This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.

The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac.

The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”

I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant; for with my staff only I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies.

Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children.

For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’”

So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau:

and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.’” For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.”

Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”

So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.”

Then Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids.

Jacob said, “No, please, if now I have found favor in your sight, then take my present from my hand, for I see your face as one sees the face of God, and you have received me favorably.

Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built for himself a house and made booths for his livestock; therefore the place is named Succoth.

He bought the piece of land where he had pitched his tent from the hand of the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money.

So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young girl for a wife.”

Now the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved, and they were very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.

But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; please give her to him in marriage.

Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us and take our daughters for yourselves.

They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.

then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters for ourselves, and we will live with you and become one people.

“These men are friendly with us; therefore let them live in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters in marriage, and give our daughters to them.

When she was in severe labor the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for now you have another son.”

It came about as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

For their property had become too great for them to live together, and the land where they sojourned could not sustain them because of their livestock.

for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

A man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field; and the man asked him, “What are you looking for?”

He said, “I am looking for my brothers; please tell me where they are pasturing the flock.”

Then the man said, “They have moved from here; for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it for us to kill our brother and cover up his blood?

Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him.

Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.

He returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is not there; as for me, where am I to go?”

So Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days.

Then all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, “Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.

Meanwhile, the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, Pharaoh’s officer, the captain of the bodyguard.

Now Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.”

Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”; for he thought, “I am afraid that he too may die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

So she removed her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gateway of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife.

When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, for she had covered her face.

So he turned aside to her by the road, and said, “Here now, let me come in to you”; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”

But it came about as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out. Then she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” So he was named Perez.

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there.

The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s charge all the prisoners who were in the jail; so that whatever was done there, he was responsible for it.

Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.

Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.

Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.

He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so sad today?”

Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; so I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”

within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand according to your former custom when you were his cupbearer.

Only keep me in mind when it goes well with you, and please do me a kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house.

For I was in fact kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”

and in the top basket there were some of all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

within three more days Pharaoh will lift up your head from you and will hang you on a tree, and the birds will eat your flesh off you.”

Thus it came about on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.

He restored the chief cupbearer to his office, and he put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand;

Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile.

The ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.

The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

Now in the morning his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I would make mention today of my own offenses.

Pharaoh was furious with his servants, and he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker.

Now a Hebrew youth was with us there, a servant of the captain of the bodyguard, and we related them to him, and he interpreted our dreams for us. To each one he interpreted according to his own dream.

And just as he interpreted for us, so it happened; he restored me in my office, but he hanged him.”

Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they hurriedly brought him out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came to Pharaoh.

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

Joseph then answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”

So Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile;

Lo, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such as I had never seen for ugliness in all the land of Egypt;

Yet when they had devoured them, it could not be detected that they had devoured them, for they were just as ugly as before. Then I awoke.

Now Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.

So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.

Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.

Now let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.

Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in charge of the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance.

Then let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and let them guard it.

Let the food become as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine.”

Now the proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.

Then Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is a divine spirit?”

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has informed you of all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you are.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”

Then Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck.

Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Though I am Pharaoh, yet without your permission no one shall raise his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”

Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as his wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt.

Now Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt.

Thus Joseph stored up grain in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure.

Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”

He named the second Ephraim, “For,” he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, you shall do.”

He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down there and buy some for us from that place, so that we may live and not die.”

But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “I am afraid that harm may befall him.”

So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.

by this you will be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here!

Send one of you that he may get your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. But if not, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.”

So he put them all together in prison for three days.