Jacob Returns to Bethel

35 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethelo and settle there, and build an altarp there to God,q who appeared to your when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”s

2 So Jacob said to his householdt and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign godsu you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.v 3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God,w who answered me in the day of my distressx and who has been with me wherever I have gone.y” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears,z and Jacob buried them under the oaka at Shechem.b 5 Then they set out, and the terror of Godc fell on the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.d

6 Jacob and all the people with him came to Luze (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.f 7 There he built an altar,g and he called the place El Bethel,a h because it was there that God revealed himself to himi when he was fleeing from his brother.j

8 Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse,k died and was buried under the oakl outside Bethel.m So it was named Allon Bakuth.b

9 After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram,c n God appeared to him again and blessed him.o 10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob,d but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.e”p So he named him Israel.

11 And God said to him, “I am God Almightyf;q be fruitful and increase in number.r A nations and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants.t 12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.u”v 13 Then God went up from himw at the place where he had talked with him.

14 Jacob set up a stone pillarx at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offeringy on it; he also poured oil on it.z 15 Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.g a

The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

35:23–26pp—1Ch 2:1–2

16 Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath,b Rachelc began to give birth and had great difficulty. 17 And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwifed said to her, “Don’t despair, for you have another son.”e 18 As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni.h f But his father named him Benjamin.i g

19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrathh (that is, Bethlehemi). 20 Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this dayj that pillar marks Rachel’s tomb.k

21 Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.l 22 While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubinem Bilhah,n and Israel heard of it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

23 The sons of Leah:o

Reuben the firstbornp of Jacob,

Simeon, Levi, Judah,q Issachar and Zebulun.r

24 The sons of Rachel:

Josephs and Benjamin.t

25 The sons of Rachel’s servant Bilhah:u

Dan and Naphtali.v

26 The sons of Leah’s servant Zilpah:w

Gadx and Asher.y

These were the sons of Jacob,z who were born to him in Paddan Aram.a

27 Jacob came home to his father Isaacb in Mamre,c near Kiriath Arbad (that is, Hebron),e where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.f 28 Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years.g 29 Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people,h old and full of years.i And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.j

Esau’s Descendants

36:10–14pp—1Ch 1:35–37
36:20–28pp—1Ch 1:38–42

36 This is the accountk of the family line of Esau (that is, Edom).l

2 Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan:m Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite,n and Oholibamaho daughter of Anahp and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hiviteq—3 also Basemathr daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.s

4 Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel,t 5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam and Korah.u These were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in Canaan.

6 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,v and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob.w 7 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.x 8 So Esauy (that is, Edom)z settled in the hill country of Seir.a

9 This is the accountb of the family line of Esau the father of the Edomitesc in the hill country of Seir.

10 These are the names of Esau’s sons:

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

11 The sons of Eliphaz:e

Teman,f Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz.g

12 Esau’s son Eliphaz also had a concubineh named Timna, who bore him Amalek.i These were grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah.j

13 The sons of Reuel:

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

14 The sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamahl daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon, whom she bore to Esau:

Jeush, Jalam and Korah.m

15 These were the chiefsn among Esau’s descendants:

The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau:

Chiefs Teman,o Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,p 16 Korah,a Gatam and Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphazq in Edom;r they were grandsons of Adah.s

17 The sons of Esau’s son Reuel:t

Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in Edom; they were grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.u

18 The sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah:v

Chiefs Jeush, Jalam and Korah.w These were the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

19 These were the sons of Esaux (that is, Edom),y and these were their chiefs.z

20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite,a who were living in the region:

Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,b 21 Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These sons of Seir in Edom were Horite chiefs.c

22 The sons of Lotan:

Hori and Homam.b Timna was Lotan’s sister.

23 The sons of Shobal:

Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam.

24 The sons of Zibeon:d

Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who discovered the hot springsc e in the desert while he was grazing the donkeysf of his father Zibeon.

25 The children of Anah:g

Dishon and Oholibamahh daughter of Anah.

26 The sons of Dishond:

Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran.

27 The sons of Ezer:

Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan.

28 The sons of Dishan:

Uz and Aran.

29 These were the Horite chiefs:

Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,i 30 Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These were the Horite chiefs,j according to their divisions, in the land of Seir.

The Rulers of Edom

36:31–43pp—1Ch 1:43–54

31 These were the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite kingk reigned:

32 Bela son of Beor became king of Edom. His city was named Dinhabah.

33 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrahl succeeded him as king.

34 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanitesm succeeded him as king.

35 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midiann in the country of Moab,o succeeded him as king. His city was named Avith.

36 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah succeeded him as king.

37 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehobothp on the river succeeded him as king.

38 When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Akbor succeeded him as king.

39 When Baal-Hanan son of Akbor died, Hadade succeeded him as king. His city was named Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.

40 These were the chiefsq descended from Esau, by name, according to their clans and regions:

Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 43 Magdiel and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they occupied.

This is the family line of Esau, the father of the Edomites.r

Joseph’s Dreams

37 Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed,s the land of Canaan.t

2 This is the accountu of Jacob’s family line.

Joseph,v a young man of seventeen,w was tending the flocksx with his brothers, the sons of Bilhahy and the sons of Zilpah,z his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad reporta about them.

3 Now Israelb loved Joseph more than any of his other sons,c because he had been born to him in his old age;d and he made an ornatea robee for him.f 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated himg and could not speak a kind word to him.

5 Joseph had a dream,h and when he told it to his brothers,i they hated him all the more.j 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheavesk 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.”l

8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?”m And they hated him all the moren because of his dream and what he had said.

9 Then he had another dream,o and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven starsp were bowing down to me.”q

10 When he told his father as well as his brothers,r his father rebukeds him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”t 11 His brothers were jealous of him,u but his father kept the matter in mind.v

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem,w 13 and Israelx said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem.y Come, I am going to send you to them.”

“Very well,” he replied.

14 So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothersz and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.a

When Joseph arrived at Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”

16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”

17 “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.b’ ”

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. 18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.c

19 “Here comes that dreamer!d” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisternse and say that a ferocious animalf devoured him.g Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”h

21 When Reubeni heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said.j 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cisternk here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.l

23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robem he was wearing—24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern.n The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaeliteso coming from Gilead.p Their camels were loaded with spices, balmq and myrrh,r and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.s

26 Judaht said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?u 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother,v our own flesh and blood.w” His brothers agreed.

28 So when the Midianitex merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cisterny and soldz him for twenty shekelsb of silvera to the Ishmaelites,b who took him to Egypt.c

29 When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.d 30 He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?”e

31 Then they got Joseph’s robe,f slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.g 32 They took the ornate robeh back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”

33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animali has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”j

34 Then Jacob tore his clothes,k put on sackclothl and mourned for his son many days.m 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him,n but he refused to be comforted.o “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my sonp in the grave.q” So his father wept for him.

36 Meanwhile, the Midianitesc r sold Josephs in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.t

Judah and Tamar

38 At that time, Judahu left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullamv named Hirah.w 2 There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua.x He married her and made love to her; 3 she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who was named Er.y 4 She conceived again and gave birth to a son and named him Onan.z 5 She gave birth to still another son and named him Shelah.a It was at Kezib that she gave birth to him.

6 Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.b 7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight;c so the Lord put him to death.d

8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.”e 9 But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.f

11 Judah then said to his daughter-in-lawg Tamar,h “Live as a widow in your father’s householdi until my son Shelahj grows up.”k For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.

12 After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua,l died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he went up to Timnah,m to the men who were shearing his sheep,n and his friend Hirah the Adullamiteo went with him.

13 When Tamarp was told, “Your father-in-law is on his way to Timnah to shear his sheep,”q 14 she took off her widow’s clothes,r covered herself with a veils to disguise herself, and then sat downt at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah.u For she saw that, though Shelahv had now grown up, she had not been given to him as his wife.

15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute,w for she had covered her face. 16 Not realizingx that she was his daughter-in-law,y he went over to her by the roadside and said, “Come now, let me sleep with you.”z

“And what will you give me to sleep with you?”a she asked.

17 “I’ll send you a young goatb from my flock,” he said.

“Will you give me something as a pledgec until you send it?” she asked.

18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?”

“Your seald and its cord, and the staffe in your hand,” she answered. So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.f 19 After she left, she took off her veil and put on her widow’s clothesg again.

20 Meanwhile Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamiteh in order to get his pledgei back from the woman, but he did not find her. 21 He asked the men who lived there, “Where is the shrine prostitutej who was beside the road at Enaim?”

“There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here,” they said.

22 So he went back to Judah and said, “I didn’t find her. Besides, the men who lived there said, ‘There hasn’t been any shrine prostitute here.’ ”

23 Then Judah said, “Let her keep what she has,k or we will become a laughingstock.l After all, I did send her this young goat, but you didn’t find her.”

24 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 burned to death!”m

25 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 whose seal and cord and staff these are.”n

26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more righteous than I,o since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.p” And he did not sleep with her again.

27 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb.q 28 As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwifer took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrists and said, “This one came out first.” 29 But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out,t and she said, “So this is how you have broken out!” And he was named Perez.a u 30 Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist,v came out. And he was named Zerah.b w

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39 Now Josephx had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard,y bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.z

2 The Lord was with Josepha so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with himb and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did,c 4 Joseph found favor in his eyesd and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household,e and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.f 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the householdg of the Egyptian because of Joseph.h The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.i 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care;j with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,k 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”l

8 But he refused.m “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.n 9 No one is greater in this house than I am.o 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?”p 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refusedq to go to bed with her or even be with her.

11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties,r and none of the household servantss was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloakt and said, “Come to bed with me!”u But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.v

13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she called her household servants.w “Look,” she said to them, “this Hebrewx has been brought to us to make sport of us!y He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.z 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”a

16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him this story:b “That Hebrewc slaved you brought us came to me to make sport of me. 18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is how your slave treated me,” he burned with anger.e 20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison,f the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.

But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him;g he showed him kindnessh and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.i 22 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.j 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’sk care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.l