In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and
darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved
upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there
was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and
God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the
darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the
first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the
midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the
waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the
waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were
above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the
evening and the morning were the second day.
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven
be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear:
and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the
gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that
it was good.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth
grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit
after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was
so.
And the earth brought forth grass, and herb
yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose
seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was
good.
And the evening and the morning were the
third day.
And God said, Let there be lights in the
firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let
them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
And let them be for lights in the firmament
of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
And God made two great lights; the greater
light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he
made the stars also.
And God set them in the firmament of the
heaven to give light upon the earth,
And to rule over the day and over the night,
and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was
good.
And the evening and the morning were the
fourth day.
And God said, Let the waters bring forth
abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may
fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
And God created great whales, and every
living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth
abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind:
and God saw that it was good.
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful,
and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl
multiply in the earth.
And the evening and the morning were the
fifth day.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the
living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and
beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
And God made the beast of the earth after
his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that
creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was
good.
And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over
all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the
image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them, and God said unto
them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and
subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth.
And God said, Behold, I have given you every
herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and
every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to
you it shall be for meat.
And to every beast of the earth, and to
every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the
earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for
meat: and it was so.
And God saw every thing that he had made,
and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were
the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,
and all the host of them.
And on the seventh day God ended his work
which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his
work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and
sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work
which God created and made.
These are the generations of the heavens and
of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God
made the earth and the heavens,
And every plant of the field before it was in
the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD
God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a
man to till the ground.
But there went up a mist from the earth, and
watered the whole face of the ground.
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living soul.
And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in
Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
And out of the ground made the LORD God to
grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food;
the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of
knowledge of good and evil.
And a river went out of Eden to water the
garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four
heads.
The name of the first is Pison: that is it
which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is
gold;
And the gold of that land is good: there is
bdellium and the onyx stone.
And the name of the second river is Gihon:
the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
And the name of the third river is Hiddekel:
that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth
river is Euphrates.
And the LORD God took the man, and put him
into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying,
Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die.
And the LORD God said, It is not good that
the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
And out of the ground the LORD God formed
every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought
them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam
called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to
the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam
there was not found an help meet for him.
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall
upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up
the flesh instead thereof;
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken
from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was
taken out of Man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and
his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one
flesh.
And they were both naked, the man and his
wife, and were not ashamed.
Now the serpent was more subtil than any
beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto
the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of
the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may
eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the
midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither
shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall
not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good
for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did
eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened, and
they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together,
and made themselves aprons.
And they heard the voice of the LORD God
walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife
hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees
of the garden.
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said
unto him, Where art thou?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the
garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid
myself.
And he said, Who told thee that thou wast
naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that
thou shouldest not eat?
And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest
to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
And the LORD God said unto the woman, What
is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent
beguiled me, and I did eat.
And the LORD God said unto the serpent,
Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and
above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and
dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
And I will put enmity between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head,
and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly
multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring
forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he
shall rule over thee.
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast
hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree,
of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed
is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the
days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring
forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou
taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because
she was the mother of all living.
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD
God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is
become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put
forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and
live for ever:
Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from
the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was
taken.
So he drove out the man; and he placed at
the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which
turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she
conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the
LORD.
And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel
was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
And in process of time it came to pass, that
Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the
LORD.
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings
of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto
Abel and to his offering:
But unto Cain and to his offering he had not
respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou
wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be
accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And
unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it
came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up
against Abel his brother, and slew him.
And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel
thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's
keeper?
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice
of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
And now art thou cursed from the earth,
which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy
hand;
When thou tillest the ground, it shall not
henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond
shalt thou be in the earth.
And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment
is greater than I can bear.
Behold, thou hast driven me out this day
from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I
shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come
to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
And the LORD said unto him, Therefore
whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.
And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill
him.
And Cain went out from the presence of the
LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived,
and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the
city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat
Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat
Lamech.
And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name
of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of
such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the
father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an
instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of
Tubalcain was Naamah.
And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and
Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech:
for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my
hurt.
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly
Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a
son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me
another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
And to Seth, to him also there was born a
son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the
name of the LORD.
This is the book of the generations of Adam.
In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he
him;
Male and female created he them; and blessed
them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were
created.
And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years,
and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and
called his name Seth:
And the days of Adam after he had begotten
Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and
daughters:
And all the days that Adam lived were nine
hundred and thirty years: and he died.
And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and
begat Enos:
And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight
hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Seth were nine hundred
and twelve years: and he died.
And Enos lived ninety years, and begat
Cainan:
And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight
hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Enos were nine hundred
and five years: and he died.
And Cainan lived seventy years and begat
Mahalaleel:
And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel
eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred
and ten years: and he died.
And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years,
and begat Jared:
And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared
eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight
hundred ninety and five years: and he died.
And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two
years, and he begat Enoch:
And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight
hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Jared were nine hundred
sixty and two years: and he died.
And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and
begat Methuselah:
And Enoch walked with God after he begat
Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Enoch were three hundred
sixty and five years:
And Enoch walked with God: and he was not;
for God took him.
And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and
seven years, and begat Lamech.
And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech
seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and
daughters:
And all the days of Methuselah were nine
hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two
years, and begat a son:
And he called his name Noah, saying, This
same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands,
because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five
hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Lamech were seven
hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.
And Noah was five hundred years old: and
Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
And it came to pass, when men began to
multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto
them,
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men
that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they
chose.
And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always
strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be
an hundred and twenty years.
There were giants in the earth in those days;
and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the
daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became
mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
And God saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart was only evil continually.
And it repented the LORD that he had made man
on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I
have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and
the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me
that I have made them.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the
LORD.
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a
just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with
God.
And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth.
The earth also was corrupt before God, and
the earth was filled with violence.
And God looked upon the earth, and, behold,
it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the
earth.
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh
is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through
them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt
thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with
pitch.
And this is the fashion which thou shalt
make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits,
the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty
cubits.
A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in
a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt
thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories
shalt thou make it.
And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of
waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath
of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth
shall die.
But with thee will I establish my covenant;
and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife,
and thy sons' wives with thee.
And of every living thing of all flesh, two
of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive
with thee; they shall be male and female.
Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle
after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his
kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them
alive.
And take thou unto thee of all food that is
eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food
for thee, and for them.
Thus did Noah; according to all that God
commanded him, so did he.
And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and
all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before
me in this generation.
Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee
by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not
clean by two, the male and his female.
Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male
and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the
earth.
For yet seven days, and I will cause it to
rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living
substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the
earth.
And Noah did according unto all that the LORD
commanded him.
And Noah was six hundred years old when the
flood of waters was upon the earth.
And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife,
and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters
of the flood.
Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not
clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the
earth,
There went in two and two unto Noah into the
ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
And it came to pass after seven days, that
the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in
the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day
were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows
of heaven were opened.
And the rain was upon the earth forty days
and forty nights.
In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem,
and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the
three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
They, and every beast after his kind, and
all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his
kind, every bird of every sort.
And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two
and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
And they that went in, went in male and
female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut
him in.
And the flood was forty days upon the earth;
and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up
above the earth.
And the waters prevailed, and were increased
greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the
waters.
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon
the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole
heaven, were covered.
Fifteen cubits upward did the waters
prevail; and the mountains were covered.
And all flesh died that moved upon the
earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
All in whose nostrils was the breath of
life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
And every living substance was destroyed
which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and
the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were
destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they
that were with him in the ark.
And the waters prevailed upon the earth an
hundred and fifty days.
And God remembered Noah, and every living
thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God
made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
The fountains also of the deep and the
windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was
restrained;
And the waters returned from off the earth
continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the
waters were abated.
And the ark rested in the seventh month, on
the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of
Ararat.
And the waters decreased continually until
the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month,
were the tops of the mountains seen.
And it came to pass at the end of forty days,
that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
And he sent forth a raven, which went forth
to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if
the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
But the dove found no rest for the sole of
her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters
were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand,
and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
And he stayed yet other seven days; and
again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
And the dove came in to him in the evening;
and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew
that the waters were abated from off the earth.
And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent
forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.
And it came to pass in the six hundredth and
first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the
waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the
covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the
ground was dry.
And in the second month, on the seven and
twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.
And God spake unto Noah, saying,
Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and
thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
Bring forth with thee every living thing
that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and
of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may
breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon
the earth.
And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his
wife, and his sons' wives with him:
Every beast, every creeping thing, and every
fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds,
went forth out of the ark.
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and
took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered
burnt offerings on the altar.
And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the
LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more
for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his
youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I
have done.
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and
harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and
night shall not cease.
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said
unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
And the fear of you and the dread of you
shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the
air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes
of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat
for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
But flesh with the life thereof, which is the
blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
And surely your blood of your lives will I
require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the
hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the
life of man.
Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his
blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring
forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.
And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with
him, saying,
And I, behold, I establish my covenant with
you, and with your seed after you;
And with every living creature that is with
you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth
with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the
earth.
And I will establish my covenant with you,
neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a
flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the
earth.
And God said, This is the token of the
covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature
that is with you, for perpetual generations:
I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall
be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
And it shall come to pass, when I bring a
cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
And I will remember my covenant, which is
between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the
waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I
will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant
between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the
earth.
And God said unto Noah, This is the token of
the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh
that is upon the earth.
And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the
ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of
Canaan.
These are the three sons of Noah: and of
them was the whole earth overspread.
And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he
planted a vineyard:
And he drank of the wine, and was drunken;
and he was uncovered within his tent.
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the
nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and
laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered
the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and
they saw not their father's nakedness.
And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what
his younger son had done unto him.
And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of
servants shall he be unto his brethren.
And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of
Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall
dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
And Noah lived after the flood three hundred
and fifty years.
And all the days of Noah were nine hundred
and fifty years: and he died.
Now these are the generations of the sons of
Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after
the flood.
The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and
Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and
Riphath, and Togarmah.
And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and
Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
By these were the isles of the Gentiles
divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their
families, in their nations.
And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and
Phut, and Canaan.
And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and
Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba,
and Dedan.
And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a
mighty one in the earth.
He was a mighty hunter before the LORD:
wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the
LORD.
And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel,
and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
Out of that land went forth Asshur, and
builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,
And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the
same is a great city.
And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and
Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom
came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.
And Canaan begat Sidon his first born, and
Heth,
And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the
Girgasite,
And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the
Sinite,
And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the
Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread
abroad.
And the border of the Canaanites was from
Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto
Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.
These are the sons of Ham, after their
families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their
nations.
Unto Shem also, the father of all the
children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him
were children born.
The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and
Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and
Gether, and Mash.
And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat
Eber.
And unto Eber were born two sons: the name
of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his
brother's name was Joktan.
And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and
Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,
And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all
these were the sons of Joktan.
And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou
goest unto Sephar a mount of the east.
These are the sons of Shem, after their
families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their
nations.
These are the families of the sons of Noah,
after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the
nations divided in the earth after the flood.
And the whole earth was of one language, and
of one speech.
And it came to pass, as they journeyed from
the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they
dwelt there.
And they said one to another, Go to, let us
make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone,
and slime had they for morter.
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city
and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a
name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole
earth.
And the LORD came down to see the city and
the tower, which the children of men builded.
And the LORD said, Behold, the people is
one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and
now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined
to do.
Go to, let us go down, and there confound
their language, that they may not understand one another's
speech.
So the LORD scattered them abroad from
thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build
the city.
Therefore is the name of it called Babel;
because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth:
and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of
all the earth.
These are the generations of Shem: Shem was
an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the
flood:
And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five
hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years,
and begat Salah:
And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah
four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Salah lived thirty years, and begat
Eber:
And Salah lived after he begat Eber four
hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Eber lived four and thirty years, and
begat Peleg:
And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four
hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat
Reu:
And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two
hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Reu lived two and thirty years, and
begat Serug:
And Reu lived after he begat Serug two
hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Serug lived thirty years, and begat
Nahor:
And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two
hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and
begat Terah:
And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an
hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Terah lived seventy years, and begat
Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Now these are the generations of Terah:
Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
And Haran died before his father Terah in
the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the
name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife,
Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father
of Iscah.
But Sarai was barren; she had no
child.
And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the
son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son
Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the
Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran,
and dwelt there.
And the days of Terah were two hundred and
five years: and Terah died in Haran.
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee
out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's
house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
And I will make of thee a great nation, and
I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a
blessing:
And I will bless them that bless thee, and
curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed.
So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken
unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five
years old when he departed out of Haran.
And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his
brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and
the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go
into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they
came.
And Abram passed through the land unto the
place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was
then in the land.
And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said,
Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar
unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
And he removed from thence unto a mountain
on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the
west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the
LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
And Abram journeyed, going on still toward
the south.
And there was a famine in the land: and
Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was
grievous in the land.
And it came to pass, when he was come near
to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now,
I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
Therefore it shall come to pass, when the
Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife:
and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that
it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because
of thee.
And it came to pass, that, when Abram was
come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very
fair.
The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and
commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into
Pharaoh's house.
And he entreated Abram well for her sake:
and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and
maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house
with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.
And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is
this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that
she was thy wife?
Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I
might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife,
take her, and go thy way.
And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning
him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he
had.
And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his
wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
And Abram was very rich in cattle, in
silver, and in gold.
And he went on his journeys from the south
even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the
beginning, between Bethel and Hai;
Unto the place of the altar, which he had
make there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the
LORD.
And Lot also, which went with Abram, had
flocks, and herds, and tents.
And the land was not able to bear them, that
they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that
they could not dwell together.
And there was a strife between the herdmen
of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the
Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no
strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen
and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
Is not the whole land before thee? separate
thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand,
then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand,
then I will go to the left.
And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all
the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before
the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the
LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan;
and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from
the other.
Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and
Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward
Sodom.
But the men of Sodom were wicked and
sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
And the LORD said unto Abram, after that
Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from
the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward,
and westward:
For all the land which thou seest, to thee
will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the
earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then
shall thy seed also be numbered.
Arise, walk through the land in the length
of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
Then Abram removed his tent, and came and
dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an
altar unto the LORD.
And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel
king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam,
and Tidal king of nations;
That these made war with Bera king of Sodom,
and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and
Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.
All these were joined together in the vale
of Siddim, which is the salt sea.
Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and
in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
And in the fourteenth year came
Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the
Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emins
in Shaveh Kiriathaim,
And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto
Elparan, which is by the wilderness.
And they returned, and came to Enmishpat,
which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and
also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.
And there went out the king of Sodom, and
the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of
Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined
battle with them in the vale of Siddim;
With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with
Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king
of Ellasar; four kings with five.
And the vale of Siddim was full of
slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell
there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.
And they took all the goods of Sodom and
Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.
And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son,
who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
And there came one that had escaped, and
told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the
Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were
confederate with Abram.
And when Abram heard that his brother was
taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own
house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
And he divided himself against them, he and
his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto
Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
And he brought back all the goods, and also
brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also,
and the people.
And the king of Sodom went out to meet him
after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the
kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the
king's dale.
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth
bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be
Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
And blessed be the most high God, which
hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes
of all.
And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give
me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have
lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor
of heaven and earth,
That I will not take from a thread even to
a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine,
lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
Save only that which the young men have
eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol,
and Mamre; let them take their portion.
After these things the word of the LORD came
unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield,
and thy exceeding great reward.
And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou
give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this
Eliezer of Damascus?
And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast
given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto
him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come
forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
And he brought him forth abroad, and said,
Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to
number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
And he believed in the LORD; and he counted
it to him for righteousness.
And he said unto him, I am the LORD that
brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to
inherit it.
And he said, LORD God, whereby shall I know
that I shall inherit it?
And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of
three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of
three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
And he took unto him all these, and divided
them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the
birds divided he not.
And when the fowls came down upon the
carcases, Abram drove them away.
And when the sun was going down, a deep
sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell
upon him.
And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety
that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not their's,
and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred
years;
And also that nation, whom they shall
serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great
substance.
And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace;
thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
But in the fourth generation they shall
come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet
full.
And it came to pass, that, when the sun
went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning
lamp that passed between those pieces.
In the same day the LORD made a covenant
with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the
river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the
Kadmonites,
And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and
the Rephaims,
And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and
the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children:
and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the
LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my
maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram
hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid
the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of
Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
And he went in unto Hagar, and she
conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress
was despised in her eyes.
And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon
thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that
she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge
between me and thee.
But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid
is in thine hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai
dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
And the angel of the LORD found her by a
fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to
Shur.
And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, whence
camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from
the face of my mistress Sarai.
And the angel of the LORD said unto her,
Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I
will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered
for multitude.
And the angel of the LORD said unto her,
Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call
his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
And he will be a wild man; his hand will be
against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall
dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
And she called the name of the LORD that
spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here
looked after him that seeth me?
Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi;
behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram
called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
And Abram was fourscore and six years old,
when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
And when Abram was ninety years old and
nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the
Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
And I will make my covenant between me and
thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
And Abram fell on his face: and God talked
with him, saying,
As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee,
and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Neither shall thy name any more be called
Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations
have I made thee.
And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and
I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
And I will establish my covenant between me
and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an
everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after
thee.
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed
after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of
Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their
God.
And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep
my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their
generations.
This is my covenant, which ye shall keep,
between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among
you shall be circumcised.
And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your
foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and
you.
And he that is eight days old shall be
circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that
is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which
is not of thy seed.
He that is born in thy house, and he that
is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my
covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh
of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from
his people; he hath broken my covenant.
And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy
wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name
be.
And I will bless her, and give thee a son
also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of
nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Then Abraham fell upon his face, and
laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that
is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old,
bear?
And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael
might live before thee!
And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear
thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will
establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and
with his seed after him.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee:
Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will
multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will
make him a great nation.
But my covenant will I establish with
Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the
next year.
And he left off talking with him, and God
went up from Abraham.
And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all
that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his
money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised
the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said
unto him.
And Abraham was ninety years old and nine,
when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old,
when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
In the selfsame day was Abraham
circumcised, and Ishmael his son.
And all the men of his house, born in the
house, and bought with money of the stranger, were circumcised with
him.
And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains
of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo,
three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them
from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
And said, My LORD, if now I have found
favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy
servant:
Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched,
and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and
comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore
are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast
said.
And Abraham hastened into the tent unto
Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal,
knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a
calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted
to dress it.
And he took butter, and milk, and the calf
which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them
under the tree, and they did eat.
And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy
wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
And he said, I will certainly return unto
thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall
have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind
him.
Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well
stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of
women.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself,
saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being
old also?
And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore
did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am
old?
Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the
time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of
life, and Sarah shall have a son.
Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not;
for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
And the men rose up from thence, and looked
toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the
way.
And the LORD said, Shall I hide from
Abraham that thing which I do;
Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a
great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be
blessed in him?
For I know him, that he will command his
children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way
of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring
upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom
and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
I will go down now, and see whether they
have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto
me; and if not, I will know.
And the men turned their faces from thence,
and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou
also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Peradventure there be fifty righteous
within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for
the fifty righteous that are therein?
That be far from thee to do after this
manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the
righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not
the Judge of all the earth do right?
And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty
righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for
their sakes.
And Abraham answered and said, Behold now,
I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, which am but dust and
ashes:
Peradventure there shall lack five of the
fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five?
And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy
it.
And he spake unto him yet again, and said,
Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will
not do it for forty's sake.
And he said unto him, Oh let not the LORD
be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be
found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty
there.
And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon
me to speak unto the LORD: Peradventure there shall be twenty found
there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.
And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry,
and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found
there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
And the LORD went his way, as soon as he
had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his
place.
And there came two angels to Sodom at even;
and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to
meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the
ground;
And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in,
I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and
wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways.
And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
And he pressed upon them greatly; and they
turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a
feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
But before they lay down, the men of the
city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old
and young, all the people from every quarter:
And they called unto Lot, and said unto him,
Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out
unto us, that we may know them.
And Lot went out at the door unto them, and
shut the door after him,
And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so
wickedly.
Behold now, I have two daughters which have
not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do
ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing;
for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
And they said, Stand back. And they said
again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a
judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they
pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the
door.
But the men put forth their hand, and
pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
And they smote the men that were at the
door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that
they wearied themselves to find the door.
And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here
any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and
whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this
place:
For we will destroy this place, because the
cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the
LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons
in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of
this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as
one that mocked unto his sons in law.
And when the morning arose, then the angels
hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters,
which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the
city.
And while he lingered, the men laid hold
upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of
his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they
brought him forth, and set him without the city.
And it came to pass, when they had brought
them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not
behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the
mountain, lest thou be consumed.
And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my
LORD:
Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in
thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast
shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the
mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
Behold now, this city is near to flee unto,
and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a
little one?) and my soul shall live.
And he said unto him, See, I have accepted
thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this
city, for the which thou hast spoken.
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do
anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city
was called Zoar.
The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot
entered into Zoar.
Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon
Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
And he overthrew those cities, and all the
plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew
upon the ground.
But his wife looked back from behind him,
and she became a pillar of salt.
And Abraham gat up early in the morning to
the place where he stood before the LORD:
And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah,
and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the
smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the
cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out
of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the
which Lot dwelt.
And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in
the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to
dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two
daughters.
And the firstborn said unto the younger,
Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in
unto us after the manner of all the earth:
Come, let us make our father drink wine,
and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our
father.
And they made their father drink wine that
night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he
perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the
firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my
father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in,
and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
And they made their father drink wine that
night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he
perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
Thus were both the daughters of Lot with
child by their father.
And the first born bare a son, and called
his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this
day.
And the younger, she also bare a son, and
called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of
Ammon unto this day.
And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the
south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned
in Gerar.
And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is
my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by
night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the
woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.
But Abimelech had not come near her: and he
said, LORD, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and
she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of
my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I
know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also
withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee
not to touch her.
Now therefore restore the man his wife; for
he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live:
and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die,
thou, and all that are thine.
Therefore Abimelech rose early in the
morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in
their ears: and the men were sore afraid.
Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto
him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee,
that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou
hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.
And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What
sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely
the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my
wife's sake.
And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the
daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she
became my wife.
And it came to pass, when God caused me to
wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy
kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we
shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and
menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and
restored him Sarah his wife.
And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is
before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have
given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to
thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with
all other: thus she was reproved.
So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed
Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare
children.
For the LORD had fast closed up all the
wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's
wife.
And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said,
and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken.
For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son
in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to
him.
And Abraham called the name of his son that
was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being
eight days old, as God had commanded him.
And Abraham was an hundred years old, when
his son Isaac was born unto him.
And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh,
so that all that hear will laugh with me.
And she said, Who would have said unto
Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have
born him a son in his old age.
And the child grew, and was weaned: and
Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian,
which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out
this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not
be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
And the thing was very grievous in
Abraham's sight because of his son.
And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be
grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy
bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her
voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
And also of the son of the bondwoman will I
make a nation, because he is thy seed.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning,
and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar,
putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and
she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
And the water was spent in the bottle, and
she cast the child under one of the shrubs.
And she went, and sat her down over against
him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not
see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift
up her voice, and wept.
And God heard the voice of the lad; and the
angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What
aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the
lad where he is.
Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in
thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well
of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave
the lad drink.
And God was with the lad; and he grew, and
dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran:
and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
And it came to pass at that time, that
Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto
Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest:
Now therefore swear unto me here by God
that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with
my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto
thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast
sojourned.
And Abraham said, I will swear.
And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a
well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken
away.
And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done
this thing; neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it,
but to day.
And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave
them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant.
And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the
flock by themselves.
And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean
these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?
And he said, For these seven ewe lambs
shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me,
that I have digged this well.
Wherefore he called that place Beersheba;
because there they sware both of them.
Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba:
then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host,
and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba,
and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.
And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines'
land many days.
And it came to pass after these things, that
God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said,
Behold, here I am.
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only
son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah;
and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains
which I will tell thee of.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning,
and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and
Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose
up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his
eyes, and saw the place afar off.
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide
ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship,
and come again to you.
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt
offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in
his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and
said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said,
Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt
offering?
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them
together.
And they came to the place which God had
told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in
order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the
wood.
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and
took the knife to slay his son.
And the angel of the LORD called unto him
out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am
I.
And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the
lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou
fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son
from me.
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked,
and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and
Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt
offering in the stead of his son.
And Abraham called the name of that place
Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD
it shall be seen.
And the angel of the LORD called unto
Abraham out of heaven the second time,
And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the
LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld
thy son, thine only son:
That in blessing I will bless thee, and in
multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven,
and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall
possess the gate of his enemies;
And in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
So Abraham returned unto his young men, and
they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at
Beersheba.
And it came to pass after these things,
that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also
born children unto thy brother Nahor;
Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and
Kemuel the father of Aram,
And Chesed, and Hazo, and Pildash, and
Jidlaph, and Bethuel.
And Bethuel begat Rebekah: these eight
Milcah did bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother.
And his concubine, whose name was Reumah,
she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.
And Sarah was an hundred and seven and
twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
And Sarah died in Kirjatharba; the same is
Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah,
and to weep for her.
And Abraham stood up from before his dead,
and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying,
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you:
give me a possession of a buryingplace with you, that I may bury my
dead out of my sight.
And the children of Heth answered Abraham,
saying unto him,
Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince
among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us
shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury
thy dead.
And Abraham stood up, and bowed himself to
the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
And he communed with them, saying, If it be
your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and
intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,
That he may give me the cave of Machpelah,
which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for as much money
as it is worth he shall give it me for a possession of a
buryingplace amongst you.
And Ephron dwelt among the children of
Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of
the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his
city, saying,
Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I
thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence
of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.
And Abraham bowed down himself before the
people of the land.
And he spake unto Ephron in the audience of
the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray
thee, hear me: I will give thee money for the field; take it of me,
and I will bury my dead there.
And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto
him,
My lord, hearken unto me: the land is worth
four hundred shekels of silver; what is that betwixt me and thee?
bury therefore thy dead.
And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and
Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the
audience of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver,
current money with the merchant.
And the field of Ephron which was in
Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which
was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in
all the borders round about, were made sure
Unto Abraham for a possession in the
presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the
gate of his city.
And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his
wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre: the same
is Hebron in the land of Canaan.
And the field, and the cave that is
therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a
buryingplace by the sons of Heth.
And Abraham was old, and well stricken in
age: and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of
his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy
hand under my thigh:
And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the
God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a
wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I
dwell:
But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my
kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.
And the servant said unto him, Peradventure
the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I
needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou
camest?
And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that
thou bring not my son thither again.
The LORD God of heaven, which took me from
my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake
unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give
this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take
a wife unto my son from thence.
And if the woman will not be willing to
follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring
not my son thither again.
And the servant put his hand under the thigh
of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that
matter.
And the servant took ten camels of the
camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master
were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the
city of Nahor.
And he made his camels to kneel down
without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening,
even the time that women go out to draw water.
And he said O LORD God of my master
Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew
kindness unto my master Abraham.
Behold, I stand here by the well of water;
and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw
water:
And let it come to pass, that the damsel to
whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may
drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink
also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant
Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto
my master.
And it came to pass, before he had done
speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel,
son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her
pitcher upon her shoulder.
And the damsel was very fair to look upon,
a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the
well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
And the servant ran to meet her, and said,
Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.
And she said, Drink, my lord: and she
hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him
drink.
And when she had done giving him drink, she
said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done
drinking.
And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher
into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and
drew for all his camels.
And the man wondering at her held his
peace, to wit whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or
not.
And it came to pass, as the camels had done
drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel
weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of
gold;
And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me,
I pray thee: is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge
in?
And she said unto him, I am the daughter of
Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.
She said moreover unto him, We have both
straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.
And the man bowed down his head, and
worshipped the LORD.
And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my
master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy
and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of
my master's brethren.
And the damsel ran, and told them of her
mother's house these things.
And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was
Laban: and Laban ran out unto the man, unto the well.
And it came to pass, when he saw the
earring and bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard
the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake the man unto
me; that he came unto the man; and, behold, he stood by the camels
at the well.
And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the
LORD; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the
house, and room for the camels.
And the man came into the house: and he
ungirded his camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels,
and water to wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with
him.
And there was set meat before him to eat:
but he said, I will not eat, until I have told mine errand. And he
said, Speak on.
And he said, I am Abraham's servant.
And the LORD hath blessed my master
greatly; and he is become great: and he hath given him flocks, and
herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants, and
camels, and asses.
And Sarah my master's wife bare a son to my
master when she was old: and unto him hath he given all that he
hath.
And my master made me swear, saying, Thou
shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites,
in whose land I dwell:
But thou shalt go unto my father's house,
and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son.
And I said unto my master, Peradventure the
woman will not follow me.
And he said unto me, The LORD, before whom
I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and
thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred, and of my father's
house:
Then shalt thou be clear from this my oath,
when thou comest to my kindred; and if they give not thee one, thou
shalt be clear from my oath.
And I came this day unto the well, and
said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my
way which I go:
Behold, I stand by the well of water; and
it shall come to pass, that when the virgin cometh forth to draw
water, and I say to her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water of
thy pitcher to drink;
And she say to me, Both drink thou, and I
will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman whom the
LORD hath appointed out for my master's son.
And before I had done speaking in mine
heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder;
and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto
her, Let me drink, I pray thee.
And she made haste, and let down her
pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give thy
camels drink also: so I drank, and she made the camels drink
also.
And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter
art thou? And she said, the daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom
Milcah bare unto him: and I put the earring upon her face, and the
bracelets upon her hands.
And I bowed down my head, and worshipped
the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, which had
led me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto
his son.
And now if ye will deal kindly and truly
with my master, tell me: and if not, tell me; that I may turn to
the right hand, or to the left.
Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said,
The thing proceedeth from the LORD: we cannot speak unto thee bad
or good.
Behold, Rebekah is before thee, take her,
and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the LORD hath
spoken.
And it came to pass, that, when Abraham's
servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself
to the earth.
And the servant brought forth jewels of
silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah:
he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
And they did eat and drink, he and the men
that were with him, and tarried all night; and they rose up in the
morning, and he said, Send me away unto my master.
And her brother and her mother said, Let
the damsel abide with us a few days, at the least ten; after that
she shall go.
And he said unto them, Hinder me not,
seeing the LORD hath prospered my way; send me away that I may go
to my master.
And they said, We will call the damsel, and
enquire at her mouth.
And they called Rebekah, and said unto her,
Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.
And they sent away Rebekah their sister,
and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men.
And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto
her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of
millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate
them.
And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and
they rode upon the camels, and followed the man: and the servant
took Rebekah, and went his way.
And Isaac came from the way of the well
Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country.
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field
at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold,
the camels were coming.
And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when
she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel.
For she had said unto the servant, What man
is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had
said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered
herself.
And the servant told Isaac all things that
he had done.
And Isaac brought her into his mother
Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he
loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name
was Keturah.
And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and
Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the
sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim.
And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher,
and Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of
Keturah.
And Abraham gave all that he had unto
Isaac.
But unto the sons of the concubines, which
Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his
son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.
And these are the days of the years of
Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen
years.
Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in
a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to
his people.
And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in
the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the
Hittite, which is before Mamre;
The field which Abraham purchased of the
sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.
And it came to pass after the death of
Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the
well Lahairoi.
Now these are the generations of Ishmael,
Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto
Abraham:
And these are the names of the sons of
Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the
firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; and Kedar, and Adbeel, and
Mibsam,
And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa,
Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and
Kedemah:
These are the sons of Ishmael, and these
are their names, by their towns, and by their castles; twelve
princes according to their nations.
And these are the years of the life of
Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and he gave up the
ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.
And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, that
is before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria: and he died in the
presence of all his brethren.
And these are the generations of Isaac,
Abraham's son: Abraham begat Isaac:
And Isaac was forty years old when he took
Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram,
the sister to Laban the Syrian.
And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife,
because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and
Rebekah his wife conceived.
And the children struggled together within
her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to
enquire of the LORD.
And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are
in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy
bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people;
and the elder shall serve the younger.
And when her days to be delivered were
fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
And the first came out red, all over like
an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.
And after that came his brother out, and
his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob:
and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.
And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning
hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in
tents.
And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of
his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.
And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from
the field, and he was faint:
And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray
thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his
name called Edom.
And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy
birthright.
And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to
die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me?
And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and
he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of
lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way:
thus Esau despised his birthright.
And there was a famine in the land, beside
the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went
unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go
not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee
of:
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with
thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will
give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware
unto Abraham thy father;
And I will make thy seed to multiply as the
stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries;
and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and
kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
And the men of the place asked him of his
wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is
my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for
Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
And it came to pass, when he had been there
a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a
window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his
wife.
And Abimelech called Isaac, and said,
Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how saidst thou, She is my
sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for
her.
And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast
done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy
wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.
And Abimelech charged all his people,
saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put
to death.
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received
in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
And the man waxed great, and went forward,
and grew until he became very great:
For he had possession of flocks, and
possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the
Philistines envied him.
For all the wells which his father's
servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the
Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us;
for thou art much mightier than we.
And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his
tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
And Isaac digged again the wells of water,
which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the
Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he
called their names after the names by which his father had called
them.
And Isaac's servants digged in the valley,
and found there a well of springing water.
And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with
Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name
of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
And they digged another well, and strove
for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
And he removed from thence, and digged
another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name
of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for
us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
And he went up from thence to
Beersheba.
And the LORD appeared unto him the same
night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for
I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my
servant Abraham's sake.
And he builded an altar there, and called
upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there
Isaac's servants digged a well.
Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and
Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his
army.
And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye
to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
And they said, We saw certainly that the
LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt
us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with
thee;
That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have
not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good,
and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the
LORD.
And he made them a feast, and they did eat
and drink.
And they rose up betimes in the morning,
and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they
departed from him in peace.
And it came to pass the same day, that
Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they
had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.
And he called it Shebah: therefore the name
of the city is Beersheba unto this day.
And Esau was forty years old when he took
to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the
daughter of Elon the Hittite:
Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and
to Rebekah.
And it came to pass, that when Isaac was
old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called
Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto
him, Behold, here am I.
And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know
not the day of my death:
Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy
weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take
me some venison;
And make me savoury meat, such as I love,
and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee
before I die.
And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau
his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to
bring it.
And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son,
saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother,
saying,
Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat,
that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my
death.
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice
according to that which I command thee.
Go now to the flock, and fetch me from
thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savoury
meat for thy father, such as he loveth:
And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that
he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.
And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother,
Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:
My father peradventure will feel me, and I
shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me,
and not a blessing.
And his mother said unto him, Upon me be
thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.
And he went, and fetched, and brought them
to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as his father
loved.
And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her
eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them
upon Jacob her younger son:
And she put the skins of the kids of the
goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:
And she gave the savoury meat and the
bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
And he came unto his father, and said, My
father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?
And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau
thy first born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I
pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless
me.
And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that
thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the
LORD thy God brought it to me.
And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I
pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very
son Esau or not.
And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father;
and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the
hands are the hands of Esau.
And he discerned him not, because his hands
were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.
And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And
he said, I am.
And he said, Bring it near to me, and I
will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he
brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine and
he drank.
And his father Isaac said unto him, Come
near now, and kiss me, my son.
And he came near, and kissed him: and he
smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See,
the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath
blessed:
Therefore God give thee of the dew of
heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and
wine:
Let people serve thee, and nations bow down
to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow
down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be
he that blesseth thee.
And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had
made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out
from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came
in from his hunting.
And he also had made savoury meat, and
brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father
arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless
me.
And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art
thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau.
And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and
said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me,
and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him?
yea, and he shall be blessed.
And when Esau heard the words of his
father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said
unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.
And he said, Thy brother came with
subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.
And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob?
for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my
birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he
said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?
And Isaac answered and said unto Esau,
Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given
to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him:
and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?
And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou
but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father.
And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.
And Isaac his father answered and said unto
him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of
the dew of heaven from above;
And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt
serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have
the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy
neck.
And Esau hated Jacob because of the
blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his
heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I
slay my brother Jacob.
And these words of Esau her elder son were
told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and
said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth
comfort himself, purposing to kill thee.
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice;
arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran;
And tarry with him a few days, until thy
brother's fury turn away;
Until thy brother's anger turn away from
thee, and he forget that which thou hast done to him: then I will
send, and fetch thee from thence: why should I be deprived also of
you both in one day?
And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my
life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the
daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the
land, what good shall my life do me?
And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and
charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the
daughters of Canaan.
Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of
Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of
the daughers of Laban thy mother's brother.
And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee
fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of
people;
And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to
thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land
wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.
And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to
Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of
Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.
When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob,
and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and
that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not
take a wife of the daughers of Canaan;
And that Jacob obeyed his father and his
mother, and was gone to Padanaram;
And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan
pleased not Isaac his father;
Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto
the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's
son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.
And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went
toward Haran.
And he lighted upon a certain place, and
tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of
the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay
down in that place to sleep.
And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up
on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the
angels of God ascending and descending on it.
And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and
said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of
Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to
thy seed;
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the
earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east,
and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed
shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep
thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again
into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that
which I have spoken to thee of.
And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he
said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.
And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful
is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is
the gate of heaven.
And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and
took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a
pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.
And he called the name of that place
Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
And Jacob vowed 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 raiment to put on,
So that I come again to my father's house
in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
And this stone, which I have set for a
pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I
will surely give the tenth unto thee.
Then Jacob went on his journey, and came
into the land of the people of the east.
And he looked, and behold a well in the
field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for
out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was
upon the well's mouth.
And thither were all the flocks gathered:
and they rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the
sheep, and put the stone again upon the well's mouth in his
place.
And Jacob said unto them, My brethren,
whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we.
And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son
of Nahor? And they said, We know him.
And he said unto them, Is he well? And they
said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the
sheep.
And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither
is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye
the sheep, and go and feed them.
And they said, We cannot, until all the
flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the
well's mouth; then we water the sheep.
And while he yet spake with them, Rachel
came with her father's sheep; for she kept them.
And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel
the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban
his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone
from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's
brother.
And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his
voice, and wept.
And Jacob told Rachel that he was her
father's brother, and that he was Rebekah's son: and she ran and
told her father.
And it came to pass, when Laban heard the
tidings of Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and
embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he
told Laban all these things.
And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my
bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.
And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art
my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me,
what shall thy wages be?
And Laban had two daughters: the name of
the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was
beautiful and well favoured.
And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will
serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.
And Laban said, It is better that I give
her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with
me.
And Jacob served seven years for Rachel;
and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to
her.
And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife,
for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.
And Laban gathered together all the men of
the place, and made a feast.
And it came to pass in the evening, that he
took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto
her.
And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah
Zilpah his maid for an handmaid.
And it came to pass, that in the morning,
behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast
done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then
hast thou beguiled me?
And Laban said, It must not be so done in
our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.
Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this
also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other
years.
And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week:
and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter
Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
And he went in also unto Rachel, and he
loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven
other years.
And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated,
he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.
And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she
called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked
upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.
And she conceived again, and bare a son;
and said, Because the LORD hath heard I was hated, he hath
therefore given me this son also: and she called his name
Simeon.
And she conceived again, and bare a son;
and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because
I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called
Levi.
And she conceived again, and bare a son:
and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his
name Judah; and left bearing.
And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no
children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me
children, or else I die.
And Jacob's anger was kindled against
Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from
thee the fruit of the womb?
And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in
unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have
children by her.
And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to
wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a
son.
And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and
hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called
she his name Dan.
And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again,
and bare Jacob a second son.
And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have
I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his
name Naphtali.
When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she
took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a
son.
And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she
called his name Gad.
And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second
son.
And Leah said, Happy am I, for the
daughters will call me blessed: and she called his name Asher.
And Reuben went in the days of wheat
harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto
his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of
thy son's mandrakes.
And she said unto her, Is it a small matter
that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my
son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with
thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.
And Jacob came out of the field in the
evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in
unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And
he lay with her that night.
And God hearkened unto Leah, and she
conceived, and bare Jacob the fifth son.
And Leah said, God hath given me my hire,
because I have given my maiden to my husband: and she called his
name Issachar.
And Leah conceived again, and bare Jacob
the sixth son.
And Leah said, God hath endued me with a
good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born
him six sons: and she called his name Zebulun.
And afterwards she bare a daughter, and
called her name Dinah.
And God remembered Rachel, and God
hearkened to her, and opened her womb.
And she conceived, and bare a son; and
said, God hath taken away my reproach:
And she called his name Joseph; and said,
The LORD shall add to me another son.
And it came to pass, when Rachel had born
Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go
unto mine own place, and to my country.
Give me my wives and my children, for whom
I have served thee, and let me go: for thou knowest my service
which I have done thee.
And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I
have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by
experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.
And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I
will give it.
And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I
have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me.
For it was little which thou hadst before I
came, and it is now increased unto a multitude; and the LORD hath
blessed thee since my coming: and now when shall I provide for mine
own house also?
And he said, What shall I give thee? And
Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing: if thou wilt do this
thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock.
I will pass through all thy flock to day,
removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all
the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled
among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.
So shall my righteousness answer for me in
time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face: every
one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown
among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me.
And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be
according to thy word.
And he removed that day the he goats that
were ringstraked and spotted, and all the she goats that were
speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and
all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his
sons.
And he set three days' journey betwixt
himself and Jacob: and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
And Jacob took him rods of green poplar,
and of the hazel and chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes in
them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.
And he set the rods which he had pilled
before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs when the
flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to
drink.
And the flocks conceived before the rods,
and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.
And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set
the faces of the flocks toward the ringstraked, and all the brown
in the flock of Laban; and he put his own flocks by themselves, and
put them not unto Laban's cattle.
And it came to pass, whensoever the
stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the
eyes of the cattle in the gutters, that they might conceive among
the rods.
But when the cattle were feeble, he put
them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger
Jacob's.
And the man increased exceedingly, and had
much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and
asses.
And he heard the words of Laban's sons,
saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's; and of
that which was our father's hath he gotten all this glory.
And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban,
and, behold, it was not toward him as before.
And the LORD said unto Jacob, Return unto
the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with
thee.
And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to
the field unto his flock,
And said unto them, I see your father's
countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my
father hath been with me.
And ye know that with all my power I have
served your father.
And your father hath deceived me, and
changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt
me.
If he said thus, The speckled shall be thy
wages; then all the cattle bare speckled: and if he said thus, The
ringstraked shall be thy hire; then bare all the cattle
ringstraked.
Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your
father, and given them to me.
And it came to pass at the time that the
cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream,
and, behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were
ringstraked, speckled, and grisled.
And the angel of God spake unto me in a
dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.
And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and
see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked,
speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto
thee.
I am the God of Bethel, where thou
anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now
arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy
kindred.
And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto
him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's
house?
Are we not counted of him strangers? for he
hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.
For all the riches which God hath taken
from our father, that is ours, and our children's: now then,
whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.
Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and
his wives upon camels;
And he carried away all his cattle, and all
his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he
had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land
of Canaan.
And Laban went to shear his sheep: and
Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's.
And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the
Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.
So he fled with all that he had; and he
rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the
mount Gilead.
And it was told Laban on the third day that
Jacob was fled.
And he took his brethren with him, and
pursued after him seven days' journey; and they overtook him in the
mount Gilead.
And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream
by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob
either good or bad.
Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had
pitched his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched
in the mount of Gilead.
And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou
done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away
my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?
Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly,
and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have
sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with
harp?
And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons
and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.
It is in the power of my hand to do you
hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying,
Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or
bad.
And now, though thou wouldest needs be
gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet
wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?
And Jacob answered and said to Laban,
Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take
by force thy daughters from me.
With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let
him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with
me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen
them.
And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into
Leah's tent, and into the two maidservants' tents; but he found
them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent, and entered into
Rachel's tent.
Now Rachel had taken the images, and put
them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban
searched all the tent, but found them not.
And she said to her father, Let it not
displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom
of women is upon me. And he searched but found not the images.
And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban:
and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is
my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me?
Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff,
what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before
my brethren and thy brethren, that they may judge betwixt us
both.
This twenty years have I been with thee;
thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams
of thy flock have I not eaten.
That which was torn of beasts I brought not
unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it,
whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.
Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed
me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine
eyes.
Thus have I been twenty years in thy house;
I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years
for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
Except the God of my father, the God of
Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst
sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the
labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
And Laban answered and said unto Jacob,
These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my
children, and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest
is mine: and what can I do this day unto these my daughters, or
unto their children which they have born?
Now therefore come thou, let us make a
covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and
thee.
And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a
pillar.
And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather
stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did eat
there upon the heap.
And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but
Jacob called it Galeed.
And Laban said, This heap is a witness
between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called
Galeed;
And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch
between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.
If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if
thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us;
see, God is witness betwixt me and thee.
And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap,
and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee:
This heap be witness, and this pillar be
witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou
shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for
harm.
The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor,
the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the
fear of his father Isaac.
Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the
mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat
bread, and tarried all night in the mount.
And early in the morning Laban rose up, and
kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban
departed, and returned unto his place.
And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of
God met him.
And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is
God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau
his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye
speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have
sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and
menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord,
that I may find grace in thy sight.
And the messengers returned to Jacob,
saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet
thee, and four hundred men with him.
Then Jacob was greatly afraid and
distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the
flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;
And said, If Esau come to the one company,
and smite it, then the other company which is left shall
escape.
And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham,
and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return
unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with
thee:
I am not worthy of the least of all the
mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy
servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am
become two bands.
Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of
my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will
come and smite me, and the mother with the children.
And thou saidst, I will surely do thee
good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be
numbered for multitude.
And he lodged there that same night; and
took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his
brother;
Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats,
two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty
kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.
And he delivered them into the hand of his
servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants,
Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.
And he commanded the foremost, saying, When
Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art
thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?
Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant
Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also
he is behind us.
And so commanded he the second, and the
third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner
shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.
And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant
Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the
present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face;
peradventure he will accept of me.
So went the present over before him: and
himself lodged that night in the company.
And he rose up that night, and took his two
wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed
over the ford Jabbok.
And he took them, and sent them over the
brook, and sent over that he had.
And Jacob was left alone; and there
wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not
against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of
Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
And he said, Let me go, for the day
breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless
me.
And he said unto him, What is thy name? And
he said, Jacob.
And he said, Thy name shall be called no
more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God
and with men, and hast prevailed.
And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I
pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost
ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
And Jacob called the name of the place
Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is
preserved.
And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose
upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
Therefore the children of Israel eat not of
the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto
this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the
sinew that shrank.
And Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked,
and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he
divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two
handmaids.
And he put the handmaids and their children
foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph
hindermost.
And he passed over before them, and bowed
himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his
brother.
And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him,
and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.
And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women
and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said,
The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.
Then the handmaidens came near, they and
their children, and they bowed themselves.
And Leah also with her children came near,
and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and
they bowed themselves.
And he said, What meanest thou by all this
drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the
sight of my lord.
And Esau said, I have enough, my brother;
keep that thou hast unto thyself.
And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I
have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand:
for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face
of God, and thou wast pleased with me.
Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is
brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and
because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.
And he said, Let us take our journey, and
let us go, and I will go before thee.
And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that
the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are
with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock
will die.
Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before
his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle
that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I
come unto my lord unto Seir.
And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee
some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it?
let me find grace in the sight of my lord.
So Esau returned that day on his way unto
Seir.
And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built
him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of
the place is called Succoth.
And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of
Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from
Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city.
And he bought a parcel of a field, where he
had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor,
Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money.
And he erected there an altar, and called
it EleloheIsrael.
And Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she
bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
And when Shechem the son of Hamor the
Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with
her, and defiled her.
And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter
of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the
damsel.
And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor,
saying, Get me this damsel to wife.
And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah
his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and
Jacob held his peace until they were come.
And Hamor the father of Shechem went out
unto Jacob to commune with him.
And the sons of Jacob came out of the field
when they heard it: and the men were grieved, and they were very
wroth, because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's
daughter: which thing ought not to be done.
And Hamor communed with them, saying, The
soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter: I pray you give
her him to wife.
And make ye marriages with us, and give your
daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.
And ye shall dwell with us: and the land
shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you
possessions therein.
And Shechem said unto her father and unto
her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and what ye shall say
unto me I will give.
Ask me never so much dowry and gift, and I
will give according as ye shall say unto me: but give me the damsel
to wife.
And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and
Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled
Dinah their sister:
And they said unto them, We cannot do this
thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that
were a reproach unto us:
But in this will we consent unto you: If ye
will be as we be, that every male of you be circumcised;
Then will we give our daughters unto you,
and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you,
and we will become one people.
But if ye will not hearken unto us, to be
circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be
gone.
And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem
Hamor's son.
And the young man deferred not to do the
thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more
honourable than all the house of his father.
And Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the
gate of their city, and communed with the men of their city,
saying,
These men are peaceable with us; therefore
let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for the land,
behold, it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to
us for wives, and let us give them our daughters.
Only herein will the men consent unto us
for to dwell with us, to be one people, if every male among us be
circumcised, as they are circumcised.
Shall not their cattle and their substance
and every beast of their's be our's? only let us consent unto them,
and they will dwell with us.
And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son
hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male
was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.
And it came to pass on the third day, when
they were sore, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi,
Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city
boldly, and slew all the males.
And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son
with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house,
and went out.
The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and
spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.
They took their sheep, and their oxen, and
their asses, and that which was in the city, and that which was in
the field,
And all their wealth, and all their little
ones, and their wives took they captive, and spoiled even all that
was in the house.
And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have
troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land,
among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number,
they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and
I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
And they said, Should he deal with our
sister as with an harlot?
And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to
Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that
appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy
brother.
Then Jacob said unto his household, and to
all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among
you, and be clean, and change your garments:
And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I
will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my
distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
And they gave unto Jacob all the strange
gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in
their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by
Shechem.
And they journeyed: and the terror of God
was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not
pursue after the sons of Jacob.
So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land
of Canaan, that is, Bethel, he and all the people that were with
him.
And he built there an altar, and called the
place Elbethel: because there God appeared unto him, when he fled
from the face of his brother.
But Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she
was buried beneath Bethel under an oak: and the name of it was
called Allonbachuth.
And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he
came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.
And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob:
thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be
thy name: and he called his name Israel.
And God said unto him, I am God Almighty:
be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall
be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
And the land which I gave Abraham and
Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I
give the land.
And God went up from him in the place where
he talked with him.
And Jacob set up a pillar in the place
where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a
drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.
And Jacob called the name of the place
where God spake with him, Bethel.
And they journeyed from Bethel; and there
was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and
she had hard labour.
And it came to pass, when she was in hard
labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have
this son also.
And it came to pass, as her soul was in
departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his
father called him Benjamin.
And Rachel died, and was buried in the way
to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.
And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that
is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day.
And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent
beyond the tower of Edar.
And it came to pass, when Israel dwelt in
that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's
concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were
twelve:
The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's
firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and
Zebulun:
The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and
Benjamin:
And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid;
Dan, and Naphtali:
And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid:
Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him
in Padanaram.
And Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto
Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and
Isaac sojourned.
And the days of Isaac were an hundred and
fourscore years.
And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and
was gathered unto his people, being old and full of days: and his
sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Now these are the generations of Esau, who
is Edom.
Esau took his wives of the daughters of
Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the
daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
And Bashemath Ishmael's daughter, sister of
Nebajoth.
And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Bashemath
bare Reuel;
And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and
Korah: these are the sons of Esau, which were born unto him in the
land of Canaan.
And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and
his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle,
and all his beasts, and all his substance, which he had got in the
land of Canaan; and went into the country from the face of his
brother Jacob.
For their riches were more than that they
might dwell together; and the land wherein they were strangers
could not bear them because of their cattle.
Thus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is
Edom.
And these are the generations of Esau the
father of the Edomites in mount Seir:
These are the names of Esau's sons; Eliphaz
the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Bashemath the
wife of Esau.
And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar,
Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.
And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau's
son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek: these were the sons of Adah
Esau's wife.
And these are the sons of Reuel; Nahath,
and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons of Bashemath
Esau's wife.
And these were the sons of Aholibamah, the
daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife: and she bare
to Esau Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah.
These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the
sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar,
duke Zepho, duke Kenaz,
Duke Korah, duke Gatam, and duke Amalek:
these are the dukes that came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these
were the sons of Adah.
And these are the sons of Reuel Esau's son;
duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah: these are the
dukes that came of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of
Bashemath Esau's wife.
And these are the sons of Aholibamah Esau's
wife; duke Jeush, duke Jaalam, duke Korah: these were the dukes
that came of Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife.
These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom,
and these are their dukes.
These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who
inhabited the land; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah,
And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan: these are
the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of
Edom.
And the children of Lotan were Hori and
Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna.
And the children of Shobal were these;
Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
And these are the children of Zibeon; both
Ajah, and Anah: this was that Anah that found the mules in the
wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.
And the children of Anah were these;
Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.
And these are the children of Dishon;
Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.
The children of Ezer are these; Bilhan, and
Zaavan, and Akan.
The children of Dishan are these; Uz, and
Aran.
These are the dukes that came of the
Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah,
Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, duke Dishan: these
are the dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes in the land of
Seir.
And these are the kings that reigned in the
land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of
Israel.
And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom:
and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah
of Bozrah reigned in his stead.
And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of
Temani reigned in his stead.
And Husham died, and Hadad the son of
Bedad, who smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead:
and the name of his city was Avith.
And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah
reigned in his stead.
And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by
the river reigned in his stead.
And Saul died, and Baalhanan the son of
Achbor reigned in his stead.
And Baalhanan the son of Achbor died, and
Hadar reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Pau; and
his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter
of Mezahab.
And these are the names of the dukes that
came of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by
their names; duke Timnah, duke Alvah, duke Jetheth,
Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke
Pinon,
Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar,
Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these be the dukes
of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their
possession: he is Esau the father of the Edomites.
And Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his
father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph,
being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren;
and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of
Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father
their evil report.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his
children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a
coat of many colours.
And when his brethren saw that their father
loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not
speak peaceably unto him.
And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it
his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you,
this dream which I have dreamed:
For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the
field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and,
behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my
sheaf.
And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou
indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?
And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his
words.
And he dreamed yet another dream, and told
it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more;
and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made
obeisance to me.
And he told it to his father, and to his
brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is
this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy
brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the
earth?
And his brethren envied him; but his father
observed the saying.
And his brethren went to feed their
father's flock in Shechem.
And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy
brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto
them. And he said to him, Here am I.
And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see
whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and
bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and
he came to Shechem.
And a certain man found him, and, behold,
he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What
seekest thou?
And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I
pray thee, where they feed their flocks.
And the man said, They are departed hence;
for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after
his brethren, and found them in Dothan.
And when they saw him afar off, even before
he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay
him.
And they said one to another, Behold, this
dreamer cometh.
Come now therefore, and let us slay him,
and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath
devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him
out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him.
And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood,
but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, and lay no
hand upon him; that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver
him to his father again.
And it came to pass, when Joseph was come
unto his brethren, that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his
coat of many colours that was on him;
And they took him, and cast him into a pit:
and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
And they sat down to eat bread: and they
lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of
Ishmeelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and
balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.
And Judah said unto his brethren, What
profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?
Come, and let us sell him to the
Ishmeelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our
brother and our flesh. And his brethren were content.
Then there passed by Midianites
merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and
sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and
they brought Joseph into Egypt.
And Reuben returned unto the pit; and,
behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes.
And he returned unto his brethren, and
said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?
And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a
kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
And they sent the coat of many colours, and
they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know
now whether it be thy son's coat or no.
And he knew it, and said, It is my son's
coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent
in pieces.
And Jacob rent his clothes, and put
sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
And all his sons and all his daughters rose
up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For
I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father
wept for him.
And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto
Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.
And it came to pass at that time, that Judah
went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite,
whose name was Hirah.
And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain
Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto
her.
And she conceived, and bare a son; and he
called his name Er.
And she conceived again, and bare a son; and
she called his name Onan.
And she yet again conceived, and bare a son;
and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare
him.
And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn,
whose name was Tamar.
And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the
sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.
And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy
brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy
brother.
And Onan knew that the seed should not be
his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife,
that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to
his brother.
And the thing which he did displeased the
LORD: wherefore he slew him also.
Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in
law, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till Shelah my son be
grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren
did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.
And in process of time the daughter of
Shuah Judah's wife died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto
his sheepshearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the
Adullamite.
And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold thy
father in law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.
And she put her widow's garments off from
her, and covered her with a vail, and wrapped herself, and sat in
an open place, which is by the way to Timnath; for she saw that
Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife.
When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an
harlot; because she had covered her face.
And he turned unto her by the way, and
said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew
not that she was his daughter in law.) And she said, What wilt thou
give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?
And he said, I will send thee a kid from
the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send
it?
And he said, What pledge shall I give thee?
And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is
in thine hand. And he gave it her, and came in unto her, and she
conceived by him.
And she arose, and went away, and laid by
her vail from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.
And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his
friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand:
but he found her not.
Then he asked the men of that place,
saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the way side? And
they said, There was no harlot in this place.
And he returned to Judah, and said, I
cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was
no harlot in this place.
And Judah said, Let her take it to her,
lest we be shamed: behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found
her.
And it came to pass about three months
after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law
hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by
whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be
burnt.
When she was brought forth, she sent to her
father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with
child: and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the
signet, and bracelets, and staff.
And Judah acknowledged them, and said, She
hath been more righteous than I; because that I gave her not to
Shelah my son. And he knew her again no more.
And it came to pass in the time of her
travail, that, behold, twins were in her womb.
And it came to pass, when she travailed,
that the one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon
his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.
And it came to pass, as he drew back his
hand, that, behold, his brother came out: and she said, How hast
thou broken forth? this breach be upon thee: therefore his name was
called Pharez.
And afterward came out his brother, that
had the scarlet thread upon his hand: and his name was called
Zarah.
And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and
Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian,
bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him
down thither.
And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a
prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the
Egyptian.
And his master saw that the LORD was with
him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his
hand.
And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he
served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that
he had he put into his hand.
And it came to pass from the time that he
had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that
the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the
blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in
the field.
And he left all that he had in Joseph's
hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did
eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.
And it came to pass after these things, that
his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with
me.
But he refused, and said unto his master's
wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house,
and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
There is none greater in this house than I;
neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou
art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin
against God?
And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph
day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be
with her.
And it came to pass about this time, that
Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none
of the men of the house there within.
And she caught him by his garment, saying,
Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got
him out.
And it came to pass, when she saw that he
had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,
That she called unto the men of her house,
and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto
us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with
a loud voice:
And it came to pass, when he heard that I
lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and
fled, and got him out.
And she laid up his garment by her, until
his lord came home.
And she spake unto him according to these
words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us,
came in unto me to mock me:
And it came to pass, as I lifted up my
voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled
out.
And it came to pass, when his master heard
the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this
manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.
And Joseph's master took him, and put him
into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and
he was there in the prison.
But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed
him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the
prison.
And the keeper of the prison committed to
Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and
whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.
The keeper of the prison looked not to any
thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and
that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.
And it came to pass after these things, that
the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their
lord the king of Egypt.
And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his
officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief
of the bakers.
And he put them in ward in the house of the
captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was
bound.
And the captain of the guard charged Joseph
with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in
ward.
And they dreamed a dream both of them, each
man his dream in one night, each man according to the
interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king
of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.
And Joseph came in unto them in the morning,
and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad.
And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were
with him in the ward of his lord's house, saying, Wherefore look ye
so sadly to day?
And they said unto him, We have dreamed a
dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto
them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray
you.
And the chief butler told his dream to
Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before
me;
And in the vine were three branches: and it
was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the
clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes:
And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand: and I
took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave
the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
And Joseph said unto him, This is the
interpretation of it: The three branches are three days:
Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up
thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver
Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast
his butler.
But think on me when it shall be well with
thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of
me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house:
For indeed I was stolen away out of the
land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they
should put me into the dungeon.
When the chief baker saw that the
interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my
dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head:
And in the uppermost basket there was of
all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out
of the basket upon my head.
And Joseph answered and said, This is the
interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days:
Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up
thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the
birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.
And it came to pass the third day, which
was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants:
and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief
baker among his servants.
And he restored the chief butler unto his
butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand:
But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph
had interpreted to them.
Yet did not the chief butler remember
Joseph, but forgat him.
And it came to pass at the end of two full
years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the
river.
And, behold, there came up out of the river
seven well favoured kine and fatfleshed; and they fed in a
meadow.
And, behold, seven other kine came up after
them out of the river, ill favoured and leanfleshed; and stood by
the other kine upon the brink of the river.
And the ill favoured and leanfleshed kine
did eat up the seven well favoured and fat kine. So Pharaoh
awoke.
And he slept and dreamed the second time:
and, behold, seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk, rank and
good.
And, behold, seven thin ears and blasted
with the east wind sprung up after them.
And the seven thin ears devoured the seven
rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a
dream.
And it came to pass in the morning that his
spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians
of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his
dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto
Pharaoh.
Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh,
saying, I do remember my faults this day:
Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and
put me in ward in the captain of the guard's house, both me and the
chief baker:
And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and
he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his
dream.
And there was there with us a young man, an
Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and
he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream
he did interpret.
And it came to pass, as he interpreted to
us, so it was; me he restored unto mine office, and him he
hanged.
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and
they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself,
and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have
dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I
have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to
interpret it.
And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is
not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream,
behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
And, behold, there came up out of the river
seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a
meadow:
And, behold, seven other kine came up after
them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never
saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
And the lean and the ill favoured kine did
eat up the first seven fat kine:
And when they had eaten them up, it could
not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill
favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven
ears came up in one stalk, full and good:
And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin,
and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
And the thin ears devoured the seven good
ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that
could declare it to me.
And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of
Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to
do.
The seven good kine are seven years; and
the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.
And the seven thin and ill favoured kine
that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears
blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.
This is the thing which I have spoken unto
Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.
Behold, there come seven years of great
plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
And there shall arise after them seven
years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land
of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
And the plenty shall not be known in the
land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very
grievous.
And for that the dream was doubled unto
Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and
God will shortly bring it to pass.
Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man
discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint
officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of
Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
And let them gather all the food of those
good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh,
and let them keep food in the cities.
And that food shall be for store to the
land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land
of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.
And the thing was good in the eyes of
Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.
And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we
find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God
is?
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as
God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise
as thou art:
Thou shalt be over my house, and according
unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will
I be greater than thou.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have
set thee over all the land of Egypt.
And Pharaoh took off his ring from his
hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of
fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
And he made him to ride in the second
chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Bow the knee: and
he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh,
and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the
land of Egypt.
And Pharaoh called Joseph's name
Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of
Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of
Egypt.
And Joseph was thirty years old when he
stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the
presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of
Egypt.
And in the seven plenteous years the earth
brought forth by handfuls.
And he gathered up all the food of the
seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food
in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every
city, laid he up in the same.
And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the
sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without
number.
And unto Joseph were born two sons before
the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah
priest of On bare unto him.
And Joseph called the name of the firstborn
Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and
all my father's house.
And the name of the second called he
Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my
affliction.
And the seven years of plenteousness, that
was in the land of Egypt, were ended.
And the seven years of dearth began to
come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all
lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
And when all the land of Egypt was
famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said
unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you,
do.
And the famine was over all the face of the
earth: and Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold unto the
Egyptians; and the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.
And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph
for to buy corn; because that the famine was so sore in all
lands.
Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in
Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look one upon
another?
And he said, Behold, I have heard that there
is corn in Egypt: get you down thither, and buy for us from thence;
that we may live, and not die.
And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy
corn in Egypt.
But Benjamin, Joseph's brother, Jacob sent
not with his brethren; for he said, Lest peradventure mischief
befall him.
And the sons of Israel came to buy corn
among those that came: for the famine was in the land of
Canaan.
And Joseph was the governor over the land,
and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's
brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their
faces to the earth.
And Joseph saw his brethren, and he knew
them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake roughly unto
them; and he said unto them, Whence come ye? And they said, From
the land of Canaan to buy food.
And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew
not him.
And Joseph remembered the dreams which he
dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the
nakedness of the land ye are come.
And they said unto him, Nay, my lord, but
to buy food are thy servants come.
We are all one man's sons; we are true men,
thy servants are no spies.
And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the
nakedness of the land ye are come.
And they said, Thy servants are twelve
brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and, behold,
the youngest is this day with our father, and one is not.
And Joseph said unto them, That is it that
I spake unto you, saying, Ye are spies:
Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of
Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother
come hither.
Send one of you, and let him fetch your
brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be
proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of
Pharaoh surely ye are spies.
And he put them all together into ward
three days.
And Joseph said unto them the third day,
This do, and live; for I fear God:
If ye be true men, let one of your brethren
be bound in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the
famine of your houses:
But bring your youngest brother unto me; so
shall your words be verified, and ye shall not die. And they did
so.
And they said one to another, We are verily
guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his
soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this
distress come upon us.
And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I
not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would
not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
And they knew not that Joseph understood
them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
And he turned himself about from them, and
wept; and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took
from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes.
Then Joseph commanded to fill their sacks
with corn, and to restore every man's money into his sack, and to
give them provision for the way: and thus did he unto them.
And they laded their asses with the corn,
and departed thence.
And as one of them opened his sack to give
his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it
was in his sack's mouth.
And he said unto his brethren, My money is
restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed
them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this
that God hath done unto us?
And they came unto Jacob their father unto
the land of Canaan, and told him all that befell unto them;
saying,
The man, who is the lord of the land, spake
roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
And we said unto him, We are true men; we
are no spies:
We be twelve brethren, sons of our father;
one is not, and the youngest is this day with our father in the
land of Canaan.
And the man, the lord of the country, said
unto us, Hereby shall I know that ye are true men; leave one of
your brethren here with me, and take food for the famine of your
households, and be gone:
And bring your youngest brother unto me:
then shall I know that ye are no spies, but that ye are true men:
so will I deliver you your brother, and ye shall traffick in the
land.
And it came to pass as they emptied their
sacks, that, behold, every man's bundle of money was in his sack:
and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they
were afraid.
And Jacob their father said unto them, Me
have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not,
and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against
me.
And Reuben spake unto his father, saying,
Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my
hand, and I will bring him to thee again.
And he said, My son shall not go down with
you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief
befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down
my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
And it came to pass, when they had eaten up
the corn which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said
unto them, Go again, buy us a little food.
And Judah spake unto him, saying, The man
did solemnly protest unto us, saying, Ye shall not see my face,
except your brother be with you.
If thou wilt send our brother with us, we
will go down and buy thee food:
But if thou wilt not send him, we will not
go down: for the man said unto us, Ye shall not see my face, except
your brother be with you.
And Israel said, Wherefore dealt ye so ill
with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?
And they said, The man asked us straitly of
our state, and of our kindred, saying, Is your father yet alive?
have ye another brother? and we told him according to the tenor of
these words: could we certainly know that he would say, Bring your
brother down?
And Judah said unto Israel his father, Send
the lad with me, and we will arise and go; that we may live, and
not die, both we, and thou, and also our little ones.
I will be surety for him; of my hand shalt
thou require him: if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before
thee, then let me bear the blame for ever:
For except we had lingered, surely now we
had returned this second time.
And their father Israel said unto them, If
it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in
your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and
a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:
And take double money in your hand; and the
money that was brought again in the mouth of your sacks, carry it
again in your hand; peradventure it was an oversight:
Take also your brother, and arise, go again
unto the man:
And God Almighty give you mercy before the
man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I
be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.
And the men took that present, and they
took double money in their hand and Benjamin; and rose up, and went
down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.
And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he
said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and
make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon.
And the man did as Joseph bade; and the man
brought the men into Joseph's house.
And the men were afraid, because they were
brought into Joseph's house; and they said, Because of the money
that was returned in our sacks at the first time are we brought in;
that he may seek occasion against us, and fall upon us, and take us
for bondmen, and our asses.
And they came near to the steward of
Joseph's house, and they communed with him at the door of the
house,
And said, O sir, we came indeed down at the
first time to buy food:
And it came to pass, when we came to the
inn, that we opened our sacks, and, behold, every man's money was
in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight: and we have
brought it again in our hand.
And other money have we brought down in our
hands to buy food: we cannot tell who put our money in our
sacks.
And he said, Peace be to you, fear not:
your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in
your sacks: I had your money. And he brought Simeon out unto
them.
And the man brought the men into Joseph's
house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave
their asses provender.
And they made ready the present against
Joseph came at noon: for they heard that they should eat bread
there.
And when Joseph came home, they brought him
the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed
themselves to him to the earth.
And he asked them of their welfare, and
said, Is your father well, the old man of whom ye spake? Is he yet
alive?
And they answered, Thy servant our father
is in good health, he is yet alive. And they bowed down their
heads, and made obeisance.
And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his
brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, Is this your younger
brother, of whom ye spake unto me? And he said, God be gracious
unto thee, my son.
And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did
yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered
into his chamber, and wept there.
And he washed his face, and went out, and
refrained himself, and said, Set on bread.
And they set on for him by himself, and for
them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him,
by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the
Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
And they sat before him, the firstborn
according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his
youth: and the men marvelled one at another.
And he took and sent messes unto them from
before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of
their's. And they drank, and were merry with him.
And he commanded the steward of his house,
saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry,
and put every man's money in his sack's mouth.
And put my cup, the silver cup, in the
sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money. And he did
according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
As soon as the morning was light, the men
were sent away, they and their asses.
And when they were gone out of the city, and
not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the
men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore
have ye rewarded evil for good?
Is not this it in which my lord drinketh,
and whereby indeed he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.
And he overtook them, and he spake unto them
these same words.
And they said unto him, Wherefore saith my
lord these words? God forbid that thy servants should do according
to this thing:
Behold, the money, which we found in our
sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of
Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or
gold?
With whomsoever of thy servants it be found,
both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen.
And he said, Now also let it be according
unto your words: he with whom it is found shall be my servant; and
ye shall be blameless.
Then they speedily took down every man his
sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.
And he searched, and began at the eldest,
and left at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's
sack.
Then they rent their clothes, and laded
every man his ass, and returned to the city.
And Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's
house; for he was yet there: and they fell before him on the
ground.
And Joseph said unto them, What deed is
this that ye have done? wot ye not that such a man as I can
certainly divine?
And Judah said, What shall we say unto my
lord? what shall we speak? or how shall we clear ourselves? God
hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are my
lord's servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is
found.
And he said, God forbid that I should do
so: but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my
servant; and as for you, get you up in peace unto your father.
Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh
my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's
ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou
art even as Pharaoh.
My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye
a father, or a brother?
And we said unto my lord, We have a father,
an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his
brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and his father
loveth him.
And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring
him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him.
And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot
leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father
would die.
And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except
your youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no
more.
And it came to pass when we came up unto
thy servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
And our father said, Go again, and buy us a
little food.
And we said, We cannot go down: if our
youngest brother be with us, then will we go down: for we may not
see the man's face, except our youngest brother be with us.
And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye
know that my wife bare me two sons:
And the one went out from me, and I said,
Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:
And if ye take this also from me, and
mischief befall him, ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow
to the grave.
Now therefore when I come to thy servant my
father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his life is bound
up in the lad's life;
It shall come to pass, when he seeth that
the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall
bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to
the grave.
For thy servant became surety for the lad
unto my father, saying, If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall
bear the blame to my father for ever.
Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant
abide instead of the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go
up with his brethren.
For how shall I go up to my father, and the
lad be not with me? lest peradventure I see the evil that shall
come on my father.
Then Joseph could not refrain himself before
all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out
from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself
known unto his brethren.
And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the
house of Pharaoh heard.
And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am
Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer
him; for they were troubled at his presence.
And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near
to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph
your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with
yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you
to preserve life.
For these two years hath the famine been in
the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall
neither be earing nor harvest.
And God sent me before you to preserve you a
posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great
deliverance.
So now it was not you that sent me hither,
but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all
his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say
unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all
Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not:
And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen,
and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy children, and thy
children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that
thou hast:
And there will I nourish thee; for yet
there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and
all that thou hast, come to poverty.
And, behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of
my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto
you.
And ye shall tell my father of all my glory
in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and
bring down my father hither.
And he fell upon his brother Benjamin's
neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck.
Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and
wept upon them: and after that his brethren talked with him.
And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's
house, saying, Joseph's brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh
well, and his servants.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy
brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, get you unto the
land of Canaan;
And take your father and your households,
and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of
Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.
Now thou art commanded, this do ye; take
you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for
your wives, and bring your father, and come.
Also regard not your stuff; for the good of
all the land of Egypt is your's.
And the children of Israel did so: and
Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh,
and gave them provision for the way.
To all of them he gave each man changes of
raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver,
and five changes of raiment.
And to his father he sent after this
manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she
asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father by the
way.
So he sent his brethren away, and they
departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the
way.
And they went up out of Egypt, and came
into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father,
And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive,
and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob's heart
fainted, for he believed them not.
And they told him all the words of Joseph,
which he had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which
Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father
revived:
And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my
son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.
And Israel took his journey with all that he
had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of
his father Isaac.
And God spake unto Israel in the visions of
the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.
And he said, I am God, the God of thy
father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of
thee a great nation:
I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I
will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand
upon thine eyes.
And Jacob rose up from Beersheba: and the
sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones,
and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry
him.
And they took their cattle, and their goods,
which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt,
Jacob, and all his seed with him:
His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his
daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he
with him into Egypt.
And these are the names of the children of
Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's
firstborn.
And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu,
and Hezron, and Carmi.
And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin,
and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish
woman.
And the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and
Merari.
And the sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and
Shelah, and Pharez, and Zarah: but Er and Onan died in the land of
Canaan. And the sons of Pharez were Hezron and Hamul.
And the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Phuvah,
and Job, and Shimron.
And the sons of Zebulun; Sered, and Elon,
and Jahleel.
These be the sons of Leah, which she bare
unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of
his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.
And the sons of Gad; Ziphion, and Haggi,
Shuni, and Ezbon, Eri, and Arodi, and Areli.
And the sons of Asher; Jimnah, and Ishuah,
and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister: and the sons of
Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel.
These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban
gave to Leah his daughter, and these she bare unto Jacob, even
sixteen souls.
The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife; Joseph,
and Benjamin.
And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were
born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah
priest of On bare unto him.
And the sons of Benjamin were Belah, and
Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and
Huppim, and Ard.
These are the sons of Rachel, which were
born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.
And the sons of Dan; Hushim.
And the sons of Naphtali; Jahzeel, and
Guni, and Jezer, and Shillem.
These are the sons of Bilhah, which Laban
gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare these unto Jacob: all
the souls were seven.
All the souls that came with Jacob into
Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob's sons' wives,
all the souls were threescore and six;
And the sons of Joseph, which were born him
in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob,
which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph,
to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came into the land of
Goshen.
And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went
up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and presented himself unto
him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good
while.
And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me
die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive.
And Joseph said unto his brethren, and unto
his father's house, I will go up, and shew Pharaoh, and say unto
him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in the land of
Canaan, are come unto me;
And the men are shepherds, for their trade
hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and
their herds, and all that they have.
And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh
shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation?
That ye shall say, Thy servants' trade hath
been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also
our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every
shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said,
My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and
all that they have, are come out of the land of Canaan; and,
behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
And he took some of his brethren, even five
men, and presented them unto Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is
your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are
shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.
They said morever unto Pharaoh, For to
sojourn in the land are we come; for thy servants have no pasture
for their flocks; for the famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now
therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of
Goshen.
And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying, Thy
father and thy brethren are come unto thee:
The land of Egypt is before thee; in the
best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land
of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity
among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.
And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and
set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art
thou?
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the
years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and
evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not
attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in
the days of their pilgrimage.
And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out
from before Pharaoh.
And Joseph placed his father and his
brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the
best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had
commanded.
And Joseph nourished his father, and his
brethren, and all his father's household, with bread, according to
their families.
And there was no bread in all the land; for
the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the
land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.
And Joseph gathered up all the money that
was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the
corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's
house.
And when money failed in the land of Egypt,
and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and
said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the
money faileth.
And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I
will give you for your cattle, if money fail.
And they brought their cattle unto Joseph:
and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the
flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he
fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.
When that year was ended, they came unto
him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my
lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of
cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our
bodies, and our lands:
Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes,
both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our
land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may
live, and not die, that the land be not desolate.
And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for
Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the
famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's.
And as for the people, he removed them to
cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end
thereof.
Only the land of the priests bought he not;
for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat
their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not
their lands.
Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I
have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is
seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.
And it shall come to pass in the increase,
that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four parts
shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and
for them of your households, and for food for your little
ones.
And they said, Thou hast saved our lives:
let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's
servants.
And Joseph made it a law over the land of
Egypt unto this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth part,
except the land of the priests only, which became not
Pharaoh's.
And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in
the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew,
and multiplied exceedingly.
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt
seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and
seven years.
And the time drew nigh that Israel must
die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have
found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my
thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee,
in Egypt:
But I will lie with my fathers, and thou
shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And
he said, I will do as thou hast said.
And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware
unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.
And it came to pass after these things, that
one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him
his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy
son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and
sat upon the bed.
And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty
appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee
fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of
people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an
everlasting possession.
And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh,
which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto
thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be
mine.
And thy issue, which thou begettest after
them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their
brethren in their inheritance.
And as for me, when I came from Padan,
Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there
was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there
in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.
And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said,
Who are these?
And Joseph said unto his father, They are my
sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring
them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so
that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he
kissed them, and embraced them.
And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not
thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy
seed.
And Joseph brought them out from between
his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his
right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand
toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him.
And Israel stretched out his right hand,
and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left
hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for
Manasseh was the firstborn.
And he blessed Joseph, and said, God,
before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which
fed me all my life long unto this day,
The Angel which redeemed me from all evil,
bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of
my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in
the midst of the earth.
And when Joseph saw that his father laid
his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he
held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto
Manasseh's head.
And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my
father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his
head.
And his father refused, and said, I know
it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also
shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than
he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
And he blessed them that day, saying, In
thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as
Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die:
but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of
your fathers.
Moreover I have given to thee one portion
above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite
with my sword and with my bow.
And Jacob called unto his sons, and said,
Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall
befall you in the last days.
Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye
sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and
the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the
excellency of power:
Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel;
because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou
it: he went up to my couch.
Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of
cruelty are in their habitations.
O my soul, come not thou into their secret;
unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their
anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a
wall.
Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;
and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and
scatter them in Israel.
Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall
praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy
father's children shall bow down before thee.
Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my
son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and
as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto
him shall the gathering of the people be.
Binding his foal unto the vine, and his
ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine,
and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
His eyes shall be red with wine, and his
teeth white with milk.
Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the
sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be
unto Zidon.
Issachar is a strong ass couching down
between two burdens:
And he saw that rest was good, and the land
that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a
servant unto tribute.
Dan shall judge his people, as one of the
tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder
in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall
fall backward.
I have waited for thy salvation, O
LORD.
Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he
shall overcome at the last.
Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he
shall yield royal dainties.
Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth
goodly words.
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful
bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
The archers have sorely grieved him, and
shot at him, and hated him:
But his bow abode in strength, and the arms
of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of
Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
Even by the God of thy father, who shall
help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings
of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings
of the breasts, and of the womb:
The blessings of thy father have prevailed
above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the
everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the
crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the
morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the
spoil.
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel:
and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them;
every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
And he charged them, and said unto them, I
am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the
cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
In the cave that is in the field of
Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which
Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a
possession of a buryingplace.
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his
wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I
buried Leah.
The purchase of the field and of the cave
that is therein was from the children of Heth.
And when Jacob had made an end of
commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and
yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.
And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and
wept upon him, and kissed him.
And Joseph commanded his servants the
physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed
Israel.
And forty days were fulfilled for him; for
so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the
Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days.
And when the days of his mourning were past,
Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found
grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh,
saying,
My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die:
in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there
shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and
bury my father, and I will come again.
And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy
father, according as he made thee swear.
And Joseph went up to bury his father: and
with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his
house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
And all the house of Joseph, and his
brethren, and his father's house: only their little ones, and their
flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.
And there went up with him both chariots and
horsemen: and it was a very great company.
And they came to the threshingfloor of
Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great
and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father
seven days.
And when the inhabitants of the land, the
Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This
is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it
was called Abelmizraim, which is beyond Jordan.
And his sons did unto him according as he
commanded them:
For his sons carried him into the land of
Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which
Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of
Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his
brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after
he had buried his father.
And when Joseph's brethren saw that their
father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and
will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
And they sent a messenger unto Joseph,
saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I
pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for
they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the
trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept
when they spake unto him.
And his brethren also went and fell down
before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am
I in the place of God?
But as for you, ye thought evil against me;
but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to
save much people alive.
Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish
you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly
unto them.
And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his
father's house: and Joseph lived an hundred and ten years.
And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the
third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh
were brought up upon Joseph's knees.
And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die:
and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto
the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
And Joseph took an oath of the children of
Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my
bones from hence.
So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten
years old: and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in
Egypt.