Bible in 90 Days

²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, ²¹ so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, ²² and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that thou givest me I will give the tenth to thee.”

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the people of the east. ² As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and lo, three flocks of sheep lying beside it; for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large, ³ and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well, and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place upon the mouth of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” ⁵ He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” ⁶ He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” ⁷ He said, “Behold, it is still high day, it is not time for the animals to be gathered together; water the sheep, and go, pasture them.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep; for she kept them. ¹⁰ Now when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and wept aloud. ¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son; and she ran and told her father.

¹³ When Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, ¹⁴ and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.

Jacob Marries Laban’s Daughters

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages 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 weak, but Rachel was beautiful and lovely. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel; and he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” ²² So Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. ²³ But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. ²⁴ (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.) ²⁵ And in the morning, behold, it was Leah; and Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” ²⁶ Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the first-born. ²⁷ Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.” ²⁸ Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to wife. ²⁹ (Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maid.) ³⁰ So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.

³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. ³² And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben;^[a] for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” ³³ She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard^[b] that I am hated, he has given me this son also”; and she called his name Simeon. ³⁴ Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be joined^[c] to me, because I have borne him three sons”; therefore his name was called Levi. ³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise^[d] the Lord”; therefore she called his name Judah; then she ceased bearing.

30 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” ² Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³ Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees, and even I may have children through her.” ⁴ So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife; and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son”; therefore she called his name Dan.^{[e] 7} Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled^[f] with my sister, and have prevailed”; so she called his name Naph′tali.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Then Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ And Leah said, “Good fortune!” so she called his name Gad.^{[g] 12} Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ And Leah said, “Happy am I! For the women will call me happy”; so she called his name Asher.^[h]

¹⁴ In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Give me, I pray, some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶ When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and said, “You must come in to me; for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. ¹⁷ And God hearkened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Leah said, “God has given me my hire^[i] because I gave my maid to my husband”; so she called his name Is′sachar. ¹⁹ And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good dowry; now my husband will honor^[j] me, because I have borne him six sons”; so she called his name Zeb′ulun. ²¹ Afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah. ²² Then God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her and opened her womb. ²³ She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach”; ²⁴ and she called his name Joseph,^[k] saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”

Jacob Prospers at Laban’s Expense

²⁵ When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the service which I have given you.” ²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If you will allow me to say so, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you; ²⁸ name your wages, and I will give it.” ²⁹ Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me. ³⁰ For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly; and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” ³¹ He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything; if you will do this for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it: ³² let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages. ³³ So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.” ³⁴ Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” ³⁵ But that day Laban removed the he-goats that were striped and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in charge of his sons; ³⁶ and he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob; and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flock.

³⁷ Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods. ³⁸ He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the runnels, that is, the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, ³⁹ the flocks bred in front of the rods and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰ And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own droves apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding Jacob laid the rods in the runnels before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the rods, ⁴² but for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there; so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. ⁴³ Thus the man grew exceedingly rich, and had large flocks, maidservants and menservants, and camels and asses.

Jacob Flees with Family and Flocks

31 Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s; and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.” ² And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before. ³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.” ⁴ So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was, ⁵ and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You know that I have served your father with all my strength; ⁷ yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me. ⁸ If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. ⁹ Thus God has taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. ¹⁰ In the mating season of the flock I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream that the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled. ¹¹ Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’ ¹² And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that leap upon the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go forth from this land, and return to the land of your birth.’” ¹⁴ Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house? ¹⁵ Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us. ¹⁶ All the property which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children; now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”

¹⁷ So Jacob arose, and set his sons and his wives on camels; ¹⁸ and he drove away all his cattle, all his livestock which he had gained, the cattle in his possession which he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. ¹⁹ Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods. ²⁰ And Jacob outwitted Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. ²¹ He fled with all that he had, and arose and crossed the Euphra′tes, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

Laban Overtakes Jacob

²² When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, ²³ he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night, and said to him, “Take heed that you say not a word to Jacob, either good or bad.”

²⁵ And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen encamped in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁶ And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have cheated me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword? ²⁷ Why did you flee secretly, and cheat me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? ²⁸ And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly. ²⁹ It is in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Take heed that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’ ³⁰ And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” ³¹ Jacob answered Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. ³² Any one with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

³³ So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah’s tent, and entered Rachel’s. ³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat upon them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them. ³⁵ And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched, but did not find the household gods.

³⁶ Then Jacob became angry, and upbraided Laban; Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? ³⁷ Although you have felt through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. ³⁸ These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your she-goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. ³⁹ That which was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself; of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ⁴⁰ Thus I was; by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹ These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. ⁴² If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”

Laban and Jacob Make a Covenant

⁴³ Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne? ⁴⁴ Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I; and let it be a witness between you and me.” ⁴⁵ So Jacob took a stone, and set it up as a pillar. ⁴⁶ And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones,” and they took stones, and made a heap; and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷ Laban called it Je′gar-sahadu′tha:^[l] but Jacob called it Galeed.^{[m] 48} Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed, ⁴⁹ and the pillar^[n] Mizpah,^[o] for he said, “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are absent one from the other. ⁵⁰ If you ill-treat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, remember, God is witness between you and me.”

⁵¹ Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me. ⁵² This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. ⁵³ The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, ⁵⁴ and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called his kinsmen to eat bread; and they ate bread and tarried all night on the mountain.

^55 [p] Early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them; then he departed and returned home.

32 Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him; ² and when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s army!” So he called the name of that place Mahana′im.^[q]

Jacob Sends Presents to Appease Esau

³ And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Se′ir, the country of Edom, ⁴ instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; ⁵ and I have oxen, asses, flocks, menservants, and maidservants; and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’”

⁶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him.” ⁷ Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies, ⁸ thinking, “If Esau comes to the one company and destroys it, then the company which is left will escape.”

⁹ And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who didst say to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, and I will do you good,’ ¹⁰ I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness which thou hast shown to thy servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. ¹¹ Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and slay us all, the mothers with the children. ¹² But thou didst say, ‘I will do you good, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

¹³ So he lodged there that night, and took from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau, ¹⁴ two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten he-asses. ¹⁶ These he delivered into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on before me, and put a space between drove and drove.” ¹⁷ He instructed the foremost, “When Esau my brother meets you, and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these before you?’ ¹⁸ then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob; they are a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover he is behind us.’” ¹⁹ He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you meet him, ²⁰ and you shall say, ‘Moreover your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterwards I shall see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹ So the present passed on before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles at Peniel

²² The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. ²⁴ And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. ²⁵ When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” ²⁷ And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ Then he said, “Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel,^[r] for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” ²⁹ Then Jacob asked him, “Tell me, I pray, your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. ³⁰ So Jacob called the name of the place Peni′el,^[s] saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” ³¹ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penu′el, limping because of his thigh. ³² Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh on the sinew of the hip.

Jacob and Esau Meet

33 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids. ² And he put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. ³ He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴ But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. ⁵ And when Esau raised his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶ Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down; ⁷ Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. ⁸ Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.” ⁹ But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” ¹⁰ Jacob said, “No, I pray you, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God, with such favor have you received me. ¹¹ Accept, I pray you, my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go before you.” ¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the flocks and herds giving suck are a care to me; and if they are overdriven for one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴ Let my lord pass on before his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the cattle which are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Se′ir.”

¹⁵ So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the men who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.” ¹⁶ So Esau returned that day on his way to Se′ir. ¹⁷ But Jacob journeyed to Succoth,^[t] and built himself a house, and made booths for his cattle; therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

Jacob Reaches Shechem

¹⁸ And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram; and he camped before the city. ¹⁹ And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money^[u] the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. ²⁰ There he erected an altar and called it El-El′ohe-Israel.^[v]

The Rape of Dinah

34 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land; ² and when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humbled her. ³ And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob; he loved the maiden and spoke tenderly to her. ⁴ So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this maiden for my wife.” ⁵ Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with his cattle in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. ⁶ And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. ⁷ The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard of it; and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had wrought folly in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.

⁸ But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; I pray you, give her to him in marriage. ⁹ Make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰ You shall dwell with us; and the land shall be open to you; dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.” ¹¹ Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give. ¹² Ask of me ever so much as marriage present and gift, and I will give according as you say to me; only give me the maiden to be my wife.”

¹³ The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah. ¹⁴ They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us. ¹⁵ Only on this condition will we consent to you: that you will become as we are and every male of you be circumcised. ¹⁶ Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people. ¹⁷ But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.”

¹⁸ Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem. ¹⁹ And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his family. ²⁰ So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, ²¹ “These men are friendly with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them; let us take their daughters in marriage, and let us give them our daughters. ²² Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³ Will not their cattle, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.” ²⁴ And all who went out of the gate of his city hearkened to Hamor and his son Shechem; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

Dinah’s Brothers Avenge Their Sister

²⁵ On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came upon the city unawares, and killed all the males. ²⁶ They slew Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. ²⁷ And the sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled; ²⁸ they took their flocks and their herds, their asses, and whatever was in the city and in the field; ²⁹ all their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and made their prey. ³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Per′izzites; my numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.” ³¹ But they said, “Should he treat our sister as a harlot?”

Jacob Returns to Bethel

35 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there; and make there an altar to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ² So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments; ³ then let us arise and go up to Bethel, that I may make there an altar to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.” ⁴ So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.

⁵ And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were 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 and there he built an altar, and called the place El-bethel,^[w] because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother. ⁸ And Deb′orah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel; so the name of it was called Al′lon-bacuth.^[x]

⁹ God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. ¹⁰ And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So his name was called Israel. ¹¹ And God said to him, “I am God Almighty:^[y] be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you. ¹² The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.” ¹³ Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him. ¹⁴ And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it. ¹⁵ So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel.

The Birth of Benjamin and the Death of Rachel

¹⁶ Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor. ¹⁷ And when she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Fear not; for now you will have another son.” ¹⁸ And as her soul was departing (for she died), she called his name Ben-o′ni;^[z] but his father called his name Benjamin.^{[aa] 19} So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), ²⁰ and Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day. ²¹ Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

²² While Israel dwelt in that land Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. ²³ The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s first-born), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Is′sachar, and Zeb′ulun. ²⁴ The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naph′tali. ²⁶ The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

The Death of Isaac

²⁷ And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kir′iath-ar′ba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. ²⁸ Now the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years. ²⁹ And Isaac breathed his last; and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Esau’s Descendants

36 These are the descendants of Esau (that is, Edom). ² Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholiba′mah the daughter of Anah the son^[ab] of Zibeon the Hivite, ³ and Bas′emath, Ish′mael’s daughter, the sister of Neba′ioth. ⁴ And Adah bore to Esau, Eli′phaz; Bas′emath bore Reu′el; ⁵ and Oholiba′mah bore Je′ush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

⁶ Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his cattle, all his beasts, and all his property which he had acquired in the land of Canaan; and he went into a land away from his brother Jacob. ⁷ For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together; the land of their sojournings could not support them because of their cattle. ⁸ So Esau dwelt in the hill country of Se′ir; Esau is Edom.

⁹ These are the descendants of Esau the father of the E′domites in the hill country of Se′ir. ¹⁰ These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eli′phaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reu′el the son of Bas′emath the wife of Esau. ¹¹ The sons of Eli′phaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹² (Timna was a concubine of Eli′phaz, Esau’s son; she bore Am′alek to Eli′phaz.) These are the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. ¹³ These are the sons of Reu′el: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Bas′emath, Esau’s wife. ¹⁴ These are the sons of Oholiba′mah the daughter of Anah the son^[ac] of Zib′eon, Esau’s wife: she bore to Esau Je′ush, Jalam, and Korah.

Clans and Kings of Edom

¹⁵ These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eli′phaz the first-born of Esau: the chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, ¹⁶ Korah, Gatam, and Am′alek; these are the chiefs of Eli′phaz in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Adah. ¹⁷ These are the sons of Reu′el, Esau’s son: the chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the chiefs of Reu′el in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Bas′emath, Esau’s wife. ¹⁸ These are the sons of Oholiba′mah, Esau’s wife: the chiefs Je′ush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the chiefs born of Oholiba′mah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife. ¹⁹ These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

²⁰ These are the sons of Se′ir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zib′eon, Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Se′ir in the land of Edom. ²² The sons of Lotan were Hori and Heman; and Lotan’s sister was Timna. ²³ These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Man′ahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. ²⁴ These are the sons of Zib′eon: A′iah and Anah; he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he pastured the asses of Zib′eon his father. ²⁵ These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholiba′mah the daughter of Anah. ²⁶ These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. ²⁷ These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Za′avan, and Akan. ²⁸ These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. ²⁹ These are the chiefs of the Horites: the chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zib′eon, Anah, ³⁰ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the chiefs of the Horites, according to their clans in the land of Se′ir.

³¹ These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites. ³² Bela the son of Be′or reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Din′habah. ³³ Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead. ³⁴ Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Te′manites reigned in his stead. ³⁵ Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Mid′ian in the country of Moab, reigned in his stead, the name of his city being Avith. ³⁶ Hadad died, and Samlah of Masre′kah reigned in his stead. ³⁷ Samlah died, and Shaul of Reho′both on the Euphra′tes reigned in his stead. ³⁸ Shaul died, and Ba′al-ha′nan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead. ³⁹ Ba′al-ha′nan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead, the name of his city being Pau; his wife’s name was Mehet′abel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Me′zahab.

⁴⁰ These are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families and their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, ⁴¹ Oholiba′mah, Elah, Pinon, ⁴² Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁴³ Mag′diel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession.

Joseph Dreams of Greatness

37 Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan. ² This is the history of the family of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought an ill report of them to their father. ³ Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a long robe with sleeves. ⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

⁵ Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they only hated him the more. ⁶ He said to them, “Hear this dream which I have dreamed: ⁷ behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered round it, and bowed down to my sheaf.” ⁸ His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him yet more for his dreams and for his words. ⁹ Then he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰ But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” ¹¹ And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

Joseph Is Sold by His Brothers

¹² Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. ¹³ And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ¹⁴ So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers, and with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵ And a man found him wandering in the fields; and the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” ¹⁶ “I am seeking my brothers,” he said, “tell me, I pray you, where they are pasturing the flock.” ¹⁷ And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. ¹⁸ They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. ²⁰ Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild beast has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” ²¹ But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” ²² And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; cast him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. ²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; ²⁴ and they took him and cast him into a pit. The pit was empty, there was no water in it.

²⁵ Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ish′maelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶ Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, let us sell him to the Ish′maelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers heeded him. ²⁸ Then Mid′ianite traders passed by; and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ish′maelites for twenty shekels of silver; and they took Joseph to Egypt.

²⁹ When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he rent his clothes ³⁰ and returned to his brothers, and said, “The lad is gone; and I, where shall I go?” ³¹ Then they took Joseph’s robe, and killed a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood; ³² and they sent the long robe with sleeves and brought it to their father, and said, “This we have found; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not.” ³³ And he recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s robe; a wild beast has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” ³⁴ Then Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵ All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. ³⁶ Meanwhile the Mid′ianites had sold him in Egypt to Pot′i-phar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.

Judah and Tamar

38 It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ² There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; he married her and went in to her, ³ and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er. ⁴ Again she conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Onan. ⁵ Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. She^[ad] was in Chezib when she bore him. ⁶ And Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, and her name was Tamar. ⁷ But Er, Judah’s first-born, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.” ⁹ But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife he spilled the semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother. ¹⁰ And what he did was displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and he slew him also. ¹¹ Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

¹² In course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died; and when Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. ¹³ And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” ¹⁴ she put off her widow’s garments, and put on a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. ¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶ He went over to her at the road side, and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” ¹⁷ He answered, “I will send you a kid from the flock.” And she said, “Will you give me a pledge, till you send it?” ¹⁸ He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹ Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰ When Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, he could not find her. ²¹ And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the harlot^[ae] who was at Enaim by the wayside?” And they said, “No harlot^[af] has been here.” ²² So he returned to Judah, and said, “I have not found her; and also the men of the place said, ‘No harlot^[ag] has been here.’” ²³ And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, lest we be laughed at; you see, I sent this kid, and you could not find her.”

²⁴ About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; and moreover she is with child by harlotry.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” ²⁵ As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am with child.” And she said, “Mark, I pray you, whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” ²⁶ Then Judah acknowledged them and said, “She is more righteous than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not lie with her again.

²⁷ When the time of her delivery came, there were twins in her womb. ²⁸ And when she was in labor, one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a scarlet thread, saying, “This came out first.” ²⁹ But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out; and she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called Perez.^{[ah] 30} Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread upon his hand; and his name was called Zerah.

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39 Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Pot′i-phar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ish′maelites who had brought him down there. ² The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian, ³ and his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. ⁴ So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. ⁵ From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had, in house and field. ⁶ So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and having him he had no concern for anything but the food which he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. ⁷ And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and said, “Lie with me.” ⁸ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Lo, having me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand; ⁹ he is not greater in this house than I am; nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife; how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” ¹⁰ And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie with her or to be with her. ¹¹ But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, ¹² she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and got out of the house. ¹³ And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had fled out of the house, ¹⁴ she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to insult 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 lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment with me, and fled and got out of the house.” ¹⁶ Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, ¹⁷ and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; ¹⁸ but as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment with me, and fled out of the house.”

¹⁹ When his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. ²⁰ And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. ²¹ But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²² And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatever was done there, he was the doer of it; ²³ the keeper of the prison paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

The Dreams of Two Prisoners

40 Some time after this, the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt. ² And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker, ³ and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. ⁴ The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he waited on them; and they continued for some time in custody. ⁵ And one night they both dreamed—the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own meaning. ⁶ When Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them, they were troubled. ⁷ So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” ⁸ They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, I pray you.”

⁹ So the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, ¹⁰ and on the vine there were three branches; as soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”