The Book of Genesis (NIV Dramatized Audio Bible)

[Music] [Applause] you are about to hear the greatest story ever told the story is found in the most important book in the world the Bible you will find your place in its pages your past and your future because the creator of the universe wanted us to know him slowly over a period of about 1,500 years God selected various individuals from many places to write his message to us today we have what God has chosen to reveal to us in a collection of 66 books called the Bible the Bible explains that God guided the writers so that they recorded in their own words what he wanted them to say and write in those sacred writings God lovingly made two major promises to ensure we could come to know him today those promises are called the Old Testament and the New Testament or the old and new covenants do not be overwhelmed by the length of the story slowly prayerfully and openly listen for what he is revealing about people like us and about himself he is pursuing us through the people and events of the Bible story and he never spoke more clearly than when he sent his son Jesus now listen to the greatest love story ever told [Music] introduction to the Old Testament the 39 books of the Old Testament story begin by telling us about the creation of our universe and of the human race these writings continue with God's selecting of people one nation Israel and he chooses Israel not because the people were special but that they would become special because they would know him and so he makes a covenant promise with this people for the sake of all people of all time by following Israel's story recorded in the Old Testament we find God's plan to bring salvation to the earth through the promised Messiah patiently and passionately throughout the story of the Old Testament God offers his love and forgiveness drawing people even outside of Israel to himself to be their Savior and their God introduction to Genesis we would have many more questions than we do about our world and who we are if it were not for the first book of the Bible the book of Genesis the title Genesis means beginnings and the opening words to this the greatest story ever told tell us that in the beginning God created all things he not only created all things but from these ancient texts we can listen to him interacting with all he made Genesis records many beginnings the beginning of the world of family of sin and evil of languages and of the nations Genesis begins the great salvation story of God's purpose and plan for his creation notice how God chooses one man named Abraham to become one chosen nation Israel that would be a light of salvation for all peoples Moses was the human author of Genesis but God directed his words notice how God intended the first several chapters to be a crucial summary of the origin of the world and it's people's if one were to start from creation and then divide the whole Old Testament story in half chronologically the midpoint would fall after about Genesis chapter 11 the rest of the story of Genesis tells about the lives of several major characters Abraham Isaac Jacob and Joseph it also introduces us to the way God pursues and enters into covenants or promises with his chosen people pledging his loyal love for them which serves to benefit all peoples Genesis chapter 1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth now the earth was formless and empty darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters and God said let there be light and there was light God saw that the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness God called the light day and the darkness he called night and there was evening and there was morning.the first day and God said let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water so God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it and it was so God called the expanse sky and there was evening and there was morning.the 2nd day and God said let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear and it was so God called the dry ground land and the gathered waters he called seas and God saw that it was good then God said Let The Land produce vegetation see bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it according to their various kinds and it was so the land produced vegetation plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds and God saw that it was good and there was evening and there was morning.the 3rd day and God said let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth and it was so God made two great lights the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night he also made the Stars God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth to govern the day and the and to separate light from darkness and God saw that it was good and there was evening and there was morning.the fourth day and God said let the water teem with living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky so God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems according to their kinds and every winged bird according to its kind and God saw that it was good God blessed them and said be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas and let the birds increase on the earth and there was evening and there was morning the fifth day and God said Let The Land produce living creatures according to their kinds livestock creatures that move along the ground and wild animals each according to its kind and it was so God made the wild animals according to their kinds the livestock according to their kinds and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds and God saw that it was good then God said let us make man in our image in our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air over the livestock over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground so God created man in his own image in the image of God he nearly male and female he created them God blessed them and said to them be fruitful and increase in number fill the earth and subdue it rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground then God said I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it they will be yours for food and to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground everything that has the breath of life in it I give every green plant for food and it was so God saw all that he had made and it was very good and there was evening and there was morning the sixth day chapter 2 thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array by the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing so on the seventh day he rested from all his work and God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done this is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground but streams came up from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east in Eden and there he put the man he had formed and the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground trees that were pleasing to the eye and a good for food in the middle of the garden were the Tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil a river watering the garden flowed from evening from there it was separated into four headwaters the name of the first is passion it winds through the entire land of havilah where there is gold the gold of that land is good aromatic resin and onyx are also there the name of the second river is Gihon it winds through the entire land of cush the name of the third river is Tigris it runs along the east side of Asher and the fourth River is the Euphrates the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it and the Lord God commanded the man you are free to eat from any tree in the garden but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for when you eat of it you will surely die the Lord God said it is not good for the man to be alone I will make a helper suitable for him now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air he brought them to the man to see what he would name them and whatever the man called each living creature that was its name so the man gave names to all the livestock the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field but for Adam no suitable helper was found so the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep and while he was sleeping he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man and he brought her to the man the man said this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman for she was taken out of man for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh the man and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame chapter 3 now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made he said to the woman did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden the woman said to the serpent we may eat from the trees in the garden but God didn't say you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden and you must not touch it or you will die you will not surely die the serpent said to the woman for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom she took some and ate it she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized they were naked so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden but the Lord God called to the man where are you he answered I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid and he said who told you that you were naked have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from the man said the woman you put here with me she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it then the Lord God said to the woman what is this you have done the woman said the serpent deceived me and I ate so the Lord God said to the serpent because you have done this cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals you will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life and I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers he will crush your head and you will strike his heel to the woman he said I will greatly increase your pains and childbearing with pain you will give birth to children your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you - Adam he said because you listen to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you you must not eat of it cursed is the ground because of you through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life it will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat the plants of the field by the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground since from it you were taken for dust you are and to dust you will return Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all of living the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them and the Lord God said the man has now become like one of us knowing good and evil he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever so the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken after he drove the man out he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the Tree of Life chapter 4 Adam lay with his wife Eve and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain she said with the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man later she gave birth to his brother Abel now Abel kept flocks and Cain worked the soil in the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord but Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock the Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor so Cain was very angry and his face was downcast then the Lord said to Cain why are you angry why is your face downcast if you do what is right will you not be accepted but if you do not do what is right sin is crouching at your door it desires to have you but you must master it now Cain said to his brother Abel let's go out to the field and while they were in the field Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him then the Lord said to Cain where is your brother Abel I don't know he replied am I my brother's keeper the Lord said what have you done listen your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground now you are under a curse and driven from the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand when you work the ground it will no longer yield its crops for you you will be a restless wanderer on the earth Cain said to the Lord my punishment is more than I can bear today you were driving me from the land and I will be hidden from your presence I will be a restless wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me but the Lord said to him not so if anyone kills Cain he will suffer vengeance seven times over then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him so Cain went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the Land of Nod east of evening Cain lay with his wife and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch Cain was then building a city and he named it after his son Enoch to Enoch was born Iran and Iran was the father of Mayhew Jo and mu who Jill was the father of Methuselah and Methuselah was the father of Lamech lemic married two women one named Ada and the other Zillah ada gave birth to Jabil he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock his brother's name was Jubal he was the father of all who play the harp and flute Zillah also had a son tubal-cain who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron tubal-cain sister was Naima lemak said to his wives Adah and Zillah listen to me wives of Lamech hear my words I've killed a man for wounding me a young man for injuring me if Cain has avenged seven times than Lamech seventy seven times Adam lay with his wife again and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth saying God has granted me another child in place of Abel since Cain killed him Seth also had a son and he named him Enoch at that time men began to call on the name of the Lord chapter 5 this is the written account of Adam's life when God created man he made him in the likeness of God he created them male and female and blessed them and when they were created he called them man when Adam had lived 130 years he had a son in his own likeness in his own image and he named him Seth after Seth was born Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters all together Adam lived 930 years and then he died when Seth had lived 105 years he became the father of Enosh and after he became the father of Enoch Seth lived eight hundred seven years and had other sons and daughters all together Seth lived 912 years and then he died when anar SH had lived ninety years he became the father of Kenan and after he became the father of Kenan Enoch lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters all together Enoch lived nine hundred five years and then he died when Kenan had lived seventy years he became the father of Mahalaleel and after he became the father of mahalo Kenan lived eight hundred forty years and had other sons and daughters all together kenan lived 910 years and then he died when Mahalalel had lived sixty-five years he became the father of Jared and after he became the father of Jared Mahalalel lived eight hundred thirty years and had other sons and daughters all together Mahalalel lived eight hundred ninety-five years and then he died when Jared had lived one hundred sixty-two years he became the father of Enoch and after he became the father of Enoch Jared lived eight hundred years and had other sons and daughters all together Jared lived nine hundred sixty-two years and then he died when Enoch had lived 65 years he became the father of Methuselah and after he became the father of Methuselah Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters all together Enoch lived 365 years Enoch walked with God then he was no more because God took him away when Methuselah had lived 187 years he became the father of Lamech and after he became the father of Lamech Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters all together Methuselah lived 969 years and then he died when Lamech had lived 182 years he had a son he named him Noah and said he will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed after Noah was born leymah lived 595 years and had other sons and offers all together leymah cleaved 777 years and then he died after Noah was 500 years old he became the father of shem ham and japheth chapter 6 when men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born then the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and they married any of them they chose then the Lord said my spirit will not contend with man for ever or he is mortal his days will be a hundred and twenty years a Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also afterward when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them they were the heroes of old men of renown the Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time the Lord was breathed that he had made man on the earth and his heart was filled with pain so the Lord said I will wipe mankind whom I have created from the face of the earth men and animals and creatures that move along the ground and birds of the air for I am grieved that I have made them but Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord this is the account of Noah Noah was a righteous man blameless among the people of his time and he walked with God Noah had three sons Shem ham and Japheth now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence God saw how corrupt the earth had become for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways so God said to Noah I am going to put an end to all people for the earth is filled with violence because of them I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth so make yourself an ark of cypress wood make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out this is how you are to build it the ark is to be 450 feet long 75 feet wide and 45 feet high make a roof for it and finish the Ark to within 18 inches of the top put a door in the side of the Ark and make lower middle and upper decks I am going to bring flood waters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens every creature that has the breath of life in it everything on earth will perish but I will establish my covenant with you and you will enter the ark you and your sons and your wife and your sons wives with you you are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures male and the to keep them alive with you two of every kind of bird of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive you are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and stored away as food for you and for them Noah did everything just as God commanded him chapter 7 the Lord then said to Noah go into the ark you and your whole family because I have found you righteous in this generation take with you seven of every kind of clean animal a male and it's mate and two of every kind of unclean animal a male and it's mate and also seven of every kind of bird male and female to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made and Noah did all that the LORD commanded him Noah was 600 years old when the flood and Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood pairs of clean and unclean animals of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground male and female came to Noah and entered the ark as God had commanded them and after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth in the six hundredth year of Noah's life on the seventeenth day of the second month on that day all the springs of a great deep burst forth and the floodgates of the heavens were opening and rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights on that very day Noah and his sons Shem ham and Japheth together with his wife and the wives of his three sons entered the ark they had with them every wild animal all livestock according to their kinds every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind everything with rumors pairs of all teachers that have the breath of life and then came to norm and enter the ark the animals going in with male and female every living thing as God had commanded know then the Lord shut him in for forty days the flood kept coming on the earth and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth the waters rose and increased greatly on the earth and the ark floated on the surface of the water they rose greatly on the earth and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered the waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than 20 feet every living thing that moved on the earth perished birds livestock wild animals all the creatures that swarm over the earth and all mankind everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth only Noah was left and those with him in the earth a waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days chapter 8 but God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark and he sent a wind over the earth and the waters receded now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed and the rain had stopped falling from the sky the water receded steadily from the earth at the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down and on the 17th day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat the waters continue to receive until the tenth month and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible after 40 days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark and sent out a raven and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground but the Dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth so it returned to Noah in the ark he reached out his hand and took the Dove and brought it back to himself in the ark he waited seven more days and again sent out the Dove from the arm when the Dove returned to him in evening there in its beak was a freshly plucked father no one water had receded from he waited seven more days and sent the dev out of yet but this time it did not return to him by the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year the water had dried up from the earth Noah then removed the covering from the and saw that the surface of the ground was dried by the 27th day of the second month the earth was completely dry then God said to Noah come out of the ark you and your wife and your sons and their wives bring out every kind of living creature that is with you the birds the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it so Noah came out together with his sons and his wife and his sons wives all the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds everything that moves on the earth came out of the ark one kind after another then Noah built an altar to the Lord and taking some of all the clean animals and clean Birds he sacrificed burnt offerings on it the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and scent in his heart never again will I curse the ground because of man even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood and never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done as long as the earth indoors seed time and harvest cold and heat summer and winter day and night will never cease chapter nine then God blessed Noah and his sons saying to them be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth the fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air upon every creature that moves along the ground and upon all the fish of the sea they are given into your hands everything that lives and moves will be food for you just as I gave you the green plants I now give you everything but you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it and for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting I will demand an accounting from every animal and from each man - I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God has God made man as for you be fruitful and increase in number multiply on the earth and increase upon it then God said to Noah and to his sons with him I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you the birds the livestock and all the wild animals all those that came out of the ark with you every living creature on earth I establish my covenant with you never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth and God said this is the sign of the Covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you a covenant for all generations to come I have set my rainbow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth so God said to Noah this is the sign of the Covenant I have established between me and all life on Earth the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were shem ham and japheth ham was the father of canaan these were the three sons of Noah and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth Noah a man of the soil proceeded to plant a vineyard when he drank some of its wine he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent ham the father of Canaan saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside but Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders then they walked in backward and covered their fathers nakedness their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their fathers nakedness when no awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him he said cursed be canaan the lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers he also said blessed be the Lord the God of Shem may canaan be the slave of Shem may God extend the territory of Japheth may Japheth live in the tents of Shem and make King and be his slave after the flood Noah lived 350 years altogether Noah lived 950 years and then he died chapter 10 this is the account of Shem ham and Japheth Noah's sons who themselves had sons after the flood the sons of Japheth Gomer Magog may die Javan tubal Misha and Tyrus the sons of Gomer ashkenaz rifles and togarmah the sons of jayven elijah Tarshish the kitten and the Rhoden 'm from these the maritime people spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations each with its own language the sons of ham cush Mizraim put and Canaan the sons of cush Seba hvala sabda Rama and sapped occur the sons of Rama Sheba and Eden cush was the father of Nimrod who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth he was a mighty hunter before the Lord that is why it is said like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord the first centers of his kingdom were Babylon Eirik accad and calneh in China from that land he went to Assyria where he built nineveh Rehoboth you kala Andreessen which is between Nineveh and kala that is the great city Ms Ram was the father of the Luddites Anna mites LaHaye bytes naphtha Heights who through sites Catholic i'ts from whom the Philistines came and calf the rights Canaan was the father of Sidon his first board and of the Hittites Jebusites amirite s-- girgashites he bites our kites sin i'ts Arvid i'ts Zima writes and Hema fights later the Canaanite clans scattered and the borders of canaan reached from sidon toward gr as far as gaza and then toward sodom gomorrah admah and zeboiim as far as Latian these are the sons of ham by their clans and languages in their territories and nations sons were also born to Shem whose older brother was Japheth Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber the sons of Shem Elam Asher are facts M Lud and Arab the sons of Aaron as hull ether and ameesha our facts ad was the father of Sheila and Sheila the father of Eber two sons were born to Eber one was named peeling because in his time the earth was divided his brother was named Jacques can joktan was the father of all dead sheila --the hazarmaveth jira Hedorah m-- yousell Dikhhla opal abimael sheba / hvala and jobab all these were sons of joktan the region where they lived stretched from Missha toward Seifer in the eastern hill country these are the sons of shem by their clans and languages in their territories and nations these are the clans of Noah's sons according to their lines of descent within their nations from these the nations spread out over all the earth after the flood chapter 11 now the whole world had one language and a common speech as men moved eastward they found a plain in Shinar and settled there they said to each other come let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly they used brick instead of stone and tar for mortar then they said come let us build ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth but the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building the Lord said if as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this then nothing they planned to do will be impossible for them come let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other so the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth and they stopped building the city that is why it was called Babel because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth this is the account of Shem two years after the flood when Shem was 100 years old he became the father of our facts and and after he became the father of our faqs and Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters when our faqs aunt had lived 35 years he became the father of Sheela and after he became the father of Sheela Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters when Sheila had lived 30 years he became the father of Eber and after he became the father of Eber Sheila lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters when Eber had lived 34 years he became the father of P League and after he became the father of P League Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters when P League had lived 30 years he became the father of Ryu and after he became the father of Ryu Pele it lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters when Ryu had lived 32 years he became the father of Sarek and after he became the father of sirak Ryu live 207 years and had other sons and daughters when sarig had lived 30 years he became the father of nahor and after he became the father of nahor sarig lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters when Nahor had lived 29 years he became the father of Terah and after he became the father of Terah nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters after Tara had lived seven years he became the father of Abram Nahor and Haran this is the account of Tara Tara became the father of Abram Nahor and Haran and Haran became the father of lot while his father Terah was still alive Haran died in the Chaldeans in the land of his birth Abram and Nahor both married the name of Abraham's wife was Sarai and the name of neighbor's wife was Milkha she was the daughter of Haran the father of both Milkha and iske now Sarai was barren she had no children Terah took his son Abram his grandson Locke son of Haran and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of his son Abram and together they set out from ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan but when they came to Haran they settled there Terah lived 205 years and he died in Haran chapter 12 the Lord had said to Abram leave your country your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you I will make your name great and you will be a blessing I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you so Abram left as the Lord had told him and locked went with him Abram was 75 years old when he set out from Haran he took his wife Sarai his nephew lock all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran and they set out for the land of Canaan and they arrived there Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Mora at Shechem at that time the Canaanites were in the land the Lord appeared to Abram and sent to your offspring I will give this land so he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him from there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and I on the east bear he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord then abram set out and continued toward the Negev now there was a famine in the land and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe as he was about to enter Egypt he said to his wife Sarai I know what a beautiful woman you are when the Egyptians see you they will say this is his wife then they will kill me but we'll let you live say you are my sister so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you when Abram came to Egypt the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman and when Pharaoh's officials saw her they praised her to Pharaoh and she was taken in to his palace he treated Abram well for her sake a labrum acquired sheep and cattle male and female donkeys menservants and maidservants and camels but the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abraham's wife Sarai so Pharaoh summoned Abram what have you done to me he said why didn't you tell me she was your wife why did you say she is my sister so that I took her to be my wife now then here is your wife take her and go then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men and they sent him on his way with his wife and everything he had chapter 13 so Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev with his wife and everything he had and lot went with him Abram had become very wealthy and livestock and in silver and gold from the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel to the place between Bethel and I where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar there Abram called on the name of the Lord now lot who was moving about with Abram also had flocks and herds and tents but the land could not support them while they stayed together for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together and quarreling arose between Abraham's herdsmen and the herdsmen of locked the Canaanites and parasites were also living in the land at that time so Abram said to lot let's not have any quarreling between you and me or between your herdsmen and mine for we are brothers is not the whole land before you let's part company if you go to the left I'll go to the right if you go to the right I'll go to the left Locke looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered like the Garden of the Lord like the land of Egypt towards o-r this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah so lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east the two men parted company Abram lived in the land of Canaan while Locke lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord the Lord said to Abram after lot had parted from him lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south east and west all the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring for ever I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth so that if anyone could count the diced then your offspring could be counted go walk through the length and breadth of the land for I am giving it to you so April moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron where he built an altar to the Lord chapter 14 at this time amraphel king of shinar arioch king of ellasar ketal eomer king of elam and tidal king of he went to war against birra king of sodom Beerschot king of gomorrah shine ab king of admah Shammi bur king of zeboiim and the king of bela that is or all these latter kings joined forces in the valley of Siddim the salt sea or 12 years they had been subject to cattle eomer but in the thirteenth year they rebelled in the fourteenth year cataleya mer and the king's allied with him went out and defeated the raf iights in Ashtaroth corneum the zoo sites in ham the 'i mites in chibok area Thiam and the writes in the hill country of seer as far as el peru near the desert then they turned back and went to head in mishpat that is kadish and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites as well as the amorite s-- who were living in hazards on tamer then the king of sodom the king of gomorrah the king of admah the king of zeboiim and the king of bela that his zou are marched out and drew up their battle lines in the valley of Siddim against cattle eomer king of elam tidal king of amraphel king of shinar and arioch king of ellasar four kings against five now the valley of Siddim was full of Tar Pits and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills before king seized all the goods of sodom and gomorrah and all their food then they went away they also carried off Abraham's nephew lot and his possessions since he was living in Sodom one who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite a brother s call and einer all of whom were allied with abram when abram heard that his relative had been taken captive he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as dann during the night abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them pursuing them as far as Hoba north of damascus he recovered all the goods and brought back his relative lot and his possessions together with the women and the other people after Abram returned from defeating Carol eomer and the Kings allied with him the king of sodom came out to meet him in the valley of shaveh that is the King's Valley then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine he was priest of God Most High and he blessed Abram saying blessed be Abram by God most high creator of heaven and earth and blessed be God Most High who delivered your enemies into your hand then Abram gave him a tenth of everything the king of Sodom said to Abram give me the people and keep the goods for yourself but Abram said to the king of Sodom I have raised my hand to the Lord God most high creator of heaven and earth and have taken an oath that I will accept nothing belonging to you not even a thread or the form of a sandal so that you will never be able to say I made Abram rich I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me to a la pêche cole and mamrie let them have their share chapter 15 after this the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision do not be afraid Abram I am your shield your very great reward but Abram said o Sovereign Lord what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus and Abram said you have given me no children so a servant in my household will be my heir then the word of the Lord came to him this man will not be your heir but a son coming from your own body will be your heir he took him outside and said look up at the heavens and count the Stars if indeed you can count them then he said to him so shall your offspring be Abram believed the Lord and he credited it to him as righteousness he also said to him I am the Lord who brought you out of of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it but Abram said o Sovereign Lord how can I know that I will gain possession of it so the Lord said to him bring me a heifer a goat and a ram each three years old along with a dove and a young pigeon Abram brought all these to him cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other the birds however he did not cut in half then birds of prey came down on the carcasses but Abram drove them away as the Sun was setting Abram fell into a deep sleep and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him then the Lord said to him know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and they will be enslaved and mistreated for hundred years but I will punish the nation they serve as slaves and afterward they will come out with great possessions you however will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age in the fourth generation your descendants will come back here for the sin of the amorite s' has not yet reached its full measure when the Sun had set and darkness had fallen a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces on that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said to your descendants I give this land from the river of Egypt to the great river the Euphrates the land of the Kenites kehna sites katma nights hittites perizzites reveille i'ts amirite Canaanites girgashites and Jeb you sites chapter 16 now Sarai Abrams wife had borne him no children but she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar so she said to Abram the Lord has kept me from having children go sleep with my maidservant perhaps I can build a family through her Abram agreed to what Sarah said so after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife he slept with Hagar and she conceived when she knew she was pregnant she began to despise her mistress then Sarai said to Abram you are responsible for the wrong I am suffering I put my servant in your arms and now that she knows she is pregnant she despises me may the Lord judge between you and me your servant is in your hands Abram said do with her whatever you think best then Sarai mistreated Hagar so she fled from her the angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert it was the spring that has beside the road to shore and he said Hagar servant of Sarai where have you come from and where are you going I'm running away from my mistress Sarai she answered then the angel of the Lord told her go back to your mistress and submit to her the angel added I will so increase your descendants but there will be two numerous to count the angel of the Lord also said to her you are now with child and you will have a son he shall name him Ishmael but the Lord has heard of your misery he will be a wild donkey of a man his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers she gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her you are the God who sees me for she said I have now seen the one who sees me that is why the well was called the Erla hi Roy it is still there between Kadesh and Barrett so Hagar bore Abram a son and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael chapter 17 when Abram was 99 years old the Lord appeared to him and said I am God Almighty walk before me and be blameless I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers Abram fell face down and God said to him as for me this is my covenant with you you will be the father of many nations no longer will you be called Abram your name will be Abraham for I have made you a father of many nations I will make you very fruitful I will make nations of you and Kings will come from you I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for generations to come to be your God and the god of your descendants after you the whole land of Canaan where you are now an alien I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you and I will be their God then God said to Abraham as for you you must keep my covenant you and your descendants after you for the generations to come this is my covenant with you and your descendants after you the Covenant you are to keep every male among you shall be circumcised you are to undergo circumcision and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you for the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner those who are not your offspring whether born in your household or bought with your money they must be circumcised my covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh will be cut off from his people he has broken my covenant God also said to Abraham as for Sarai your wife you are no longer to call her Sarai her name will be Sara I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her I will bless her so that she will be the mother of Nations kings of peoples will come from her Abraham fell face down he laughed and said to himself will a son be born to a man a hundred years old will Sara bear a child at the age of 90 and Abraham said to God if only Ishmael might live under your blessing then God said yes but your wife Sara will bear you a son and you will call him Isaac I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him and as for Ishmael I have heard you I will surely bless him I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers he will be the father of 12 rulers and I will make him into a great nation but my covenant I will establish with Isaac whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year when he had finished speaking with Abraham God went up from him on that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money every male in his household and circumcised them as God told him Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised and his son Ishmael was 13 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day and every male in Abraham's households including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner were circumsized with him chapter 18 the Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day Abram looked up and saw three men standing nearby when he saw them he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground he said if I have found favor in your eyes my lord do not pass your servant by let a little water be brought and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree let me get you something to eat so you can be refreshed and then go on your way now that you have come to your servant very well they answered do as you say so Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah quick he said get three seers of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread then he ran to the herd and selected a choice tender calf and gave it to a servant who hurried to prepare it he then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared and set these before them while they ate he stood near them under a tree where is your wife Sarah they asked him there in the tent he said then the Lord said I will surely return to you about this time next year and Sarah your wife will have a son now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent which was behind him Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years and Sarah was past the age of childbearing so Sarah laughs to herself as she thought after I am worn out and my master is old will I now have this pleasure then the Lord said to Abraham why did Sarah laugh and say will I really have a child now that I am old is anything too hard for the Lord I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son Sarah was afraid so she lied and said I did not laugh but he said yes you did laugh when the men got up to leave they looked down toward Sodom and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way then the Lord said shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation and all nations on earth will be blessed through him for I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him then the Lord said the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so Grievous but I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me if not I will know the men turned away and went toward Sodom but Abraham remained standing before the Lord then Abraham approached him and said will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked what if there are 50 righteous people in the city will you really sweep away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it far be it from you to do such a thing to kill the righteous with the wicked treating the righteous and the wicked alike far be it from you will not the judge of all the earth to write the Lord said if I find fifty people in the city of Sodom I will spare the whole place for their sake then Abraham spoke up again now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord though I am nothing but dust and ashes what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty will you destroy the whole city because of five people if I find forty five there he said I will not destroy it once again he spoke to him what if only 40 are found there he said for the sake of 40 I will not do it then he said may the Lord not be angry but let me speak what if only thirty can be found there he answered I will not do it if I find thirty there Abraham said now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord what if only twenty can be found there he said for the sake of twenty I will not destroy it then he said may the Lord not be angry but let me speak just once more what if only ten can be found there he answered for the sake of ten I will not destroy it when the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham he left and Abraham returned home chapter 19 the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening and lot was sitting in the Gateway of the city when he saw them he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground my Lords he said please turn aside to your servants house you can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning no they answered we will spend the night in the square but he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house he prepared a meal for them baking bread without yeast and they ate before they had gone to bed all the men from every part of the city of Sodom both young and old surrounded the house they called to lot where the men who came to you tonight bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him and said no my friends don't do this wicked thing look I have two daughters who have never slept with a man let me bring them out to you and you can do what you like with them but don't do anything to these men for they have come under the protection of my roof get out of our way they replied and they said this fellow came here as an alien and now he wants to play the judge will treat you worse than them they kept bringing pressure on Locke and moved forward to break down the door but the men inside reached out and pulled lot back into the house and shut the door then they struck the men who were at the door of the house young and old with blindness so that they could not find the door the two men said to lot do you have anyone else here sons-in-law sons or daughters or anyone else in this city who belongs to you get them out of here because we are going to destroy this place the outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it so lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were pledged to marry his daughters he said hurry and get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy the city but his sons-in-law thought he was joking with the coming of dawn the angels urged Lots saying hurry take your wife and your two daughters who are here or you will be swept away when the city is punished when he hesitated the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city but the Lord was merciful to them as soon as they had brought them out one of them said leave for your lives don't look back and don't stop anywhere in the plane flee to the mountains or you will be swept away but lot said to them no my Lords please your servant has found favor in your eyes and you have shown great kindness to me and sparing my life but I can't flee to the mountains this disaster will overtake me and I'll die look here is a town near enough to run to and it is small let me flee to it it is very small isn't it then my life will be spared he said to him very well I will grant this request - I will not overthrow the town you speak of but flee there quickly because I cannot do anything until you reach it that is why the town was called Zoar by the time lottery so are the Sun had risen over the land then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of the heavens thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain including all those living in the cities and also the vegetation in the land but Lot's wife and she became a pillar of salt early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrha toward all the land of the plain and he saw dense smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace so when God destroyed the cities of the plain he remembered Abraham and he brought lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where law had lived lot and his two daughters left Zohar and settled in the mountains or he was afraid to stay in Zohar he and his two daughters lived in a cave one day the older daughter said to the younger our father is old and there is no man around here to lie with us as is the custom all over the earth let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family line through our father that night they got their father to drink wine and the older daughter went in and lay with him he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up the next day the older daughter said to the younger last night I lay with my father let's get him to drink wine again tonight and you go in and lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father so they got their father to drink wine that night also and the younger daughter went and lay with him again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up so both of lots daughters became pregnant by their father the older daughter had a son and she named him Moab he is the father of the Moabites of today the younger daughter also had a son and she named him than a my he is the father of the ammonites of today [Music] chapter 20 now abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur for a while he stayed in Kira and there Abraham said to his wife Sarah she is my sister then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her but God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him you are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken she is a married woman now Abimelech had not gone near her so he said lord will you destroy an innocent nation did he not say to me she is my sister and didn't she also say he is my brother I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands then God said to him in the dream yes I know you did this with the clear conscience and so I have kept you from sinning against me that is why I did not let you touch her now return the man's wife for he is a prophet and he will pray for you and you will live but if you do not return her you may be sure that you and all yours will die early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials and when he told them all that had happened they were very much afraid then Abimelech called Abraham in and said what have you done to us how have i wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom you have done things to me that should not be done and Abimelech asked Abraham what was your reason for doing this Abraham replied I said to myself there is surely no fear of God in this place and they will kill me because of my wife besides she really is my sister the daughter of my father though not of my mother and she became my wife and when God had me wander from my father's household I said to her this is how you can show your love to me everywhere we go say of me he is my brother then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham and he returned Sarah his wife to him and Abimelech said my land is before you live wherever you like to Sarah he said I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver this is to cover the offence against you before all who are with you you are completely vindicated then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again for the Lord had closed up every wound in abemolik household because of Abraham's wife Sarah chapter 21 now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age at the very time God had promised him Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah Boreum when his son Isaac was eight days old Abraham circumcised him as God commanded him Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him Sarah said God has brought me laughter and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me and she added who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children yet I have borne him a son in his old age the child grew and was weaned and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast but Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking and she said to Abraham get rid of that slave woman and her son for that slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac the matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son but God said to him do not be so distressed about the boy and your maidservant listen to whatever Sarah tells you because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also because he is your offspring early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar he set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy she went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba when the water in the skin was gone she put the boy under one of the bushes then she went off and sat down nearby about a boat shot away for she thought I cannot watch the boy die and as she sat there nearby she can Bassam God heard the boy crying and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her what is the matter Hagar do not be afraid God has heard the boy crying as he lies there lift the boy up and take him by the hand for I will make him into a great nation then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water so she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink God was with the boy as he grew up he lived in the desert and became an archer while he was living in the desert of Paran his mother got a wife for him from Egypt at that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham God is with you and everything you do now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants show to me and the country where you are living as an alien the same kindness I have shown to you Abraham said I swear it then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech servants had seized but Abimelech said I don't know who has done this you did not tell me and I heard about it only today so Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech and the two men made a treaty Abraham said apart 7u lambs from the flock and Abimelech asked Abraham what is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves he replied except these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well so that place was called Beersheba because the two men swore an oath fair after the treaty had been made at Beersheba Abimelech and I called the commander his forces returned to the land of the Philistines Abram planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and there he called upon the name of the Lord the eternal God and Abram stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time chapter 22 sometime later God tested Abraham he said to him Abraham Here I am he replied then God said take your son your only son Isaac whom you love and go to the region of Moriah sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey he took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac when he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering he set out for the place God had told him about on the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance he said to his servants stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there we will worship and then we will come back to you Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac and he himself carried the fire and the knife as the two of them went on together Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham father yes my son Abraham replied the fire is water here Isaac said but the lamb for the burnt offering Abraham answered God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering my son and the two of them went on together when they reached the place God had told him about Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son but the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven Abraham Abraham Here I am he replied do not lay a hand on the boy he said do not do anything to him now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me ters son your only son Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns he went over and took the RAM and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son so Abraham called that place the Lord will provide and to this day it is said on the mountain of the Lord it will be provided the angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said I swear by myself declares the Lord that because you have done this and have not withheld your son your only son I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me then Abraham returned to his servants and they set off together for Beersheba and Abraham stayed in Beersheba sometime later Abraham was told Milka his old sewer mother she has borne sons to your brother Navarre as the firstborn buzzed his brother CEM you are the father of Arum he said heizo kill - laughs and the fuel the fuel became the father of Rebecca Milka or these eight sons to Abraham's brother Nahor his concubine whose name was Roma also had sons teba gay ham teh hash and may occur chapter 23 Sara lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old she died at Kiryat Arba that is Hebron in the land of Canaan and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites he said I am an alien and a stranger among you sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead the Hittites reply to Abraham sir listen to us you are a mighty Prince among us bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs none of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land the Hittites he said to them if you are willing to let me bury my dead then listen to me and intercede with Efron's son of Zohar on my behalf so he will sell me the Cave of Machpelah which belongs to him and is at the end of his field ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you Ephraim the hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his City no my lord he said listen to me I'd give you the field and I give you the cave I give it to you in the presence of my people bury your dead again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land and he said to Ephraim in their hearing listen to me if you will I will pay the price of the field accept it from me so I can bury my dead there Ephraim answered Abraham listen to me my lord the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver but what is that between me and you bury your dead Abraham agreed to a friend's terms and wait out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites four hundred shekels of silver according to the weight current among the merchants so efrain's field in Machpelah near man-ray both a field and the cave in it and all the trees within the borders of the field was deeded to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mallory which is at Hebron in the land of Canaan so the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site chapter 24 abraham was now old and well advanced in years and the Lord had blessed him in every way he said to the chief servant in his household the one in charge of all that he had put your hand under my thigh I want you to swear by the Lord the God of heaven and the god of Earth that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am living but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac the servant asked him what if the woman is unwilling to come back with me to this land shall I then take your son back to the country you came from make sure that you do not take my son back there Abraham said the Lord the God of heaven who brought me out of my father's household and my native land and who spoke to me and promised me on earth saying to your offspring I will give this land he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there if the woman is unwilling to come back with you then you will be released from this oath of mine only do not take my son back so the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter then the servant took 10 of his master's camels and left taking with him all kinds of good things from his master he set out for Aaron a Aram and made his way to the town of nahor he had the camels kneeled down near the well outside the town it was toward evening the time the women go out to draw water then he prayed o Lord God of my master Abraham give me success today and show kindness to my master Abraham see I am standing beside the spring and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water may it be that when I say to a girl please let down your jar that I may have a drink and she says drink and our water your camels to let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac by this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master before he had finished praying Rebecca came out with her jar on her shoulder she was the daughter of the few old son of Milcah who was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor the girl was very beautiful a virgin no man had ever laying with her she went down to the spring filled her jar and came up again the servant hurry to meet her and said please give me a little water from your jar drink My Lord she said and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink after she had given him a drink she said I'll draw water for your camels too until they have finished drinking so she quickly emptied her jar into the trough ran back to the well to draw more water and drew enough for all his camels without saying a word the man watched her closely to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful when the camels had finished drinking the man took out a gold nose ring weighing Abeka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels then he asked whose daughter are you please tell me is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night she answered him I am the daughter of bethuel the son that milk aboard to Nahor and she added we have plenty of straw and fodder as well as room for you to spend the night then the man bowed down and worshiped the Lord saying praise be to the Lord the God of my master Abraham who has not abandoned his kindness and faithfulness to my master as for me the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my Master's relatives the girl ran and told her mother's household about these things now Rebecca had a brother named Laban and he hurried out to the man at the spring as soon as he had seen the nose-ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms and had heard Rebecca tell what the man said to her he went out to the man and found him standing by the camels near the spring come you who are blessed by the Lord he said why are you standing out here I have prepared the house and a place for the camels so the man went to the house and the camels were unloaded straw and fodder were brought for the camels and water for him and his men to wash their feet then food was set before him but he said I will not eat until I have told you what I have to say then tell us Laban said so he said I am Abraham's servant the Lord has blessed my master abundantly and he has become wealthy he has given him sheep and cattle silver and gold menservants and maidservants and camels and donkeys my Master's wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age and he has given him everything he owns and my master made me swear an oath and said you must not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I live but go to my father's family and to my own clan and get a wife for my son then I asked my master what if the woman will not come back with me he replied the Lord before whom I have walked will send his angel with you and make your journey a success so that you can get a wife for my son for my own client and from my father's family then when you go to my clan you will be released from my oath even if they refuse to give her to you you will be released from my oath when I came to the spring today I said O Lord God of my master Abraham if you will please grant success to the journey on which I have come see I am standing beside the spring if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her please let me drink a little water from your jar and if she says to me drink and I'll draw water for your camels - let her be the one the Lord has chosen for my master's son before I finished praying in my heart Rebecca came out with her jar on her shoulder she went down to the spring and drew water and I said to her please give me a drink she quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said drink and I'll water your camels too so I drank and she watered the camels also I asked her whose daughter are you she said the daughter of Beth Ewell son of Nahor whom Ilkka bore to him then I put the ring in her nose in the bracelets on her arms and I bowed down and worshiped the Lord I praise the Lord the God of my master Abraham who had led me on the right road to get the granddaughter of my Master's brother for his son now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master tell me and if not tell me so I may know which way to turn Laban and Bethuel answered this is from the Lord we can say nothing to you one way or the other here is Rebecca take her and go and let her become the wife of your master's son as the Lord has directed when Abraham's servant heard what they said he bowed down to the ground before the Lord then the servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and articles of clothing and gave them to Rebecca he also gave costly gifts to her brother unto her mother then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there when they got up the next morning he said send me on my way to my master but her brother and her mother replied let the girl remain with us 10 days of hope then you may go but he said to them do not detain me now that the Lord has granted success to my journey send me on my way so I may go to my master then they said let's call the girl and ask her about it so they called Rebecca and asked her will you go with this man I will go she said so they sent their sister Rebecca on her way along with her nurse and Abraham's servant and his men and they blessed Rebecca and said to her our sister may you increased thousands upon thousands may your offspring possessed the gates of their enemies then Rebecca and her maids got ready and mounted their camels and went back with the man so the servant took Rebecca and left now Isaac had come from beer-lahai-roi for he was living in the Negev he went out to the field one evening to meditate and as he looked up he saw camels approaching Rebecca also looked up and saw Isaac she got down from her camel and asked the servant who is that man in the field coming to meet us he is my master the servant answered so she took her veil and covered herself then the serpent told Isaac all he had done Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and he married Rebecca so she became his wife and he loved her and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death chapter 25 Abraham took another wife whose name was cateura she bore him Zimmern Jacques Shan Medan Midian ish back and schewe Jacques Shan was the father of sheba and dedan the descendants of Beadon were the asher IDEs the latouche eyes and the leah mites the sons of Midian were Aoife yfir haina Abijah and Aldea all these were descendants of keturah Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac but while he was still living he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east altogether abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years then abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age an old man and full of years and he was gathered to his people his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the Cave of Machpelah near Mamre in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittites the field abraham had bought from the Hittites there abraham was buried with his wife sarah after Abraham's death God blessed his son Isaac who then lived near beer-lahai-roi this is the account of Abraham's son Ishmael from Sarah's maidservant Hagar the Egyptian bore to Abraham these are the names of the sons of Ishmael listed in the order of their birth nabe off the firstborn of Ishmael Kedar ad bo mid Sam mich ma Duma massa hey Dad tima cheetor nefesh and Kodama these were the sons of Ishmael and these are the names of the twelve tribes according to their settlements and camps altogether Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty seven years he breathed his last and died and he was gathered to his people his descendants settled in the area from hvala to shore near the border of Egypt as you go toward Ashur and they lived in hostility toward all their brothers this is the account of Abraham's son Isaac Abraham became the father of Isaac and Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebecca daughter of Bethuel the aramean from Padanaram the sister of Laban the aramean Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren the Lord answered his prayer and his wife Rebecca became pregnant but babies jostled each other within her and she said why is this happening to me so she went to inquire of the Lord the Lord said to her two nations are in your womb and two peoples from within you will be separated one people will be stronger than the other and the older will serve the younger when the time came for her to give birth there were twin boys in her womb the first to come out was red and his whole body was like a hairy garment so they named him Esau after this his brother came out with his hand grasping Esau's heel so he was named Jacob Isaac was 60 years old when Rebecca gave birth to them the boys grew up and he saw became a skillful hunter a man of the open country while Jacob was a quiet man staying among the tents Isaac who had a taste for wild game loved Esau but Rebekah loved Jacob once when Jacob was cooking some stew Esau came in from the open country famished he said to Jacob quick let me have some of that red stew I'm famished that is why he was also called Edom Jacob replied first sell me your birthright look I am about to die Esau said what good is the birthright to me but Jacob said swear to me first so he swore an oath to him selling his birthright to Jacob then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew he ate and drank and then got up and left so Esau despised his birthright chapter 26 now there was a famine in the land besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in kirara the Lord appeared to Isaac and said do not go down to Egypt live in the land where I tell you to live stay in this land for a while and I will be with you and will bless you for to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements my commands my decrees and my laws so Isaac stayed in Giron when the men of that place asked him about his wife he said she is my sister because he was afraid to say she is my wife he thought the men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah because she is beautiful when Isaac had been there a long time Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah so abemolik someone dies they can said she is really your wife why did you say she is my sister Isaac answered him because I thought I might lose my life on account of her then Abimelech said what is this you have done to us one of the men might well have slept with your wife and you would have brought guilt upon us so Abimelech gave orders to all the people anyone who molest s' this man or his wife shall surely be put to death Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold because the Lord blessed him the man became rich and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy he had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him so all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham the Philistine stopped up filling them with earth then the bin maalik said to Isaac move away from us you have become too powerful for us so Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the valley of GR and settled there Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died and he gave them the same names his father had given them AIESEC servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there but the herdsmen of Gere are corraled with Isaac's herdsmen and said the water is ours so he named the well he sick because they disputed with him then they dug another well but they quarreled over that one also so he named it Sydenham he moved on from there and dug another well and no one quarreled over it he named it Rehoboth saying now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land from there he went up to Beersheba that night the Lord appeared to him and said I am the God of your father Abraham do not be afraid for I am with you I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord there he pitched his tent and there his servants dug a well meanwhile Abimelech had come to him from Gerard with a huzzah his personal advisor and fie call the commander of his forces I too asked them why have you come to me since you were hostile to me and sent me away they answered we saw clearly that the Lord was with you so we said there ought to be a sworn an agreement between us between us and you let us make a treaty with you that you will do us no harm just as we did not molest you but always treated you well and sent you away in peace and now you are blessed by the Lord Isaac then made a feast for them and they ate and drank early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other then Isaac sent them on their way and they left him in peace that day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug they said we found water he called it Sheba and this day the name of the town has been Beersheba when Esau was 40 years old he married Judith daughter of Bri the hit height and also Bassam ass daughter of elon his height they were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah chapter 27 when Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see he called for Esau his older son and said to him my son Here I am he answered Isaac said I am now an old man and don't know the day of my death no then get your weapons your quiver and bow and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat so that I may give you my blessing before I die now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau when Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back Rebekah said to her Sami Jacob look I overheard your father say to your brother Esau bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die now my son listen carefully and do what I tell you go out to the flock and bring me to choice young goats so I can prepare some tasty food for your father just the way he likes it then take it to your father to eat so that he may give you his blessing before he dies Jacob said to Rebekah his mother but my brother Esau is a hairy man and I'm a man with smooth skin what if my father touches me I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing his mother said to him my son let the curse fall on me just do what I say go and get them for me so he went and got them and brought them to his mother and she prepared some tasty food just the way his father liked it then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son which she had in the house and put them on her younger son Jacob she also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goat skins then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made he went to his father and said my father as my son he answered who is it Jacob said to his father I am he saw your firstborn I have done as you told me please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing Isaac asked his son how did you find it so quickly my son the Lord your God gave me success he replied then Isaac said to Jacob come near so I can touch you my son to know whether you really are my son Esau or not Jacob went close to his father Isaac who touched him and said the voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands of the hands of Esau he did not recognize him for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau so he blessed him are you really my son he saw he asked I am he replied then he said my son bring me some of your game to eat so that I may give you my blessing Jacob brought it to him and he ate and he brought some wine and he drank then his father Isaac said to him come here my son and kiss me so he went to him and kissed him when Isaac caught the smell of his clothes he blessed him and said the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed may God give you of heavens Dew and of Earth's richness and abundance of grain and new wine may nations serve you and people spout down to you be lord over your brothers and may the sons of your mother bow down to you may those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed after Isaac finished blessing him and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence his brother Esau came in from hunting he too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father then he said to him my father sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing his father Isaac asked him who are you I am your son he answered your firstborn Esau isaac trembled violently and said who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me I ate it just before you came and I blessed him and indeed he will be blessed when Esau heard his father's words he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father bless me me to my father but he said your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing Esau said isn't he rightly named Jacob he has deceived me these two times he took my birthright and now he's taken my blessing then he asked haven't you reserved any blessing for me Isaac answered Esau I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants and I have sustained him with grain and new wine so what can I possibly do for you my son Esau said to his father do you have only one blessing my father bless me to my father then he saw wept aloud his father Isaac answered him your dwelling will be away from the Earth's richness away from the dew of heaven above you will live by the sword and you will serve your brother but when you grow restless you will throw his yoke from off your neck Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him he said to himself the days of mourning for my father are near then I will kill my brother Jacob when Rebecca was told what her older son Esau had said she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him your brother Esau is consoling himself with the thought of killing you now then my son do what I say flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran stay with him for a while until your brother's fury subsides when your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him I'll send word for you to come back from there why should I lose both of you in one day then Rebecca said to Isaac I'm disgusted with living because of these Hittite women if Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land from his height women like these my life will not be worth living chapter 28 so Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him and commanded him do not marry a Canaanite woman go at once to Paden arrow to the house of your mother's father Beth you'll take a wife for yourself there from among the daughters of Laban your mother's brother may God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples may he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien the land God gave to Abraham then Isaac sent Jacob on his way and he went to Padanaram to Laban son of the few oh they aramean the brother of Rebekah who was the mother of Jacob and Esau now he saw learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Padanaram to take a wife from there and that when he blessed him he commanded him do not marry a cleaner night woman and the Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Padanaram he saw then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac so he went to Ishmael and married May Helena the sister of nabe off and daughter of Ishmael of son of Abraham in addition to the wives he already had Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran when he reached a certain place he stopped for the night because the Sun had set taking one of the stones there he put it under his head and lay down to sleep he had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth with its top reaching to heaven and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it there above it stood the Lord and he said I am the Lord the God of your father Abraham and the god of Isaac I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lined your descendants will be like the dust of the earth and you will spread out to the west and to the east to the north and to the south all peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go and I will bring you back to this land I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you when Jacob awoke from his sleep he thought surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it he was afraid and sent how awesome is this place this is none other than the house of God this is the gate of heaven early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it he called that place Bethel though the city used to be called love then Jacob made a vow saying if God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I returned safely to my father's house then the Lord will be my god and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth chapter xxix then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the Eastern peoples there he saw well in the field with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well the stone over the mouth of the well was large when all the flocks were gathered there the shepherds would roll the stone away from the wells mouth and water the sheep then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well Jacob asked the Shepherd's my brothers where are you from we're from Haran they replied he said to them do you know Laban nay horse grandson yes we know him they answered then Jacob asked them is he well yes he is they said and here comes his daughter Rachel with the Sheep look he said the Sun is still high it is not time for the flocks to be gathered water the sheep and take them back to pasture we can't they replied until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well then we will water the sheep while he was still talking with them Rachel came with her father's sheep for she was a shepherdess when Jacob saw Rachel daughter of Laban his mother's brother and Laban sheep he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle's sheep then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud he had told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and a Rebecca so she ran and told her father as soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob his sister's son he hurried to meet him he embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home and there Jacob told him all these things then Laban said to him you are my own flesh and blood after Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month Laban said to him just because you are a relative of mine should you work for me for nothing tell me what your wages should be now Laban had two daughters the name of the older was Leah and the name of the younger was Rachel Leah had weak eyes but Rachel was lovely informed and beautiful Jacob was in love with Rachel and said I'll look for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel Laban said it's better that I give her to you than to some other man stay here with me so Jacob served seven years to get Rachel but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her then Jacob said to Laban give me my wife my time is completed and I want to lie with him so Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast but when evening came he took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob and Jacob lay with her and Laban gave his servant girl Shilpa to his daughter as her maidservant when morning came there was Leah so Jacob said to Laban what is this you have done to me I served you for Rachel didn't I why have you deceived me Laban replied it is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one finish this daughter's bridal league then we will give you the younger one also in return for another seven years of work and Jacob did so he finished the week with Leah and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife Laban gave his servant girl bill to his daughter Rachel as her maid servant Jacob lay with Rachel also and he loved Rachel more than Leah and he worked for Laban another seven years when the Lord saw that leah was not loved he opened her womb but Rachel was barren Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son she named him Reuben for she said it is because the Lord has seen my misery surely my husband will love me now she conceived again and when she gave birth to a son she said because the Lord heard that I am not loved he gave me this one too so she named him Simeon again she conceived and when she gave birth to a son she said now at last my husband will become attached to me because I have borne him three sons so he was named Levi she conceived again and when she gave birth to a son she said this time I will praise the Lord so she named him Judah then she stopped having children chapter 30 when Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children she became jealous of her sister so she said to Jacob give me children or I'll die Jacob became angry with her and said am I in the place of God who has kept you from having children then she said here is Bilhah my maidservant sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and that through her I too can build a family so she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife Jacob slept with her and she became pregnant and bore him a son then Rachel said God has vindicated me he has listened to my plea and given me a son because of this she named him Dan Rachel's servant Bilhah conceived again and bore jacob a second son then Rachel said I have had a great struggle with my sister and I have won so she named him NAFTA lie when leah saw that she had stopped having children she took her maidservant Zilpah and gave her to jacob as a wife Leah's servant Shilpa bore jacob a son then Leah said what good fortune so she named him GAD Leah's servant Shilpa bore jacob a second son then Leah said how happy I am the women will call me happy so she named him Asher during wheat harvest Reuben went out into the fields and found some Mandrake plants which he brought to his mother Leah Rachel said to Leah please give me some of your son's Mandrake's but she said to her wasn't it enough you took away my husband will you take my son's Mandrake's - very well Rachel said he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son's Mandrake's so when Jacob came in from the fields that evening Leah went out to meet him you must sleep with me she said I have hired you with my son's Mandrake's so he slept with her that night God listen to Leah and she became pregnant and bore jacob a fifth son then Leah said God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband so she named him his a car Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son then Leah said God has presented me with a precious gift this time my husband will treat me with honor because I have borne him six sons so she named him Zebulon sometime later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah then God remembered Rachel he listened to her and opened her womb she became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said God has taken away my disgrace she named him Joseph and said may the Lord add to me another son after Rachel gave birth to Joseph Jacob said to Laban send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland give me my wives and children for whom I have served you and I will be on my way you know how much work I've done for you but Laban said to him if I have found favor in your eyes please stay I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you he added name your wages and I will pay them Jacob said to him you know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care the little you had before I came has increased greatly and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been but now when may I do something for my own household what shall I give you yes don't give me anything Jacob replied but if you will do this one thing for me I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep every dark colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat they will be my wages and my honesty will testify for me in the future whenever you check on the wages you have paid me any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted or any lamb that is not dark-colored will be considered stolen agreed said Laban let it be as you have said that same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted and all the speckled or spotted female goats all that had white on them and all the dark-colored lambs and he placed them in the care of his sons then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban flocks Jacob however took fresh cut branches from poplar almond and plain trees and made white strikes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink when the flocks were in heat and came to drink they made it in front of the branches and they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves but made the rest face the streaked and dark colored animals that belong to Laban thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban animals whenever the stronger females were in heat Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches but if the animals were weak he would not place them there so the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob in this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks and maidservants and men servants and camels and donkeys chapter 31 Jacob heard that Laban sons were saying Jacob has taken everything our Father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our Father and Jacob noticed that Levens attitude toward him was not what it had been then the Lord said to Jacob go back to the land of your father's and to your relatives and I will be with you so Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were he said to them I see that your father's attitude towards me is not what it was before but the god of my father has been with me you know that I've worked for your father with all my strength yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times however God has not allowed him to harm me if he said the speckled ones will be your wages then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young and if he said the street ones will be your wages then all the flocks bore streaked young so God has taken away your father's livestock and has given them to me in breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats meeting with the flock were streaked speckled or spotted the angel of God said to me in a dream Jacob I answered Here I am and he said look up and see that all the male goats meeting with the flock are streaked speckled or spotted for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you I am the God of Bethel where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me now leave this land at once and go back to your native land then Rachel and Leah replied do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father's estate does he not regard us as foreigners not only has he sold us but he has used up what was paid for us surely all the wealth that God took away from our Father belongs to us and our children so do whatever God has to do then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels and he drove all his livestock ahead of him along with all the goods he had accumulated in Padanaram to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan when Laban had gone to share his sheep Rachel stole her father's household gods moreover Jacob deceived Laban the aramean by not telling him he was running away so he fled with all he had and crossing the river he headed for the hill country of Gilead on the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled taking his relatives with him he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead then God came to Laban the aramean in a dream at night and said to him be careful not to say anything to Jacob either good or bad Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him and Laban and his relatives camped there too then Laban said to Jacob what have you done you've deceived me and you've carried off my daughters like captives in war why did you run off secretly and deceive me why didn't you tell me so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of tambourines and harps you didn't even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye you have done a foolish thing I have the power to harm you but last night the God of your father said to me be careful not to say anything to Jacob either good or bad now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father's house but why did you steal my God's Jacob answered Laban I was afraid because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force but if you find anyone who has your God's he shall not live in the presence of our relative see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me and if so take it now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods so Laban went into jacob's tent and Italy his tent and into the tent of the two made servants but he found nothing after he came out of Leah's tent he entered Rachel's tent now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel saddle and was sitting on them Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing Rachel said to her father don't be angry my lord that I cannot stand up in your presence I'm having my period so he searched but could not find the household gods Jacob was angry and took Laban to task what is my crime he asked Laban what sin have I committed that you hunt me down now that you have searched through all my goods what have you found that belongs to your household put it here in front of your relatives and mine and let them judge between the two of us I have been with you for twenty years now your sheep and goats have not miscarried nor have I eaten Rams from your flocks I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts I bore the loss myself and you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night this was my situation the heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night and sleep fled from my eyes it was like this for the twenty years I was in your household I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks and you changed my wages ten times if the god of my father the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac had not been with me you would surely have sent me away empty-handed but God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands and last night he rebuked you Laban answered Jacob the women are my daughters the children are my children and the flocks are my flocks all you see is mine yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine or about the children they have born come now let's make a covenant you and I and let it serve as a witness between us so Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar he said to his relatives gather some stones so they took stones and piled them in a heap and they ate there by the heap Laban called a say Hadassah and Jacob called it Galliard Laban said this heap is a witness between you and me today that is why it was called galleon it was also called Mizpah because he said may the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other if you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters even though no one is with us remember that God is a witness between you and me Laban also said to Jacob here is this heap and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me this heap is a witness and this pillar is a witness that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me may the God of Abraham and the god of nahor the God of their father judge between us so Jacob took an oath in the name of the fear of his father Isaac he offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal after they had eaten they spent the night there early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them then he left and returned home chapter 32 Jacob also went on his way and the angels of God met him when Jacob saw them he said this is the camp of God so he named that place Mayhan a.m. Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir the country of Edom he instructed them this is what you ought to say to my master Esau your servant Jacob says I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now I have cattle and donkeys sheep and goats menservants and maidservants now I am sending this message to my Lord that I may find favor in your eyes when the messengers returned to Jacob they said we went to your brother Esau and now he was coming to meet you and four hundred men are with him in great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups and the flocks and herds and camels as well he thought if he saw comes and attacks one group the group that is left may escape then Jacob prayed O God of my father Abraham God of my father Isaac o Lord who said to me go back to your country and your relatives and I will make you prosper I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan but now I have become two groups save me I pray from the hand of my brother Esau for I am afraid he will come and attack me and also the mothers with their children but you have said I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea which cannot be counted he spent the night there and from what he had with him he's elected a gift for his brother Esau two hundred female goats and 20 male goats two hundred ewes and twenty Rams thirty female camels with her young forty cows and ten Bulls and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys he put them in the care of his servants each herd by itself and said to his servants go ahead of me and keep some space between the herds he instructed the one in the lead when my brother Esau meets you and asks to whom do you belong and where are you going and who owns all these animals in front of you then you are to say they belong to your servant Jacob they are a gift sent to my lord Esau and he is coming behind us he also instructed the second the third and all the others who followed the herds you want to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him and be sure to say your servant Jacob is coming behind us for he thought I will classify him with these gifts I am sending on the head later when I see him perhaps he will receive me so Jacobs gifts went on ahead of him but he himself spent the night in the camp that night Jacob got up and took his two wives his two maid servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok after he had sent them across the stream he sent over all his possessions so Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him till daybreak when the man saw that he could not overpower him he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man then the man said let me go for it is daybreak but Jacob replied I will not let go unless you bless me the man asked him what is your name Jacob he answered then the man said your name will no longer be Jacob but Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome Jacob said please tell me your name but he replied why do you ask my name then he blessed him there so Jacob called the place peniel's saying it is because I saw God face to face and yet my life was spared the Sun rose above him as he passed penny over and he was limping because of his hip therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon chapter 33 Jacob looked up and there was he saw coming with his four hundred men so he divided the children among Leah Rachel and the two maidservants he put the maidservants and their children in front Leah and her children next and Rachel and Joseph in the rear he himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother but Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him and they wept then he saw looked up and saw the women and children who were these with you he asked Jacob answered they are the children God has graciously given your servant then the maid servants and their children approached and bowed down next Leah and her children came and bowed down last of all came Joseph and Rachel and they two bowed down Esau asked what do you mean by all these droves I met to find favor in your eyes my lord he said but he saw said I already have plenty my brother keep what you have for yourself no please send Jacob if I have found favor in your eyes accept this gift from me for to see your face is like seeing the face of God now that you have received me favourably please accept the present that was brought to you for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need and because Jacob insisted saw accepted it then Esau said let us be on our way I'll accompany you but Jacob said to him my Lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young if they are driven hard just one day all the animals will die so let my Lord go on the head of his servant while I move along slowly at the pace of the droves before me and that of the children until I come to my lord in sere Esau said then let me leave some of my men with you but why do that Jacob asked just let me find favor in the eyes of my Lord so that day he saw started on his way back to seer Jacob however went to Succoth where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock that is why the place is called sucketh after Jacob came from Padanaram he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city for a hundred pieces of silver he bought from the sons of hay more the father of Shechem the plot of ground where he pitched his tent there he set up an altar and called it el el Ojo Israel chapter 34 now Dinah the daughter Leah had born to jacob went out to visit the women of the land when Shechem son of Haymore the hivite the ruler of that area saw her he took her and violated her his heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her and Shechem said to his father hey more get me this girl as my wife when Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled his sons were in the fields with his livestock so he kept quiet about it until they came home then Shechem father Haymore went out to talk with Jacob now Jacob's sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened they were filled with grief and fury because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacobs daughter a thing that should not be done but hey more said to them my son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter please give her to him as his wife intermarry with us give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves you can settle among us the land is open to you live in it trade in it and acquire property in it then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers let me find favor in your eyes and I will give you whatever you ask make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like doubt pay whatever you ask me only give me the girl as my wife because their sister Dinah had been defiled Jacob's sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father he more they said to them we can't do such a thing we can't give our sister to a man who is not circumcised that would be a disgrace to us we will give our consent to you on one condition only that you become like us by circumcising all your males then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves we'll settle among you and become one people with you but if you will not agree to be circumcised we'll take our sister and go their proposal seemed good to a moor and his son Shechem the young man who was the most honoured of all his father's household lost no time in doing what they said because he was delighted with jacob's daughter so Hamer and his son Shechem went to the gate of their City to speak to their fellow townsman these men are friendly toward us they said let them live in our land and trade in it the land has plenty of room for them we can marry their daughters and they can marry ours but the men will consent to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised as they themselves are wont their livestock their property and all their other animals become ours so let us give our consent to them and they will settle among us all the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Haymore and his son Shechem and every male in the city was circumcised three days later while all of them were still in pain two of Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi deines brothers took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting City killing every male they put him around his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Chekhov's house and left the sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled they seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields they carried off all their wealth and all their women and children taking as plunder everything in the houses then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi you have brought trouble on me by making me a stitch to the Canaanites and the parasites the people living in this land we are few in number and if they join forces against me and attack me I and my household will be destroyed but they reply should he have treated our sister like a prostitute chapter 35 then God said to Jacob go up to Bethel and settle there and build an altar there to God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau so Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him get rid of the foreign gods you have with you and purify yourselves and change your clothes then come let us go up to Bethel where I will build an altar to God who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone so they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the Rings in their ears and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem then they set out and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them Jacob and all the people with him came to loves that his Bethel in the land of Canaan there he built an altar and he called the place el Bethel because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother now Deborah Rebecca's nurse died and was buried under the oak below Bethel so it was named Alan Bacchus after Jacob returned from Padanaram God appeared to him again and blessed him God said to him your name is Jacob but you will no longer be called Jacob your name will be Israel so he named him Israel and God said to him I am God Almighty be fruitful and increase in number a nation and a community of nations will come from you and Kings will come from your body the land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you and I will give this land to your descendants after you then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him and he poured out a drink offering on it he also poured oil on it Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel then they moved on from Bethel while they were still some distance from ffs Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty and as she was having great difficulty in childbirth the Midwife said to her don't be afraid for you have another son as she breathed her last for she was dying she named her son ben'll nigh but his father named him Benjamin so Rachel died and was buried on the way to F raff that his Bethlehem over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's too Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal eater while Israel was living in that region Ruben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah and Israel heard of it Jacob had 12 sons the sons of Leah Ruben the firstborn of Jacob Simeon Levi Judah Issachar and Zebulun the sons of Rachel Joseph and Benjamin the sons of Rachel's maidservant Bilhah Dan and Naphtali the sons of Leah's maidservant shilpa gad and ashur these were the sons of jacob who were born to him in Padanaram jacob came home to his father isaac and mamrie near Kiryat Arba that is Hebron were Abraham and Isaac had stayed Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people old and full of years and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him chapter 36 this is the account of Esau that is Edom Esau took his wives from the women of canaan ada daughter of elon the hit height and a whole obama daughter of aina and granddaughter of zibeon the hivite also basa math daughter of ishmael and sister of nabiyev ada abort elephants to Esau basa math bore rule and a howl Obama bore Jewish Jhelum and Cora these were the sons of Esau who were born to him in Canaan Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob their possessions were too great for them to remain together the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock so Esau that is Edom settled in the hill country of Seir this is the account of Esau the father of the in the hill country of seer these are the names of Esau sons Elif as the son of esau's wife ada and rule the son of esau's wife Vasa math the sons of eliphaz teaming Omar zfo gatum and kinas Esau son Elif has also had a concubine named Timna who bore him Amalek these were grandsons of esau's wife ada the sons of rule they have Zira Schama and Missa these were grandsons of esau's wife Vasa math the sons of Esau wife a whole Obama daughter of aina and granddaughter of zibeon whom she bore to Esau Jewish Jhelum and Cora these were the Chiefs among Esau's descendants the sons of elephant's the firstborn of esau chief steamin omar z fo kinas Cora gatum and Amalek these were the Chiefs descended from Elif as in Edom they were grandsons of ADA the sons of Esau son rule Chiefs nay half 0 Shama and misser these were the Chiefs descended from rule in Edom they were grandsons of esau's wife Vasa math the sons of Esau wife a whole Obama Chiefs G ish Jhelum and Cora these were the Chiefs descended from esau's wife a whole obama daughter of aina these were the sons of Esau that is Edom and these were their Chiefs these were the sons of seir the horite who were living in the region Lotan shoval zibeon aina dyshawn zur and die Shan these sons of seir in Edom were horrid Chiefs the sons of Lotan or I and homem Timna was Lotan sister the sons of show ball Alvin manna have a ball she fo and onnum the sons of zibeon a ax and aina this is the aina who discovered the hot springs in the desert while he was grazing the donkey's of his father zibeon the children of aina dyshawn and a whole obama daughter of aina the sons of Deshawn hemdan ashpan is ran and Kiran the sons of easer bill Han ze'ev an and a can the sons of - an AZ and Aaron these were the whole right Chiefs Lotan Shoval zibeon aina dyshawn Ezzor and i shan these were the horrid chiefs according to their divisions in the land of Seir these were the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite King reigned Bela son of Beor became king of Edom his city was named dinhabah when Bella died jovem son of Sarah from Basra succeeded him as king when jobab died push him from the land of the team a knight succeeded him as king when hashem died hey dad son of bedad who defeated Midian in the country of Moab succeeded him as king his city was named Edith when he died Sam law from Africa succeeded him as king when Saladin shawl from Rehoboth on the river succeeded him as king when shawl died bail Halon son of akbar succeeded him as king when bale Hanan son of akbar died hey dad succeeded him as king his city was named Powell and his wife staying was mijita belle daughter of matron the daughter of Mesa ham these were the Chiefs descended from he saw by name according to their clans and regions Timna Alva G Thoth a whole Obama ela Heinen Tina's teaming MIBs our mag deal and Iram these were the Chiefs of Edom according to their settlements in the land they occupied this was Esau the father of the chapter 37 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed the land of Canaan this is the account of Jacob Joseph a young man of seventeen was tending the flocks with his brothers the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah his father's wives and he brought their father a bad report about them now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he had been born to him in his old age and he made a richly ornamented robe for him when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him Joseph had a dream and when he told it to his brothers they hated him all the more he said to them listen to this dream I had we were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it his brothers said to him do you intend to reign over us will you actually rule us and they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said then he had another dream and he told it to his brothers listen he said I had another dream and this time the Sun and Moon and Eleven stars were bowing down to me when he told his father as well as his brothers his father rebuked him and said what is this dream you had well your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bowed down to the ground before you his brothers were jealous of him but his father kept the matter in mind now his brothers had gone to graze their fathers flocks near Shechem and Israel said to Joseph as you know your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem come I am going to send you to them very well he replied so he said to him go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks and bring word back to me then he sent him off from the valley of Hebron when Joseph arrived at Shechem a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him what are you looking for he replied I'm looking for my brothers can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks they have moved on from here the man answered I heard them say let's go to Dothan so Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan but they saw him in the distance and before he reached them they plotted to kill him here comes that dreamer they said to each other come now let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him then we'll see what comes of his dreams when reuben heard this he tried to rescue him from their hands let's not take his life he said don't shed any blood throw him into this cistern here in the desert but don't lay a hand on him Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father so when Joseph came to his brothers they stripped him of his robe the richly ornamented robe he was wearing and they took him and threw him into the cistern now the cistern was empty there was no water in it as they sat down to eat their meal they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead their camels were loaded with spices balm and myrrh and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt Judah said to his brothers what will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood come let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him after all he is our brother our own flesh and blood his brothers agreed so when the Midianite merchants came by his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for 20 shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites who took him to Egypt when Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there he tore his clothes he went back to his brothers and said the boy isn't there where can I turn now then they got Joseph's Road slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood they took the ornamented robe back to their father and sent we found this examine it to see whether it's your son's robe he recognized it and said it is my son's robe some ferocious animal has devoured him Joseph has surely been torn to pieces then jacob tore his clothes put on sackcloth and mourn for his son many days all his sons and daughters came to comfort him but he refused to be comforted no he said in mourning will I go down to the grave to my son so his father wept for him meanwhile the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar one of pharaoh's officials the captain of the guard chapter 38 at that time Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man vedalam named Huayra there Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named schewe he married her and lay with her she became pregnant and gave birth to a son who was named er she conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan she gave birth to still another son and named him Sheila it was at kiseop that she gave birth to him Judah got a wife for her his firstborn and her name was Tamar but urged who dis firstborn was wicked in the Lord's sight so the Lord put him to death then Judah said to Onan lie with your brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother but owned and knew that the offspring would not be his so whenever he lay with his brother's wife he spilled his semen on the ground to keep it from producing offspring for his brother what he did was wicked in the Lord's sight so he put him to death also Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar live as a widow in your father's house until my son Sheila grows up for he thought he may die too just like his brothers so Tamar went to live in her father's house after a long time Judah's wife the daughter of sharor died when Judah had recovered from his grief he went up to Timna to the men who were shearing his sheep and his friend Huayra the Adela mite went with him when Tamar was told your father-in-law is on his way to Timna to share his sheep she took off her widow's clothes covered herself with a veil to disguise herself and then sat down at entrance to alayhim which is on the road to Timna for she saw that though Sheila had now grown up she had not been given to him as his wife when Judah saw her he thought she was a prostitute for she had covered her face not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law he went over to her by the roadside and said come down let me sleep with you and what will you give me to sleep with you she asked I'll send you a young goat from my flock he said will you give me something as a pledge until you send it she asked he said what pledge should I give you your seal and it's cord and the staff in your hand she answered so he gave them to her and slept with her and she became pregnant by him after she left she took off her veil and put on her widows clothes again meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the addala mite in order to get his pledge back from the woman but he did not find her he asked the men who lived there where is the shrine prostitute who was beside the road at an a.m. there hasn't been any shrine prostitute here they said so he went back to Judah and said I didn't find her besides the men who live there said there hasn't been any shrine prostitute here then Judah said let her keep what she has or we will become a laughingstock after all I did send her this young goat but you didn't find her about three months later Judah was told your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of prostitution and as a result she is now pregnant Judah said bring her out and have her burn to death as she was being brought out she sent a message to her father-in-law I am pregnant by the man who owns these she said and she added see if you recognize who seal and cord and staff these are Judah recognized them and said she is more righteous than I since I wouldn't give her to my son Sheila and he did not sleep with her again when the time came for her to give birth there were twin boys in her womb as she was giving birth one of them put out his hand so the Midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said this one came out first but when he drew back his hand his brother came out and she said so this is how you have broken out and he was named pira's then his brother who had the scarlet thread on his wrist came out and he was given the name Sarah chapter 39 now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt Potiphar and Egyptian who was one of pharaoh's officials the captain of the guard bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there the Lord was with Joseph and he prospered and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master when his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant Potiphar put him in charge of his household and he entrusted to his care everything he owned from the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph the blessing of the Lord was on everything part of her hand both in the house and in the field so he left in Joseph's care everything he had with Joseph in charge he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate now Joseph was well-built and handsome and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said come to bed with me but he refused with me in charge he told her my master does not concern himself with anything in the house everything he owns he has entrusted to my care no one is greater in this house than I am my master has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife how then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God and though she spoke to Joseph day after day he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her one day he went into the house to attend to his duties and none of the household servants was inside she caught him by his cloak and said come to bed with me but he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house when she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house she called her household servants look she said to them this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us he came in here to sleep with me but I screamed when he heard me scream for help he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house she kept his cloak beside her until his master came home then she told him this story that Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me but as soon as I screamed for help he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house when his master heard the story his wife told him saying this is how your slave treated me he burned with anger Josef's master took him and put him in prison a place where the Kings prisoners were confined but while Joseph was there in the prison the Lord was with him he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden so the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison and he was made responsible for all that was done there the warden paid no attention to anything under joseph's care because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did chapter 40 sometime later the cupbearer and the baker of the king of egypt offended their master the king of Egypt Pharaoh was angry with his two officials the chief cupbearer and the chief Baker and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard in the same prison where Joseph was confined the captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph and he attended them after they had been in custody for some time each of the two men the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt who were being held in prison had a dream the same night and each dream had a meaning of its own when Joseph came to them the next morning he saw that they were dejected so we asked Pharaoh's officials who were in custody with him in his master's house why are your face is so sad today we both had dreams they answered but there is no one to interpret them then Joseph said to them do not interpretations belong to God tell me your dreams so the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream he said to him in my dream I saw a vine in front of me and on the vine were three branches as soon as it butted it blossomed and it's clusters ripened into greats Pharaoh's cup was in my hand and I took the grapes squeeze them into Pharaoh's cup and put the cup in his hand this is what it means Joseph said to him the three branches are three days within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand just as you used to do when you were his cup there but when all goes well with you remember me and show me kindness mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison for I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon when the chief Baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation he said to Joseph I too had a dream on my head were three baskets of bread in the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head this is what it means Joseph said the three baskets are three days within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree and the birds will eat away your flesh now the third day was Pharaoh's birthday and he gave a feast for all his officials he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief Baker in the presence of his officials he restored the chief cupbearer to his position so that he once again put the cup in the Pharaohs hand but he hanged the chief Baker just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation the chief cupbearer however did not remember Joseph he forgot him chapter 41 when two full years had passed Pharaoh had a dream he was standing by the Nile went out of the river there came up seven cows sleek and fat and they grazed among the reeds after them seven other cows ugly and gaunt came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank and the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek fat calves then Pharaoh woke up he fell asleep again and had a second dream seven heads of grain healthy and good were growing on a single stalk after them seven other heads of grain sprouted thin and scorched by the east wind the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy full heads then Pharaoh woke up it had been a dream in the morning his mind was troubled so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt Pharaoh told them his dreams but no one could interpret them for him then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh today I am reminded of my shortcomings Pharaoh was once angry with his servants and he imprisoned me and the chief Baker in the house of the captain of the guard each of us had a dream the same night and each dream had a meeting of its own now a young Hebrew was there with us a servant of the captain of the guard we told him our dreams and he interpreted them for us giving each man the interpretation of his dream and things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us IRA's restored to my position and the other man was hanged so pharoah's sent for Joseph and he was quickly brought from the dungeon when he had shaved and changed his clothes he came before Pharaoh Pharaoh said to Joseph I had a dream and no one can interpret it but I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it I cannot do it Joseph replied to Pharaoh but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires then Pharaoh said to Joseph in my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile when out of the river there came up seven cows fat and sleek and they grazed among the reeds after them seven other cows came up scrawny and very ugly and lean I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt lean ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first but even after they ate them no one could tell that they had done so they looked just as ugly as before then I woke up in my dreams I also saw seven heads of grain full and good growing on a single stock after them seven other heads sprouted withered and thin and scorched by the east wind the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads I told this to the magicians but none could explain it to me then Joseph said to Pharaoh the dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same God has revealed to Pharaoh what he's about to do the seven good cows are seven years and the seven good heads of grain are seven years it is one in the same dream the seven lean ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years and so are the seven worthless heads of grains scorched by the east wind they are seven years of famine it is just as I said to Pharaoh God has shown Pharaoh what he's about to do seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt but seven years of famine will follow them then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten and the famine will ravage the land the abundance in the land will not be remembered because the famine that follows it will be so severe the reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God and God will do it soon and now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance they should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh to be kept in the cities for food this food should be held in reserve for the country to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt so that the country may not be ruined by the famine the plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials so Pharaoh asked them can we find anyone like this man one in whom is the Spirit of God then Pharaoh said to Joseph since God has made all this known to you there is no one so discerning and wise as you you shall be in charge of my palace and all my people are to submit to your orders only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you so Pharaoh said to Joseph I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger he dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck he had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command and men shouted before him make way thus he put him in charge of the whole and of Egypt then Pharaoh said to Joseph I am Pharaoh but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt Pharaoh gave Joseph the name zaphenath-paneah and gave him a Sanath daughter of Potiphar a priest upon to be his wife and Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt and Joseph went out from pharaoh's presence and traveled throughout Egypt during the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities in each city he put the food grown in the field surrounding it Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain like the sand of the sea it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure before the years of famine came two sons were born to Joseph by Asuna daughter of prety Farah priest of on Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said it is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household the second son he named ephraim and said it is because god has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering the seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end and the seven years of famine began just as Joseph had said there was famine in all the other lands but in the whole land of Egypt there was food when all Egypt began to feel the famine the people cried to Pharaoh for food then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians go to Joseph and do what he tells you when the famine had spread over the whole country Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians for the famine was severe throughout Egypt and all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe in all the world chapter 42 when Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt he said to his sons why do you just keep looking at each other he continued I have heard that there is grain in Egypt go down there and buy some for us so that we may live and not die then 10 of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt but Jacob did not send Benjamin Joseph's brother with the others because he was afraid that harm might come to him so Israel's sons were among those who went to buy grain for the famine was in the land of Canaan also now Joseph was the governor of the land the one who sold grain to all its people so when Joseph's brothers arrived they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground as soon as Joseph saw his brothers he recognized them but he pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them where do you come from he asked from the land of Canaan they replied to buy food although Joseph recognized his brothers they did not recognize him then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them you are spies you have come to see where our land is unprotected no my lord they answered your servants have come to buy food we are all the sons of one man your servants are honest men not spies no he said to them you have come to see where our land is unprotected but they replied your servants were 12 brothers the sons of one man who lives in the land of Canaan the youngest is now with our father and one is no more Joseph said to them it is just as I told you you are spies and this is how you will be tested as surely as Pharaoh lives you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here send one of your number to get your brother the rest of you will be kept in prison so that your words may be tested to see if you were telling the truth if you're not then as surely as Pharaoh lives you are spies and he put them all in custody for three days on the third day Joseph said to them do this and you will live for I fear God if you are honest men that one of your brothers stay here in prison while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households but you must bring your youngest brother to me so that your words may be verified and that you may not die this they proceeded to do they said to one another surely we are being punished because of our brother we saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life but we would not listen that's why this distress has come upon us Reuben replied didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy but you wouldn't listen now we must give an accounting for his blood they did not realize that Joseph could understand them since he was using an interpreter he turned away from them and began to weep but then turned back and spoke to them again he had Simeon taken from them and found before their eyes Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain to put each man silver back in his sack and to give them provisions for their journey after this was done for them they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left at the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack my silver has been returned he said to his brothers here it is in my sack their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said what is this that God has done to us when they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan they told him all that had happened to them they said the man who is lord over the land spoke harshly to us and treated us as though we were spying on the land but we said to him we are honest men we are not spies we were twelve brothers sons of one father one is no more and the youngest is now with our Father in Canaan then the man who is lord over the land said to us this is how I will know whether you are honest men leave one of your brothers here with me and take food for your starving households and go but bring your youngest brother to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men then I will give your brother back to you and you can trade in the land as they were emptying their sacks there in each man's sack was his pouch of silver when they and their father saw the money pouches they were frightened their father Jacob said to them you have deprived me of my children Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more and now you want to take Benjamin everything is against me then Reuben said to his father you may put both of my sons to death if I do not bring him back to you entrust him to my care and I will bring him back but Jacob said my son will not go down there with you his brother is dead and he is the only one left if harm comes to him on the journey you are taking you will bring my great head down to the grave in sorrow chapter 43 now the famine was still severe in the land so when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt their father said to them go back and buy us a little more food but Judah said to him the man warned us solemnly you will not see my face again unless your brother is with you if you will send our brother along with us we will go down and buy food for you but if you will not send him we will not go down because the man said to us you will not see my face again unless your brother is with you Israel asked why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had another brother they replied the man questioned us closely about ourselves and our family is your father's still living he asked do you have another brother we simply answered his questions how were we to know he would say bring your brother down here then Judah said to Israel his father send the boy along with me and we will go at once so that we and you and our children may live and not die I myself will guarantee his safety you can hold me personally responsible for him if I do not bring him back to you and set him here before you I will bear the blame before you all my life as it is if we had not delayed we could have gone and returned twice then their father Israel said to them if it must be then do this put some of the best products of the land in your bags and take them down to the man as a gift a little ball and a little honey some spices and myrrh some pistachio nuts and almonds take double the amount of silver with you for you must return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks perhaps it was a mistake take your brother also and go back to the man at once and may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man so that he will let your brother and Benjamin come back with you as for me if I am bereaved I am bereaved so the men took the gifts and doubled the amount of silver and Benjamin also they hurried down to Egypt and presented themselves to Joseph when Joseph saw Benjamin with them he said to the steward of his house take these men to my house slaughter an animal and prepare dinner there to eat with me at noon the man did as Joseph told him and took the men to Joseph's house now the men were frightened when they were taken to his house they thought we were brought here because of the silver that was put back into our sacks the first time he wants to attack us and overpower us and sees us as slaves and take our donkeys so they went up to Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house please sir they said we came down here the first time to buy food but at the place where we stopped for the night we opened our sacks and each of us found his silver the exact weight in the mouth of his sack so we have brought it back with us we have also brought additional silver with us to buy food we don't know who put our silver in our sacks it's alright he said don't be afraid your God the god of your father has given you treasure in your sacks I received your silver then he brought simeon out to them the steward took the men into Joseph's house gave them water to wash their feet and provided fodder for their donkeys they prepared their gifts for Joseph's arrival at noon because they had heard that they were to eat there when Joseph came home they presented to him the gifts they had brought into the house and they bowed down before him to the ground he asked them how they were and then he said how is your aged father you told me about is he still living they replied your servant our Father is still alive and well and they bowed low to pay him honor as he looked about and saw his brother Benjamin his own mother's son he asked is this your youngest brother the one you told me about and he said God be gracious to you my son deeply moved at the sight of his brother Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep he went into his private room and wept there after he had washed his face he came out and controlling himself said serve the food they served him by himself the brothers by themselves and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews for that is detestable to Egyptians the men had been seated before him in the order of their ages from the first born to the youngest and they looked at each other in astonishment when portions were served to them from Joseph's table Benjamin's portion was five times as much as anyone elses so they feasted and drank freely with him chapter 44 now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house fill the men's sacks with as much food as they can carry and put each man's silver in the mouths of his sack then put my cup the silver one in the mouths of the youngest one sack along with the silver for his grain and he did as Joseph said as morning dawned the men were sent on their way with their donkeys they had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward go after those men at once and when you catch up with them say to them why have you repaid good with evil isn't this the cup my master drinks from and also uses for divination this is a wicked thing you have done when he caught up with them he repeated these words to them but they said to him why does my Lord say such things far be it from your servants to do anything like that we even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the silver we found inside the mouths of our sacks so why would we steal silver or gold from your Master's house if any of your servants is found to have it he will die and the rest of us will become my Lords slaves very well then he said let it be as you say whoever is found to have it will become my slave the rest of you will be free from blame each of them quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it then the steward proceeded to search beginning with the oldest and ending with the youngest and the cup was found in Benjamin sack at this they tore their clothes then they all loaded their donkeys and returned to the city Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in and they threw themselves to the ground before him Joseph said to them what is this you have done don't you know that a man like me can find things out by divination what can we say to my lord Judah replied what can we say how can we prove our innocence God has uncovered your servants guilt we are now my Lords slaves we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup but Joseph sent far be it from me to do such a thing only the man who was found to have the cup will become my slave the rest of you go back to your father in peace then Judah went up to him and said please my lord let your servant speak a word to my lord do not be angry with your servant though you are equal to Pharaoh himself my Lord asked his servants do you have a father or a brother and we answered we have an aged father and there is a young son borned him in his old age his brother is dead and he is the only one of his mother's sons left and his father loves him then you said to your servants bring him down to me so I can see him for myself and we said to my lord the boy cannot leave his father if he leaves him his father will die but you told your servants unless your youngest brother comes down with you you will not see my face again when we went back to your servant my father we told him what my lord said then our father said go back and buy a little more food but we said we cannot go down only if our youngest brother is with us will we go we cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us your servant my father said to us you know that my wife bore me two sons one of them went away from me and I said he has surely been torn to pieces and I have not seen him since if you take this one from me too and harm comes to him you will bring my gray head down to the grave and misery so now if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father and if my father whose life is closely bound up with the boy's life sees that the boy isn't there he will die your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow your servant guaranteed the boys safety to my father I said if I do not bring him back to you I will bear the blame before you my father all my life now then please let your servant remain here as my Lords slave in place of the boy and let the boy return with his brothers how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me No do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father chapter 45 then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants and he cried out have everyone leave my presence so there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers and he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him and Pharaoh's household heard about it Joseph said to his brothers I am Joseph is my father still living but his brothers were not able to answer him because they were terrified at his presence then Joseph said to his brothers come close to me when they had done so he said I am your brother Joseph the one you sold into Egypt and now do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you for two years now there has been famine in the land and for the next five years there will not be ploughing and reaping but God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance so then it was not you who sent me there but God he made me father to Pharaoh Lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt now hurry back to my father and say to him this is what your son Joseph says God has made me Lord of all Egypt come down to me don't delay you shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me you your children and grandchildren your flocks and herds and all you have I will provide for you there because five years of famine are still to come otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute you can see for yourselves and so can my brother Benjamin that it is really I who am speaking to you tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen and bring my father down here quickly then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and went and Benjamin embraced him weeping and he kissed all his brothers and wept over them afterward his brothers talk with him when the news reached Pharaoh's Palace that Joseph's brothers had come Pharaoh and all his officials were pleased Pharaoh said to Joseph tell your brothers do this load your animals and return to the land of Canaan and bring your father and your families back to me I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land you are also directed to tell them do this take some carts from Egypt for your children and your wives and get your father and come never mind about your belongings because the best of all Egypt will be yours so the sons of Israel did this Joseph gave them carts as Pharaoh had commanded and he also gave them provisions for their journey to each of them he gave new clothing but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five sets of clothes and this is what he sent to his father ten donkeys loaded with the best things of Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and other provisions for his journey then he sent his brothers away and as they were leaving he said to them don't quarrel on the way so they went up out of Egypt and came to their father jacob in the land of canaan they told him joseph is alive in fact he is ruler of all Egypt Jacob was stunned he did not believe them but when they told him everything Joseph had said to them and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back the spirit of their father Jacob revived and Israel said I am convinced my son Joseph is still alive I will go and see him before I die chapter 46 so israel's set out with all that was his and when he reached Beersheba he offered sacrifices to the god of his father Isaac and God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said Jacob Jacob Here I am he replied I am God the God of your father he said do not be afraid to go down to Egypt for I will make you into a great nation there I will go down to Egypt with you and I will surely bring you back again and Joseph's own hand will close your eyes then Jacob left Beersheba and Israel's sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives and the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him they also took with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan and Jacob and all his offspring went to Egypt he took with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters all his offspring these are the names of the sons of Israel Jacob and his descendants who went to Egypt Reuben the firstborn of Jacob the sons of Reuben heyno pal Ezrin and Carmi the sons of simeon jem Yule Jamin Oh had jaqen zohar and shaul the son of a Canaanite woman the sons of Levi Gershon Kohath and Merari the sons of Judah Onan Sheila pira's and zerah but ER and Onan had died in the land of Canaan the sons of pira's hezron and heimo the sons of Issachar Toula pura jacob and Shimron the sons of Zebulun surrett Ilan and Jolyon these were the sons Leah bore to jacob in Padanaram besides his daughter Dinah these sons and daughters of his were 33 in all the sons of God Zef on Hagee soon I as bon awry era died and a rely the sons of Ashur him none Ishta ish by and Mariah the sister was Sara the sons of Mariah Heber and malkov these were the children born to Jacob by Zilpah whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah 16 and all the sons of Jacob's wife Rachel Joseph and Benjamin in Egypt Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph by a Sanath daughter of Potiphar a priest of on the sons of Benjamin Bela Iker Asheville jira day among a high Ross Maupin Popham and armed these were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob 14 and all the son of Dan cushion the sons of nafta lie jasio uni cheeser and Shalom these were the sons born to jacob by bill hub whom Laban had given to his daughter Rachel 7 and all all those who went to Egypt with Jacob those who were his direct descendants not counting his sons wives numbered 66 persons with the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt the members of Dakin's family which went to Egypt were 70 in all now Jacob sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to get directions to Goshen when they arrived in the region of Goshen Joseph had his chariot made ready and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel as soon as Joseph appeared before him he threw his arms around his father and wept for a long time Israel said to Joseph now I am ready to die since I have seen for myself that you are still alive Ben Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household I will go up and speak to Pharaoh and will say to him my brothers and my father's household who were living in the land of Canaan have come to me the men are shepherds they tend livestock and they have brought along their flocks and herds and everything they own when Pharaoh calls you in and asks what is your occupation you should answer your servants have tended livestock from our boyhood on just as our fathers did then you will be allowed to settle in the region of Goshen for all Shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians chapter 47 Joseph went and told Pharaoh my father and brothers for their flocks and herds and everything they owned have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen he chose five of his brothers and presented them before Pharaoh Pharaoh asked the brothers what is your occupation your servants are shepherds they replied to Pharaoh just as our fathers were they also said to him we have come to live here a while because the famine is severe in Canaan and your servants flocks have no pasture so now please let your servant settle in Goshen Pharaoh said to Joseph your father and your brothers have come to you and the land of Egypt is before you settle your father and your brothers are the best part of the land let them live in Goshen and if you know of any among them with special ability put them in charge of my own livestock then Joseph brought his father Jacob in and presented him before Pharaoh after Jacob blessed Pharaoh Pharaoh asked him how old are you and Jacob said to Pharaoh the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty my ears have been few and difficult and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my father's then Jacob blessed Pharaoh went out from his presence so Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land the district of ramasees as Pharaoh directed Joseph also provided his father and his brothers and all his father's household with food according to the number of their children there was no food however in the whole region because the famine was severe both Egypt and Canaan wasted away because of the famine Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Kaman in payment for the grain they were buying and he brought it to pharaoh's palace when the money of the people of Egypt and Canaan was gone all Egypt came to Joseph and said give us food why should we die before your eyes our money is used up then bring your livestock said Joseph I will sell you food in exchange for your livestock since your money is gone so they brought their livestock to Joseph and he gave them food in exchange for their horses their sheep and goats their cattle and donkeys and he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock when that year was over they came to him the following year and said we cannot hide from our Lord the fact that since our money is gone and our livestock belongs to you there is nothing left for our Lord except our bodies and our land why should we perish before your eyes we in our land as well by us and our land in exchange for food and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh give us seed so that we may live and not die and that the land may not become desolate so Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh the Egyptians one and all sold their fields because the famine was too severe for them the land became pharaoh's and joseph reduced the people to servitude from one end of Egypt to the other however he did not buy the land of the priests because they received a regular allotment from Pharaoh and had food enough from the allotment Pharaoh gave them that is why they did not sell their land Joseph said to the people now that I have bought you in your land today for Pharaoh here is seed for you so you can plant the ground but when the crop comes in give 1/5 of it to Pharaoh the other 4/5 you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children you have saved our lives they said may we find favor in the eyes of our Lord we will be in bondage to Pharaoh so Joseph established it as a law concerning land in Egypt still enforced today that 1/5 of the produce belongs to Pharaoh it was only the land of the priests that did not become Pharaohs now the Israelites settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen they acquired property there and were fruitful and increased greatly a number Jacob lived in Egypt 17 years and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven when the time drew near for Israel to die he called for his son Joseph and said to him if I have found favor in your eyes put your hand under my thigh and promise that you will show me kindness and faithfulness do not bury me in Egypt but when I rest with my father's carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried I will do as you say he said swear to me he said then Joseph swore to him and Israel worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff chapter xlviii sometime later Joseph was told your father is ill so he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him when Jacob was told your son Joseph has come to you his real religious strength and sat up on the bed Jacob said to Joseph god almighty appeared to me at loves in the land of Canaan there he blessed me and said to me I am going to make you fruitful and will increase your numbers I will make you a community of peoples and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you now then your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are mine any children born to you after them will be yours in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers as I was returning from paedon to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way a little distance from Ephraim so I buried her there beside the road to Ephraim that is Bethlehem when Israel saw the sons of Joseph he asked who are these they are the sons God has given me here Joseph said to his father then Israel said bring them to me so I may bless them now Israel's eyes were failing because of old age and he could hardly see so Joseph brought his sons close to him and his father kissed them and embraced them Israel said to Joseph I never expected to see your face again and now God has allowed me to see your children - then Joseph removed them from Israel's knees and bowed down with his face to the ground and Joseph took both of them he for him on his right toward Israel's left-hand and vanassa on his left toward israel's right hand and brought them close to him but israel reached out his right hand and put it on ephram's head though he was the younger and crossing his arms he put his left hand on manassas head even though Manasseh was the firstborn then he blessed Joseph and said may the God before whom my father's Abraham and Isaac water the God who has been my Shepherd all my life to this day the angel who has delivered me from all harm may he bless these boys may they be called by my name and the names of my father's Abraham and Isaac and may they increase greatly upon the earth when Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on a frames head he was displeased so he took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasses head Joseph said to him know my father this one is the firstborn put your right hand on his head but his father refused and said I know my son I know he too will become a people and he too will become great nevertheless his younger brother will be greater than he and his descendants will become a group of Nations he blessed them that day and said in your name will Israel pronounce this blessing may God make you like ephraim and manasseh so he put ephraim ahead of a nasa then Israel said to Joseph I am about to die but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your father's and to you as one who is over your brothers I give the rich of land I took from the Emma rights with my sword and my bow chapter 49 then Jacob called for his sons and said gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come assemble and listen sons of Jacob listen to your father Israel Reuben you are my firstborn my might the first sign of my strength excelling in honor excelling in power turbulent as the waters you will no longer excel for you went up onto your father's bed on to my couch and defiled it Simeon and Levi are brothers their swords are weapons of violence let me not enter their Council let me not join their assembly for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they please cursed be their anger so fierce and their fury so cruel I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel Judah your brothers will praise you your hand will be on the neck of your enemies your father's sons will bow down to you you are alliance cub Oh Judah you return from the prey my son like a lion he crouches and lies down like a lioness who dares to rouse him the scepter will not depart from Judah nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his he will tether his donkey to a vine his Colt to the choicest branch he will wash his garments in wine his robes in the blood of grapes his eyes will be darker than wine his teeth whiter than milk Zebulon will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships his border will extend towards Sidon this a car is a raw-boned donkey lying down between two saddlebags when he sees how good is his resting place and how pleasant is his land he will bend his shoulder to the burden and submit to forced labor then will provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel Dan will be a serpent by the roadside a Viper along the path that bites the horses heels so that it's rider tumbles backward I look for your deliverance O Lord Gared will be attacked by a band of readers but he will attack them at their heels ashes food will be rich he will provide delicacies fit for a king NAFTA ly is a dough set free that bears beautiful forms Joseph is a fruitful vine a fruitful vine nearest spring whose branches climb over a wall with bitterness archers attack him they shot at him with hostility but his bow remained steady his strong arm stayed limber because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob because of the shepherd the rock of Israel because of your father's God who helps you because of the almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above blessings of the deep that lies below blessings of the breasts and wound your father's blessings are greater than the blessings of the ancient mountains than the bounty of the age-old Hills let all these rest on the head of Joseph on the brow of the prints among his brothers Benjamin is a ravenous wolf in the morning he devours the prey in the evening he divides the plunder all these are the twelve tribes of Israel and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them giving each the blessing appropriate to him then he gave them these instructions I am about to be gathered to my people bury me with my father's in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite the cave in the field of Machpelah near memory in Canaan which Abraham bought as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite along with the field there Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried there Isaac and his wife Rebecca were buried and there I buried Leah the field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites when Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons he drew his feet up into the bed breathed his last and was gathered to his people chapter 50 Joseph threw himself upon his father and wept over him and kissed him then Joseph directed the physicians in his service to embalm his father Israel so the physicians embalmed him taking a full forty days but that was the time required for embalming and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days when the days of mourning had passed Joseph said to pharaoh's court if I have found favor in your eyes speak to Pharaoh formally tell him my father made me swear an oath and said I am about to die bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan now let me go up and bury my father then I will return Pharaoh said go up and bury your father as he made you swear to do so Joseph went up to bury his father all Pharaoh's officials accompanied him the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt besides all the members of Joseph's household and his brothers and those belonging to his father's household only their children and their flocks and herds were left in Goshen chariots and horsemen also went up with him it was a very large company when they reached the threshing floor of a tad near the Jordan they lamented loudly and bitterly and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father when the Canaanites who lived there saw the morning at the threshing floor of eight and they said the Egyptians are holding a solemn ceremony of more that is why that place near the Jordan is called Abel Mizrahim so Jacobs sons did as he had commanded them they carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave in the field of Machpelah and their mammary which Abraham had bought as a burial place from Ephraim the Hittite along with the field after burying his father Joseph returned to Egypt together with his brothers and all the others who had gone with him to bury his father when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead they said what if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him so they sent word to Joseph saying your father left these instructions before he died this is what you were to say to Joseph I asked you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly now please forgive the sins of the servants of the god of your father when their message came to him Joseph wept his brothers then came and threw themselves down before him we are your slaves they said but Joseph said to them don't be afraid am I in the place of God you intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done the saving of many lives so then don't be afraid I will provide for you and your children and he reassured them and spoke kindly to them Joseph stayed in Egypt along with all his father's family he lived a hundred and ten years and saw the third generation of Ephraim's children also the children of makers son of Manasseh were placed at birth on Joseph's knees then Joseph said to his brothers I am about to die but God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land in the land he promised on oath to Abraham Isaac and Jacob and Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said God will surely come to your aid and then you must carry my bones up from this place so Joseph died at the age of a hundred and ten and after they embalmed him he was placed in a coffin in Egypt [Music]

Channel: Θεόφιλος (Theo-Philos)

Views: 59,298

Rating: 4.8360658 out of 5

Keywords: the creation, word of god, jesus the christos, god the father, god the son, yeshua the messiah, joshua, yohoshua hamashiach, salvation, deliverance, light, judgment, end times, last days

Id: AdKkXs0m4tM

Length: 230min 53sec (13853 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 14 2018