I am standing here at a spring. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, and I say to her: Please let me drink a little water from your jug,

She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels.

Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we have no choice in the matter.

Now Isaac was returning from Beer-lahai-roi, for he was living in the Negev region.

Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she got down from her camel

And Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines, but while he was still alive he sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the East.

This was the field that Abraham bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah.

And they settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt as you go toward Asshur. He lived in opposition to all his brothers.

Isaac was 40 years old when he took as his wife Rebekah 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;
two people will come from you and be separated.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.

Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted.

When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

He moved from there and dug another, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Open Spaces and said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

From there he went up to Beer-sheba,

Now Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.

Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me? You hated me and sent me away from you.”

May God give to you—
from the dew of the sky
and from the richness of the land—
an abundance of grain and new wine.

As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from the hunt.

Then his father Isaac answered him:

Look, your dwelling place will be
away from the richness of the land,
away from the dew of the sky above.

You will live by your sword,
and you will serve your brother.
But when you rebel,
you will break his yoke from your neck.

until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”

Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him: “Don’t take a wife from the Canaanite women.

He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place.

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”

He looked and saw a well in a field. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it because the sheep were watered from this well. A large stone covered the opening of the well.

When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the opening of the well and water the sheep. The stone was then placed back on the well’s opening.

Jacob asked the men at the well, “My brothers! Where are you from?”

“We’re from Haran,” they answered.

But they replied, “We can’t until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone is rolled from the well’s opening. Then we will water the sheep.”

As soon as Jacob saw his uncle Laban’s daughter Rachel with his sheep, he went up and rolled the stone from the opening and watered his uncle Laban’s sheep.

Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in God’s place, who has withheld children from you?”

When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So Jacob slept with her that night.

Now Jacob heard what Laban’s sons were saying: “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s and has built this wealth from what belonged to our father.”

And Jacob saw from Laban’s face that his attitude toward him was not the same.

He said to them, “I can see from your father’s face that his attitude toward me is not the same, but the God of my father has been with me.

In fact, all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has said to you.”

Why did you secretly flee from me, deceive me, and not tell me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and lyres,

Jacob answered, “I was afraid, for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force.

I’ve been with you these 20 years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams from your flock.

I did not bring you any of the flock torn by wild beasts; I myself bore the loss. You demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or by night.

There I was—the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes.

Please rescue me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him; otherwise, he may come and attack me, the mothers, and their children.

But Jacob said, “No, please! If I have found favor with you, take this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing God’s face, since you have accepted me.

After Jacob came from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at Shechem in the land of Canaan and camped in front of the city.

He purchased a section of the field where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 qesitahs.

Jacob’s sons returned from the field when they heard about the incident and were deeply grieved and angry. For Shechem had committed an outrage against Israel by raping Jacob’s daughter, and such a thing should not be done.

They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went away.

God said to Jacob, “Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

When they set out, a terror from God came over the cities around them, and they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.

Jacob built an altar there and called the place God of Bethel because it was there that 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 He blessed him.

God also said to him:

I am God Almighty.
Be fruitful and multiply.
A nation, indeed an assembly of nations,
will come from you,
and kings will descend from you.

Then God withdrew from him at the place where He had spoken to him.

They set out from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult.

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

Esau took his wives, sons, daughters, and all the people of his household, as well as his herds, all his livestock, and all the property he had acquired in Canaan; he went to a land away from his brother Jacob.

When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah became king in his place.

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

When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah became king in his place.

When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the Euphrates River became king in his place.

Then Israel said to him, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

“They’ve moved on from here,” the man said. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from them. He said, “Let’s not take his life.”

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.

Then they sat down to eat a meal. They looked up, and there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt.

“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.”

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

From the time that he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph. The Lord’s blessing was on all that he owned, in his house and in his fields.

No one in this house is greater 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 was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should put me in the dungeon.”

In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from off you—and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh from your body.”

when seven healthy-looking, well-fed cows came up from the Nile and began to graze among the reeds.

After them, seven other cows, sickly and thin, came up from the Nile and stood beside those cows along the bank of the Nile.

Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh.

when seven well-fed, healthy-looking cows came up from the Nile and began to graze among the reeds.

Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, clothed him with fine linen garments, and placed a gold chain around his neck.

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

So 10 of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

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.

He turned away from them and wept. Then he turned back and spoke to them. He took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes.

When they had used up the grain they had brought back from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us some food.”

They were seated before him in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest. The men looked at each other in astonishment.

Portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, and Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of theirs. They drank, and they got intoxicated with Joseph.

They had not gone very far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Get up. Pursue the men, and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid evil for good?

Isn’t this the cup that my master drinks from and uses for divination? What you have done is wrong!’”

We even brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money we found at the top of our bags. How could we steal gold and silver from your master’s house?

If you also take this one from me and anything happens to him, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.’

Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants, so he called out, “Send everyone away from me!” No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers.

Get your father and your families, and come back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you can eat from the richness of the land.’

You are also commanded, ‘Do this: Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your young children and your wives and bring your father here.

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

you are to say, ‘Your servants, both we and our fathers, have raised livestock from our youth until now.’ Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are abhorrent to Egyptians.”

So Joseph went and informed Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their sheep and cattle and all that they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen.”

So Jacob blessed Pharaoh and departed from Pharaoh’s presence.

When the money from the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan was gone, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die here in front of you? The money is gone!”

When that year was over, they came the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our lord that the money is gone and that all our livestock belongs to our lord. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.

and Joseph moved the people to the cities from one end of Egypt to the other.

The only land he didn’t acquire was the priests’ portion, for it was given to them by Pharaoh. They lived off the rations Pharaoh had given them; therefore they did not sell their land.

When I rest with my fathers, carry me away from Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”

Joseph answered, “I will do what you have asked.”

He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make many nations come from you, and I will give this land as an eternal possession to your future descendants.’

When I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way, some distance from Ephrath in the land of Canaan. I buried her there along the way to Ephrath,” (that is, Bethlehem).