so that I may make you solemnly promise by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living.

The servant asked him, "What if the woman is not willing to come back with me to this land? Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?"

"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.

But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, you will be free from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!"

Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal. He journeyed to the region of Aram Naharaim and the city of Nahor.

Abraham's servant ran to meet her and said, "Please give me a sip of water from your jug."

My master made me swear an oath. He said, 'You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,

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.

You will be free from your oath if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.'

Here I am, standing by the spring. When the young woman goes out to draw water, I'll say, "Give me a little water to drink from your jug."

She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, 'Drink, and I'll give your camels water too.' So I drank, and she also gave the camels water.

Now Isaac came from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev.

Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel

But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac.

This was the field Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.

His descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next to Egypt all the way to Asshur. They settled away from all their relatives.

When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

and the Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from within you. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."

Now Jacob cooked some stew, and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished.

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."

From there Isaac went up to Beer Sheba.

Now Abimelech had come to him from Gerar along with Ahuzzah his friend and Phicol the commander of his army.

Isaac asked them, "Why have you come to me? You hate me and sent me away from you."

Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left his father's presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt.

So his father Isaac said to him, "Indeed, your home will be away from the richness of the earth, and away from the dew of the sky above.

You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off his yoke from your neck."

Stay there until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I'll send someone to bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?"

He saw in the field a well with three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now a large stone covered the mouth of the well.

Jacob asked them, "My brothers, where are you from?" They replied, "We're from Haran."

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

When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must sleep with me because I have paid for your services with my son's mandrakes." So he had marital relations with her that night.

Let me walk among all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and the spotted or speckled goats. These animals will be my wages.

Then he separated them from Jacob by a three-day journey, while Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban's flocks.

But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible.

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."

"I left secretly because I was afraid!" Jacob replied to Laban. "I thought you might take your daughters away from me by force.

"I have been with you for the past twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks.

Rescue me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children.

"No, please take them," Jacob said. "If I have found favor in your sight, accept my gift from my hand. Now that I have seen your face and you have accepted me, it is as if I have seen the face of God.

Then he purchased the portion of the field where he had pitched his tent; he bought it from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money.

Now Jacob's sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. They were offended and very angry because Shechem had disgraced Israel by sexually assaulting Jacob's daughter, a crime that should not be committed.

They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, took Dinah from Shechem's house, and left.

Then God said to Jacob, "Go up at once to Bethel and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."

He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel because there God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan Aram and blessed him.

Then God said to him, "I am the sovereign God. Be fruitful and multiply! A nation -- even a company of nations -- will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants!

Then God went up from the place where he spoke with him.

They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, Rachel went into labor -- and her labor was hard.

Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite,

Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, all the people in his household, his livestock, his animals, and all his possessions which he had acquired in the land of Canaan and went to a land some distance away from Jacob his brother

chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah.

These were the sons of Esau's son Reuel: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Esau's wife Basemath.

These were the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau's wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

When Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.

When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place.

When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth by the River reigned in his place.

So Jacob said to him, "Go now and check on the welfare of your brothers and of the flocks, and bring me word." So Jacob sent him from the valley of Hebron.

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

When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph from their hands, saying, "Let's not take his life!"

Reuben continued, "Don't shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don't lay a hand on him." (Reuben said this so he could rescue Joseph from them and take him back to his father.)

When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt.

He replied, "I'll send you a young goat from the flock." She asked, "Will you give me a pledge until you send it?"

Then Judah had his friend Hirah the Adullamite take a young goat to get back from the woman the items he had given in pledge, but Hirah could not find her.

Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, purchased him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.

From the time Potiphar appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's household for Joseph's sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both in his house and in his fields.

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?"

for I really was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews and I have done nothing wrong here for which they should put me in a dungeon."

In the top basket there were baked goods of every kind for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them from the basket that was on my head."

In three more days Pharaoh will decapitate you and impale you on a pole. Then the birds will eat your flesh from you."

Then seven bad-looking, thin cows were coming up after them from the Nile, and they stood beside the other cows at the edge of the river.

Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his own hand and put it on Joseph's. He clothed him with fine linen clothes and put a gold chain around his neck.

Joseph collected all the excess food in the land of Egypt during the seven years and stored it in the cities. In every city he put the food gathered from the fields around it.

People from every country came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the famine was severe throughout the earth.

So ten of Joseph's brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, "Where do you come from?" They answered, "From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food."

They replied, "Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers. We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father at this time, and one is no longer alive."

You will be tested in this way: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not depart from this place unless your youngest brother comes here.

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.

We are from a family of twelve brothers; we are the sons of one father. One is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father at this time in the land of Canaan.'

When they finished eating the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, "Return, buy us a little more food."

They had not gone very far from the city when Joseph said to the servant who was over his household, "Pursue the men at once! When you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid good with evil?

Doesn't my master drink from this cup and use it for divination? You have done wrong!'"

They answered him, "Why does my lord say such things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!

Look, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. Why then would we steal silver or gold from your master's house?

But Joseph said, "Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found will become my slave, but the rest of you may go back to your father in peace."

If you take this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair in tragedy to the grave.'

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.

You are also commanded to say, 'Do this: Take for yourselves wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives. Bring your father and come.

So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.

I will go down with you to Egypt and I myself will certainly bring you back from there. Joseph will close your eyes."

Then Jacob started out from Beer Sheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little children, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent along to transport him.

Tell him, 'Your servants have taken care of cattle from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,' so that you may live in the land of Goshen, for everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting to the Egyptians."

Joseph went and told Pharaoh, "My father, my brothers, their flocks and herds, and all that they own have arrived from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen."

Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

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.

Joseph made all the people slaves from one end of Egypt's border to the other end of it.

But he did not purchase the land of the priests because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh and they ate from their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

But as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died -- to my sorrow -- in the land of Canaan. It happened along the way, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there on the way to Ephrath" (that is, Bethlehem).