God said to him:

Your name is Jacob;
you will no longer be named Jacob,
but your name will be Israel.

So He named him Israel.

With her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni, but his father called him Benjamin.

He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him. “What kind of dream is this that you have had?” he said. “Are your mother and brothers and I going to come and bow down to the ground before you?”

His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Reuben also said to them, “Don’t shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him”—intending to rescue him from their hands and return him to his father.

All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” And his father wept for him.

But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he released his semen on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother.

“I will send you a young goat from my flock,” he replied.

But she said, “Only if you leave something with me until you send it.”

Judah replied, “Let her keep the items for herself; otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”

But then he pulled his hand back, and his brother came out. Then she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez.

But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has put all that he owns under my authority.

She grabbed him by his garment and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his garment in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.

but when I screamed for help, he left his garment with me and ran outside.”

But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

“We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.”

Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

But when all goes well for you, remember that I was with you. Please show kindness to me by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison.

In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had explained to them.

When morning came, he was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said about you that you can hear a dream and interpret it.”

The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven plump ones. I told this to the magicians, but no one can tell me what it means.”

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but no one will be able to raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt without your permission.”

and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every country, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food.

But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought, “Something might happen to him.”

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them.

“Where do you come from?” he asked.

“From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied.

But they replied, “We, your servants, were 12 brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no longer living.”

Then they said to each other, “Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.”

But Reuben replied: “Didn’t I tell you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn’t listen. Now we must account for his blood!”

But we told him: We are honest and not spies.

Bring back your youngest brother to me, and I will know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the country.’”

But Jacob answered, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. If anything happens to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.”

But Judah said to him, “The man specifically warned us: ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’

But if you will not send him, we will not go, for the man said to us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’”

But the men were afraid because they were taken to Joseph’s house. They said, “We have been brought here because of the money that was returned in our bags the first time. They intend to overpower us, seize us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.”

The steward replied, “What you have said is right, but only the one who is found to have it will be my slave, and the rest of you will be blameless.”

But Judah approached him and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh.

But we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’

But our father said, ‘Go again, and buy us some food.’

We told him, ‘We cannot go down unless our younger brother goes with us. So if our younger brother isn’t with us, we cannot see the man.’

But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and also Pharaoh’s household heard it.

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But they could not answer him because they were terrified in his presence.

Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

He gave each of the brothers changes of clothes, but he gave Benjamin 300 pieces of silver and five changes of clothes.

But when they told Jacob all that Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived.

Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.
Perez’s sons: Hezron and Hamul.

But there was no food in that entire region, for the famine was very severe. The land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were exhausted by the famine.

But Joseph said, “Give me your livestock. Since the money is gone, I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.”

Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, but now God has even let me see your offspring.”

But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and crossing his hands, put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn.

But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know! He too will become a tribe, and he too will be great; nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a populous nation.”

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

Gad will be attacked by raiders,
but he will attack their heels.

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God?

Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will certainly come to your aid and bring you up from this land to the land He promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

But the Israelites were fruitful, increased rapidly, multiplied, and became extremely numerous so that the land was filled with them.

But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.”

Pharaoh then commanded all his people: “You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live.”

But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with asphalt and pitch. She placed the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.

When Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well.

Then some shepherds arrived and drove them away, but Moses came to their rescue and watered their flock.

Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within a bush. As Moses looked, he saw that the bush was on fire but was not consumed.

But Moses asked God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

Then Moses answered, “What if they won’t believe me and will not obey me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

but the Lord told him, “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail.” So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand.

But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since You have been speaking to Your servant—because I am slow and hesitant in speech.”

The Lord instructed Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he won’t let the people go.

I told you: Let My son go so that he may worship Me, but you refused to let him go. Now I will kill your firstborn son!”

But Pharaoh responded, “Who is Yahweh that I should obey Him by letting Israel go? I do not know anything about Yahweh, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”

But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers—that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’

Go get straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’”

No straw has been given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look, your servants are being beaten, but it is your own people who are at fault.”

But he said, “You are slackers. Slackers! That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to the Lord.’

Now get to work. No straw will be given to you, but you must produce the same quantity of bricks.”

But the Lord replied to Moses, “Now you are going to see what I will do to Pharaoh: he will let them go because of My strong hand; he will drive them out of his land because of My strong hand.”

I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but I did not reveal My name Yahweh to them.

Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.

But Moses said in the Lord’s presence: “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I am such a poor speaker?”

But Moses replied in the Lord’s presence, “Since I am such a poor speaker, how will Pharaoh listen to me?”

But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.

Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put My hand on Egypt and bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.

But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers—the magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices.

Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs.

Tell him: Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness, but so far you have not listened.

But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

But if you refuse to let them go, then I will plague all your territory with frogs.

But the magicians did the same thing by their occult practices and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.

But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

The magicians tried to produce gnats using their occult practices, but they could not. The gnats remained on man and beast.

“This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

But if you will not let My people go, then I will send swarms of flies against you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The Egyptians’ houses will swarm with flies, and so will the land where they live.

But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, Yahweh, am in the land.

But Moses said, “It would not be right to do that, because what we will sacrifice to the Lord our God is detestable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what the Egyptians detest in front of them, won’t they stone us?

Pharaoh responded, “I will let you go and sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but don’t go very far. Make an appeal for me.”

“As soon as I leave you,” Moses said, “I will appeal to the Lord, and tomorrow the swarms of flies will depart from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people. But Pharaoh must not act deceptively again by refusing to let the people go and sacrifice to the Lord.”

But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not let the people go.

But if you refuse to let them go and keep holding them,

But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that the Israelites own will die.”

The Lord did this the next day. All the Egyptian livestock died, but none among the Israelite livestock died.

Pharaoh sent messengers who saw that not a single one of the Israelite livestock was dead. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not let the people go.