and stay there with him a few days until your brother's fury subsides.

After that happens and he has forgotten what you've done to him, I'll send for you so you can return from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"

Rebekah also told herself, "Heth's daughters are making me tired of living. If Jacob marries one of Heth's daughters, and she turns out to be just like these other local women, what kind of life would there be left for me?"

Esau noticed that after Isaac had blessed Jacob as he was sending him off to Paddan-aram to marry a wife from there, he had instructed Jacob, "Don't marry a Canaanite woman."

He reached a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun was setting. He found a stone there, used it for a pillow, and slept there for the night,

And there was the LORD, standing above it and telling Jacob, "I am the LORD God of your grandfather Abraham. I'm Isaac's God, too. I'm giving you and your descendants the ground on which you're sleeping.

Your descendants are going to become like the dust of the earth and spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.

As he was observing a well that had been dug out on the open range, all of a sudden he noticed three flocks of sheep lying there, because shepherds watered their flocks from that well. There was a very large stone that covered the opening of the well,

and when all the flocks had been gathered there, they would roll away the stone from the opening of the well, water their flocks, and then return the stone to its place covering the opening of the well.

So he asked them, "How's he doing?" "Very well," they answered. "As a matter of fact, look over there! That's his daughter Rachel, coming here with his sheep."

Later, she conceived again and said, "This time my husband will become attached to me, now that I've borne him three sons." So he named him Levi.

Rachel responded, "Here's my handmaid Bilhah. Go have sex with her. She can bear children on my knees so I can have children through her."

so Rachel said, "I've been through a mighty struggle with my sister and won." She named him Naphtali.

Then Laban responded, "If I've found favor in your sight, please stay with me, because I've learned through divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.

What you had previously was only a few head, but the herd has now multiplied, because the LORD has blessed you through my efforts. But now, when am I going to be able to provide for my own household?"

He sent them as far away from Jacob as a three days' journey could take them.

Meanwhile, Jacob kept tending the rest of Laban's flock. Jacob took branches from white poplar trees, freshly cut almond trees, and some other trees, stripped off their bark to make white streaks, and uncovered the white part inside the branches.

Three days later, somebody reported to Laban that Jacob had left,

Now as to your gods, if you find someone has them in their possession, he's a dead man. Take our relatives as witnesses, search through our belongings, and take whatever belongs to you that's in my possession." But Jacob didn't know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

Meanwhile, Rachel had taken the idols, placed them inside the saddle of her camel, and sat on them. Laban searched through the whole tent, but found nothing.

Then Jacob told his relatives, "Go gather some stones." So they picked up stones and stacked them one on top of the other. Then they had a meal together there by the stack of stones.

So Jacob made an oath by his father's Fear, offered sacrifices there on the mountain, and called on his relatives to eat some food. So they ate the food and spent the night on the mountain.

He instructed them, "This is what you are to say to my master Esau: "Your servant Jacob told me to tell you, "I've journeyed to stay with Laban and I've remained there until now.

Deliver me from my brother Esau's control, because I'm terrified of him, and I'm afraid that he's coming to attack me, the mothers, and their children.

Jacob spent the night there. Out of everything that he had brought with him, he chose a gift for his brother Esau

30 milking camels with their young, 40 cows with ten bulls, and 20 female donkeys with ten male donkeys.

He entrusted them into the care of his servants, one herd at a time. Then he told his servants, "Go in front of me, making sure there's plenty of space between herds."

then you are to reply, "We're from your servant Jacob. The herds are a gift. He's sending them to my master, Esau. Look! There he is, coming along behind us.'"

"Please," Jacob inquired, "Tell me your name." But he asked, "Why are you asking about my name?" And he blessed Jacob there.

When Jacob looked off in the distance, there was Esau coming toward him, accompanied by 400 men! So Jacob divided Leah's children, Rachel, and the children of the two servants into separate groups.

Then he positioned the women servants and their children first, then Leah and her children next, and then Rachel and Joseph after them.

"The children, whom God has graciously given your servant," he answered. Then the women servants approached, accompanied by their children, and bowed low.

"Sir, you know that the children are frail," Jacob suggested, "and the ewes and cows with me are still nursing their young. If they're driven even for a day, the entire flock will die.

So allow yourself to go ahead of your servant while I travel more slowly, letting the herds set their own pace with the children until I arrive to see my lord in Seir."

but Jacob set out for Succoth, built a house there, and constructed some cattle shelters. He named the place Succoth.

Then he bought a parcel of land for 100 pieces of silver from the descendants of Hamor, Shechem's father. He pitched his tent there,

Because Jacob learned that Shechem had dishonored his daughter Dinah while his sons were still out with their cattle on the open range, he remained silent until they returned.

But Jacob's sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceptively, because Shechem had dishonored their sister Dinah.

Now Shechem was the most important person in his father's household. So Hamor and his son Shechem entered the gate of their city and addressed the men of their city.

"These men are at peace with us," they announced. "Therefore, let them live in the land and trade in it. Look! The land is large enough for them. Let's take their daughters as wives for ourselves and let's give our sons to them.

Shouldn't all their cattle, acquisitions, and animals belong to us? So, let's give our consent to them, and then they'll live with us."

Three days later, while they were still in pain, Jacob's sons Simeon and Levi, two of Dinah's brothers, each grabbed a sword and entered the city unannounced, intending to kill all the males.

They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took back Dinah from Shechem's house, and left.

Jacob's other sons came along afterward and plundered the city where their sister had been defiled,

seizing all of their flocks, herds, donkeys, and whatever else was in the city or had been left out in the field.

They carried off all their wealth, their children, and their wives as captives, plundering everything that remained in the houses.

Later, God told Jacob, "Get up, move to Bethel, and live there. Build an altar to the God who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau."

Jacob announced to his household and to everyone with him, "Throw away the foreign gods that you've kept among you, purify yourselves, and change your clothes.

So they handed over to Jacob all their foreign gods on which they had been depending, along with the rings that they were wearing on their ears. Jacob buried them under the oak that grew near Shechem.

As they set out on their journey, because the people who lived in the cities around them feared God, they did not pursue Jacob's sons.

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

Rebekah's nurse Deborah died and was buried there, under the oak tree that was below Beth-el. That's why the place was named Allon-bacuth.

because their holdings were too vast to allow them to stay together, since the land where they had settled was not able to support all of their livestock.

These were the descendants of Esau (also known as Edom) and their tribal leaders.

Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the tribal leaders who descended from the Horites, according to their tribal leaders in the territory of Seir.

These were the names of the chiefs who descended from Esau according to their clans, territories, and names: tribal leaders Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,

Magdiel, and Iram. These were the chiefs who descended from Edom, according to their territories in their own land. This was the dynasty of Esau, who was the ancestor of the Edomites.

When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was helping his brothers tend their flocks. He was a young man at that time, as were the children of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. But Joseph would come back and tell his father that his brothers were doing bad things. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his brothers, since he was born to him in his old age, so he had made a richly-embroidered tunic for him.

When Joseph's brothers realized that their father loved him more than all of his brothers, they hated him so much that they were unable to speak politely to him.

Some time later, his brothers left to tend their father's flock in Shechem.

"They've already left," the man answered. "I heard them saying that they were headed to Dothan." So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there.

When Reuben heard about it, he tried to save Joseph from their plot. "Let's not do any killing,"

They grabbed him and tossed him into the cistern, but the cistern was empty. (There was no water in it.)

After this, while they were seated, eating their food, they looked around and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with camels carrying spices, balm, and myrrh for sale down in Egypt.

So Judah's brothers listened to him. As the Midianite merchants were passing through, they extracted Joseph from the cistern and sold Joseph for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who then took Joseph down to Egypt.

Later, when Reuben returned to the cistern, Joseph wasn't there! In mounting panic, he tore his clothes,

returned to his brothers, and shouted, "He's not there! Now what? Where am I to go?"

Then they stretched out the richly-embroidered tunic to dry, and brought it to their father. "We've found this," they reported. "Look at it and see if this is or isn't your son's tunic."

There Judah met the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. He married her, had sexual relations with her,

He asked the men who lived in that area, "Where's that temple prostitute who was sitting alongside the road at Enaim?" But they replied, "There's been no temple prostitute here."

So he returned to Judah and said, "I haven't found her. Also, the men who are from there said, "There's been no prostitute here.'"

Three months later, it was reported to Judah, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution! And look! She's pregnant because of it!" "Bring her out," Judah responded. "Let's burn her to death!"

Meanwhile, Joseph had been delivered to Egypt and turned over to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's court officials and the Commander-in-Chief of the imperial guards. An Egyptian, he bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down there.

Instead, Joseph ran outside, leaving his outer garment still in her hand. When she realized that he had left his outer garment right there in her hand, she ran outside

arrested Joseph, and locked him up in the same prison where the king's prisoners were confined. So Joseph remained there in prison.

Some time later, both the senior security advisor to the king of Egypt and his head chef offended their master, Egypt's king.

The captain of the guard entrusted them to Joseph's custody, who took care of them, since they were to remain there in custody for a number of days.

Then the two of them each had a dream. They both had their dreams the same night, and there were separate interpretations for each dream the senior security advisor and the head chef to the king of Egypt, who had confined them in prison.

"We had a dream," they replied, "but there's no one to interpret it." "Interpretations belong to God," Joseph told them, "so please tell me your stories."

So the senior security advisor related his dream to Joseph. "In my dream," he said, "all of a sudden there was a vine in front of me!

On the vine were three branches that budded. Blossoms shot out, and clusters grew up that produced ripe grapes.

Then Joseph told him, "This is what your dream means: The three branches are three days.

Within three days, Pharaoh will encourage you and return you to your responsibilities. You'll attend to Pharaoh's personal wine cup, just as you did when you were his senior security advisor.

When the head chef heard that the interpretation was good, he told Joseph, "I was also in my dream. All of a sudden, there were three baskets with white bread stacked on top of my head.

There was all kinds of food in the basket that was on top, including baked food for Pharaoh. The birds were eating them from the basket on my head."

Joseph replied, "This is what your dream means: The three baskets are also three days.

Within three more days, Pharaoh will behead you and hang you on gallows, where birds will eat your flesh from you."

On the third day, which just happened to be Pharaoh's birthday, he threw a party for all his servants. He lifted the head of both his senior security advisor and of his head chef in front of his servants

There was a Hebrew young man incarcerated with us, who was also working as a servant to the captain of the bodyguard.

Just then, seven other cows emerged after them, poor, ugly, and appearing very gaunt in their flesh. I've never seen anything as ugly as those cows anywhere in the entire land of Egypt!

The seven gaunt cows that arose after the healthy cows are seven years, as are the seven gaunt ears scorched by the east wind. There will be seven years of famine.

there will be no surplus in the land due to the coming famine, because it will be very severe.

Since God has revealed all of this to you," Pharaoh told Joseph, "there is no one so wise and discerning as you.

Pharaoh also told Joseph, "I'm still Pharaoh, but without your permission nobody in all of the land of Egypt will so much as lift up their hands or take a step!"

Joseph collected the surplus food throughout the land of Egypt, storing food in cities; that is, he gathered the food from fields that surrounded every city and stored it there.

the seven years of famine started, just as Joseph had predicted. It was an international famine, but there was food everywhere throughout the land of Egypt.

Eventually, Jacob observed that there was grain in Egypt, so he asked his sons, "Why do you keep on staring at one another?

Pay attention now! I've heard that there is grain in Egypt, so go down there and buy some grain for us, so we can live, instead of dying."

Then Joseph locked them all together in prison for three days.

Three days later, Joseph told them, "I fear God, so do this and you'll live.