the earth was corrupted before the Lord, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And the Lord saw the earth, and, look, it was corrupt, because every living being had corrupted its way on the earth. 13 And the Lord said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before Me, because the earth is filled with violence because of their evil deeds; and, look, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark with the wood of cedar; you shall make compartments in the ark, and coat it inside and outside with pitch. 15 And this is how you shall make it: the ark shall be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. 16 You shall make a light opening for the ark, and finish it a cubit from the top, and place the ark's door in its side. You shall make compartments on its lower, second, and third levels. 17 And look, I am bringing a flood of water on the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under the heavens. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 And I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19 And two of every living creature of all flesh shall enter the ark to stay alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 Of birds of their kind, cattle of their kind, and every crawling creature of the earth of its kind, two of each shall enter with you to stay alive. 21 And you shall take some of every kind of food that is eaten and store it with you; it shall be for you and them to eat. 22 And Noah did everything that the Lord had commanded him.

Entering the Ark

1 And the Lord said to Noah, Enter the ark, you and everyone in your household; for I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. 2 Of all clean animals take seven pairs, male and female; and of animals not clean, one pair, male and female. 3 Also of the birds of heaven, seven pairs, male and female, to keep their offspring alive over all the earth. 4 For in seven more days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out every living being which I have made over the whole surface of the earth. 5 And Noah did according to all that the Lord had instructed him. 6 And Noah was six hundred years old; and the flood of waters was upon the earth. 7 And Noah entered, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark to escape the floodwaters. 8 Of clean animals and unclean animals, and of birds, and of everything that crawls on the earth, 9 in pairs, they entered with Noah into the ark, male and female, as the Lord had instructed Noah. 10 And it was after seven days, and the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

The Flood

11 In the six-hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the springs of the great deep burst open, and the windows of heaven opened, 12 and the rain came down upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On that very day Noah entered, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth, sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah, and his sons' three wives entered the ark with them; 14 they, and every animal of its kind, and all cattle of their kind, and every crawling creature on the earth of its kind, and every bird of its kind, every bird that flies: 15 and they entered with Noah into the ark, in pairs of all flesh in which is the breath of life; 16 and those that entered were male and female of all flesh, as the Lord had commanded him, and the Lord protected them by His Memra. 17 And there was a flood for forty days on the earth, and the waters increased, and lifted the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. 18 And the waters rose and increased greatly over the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters. 19 And the waters rose very high over the earth, and all the high hills were covered under the whole sky. 20 The waters rose fifteen cubits above them, and the mountains were covered; 21 and all flesh that moved on the earth died: birds, cattle, wild animals, every crawling creature on the earth, and every human being. 22 Everything in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, of all which was upon the dry ground, died. 23 And every living being on the surface of the earth was wiped out, humans, animals, crawling creatures, and birds of heaven, they were wiped out from the earth, and Noah was left alone, and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters remained high over the earth for a hundred and fifty days.

The Waters Recede

1 And the Lord remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle which were with him in the ark; and the Lord caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided, 2 and the springs of the deep and the windows of heaven were closed, and the rain from heaven stopped, 3 and the waters gradually receded from the earth; and the waters diminished at the end of a hundred and fifty days. 4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Cordyene. 5 And the waters continued to decrease until the tenth month: in the tenth, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.

The Raven and the Dove

6 And it was at the end of forty days, and Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. 7 And he sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the waters were dried up on the earth. 8 And he sent out a dove from his side, to see whether the waters had receded from the surface of the earth. 9 But the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him into the ark, because the waters were over all the earth; and he reached out his hand, and took her, and brought her to be with him in the ark. 10 And he waited seven more days and then again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 And the dove came to him at the time of evening, and, look, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters were receding from the earth. 12 And he waited another seven days and sent out the dove, and she did not return to him again. 13 And it was in the six-hundredth and first year, in the beginning of the first month, the waters were dried from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, look, the surface of the ground were dry. 14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was fully dry.

Leaving the Ark

15 And the Lord spoke with Noah, saying: 16 Come out from the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons' wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living creature of all flesh: birds, cattle, and every crawling creature on the earth, and they shall reproduce on the earth and spread out and multiply on the earth. 18 And Noah came out, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him; 19 every animal, every crawling creature and bird, everything that moves on the earth, of their kind, came out from the ark.

Noah's Offering

20 And Noah built an altar before the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered a burnt offering on the altar. 21 And the Lord received with approval his offering; and the Lord said in His Memra, I will never again curse the earth on account of the guilt of man, because the thoughts formed in the human heart are evil from his infancy; and I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done. 22 As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease.

Blessing and Commands for Noah

1 And the Lord blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, Spread out, and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every wild animal of the earth, and upon every bird of the heavens, on everything that crawls on the earth, and on all fish of the sea; they shall be delivered into your hands. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be yours to eat; as the green plants I have given you everything. 4 But the flesh with its life-blood you shall not eat. 5 And also I will require an accounting for your lifeblood; I will require it from every animal, and from the hand of man. From the hand of the man who sheds the blood of his brother I will require an accounting for human life. 6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by witnesses, by the sentence of the judges, his blood shall be shed;⁠a because He made humans in the image of God. 7 And you, spread out and multiply; have offspring on the earth and multiply on it.

The Covenant and the Bow

8 And the Lord spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 9 And I, look, I establish my covenant with you and with your children after you, 10 and with every living thing which is with you, birds, of cattle, and of every wild animal of the field that is with you, of all coming out from the ark of every animal of the earth. 11 And I will establish My covenant with you, and all flesh shall never again be destroyed by the waters of a flood, nor shall there be again a flood to destroy the earth. 12 And the Lord said, This is the sign of the covenant which I give between My Memra, and between you, and between every living soul that is with you for all future generations. 13 I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between My Memra and between the earth. 14 And it shall be that when I bring clouds over the earth, the bow shall be seen in the cloud, 15 and I will remember the covenant which is between My Memra, and between you, and between every living soul of all flesh; and there shall never again be floodwaters to destroy all flesh. 16 And the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look at it, to remember the everlasting covenant between the Memra of the Lord and between every living soul of all flesh that is upon the earth. 17 And the Lord said, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between My Memra and between all flesh which is upon the earth.

Noah and His Sons

18 And the sons of Noah who came out from the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. 19 These three are the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated. 20 And Noah began to work the ground; and he planted a vineyard, 21 and he drank of the wine, and was drunk; and he was uncovered inside of his tent. 22 And Ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father, and he told his two brothers outside. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and placed it on the shoulders of both, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness. 24 And Noah woke from his drunkenness, and knew what his youngest son had done to him; 25 and he said: Cursed be Canaan, He shall be a laboring slave to his brothers. 26 And he said: Blessed be the Lord the God of Shem, And Canaan shall be a slave to them. 27 The Lord shall enlarge Japheth, And he shall cause His Shekinah to dwell in the tents of Shem: And Canaan shall be a slave to them. 28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.

The Descendants of Noah

1 And these are the descendants of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and sons were born to them after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth, Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 3 And the sons of Gomer, Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 And the sons of Javan, Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim. 5 From these the islands of the nations were divided in their lands, each according to his language, according to their families in their nations.

The Descendants of Ham

6 And the sons of Ham, Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan. 7 And the sons of Cush, Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtekah. And the sons of Raamah, Sheba and Dedan. 8 And Cush fathered Nimrod: he began to be a powerful man in the earth. 9 He was a powerful man before the Lord: therefore it is said, Like Nimrod the man of might before the Lord. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, and Erech, and Akkad, and Calneh in the land of Babylon.⁠a 11 From that land he went to Assyria, and built Nineveh, and the city of Rehoboth, and Calah, 12 and Resen, between Nineveh and Calah, which was a great city. 13 And Mizraim fathered the Ludaee, and Anamaee, and Lehabaee, and Naphtuhaee, 14 and Pathrusaee, and Kasluchaee, from whom came the Philistines and Cappadocians. 15 And Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, 16 and the Jebusites, and Amorites, and Girgashites, 17 and Hivites, and Arkaee, and Antasaee, 18 and Arvadaee, and Zemaraee, and Chamathaee: and afterwards the descendants of the Canaanites were scattered. 19 And the frontier of the Canaanites was from Sidon, toward Gerar and Gaza, toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, to their languages, in their lands, in their peoples.

The Descendants of Shem

21 And children were also born to Shem, the father of all the sons of Eber and the brother of Japheth the Great: 22 the sons of Shem, Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. 23 And the sons of Aram, Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. 24 And Arphaxad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. 25 And to Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg: because in his day the earth was divided. And the name of his brother was Joktan. 26 And Joktan fathered Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, 27 and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, 28 and Obal, and Avimael, and Sheba, 29 and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these are the sons of Joktan. 30 And their territory extended from Mesha toward Sephar, a mountain in the east. 31 These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, in their peoples. 32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, by their generations, in their peoples: and from them the peoples spread across the earth after the flood.

The City and the Tower

1 And all the earth had one language and one way of speaking. 2 And it was as they migrated in the beginning, that they found a plain in the land of Babylon, and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and bake them in the fire. And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 And they said, Come, let us build a city, and a tower, with its top reaching the heights of heaven. And we will make a name for ourselves so that we will not be scattered over the surface of the whole earth. 5 And the Lord was revealed to punish the work of the city and the tower which the human beings had built. 6 And the Lord said, Look, they are one people and all have one language: and this is what they begin to do. And now nothing they plan to do will be beyond their reach. 7 Come, We will reveal Ourselves, and will confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's language. 8 And the Lord dispersed them from there over the surface of all the earth, and they were stopped from building the city. 9 Therefore the name of it is called Confusion, because the Lord there confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord dispersed them over the surface of all the earth.

The Descendants of Shem

10 These are the descendants of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and he fathered Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 11 And Shem lived after he had fathered Arphaxad five hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters. 12 And Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and fathered Shelah. 13 And Arphaxad lived after he had fathered Shelah four hundred and thirty years, and fathered sons and daughters. 14 And Shelah lived thirty years, and fathered Eber. 15 And Shelah lived after he had fathered Eber four hundred and three years, and fathered sons and daughters. 16 And Eber lived thirty-four years, and fathered Peleg. 17 And Eber lived after he had fathered Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and fathered sons and daughters. 18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and fathered Reu. 19 And Peleg lived after he had fathered Reu two hundred and nine years, and fathered sons and daughters. 20 And Reu lived thirty-two years, and fathered Serug. 21 And Reu lived after he had fathered Serug two hundred and seven years, and fathered sons and daughters. 22 And Serug lived thirty years, and fathered Nahor. 23 And Serug lived after he had fathered Nahor two hundred years, and fathered sons and daughters. 24 And Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and fathered Terah. 25 And Nahor lived after he had fathered Terah a hundred and nineteen years, and fathered sons and daughters. 26 And Terah lived seventy years, and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah and His Family

27 And these are the descendants of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. 28 And Haran died during the lifetime of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 And Abram and Nahor married: the name of the wife of Abram, Sarai; and the name of the wife of Nahor, Milcah, daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30 And Sarai was unable to have children, she had no child. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, wife of Abram his son, and set out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. And they came to Haran, and settled there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

Abram's Journey to Canaan

1 And the Lord said to Abram, Leave your country, and from the house of your father, to the land which I will show you. 2 And I will make you a great people, and will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be blessed. 3 And I will bless him who blesses you, and I will curse him who curses you; and through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 4 And Abram went away, as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all the possessions they had acquired, and the people whom they had brought under the law in Haran, and set out to go into the land of Canaan; and they came to the land of Canaan. 6 And Abram traveled through the land to the place of Shechem to the plain of Moreh; and the Canaanites were then in the land. 7 And the Lord revealed Himself to Abram, and said, I will give this land to your descendants. And he built there an altar before the Lord who had been revealed to him. 8 And he went up from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and he built there an altar before the Lord, and prayed in the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram continued traveling to the south.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

10 And there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt, to stay there, because the famine was severe in the land. 11 And it was that as he came near to enter Egypt he said to Sarai his wife, Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman; 12 and it will be that when the Egyptians see you they will say, This is his wife; and they will kill me, and they will keep you alive. 13 Please say you are my sister, so that I may be treated well because of you, and my life may be preserved through your words. 14 And it was that when Abram had entered into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was exceptionally beautiful; 15 and the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh. 16 And Abram was well treated on account of her. And he had sheep, and oxen, and donkeys, and servants, and female servants, and camels. 17 And the Lord brought on Pharaoh great plagues, and on the men of his house, because of Sarai the wife of Abram. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she is your wife? 19 Why did you say, She is my sister, so that I would have married her? And now, here is your wife: take her and go. 20 And Pharaoh instructed the men concerning him, and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

Abram and Lot Separate

1 And Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the south. 2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold; 3 and he traveled from one campsite to another from the south, and to Bethel, to the place where he had pitched his tent at first, between Bethel and Ai; 4 to the place of the altar which he had there made at first: and Abram prayed there in the Name of the Lord. 5 And Lot also, who went with Abram, had sheep and oxen and tents. 6 And the land could not support them, so that they could live together. 7 And there was quarreling between the shepherds of the flock of Abram and the shepherds of the flock of Lot; and the Canaanites and the Perizzites then lived in the land. 8 And Abram said to Lot, Please let there be no quarreling between me and you or between my shepherds and your shepherds, for we are relatives. 9 Is not all the land in front of you? Please separate from me: if you go north, I will go south; if you go south, I will go north. 10 And Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of Jordan was well watered, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, as the garden of the Lord, as the land of Egypt toward Zoar. 11 And Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan; and Lot traveled on ahead, and they separated from one another. 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tents as far as Sodom. 13 And the men of Sodom were wicked in their riches, and greatly guilty in their bodies before the Lord.

The Promise of the Land

14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, Look up now and see, from the place where you are to the north and to the south, and to the east and to the west; 15 for all this land that you see, I will give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth; so that as it is not possible for a man to count the dust of the earth, so also your descendants shall not be counted. 17 Get up, go through the land, in its length and in its width; for I will give it to you. 18 And Abram pitched his tent, and came and settled in the plain of Mamre which is near Hebron, and built there an altar before the Lord.

The War of the Kings

1 And it was in the days of Amraphel, king of Babylon, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of peoples, 2 they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. 3 All these were assembled at the plain of the field, which is now the place of the Dead Sea. 4 Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 And in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and defeated the giants who were in Ashteroth-karnaim, and the mighty who were in Ham, and the terrible ones who were in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites who were in the mountain of Seir, to the plain of Paran which lies beside the desert. 7 And they turned, and came to the plain of the division of judgment, which is Petra, and defeated all the fields of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who lived in En-gedi. 8 And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar, went out and arranged their battle lines against them in the plain of the field, 9 with Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of peoples, and Amraphel, king of Babylon, and Arioch, king of Ellasar; four kings against five. 10 And the plain of the field had many pits, from which they extracted asphalt; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there; and those who remained fled to the mountain. 11 And they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went. 12 And they captured Lot, the son of Abram's brother, and his possessions, and went.

Abram Rescues Lot

13 And he had lived in Sodom. And one of those who escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew; and he had remained in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were Abram's covenant allies. 14 And Abram heard that his relative had been captured; and he armed the young men born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. 15 And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah which was north of Damascus. 16 And he recovered all the possessions, and Lot also, his nephew; and he recovered his possessions, the women also, and the people. 17 And the king of Sodom came out to meet him after returning from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the plain of Shaveh, which was the king's place of racing.

Abram and Melchizedek

18 And Melchizedek, king of Jerusalem, brought out bread and wine, and he was minister before El Illaah, 19 and he blessed him, and said: "Blessed be Abram before El Illaah, Whose possession is heaven and earth; 20 And blessed be El Illaah, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tenth of everything. 21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the people, and take the possessions for yourself. 22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have raised my hands in prayer before the Lord God most high, whose possession is heaven and earth: 23 I will not take anything that is yours, from a thread to a sandal sole, so that you cannot say, I have made Abram rich, 24 except for the food for the young men, and the share of the men who went with me; Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, these will receive their shares.

The Promise of a Son

1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in prophecy, saying, Do not fear, Abram: My Memra shall be your strength and your very great reward. 2 And Abram said, Lord God, what will You give me, since I remain childless: and this steward in my household is Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, Look, You have not given me a child, and, look, a member of my household is my heir. 4 And, look, the word of the Lord was with him, saying, This shall not be your heir, but a son whom you shall father will be your heir. 5 And He led him outside, and said, Look now at the heavens, and count the stars, if you can count them; and He said to him, So will be your descendants. 6 And he believed in the Memra of the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness.

The Covenant with Abram

7 And He said to him, I am the Lord, who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it. 8 And he said, Lord God, by what may I know that I shall inherit it? 9 And He said to him, Bring Me three calves, and three goats, and three rams, and a turtle dove, and the young of a pigeon. 10 And he brought before Him all these. And he divided them equally, and placed each half opposite its matching half; but the birds he did not divide. 11 And the birds came down on the divisions, and Abram drove them away. 12 And it was sunset, and sleep fell upon Abram: and, look, a terrifying deep darkness fell upon him. 13 And He said to Abram, Know for certain that your descendants will be foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and they will serve among them; and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14 And the people whom they will serve I will judge, and afterwards they shall leave with many possessions. 15 And you shall be gathered to your ancestors in peace, and shall be buried in good old age. 16 And in the fourth generation they will return here; because the guilt is not yet complete of the Amorites. 17 And it was at sunset, and there was darkness. And look a furnace that burned, and a flame of fire which passed between those divisions. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, I will give this land to your descendants; from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river of Euphrates, 19 the Shalmaee, and the Kenizaee, and the Kadmonaee, 20 and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Gibbaraee, 21 and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Sarai and Hagar

1 And Sarai wife of Abram had no child; and she had a female servant, an Egyptian, and her name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, Look, the Lord has restrained me from childbearing; have relations with my female servant, if, perhaps, I may have sons from her. And Abram accepted the word of Sarai. 3 And Sarai wife of Abram took Hagar her female servant, the Egyptian, at the end of ten years of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife; 4 and he had relations with Hagar, and she conceived, and she saw that she had conceived, and she despised her mistress. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, I have a grievance against you. I have given my female servant to you, and she sees that she has conceived, and I am despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and you. 6 And Abram said to Sarai, Look, your female servant is in your power; do to her what you think right: and Sarai mistreated her, and she fled from before her.

The Angel's Promise to Hagar

7 And the Angel of the Lord found her at the spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring on the road to Hagra. 8 And he said, Hagar, female servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going? And she said, I am escaping from my mistress Sarai. 9 And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Return to your mistress and submit to her authority. 10 And the Angel of the Lord said to her: I will greatly multiply your descendants, and they shall be too numerous to count. 11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Look, you have conceived, and shall give birth to a son, and you shall name him Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your prayer. 12 And he will be untamable by humans, and he will be dependent on everyone, and also everyone will depend on him, and he will live in the presence of all his brothers. 13 And she prayed in the Name of the Lord who had spoken with her; and she said: You are Eloha, seeing all: for she said, I also have begun to see after He has been revealed to me. 14 Therefore she named the well, The well at which appeared the Angel of the Covenant: look, it is between Petra and Hagra. 15 And Hagar bore to Abram a son, and Abram named his son whom Hagar bore Ishmael. 16 And Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

The Covenant with Abraham

1 And Abram was ninety-nine years old: and the Lord was revealed to Abram, and said to him, I am El-shadai; serve before Me, and be blameless; 2 and I will set a covenant between My Memra and you, and I will multiply you very greatly. 3 And Abram fell on his face: and the Lord spoke with him, saying, 4 Look, I have dedicated My covenant with you, and you shall be the father of many peoples, 5 and your name shall no longer be called Abram; but your name shall be Abraham, because I have appointed you the father of many peoples. 6 And I will make your descendants very numerous, and I will appoint nations and kings who shall rule peoples to come from you. 7 And I will establish My covenant between My Memra and you, and your descendants after you for all future generations, to be to you a God, and to your descendants after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land of your residence, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be to them Eloha.

Circumcision as the Covenant Sign

9 And the Lord said to Abraham, And you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you in their generations. 10 This is My covenant which you shall keep between My Memra and you and your descendants after you, to circumcise every male that is among you. 11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between My Memra and you. 12 And every boy eight days old shall be circumcised among you; every male in your generations, born in the house, or bought with money, of any foreigner, who is not of your descendants, 13 you shall certainly circumcise the one born in the house, and him bought with money; and it shall be My covenant in your flesh for a covenant forever. 14 And the male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man shall perish from the people because he has broken My covenant.

The Promise of Isaac

15 And the Lord said to Abraham, The name of your wife Sarai shall not be called Sarai, for Sarah shall be her name: 16 and I will bless her, and I will also give you a son from her; and I will bless her, and nations and kings who rule peoples shall come from her. 17 And Abraham fell upon his face and rejoiced,⁠a and said to himself, Will a man a hundred years old have a child, and will Sarah give birth at ninety?⁠b 18 And Abraham said before the Lord, If only Ishmael may be established before You! 19 And the Lord said, Truly, your wife Sarah shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant to his sons after him. 20 And concerning Ishmael I have accepted your prayer. Look, I have blessed him, and I will make his descendants very numerous. He will father twelve princes, and I will make him a great people. 21 But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you, at this time, next year. 22 And when He had finished speaking with him, the Glory of the Lord ascended from Abraham.⁠c 23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and everyone born in his house, and everyone bought with his money, every male, the men of the house of Abraham, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, as the Lord had spoken with him. 24 And Abraham was ninety-nine years old, when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised. 26 On that same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son, 27 and all the men of his house, whether born in his house, or bought with money from the sons of the Gentiles, were circumcised with him.

Abraham Welcomes Three Visitors

1 And the Lord was revealed to him in the Vale of Mamre; and he sat at the entrance of the tent while the day was hot. 2 And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, look, three men stood nearby; and he saw, and ran from the door of the tent to meet them, and bowed to the ground. 3 And he said, Lord, if now I have found favor with You, please do not pass Your servant by. 4 Accept now a little water, and wash your feet, and rest under the tree, 5 and take a mouthful of bread, and refresh yourselves, afterward you shall pass on; because for this you have come over to your servant. And they said, So do as you have spoken. 6 And Abraham hurried to the tent to Sarah, and said, Quickly take three seyin of fine flour, mix and make cakes. 7 And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave to a young man, and he hurried to prepare it. 8 And he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them, and he served them under the tree, and they ate.

The Promise to Sarah

9 And they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, Look, in the tent. 10 And He said, I will certainly return to you at this time next year, when you are alive and well, and, look, Sarah your wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard at the entrance of the tent, and it was behind Him. 11 And Abraham and Sarah were old and advanced in years, and Sarah no longer menstruated. 12 And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, Shall I have a child now that I am old and my husband is also old? 13 And the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Can I really give birth when I am old? 14 What word is hidden from before the Lord? At the time I will return to you at this time next year, when you are alive and well, and Sarah shall have a son. 15 And Sarah denied, saying, I did not laugh: for she was afraid. And He said, No, but you did laugh...

The Judgment of Sodom

16 And the men got up from there, and looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to accompany them. 17 And the Lord said, Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am doing? 18 And Abraham shall indeed become a numerous and strong people, and all the peoples of the earth shall be blessed through him; 19 because it is known to Me that he will instruct his children, and his household after him, to keep the ways which are right before the Lord, to do righteousness and justice; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He has spoken concerning him. 20 And the Lord said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is heard before Me because it is great, and their guilt is very great: 21 I will now see, and will judge, whether they do according to the report of them which has come before Me. I will deal with them thoroughly unless they repent; but if they repent, I will not punish. 22 And the men turned away from there, and went toward Sodom. And Abraham was still serving in prayer before the Lord.⁠a

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

23 And Abraham approached, and said, Will You, in anger, destroy the righteous with the guilty? 24 If perhaps there are fifty righteous within the city, will You in anger destroy and not forgive the place for the fifty righteous who are within it? 25 Your judgments are too just for You to do such a thing, to destroy the just with the guilty, and that the just should be as the guilty! Your judgments are true! Can the Judge of all the earth but do justice? 26 And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous in the middle of the city, I will spare all the place for their sake. 27 And Abraham answered and said, Look, I have done a great thing, to speak before the Lord, though I am dust and ashes! 28 Perhaps of the fifty righteous there may be five missing: shall all the city perish for the lack of five? And He said, I will not destroy, if I find there forty-five. 29 And he spoke again before Him, and said, Perhaps forty may be found there. And He said, I will not destroy it on account of the forty. 30 And he said, Please let the Lord's anger not burn, and I will speak. Perhaps thirty shall be found there. And He said, I will not destroy it if I find there thirty. 31 And he said, Look, I have done a great thing to speak before the Lord: perhaps twenty shall be found there. And He said, I will not destroy for the sake of twenty. 32 And he said, Please let the Lord's anger not burn, and I will speak only this time: perhaps ten may be found there. And He said, I will not destroy for the sake of the ten! 33 And the Glory of the Lord ascended when He had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

The Angels Visit Lot

1 And two angels entered into Sodom in the evening; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. And Lot saw, and arose to present himself before them, and he bowed with his face to the earth. 2 And he said, Please, my lords, turn aside to the house of your servant and stay the night, and wash your feet; and getting up early you shall go on your way. And they said, Not so, but we will stay the night in the square. 3 And he urged them strongly, and they turned aside with him, and entered into his house: and he made them a supper, and prepared unleavened bread for them, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to sleep; and the men of the city, the men of Sodom, gathered against the house, young and old, all the people from every part of the city; 5 and they called to Lot, and said to him, Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, and we will have relations with them. 6 And Lot went out to them to the gate, and he shut the door behind him. 7 And he said, Please, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 Look, I have two daughters, who have not had relations with a man, I would bring them to you, and you should do to them what pleases you; only do nothing to these men, because they have entered under the shadow of my dwelling. 9 And they said, Go in, however! And they said, This man came to stay as a foreigner, and now he passes judgment! Now we will do worse to you than to them; and they pressed hard against Lot, and came close to shatter the door. 10 And the men reached out their hands, and brought in Lot to be with them in the house, and shut the door. 11 And they struck the men at the entrance of the house with blindness, young and old, and they wore themselves out trying to find the entrance.

Lot Leaves Sodom

12 And the men said to Lot, Whoever else you have here, your son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and everyone you have in the city, lead them out of this place: 13 for we will destroy this place, because their cry is great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it. 14 And Lot went out and spoke with his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, Get up, come out from this place; for the Lord will destroy the city. And his sons-in-law thought he was joking. 15 And it was as the morning rose that the angels urged Lot, saying, Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who remain faithful with you, so that you are not struck by the punishment of the city. 16 But he delayed; and the men took hold of his hands, and of the hand of his wife, and of the hand of his two daughters; for the Lord had mercy upon him; and they brought him out and placed him outside the city. 17 And it was, when he had brought them outside, he said, Spare your life, do not look behind you, and do not stop anywhere in the plain, escape to the mountain for deliverance, so that you do not perish. 18 And Lot said to them, Please, Lord; 19 look, Your servant has found mercy before You, and You have shown me such great goodness in saving my life, and I cannot take refuge in the mountain, for fear that disaster may overtake me and I may die. 20 Look, this city is near, to flee there; and it is small; let me now escape there. Is it not small? and my life shall be sustained. 21 And He said to him, Look, I have accepted you in this thing also, in that I will not overthrow the city for which you have prayed. 22 Hurry, escape there; for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. Therefore he named the city Zoar. 23 The sun had risen over the earth, and Lot entered Zoar.

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

24 And the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah sulfur and fire from before the Lord from the heavens, 25 and destroyed those cities and all the plain, and all the inhabitants in the cities and the vegetation of the earth. 26 And his wife looked behind her, and she became a statue of salt. 27 And Abraham went up in the morning to the place where he had served in prayer before the Lord; 28 and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and upon all the place of the plain land, and saw, and, look, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace. 29 And it was when the Lord destroyed the cities of the plain, that the Lord remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

Lot and His Daughters

30 And Lot went up from Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him: for he feared to live in Zoar; and he lived in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31 And the older daughter said to the younger daughter, Our father is old, and there is no man in the earth to have relations with us as is customary everywhere. 32 Come, we will give our father wine, and will have relations with him, and have children from our father. 33 And they poured their father wine that night; and the older daughter went in and had relations with her father; and he was unaware when she lay down or when she got up. 34 And it was the next day that the older daughter said to the younger daughter, Look, I had relations with our father last night: let us give wine also in the night, and go in and have relations with him, and we will have children from our father. 35 And they gave that night also wine to their father, and the younger daughter arose and had relations with him; and he was unaware when she lay down or when she got up. 36 And the two daughters of Lot conceived from their father; 37 and the older daughter gave birth to a son, and named him Moab: he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 And the younger daughter also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi: he is the father of the B'ni Ammon to this day.

Abraham and Sarah in Gerar

1 And Abraham migrated from there to the southern land, and lived between Petra and Hagra; and he stayed in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. 3 And the Memra came from the presence of the Lord to Abimelech in a dream of the night,⁠a and said to him, Look, you will die, on account of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a married man's wife. 4 But Abimelech had not approached her. And he said, Lord, will You also kill the innocent people? 5 Did he not say to me, She is my sister? And she also said, He is my brother. I have done this with an upright heart and innocent hands. 6 And the Lord said to him in a dream, It is also known to Me that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I have also restrained you from sinning before Me; therefore I have not permitted you to approach her. 7 And now return the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you will not return her, know that you shall certainly die, you and all who belong to you.

Abimelech Confronts Abraham

8 And Abimelech arose in the morning, and called all his servants, and spoke all these words before them; and the men were very afraid. 9 And Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, What have you done to us, and in what have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done things to me that should not be done. 10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, What did you see that made you do this? 11 And Abraham spoke, Because I said, Perhaps the fear of the Lord is not in this place, and they will kill me on account of my wife. 12 Even so, in truth she is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 And it was, when the people erred after the works of their hands, the Lord did bring me near to the fear of Himself, from among the house of my father. And I said to her, This is the favor you can do for me; in every place through which we pass, say of me, He is my brother. 14 And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and servants, and female servants, and gave to Abraham, and returned to him Sarah his wife. 15 And Abimelech said, Look, my land is before you: live wherever you please. 16 And to Sarah he said, Look, I have given a thousand seleen of silver to your brother; look, this is a garment of honor for you, in exchange for my sending for you and seeing you and all that is with you; and concerning everything you have said, you have been vindicated. 17 And Abraham prayed before the Lord, and the Lord healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they recovered: 18 for the Lord had shut all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, on account of Sarah, the wife of Abraham.

The Birth of Isaac

1 And the Lord remembered Sarah as He had said; and the Lord did to Sarah as He had spoken. 2 And Sarah conceived and bore to Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which the Lord had told him. 3 And Abraham named his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son when he was eight days old, as the Lord had commanded him. 5 And Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac his son was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, The Lord has made me glad; everyone who hears will give me joy. 7 And she said, Faithful is He who spoke to Abraham, and confirmed that Sarah would nurse children; for she has borne a son in his old age. 8 And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day when Isaac was weaned.

Hagar and Ishmael Leave

9 And Sarah observed the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she bore to Abraham, mocking. 10 And she said, Send away this female servant and her son; for the son of the female servant shall not inherit with my son, with Isaac. 11 And the matter deeply distressed Abraham, on account of his son. 12 And the Lord said to Abraham, Do not be distressed concerning the youth and concerning your female servant. Accept everything Sarah says to you, because your descendants shall be named through Isaac. 13 And also I will make the female servant's son a people, because he is your son. 14 And Abraham rose up in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave to Hagar, placing them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy and sent her away. And she went, and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. 15 And the water ran out in the skin; and she laid the youth under one of the trees, 16 and went and sat opposite him, about a bowshot away: for she said, I cannot watch the child die. And she sat opposite him, and lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And the voice of the youth was heard before the Lord; and the Angel of the Lord called to Hagar from the heavens, and said to her, What is wrong, Hagar? Do not fear, for the voice of the youth is heard before the Lord in the place where he is. 18 Get up, lift up the youth and hold him firmly by the hand, because I have appointed him to become a great people. 19 And the Lord opened her eyes, and she saw the well of waters, and went and filled the skin with water, and gave the youth to drink. 20 And the Memra of the Lord was the Helper of the youth, and he grew and lived in the wilderness, and became a skilled archer. 21 And he lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother found him a wife from the land of Egypt.

The Covenant at Beersheba

22 And it was at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, The Memra of the Lord is your Helper in everything you do;⁠a 23 and now swear to me here, by the Memra of the Lord, that you will not deceive me, nor with my son, nor with my grandson; and that according to the good which I have done to you, you will do with me and with the land in which you are a foreigner. 24 And Abraham said, I will swear. 25 And Abraham confronted Abimelech, on account of the well of waters which the servants of Abimelech had taken by force. 26 And Abimelech said, I did not know this had been done, and you had not told me; I have heard of it only today. 27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. 28 And Abraham made seven lambs stand apart; 29 and Abimelech said to Abraham, What are these seven lambs which you have made to stand apart? 30 And he said, You shall take the seven lambs from my hand, to testify for me that I dug that well. 31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because there they swore together. 32 And they made a covenant at Beersheba. And Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, arose, and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 And he planted a tree in Beersheba, and prayed there in the name of the Lord, the Most High God. 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.

The Testing of Abraham

1 And it was after these things that the Lord tested Abraham; and He said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. 2 And He said, Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go into the land of worship, and offer him before Me there, a burnt offering, on one of the mountains which I will tell you. 3 And Abraham arose in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which the Lord had spoken to him. 4 And on the third day Abraham looked up, and saw the place from a distance. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, Wait here with the donkey, and I and the young man will go up there and worship, and return to you. 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and placed it on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife, and they went together. 7 And Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, Father! And he said, Here I am, my son. And he said, Here are the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? 8 And Abraham said, The lamb for the burnt offering is revealed before the Lord, my son. And they went, together. 9 And they came to the place of which the Lord had told him. And Abraham built there the altar, and arranged the wood, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 And Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

The Angel Stops Abraham

11 And the Angel of the Lord called to him from the heavens, and said, Abraham, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. 12 And he said to him, Do not stretch out your hand against the youth, neither do anything to him: for now I know that you revere the Lord, and that you have not spared your only son for Me. 13 And Abraham looked up after these words, and saw, and look, one ram, caught in the bush by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham worshipped and prayed there in that place, and said before the Lord, Here shall generations worship: therefore it shall be said in that day, In this mountain Abraham worshipped before the Lord. 15 And the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham the second time from the heavens, 16 and said, I have sworn by My Memra, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not spared your only son, 17 therefore, I will surely bless you and greatly multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall inherit the cities of their enemies. 18 And all the peoples of the earth shall be blessed through your son: because you have received My word. 19 And Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba, and Abraham lived in Beersheba.

The Family of Nahor

20 And it was after these things Abraham was told, saying, Look, Milcah, also, has borne sons to Nahor, your brother: 21 Uz his first-born, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 and Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. 23 And Bethuel fathered Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight to Nahor, brother of Abraham. 24 And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, she also bore Tebah, and Gaham, and Tahash, and Maacah.

The Death of Sarah

1 And the life of Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years, the years of the life of Sarah. 2 And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

Abraham Buys a Burial Site

3 And Abraham rose up from the presence of his dead, and spoke with the sons of Heth, saying, 4 I am a guest and a foreigner with you: give me a burial site with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. 5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6 Listen to us, Ribbona; you are a prince before the Lord among us; bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead. 7 And Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8 And he spoke with them, saying, If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, receive from me, and ask on my behalf Ephron bar Zohar 9 that he will give me the Double Cave, which is at the edge of his field: for the full amount of silver he shall give it to me among you for the possession of a burial site. 10 But Ephron was sitting among of the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham before the sons of Heth, of all entering the gate of the city, saying, 11 No, my lord; listen to me; I will give you the field and the cave which is in it; I will give it to you; I will give it to you in the sight of my people. Bury your dead. 12 And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. 13 And he spoke with Ephron before the people of the land, saying, But if you will do me a favor, listen to me; I will give money for the field; take it from me, and I will bury my dead there. 14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15 My lord, listen to me: the land is worth four hundred sileen of silver; what is that between me and you? Bury your dead. 16 And Abraham agreed with Ephron, and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver of which he had spoken before the sons of Heth, four hundred sileen of silver, accepted in trade in every city. 17 And Ephron confirmed the field in which is the double cave which is before Mamre; the field, and the cave that is in it, and all the trees which were in the field, in all its boundaries all around, 18 to Abraham, for a purchase, in the sight of the sons of Heth, of all entering the gate of the city. 19 And after this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the double cave of the field which is before Mamre, that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. 20 And the field and the cave which is in it were confirmed to Abraham for the burial site from the sons of Heth.

A Wife for Isaac

1 And Abraham was old and advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. 2 And Abraham said to his servant, the senior servant of his household, who had authority over all which was his, Put now your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by the Memra of the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live. 4 But to my country and to my relatives you will go, and take a wife for my son Isaac. 5 And the servant said to him, Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land; must I take your son back to the land from which you have left? 6 And Abraham said to him, Take care that you do not take my son back there; 7 the Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from the house of my father and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me, and swore to me, saying, I will give this land to your descendants, will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there. 8 And if the woman is not willing to follow you, you shall be released from this oath to me; only do not take my son back there. 9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning that matter.

The Servant Meets Rebekah

10 And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his lord and went. And all the goods of his master were in his hand. And he arose and went to Aram, which is on Euphrates, the river, to the city of Nahor. 11 And he made the camels kneel outside the city at a well of waters in the evening time, at the time when they came out to draw water. 12 And he said, Lord God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Look, I stand by the spring of waters, and the daughters of the men of the city will come out to draw water. 14 Let the young woman to whom I shall say, Please lower your water jar, that I may drink; and she say, Drink, and I will also give your camels drink, let her be the one You have prepared for Your servant, for Isaac: and in this I shall know that You have shown kindness with my master. 15 And it was before he had finished speaking that, look, Rebekah came out, she who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, wife of Nahor, brother of Abraham, and her jar on her shoulder. 16 And the young woman was very beautiful to look at; a virgin, and she had not had relations with a man; and she went down to the spring, and filled her jar, and came up. 17 And the servant hurried to meet her, and said. Please let me drink, a little water from your jar. 18 And she said, Drink, Ribboni; and she hurried, and held her jar in her hand, and gave him to drink. 19 And when she had finished giving him drink, she said, I will also draw water for your camels, until they shall have enough to drink. 20 And she hurried and poured out her jar into the watering trough, and ran again to the well to fill, and she drew water for all his camels. 21 And the man watched her in amazement, gazing silently, to know whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not. 22 And it was when the camels had drunk enough, the man took a ring of gold weighing a shekel, and two bracelets for the hand weighing ten sileen of gold. 23 And he said, Whose daughter are you? Tell me, I pray, whether there is enough room in your father's house for us to stay? 24 And she said to him, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor. 25 And she said to him, There is much straw and fodder with us, also room enough to stay. 26 And the man kneeled, and worshipped before the Lord, 27 and said, Blessed be the Lord the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His grace and His truth from my master; and the Lord has led me on the right road to the house of my master's brother. 28 And the young woman ran and told these things to her mother's house.

The Servant in Laban's House

29 And Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran to the man outside at the spring. 30 And it was when he saw the ring and the bracelets on the hands of his sister, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, This is what the man said to me, that he came to the man, and, look, he stood by the camels at the spring; 31 and he said, Enter, blessed of the Lord; why are you standing outside? and I have prepared the house and a proper place for the camels. 32 And the man entered the house, and he unloaded the camels, and gave straw and fodder for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 And they placed food before him. And he said, I will not eat until I have spoken my words. And he said, Speak. 34 And he said, I am a servant of Abraham; 35 and the Lord has blessed my master much, and made him wealthy, and has given to him sheep and oxen, silver and gold, servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. 36 And Sarah the wife of my master bore a son to my master after she was old, and he has given him everything he has. 37 And my master made me swear, saying, You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of Canaan in whose land I live; 38 but you shall go to my father's house, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son. 39 And I said to my master, Perhaps the woman will not come after me. 40 And he said to me, The Lord before whom I worship will send His angel with you, and will make your journey successful, and you shall take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father's house. 41 Then you shall be released from my oath, when you have gone to my relatives: and if they will not give to you, you shall be released from my oath. 42 And I came today to the spring, and I said, Lord God of my master Abraham, if now it is pleasing to You to make my journey successful, 43 look, I stand at the spring of waters, and a young woman may come out to draw water; and I will say to her, Please give me a little water from your jar to drink; 44 and she shall say to me, I will draw water for both you and your camels, let her be the wife whom the Lord has ordained for my master's son. 45 And I had not finished speaking to myself, when, look, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and filled. And I said to her, Let me now drink. 46 And she hurried and let down her jar, and said, Drink, and I will give your camels also drink. And I drank, and she also watered the camels. 47 And I asked her and said, Whose daughter are you? and she said, I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him. And I set an ornament on her face, and bracelets on her hand, 48 and bowed down and worshipped before the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham who had led me in a true way, to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son. 49 And now, if you will act with goodness and truth with my master, tell me; and if not, I will turn to the right or to the left.

Rebekah Agrees to Leave

50 And Laban answered, and Bethuel, and said, From before the Lord the word has come: we have no power to say to you either evil or good. 51 Look, Rebekah is before you; take her and go; and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has spoken. 52 And it was, when the servant of Abraham heard these words, he worshipped on the earth before the Lord. 53 And the servant brought out vessels of silver and vessels of gold and clothes, and gave to Rebekah, and he gave presents to her brother and to her mother. 54 And they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and they stayed the night and arose in the morning. And he said, Send me to my master. 55 And her brother said, and her mother, Let the young woman stay with us for a period of time, or ten months; after that she shall go. 56 And he said to them, Do not delay me: the Lord will direct my way, and I will proceed to my master. 57 And they said, We will call the young woman, and hear what she will say. 58 And they called Rebekah, and said to her, Will you go with this man? and she said, I will go. 59 And they dismissed Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and the servant of Abraham, and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said to her, You are our sister; may you become thousands and tens of thousands, and may your children inherit the cities of those who hate them. 61 And Rebekah arose, and her female servants; and they rode on camels, and went after the man. And the servant took Rebekah and went.

Isaac and Rebekah

62 And Isaac ascended in coming from the well over which the Angel of Life had appeared; and he lived in the land of the south. 63 And Isaac went out to pray in the field, as evening approached; and he looked up, and looked, and, look, the camels came. 64 And Rebekah looked up, and saw Isaac; and she lowered herself from the camel. 65 And she said to the servant, Who is the man who is walking in the field to meet us? And the servant said, He is my master. And she took a veil and covered herself. 66 And the servant told to Isaac all the things which he had done. 67 And Isaac brought her to the tent: and he saw, and, look, her works were right as the works of Sarah his mother. And he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

Abraham's Other Children

1 And Abraham married another wife, and her name was Keturah; 2 and she bore to him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 And Jokshan fathered Sheba, and Dedan; and the sons of Dedan have been in camps and tents and islands. 4 And the sons of Midian, Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah: all these the sons of Keturah. 5 And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. 6 But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubine, and sent them from his son Isaac, while he was still alive, eastward in the land of the sunrise.

The Death of Abraham

7 And these are the days of the years of the life of Abraham that he lived, a hundred and seventy-five years. 8 And Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, aged, and full of days; and he was gathered to his people. 9 And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the twofold cave in the field of Ephron bar Zohar, the Hittite, which is before Mamre; 10 the field which Abraham bought from the sons of Heth: there they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. 11 And it was after the death of Abraham that the Lord blessed Isaac his son, and Isaac lived at the well over which the Eternal Angel had appeared.

The Descendants of Ishmael

12 And these are the descendants of Ishmael bar Abraham, whom Hagar the Egyptian, the female servant of Sarah, bore to Abraham. 13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their names in the order of their birth. The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam, 14 and Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa; 15 Hadad, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names in their villages and their towns, twelve chiefs of their peoples. 17 And these are the years of the life of Ishmael, a hundred and thirty-seven years. And he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 And they have lived from Havilah to Hagra, which faces Egypt, reaching to Assyria. In the presence of all his brothers he lived.

The Birth of Esau and Jacob

19 And these are the descendants of Isaac bar Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac; 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed before the Lord for his wife, because she was unable to have children; and the Lord listened to his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 And the children struggled in her womb; and she said, If this is so, why have I conceived? And she went to seek instruction before the Lord: 23 and the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your womb, and two kingdoms shall be separated from your womb, and one kingdom shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall be subject to the younger. 24 And her time came to give birth. And, look, twins were in her womb. 25 And the first came out red, covered all over with hair like a garment; and they named him Esau. 26 And afterwards came out his brother, and his hand grasped the heel of Esau, and they named him Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when he fathered them. 27 And the youths grew; and Esau was a skilled hunter, a man going out into the field; and Jacob was a man of peace, one who served in the study house.⁠a 28 And Isaac loved Esau, because he ate what he hunted, and Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright

29 And Jacob cooked stew, and Esau came from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, Please let me taste that red stew, that red stew, for I am exhausted. Therefore he was named Edom: 31 and Jacob said, Sell today your birthright to me. 32 And Esau said, Look, I am going to die, and what is this birthright to me? 33 And Jacob said, Swear to me today; and he swore to him and he sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 And Jacob gave to Esau bread and lentil stew. And he ate and drank, and arose, and went: and Esau despised the birthright.

Isaac in Gerar

1 And there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham; and Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar. 2 And the Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go down into Egypt, remain in the land as I have told you; 3 dwell in this land, and My Memra shall be your helper; and I will bless you. For I will give you and your descendants all these lands; and I will confirm the oath that I have sworn to Abraham your father; 4 and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands, and all the peoples of the earth shall be blessed through your descendants, 5 because Abraham obeyed My word, and observed the requirements of My word, My commandments, My covenant, and My law. 6 And Isaac lived at Gerar; 7 and the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, She is my sister; for he feared to say, My wife, for fear that the men of the place might kill him on account of Rebekah; for she was beautiful to look at. 8 And it was when he had been there many days that Abimelech the king of the Philistines looked from a window, and, look, Isaac was caressing Rebekah his wife. 9 And Abimelech called Isaac and said, But look, she is your wife: why did you say, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, Because I said, I might be killed on account of her. 10 And Abimelech said, What is this that you have done to us? It might have been that someone among the people had relations with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us. 11 And Abimelech commanded all the people saying, Whoever injures this man shall surely be put to death.

Isaac's Flocks and Wells

12 And Isaac sowed in the land, and reaped a hundredfold that year on what he had sown and the Lord blessed him; 13 and the man grew wealthy and continued growing wealthier until he was very rich. 14 And he had flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle, and many servants; and the Philistines were envious of him. 15 And all the wells that the servants of his father had dug in the days of Abraham the Philistines stopped up, and filled with dust. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go from us; for you are much stronger than we. 17 And Isaac went from there, and stayed in the vale of Gerar, and lived there. 18 And Isaac returned, and dug the well of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham; and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 19 And the servants of Isaac dug in the valley, and found there a well of flowing waters. 20 And the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with the shepherds of Isaac, saying, The water is ours; and he named the well Esek, because they had quarreled with him. 21 And they dug another well, and they quarreled also on account of it, and he named it Sitnah. 22 And he went up from there, and dug another well; and they did not quarrel over it: and he named it Rehoboth. For he said, Because the Lord has now made room for us, and we shall spread out in the land.

The Covenant with Abimelech

23 And he went up from there to Beersheba; 24 and the Lord appeared to him in the night, and said, I am the God of Abraham your father; do not fear: for My Memra is your help; and I will bless you, and will multiply your descendants for the sake of Abraham My servant. 25 And he built there an altar, and prayed in the name of the Lord. And he pitched his tent there; and the servants of Isaac dug there a well. 26 And Abimelech came to him from Gerar, and a company of his friends, and Phicol the commander of his army. 27 And Isaac said to him, "Why have you come to me, when you have hated me, and sent me from you? 28 And they said, We have clearly seen that the Memra of the Lord is your help; and we have said, Let the oath which was between our fathers be now confirmed between us and you, and let us enter into a covenant with you, 29 that you do us no evil, as we have not injured you, and as we have done you only good, and we will leave you in peace; you are now blessed of the Lord. 30 And he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 And they arose in the morning and covenanted, each man with his brother; and Isaac dismissed them, and they went from him in peace. 32 And it was on that day that the servants of Isaac came and told him about the well that they had dug. And they said to him, We have found water. 33 And he called it Shibah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

Esau's Wives

34 And Esau was forty years old, and he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite; 35 and they were rebellious and brought distress to Isaac and Rebekah.

Isaac Sends Esau Hunting

1 And it was, when Isaac was old, and his eyes had grown too dim to see, that he called Esau, his eldest son, and said to him, My son. And he said to him, Here I am. 2 And he said, Look, I am old, I do not know the day that I shall die: 3 and now take your weapons, your knife and your bow, and go out into the field, and hunt me game, 4 and make me food such as I like, and bring it to me, and I will eat, and my soul shall bless you before I die.

Rebekah's Plan

5 And Rebekah listened as Isaac was speaking with his son Esau. And Esau went into the field to hunt game to bring it. 6 And Rebekah spoke to Jacob, her son, saying, Look, I have heard your father speaking with Esau your brother, saying, 7 Bring me now game, and make me food, and I will eat and bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die. 8 And now, my son, obey me in what I command you. 9 Go now to the flock, and take from there two good young goats, and make them into food for your father such as he loves, 10 and carry in to your father, that he may eat, and bless you before he dies. 11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12 It may be that my father will feel me, and I shall be a deceiver in his eyes, and shall bring on myself curses, and not blessings. 13 And his mother said to him, It has been said to me in prophecy, that there shall be no curses on you, my son;⁠a only obey me, and go, and take for me. 14 And he went, and took, and brought to his mother, and his mother made food such as his father loved. 15 And Rebekah took the clothes of Esau her older son, which were clean and which she kept in the house, and clothed Jacob her younger son. 16 And with the skins of the young goats she covered his hands, and the smooth part of his neck. 17 And she gave the food and the bread that she had made into the hand of Jacob her son.

Jacob Receives the Blessing

18 And he went in to his father, and said, Father! And he said, Here I am. Who are you, my son? 19 And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau, your firstborn: I have done as you have told me. Get up now and sit up, and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me. 20 And Isaac said to his son, How did you find this so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord your God prepared it before me. 21 And Isaac said to Jacob, Come close now, and I will feel you, my son, to see whether you are my son Esau or not. 22 And Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him, and said, The voice is the voice of Jacob; but the hands are the hands of Esau. 23 And he was not recognized, because his hands were hairy, like the hands of Esau his brother; and he blessed him. 24 And he said, But are you my son Esau? And he said, I am! 25 And he said, Bring before me, and I will eat of my son's game, that my soul may bless you. And he offered to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26 And Isaac his father said to him, Approach now, and kiss me, my son. 27 And he approached, and kissed him, and he smelled the fragrance of his clothes, and blessed him, and said, Look, the smell of my son is as the fragrance of a field which the Lord has blessed. 28 And the Lord shall give you of the dew of heaven, and of the goodness of the earth, and abundance of grain and of wine. 29 Let the peoples serve you, and kingdoms be subservient to you: be chief over your brothers, and let the sons of your mother bow down to you: those who curse you shall be cursed, and those who bless you shall be blessed!

Esau Returns

30 And it was when Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 And he had also made food, and he brought it to his father, and said to his father, Arise, my father, and eat of your son's game, that your soul may bless me. 32 And Isaac his father said to him, Who are you? And he said, I am your son, your firstborn, Esau. 33 And Isaac was overcome with great astonishment, and said, Who was he who prepared game, and brought it to me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and I have blessed him? and he shall be blessed. 34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he gave a very loud and bitter cry. And he said to his father, Bless me, also, me, father! 35 And he said, Your brother came with deceit, and has received your blessing. 36 And he said, He is rightly named Jacob, he has deceived me twice now; he took my birthright, and, look, now he has received my blessing. And he said, Have you not left me a blessing? 37 And Isaac answered, and said to Esau, Look, I have set him a chief over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and I have sustained him with grain and wine: and for you now what can I do, my son? 38 And Esau said to his father, Have you only one blessing, father? Bless me, me also, my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. 39 And Isaac his father answered and said to him, Look, your dwelling shall be of the best of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above. 40 And you shall live by your sword and obey your brother; and it will be that when his sons shall have transgressed the words of the law, you will cast his yoke off your neck.

Jacob Prepares to Flee

41 And Esau held hostility toward Jacob for the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said to himself, The days of mourning for father draw near, and I will kill Jacob my brother. 42 And the words of Esau her eldest son were shown to Rebekah, and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Look, Esau your brother is plotting to kill you. 43 And now, my son, listen to me, and arise and go to Laban my brother at Haran, 44 and stay with him a few days, until your brother's anger subsides, 45 until the anger of your brother turns away from you, and what you have done to him be forgotten; and I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved of both of you in one day? 46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am grieved in my life at the sight of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these of the daughters of the land, what is life to me?

Isaac Sends Jacob Away

1 And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. And he commanded him, and said to him, You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan; 2 arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel the father of your mother, and take a wife from there for yourself of the daughters of Laban, the brother of your mother. 3 And the All-sufficient God bless you, and make you increase and multiply and become an assembly of tribes; 4 and give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land of your residence which the Lord gave to Abraham. 5 And Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban bar Bethuel, the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Marries Mahalath

6 And Esau, when he saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him to Paddan-aram to take from there a wife, and, as he blessed him, commanded him, saying, You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan, 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother, and had gone to Paddan-aram, 8 Esau, considering that the daughters of Canaan were evil in the eyes of Isaac his father, 9 went to Ishmael, and married Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael bar Abraham, the sister of Nebaioth, in addition to his other wives.

Jacob's Dream at Bethel

10 And Jacob set out from Beersheba, and went to Haran; 11 and he arrived at a place, and lodged there, because the sun had set. And he took some of the stones of the place, and placed them under his head, and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed: and, look, a ladder was planted in the earth, and its top reached to the height of heaven; and, look, the angels of the Lord ascended and descended on it; 13 and, look, the Glory of the Lord stood above it, and He said, I am the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land where you are sleeping, I will give to you and your descendants. 14 And your descendants shall be many as the dust of the earth, and shall prevail to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and through you shall all the families of the earth be blessed, and through your descendants. 15 And, look, My Memra shall be your help, and I will guard you wherever you go, and I will bring you again to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I say to you. 16 And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, Truly the Glory of the Lord dwells in this place, and I did not know it.⁠a 17 And he was afraid and said, How awe-inspiring is this place! This place is not ordinary ground, but a place where there is pleasantness before the Lord; and this is near the gate of heaven. 18 And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone which he had set under his head, and set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. 19 And he named that place Bethel. But Luz was the name of the city at first. 20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If the Memra of the Lord will be my help, and will keep me in that way in which I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothes to wear, 21 and bring me again in peace to my father's house, the Memra of the Lord shall be my God. 22 And I will worship at this stone which I have set up as a pillar before the Lord; and of all that You shall give me, I will set aside a tenth before You.

Jacob Meets Rachel

1 And Jacob continued his journey, and came to the land of the children of the East. 2 And he looked, and saw a well in a field; and, look, three flocks of sheep lying near it, because from that well they watered the flocks; and a great stone was over the mouth of the well. 3 And there all the flocks were gathered together; and they withdrew the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the flock, and returned the stone over the mouth of the well to its place. 4 And Jacob said to them, My brothers, where are you from? And they said, We are from Haran. 5 And Jacob said to them, Do you know Laban bar Nahor? And they said, We know him. 6 And he said, Is he well? And they said, He is well; and look, Rachel his daughter is coming with the flock. 7 And he said, Look, it is still broad daylight, it is not time to gather the cattle; water the sheep, and go to the pasture. 8 And they said, We cannot till all the flocks are gathered, and we remove the stone from the mouth of the well, and water the flock. 9 While he spoke with them, Rachel came, with the flock of her father; for she was a shepherdess. 10 And it was, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, the brother of his mother, and the flock of Laban the brother of his mother, that Jacob went near, and withdrew the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban, his mother's brother. 11 And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. 12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was the son of her father's sister, and that he was the son of Rebekah. And she ran and told her father. 13 And it was when Laban heard the news about Jacob the son of his sister, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him into his house; and he narrated to Laban all these words. 14 And Laban said to him, You are indeed my close relative and my own flesh. And he stayed with him for a month.

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

15 And Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my relative, should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall be your wages? 16 And Laban had two daughters, the name of the elder Leah, and the name of the younger Rachel. 17 And the eyes of Leah were beautiful; but Rachel was beautiful in figure and appearance. 18 And Jacob loved Rachel, and he said, I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter. 19 And Laban said, It is better that I give her to you than give her to another man; reside with me. 20 And Jacob served for Rachel seven years; and they were in his eyes as a few days, because he loved her. 21 And Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife; for my time of service is complete, and I will have relations with her. 22 And Laban assembled all the men of the place, and made a feast. 23 And it was in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him, and he had relations with her. 24 And Laban gave her Zilpah his female servant to Leah his daughter, to attend on her. 25 And it was in the morning, and, look, she was Leah! And he said to Laban, What is this that you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? and why have you deceived me? 26 And Laban said, It is not our custom, to give the younger before the elder.⁠a 27 Complete this week, and I will give you the other daughter also, for the service that you shall serve with me for seven more years. 28 And Jacob did so, and completed this week's celebration; and he gave him Rachel his daughter to be his wife. 29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah her female servant to serve her. 30 And he also had relations with Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served him for seven more years.

The Children of Leah

31 And the Lord saw that Leah was hated, and He enabled her to conceive, but Rachel was unable to have children. 32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she named him Reuben; for she said, Because my suffering was known to the Lord; for now my husband will love me. 33 And she conceived again and bore a son, and she said, Because it was heard before the Lord that I was hated, and He gave me this also; and she named him Simeon. 34 And she conceived again and bore a son: and she said, This time my husband will be attached to me; for I have borne him three sons: therefore she named him Levi. 35 And she conceived again and bore a son; and she said, This time I will give praise before the Lord: therefore she named him Judah. And she stopped bearing children.

The Children of Bilhah and Zilpah

1 And Rachel saw that she did not bear children to Jacob; and Rachel envied her sister, and she said to Jacob, Give me children; and otherwise I will die. 2 And Jacob became angry with Rachel, and he said, Why ask of me? Should you not ask the Lord, who has denied you children? 3 And she said, Here is my female servant Bilhah, have relations with her, and she shall bear, and I too shall raise children and build a family through her. 4 And she gave him Bilhah her female servant as a wife; and Jacob had relations with her, 5 and Bilhah conceived, and bore to Jacob a son. 6 And Rachel said, The Lord has judged me, and has also received my prayer, and given me a son: therefore she named him Dan. 7 And Bilhah the female servant of Rachel conceived again, and bore a second son to Jacob. 8 And Rachel said, The Lord has received my request: when I pleaded in my prayer, I desired that I might have offspring as my sister, and also it has been granted to me. And she named him Naphtali. 9 And Leah saw that she had ceased from bearing, and she took Zilpah her female servant, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 And Zilpah the female servant of Leah bore a son to Jacob, 11 and Leah said, Prosperity has come; and she named him Gad. 12 And Zilpah the female servant of Leah bore a second son to Jacob; 13 and Leah said, Praise shall be mine; now women will praise me; and she named him Asher.

Leah's Mandrakes and More Children

14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and he brought them to Leah his mother. And Rachel said to Leah, Give me now of your son's mandrakes. 15 And she said to her, Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband, that you would also take my son's mandrakes? And Rachel said, Then he shall have relations with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes. 16 And Jacob came in from the field at evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, You shall come to me, because I have hired you, with the mandrakes of my son; and he had relations with her that night 17 And the Lord received the prayer of Leah, and she conceived, and bore to Jacob a fifth son. 18 And Leah said, The Lord has given me my reward, because I gave my female servant to my husband. And she named him Issachar. 19 And Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob. 20 And Leah said, The Lord has given me a good portion. This time my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons: therefore she named him Zebulun. 21 And afterward she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.

The Birth of Joseph

22 And the remembrance of Rachel came before the Lord, and the Lord received her prayer, and enabled her to conceive. 23 And she conceived and bore a son, and she said, The Lord has removed my disgrace. 24 And she named him Joseph, saying, The Lord shall add to me another son.

Jacob's Agreement with Laban

25 And it was when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, Send me away, that I may go to my place, and to my land. 26 Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, that I may go: for you know the service with which I have served you. 27 And Laban said to him, If now I have found favor with you, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me for your sake. 28 And he said, Name your wages to me, and I will pay them. 29 And he said to him, You know how I have served you, and what your flocks have been with me; 30 for you had little before I came, and they have increased into a multitude: and the Lord has blessed you for my sake. But now, what shall I do also for my own household? 31 And he said, What shall I give you? And Jacob said, You shall not give me anything; but if you will do with me this matter, I will return, and, pasturing your flocks, will guard them. 32 I will pass through all your flocks today, and set apart from them every lamb streaked and speckled, and every black lamb among the lambs, and the streaked and speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages. 33 And my honesty shall testify for me in the future, when you come to inspect my wages: every animal which is not streaked or speckled among the goats, and black among the lambs, shall count as stolen by me. 34 And Laban said, Let it be according to your word. 35 And he set apart that day the male goats of various colors, and all the goats which were speckled or spotted, every one with some white on it, and all that were black among the lambs: and he gave them into the hand of his sons. 36 And he set a three-day journey between them and Jacob; and Jacob pastured the flock of Laban which remained. 37 And Jacob took branches of white poplars, and almond and of plane tree, and peeled white strips in them, exposing the white of the branches. 38 And he placed the branches that he had peeled in the channels at the watering troughs, the place to which they brought the flocks to drink, to be in front of the flocks, that they might be stimulated to mate when they came to drink. 39 And the sheep were stimulated to mate in front of the branches, and the sheep gave birth to lambs with spotted feet and streaks. 40 And Jacob separated the lambs, and set before the sheep all which were multicolored and all that were black among the sheep of Laban; and made separate flocks for himself, not mixing them with the sheep of Laban. 41 And it was that whenever the stronger sheep conceived, Jacob placed the branches before the eyes of the sheep in the channels, that they might conceive before the branches: 42 but before the late sheep he did not place them. And so the late ones were Laban's, and the prime ones Jacob's. 43 And the man became very wealthy, and had a multitude of flocks, and female servants, and servants, and camels, and donkeys.

Jacob Prepares to Leave

1 And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob has taken all that was our father's; and of that which was our father's he has gained all these possessions. 2 And Jacob saw Laban's expression, and noticed that he no longer treated him as he had before. 3 And the Lord said to Jacob, Return to your country and your birthplace: and My Memra shall be your help. 4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field with his flocks: 5 and he said to them, I see that your father no longer treats me as he did before; and the God of my father has been my help. 6 And you know that with all my strength I have served your father; 7 but your father has lied to me, and has changed my wages ten times; but the Lord has not permitted him to hurt me. 8 If now he said, The streaked shall be your wages; then all the flock bore streaked: and if now he said, The spotted shall be your wages; all the flock bore spotted. 9 And the Lord has separated them from the cattle of your father, and has given them to me. 10 And it was at the time when the flocks conceived, I looked up, and saw in a dream, and, look, the rams which leaped upon the flock were spotted, streaked, and speckled. 11 And the angel of the Lord said to me in a dream, Jacob. And I said, Here I am. 12 And he said, Look up now, and see, all the rams which leap upon the flock are spotted, streaked, and speckled: because all that Laban has done to you is known to Me. 13 I am Eloha, who appeared to you at Bethel, where you did anoint the pillar, and where you swore the oath before Me: arise now, go from this land, and return to the land of your birth. 14 And Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, Do we still have a portion or inheritance in our father's house? 15 Are we not considered strangers by him? for he has sold us, and has used up our money also. 16 Therefore, all the wealth that the Lord has separated from our father is ours and our children's: and now do all that the Lord has said to you.

Jacob Leaves with His Family

17 And Jacob arose, and put his sons and his wives on camels; 18 and led all his herds and all his possessions which he had obtained, his herds and his possessions which he had obtained in Paddan-aram, to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan. 19 And Laban had gone to shear his flock: and Rachel stole the idols that were her father's. 20 And Jacob kept his departure secret from Laban the Aramean and did not tell him that he was leaving. 21 And he went, he and all that were his; and he arose and crossed the Euphrates and headed toward the mountain of Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

22 And it was reported to Laban on the third day that Jacob had gone. 23 And he took his relatives with him, and pursued him for seven days; and he overtook him in the mountain of Gilead. 24 And a Memra came from before the Lord to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night, and He said to him, Be careful not to speak to Jacob either good or evil. 25 And Laban overtook Jacob; and Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain; and Laban settled his relatives in the mountain of Gilead. 26 And Laban said to Jacob, What have you done, that you have hidden from me, and taken away my daughters, like captives taken in war? 27 Why did you leave secretly, hiding it from me and not telling me, that I might then have sent you away with joy, and with songs, and with tambourines, and with harps? 28 You did not even allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly. 29 I have the power to harm you: but the God of your father spoke to me in the evening, saying, Be careful not to speak to Jacob either good or evil. 30 And now, though you were determined to go because you longed for your father's house, why have you taken my religious objects? 31 And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I feared; for I said, You might take your daughters away from me. 32 Whoever has your religious objects shall not live: before our relatives, identify what belongs to you among my possessions and take it. But Jacob did not know that Rachel had carried them away. 33 And Laban entered into the tent of Jacob, the tent of Leah, and into the tent of the two concubines, but did not find them; and he went out from the tent of Leah, and entered the tent of Rachel. 34 But Rachel had taken the idols, and laid them in the saddlebags of the camels, and sat on them. And Laban searched all the tent, but did not find them. 35 And she said to her father, Please do not be displeased, my lord, that I am not able to rise before you; for I am menstruating. And he searched carefully but did not find the idols.

Jacob Confronts Laban

36 And Jacob was angry, and argued with Laban. And Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my guilt, what is my crime, that you have pursued me? 37 Now that you have searched all my things, what have you found, of all the things of your house? Set it here before my relatives and your relatives, and they shall decide between us both. 38 I have been with you for twenty years; your ewes and goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock. 39 I have not brought you animals torn by wild beasts; what was deficient in number, you required it from my hand. I have watched by day, and I have watched by night. 40 This is how it was for me; in the day the heat devoured me, and the frost came down upon me at night, and sleep escaped my eyes. 41 I have served in your house for twenty years; fourteen years for your two daughters; and six years for your sheep; and you have changed my wages ten times. 42 Unless the God of my fathers, the God of Abraham, and He whom Isaac revered, had been my helper, even now you would have sent me away empty-handed: but my labor, and the toil of my hands, have been known to the Lord, and He rebuked you in the evening.

The Covenant between Jacob and Laban

43 And Laban answered and said to Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons my sons, and the sheep are my sheep, and everything you see is mine; and to these, my daughters, what can I do today, or to their children which they have borne? 44 And now come, let us enter into a covenant, you and I, and it shall be for a witness between me and you. 45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up as a pillar. 46 And Jacob said to his relatives, Collect stones; and they took stones, and made a mound, and ate there on the mound. 47 And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed. 48 And Laban said, This mound testifies between me and you today. Therefore he named it The Heap of Witness, 49 and Mizpah; for he said, The Memra of the Lord will observe between me and you, when we are hidden from one another. 50 If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, no man is with us; see, the Memra of the Lord is witness between me and you. 51 And Laban said to Jacob, Look at this mound and this pillar, which I have erected between me and you. 52 This mound and pillar are a witness, that I will not pass over this mound to you; and that you shall not pass over this mound and this pillar, to do me evil. 53 The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor shall judge between us, the God of their fathers. And Jacob swore by Him whom Isaac his father feared. 54 And Jacob offered sacrifices in the mountain, and called his relatives to eat bread; and they ate bread, and stayed the night in the mountain.

Laban Returns Home

1 And Laban arose in the morning, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them, and went; and Laban returned to his place.

Jacob Meets Angels

2 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of the Lord met him. 3 And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is a army from before the Lord; and he named the place Mahanaim.

Messengers to Esau

4 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, in the region of Edom; 5 and he instructed them, saying, So shall you tell to my lord, to Esau: This is what your servant says Jacob, With Laban I have lived and stayed, until now. 6 And I have oxen, and donkeys, sheep, and servants, and female servants, and have sent word to my lord, to find favor with you. 7 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother, to Esau; and he is also coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him. 8 And Jacob was very afraid, and it distressed him. And he divided the people that were with him, and the sheep, and oxen, and camels, into two groups, 9 and said, If Esau comes to one group and attacks it, the group that is left may escape.

Jacob's Prayer

10 And Jacob said, God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord, who said to me, Return to your country and your birthplace, and I will do you good; 11 my righteous deeds are less than all the mercies and benefits You have shown Your servant: for I crossed this Jordan alone, and now I have become two bands. 12 Save me now from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I am afraid of him, for fear that he may come and strike me, and the mother with the children. 13 And You have said, I will surely do good to you, and will make your descendants many as the sand of the sea which cannot be counted because of their number.

Gifts for Esau

14 And he stayed there that night, and took from what he had with him, a gift for Esau his brother; 15 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 16 thirty nursing camels and their young, cows forty, and bulls ten, female donkeys twenty, and male donkeys ten. 17 And he gave them into the hand of his servants, herd by herd separately, and said to his servants, Go ahead of me, and put a space between herd and herd. 18 And he commanded the first servant, saying, If my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, To whom do you belong? and, Where are you going? and, Whose animals are these ahead of you? 19 you shall say, They are a gift from your servant Jacob, which he has sent to my lord, to Esau; and, look, he also is coming after us. 20 And he instructed also the second and the third, and all of them who followed the herds, saying, According to this word you shall speak with Esau, when you find him; 21 and say also, Look, your servant Jacob is coming behind us. For he said, I will quiet his anger by the gift that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me. 22 And the gift went ahead of him, and he himself lodged that night in the camp.

Jacob at the Jabbok

23 And he arose in the night, and took his two wives, and his two concubines, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok; 24 and he took them and made them pass over the stream, and sent his possessions across. 25 And Jacob remained alone; and a Man wrestled with him until dawn. 26 And he saw that he could not overcome him, and he touched the socket of his hip, and the socket of Jacob's hip was dislocated in wrestling with him. 27 And he said, Let me go; for the morning is coming. And he said, I will not let You go, unless You bless me. 28 And He said to him, What is your name? And he said, Jacob. 29 And He said, Your name shall be no longer Jacob, but Israel; for you are a prince before the Lord and among men, and you have prevailed. 30 And Jacob asked Him, and said, Show me now Your Name! And He said, Why do you ask My Name? And He blessed him there. 31 And Jacob named the place Peniel: because I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face, and my soul has been saved! 32 And the sun arose upon him as he passed over Penuel, and he limped because of his hip. 33 Therefore the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew which shrank, which is on the socket of the hip, to this day, because He touched the socket of Jacob's hip in the sinew that shrank.

Jacob and Esau Reunite

1 And Jacob looked up, and saw, and, look, Esau came, and with him four hundred men; and he divided the children with Leah, and with Rachel, and with the two concubines. 2 And he set the concubines and their children first, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph after them. 3 And he went ahead of them, and bowed to the earth seven times, until he came near to his brother. 4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell upon his neck, and kissed him; and they wept. 5 And he looked up, and saw the women and the children, and said, Who are these with you? And he said, The children whom the Lord has given to your servant. 6 And the concubines approached, they and their children, and bowed. 7 And Leah and her children also approached, and bowed; and afterward Joseph and Rachel approached, and bowed. 8 And he said, What do you mean by all this group that I met? And he said, To find mercy in the eyes of my lord. 9 And Esau said, I have much, my brother; keep what is yours for yourself. 10 And Jacob said, Please, if I have now found mercy with you, that you would accept the present from my hand, because I have now seen your face as the vision of the face of the Great, and you are pleased with me. 11 Receive, I pray, my offering which is brought to you, because the Lord has been merciful to me, and because I have everything. And he urged him, and he took it.

Jacob and Esau Part

12 And he said, Let us journey and go, and I will go along with you. 13 And he said, My lord knows that the little ones are tender, and the sheep and cattle giving milk are with me; and if they drive them too hard one day, all the flock may die. 14 Let my lord pass on before his servant, and I will lead on quietly, at the pace of the little ones, the livestock ahead of me, and the nursing young, until I come to my lord at Seir. 15 And Esau said, Let me leave with you of the people who are with me. And he said, Why should this be? Let me find favor in the eyes of my lord. 16 And Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. 17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house, and made shelters for his cattle; therefore he named the place Succoth.

Jacob Settles near Shechem

18 And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, in his coming from Paddan-aram, and he camped in front of the city. 19 And he bought the possession of the field where he had pitched his tent, from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred lambs. 20 And he raised there an altar, and offered service on it before God, the God of Israel.

Dinah and Shechem

1 And Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2 And Shechem bar Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, and took her, and had relations with her and violated her. 3 And his soul took pleasure in Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman, and spoke tenderly to the young woman. 4 And Shechem spoke to Hamor his father, saying, Get me this young woman for a wife. 5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. And his sons were with his flocks in the field; and Jacob was silent until they came. 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem came out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 And the sons of Jacob came up from the field when they heard. And the men were indignant and very angry, because a disgrace had been done in Israel by his having relations with Jacob's daughter; for such a thing should not have been done.

Hamor's Marriage Proposal

8 And Hamor spoke with them, saying, My son Shechem's heart is set on your daughter; give her now to him as a wife. 9 And intermarry with us, and take our daughters to you; 10 and the land shall be before you; inhabit and do business in it, and possess it. 11 And Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, Let me find favor in your eyes, and what you shall tell me I will give. 12 Ask me for a large bride-price and gift, and I will give as you may tell me; but give me the young woman as a wife. 13 And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and they spoke deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. 14 And they said to them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man uncircumcised; for that would be a reproach to us. 15 Nevertheless in this we will agree with you, if you will be as we are, by circumcising every male among you, 16 and we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters and live with you and be one people. 17 But if you will not consent to us to be circumcised, we will take our daughter and go. 18 And their words were pleasing in the eyes of Hamor, and in the eyes of Shechem the son of Hamor. 19 And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in the daughter of Jacob, and he was more honorable than all his father's house. 20 And Hamor came, and Shechem his son, to the gate of the city, and spoke to the men of the city, saying, 21 These men are friendly with us, and they may live in the land, and do business in it, and look, the land is wide open before them; we will marry their daughters and give our daughters to them. 22 Only in this will the men agree with us to live with us, to be one people, if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised. 23 Their flocks, and their possessions, and all their cattle, will they not be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will live with us. 24 And everyone who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and of Shechem his son, and they were circumcised, every male, everyone who went out of the gate of his city.

Simeon and Levi Attack the City

25 And it was on the third day, when they were in severe pain, that the two sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, each took his sword, and came upon the city, whose people felt secure, and killed every male, 26 and they killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword. And they brought Dinah out of the house of Shechem, and went. 27 And the sons of Jacob came up to the possessions of the dead, and sacked the town, because they had defiled their sister. 28 Their sheep, and their oxen, and their donkeys, and all that was in the city and the field, they took. 29 And they captured all their children and wives and looted all their possessions, everything in their houses. 30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have troubled me, in causing hostility between me and the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and I have few people; and they will gather against me, and strike me, and I shall perish, I and my household. 31 And they said, Should he treat our sister like a prostitute?

Jacob Returns to Bethel

1 And the Lord said to Jacob, Get up, go up to Bethel, and live there, and make there an altar to Eloha, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau. 2 And Jacob said to the men of his house, and to all who were with him, Put away the gentile idols that are among you, and purify yourselves; and change your clothes; 3 and we will arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make there an altar to Eloha, who heard my prayer in the day of my distress, and whose Memra was my helper in the way that I went. 4 And they gave Jacob all the gentile idols that were in their hands, and the jewels that were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the terebinth which was near Shechem. 5 And they journeyed; and fear from before the Lord was upon the peoples in the cities surrounding them; and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 And Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, which is Bethel, he and all the people who were with him. 7 And he built there an altar, and called the place El Bethel, because the Angel of the Lord had appeared to him there when he fled from before his brother. 8 And Deborah, the nurse of Rebekah, died, and was buried below Bethel, on the slope of the valley; and he named it, The vale of weeping.

The Promise to Israel

9 And the Lord appeared to Jacob again when he had come from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. 10 And the Lord said to Jacob, Your name shall be no longer Jacob, but Israel shall be your name; and he named him Israel. 11 And the Lord said to him, I am El Shadai; increase and multiply; a people and an assembly of tribes shall be from you, and kings who shall reign over the peoples shall come from you. 12 And the land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you. 13 And the glory of the Lord ascended above him, in the place where He had spoken with him. 14 And Jacob erected a pillar in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and poured drink offerings on it, and poured oil on it. 15 And Jacob named the place where the Lord had spoken with him Bethel.

The Birth of Benjamin and Rachel's Death

16 And they journeyed from Bethel, and there was still some distance to Ephrath; and Rachel went into labor and had great difficulty giving birth. 17 And as she struggled in labor, the midwife said to her, Do not fear, for you have another son. 18 And it was as her soul departed, for she died, that she named him The son of my woe; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 And Rachel died, and was buried on the road to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. 20 And Jacob erected a pillar on her grave: that is the pillar of the tomb of Rachel to this day. 21 And Israel proceeded and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Adar.

The Sons of Jacob

22 And it was while Israel lived in that land, that Reuben went and had relations with Bilhah, the concubine of his father. And Israel heard it. And the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Leah, the firstborn of Jacob, Reuben, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, the female servant of Rachel, Dan and Naphtali; 26 and the sons of Zilpah, the female servant of Leah, Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

The Death of Isaac

27 And Jacob came to Isaac his father, to Mamre, the city of Arba, which is Hebron; for Abraham and Isaac had lived there. 28 And the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years. 29 And Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, old and satisfied with his years; and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him.

Esau's Family

1 And these are the descendants of Esau, who is Edom. 2 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah, daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, 3 and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael, the sister of Nebaioth. 4 And Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz; and Basemath bore Reuel; 5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. 6 And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the people of his household, and his flocks, and all his cattle, and all his possessions he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went into another land away from Jacob his brother; 7 because their possessions was too great for them to live together, and the land of their residence could not sustain them because of their cattle. 8 And Esau lived in the mountain of Seir. Esau is Edom.

The Descendants and Chiefs of Esau

9 And these are the descendants of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the mountain of Seir, 10 these are the names of the sons of Esau: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esau; Reuel, son of Basemath, the wife of Esau. 11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz. 12 And Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz bar Esau, and she bore to Eliphaz Amalek. These are the sons of Adah, the wife of Esau. 13 And these are the sons of Reuel, Nahath and Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau. 14 And these are the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, the wife of Esau; and she bore to Esau Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah. 15 These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. Of the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau, Rabba Teman, Rabba Omar, Rabba Zepho, Rabba Kenaz, 16 Rabba Korah, Rabba Gatam, Rabba Amalek. These are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. 17 And these are the sons of Reuel bar Esau: Rabba Nahath, Rabba Zerah, Rabba Shammah, Rabba Mizzah. These are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau. 18 And these are the sons of Oholibamah, the wife of Esau: Rabba Jeush, Rabba Jaalam, Rabba Korah. These are the chiefs of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah the wife of Esau. 19 These are the sons of Esau, and these are their chieftains. He is Edom.

The Descendants of Seir

20 These are the sons of Seir, the Horites, the inhabitants of the land, Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah, 21 and Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chieftains of the Horite, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom. 22 And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam, and the sister of Lotan was Timna. 23 And these are the Beni Shobal, Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. 24 And these are the sons of Zibeon, Aiah and Anah; he is Anah who found the giants in the desert while he tended the donkeys of his father Zibeon. 25 And these are the children of Anah, Dishon, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah. 26 And these are the sons of Dishan: Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran. 27 These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan. 28 These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. 29 These are the chieftains of the Horite: Rabba Lotan, Rabba Shobal, Rabba Zibeon, Rabba Anah, 30 Rabba Dishon, Rabba Ezer, Rabba Dishan. These are the chieftains of the Horite, according to their principalities in the land of Seir.

The Kings of Edom

31 And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before kings reigned among the sons of Israel: 32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. 33 And Bela died, and Jobab reigned in his place the son of Zerah of Bozrah. 34 And Jobab died, and Husham reigned in his place, of the land of the south. 35 And Husham died, and Hadad reigned in his place, the son of Bedad, who killed the Midianites in the fields of Moab; and the name of his city was Avith. 36 And Hadad died, and Samlah reigned in his place of Masrekah. 37 And Samlah died, and Shaul reigned in his place of Rehoboth, which is on the Ph'rat. 38 And Shaul died, and Baal-Hanan reigned in his place bar Achbor. 39 And Baal-Hanan bar Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place, and the name of his city was Pau; and the name of his wife Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of a changer of gold.

The Chiefs of Edom

40 And these are the names of the chieftains of Esau, after their families, by their places, with their names: Rabba Timna, Rabba Alvah, Rabba Jetheth, 41 Rabba Oholibamah, Rabba Elah, Rabba Pinon, 42 Rabba Kenaz, Rabba Teman, Rabba Mibzar, 43 Rabba Magdiel, Rabba Iram: these are the chieftains of Edom, after their settlements in the land of their possessions. He is Esau, the father of the Edomites.

Joseph and His Brothers

1 And Jacob lived in the land of the residence of his father, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the history of Jacob. Joseph was seventeen years old; he kept the flock with his brothers; and he had been brought up with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father; and Joseph brought a bad report about them to his father. 3 But Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, because he had a wise son in him,⁠a and he made him a multicolored robe. 4 And his brothers saw that their father loved him better than all his brothers, and they hated him, and were not willing to speak with him peacefully.

Joseph's Dreams

5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and told it to his brothers, and they hated him even more. 6 And he said to them, Hear now this dream which I have dreamed: 7 Look, we were binding sheaves in the middle of the field, and look! my sheaf arose and became upright, and, look, your sheaves stood around and bowed to my sheaf. 8 And his brothers said to him, Do you imagine that you will reign over us? Or do you think you will govern us as a shultan? And they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words. 9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and described it to his brothers, saying, Look, I have dreamed a dream again; and look, the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars bowed to me. 10 And he described it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, What dream is this that you have dreamed? Am I and your mother and your brothers to come and bow to you on the ground? 11 And his brothers envied him; but his father kept the matter in mind.

Joseph Goes to Find His Brothers

12 And his brothers went to tend the flock of their father in Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, Do not your brothers tend the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them. And he said, Here I am. 14 And he said to him, Go now, and see whether your brothers and the flock are well, and bring me word. And he sent him from the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a man found him, and, look, he wandered in the field. And the man inquired of him, saying, Whom are you looking for? 16 And he said, I look for my brothers: please tell me where they are tending the flock. 17 And the man said, They have gone from here; for I heard them say, We will go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.

The Plot against Joseph

18 And they saw him from afar; and before he came near, they plotted against him to kill him. 19 And they said, to one another, Look, this master of dreams is coming. 20 And now, come, we will kill him, and throw him into one of the pits; and will say a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will be the end of his dreams. 21 And Reuben heard, and rescued him out of their hands, and said. Let us not kill him. 22 And Reuben said, Do not shed blood; throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but do not raise a hand against him, so that he might rescue him from their hands to bring him back to his father. 23 And it was when Joseph had come to his brothers that they took off his robe, the multicolored robe which was on him, 24 and they took him and threw him into the pit; but the pit was empty, no water was in it. 25 And they sat down to eat bread. And they looked up and looked, and, look, a band of Arabaee were coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying spices, and resin, and myrrh, to go down to Egypt. 26 And Judah said to his brothers, What gain should we have by killing our brother and concealing his blood? 27 Come, and we will sell him to the Arabaee, and we shall not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers listened to him. 28 And there passed by Midianite men, merchants, and they drew and lifted up Joseph from the pit, and sold Joseph to the Arabaee for twenty pieces of silver; and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

Jacob Mourns Joseph

29 And Reuben returned to the pit, and, look, Joseph was not in the pit. And he tore his clothes, 30 and returned to his brothers, and said, The boy is gone; where can I go? 31 But they took Joseph's robe, and killed a young goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the multicolored robe, and they brought to their father, and said, We found this; please identify whether it is your son's robe, or not. 33 And he recognized it, and said, It is my son's robe; a wild animal has devoured him: Joseph has been torn to pieces! 34 And Jacob tore his clothes, and wrapped sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons, and all his house, arose to comfort him; but he refused to take comfort, and said, For I will go down to my son, mourning into Sheol. And his father wept for him. 36 And the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, a prince of Pharaoh, chief of the executioners.

Judah and His Sons

1 And it was at that time that Judah went down from his brothers, and turned aside to an Adullamite man whose name was Hirah. 2 And Judah saw there the daughter of a merchant man whose name was Shua, and he took her and had relations with her; 3 and she conceived and bore a son, and he named him Her; 4 and she conceived again, and bore a son, and named him Onan. 5 And she again bore a son, and named him Shelah; and he was in Kezib when she bore him. 6 And Judah took a wife for Her his first-born, and her name was Tamar. 7 And Her the first-born of Judah was evil before the Lord, and the Lord caused him to die. 8 And Judah said to Onan, Have relations with your brother's wife, marry her as his brother, and raise offspring for your brother. 9 And Onan knew that the offspring would not be named after him; and it was that when he had relations with his brother's wife, he spilled his seed on the ground so that he would not raise offspring for his brother; 10 and what he did was evil before the Lord, and he caused him also to die. 11 And Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow in your father's house until my son Shelah grows up. For he said, He might also die like his brothers: and Tamar went and lived in her father's house.

Tamar and Judah

12 And after many days the daughter of Shua, Judah's wife, died: and Judah was comforted; and he went up to the shearers of his sheep, he and Hirah the Adullamite his friend to Timnah. 13 And it was reported to Tamar, saying, Look, your father-in-law is coming to Timnah to shear his sheep. 14 And she laid aside the dress of her widowhood, and covered herself with a large veil, and adorned herself, and sat at the crossroads of Enaim which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him for a wife. 15 And Judah saw her, and thought that she was an prostitute, because she had covered her face. 16 And he turned aside to her by the road, and said, Please let me have relations with you; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me to have relations with me? 17 And he said, I will send you a young goat from the flock. And she said, If you will give me a pledge until you send it. 18 And he said, What is the pledge that I shall give you? And she said, Your seal-ring, your scarf, and the staff in your hand. And he gave to her, and had relations with her, and she conceived by him. 19 And she arose, and went, and removed her veil, and dressed herself in the dress of her widowhood. 20 And Judah sent the young goat, by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the hand of the woman; but he could not find her. 21 And he inquired of the men of the place, saying, Where is the prostitute who was in Enaim by the road? And they said to him, There is no prostitute here. 22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I could not find her; the men of the place also said there is no prostitute there. 23 And Judah said, Let her keep it so that we do not become objects of contempt: look, I sent this young goat, and you have not found her. 24 And about three months had passed, and it was reported to Judah, saying, Tamar your daughter-in-law has had unlawful relations, and, look, she is pregnant from unlawful relations. And Judah said, Bring her out, and let her be burned. 25 And she was brought out. And she sent to her father-in-law, saying, By the man to whom these belong I am pregnant. And she said, Please identify, whose are these, the seal, the scarf, and the staff? 26 And Judah acknowledged and said, She is justified in having conceived from me, because I have not given her Shelah my son. And he did not have relations with her again.

The Birth of Perez and Zerah

27 And it was the time of her giving birth, and, look, twins were in her womb. 28 And it was in giving birth that one of them put out a hand; and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, This one came out first. 29 And it was when he had drawn back his hand that his brother came out: and she said, How great is your strength, that you have broken through! And she named him Perez. 30 And afterwards came out his brother who had the crimson on his hand, and she named him Zerah.

Joseph in Potiphar's House

1 But Joseph was brought down into Egypt, and Potiphar, a chief of Pharaoh, a chief of the executioners, an Egyptian man, bought him from the hand of the Arabaee who had brought him down there. 2 And the Memra of the Lord was the helper of Joseph, and he became a prosperous man, and was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 And his master saw that the Memra of the Lord was his helper, and that the Lord made everything he did succeed. 4 And Joseph found favor in his eyes, and he served him. And he appointed him over his house, and all that he had he delivered into his hand. 5 And it was from the time that he appointed him over his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph's sake, and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had, in the house and in the field. 6 And he left all that belonged to him in the hand of Joseph; and he knew of nothing that was with him, except the bread which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

Potiphar's Wife Pursues Joseph

7 And it was after these things that the wife of his master looked at Joseph, and said, Have relations with me. 8 But he refused, and said to his master's wife, Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and all that he has he has delivered to my hand; 9 there is no one in this house greater than I, and he has not prohibited anything from me but you, because you are his wife: and how can I do this great wickedness and become guilty before the Lord? 10 And it was when she spoke with Joseph daily that he would not listen to her to have relations with her, or be with her. 11 And it was on this day that he came into the house to examine the writings of his affairs, and no man of the men of the house was there in the house. 12 And she grabbed his garments, saying, Have relations with me. But he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and went out into the street. 13 And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled into the street, 14 And she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, See, he brought us a Hebrew man to mock at us. He came in to me to have relations with me; and I cried out loudly. 15 And it was when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his robe with me, and fled and went out into the street. 16 And she let his robe remain with her until his master came into his house. 17 And she spoke with him these words, saying, The Hebrew servant whom you brought us came in to me to mock at me. 18 And it was when I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his robe with me and fled into the street.

Joseph in Prison

19 And when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke with him, saying, This is what your servant did to me, his anger grew fierce, 20 and his master took Joseph, and delivered him to the prison, where the prisoners of the king were held; 21 and he was there in the prison. But the Memra of the Lord was the helper of Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the eyes of the captain of the prison. 22 And the captain of the prison gave into the hand of Joseph all the prisoners who were in the prison, and all that they did there was done according to his word. 23 The captain of the prison saw no fault in his hand, because the Memra of the Lord was his helper, and the Lord made everything he did succeed.

The Cupbearer and the Baker

1 And after these things the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was angry with two of his chiefs, with the chief of the cupbearers and with the chief of the bakers. 3 And he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the executioners in the house of the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. 4 And the captain of the executioners appointed Joseph with them, and he attended to them, and they remained in custody for some time. 5 And they dreamed a dream, both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison. 6 And Joseph came to them in the morning, and saw them, and, look, they were dejected. 7 And he asked the chiefs of Pharaoh who were with him in custody, in his master's house, saying, Why do you look so troubled today? 8 And they said to him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said to them, Are not interpretations from before the Lord? Tell it now to me.

The Cupbearer's Dream

9 And the chief of the cupbearers told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, look, a vine was before me, 10 and in the vine were three branches: and it was, as it sprouted, it produced buds, and, having flowered, ripened clusters of grapes. 11 And the cup of Pharaoh was in my hand; and I took grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. 12 And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation: the three branches are three days. 13 At the end of three days, Pharaoh will remember you and restore you to your service, and you will give the cup into Pharaoh's hand, according to your former custom when you were cupbearer to him. 14 But remember me when things go well with you, and please do me a favor, and remember me before Pharaoh, and get me out from this prison. 15 For I was truly kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and I have done nothing wrong here that I should be imprisoned.

The Baker's Dream

16 And when the master of the bakers saw that he had interpreted pleasantly, he said to Joseph, I also had a dream, and, look, three baskets of confectionery were on my head, 17 and in the upper basket were all kinds of food for Pharaoh, the work of the baker; and the birds ate them from the basket that was on my head. 18 And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days; 19 at the end of three days Pharaoh will remove your head, and will hang you on a wooden frame, and the birds will eat your flesh from you.

The Dreams Are Fulfilled

20 And it was on the third day, Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants, and he took the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief of the bakers among of his servants. 21 And he restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. 22 And he hanged the chief of the bakers, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Pharaoh's Dreams

1 And it was at the end of two years that Pharaoh dreamed, and, look, he stood by the River. 2 And, look, there came up from the River seven oxen, healthy-looking and fat; and they grazed in the meadow. 3 And, look, seven other oxen came up from the river after them, ugly and thin; and they stood beside them by the bank of the river. 4 And the ugly and thin oxen ate up the seven healthy-looking and fat ones: and Pharaoh awoke. 5 And he slept, and dreamed a second time; and, look, seven ears of grain rose up from one stalk, large and good, 6 and, look, seven ears, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprang up after them. 7 And the seven shriveled ears devoured the seven large and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, it was a dream. 8 And when it was morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men; and Pharaoh told the dreams to them, but they could not interpret them to Pharaoh.

The Cupbearer Remembers Joseph

9 And the chief of the cupbearers spoke to Pharaoh, saying, I remember my faults today. 10 Pharaoh was displeased with his servants, and gave me into custody at the house of the chief executioner, and the chief baker with me. 11 And he and I each dreamed a dream on the same night, each dream with its own interpretation. 12 And with us there was a Hebrew youth, a servant of the chief executioner; and we told him our dreams, and he explained to us our dreams, to each man according to his dream he explained; 13 and just as he had explained to us, so it was: I was restored to my service, and he was hanged.

Joseph Interprets the Dreams

14 And Pharaoh sent, and called Joseph, and had him brought quickly from the prison; and he trimmed his hair, and changed his garments, and came to Pharaoh. 15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one to interpret it. And I have heard of you, saying, that you hear a dream and interpret it. 16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, An answer for Pharaoh's well-being will come from the Lord, not from my wisdom. 17 And Pharaoh spoke with Joseph, saying, In my dream, look, I stood on the bank of the River; 18 and, look, from the River rose up seven oxen, fat and healthy-looking, and they grazed in the meadow. 19 And, look, seven other oxen came up after them, thin and very ugly, so lacking in flesh that I have never seen such bad-looking animals in all the land of Egypt. 20 And the lean oxen and ugly ones ate up the seven first fat oxen. 21 And they entered into their stomachs; but it could not be known that they had entered into their stomachs, for their appearance was bad as before; and I awoke. 22 I saw in my dream, and, look, seven ears of grain arose on one stalk, full and good. 23 And, look, seven other ears, hard, thin, and scorched by the east wind, sprang up after them. 24 And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me. 25 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one. That which the Lord is about to do He has shown to Pharaoh. 26 The seven good oxen are seven years; and the seven good ears of grain are seven years; the dream is one. 27 And the seven lean and ugly oxen which came up after them are seven years; and the seven ears, thin, and scorched by the east wind, are seven years of famine. 28 This is the word which I have spoken to Pharaoh. What the Lord is about to do, He has shown to Pharaoh. 29 Look, there come seven years of great plenty in all the land of Egypt. 30 And after them will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will consume the people of the land. 31 And plenty will not be known in the land for that famine which will be afterward; for it will be very severe. 32 And because the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice, it is a confirmed thing before the Lord, and the Lord will do it soon.

Joseph's Plan for the Famine

33 And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man, and appoint him over the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh do this, and appoint trustworthy officers over the land, and let them sow the land of Egypt in the seven years of plenty, 35 and collect all the produce of those good years that come, and store provisions under the hand of Pharaoh's officers, and preserve it in the cities: 36 and it will be provision for the people of the land in the seven years of famine that are coming in the land of Egypt, that the people of the land may not be consumed by the famine.

Joseph Rules Egypt

37 And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. 38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find a man like this, in whom is the spirit of prophecy from the Lord? 39 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since the Lord has made all this known to you, there is none more discerning or wise than you; 40 you shall be appointed over my house, and by your word all my people shall be governed; only on the throne of this kingdom shall I rank above you. 41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have appointed you over all the land of Egypt. 42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and set it on Joseph's hand, and clothed him in a robe of fine linen, and put a chain of gold on his neck. 43 And he made him ride in his own second chariot, and they proclaimed before him, This is the father of the king; and he appointed him over all the land of Egypt. 44 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh; and without your word no one shall raise his hand to hold a weapon, nor his foot to mount a horse, in all the land of Egypt. 45 And Pharaoh named Joseph, The man to whom mysteries are revealed. And he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, prince of On, to be his wife; and Joseph went out ruling over the land of Egypt. 46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from before Pharaoh, and passed through all the land of Egypt. 47 And the inhabitants of the land collected in the seven years of plenty the provision into granaries. 48 And he collected all the provision of the seven years which was in the land of Egypt, and stored the provision in cities, within each city the provision of the land surrounding it. 49 And Joseph gathered provision as the sand of the sea, in very great quantities, until he stopped counting, for it was without number.

Joseph's Sons

50 And two sons were born to Joseph before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, prince of On, bore to him. 51 And Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh; because the Lord has made me forget all my labor and all my father's house. 52 And he named the second Ephraim; because the Lord has made me increase in the land of my servitude.

The Famine Begins

53 And the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt were completed. 54 And the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said; and the famine was in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55 Yet all the land of Egypt was starving, and the people cried before Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph, and what he shall say to you, do. 56 And the famine was over all the surface of the land; and Joseph opened all the granaries in which was the grain, and sold to the Egyptians, and the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. 57 And all the inhabitants of the earth came into Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

Joseph's Brothers Go to Egypt

1 And Jacob saw that grain was sold in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, Why are you looking at one another? 2 And he said, Look, I have heard that grain is sold in Egypt: go down there, and buy some for us there, and we shall live, and not die. 3 And the ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt; 4 but Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, Jacob did not send with his brothers; for he said, Death might happen to him. 5 And the sons of Israel came to buy grain among them who came; for the famine was in the land of Canaan. 6 And Joseph, who was ruler over the land, was he who sold the grain to all the people of the earth. And the brothers of Joseph came, and bowed before him with their faces upon the ground.

Joseph Questions His Brothers

7 And Joseph saw his brothers, and recognized them, and considered what he should say to them. And he spoke with them severely, and said to them, Where do you come from? And they said, From the land of Canaan, to buy grain. 8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed of them; and he said to them, You are spies; you have come to see where the land is vulnerable. 10 And they said, No, my lord, your servants have come to buy grain. 11 We are all the sons of one man. We are honest men; your servants are not spies. 12 But he said to them, No, but you have come to see where the land is vulnerable. 13 And they said, Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man, in the land of Canaan; and, look, the youngest is with our father today, and one is gone! 14 And Joseph said to them, That is what I have told you, saying, You are spies; 15 by this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh you shall not go from here, until your youngest brother has come here. 16 Send one of you, and bring your brother; but you shall be bound, and your words shall be tested, whether you have spoken the truth; if not, by the life of Pharaoh, you are spies. 17 And he put them in the house of custody three days.

Simeon Is Held

18 And Joseph said to them the third day, Do this, and live; for I revere the Lord. 19 If you are honest, let one of your brothers be bound in the prison; and go, carry the provision which is needed in your house, 20 and bring your youngest brother to me, and your words will be verified, and you shall not die. And they did so. 21 And they said, to one another, We are truly guilty concerning our brother; that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he implored us, and we would not listen to him: therefore this distress has come on us. 22 And Reuben answered them, saying, Did not I tell you, saying, Do not sin against the youth? but you would not listen. Thus, look, his blood is required. 23 But they did not know that Joseph understood; for there was an interpreter between them. 24 And he turned himself away from them, and wept. And he returned and spoke to them, and took Simeon from them, and bound him before their eyes.

The Brothers Return to Jacob

25 And Joseph commanded to fill their containers with grain, and return each man's money in his sack, and give them food for the journey. And he did so by them. 26 And they laid their grain on their donkeys, and went from there. 27 And one opened his sack to give fodder to his donkey at the house of lodging, and saw his money, and, look, it was in the mouth of his package; 28 and he said to his brothers, My money is returned, and, look, it is in my package. And their hearts sank and they were all shaken, saying, What is this which the Lord has done to us? 29 And they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, and told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 The man, the lord of the country, spoke harshly with us, and dealt with us as spies of the land. 31 And we told him, We are true men, not spies: 32 we are twelve brothers, sons of one father: one is gone, and the youngest is today with our father in the land of Canaan. 33 And the man, the lord of the country, said to us, By this I shall know that you are true men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take the grain which is needed in your house, and go, 34 and bring your youngest brother to me, and I shall know that you are not spies: and when you are proved to be honest men, I will release your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land. 35 And it was, as they emptied their sacks, look, each man's money was bound up in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of their money, they were afraid. 36 And Jacob their father said to them, You have bereaved me; Joseph is gone, Simeon is gone, and now you would take Benjamin away. All these things are against me! 37 And Reuben spoke with his father, saying, You shall put my two children to death if I do not bring him back to you. Deliver him into my hand, and I will return him to you. 38 But he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he alone remains; and if death should happen to him on the journey in which you will go, you will bring down my gray hairs with mourning to Sheol.

Jacob Sends Benjamin

1 But the famine was severe in the land. 2 And it was when they had finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, Return, and buy for us a little grain. 3 And Judah spoke to him, saying, The man solemnly warned us, saying, You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you. 4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy grain for you; 5 but if you will not send, we will not go down: for the man told us, You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you. 6 And Israel said, Why did you do me this evil, by telling the man that you have a brother? 7 And they said, The man questioned us concerning our family, saying, Is your father still alive? Have you a brother? And we told him in answer to these questions: how could we have known that he would say, Bring your brother to me? 8 And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the youth with me, and let us arise and go, that we may live and not die, we, and you, and our little ones. 9 I will be the pledge for him; you shall hold me responsible for him; if I do not bring him back to you, and set him before you, let me bear the blame before you forever. 10 For if we had not delayed, we might now have returned twice. 11 And Israel their father said to them, If then it is to be, do this: take of what is praiseworthy in the land in your containers, and carry down to the man a gift; a little gum, and a little honey, storax and ladanum, nuts and almonds; 12 and take twice as much silver in your hands, and take back the silver that was returned in the mouths of your bags; perhaps it was an oversight. 13 And take your brother, and arise, return to the man; 14 and God the Almighty give you favor before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. And I, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved!

The Brothers Return to Egypt

15 And the men took that gift, and they took twice as much money in their hands; and they took Benjamin, and arose, and went down into Egypt, and stood before Joseph. 16 And Joseph saw Benjamin with them; and he said to him who was appointed over his house, Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and prepare it; for the men shall eat with me at dinner. 17 And the man did as Joseph had said; and the man brought the men into Joseph's house. 18 And the men were afraid because they were brought into the house of Joseph; and said, It is on account of the money that was returned in our baggage at first, that we are brought in, that he might overpower us and find a pretext against us, and take possession of us as slaves, and seize our donkeys. 19 And they approached the man who was set over Joseph's house, and spoke with him at the gate of the house, 20 and said, Please hear us, my lord. We came down the first time to buy grain. 21 And it was while we were at the resting-place, we opened our baggage, and, look, a man's silver was in the mouth of the bag; the silver in its weight. But we have returned it in our hand. 22 And we have brought other silver in our hand to buy grain. We did not know who put the silver in our baggage. 23 And he said, Peace be to you: do not fear; your God, and the God of your father, gave you treasure in your bags; your money came to me. And he brought out Simeon to them. 24 And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave water, and they washed their feet, and he gave fodder for their donkeys. 25 And they prepared the gift for Joseph's arrival to dinner: for they had heard that there they were to eat bread.

The Brothers Dine with Joseph

26 And Joseph entered the house, and they brought to him the gift which was in their hands into the house; and they bowed to him on the ground. 27 And he greeted them, and said, Is your father well, the old man you spoke of? Is he still alive? 28 And they said, It is well with your servant our father, he is still alive; and they bowed and worshipped. 29 And he looked up, and saw Benjamin his brother, the son of his mother; and he said, Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me? And he said, Mercy from the Lord be on you, my son. 30 And Joseph hurried away, for he was deeply moved for his brother and sought a place to weep; and he entered into the chamber, the place of sleeping, and wept there. 31 And he washed his face, and came out, and regained his composure, and said, Serve the food; 32 and they set for him alone, and for them alone, and for the Egyptians who ate with him, alone. For the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, because the Hebrews ate the animals that the Egyptians worshipped. 33 And they reclined before him, the oldest according to his seniority and the youngest according to his youth; and the men wondered, each man at his companion. 34 And portions were brought from him, and set before them, and Benjamin's portion was five times greater than any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.

The Silver Cup

1 And Joseph commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's bags with as much grain as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his baggage. 2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the youngest one's baggage, and his purchase-money. And he did according to Joseph's word which he spoke. 3 The morning dawned, and the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. 4 They had not gone far from the city, when Joseph said to him who was set over his house, Arise, follow after the men, and overtake them, and say to them, Why have you repaid evil for good? 5 Is it not this from which my lord drinks, and, look, the one he uses for divination? You have done the thing that is evil. 6 And he overtook them, and spoke with them these words. 7 And they said, Why does my lord speak these words? Your servants would never do such a thing! 8 Look, the money which we found in the mouth of our baggages we brought to you again from the land of Canaan; how then should we steal from the house of your lord vessels of silver, or vessels of gold? 9 With whichever of your servants it is found, let him die; and we also will be servants to my lord. 10 And he said, According to your words, so let it be. With whoever it is found, he shall be my servant, but you will be acquitted. 11 And they hurried, and brought down every man his baggage to the ground; and every man opened his baggage. 12 And he searched, beginning with the oldest and finishing with the youngest; and the chalice was found in the baggage of Benjamin. 13 And they tore their clothes, and each loaded his donkey, and returned to the city.

The Brothers before Joseph

14 And Judah entered and his brothers into Joseph's house, for he was still there; and they fell before him on the ground. 15 And Joseph said to them, What work is this which you have done? Did you not know that a man like me can practice divination? 16 And Judah said to him, What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? How shall we be justified? Before the lord there is sin found in your servants. Look, we are the servants of my lord; we also and he in whose hand the chalice has been found. 17 But he said, I would never do that: the man in whose hand the chalice has been found shall be my servant; but go up in peace to your father.

Judah Pleads for Benjamin

18 And Judah came near to him and said, Please, my lord, let your servant speak a word before my lord, and do not be greatly angry with your servant; for you are like Pharaoh. 19 My lord asked his servants, saying, Have you a father or a brother? 20 And we told my lord, We have an elderly father, and the youngest son is the son of his old age; his brother is dead; and he only remains of his mother, and his father loves him. 21 And you said to your servants, Bring him down to me, and let me set my eyes on him. 22 And we told my lord, His father cannot part with the youth; for if our father should part with him, he would die. 23 And you said to your servants, If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you shall not see my face again. 24 And it was when we had gone up to our father, we told him these words of my lord. 25 And our father said to us, Return, and buy us a little grain. 26 And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother goes down with us, we will go down; for we shall not be able to see the man's face unless our youngest brother goes down with us. 27 And your servant our father said to us, You know that my wife bore me two sons. 28 One went out from me, and I have said, He is surely dead; and I have not seen him since. 29 And if you take this one also from me, and death happen to him, you will bring down my age with evil to Sheol. 30 And now, when I come to your servant my father, and the youth is not with us, and his soul loves him as his own soul; 31 when he sees that the youth is not with us, he will die; and your servant will have brought down the age of your servant our father with mourning to Sheol. 32 For your servant became the guarantor for the youth with our father, saying, If I do not bring him back to you, let my father hold me guilty all the days. 33 And now let your servant remain instead of the youth, as the servant of my lord, and let the youth go up with his brothers. 34 For how can I go up to my father, and the youth is not with me? I could not bear to see the evil that will come upon my father!

Joseph Reveals His Identity

1 And Joseph could no longer restrain himself under all that pressed on him; and he cried, Let every man go out from me; and no man stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud; and the Egyptians heard, and a man of Pharaoh's house heard. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph! Is my father still alive? And his brothers were not able to answer him a word, for they were overwhelmed before him. 4 And Joseph said to his brothers, Come near now to me. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be troubled, and do not be distressed that you sold me here; for the Lord sent me to sustain life before you. 6 For these two years has famine been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither seed nor harvest. 7 And the Lord sent me before you to set a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 And now, it was not you who sent me here, but it was from before the Lord, who has made me a father to Pharaoh, and to rule all the men of his house, holding power over all the land of Egypt.

Joseph Sends for His Father

9 Hurry, and go up to my father, and say to him, This is what your son says Joseph, The Lord has set me ruler over the Egypt: come down to me, do not delay, 10 and you shall live in the land of Goshen, and be near me, you, your sons, your grandchildren, your sheep, your oxen, and all that you have. 11 And I will provide for you there; for there are still five years of famine, so that you, your household, and all that you have do not waste away. 12 And, look, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that in your language I speak with you. 13 And you will tell my father all my glory in Egypt, and all that you see; and hurry, and bring down my father here. 14 And he fell upon the neck of Benjamin his brother, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brothers, and wept over them; and afterward his brothers talked with him.

Pharaoh Invites Joseph's Family

16 And a voice was heard in the house of Pharaoh, saying, The brothers of Joseph have come. And it was pleasing in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Tell your brothers, Do this; load your animals and go; carry into the land of Canaan; 18 and take your father and the men of your house and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the good of the land. 19 And now you are commanded to do this. Take to you out of the land of Egypt wagons for your children, and your wives; and bring your father, and come. 20 And do not long for your belongings; for the good of all the land of Egypt is your own. 21 And the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the word of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the way. 22 And he gave to everyone of them changes of clothes; and he gave Benjamin three hundred shekels of silver, and five changes of clothes. 23 And to his father he sent ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, and bread and provisions for the way. 24 And he dismissed his brothers, and they went, and he said to them, Do not quarrel on the way.

Jacob Hears That Joseph Is Alive

25 And they went up from Egypt and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. 26 And they told him, saying, Joseph is still alive, and he rules over all the land of Egypt! And he doubted these words in his heart, because he did not believe them. 27 And they told him all the words of Joseph which he had spoken with them; and he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to fetch him; and the Holy Spirit rested upon Jacob their father. 28 And Israel said, My joy is great! Joseph my son is still alive; I will go, and see him before I die.

Israel Goes to Egypt

1 And Israel journeyed, and all that he had, and came to Beersheba; and he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And the Lord spoke to Israel in a vision of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here I am. 3 And He said, I am God, the God of your father: do not fear to go down into Egypt; for I will make you a great people there. 4 I will go down with you into Egypt, and will surely bring you up; but Joseph shall lay his hand on your eyes. 5 And Jacob arose from Beersheba. And the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their children, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to fetch them. 6 And they took their flocks and their possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came to Egypt, Jacob and all his sons with him. 7 His sons, and his grandsons with him, his daughters, and the daughters of his sons, and all his descendants, he brought with him into Egypt.

The Family Who Went to Egypt

8 And these are the names of the sons of Israel which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. The firstborn of Jacob, Reuben. 9 And the sons of Reuben, Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. 10 And the sons of Simeon, Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite. 11 And the sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 And the sons of Judah, Er, and Onan, and Shelah, and Perez, and Zerah. But Er and Onan had died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez, Hezron and Hamul. 13 And the sons of Issachar, Tola, and Puah, and Job, and Shimron. 14 And the sons of Zebulun, Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah, which she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, and Dinah his daughter; all the people, his sons and his daughters, thirty-three. 16 And the children of Gad, Ziphion and Haggi, Shuni and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli. 17 And the sons of Asher, Imnah, and Ishvah, and Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah, Heber and Malkiel. 18 These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and she bore these to Jacob, sixteen people. 19 The sons of Rachel, the wife of Jacob, Joseph and Benjamin. 20 And to Joseph were born in the land of Egypt Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, prince of On, bore to him. 21 And the sons of Benjamin, Bela, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard. 22 These are the sons of Rachel which were born to Jacob; all the people fourteen. 23 And the sons of Dan, Hushim: 24 and the sons of Naphtali, Jahzeel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem. 25 These are the children of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore them to Jacob; all the people seven. 26 All the people which went with Jacob into Egypt, which were his own descendants, besides the wives of Jacob's sons, all the people, sixty-six. 27 And the sons of Joseph, which were born to him in Egypt, two people. All the people of the house of Jacob which went into Egypt were seventy.

Israel and Joseph Reunite

28 And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to make the way clear before him at Goshen, and he came to the land of Goshen. 29 And Joseph prepared his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen. And he saw him, and fell upon his neck, and wept. And he wept still upon his neck! 30 And Israel said to Joseph, I could die at this time! I have consolation now that I have seen your face; for you are still alive. 31 And Joseph said to his brothers, and to the house of his father, I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will tell him, My brothers and the house of my father, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 But the men are shepherds of sheep: for the men are masters of flocks, and their sheep and oxen and all that they have they have brought. 33 And it shall be when Pharaoh calls you, and shall ask you, What is your employment? 34 you will say, Your servants have been men, the masters of flocks from our youth until now; both we and our fathers: that you may live in the land of Goshen; because the Egyptians keep at a distance all shepherds of flocks.

Joseph's Family before Pharaoh

1 And Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brothers, and their sheep and their oxen, and all that they have, have come from the land of Canaan, and, look, they are in the land of Goshen. 2 And from among his brothers he took five men, and made them stand before Pharaoh. 3 And Pharaoh said to his brothers, What are your employments? And they said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds; both we and our fathers. 4 And they said to Pharaoh, We have come to stay in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks; for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan, and please let your servants live in the land of Goshen. 5 And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, Your father and your brothers have come to you; 6 the land of Egypt is before you, in the best of it let your father and your brothers live in the land of Goshen: and if you know any of them to be men of ability, appoint them to be chiefs over my flocks. 7 And Joseph brought Jacob his father, and presented him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, How many are the days of the years of your life? 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years. Few and hard have been the days of the years of my life, and I have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my ancestors, in the days of their pilgrimage. 10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh. 11 And Joseph made his father and his brothers settle, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph sustained his father and his brothers, and all the house of his father, with bread, according to the number of people in each family.

Joseph Manages the Famine

13 And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, and the people of the land of Egypt and the people of the land of Canaan weakened because of the famine. 14 And Joseph collected all the money which was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought. And Joseph brought the money into the house of Pharaoh. 15 And the money ran out from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan; and all the Egyptians came to Joseph, saying, Give us bread: for why should we die before you? for the money has run out. 16 And Joseph said, Bring your cattle, and I will give you provision, if your money has run out. 17 And they brought their cattle to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread for their horses, and for their flocks of sheep, and for their herds of oxen, and for their donkeys, and for all their cattle; he fed them with bread for that year. 18 And that year was completed; and they came to him in the second year, and said to him, We will not conceal it from our lord, but the money has run out, and we have handed over our cattle to our lord, and there is nothing left before our lord but our bodies and our land. 19 Why should we perish before you, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh, and give us seed grain, that we may live and not die, and the land may not be desolate. 20 And Joseph acquired all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the each of the Egyptians sold his portion, because the famine pressed hard on them, and the land became Pharaoh's. 21 And he moved the people from city to city, from one end of the limit of Egypt to the other. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for Pharaoh gave the priests a portion: and they ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land. 23 And Joseph said to the people, Look, I have bought you today and your land for Pharaoh. Look, I give you seed grain, that you may sow the land. 24 And it shall be, when it produces produce, that you shall give one in five to Pharaoh, and four parts shall be yours, of the grain of the field, that you and the men of your house may eat, and your little ones have food. 25 And they said, You have preserved us; may we find favor in the eyes of my lord, and we will be the servants of Pharaoh. 26 And Joseph made it a statute to this day over the land of Egypt, that one of five should be given to Pharaoh; only the land of the priests alone was not Pharaoh's.

Israel Settles in Goshen

27 And Israel lived in the land of Egypt in the land of Goshen, and possessed it: and they increased and multiplied greatly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. And the days of the years of the life of Jacob were a hundred and forty-seven years.

Jacob's Burial Request

29 And Israel's time to die drew near. And he called to his son, to Joseph, and said to him, If now I have found favor with you, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal with me in goodness and truth; please do not bury me, in Egypt; 30 but I will sleep with my ancestors; and you shall carry me from Egypt, and bury me in their tomb. And he said, I will do according to your word. 31 And he said, Swear to me; and he swore to him. And Israel worshipped on the pillow of the bed.

Jacob Receives Joseph's Sons

1 And it was after these words that it was said to Joseph, Look, your father is ill. And he took his two sons with him, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And Jacob was told, Look, your son Joseph is coming to you. And Israel was strengthened, and he sat on the bed. 3 And Jacob said to Joseph, El Shadai revealed Himself to me in Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me; 4 and He said to me, Look, I will multiply you, and make you great, and will set you for an assembly of tribes, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting inheritance. 5 And now your two sons which were born to you in the land of Egypt, before my coming to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be as Reuben and Simeon before me. 6 And the children whom you may father after them shall be yours; they shall be named after their brothers in their inheritance. 7 And I, in my coming from Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan, on the journey, while there was still some distance to Ephrath. And I buried her there, by the road to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

The Blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh

8 And Israel saw the sons of Joseph, and said, Who are these? 9 And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons whom the Lord has given me here. And he said, Bring them now near to me, that I may bless them. 10 But the eyes of Israel were heavy from age, and he could not discern. And he brought them near to him, and he kissed them, and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, I had not hoped to see your face, and, look, the Lord has shown me your sons also. 12 And Joseph led them from before him, and worshipped with his face on the earth. 13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim in his right hand, on the left of Israel, and Manasseh in his left hand, on the right of Israel, and brought them to him. 14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger; and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, deliberately crossing his hands; for Manasseh was the first-born. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, The Lord, before whom my ancestors Abraham and Isaac served; the Lord, who fed me from my coming to this day; 16 the Angel who redeemed me from all evil, bless the youths; and let my name be called upon them, and the name of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac; and as the fish of the sea may they multiply among human beings on the earth! 17 And Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim; and he was displeased. And he lifted his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head, that it might rest on the head of Manasseh. 18 And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father; for this is the first-born: lay your right hand on his head. 19 But his father refused, and said, I know, my son, I know: he also shall be for a people, and he also shall be great; yet his younger brother will be greater than he, and his sons shall rule among the nations. 20 And he blessed them on that day, saying, Israel shall bless by you, saying, May the Lord make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh. And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

The Promise of Return

21 And Israel said to Joseph, Look, I die; but the Memra of the Lord will be your Helper, and restore you to the land of your ancestors. 22 And I will give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorites by my prayer and by my pleading.

Jacob Calls His Sons

1 And Jacob called his sons, and said, Gather together, and I will tell you what will happen to you at the end of days; 2 assemble, and listen, sons of Jacob, and receive instruction from Israel your father,

Jacob's Blessings for His Sons

3 Reuben, you are my first-born, my strength, and the beginning of my power. You should have received the three portions: the birthright, the priesthood, and the kingdom: but because you have acted perversely, 4 look, as water poured out, you will not prosper, nor will you receive the excellent portion; because you went up to your father's sleeping place: then, my son, you became defiled when you went up to my bed. 5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; mighty men in the land of their residence, they did mightily. 6 My soul had no part in their secret plan; I would not have lowered my honor by joining their company. For in their anger they killed people, and in their willfulness they razed the wall of their enemy. 7 Cursed was their anger, for it was strong, and their anger, for it was relentless. I will divide them in Jacob, and I will scatter them in Israel. 8 Judah, you have confessed and have not been ashamed; your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall prevail against your adversaries, your enemies shall be dispersed; they will be turned backward before you, and the sons of your father will come before you with greetings. 9 The dominion shall be yours in the beginning, and in the end the kingdom shall be increased from the house of Judah, because from the judgment of death, my son, you have withdrawn. He shall rest and remain in strength as a lion, and as a lioness, there shall be no king that may cut him off. 10 He who rules shall not pass away from the house of Judah, nor the saphra from his children's children forever, until the Meshiha comes, to whom the kingdom belongs and whom the nations shall obey.⁠a 11 He shall lead Israel around His city; the people shall build his temple, they will be righteous around him, and obey the law through his teaching. His clothes will be of fine purple, and his outer garment of crimson wool with colors. 12 His mountains shall be red with his vineyards, and his vats shall overflow with wine; his valleys shall be white with grain, and with flocks of sheep. 13 Zebulun will dwell near the harbor of the sea; he will subdue provinces with ships, and will eat the good of the sea, and his boundary shall come to Sidon. 14 Issachar, rich in possessions, will have his heritage between the boundaries; 15 and he, seeing that his portion is good, and the land that it is fruit-bearing, will subdue the provinces of the people, and disperse their inhabitants, and those who remain of them will become servants to him and tribute bearers. 16 From the house of Dan will be chosen and will arise a man in whose days his people shall be delivered, and in whose years the tribes of Israel have rest together. 17 A chosen man will arise from the house of Dan, the terror of whom shall fall upon the peoples; a man who will strike the Philistines with strength, as the serpent, the deadly serpent, lurking by the way, he will kill the mighty of the Philistines' army, both cavalry and infantry; he will disable the horses and chariots, and throw their riders backward. 18 I have waited for Your salvation, Lord! 19 From the house of Gad will armed forces cross the Jordan before their brothers to the battle; and they will return to their land with many possessions. 20 The land of Asher will be good; and it shall provide him with royal delicacies. 21 Naphtali's lot will be cast in a good land, and his inheritance be fruitful; for them they will give praise and blessing. 22 Joseph is my son who shall increase, my son who shall be blessed, as a vine planted by a spring of waters. Two tribes will come from his sons, and they shall receive a portion and inheritance. 23 The mighty men, the men of division, were bitter against him; they afflicted him and deeply grieved him. 24 His prophecy was fulfilled regarding them because he was faithful to the law in secret and set his confidence firmly. Therefore gold was placed on his arm, and the kingdom was strengthened and confirmed. This was to him from the mighty God of Jacob, who by His Memra sustains the fathers and the children of the descendants of Israel. 25 The Memra of the God of your father shall be your Helper, and the All-Sufficient shall bless you, with the blessings of the dew that descends from the heavens above, with the blessings that spring from the depths of the earth beneath, with the blessings of your father and your mother. 26 The blessing of your father shall be added on the blessing with which my ancestors blessed me; which the princes who are of the world have desired: all of them shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the man who was separated from his brothers. 27 Benjamin: the Shekina will dwell in his land, and the sanctuary will be built in his possession. In the morning and afternoon the priests will offer the sacrifice, and at evening divide the remaining portions of the residue of the sacred things.

Jacob's Burial Instructions and Death

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel; and this is what their father said to them, and blessed them; he blessed each man according to his blessing. 29 And he commanded them, and said to them, I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my ancestors in the cave which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite; 30 in the cave which is in the double field opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which field Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for an burial possession. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. 32 The field, and the cave that is in it, was purchased from the sons of Heth. 33 And Jacob finished instructing his sons, and drew his feet together in the bed, and died, and was gathered to his people.

Mourning and Burial for Jacob

1 And Joseph fell on his father's face, and wept over him, and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 And forty days were spent on him, for that is the time required for embalming; and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. 4 And the days of his mourning passed: and Joseph spoke with the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found favor in your eyes, speak, I pray, before Pharaoh, saying, 5 My father made me swear, saying, Look, I die; in my tomb which I have prepared for me in the land of Canaan, you shall bury me there. And now let me go up, I pray, and I will bury my father and return. 6 And Pharaoh said, Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear. 7 And Joseph went up to bury his father; and all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 went up with him; and all the house of Joseph, and his brothers, and the house of his father: only the children, and the flocks, and the cattle, they left in the land of Goshen. 9 And with him went up, also, chariots and horsemen; and there was a very great company. 10 And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and mourned there with very great and bitter lamentation. And he observed seven days of mourning for his father. 11 And the inhabitants of the land of Canaan saw the mourning at the threshing-floor of Atad, and said, This is a great mourning of the Egyptians; therefore its name is called Abel-mizraim; which is beyond Jordan. 12 And his sons did as he had commanded them. 13 And his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the Double Field, which Abraham bought for an burial possession from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre. 14 And Joseph returned into Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

15 And the brothers of Joseph saw that their father was dead; and they said, Perhaps Joseph will hold hostility against us, and repay us for all the evil we did to him. 16 And they sent a message to Joseph, saying, Your father commanded before his death, saying, 17 Thus shall you speak to Joseph, I pray you to forgive the guilt of your brothers and their sin with which they did evil against you. And now forgive, please, the guilt of the servants of the God of your father. And Joseph wept when they spoke with him. 18 And his brothers came and fell before him, and said, Look, we are your servants. 19 And Joseph said to them, Do not fear, for I fear the Lord. 20 When you thought evil against me, before the Lord it was intended for good, to be done, as it is today, to preserve many people. 21 And now do not fear; I will sustain you and your children. And he consoled them, and spoke comfort to their hearts.

Joseph's Final Instructions and Death

22 And Joseph lived in Egypt, he and his father's house. And Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. 23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's descendants to the third generation; also the sons of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born, whom Joseph brought up. 24 And Joseph said to his brothers, I die; but the Lord will surely remember you, and bring you up from this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 25 And Joseph made an oath binding on the sons of Israel, saying, The Lord will surely remember you, and you shall carry my bones up from here. 26 And Joseph died, a hundred and ten years old, and they embalmed him, and laid him in a coffin in Egypt.