"Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you," Laban said to Jacob.

"This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me.

May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, the gods of their father, judge between us." Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared.

So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him.

When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, "This is the camp of God!" So he named that place Mahanaim.

Jacob sent messengers on ahead to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region of Edom.

"If Esau attacks one camp," he thought, "then the other camp will be able to escape."

Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said to me, 'Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.'

I am not worthy of all the faithful love you have shown your servant. With only my walking stick I crossed the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.

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.

You must also say, 'In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.'" Jacob thought, "I will first appease him by sending a gift ahead of me. After that I will meet him. Perhaps he will accept me."

So the gifts were sent on ahead of him while he spent that night in the camp.

During the night Jacob quickly took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

When the man saw that he could not defeat Jacob, he struck the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob's hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

The sun rose over him as he crossed over Penuel, but he was limping because of his hip.

That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck the socket of Jacob's hip near the attached sinew.

But Jacob himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

"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 Esau said, "Let's be on our way! I will go in front of you."

But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are young, and that I have to look after the sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. If they are driven too hard for even a single day, all the animals will die.

Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, until I come to my lord at Seir."

So Esau said, "Let me leave some of my men with you." "Why do that?" Jacob replied. "My lord has already been kind enough to me."

After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near the city.

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.

There he set up an altar and called it "The God of Israel is God."

Now Dinah, Leah's daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went to meet the young women of the land.

When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area, saw her, he grabbed her, forced himself on her, and sexually assaulted her.

Shechem said to his father Hamor, "Acquire this young girl as my wife."

But Hamor made this appeal to them: "My son Shechem is in love with your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.

Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, "Let me find favor in your sight, and whatever you require of me I'll give.

You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive, and I'll give whatever you ask of me. Just give me the young woman as my wife!"

But if you do not agree to our terms by being circumcised, then we will take our sister and depart."

So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city,

If we do so, won't their livestock, their property, and all their animals become ours? So let's consent to their demand, so they will live among us."

In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword and went to the unsuspecting city and slaughtered every male.

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought ruin on me by making me a foul odor among the inhabitants of the land -- among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!"

So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes.

Let us go up at once to Bethel. Then I will make an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress and has been with me wherever I went."

and they started on their journey. The surrounding cities were afraid of God, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

Jacob and all those who were with him arrived at Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.

(Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel; thus it was named Oak of Weeping.)

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!

Jacob set up a marker over her grave; it is the Marker of Rachel's Grave to this day.

The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, as well as Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's servant, were Dan and Naphtali.

The sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

What follows is the account of Esau (also known as Edom).

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,

in addition to Basemath the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

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

because they had too many possessions to be able to stay together and the land where they had settled was not able to support them because of their livestock.

So Esau (also known as Edom) lived in the hill country of Seir.

This is the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir.

These were the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz, the son of Esau's wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau's wife Basemath.

The sons of Eliphaz were: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

Timna, a concubine of Esau's son Eliphaz, bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Esau's wife Adah.

These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Esau's wife Basemath.

These were the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon: She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah to Esau.

These were the chiefs among the descendants of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz, Esau's firstborn: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz,

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.

These were the sons of Esau (also known as Edom), and these were their chiefs.

These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the descendants of Seir in the land of Edom.

The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam; Lotan's sister was Timna.

These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

These were the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah (who discovered the hot springs in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon).

These were the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

These were the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.

These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

These were the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

These were the chiefs of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah,

chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chief lists in the land of Seir.

These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites:

Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.

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 Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab, reigned in his place; the name of his city was Avith.

When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.

When Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadad reigned in his place; the name of his city was Pau. His wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.

These were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families, according to their places, by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth,

chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they possessed. This was Esau, the father of the Edomites.

But Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, in the land of Canaan.

This is the account of Jacob. Joseph, his seventeen-year-old son, was taking care of the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

When Joseph's brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated Joseph and were not able to speak to him kindly.

There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the middle of the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose up and stood upright and your sheaves surrounded my sheaf and bowed down to it!"

Then his brothers asked him, "Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?" They hated him even more because of his dream and because of what he said.

His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what Joseph said.

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.

They said to one another, "Here comes this master of dreams!

Come now, let's kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild animal ate him. Then we'll see how his dreams turn out!"

When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the special tunic that he wore.

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.

Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

So when the Midianite merchants passed by, Joseph's brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites then took Joseph to Egypt.

Now in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.

There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. Judah acquired her as a wife and had marital relations with her.