Bible in 90 Days

²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow: “If God will be with me and will watch over me on my trip and give me food to eat and clothes to wear, ²¹ and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will be my God. ²² This stone that I have set up as a marker will be the house of God, and I will surely give you a tenth of everything you give me.”

Jacob’s Arrival in Haran

29 Jacob continued on his trip and came to the land in the east. ² He looked around, and out in a field he saw a well with a large stone over the opening. Three flocks of sheep were lying down near it, because the flocks were watered from that well. ³ When all the flocks were gathered there, the stone would be rolled off the opening of the well so that the sheep could be watered. Then the stone would be put back in place over the opening of the well.

⁴ Jacob asked some people, “My friends, where are you from?”

“We’re from Haran,” they replied.

⁵ He asked them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?”

They answered, “We do.”

⁶ “How is he doing?” Jacob asked them.

“He’s fine,” they answered. “Here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.”

⁷ “It’s still the middle of the day,” he said. “It isn’t time yet to gather the livestock. Water the sheep. Then let them graze.”

⁸ They replied, “We can’t until all the flocks are gathered. When the stone is rolled off the opening of the well, we can water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still talking to them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, because she was a shepherd. ¹⁰ Jacob saw Rachel, daughter of his uncle Laban, with his uncle Laban’s sheep. He came forward and rolled the stone off the opening of the well and watered his uncle Laban’s sheep. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel and sobbed loudly. ¹² When Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s nephew and that he was Rebekah’s son, she ran and told her father.

¹³ As soon as Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him. He hugged and kissed him and brought him into his home. Then Jacob told Laban all that had happened. ¹⁴ Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.”

Jacob Obtains Wives

Jacob stayed with him for a whole month. ¹⁵ Then Laban said to him, “Just because you’re my relative doesn’t mean that you should work for nothing. Tell me what your wages should be.”

¹⁶ Laban had two daughters. The name of the older one was Leah, and the name of the younger one was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah had attractive eyes,^[a] but Rachel had a beautiful figure and beautiful features. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel. So he offered, “I’ll work seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.”

¹⁹ Laban responded, “It’s better that I give her to you than to any other man. Stay with me.” ²⁰ Jacob worked seven years in return for Rachel, but the years seemed like only a few days to him because he loved her.

²¹ ⌞At the end of the seven years⌟ Jacob said to Laban, “The time is up; give me my wife! I want to sleep with her.” ²² So Laban invited all the people of that place and gave a wedding feast. ²³ In the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob. Jacob slept with her. When morning came, he realized it was Leah.^{[b] 24} (Laban had given his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave.)

²⁵ “What have you done to me?” Jacob asked Laban. “Didn’t I work for you in return for Rachel? Why did you cheat me?”

²⁶ Laban answered, “It’s not our custom to give the younger daughter ⌞in marriage⌟ before the older one. ²⁷ Finish the week of wedding festivities with this daughter. Then we will give you the other one too. But you’ll have to work for me another seven years.”

²⁸ That’s what Jacob did. He finished the week with Leah. Then Laban gave his daughter Rachel to him as his wife. ²⁹ (Laban had given his slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave.) ³⁰ Jacob slept with Rachel too. He loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years.

Leah and Rachel Compete for Jacob’s Love

³¹ When the Lord saw Leah was unloved, he made it possible for her to have children, but Rachel had none. ³² Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben [Here’s My Son], because she said, “Certainly, the Lord has seen my misery; now my husband will love me!” ³³ She became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, “Certainly, the Lord has heard that I’m unloved, and he also has given me this son.” So she named him Simeon [Hearing]. ³⁴ She became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me because I’ve given him three sons.” So she named him Levi [Attached]. ³⁵ She became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah [Praise]. Then she stopped having children.

30 Rachel saw that she could not have children for Jacob, and she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

² Jacob became angry with Rachel and asked, “Can I take the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”

³ She said, “Here’s my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her. She can have children for me, and I can build a family for myself through her.” ⁴ So she gave him her slave Bilhah as his wife, and Jacob slept with her. ⁵ Bilhah became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Jacob. ⁶ Rachel said, “Now God has judged in my favor. He has heard my prayer and has given me a son.” So she named him Dan [He Judges].

⁷ Rachel’s slave Bilhah became pregnant again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob. ⁸ Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle ^[c] with my sister, and I have won!” So she named him Naphtali [My Struggle].

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as his wife. ¹⁰ Leah’s slave Zilpah gave birth to a son for Jacob. ¹¹ Leah said, “I’ve been lucky!” So she called him Gad [Luck].

¹² Leah’s slave Zilpah gave birth to her second son for Jacob. ¹³ Leah said, “I’ve been blessed! Women will call me blessed.” So she named him Asher [Blessing].

¹⁴ During the wheat harvest Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrakes.^[d] He brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵ Leah replied, “Isn’t it enough that you took my husband? Are you also going to take my son’s mandrakes?”

Rachel said, “Very well, Jacob can go to bed with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶ As Jacob was coming in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You are to sleep with me,” she said. “You are my reward for my son’s mandrakes.” So he went to bed with her that night. ¹⁷ God answered Leah’s prayer. She became pregnant and gave birth to her fifth son for Jacob. ¹⁸ Leah said, “God has given me my reward because I gave my slave to my husband.” So she named him Issachar [Reward].

¹⁹ She became pregnant again and gave birth to her sixth son for Jacob. ²⁰ Leah said, “God has presented me with a beautiful present. This time my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun [Honor].

²¹ Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² Then God remembered Rachel. God answered her prayer and made it possible for her to have children. ²³ So she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph [May He Give Another] and said, “May the Lord give me another son.”

Jacob’s Flocks Prosper

²⁵ After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Let me go home to my own country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children for whom I’ve worked, and let me go. You know how much work I’ve done for you.”

²⁷ Laban replied, “Listen to me. I’ve learned from the signs I’ve seen that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” ²⁸ So he offered, “Name your wages, and I’ll pay them.”

²⁹ Jacob responded, “You know how much work I’ve done for you and what has happened to your livestock under my care. ³⁰ The little that you had before I came has grown to a large amount. The Lord has blessed you wherever I’ve been. When can I do something for my own family?”

³¹ Laban asked, “What should I give you?”

“Don’t give me anything,” Jacob answered. “Instead, do something for me, then I’ll go back to taking care of and watching your flocks again. ³² Let me go through all of your flocks today and take every speckled or spotted sheep, every black lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. ³³ My honesty will speak for itself whenever you come to check on my wages. Any goat I have that isn’t speckled or spotted or any lamb that isn’t black will be considered stolen.”

³⁴ Laban answered, “Agreed. We’ll do as you’ve said.” ³⁵ However, that same day Laban took out the striped and spotted male goats, all the speckled and spotted female goats (every one with white on it), and every black lamb. He had his sons take charge of them. ³⁶ He traveled three days away from Jacob. Jacob continued to take care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Then Jacob took fresh-cut branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and peeled the bark on them in strips of white, uncovering the white which was on the branches. ³⁸ He placed the peeled branches in the troughs directly in front of the flocks, at the watering places where the flocks came to drink. When they were in heat and came to drink, ³⁹ they mated in front of the branches. Then they gave birth to young that were striped, speckled, or spotted.

⁴⁰ Jacob separated the rams from the flock and made the rest of the sheep face any that were striped or black in Laban’s flocks. So he made separate herds for himself and did not add them to Laban’s flocks. ⁴¹ Whenever the stronger of the flocks were in heat, Jacob would lay the branches in the troughs in front of them so that they would mate by the branches. ⁴² But when the flocks in heat were weak, he didn’t lay down the branches. So the weaker ones belonged to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob. ⁴³ As a result, Jacob became very wealthy. He had large flocks, male and female slaves, camels, and donkeys.

Jacob’s Second and Third Encounters with God

31 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father and has gained all his wealth from him.” ² He also noticed that Laban did not appear as friendly to him as before.

³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your ancestors and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

⁴ So Jacob sent a message to Rachel and Leah to come out to the open country where his flocks were. ⁵ He said to them, “I have seen that your father isn’t as friendly to me as he was before, but the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You know that I have worked as hard as I could for your father. ⁷ Your father has cheated me. He has changed my wages 10 times. But God hasn’t let him harm me. ⁸ Whenever he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ all the flocks gave birth to speckled young. And whenever he said, ‘The striped ones will be your wages,’ all the flocks gave birth to striped young. ⁹ So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.

¹⁰ “During the mating season I had a dream: I looked up and saw that the male goats which were mating were striped, speckled, or spotted. ¹¹ In the dream the Messenger of God called to me, ‘Jacob!’ And I answered, ‘Yes, here I am.’ ¹² He said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, or spotted, because I have seen everything that Laban is doing to you. ¹³ I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel,^[e] where you poured olive oil on a stone marker for a holy purpose and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land, and go back to the land of your relatives.’ ”

¹⁴ Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there anything left in our father’s household for us to inherit? ¹⁵ Doesn’t he think of us as foreigners? Not only did he sell us, but he has used up the money that was paid for us. ¹⁶ Certainly, all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. Now do whatever God has told you.”

Laban and Jacob Make Peace

¹⁷ Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels. ¹⁸ He drove all his livestock ahead of him and took all the possessions that he had accumulated. He took his own livestock that he had accumulated in Paddan Aram and went back to his father Isaac in Canaan.

¹⁹ When Laban went to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s idols. ²⁰ Jacob also tricked Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was leaving. ²¹ So he left in a hurry with all that belonged to him. He crossed the Euphrates River and went toward the mountains of Gilead.

²² Two days later Laban was told that Jacob had left in a hurry. ²³ He and his relatives pursued Jacob for seven days. Laban caught up with him in the mountains of Gilead.

²⁴ God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything at all to Jacob.”

²⁵ When Laban finally caught up with Jacob, Jacob had put up his tents in the mountains. So Laban and his relatives put up their tents in the mountains of Gilead. ²⁶ Then Laban asked Jacob, “What have you done by tricking me? You’ve carried off my daughters like prisoners of war. ²⁷ Why did you leave secretly and trick me? You didn’t even tell me you were leaving. I would have sent you on your way rejoicing, with songs accompanied by tambourines and lyres. ²⁸ You didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters. You’ve done a foolish thing. ²⁹ I have the power to harm you. Last night the God of your father said to me, ‘Be careful not to say anything at all to Jacob.’ ³⁰ Now you have left for your father’s home because you were so homesick. But why did you steal my gods?”

³¹ Jacob answered Laban, “I left because I was afraid. I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. ³² If you find your gods, the one who has them will not be allowed to live. In the presence of our relatives, search as much as you want through what I have, and take what is yours.” (Jacob didn’t know that Rachel had stolen the gods.)

³³ So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two slaves. But he found nothing. He came out of Leah’s tent and went into Rachel’s tent. ³⁴ Rachel had taken the idols and had put them in her camel’s saddle-bag and was sitting on them. Laban rummaged through the whole tent but found nothing.

³⁵ Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, Father, but I can’t get up to greet you; I’m having my period.” So even though Laban had made a thorough search, he didn’t find the idols.

³⁶ Then Jacob became angry and confronted Laban. “What is my crime?” Jacob demanded of Laban. “What is my offense that you have come chasing after me? ³⁷ Now that you’ve rummaged through all my things, did you find anything from your house? Put it here in front of all our relatives. Let them decide which one of us is right.

³⁸ “I’ve been with you for 20 years. Your sheep and goats never miscarried, and I never ate any rams from your flocks. ³⁹ I never brought you any of the flock that was killed by wild animals. I paid for the loss myself. That’s what you demanded of me when any of the flock was stolen during the day or at night. ⁴⁰ The scorching heat during the day and the cold at night wore me down, and I lost a lot of sleep. ⁴¹ I’ve been with your household 20 years now. I worked for you 14 years for your two daughters and 6 years for your flocks, and you changed my wages 10 times. ⁴² If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac,^[f] had not been with me, you would have sent me away empty-handed by now. God has seen my misery and hard work, and last night he made it right.”

⁴³ Then Laban answered Jacob, “These are my daughters, my grandchildren, and my flocks. Everything you see is mine! Yet, what can I do today for my daughters or for their children? ⁴⁴ Now, let’s make an agreement and let it stand as a witness between you and me.”

⁴⁵ Jacob took a stone and set it up as a marker. ⁴⁶ Then Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” They took stones, put them into a pile, and ate there by the pile of stones. ⁴⁷ ⌞In his language⌟ Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha [Witness Pile], but Jacob called it Galeed.^[g]

⁴⁸ Laban said, “This pile of stones stands as a witness between you and me today.” This is why it was named Galeed ⁴⁹ and also Mizpah [Watchtower], because he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we’re unable to see each other. ⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters or marry other women behind my back, remember that God stands as a witness between you and me.”

⁵¹ Laban said to Jacob, “Here is the pile of stones, and here is the marker that I have set up between you and me. ⁵² This pile of stones and this marker stand as witnesses that I will not go past the pile of stones to harm you, and that you will not go past the pile of stones or marker to harm me. ⁵³ May the God of Abraham and Nahor—the God of their father—judge between us.”

So Jacob swore this oath by the Fear of his father Isaac ⁵⁴ and offered a sacrifice on the mountain. He invited his relatives to eat the meal with him. They ate with him and spent the night on the mountain.^[h]

⁵⁵ Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban left and went back home.

Jacob Sends Messages and Gifts to Esau

32 ^[i]As Jacob went on his way, God’s angels met him. ² When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp!” He named that place Mahanaim [Two Camps].

³ Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in Seir, the country of Edom. ⁴ He commanded them to give this message to Esau, “Sir, this is what Jacob has to say, ‘I’ve been living with Laban and have stayed until now. ⁵ I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, and male and female slaves. I’ve sent ⌞these messengers⌟ to tell you ⌞this news⌟ in order to win your favor.’ ”

⁶ When the messengers came back to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you with 400 men.”

⁷ Jacob was terrified and distressed. So he divided the people, the sheep and goats, the cattle, and the camels into two camps. ⁸ He thought, “If Esau attacks the one camp, then the other camp will be able to escape.”

⁹ Then Jacob prayed, “God of my grandfather Abraham and God of my father Isaac! Lord, you said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your relatives, and I will make you prosperous.’ ¹⁰ I’m not worthy of all the love and faithfulness you have shown me. I only had a shepherd’s staff when I crossed the Jordan River, but now I have two camps. ¹¹ Please save me from my brother Esau, because I’m afraid of him. I’m afraid that he’ll come and attack me and the mothers and children too. ¹² But you did say, ‘I will make sure that you are prosperous and that your descendants will be as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. No one will be able to count them because there are so many.’ ”

¹³ He stayed there that night. Then he prepared a gift for his brother Esau from what he had brought with him: ¹⁴ 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep, ¹⁵ 30 female camels with their young, 40 cows and 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys.

¹⁶ He placed servants in charge of each herd. Then he said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep a distance between the herds.” ¹⁷ He commanded the first servant, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and whose animals are these ahead of you?’ ¹⁸ then say, ‘Sir, they belong to your servant Jacob. This is a gift sent to you. Jacob is right behind us.’ ” ¹⁹ He also commanded the second servant, the third, and all the others who followed the herds. He said, “Say the same thing to Esau when you find him. ²⁰ And be sure to add, ‘Jacob is right behind us, sir.’ ” He thought, “I’ll make peace with him by giving him this gift that I’m sending ahead of me. After that I will see him, and he’ll welcome me back.” ²¹ So Jacob sent the gift ahead of him while he stayed in the camp that night.

Jacob’s Fourth Encounter with God—He Wrestles with God

²² During that night he got up and gathered his two wives, his two slaves and his eleven children and crossed at the shallow part of the Jabbok River. ²³ After he sent them across the stream, he sent everything else across. ²⁴ So Jacob was left alone. Then a man wrestled with him until dawn. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not win against Jacob, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that it was dislocated as they wrestled. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go; it’s almost dawn.”

But Jacob answered, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.”

²⁷ So the man asked him, “What’s your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

²⁸ The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob but Israel [He Struggles With God], because you have struggled with God and with men—and you have won.”

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

The man answered, “Why do you ask for my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there. ³⁰ So Jacob named that place Peniel [Face of God], because he said, “I have seen God face to face, but my life was saved.” ³¹ The sun rose as he passed Penuel.^[j] He was limping because of his hip. ³² (Therefore, even today the people of Israel do not eat the muscle of the thigh attached to the hip socket because God touched the socket of Jacob’s hip at the muscle of the thigh.)

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Jacob saw Esau coming with 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two slaves. ² He put the slaves and their children in front, Leah and her children after them, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³ He went on ahead of them and bowed seven times with his face touching the ground as he came near his brother.

⁴ Then Esau ran to meet Jacob. Esau hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. They both cried. ⁵ When he saw the women and children, Esau asked, “Who are these people here with you?”

“The children God has graciously given me, sir,” Jacob answered.

⁶ Then the slaves and their children came forward and bowed down. ⁷ Likewise, Leah and her children came forward and bowed down. Finally, Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed down.

⁸ Then Esau asked, “Why did you send this whole group ⌞of people and animals⌟ I met?”

He answered, “To win your favor, sir.”

⁹ Esau said, “I have enough. Keep what you have, Brother.”

¹⁰ Jacob said, “No, please take the gift I’m giving you, because I’ve seen your face as if I were seeing the face of God, and yet you welcomed me so warmly. ¹¹ Please take the present I’ve brought you, because God has been gracious to me and has given me all that I need.” So Esau took it because Jacob insisted.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let’s get ready to go, and I’ll go with you.”

¹³ Jacob said to him, “Sir, you know that the children are frail and that I have to take care of the flocks and cattle that are nursing their young. If they’re driven too hard for even one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴ Go ahead of me, sir. I will slowly and gently guide the herds that are in front of me at their pace and at the children’s pace until I come to you in Seir.”

¹⁵ Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”

“Why do that?” Jacob asked. “I only want to win your favor, sir.”

¹⁶ That day Esau started back to Seir. ¹⁷ But Jacob moved on to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is named Succoth [Shelters].

¹⁸ So having come from Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in Canaan. He camped within sight of the city. ¹⁹ Then he bought the piece of land on which he had put up his tents. He bought it from the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver. ²⁰ He set up an altar there and named it God Is the God of Israel.

Dinah Is Raped

34 Dinah, daughter of Leah and Jacob, went out to visit some of the Canaanite women. ² When Shechem, son of the local ruler Hamor the Hivite, saw her, he took her and raped her. ³ He became very fond of Jacob’s daughter Dinah. He loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her.

⁴ So Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Get me this girl for my wife.”

⁵ Jacob heard that Shechem had dishonored his daughter Dinah. His sons were with his livestock out in the open country, so Jacob kept quiet until they came home.

⁶ So Shechem’s father Hamor came to Jacob to speak with him. ⁷ Jacob’s sons came in from the open country as soon as they heard the news. The men felt outraged and very angry because Shechem had committed such a godless act against Israel’s family by raping Jacob’s daughter. This shouldn’t have happened.

⁸ Hamor told them. “My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please let her marry him. ⁹ Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take ours for yourselves. ¹⁰ You can live with us, and the land will be yours. Live here, move about freely in this area, and acquire property here.”

¹¹ Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and her brothers, “Do me this favor. I’ll give you whatever you ask. ¹² Set the price I must pay for the bride and the gift I must give her as high as you want. I’ll pay exactly what you tell me. Give me the girl as my wife.”

¹³ Then Jacob’s sons gave Shechem and his father Hamor a misleading answer because he had dishonored their sister Dinah. ¹⁴ They said, “We can’t do this. We can’t give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised. That would be a disgrace to us! ¹⁵ We will give our consent to you only on one condition: Every male must be circumcised as we are. ¹⁶ Then we’ll give our daughters to you and take yours for ourselves, and we’ll live with you and become one people. ¹⁷ If you won’t agree to be circumcised, we’ll take our daughter and go.”

¹⁸ Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. ¹⁹ The young man didn’t waste any time in doing what they said because he took such pleasure in Jacob’s daughter. He was the most honored person in all his father’s family.

²⁰ So Hamor and his son Shechem went to their city gate to speak to the men of their city. They said, ²¹ “These people are friendly toward us, so let them live in our land and move about freely in the area. Look, there’s plenty of room in this land for them. We can marry their daughters and let them marry ours. ²² These people will consent to live with us and become one nation on one condition: Every male must be circumcised as they are. ²³ Won’t their livestock, their personal property, and all their animals be ours? We only need to agree to do this for them. Then they’ll live with us.”

²⁴ All the men who had come out to the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem. So they were all circumcised at the city gate.

²⁵ Two days later, while the men were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and boldly attacked the city. They killed every man ²⁶ including Hamor and his son Shechem. They took Dinah from Shechem’s home and left. ²⁷ Then Jacob’s sons stripped the corpses and looted the city where their sister had been dishonored. ²⁸ They took the sheep and goats, cattle, donkeys, and whatever else was in the city or out in the fields. ²⁹ They carried off all the wealth and all the women and children and looted everything in the houses.

³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have caused me a lot of trouble! You’ve made the people living in the area, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, hate me. There are only a few of us. If they join forces against me and attack me, my family and I will be wiped out.”

³¹ Simeon and Levi asked, “Should Shechem have been allowed to treat our sister like a prostitute?”

Jacob’s Fifth Encounter with God

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Go to Bethel and live there. Make an altar there. I am the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”

² So Jacob said to his family and those who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods which you have, wash yourselves until you are ritually clean,^[k] and change your clothes. ³ Then let’s go to Bethel. I will make an altar there to God, who answered me when I was troubled and who has been with me wherever I’ve gone.” ⁴ So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that they had in their possession as well as the earrings that they had on. Jacob buried these things under the oak tree near Shechem.

⁵ As they moved on, God made the people of the cities that were all around them terrified so that no one pursued them. ⁶ Jacob and all the people who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. ⁷ He built an altar there and called that place El Bethel [God of the House of God]. That’s where God had revealed himself to Jacob when he was fleeing from his brother. ⁸ Rebekah’s nurse Deborah died and was buried under the oak tree outside Bethel. So Jacob called it the Tree of Crying.

Jacob’s Sixth Encounter with God—His Name Changed to Israel

⁹ Then God appeared once more to Jacob after he came back from Paddan Aram, and he blessed him. ¹⁰ God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. You will no longer be called Jacob, but your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.

¹¹ God also said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fertile, and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from you. ¹² I will give you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. I will also give this land to your descendants.” ¹³ Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him. ¹⁴ So Jacob set up a memorial, a stone marker, to mark the place where God had spoken with him. He poured a wine offering and olive oil on it. ¹⁵ Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Bethel [House of God].

Jacob’s [Israel’s] Sons^(A)

¹⁶ Then they moved on from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor and was having severe labor pains. ¹⁷ During one of her pains, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid! You’re having another son!” ¹⁸ Rachel was dying. As she took her last breath, she named her son Benoni [Son of My Sorrow], but his father named him Benjamin [Son of My Right Hand].

¹⁹ Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). ²⁰ Then Jacob set up a stone as a marker for her grave. The same marker is at Rachel’s grave today.

²¹ Israel moved on again and put up his tent beyond Migdal Eder. ²² While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went to bed with his father’s concubine ^[l] Bilhah, and Israel heard about it.

²⁷ Jacob came home to his father Isaac to Mamre’s city, Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron). Abraham and Isaac had lived there for a while. ²⁸ Isaac was 180 years old ²⁹ when he took his last breath and died. He joined his ancestors in death at a very old age. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

The Origin of Edom^(B)

36 This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom) and his descendants. ² Esau chose his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah, daughter of Elon the Hittite; Oholibamah, daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite; ³ also Basemath, daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. ⁴ Adah gave birth to Eliphaz for Esau, and Basemath gave birth to Reuel. ⁵ Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born in Canaan.

⁶ Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, all the members of his household, his possessions, all his cattle, and everything he had accumulated in Canaan and went to another land away from his brother Jacob. ⁷ He did this because they had too many possessions to live together. There wasn’t enough pastureland for all of their livestock. ⁸ So Esau, who was also known as Edom, lived in the mountains of Seir.

⁹ This is the account of Esau and his descendants. He was the father of the people of Edom in the mountains of Seir.

Eliphaz, son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, son of Esau’s wife Basemath.

Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹² Timna was a concubine ^[m] of Esau’s son Eliphaz. She gave birth to Amalek for Eliphaz. These were the grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah.

Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, ¹⁶ Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These were the tribal leaders descended from Eliphaz in Edom. They were the grandsons of Adah.

Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the tribal leaders descended from Reuel in Edom. They were the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the tribal leaders descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, Anah’s daughter.

Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These Horite tribal leaders were the sons of Seir in Edom.

Hori and Hemam. Lotan’s sister was Timna.

²³ These were the sons of Shobal:

Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

Aiah and Anah. (Anah found the hot springs in the desert while he was taking care of the donkeys that belonged to his father Zibeon.)

Dishon and Oholibamah, daughter of Anah.

Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.

Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

Uz and Aran.

Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ³⁰ Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the Horite tribal leaders in the land of Seir.

Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, ⁴¹ Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁴² Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁴³ Magdiel, and Iram.

These were the tribal leaders of Edom listed by the places where they lived and the property they owned.

Esau was the father of the people of Edom.

Joseph’s Brothers Sell Him into Slavery

37 Jacob continued to live in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived.

² This is the account of Jacob and his descendants.

Joseph was a seventeen-year-old young man. He took care of the flocks with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph told his father about the bad things his brothers were doing.

³ Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because Joseph had been born in Israel’s old age. So he made Joseph a special robe with long sleeves. ⁴ Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them. They hated Joseph and couldn’t speak to him on friendly terms.

⁵ Joseph had a dream and when he told his brothers, they hated him even more. ⁶ He said to them, “Please listen to the dream I had. ⁷ We were tying grain into bundles out in the field, and suddenly mine stood up. It remained standing while your bundles gathered around my bundle and bowed down to it.”

⁸ Then his brothers asked him, “Are you going to be our king or rule us?” They hated him even more for his dreams and his words.

⁹ Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream: I saw the sun, the moon, and 11 stars bowing down to me.”

¹⁰ When he told his father and his brothers, his father criticized him by asking, “What’s this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers come and bow down in front of you?” ¹¹ So his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept thinking about these things.

¹² His brothers had gone to take care of their father’s flocks at Shechem. ¹³ Israel then said to Joseph, “Your brothers are taking care of the flocks at Shechem. I’m going to send you to them.”

Joseph responded, “I’ll go.”

¹⁴ So Israel said, “See how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring some news back to me.” Then he sent Joseph away from the Hebron Valley.

When Joseph came to Shechem, ¹⁵ a man found him wandering around in the open country. “What are you looking for?” the man asked.

¹⁶ Joseph replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they’re taking care of their flocks.”

¹⁷ The man said, “They moved on from here. I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

¹⁸ They saw him from a distance. Before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. ¹⁹ They said to each other, “Look, here comes that master dreamer! ²⁰ Let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and say that a wild animal has eaten him. Then we’ll see what happens to his dreams.”

²¹ When Reuben heard this, he tried to save Joseph from their plot. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. ²² “Let’s not have any bloodshed. Put him into that cistern that’s out in the desert, but don’t hurt him.” Reuben wanted to rescue Joseph from them and bring him back to his father.

²³ So when Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his special robe with long sleeves. ²⁴ Then they took him and put him into an empty cistern. It had no water in it.

²⁵ As they sat down to eat, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying the materials for cosmetics, medicine, and embalming. They were on their way to take them to Egypt.

²⁶ Judah asked his brothers, “What will we gain by killing our brother and covering up his death? ²⁷ Let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites. Let’s not hurt him, because he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.

²⁸ As the Midianite merchants were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph out of the cistern. They sold him to the Ishmaelites for eight ounces of silver. The Ishmaelites took him to Egypt.

²⁹ When Reuben came back to the cistern and saw that Joseph was no longer there, he tore his clothes in grief. ³⁰ He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! What am I going to do?”

³¹ So they took Joseph’s robe, killed a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood. ³² Then they brought the special robe with long sleeves to their father and said, “We found this. You better examine it to see whether it’s your son’s robe or not.”

³³ He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A wild animal has eaten him! Joseph must have been torn to pieces!” ³⁴ Then, to show his grief, Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son a long time. ³⁵ All his other sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “No, I will mourn for my son until I die.” This is how Joseph’s father cried over him.

³⁶ Meanwhile, in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials and captain of the guard.

Judah’s Sin with Tamar

38 About that time Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man from Adullam whose name was Hirah. ² There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man whose name was Shua. He married her and slept with her. ³ She became pregnant and gave birth to a son named ^[n] Er. ⁴ She became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, whom she named Onan. ⁵ Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, whom she named Shelah. He was born at Kezib.

⁶ Judah chose a wife for his firstborn son Er. Her name was Tamar. ⁷ Er angered the Lord. So the Lord took away his life. ⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Go sleep with your brother’s widow. Do your duty for her as a brother-in-law, and produce a descendant for your brother.” ⁹ But Onan knew that the descendant wouldn’t belong to him, so whenever he slept with his brother’s widow, he wasted his semen on the ground to avoid giving his brother a descendant. ¹⁰ What Onan did angered the Lord so much that the Lord took away Onan’s life too.

¹¹ Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Return to your father’s home. Live as a widow until my son Shelah grows up.” He thought that this son, too, might die like his brothers. So Tamar went to live in her father’s home.

¹² After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah from Adullam went to Timnah where the men were shearing Judah’s sheep. ¹³ As soon as Tamar was told that her father-in-law was on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep, ¹⁴ she took off her widow’s clothes, covered her face with a veil, and disguised herself. Then she sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. (She did this because she realized that Shelah was grown up now, and she hadn’t been given to him in marriage.)

¹⁵ When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face. ¹⁶ Since he didn’t know she was his daughter-in-law, he approached her by the roadside and said, “Come on, let’s sleep together!”

She asked, “What will you pay to sleep with me?”

¹⁷ “I’ll send you a young goat from the flock,” he answered.

She said, “First give me something as a deposit until you send it.”

¹⁸ “What should I give you as a deposit?” he asked.

“Your signet ring, its cord, and the shepherd’s staff that’s in your hand,” she answered.

So he gave them to her. Then he slept with her, and she became pregnant. ¹⁹ After she got up and left, she took off her veil and put her widow’s clothes back on.

²⁰ Judah sent his friend Hirah to deliver the young goat so that he could get back his deposit from the woman, but his friend couldn’t find her. ²¹ He asked the men of that area, “Where’s that prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?”

“There’s no prostitute here,” they answered.

²² So he went back to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. Even the men of that area said, ‘There’s no prostitute here.’ ”

²³ Then Judah said, “Let her keep what I gave her, or we’ll become a laughingstock. After all, I did send her this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”

²⁴ About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has been acting like a prostitute. What’s more, because of it she’s pregnant.”

Judah ordered, “Bring her out to be burned.”

²⁵ As she was brought out, she sent a message to her father-in-law, “I’m pregnant by the man who owns these things. See if you recognize whose signet ring, cord, and shepherd’s staff these are.”

²⁶ Judah recognized them and said, “She’s not guilty. I am! She did this because I haven’t given her my son Shelah.” Judah never made love to her again.

²⁷ The time came for Tamar to give birth, and she had twin boys. ²⁸ When she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand. The midwife took a piece of red yarn, tied it on his wrist, and said, “This one came out first.” ²⁹ As he pulled back his hand, his brother was born. So she said, “Is this how you burst into the world!” He was named Perez [Bursting Into]. ³⁰ After that his brother was born with the red yarn on his hand. He was named Zerah [Sunrise].

Joseph in Potiphar’s House

39 Joseph had been taken to Egypt. Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s Egyptian officials and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.

² The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. He worked in the house of his Egyptian master. ³ Joseph’s master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he did successful. ⁴ Potiphar liked Joseph so much that he made him his trusted servant. He put him in charge of his household and everything he owned. ⁵ From that time on the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s household because of Joseph. Therefore, the Lord’s blessing was on everything Potiphar owned in his house and in his fields. ⁶ So he left all that he owned in Joseph’s care. He wasn’t concerned about anything except the food he ate.

Joseph was well-built and handsome. ⁷ After a while his master’s wife began to desire Joseph, so she said, “Come to bed with me.”

⁸ But Joseph refused and said to her, “My master doesn’t concern himself with anything in the house. He trusts me with everything he owns. ⁹ No one in this house is greater than I. He’s kept nothing back from me except you, because you’re his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” ¹⁰ Although she kept asking Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or be with her.

¹¹ One day he went into the house to do his work, and none of the household servants were there. ¹² She grabbed him by his clothes and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he ran outside and left his clothes in her hand.

¹³ When she realized that he had gone but had left his clothes behind, ¹⁴ she called her household servants and said to them, “Look! My husband brought this Hebrew here to fool around with us. He came in and tried to go to bed with me, but I screamed as loud as I could. ¹⁵ As soon as he heard me scream, he ran outside and left his clothes with me.”

¹⁶ She kept Joseph’s clothes with her until his master came home. ¹⁷ Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought here came in and tried to fool around with me. ¹⁸ But when I screamed, he ran outside and left his clothes with me.”

¹⁹ When Potiphar heard his wife’s story, especially when she said, “This is what your slave did to me,” he became very angry. ²⁰ So Joseph’s master arrested him and put him in the same prison where the king’s prisoners were kept.

While Joseph was in prison, ²¹ the Lord was with him. The Lord reached out to him with his unchanging love and gave him protection. The Lord also put Joseph on good terms with the warden. ²² So the warden placed Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in that prison. Joseph became responsible for everything that they were doing. ²³ The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care because the Lord was with Joseph and made whatever he did successful.

Joseph in Prison

40 Later the king’s cupbearer ^[o] and his baker offended their master, the king of Egypt. ² Pharaoh was angry with his chief cupbearer and his chief baker. ³ He put them in the prison of the captain of the guard, the same place where Joseph was a prisoner. ⁴ The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he took care of them.

After they had been confined for some time, ⁵ both prisoners—the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt—had dreams one night. Each man had a dream with its own special meaning.

⁶ When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were upset. ⁷ So he asked these officials of Pharaoh who were with him in his master’s prison, “Why do you look so unhappy today?”

⁸ “We both had dreams,” they answered him, “but there’s no one to tell us what they mean.”

“Isn’t God the only one who can tell what they mean?” Joseph asked them. “Why don’t you tell me all about them.”

⁹ So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said “In my dream a grapevine with three branches appeared in front of me. ¹⁰ Soon after it sprouted it blossomed. Then its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes and squeezed them into it. I put the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”