The Daily Audio Bible

37 Forsooth Jacob dwelled in the land of Canaan, in which his father was a pilgrim; (And Jacob lived in the land of Canaan, where his father was a foreigner;)

² and these were the generations of him. Joseph when he was of sixteen years, yet a child, kept a flock with his brethren, and he was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, the wives of his father; and he accused his brethren at the father of the worst sin. (and this is the story of his descendants. Joseph, when he was seventeen years old, yet a boy, kept a flock with his brothers, and he was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and he accused his brothers of the worst sins to their father.)

³ Forsooth Israel loved Joseph above all his sons, for he had begotten him in his eld (age); and he made to Joseph a coat of many colours (and he made a coat of many colours for Joseph).

⁴ Forsooth his brethren saw that he was loved of the father more than all they, and they hated him, and might not speak anything peaceably to him. (And his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more than he loved any of them, and so they hated him, and would not say a kind word to him.)

⁵ And it befelled that he told to his brethren a sweven that he saw, which cause was the seed of more hatred. (And it befell that he told his brothers about a dream that he had, which was the reason, yea, the seed, of even more hatred.)

⁶ And Joseph said to his brethren, Hear ye the sweven which I saw,

⁷ I guessed that we bound together sheaves, or handfuls, [in the field,] and that as mine handful rose up, and stood (upright), and that your handfuls stood about, and worshipped mine handful. (I saw that we all bound up sheaves in the field, and when my sheaf rose up, and stood upright, all your sheaves stood around, and bowed before my sheaf.)

⁸ His brethren answered, Whether thou shalt be our king, either we shall be made subject to thy lordship? Therefore this cause of dreams and words ministered the nourishing of envy, and of hatred (And so these dreams and words were the reason that envy and hatred were nourished among them).

⁹ Also Joseph saw another sweven, which he told to his brethren, and said, I saw a dream that as the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars worshipped me. (And Joseph saw another dream, which he also told to his brothers, saying, I saw in a dream that the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars all bowed before me.)

¹⁰ And when he had told this dream to his father, and his brethren, his father blamed him, and said, What will this dream mean to itself that thou hast seen? Whether I, and thy mother, and thy brethren, shall worship thee on (the) earth? (And when he told this dream to his father, and his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said, What meaneth this dream that thou hast seen? Shall I, and thy mother, and thy brothers, all bow low to the ground before thee?)

¹¹ Therefore his brethren had envy to him. Forsooth the father beheld privily the thing, (And so his brothers envied him, but his father privately considered it all.)

¹² and when his brethren dwelled in Shechem, about [the] keeping of [the] flocks of their father, (And one day, when his brothers were tending their father’s flocks in Shechem,)

¹³ Israel said to Joseph, Thy brethren keep (the) sheep in Shechem (Thy brothers tend the sheep in Shechem); come thou, I shall send thee to them. And when Joseph answered, I am ready,

¹⁴ Israel said, Go thou, and see whether all things be wellsome with thy brethren, and (with) the sheep; and (then come back, and) tell thou to me what is done. (And so) He was sent from the valley of Hebron, and came into Shechem;

¹⁵ and a man found him erring in the field (and a man found him wandering in a field), and the man asked him, what he sought.

¹⁶ And he answered, I seek my brethren; show thou to me where they keep their flocks. (And he answered, I am looking for my brothers; tell thou to me where they tend their flocks.)

¹⁷ And the man said to him, They went away from this place; forsooth I heard them saying, Go we into Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸ And when they had seen him afar (off), before he nighed to them, they thought to slay him (they decided to kill him),

¹⁹ and they spake together, (and said,) Lo! the dreamer cometh,

²⁰ come ye, slay we him, and put we him into an eld cistern, and we shall say, A wild beast full wicked hath devoured him; and then it shall appear what his dreams profit to him. (come ye, let us kill him, yea, we shall put him into an old cistern, and we shall say, A wicked wild beast hath devoured him; and then we shall see what his dreams shall profit him.)

²¹ Soothly Reuben heard this, and endeavoured to deliver him from their hands, and said, Slay we not the life of him (and he said, Nay, we should not kill him),

²² neither shed we out his blood, but cast ye him into an eld cistern, which is in the wilderness, and (so) keep ye your hands guiltless. Forsooth he said this, desiring to deliver him from their hands, and to yield him (again) to his father.

²³ Therefore anon as Joseph came to his brethren, they despoiled him of his coat, (that went) down to the heel, and (was) of many colours, (And so when Joseph came to his brothers, at once they tore off the coat, that went down to his heels, and had many colours,)

²⁴ and they put him in[to] an eld cistern, that had no water.

²⁵ And (then) they sat (down) to eat bread; and (soon) they saw that (some) Ishmaelite waygoers came from Gilead, and that their camels bare sweet smelling spiceries, and resin, and stacte, into Egypt (to take to Egypt).

²⁶ Therefore Judah said to his brethren, What shall it profit to us, if we shall slay our brother, and shall hide his blood? (And so Judah said to his brothers, What shall it profit us, if we kill our brother, and then hide his blood?)

²⁷ It is better that he be sold to (the) Ishmaelites, and our hands be not defouled, for he is our brother and our flesh. His brethren assented to these words;

²⁸ and (so) when [the] merchants of Midian passed thereforth, they drew Joseph out of the cistern, and sold him to (the) Ishmaelites, for twenty pieces of silver; which led him into Egypt (and they took him down to Egypt).

²⁹ And Reuben turned again to the cistern, and found not the child; and he rent his clothes, (And when Reuben returned to the cistern, he did not find the boy; and he tore his clothes,)

³⁰ and he went to his brethren, and said, The child appeareth not, and whither shall I go? (and he went to his brothers, and said, The boy is gone, now what shall I do?)

³¹ Forsooth they took his coat, and dipped it in the blood of a kid, which they had slain;

³² and they sent men that bare it to their father, and said, We have found this coat; see thou, whether it is the coat of thy son, or nay. (and they brought it to their father, and said to him, We have found this coat; see thou, is it thy son’s coat, or not.)

³³ And when the(ir) father had known it (to be such), he said, It is the coat of my son; a wild beast full wicked hath eaten him (a wicked wild beast must hath eaten him); a beast hath devoured Joseph.

³⁴ And he rent his clothes, and he was clothed with an hair shirt, and bewailed his son in much time (and for a long time he bewailed his son).

³⁵ Soothly when his free children were gathered together, that they should appease the sorrow of their father, he would not take comfort; but said, I shall go down into hell, and shall bewail my son. And while Jacob continued in weeping, (And his children gathered together, to try to appease their father’s sorrow, but he would not take comfort from them; and he said, I shall go down into the grave/I shall go down to Sheol, bewailing my son. And while Jacob continued weeping,)

³⁶ (the) Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, (a) chaste and honest servant of Pharaoh [the gelding of Pharaoh], master of the chivalry. (the Midianites now in Egypt, sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s eunuchs, and the captain of the guard.)

38 In the same time, Judah went down from his brethren, and turned to a man of Adullam, Hirah by name; (At that time, Judah went forth from his brothers, and came to a man of Adullam, named Hirah;)

² and he saw there a daughter of a man of Canaan, Shuah by name. And when he had taken her to wife, he entered [in] to her (her slept with her),

³ and she conceived, and childed a son, and (he) called his name Er.

⁴ And again when another child was conceived, she named the child (that was) born, Onan.

⁵ And she childed the third son, whom she called Shelah, and when he was born, she ceased to bear child more (she ceased to bear any more children). (And she bare her third son, whom she called Shelah, when she was at Chezib.)

⁶ Soothly Judah gave a wife, that was called Tamar, to his first begotten son Er.

⁷ And Er, the first begotten son of Judah, was wayward in the sight of the Lord, and therefore he was slain of the Lord (and so the Lord killed him).

⁸ Therefore Judah said to Onan, his son, Enter thou [in] to the wife of thy brother, and be thou fellowshipped to her, that thou raise seed to thy brother. (And so Judah said to his son Onan, Sleep with thy brother’s wife, and be fellowshipped to her, and so raise thou up seed, or some sons, for thy brother.)

⁹ And he knew that sons should not be born to him; and he entered [in] to the wife of his brother, and shedded his seed into the earth, lest the free children should be born by the name of the dead brother; (But Onan knew that any sons who would be born would not be his; so he slept with his brother’s wife, but he poured out his seed onto the ground, so that no children would be born in the name of his dead brother;)

¹⁰ and therefore the Lord smote him (and so the Lord struck him down), for he did (an) abominable thing.

¹¹ Wherefore Judah said to Tamar, his son’s wife, Be thou a widow in the house of thy father, till Shelah my son waxed (until my son Shelah hath grown up); for he dreaded lest also he should die as his brethren (did). And (so) she went, and dwelled in the house of her father.

¹² Forsooth when many years were passed, the daughter of Shuah, Judah’s wife, died; and when comfort was taken after mourning, Judah went up to the shearers of his sheep (After many years had passed, Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shuah, died; and after mourning her, when comfort was taken, Judah went up to his sheep-shearers); (yea,) he and Hirah of Adullam, that was [the] keeper of the flock, went up into Timnath.

¹³ And it was told to Tamar, that her husband’s father went up into Timnath, to shear sheep.

¹⁴ And she did away the clothes of (her) widowhood, and she took a rochet cloth with many wrinkles, and when the clothing was changed, she sat in the way-lot that leadeth to Timnath; for Shelah had waxed, and she had not (yet) taken him into husband (for although Shelah was now a grown man, she had not been given to him for a wife).

¹⁵ And when Judah had seen her, he supposed her to be a whore; for she had covered her face, lest she was known.

¹⁶ And Judah entered to her, and said, Suffer me that I lie with thee (And Judah went over to her, and said, Let me lie with you); for he knew not that she was the wife of his son. And when she answered, What shalt thou give to me, that thou lie with me?

¹⁷ he said, I shall send to thee a kid of the flocks. And again when she said, I shall suffer that that thou wilt, if thou shalt give to me a wed, till thou send that that thou promisest. (he said, I shall send thee a goat kid from the flocks. And she said, I shall give thee what thou desirest, if thou shalt give me a pledge, until thou send what thou hast promised.)

¹⁸ Judah said, What wilt thou that be given to thee for a wed? She answered, Thy ring, and thy band of the arm, and the staff which thou holdest in thine hand. Therefore the woman conceived at one lying-by, (Judah said, What desirest thou to be given to thee for a pledge? She answered, Thy ring, and thy arm band, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand. And so he gave them to her, and lay with her, and the woman conceived in one lying-by,)

¹⁹ and she rose (up), and went [away]; and when the cloth was put away which she had taken, she was clothed (once again) in the clothes of widowhood.

²⁰ Forsooth Judah sent a kid by his shepherd of Adullam, that he should receive the wed which he had given to the woman; and when he had not found her, (And Judah sent a goat kid by his shepherd from Adullam, so that he could receive back the pledge which he had given to the woman; and when Hirah could not find her,)

²¹ he asked men of that place, Where is the woman that sat in the way-lot? And when all (the) men answered, A whore was not in this place;

²² he turned again to Judah, and said to him, I found not her, but also the men of that place said to me, that a whore sat never there. (Hirah returned to Judah, and said to him, I could not find her, and the men of that place told me, that a whore never sat there.)

²³ Judah said, Have she (those things) to herself, that we be not despised, certainly she may not reprove us of a leasing; I sent the kid which I promised, and thou foundest not her. (And Judah said, Let her have those things for herself, so that we be not despised, certainly she cannot rebuke us for lying; I sent the goat kid which I promised, but thou could not find her.)

²⁴ Lo! soothly after three months they told to Judah, and said, Tamar, thy son’s wife, hath done fornication, and her womb seemeth to wax great. Judah said, Bring her forth, (so) that she (can) be burnt(!).

²⁵ And when she was led (out) to her pain, she sent to her husband’s father, and said, I have conceived of the man, whose these things be; know thou whose is the ring, and the band of the arm, and the staff? (And when she was led out to her punishment, she sent to her husband’s father, and said, I have conceived by the man whose these things be; know thou whose ring, and arm band, and staff these be?)

²⁶ And when the gifts were known, Judah said, She is more just than I, for I gave not her to Shelah, my son; nevertheless Judah knew her no more fleshly. (And when the gifts were seen, Judah said, She is more in the right than I am, for I did not give her to my son Shelah; but Judah did not know her fleshly any more.)

²⁷ Soothly when the childbearing nighed, two children appeared in the womb,

²⁸ and in that birth of the children, one put forth the hand, in which hand the midwife bound a red thread, and said, This shall go out before. (and during the birth of the children, one put out his hand, and the midwife tied a red thread on his wrist, and said, This one shall go out first.)

²⁹ Soothly while he withdrew the hand, the tother went out, and the woman said, Why, was the skin in which the child lay in the womb parted for thee? And for this cause she called his name Pharez. (But then he withdrew his hand, and the other one came out first, and the woman said to him, Was the skin in which the children lay in the womb, broken for thee to come out first? And for this reason she named him Perez, that is, Breaking out.)

³⁰ Afterward his brother went out, in whose hand was the red thread, whom she called Zarah. (And afterward his brother came out, with the red thread tied about his wrist, and she called him Zarah, that is, Redness.)

²² Then a man blind and dumb, that had a fiend [having a devil], was brought to him; and he healed him, so that he spake, and saw.

²³ And all the people wondered, and said, Whether this be the son of David?

²⁴ But the Pharisees heard, and said, He this casteth not out fiends, but in Beelzebub, prince of fiends^[a].

²⁵ And Jesus, witting their thoughts, said to them, Each kingdom parted against itself, shall be desolated [shall be desolate], and each city, or house, parted against itself, shall not stand.

²⁶ And if Satan casteth out Satan [And if Satan cast out Satan], he is parted against himself; therefore how shall his kingdom stand?

²⁷ And if I in Beelzebub cast out devils, in whom your sons cast out? Therefore they shall be your doomsmen.

²⁸ But if I in the Spirit of God cast out fiends, then the kingdom of God is come into you.

²⁹ Either how may any man enter into the house of a strong man, and take away his vessels, but he first bind the strong man, and then he shall spoil his house?

³⁰ He that is not with me, is against me; and he that gathereth not together with me, scattereth abroad.

³¹ Therefore I say to you, all sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men, but [the] blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven.

³² And whoever saith a word against man's Son, it shall be forgiven to him; but who that saith a word against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven to him, neither in this world, nor in the tother.

³³ Either make ye the tree good, and his fruit good; either make ye the tree evil and his fruit evil [or make ye the tree evil, and his fruit evil]; for a tree is known of his fruit.

³⁴ Ye generation of adders, how be ye able to speak good things, when ye be evil? For the mouth speaketh of the plenty of the heart. [Ye generation of adders, how may ye speak good things, when ye be evil? Soothly the mouth speaketh of the great abundance of the heart.]

³⁵ A good man bringeth forth good things of good treasure, and an evil man bringeth forth evil things of evil treasure.

³⁶ And I say to you, that of every idle word, that men speak, they shall yield reason thereof in the day of doom;

³⁷ for of thy words thou shalt be justified, and of thy words thou shalt be condemned.

³⁸ Then some of the scribes and the Pharisees answered to him, and said, Master, we will see a token of thee. [Then some of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered to him, saying, Master, we would see a token of thee.]

³⁹ Which answered, and said to them, An evil kindred and a spouse-breaker seeketh a token [An evil generation and adulterous seeketh a token], and a token shall not be given to it, but the token of Jonas, the prophet.

⁴⁰ For as Jonas was in the womb of a whale three days and three nights, so man's Son shall be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.

⁴¹ Men of Nineveh shall rise in doom with this generation, and shall condemn it; for they did penance in the preaching of Jonas, and lo! here [is] a greater than Jonas.

⁴² The queen of the south shall rise in doom with this generation, and shall condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and lo! here [is] a greater than Solomon.

⁴³ When an unclean spirit goeth out from a man, he goeth by dry places, seeking rest, and findeth not.^[b]

⁴⁴ Then he saith, I shall turn again into mine house, from whence I went out [Then he saith, I shall turn again into my house, from whence I came out]. And he cometh, and findeth it void, and cleansed with besoms, and made fair.

⁴⁵ Then he goeth, and taketh with him seven other spirits worse than himself; and they enter [in], and dwell there. And the last things of that man be made worse than the former. So it shall be [and] to this worst generation.

16 Of the meek and simple, the psalm of David. Lord, keep thou me, for I have hoped in thee; (To the humble and the innocent, the song of David. Lord, keep thou me safe, for I put my trust in thee;)

² I said to the Lord, Thou art my God; for thou hast no need of my goods. (I said to the Lord, Thou art my God; and every good thing that I have, cometh from thee.)

³ To the saints that be in the land of him; he made wonderful all my wills in them. (To the wonderful saints of him who be in the land; in whom be all my delight.)

⁴ The sicknesses of them be multiplied; afterward they hasted. I shall not gather together the conventicles, either little covents/or small covents, of them of bloods; and I shall not be mindful of their names by my lips. (May the sicknesses of those who hasten after other gods, be multiplied. I shall not offer their blood offerings; and I shall not remember, or speak, their names with my lips.)

⁵ The Lord is [the] part of mine heritage, and of my passion; thou art, that shall restore mine heritage to me. (The Lord is the portion of my inheritance, and of my cup; thou art he, who shall restore my inheritance to me.)

⁶ Cords felled to me in full clear things; for mine heritage is full clear to me. (The cords, or the boundary-lines, fell to me in pleasant places; I am well content with my inheritance.)

⁷ I shall bless the Lord, that hath given understanding to me; furthermore and my reins have blamed me unto the night. (I shall bless the Lord, who hath given me understanding; and furthermore my innards have taught me, that is, my conscience hath taught me, in the night.)

⁸ I saw before (me) ever[more] the Lord in my sight; for he is at the right half to me, that I be not moved. (I see the Lord before me forevermore; for he is at my right hand, and I shall not be moved/and I cannot be shaken.)

⁹ For this thing mine heart was glad, and my tongue joyed fully; furthermore and my flesh shall rest in hope. (For this thing my heart was glad, and my tongue full out joyed, or rejoiced; and furthermore, my flesh shall rest with trust, or with confidence.)

¹⁰ For thou shalt not leave my soul in hell; neither thou shalt give thine holy (man) to see corruption. (For thou shalt not leave my soul in Sheol, or the land of the dead; nor shalt thou allow thy holy man to see corruption, or decay.)

¹¹ Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt [full-]fill me with gladness with thy cheer; delightings be in thy right half unto the end. (Thou hast made known to me the way of life; thou shalt fill me full of gladness when I go before thee; delights be at thy right hand forever.)

²⁷ Do not thou forbid to do well him that may; if thou mayest, also do thou well. (Do not thou forbid anyone to do good who can; and if thou be able, thou do good as well.)

²⁸ Say thou not to thy friend, Go, and turn again, and tomorrow I shall give to thee; when thou mayest give anon. (Say thou not to thy friend, Go away, and return tomorrow, and then I shall give you what you need; when thou can give it to him at once.)

²⁹ Imagine thou not evil to thy friend (Imagine thou not evil against thy friend), when he hath trust in thee.

³⁰ Strive thou not against a man without cause, when he doeth none evil to thee. (Do not thou argue with someone for no reason, when he hath done nothing wrong to thee.)

³¹ Follow thou not an unjust man (Do not thou follow a law-breaker), follow thou not his ways.

³² For each deceiver is (an) abomination to the Lord; and his speaking is with simple men (and the Lord speaketh to those who be honest, or have integrity).