Holy Bible Audio: GENESIS 1 to 50 - With Text (Contemporary English)

[Music] genesis genesis 1 in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth the earth was barren with no form of life it was under a roaring ocean covered with darkness but the spirit of god was moving over the water god said i command light to shine and light started shining god looked at the light and saw that it was good he separated light from darkness and named the light day and the darkness night evening came and then morning that was the first day god said i command a dome to separate the water above it from the water below it and that's what happened god made the dome and named it sky evening came and then morning that was the second day god said i command the water under the sky to come together in one place so there will be dry ground and that's what happened god named the dry ground land and he named the water ocean god looked at what he had done and saw that it was good god said i command the earth to produce all kinds of plants including fruit trees and grain and that's what happened the earth produced all kinds of vegetation god looked at what he had done and it was good evening came and then morning that was the third day [Applause] [Music] god said i command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons special days and years i command them to shine on the earth and that's what happened god made two powerful lights the brighter one to rule the day and the other to rule the night he also made the stars then god put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth to rule day and night and to separate light from darkness god looked at what he had done and it was good evening came and then morning that was the fourth day god said i command the ocean to be full of living creatures and i command birds to fly above the earth so god made the giant sea monsters in all the living creatures that swim in the ocean he also made every kind of bird god looked at what he had done and it was good then he gave the living creatures his blessing he told the ocean creatures to live everywhere in the ocean and the birds to live everywhere on earth evening came and then morning that was the fifth day god said i command the earth to give life to all kinds of tame animals wild animals and reptiles and that's what happened god made every one of them then he looked at what he had done and it was good god said now we will make humans and they will be like us we will let them rule the fish the birds and all other living creatures so god created humans to be like himself he made men and women god gave them his blessing and said have a lot of children fill the earth with people and bring it under your control rule over the fish in the ocean the birds in the sky and every animal on the earth i have provided all kinds of fruit and grain for you to eat and i have given the green plants as food for everything else that breeds these will be food for animals both wild and tame and for birds god looked at what he had done all of it was very good evening came and then morning that was the sixth day genesis 2 so the heavens and the earth and everything else were created by the seventh day god had finished his work and so he rested god blessed the seventh day and made it special because on that day he rested from his work that's how god created the heavens and the earth when the lord god made the heavens and the earth no grass or plants were growing anywhere god had not yet sent any rain and there was no one to work the land but streams came up from the ground and watered the earth the lord god took a handful of soil and made a man god breathed life into the man and the man started breathing the lord made a garden in a place called eden which was in the east and he put the man there the lord god placed all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees in the garden two other trees were in the middle of the garden one of the trees gave life the other gave the power to know the difference between right and wrong from eaton a river flowed out to water the garden then it divided into four rivers the first one is the paishon river that flows through the land of havala where pure gold rare perfumes and precious stones are found the second is the gihon river that winds through ethiopia the tigris river that flows east of assyria is the third and the fourth is the euphrates river the lord god put the man in the garden of eden to take care of it and to look after it but the lord told him you may eat fruit from any tree in the garden except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong if you eat any fruit from that tree you will die before the day is over the lord god said it isn't good for the man to live alone i need to make a suitable partner for him so the lord took some soil and made animals and birds he brought them to the man to see what names he would give each of them then the man named the tame animals and the birds and the wild animals that's how they got their names none of these was the right kind of partner for the man so the lord god made him fall into a deep sleep and he took out one of the man's ribs then after closing the man's side the lord made a woman out of the rib the lord god brought her to the man and the man exclaimed here is someone like me she's part of my body my own flesh and bones she came from me a man so i will name her woman that's why a man will leave his own father and mother he marries a woman and the two of them become like one person although the man and his wife were both naked they were not ashamed genesis 3 the snake was sneakier than any of the other wild animals that the lord god had made one day it came to the woman and asked did god tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden the woman answered god said we could eat fruit from any tree in the garden except the one in the middle he told us not to eat fruit from that tree or even to touch it if we do we will die [Music] no you won't the snake replied god understands what will happen on the day you eat fruit from that tree you will see what you have done and you will know the difference between right and wrong just as god does the woman stared at the fruit it looked beautiful and tasty she wanted the wisdom that it would give her and she ate some of the fruit her husband was there with her so she gave some to him and he ate it too right away they saw what they had done and they realized they were naked then they sewed fig leaves together to make something to cover themselves late in the afternoon a breeze began to blow and the man and woman heard the lord god walking in the garden they were frightened and hid behind some trees the lord called out to the man and asked where are you the man answered i was naked and when i heard you walking through the garden i was frightened and hid how did you know you were naked god asked did you eat any fruit from that tree in the middle of the garden it was the woman you put here with me the man said she gave me some of the fruit and i ate it the lord god then asked the woman what have you done the snake tricked me she answered and i ate some of that fruit so the lord god said to the snake because of what you have done you will be the only animal to suffer this curse for as long as you live you will crawl on your stomach and eat dirt you and this woman will hate each other your descendants and hers will always be enemies one of hers will strike you on the head and you will strike him on the heel then the lord said to the woman you will suffer terribly when you give birth but you will still desire your husband and he will rule over you the lord said to the man you listened to your wife and ate fruit from that tree and so the ground will be under a curse because of what you did as long as you live you will have to struggle to grow enough food your food will be plants but the grand will produce thorns and thistles you will have to sweat to earn a living you were made out of soil and you will once again turn into soil the man adam named his wife eve because she would become the mother of all who live then the lord god made clothes out of animal skins for the man and his wife the lord said these people now know the difference between right and wrong just as we do but they must not be allowed to eat fruit from the tree that lets them live forever so the lord god sent them out of the garden of eden where they would have to work the ground from which the man had been made then god put winged creatures at the entrance to the garden and a flaming flashing sword to guard the way to the life-giving tree genesis 4 adam and eve had a son then eve said i'll name him cain because i got him with the help of the lord later she had another son and named him abel abel became a sheep farmer but cain farmed the land one day cain gave part of his harvest to the lord and abel also gave an offering to the lord he killed the firstborn lamb from one of his sheep and gave the lord the best parts of it the lord was pleased with abel and his offering but not with cain and his offering this made cain so angry that he could not hide his feelings the lord said to cain what's wrong with you why do you have such an angry look on your face if you had done the right thing you would be smiling but you did the wrong thing and now sin is waiting to attack you like a lion sin wants to destroy you but don't let it kane said to his brother abel let's go for a walk and when they were out in a field cain killed him afterwards the lord asked cain where is abel how should i know he answered am i supposed to look after my brother then the lord said why have you done this terrible thing you killed your own brother and his blood flowed onto the ground now his blood is calling out for me to punish you and so i'll put you under a curse because you killed abel and made his blood run out on the ground you will never be able to farm the land again you try to farm the land it won't produce anything for you from now on you'll be without a home and you'll spend the rest of your life wandering from place to place this punishment is too hard kane said you're making me leave my home and live far from you i will have to wander about without a home and just anyone could kill me no the lord answered anyone who kills you will be punished seven times worse than i am punishing you so the lord put a mark on cain to warn everyone not to kill him but cain had to go far from the lord and live in the land of wandering which is east of eden later kane and his wife had a son named enoch at the time kane was building a town and so he named it enoch after his son then enoch had a son named irad who had a son named mahujal who had a son named methusel who had a son named lamech lamech married ada then zilla lamech and ada had two sons jabel and jubal their son jabel was the first to live in tents and raise sheep and goats jubal was the first to play harps and flutes lamech and zilla had a son named tubal kane who made tools out of bronze and iron they also had a daughter whose name was nama one day lamech said to his two wives a young man wounded me and i killed him anyone who tries to get even with me will be punished ten times more than anyone who tries to get even with adam and his wife had another son they named him seth because they said god has given us a son to take the place of abel who was killed by his brother cain later seth had a son and named him enosh about this time people started worshiping the lord genesis 5 god created men and women to be like himself he gave them his blessing and called them human beings this is a list of the descendants of adam the first man when adam was 130 he had a son who was just like him and he named him seth adam had more children and died at the age of 930. when seth was 105 he had a son named enosh seth had more children and died at the age of 912. when enusch was 90 he had a son named keenan enosh had more children and died at the age of 905. when kenan was 70 he had a son named mahalo kenan had more children and died at the age of 910 when mahalalel was 65 he had a son named jared mahalo had more children and died at the age of 895. when jared was 162 he had a son named enoch jared had more children and died at the age of 962. when enoch was 65 he had a son named methuselah and during the next 300 years he had more children enoch truly loved god and god took him away at the age of 365. when methuselah was 187 he had a son named lamech methuselah had more children and died at the age of 969. when lamech was 182 he had a son lamech said i'll name him noah because he will give us comfort as we struggle hard to make a living on this land that the lord has put under a curse lamech had more children and died at the age of 777 after noah was 500 years old he had three sons and named them shem ham and japheth genesis 6. more and more people were born until finally they spread all over the earth some of their daughters were so beautiful that supernatural beings came down and married the ones they wanted then the lord said i won't let my life-giving breath remain in anyone forever no one will live for more than 120 years the children of the supernatural beings who had married these women became famous heroes and warriors they were called nephilim and lived on the earth at that time and even later the lord saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil he was very sorry that he had made them and he said i'll destroy every living creature on earth i'll wipe out people animals birds and reptiles i'm sorry i ever made them but the lord was pleased with noah and this is the story about him noah was the only person who lived right and obeyed god he had three sons shem ham and japheth god knew that everyone was terribly cruel and violent so he told noah cruelty and violence have spread everywhere now i'm going to destroy the whole earth and all its people get some good lumber and build a boat put rooms in it and cover inside and out make it 450 feet long 75 feet high and 45 feet wide build a roof on the boat and leave a space of about 18 inches between the roof and the sides make the boat three stories high and put a door on one side i'm going to send a flood that will destroy everything that breathes nothing will be left alive but i solemnly promise that you your wife your sons and your daughters-in-law will be kept safe in the boat bring into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and bird as well as a male and a female of every reptile i don't want them to be destroyed store up enough food both for yourself and for them noah did everything the lord told him to do genesis 7 the lord told noah take your whole family with you into the boat because you are the only one on this earth who pleases me take seven pairs of every kind of animal that can be used for sacrifice and one pair of all others also take seven pairs of every kind of bird with you do this so there will always be animals and birds on the earth seven days from now i will send rain that will last for forty days and nights and i will destroy all other living creatures i have made noah was 600 years old when he went into the boat to escape the flood and he did everything the lord had told him to do his wife his sons and his daughters-in-law all went inside with him he obeyed god and took a male and a female of each kind of animal and bird into the boat with him seven days later a flood began to cover the earth noah was 600 years old when the water under the earth started gushing out everywhere the sky opened like windows and rain poured down for 40 days and nights all this began on the 17th day of the second month of the year on that day noah and his wife went into the boat with their three sons shem ham and japheth and their wives they took along every kind of animal tame and wild including the birds noah took a male and a female of every living creature with him just as god had told him to do and when they were all in the boat god closed the door for forty days the rain poured down without stopping and the water became deeper and deeper until the boat started floating high above the ground finally the mighty flood was so deep that even the highest mountain peaks were almost 25 feet below the surface of the water not a bird animal reptile or human was left alive anywhere on earth the lord destroyed everything that breathed nothing was left alive except noah and the others in the boat a hundred fifty days later the water started going down genesis 8. god did not forget about noah and the animals with him in the boat so god made a wind blow and the water started going down god stopped up the places where the water had been gushing out from under the earth he also closed up the sky and the rain stopped for 150 days the water slowly went down then on the 17th day of the seventh month of the year the boat came to rest somewhere in the ararat mountains the water kept going down and the mountain tops could be seen on the first day of the tenth month forty days later noah opened a window to send out a raven but it kept flying around until the water had dried up noah wanted to find out if the water had gone down and he sent out a dove deep water was still everywhere and the dove could not find a place to land so it flew back to the boat noah held out his hand and helped it back in seven days later noah sent the dove out again it returned in the evening holding in its beak a green leaf from an olive tree noah knew that the water was finally going down he waited seven more days before sending the dove out again and this time it did not return noah was now 601 years old and by the first day of that year almost all the water had gone away noah made an opening in the roof of the boat and saw that the ground was getting dry by the 27th day of the second month the earth was completely dry god said to noah you your wife your sons and your daughters-in-law may now leave the boat let out the birds animals and reptiles so they can mate and live all over the earth after noah and his family had gone out of the boat the living creatures left in groups of their own kind noah built an altar where he could offer sacrifices to the lord then he offered on the altar one of each kind of animal and bird that could be used for a sacrifice the smell of the burning offering pleased god and he said never again will i punish the earth for the sinful things its people do all of them have evil thoughts from the time they are young but i will never destroy everything that breathes as i did this time as long as the earth remains there will be planting and harvest cold and heat winter and summer day and night [Music] genesis 9 god said to noah and his sons i am giving you my blessing have a lot of children and grandchildren so people will live everywhere on this earth all animals birds reptiles and fish will be afraid of you i have placed them under your control and i have given them to you for food from now on you may eat them as well as the green plants that you have always eaten but life is in the blood and you must not eat any meat that still has blood in it i created humans to be like me and i will punish any animal or person that takes a human life if an animal kills someone that animal must die and if a person takes the life of another that person must be put to death i want you and your descendants to have many children so people will live everywhere on earth [Music] again god said to noah and his sons i am going to make a solemn promise to you and to everyone who will live after you this includes the birds and the animals that came out of the boat i promise every living creature that the earth and those living on it will never again be destroyed by a flood the rainbow that i have put in the sky will be my sign to you and to every living creature on earth it will remind you that i will keep this promise forever when i send clouds over the earth and a rainbow appeared in the sky i will remember my promise to you and to all other living creatures never again will i let flood waters destroy all life when i see the rainbow in the sky i will always remember the promise that i have made to every living creature the rainbow will be the sign of that solemn promise noah and his sons shem ham and japheth came out of the boat ham later had a son named canaan all people on earth are descendants of noah's three sons noah farmed the land and was the first to plant a vineyard one day he got drunk and was lying naked in his tent ham entered the tent and saw him naked then went back outside and told his brothers shem and japheth put a robe over their shoulders and walked backward into the tent without looking at their father they placed it over his body when noah woke up and learned what his youngest son ham had done he said i now put a curse on canaan he will be the lowest slave of his brothers i ask the lord my god to bless shem and make canaan his slave i pray that the lord will give japheth more and more land and let him take over the territory of shem may canaan be his slave [Music] noah lived 350 years after the flood and died at the age of 950. genesis 10 after the flood shem ham and japheth had many descendants japheth's descendants had their own languages tribes and land they were gomer magog maidai javen tubal meshech and tyrus gomer was the ancestor of ashkenaz ryphath and togarmah javen was the ancestor of elisha tarshish kittim and dodonim who settled along the coast ham's descendants had their own languages tribes and land they were ethiopia egypt put and canaan cush was the ancestor of siba havala sabta rayama and sabtika rayama was the ancestor of sheba and deedan [Music] was also the ancestor of nimrod a mighty warrior whose strength came from the lord nimrod is the reason for the saying you hunt like nimrod with the strength of the lord kush first ruled in babylon eric and akid all of which were in babylonia from there nimrod went to assyria and built the great city of nineveh he also built rehoboth er and kayla as well as recent which is between nineveh and kela egypt was the ancestor of ludhim anamim lahaibim naftahim pathrasim kaslohim and kaftarim the ancestor of the philistines canaan's sons were sidon and heth he was also the ancestor of the jebusites the amorites the gurgashites the hivites the archites the sinaites the arvadites the zemorites and the hamathites later the canaanites spread from the territory of sidon and went as far as gaza in the direction of gerar they also went as far as leisure in the direction of sodom gamora adma and zaboyam shem's descendants had their own languages tribes and land he was the older brother of japheth and the ancestor of the tribes of eber shem was the ancestor of elam asher arpakshad lud and aram aram was the ancestor of uz hull jether and mash our pakshad was the father of sheila and the grandfather of eber whose first son was named pilik because it was during his time that tribes divided up the earth eber's second son was joktan joktan was the ancestor of almodad shelif hazer mavith jira hadurum yuzul dikla obel their land reached from misha in the direction of seifer the hill country in the east this completes the list of noah's descendants after the flood their descendants became nations and spread all over the world [Music] genesis 11. at first everyone spoke the same language but after some of them moved from the east and settled in babylonia they said let's build a city with a tower that reaches to the sky we'll use hard bricks and tar instead of stone and mortar we'll become famous and we won't be scattered all over the world but when the lord came down to look at the city and the tower he said these people are working together because they all speak the same language this is just the beginning soon they will be able to do anything they want come on let's go down and confuse them by making them speak different languages then they won't be able to understand each other so the people had to stop building the city because the lord confused their language and scattered them all over the earth that's how the city of babel got its name [Music] two years after the flood when shem was 100 he had a son named arpakshat he had more children and died at the age of 600 this is a list of his descendants when our pachad was 35 he had a son named sheila our pakshad had more children and died at the age of 438. when sheila was 30 he had a son named eber sheila had more children and died at the age of 433 when eber was 34 he had a son named pileck eber had more children and died at the age of 464. when peleg was 30 he had a son named ryu peleg had more children and died at the age of 239 when ryu was 32 he had a son named sarah ryu had more children and died at the age of 239 when serug was 30 he had a son named nehor syrug had more children and died at the age of 230. when nehor was 29 he had a son named tara nahor had more children and died at the age of 148. after tara was 70 years old he had three sons abram nahor and haran who became the father of lot tara's sons were born in the city of ur in caldea and harren died there before the death of his father the following is the story of tara's descendants abram married sarai but she was not able to have any children and nahor married milka who was the daughter of harren and the sister of iska tara decided to move from ur to the land of canaan he took along abram and sarai and his grandson lot the son of heron but when they came to the city of haran they decided to settle there instead terra lived to be 205 years old and died in heron genesis 12 the lord said to abram leave your country your family and your relatives and go to the land that i will show you i will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation you will become famous and be a blessing to others i will bless anyone who blesses you but i will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you everyone on earth will be blessed because of you abram was 75 years old when the lord told him to leave the city of haran he obeyed and left with his wife sarai his nephew lot and all the possessions and slaves they had gotten while in haran when they came to the land of canaan abram went as far as the sacred tree of mora in a place called shechem the canaanites were still living in the land at that time but the lord appeared to abram and promised i will give this land to your family forever abram then built an altar there for the lord abram traveled to the hill country east of bethel and camped between bethel and i where he built another altar and worshiped the lord later abram started out toward the southern desert the crops failed and there was no food anywhere in the land so abram and his wife sarai went to live in egypt for a while but just before they got there he said sarai you are really beautiful when the egyptians see how lovely you are they will murder me because i'm your husband but they won't kill you please save my life by saying that you are my sister as soon as abram and sarai arrived in egypt the egyptians noticed how beautiful she was the king's officials told him about her and she was taken to his house the king was good to abram because of sarai and abram was given sheep cattle donkeys slaves and camels because of sarai the lord struck the king and everyone in his palace with terrible diseases finally the king sent for abram and said to him what have you done to me why didn't you tell me sarai was your wife why did you make me believe she was your sister now i've married her take her and go she's your wife so the king told his men to let abram and sarai take their possessions and leave genesis 13 abram and sarai took everything they owned and went to the southern desert lot went with them abram was very rich he owned many cattle sheep and goats and had a lot of silver and gold abram moved from place to place in the southern desert and finally he went north and set up his tents between bethel and i where he had earlier camped and built an altar there he worshipped the lord lot who was traveling with him also had sheep goats and cattle as well as his own family and slaves at this time the canaanites and the perizzites were living in the same area and so there wasn't enough pasture land left for abram and lot with all of their animals besides this the men who took care of abram's animals and the ones who took care of lots animals started quarreling abram said to lot are close relatives we shouldn't argue and our men shouldn't be fighting one another there is plenty of land for you to choose from let's separate if you go north i'll go south if you go south i'll go north this happened before the lord had destroyed the cities of sodom and gomorrah and when lot looked around he saw there was plenty of water in the jordan valley all the way to zoar the valley was as green as the garden of the lord or the land of egypt so lot chose the whole jordan valley for himself and as he started toward the east he and abram separated abram stayed in the land of canaan but lot settled near the cities of the valley and put up his tents not far from sodom where the people were evil and sinned terribly against the lord after abram and lot had gone their separate ways the lord said to abram look around to the north south east and west i will give you and your family all the land you can see it will be theirs forever i will give you more descendants than there are specks of dust on the earth and someday it will be easier to count the specks of dust than to count your descendants now walk back and forth across the land because i am giving it to you abram took down his tents and went to live near the sacred trees of mammary at hebron where he built an altar in honor of the lord [Music] genesis 14. about this time king amraphel of babylonia king aryak of el azar king ketur leimer of elam and king title of attacked king bira of sodom king birsha of gamora king shinab of atma king shemibr of zaboyam and the king of bilah also known as the city of zor [Music] king ketter laemmer and his allies had ruled these last five kings for 12 years but in the thirteenth year the kings rebelled and came together in sidim valley which is now covered by the southern part of the dead sea a year later king ketter lamer and his allies attacked and defeated the rephaits in ashtaroth karnayam the zuzits in ham and the emmites in shiva kyrietham they also defeated the horites in the hill country of edom as far as el pairon near the desert they went back to the city of enmishpat better known as kadish then they captured all the land that belonged to the amalekites and they defeated the amorites who were living in hazazan tamer at sidim valley the armies of the kings of sodom gomorrah admira zaboyam and bila fought the armies of king ketterleamer of elam king title of king amraphel of babylonia and king aryak of elasar the valley was full of tar pits and when the troops from sodom and gomorrah started running away some of them fell into the pits others escaped to the hill country their enemies took everything of value from sodom and gomorrah including their food supplies they also captured abram's nephew lot who lived in sodom they took him and his possessions and then left at this time abram the hebrew was living near the oaks that belonged to mamrie the amorite mamrie and his brothers eshkel and aynor were abram's friends someone who had escaped from the battle told abram that his nephew lot had been taken away 318 of abram's servants were fighting men so he took them and followed the enemy as far north as the city of dan that night abram divided up his troops attacked from all sides and won a great victory but some of the enemy escaped to the town of hoba north of damascus and abram went after them he brought back his nephew lot together with lot's possessions and the women and everyone else who had been captured abram returned after he had defeated king ketterlaimer and the other kings then the king of sodom went to meet abram in shava valley which is also known as king's valley king melchizedek of salem was a priest of god most high he brought out some bread and wine and said to abram i bless you in the name of god most high creator of heaven and earth all praise belongs to god most high for helping you defeat your enemies then abram gave melchizedek a tenth of everything the king of sodom said to abram all i want are my people you can keep everything else abram answered the lord god most high made the heavens and the earth and i have promised him that i won't keep anything of yours not even a sandal strap or a piece of thread then you can never say that you are the one who made me rich let my share be the food that my men have eaten but ayna eshkoll and mamrie went with me so give them their share of what we brought back genesis 15. the lord spoke to abram in a vision abram don't be afraid i will protect you and reward you greatly but abram answered lord all powerful you have given me everything i could ask for except children and when i die eliezer of damascus will get all i own you have not given me any children and this servant of mine will inherit everything [Music] the lord replied no he won't you will have a son of your own and everything you have will be his then the lord took abram outside and said look at the sky and see if you can count the stars that's how many descendants you will have abram believed the lord and the lord was pleased with him the lord said to abram i brought you here from ur in chaldea and i gave you this land abram asked lord god how can i know the land will be mine then the lord told him bring me a three-year-old cow a three-year-old female goat a three-year-old ram a dove and a young pigeon abram obeyed the lord then he cut the animals in half and laid the two halves of each animal opposite each other on the ground but he did not cut the doves and pigeons in half and when birds came down to eat the animals abram chased them away as the sun was setting abram fell into a deep sleep and everything became dark and frightening then the lord said abram you will live to an old age and die in peace but i solemnly promise that your descendants will live as foreigners in a land that doesn't belong to them they will be forced into slavery and abused for 400 years but i will terribly punish the nation that enslaves them and they will leave with many possessions four generations later your descendants will return here and take this land because only then will the people who live here be so sinful that they deserve to be punished some time after sunset when it was very dark a smoking cooking pot and a flaming fire went between the two halves of each animal at that time the lord made an agreement with abram and told him i will give your descendants the land east of the shihor river on the border of egypt as far as the euphrates river they will possess the land of the canaanites the kennezites the cadminites the hittites the perizzites the rephaits the amorites the canaanites the gergashites and the jebusites [Music] genesis 16. abram's wife sarai had not been able to have any children but she owned a young egyptian slave woman named hagar and sarai said to abram the lord has not given me any children sleep with my slave and if she has a child it will be mine abram agreed and sarai gave him hagar to be his wife this happened after abram had lived in the land of canaan for 10 years later when hagar knew she was going to have a baby she became proud and was hateful to sarai then sarai said to abram it's all your fault i gave you my slave woman but she has been hateful to me ever since she found out she was pregnant you have done me wrong and you will have to answer to the lord for this abram said all right she's your slave and you can do whatever you want with her but sarah began treating hagar so harshly that she finally ran away hagar stopped to rest at a spring in the desert on the road to shore while she was there the angel of the lord came to her and asked heygar where have you come from and where are you going she answered i'm running away from sarah my owner the angel said go back to sarai and be her slave i will give you a son who will be called ishmael because i've heard your cry for help and later i will give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all but your son will live far from his relatives he will be like a wild donkey fighting everyone and everyone fighting him hagar thought have i really seen god and lyft to tell about it so from then on she called him the god who sees me that's why people call the well between kadish and bird the well of the living one who sees me abram was 86 years old when hagar gave birth to their son and he named him ishmael genesis 17 abram was 99 years old when the lord appeared to him again and said i am god all-powerful if you obey me and always do right i will keep my solemn promise to you and give you more descendants than can be counted abram bowed with his face to the ground and god said i promise that you will be the father of many nations that's why i now change your name from abram to abraham i will give you a lot of descendants and in the future they will become great nations some of them will even be kings i will always keep the promise i have made to you and your descendants because i am your god and their god i will give you and them the land in which you are now a foreigner i will give the whole land of canaan to your family forever and i will be their god abraham you and all future members of your family must promise to obey me as the sign that you are keeping this promise you must circumcise every man and boy in your family from now on your family must circumcise every baby boy when he is eight days old you must even circumcise any man or boy you have as a slave both those born in your homes and those you buy from foreigners this will be a sign that my promise to you will last forever any man who isn't circumcised hasn't kept his promise to me and cannot be one of my people abraham your wife's name will now be sarah instead of sarai i will bless her and you will have a son by her she will become the mother of nations and some of her descendants will even be kings abraham bowed with his face to the ground and thought i'm almost a hundred years old how can i become a father and sarah is ninety how can she have a child so he started laughing then he asked god why not let ishmael inherit what you have promised me but god answered no you and sarah will have a son his name will be isaac and i will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants i have heard what you asked me to do for ishmael and so i will also bless him with many descendants he will be the father of twelve princes and i will make his family a great nation but your son isaac will be born about this time next year and the promise i am making to you and your family will be for him and his descendants forever speaking to abraham and then left on that same day abraham obeyed god by circumcising ishmael abraham was also circumcised and so were all other men and boys in his household including his servants and slaves he was 99 years old at the time and his son ishmael was 13. genesis 18. one hot summer afternoon abraham was sitting by the entrance to his tent near the sacred trees of memory when the lord appeared to him abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby he quickly ran to meet them bowed with his face to the ground and said please come to my home where i can serve you i'll have some water brought so you can wash your feet then you can rest under the tree let me get you some food to give you strength before you leave i would be honored to serve you thank you very much they answered we accept your offer abraham quickly went to his tent and said to sarah hurry get a large sack of flour and make some bread after saying this he rushed off to his herd of cattle and picked out one of the best calves which his servant quickly prepared he then served his guests some yogurt and milk together with the meat while they were eating he stood near them under the trees and they asked where is your wife sarah she's right there in the tent abraham answered one of the guests was the lord and he said i'll come back about this time next year and when i do sarah will already have a son sarah was behind abraham listening at the entrance to the tent abraham and sarah were very old and sarah was well past the age for having children so she laughed and said to herself now that i am worn out and my husband is old will i really know such happiness the lord asked abraham why did sarah laugh does she doubt that she can have a child in her old age i am the lord there is nothing too difficult for me i'll come back next year at the time i promised and sarah will already have a son sarah was so frightened that she lied and said i didn't laugh yes you did he answered when the three men got ready to leave they looked down towards sodom and abraham walked part of the way with them the lord said to himself i should tell abraham what i'm going to do since his family will become a great and powerful nation that will be a blessing to all other nations on earth i have chosen him to teach his family to obey me forever and to do what is right and fair then i will give abraham many descendants just as i promised the lord said abraham i have heard that the people of sodom and gomorrah are doing all kinds of evil things now i am going down to see for myself if those people really are that bad if they aren't i want to know about it the men turned and started toward sodom but the lord stayed with abraham who asked lord when you destroy the evil people are you also going to destroy those who are good wouldn't you spare the city if there are only 50 good people in it you surely wouldn't let them be killed when you destroy the evil ones you are the judge of all the earth and you do what is right the lord replied if i find 50 good people in sodom i will save the city to keep them from being killed abraham answered i am nothing more than the dust of the earth please forgive me lord for daring to speak to you like this but suppose there are only 45 good people in sodom would you still wipe out the whole city if i find 45 good people the lord replied i won't destroy the city suppose there are just 40 good people abraham asked even for them the lord replied i won't destroy the city abraham said please don't be angry lord if i ask you what you will do if there are only 30 good people in the city if i find 30 the lord replied i still won't destroy it then abraham said i don't have any right to ask you lord but what would you do if you find only twenty because of them i won't destroy the city was the lord's answer finally abraham said please don't get angry lord if i speak just once more suppose you find only 10 good people there [Music] for the sake of ten good people the lord told him i still won't destroy the city after speaking with abraham the lord left and abraham went back home genesis 19. that evening the two angels arrived in sodom while lot was sitting near the city gate when lot saw them he got up bowed down low and said gentlemen i am your servant please come to my home you can wash your feet spend the night and be on your way in the morning they told him no we'll spend the night in the city square but lot kept insisting until they finally agreed and went home with him he baked some bread cooked a meal and they ate before lot and his guests could go to bed every man in sodom young and old came and stood outside his house and started shouting where are your visitors send them out so we can have sex with them lot went outside and shut the door behind you then he said friends please don't do such a terrible thing i have two daughters who have never been married i'll bring them out and you can do what you want with them but don't harm these men they are guests in my home don't get in our way the crowd answered you're an outsider what right do you have to order us around we'll do worse things to you than we're going to do to them the crowd kept arguing with lot finally they rushed toward the door to break it down but the two angels in the house reached out and pulled lot safely inside then they struck everyone in the crowd blind and none of them could even find the door the two angels said to lot the lord has heard many terrible things about the people of sodom and he has sent us here to destroy the city take your family and leave take every relative you have in the city as well as the men your daughters are going to marry lot went to the men who were engaged to his daughters and said hurry and get out of here the lord is going to destroy this city but they thought he was joking and they laughed at him early the next morning the two angels tried to make lot hurry and leave they said take your wife and your two daughters and get out of here as fast as you can if you don't every one of you will be killed when the lord destroys the city at first lot just stood there but the lord wanted to save him so the angels took lot his wife and his two daughters by the hand and led them out of the city when they were outside one of the angels said run for your lives don't even look back and don't stop in the valley run to the hills where you will be safe lot answered you have done us a great favor sir you have saved our lives but please don't make us go to the hills that's too far away the city will be destroyed before we can get there and we will be killed when it happens there's a town deer here it's only a small place but my family and i will be safe if you'll let us go there all right go there he answered i won't destroy that town hurry run i can't do anything until you are safely there the town was later called zoar because lot had said it was small the sun was coming up as lot reached the town of zoar and the lord sent burning sulfur down like rain on sodom and gomorrah he destroyed those cities and everyone who lived in them as well as their land and the trees and grass that grew there on the way lot's wife looked back and was turned into a block of salt that same morning abraham got up and went to the place where he had stood and spoken with the lord he looked down toward sodom and gomorrah and saw smoke rising from all over the land it was like a flaming furnace when god destroyed the cities of the valley where lot lived he remembered his promise to abraham and saved lot from the terrible destruction lot was afraid to stay on in zohar so he took his two daughters and moved to a cave in the hill country one day his older daughter said to her sister our father is old and there are no men anywhere for us to marry let's get our father drunk then we can sleep with him and have children that night they got their father drunk and the older daughter got in bed with him but he was too drunk even to know she was there the next day the older daughter said to her sister i slept with my father last night we'll get him drunk again tonight so you can go to bed with him and we can each have a child that night they got their father drunk and this time the younger sister slept with him but once again he was too drunk even to know she was there that's how lot's two daughters had their children the older daughter named her son moab and he is the ancestor of the moabites the younger daughter named her son ben ami and he is the ancestor of the ammonites genesis 20 abraham moved to the southern desert where he settled between kadesh and shur later he went to girard and while there he told everyone that his wife sarah was his sister so king abimelech of gerar had sarah brought to him but god came to abimelech in a dream and said you have taken a married woman and for this you will die abimelech said to the lord don't kill me i haven't slept with sarah didn't they say they were brother and sister i am completely innocent god spoke to abimelech in another dream and said i know you are innocent that's why i kept you from sleeping with sarah and doing anything wrong her husband is a prophet let her go back to him and his prayers will save you from death but if you don't return her you and all your people will die early the next morning abimelech sent for his officials and when he told them what had happened they were frightened abimelech then called in abraham and said look what you've done to us what have i ever done to you why did you make me and my nation guilty of such a terrible sin what were you thinking when you did this abraham answered i did it because i didn't think any of you respected god and i was sure that someone would kill me to get my wife besides she is my half sister we have the same father but different mothers when god made us leave my father's home and start wandering i told her if you really love me you will tell everyone that i am your brother abimelech gave abraham some sheep cattle and slaves he sent sarah back and told abraham that he could settle anywhere in his country then he said to sarah i have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver as proof to everyone that you have done nothing wrong meanwhile god had kept abimelech's wife and slaves from having children but abraham prayed and god let them start having children again genesis 21 the lord was good to sarah and kept his promise although abraham was very old sarah had a son exactly at the time god had said abraham named his son isaac and when the boy was eight days old abraham circumcised him just as the lord had commanded abraham was a hundred years old when isaac was born and sarah said god has made me laugh now everyone will laugh with me who would have dared to tell abraham that someday i would have a child but in his old age i have given him a son the time came when sarah no longer had to nurse isaac and on that day abraham gave a big feast one day sarah noticed hagar's son ishmael playing and she said to abraham get rid of that egyptian slave woman and her son i don't want him to inherit anything it should all go to my son abraham was worried about ishmael but god said abraham don't worry about your slave woman and the boy just do what sarah tells you isaac will inherit your family name but the son of the slave woman is also your son and i will make his descendants into a great nation early the next morning abraham gave hagar an animal skin full of water and some bread then he put the boy on her shoulder and sent them away they wandered around in the desert near beersheba and after they had run out of water hagar put her son under a bush then she sat down a long way off because she could not bear to watch him die and she cried bitterly when god heard the boy crying the angel of god called out to hagar from heaven and said hagar why are you worried don't be afraid i have heard your son crying help him up and hold his hand because i will make him the father of a great nation then god let her see a well so she went to the well and filled the skin with water then gave some to her son god blessed ishmael and as the boy grew older he became an expert with his bow and arrows he lived in the paran desert and his mother chose an egyptian woman for him to marry about this time abimelech and his army commander faikol said to abraham god blesses everything you do now i want you to promise in the name of god that you will always be loyal to me and my descendants just as i have always been loyal to you in this land where you have lived as a foreigner and so abraham promised one day abraham told abimelech some of your servants have taken over one of my wells this is the first i've heard about it abimelech replied why haven't you said something before i don't have any idea who did it abraham gave abimelech some sheep and cattle and then the two men made a peace treaty abraham separated seven female lambs from his flock of sheep and abimelech asked why have you done this abraham told him i want you to accept these seven lambs as proof that i dug this well so they called the place beersheba because they made a treaty there when the treaty was completed abimelech and his army commander faikol went back to the land of the philistines abraham planted a tamarisk tree in beersheba and worshiped the eternal lord god then abraham lived a long time as a foreigner in the land of the philistines genesis 22 some years later god decided to test abraham so he spoke to him abraham answered here i am lord the lord said go get isaac your only son the one you dearly love take him to the land of moriah and i will show you a mountain where you must sacrifice him to me on the fires of an altar so abraham got up early the next morning and chopped wood for the fire he put a saddle on his donkey and left with isaac and two servants for the place where god had told him to go three days later abraham looked off in the distance and saw the place he told his servants stay here with the donkey while my son and i go over there to worship we will come back abraham put the wood on isaac's shoulder but he carried the hot coals in the knife as the two of them walked along isaac said father we have the coals in the wood but where is the land for the sacrifice my son abraham answered god will provide the land the two of them walked on and when they reached the place that god had told him about abraham built an altar and placed the wood on it next he tied up his son and put him on the wood he then took the knife and got ready to kill his son but the lord's angel shouted from heaven abraham abraham here i am he answered don't hurt the boy or harm him in any way the angel said now i know that you truly obey god because you were willing to offer him your only son abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in the bushes so he took the ram and sacrificed it in place of his son abraham named that place the lord will provide and even now people say on the mountain of the lord it will be provided the lord's angel called out from heaven a second time you were willing to offer the lord your only son and so he makes you this solemn promise i will bless you and give you such a large family that someday your descendants will be more numerous than the stars in the sky or the grains of sand along the beach they will defeat their enemies and take over the cities where their enemies live you have obeyed me and so you and your descendants will be a blessing to all nations on earth abraham and isaac went back to the servants who had come with him and they returned to abraham's home in beersheba abraham's brother nahor had married milka and abraham was later told that they had eight sons us was their firstborn buzz was next and then there was kamuel who became the father of aram their other five sons were kizid hezo pildash jidlaf and bethul who became the father of rebecca nahor also had another wife her name was rumah she had four sons teba gayhem tayhash and meika genesis 23 when sarah was 127 years old she died in kiriath arba better known as hebron in the land of canaan after abraham had mourned for her he went to the hittites and said i live as a foreigner in your land and i don't own any property where i can bury my wife please let me buy a piece of land sir they answered you're an important man choose the best place to bury your wife none of us would refuse you a resting place for your dead abraham bowed down and replied if you are willing to let me bury my wife here please ask zohar's son ephron to sell me macpilla cave at the end of his field i'll pay what it's worth and all of you can be witnesses ephraim was sitting there near the city gate when abraham made this request and he answered sir the whole field including the cave is yours with my own people as witnesses i freely give it to you as a burial place for your dead once again abraham bowed down and said to ephraim in front of these witnesses i offer you the full price so i can bury my wife please accept my offer but sir the man replied the property is worth only 400 pieces of silver why should we haggle over such a small amount take the land it's yours abraham accepted ephraim's offer and paid him the 400 pieces of silver in front of everyone at the city gate that's how abraham got efrain's property east of hebron which included the field with all its trees as well as makpila cave at the end of the field so abraham buried his wife sarah in makpila cave that was in the field he had bought from the hittites genesis 24 abraham was now a very old man the lord had made him rich and he was successful in everything he did one day abraham called in his most trusted servant and said to him solemnly promise me in the name of the lord who rules heaven and earth that you won't choose a wife for my son isaac from the people here in the land of canaan instead go back to the land where i was born and find a wife for him from among my relatives but the servant asked what if the young woman i choose refuses to leave home and come here with me should i send isaac there to look for a wife no abraham answered don't ever do that no matter what the lord who rules heaven brought me here from the land where i was born and promised that he would give this land to my descendants forever when you go back there the lord will send his angel ahead of you to help you find a wife for my son if the woman refuses to come along you don't have to keep this promise but don't ever take my son back there so the servant gave abraham his word that he would do everything he had been told to do soon after that the servant loaded ten of abraham's camels with valuable gifts then he set out for the city in northern syria where abraham's brother nahor lived when he got there he let the camels rest near the well outside the city it was late afternoon the time when the women came out for water the servant prayed you lord are the god my master abraham worships please keep your promise to him and let me find a wife for isaac today the young women of the city will soon come to this well for water and i'll ask one of them for a drink if she gives me a drink and then offers to get some water for my camels i'll know she is the one you have chosen and that you have kept your promise to my master while he was still praying a beautiful unmarried young woman came by with a water jar on her shoulder she was rebecca the daughter of bethule the son of abraham's brother nahor and his wife milka rebecca walked past abraham's servant then went over to the well and filled her water jar when she started back abraham's servant ran to her and said please let me have a drink of water i'll be glad to she answered then she quickly took the jar from her shoulder and held it while he drank after he had finished she said now i'll give your camels all the water they want she quickly poured out water for them and she kept going back for more until his camels had drunk all they wanted abraham's servant did not say a word but he watched everything rebecca did because he wanted to know for certain if this was the woman the lord had chosen the servant had brought along an expensive gold ring and two large gold bracelets when rebecca had finished bringing the water he gave her the ring for her nose and the bracelets for her arms then he said please tell me who your father is does he have room in his house for me and my men to spend the night she answered my father is bithuel the son of nehor and milka we have a place where you and your men can stay and we also have enough straw and feed for your camels then the servant bowed his head and prayed i thank you lord god of my master abraham you have led me to his relatives and kept your promise to him rebecca ran straight home and told her family everything her brother laban heard her tell what the servant had said and he saw the ring in the bracelet she was wearing so laban ran out to abraham's servant who was standing by his camels at the well then laban said the lord has brought you safely here come home with me there's no need for you to keep on standing outside i have a room ready for you in our house and there's also a place for your camels abraham's servant went home with laban where laban's servants unloaded his camels and gave them straw and feed then they brought water into the house so abraham's servant and his men could wash their feet after that they brought in food but the servant said before i eat i must tell you why i have come go ahead and tell us laban answered the servant explained i am abraham's servant the lord has been good to my master and he has made him very rich he has given him many sheep goats cattle camels and donkeys as well as a lot of silver and gold and many slaves sarah my master's wife didn't have any children until she was very old then she had a son and my master has given him everything i solemnly promised my master that i would do what he said and he told me don't choose a wife from my son from the women in this land of canaan instead go back to the land where i was born and find a wife from my son from among my relatives i asked my master what if the young woman refuses to come with me my master answered i have always obeyed the lord and he will send his angel to help you find my son a wife from among my own relatives but if they refuse to let her come back with you then you are freed from your promise when i came to the well today i silently prayed you lord are the god my master abraham worships so please lead me to a wife for his son while i am here at the well when a young woman comes out to get water i'll ask her to give me a drink if she gives me a drink and offers to get some water for my camels i'll know she is the one you have chosen even before i had finished praying rebecca came by with a water jar on her shoulder when she had filled the jar i asked her for a drink she quickly lowered the jar from her shoulder and said have a drink then i'll get water for your camels so i drank and after that she got some water for my camels i asked her who her father was and she answered my father is bethul the son of nehor and milka right away i put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms then i bowed my head and gave thanks to the god my master abraham worships the lord had led me straight to my master's relatives and i had found a wife for his son now please tell me if you are willing to do the right thing for my master will you treat him fairly or do i have to look for another young woman laban and bethuel answered the lord has done this we have no choice in the matter take rebecca with you she can marry your master's son just as the lord has said abraham's servant bowed down and thanked the lord then he gave clothing as well as silver and gold jewelry to rebecca he also gave expensive gifts to her brother and her mother abraham's servant and the men with him ate and drank then spent the night there the next morning they got up and the servant told rebecca's mother and brother i would like to go back to my master now let rebecca stay with us for a week or ten days they answered then she may go but he said don't make me stay any longer the lord has already helped me find a wife for my master's son now let us return they answered let's ask rebecca what she wants to do they called her and asked are you willing to leave with this man right now yes she answered so they agreed to let rebecca and an old family servant woman leave immediately with abraham's servant and his men they gave rebecca their blessing and said we pray that god will give you many children and grandchildren and that he will help them defeat their enemies afterwards rebecca and the young women who were to travel with her prepared to leave then they got on camels and left with abraham's servant and his men at that time isaac was living in the southern part of canaan near a place called the well of the living one who sees me one evening he was walking out in the fields when suddenly he saw a group of people approaching on camels so he started toward them rebecca saw him coming she got down from her camel and asked who is that man he is my master isaac the servant answered then rebecca covered her face with her veil the servant told isaac everything that had happened isaac took rebecca into the tent where his mother had lived before she died and rebecca became his wife he loved her and was comforted over the loss of his mother genesis 25 abraham married katura and they had six sons zimran jakshan medan midian ishbak and shuah later jakshan became the father of sheba and deedan and when deedan grew up he had three sons ashuram latusham and leomim midian also had five sons ifa efer haynoch abaydah and eldea while abraham was still alive he gave gifts to the son of hagar and katura he also sent their sons to live in the east far from his son isaac and when abraham died he left everything to isaac abraham died at the ripe old age of 175. his sons isaac and ishmael buried him east of hebron in makpila cave that was part of the field abraham had bought from ephraim son of zohar the hittite abraham was buried there beside his wife sarah god blessed isaac after this and isaac moved to a place called the well of the living one who sees me ishmael was the son of abraham and hagar the slave woman of sarah ishmael had twelve sons in this order nabayath ketur advil mibzam mishma duma masa haidad tema jeter nefish and kadama each of ishmael's sons was a tribal chief and a village was named after each of them ishmael had settled in the land east of his brothers and his son settled everywhere from havala to shur east of egypt on the way to asher ishmael was 137 when he died isaac was the son of abraham and he was 40 years old when he married rebecca the daughter of bethuel she was also the sister of laban the aramian from northern syria almost 20 years later rebecca still had no children so isaac asked the lord to let her have a child and the lord answered his prayer before rebecca gave birth she knew she was going to have twins because she could feel them inside her fighting each other she thought why is this happening to me finally she asked the lord why her twins were fighting and he told her your two sons will become two separate nations the younger of the two will be stronger and the older son will be his servant when rebecca gave birth the first baby was covered with red hair so he was named esau the second baby grabbed onto his brother's heel so they named him jacob isaac was 60 years old when they were born as jacob and esau grew older esau liked the outdoors and became a good hunter while jacob settled down and became a shepherd esau would take the meat of wild animals to his father isaac and so isaac loved him more but jacob was his mother's favorite son one day jacob was cooking some stew when esau came home hungry and said i'm starving to death give me some of that red stew right now that's how esau got the name edom jacob replied sell me your rights as the firstborn son i'm about to die esau answered what good will those rights do me but jacob said promise me your birthrights here and now and that's what esau did jacob then gave esau some bread and some of the bean stew and when esau had finished eating and drinking he just got up and left showing how little he thought of his rights as the firstborn genesis 26 once during abraham's lifetime the fields had not produced enough grain and now the same thing happened so isaac went to king abimelech of the philistines in the land of gerar because the lord had appeared to isaac and said isaac stay away from egypt i will show you where i want you to go you will live there as a foreigner but i will be with you and bless you i will keep my promise to your father abraham by giving this land to you and your descendants i will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky and i will give your descendants all of this land they will be a blessing to every nation on earth because abraham did everything i told him to do isaac moved to gerar with his beautiful wife rebecca he was afraid that someone might kill him to get her so he told everyone that rebecca was his sister after isaac had been there a long time king abimelech looked out a window and saw isaac hugging and kissing rebecca abimelech called him in and said rebecca must be your wife why did you say she is your sister because i thought someone would kill me isaac answered don't you know what you've done abimelech exclaimed if someone had slept with her you would have made our whole nation guilty then abimelech warned his people that anyone who even touched isaac or rebecca would be put to death isaac planted grain and had a good harvest that same year the lord blessed him and isaac was so successful that he became very rich in fact the philistines were jealous of the large number of sheep goats and slaves that isaac owned and they stopped up the wells that abraham's servants had dug before his death finally abimelech said isaac i want you to leave our country you have become too powerful to stay here isaac left and settled in girard valley where he cleaned out those wells that the philistines had stopped up isaac also gave each of the wells the same name that abraham had given to them while his servants were digging in the valley they found a spring fed well but the shepherds of girard valley quarreled with isaac shepherds and claimed the water belonged to them so the well was named quarrel because they had quarreled with isaac isaac's servants dug another well and the shepherds also quarreled about it so that well was named jealous finally they dug one more well there was no quarreling this time and the well was named lots of room because the lord had given them room and would make them very successful isaac went on to beersheba where the lord appeared to him that night and told him don't be afraid i am the god who was worshipped by your father abraham my servant i will be with you and bless you and because of abraham i will give you many descendants isaac built an altar there and worshipped the lord then he set up camp and his servant started digging a well meanwhile abimelech had left gerar and was taking his adviser ahazath and his army commander faikol to see isaac when they arrived isaac asked why are you here didn't you send me away because you hated me they answered we now know for certain that the lord is with you and we have decided there needs to be a peace treaty between you and us so let us make a solemn agreement not to harm each other remember we have never hurt you and when we sent you away we let you go in peace the lord has truly blessed you isaac gave a big feast for them and everyone ate and drank early the next morning isaac and the others made a solemn agreement then he let them go in peace later that same day isaac's servants came and said we've struck water so isaac named the well shiva and the town is still called beersheba when esau was 40 he married judith the daughter of biray the hittite and basimath the daughter of elon the hittite but these two women brought a lot of grief to his parents isaac and rebecca genesis 27 after isaac had become old and almost blind he called in his firstborn son esau who asked him father what can i do for you isaac replied i am old and might die at any time so take your bow and arrows then go out in the fields and kill a wild animal cook some of that tasty food that i love so much and bring it to me i want to eat it once more and give you my blessing before i rebecca had been listening and as soon as he saw left to go hunting she said to jacob i heard your father tell esau to kill a wild animal and cook some tasty food for your father before he dies your father said this because he wants to bless your brother with the lord as his witness now my son listen carefully to what i want you to do go and kill two of your best young goats and bring them to me i'll cook the tasty food that your father loves so much then you can take it to him so he can eat it and give you his blessing before he dies my brother esau is a hairy man jacob reminded her and i am not if my father touches me and realizes i am trying to trick him he will put a curse on me instead of giving me a blessing rebecca insisted let his curse fall on me just do what i say and bring me the meat so jacob brought the meat to his mother and she cooked the tasty food that his father liked then she took esau's best clothes and put them on jacob she also covered the smooth part of his hands and neck with goat skins and gave him some bread and the tasty food she had cooked jacob went to his father and said father here i am which one of my sons are you his father asked jacob replied i am esau your firstborn and i have done what you told me please sit up and eat the meat i have brought then you can give me your blessing isaac asked my son how did you find an animal so quickly uh the lord your god uh was kind to me jacob answered my son isaac said come closer where i can touch you and find out if you really are issa jacob went closer his father touched him and said you sound like jacob but your hands feel hairy like esau's and so isaac blessed jacob thinking he was esau isaac asked are you really my son issa yes i am jacob answered so isaac told him serve me the wild meat and i can give you my blessing jacob gave him some meat and he ate it he also gave him some wine and he drank it then isaac said son come over here and kiss me while jacob was kissing him isaac caught the smell of his clothes and said the smell of my son is like a field the lord has blessed god will bless you my son with dew from heaven and with fertile fields rich with grain and grapes nations will be your servants and bow down to you you will rule over your brothers and they will kneel at your feet anyone who curses you will be cursed anyone who blesses you will be blessed right after isaac had given jacob his blessing and jacob had gone esau came back from hunting he cooked the tasty food brought it to his father and said father please sit up and eat the meat i've brought you so you can give me your blessing who are you isaac asked i am esau your firstborn son isaac started trembling and said then who brought me some wild meat right before you came in i ate it and gave him a blessing that cannot be taken back esau cried loudly and begged father give me a blessing too isaac answered your brother tricked me and stole your blessing esau replied my brother deserves the name jacob because he's already cheated me twice the first time he cheated me out to my rights as the firstborn son and now he has cheated me out of my blessing then esau asked his father don't you still have any blessing left for me my son isaac answered i have made jacob the ruler over you and your brothers and all of you will be his servants i have also promised him all the grain and grapes that he needs there's nothing left that i can do for you father esau asked don't you have more than one blessing you can surely give me a blessing too then esau started crying again so his father said your home will be far from that fertile land where dew comes down from the heavens you will live by the power of your sword and be your brother's slave but when you decide to be free you will break loose esau hated his brother jacob because he had stolen the blessing that was supposed to be his so he said to himself just as soon as my father dies i'll kill jacob when rebecca found out what esau planned to do she sent for jacob and told him son your brother esau is just waiting for the time when he can kill you now listen carefully and do what i say go to the home of my brother laban and harren and stay with him for a while when esau stops being angry and forgets what you have done to him i'll send for you to come home why should i lose both of my sons on the same day rebecca later told isaac those hit out wives of esau are making my life miserable if jacob marries a hittite woman i'd be better off dead genesis 28 isaac called in jacob then gave him a blessing and said don't marry any of those canaanite women go at once to your mother's father bethel in northern syria and choose a wife from one of the daughters of laban your mother's brother i pray that god all-powerful will bless you with many descendants and let you become a great nation may he bless you with the land he gave abraham so that you will take over this land where we now live as foreigners isaac then sent jacob to stay with rebecca's brother laban the son of bethuel the aramean esau found out that his father isaac had blessed jacob and had warned him not to marry any of the canaanite women he also learned that jacob had been sent to find a wife in northern syria and that he had obeyed his father and mother esau already had several wives but he realized at last how much his father hated the canaanite women so he married ishmael's daughter mayhalath who was the sister of nabaoth and the granddaughter of abraham jacob left the town of beersheba and started out for harren at sunset he stopped for the night and went to sleep resting his head on a large rock in a dream he saw a ladder that reached from earth to heaven and god's angels were going up and down on it the lord was standing beside the ladder and said i am the lord god who was worshiped by abraham and isaac i will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping your descendants will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the specks of dust your family will be a blessing to all people wherever you go i will watch over you then later i will bring you back to this land i won't leave you i will do all i have promised jacob woke up suddenly and thought the lord is in this place and i didn't even know it then jacob became frightened and said this is a fearsome place it must be the house of god and the ladder to heaven when jacob got up early the next morning he took the rock that he had used for a pillow and stood it up for a place of worship then he poured olive oil on the rock to dedicate it to god and he named the place bethel before that it had been named luz jacob solemly promised god if you go with me and watch over me as i travel and if you give me food and clothes and bring me safely home again you will be my god this rock will be your house and i will give back to you a tenth of everything you give me [Music] genesis 29. as jacob continued on his way to the east he looked out in a field and saw a well where shepherds took their sheep for water three flocks of sheep were lying around the well which was covered with a large rock shepherds would roll the rock away when all their sheep had gathered there then after the sheep had been watered the shepherds would roll the rock back over the mouth of the well jacob asked the shepherds where are you from we're from haran they answered then he asked do you know nehora's grandson laban yes we do they replied how is he jacob asked he's fine they answered and here comes his daughter rachel with the sheep jacob told them look the sun is still high up in the sky and it's too early to bring in the rest of the flocks water your sheep and take them back to the pasture but they replied we can't do that until they all get here and the rockers be rolled away from the well while jacob was still talking with the men his cousin rachel came up with her father's sheep when jacob saw her and his uncle sheep he rolled the rock away and watered the sheep he then kissed rachel and started crying because he was so happy he told her that he was the son of her aunt rebecca and she ran and told her father about him as soon as laban heard the news he ran out to meet jacob he hugged and kissed him and brought him to his home where jacob told him everything that had happened laban said you are my nephew and you are like one of my own family after jacob had been there for a month laban said to him you shouldn't have to work without pay just because you are a relative of mine what do you want me to give you laban had two daughters leah was older than rachel but her eyes didn't sparkle while rachel was beautiful and had a good figure since jacob was in love with rachel he answered if you will let me marry rachel i'll work seven years for you laban replied it's better for me to let you marry rachel than for someone else to have her so stay and work for me jacob worked seven years for laban but the time seemed like only a few days because he loved rachel so much jacob said to laban the time is up and i want to marry rachel now so laban gave a big feast and invited all their neighbors but that evening he brought leah to jacob who married her and spent the night with her laban also gave zilpah to leah as her servant woman the next morning jacob found out that he had married leah and he asked laban why did you do this to me didn't i work to get rachel why did you trick me laban replied in our country the older daughter must get married first after you spend this week with lyr you may also marry rachel but you will have to work for me another seven years at the end of the week of celebration laban let jacob marry rachel and he gave her his servant woman bilhah jacob loved rachel more than he did leah but he had to work another seven years for laban the lord knew that jacob loved rachel more than he did leah and so he gave children to leah but not to rachel leah gave birth to a son and named him reuben because she said the lord has taken away my sorrow now my husband will love me more than he does rachel she had a second son and named him simeon because she said the lord has heard that my husband doesn't love me when leah's third son was born she said now my husband will hold me close so this son was named levi she had one more son and named him judah because she said i'll praise the lord genesis 30. rachel was very jealous of leah for having children and she said to jacob i'll die if you don't give me some children but jacob became upset with rachel unanswered don't blame me i'm not god here take my servant bilhah rachel told him have children by her and i'll let them be born on my knees to show that they are mine then rachel let jacob marry bilhah and they had a son rachel named him dan because she said god has answered my prayers he has judged me and given me a son when bill her and jacob had a second son rachel said i've struggled hard with my sister and i've won so she named the boy naftali when leah realized she could not have any more children she let jacob marry her servant zilpah and they had a son i'm really lucky leah said and she named the boy gad when they had another son leah exclaimed i'm happy now and all the women will say how happy i am so she named him asher [Music] during the time of the wheat harvest reuben found some love flowers and took them to his mother leah rachel asked leah for some of them but leah said it's bad enough that you stole my husband now you want my son's love flowers too all right rachel answered let me have the flowers and you can sleep with jacob tonight that evening when jacob came in from the fields leah told him you're sleeping with me tonight i hired you with my son's love flowers they slept together that night and god answered leah's prayers by giving her a fifth son leah shouted god has rewarded me for letting jacob marry my servant and she named the boy issachar when leah had another son she exclaimed god has given me a wonderful gift and my husband will praise me for giving him six sons so she named the boy zebulun later leah had a daughter and named her dinah finally god remembered rachel he answered her prayer by giving her a son god has taken away my disgrace she said i'll name the boy joseph and i'll pray that the lord will give me another son after joseph was born jacob said to laban release me from our agreement and let me return to my own country you know how hard i've worked for you so let me take my wives and children and leave but laban told him if you really are my friends stay on and i'll pay whatever you ask i'm sure the lord has blessed me because of you jacob answered you've seen how hard i've worked for you and you know how your flocks and herds have grown under my care you didn't have much before i came but the lord has blessed everything i have ever done for you now it's time for me to start looking out for my own family how much do you want me to pay you laban asked then jacob told him i don't want you to pay me anything just do one thing and i'll take care of your sheep and goats let me go through your flocks and herds and take the sheep and goats that are either spotted or speckled and the black lambs that's all you need to give me in the future you can easily find out if i've been honest just look and see if my animals are either spotted or speckled or if the lambs are black if they aren't they've been stolen from you i agree to that was laban's response before the end of the day laban had separated his spotted and speckled animals and the black lambs from the others and had put his sons in charge of them then laban made jacob keep the rest of the sheep and goats at a distance of three days journey [Music] jacob cut branches from some poplar trees and from some almond and evergreen trees he peeled off part of the bark and made the branches look spotted and speckled then he put the branches where the sheep and goats would see them while they were drinking from the water trough the goats mated there in front of the branches and their young were spotted and speckled some of the sheep that jacob was keeping for laban were already spotted and when the others were ready to mate he made sure that they faced in the direction of the spotted and black ones in this way jacob built up a flock of sheep for himself and did not put them with the other sheep when the stronger sheep were mating near the drinking place jacob made sure that the spotted branches were there but he would not put out the branches when the weaker animals were mating so jacob got all of the healthy animals and laban got what was left jacob soon became rich and successful he owned many sheep goats camels and donkeys as well as a lot of slaves genesis 31 jacob heard that laban's sons were complaining jacob is now a rich man and he got everything he owns from our father jacob also noticed that laban was not as friendly as he had been before one day the lord said jacob go back to your relatives in the land of your ancestors and i will bless you sent for rachel and leah to meet him in the field where he kept his sheep and he told them your father isn't as friendly with me as he used to be but the god my ancestors worshiped has been on my side you know that i have worked hard for your father and that he keeps cheating me by changing my wages time after time but god has protected me when your father said the speckled sheep would be my wages all of them were speckled and when he said the spotted ones would be mine all of them were spotted that's how god has taken sheep and goats from your father and given them to me once when the flocks were mating i dreamt that all the rams were either spotted or speckled then god's angel called me by name i answered and he said notice that all the rams are either spotted or speckled i know everything laban is doing to you and i am the god you worshipped at bethel when you poured olive oil on a rock and made a promise to me leave here right away and return to the land where you were born rachel and leah said to jacob there's nothing left for us to inherit from our father he treats us like foreigners and has even cheated us out of the bride price that should have been ours now do whatever god tells you to do even the property god took from our father and gave to you really belongs to us and our children then jacob his wives and his children got on camels and left for the home of his father isaac and kanan jacob took all of the flocks herds and other property that he had gotten in northern syria before rachel left she stole the household idols while laban was out shearing his sheep jacob tricked laban the aramean by not saying that he intended to leave when jacob crossed the euphrates river and headed for the hill country of gilead he took with him everything he owned three days later laban found out that jacob had gone so he took some of his relatives along and chased after jacob for seven days before catching up with him in the hill country of gilead but god appeared to laban in a dream that night and warned don't say a word to jacob don't make a threat or a promise jacob had set up camp in the hill country of gilead when laban and his relatives came and set up camp in another part of the hill country laban went to jacob and said look what you've done you've tricked me and run off with my daughters like a kidnapper why did you sneak away without telling me i would have given you a going away party with singing and with music on tambourines and harps you didn't even give me a chance to kiss my own grandchildren and daughters goodbye that was really foolish i could easily hurt you but the god your father worshipped has warned me not to make any threats or promises i can understand why you were eager to return to your father but why did you have to steal my idols jacob answered i left secretly because i was afraid you would take your daughters from me by force if you find that any one of us has taken your idols i'll have that person killed let your relatives be witnesses show me what belongs to you and you can take it back jacob did not realize that rachel had stolen the household idols laban searched the tents of jacob leah and the two servant women but did not find the idols then he started for rachel's tent she had already hidden them in the cushion she used as a saddle and was sitting on it laban searched everywhere and did not find them rachel said father please don't be angry with me for not getting up i'm having my period laban kept on searching but still did not find the idols jacob became very angry and said to laban what have i done wrong have i committed some crime is that why you hunted me down after searching through everything i have did you find anything of yours if so put it here where your relatives and mine can see it then we can decide what to do in all the 20 years that i've worked for you not one of your sheep or goats has had a miscarriage and i've never eaten even one of your rams if a wild animal killed one of your sheep or goats i paid for it myself in fact you demanded the full price whether the animal was killed during the day or at night i sweated every day and i couldn't sleep at night because of the cold i had to work 14 of these 20 long years to earn your two daughters and another six years to buy your sheep and goats during that time you kept changing my wages if the fearsome god worshiped by abraham and my father isaac had not been on my side you would have sent me away without a thing but god saw my hard work and he knew the trouble i was in so he helped me then last night he told you how wrong you were laban said to jacob lee and rachel are my daughters and their children belong to me all these sheep you are taking are really mine too in fact everything you have belongs to me but there is nothing i can do to keep my daughters and their children so i am ready to make an agreement with you and we will pile up some large rocks here to remind us of the agreement after jacob had set up a large rock he told his men to get some more rocks and pile them up next to it then jacob and laban ate a meal together beside the rocks laban named the pile of rocks jigar sahidutha but jacob named it galliad laban said to jacob this pile of rocks will remind us of our agreements that's why the place was named galliad laban also said this pile of rocks means that the lord will watch us both while we are apart from each other so the place was also named mizpah then laban said if you mistreat my daughters or marry other women i may not know about it but remember god is watching us both this pile of rocks and this large rock have been set up between us as a reminder i must never go beyond them to attack you and you must never go beyond them to attack me my father nahal your grandfather abraham and their ancestors all worship the same god and he will make sure that we each keep the agreement then jacob made a promise in the name of the fearsome god his father isaac had worshipped jacob killed an animal and offered it as a sacrifice there on the mountain and he invited his men to eat with him after the meal they spent the night on the mountain early the next morning laban kissed his daughters and his grandchildren goodbye then he left to go back home genesis 32 as jacob was on his way back home some of god's angels came and met him when jacob saw them he said this is god's camp so he named the place mayhem jacob sent messengers on ahead to esau who lived in the land of seer also known as edom jacob told them to say to esau master i am your servant i have lived with laban all this time and now i own cattle donkeys and sheep as well as many slaves master i am sending these messengers in the hope that you will be kind to me [Music] when the messengers returned they told jacob we went to your brother esau and now he's heading this way with 400 men jacob was so frightened that he divided his people sheep cattle and camels into two groups he thought if esau attacks one group perhaps the other can escape then jacob prayed you lord are the god who was worshipped by my grandfather abraham and by my father isaac you told me to return home to my family and you promised to be with me and make me successful i don't deserve all the good things you have done for me your servant when i first crossed the jordan i had only my walking stick but now i have two large groups of people and animals please rescue me from my brother i am afraid you will come and attack not only me but my wives and children as well but you have promised that i would be a success and that someday it will be as hard to count my descendants as it is to count the stars in the sky after jacob had spent the night there he chose some animals as gifts for esau 200 female goats and 20 males 200 female sheep and 20 males 30 female camels with their young 40 cows and 10 bulls and 20 female donkeys and 10 males jacob put servants in charge of each herd and told them go ahead of me and keep a space between each herd then he said to the servant in charge of the first heard when esau meets you he will ask whose servant you are he will want to know where you are going and who owns those animals in front of you so tell him they belong to your servant jacob who is coming this way he is sending them as a gift to his master esau jacob also told the men in charge of the second and third herds and those who followed to say the same thing when they met esau and jacob told them to be sure to say that he was right behind them jacob hoped the gifts would make he saw friendly so esau would be glad to see him when they met jacob's men took the gifts on ahead of him but he spent the night in camp jacob got up in the middle of the night and took his wives his 11 children and everything he owned across to the other side of the javik river for safety afterwards jacob went back and spent the rest of the night alone a man came and fought with jacob until just before daybreak when the man saw that he could not win he struck jacob on the hip and threw it out of joint they kept on wrestling until the man said let go of me it's almost daylight you can't go until you bless me jacob replied then the man asked what is your name jacob he answered the man said your name will no longer be jacob you have wrestled with god and with men and you have won that's why your name will be israel jacob said now tell me your name don't you know who i am he asked and he blessed jacob jacob said i have seen god face to face and i am still alive so he named the place peniel the sun was coming up as jacob was leaving peniel he was limping because he had been struck on the hip and the muscle on his hip joint had been injured that's why even today the people of israel don't eat the hip muscle of any animal [Music] genesis 33 later that day jacob met he saw coming with his 400 men so jacob had his children walk with their mothers the two servant women zilpah and bilhah together with their children went first followed by leah and her children then by rachel and joseph jacob himself walked in front of the mall bowing to the ground seven times as he came near his brother but he saw ran toward jacob and hugged and kissed him then the two brothers started crying when he saw notice the women and children he asked whose children are these jacob answered these are the ones the lord has been kind enough to give to me your servant then the two servant women and their children came and bowed down to esau next leah and her children came and bowed down finally joseph and rachel also came and bowed down esau asked jacob what did you mean by these herds i met along the road master jacob answered i sent them so that you would be friendly to me but brother i already have plenty esau replied keep them for yourself no jacob said please accept these gifts as a sign of your friendship for me when you welcomed me and and i saw your face it was like seeing the face of god please accept these gifts i brought to you god has been good to me and i have everything i need jacob kept insisting until esau accepted the gifts let's get ready to travel esau said i'll go along with you but jacob answered master you know travelling is hard on children and i have to look after the sheep and goats that are nursing their young if my animals travel too much in one day they will all die why don't you go on ahead and let me travel along slowly with the children the herds and the flocks we can meet again in the country of edom esau replied let me leave some of my men with you you don't have to do that jacob answered i am happy simply knowing that you are friendly to me so esau left for edom but jacob went to sucka where he built a house for himself and set up shelters for his animals that's why the place is called suckath [Music] leaving northern syria jacob arrived safely at shechem in canaan and set up camp outside the city the land where he camped was owned by the descendants of hamor the father of shechem so jacob paid them 100 pieces of silver for the property then he set up his tents and built an altar there to honor the god of israel genesis 34 dinah the daughter of jacob and leah went to visit some of the women who lived there she was seen by hamor's son shakum the leader of the hivites and he grabbed her and raped her but shechem was attracted to dinah so he told her how much he loved her he even asked his father to get her for his wife meanwhile jacob heard what had happened but his sons were out in the fields with the cattle so he did not do anything at the time haymore arrived at jacob's home just as jacob's sons were coming in from work when they learned that their sister had been raped they became furiously angry nothing is more disgraceful than rape and it should not be tolerated in israel hamor said to jacob and his sons my son shakum really loves dinah please let him marry her why don't you start letting your families marry into our families and ours marry into yours you can share this land with us move freely about until you find the property you want then buy it and settle down here shechem added do this favor for me and i'll give whatever you want ask anything no matter how expensive i'll do anything just let me marry dinah jacob's sons wanted to get even with shechem and his father because of what had happened to their sister so they tricked them by saying you're not circumcised it would be a disgrace for us to let you marry dinah now but we will let you marry her if you and the other men in your tribe get circumcised then your families can marry into ours and ours can marry into yours and we can live together like one nation but if you don't agree to get circumcised we'll take dinah and leave this place hamor and shechem liked what was said shechem was the most respected person in his family and he was so in love with dinah that he hurried off to get everything done the two men met with the other leaders of their city and told them these people really are friendly why not let them move freely about until they find the property they want there's enough land here for them and for us then our families can marry into theirs and theirs can marry into ours we have to do only one thing before they'll agree to stay here and become one nation with us our men will have to be circumcised like their men just think we'll get their property as well as their flocks and herds all we have to do is to agree and they'll live here with us every grown man followed this advice and got circumcised three days later the men who had been circumcised were still weak from pain so simeon and levi two of dinah's brothers attacked with their swords and killed every man in town including hamor and shechem then they took dinah and left jacob's other sons came and took everything they wanted all this was done because of the horrible thing that had happened to their sister they took sheep goats donkeys and everything else that was in the town or the fields after taking everything of value from the houses they dragged away the wives and children of their victims jacob said to simeon and levi look what you've done now i'm in real trouble with the canaanites and perizzites who live around here there aren't many of us and if they attack they'll kill everyone in my household they answered was it right to let our own sister be treated that way genesis 35 god told jacob return to bethel where i appeared to you when you were running from your brother esau make your home there and build an altar for me jacob said to his family and to everyone else who was traveling with him get rid of your foreign gods then make yourselves acceptable to worship god and put on clean clothes afterwards we'll go to bethel i will build an altar there for god who answered my prayers when i was in trouble and who has always been at my side so everyone gave jacob their idols and their earrings and he buried them under the oak tree near shechem while jacob and his family were traveling through canaan god terrified the people in the town so much that no one dared bother them finally they reached bethel also known as luz jacob built an altar there and called it god of bethel because that was the place where god had appeared to him when he was running from esau while they were there rebecca's personal servant deborah died they buried her under an oak tree and called it weeping oak after jacob came back to the land of canaan god appeared to him again this time he gave jacob a new name and blessed him by saying i am god all powerful and from now on your name will be israel instead of jacob you will have many children your descendants will become nations and some of the men in your family will even be kings i will give you the land that i promised abraham and isaac and it will belong to your family forever after god had gone jacob set up a large rock so that he would remember what had happened there then he poured wine and olive oil on the rock to show that it was dedicated to god and he named the place bethel jacob and his family had left bethel and were still a long way from ephrath when the time came for rachel's baby to be born she was having a rough time but the woman who was helping her said don't worry it's a boy rachel was at the point of death and right before dying she said i'll name him benoni but jacob called him benjamin rachel was buried beside the road to ephrath which is also called bethlehem jacob set up a tombstone over her grave and it is still there jacob also known as israel traveled to the south of eder tower where he set up camp during their time there jacob's oldest son reuben slept with bilhah who was one of jacob's other wives and jacob found out about it jacob had 12 sons while living in northern syria his firstborn reuben was the son of leah who later gave birth to simeon levi judah issachar and zebulun leah's servant zilpah had two sons gad and asher jacob and his wife rachel had joseph and benjamin rachel's servant woman bilhah had two more sons dan and naftali jacob went to his father isaac at hebron also called mamrie or kiriath arba where isaac's father abraham had lived as a foreigner isaac died at the ripe old age of 180 then his sons esau and jacob buried him genesis 36 esau also known as edom had many descendants he married three canaanite women the first was ada the daughter of elon the hittite the second was ahold obama the daughter of ana and the granddaughter of zibian the hivite the third was basimath who was ishmael's daughter and nibaoth sister esau and his three wives had five sons while in canaan aydah's son was eliphaz basimath's son was rule ahold obama's three sons were jewish jalen and korra esau took his children and wives his relatives and servants his animals and possessions he had gotten while in canaan and moved far from jacob he did this because the land was too crowded and could not support him and his brother with their flocks and herds that's why esau made his home in the hill country of seer esau lived in the hill country of seer and was the ancestor of the esau had three wives ada basimath and ahola bama here is a list of his descendants esau and ada had a son named eliphaz whose sons were teman omar zifo gaitham and kinase timna was the other wife of esau's son eliphaz and she had a son named amalek esau and basimath had a son named rule whose sons were nahath zira shamma and miza esau and ahola obama had three sons jiush jalam and korah esau and ada's oldest son was eliphaz and the clans that descended from him were timon omar zepho kinas korah gatum and amalek these and esau's other descendants lived in the land of edom the clans that descended from esau and basimath's sun rule were nahath zira shamma and miza the clans that descended from esau and to hola bama the daughter of aina were jihosh jhelum and korra all of these clans descended from esau who was known as edom seer was from the horite tribe that lived in edom before the time of esau the clans that had descended from him were lotan chobal zibian ayna daishan eezer and daishan lotan sons were horai and he-man his sister was timna shobo's sons were alvin manahath ebel shifo and onam zibian's sons were aya and ana the same ana who found an oasis in the desert while taking the donkeys of his father out to pasture ana's children were daishon and ahola bama daishon's sons were hemdan eshban ithran and kiran eezer's sons were bilhan zayavan and acan daishan sons were uz and aaron the clans of the horites were lotan shobal zibian ana daishon ezr and daishan and they lived in the land of seer before there were kings in israel the following kings ruled edom one after another bela son of beor from dinhaba job son of zerah from basra husham from the land of timon haddad son of bedad from aveth bedad had defeated the midianites in moab samla from masrika shawl from the city of rehoboth on the euphrates river bale heyman son of akbor hadar from the city of pow his wife mahetta bell was the daughter of matrid and the granddaughter of misehab the clans that descended from esau took their names from their families and the places where they lived they are timnah alva jethith obama ila painan kinas timan mibzar magdiel and airam these clans descended from esau who was known as edom the father of the they took their names from the places where they settled genesis 37 jacob lived in the land of canaan where his father isaac had lived and this is the story of his family when jacob's son joseph was 17 years old he took care of the sheep with his brothers the sons of bilhah and zelpah but he was always telling his father all sorts of bad things about his brothers jacob loved joseph more than he did any of his other sons because joseph was born after jacob was very old jacob had given joseph a fancy coat to show that he was his favorite son and so joseph's brothers hated him and would not be friendly to him one day joseph told his brothers what he had dreamed and they hated him even more joseph said let me tell you about my dream we were out in the field tying up bundles of wheat suddenly my bundle stood up and your bundles gathered round and bowed down to it his brothers asked do you really think you're going to be king and rule over us now they hated joseph more than ever because of what he had said about his dream joseph later had another dream and he told his brothers listen to what else i dreamed the sun the moon and 11 stars bowed down to me when he told his father about this dream his father became angry and said what's that supposed to mean are your mother and i and your brothers all going to come and bow down in front of you joseph's brothers were jealous of him but his father kept wondering about the dream one day when joseph's brothers had taken the sheep to a pasture near shechem his father jacob said to him i want you to go to your brothers they are with the sheep near shechem yes sir joseph answered his father said go and find out how your brothers and the sheep are doing then come back and let me know so he sent him from hebron valley joseph was near shechem and wandering through the fields when a man asked what are you looking for joseph answered i'm looking for my brothers who are watching the sheep can you tell me where they are they're not here anymore the man replied i overheard them say they were going to dothan joseph left and found his brothers in dothan but before he got there they saw him coming and made plans to kill him they said to one another look here comes the hero of those dreams let's kill him and throw him into a pit and say that some wild animal ate him then we'll see what happens to those dreams heard this and tried to protect joseph from them let's not kill him he said don't murder him or even harm him just throw him into a dry well out here in the desert reuben planned to rescue joseph later and take him back to his father when joseph came to his brothers they pulled off his fancy coat and threw him into a dry well as joseph's brothers sat down to eat they looked up and saw a caravan of ishmaelites coming from gilead their camels were loaded with all kinds of spices that they were taking to egypt so judah said what will we gain if we kill our brother and hide his body let's sell him to the ishmaelites and not harm him after all he is our brother and the others agreed when the midianite merchants came by joseph's brothers took him out of the well and for 20 pieces of silver they sold him to the ishmaelites who took him to egypt when reuben returned to the well and did not find joseph there he tore his clothes and sorrow then he went back to his brothers and said the boy is gone what am i going to do joseph's brothers killed a goat and dipped joseph's fancy coat in its blood after this they took the coat to their father and said we found this look at it carefully and see if it belongs to your son jacob knew it was joseph's coat and said it's my son's coat joseph has been torn to pieces and eaten by some wild animal jacob mourned for joseph a long time and to show his sorrow he tore his clothes and wore sackcloth all of jacob's children came to comfort him but he refused to be comforted he said i will go to my grave morning for my son so jacob kept on grieving meanwhile the midianites had sold joseph in egypt to a man named potiphar who was the king's official in charge of the palace guard genesis 38 about that time judah left his brothers in the hill country and went to live near his friend haira in the town of adalam while there he met the daughter of shua a canaanite man judah married her and they had three sons he named the first one er she named the next one onan the third one was born when judah was in kizeb and she named him sheila later judah chose tamar as a wife for ur his oldest son but ur was very evil and the lord took his life so judah told onan it's your duty to marry tamar and have a child for your brother onan knew the child would not be his and when he had sex with tamar he made sure that she would not get pregnant the lord wasn't pleased with onan and took his life too judah did not want the same thing to happen to his son sheila and he told tamar go home to your father and live there as a widow until my son sheila has grown so tamar went to live with her father some years later judah's wife died and he mourned for her he then went with his friend hira to the town of timna where his sheep were being sheared tamar found out that her father-in-law judah was going to timna to shear his sheep she also realized that sheila was now a grown man but she had not been allowed to marry him so she decided to dress in something other than her widow's clothes and to cover her face with a veil after this she sat outside the town of anaheim on the road to timnah when judah came along he did not recognize her because of the veil he thought she was a prostitute and asked her to sleep with him she asked what will you give me if i do one of my young goats he answered what will you give me to keep until you send the goat she asked what do you want he asked in return the ring on that cord around your neck was her reply i also want the special walking stick you have with you he gave them to her they slept together and she became pregnant after returning home tamar took off the veil and dressed in her widow's clothes again judah had his friend hira take a goat to the woman so he could get back the ring and walking stick but she wasn't there hira asked the people of an am where is the the prostitute who sat along the road outside your town there's never been one here they answered hira went back and told judah i couldn't find the woman and the people of the name said no prostitute had ever been there if you couldn't find her we'll just let her keep the things i gave her judah answered and we better forget about the goat or else we'll look like fools about three months later someone told judah your daughter-in-law tamar has behaved like a prostitute and now she's pregnant drag her out of town and burn her to death judah shouted as tamar was being dragged off she sent someone to tell her father-in-law the man who gave me this ring this cord and this walking stick is the one who got me pregnant those are mine judah admitted she's a better person than i am because i broke my promise to let her marry my son sheila after this judah never slept with her again tamar later gave birth to twins but before either of them was born one of them stuck a hand out of her womb the woman who was helping tied a red thread around the baby's hand and explained this one came out first right away his hand went back in and the other child was born first the woman then said what an opening you've made for yourself so they named the baby peers when the brother with the red thread came out they named him zera genesis 39 the ishmaelites took joseph to egypt and sold him to potiphar the king's official in charge of the palace guard so joseph lived in the home of potiphar his egyptian owner soon potiphar realized that the lord was helping joseph to be successful in whatever he did potiphar liked joseph and made him his personal assistant putting him in charge of his house and all of his property because of joseph the lord began to bless potiphar's family in fields potiphar left everything up to joseph and with joseph there the only decision he had to make was what he wanted to eat joseph was well built and handsome and potiphar's wife soon noticed him she asked him to make love to her but he refused and said my master isn't worried about anything in his house because he has placed me in charge of everything he owns no one in my master's house is more important than i am the only thing he hasn't given me is you and that's because you're his wife i won't sin against god by doing such a terrible thing as this she kept begging joseph day after day but he refused to do what she wanted or even to go near her one day joseph went to potiphar's house to do his work and none of the other servants were there potiphar's wife grabbed hold of his coat and said make love to me joseph ran out of the house leaving her hanging onto his coat when this happened she called in her servants and said look this hebrew has come just to make fools of us he tried to rape me but i screamed for help and when he heard me scream he ran out of the house leaving his coat with me potiphar's wife kept joseph's coat until her husband came home then she said that hebrew slave of yours tried to rape me but when i screamed for help he left his coat and ran out of the house potiphar became very angry and threw joseph in the same prison where the king's prisoners were kept while joseph was in prison the lord helped him and was good to him he even made the jailer like joseph so much that he put him in charge of the other prisoners and of everything that was done in the jail the jailer did not worry about anything because the lord was with joseph and made him successful in all that he did genesis 40. while joseph was in prison both the king's personal servant and his chief cook made the king angry so he had them thrown into the same prison with joseph they spent a long time in prison and potiphar the official in charge of the palace guard made joseph their servant one night each of the two men had a dream but their dreams had different meanings the next morning when joseph went to see the men he could tell they were upset and he asked why are you so worried today we each had a dream last night they answered and there's no one to tell us what they mean joseph replied doesn't god know the meaning of dreams now tell me what you dreamed the king's personal servant told joseph in my dream i saw a vine with three branches as soon as it butted it blossomed and its grapes became ripe i held the king's cup and squeezed the grapes into it then i gave the cup to the king joseph said this is the meaning of your dream the three branches stand for three days and in three days the king will pardon you he will make you his personal servant again and you will serve him as wine just as you used to do but when these good things happen please don't forget to tell the king about me so i can get out of this place i was kidnapped from the land of the hebrews and here in egypt i haven't done anything to deserve being thrown in jail when the chief cook saw that joseph had given a good meaning to the dream he told joseph i also had a dream in it i was carrying three bread baskets stacked on top of my head the top basket was full of all kinds of baked things for the king but birds were eating them joseph said this is the meaning of your dream the three baskets are three days and in three days the king will cut off your head he will hang your body on a pole and birds will come and peck at it three days later while the king was celebrating his birthday with a dinner for his officials he sent for his personal servant and the chief cook he put the personal servant back in his old job and had the cook put to death everything happened just as joseph had said it would but the king's personal servant completely forgot about joseph genesis 41 two years later the king of egypt dreamed he was standing beside the nile river suddenly seven fat healthy cows came up from the river and started eating grass along the bank then seven ugly skinny cows came up out of the river and ate the fat healthy cows when this happened the king woke up the king went back to sleep and had another dream this time seven full heads of grain were growing on a single stalk later seven other heads of grain appeared but they were thin and scorched by the east wind the thin heads of grain swallowed the seven full heads again the king woke up and it had only been a dream the next morning the king was upset so he called in his magicians and wise men and told them what he had dreamed none of them could tell him what the dreams meant the king's personal servant said now i remember what i was supposed to do when you were angry with me and your chief cook you threw us both in jail in the house of the captain of the guard one night we both had dreams and each dream had a different meaning a young hebrew who was a servant of the captain of the guard was there with us at the time when we told him our dreams he explained what each of them meant and everything happened just as he said it would i got my job back and the cook was put to death the king sent for joseph who was quickly brought out of jail he shaved changed his clothes and went to the king the king said to him i had a dream yet no one can explain what it means i am told that you can interpret dreams your majesty joseph answered i can't do it myself but god can give a good meaning to your dreams the king told joseph i dreamed i was standing on the bank of the nile river i saw seven fat healthy cows come up out of the river they began feeding on the grass next seven skinny bony cows came up out of the river i have never seen such terrible looking cows anywhere in egypt the skinny cows ate the fat ones but you couldn't tell it because these skinny cows were just as skinny as they were before right away i woke up i also dreamed that i saw seven heads of grain growing on one stalk the heads were full and ripe then seven other heads of grain came up they were thin and scorched by a wind from the desert these heads of grain swallowed the full ones i told my dreams to the magicians but none of them could tell me the meaning of the dreams joseph replied your majesty both of your dreams mean the same thing and in them god has shown what he is going to do the seven good cows stand for seven years and so do the seven good heads of grain the seven skinny ugly cows that came up later also stand for seven years as do the seven bad heads of grain that were scorched by the east wind the dreams mean there will be seven years when there won't be enough grain it is just as i said god has shown what he intends to do for seven years egypt will have more than enough grain but that will be followed by seven years when there won't be enough the good years of plenty will be forgotten and everywhere in egypt people will be starving the famine will be so bad that no one will remember that once there had been plenty god has given you two dreams to let you know that he has definitely decided to do this and that he will do it soon your majesty you should find someone who is wise and will know what to do so that you can put him in charge of all egypt then appoint some other officials to collect one-fifth of every crop harvested in egypt during the seven years when there is plenty give them the power to collect the grain during those good years and to store it in your cities it can be stored until it is needed during the seven years when there won't be enough grain in egypt this will keep the country from being destroyed because of the lack of food the king and his officials liked this plan so the king said to them no one could possibly handle this better than joseph since the spirit of god is with him the king told joseph god is the only one who has shown you these things no one else is as wise as you are or knows as much as you do i'm putting you in charge of my palace and everybody will have to obey you no one will be over you except me you are now governor of all egypt then the king took off his royal ring and put it on joseph's finger he gave him fine clothes to wear and placed a gold chain around his neck he also let him ride in the chariot next to his own and people shouted make way for jersey so joseph was governor of egypt the king told joseph although i'm king no one in egypt is to do anything without your permission he gave joseph the egyptian name zafinath pania and he let him marry asanath the daughter of potiphara a priest in the city of heliopolis joseph traveled all over egypt joseph was 30 when the king made him governor and he went everywhere for the king for seven years there were big harvests of grain joseph collected and stored up the extra grain in the cities of egypt near the fields where it was harvested in fact there was so much grain that they stopped keeping record because it was like counting the grains of sand along the beach joseph and his wife had two sons before the famine began their first son was named manasseh which means god has let me forget all my troubles and my family back home his second son was named ephraim which means god has made me a success in the land where i suffered [Music] egypt's seven years of plenty came to an end and the seven years of famine began just as joseph had said there was not enough food in other countries but all over egypt there was plenty when the famine finally struck egypt the people asked the king for food but he said go to joseph and do what he tells you to do the famine became bad everywhere in egypt so joseph opened the storehouses and sold the grain to the egyptians people from all over the world came to egypt because the famine was severe in their countries genesis 42 when jacob found out there was grain in egypt he said to his sons why are you just sitting here staring at one another i have heard there is grain in egypt now go down and buy some so we won't starve to death ten of joseph's brothers went to egypt to buy grain but jacob did not send joseph's younger brother benjamin with them he was afraid that something might happen to him so jacob's sons joined others from canaan who were going to egypt because of the terrible famine since joseph was governor of egypt and in charge of selling grain his brothers came to him and bowed with their faces to the ground they did not recognize joseph but right away he knew who they were though he pretended not to know instead he spoke harshly and asked where do you come from from the land of canaan they answered we've come here to buy grain joseph remembered what he had dreamed about them and said you're spies you've come here to find out where our country is weak no sir they replied we're your servants and we have only come to buy grain we're honest men and we come from the same family we're not spies that isn't so joseph insisted you've come here to find out where our country is weak but they explained sir we come from a family of 12 brothers the youngest is still with our father in canaan and one of our brothers is dead joseph replied it's just like i said you're spies and i'm going to find out who you really are i swear by the life of the king that you won't leave this place until your youngest brother comes here choose one of you to go after your brother while the rest of you stay here in jail that will show whether you are telling the truth but if you are lying i swear by the life of the king that you are spies [Music] joseph kept them all under guard for three days before saying to them since i respect god i'll give you a chance to save your lives if you are honest men one of you must stay here in jail and the rest of you can take the grain back to your starving families but you must bring your youngest brother to me then i'll know that you are telling the truth and you won't be put to death joseph's brothers agreed and said to one another we're being punished because of joseph we saw the trouble he was in but we refused to help him when he begged us that's why these terrible things are happening reuben spoke up didn't i tell you not to harm the boy but you wouldn't listen and now we have to pay the price for killing him they did not know that joseph could understand them since he was speaking through an interpreter joseph turned away from them and cried but soon he turned back and spoke to them again then he had simeon tied up and taken away while they watched joseph gave orders for his brother's grain sacks to be filled with grain and for their money to be put in their sacks he also gave orders for them to be given food for their journey home after this was done they each loaded the grain on their donkeys and left when they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get some grain for his donkey and right away he saw his money back here's my money he told his brothers right here in my sack they were trembling with fear as they stared at one another and asked themselves what has god done to us when they returned to the land of canaan they told their father jacob everything that had happened to them the governor of egypt was rude and treated us like spies but we told him we're honest men not spies we come from a family of twelve brothers the youngest is still with our father and canaan and the other is dead then the governor of egypt told us i'll find out if you really are honest leave one of your brothers here with me while you take the grain to your starving families but bring your youngest brother to me so i can be certain that you are honest men and not spies after that i'll let your other brother go free and you can stay here and trade when the brothers started emptying their sacks of grain they found their money bags in them they were frightened and so was their father jacob who said you have already taken my sons joseph and simeon from me and now you want to take away benjamin everything is against me reuben spoke up father if i don't bring benjamin back you can kill both of my sons trust me with him and i will bring him back but jacob said i won't let my son benjamin go down to egypt with the rest of you his brother is already dead and he is the only son i have left i am an old man and if anything happens to him on the way i'll die from sorrow and all of you will be to blame genesis 43 the famine canaan got worse until finally jacob's family had eaten all the grain they had bought in egypt so jacob said to his sons go back and buy some more grain judah replied the governor strictly warned us that we would not be allowed to see him unless we brought our youngest brother with us if you let us take benjamin along we will go and buy grain but we won't go without him jacob asked why did you cause me so much trouble by telling the governor you had another brother they answered he asked a lot of questions about us and our family he wanted to know if you were still alive and if we had any more brothers all we could do was answer his questions how could we know he would tell us to bring along our brother then judah said to his father let benjamin go with me and we will leave right away so that none of us will starve to death i promise to bring him back safely and if i don't you can blame me as long as i live if we had not wasted all this time we could already have been there and back twice their father said if benjamin must go with you take the governor a gift of some of the best things from our own country such as perfume honey spices pistachio nuts and almonds also take along twice the amount of money for the grain because there must have been some mistake when the money was put back in your sacks take benjamin with you and leave right away when you go in to see the governor i pray that god all powerful will be good to you and that the governor will let your other brother and benjamin come back home with you if i must lose my children i suppose i must the brothers took the gifts twice the amount of money and benjamin then they hurried off to egypt when they stood in front of joseph he saw benjamin and told the servant in charge of his house take these men to my house slaughter an animal and cook it so they can eat with me at noon the servant did as he was told and took the brothers to joseph's house but on the way they got worried and started thinking we are being taken there because of the money that was put back in our sacks last time he will arrest us make us his slaves and take our donkeys so when they arrived at joseph's house they said to the servant in charge sir we came to egypt once before to buy grain but when we stopped for the night we each found in our grain sacks the exact amount we'd paid we've brought that money back together with enough money to buy more grain we don't know who put the money in our sacks it's all right the servant replied don't worry the god you and your father worship must have put the money there because i received your payment in full then he brought simeon out to them the servant took them into joseph's house and gave them water to wash their feet he also tended their donkeys the brothers got their gifts ready to give to joseph at noon since they had heard they were going to eat there when joseph came home they gave him the gifts they had brought and they bowed down to him after joseph had asked how they were he said what about your elderly father is he still alive they answered your servant our father is still alive and well and again they bowed down to joseph when joseph looked around and saw his brother benjamin he said this must be your youngest brother the one you told me about god bless you my son right away he rushed off to his room and cried because of his love for benjamin after washing his face and returning he was able to control himself and said serve the meal joseph was served at a table by himself and his brothers were served at another the egyptians sat at yet another table because egyptians felt it was disgusting to eat with hebrews to the surprise of joseph's brothers they were seated in front of him according to their ages from the oldest to the youngest they were served food from joseph's table and benjamin was given five times as much as each of the others so joseph's brothers drank with him and had a good time genesis 44 later joseph told the servant in charge of his house fill the men's grain sacks with as much as they can hold and put their money in the sacks also put my silver cup in the sack of the youngest brother the servant did as he was told early the next morning the men were sent on their way with their donkeys but they had not gone far from the city when joseph told the servant go after those men when you catch them say my master has been good to you so why have you stolen his silver cup not only does he drink from his cup but he also uses it to learn about the future you have done a terrible thing when the servant caught up with him he said exactly what joseph had told him to say but they replied sir why do you say such things we would never do anything like that we even returned the money we found in our grain sacks when we got back to canaan so why would we want to steal any silver or gold from your master's house if you find that one of us has the cup then kill him and the rest of us will become your slaves good the man replied i'll do what you have said but only the one who has a cup will become my slave the rest of you can go free each of the brothers quickly put his sack on the ground and opened it joseph's servant started searching the sacks beginning with the one that belonged to the oldest brother when he came to benjamin's sack he found the cup this upset the brothers so much that they began tearing their clothes and sorrow then they loaded their donkeys and returned to the city when judah and his brothers got there joseph was still at home so they bowed down to joseph who asked them what have you done didn't you know i could find out so what can we say judah replied how can we prove we are innocent god has shown that we are guilty and and now all of us are your slaves especially the one who had the cup joseph told them i would never punish all of you only the one who was caught with the cup will become my slave the rest of you are free to go home to your father judah went over to joseph and said sir you have as much power as the king himself and i am only your slave please don't get angry if i speak you asked us if our father was still alive and if we had any more brothers so we told you our father is a very old man in fact he was already old when benjamin was born benjamin's brother is dead now benjamin is the only one of the two brothers who is still alive and our father loves him very much you ordered us to bring him here so you could see him for yourself we told you that our father would die if benjamin left him but you warned us that we could never see you again unless our youngest brother came with us so we returned to our father and reported what you had said later our father told us to come back here and buy more grain but we answered we can't go back to egypt without our youngest brother we will never be let in to see the governor unless he is with us sir our father then reminded us that his favorite wife had given birth to two sons one of them was already missing and had not been seen for a long time my father thinks the boy was torn to pieces by some wild animal and he said i am an old man if you take benjamin from me and something happens to him i will die of a broken heart that's why benjamin must be with us when i go back to my father he loves him so much that he will die if benjamin doesn't come back with me i promised my father that i would bring him safely home if i don't i told my father he could blame me the rest of my life sir i am your slave please let me stay here in place of benjamin and let him return home with his brothers how can i face my father if benjamin isn't with me i couldn't bear to see my father in such sorrow genesis 45 since joseph could no longer control his feelings in front of his servants he sent them out of the room when he was alone with his brothers he told them i am joseph [Music] then he cried so loudly that the egyptians heard him and told about it in the king's palace joseph asked his brothers if his father was still alive but they were too frightened to answer joseph told them to come closer to him and when they did he said yes i am your brother joseph the one you sold into egypt don't worry or blame yourselves for what you did god is the one who sent me ahead of you to save lives there has already been a famine for two years and for five more years no one will plow fields or harvest grain but god sent me on ahead of you to keep your families alive and to save you in this wonderful way after all you weren't really the ones who sent me here it was god he made me the highest official in the king's court and placed me over all egypt now hurry back and tell my father that his son joseph says god has made me ruler of egypt come here as quickly as you can you will live near me in the region of goshen with your children and grandchildren as well as with your sheep goats cattle and everything else you own i will take care of you there during the next five years of famine but if you don't come you and your family and your animals will starve to death all of you including my brother benjamin can tell by what i have said that i really am joseph tell my father about my great power here in egypt and about everything you have seen hurry and bring him here joseph and benjamin hugged each other and started crying joseph was still crying as he kissed each of his other brothers after this they started talking with joseph when it was told in the palace that joseph's brothers had come the king and his officials were happy so the king said to joseph tell your brothers to load their donkeys and return to canaan have them bring their father and their families here i will give them the best land in egypt and they can eat and enjoy everything that grows on it also tell your brothers to take some wagons from egypt for their wives and children to ride in and be sure to have them bring their father they can leave their possessions behind because they will be given the best of everything in egypt jacob's sons agreed to do what the king had said and joseph gave them wagons and food for their trip home just as the king had ordered joseph gave some new clothes to each of his brothers but to benjamin he gave 5 new outfits and 300 pieces of silver to his father he sent 10 donkeys loaded with the best things in egypt and 10 other donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other food for the return trip then he sent his brothers off and told them don't argue on the way home joseph's brothers left egypt and when they arrived in canaan they told their father that joseph was still alive and was the ruler of egypt but their father was so surprised that he could not believe them then they told him everything joseph had said when he saw the wagons joseph had sent he felt much better and said now i can believe you my son joseph must really be alive and i will get to see him before i die genesis 46. jacob packed up everything he owned and left for egypt on the way he stopped near the town of beersheba and offered sacrifices to the god his father isaac had worshipped that night god spoke to him and said jacob jacob here i am jacob answered god said i am god the same god your father worshiped don't be afraid to go to egypt i will give you so many descendants that one day they will become a nation i will go with you to egypt and later i will bring your descendants back here your son joseph will be at your side when you die jacob and his family set out from beersheba and headed for egypt his sons put him in the wagon that the king had sent for him and they put their small children and their wives in the other wagons jacob's whole family went to egypt including his sons his grandsons his daughters and his granddaughters they took along their animals and everything else they owned when jacob went to egypt his children who were born in northern syria also went along with their families jacob and his wife leah had a total of 33 children grandchildren and great-grandchildren but two of their grandchildren had died in canaan their oldest son reuben took his sons hanukkah palu hezrun and carmine their son simeon took his sons jamuel jamin ohad jacon zohar and shaw whose mother was a canaanite their son levi took his sons gershon kohath and mirarai their son judah took his sons sheila and zerah judah's sons ur and onan had died in canaan judah's son perez took his sons hezron and hamel their son issachar took his sons tola puva jashub and shimron their son zebulun took his sons sirid ilan and jaleel their daughter dinah also went jacob and zilpah the servant woman laban had given his daughter leah had a total of 16 children grandchildren and great-grandchildren their son gad took his sons ziphian haggai shunai esbon irai a rhodai and a rely their son asher took his sons imna ishvah ishvai and biraya who took his sons heber and malkiel sira the daughter of asher also went jacob and rachel had 14 children and grandchildren their son joseph was already in egypt where he had married asanath daughter of potiphara the priest of heliopolis joseph and asanath had two sons manasseh and ephraim jacob and rachel's son benjamin took his sons bela beaker ashbal ghira naaman ehi rash muppem hapham and aard jacob and bilhah the servant woman laban had given his daughter rachel had seven children and grandchildren their son dan took his son husham their son naphtali took his sons jazeel gunai geezer and shalom 66 members of jacob's family went to egypt with him not counting his daughters-in-law jacob's two grandsons who were born there mated a total of 70 members of jacob's family in egypt jacob had sent his son judah ahead of him to ask joseph to meet them in goshen so joseph got in his chariot and went to meet his father when they met joseph hugged his father around the neck and cried for a long time jacob said to joseph now that i have seen you i know you are still alive i am ready to die [Music] then joseph said to his brothers and to everyone who had come with them i must go and tell the king that you have arrived from canaan i will tell them that you are shepherds and that you have brought your sheep goats cattle and everything else you own the king will call you in and ask you what you do for a living when he does be sure to say we are shepherds our families have always raised sheep if you tell him this he will let you settle in the region of goshen joseph wanted them to say this to the king because the egyptians did not like to be around anyone who raised sheep genesis 47 joseph took his five brothers to the king and told him my father and my brothers have come from canaan they have brought their sheep goats cattle and everything else they owned to the region of goshen then he introduced his brothers to the king who asked them what do you do for a living sir we are shepherds was their answer our families have always raised sheep but in our country all the pastures are dried up and our sheep have no grass to eat so we your servants have come here please let us live in the region of goshen the king said to joseph it's good that your father and brothers have arrived i will let them live anywhere they choose in the land of egypt but i suggest that they settle in goshen the best part of our land i would also like for your finest shepherds to watch after my own sheep and goats then joseph brought his father jacob and introduced him to the king jacob gave the king his blessing and the king asked him how old are you jacob answered i have lived only 130 years and i've had to move from place to place my parents my grandparents also had to move from place to place but they lived much longer and their life was not as hard as mine then jacob gave the king his blessing once again and left joseph obeyed the king's orders and gave his father and brothers some of the best land in egypt near the city of rameses joseph also provided food for their families the famine was bad everywhere in egypt and canaan and the people were suffering terribly so joseph sold them the grain that had been stored up and he put the money in the king's treasury but when everyone had run out of money the egyptians came to joseph and demanded give us more grain if you don't we'll soon be dead because our money's all gone if you don't have any money joseph answered give me your animals and i'll let you have some grain from then on they brought him their horses and donkeys and their sheep and goats in exchange for grain within a year joseph had collected every animal in egypt then the people came to him and said sir there's no way we can hide the truth from you we are broke and we don't have any more animals we have nothing left except ourselves and our land don't let a starve and our land be ruined if you'll give us grain to eat and seed to plant we'll sell ourselves and our land to the king will become his slaves the famine became so severe that joseph finally bought every piece of land in egypt for the king and made everyone the king slaves except the priests the king gave the priests a regular food allowance so they did not have to sell their land then joseph said to the people you and your land now belong to the king i am giving you seed to plant but one fifth of your crops must go to the king you can keep the rest as seed or as food for your families sir you have saved our lives they answered we are glad to be slaves of the king then joseph made a law that one-fifth of the harvest would always belong to the king only the priests did not lose their land the people of israel made their home in the land of goshen where they became prosperous and had large families jacob himself lived there for 17 years before dying at the age of 147 when jacob knew he did not have long to live he called in joseph and said if you really love me you must make a solemn promise not to bury me in egypt instead bury me in the place where my ancestors are buried i will do what you have asked joseph answered will you give me your word jacob asked yes i will joseph promised after this jacob bowed down and prayed at the head of his bed genesis 48. joseph was told that his father jacob had become very sick so joseph went to see him and took along his two sons manasseh and ephraim when joseph arrived someone told jacob your son joseph has come to see you jacob sat up in bed but it took almost all his strength jacob told joseph god all-powerful appeared to me at luz in the land of canaan where he gave me his blessing and promised i will give you a large family with many descendants that will grow into a nation and i am giving you this land that will belong to you and your family forever then jacob went on to say joseph your two sons ephraim and manasseh were born in egypt but i accept them as my own just as reuben and simeon are mine any children you have later will be considered yours but their inheritance will come from ephraim and manasseh unfortunately your mother rachel died in canaan after we had left northern syria and before we reached bethlehem and i had to bury her along the way jacob was very old and almost blind he did not recognize the two boys and so he asked joseph who are these boys joseph answered they are my sons god has given them to me here in egypt bring them to me jacob said i want to give them my blessing joseph brought the boys to him and he hugged and kissed them jacob turned to joseph and told him for many years i thought you were dead and that i would never see you again but now god has even let me live to see your children then joseph made his sons move away from jacob's knees and joseph bowed down in front of him with his face to the ground after joseph got up he brought his two sons over to jacob again he led his younger son ephraim to the left side of jacob and his older son manasseh to the right but before jacob gave them his blessing he crossed his arms putting his right hand on the head of ephraim and his left hand on the head of manasseh then he gave joseph his blessing and said my grandfather abraham and my father isaac worshiped the lord god he has been with me all my life and his angel has kept me safe now i pray that he will bless these boys and that my name and the names of abraham and isaac will live on because of him [Music] i ask god to give them many children and many descendants as well joseph did not like it when he saw his father place his right hand on the head of the younger son so he tried to move his father's right hand from ephraim's head and place it on manasseh joseph said father you have made a mistake this is the older boy put your right hand on him but his father said son i know what i am doing [Music] it's true that manasseh's family will someday become a great nation but ephraim will be even greater than manasseh because his descendants will become many great nations jacob told him that in the future the people of israel would ask god's blessings on one another by saying i pray for god to bless you as much as he blessed ephraim and manasseh jacob put ephraim's name first to show that he would be greater than manasseh after that jacob said joseph you can see that i won't live much longer but god will be with you and will lead you back to the land he promised our family long ago meanwhile i'm giving you the hillside i captured from the amorites genesis 49 jacob called his sons together and said my sons i am jacob your father israel come gather around as i tell your future [Music] reuben you are my oldest born at the peak of my powers you were an honored leader uncontrollable as a flood you slept with my wife and disgraced my bed so you no longer deserve the place of honor sabian and levi you are brothers each a gruesome sword i never want to take part in your plans or deeds you slaughtered people in your anger and you crippled cattle for no reason no i place a curse on you because of your fierce anger your descendants will be scattered among the tribes of israel judah you will be praised by your brothers they will bow down to you as you defeat your enemies my son you are a lion ready to eat your victim you are terribly fierce no one will bother you you will have power and rule until nations obey you and come bringing gifts you will tie your donkey to a choice grapevine and wash your clothes in wine from those grapes your eyes are darker than wine your teeth whiter than milk [Music] sepulon you will settle along the seashore and provide safe harbors as far north as sidon he's a car you are a strong donkey resting in the meadows you found them so pleasant that you worked too hard and became a slave dan you are the tribe that will bring justice to israel you are a snake that bites the heel of a horse making its rider full oh lord i am waiting for you to save us god you will be attacked then attack your attackers [Music] asha you will eat food fancy enough for a king love to lie you are a wild deer with lovely thorns joseph you are a fruitful vine growing near a stream and climbing a wall enemies attacked with arrows refusing to show mercy but you stood your ground swiftly shooting back with the help of jacob's god the all-powerful one his name is the shepherd israel's mighty rock your help came from the god your father worshiped from god all-powerful god will bless you with rain and streams from the earth he will bless you with many descendants my son the blessings i give are better than the promise of ancient mountains or eternal hills joseph i pray these blessings will come to you because you are the leader of your brothers benjamin you are a fierce wolf destroying your enemies morning and evening these are the twelve tribes of israel and this is how jacob gave each of them their proper blessings jacob told his sons soon i will die and i want you to bury me in macpila cave abraham bought this cave as a burial place from ephron the hidite and it is near the town of memory in canaan abraham and sarah are buried there and so are isaac and rebecca i buried leah there too both the cave and the land that goes with it were bought from the hittites when jacob had finished giving these instructions to his sons he lay down on his bed and died genesis 50. joseph started crying then leaned over to hug and kiss his father joseph gave orders for jacob's body to be embalmed and it took the usual 40 days the egyptians mourned 70 days for jacob when the time of mourning was over joseph said to the egyptian leaders if you consider me your friend please speak to the king for me just before my father died he made me promise to bury him in his burial cave and canaan if the king will give me permission to go i will come back here the king answered go to canaan and keep your promise to your father when joseph left goshen with his brothers his relatives and his father's relatives to bury jacob many of the king's highest officials and even his military chariots and cavalry went along the israelites left behind only their children their cattle and their sheep and goats after crossing the jordan river and reaching atad's threshing place joseph had everyone mourn and weep seven days for his father the canaanite saw this and said the egyptians are in great sorrow then they named the place egypt and sorrow so jacob's sons did just as their father had instructed they took him to canaan and buried him in makpila cave the burial place abraham had bought from ephraim the hittite after the funeral joseph his brothers and everyone else returned to egypt after jacob died joseph's brothers said to each other what if joseph still hates us and wants to get even with us for all the cruel things we did to him so they sent this message to joseph before our father died he told us you did some cruel and terrible things to joseph but you must ask him to forgive you now we ask you to please forgive the terrible things we did after all we serve the same god that your father worshipped when joseph heard this he started crying right then joseph's brothers came and bowed down to the ground in front of him and said we are your slaves but joseph told them don't be afraid i have no right to change what god has decided you tried to harm me but god made it turn out for the best so that he could save all these people as he is now doing don't be afraid i will take care of you and your children after joseph said this his brothers felt much better joseph lived in egypt with his brothers until he died at the age of 110. joseph lived long enough to see ephraim's children and grandchildren he also lived to see the children of manassas son maker and he welcomed them into his family before joseph died he told his brothers i won't live much longer but god will take care of you and lead you out of egypt to the land he promised abraham isaac and jacob now promise me that you will take my body with you when god leads you to that land so joseph died in egypt at the age of 110. his body was embalmed and put in a coffin [Music] you

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Id: QcMquFbcfA0

Length: 202min 21sec (12141 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 01 2021