He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. (That is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.")

Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go to the left, then I'll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I'll go to the left."

Lot looked up and saw the whole region of the Jordan. He noticed that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, all the way to Zoar.

When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless.

Abraham said to God, "O that Ishmael might live before you!"

Abraham then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food before them. They ate while he was standing near them under a tree.

The two men turned and headed toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord.

Before they could lie down to sleep, all the men -- both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom -- surrounded the house.

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."

Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord.

Then Abimelech said, "Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please."

To Sarah he said, "Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your 'brother.' This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you."

(Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite replied to Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth -- before all who entered the gate of his city --

Abraham bowed before the local people

as his property in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who entered the gate of Ephron's city.

"The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and the land of my relatives, promised me with a solemn oath, 'To your descendants I will give this land.' He will send his angel before you so that you may find a wife for my son from there.

Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor).

He answered, 'The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father's family.

"Before I finished praying in my heart, along came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, 'Please give me a drink.'

Rebekah stands here before you. Take her and go so that she may become the wife of your master's son, just as the Lord has decided."

When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the Lord.

so that you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed you, but have always treated you well before sending you away in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord."

Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then I will eat it so that I may bless you before I die."

Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.'

Then you will take it to your father. Thus he will eat it and bless you before he dies."

Isaac began to shake violently and asked, "Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. He will indeed be blessed!"

"It is not our custom here," Laban replied, "to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn.

Indeed, you had little before I arrived, but now your possessions have increased many times over. The Lord has blessed you wherever I worked. But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?"

When you searched through all my goods, did you find anything that belonged to you? Set it here before my relatives and yours, and let them settle the dispute between the two of us!

He entrusted them to his servants, who divided them into herds. He told his servants, "Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next."

These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites:

Now Joseph's brothers saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

But then he drew back his hand, and his brother came out before him. She said, "How you have broken out of the womb!" So he was named Perez.

In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just as you did before when you were cupbearer.

Then Pharaoh summoned Joseph. So they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; he shaved himself, changed his clothes, and came before Pharaoh.

When they had eaten them, no one would have known that they had done so, for they were just as bad-looking as before. Then I woke up.

Pharaoh had him ride in the chariot used by his second-in-command, and they cried out before him, "Kneel down!" So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.

Two sons were born to Joseph before the famine came. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, was their mother.

Now Joseph was the ruler of the country, the one who sold grain to all the people of the country. Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

He turned away from them and wept. When he turned around and spoke to them again, he had Simeon taken from them and tied up before their eyes.

I myself pledge security for him; you may hold me liable. If I do not bring him back to you and place him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life.

May the sovereign God grant you mercy before the man so that he may release your other brother and Benjamin! As for me, if I lose my children I lose them."

So the men took these gifts, and they took double the money with them, along with Benjamin. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought inside, and they bowed down to the ground before him.

They sat before him, arranged by order of birth, beginning with the firstborn and ending with the youngest. The men looked at each other in astonishment.

He gave them portions of the food set before him, but the portion for Benjamin was five times greater than the portions for any of the others. They drank with Joseph until they all became drunk.

So Judah and his brothers came back to Joseph's house. He was still there, and they threw themselves to the ground before him.

Indeed, your servant pledged security for the boy with my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame before my father all my life.'

Joseph was no longer able to control himself before all his attendants, so he cried out, "Make everyone go out from my presence!" No one remained with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.

Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?" His brothers could not answer him because they were dumbfounded before him.

Then Israel said, "Enough! My son Joseph is still alive! I will go and see him before I die."

Jacob sent Judah before him to Joseph to accompany him to Goshen. So they came to the land of Goshen.

The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best region of the land. They may live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any highly capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock."

Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh.

When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, "Give us food! Why should we die before your very eyes because our money has run out?"

When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, "We cannot hide from our lord that the money is used up and the livestock and the animals belong to our lord. Nothing remains before our lord except our bodies and our land.

Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become Pharaoh's slaves. Give us seed that we may live and not die. Then the land will not become desolate."

"Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are.

Then he blessed Joseph and said, "May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked -- the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,

So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you will Israel bless, saying, 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.'" So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies, your father's sons will bow down before you.

So they sent word to Joseph, saying, "Your father gave these instructions before he died:

Then his brothers also came and threw themselves down before him; they said, "Here we are; we are your slaves."