Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard.

The man replied, "I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid."

But to Adam he said, "Because you obeyed your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat from it,' cursed is the ground thanks to you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

So God said to Noah, "I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy them and the earth.

I am about to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. Everything that is on the earth will die,

Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram, and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.

Then the Lord's angel said to her, "You are now pregnant and are about to give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your painful groans.

Then the Lord said, "Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

because we are about to destroy it. The outcry against this place is so great before the Lord that he has sent us to destroy it."

Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. He said, "Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them.

Abraham said about his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.

Early in the morning Abimelech summoned all his servants. When he told them about all these things, they were terrified.

When God made me wander from my father's house, I told her, 'This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: Every place we go, say about me, "He is my brother."'"

Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me."

But God said to Abraham, "Do not be upset about the boy or your slave wife. Do all that Sarah is telling you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted.

Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot away; for she thought, "I refuse to watch the child die." So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably.

"I do not know who has done this thing," Abimelech replied. "Moreover, you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today."

Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place God had spoken to him about.

When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood.

The young woman ran and told her mother's household all about these things.

"Look," said Esau, "I'm about to die! What use is the birthright to me?"

When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, "She is my sister." He was afraid to say, "She is my wife," for he thought to himself, "The men of this place will kill me to get Rebekah because she is very beautiful."

the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water belongs to us!" So Isaac named the well Esek because they argued with him about it.

That day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well they had dug. "We've found water," they reported.

When Laban heard this news about Jacob, his sister's son, he rushed out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban how he was related to him.

Then Shechem's father Hamor went to speak with Jacob about Dinah.

While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:

This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, was taking care of the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard about you, that you can interpret dreams."

Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "Both dreams of Pharaoh have the same meaning. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.

This is just what I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do.

Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, "You are spies; you have come to see if our land is vulnerable!"

But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are honest men and not spies. Then I will give your brother back to you and you may move about freely in the land.'"

They replied, "The man questioned us thoroughly about ourselves and our family, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?' So we answered him in this way. How could we possibly know that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"

He asked them how they were doing. Then he said, "Is your aging father well, the one you spoke about? Is he still alive?"

When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, he said, "Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?" Then he said, "May God be gracious to you, my son."

He wept loudly; the Egyptians heard it and Pharaoh's household heard about it.

So tell my father about all my honor in Egypt and about everything you have seen. But bring my father down here quickly!"

Don't worry about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt will be yours.'"

Then Israel said to Joseph, "I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.

Then he instructed them, "I am about to go to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.

My father made me swear an oath. He said, "I am about to die. Bury me in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan." Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.'"

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to you and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."