Then God said, "I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground -- everything that has the breath of life in it -- I give every green plant for food." It was so.

And the Lord God said, "Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."

So now, you are banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

And Adam had marital relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, "God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him."

He named him Noah, saying, "This one will bring us comfort from our labor and from the painful toil of our hands because of the ground that the Lord has cursed."

"Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God's image God has made humankind."

In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit."

So Sarai said to Abram, "Since the Lord has prevented me from having children, have sexual relations with my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her." Abram did what Sarai told him.

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.

Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off from his people -- he has failed to carry out my requirement."

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."

Your servant has found favor with you, and you have shown me great kindness by sparing my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because this disaster will overtake me and I'll die.

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

But God heard the boy's voice. The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, "What is the matter, Hagar? Don't be afraid, for God has heard the boy's voice right where he is crying.

"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."

After these things Abraham was told, "Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor --

saying "Praised be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love for my master! The Lord has led me to the house of my master's relatives!"

"The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. The Lord has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

My master's wife Sarah bore a son to him when she was old, and my master has given him everything he owns.

Then she will reply to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too." May that woman be the one whom the Lord has chosen for my master's son.'

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."

But he said to them, "Don't detain me -- the Lord has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return to my master."

Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac named it Rehoboth, saying, "For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land."

So he named it Shibah; that is why the name of the city has been Beer Sheba to this day.

So Jacob went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent of his clothing, he blessed him, saying, "Yes, my son smells like the scent of an open field which the Lord has blessed.

Esau exclaimed, "'Jacob' is the right name for him! He has tripped me up two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!" Then he asked, "Have you not kept back a blessing for me?"

So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, "The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. Surely my husband will love me now."

Jacob became furious with Rachel and exclaimed, "Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?"

Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer and given me a son." That is why she named him Dan.

Then Leah said, "God has granted me a reward because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife." So she named him Issachar.

Then Leah said, "God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons." So she named him Zebulun.

She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then she said, "God has taken away my shame."

But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, for I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me on account of you."

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?"

Jacob heard that Laban's sons were complaining, "Jacob has taken everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich at our father's expense!"

There he said to them, "I can tell that your father's attitude toward me has changed, but the God of my father has been with me.

but your father has humiliated me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm.

In this way God has snatched away your father's livestock and given them to me.

Then he said, 'Observe that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you.

Hasn't he treated us like foreigners? He not only sold us, but completely wasted the money paid for us!

Surely all the wealth that God snatched away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So now do everything God has told you."

Whoever has taken your gods will be put to death! In the presence of our relatives identify whatever is yours and take it." (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.)

The messengers returned to Jacob and said, "We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him."

When Esau looked up and saw the women and the children, he asked, "Who are these people with you?" Jacob replied, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant."

Please take my present that was brought to you, for God has been generous to me and I have all I need." When Jacob urged him, he took it.

So Esau said, "Let me leave some of my men with you." "Why do that?" Jacob replied. "My lord has already been kind enough to me."

Let us go up at once to Bethel. Then I will make an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress and has been with me wherever I went."

He recognized it and exclaimed, "It is my son's tunic! A wild animal has eaten him! Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!"

He asked the men who were there, "Where is the cult prostitute who was at Enaim by the road?" But they replied, "There has been no cult prostitute here."

So he returned to Judah and said, "I couldn't find her. Moreover, the men of the place said, 'There has been no cult prostitute here.'"

After three months Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution, and as a result she has become pregnant." Judah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned!"

But he refused, saying to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not give any thought to his household with me here, and everything that he owns he has put into my care.

There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?"

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.

The dream was repeated to Pharaoh because the matter has been decreed by God, and God will make it happen soon.

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Because God has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning as you are!

Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, "Certainly God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's house."

He named the second child Ephraim, saying, "Certainly God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering."

They said to one other, "Surely we're being punished because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress has come on us!"

He said to his brothers, "My money was returned! Here it is in my sack!" They were dismayed; they turned trembling one to another and said, "What in the world has God done to us?"

"Everything is fine," the man in charge of Joseph's household told them. "Don't be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money." Then he brought Simeon out to them.

If one of us has it, he will die, and the rest of us will become my lord's slaves!"

He replied, "You have suggested your own punishment! The one who has it will become my slave, but the rest of you will go free."

Judah replied, "What can we say to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? God has exposed the sin of your servants! We are now my lord's slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found."

The first disappeared and I said, "He has surely been torn to pieces." I have not seen him since.

For these past two years there has been famine in the land and for five more years there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.

So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser to Pharaoh, lord over all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Now go up to my father quickly and tell him, 'This is what your son Joseph says: "God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay!

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 Jacob was told, "Your son Joseph has just come to you," Israel regained strength and sat up on his bed.

Joseph said to his father, "They are the sons God has given me in this place." His father said, "Bring them to me so I may bless them."

Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see you again, but now God has allowed me to see your children too."

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,

the Angel who has protected me from all harm -- bless these boys. May my name be named in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. May they grow into a multitude on the earth."