1At the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, desolate of people and empty of all animals; darkness was upon the surface of the deep and a merciful wind from before God was blowing over the surface of the water.[1] 3 God said: 'Let there be light to illuminate the world' and immediately there was light.[2] 4 God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and he made it so that the inhabitants of the world might labor during it; and he called the darkness Night, and he made it that creatures might rest during it. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. 6 God said, 'Let the firmament be in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the upper waters from the lower waters.'[3] 7 God made the firmament—its thickness being three finger breadths—between the limits of the heavens and the waters of the ocean, and he separated the waters that were under the firmament from the waters that were above in the reservoir of the firmament. And it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. 9 God said, 'Let the lower waters that remain under the heavens be gathered together to one place, and let the earth be dried up so that the dry land may appear.' And it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering place of the waters he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 God said, 'Let the earth grow vegetation, plants whose seed is sown, and fruit trees that produce fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth.' And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants whose seed is sown, and fruit trees producing fruit in which is their seed, according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. 14 God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs and as festival times, and for counting the reckoning of days, and for sanctifying the beginnings of months and the beginnings of years, the intercalations of months and the intercalations of years, the solstices, the new moon, and the cycles of the sun.' 15 'And let them serve as lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth.' And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights, and they were equal in glory for twenty-one hours less six hundred and seventy-two parts of an hour. After that, the moon spoke with a slanderous tongue against the sun, and it was made smaller. And he appointed the sun which was the greater light to rule over the day, and the moon which was the lesser light to rule over the night, and the stars. 17 And God arranged them in their courses in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth. 18 And to minister in the day and in the night, and to separate the light of the day from the darkness of the night. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 20 God said, 'Let the alluvial mud of the waters swarm forth a swarm of living creatures, and birds that fly, whose nests are on the earth, and the course of their flight across the air of the firmament of heaven.' 21 God created the great sea monsters, Leviathan and his mate, that are designated for the day of consolation, and all living creatures that creep, that the clear waters swarmed forth, according to their kinds, kinds that are clean and kinds that are not clean, and all birds that fly with wings, according to their kind, kinds that are clean and kinds that are not clean. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.' 23 And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 24 God said, 'Let the clay of the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind, kinds that are clean and kinds that are not clean, cattle and creeping things, and creatures of the earth according to their kind.' And it was so. 25 God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind, kinds that are clean and kinds that are not clean, and the cattle according to their kind, and all the creeping things of the earth according to their kinds, kinds that are clean and kinds that are not clean. And God saw that it was good. 26 And God said to the angels who minister before him, who were created on the second day of the creation of the world, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds that are in the air of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.'[4] 27 And God created Adam in his own likeness, in the image of God he created him, with two hundred and forty-eight members, with six hundred and sixty-five nerves, and he formed a skin over him, and filled it with flesh and blood; male and female in their appearance he created them.[5] 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Increase and multiply and fill the earth with sons and daughters, and become powerful in possessions upon it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over every creeping animal that creeps upon the earth.' 29 God said, 'Behold I have given to you every plant whose seed is sown, that is upon the face of all the earth, and every unfruitful tree for the requirements of building and for burning; and every tree on which there is fruit whose seed is sown shall be yours for food.' 30 To every beast of the earth, to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creeps upon the earth, in which there is the breath of life, I give every green plant.' And it was so. 31 And God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
2Thus the creatures of the heavens and of the earth and all their hosts were completed. 2 And on the seventh day God completed the work which He had done, and the ten things He had created at twilight; and He rested on the seventh day from all the work which He had done.[6] 3 God blessed the seventh day, more than all the days of the week, and He sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and was to do. 4 These are the generations of the heavens and of 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 plant of the field had yet sprouted, because the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the soil. 6 But a cloud of glory came down from beneath the throne of glory, and was filled with water from the ocean, went up again from the earth, and sent rain down and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 The Lord God created Adam with two inclinations. And He took dust from the site of the sanctuary and from the four winds of the world, and a mixture of all the waters of the world, and created him red, black, and white. And He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the breath became in the body of Adam a spirit capable of speech, to give light to the eyes and to give hearing to the ears.[7] 8 Before the creation of the world, a garden had been planted by the Memra of the Lord God from Eden for the righteous, and He made Adam dwell there when He created him.[8] 9 And the Lord God caused to grow from the ground every tree that is desirable to see and good to eat, and the tree of life in the middle of the garden, whose height was a journey of five hundred years, and the tree whose fruit enables those who eat it to distinguish between good and evil.[9] 10 A river goes out from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four river-heads. 11 The name of one is Pishon; it is the one that encircles the whole land of India, where there is gold. 12 The gold of that land is choice; bdellium is there, and precious stones of beryl. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that encircles the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it is the one that flows to the east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God took Adam from the mountain of worship, the place whence he had been created, and made him dwell in the garden of Eden to labor in the law and to keep its commandments. 16 And the Lord God commanded Adam, saying, 'You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of which those who eat its fruit have the wisdom to distinguish good and evil, you shall not eat, because on the day on which you eat of it, you shall incur the death penalty.' 18 And the Lord God said, 'It is not right that Adam should sleep alone; I will make for him a woman who will be a support alongside him.'[10] 19 So the Lord God created from the ground every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens, and brought them to Adam to see what name he would call them; and whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 And Adam gave their names to all the cattle and to all the birds of the heavens, and to all the beasts of the field; but for Adam, no support alongside him was yet found. 21 The Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam, and he slept. And He took one of his ribs—it was the thirteenth rib of the right side—and He closed its place with flesh. 22 And the Lord God built the rib He had taken from Adam into a woman and brought her to Adam. 23 And Adam said, 'This time, but never again will woman be created from man as this one had been created from me—bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. It is fitting to call this one woman, for she has been taken from man.' 24 Therefore a man shall leave and be separated from the bedroom of his father and of his mother, and he shall be united to his wife, and the two of them shall become one flesh. 25 And the two of them were wise, Adam and his wife, but they did not remain in their glory.[11]
3Now the serpent was more skilled in evil than all the beasts of the field which the Lord God had made And he said to the woman, “Is it true that the Lord God said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We are allowed to eat of the fruit of the other trees of the garden 3 but of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden the Lord said, ‘You shall not eat of it and you shall not touch it, lest you die’” 4 At that moment the serpent spoke slander against his creator and said to the woman, “You shall not die But every craftsman hates his fellow craftsman 5 For it is manifest before the Lord that on the day on which you eat of it you shall be like the great angels who are able to distinguish good from evil”[12] 6 And the woman saw Sammael the angel of death and she was afraid She knew that the tree was good to eat, that it was a cure for the light of the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom And she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave to her husband who was with her, and he ate 7 Then the eyes of both of them were enlightened and they knew that they were naked because they were stripped of the clothing of fingernails in which they had been created, and they saw their shame and they sewed fig leaves for themselves, and they made girdles for themselves 8 They heard the voice of the Memra of the Lord God strolling in the garden at the decline of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from before the Lord God in the midst of the trees in the garden 9 The Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Is not the whole world which I created manifest before me, the darkness as well as the light How then do you imagine in your heart that you can hide yourself from before me Do I not see the place where you are hiding And where are the commandments that I commanded you”[13] 10 He said, “I heard the voice of your Memra in the garden and I was afraid, for I was naked, because I neglected the commandment you gave me, and I hid myself for shame” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked Perhaps you have eaten of the fruit of the tree from which I commanded you not to eat” 12 And Adam said, “The woman you put beside me, she gave me of the fruit of the tree, and I ate” 13 The Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done” And the woman said, “The serpent lured me with his cleverness and led me astray in his wickedness, and I ate” 14 Then the Lord God brought the three of them to judgment, and he said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all beasts of the field Upon your belly you shall go about, and your feet shall be cut off and you will cast off your skin once every seven years, and the poison of death will be in your mouth, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between the offspring of your children and the offspring of her children And when the children of the woman keep the commandments of the Law, they will take aim and strike you on your head But when they forsake the commandments of the Law you will take aim and wound them on their heels For them, however, there will be a remedy; but for you there will be no remedy; and they are to make peace in the end, in the days of the King Messiah”[14] 16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your affliction in the blood of virginity and in your pregnancies; in pain you shall bear children, yet your desire shall be for your husband; he shall rule over you both for righteousness and for sin”[15] 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you listened to the word of your wife, and ate of the fruit of the tree concerning which I commanded you saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed be the earth because it did not show you your guilt; by toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life 18 Thorns and thistles it shall sprout and produce because of you; and you shall eat the plants that are upon the surface of the field” Adam answered and said, “I beseech by the mercy before you, O Lord Let me not be reckoned before you as cattle, that I should eat the grass of the surface of the field I will arise and labor with the labor of my hands, and I will eat of the food of the earth; and thus let there be a distinction before you between the children of men and the offspring of cattle”[16] 19 By the labor of your hand you shall eat food until you return to the dust from which you were created, because dust you are, and to dust you will return; but from the dust you are destined to arise to render an account and a reckoning of all you have done, on the day of great judgment” 20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all human beings 21 And the Lord God made garments of glory for Adam and for his wife from the skin which the serpent had cast off to be worn on the skin of their flesh, instead of their garments of fingernails of which they had been stripped, and he clothed them 22 And the Lord God said to the angels who minister before him, “Behold, Adam was alone on the earth as I am alone in the heavens on high From him there will arise those who will know how to distinguish between good and evil If he had kept the commandments which I commanded him he would have lived and endured like the tree of life forever But now, since he has not observed what I commanded him, let us decree against him, and let us banish him from the Garden of Eden, before he puts forth his hand and takes also of the fruit of the tree of life For behold, if he eats of it, he will live and endure forever” 23 And the Lord God drove him out of the Garden of Eden, and he went and settled on Mount Moriah to till the soil from which he had been created 24 And he drove Adam out of the place where, from the beginning, he had caused the Glory of his Shekinah to dwell between the two cherubim Before he had yet created the world, he created the Law He established the garden of Eden for the righteous, that they might eat and take delight in the fruit of the tree, for having during their lives cherished the instruction of the Law in this world and fulfilled the precepts For the wicked he established Gehenna, which is like a sharp two-edged sword Within it he established sparks of fire and burning coals with which to judge the wicked, who during their lives rebelled against the instruction of the Law The Law is better for him who toils in it than the fruit of the tree of life, that Law which the Memra of the Lord established to be kept so that people might endure and walk in the paths of the way of life in the world to come
4Adam knew his wife Eve who had conceived from Sammael, the angel of the Lord. 2 Then, from Adam her husband she bore his twin sister and Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain was a man tilling the earth. 3 After a certain time, on the fourteenth of Nisan, Cain brought of the produce of the land, of the seed of flax, as an offering of first fruits before the Lord. 4 Abel, on his part, brought of the firstlings of the flock and of their fat parts. It was pleasing before the Lord, and he turned a friendly face towards Abel and his offering, 5 but to Cain and his offering he did not turn a friendly face. This grieved Cain very much, and the expression of his face was downcast. 6 The Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry, and why is the expression of your face downcast?' 7 If you perform your deeds well, your guilt will be forgiven you. But if you do not perform your deeds well in this world, your sin will be retained for the day of great judgment. Sin crouches at the gates of your heart, but in your hand I have placed power over the evil inclination. Its desire will be towards you, but you will have dominion over it, whether to be innocent or to sin. 8 Cain said to his brother Abel, 'Come, let us both go outside.' When the two of them had gone outside, Cain spoke up and said to Abel, 'I see that the world was created with mercy; but it is not governed according to the fruit of good deeds, and there is partiality in judgment. Therefore your offering was accepted with favor, but my offering was not accepted with favor.' Abel answered and said to Cain, 'The world was created with mercy, it is governed according to the fruit of good deeds, and there is no partiality in judgment. Because the fruit of my deeds was better than yours and more prompt than yours, my offering was accepted with favor.' Cain answered and said to Abel, 'There is no judgment, there is no judge, there is no other world, there is no gift of good reward for the righteous, and no punishment for the wicked.' Abel answered and said to Cain, 'There is judgment, there is a judge, there is another world, there is the gift of good reward for the righteous, and there is punishment for the wicked.' Concerning these matters, they were quarreling in the open country. And Cain rose up against Abel his brother and drove a stone into his forehead and killed him. 9 The Lord said to Cain, 'Where is your brother Abel?' He said, 'I do not know. Am I, perhaps, my brother’s keeper?' 10 Then he said, 'What have you done? The voice of the blood of the murder of your brother, which has been swallowed up by the clay, cries out before me from the earth.' 11 And now, because you have killed him, cursed are you from the earth which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you till the earth, it shall not continue to yield the strength of its fruit to you. You shall be a wanderer and an exile on earth. 13 Cain said before the Lord, 'My rebellion is much too great to bear, but you are able to forgive it.' 14 'Behold, you have driven me out this day from the face of the earth. Is it possible for me to hide from you? And if I am a wanderer and an exile upon the earth, any righteous person who finds me will kill me.' 15 And the Lord said to him, 'Behold therefore, whoever kills Cain, revenge shall be taken on him for seven generations.' Then the Lord traced on Cain’s face a letter of the great and glorious Name, so that anyone who would find him, upon seeing it on him, would not kill him. 16 Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of the wandering of his exile, which had been made on his account from the beginning in the Garden of Eden. 17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. He built a city and named the city after the name of his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech. 19 Lamech took two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other was Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was chief of all who dwell in tents and of cattle-owners. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was chief of all who are appointed to play the harp and the flute. 22 As for Zillah, she bore Tubal-Cain, the chief of all craftsmen who are skilled in the working of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah; she was a composer of dirges and songs. 23 Lamech said to his wives Adah and Zillah: 'Hearken to my voice, wives of Lamech; listen to my word: I have not killed a man so that I should be killed for him: neither have I wounded a young man so that my offspring should be exterminated because of him.' 24 'If for Cain who sinned and repented judgment was suspended for seven generations, it is surely right that for Lamech, his grandson, who did not sin, judgment should be suspended for seventy-seven.' 25 Adam knew his wife again at the end of a hundred and thirty years after Abel had been killed, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, 'The Lord has given me another son instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.' 26 And to Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. That was the generation in which they began to go astray, making idols for themselves and calling their idols by the name of the Memra of the Lord.
5This is the record of the genealogical line of Adam. On the day that the Lord created Adam, in the likeness of the Lord he made him. 2 Male and female he created them. He blessed them in the name of his Memra, and called their name Adam on the day they were created. 3 When Adam had lived a hundred and thirty years, he begot Seth, who resembled his image and likeness. For before that, Eve had borne Cain, who was not from him and who did not resemble him. Abel was killed by Cain, and Cain was banished, and his descendants are not recorded in the book of the genealogy of Adam. But afterward, he begot one who resembled him and he called his name Seth. 4 The days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred. 5 ... 6 ... 7 ... and seven years, and he begot sons and daughters. 8 All the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died. 9 Enosh lived ninety years and begot Kenan. 10 After he had begotten Kenan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and he begot sons and daughters. 11 All the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died. 12 Kenan lived seventy years and begot Mahalalel. 13 After he had begotten Mahalalel, Kenan lived eight hundred and forty years, and he begot sons and daughters. 14 All the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died. 15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five years and begot Jared. 16 After he had begotten Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and he begot sons and daughters. 17 All the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died. 18 Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and he begot Enoch. 19 After he had begotten Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters. 20 All the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died. 21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and he begot Methuselah. 22 Enoch worshiped in truth before the Lord after he had begotten Methuselah three hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters. 23 All the days of Enoch with the inhabitants of the earth were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 Enoch worshiped in truth before the Lord, and behold, he was not with the inhabitants of the earth because he was taken away and he ascended to the firmament at the command of the Lord, and he was called Metatron, the Great Scribe.[17] 25 Methuselah lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and he begot Lamech. 26 After he had begotten Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and he begot sons and daughters. 27 All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died. 28 Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and he begot a son. 29 And he called him Noah, saying, 'Out of the ground which the Lord has cursed because of the sins of the children of men, this one will bring us relief from our work which does not succeed, and from the toil of our hands.' 30 After he had begotten Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and he begot sons and daughters. 31 All the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died. 32 Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6When the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and beautiful daughters were born to them. 2 The sons of the great ones saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, that they painted their eyes and put on rouge, and walked about with naked flesh. They conceived lustful thoughts, and they took wives to themselves from among all who pleased them.[18] 3 The Lord said in his Memra, 'None of the evil generations that are to arise (in the future) will be judged according to the order of judgment applied to the generation of the Flood, (that is) to be destroyed and wiped out from the world. Did I not put my holy spirit in them that they might perform good deeds? But behold, their deeds are evil. Behold, I gave them an extension of a hundred and twenty years that they might repent, but they have not done so.' 4 Shamhazai and Azael fell from heaven and were on earth in those days, and also after the sons of the great ones had gone in to the daughters of men, who bore them children; these are called the heroes of old, the men of renown.[19] 5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man increased on earth, and that every impulse of his heart's designs was nothing but evil every day. 6 And the Lord regretted in his Memra that he had made man on earth, and he debated in his Memra about them. 7 Then the Lord said, 'I will wipe out from the face of the earth the men whom I created, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I regret in my Memra that I made them.' 8 But Noah, because he was a righteous man, found favor before the Lord. 9 This is the genealogy of the family of Noah. Noah was an innocent man, he was perfect in good works, in his age. Noah walked in the fear of the Lord. 10 Noah begot three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth became corrupt because of its inhabitants, who strayed from the ways that are right before the Lord, and the earth was filled with acts of robbery. 12 The Lord saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, because all flesh, without exception, had corrupted its ways upon the earth. 13 So the Lord said to Noah, 'The end of all flesh has come, for the earth is full of acts of robbery because of their evil deeds. Behold, I shall destroy them with the earth.' 14 Make yourself an ark of cedar wood; you shall make a hundred and fifty compartments for the ark on the left, and thirty-six in its breadth, and ten cabins in the middle in which food may be stored, and five reservoirs on the right and five on the left. And you shall plaster it inside and out with bitumen. 15 ... 16 Go to Pishon, and from there take a gem, and put it in the ark to give you light. You shall complete it to a cubit from the top. Put the door of the ark in its side. With lower, second, and third compartments shall you make it. 17 For my part, behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy all flesh under the heavens in which there is the breath of life; everything on earth shall perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall enter the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19 Of all that lives, of all flesh, you shall take two of each into the ark to keep alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 From birds according to their kinds, from the animals according to their kinds, from every creeping thing of the earth according to its kind, two of each shall come to you, brought by an angel that will catch them and bring them to you to keep them alive. 21 For your part, take of every food that is eaten, so that it may serve as food for you and for them. 22 Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him.
7The Lord said to Noah, 'Go into the ark, you and all the members of your household, for I have seen that you are innocent before me in this generation.' 2 Of every clean animal you shall take seven pairs, male and female, and of the animals that are not clean, two, male and female. 3 Of the birds of the heavens also, seven pairs, male and female, to keep their seed alive upon the face of all the earth. 4 For behold, I will give them an extension of seven days; if they repent it shall be forgiven them, but if they do not repent, after a further period of seven days I will cause rain to come down upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and all the bodies of men and beasts that I have made I will blot out from the face of the earth.' 5 And Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the Flood came, the waters upon the earth. 7 Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark because of the waters of the Flood. 8 Of animals that are clean and of animals that are not clean, of birds, and of everything that creeps upon the earth. 9 Two of each, male and female, came to Noah into the ark, as the Lord had commanded Noah. 10 After seven days, when the mourning for Methuselah had been completed, the Lord saw; and behold, the children of men had not repented, and the waters of the Flood came down boiling from the heavens upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, that is the month of Marcheshvan, for until then months had been counted only from Tishri, which was the beginning of the year according to the completion of the world—in the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the springs of the great abyss were rent; and the sons of the giants placed their children there and shut them up; but afterward the windows of the heavens were opened. 12 The rain came down upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 That same day Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah's sons, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with him, went into the ark. 14 They and all wild beasts according to their kinds, and all the cattle according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth according to its kind, every fowl according to its kind, every bird, everything that flies. 15 They came to Noah into the ark, two each of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And they that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as the Lord God commanded him; and the Memra of the Lord protected the door of the ark before him. 17 The Flood continued forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased and lifted up the ark so that it was raised above the earth. 18 The waters swelled and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark went floating on the surface of the waters. 19 The waters swelled greatly upon the earth, and all the high mountains that are under the whole heavens were covered. 20 The waters swelled fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. 21 And all flesh that creeps upon the earth perished, birds and cattle, and wild beasts, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the children of men. 22 Everything that has the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils, everything on the dry land, died. 23 He blotted out every body of man and beast that was upon the face of the earth—man, cattle, creeping things, and the birds that fly in the air of the heavens; they were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah was left and those who were with him in the ark. 24 And the waters swelled upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.
8The Lord in his Memra remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. And God caused a merciful wind to cross over the earth, and the waters abated. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, and the rain was held back from coming down from the heavens. 3 The waters receded gradually from upon the earth. At the end of a hundred and fifty days, the waters had diminished. 4 And in the seventh month, that is the month of Nisan, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Kardun. The name of one mountain is Cordyene, and the name of another mountain is Armenia. There, the city of Armenia was built in the land of the east. 5 The waters gradually diminished until the tenth month, the month of Tammuz. In Tammuz, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. 6 At the end of forty days, Noah opened the aperture of the ark which he had made. 7 And he sent forth the raven. It went to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent forth the clean dove from him to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the earth. 9 But the dove did not find a resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, thus making known that there was water upon the face of all the earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her to him into the ark. 10 So he waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark. 11 The dove came to him at evening time, and behold, an olive leaf, plucked off, broken off, and placed in her beak, which she had taken from the Mount of Olives. Then Noah knew that the waters had subsided from upon the earth. 12 He waited yet another seven days and sent forth the dove, but she did not return to him again. 13 In the six hundred and first year, in Tishri, on the first of the month, at the beginning of the year, the waters had dried up from upon the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the earth had dried up. 14 In the month of Marcheshvan, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried up. 15 Then the Lord spoke to Noah, saying: 16 'Go forth from the ark, you and your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.' 17 'Bring forth with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. Let them reproduce on the earth, and let them increase and multiply upon the earth.' 18 So Noah went forth, together with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that creeps upon the earth, went forth from the ark by families. 20 Then Noah built an altar before the Lord—it is the altar which Adam built at the time he was banished from the garden of Eden and on which he offered an offering, and upon which Cain and Abel offered their offerings. But when the waters of the flood came down, it was destroyed. Noah rebuilt it and took of all clean animals and of all clean birds and offered four burnt offerings upon that altar. 21 The Lord accepted his offering with favor, and the Lord said in his Memra: 'I will never again curse the earth on account of the sins of the children of men, for the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth, and I shall never again strike everything that lives, as I have done.' 22 'As long as the earth endures, sowing in the season of Tishri, and harvest in the season of Nisan, cold in the season of Tebeth, and heat in the season of Tammuz, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.'
9God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, 'Increase and multiply and fill the earth.' 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the heavens, on everything with which the earth swarms, and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they shall be delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be yours for food; like the green plants, I have given all these to you. 4 But flesh that has been torn from a living beast while its life is still in it, or that has been torn from a slaughtered animal before all its breath has gone forth, you shall not eat. 5 Moreover, for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning; of every beast that kills a man I will require it, so that it be killed on his account. Of man, too, of the man who sheds his brother’s blood, I will demand the life of man. 6 Whoever sheds the blood of man in the presence of witnesses, the judges shall condemn him to death; but whoever sheds it without witnesses, the Lord of the world will take revenge on him on the day of the great judgment, because in the likeness of God he has made man. 7 And you, increase and multiply; reproduce on the earth and multiply on it. 8 And God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 'As for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your children after you, 10 and with every living thing that is with you— birds, and cattle, and every beast of the earth that is with you— all that came out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11 I will establish my covenant with you, and never again will all flesh be blotted out by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.' 12 And God said: 'This is the sign of the covenant which I am establishing between my Memra and you, and every living thing that is with you, for eternal generations.' 13 'I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between my Memra and the earth.' 14 'When I spread clouds of Glory over the earth, the bow shall be seen in the daytime, as long as the sun has not sunk in the cloud,' 15 'and I will remember my covenant which is between my Memra and you and every living thing of all flesh, and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.' 16 'The bow will be in the cloud, and I will see it and remember the eternal covenant between the Memra of God and every living thing of all flesh that is upon the earth.' 17 And God said to Noah: 'This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between my Memra and the Memra of all flesh that is upon the earth.' 18 The sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan. 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from them the peoples were scattered abroad to dwell in all the earth. 20 Noah began to be a man tilling the earth. And he found a vine which the river had brought from the garden of Eden, and he planted it in order to have a vineyard. That same day it sprouted and ripened grapes, and he pressed them. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk, and he uncovered himself within his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers in the street. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a mantle, placed it on both their shoulders, and going backwards, covered their father’s nakedness; their faces were turned away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew by being told in a dream what had been done to him by Ham his son, who was slight in merit because he was the cause of his not begetting a fourth son.[20] 25 And he said, 'Cursed be Canaan, who is his fourth son. A slave reduced to slavery shall he be to his brothers.' 26 He said, 'Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, whose conduct was righteous; therefore Canaan shall be his servant.' 27 'May God adorn the borders of Japheth. May his sons become proselytes and dwell in the schoolhouse of Shem; and let Canaan be a slave to them.' 28 Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. 29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
10These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; sons were born to them after the Flood. 2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. And the names of their provinces: Phrygia, Germania, Media, Macedonia, Bithynia, Asia, and Thrace. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Hellas, Tarsus, Achaia, and Dardania. 5 From these families of the coastland peoples spread out in their lands, each with its language, according to their lineage, in their nations. 6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. And the names of their provinces: Arabia, Egypt, Allihroq, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. And the names of their provinces: Sinirites, Indians, Semarites, Lybians, Zingites and the sons of Mauritanos, Zemargad, and Mezag. 8 Kush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty sinner and rebel on earth before the Lord. 9 He was a mighty rebel before the Lord. Therefore it is said: 'From the day the world was created there has not been a mighty hunter and rebel like Nimrod before the Lord.' 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babylon the Great, Edessa, Nisibis, and Ctesiphon, in the land of Pontus. 11 From that land Nimrod went forth and ruled over Assyria, because he did not wish to participate in the scheme of the generation of the Division. So he left those four cities. 12 Therefore the Lord gave him another place and he built four other cities, Nineveh, Streets-of-the-City, Hadiath, and Talsar; which is built between Nineveh and Hadiath; that is the great city. 13 Mizraim begot the Nivatites, the Mareotians, the Lybians, and the Pentasekenites. 14 The Casiotites, the Pentapolitanians whence came forth the Philistines, and the Cappadocians. 15 Canaan begot Sidon his first-born, and Heth, 16 the Jebusites and the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Anthosites, 18 the Arethusians, the Emesans, and the Antiochenes. Afterwards the descendants of the Canaanites spread out. 19 The territory of the Canaanites extended from Bothneas in the direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim as far as Callirrhoe. 20 These are the sons of Ham, according to the descendants of their clans, according to their languages, by their settlements in their lands, by the families of their nations. 21 To Shem also a son was born. He is the father of all the children of the Hebrews, the brother of Japheth, great in the fear of the Lord. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad begot Shelah, and Shelah begot Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided. And his brother's name was Joktan. 26 Joktan begot Almodad, who measured the earth with cords, Sheleph, who diverted the waters of the rivers, Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 30 The place where they settled extended from Mesha as far as the Sepharvaim, the mountain of the east. 31 These are the sons of Shem, according to their lineage and their languages by their settlements in their lands, according to the families of their nations. 32 These are the genealogies of the sons of Noah according to their genealogies, by their nations. From these the nations were spread abroad over the earth after the Flood.
11The whole earth had one language, one manner of speaking, and one counsel. They spoke in the language of the Sanctuary, the language in which the world was created in the beginning. 2 And when they moved from the east they found a plain in the land of Babel and settled there. 3 They said to one another: 'Come, let us cast bricks and bake them in the furnace.' And they had bricks for stone, and clay for mortar. 4 And they said: 'Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top reaching towards the heavens. Let us make ourselves an idol at its top, and let us put a sword in its hand, and let it draw up battle formations against him before we are scattered from upon the face of the earth.' 5 The Lord revealed himself to take revenge on them for the work of the city and the tower which the sons of man had built. 6 And the Lord said: 'Behold they are one people, and they have all one language, and they have planned to do this! And now, nothing they plan to do can be withheld from them.' 7 Then the Lord said to the seventy angels that stand before him: 'Come then, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s language.'[21] 8 The Memra of the Lord was revealed against the city; and with it seventy angels corresponding to seventy nations, each having the language of his people and the characters of its writing in his hand. He scattered them thence upon the face of all the earth into seventy languages, so that one did not know what the other said, and they killed one another. And they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the inhabitants of the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them upon the face of the whole earth. 10 This is the line of Shem: Shem was a hundred years old when he begot Arpachshad, two years after the Flood. 11 Shem lived five hundred years after he had begotten Arpachshad, and he begot sons and daughters. 12 Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and he begot Shelah. 13 Arpachshad lived four hundred and thirty years after he had begotten Shelah, and he begot sons and daughters. 14 Shelah lived thirty years, and he begot Eber. 15 Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he had begotten Eber, and he begot sons and daughters. 16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and he begot Peleg. 17 Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he had begotten Peleg, and he begot sons and daughters. 18 Peleg lived thirty years, and he begot Reu. Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he had begotten Reu, and he begot sons and daughters. 19 Reu lived thirty-two years, and he begot Serug. 20 Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he had begotten Serug, and he begot sons and daughters. 21 Serug lived thirty years, and he begot Nahor. 22 Serug lived two hundred years after he had begotten Nahor, and he begot sons and daughters. 23 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and he begot Terah. 24 Nahor lived a hundred and sixteen years after he had begotten Terah, and he begot sons and daughters. 25 Terah lived seventy years, and he begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 26 This is the line of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot. 27 It came to pass, when Nimrod cast Abram into the furnace of fire because he would not worship his idol, the fire had no power to burn him. Then Haran was undecided, and he said: 'If Nimrod triumphs, I will be on his side; but if Abram triumphs, I will be on his side.' And when all the people who were there saw that the fire had no power over Abram, they said to themselves: 'Is not Haran the brother of Abram full of divination and sorcery? It is he who uttered charms over the fire so that it would not burn his brother.' Immediately fire fell from the heavens on high and consumed him; and Haran died in the sight of Terah his father, being burned in the land of his birth in the furnace of fire which the Chaldeans had made for Abram his brother. 28 And Abram and Nahor took wives to themselves; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah—she is Sarai. 29 Now Sarai was barren; she had no child. 30 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and they went forth together from the fire of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and settled there. 31 The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.
12The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country. Depart from your native land. Go forth from your father’s house and go to the land that I will show you.” 2 “I will make of you a great people, and I will bless you, and make your name great, and you will be blessed.” 3 “I will bless the priests who stretch out their hands in prayer and bless your children; but Balaam who will curse them I will curse, and they will kill him at the edge of the sword; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” 4 Abram went as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all the possessions which they had acquired, and all the persons whom they had converted in Haran, and they went forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, to the plain that had been pointed out. The Canaanites were then in the land; for the time had not yet come for the children of Israel to take possession of it. 7 And the Lord revealed himself to Abram, and said, “To your children I will give this land.” And he built an altar there before the Lord, who revealed himself to him. 8 From there he went up to the mountain which is to the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. And he built an altar there before the Lord and prayed. In the land there was a famine, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there because the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter the territory of Egypt, they came to the river and uncovered their bodies to cross over. Abram said to Sarai his wife, “Behold, until now I have not looked at your body; but now I know that you are a woman of beautiful appearance.” 12 “And when the Egyptians look at you and see your beauty, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me and let you live.” 13 “Say, I pray, that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.” 14 So when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 The nobles of Pharaoh saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s royal house. 16 And because of her, Pharaoh treated Abram well, and of what belonged to him he acquired sheep, oxen, asses, menservants, maidservants, she-asses, and camels. 17 But the Memra of the Lord unleashed great plagues against Pharaoh and the members of his household on account of Sarai, the wife of Abram. 18 Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?” 19 “Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? But immediately a plague was unleashed against me, and I did not approach her. And now, here is your wife. Take her and go.” 20 And Pharaoh commanded men concerning him; and they escorted him and his wife and all that he possessed.
13Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he possessed, and Lot with him, to go to the south. 2 Now Abram was very rich in flocks, in silver, and in gold. 3 He went on his journeys from the south as far as Bethel, and returned to the place where he had pitched his tent at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the site of the altar which he had made there in the beginning; and there Abram prayed in the name of the Lord. 5 Lot, who was supported by the merits of Abram, also had sheep and oxen and tents, 6 so that the land could not support them dwelling together, because their possessions were great, and they were not able to dwell together. 7 And there were disputes between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. The herdsmen of Abram had been commanded by him not to go among the Canaanites and the Perizzites, because they still had authority over the land. They used to muzzle their cattle so that they would not eat anything that had been stolen until they had arrived at their grazing grounds. But the herdsmen of Lot allowed their cattle to go about freely and to eat in the fields of the Canaanites and the Perizzites who were still dwelling in the land. 8 Abram said to Lot: “Let there not, I pray, be a quarrel between me and you, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself, I pray, from me. If you go to the north, I will go to the south; if you go to the south, I will go to the north.” 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes with lustful desire and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was all irrigated— that was before the Lord in his anger destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. That land was renowned for its trees like the garden of the Lord, and for its produce like the land of Egypt, as you come towards Zoar. 11 And Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan; and Lot journeyed from the east, and they separated one from the other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent towards Sodom. 13 And the men of Sodom were evil towards one another with their wealth, and sinful with their bodies through sexual immorality, by shedding innocent blood, and by the practice of idolatry, and rebelling grievously against the name of the Lord. 14 And the Lord said to Abram after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up, I pray, your eyes and look from the place where you are, to the north and to the south and to the east and to the west, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your children forever. 16 And I will make your children as numerous as the dust of the earth; for if one can count the dust of the earth, so will it be possible to have your children counted. 17 Arise, walk about in the land and take possession of it in its length and in its breadth, for I will give it to you.” 18 Abram pitched tents for oxen and sheep and he came and dwelt in the vision of Mamre which is in Hebron, and there he built an altar before the Lord.
14In the days of Amraphel — he is Nimrod who ordered Abram to be thrown into the fire, he is the king of Pontus— Arioch, who was tall like the giants, king of Telassar, Chedorlaomer, who was short and turned like sheaves, the king of Elam, and Tidal, a deceiver like the fox, king of the peoples who were subject to him. 2 They made war with Bera king of Sodom, whose deeds were evil, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, whose deeds were wicked, Shinab king of Admah, who hated even his father, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, who destroyed his member with unchastity, and with the king of the city that swallowed its inhabitants, that is Zoar. 3 All these joined together in the plain of the Orchards, that is the place that springs forth streams of water and empties them into the Salt Sea. 4 Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 And in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and wiped out the giants who were in Ashteroth-karnaim, the powerful ones who were in Hamta, and the fearsome ones who were in Shaveh-Kiriathaim. 6 And the Horites who were in the high mountains of Gabla as far as the plain of Paran, which is near the edge of the desert. 7 Then they returned and came to the place where the judgment of Moses the prophet was decided by the fountain of the Waters of Contention, that is Reqem. And they destroyed all the fields of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in En-gedi. 8 The king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of the city that swallowed its inhabitants, that is Zoar, went out and engaged in battle with them in the plain of the Orchards. 9 With Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of the nations who were subject to him, and Amraphael king of Pontus, and Arioch king of Telassar— four kings engaged in battle against five. 10 Now, in the valley of the Orchards there were many wells full of bitumen; and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, and the rest fled to the mountains. 11 They took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and departed. 12 They captured Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, and his possessions, and departed; he had settled in Sodom. 13 Then came Og, who had escaped from among the giants who died in the Flood; he had ridden upon the ark, and there was a cover over his head, and he was sustained from Noah's provisions. He had not escaped because of his own merit, but that the inhabitants of the world might see the power of the Lord and say, 'Did not the giants who were there from the beginning rebel against the Lord of the world, and he wiped them out from the earth?' When these kings waged war, Og was with them. He said to himself: 'I will go and inform Abram concerning Lot who has been captured, so that when he comes to rescue him from the hands of the kings, he himself will be given into their hands.' So he came on the eve of the day of the Passover and found him making unleavened cakes, and he told Abram the Hebrew, who was dwelling in the Vision of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and Aner. These were allies of Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his brother had been captured, he armed his young men whom he had trained for war, who had been brought up in his house, but they did not wish to go with him. So he chose from among them Eliezer, son of Nimrod, who was equal in strength to all three hundred and eighteen of them; and he pursued them as far as Dan. 15 The night was divided for them on the way; one part fought against the kings, and the other part was kept in reserve for the smiting of the first-born in Egypt. He arose, he and his servants, and smote them and pursued those of them that remained until he remembered the sin that was to be committed in Dan, which is north of Damascus. 16 He brought back all the possessions; he also brought back Lot his kinsman and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of the people. 17 When he returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him at the leveled plain, which is the king’s racecourse. 18 The righteous king— that is Shem, the son of Noah— king of Jerusalem, went out to meet Abram, and brought him bread and wine; at that time he was ministering before God Most High. 19 He blessed him and said, 'Blessed be Abram from before God Most High, who created the heavens and the earth for the sake of the righteous.' 20 And blessed be God Most High, who has made those who hate you like a shield that receives a blow. And he gave him a tithe of all that he had brought back. 21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, 'Give me the human persons of my people whom you brought back, and the possessions take for yourself.' 22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, 'I have raised my hand in an oath before the Lord, the Most High God, who for the sake of the righteous created as his possession the heavens and the earth.' 23 I will not take even a thread or a sandal-strap of all that is yours, lest you boast and say ‘I have enriched Abram from what was mine.' 24 Is it not true that I have no claim to any of the booty, except what the young men, apart from me, have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me? Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, they too shall take their portion.
15After these things, after the kings had gathered together and had fallen before Abram, and after he had killed four kings and brought back nine encampments, Abram thought in his heart and said, 'Woe to me now! Perhaps I have received the reward of my observance of the commandments in this world, and there will be no portion for me in the world to come. Or perhaps the brothers and relatives of these slain will go and join in legions and come against me. Or perhaps at that time the reward of some minor merits was found with me, so that they fell before me. But the second time the reward of good deeds will not be found with me, and the name of heaven will be profaned in me.' Therefore a word of the Lord was addressed to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Fear not Abram; for even if they join in legions and come against you, my Memra will be a shield for you; and even if these have fallen before you in this world, the reward of your good works is kept and prepared before me for the world to come, a very great reward.' 2 But Abram said, 'Lord God, you have given me much, and there is still much before you to give me. What benefit do I have, since I pass from the world childless, and Eliezer, the manager of my house, at whose hands miracles have been performed for me in Damascus, expects to be my heir?' 3 And Abram said, 'Behold you have not given me a son, and behold the manager of my house will be my heir.' 4 And behold, a word from before the Lord came to him saying, 'This one will not be your heir, but a son whom you will beget will be your heir.' 5 Then he took him outside and said, 'Look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them.' And he said to him, 'So shall your children be.' 6 He had faith in the Memra of the Lord, and he reckoned it to him as merit because he did not speak rebelliously against him. 7 He said to him, 'I am the Lord who brought you out of the fiery furnace of the Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit.' 8 He said, 'Lord God, how shall I know that I shall inherit it?' 9 He said to him, 'Fetch me offerings, and offer before me a heifer three years old, a he-goat three years old, a she-goat three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.' 10 He offered all these before him, divided them in the middle, and arranged each part opposite the other; but he did not divide the birds. 11 The nations, that are like unclean birds, came down to plunder the property of Israel; but the merit of Abram protected them. 12 When the sun was about to set, a deep sleep was cast upon Abram, and behold four kingdoms were rising to enslave his children: 'Dread'— that is Babylon; 'Dark'— that is Media; 'Great'— that is Greece; 'Fell'— that is Edom, which is destined to fall and for which there will be no rising; from there the people of the house of Israel will come up. 13 He said to Abram, 'Know for certain that your children will be residents in a land that is not theirs, because you did not believe; and they will be enslaved and afflicted four hundred years.' 14 But the people whom they shall serve I will judge with two hundred and fifty plagues; and after that they will go forth to freedom with great wealth. 15 As for yourself, you shall be gathered to your fathers; your soul shall rest in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16 And the fourth generation of your children shall return here to take possession of the land, for the guilt of the Amorites is not yet complete. 17 When the sun had set and it was dark, behold, Abram saw Gehenna sending up smoke and coals of fire, and sending forth sparks of fire with which to judge the wicked. And behold it passed between these parts. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, promising that he would not judge his children by it, and that he would deliver them from the kingdoms, saying, 'To your children I will give this land, from the Nile of Egypt to the Great River, the river Euphrates, 19 the Shalmaites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Giants, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.'
16Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children; but she had an Egyptian maid, whose name was Hagar, a daughter of Pharaoh, whom he gave to her as maid when he took her and was smitten by a word from before the Lord. 2 Sarai said to Abram, 'Behold, I pray, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Now, go in to my maid, and I will set her free. Perhaps I may have children through her.' And Abram listened to the word of Sarai. 3 Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid— after Abram had dwelt in the land of Canaan for ten years— set her free and gave her to Abram her husband as wife. 4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, the honor of her mistress was of little value in her eyes. 5 Sarai said to Abram, 'All my humiliation comes from you, because I trusted that you would do me justice, seeing that I left my country and my father's house and went with you into a foreign land. And now, because I have not borne children, I set my maid free and gave her to you to lie in your bosom. But when she saw that she was with child, my honor was despised in her sight. Now let my humiliation be manifest before the Lord, and let him spread his peace between me and you, and let the earth be filled from us, so that we will not need the children of Hagar, the daughter of Pharaoh, the son of Nimrod, who threw you into the furnace of fire.' 6 Abram said to Sarai, 'Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what seems right in your eyes.' And Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her. 7 The angel of the Lord found her at the spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring on the way to Hagra. 8 He said, 'Hagar, maid of Sarai, where are you coming from, and where are you going?' She said, 'I have fled from Sarai my mistress.' 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, 'Return to your mistress, and submit to her oppressive treatment.' 10 The angel of the Lord said to her, 'I will greatly multiply your children and they will be too numerous to count.' 11 The angel of the Lord said to her, 'Behold you are with child, and you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because your affliction has been revealed before the Lord.' 12 He shall be like a wild ass among the children of men; his hands will take revenge on his enemies, and the hands of his enemies will be stretched forth to harm him. He shall dwell alongside all his kinsmen and he shall be mixed with them. 13 She gave thanks before the Lord whose Memra had spoken to her, and she spoke thus, 'You are the Living and Enduring One, who sees but is not seen'; for she said, 'Behold, here indeed the Glory of the Shekinah of the Lord was revealed, vision after vision.' 14 Therefore the well was called 'The well at which the Living and Enduring One was revealed': and behold it is situated between Reqem and Haluzah. 15 Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
17When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord revealed himself to Abram and said to him, 'I am El Shaddai. Worship before me and be perfect in your flesh.' 2 'I will establish my covenant between my Memra and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.' 3 But because Abram was not circumcised he was not able to stand, and he bent down upon his face, and the Lord spoke with him saying, 4 'As for me, behold I am making my covenant with you: you shall be the father of a multitude of peoples.' 5 'You shall no longer be called by the name Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a great multitude of peoples.' 6 'I will make you increase exceedingly, and I will make assemblies of you; kings who will rule over the nations shall come forth from you.' 7 'I will establish my covenant between my Memra and you and your children after you, throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your children after you.' 8 'I will give to you and to your children after you the land you sojourn in, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession. And I will be their God.' 9 And the Lord said to Abraham, 'As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your children after you throughout their generations.' 10 'This is my covenant between my Memra and you and your children after you which you shall keep: to circumcise every male, if he has no father to circumcise him.' 11 'You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between my Memra and you.' 12 'He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male throughout your generations, those who have been brought up in your houses, and those who have been bought with your money from any gentile who is not of your children.' 13 'He who is circumcised shall circumcise those who have been brought up in your houses or bought with your money. Thus my covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant.' 14 'An uncircumcised male who does not circumcise the flesh of his foreskin when he has no one to circumcise him, that man shall be blotted out from his people; he has changed my covenant.' 15 And the Lord said to Abraham, 'As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.' 16 'I will bless her in her body; and I will also give you a son from her. I will bless him, and she shall become assemblies, and kings who will rule over the nations shall come from her.' 17 Abraham fell upon his face and was amazed, and said to himself, 'Can a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah bear a child at ninety?' 18 And Abraham said before the Lord, 'O that Ishmael might survive and serve before you.' 19 The Lord said, 'In truth Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his children after him.' 20 'As for Ishmael, I have accepted your prayer. Behold I have blessed him, and I will increase him and multiply him exceedingly. He will beget twelve princes and I will make him a great nation.' 21 'But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.' 22 When he had finished speaking with him, the Glory of the Lord went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those who had been brought up in his house and all those bought with his money, every male among the members of Abraham’s household, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin that same day, as the Lord had spoken to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. 26 That very day, on the fourteenth of Nisan, Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 All the men of his house, those who had been brought up in the house and those bought with money from a gentile, were circumcised with him.
18The Glory of the Lord was revealed to him at the Vision of Mamre; he was suffering from the pain of circumcision, seated at the door of the tent at the strength of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three angels in the form of men were standing before him. They had been sent for three things. For it is not possible for a ministering angel to be sent for more than one thing. One came to announce to him that Sarah would bear a male child; one came to rescue Lot; and one came to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. When he saw them he ran from the door of the tent to meet them and bowed to the ground. 3 He said, “I beseech you by the mercies from before you, O Lord, if now I have found favor before you, let not the Glory of your Shekinah go up from your servant until I have received these travelers.” 4 Abraham again said to these men, “Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and recline under the tree.” 5 And I will bring a morsel of bread. Refresh your hearts and give thanks to the Name of the Memra of the Lord, and after that you may go on. Because it was for this reason that you chanced to come at mealtime, and to pass by your servant, so that you might refresh yourselves.” They said, “You have spoken well. Do according to your word.” 6 Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick, three seahs of fine flour! Knead it and make cakes.” 7 Abraham ran to the cattleyard and took a calf, tender and fat, and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare dishes. 8 He took thick cream and milk, as well as the calf from which the servant had prepared dishes, and set them before them according to the manner and custom of human beings. He ministered before them as they sat under the tree, and it seemed to him that they were eating. 9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “Behold, she is in the tent.” 10 One of them said, “I will surely return to you in the coming year; and you will still be alive, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” Sarah was listening at the door of the tent, and Ishmael was standing behind her listening to what the angel said. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old; they had advanced in age, and Sarah had ceased having the periods of impurity of women. 12 Sarah wondered in her heart, saying, “After I have grown old shall I become pregnant—and my master Abraham so old?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I in truth bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is it possible for anything to be hidden from before the Lord? At the time of the feast I shall return to you, at this time, and you shall still be alive, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 Sarah denied it saying, “I did not wonder,” for she was afraid. The angel said, “Do not be afraid; but in truth you did laugh.” 16 The angels who had the form of men arose from there; the one who had brought good news to Sarah went up to the heavens on high, and two of them looked towards Sodom. Abraham went with them to accompany them. 17 The Lord said in his Memra, “I cannot hide from Abraham what I am about to do. By right I should not act until I have informed him. 18 Abraham is destined to become a great and mighty nation, and on account of him, by his merits all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. 19 For his piety is manifest before me, so that he will command his children and the members of his household after him to observe ways that are right before the Lord, doing what is just and right, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham the good things he has promised him.” 20 The Lord said to the ministering angels, “The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah—because they oppress the poor and decree that whoever gives a morsel of bread to the needy shall be burned by fire—is indeed great, and their sin has indeed increased greatly.[22] 21 I will now be revealed, and I will see whether they have really done according to the complaint of the maiden Peletith which has come before me. If so, they deserve total destruction, but if they do penance, shall they not be righteous before me as if I did not know, and I will not take revenge. 22 The two angels who were like men turned from there and went to Sodom. Abraham was still beseeching mercy for Lot, and ministering in prayer before the Lord. 23 Abraham prayed and said, “Shall your anger wipe out the innocent with the guilty? 24 What if there are fifty innocent people within the city who pray before you, ten for each city of the five cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar? Will your anger wipe them out and not forgive the place for the sake of the merits of the fifty innocent people who are in it? 25 It would be a profanation for you to do such a thing, to kill the innocent with the guilty, so that the innocent would be as the guilty; that would be a profanation for you. Is it possible that he who judges the whole earth should not do justice?” 26 And the Lord said, “If in Sodom I find fifty innocent people within the city who pray before me, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.” 27 Abraham replied and said, “I beseech, by your mercy! Behold, I have begun to speak before the Lord, I who am like dust and ashes. 28 What if five of the fifty innocent are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city because of five who are lacking in Zoar?” He said, “I will not destroy if I find forty-five there.” 29 He spoke again before him and said, “What if forty are found there, ten for each of the four cities? As for Zoar, whose guilt is light, forgive it for the sake of your mercy.” He said, “I will not make an end, for the sake of the merits of forty.” 30 He said, “Let not the anger of the Master of all the worlds, the Lord, be enkindled, and I will speak. What if thirty who pray are found there, ten for each of the three cities? As for Zeboiim and Zoar, forgive them for the sake of your mercy.” He said, “I will not make an end if I find thirty there.” 31 He said, “I beseech, by your mercy! Behold, I have begun to speak before the Master of all the worlds, the Lord. What if twenty who pray are found, ten for each of the two cities? As for the other three, forgive them for the sake of your mercy.” And he said, “I will not destroy, for the sake of the merits of twenty.” 32 He said, “I beseech by the mercy before you, let not the anger of the Master of all the worlds, the Lord, be enkindled, and I will speak this last time. What if ten are found there, and they and I beseech mercy for the whole place and you forgive them?” And he said, “I will not destroy, for the sake of the merits of ten.” 33 And the Glory of the Shekinah of the Lord went up when he finished speaking with Abraham. And Abraham returned to his place.
19The two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was seated at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them he rose from the door of the tent to meet them, and bowed, with his face to the ground. 2 He said, “I pray, my lords, turn aside hither and come into your servant’s house to spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” But they said, “No, for we will spend the night in the marketplace.” 3 But he urged them strongly, and they turned aside to him and went into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread for them , and it seemed to him that they were eating.3 4 Before they lay down, wicked men who were in the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who went in to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may have sexual relations with them.” 6 So Lot went out to them to the entrance, shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “I beseech you, my brothers, do not, I pray, act wickedly. 8 Behold, I have two daughters who have never had intercourse with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them what seems right to 7 you; but do no evil to these men, because they have come in to pass the night and they have taken refuge under the shelter of this roof of mine.” 9 But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “Did not this fellow come alone to sojourn among usl And behold, he has made himself judge and is judging all of us.10 And now we will do worse to you than to them.” And they pressed very hard against the man, against Lot, and drew near to break the door. 10 And the men stretched out their hands and brought Lot to them into the house, and shut the door. 11 The men who were at the door of the house, both young and old, they struck with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door. 12 Then the men said to Lot, “Who else do you have here in the city? A relative or a brother? Your son-in-law, your sons, your daughters?11 Take them out of the place; 13 for we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against it has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and spoke with his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and he said, “Arise, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But in the eyes of his sons-in-law the idea seemed fantastic, like that of a man who jests. 15 At the time of the rising of the dawn the angels pressed Lot saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are with you, lest you be blotted out because of the sins of the inhabitants of the city.” 16 But he delayed. So the men seized his hand, and the hands of his wife and his two daughters, because mercy from before the Lord was upon him. And they brought him out and placed him outside the city. 17 As they were bringing them outside, one of them returned to Sodom to destroy it. The other remained with Lot, and said to him, “Have consideration fo r your life; do not look behind you, and do not stop anywhere in the plain; escape to the mountain lest you be wiped out.” 18 And Lot said to him, “/ beg of you, wait for me a little moment until I beg for mercy from before the Lord” 19 Behold now, your servant has found mercy before you, and great is the kindness you have shown me in saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains lest misfortune overtake me and I die. 20 Behold now, I pray, this city whose dwellings are near. It is a suitable place to flee to. It is small, and its sins are light.20 Let me escape there— is it not a little place— and my life will be saved.” 21 And he said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city to which you have said you will escape. 22 Make haste, escape thither, for I cannot do anything until you have entered there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. 23 The sun had crossed the sea, and risen upon the earth after three hours, when Lot entered into Zoar. 24 And the Memra of the Lord sent down favorable rains upon Sodom and Gomorrah, so that they might repent; but they did not do so, for they said, “Evil deeds are not manifest before the Lord.” Therefore sulphur and fire came down upon them from before the Memra of the Lord out of heaven. 25 He overthrew those cities, and the whole plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground. 26 His wife looked behind the angel to know what would be the end of her father's house. She was one of the daughters of the Sodomites, and because she had sinned through salt by publicizing the presence of the afflicted ones, 24 behold she was made into a pillar of salt. 27 Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had ministered in prayer before the Lord. 28 And he looked carefully towards Sodom and Gomorrah and towards all the land of the plain; and he saw that the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. 29 When the Lord destroyed the cities of the plain, the Lord remembered the merit of Abraham, and he sent Lot away from the midst of the upheaval when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt. 30 Lot went up from Zoar and dwelt in the mountain with histwo daughters, for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31 The older said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. 32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and when he is drunk we will have intercourse with him, that we may raise up children from our father.” 33 That night they made their father drink wine, and he got drunk. And the elder arose and had intercourse with her father; and he did not know when she lay down, but he knew when she rose.25 34 The next day the elder said to the younger, “Behold I have already had intercourse with my father last evening. Let us make him drink wine tonight also that he may get drunk and let you go in and have intercourse with him, that we may raise up children from our father.” 35 So that night also they made their father drink wine, and he got drunk. And the younger arose and had intercourse with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she rose. 36 Thus the two daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. 37 The elder bore a son and called his name Moab because she had become pregnant by her father; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 The younger also bore a son, and called his name “Hisson,” for he was the son of her father; he is the father of the people of the Ammonites to this very day.
20Abraham set out from there to the land of the South, and dwelt between Reqem and Hagra, and sojourned in Gerar 2 And Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah 3 But a word from before God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night and said to him, “Behold, you are to die on account of the woman whom you have taken by force, for she is married to a man.” 4 Now Abimelech had not approached her to defile her; and he said, “O Lord, a gentile who has not sinned, who is even worthy of being declared innocent in judgment, shall he be put to death? 5 Did he not say to me that she is his sister? And she herself also said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the uprightness of my heart and in the innocence of my hands I have done this.” 6 The Memra of God said to him in a dream, “Before me, too, it was revealed that you did this in the uprightness of your heart, and it was I also who kept you from sinning before me. Therefore I did not let you approach her. 7 And now restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet and he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all that are yours.” 8 Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and said all these things in their presence; and the men feared greatly 9 Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you that you have brought such great guilt on me and on my kingdom? You have done to me deeds that should not be done.” 10 Abimelech said to Abraham, “What were you thinking of that you did this thing?” 11 Abraham said, “Because I said to myself, ‘Surely, there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me on account of my wife.’ 12 Besides, she is, in truth my sister, the daughter of my father’s brother, but not of the family of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 When those who worship idols tried to lead me astray, I went forth from my father’s house, and I said to her, ‘This is the favor you shall do me: whatever place we go to, say of me: He is my brother.’” 14 Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and menservants and maidservants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him 15 Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you, and dwell wherever seems right in your eyes.” 16 And to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given a thousand silver selas to your brother; behold, they will serve as a veil over your eyes in exchange for your having been hidden from your husband for one night, while I saw your body. Even if I were to give you all that I have, I would not be worthy.” Thus matters were clarified, Abraham knew that Abimelech had not approached Sarah his wife. 17 Abraham prayed before God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his concubines, and they were able to bear children 18 For the Memra of the Lord had firmly closed all the openings of the wombs of the women who were in the house of Abimelech on account of Sarah, the wife of Abraham.
21The Lord remembered Sarah as he had said to him, and the Lord worked a sign for Sarah, like that of which Abraham had spoken in his prayer on behalf of Abimelech. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham in his old age a son who was like him, at the time of which the Lord had spoken. 3 Abraham called the name of the son who was born to him, whom Sarah had borne to him, Isaac. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as the Lord had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac his son was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, 'The Lord has done an amazing thing for me; anyone who hears of it will be amazed at me.' 7 And she said, 'How trustworthy was the messenger who made an announcement to Abraham, saying “Sarah is destined to suckle children.” For she has borne him a son at the time of his old age.' 8 The child grew and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast the day he weaned Isaac. 9 Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she bore to Abraham, sporting with an idol and bowing down to it.[23] 10 And she said to Abraham, 'Cast out this maidservant and her son; for it is not possible that the son of this maidservant should inherit with my son and then make war with Isaac.' 11 But the matter was very distressing in Abraham’s eyes on account of his son Ishmael who had practiced idolatry. 12 But the Lord said to Abraham, 'Do not be distressed about the boy who has abandoned the training you have given him, or about your maidservant whom you are banishing. Pay heed to all that Sarah will say to you—for she is a prophetess—because through Isaac shall your children be named; but this son of the maidservant shall not be recorded in the genealogies after you.' 13 And I will make a nation of robbers of the son of the maidservant also, because he is your son.' 14 Abraham rose early in the morning, took some bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar. He placed them on her shoulder—tying them to her loins to show that she was a maidservant—along with the child. He sent her away with a bill of divorce. She went off and strayed from the way to the desert which is near Beer-sheba. 15 When they arrived at the entrance to the desert, they reverted to going astray after idolatry. Ishmael was stricken with a burning fever; and he drank all the water until all the water in the skin was finished. And his flesh became parched and thin. 16 She went and sat down to one side, threw away the idol and withdrew from her son, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, 'I am not able to look upon the death of the child.' So she sat opposite her son and lifted up her voice and wept. 17 The voice of the child was heard before the Lord because of the merit of Abraham. And the angel of the Lord called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, 'What is the matter, Hagar? Fear not, for the voice of the child has been heard before the Lord, and he has not judged him according to the evil deeds he is destined to do. Because of the merit of Abraham he has shown mercy to him in the place where he is.' 18 Arise, take the boy and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.' 19 The Lord uncovered her eyes, and a well of water was revealed to her, and she went and filled the water-skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. 20 The Memra of the Lord was at the assistance of the boy, and he grew up. He dwelt in the wilderness and became a skilled bowman. 21 He dwelt in the desert of Paran and took as wife Adisha. But he divorced her, and his mother took Fatima as wife for him from the land of Egypt. 22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, 'The Memra of the Lord is at your assistance in everything you do.' 23 And now, swear to me here by the Memra of the Lord that you will not deal falsely with me or with my son or my grandson; according to the kindness I have done to you, you shall do to me and to the land in which you have resided.' 24 And Abraham said, 'I swear.' 25 Abraham remonstrated with Abimelech on account of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech had taken from him by force. 26 Abimelech said, 'I do not know who did this; you yourself did not tell me, and I did not hear of it from others except from you today.' 27 Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. 28 Abraham set aside seven ewe lambs by themselves, and separated them from the oxen. 29 Abimelech said to Abraham, 'What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set aside by themselves?' 30 He said, 'You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may serve as a witness that I dug this well.' 31 Therefore he called that well “The Well-of-the-Seven-Ewe-Lambs,” because there the two of them swore an oath. 32 So they made a covenant at “The Well-of-the-Seven-Ewe-Lambs” and Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, arose and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted an orchard at “The Well-of-the-Seven-Ewe-Lambs,” and in it he prepared food and drink for those who went and came. And he used to proclaim to them there, 'Give thanks, and believe in the name of the Memra of the Lord, the God of the world.'
22After these events, after Isaac and Ishmael had quarreled, Ishmael said, 'It is right that I should be my father’s heir, since I am his first-born son.' But Isaac said, 'It is right that I should be my father's heir; because I am the son of Sarah his wife, while you are the son of Hagar; my mother's maidservant.' Ishmael answered and said, 'I am more worthy than you, because I was circumcised at the age of thirteen. And if I had wished to refuse, I would not have handed myself over to be circumcised. But you were circumcised at the age of eight days. If you had been aware, perhaps you would not have handed yourself over to be circumcised.' Isaac answered and said, 'Behold, today I am thirty-seven years old, and if the Holy One, blessed be He, were to ask all my members I would not refuse.' These words were immediately heard before the Lord of the world, and at once the Memra of the Lord tested Abraham and said to him, 'Abraham!' And he said to him, 'Here I am.' 2 He said, 'Take your son, your only one, Isaac whom you love, and go to the land of worship, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.' 3 Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his ass and took with him his two servant boys Eleazer and Ishmael and his son Isaac. He cut wood of the olive tree, the fig tree, and the palm tree, which are suitable for the burnt offering, and he rose and went to the place of which the Lord had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the Cloud of Glory enveloping the mountain, and he recognized it from afar. 5 And Abraham said to his servants, 'Wait here with the ass, while the lad and I betake ourselves over there to find out if that which was announced to me—so shall your children be—will be fulfilled. We will bow down to the Lord of the world, and we will return to you.' 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on Isaac his son, and he took the fire and the knife in his own hand; and the two of them went together. 7 Isaac spoke to his father Abraham, and said, 'Father!' And he said, 'Here I am my son.' He said, 'Behold the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' 8 Abraham said, 'The Lord will choose for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' And the two of them went together with a perfect heart. 9 They came to the place of which the Lord had told him, and there Abraham rebuilt the altar which Adam had built and which had been demolished by the waters of the Flood. Noah rebuilt it, but it was demolished in the generation of the Division. He arranged the wood upon it, and tied Isaac his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Abraham put forth his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. Isaac spoke up and said to his father: 'Tie me well lest I struggle because of the anguish of my soul, with the result that a blemish will be found in your offering, and I will be thrust into the pit of destruction.' The eyes of Abraham were looking at the eyes of Isaac, and the eyes of Isaac were looking at the angels on high. Isaac saw them but Abraham did not see them. The angels on high exclaimed: 'Come, see two unique ones who are in the world; one is slaughtering, and one is being slaughtered; the one who slaughters does not hesitate, and the one who is being slaughtered stretches forth his neck.' 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said to him: 'Abraham, Abraham!' And he said 'Here I am.' 12 And he said, 'Do not put forth your hand against the boy, and do not do him any harm, for it is now manifest before me that you fear the Lord, since you have not withheld your son, your only one, from me.' 13 Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw one ram—the one that had been created at twilight when the world was completed—caught by its horns in the dense branches of a tree. Abraham went and took it and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham gave thanks and prayed there in that place, and said: 'I beseech, by the mercy from before you, O Lord! It is manifest before you that there was no deviousness in my heart, and that I sought to perform your decree with joy. Therefore, when the children of Isaac my son enter into a time of distress, remember them, and answer them, and redeem them. All these generations to come will say, “On this mountain Abraham tied his son Isaac, and there the Shekinah of the Lord was revealed to him.”' 15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, 'By my Memra I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not refused your son, your only one, 17 I will bless you abundantly and multiply your children as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore, and your children shall inherit the cities of those who hate them.' 18 All the peoples of the earth shall be blessed because of the merits of your children, because you obeyed my word.' 19 The angels on high took Isaac and brought him to the schoolhouse of Shem the Great, and he was there three years. On that day Abraham returned to his servants, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham dwelt in Beer-sheba. 20 After these things, after Abraham had tied Isaac, Satan went and told Sarah that Abraham had slaughtered Isaac. And Sarah arose and cried out and was choked and died of anguish. Abraham came and passed the night on the way; and Abraham was told: 'Behold, Milcah also has given birth; by the merit of her sister she was able to bear children to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz, his first-born, Buz his brother, Kemuel, master of the Aramean magicians, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.' 23 Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore children: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
23Sarah’s lifetime was a hundred and twenty-seven years—the years of Sarah’s life— 2 and Sarah died at Kiriath-arba, that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came from the mountain of worship and found that she had died; and he sat down to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3 Then Abraham, having paid his respects to his dead, spoke with the sons of the Hittite, saying, 4 'I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; sell me, I pray, a burial site among you, that I may bury my dead there.' 5 And the sons of the Hittite replied to Abraham, saying to him, 6 'Listen to us, our master. You are a prince before the Lord among us; bury your dead in the best of our graves; none of us would withhold his grave from you, so as to prevent you from burying your dead.' 7 Abraham arose and bowed to the people of the land, to the sons of the Hittite, 8 and he spoke with them, saying, 'If it pleases you that I should bury my dead out of my sight, listen to me, and intercede for me before Ephron, son of Zohar, 9 that he may sell me the double cave which belongs to him, which is built at the edge of his field. Let him give it to me for the full price, as a burial site among you.' 10 Ephron was sitting among the sons of the Hittite; and Ephron the Hittite replied to Abraham in the presence of the sons of the Hittite, in the presence of all who entered the gate of his city, saying, 11 'I beseech you, my lord, listen to me; I have given you the field, and the cave that is in it I have given to you as a gift; I have given it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. Go! Bury your dead!' 12 Abraham bowed to him in the presence of the sons of the Hittite, 13 and spoke with Ephron in the presence of the people of the land, saying, 'If you really wish to do me a favor, listen to me: I will give the value of the field in silver. Take it from me, that I may bury my dead there.' 14 Ephron replied to Abraham, saying to him, 15 'My lord, listen to me: land, the value of which is four hundred selas of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead!' 16 Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed for Ephron the money of which he had spoken in the presence of the sons of the Hittite: four hundred selas of good silver current at every table of exchange and acceptable in every business transaction. 17 The sale of the field of Ephron which is in Kapheltah, facing Mamre—the field and the cave that is in it, and all the trees that are in the field, anywhere within its limits—was ratified 18 for Abraham as his purchase in the presence of the sons of the Hittite, of all who entered the gate of his city. 19 After this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Kapheltah which is facing Mamre, that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. 20 Thus the field and the cave that was in it were made over to Abraham as a burial site by the sons of the Hittite.
24And Abraham was old, advanced in days, and the Memra of the Lord had blessed Abraham with all kinds of blessings.1
2 And Abraham said to Eliezer his servant, the oldest of his house, who was in charge of all his treasures, “Place, I pray, your hand on the cut of my circumcision,
3 and I will make you swear by the name of the Memra of the Lord, the God whose dwelling is in the heavens on high—He is the God whose dominion is over the earth— that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell,
4 but you will go to my land, to my kindred and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 The servant said to him, “What if it is not the woman’s wish to follow me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the land from which you came?”
6 Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there.
7 The Lord the God whose dwelling is in the heavens on high, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to me saying, ‘To your children I will give this land’— he will appoint his angel who will go before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.
8 And if it is not the woman’s wish to follow you, you shall then be released from this oath to me. But do not take my son back there.”
9 So the servant put his hand on the cut of the circumcision of Abraham his master and swore to him about this matter.
10 And the servant took ten of his master’s camels and went, taking with him all the choicest treasures of his master; and he arose and went to Aram, which is on the Euphrates, to the city of Nahor.
11 He made the camels kneel by the well of water outside the city, at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water.
12 And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, prepare, I pray, a worthy woman before me today, and deal favorably with my master Abraham.
13 Here I am standing by the spring of water as the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water.
14 Let the maiden to whom I say, ‘Tilt, I pray, your jar, that I may drink,’ and who will say, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels’ — let her be the one you have ordained by destiny for your servant Isaac. Thus I shall know that you have dealt favorably with my master.”
15 Very soon afterwards, before he had finished speaking, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her jar upon her shoulder.
16 The maiden was very beautiful to see, a virgin, and no man had known her through lying with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up.
17 The servant ran to meet her and said, “Let me, I pray, taste a little water from your jar.”
18 And she said, “Drink, my lord.” She hastened and lowered her jar upon her hand and let him drink.
19 When she had finished giving him to drink, she said, “I will draw for your camels also, until they have drunk enough.”
20 So she hurried and emptied her jar into the troughs of the drinking place, and ran again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.
21 The man was waiting for her and was silent, wondering whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not.
22 When the camels had
25Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah; she is Hagar; who was bound to him from the beginning 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah 3 Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were merchants, traders and heads of peoples 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah 5 Abraham gave all that he had as a gift to Isaac 6 And to the sons of Abraham’s concubines Abraham gave movable goods as gifts, and while he was still living he drove them away from his son Isaac. And they went to the east to dwell, to the land of the Orient 7 This is the total of the days of the life of Abraham, who lived a hundred and seventy-five years 8 Abraham expired and died in a good old age, old and satisfied with every good; even Ishmael had repented in his days; and then he was gathered to his people 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Kapheltah, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, which is facing Mamre 10 The field that Abraham bought from the sons of the Hittite. There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife 11 Because Abraham had not wished to bless Ishmael he had not blessed Isaac either; for if he had blessed Isaac and had not blessed Ishmael the latter would have hated him. But after Abraham had died the Lord blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac dwelt near the well where the Glory of the Living and Enduring One, who sees but is not seen, was revealed to him 12 These are the generations of Ishmael the son of Abraham, whom Hagar the Egyptian, the maidservant of Sarah, bore to Abraham 13 And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: Nebath, the first-born of Ishmael, Arab, Adbeel, Mibsam 14 Tsayetha, Shetuka, Sobara 15 Haripha, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedmah 16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their villages and by their encampments: twelve chieftains according to their peoples 17 These are the years of the life of Ishmael: a hundred and thirty-seven years. He repented and expired, and was gathered to his people 18 They dwelt from India to Haluzah, which is opposite Egypt, as you go to Assyria. He dwelt opposite all his brothers in his inheritance 19 These are the generations of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Because Isaac's features were like the features of Abraham, the sons of men said, 'In truth Abraham begot Isaac' 20 Isaac was forty years old when he took as wife Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean who was from Paddan-Aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean 21 Isaac went to the mountain of worship, the place where his father had tied him. And by his prayer Isaac changed the intention of the Holy One, blessed be He, from what he had decreed concerning his wife, because she, like him, was barren for twenty-two years; and because of him the intention of the Holy One, blessed be He, was changed from what he had decreed concerning him, for he also was childless. He was able to beget children, and Rebekah his wife became pregnant 22 The children pushed one another in her womb like men doing battle. And she said, 'If such is the distress of one who gives birth, why then do I have children?' And she went to the schoolhouse of Shem the Great to beseech mercy from before the Lord 23 And the Lord said to her, 'Two peoples are in your womb, and two kingdoms (issued) from your womb shall be separated; and one kingdom shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall be subjected to the younger if the children of the younger keep the commandments of the Law' 24 When the two hundred and seventy days of her pregnancy for giving birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb 25 The first came red, like a hairy cloak all over, and they called his name Esau, because he was born fully completed, with hair of the head, beard, teeth, and molars 26 Then his brother came forth, his hand holding on to Esau’s heel; so they called his name Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them 27 When the boys grew, Esau became a skilled hunter (able) to hunt birds and wild beasts, a man who would go out into the field to kill people. It was he who killed Nimrod and his son Henoch. But Jacob became a man (who was) perfect in his works, ministering in the schoolhouse of Eber, seeking instruction from before the Lord 28 Isaac loved Esau, because there were deceptive words in his mouth; but Rebekah loved Jacob 29 The day Abraham died, Jacob boiled dishes of lentils and went to comfort his father. Esau came from the country, and he was exhausted because he had committed five transgressions that day: he had practiced idolatry; he had shed innocent blood; he had gone in to a betrothed maiden; he had denied the life of the world to come, and had despised the birthright 30 And Esau said to Jacob, 'Let me taste, I pray, of that red dish, for I am exhausted.' Therefore they called him Edom 31 Jacob said, 'Sell me your birthright today as on the day you are to inherit' 32 And Esau said, 'Behold, I am about to die, and I shall not live again in another world; so of what use is the birthright to me or a portion in the world to come?' 33 But Jacob said, 'Swear to me as on that day.' So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob 34 Jacob then gave bread and a dish of lentils to Esau; he ate and drank, and he rose and went away. Thus Esau despised the birthright and the portion of the world to come
26There was a great famine in the land of Canaan, besides the former famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham, and Isaac went to Abimelech, the king of the Philistines at Gerar 2 And it had been Isaac’s intention to go down to Egypt. But the Lord revealed himself to him and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you’ 3 Reside in this land and my Memra will be at your assistance and I will bless you; for to you and to your children I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath which I swore to your father Abraham 4 And I will multiply your children as the stars of the heavens, and I will give all these lands to your children, and because of your children all the peoples of the earth shall be blessed 5 Because Abraham obeyed my Memra and faithfully observed my word, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws 6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar 7 The men of the place asked about his wife, and he said, ‘She is my sister,’ for he was afraid to say to her, ‘My wife.’ For he thought in his heart, ‘Perhaps the men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful in appearance’ 8 Now, when he had dwelt there for some time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out of the window and saw Isaac fondling Rebekah his wife 9 And Abimelech called Isaac and said, ‘Behold, she is your wife! How then did you say, “She is my sister”?’ Isaac said to him, ‘Because I said to myself, “Perhaps I may be killed because of her”’ 10 Abimelech said, ‘What is this you have done to us? The king, who is distinguished among the people, might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us’ 11 Abimelech then commanded all the people, saying, ‘Whoever approaches this man or his wife with evil intent shall surely be killed’ 12 Isaac sowed in that land for the sake of almsgiving, and he reaped in that year a hundred times as much as he had estimated. And the Lord blessed him 13 The man grew rich, and went on growing richer until he became very rich 14 He had flocks of sheep and herds of cattle and many servants, and the Philistines were jealous of him 15 Now the Philistines stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they filled them with earth 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, ‘Go away from us, for you have become much mightier than us in possessions’ 17 So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there 18 Isaac dug anew the wells of water which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and which the Philistines had stopped up when Abraham had died; and he gave them the names his father had given them 19 Isaac’s servants dug at the edge of the valley and found there a well of spring water 20 And the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds saying, ‘The water is ours.’ Now, it was the will of heaven that the well should dry up. So they returned it to Isaac and it began to flow again. And he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him about it 21 They dug another well, and they quarreled about it also. And it dried up and did not flow again. And he called its name Sitnah 22 And he withdrew from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel about it as they did about the first ones. So he called its name ‘Wide Spaces’ and said, ‘Now the Lord had made room for us, and he will make us increase in the land’ 23 From there he went up to Beer-sheba 24 And the Lord revealed himself to him that night and said, ‘I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for my Memra will be at your assistance, and I will bless you, and multiply your children for the sake of the merits of Abraham my servant’ 25 So he built an altar there and prayed in the name of the Lord. He pitched his tent there, and Isaac’s servants dug a well there 26 When Isaac went from Gerar, their wells dried up and their trees produced no fruit; and they realized that all this had happened to them because they had driven him away. So Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and he took his friends, as well as Phicol, the commander of his army, to go with him 27 Isaac said to them, ‘Why have you come to me so that I might pray for you, seeing that you have hated me and have driven me away from you?’ 28 And they said, ‘We have seen plainly that the Memra of the Lord was at your assistance, for through your merits all good was ours. But now that you have departed from our land, our wells have dried up and our trees have produced no fruit. So we said, “Let us bring him back to us,” and let the oath that existed between us be confirmed, and from now on let it be between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you’ 29 ‘That you do us no evil, just as we have not approached you with evil intent, and just as we have done nothing but good to you, and we have sent you away in peace; you are now the blessed one of the Lord’ 30 They rose early in the morning and swore to each other; and he divided the bridle of his ass and gave one part to them as a testimony. And Isaac prayed for them and they became productive 31 Isaac accompanied them, and they departed from him in peace 32 That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, and said to him, ‘We have found water’ 33 He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day 34 When Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite 35 And they bent down in idolatry, and they deliberately rebelled against Isaac and Rebekah with their evil deeds
27When Isaac had grown old, his eyes were too dim to see. For when his father tied him, he looked upon the Throne of Glory, and from that time on his eyes began to grow dim He called Esau, his older son, on the fourteenth of Nisan and said to him, “My son, behold, tonight the heavenly beings praise the Lord of the world, and the storehouses of the dews are opened.” 2 And he said to him, “Here I am.” And he said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death.” 3 So now, take your weapons, your quiver, and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. 4 Then prepare dishes such as I love, and bring them to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.” 5 And Rebekah heard through the Holy Spirit while Isaac spoke with Esau his son. And Esau went out to the field to hunt game to bring back. 6 And Rebekah said to her son Jacob, saying, “Behold, tonight the heavenly beings praise the Lord of the world, and the storehouses of the dews are opened; and I heard your father speaking with your brother Esau, saying,” 7 ‘Bring me game and prepare a dish for me to eat, so that I may bless you before the Lord before I die.’ 8 And now, my son, obey me and do what I command you: 9 Go now to the sheep shed, and bring me from there two fat kids, one for the Passover and one for the festival offerings, and I will make of them dishes for your father, such as he loves. 10 Then bring them to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” 11 Because Jacob feared sin, he was afraid that his father might curse him; and he said, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man.” 12 What if my father touches me and I appear in his eyes as one who laughs at him, and I bring upon myself curses and not blessings?” 13 But his mother said to him, “If he blesses you with blessings, let them come upon you and upon your children; but if he curses you with curses, let them come upon me and upon my soul; only obey me, and go and bring them to me.” 14 So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared dishes such as his father loved. 15 Rebekah then took the precious garments of her older son Esau, which had come down from the first man. That day Esau had not put them on, so that they remained with her in the house, and she put them on Jacob, her younger son. 16 And the skins of the kids she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17 She arranged in the hands of her son Jacob the dishes and the bread that she had prepared. 18 He went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn; I have done as you said to me. Sit up, I pray; be seated, and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” 20 And Isaac said to his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God prepared it for me.” 21 And Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer, I pray, that I may touch you my son, to find out whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob drew closer to Isaac his father, who touched him and said, “This voice is the voice of Jacob, but the touch of his hands is like the touch of the hands of Esau.” 23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like the hands of Esau his brother; and he blessed him. 24 Then he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.” 25 And he said, “Serve me that I may eat of my son’s game, so that my soul may bless you.” And he served him and he ate. Since he had no wine with him, an angel provided some for him, and brought of the wine that had been stored up in its grapes since the days of the beginning of the world. And he gave it into Jacob's hand, and Jacob handed it to his father, and he drank. 26 And his father Isaac said to him, “Come closer, I pray, and kiss me, my son.” 27 And he went closer and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his clothes and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is like the smell of the fragrant incense that will be offered on the mountain of the Sanctuary, which has been called ‘Field which the Lord blessed, and where it has pleased him to make his Shekinah dwell.’” 28 May the Memra of the Lord give you of the goodness of the dews that come down from heaven, and of the goodness of the springs that come up and make the vegetation of the earth grow from below, and abundance of grain and wine. 29 Let nations—all the sons of Esau—be subjected to you; and let kingdoms—all the sons of Keturah—bend down before you. You will be master and ruler over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons come forward to salute you. Those who curse you, my son, will be cursed, like Balaam son of Beor, and those who bless you will be blessed, like Moses the prophet, the scribe of Israel. 30 When Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out about two steps from the presence of Isaac his father, his brother Esau came in from his hunting. 31 Now, the Memra of the Lord withheld clean game from him; but he found a dog and killed him. And he also made dishes of him and brought them to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.” 32 Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, Esau, your firstborn.” 33 Isaac trembled with a very great trembling when he heard the voice of Esau and when the smell of his dish came into his nostrils like the smell of the fire of Gehenna. And he said, “Who was this that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate of all that he brought me before you came in, and I blessed him. And even so, he will be blessed.” 34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and he said to his father, “Father, bless me, me also!” 35 He said, “Your brother came in with wisdom and received your blessing from me.” 36 He said, “His name has rightly been called Jacob; he has deceived me twice. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has received my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not kept a blessing for me?” 37 Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have appointed him ruler over you, and I have placed all his brothers before him as servants, and I have sustained him with wheat and wine. So go and leave me; for what can I do for you, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, father? Father, bless me, me also!” And Esau raised his voice and wept. 39 Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, in the goodness of the fruits of the earth shall your dwelling be, and far from the dew of heaven above.” 40 You shall put your trust in your sword, entering into every place and causing alarm as you go. But you shall be subjected to your brother; but if you go astray and cause his children to abandon the observance of the commandments of the law, you shall break the yoke of his slavery from your neck.” 41 And Esau harbored hatred in his heart against his brother Jacob because of the order of blessings with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said to himself, “I will not do as Cain did, who killed Abel while his father was alive; but his father then begot Seth. Rather, I will restrain myself until the time when the days of mourning for the death of my father come, and then I will kill my brother Jacob, and I will be murderer and heir.” 42 The words of Esau, her older son who was planning to kill Jacob, were told to Rebekah by the Holy Spirit. So she sent and called her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau is lying in wait for you and plots against you to kill you.” 43 And now, my son, obey me: Arise, flee for your life, and go to Laban my brother, to Haran. 44 Dwell with him a few days until your brother’s wrath has quieted. 45 Until your brother’s anger towards you subsides and he forgets what you did to him; then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I also be bereft of both of you on one day when you are killed and he driven away as Eve was bereft of Abel whom Cain killed, and both were driven away from the presence of Adam and Eve all the days of the lives of Adam and Eve?” 46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am greatly distressed because of the annoyance caused by the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wicked wife from among the daughters of Heth like these from among the daughters of the people of the land, what good will life be to me?”
28Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him and said to him, “Do not take a wife from among the daughters of the Canaanites.” 2 Arise, go to Paddan of Aram to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and from there take a wife for yourself from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 And may El Shaddai bless you with great possessions, may he increase you and multiply you into twelve tribes, and may you be worthy of the assembly of the masters of the Sanhedrin, the sum of which is seventy, like the number of the peoples. 4 May he give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your children with you, and may he bring you back to inherit the land where you are sojourning, which the Lord gave to Abraham.” 5 Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan of Aram to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau. 6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan of Aram to take a wife for himself from there, blessing him and commanding him, saying, “Do not take a wife from among the daughters of the Canaanites,” 7 And that Jacob had obeyed the word of his father and the word of his mother and had gone to Paddan of Aram. 8 Esau saw that the daughters of the Canaanites were displeasing to Isaac his father. 9 So Esau went to Ishmael, and took as wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son—she is Basemath—the sister of Nebaioth by his mother. 10 Five miracles were performed for Jacob at the time that he went forth from Beer-sheba. The first miracle: the hours of the day were shortened and the sun set before its time, because the Debbira desired to speak with him. The second miracle: the four stones which he had placed as a pillow, he found in the morning joined into one stone. The third miracle: the stone which they rolled from the mouth of the well, when all the flocks were gathered, he rolled it with one of his arms. The fourth miracle: that the well flowed, and the waters came up before him and continued to flow all the days that he was in Haran. The fifth miracle: the earth shrank before him, and on the very day that he went forth he arrived at Haran. 11 And he prayed in the place of the Sanctuary and passed the night there because the sun had set. And he took four of the stones of the holy place and placed them as his pillow and lay down in that place. 12 He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was fixed in the earth with its top reaching towards the heavens. And behold, the two angels who had gone to Sodom and who had been banished from their apartment because they had revealed the secrets of the Lord of the world, went about when they were banished until the time that Jacob went forth from his father’s house. Then, as an act of kindness, they accompanied him to Bethel, and on that day they ascended to the heavens on high, and said, “Come and see Jacob the pious, whose image is fixed in the Throne of Glory; and whom you have desired to see.” Then the rest of the holy angels of the Lord came down to look at him. 13 And, behold, the Glory of the Lord stood beside him and said to him, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The land on which you are lying I will give to you and to your children.” 14 Your children shall be as numerous as the dust of the earth, and you shall have power to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed because of your merits and because of the merits of your children. 15 And behold, my Memra is at your assistance, and I will protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land; for I will not forsake you until I have done what I have promised to you.” 16 And Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “In truth the Glory of the Shekinah of the Lord dwells in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome and glorious is this place! This is not a profane place, but a sanctuary to the name of the Lord; and this is a place suitable for prayer, corresponding to the gate of heaven, founded beneath the Throne of Glory.” 18 Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone, the one which he had placed as his pillow, and placed it as a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but Luz was the name of the city before that. 20 And Jacob swore saying, “If the Memra of the Lord comes to my assistance and keeps me from shedding innocent blood, from idol worship, and from sexual immorality on this journey on which I am going, and if he gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21 And if I return in peace to my father’s house, the Lord shall be my God, 22 And this stone which I have placed as a pillar shall be arranged as a sanctuary of the Lord, and the generations shall worship upon it to the Name of the Lord; and of all that you give me I will set aside a tithe before you.”
29Jacob set out on his journey at a sprightly pace and went to the land of the children of the East. 2 And he looked, and behold, there was a well in the field, and there were three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because they used to water the flocks from that well. And a large stone was laid on the mouth of the well. 3 When all the flocks were gathered there, they used to roll the stone from the mouth to the well and water the sheep; then they used to put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well. 4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” 5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” 6 And he said, “Is he well?” And they said: “He is well. And behold, Rachel his daughter is coming with the flock.” 7 And he said, “Behold, it is still high daytime; it is not time to gather the animals; water the flock and go, pasture them.” 8 And they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered; then they will roll the stone from the mouth of the well, and we will water the flock.” 9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s flock, because she was a shepherdess at that time. For there had been a plague of the Lord on Laban's flock, and only a few of them remained. So he dismissed his shepherds and placed what remained in the care of his daughter Rachel. 10 And when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the flock of Laban, his mother’s brother, Jacob drew near and, with one of his arms, rolled the stone from the mouth of the well; and the well began to flow, and the waters came up before him, and he watered the flock of Laban, his mother’s brother; and it continued to flow for twenty years. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and raised his voice and wept. 12 Jacob told Rachel that he had come to dwell with her father and to take one of his daughters. Rachel answered and said, “It is not possible for you to dwell with him, for he is a deceitful man.” Jacob said to her, “I am more deceitful and more clever than he, and he has no power to harm me, because the Memra of the Lord is at my assistance.” And when she knew that he was Rebekah’s son, she ran and told her father. 13 And when Laban heard the report of the strength and piety of Jacob, his sister’s son, how he had taken the birthright and the order of blessings from his brother, and how the Lord had revealed himself to him at Bethel, how he had rolled the stone, and how the well flowed and came up before him, he ran to meet him, embraced him and kissed him, and brought him into his house. And he told Laban all these things. 14 Laban said to him, “You are indeed my relative and my blood,” and he dwelt with him a whole month. 15 Laban said to Jacob, “Just because you are considered my kinsman, should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what your wages should be.” 16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17 Leah’s eyes were running, because she used to weep and pray before the Lord that he would not destine her for Esau the wicked. Rachel was lovely in figure and beautiful in appearance. 18 Jacob loved Rachel; and he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said with deceit, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man; dwell with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and in his eyes they seemed like a few days, because he loved her. 21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for the days of my service are completed, and I will go in unto her.” 22 Laban gathered all the men of the place and made them a feast. He spoke up and said to them, “Behold, it is seven years since Jacob came among us; our wells have not failed, and our watering places have multiplied. So now, come, let us plan a plan of deceit so that he may remain among us.” And they gave him a counsel of deceit, to have him take Leah instead of Rachel. 23 So in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her in to him; and he went in unto her. 24 And Laban gave him Zilpah his daughter, whom his concubine had borne to him, and he gave her to his daughter Leah as a maidservant. 25 At morning time he looked at her, and behold it was Leah! During the whole night he had thought that she was Rachel, because Rachel had entrusted to her all the things that Jacob had entrusted to her. When he saw this, he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve you for Rachel? And why did you trick me?” 26 And Laban said, “Such is not done in our place—to marry off the younger before the elder. 27 Complete then the seven days of this one’s marriage-feast, and we will give you that one also for the service you will render me for yet another seven years.” 28 Jacob did so, and completed the seven days of Leah's marriage-feast; and Laban gave him Rachel his daughter as wife. 29 Laban gave Bilhah, his daughter whom his concubine had borne to him, to his daughter Rachel, and he gave her to her as a maidservant. 30 And he went in unto Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served him for her yet another seven years. 31 It was manifest before the Lord that Leah was not loved by Jacob, and he decided through his Memra to give her children; but Rachel was barren. 32 And Leah conceived and bore a son and called his name Reuben; for she said, “Because my humiliation was manifest before the Lord, surely now my husband will love me. And as my humiliation was manifest before the Lord, so shall the humiliation of my children be manifest before him when they shall be enslaved in the land of the Egyptians.” 33 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because it was heard before the Lord that I was hated, he gave me this one also. And similarly, the voice of my children will be heard before him when they will be enslaved in Egypt.” And she called his name Simeon. 34 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time my husband will be united to me because I have borne him three sons. And similarly, his children will be united to serve before the Lord.” Therefore his name was called Levi. 35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will give thanks before the Lord: because from this my son there will come forth kings, and from him will come forth David the king who will give thanks before the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. And she ceased bearing.
30Rachel saw that she bore no children to Jacob, and Rachel became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Pray before the Lord that he may give me children; and if not, I shall be reckoned as dead” 2 And Jacob became very angry at Rachel, and he said, “For how long will you beseech me? Beseech from before the Lord, for it is from before him that children come, and it is he who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb” 3 She said, “Behold my maidservant Bilhah; go in unto her; she will bear a child whom I will rear and I too will have children through her” 4 So she set her maidservant Bilhah free for him and handed her over to him as wife, and Jacob went in unto her 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore a son to Jacob 6 Rachel said, “The Lord has done me justice in his good mercies, and he has also heard the voice of my prayer and has given me a son. Similarly; he is destined to judge through Samson, son of Manoah, who shall be one of his descendants, and to deliver into his hand the people of the Philistines.” Therefore she called his name Dan 7 Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, conceived again and bore a second son to Jacob 8 And Rachel said, “I strove insistently before the Lord in prayer; but he accepted my plea that I might have a son like my sister. He has even given me two. Similarly; his children will be redeemed from the hand of their enemies when they strive in prayer before the Lord.” And she called his name Naphtali 9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she set her maidservant Zilpah free and gave her to Jacob as wife 10 Leah’s maidservant Zilpah bore Jacob a son 11 Leah said, “Good fortune has come; surely his sons will take possession of their inheritance in the east, beyond the Jordan.” And she called his name Gad 12 Leah’s maidservant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son 13 And Leah said, “This has brought me praise, for the daughters of Israel will praise me. Similarly, his sons will praise before the Lord for the goodness of the fruit of their land” And she called his name Asher 14 In the days of Sivan, at the time of the wheat harvest, Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. And Rachel said to Leah, “Give me, I pray, some of your son’s mandrakes” 15 And she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken my husband; and you wish to take my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then let him lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes” 16 When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah heard the sound of the braying of the donkey, and she knew that Jacob had come. Leah went out to meet him and said, “You are to come in unto me, for I have hired you from my sister Rachel with my son’s mandrakes.” And he lay with her that night 17 The Lord accepted Leah’s prayer, and she conceived and bore a fifth son to Jacob 18 And Leah said, “The Lord gave me my reward, because I gave my maidservant to my husband. Similarly, his sons are destined to receive a good reward, because they will be occupied in the study of the Law” And she called his name Issachar 19 And Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob 20 And Leah said, “The Lord has presented me with good presents in my children. This time my husband will cohabit with me, because I have borne him six sons. Similarly; his children are destined to receive a good portion” And she called his name Zebulun 21 And afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah; for she said, “It was decreed from before the Lord that half the tribes would be from me. But from my sister Rachel two tribes shall go forth, just as two tribes went forth from each of the maidservants. And Leah's prayer was heard before the Lord, and the embryos were exchanged in their wombs; Joseph was placed in Rachel's womb, and Dinah in the womb of Leah” 22 Now the remembrance of Rachel came before the Lord, and the voice of her prayer was heard before him, and he decided through his Memra to give her children 23 She conceived and bore a son, and said, “The Lord has taken away my disgrace. Similarly, Joshua the son of Joseph is destined to take away the disgrace of Egypt from the children of Israel, and to circumcise them beyond the Jordan” 24 And she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the Lord add another son to this one for me” 25 When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said in the Holy Spirit: “Those of the house of Joseph are destined to be like a flame to destroy those of the house of Esau.” He said, “From now on I will not be afraid of Esau and his legions.” And he said to Laban, “Send me away that I may go to my place and to my country” 26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and I will go; for you know the service I have rendered you 27 But Laban said to him, “If, I pray, I have found mercy in your eyes, behold I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you” 28 And he said, “Designate your wages to me, and I will give them to you” 29 He said to him, “You know how I have served you, and how your livestock has been kept with me” 30 For the little flock you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I went, because I have brought you profit since I came into your house. And now, when shall I too do my work, since I am obliged to provide for the members of my household?” 31 And he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “Give me nothing else! If you do this thing for me, I will again pasture your flock and keep it” 32 I will go through your whole flock today, and I will remove from there every speckled and spotted lamb, and every reddish lamb among the lambs, and the spotted and the speckled among the goats, and they shall be my wages 33 Let my merit testify for me in future when you come concerning my wages: whatever is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and reddish among the lambs, will be considered stolen by me 34 And Laban said, “Good! Would that it may be according to your word!” 35 That day he separated the he-goats that had a mark on their legs, or were spotted, and all the speckled and spotted she-goats, every one that had a white spot on it, and every one that was reddish among the lambs, and he gave them into his sons’ hands 36 Then he put a three days’ journey between his flock and Jacob; and Jacob was pasturing Laban’s flock, the old and the sick that were left 37 Jacob took rods of white poplar, of almond, and of laurel, and peeled white stripes in them to expose the white of the rods 38 He stuck the rods which he had peeled in the troughs, in the watering places, at the place where the flocks used to come to drink. He placed them in front of the flocks; and they used to mate when they came to drink 39 And the flocks mated in front of the rods; and the flocks brought forth young that were streaked, that had a mark on their legs, that were spotted, and had white backs 40 And Jacob set the lambs apart, and put at the head of the flock, as leaders of the flock, all that were streaked, and all that were reddish in Laban’s flock. Thus he produced flocks for himself alone, and he did not mix them with Laban’s flock 41 And whenever the early-breeding flock mated, Jacob would place the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, so that they would mate facing the rods 42 But for the late-breeding flock he did not place them; and the late-breeding ones became Laban’s, and the early-breeding ones Jacob’s 43 And the man grew exceedingly powerful, and had numerous flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and asses
31He heard the words of Laban’s sons, who were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s; and from what was our father’s he has made for himself all this mass of possessions” 2 And Jacob saw the expression of Laban’s face, and behold, it was not friendly towards him as it had been yesterday and before that 3 The Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your native country, and my Memra will be at your assistance” 4 And Jacob sent Naphtali, who was a swift messenger, to call Rachel and Leah, and they came to the field to his flock 5 And he said to them, “I see the expression of your father’s face, and behold, it is not friendly towards me as it had been yesterday and before that. But the Memra of the God of my father has been at my assistance” 6 You know that I served your father with all my strength 7 But your father deceived me and changed my wages ten parts, but the Lord did not give him power to harm me 8 If he said thus: ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted young. And if he said thus: ‘Those that have a spot on their legs shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore young that had a spot on their legs 9 Thus the Lord has taken away your father’s livestock and given it to me 10 And when the flocks mated, I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream that the he-goats mounting the flock had a spot on their legs, were spotted, and had white backs 11 And the angel of the Lord said to me in a dream, ‘Jacob!’ And I said, ‘Here I am’ 12 And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes, I pray, and see: All the he-goats mounting the flock have a spot on their legs, are spotted, and have white backs, because all the acts of robbery that Laban has committed against you are manifest before me. 13 I am the God who was revealed to you at Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you swore an oath before me. Now arise, go forth from this land and return to the land of your birth’” 14 And Rachel answered with the consent of Leah, and they said to him, “Is it possible that we still have a portion and an inheritance in our father’s house? 15 Have we not been considered strangers by him, for he has sold us and has even consumed our money? 16 All the wealth which the Lord has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children: and now do all that the Lord has told you” 17 Then Jacob arose and put his children and his wives upon the camels 18 He drove off all the cattle and all the riches he had acquired—the livestock and the riches he had acquired in Paddan of Aram to go to his father Isaac, to the land of Canaan 19 When Laban had gone to shear his flock, Rachel stole the images. For they would slay a man a first-born, cut off his head and sprinkle it with salt and spices. They would write magical formulas on a plate of gold and put it under its tongue. Then they would set it up on the wall, and it would speak to them. And it was to these idols that her father bent down 20 Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was going away 21 And he went with all he had. He arose and crossed the Euphrates, and set his face to go up to the mountain of Gilead; for he saw in the Holy Spirit that his children would experience liberation there in the days of Jephthah, who was from Gilead 22 When Jacob had gone, the shepherds stood by the well but found no water: And they waited three days to see if perhaps it might flow. But it did not flow. Therefore Laban was told on the third day, and he knew that Jacob had fled, because it was through his merits that it had flowed for twenty years 23 He took his relatives with him and pursued him a distance of seven days. And he overtook him while he camped on the mountain of Gilead, giving thanks and praying before his God 24 An angel came by a decree from before the Lord and drew the sword against Laban the deceitful in a dream of the night. And he said to him, “Take care lest you speak to Jacob either good or bad” 25 Laban overtook Jacob. Jacob had pitched his tent on the mountain, and Laban made his kinsmen encamp at that same mountain of Gilead 26 And Laban said to Jacob. “What have you done? You have deceived me and led away my daughters like captives of the sword 27 Why did you go away secretly and deceive me, and not tell me? For if you had told me, I would surely have sent you away with rejoicing, with songs of praise, with timbrels and with lyres 28 You did not wait for me to kiss my daughter's children and my daughters. Now, you have acted foolishly in doing what you have done 29 I have the means to do you harm; but yesterday evening the God of your father spoke to me, saying, ‘Take heed that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad’ 30 And now, you have gone away because you greatly desired your father’s house. But why did you steal the images of my idols?” 31 Jacob replied and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid and said that you might take your daughters from me by force 32 Anyone with whom you find the images of your idols shall die before his time. In the presence of all your brothers, identify what I have that belongs to you, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them 33 And Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tents of the two concubines; but he did not find them. So he came out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent 34 Now Rachel had taken the images and placed them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. And Laban searched about the tent but did not find them 35 And she said to her father: “Let not my lord be angry that it is not possible for me to rise before you, because I have the period of women.” And he searched but did not find the images 36 Jacob became very angry and argued with Laban. And Jacob replied and said to Laban, “What is my sin, and what is my offense, that you were in such a hurry to come after me? 37 Although you have searched through all my things, what have you found of all your household things? Now present your case before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, and let them judge justly between the two of us 38 These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your she-goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the price of the rams of your flock 39 What was torn by the beasts of the field I did not bring to you; for if I had sinned in this, you would have demanded it of me. What was stolen in the daytime by men I had to make good; and what was stolen at night by the beasts of the field I had to make good 40 I was in the field by day and the heat consumed me, and the frost at night; and sleep fled from me 41 These twenty years I have been in your house; I have served you fourteen years because of your two daughters, and six years because of your flock, and you have changed my wages ten parts 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and he whom Isaac fears had not been at my assistance, you would now have sent me away empty-handed. My misery and the labor of my hands were manifest before the Lord; therefore he rebuked you yesterday evening” 43 And Laban replied and said to Jacob, “The daughters whom you took as wives are my daughters, and the children they have borne are regarded as my children, and the flock comes from my flocks, and all that you see comes from what is mine. But what can I do to these daughters of mine today, or to the children they have borne? 44 So come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between me and you” 45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar 46 And Jacob said to his sons whom he used to call his brothers, “Gather stones.” And they gathered stones and made a heap; and they ate there upon the heap 47 And Laban called it Ogar Sahid; and Jacob called it in the language of the Sanctuary Galeed 48 And Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore he called its name Galeed 49 And it was called Sakutha, because he said, “May the Lord watch between me and you, when we are hidden from each other 50 If you afflict my daughters and humiliate them, and if you take wives besides my daughters, although there is no one to judge us, see, the Memra of the Lord is a witness between me and you” 51 And Laban said to Jacob, “Behold this heap, and behold the pillar which I have erected between me and you 52 This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and that you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, to do evil 53 May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor judge between us—the God of their father.” And Jacob swore by the God whom his father Isaac feared 54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives who had come with Laban to share a meal; and they shared a meal and passed the night on the mountain
32Laban rose early in the morning and kissed Jacob’s children and his own daughters, and blessed them Then Laban departed and returned home 2 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of the Lord met him 3 When Jacob saw them he said, “These are not the camps of Esau that are coming to meet me, and neither are they the camps of Laban that are pursuing me again but they are the camps of the holy angels who have been sent from before the Lord” Therefore he called the name of that place, in the language of the Sanctuary, Mahanaim 4 Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land of Gabla to the territory of the Edomites 5 And he commanded them, saying, “Thus shall you say to my master Esau Thus says your servant Jacob I have sojourned with Laban, and I have tarried until now 6 And of all those things with which my father blessed me I have nothing I have but a few oxen and asses, sheep and menservants and maidservants, and I have sent to tell my master that that blessing has not profited me, and so that I might find mercy in your eyes, that you might not bear a grudge against me because of it” 7 The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau He himself is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred warriors with him” 8 And Jacob was greatly afraid, because for twenty years he had not been concerned with the honor of his father and he was distressed and he divided the people who were with him and the sheep and oxen and camels into two camps, as a present for Leah and as a present for Rachel 9 And he said, “If Esau comes to the camp of one of them and smites it, the camp that remains will escape” 10 And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham, You who are also the God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your native country, and I will do you good’ 11 I am not worthy and I am too little for all the benefits and all the fidelity which you have shown your servant For with my staff alone I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps 12 Deliver me now from the hand of my older brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him for he has been concerned with the honor of his father lest he come and smite us the mother with the children 13 But you have assured me, ‘I will surely do you good, and I will make your children as numerous as the sand of the sea that cannot be numbered for multitude’” 14 He passed that night there, and from what happened to be at hand he took a gift for his brother Esau 15 Two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams 16 The female camels with their young were thirty forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten Libyan asses 17 He arranged them in the hands of his servants, each herd separately, and he said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me, and leave a distance between one herd and the other” 18 Then he commanded the first, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you traveling to? And whose herds are these before you?’ 19 You shall say, ‘To your servant Jacob it is a gift that has been sent to my master Esau and behold he too is coming after us’” 20 He also commanded the second and the third and all who were following the herds, saying, “Thus shall you speak with Esau when you reach him 21 And you shall say, ‘Moreover, behold, your servant Jacob is coming behind us’ For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterwards I will see his face Oh that he would show me favor” 22 So the gift passed on ahead of him, but he himself passed that night in the camp 23 He arose that night and took his two wives, his two concubines, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok 24 He took them and sent them across the stream, and he sent what belonged to him across 25 Jacob was left alone beyond the Jabbok And an angel in the form of a man wrestled with him And he said, “Did you not promise to tithe all that would be yours? Now behold, you have twelve sons and one daughter, and you have not tithed them” Immediately he set aside the four first-born of the four mothers, and there remained eight And he began to count from Simeon, and Levi happened to be the tenth Michael spoke up and said, “Master of the world, this one is your lot” It was on account of these things that he tarried beyond the stream until the column of the dawn rose[24] 26 When he saw that he had no power to harm him, he touched the socket of his hip, and he dislocated the socket of Jacob’s hip when he wrestled with him 27 And he said, “Let me go, for the column of the dawn has risen, and the hour has come when the angels on high praise the Lord of the world, and I am one of the angels who praise but from the day that the world was created my time to praise did not come until this time” 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 He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel, because you have gained superiority over the angels of the Lord and over men, and you have prevailed against them” 30 Jacob asked and said, “Tell me your name, I pray” And he said, “Why do you ask my name?” And Jacob blessed him there 31 Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, because he said, “I have seen the angels of the Lord face to face, and my life has been saved” 32 The sun, which had set before its time for his sake when he was going out from Beer-sheba, rose for him before its time as he passed Penuel And he began to walk, and he was limping on his hip 33 Therefore, to this day the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip that is on the socket of the hip of cattle and of wild animals, because the angel touched and held the socket of Jacob’s right hip, in the place of the sinew of the hip
33Jacob lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred warriors with him. So he divided the children between Leah, Rachel, and the two concubines. 2 He placed the concubines in front, they and their children. For he said, “If Esau comes to slaughter the young men and to abuse the women, he will do it with these, and meanwhile I will arise and make war against him.” Then he placed Leah and her young men next, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3 He himself went on ahead of them, praying and beseeching mercy from before the Lord; and he bent down to the ground seven times until he was near his brother. 4 Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and inclined upon his neck and bit him; and they wept. Esau wept because of the pain of his teeth that were loosened; and Jacob wept because of the pain of his neck. 5 He lifted up his eyes and saw the women and the boys and said, “Who are these with you?” And he said, “They are my children who were given to me your servant as a favor from before the Lord.” 6 The concubines, they and their children, approached and bent down. 7 Leah and her children also approached and bent down. And afterwards Joseph approached and placed himself before Rachel and hid her with his stature; and they bent down. 8 And he said, “What do you mean by all this camp that I have met?” And he said, “It is a gift I sent so that I might find mercy in the eyes of my master.” 9 And Esau said, “I have great possessions, my brother; let what is yours remain yours.” 10 And Jacob said, “Do not speak thus, I pray; if now I have found mercy in your eyes, you must accept my gift from my hand; because it is for this I have seen your countenance, and it seems to me like seeing the face of your angel; and behold, you have received me favorably.” 11 Accept, I pray, the gift which was brought to you, for it has been given to me as a favor from before the Lord, and because I have great possessions.” And he pressed him, and he accepted. 12 And he said, “Let us set out and go, and I will go alongside you until you reach your dwelling place.” 13 And he said to him, “My master knows that the children are frail, and the flocks and herds that are giving suck are a care to me, and if I press them for a single day all the flock will die. 14 I pray, let my master pass on and go ahead of his servant, and I on my part will lead on quietly according to the pace of the cattle that are before me, and according to the usual pace of the children, until I come to my master at Gabla.” 15 Esau said, “Let me, I pray, leave with you some of the soldiers who are with me.” But he said, “Why that? Let me only find mercy before my master.” 16 Now, a miracle was performed for Jacob, and Esau returned that day on his way to Gabla. 17 Jacob journeyed to Succoth and tarried there for a period of twelve months. He built himself a schoolhouse and for his livestock he made booths; therefore he called the name of the place Succoth. 18 Jacob arrived safely with all that he had in the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan of Aram, and he camped opposite the city. 19 The possession of the field where he pitched his tent he purchased from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pearls. 20 And he erected an altar there, and there he gave tithes which he had set aside from all that he had, before El, the God of Israel.
34Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the customs of the daughters of the people of the land. 2 Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, the chief of the land, saw her and took her by force and lay with her and afflicted her. 3 And he took delight in Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the maiden and spoke soothing words to the maiden’s heart. 4 Shechem said to his father Hamor, saying, “Take this girl for me as wife.” 5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah; his sons were with his livestock in the field, and Jacob was silent until they came. 6 Hamor, Shechem’s father, went out to Jacob to speak to him. 7 Jacob’s sons came in from the field when they heard of it; and the men were distressed and very angry because Shechem had done a disgraceful deed in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter, since it was not proper that such a thing be done. 8 And Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of Shechem my son takes delight in your daughter; give her to him, I pray, as wife. 9 Intermingle with us through marriage; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 And you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you; dwell where you will be at ease, and do business there, and take possession of it.” 11 Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find mercy in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. 12 Demand of me a great bride price and a present, and I will give according as you say to me; but give me the maiden as wife.” 13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor with wisdom, and they spoke thus, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14 And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for that is a shame for us. 15 Only on this condition will we agree with you: if you become like us by circumcising every male among you. 16 Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughter for ourselves; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, we will take our daughter by force and go.” 18 Their words were pleasing to Hamor and to Shechem, Hamor’s son. 19 The young man did not delay in doing the thing, for he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honored in all his father’s house. 20 Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke with the men of the gate of their city, saying, 21 “These men are peaceful toward us; let them dwell in the land and do business in it, for, behold, the land is broad in its boundaries before them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters. 22 But only on this condition will the men agree with us to dwell among us so that we may become one people: that we circumcise every male among us, just as they are circumcised. 23 Will not their livestock and their possessions and all their cattle be ours? Only let us agree with them, so that they may dwell with us.” 24 All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and to his son Shechem; and they circumcised every male, all who went out of the gate of his city. 25 And on the third day, when they were weakened by the pain of their circumcision, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took each man his sword, entered the city which was dwelling in security, and killed every male. 26 And they killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. 27 The rest of the sons of Jacob went in to strip the slain, and they plundered the city because they had defiled their sister within it. 28 They plundered their sheep, their oxen, and their asses, whatever was in the city and whatever was in the field. 29 All their possessions, all their little ones, their wives, and all that was in the house they took captive and plundered. 30 And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me, spreading a bad reputation about me among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and among the Perizzites. I have few men, and if they unite against me and smite me, I will be wiped out, I and the members of my house.” 31 Simeon and Levi answered, “It is not fitting that it should be said in the congregation of the children of Israel: ‘The uncircumcised defiled the virgin, and the worshipers of idols polluted the daughter of Jacob.’ But this is what it is fitting to say: ‘The uncircumcised were killed on account of the virgin, and the worshipers of idols on account of the daughters of Jacob.’ And Shechem, Hamor’s son, will not boast against us with his words; he would have treated our sister like a prostitute, a harlot who has no avenger, if we had not done this thing.”
35The Lord said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to the God who revealed himself to you when you were fleeing from before your brother Esau.” 2 Jacob said to the members of his house and to all who were with him, “Take away the idols of the nations that are among you, which you took from the house of idols of Shechem, and purify yourselves from the defilement of the slain whom you have touched, and change your clothes. 3 And let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to the God who accepted my prayer in the day of my distress, and whose Memra was at my assistance on the journey on which I went.” 4 They delivered into the hand of Jacob all the idols of the nations that were in their hands, that they had taken from the house of idols of Shechem, and the rings that were on the ears of the inhabitants of the city of Shechem, on which the likeness of his idol was designed; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth that was near the city of Shechem. 5 As they set out from there giving thanks and praying before the Lord, there was a terror from before the Lord upon the peoples who were in the cities round about them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob. 6 And Jacob came to Luz—that is Bethel—which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. 7 He built an altar there and called the place “El who caused his Shekinah to dwell in Bethel,” because there the angels of the Lord had been revealed to him when he was fleeing from before Esau his brother. 8 And Deborah, Rebekah’s governess, died, and was buried below Bethel, at the bottom of the plain. Besides, it was there that Jacob was told about the death of Rebekah his mother; and he called its name “Another Weeping.” 9 The Lord was revealed again to Jacob when he came from Paddan of Aram, and he blessed him in the name of his Memra after his mother had died. 10 And the Lord said to him, “Until now your name was Jacob; your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So he called his name Israel. 11 Then the Lord said to him, “I am El Shaddai; increase and multiply; a holy people and an assembly of prophets and priests shall come from the sons you have begotten, and two kings shall also issue from you. 12 The land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac I will give to you; and to your children after you I will give the land.” 13 And the Glory of the Shekinah of the Lord ascended from upon him at the place where it had spoken to him. 14 And he erected a pillar there, at the place where it had spoken to him, a pillar of stone; and he offered a libation of wine and a libation of water on it—for thus would his children do on the Feast of Tabernacles—and he poured olive oil upon it. 15 Jacob called the name of the place where the Lord had spoken to him, Bethel. 16 They set out from Bethel, and it was still the height of the harvest season of the land when he came to Ephrath. And Rachel was in childbirth, and she had difficulty in giving birth. 17 And as she was giving birth with difficulty, the midwife said to her, “Fear not; for this is also a male child for you.” 18 As her soul departed—for death came upon her—she called his name “Son of my Agony”; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 And Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem. 20 Jacob erected a pillar over her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. 21 Jacob journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of the Flock, the place from which the King Messiah will reveal himself at the end of days. 22 While Israel dwelt in that land, Reuben went and disarranged the couch of Bilhah, his father's concubine, which had been arranged opposite the couch of Leah his mother; and it was reckoned to him as if he had lain with her. When Israel heard this he was distressed, and he said, “Woe! Perhaps an unworthy person has gone forth from me, as Ishmael went forth from Abraham and Esau went forth from my father.” The Holy Spirit replied and said thus to him, “Fear not, for they are all righteous, and there is no unworthy person among them.” Now, after the birth of Benjamin the sons of Jacob were twelve. 23 The sons of Leah: Reuben, the first-born of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. 24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant: Dan and Naphtali. 26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan of Aram. 27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, at Kiriath-Arba, that is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28 The days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years. 29 And Isaac expired and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
36These are the genealogies of Esau, he who is called Edom. 2 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan; Adah, daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, 3 and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael, whom Nebaioth her brother gave him in marriage. 4 And Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz; and Basemath bore Reuel. 5 And Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. 6 And Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his livestock, all his cattle, and all the possessions he had acquired in the land of Canaan and journeyed to another land, because fear of his brother Jacob lay upon him. 7 For their possessions were too many for them to dwell together, and the land where they sojourned could not support them because of their livestock. 8 So Esau dwelt in the mountain of Gabla; Esau is the chief of the Edomites. 9 And these are the genealogies of Esau, chief of the Edomites, whose dwelling-place was in the mountain of Gabla. 10 These are the names of the sons of Esau: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esau; Reuel, the son of Basemath, the wife of Esau. 11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. 12 Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, son of Esau, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. Eliphaz is the friend of Job. These were the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. 13 These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. 14 These were the sons of Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon, wife of Esau: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. 15 These were the chieftains of the children of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the first-born of Esau: the chief Teman, the chief Omar, the chief Zepho, the chief Kenaz, 16 the chief Korah, the chief Gatam, the chief Amalek. These were the chieftains of Eliphaz, whose dwelling was in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Adah. 17 These were the sons of Reuel, son of Esau: the chief Nahath, the chief Zerah, the chief Shammah, the chief Mizzah. These are the chieftains of Reuel, whose dwelling was in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. 18 These were the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: the chief Jeush, the chief Jalam, the chief Korah. These were the chieftains of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife. 19 These were the sons of Esau, and these were their princes. He is the father of the Edomites. 20 These were the sons of Gebal, the nobles who had formerly been the inhabitants of that land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chieftains of the nobles of the children of Gebal, whose dwelling was since long ago in the land of the Edomites. 22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Heman; and Lotan’s sister was Timna. 23 These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. 24 These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; that was the Anah who crossed wild asses with she-asses, and in due time found the mules that had come forth from them, while he was pasturing the asses of Zibeon his father. 25 These were the children of Anah: Dishon, and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. 26 These were the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Yeshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 27 These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. 28 These were the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aram. 29 These were the chieftains of the nobles: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, 30 chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan; these were, according to their princes, the chieftains of the nobles whose dwelling had formerly been in the land of Gabla. 31 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel. 32 Balaam, son of Beor, reigned in Edom; and the name of his royal city was Dinhabah. 33 Bela died, and Jobab, son of Zerah, from Bozrah, reigned in his stead. 34 Jobab died, and Husham, from the land of the south, reigned in his stead. 35 Husham died, and Hadad, son of Bedad, who slew the Midianites when he waged war with them in the fields of Moab, reigned in his stead; and the name of his royal city was Abith. 36 Hadad died, and Samlah, from Masrekah, reigned in his stead. 37 Samlah died, and Shaul, who was from Rehoboth on the Euphrates, reigned in his stead. 38 Shaul died, and Baal-hanan, son of Achbor, reigned in his stead. 39 Baal-hanan, the son of Achbor, died, and Hadar reigned in his stead; and the name of his royal city was Pau; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, daughter of Matred. He is the man who toiled in trade and with the gold sieve, and who, when he had become wealthy and acquired possessions, became proud in his heart saying 'What is silver, and what is gold?' 40 And these are the names of the chieftains of Esau in their generations, according to their dwelling-places, by their names: the chief Timna, the chief Alvah, the chief Jetheth, 41 the chief Oholibamah, the chief Elah, the chief Pinon, 42 the chief Kenaz, the chief Temam, the chief Mibzar, 43 the chief Magdiel—he was called Magdiel because of the name of his city, 'Mighty Tower,' that is Rome the guilty—the chief Iram. These are the chieftains of Edom—that is Esau, the father of the Edomites, according to their settlements in the land which they possessed.
37And Jacob dwelt securely in the land where his father had sojourned, in the land of Canaan. 2 These are the descendants of Jacob. Joseph was seventeen years old when he went forth from the schoolhouse. He was a youth brought up with the sons of Bilhah and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought an evil report about them, for he had seen them eating flesh that had been torn from a living animal, the ears and the tails. And he came and told their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children because Joseph's features were like his own features; and he made him an embroidered cloak. 4 His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they harbored enmity against him, and they did not wish to speak peaceably with him. 5 And Joseph dreamed a dream and related it to his brothers, and they harbored still greater enmity against him. 6 He said to them, “Hear, I pray, this dream which I have dreamed. 7 Behold we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold my sheaf arose and stood upright; and behold your sheaves came around and bent down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Do you imagine that you are to reign over us? Or do you think that you are to have dominion over us?” And they harbored still greater enmity against him because of his dreams and because of his words. 9 And he dreamed yet another dream and related it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have again dreamed a dream. And behold the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bending down to me.” 10 When he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream you have dreamed? Are we to come, your mother, and your brothers and I, to bend down to you to the ground?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in his heart. 12 His brothers went to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem. 13 After some time Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing in Shechem? I am afraid lest the Hivites come and smite them for having smitten Hamor and Shechem and the inhabitants of the city. Come, then, and I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” 14 He said to him, “Go, then, see how your brothers are and how the flocks are, and bring me back word.” And he sent him for the sake of the deep design which had been communicated to Abraham in Hebron; and on that day the exile of Egypt began. So Joseph arose and came to Shechem. 15 Gabriel, in the likeness of a man, found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him saying, “What are you looking for?” 16 And he said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, I pray, where they are pasturing.” 17 The man said, “They have gone from here, for I heard from behind the veil that from this day the servitude to the Egyptians has begun. And it was said to them in prophecy that the Hivites sought to engage in battle with them. Therefore they said, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan. 18 They saw him afar off, and before he came close to them, they took counsel against him to kill him. 19 Simeon and Levi, who were brothers in counsel, said one to another, “Behold, this master of dreams is coming! 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him in one of the pits, and we will say, ‘A savage beast has devoured him,’ and we will see what will be the interpretation of his dreams.” 21 Reuben heard this, and he saved him from their hands, and said, “Let us not kill him, lest we become guilty of his blood.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Do not shed innocent blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but do not extend a murderous hand against him.” His intention was to save him from their hands so as to restore him to his father. 23 When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his cloak, the embroidered cloak he had on, 24 and they took him and threw him into the pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it, but there were serpents and scorpions in it. 25 They returned to eat bread, and lifting up their eyes, they saw a company of Arabs coming from Gilead, with their camels laden with wax, gum, balm, and resin, traveling on the way to bring them down to Egypt. 26 Judah said to his brothers, “What monetary profit shall we have if we kill our brother and cover his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Arabs, and let our hand not be upon him to kill him, for he is our brother, our flesh.” And his brothers agreed. 28 Now, Midianite men, merchants, passed by, and pulling Joseph they raised him up out of the pit. They sold Joseph to the Arabs for twenty silver meah, and they bought sandals from them. And they brought Joseph to Egypt.[25] 29 Reuben returned to the pit, for he had not been with them to eat when they sold him, since he was sitting and fasting because he had disarranged his father’s couch. And he had gone and sat in the mountains intending to return to the pit to raise him up and restore him to his father, hoping that he might win his favor. But when he returned and looked, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; he rent his clothes. 30 He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there! And I, where shall I go? And how can we see my father’s countenance?” 31 They took Joseph’s cloak, slaughtered a young male goat—because its blood is like that of a man—and they dipped the cloak in the blood. 32 And they had the embroidered cloak taken by the sons of Zilpah and the sons of Bilhah, who brought it to their father and said, “We have found this. Identify, we pray, whether it is your son’s tunic or not.” 33 He identified it and said, “It is my son’s cloak. It was not a wild beast that devoured him; and he was not killed by men. But I see by the Holy Spirit that an evil woman is standing before him.”[26] 34 Jacob rent his clothes, bound sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his sons’ wives arose and went to console him, but he refused to accept consolation, and said, “No, I will go down mourning to my son in the grave.” And his father Isaac also wept for him. 36 The Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh, the chief executioner.
38It happened at that time that Judah lost his possessions and parted from his brothers, and turned aside to an Adullamite man whose name was Hirah. 2 There Judah saw the daughter of a merchant whose name was Shua; and he proselytized her and went in unto her. 3 And she conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Er, because he was destined to die childless. 4 And she conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan, because his father was indeed destined to grieve because of him. 5 Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah, because her husband had forgotten her. He was in Paskath when she bore him. 6 Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, the daughter of Shem the Great, whose name was Tamar. 7 But Er, the first-born of Judah, was evil before the Lord, because he did not have intercourse with his wife according to the manner of all the earth. And the anger of the Lord blazed forth against him, and the Lord killed him. 8 And Judah said to Onan, “Go in unto your brother’s wife and take her in levirate marriage, and raise up offspring to your brother's name.” 9 But Onan knew that the children would not be called by his name; and when he went in unto his brother’s wife, he destroyed his deed upon the ground, so as not to raise up children to his brother's name. 10 And what he did was displeasing before the Lord, and he cut short his days also. 11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”; for he thought, “Perhaps he too may die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house. 12 Many days went by, and Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. When Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13 Tamar was told, saying, “Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his flock.” 14 So she took off the garments of her widowhood, covered herself with a veil, wrapped herself up, and sat at the crossroads on the way to Timnah, where all eyes look. For she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as wife. 15 Judah saw her, and in his eyes he compared her to a harlot, because she was of sullen appearance in the house of Judah, and Judah did not love her. 16 He turned aside to her by the road and said, “Come now, let me go in unto you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give me that you may come in unto me?” 17 He said, “I will send a kid from the flock.” And she said, “Will you give me a pledge until you send it?” 18 And he said, “What pledge shall I give you?” And she said, “Your signet-ring and your fringes, and the staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her and went in unto her, and she conceived by him. 19 Then she arose and went away, took off her veil, and put on the garments of her widowhood. 20 And Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the hand of the woman. But he did not find her. 21 And he asked the men of the place, saying, “Where is the prostitute who was at the place on the way where eyes look?” And they said, “There was no prostitute here.” 22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I did not find her; the men of the place said, ‘There was no prostitute here.’” 23 And Judah said, “Let her keep the pledges, lest we become a laughingstock; behold, I sent this kid but you did not find her.” 24 Now, after a period of three months it became known that she was pregnant; and Judah was told, as follows: “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the harlot; and moreover, behold, she is pregnant because of her harlotry.” And Judah said, “Is she not the daughter of a priest? Bring her out and let her be burned.”[27] 25 So Tamar was brought out to be burned, and she looked for the three pledges but did not find them. She lifted up her eyes to the heavens on high and said thus: “I beseech by the mercies before you, O Lord, answer me in this hour of my distress, and enlighten my eyes that I may find my three witnesses. And I will raise up for you from my loins three holy ones who will sanctify your name by going down to the furnace of fire in the valley of Dura.” That hour, the Holy One, blessed be he, beckoned to Michael, and he enlightened her eyes so that she found them. She took them and threw them at the feet of the judges and said, “The man to whom these pledges belong, by him I am pregnant. Yet even if I were burned I would not make him known. But the Lord of the world will put it in his heart to recognize them, and he will deliver me from this great judgment.” And when Judah saw them he recognized them. Then he said in his heart, “It is better for me to be ashamed in this world, which is a passing world, than to be ashamed in the presence of my fathers, the righteous ones, in the world to come; it is better for me to be burned in this life in extinguishable fire than to burn in the world to come in inextinguishable fire. For this is measure for measure, according to what I said to my father Jacob: ‘Identify; I pray, your son's cloak.’ Because of that I must hear in the courthouse: ‘Identify; I pray, whose are these, the signet-ring, the fringes, and the staff?’” 26 Then Judah acknowledged them and said, “Tamar is innocent; she is pregnant by me.” Then a heavenly voice came down from heaven and said, “The matter has come from before me.” So both of them were delivered from the judgment. And he said, “Because I did not give her to my son Shelah this has happened to me.” And he did not know her again in sexual intercourse. 27 When the time came for her to give birth, behold there were twins in her womb. 28 And when she was giving birth, an infant put forth its hand; and the midwife took a crimson thread and tied it on his hand saying, “This one came out first.” 29 But when the infant drew back its hand, behold, his brother came forth, and she said, “With what great power you have prevailed! And it is you who are to prevail, since you are destined to possess the kingship.” And she called his name Perez. 30 Afterwards his brother who had the crimson thread tied to his hand came out; and she called his name Zerah.
39Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh, the chief executioner, an Egyptian, bought him with a surety from the Arabs who had taken him down there. For he saw that he was handsome, and (he intended) to practice sodomy with him; and immediately a (divine) decree was issued against him, and his testicles dried up, and he became impotent 2 But the Memra of the Lord was at Joseph’s assistance, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his Egyptian master 3 His master saw that the Memra of the Lord was at his assistance, and the Lord caused everything he did to prosper in his hand 4 And Joseph found mercy in his eyes, and he waited upon him; and he appointed him administrator over his house, and he put all that he owned in his hand 5 And from the time that he appointed him administrator over his house and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house because of the merit of Joseph. And the blessing of the Lord was on all that he owned, in the house and in the field 6 He left all that he owned in Joseph’s hand, and with him there he concerned himself with nothing except his wife with whom he lay. And Joseph was handsome in figure and lovely in appearance 7 After these events his master’s wife set her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Lie with me” 8 But he refused to approach her, and he said to his master’s wife, “Behold, with me here, my master concerns himself with nothing in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my hand 9 He is no greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except yourself, since you are his wife. How, then, could I do this great evil and become guilty before the Lord?” 10 And when she spoke with Joseph each day, he did not listen to her to lie with her, lest he be declared guilty with her on the day of the great judgment in the world to come[28] 11 On a certain day he came into the house to study his reckoning tablets, and there was not one of the members of the household there in the house 12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled into the street 13 And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled into the street 14 she threw the white of an egg on the bed, called the members of the household, and said, “See the effusion of semen which this fellow has scattered—the Hebrew man whom your master brought to jest with us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice 15 And when he heard that I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment with me and fled into the street” 16 She put the garment down beside her until his master came home 17 Then she spoke to him in these words, saying, “The Hebrew slave whom you brought to us came to me to jest with me 18 But when I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment with me and fled into the street” 19 And when his master heard the words his wife spoke to him, namely, “This is what your servant did to me,” he became very angry 20 Joseph’s master took counsel from the priests who discovered that it was the white of an egg. So he did not put him to death, but he put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were imprisoned. And he remained there in the prison 21 But the Memra of the Lord was at the assistance of Joseph, and he extended kindness to him and caused him to win favor in the eyes of the governor of the prison 22 The governor of the prison placed all the prisoners who were in the prison in Joseph’s charge, and whatever was done there, it was he who ordered its doing 23 It was not necessary for the governor of the prison to guard Joseph as is the custom with all prisoners, because he saw no fault in him, because the Memra of the Lord was at his assistance, and whatever he did the Lord made successful
40After these events it was announced as follows: “The chief cup-bearer of the king of Egypt and the chief baker gave offense; they plotted to put a mortal poison into his food and drink to kill their master, the king of Egypt” 2 And Pharaoh was angry when he heard about his two officers, about the chief butler and the chief baker 3 And he put them in custody in the house of the chief executioner in the prison, the place where Joseph was imprisoned 4 The chief executioner assigned Joseph to them, and he ministered to them; and they remained in the house of custody for some time 5 And they both—the cup-bearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were imprisoned in the prison—dreamed a dream, each his own dream on the same night, each his own dream with the interpretation of his companion’s dream 6 Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them, and behold, they were sad 7 He asked the nobles of Pharaoh who were with him in custody in his master’s house, saying, “Why is it that the expression of your faces is more downcast today than all the days you have been here?” 8 They said to him, “We have dreamed a dream, but there is no one to interpret it.” And Joseph said to them, “Is not the interpretation of dreams from before the Lord? Tell me (your dreams), I pray” 9 Then the chief cup-bearer told his dream to Joseph and said to him, “I saw in my dream, and behold there was a vine before me 10 And on the vine there were three stalks. As soon as it had budded it brought forth blossoms, and immediately its clusters ripened and became grapes 11 I continued to look until they placed Pharaoh’s cup in my hand. Then I took the grapes, pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand” 12 Joseph said to him, “This is the purpose (and) the interpretation of the dream: The three stalks are the three fathers of the world, namely, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, some of whose descendants are destined to be enslaved in Egypt in clay and brick, and in all (kinds of) work in the open field. But afterwards they will be redeemed by three shepherds. And (as regards) what you said, ‘I took the grapes, pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand’: this is the goblet of anger which Pharaoh is destined to drink in the end. But you, chief cup-bearer, you shall receive a good reward for the favorable dream you have dreamed. And this is its interpretation for you: The three stalks are the three days until your release 13 At the end of three days the remembrance of you will come before Pharaoh, and he will lift up your head in honor and restore you to your ministry, and you will place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to (your) former custom when you were his cup-bearer” 14 Joseph abandoned his trust in heaven and put his trust in a human being, and he said to the chief cup-bearer, “But remember me when it will be well with you, and do me, I pray, the kindness of remembering me before Pharaoh and bring me out of this prison 15 For I was indeed kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews; and here, too, I have done no evil that they should put me in prison” 16 The chief baker saw that he had interpreted correctly, because he had seen the interpretation of his companion’s dream; and he began to speak angrily and said to Joseph, “I too saw in my dream, and behold there were three baskets of white bread on my head 17 In the top basket there were all kinds of delicious food for Pharaoh, the work of a baker; and the birds were eating them out of the basket above my head” 18 Joseph replied and said, “This is its interpretation: The three baskets are the three enslavements in which the house of Israel is destined to be enslaved, and you, chief baker, you shall receive an evil reward for the unfavorable dream which you have dreamed.” And Joseph interpreted for him what seemed right in his eyes. And he said to him: “This is its interpretation for you: the three baskets are the three days until your execution 19 At the end of three days Pharaoh, with the sword, will remove your head from your body and hang you upon a tree, and the birds will eat the flesh off you” 20 And on the third day, the birthday of Pharaoh, he made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief cup-bearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants 21 He restored the chief cup-bearer to his cup-bearing—because it had been discovered that he had not taken part in that plot—and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand 22 But the chief baker he hanged—because he had plotted to kill him—as Joseph had interpreted for them 23 Because Joseph had abandoned the favor that is above and had trusted in the chief cup-bearer, in flesh that passes, therefore the chief cup-bearer did not remember Joseph but forgot him until the time appointed from before the Lord (for him) to be released had come
41At the end of two years the remembrance of Joseph came before the Memra of the Lord: Pharaoh had a dream and behold, he was standing by the river 2 And behold, seven cows, beautiful to look at and fat of flesh, came up from the river, and they were grazing among the reeds 3 And behold, seven other cows, ugly to look at and lean in their flesh, came up from the river after them and stood opposite the other cows on the bank of the river 4 And the cows that were ugly to look at and lean in their flesh ate up the seven cows that were beautiful to look at and fat And Pharaoh awoke from his sleep 5 He fell asleep and saw a dream a second time, and behold, seven ears of grain, fat and good, grew on one stalk 6 And behold, seven ears, blighted, and beaten by the east wind, sprouted after them 7 And the blighted ears swallowed up the seven fat and full ears And Pharaoh awoke, and behold it was a dream 8 In the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called all the sorcerers of Egypt and all its wise men; and Pharaoh told them his dream But no one was able to interpret it for Pharaoh for it had been so arranged from before the Lord, since the time had come for Joseph to leave the prison 9 And the chief cup-bearer spoke before Pharaoh, saying, 'I remember my faults today' 10 It was arranged from before the Lord that Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and he put me in custody in the house of the chief executioner, me and the chief baker 11 And we dreamed a dream on the same night, he and I; each of us dreamed his own dream and the interpretation of his companion's dream 12 There with us was a Hebrew youth, a servant of the chief executioner We told him our dream and he interpreted it for us, giving to each an interpretation corresponding to his dream 13 And as he interpreted for us, so it came to pass; me he restored by his word to my usual ministry, and him he hanged 14 Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, who was quickly taken from the prison He cut his hair and changed his clothes, and came before Pharaoh 15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one to interpret it; and I have heard it said about you that if you hear a dream, you can interpret it' 16 Joseph replied to Pharaoh, saying, 'Not I There is no one who can interpret dreams; but from before the Lord a reply will be given concerning the welfare of Pharaoh' 17 And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, 'I saw in my dream, and behold, I was standing on the bank of the river 18 and behold, seven cows, fat of flesh and beautiful to look at, came up from the river, and they were pasturing among the reeds 19 And behold, seven other cows, wretched and very ugly to look at, and lean in their flesh, came up after them I have never seen the likes of them for ugliness in all the land of Egypt 20 The wretched and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows 21 They entered their belly, but no one knew that they entered their belly, for their appearance was as ugly as before And I awoke 22 And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven ears of grain, full and good, grew on one stalk 23 And behold, seven ears, shriveled, blighted, and beaten by the east wind, sprouted after them 24 And the blighted ears swallowed the seven good ears, and I told the sorcerers, but there was no one to explain it to me 25 Joseph said to Pharaoh, 'The dream of Pharaoh is one The Lord has told Pharaoh what he is about to do 26 The seven good cows announce seven years, and the seven good ears announce these seven years; it is one dream 27 The seven emaciated and ugly cows that came up after them announce seven other years, and the seven ears, blighted and beaten by the east wind, announce this: that there will be seven years of famine 28 It is just as I have spoken to Pharaoh: the Lord has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do 29 Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt 30 But after them will arise seven years of famine, and all the abundance that was in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will blot out the inhabitants of the land 31 The abundance that was in the land will be unknown because of that famine which will come afterwards, because it will be very severe 32 The fact that the dream was communicated to Pharaoh twice means that the matter was determined from before the Lord, and the Lord hastens to do it 33 And now, let Pharaoh seek out an intelligent and wise man, and appoint him over the land of Egypt 34 Let Pharaoh take action and appoint administrators over the land, and let them take a fifth of all the corn of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance 35 Let them gather all the corn of these good years that are coming, and let them store the corn under the authority of Pharaoh's administrators, and let them put the corn in the cities and keep it 36 Let the corn be reserved in the caves in the land to provide food during the seven years of famine that will be in the land of Egypt, so that the people of the land may not be wiped out by the famine 37 The proposal seemed good before Pharaoh and before all his servants 38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, 'Could we find a man like this in whom there is the spirit of prophecy from before the Lord' 39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'Since the Lord has made all this known to you, there is no one as intelligent and as wise as you 40 You shall be administrator over my house, and by the decree of the word of your mouth shall all my people be fed; only with respect to the royal throne will I be greater than you' 41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'See, I have appointed you prince over all the land of Egypt' 42 Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph's hand; and he had him clothed in garments of fine linen, and he placed a gold necklace around his neck 43 He had him ride in Pharaoh's second chariot, and they cried out before him, 'This is the father of the king, great in wisdom, tender in years' And he appointed him prince over all the land of Egypt[29] 44 Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'I am Pharaoh the king, and you are the vice-regent, and without your command no man shall raise his hand to gird on weapons, or his foot to ride a horse, in all the land of Egypt' 45 Pharaoh called Joseph's name 'The man-who-uncovers-hidden-things' And he gave him as wife Asenath, whom Dinah had borne to Shechem, and whom the wife of Potiphera, chief of Tanis, had reared And Joseph went forth as ruler over the land of Egypt 46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt Joseph went forth from Pharaoh's presence and passed through all the land of Egypt as chief and ruler 47 The earth was so fertile during the seven years of plenty that every ear produced two full handfuls until all the granaries were filled 48 He gathered all the corn of the seven years of plenty that were in the land of Egypt, and he put the corn in the cities; the corn of the fields around each city he gathered into it 50 Before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, who had grown up in the house of Potiphera, the chief of Tanis, had borne to him 51 And Joseph called the name of the first-born Manasseh, for he said, 'The Lord caused me to forget all my trouble and all my father's house' 52 And he called the name of the second Ephraim, for he said, 'The Lord has strengthened me in the land of my misery; and similarly my father's house is destined to become strong here in their misery' 53 The seven years of plenty that were in the land of Egypt came to an end 54 and the seven years of famine began to come as Joseph had said There was a famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread 55 All the land of Egypt was hungry, because the seed did not produce; and the people cried out before Pharaoh for bread And Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, 'Go to Joseph; whatever he tells you, you shall do' 56 When the famine was upon all the face of the land, Joseph opened all the granaries where the corn was stored and sold it to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt 57 And all the inhabitants of the earth came to Egypt to purchase corn from Joseph, for the famine was severe in all the land
42Jacob saw that provisions were being bought and that corn was being brought from Egypt. And Jacob said to his sons, 'Why then are you afraid to go down to Egypt?' 2 And he said, 'Behold, I heard that there is corn being sold in Egypt. Go down there and purchase for us from there, that we may live and not die.' 3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to purchase corn from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers; for he said, 'Behold, he is but a boy, and I am afraid that death might befall him.' 5 The sons of Israel came, each one by a different gate, lest the evil eye should have power over them if they came together to purchase among the Canaanites who were coming to purchase; for there was a famine in the land of Canaan. 6 Joseph was ruler over the land, and he knew that his brothers were coming to buy: He appointed guards at the city gates, to register everyone who entered that day— his name and his father's name. It was he who sold corn to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and searched in the streets and in the squares and in the brothels, but they did not find him. They entered his house and they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. 7 Joseph saw his brothers and he recognized them; but he acted like a stranger in their presence and spoke harsh words to them. He said to them, 'Where do you come from?' And they said, 'From the land of Canaan to purchase corn.' 8 Joseph recognized his brothers, because when he was separated from them they had the sign of a beard; but they did not recognize him, because he did not have the sign of a beard then, but at that time he had it. 9 Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, 'You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the prostitutes of the land.' 10 And they said to him, 'No, my lord; your servants have come to purchase corn.' 11 'We are all the sons of one man; we are trustworthy men; your servants have not been spies.' 12 And he said to them, 'No! But you have come to see the nakedness of the prostitutes of the land.' 13 And they said, 'We, your servants were twelve brothers, sons of one man in the land of Canaan; behold, the youngest is with our father this day; one left us, and we do not know what became of him in the end.' 14 Joseph said to them, 'It is as I said to you, you are spies.' 15 'In this manner you shall be tested; by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not depart from here unless your youngest brother comes here.' 16 'Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; but you shall be imprisoned and your words shall be tested, to see if the truth is in you; and if not, by the life of Pharaoh, you are spies.' 17 Then he put them all together in the house of custody for three days. 18 And on the third day Joseph said to them, 'Do this and you shall live, for I fear from before the Lord.' 19 'If you are trustworthy men, let one of your brothers be imprisoned in your house of custody, and you go, bring the corn you have bought for your starving households.' 20 'You shall bring your youngest brother to me, that your words may be verified and that you may not die.' And they did so. 21 They said to one another, 'In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he implored us, and we did not listen to him; that is why this distress has come upon us.' 22 Reuben answered them and said, 'Did I not say to you, Do not sin against the boy?' But you paid no heed to me. And so, behold, his blood is required of us.' 23 They did not know that Joseph understood the language of the sanctuary, because Manasseh was between them as an interpreter. 24 He turned away from them and wept. Then he turned back to them and spoke with them; and he took from among them Simeon, who had counseled to kill him, and he tied him before them. 25 Joseph commanded his servants to fill their receptacles with corn, and to replace each man’s money within his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. And this was done for them. 26 They loaded their corn on their asses and departed from there. 27 Levi, who had been left alone without Simeon his companion, opened his sack to give fodder to his ass at the lodging place, and he saw his money, and behold it was in the mouth of his bag. 28 He said to his brothers, 'My money has been returned, and behold it is in my bag.' And knowledge failed from their heart, and they looked anxiously at one another, saying, 'What is this that the Lord has done, even though there is no guilt on our part?' 29 They came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, and they related to him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 'The man who is lord of the land spoke harsh words to us and despised us as spies of the land.' 31 'But we said to him, We are trustworthy men; we are not spies.' 32 'We were twelve brothers, sons of our father; as regards one, we do not know what became of him in the end, and this day the youngest is with our father in the land of Canaan.' 33 'But the man who is lord of the land said to us, By this I shall know that you are trustworthy; leave one of your brothers with me, and take what is necessary for your starving households and go.' 34 'And bring your youngest brother to me, and I shall know that you are not spies but trustworthy men. I will restore your brother to you, and you shall travel about the land doing business.' 35 When they were emptying their saddlebags, behold each man’s bundle of money was in his saddle-bag. When they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid for Simeon, whom they had left there. 36 Their father Jacob said to them, 'You have made me childless; of Joseph you have said. A savage beast has devoured him; and of Simeon, you have said, The King of the land has bound him; and Benjamin you wish to take away; the sufferings of all of them have come upon me.' 37 And Reuben said to his father, 'You may kill my two sons with the ban if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.' 38 But he said, 'My son shall not go down with you, because his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother. And should death befall him on the way in which you are to go, you would bring my grey head in sorrow to the grave.'
43Now the famine was severe in the land. 2 And when they finished eating the corn which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, 'Go back and purchase a little corn for us.' 3 But Judah said to him, 'The man warned us solemnly, saying, You shall not see my countenance if your young brother is not with you.' 4 'If you send our brother with us, we will go down and purchase corn for you.' 5 'But if you do not send him, we will not go down, because the man said to us, You shall not see my countenance if your brother is not with you!' 6 And Israel said, 'Why did you do me harm by telling the man that you had another brother?' 7 They said, 'The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and about our genealogy, saying, Is your father still alive? Have you another brother? And we answered him accordingly. Could we have known that he would say, Bring your brother down?' 8 And Judah said to Israel his father, 'Send the boy with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.' 9 'I will be surety for him; you may require him from my hand. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, let me be considered guilty before you forever.' 10 'For if we had not delayed, we would have returned twice by now.' 11 Israel their father said to them, 'If it must be so, do this: take some of what is most renowned in the land, put it in your receptacles, and bring it down to the man as a present—a little gum, balm, and a little honey, wax and resin, oil of pistachios and oil of almonds.' 12 'And take double the money in your hands and bring back in your hands the money that was replaced in the mouth of your bags; perhaps it was done by mistake.' 13 'Take your brother too; arise and go back to the man.' 14 'And may El Shaddai grant you mercy before the man, and may he release to you your other brother, as well as Benjamin. And as for me, behold, I have already been informed by the Holy Spirit that if I have been bereaved of Joseph, I will be bereaved of Simeon and of Benjamin.' 15 The men took that present, and they took double the money in their hands; they took Benjamin, and they arose and went down to Egypt, and presented themselves before Joseph. 16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to Manasseh, whom he had appointed administrator over his house, 'Bring the men into the house, and let them see the mark of the slaughtering, and remove the sinew of the hip, and prepare a dish in their presence, because the men will eat with me at the time of the midday meal.' 17 The man did as Joseph said, and the man brought the men into Joseph’s house. 18 The men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph’s house, and they said, 'It is because of the money that was replaced in our bags the first time that we are brought in, to dupe us and seek a quarrel with us, and to acquire us as slaves and to take our asses.' 19 So they approached the man who had been appointed administrator over Joseph’s house, and they spoke with him at the door of his house. 20 And they said, 'If you please, my master, we came down before to purchase corn.' 21 'But when we reached the lodging place and opened our bags, behold, each man’s money was in the mouth of his bag, our money in full weight; and we have brought it back in our hands.' 22 'And we have brought other money down in our hands to purchase corn. We do not know who put our money in our bags.' 23 He said, 'Peace to you from my master, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father put treasure in your bags for you. Your money has come to me.' And he brought Simeon out to them. 24 The man brought the men into Joseph’s house; he gave them water, and they washed their feet, and he gave fodder to their asses. 25 They prepared the present while they waited for Joseph to come to the midday meal, for they had heard from him that they were to share a meal there. 26 When Joseph came into the house, they presented to him the present they had in their hands in the house, and they bowed down to him to the ground. 27 He inquired about their welfare and said, 'Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke to me? Is he still alive?' 28 They said, 'Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.' And they bent down and bowed down. 29 He lifted up his eyes and saw Benjamin his brother, his mother’s son, and he said, 'Is this your youngest brother of whom you spoke to me?' And he said, 'Mercy from before the Lord be upon you, my son.' 30 Then Joseph hurried, for his love for his brother was aroused and he wanted to weep; so he went into the bedchamber and wept there. 31 He washed the tears from his face and came forth; and he controlled himself and said, 'Serve the meal.' 32 They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; for Egyptians are not permitted to eat bread with the Jews, because the Jews eat the cattle which the Egyptians worship. 33 And they sat around before him, the eldest according to the rank of his seniority, and the youngest according to the rank of his youth. He took the silver cup in his hand, and striking it like a diviner, he arranged the sons of Leah on one side, the sons of Zilpah on another side, the sons of Bilhah on another side, and he placed Rachel's son Benjamin beside himself. And the men looked at each other in amazement. 34 He took portions from his table and had them sent from him to them. But Benjamin’s portion was five times bigger than any of their portions: one portion was his own portion, another portion was his, one portion was his wife's, and two portions were those of his two sons. And they drank and got drunk with him because from the day they were separated from him they had not drunk wine, neither he nor they, until that day.
44Then he commanded Manasseh, who had been appointed administrator over his house, saying, 'Fill the men’s saddle-bags with corn, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his bag.' 2 'Put my goblet, the silver goblet, in the mouth of the bag of the youngest, as well as the money of his purchases.' And he did as Joseph said. 3 When morning broke, the men were sent off, they and their asses. 4 They had left the city, but had not gone far when Joseph said to Manasseh, who had been appointed administrator over his house, 'Arise, pursue the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, Why have you repaid evil for good?' 5 'Is not this the one from which my master would drink and with which he would practice augury? You have done evil by doing what you have done.' 6 He overtook them and spoke all these words to them. 7 And they said to him, 'Why does my master speak such words? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing.' 8 'Behold, the money that we found in the mouth of our bags we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. How then could we steal vessels of silver or vessels of gold from your master’s house?' 9 'With whomsoever of your servants it shall be found, he shall incur the death penalty; and moreover, we shall be slaves to my master.' 10 He said, 'Very well, then; let it be according to your words; the one with whom it is found shall be my slave, but you shall be innocent.' 11 So each man hurried and lowered his bag to the ground, and each man opened his bag. 12 He searched, beginning with Reuben and ending with Benjamin; and the goblet was found in Benjamin’s bag. 13 They rent their garments; but mighty strength was given to them and each man loaded his ass, and they returned to the city. 14 When Judah and his brothers entered the house of Joseph, he was still there, and they fell upon the ground before him. 15 Joseph said to them, 'What is this deed that you have done? Did you not know that a man like me practices augury?' 16 Judah said, 'What shall we say to my master about the first money? And what shall we say about the next money? And how shall we be proved innocent in respect of the goblet? From before the Lord guilt has been found in your servants. Behold, we are slaves to my master, both we and him in whose possession the cup was found.' 17 But he said, 'Far be it from me to do this. The man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave; but you go up in peace to your father.' 18 Then Judah approached him and said, 'Please, my master! Please let your servant speak a word in the hearing of my master, and let not your anger be enkindled against your servant; for from the hour that we came to you, you said to us, fear from before the Lord; and now your judgments have turned out to be like the judgments of Pharaoh.' 19 'My master asked his servants, saying, Have you a father or a brother?' 20 'We said to my master, We have an aged father, and a son of his old age, the youngest; his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and therefore his father loves him.' 21 'Then you said to your servants, Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him for good.' 22 'We said to my master, It is not possible for the boy to leave his father, for if he should leave him, his father would die.' 23 'You said to your servants, If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you shall not see my countenance again.' 24 'When we went up to your servant my father, we reported my lord’s words to him.' 25 'Our father said, Go back and purchase a little corn for us.' 26 'We said, It is not possible for us to go down. If our youngest brother is with us, we will go down; for it is not possible for us to see the man’s countenance if our youngest brother is not with us.' 27 'Your servant my father said to us, You know that my wife bore me two sons.' 28 'One left me, and I said, Surely he has been killed. And up to now I have not seen him.' 29 'Should you take this one from before me also, and should death befall him, you would bring my grey head in sorrow down to the grave.' 30 ... 31 ... 32 'For your servant became surety for the boy to my father saying, If I do not bring him back to you, let me be considered guilty before my father forever.' 33 'And now, I beseech you, let your servant remain instead of the boy as a slave to my master, and let the boy go up with his brothers.' 34 'For how can I go up to my father if the boy is not with me? Let me not see the sorrow that would pierce my father.'
45Joseph could not bear not being able to cry on account of all who were standing before him; and he said, 'Make everyone go out from before me.' So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 He wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard him, and the members of Pharaoh’s household heard him. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, 'I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?' But his brothers could not answer him a word, because they were dumbfounded before him. 4 Joseph said to his brothers, 'Come near to me, I pray, and see the cut of my circumcision.' And they came near. And he said, 'I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.' 5 'And now do not be distressed, and do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me hither, for the Lord sent me before you to keep you alive.' 6 'For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are still five years to come in which they will neither plough nor reap.' 7 'The Lord sent me before you to ensure your survival in the land and to keep you alive for a great deliverance.' 8 'So it was not you who sent me here, but the situation came about from before the Lord; and he placed me as master to Pharaoh, and as master over all his house, and as ruler in all the land of Egypt.' 9 'Make haste and go up to my father and say to him, Thus says your son Joseph, The Lord has placed me as master to all the Egyptians. Come down to me; do not delay.' 10 'You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children, and your grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that is yours.' 11 'I will support you there—for there are still five years of famine to come lest you and the members of your household and all that is yours be reduced to poverty.' 12 'Behold, your eyes see, as well as the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that my mouth speaks with you in the language of the Sanctuary.' 13 'Tell my father of all the glory I have in Egypt and of all my greatness that you have seen; make haste and bring my father down here.' 14 Then he inclined upon the joint of his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, because he saw that the Sanctuary was to be built in the portion of Benjamin and was to be destroyed twice. And Benjamin wept on the joint of Joseph's neck, because he saw the Tabernacle of Shiloh that was to be in the portion of Joseph and that was to be destroyed. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them, because he saw that they would be enslaved to the children of the nations; then his brothers spoke with him. 16 The report was heard in Pharaoh’s royal palace: 'Joseph’s brothers have come,' and the matter was pleasing in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants. 17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'Say to your brothers, Do this: Load your beasts and set out, and bring provisions to the land of Canaan.' 18 'Take your father and the members of your households and come to me, and I will give you what is best and most desirable in the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.' 19 'And you, Joseph, are given responsibility for the honor of your father. Therefore, say to your brothers, Do this: Take from the land of Egypt carriages drawn by oxen so that you may carry your little ones and your wives in them; and take your father and come.' 20 'Do not be concerned about your belongings, because what is best and most desirable in all the land of Egypt is yours.' 21 The sons of Israel did so. And Joseph gave them carriages according to the word of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey. 22 To each of them he gave a robe and clothes; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred selas of silver and five suits of clothes. 23 And to his father he sent the following present: ten he-asses laden with wine and with some of the best things of Egypt, and ten she-asses laden with corn, bread, and provisions for his father for the journey. 24 Then he sent his brothers away, and they set off. He said to them, 'Do not quarrel about my sale, lest those who make the journey with you become angry with you.' 25 They went up from Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, saying, 'Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler in all the land of Egypt.' But his heart was divided, because he did not believe them. 27 But they recounted to him all the words that Joseph had spoken with them, and when he saw the carriages that Joseph had sent to take him, the spirit of prophecy which had departed from him when they sold Joseph returned and rested upon their father Jacob. 28 And Israel said, 'The Lord has done many good things for me; he delivered me from the hands of Esau and from the hands of Laban, and from the hands of the Canaanites who pursued me; and I have seen and expected to see many consolations. But this I did not expect: that my son Joseph was still alive. I will go then, and see him before I die.'
46Israel set out with all that was his, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 The Lord spoke to Israel in a prophecy of the night and said, 'Jacob! Jacob!' He said, 'Here I am.' 3 And he said, 'I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt because of the slavery which I decreed with Abraham; for there I will make of you a great nation.' 4 'It is I who in my Memra will go down with you to Egypt. I will look upon the misery of your children, but my Memra will exalt you there; I will also bring your children up from there. Besides, Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.' 5 So Jacob arose from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives in the carriages which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 They took their cattle and the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they came to Egypt, Jacob and all his children with him. 7 He brought with him to Egypt his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his offspring. 8 These are the names of the children of Israel, Jacob and his children who came to Egypt: Jacob’s first-born, Reuben. 9 The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. 10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, that is Zimri, who followed the practices of the Canaanites in Shittim. 11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died because of their evil deeds in the land of Canaan, and Shelah and Zerah did not beget children in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez who went down to Egypt were Hezron and Hamul. 13 The sons of Issachar, sages and masters of calculation, whose names were Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron. 14 The sons of Zebulon, merchants, masters of trade, providing for their brothers, the sons of Issachar, and receiving a reward like theirs; and their names were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. 15 These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan of Aram, together with his daughter Dinah; all the persons, between sons and daughters, were thirty-three. 16 The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. 17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah, who was taken to the garden of Eden while still alive because she had announced to Jacob that Joseph was alive. It was she who delivered the inhabitants of Abel from the judgment of death in the days of Joab. And the sons of Beriah who went down to Egypt were Heber and Malchiel. 18 These were the children of Zilpah, whom Laban had given to Leah his daughter; these she bore to Jacob, sixteen persons. 19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife, Joseph and Benjamin. 20 To Joseph were born sons in the land of Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, daughter of Dinah, who had grown up in the house of Potiphera, chief of Tanis, bore him. 21 The sons of Benjamin were ten, and their names were given according to the wonders that befell Joseph his brother: Bela, because he was swallowed up from him; Becher, because he was the first-born of his mother; Ashbel, because he went into captivity; Gera, because he sojourned in a foreign land; Naaman, because he was pleasant and honorable; Ehi, because he was his brother; his mother’s son; Rosh, because he was at the head of his father’s house; Muppim, because he was sold in Memphis; Huppim, because at the time that he was separated from him he was eighteen years and ready for the wedding canopy; Ard, because he went down to Egypt. 22 These were the children of Rachel who were born to Jacob, fourteen persons in all. 23 The sons of Dan, alert men and traders, whose number is beyond counting. 24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. 25 These were the children of Bilhah, whom Laban had given to Rachel his daughter; these she bore to Jacob, seven persons in all. 26 All the persons who came into Egypt with Jacob—his direct descendants, besides the wives of Jacob’s sons—were sixty-six persons in all. 27 The sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. Thus, with Joseph, who was already in Egypt, and Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born between the walls when they were going into Egypt, the sum total of the persons in the household of Jacob who came into Egypt was seventy. 28 He sent Judah before him to Joseph to point out the way before him, to subdue the pillars of the land, and to prepare a dwelling place before him in Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen. 29 Joseph had his chariot made ready, and he went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. But before his father recognized him, he bowed down to him, and Joseph was condemned to have his years shortened. But Joseph repented and presented himself to him, and inclined upon the joint of his neck and wept upon his neck very much because his father had bowed down to him. 30 Israel said to Joseph, 'If I were to die now, I would be consoled, for I would die the death that the righteous die, having seen your countenance, since you are still alive.' 31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, 'I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and I will say to him, My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.' 32 'The men are shepherds, for they have been owners of livestock, and they have brought their sheep and their oxen and everything they possess.' 33 'So when Pharaoh summons you and says, Tell me what your occupation is,' 34 'You shall say, Your servants were owners of livestock from our youth until now, both we and our fathers, so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for the Egyptians abhor all shepherds.'
47Joseph came and announced to Pharaoh and said, “My father and my brothers with their flocks and herds and all that they possess have come from the land of Canaan; and behold they are in the land of Goshen.” 2 And he took a few of his brothers, five men, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, and presented them before Pharaoh. 3 Pharaoh said to Joseph’s brothers, “What are your occupations?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants were shepherds, both we and our fathers.” 4 They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land, because there are no pasturing grounds for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan, and now, we pray, let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.” 5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.” 6 The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen; and if you know that there are capable men among them, you shall put them in charge of the livestock, over what is mine.” 7 And Joseph brought Jacob his father and presented him before Pharaoh. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh and said, “May it be the will of heaven that the waters of the Nile be full, and that the famine may cease from the world in your days.” 8 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 sojournings are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life; for from my youth I fled from my brother Esau and sojourned in a land that was not mine; and now, in my old age, I have come down to sojourn here. And my days have not reached the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” 10 Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from before Pharaoh. 11 Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best part of the land, in the land of Pelusium, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 Joseph provided his father and his brothers and all his father’s household with bread, according to the needs of the little ones. 13 There was no bread in all the land, because the famine was very severe; and the inhabitants of the land of Egypt and the inhabitants of the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 Joseph gathered in all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan in return for the corn which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s treasury. 15 When the money of the land of Egypt and of the land of Canaan was spent, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, saying, “Give us bread; why should we die in your presence? For all the money is spent.” 16 And Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you food in return for your livestock if the money has come to an end.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in return for horses, for flocks of sheep, and for herds of oxen, and for asses; and that year he sustained them with bread in return for all their livestock. 18 And when that year came to an end, all the Egyptians came to him the second year and said to him, “We will not hide from my master that since the money is spent and the herds of cattle belong to my master, there is nothing left to us before my master except our bodies and our land.” 19 Why should we die while your eyes see, both we and our land? Take us and our land in return for bread, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. Give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not become desolate.” 20 Joseph acquired all the land of the Egyptians for Pharaoh, because every Egyptian sold his field, for the famine was severe upon them. And the land became the property of Pharaoh. 21 He transferred the people of the provinces to the towns, and the people of the towns he transferred to the provinces, because of Joseph's brothers, that they might not be called exiles. Therefore he removed them from one end of the territory of Egypt to the other. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy, because they had seen his innocence at the time when his master wanted to kill him, and they had delivered him from the sentence of death. Besides, he decreed that a portion was to be given to them on behalf of Pharaoh. They lived on the portion that Pharaoh gave them, and therefore they did not sell their land. 23 Joseph said to the people, “Behold, this day I have acquired you and your land for Pharaoh. Here is seed for you, that you may sow the land.” 24 And at the time of the ingathering of the produce you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts shall be yours as seed for the fields, as your food, as the sustenance of your households, and as food for your little ones.” 25 And they said, “You have kept us alive. Let us find mercy in the eyes of my master, and we will be slaves to Pharaoh.” 26 So Joseph established a decree concerning the land of Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh take a fifth of the produce. Only the land of the priests, theirs alone, did not become Pharaoh’s. 27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, and they built for themselves schoolhouses and palaces in the land of Goshen. There they took possession of fields and vineyards, and they increased and multiplied greatly. 28 Jacob lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt, and the days of Jacob, the sum of the days of his life, were a hundred and forty-seven years. 29 And when the days drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If, now, I have found mercy before you, put, I pray, your hand on the cut of my circumcision, and perform for me, I pray, an act of goodness and fidelity. Do not bury me, I pray, in Egypt.” 30 When I lie down with my fathers, take me from Egypt and bury me in their grave.” But because he was his son he did not put his hand, but he said, “I will do according to your word.” 31 And he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. Immediately the Glory of the Shekinah of the Lord was revealed to him. And Israel bowed down on the head of the bed.
48After these things Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is lying ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 Jacob was told saying, “Behold, your son Joseph is coming to you.” And Israel summoned up his strength and sat up in bed. 3 And Jacob said to Joseph, “El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and he blessed me. 4 and he said to me, ‘Behold, I will increase you and multiply you, and I will make of you an assembly of tribes, and I will give this land to your son after you for an everlasting possession.’ 5 And now, your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt shall be mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be considered mine, just like Reuben and Simeon. 6 But the children whom you beget after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 As for me, what I asked of you is that you bury me with my fathers. Rachel died suddenly, to my sorrow, on the way in the land of Canaan, while there was still some distance to go before entering Ephrath. Since I was not able to carry her to bury her in the double cave, I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, that is Bethlehem.” 8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he said, “From whom were these born to you?” 9 And Joseph said to his father, “These are my sons, whom the Memra of the Lord has given to me according to this marriage contract, in accordance with which I took to wife Asenath, the daughter of Dinah, your daughter.” And he said, “Bring them near to me, I pray, that I may bless them.” 10 Now Israel’s eyes were heavy with age, and he could not see. So he brought them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, “I had not counted on seeing your countenance again, and behold the Lord has let me see your children also.” 12 Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 Joseph took the two of them, Ephraim on his right side, which was Israel’s left, and Manasseh on his left side, which was Israel’s right, and brought them near to him. 14 And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger, and placed his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, exchanging his hands, for Manasseh was the first-born. 15 And he blessed Joseph and said, “Lord, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac worshiped; Lord, who sustained me since the beginning of my existence to this day, 16 may it be pleasing before you that the angel whom you assigned to me to redeem me from all evil, bless the boys; and let my name be recalled in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. And as the fishes of the sea multiply continually in the water; so may the children of Joseph grow into a multitude on the earth.” 17 Joseph saw that his father was placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head, and it was displeasing to him. So he took his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head so as to lower it upon Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, father! For this is the first-born. Place your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son; I know that he is the first-born; I am also aware that he too will become a great people, and he too will multiply. Yet his younger brother will multiply more than he, and his children will be numerous among the nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you, Joseph my son, the house of Israel shall bless the infant on the day of circumcision, saying, ‘May the Lord make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’ And in the numbering of the tribes, the chief of Ephraim will be numbered before the chief of Manasseh.” And thus he established that Ephraim would be before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “As for me, behold my end has come! I am about to die. But the Memra of the Lord will be at your assistance and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 As for me, behold I give you the city of Shechem, one portion as a gift more than your brothers, which I took from the hands of the Amorites when you went into it, and I arose and assisted you with my sword and with my bow.”
49Jacob called his sons and said to them, “Purify yourselves from uncleanness, and I will tell you the concealed secrets, the hidden times, the giving of the reward of the righteous, the punishment of the wicked, and what the happiness of Eden will be.” The twelve tribes of Israel were gathered together surrounding the golden bed on which he was lying. But as soon as the Glory of the Shekinah of the Lord was revealed, the time in which the King Messiah was destined to come was hidden from him. Then he said, “Come, and I will relate to you what will befall you at the end of the days.” 2 Gather and hear, O sons of Jacob, and receive instruction from Israel your father. 3 Reuben, you are my first-born, the first fruit of my virile might, and the beginning of the effusion of my heated imagination. You would have been worthy of the birthright, the dignity of the priesthood and the kingship. But because you sinned, my son, the birthright was given to Joseph, the kingship to Judah, and the priesthood to Levi. 4 I compare you to a little garden into which mighty rushing streams entered; it was not able to resist them, and it was swamped. Thus you were ruined, Reuben my son. The sin that you committed do not commit again, and that which you sinned will be forgiven you. For it is reckoned to you as if you had gone in unto the woman with whom your father had lain, when you disarranged my couch upon which you mounted. 5 Simeon and Levi are twin brothers; sharp weapons for robbery is their characteristic. 6 My soul took no pleasure in their counsel, and when they gathered at Shechem to destroy it, my honor was not involved; for in their anger they killed the king and his ruler, and at their whim they demolished the wall of their enemies.” 7 Jacob said, “Cursed was the city of Shechem when they went into it to destroy it in their anger that was fierce, and cursed was their wrath against Joseph, for it was cruel.” “If,” said Jacob, “these two dwell together, there will be no king or ruler who can withstand them. I will divide the inheritance of the sons of Simeon into two portions; one portion will be given to him within the inheritance of the sons of Judah, and another portion among the rest of the tribes of Jacob. And I will scatter the tribe of Levi among all the tribes of Israel.” 8 “Judah, you confessed concerning the incident of Tamar; therefore your brothers will praise you, and they will be called Jews after your name. Your hands will avenge you of your enemies by throwing arrows at them when they turn their back before you; and your father’s sons will come forward to salute you. 9 I compare you, Judah my son, to a whelp, the young of lions, because your soul remained aloof from the murder of my son Joseph and from the judgment of Tamar you shall be delivered. You rest and you are at ease in strength, like a lion, and like a lioness; when he rests, who will rouse him? 10 Kings and rulers shall not cease from those of the house of Judah, nor scribes teaching the Law from his descendants, until the time the King Messiah comes, the youngest of his sons, because of whom the people will pine away. 11 How beautiful is the King Messiah who is to arise from among those of the house of Judah. He girds his loins and comes down arranging battle lines against his enemies and slaying kings together with their rulers; and there is no king or ruler who can withstand him. He makes the mountains red with the blood of the slain; his garments are rolled in blood; he is like a presser of grapes. 12 How beautiful are the eyes of the King Messiah, like pure wine, for they have not seen the uncovering of nakedness or the shedding of innocent blood. His teeth are whiter than milk because he has not eaten what has been robbed or taken by force. His mountains and his press will be red from wine, and his hills white from the harvest and from the flocks. 13 Zebulun shall dwell by the seashores; he shall control the harbors, subduing the provinces of the sea with ships. His territory shall extend as far as Sidon. 14 Issachar is loaded with the Law. He is a strong tribe, knowing the determinations of the times, and he lies down between the territories of his brothers. 15 He saw that the repose of the world to come was good, and that his portion of the land of Israel was pleasant; therefore he bent his shoulder to labor in the Law, and his brothers offered him gifts. 16 From those of the house of Dan there shall arise a man who will judge his people with true judgments. As one, the tribes of Israel will obey him. 17 There will be a man who will be chosen and who will arise from those of the house of Dan. He will be comparable to the adder that lies at the crossroads and to the heads of the serpents that lie in wait by the path, biting the horses in the heel, and out of fear of it the rider falls, turning backwards. Thus shall Samson, son of Manoah, kill all the warriors of the Philistines, both horsemen and foot soldiers. He will hamstring their horses and throw their riders backwards.” 18 When Jacob saw Gideon, son of Joash, and Samson, son of Manoah, who were arising as redeemers, he said, “I have not yearned for the redemption of Gideon, nor have I waited for the redemption of Samson, for their redemption is the redemption of an hour. But for your redemption I yearn and wait, O Lord, because your redemption is an eternal redemption.” 19 The tribe of Gad, armed, will cross the wadis of the Arnon with the rest of the tribes, and they will suppress before them the pillars of the land. In the end they will return, armed, with great possessions, and they will dwell securely beyond the Jordan. For so they chose, and they were pleased when they received their inheritance. 20 Happy is Asher! How rich are his fruits! His land produces spices and aromatic roots, and his territory produces the delicacies of kings, and he gives thanks and praise for them before the Lord of the world. 21 Naphtali is a swift messenger, like a hind that runs on the tops of the mountains, announcing good tidings. He announced that Joseph was still alive; he hurried and went to Egypt and brought the title deeds of the field of the double cave in which Esau has no portion. When he opened his mouth to praise God in the assembly of Israel, he could choose from all languages. 22 Joseph, my son, you have become great; my son, you have become great and you have become mighty; and it was your destiny to become mighty, because you subdued your inclination in the incident with your mistress and in the incident with your brothers. I compare you to a vine planted by springs of water, that sends forth its roots and splits the sharp rocks, and overshadows with its branches all barren trees. Even so, Joseph my son, you subdued with your wisdom and your good deeds all the Egyptian sorcerers. And when the people were crying out before you, the daughters of rulers were walking on the walls and throwing rings and necklaces of gold before you, so that you might lift up your eyes toward them. But you did not lift up your eyes towards any one of them, so as to become guilty because of them on the day of great judgment. 23 All the Egyptian sorcerers embittered him and quarreled with him, and they also informed on him before Pharaoh, hoping to discredit him, speaking against him with a slanderous tongue that is as harsh as arrows. 24 The strength of his member returned to its former state so that he might not have intercourse with his mistress, and his hands were withheld from voluptuous thoughts. And he subdued his inclination because of the strict instruction he had received from Jacob. Thus he was found worthy of becoming administrator and of having his name engraved with theirs on the stones of Israel. 25 “May your help be from the Memra of the God of your father, and may He who is called Shaddai bless you with the blessings that come down with the dew of heaven above, and with the best of the blessings of the springs of the deep that come up and make the plants grow from below. Blessed be the breasts from which you sucked and the womb in which you lay! 26 May the blessings of your father be added to the blessings with which my fathers Abraham and Isaac have blessed me, and which the princes of the world, Ishmael and Esau, and all the children of Kethurah desired. Let all these blessings be gathered, and let them form a crown of greatness for Joseph’s head, for the brow of the man who was master and ruler in Egypt and who was sensitive to the honor of his brothers. 27 Benjamin is a mighty tribe, like a wolf with his prey. The Shekinah of the Lord of the world will dwell in his land, and in his inheritance the Temple will be built. In the morning the priests will offer the regular lamb of sacrifice until the fourth hour; and at twilight they will offer a second lamb, and in the evening they will divide what is left of the remainder of the offerings, and each will eat his portion. 28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, all of them equally righteous, and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with an appropriate blessing. 29 Then he commanded them, saying to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 30 in the cave that is in the field of the double cave which is facing Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a 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 were bought from the sons of the Hittite.” 33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, and he expired and was gathered to his people.
50Joseph laid his father in a bed of ivory overlaid with pure gold, inlaid with precious stones, and reinforced with linen cords. There they poured out foaming wines, and there they burned the best of spices; there stood the heroes of those of the house of Esau, and the heroes of those of the house of Ishmael; there stood Judah the lion— the hero among his brothers. He spoke up and said to his brothers, “Come, let us weep over our father, a tall cedar whose top will reach towards the heavens and whose branches cover all the inhabitants of the earth; and its roots reach to the bottom of the deep. From him there arose twelve tribes, and from him there are destined to arise kings and rulers, as well as the priests in their divisions to offer sacrifices; and from him there shall arise the Levites in their groupings to sing.” Behold, then Joseph inclined upon his father’s face and wept over him and kissed him. 2 Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 Forty days were spent in embalming him, for so many days are spent in embalming, and the Egyptians wept for him seventy days, saying to one another, “Come, let us weep over Jacob the righteous, for whose merit the famine passed from the land of Egypt.” For it had been decreed that there would be a famine for forty-two years. But for the merit of Jacob forty years were withheld from Egypt, and there was famine for two years only. 4 When the days of weeping for him passed, Joseph spoke to the chiefs of Pharaoh’s house, saying, “If, I pray, I have found mercy in your eyes, speak, I pray, in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying, 5 ‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am about to die; in the grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me.” And now, let me go up, I pray, to bury my father, and I will return.” 6 And Pharaoh said, “Go up and bury your father as he made you swear.” 7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 and all the men of Joseph’s house, his brothers and his father’s house; only their little ones, their flocks, and their oxen did they leave in the land of Goshen. 9 Chariots and horsemen went up with him too; it was a very great company. 10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, there they lamented with a very great and solemn lamentation; and he observed seven days’ mourning for his father. 11 When the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they loosed the girdles of their loins in honor of Jacob, and pointing with their hands, they said, “This is a solemn mourning on behalf of the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was called Abel-Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. 12 Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them. 13 When his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, Esau the wicked heard of the matter, and he set out from the mountain of Gabla with many legions and came to Hebron and would not allow Joseph to bury his father in the double cave. Then Naphtali went immediately, and running down to Egypt, he came back that same day. He brought the title deeds concerning the division of the double cave which Esau had written for Jacob his brother. And immediately Joseph beckoned to Hushim, son of Dan, who took a sword and cut off the head of Esau the wicked. Esau's head went on rolling until it went into the cave and rested in the bosom of Isaac his father. The sons of Esau buried his body in the field of the double cave. Afterwards his sons buried Jacob in the cave of the field of the double cave facing Mamre, the field which Abraham had purchased as a burial possession from Ephron the Hittite. 14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father. 15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, and that Joseph did not sit together with them to eat bread, they said, “Perhaps Joseph bears hatred against us, and he will surely pay us back for all the evil that we have done to him.” 16 So they commanded Bilhah to say to Joseph, “Before his death your father commanded us to say to you, 17 ‘Thus shall you say to Joseph, “Please pardon, I pray, the guilt of your brothers and their sins, although they have done evil to you,” and now, pray, pardon the guilt of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept as they spoke with him. 18 His brothers also went and inclined before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, because I will not do you evil but good, for I fear and am humbled before the Lord. 20 As for you, you thought evil thoughts against me, supposing that when I did not sit with you to eat, it was because I bear enmity towards you. But the Memra of the Lord intended it for good for me. For my father had me sit at the head, and out of respect for him I accepted that. But now, I do not accept it, so that I may merit that a deliverance be brought about for us this day, to keep alive many people from the house of Jacob. 21 And now do not be afraid. I will sustain you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke comforting words to their hearts. 22 Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s house. Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. 23 Joseph saw children of the third generation of Ephraim; also, when the children of Machir, son of Manasseh, were born, Joseph circumcised them. 24 Joseph said to his brothers, “Behold, I am about to die; but the Lord will surely remember you and bring you up from this land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear that they would say to their children, “Behold, you will be enslaved in Egypt, but do not make plans to go up out of Egypt until the time that two deliverers come and say to you, ‘The Lord surely remembers you,’ and at the time that you go up you shall bring up my bones from here.” 26 Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten years. And they embalmed him and decorated him and placed him in a coffin, which they sank in the middle of the Nile of Egypt.