Chapter 2 - Genisis 26-45 chapters

Chapter 26

[26:1] Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines.

[26:2] The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; settle in the land that I shall show you.

[26:3] Reside in this land as an alien, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.

[26:4] I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and will give to your offspring all these lands; and all the nations of the earth shall gain blessing for themselves through your offspring,

[26:5] because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."

[26:6] So Isaac settled in Gerar.

[26:7] When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister"; for he was afraid to say, "My wife," thinking, "or else the men of the place might kill me for the sake of Rebekah, because she is attractive in appearance."

[26:8] When Isaac had been there a long time, King Abimelech of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw him fondling his wife Rebekah.

[26:9] So Abimelech called for Isaac, and said, "So she is your wife! Why then did you say, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac said to him, "Because I thought I might die because of her."

[26:10] Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us."

[26:11] So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, "Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death."

[26:12] Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in the same year reaped a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him,

[26:13] and the man became rich; he prospered more and more until he became very wealthy.

[26:14] He had possessions of flocks and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him.

[26:15] (Now the Philistines had stopped up and filled with earth all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.)

[26:16] And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us; you have become too powerful for us."

[26:17] So Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar and settled there.

[26:18] Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham; for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names that his father had given them.

[26:19] But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water,

[26:20] the herders of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herders, saying, "The water is ours." So he called the well Esek, because they contended with him.

[26:21] Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also; so he called it Sitnah.

[26:22] He moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he called it Rehoboth, saying, "Now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."

[26:23] From there he went up to Beer-sheba.

[26:24] And that very night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you and make your offspring numerous for my servant Abraham's sake."

[26:25] So he built an altar there, called on the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.

[26:26] Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.

[26:27] Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?"

[26:28] They said, "We see plainly that the LORD has been with you; so we say, let there be an oath between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you

[26:29] so that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD."

[26:30] So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

[26:31] In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths; and Isaac set them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.

[26:32] That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water!"

[26:33] He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beer- sheba to this day.

[26:34] When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite;

[26:35] and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

Chapter 27

[27:1] When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called his elder son Esau and said to him, "My son"; and he answered, "Here I am."

[27:2] He said, "See, I am old; I do not know the day of my death.

[27:3] Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me.

[27:4] Then prepare for me savory food, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die."

[27:5] Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it,

[27:6] Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "I heard your father say to your brother Esau,

[27:7] 'Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food to eat, that I may bless you before the LORD before I die.'

[27:8] Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you.

[27:9] Go to the flock, and get me two choice kids, so that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he likes;

[27:10] and you shall take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies."

[27:11] But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, "Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin.

[27:12] Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him, and bring a curse on myself and not a blessing."

[27:13] His mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my word, and go, get them for me."

[27:14] So he went and got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved.

[27:15] Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob;

[27:16] and she put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

[27:17] Then she handed the savory food, and the bread that she had prepared, to her son Jacob.

[27:18] So he went in to his father, and said, "My father"; and he said, "Here I am; who are you, my son?"

[27:19] Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me."

[27:20] But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "Because the LORD your God granted me success."

[27:21] Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not."

[27:22] So Jacob went up to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau."

[27:23] He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him.

[27:24] He said, "Are you really my son Esau?" He answered, "I am."

[27:25] Then he said, "Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son's game and bless you." So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

[27:26] Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come near and kiss me, my son."

[27:27] So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said, "Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.

[27:28] May God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.

[27:29] Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!"

[27:30] As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau came in from his hunting.

[27:31] He also prepared savory food, and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, "Let my father sit up and eat of his son's game, so that you may bless me."

[27:32] His father Isaac said to him, "Who are you?" He answered, "I am your firstborn son, Esau."

[27:33] Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? - yes, and blessed he shall be!"

[27:34] When Esau heard his father's words, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, me also, father!"

[27:35] But he said, "Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing."

[27:36] Esau said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright; and look, now he has taken away my blessing." Then he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"

[27:37] Isaac answered Esau, "I have already made him your lord, and I have given him all his brothers as servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?"

[27:38] Esau said to his father, "Have you only one blessing, father? Bless me, me also, father!" And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

[27:39] Then his father Isaac answered him: "See, away from the fatness of the earth shall your home be, and away from the dew of heaven on high.

[27:40] By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you break loose, you shall break his yoke from your neck."

[27:41] Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob."

[27:42] But the words of her elder son Esau were told to Rebekah; so she sent and called her younger son Jacob and said to him, "Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you.

[27:43] Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran,

[27:44] and stay with him a while, until your brother's fury turns away -

[27:45] until your brother's anger against you turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send, and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?"

[27:46] Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?"

Chapter 28

[28:1] Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, "You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women.

[28:2] Go at once to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father; and take as wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.

[28:3] May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and numerous, that you may become a company of peoples.

[28:4] May he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien-land that God gave to Abraham."

[28:5] Thus Isaac sent Jacob away; and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

[28:6] Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he charged him, "You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women,"

[28:7] and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram.

[28:8] So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please his father Isaac,

[28:9] Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael, and sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

[28:10] Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran.

[28:11] He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place.

[28:12] And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

[28:13] And the LORD stood beside him and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring;

[28:14] and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring.

[28:15] Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

[28:16] Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place - and I did not know it!"

[28:17] And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

[28:18] So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.

[28:19] He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

[28:20] 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,

[28:21] so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God,

[28:22] and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you."

Chapter 29

[29:1] Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the people of the east.

[29:2] As he looked, he saw a well in the field and three flocks of sheep lying there beside it; for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well's mouth was large,

[29:3] 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 on the mouth of the well.

[29:4] Jacob said to them, "My brothers, where do you come from?" They said, "We are from Haran."

[29:5] He said to them, "Do you know Laban son of Nahor?" They said, "We do."

[29:6] He said to them, "Is it well with him?" "Yes," they replied, "and here is his daughter Rachel, coming with the sheep."

[29:7] He said, "Look, it is still broad daylight; it is not time for the animals to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them."

[29:8] 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."

[29:9] While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep; for she kept them.

[29:10] Now when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother's brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother's brother Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of his mother's brother Laban.

[29:11] Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and wept aloud.

[29:12] 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.

[29:13] When Laban heard the news about his sister's son Jacob, he ran to meet him; he embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things,

[29:14] and Laban said to him, "Surely you are my bone and my flesh!" And he stayed with him a month.

[29:15] Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?"

[29:16] Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

[29:17] Leah's eyes were lovely, and Rachel was graceful and beautiful.

[29:18] Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, "I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel."

[29:19] Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me."

[29:20] So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

[29:21] Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed."

[29:22] So Laban gathered together all the people of the place, and made a feast.

[29:23] But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her.

[29:24] (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.)

[29:25] When morning came, 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?"

[29:26] Laban said, "This is not done in our country - giving the younger before the firstborn.

[29:27] Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years."

[29:28] Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife.

[29:29] (Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maid.)

[29:30] So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. He served Laban for another seven years.

[29:31] When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.

[29:32] Leah conceived and bore a son, and she named him Reuben; for she said, "Because the LORD has looked on my affliction; surely now my husband will love me."

[29:33] She conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also"; and she named him Simeon.

[29:34] Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, "Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons"; therefore he was named Levi.

[29:35] She conceived again and bore a son, and said, "This time I will praise the LORD"; therefore she named him Judah; then she ceased bearing.

Chapter 30

[30:1] 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!"

[30:2] Jacob became very angry with Rachel and said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"

[30:3] Then she said, "Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees and that I too may have children through her."

[30:4] So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife; and Jacob went in to her.

[30:5] And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.

[30:6] Then Rachel said, "God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son"; therefore she named him Dan.

[30:7] Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

[30:8] Then Rachel said, "With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed"; so she named him Naphtali.

[30:9] When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.

[30:10] Then Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

[30:11] And Leah said, "Good fortune!" so she named him Gad.

[30:12] Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.

[30:13] And Leah said, "Happy am I! For the women will call me happy"; so she named him Asher.

[30:14] 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, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."

[30:15] 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."

[30:16] 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.

[30:17] And God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.

[30:18] Leah said, "God has given me my hire because I gave my maid to my husband"; so she named him Issachar.

[30:19] And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son.

[30:20] Then Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good dowry; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons"; so she named him Zebulun.

[30:21] Afterwards she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.

[30:22] Then God remembered Rachel, and God heeded her and opened her womb.

[30:23] She conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach";

[30:24] and she named him Joseph, saying, "May the LORD add to me another son!"

[30:25] When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.

[30:26] Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know very well the service I have given you."

[30:27] 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;

[30:28] name your wages, and I will give it."

[30:29] Jacob said to him, "You yourself know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me.

[30:30] 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?"

[30:31] 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:

[30:32] 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.

[30:33] 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."

[30:34] Laban said, "Good! Let it be as you have said."

[30:35] But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female 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;

[30:36] and he set a distance of three days' journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was pasturing the rest of Laban's flock.

[30:37] Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods.

[30:38] He set the rods that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink,

[30:39] the flocks bred in front of the rods, and so the flocks produced young that were striped, speckled, and spotted.

[30:40] Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and the completely black animals in the flock of Laban; and he put his own droves apart, and did not put them with Laban's flock.

[30:41] Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob laid the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the rods,

[30:42] but for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there; so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's.

[30:43] Thus the man grew exceedingly rich, and had large flocks, and male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys.

Chapter 31

[31:1] Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, "Jacob has taken all that was our father's; he has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father."

[31:2] And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him as favorably as he did before.

[31:3] Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your ancestors and to your kindred, and I will be with you."

[31:4] So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was,

[31:5] and said to them, "I see that your father does not regard me as favorably as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me.

[31:6] You know that I have served your father with all my strength;

[31:7] yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me.

[31:8] If he said, 'The speckled shall be your wages,' then all the flock bore speckled; and if he said, 'The striped shall be your wages, ' then all the flock bore striped.

[31:9] Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father, and given them to me.

[31:10] During the mating of the flock I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats that leaped upon the flock were striped, speckled, and mottled.

[31:11] Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am!'

[31:12] And he said, 'Look up and see that all the goats that leap on the flock are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.

[31:13] I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and return to the land of your birth.'"

[31:14] Then Rachel and Leah answered him, "Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father's house?

[31:15] Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us.

[31:16] All the property that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you."

[31:17] So Jacob arose, and set his children and his wives on camels;

[31:18] and he drove away all his livestock, all the property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

[31:19] Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father's household gods.

[31:20] And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee.

[31:21] So he fled with all that he had; starting out he crossed the Euphrates, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

[31:22] On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled.

[31:23] So he took his kinsfolk with him and pursued him for seven days until he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.

[31:24] 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."

[31:25] Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsfolk camped in the hill country of Gilead.

[31:26] Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done? You have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword.

[31:27] Why did you flee secretly and deceive me and not tell me? I would have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre.

[31:28] And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? What you have done is foolish.

[31:29] 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.'

[31:30] Even though you had to go because you longed greatly for your father's house, why did you steal my gods?"

[31:31] Jacob answered Laban, "Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force.

[31:32] But anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsfolk, point out what I have that is yours, and take it." Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.

[31:33] So Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah's tent, and entered Rachel's.

[31:34] Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel's saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt all about in the tent, but did not find them.

[31:35] 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.

[31:36] 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?

[31:37] Although you have felt about through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsfolk and your kinsfolk, so that they may decide between us two.

[31:38] These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks.

[31:39] 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.

[31:40] It was like this with me: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.

[31:41] 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.

[31:42] 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."

[31:43] 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 today about these daughters of mine, or about their children whom they have borne?

[31:44] Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I; and let it be a witness between you and me."

[31:45] So Jacob took a stone, and set it up as a pillar.

[31:46] And Jacob said to his kinsfolk, "Gather stones," and they took stones, and made a heap; and they ate there by the heap.

[31:47] Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.

[31:48] Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." Therefore he called it Galeed,

[31:49] and the pillar Mizpah, for he said, "The LORD watch between you and me, when we are absent one from the other.

[31:50] If you ill-treat my daughters, or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, though no one else is with us, remember that God is witness between you and me."

[31:51] Then Laban said to Jacob, "See this heap and see the pillar, which I have set between you and me.

[31:52] This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.

[31:53] May 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,

[31:54] and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the height and called his kinsfolk to eat bread; and they ate bread and tarried all night in the hill country.

[31:55] Early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them; then he departed and returned home.

Chapter 32

[32:1] Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him;

[32:2] and when Jacob saw them he said, "This is God's camp!" So he called that place Mahanaim.

[32:3] Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom,

[32:4] instructing them, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, 'I have lived with Laban as an alien, and stayed until now;

[32:5] and I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves; and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.'"

[32:6] The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him."

[32:7] 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,

[32:8] thinking, "If Esau comes to the one company and destroys it, then the company that is left will escape."

[32:9] And Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who said to me, 'Return to your country and to your kindred, and I will do you good,'

[32:10] I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.

[32:11] Deliver me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him; he may come and kill us all, the mothers with the children.

[32:12] Yet you have said, 'I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because of their number.'"

[32:13] So he spent that night there, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau,

[32:14] two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

[32:15] thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

[32:16] These he delivered into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on ahead of me, and put a space between drove and drove."

[32:17] 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 ahead of you?'

[32:18] 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.'"

[32:19] 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,

[32:20] and you shall say, 'Moreover your servant Jacob is behind us.'" For he thought, "I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterwards I shall see his face; perhaps he will accept me."

[32:21] So the present passed on ahead of him; and he himself spent that night in the camp.

[32:22] The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

[32:23] He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.

[32:24] Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

[32:25] When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.

[32:26] Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me."

[32:27] So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob."

[32:28] Then the man said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed."

[32:29] Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him.

[32:30] So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved."

[32:31] The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

[32:32] Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket, because he struck Jacob on the hip socket at the thigh muscle.

Chapter 33

[33:1] Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids.

[33:2] He put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all.

[33:3] He himself went on ahead of them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother.

[33:4] But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.

[33:5] When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he said, "Who are these with you?" Jacob said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant."

[33:6] Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down;

[33:7] Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and finally Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down.

[33:8] Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company that I met?" Jacob answered, "To find favor with my lord."

[33:9] But Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself."

[33:10] Jacob said, "No, please; if I find favor with you, then accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God - since you have received me with such favor.

[33:11] Please accept my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have everything I want." So he urged him, and he took it.

[33:12] Then Esau said, "Let us journey on our way, and I will go alongside you."

[33:13] But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds, which are nursing, are a care to me; and if they are overdriven for one day, all the flocks will die.

[33:14] Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir. "

[33:15] So Esau said, "Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me." But he said, "Why should my lord be so kind to me?"

[33:16] So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.

[33:17] But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house, and made booths for his cattle; therefore the place is called Succoth.

[33:18] 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.

[33:19] And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, he bought for one hundred pieces of money the plot of land on which he had pitched his tent.

[33:20] There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

Chapter 34

[34:1] Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the region.

[34:2] When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the region, saw her, he seized her and lay with her by force.

[34:3] And his soul was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the girl, and spoke tenderly to her.

[34:4] So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, "Get me this girl to be my wife."

[34:5] Now Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with his cattle in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came.

[34:6] And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him,

[34:7] just as the sons of Jacob came in from the field. When they heard of it, the men were indignant and very angry, because he had committed an outrage in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.

[34:8] But Hamor spoke with them, saying, "The heart of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him in marriage.

[34:9] Make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.

[34:10] You shall live with us; and the land shall be open to you; live and trade in it, and get property in it."

[34:11] Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor with you, and whatever you say to me I will give.

[34:12] Put the marriage present and gift as high as you like, and I will give whatever you ask me; only give me the girl to be my wife."

[34:13] The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah.

[34:14] 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.

[34:15] Only on this condition will we consent to you: that you will become as we are and every male among you be circumcised.

[34:16] Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people.

[34:17] But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone."

[34:18] Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor's son Shechem.

[34:19] And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his family.

[34:20] So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying,

[34:21] "These people are friendly with us; let them live in the land and trade in it, for the land is large enough for them; let us take their daughters in marriage, and let us give them our daughters.

[34:22] Only on this condition will they agree to live among us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised.

[34:23] Will not their livestock, their property, and all their animals be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will live among us."

[34:24] And all who went out of the city gate heeded Hamor and his son Shechem; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

[34:25] On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city unawares, and killed all the males.

[34:26] They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away.

[34:27] And the other sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled.

[34:28] They took their flocks and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field.

[34:29] All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and made their prey.

[34:30] 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 Perizzites; my numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household."

[34:31] But they said, "Should our sister be treated like a whore?"

Chapter 35

[35:1] God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Make an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."

[35:2] 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 clothes;

[35:3] then come, let us go up to Bethel, that I may make an altar there to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone."

[35:4] 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 that was near Shechem.

[35:5] As they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities all around them, so that no one pursued them.

[35:6] Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him,

[35:7] and there he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.

[35:8] And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel. So it was called Allon-bacuth.

[35:9] God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him.

[35:10] God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; no longer shall you be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." So he was called Israel.

[35:11] God said to him, "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you.

[35:12] The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you."

[35:13] Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him.

[35:14] 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.

[35:15] So Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

[35:16] Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor.

[35:17] When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, "Do not be afraid; for now you will have another son."

[35:18] As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

[35:19] So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem),

[35:20] and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day.

[35:21] Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

[35:22] While Israel lived 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.

[35:23] The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

[35:24] The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

[35:25] The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maid: Dan and Naphtali.

[35:26] The sons of Zilpah, Leah's maid: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

[35:27] Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had resided as aliens.

[35:28] Now the days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years.

[35:29] And Isaac breathed his last; he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Chapter 36

[36:1] These are the descendants of Esau (that is, Edom).

[36:2] Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah daughter of Anah son of Zibeon the Hivite,

[36:3] and Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebaioth.

[36:4] Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau; Basemath bore Reuel;

[36:5] and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

[36:6] Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his cattle, all his livestock, and all the property he had acquired in the land of Canaan; and he moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob.

[36:7] For their possessions were too great for them to live together; the land where they were staying could not support them because of their livestock.

[36:8] So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.

[36:9] These are the descendants of Esau, ancestor of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir.

[36:10] These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz son of Adah the wife of Esau; Reuel, the son of Esau's wife Basemath.

[36:11] The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

[36:12] (Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son; she bore Amalek to Eliphaz.) These were the sons of Adah, Esau's wife.

[36:13] These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Esau's wife, Basemath.

[36:14] These were the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah son of Zibeon: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

[36:15] These are the clans of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: the clans Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,

[36:16] Korah, Gatam, and Amalek; these are the clans of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Adah.

[36:17] These are the sons of Esau's son Reuel: the clans Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these are the clans of Reuel in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Esau's wife Basemath.

[36:18] These are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah: the clans Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the clans born of Esau's wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

[36:19] These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their clans.

[36:20] These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

[36:21] Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the clans of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom.

[36:22] The sons of Lotan were Hori and Heman; and Lotan's sister was Timna.

[36:23] These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

[36:24] These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; he is the Anah who found the springs in the wilderness, as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon.

[36:25] These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

[36:26] These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.

[36:27] These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

[36:28] These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

[36:29] These are the clans of the Horites: the clans Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

[36:30] Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan; these are the clans of the Horites, clan by clan in the land of Seir.

[36:31] These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites.

[36:32] Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah.

[36:33] Bela died, and Jobab son of Zerah of Bozrah succeeded him as king.

[36:34] Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king.

[36:35] Husham died, and Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king, the name of his city being Avith.

[36:36] Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah succeeded him as king.

[36:37] Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates succeeded him as king.

[36:38] Shaul died, and Baal-hanan son of Achbor succeeded him as king.

[36:39] Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, and Hadar succeeded him as king, the name of his city being Pau; his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Me-zahab.

[36:40] These are the names of the clans of Esau, according to their families and their localities by their names: the clans Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,

[36:41] Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,

[36:42] Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,

[36:43] Magdiel, and Iram; these are the clans of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their settlements in the land that they held.

Chapter 37

[37:1] Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan.

[37:2] This is the story of the family of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.

[37:3] Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he had made him a long robe with sleeves.

[37:4] 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.

[37:5] Once Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

[37:6] He said to them, "Listen to this dream that I dreamed.

[37:7] There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright; then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf."

[37:8] His brothers said to him, "Are you indeed to reign over us? Are you indeed to have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.

[37:9] He had another dream, and told it to his brothers, saying, "Look, I have had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me."

[37:10] But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him, and said to him, "What kind of dream is this that you have had? Shall we indeed come, I and your mother and your brothers, and bow to the ground before you?"

[37:11] So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

[37:12] Now his brothers went to pasture their father's flock near Shechem.

[37:13] And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." He answered, "Here I am."

[37:14] So he said to him, "Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me." So he sent him from the valley of Hebron. He came to Shechem,

[37:15] and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, "What are you seeking?"

[37:16] "I am seeking my brothers," he said; "tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock."

[37:17] 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.

[37:18] They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him.

[37:19] They said to one another, "Here comes this dreamer.

[37:20] Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams."

[37:21] But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, "Let us not take his life."

[37:22] Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him"- that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father.

[37:23] So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore;

[37:24] and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

[37:25] Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt.

[37:26] Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

[37:27] Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers agreed.

[37:28] When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

[37:29] When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes.

[37:30] He returned to his brothers, and said, "The boy is gone; and I, where can I turn?"

[37:31] Then they took Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood.

[37:32] They had the long robe with sleeves taken to their father, and they said, "This we have found; see now whether it is your son's robe or not."

[37:33] He recognized it, and said, "It is my son's robe! A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces."

[37:34] Then Jacob tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

[37:35] All his sons and all his daughters sought 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 bewailed him.

[37:36] Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.

Chapter 38

[38:1] It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and settled near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah.

[38:2] There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; he married her and went in to her.

[38:3] She conceived and bore a son; and he named him Er.

[38:4] Again she conceived and bore a son whom she named Onan.

[38:5] Yet again she bore a son, and she named him Shelah. She was in Chezib when she bore him.

[38:6] Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar.

[38:7] But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD put him to death.

[38:8] Then Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her; raise up offspring for your brother."

[38:9] But since Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, he spilled his semen on the ground whenever he went in to his brother's wife, so that he would not give offspring to his brother.

[38:10] What he did was displeasing in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death also.

[38:11] 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 feared that he too would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went to live in her father's house.

[38:12] In course of time the wife of Judah, Shua's daughter, died; when Judah's time of mourning was over, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

[38:13] When Tamar was told, "Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,"

[38:14] she put off her widow's garments, put on a veil, wrapped herself up, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. She saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had not been given to him in marriage.

[38:15] When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a prostitute, for she had covered her face.

[38:16] 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?"

[38:17] He answered, "I will send you a kid from the flock." And she said, "Only if you give me a pledge, until you send it."

[38:18] He said, "What pledge shall I give you?" She replied, "Your signet and your cord, and the staff that is in your hand." So he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

[38:19] Then she got up and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

[38:20] When Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to recover the pledge from the woman, he could not find her.

[38:21] He asked the townspeople, "Where is the temple prostitute who was at Enaim by the wayside?" But they said, "No prostitute has been here."

[38:22] So he returned to Judah, and said, "I have not found her; moreover the townspeople said, 'No prostitute has been here.'"

[38:23] Judah replied, "Let her keep the things as her own, otherwise we will be laughed at; you see, I sent this kid, and you could not find her."

[38:24] About three months later Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the whore; moreover she is pregnant as a result of whoredom." And Judah said, "Bring her out, and let her be burned."

[38:25] As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in- law, "It was the owner of these who made me pregnant." And she said, "Take note, please, whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff."

[38:26] Then Judah acknowledged them and said, "She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah." And he did not lie with her again.

[38:27] When the time of her delivery came, there were twins in her womb.

[38:28] While she was in labor, one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a crimson thread, saying, "This one came out first."

[38:29] But just then he drew back his hand, and out came his brother; and she said, "What a breach you have made for yourself!" Therefore he was named Perez.

[38:30] Afterward his brother came out with the crimson thread on his hand; and he was named Zerah.

Chapter 39

[39:1] Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.

[39:2] The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master.

[39:3] His master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hands.

[39:4] So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.

[39:5] 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 on all that he had, in house and field.

[39:6] So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate. Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking.

[39:7] And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, "Lie with me."

[39:8] But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand.

[39:9] 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 could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"

[39:10] And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her.

[39:11] One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house,

[39:12] she caught hold of his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.

[39:13] When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside,

[39:14] she called out to the members of her household and said to them, "See, my husband 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;

[39:15] and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside."

[39:16] Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home,

[39:17] and she told him the same story, saying, "The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me;

[39:18] but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside."

[39:19] When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, "This is the way your servant treated me," he became enraged.

[39:20] And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison.

[39:21] But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.

[39:22] The chief jailer committed to Joseph's care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it.

[39:23] The chief jailer 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.

Chapter 40

[40:1] Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt.

[40:2] Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,

[40:3] and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined.

[40:4] The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he waited on them; and they continued for some time in custody.

[40:5] One night they both dreamed - the cupbearer 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.

[40:6] When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled.

[40:7] So he asked Pharaoh's officers, who were with him in custody in his master's house, "Why are your faces downcast today?"

[40:8] 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? Please tell them to me."

[40:9] So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "In my dream there was a vine before me,

[40:10] and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and the clusters ripened into grapes.

[40:11] 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."

[40:12] Then Joseph said to him, "This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days;

[40:13] within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you shall place Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.

[40:14] But remember me when it is well with you; please do me the kindness to make mention of me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this place.

[40:15] For in fact I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews; and here also I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon."

[40:16] When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, "I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head,

[40:17] and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head. "

[40:18] And Joseph answered, "This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days;

[40:19] within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head - from you! - and hang you on a pole; and the birds will eat the flesh from you."

[40:20] On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.

[40:21] He restored the chief cupbearer to his cupbearing, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand;

[40:22] but the chief baker he hanged, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.

[40:23] Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Chapter 41

[41:1] After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile,

[41:2] and there came up out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and they grazed in the reed grass.

[41:3] Then seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.

[41:4] The ugly and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke.

[41:5] Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk.

[41:6] Then seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them.

[41:7] The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and it was a dream.

[41:8] In the morning his spirit was troubled; so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

[41:9] Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, "I remember my faults today.

[41:10] Once Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard.

[41:11] We dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning.

[41:12] A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. When we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each according to his dream.

[41:13] As he interpreted to us, so it turned out; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged."

[41:14] Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was hurriedly brought out of the dungeon. When he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.

[41:15] And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it."

[41:16] Joseph answered Pharaoh, "It is not I; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer."

[41:17] Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "In my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile;

[41:18] and seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass.

[41:19] Then seven other cows came up after them, poor, very ugly, and thin. Never had I seen such ugly ones in all the land of Egypt.

[41:20] The thin and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows,

[41:21] but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had done so, for they were still as ugly as before. Then I awoke.

[41:22] I fell asleep a second time and I saw in my dream seven ears of grain, full and good, growing on one stalk,

[41:23] and seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouting after them;

[41:24] and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. But when I told it to the magicians, there was no one who could explain it to me."

[41:25] Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Pharaoh's dreams are one and the same; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.

[41:26] The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one.

[41:27] The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, as are the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind. They are seven years of famine.

[41:28] It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do.

[41:29] There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt.

[41:30] After them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land.

[41:31] The plenty will no longer be known in the land because of the famine that will follow, for it will be very grievous.

[41:32] And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.

[41:33] Now therefore let Pharaoh select a man who is discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.

[41:34] Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land, and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plenteous years.

[41:35] Let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.

[41:36] That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to befall the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine."

[41:37] The proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants.

[41:38] Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find anyone else like this - one in whom is the spirit of God?"

[41:39] So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has shown you all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.

[41:40] You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you."

[41:41] And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."

[41:42] Removing his signet ring from his hand, Pharaoh put it on Joseph's hand; he arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain around his neck.

[41:43] He had him ride in the chariot of his second-in-command; and they cried out in front of him, "Bow the knee!" Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.

[41:44] Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt."

[41:45] Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as his wife. Thus Joseph gained authority over the land of Egypt.

[41:46] Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went through all the land of Egypt.

[41:47] During the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly.

[41:48] He gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plenty in the land of Egypt, and stored up food in the cities; he stored up in every city the food from the fields around it.

[41:49] So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance - like the sand of the sea - that he stopped measuring it; it was beyond measure.

[41:50] Before the years of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.

[41:51] Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house."

[41:52] The second he named Ephraim, "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my misfortunes."

[41:53] The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of Egypt came to an end;

[41:54] and the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every country, but throughout the land of Egypt there was bread.

[41:55] When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do."

[41:56] And since the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.

[41:57] Moreover, all the world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine became severe throughout the world.

Chapter 42

[42:1] When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, "Why do you keep looking at one another?

[42:2] I have heard," he said, "that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die."

[42:3] So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.

[42:4] But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he feared that harm might come to him.

[42:5] Thus the sons of Israel were among the other people who came to buy grain, for the famine had reached the land of Canaan.

[42:6] Now Joseph was governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.

[42:7] When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them. "Where do you come from?" he said. They said, "From the land of Canaan, to buy food."

[42:8] Although Joseph had recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him.

[42:9] Joseph also remembered the dreams that he had dreamed about them. He said to them, "You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land!"

[42:10] They said to him, "No, my lord; your servants have come to buy food.

[42:11] We are all sons of one man; we are honest men; your servants have never been spies."

[42:12] But he said to them, "No, you have come to see the nakedness of the land!"

[42:13] They said, "We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of a certain man in the land of Canaan; the youngest, however, is now with our father, and one is no more."

[42:14] But Joseph said to them, "It is just as I have said to you; you are spies!

[42:15] Here is how you shall be tested: as Pharaoh lives, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here!

[42:16] Let one of you go and bring your brother, while the rest of you remain in prison, in order that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you; or else, as Pharaoh lives, surely you are spies. "

[42:17] And he put them all together in prison for three days.

[42:18] On the third day Joseph said to them, "Do this and you will live, for I fear God:

[42:19] if you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here where you are imprisoned. The rest of you shall go and carry grain for the famine of your households,

[42:20] and bring your youngest brother to me. Thus your words will be verified, and you shall not die." And they agreed to do so.

[42:21] They said to one another, "Alas, we are paying the penalty for what we did to our brother; we saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this anguish has come upon us."

[42:22] Then Reuben answered them, "Did I not tell you not to wrong the boy? But you would not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood."

[42:23] They did not know that Joseph understood them, since he spoke with them through an interpreter.

[42:24] He turned away from them and wept; then he returned and spoke to them. And he picked out Simeon and had him bound before their eyes.

[42:25] Joseph then gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return every man's money to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This was done for them.

[42:26] They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed.

[42:27] When one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he saw his money at the top of the sack.

[42:28] He said to his brothers, "My money has been put back; here it is in my sack!" At this they lost heart and turned trembling to one another, saying, "What is this that God has done to us?"

[42:29] When they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them, saying,

[42:30] "The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us, and charged us with spying on the land.

[42:31] But we said to him, 'We are honest men, we are not spies.

[42:32] We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.'

[42:33] Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, 'By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way.

[42:34] Bring your youngest brother to me, and I shall know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will release your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.'"

[42:35] As they were emptying their sacks, there in each one's sack was his bag of money. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were dismayed.

[42:36] And their father Jacob said to them, "I am the one you have bereaved of children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All this has happened to me!"

[42:37] Then Reuben said to his father, "You may kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you."

[42:38] But he said, "My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he alone is left. If harm should come to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol."

Chapter 43

[43:1] Now the famine was severe in the land.

[43:2] And when they had eaten up the grain that they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Go again, buy us a little more food. "

[43:3] But Judah said to him, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.'

[43:4] If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food;

[43:5] but if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, 'You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.'"

[43:6] Israel said, "Why did you treat me so badly as to tell the man that you had another brother?"

[43:7] They replied, "The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?' What we told him was in answer to these questions. Could we in any way know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"

[43:8] Then Judah said to his father Israel, "Send the boy with me, and let us be on our way, so that we may live and not die - you and we and also our little ones.

[43:9] I myself will be surety for him; you can hold me accountable for him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.

[43:10] If we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice."

[43:11] Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry them down as a present to the man - a little balm and a little honey, gum, resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds.

[43:12] Take double the money with you. Carry back with you the money that was returned in the top of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight.

[43:13] Take your brother also, and be on your way again to the man;

[43:14] may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, so that he may send back your other brother and Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved."

[43:15] So the men took the present, and they took double the money with them, as well as Benjamin. Then they went on their way down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

[43:16] When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon."

[43:17] The man did as Joseph said, and brought the men to Joseph's house.

[43:18] Now the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph's house, and they said, "It is because of the money, replaced in our sacks the first time, that we have been brought in, so that he may have an opportunity to fall upon us, to make slaves of us and take our donkeys."

[43:19] So they went up to the steward of Joseph's house and spoke with him at the entrance to the house.

[43:20] They said, "Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food;

[43:21] and when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was each one's money in the top of his sack, our money in full weight. So we have brought it back with us.

[43:22] Moreover we have brought down with us additional money to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks."

[43:23] He replied, "Rest assured, do not be afraid; your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your sacks for you; I received your money." Then he brought Simeon out to them.

[43:24] When the steward had brought the men into Joseph's house, and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder,

[43:25] they made the present ready for Joseph's coming at noon, for they had heard that they would dine there.

[43:26] When Joseph came home, they brought him the present that they had carried into the house, and bowed to the ground before him.

[43:27] He inquired about their welfare, and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?"

[43:28] They said, "Your servant our father is well; he is still alive. " And they bowed their heads and did obeisance.

[43:29] Then he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!"

[43:30] With that, Joseph hurried out, because he was overcome with affection for his brother, and he was about to weep. So he went into a private room and wept there.

[43:31] Then he washed his face and came out; and controlling himself he said, "Serve the meal."

[43:32] They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.

[43:33] When they were seated before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth, the men looked at one another in amazement.

[43:34] Portions were taken to them from Joseph's table, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.

Chapter 44

[44:1] Then he commanded the steward of his house, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the top of his sack.

[44:2] Put my cup, the silver cup, in the top of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain." And he did as Joseph told him.

[44:3] As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their donkeys.

[44:4] When they had gone only a short distance from the city, Joseph said to his steward, "Go, follow after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you returned evil for good? Why have you stolen my silver cup?

[44:5] Is it not from this that my lord drinks? Does he not indeed use it for divination? You have done wrong in doing this.'"

[44:6] When he overtook them, he repeated these words to them.

[44:7] They said to him, "Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!

[44:8] Look, the money that we found at the top of our sacks, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan; why then would we steal silver or gold from your lord's house?

[44:9] Should it be found with any one of your servants, let him die; moreover the rest of us will become my lord's slaves."

[44:10] He said, "Even so; in accordance with your words, let it be: he with whom it is found shall become my slave, but the rest of you shall go free."

[44:11] Then each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack.

[44:12] He searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.

[44:13] At this they tore their clothes. Then each one loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

[44:14] Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house while he was still there; and they fell to the ground before him.

[44:15] Joseph said to them, "What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that one such as I can practice divination?"

[44:16] And Judah said, "What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; here we are then, my lord's slaves, both we and also the one in whose possession the cup has been found."

[44:17] But he said, "Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the one in whose possession the cup was found shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father."

[44:18] Then Judah stepped up to him and said, "O my lord, let your servant please speak a word in my lord's ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are like Pharaoh himself.

[44:19] My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father or a brother?'

[44:20] And we said to my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead; he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him.'

[44:21] Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, so that I may set my eyes on him.'

[44:22] We said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.'

[44:23] Then you said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.'

[44:24] When we went back to your servant my father we told him the words of my lord.

[44:25] And when our father said, 'Go again, buy us a little food,'

[44:26] we said, 'We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother goes with us, will we go down; for we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.'

[44:27] Then your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons;

[44:28] one left me, and I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces; and I have never seen him since.

[44:29] If you take this one also from me, and harm comes to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol.'

[44:30] Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father and the boy is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the boy's life,

[44:31] when he sees that the boy is not with us, he will die; and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.

[44:32] For your servant became surety for the boy to my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame in the sight of my father all my life.'

[44:33] Now therefore, please let your servant remain as a slave to my lord in place of the boy; and let the boy go back with his brothers.

[44:34] For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I fear to see the suffering that would come upon my father."