and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." It was so.

Then God said, "I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground -- everything that has the breath of life in it -- I give every green plant for food." It was so.

To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your labor pains; with pain you will give birth to children. You will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you."

And Adam had marital relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, "God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him."

You may eat any moving thing that lives. As I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

The Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants forever.

Get up and walk throughout the land, for I will give it to you."

Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and take the possessions for yourself."

But Abram said, "O sovereign Lord, what will you give me since I continue to be childless, and my heir is Eliezer of Damascus?"

Abram added, "Since you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!"

The Lord said to him, "I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess."

That day the Lord made a covenant with Abram: "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River --

Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had not given birth to any children, but she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.

Then the Lord's angel said to her, "You are now pregnant and are about to give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your painful groans.

Then I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants."

I will give the whole land of Canaan -- the land where you are now residing -- to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God."

I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. Kings of countries will come from her!"

As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes; I will make him into a great nation.

I have chosen him so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then the Lord will give to Abraham what he promised him."

But now give back the man's wife. Indeed he is a prophet and he will pray for you; thus you will live. But if you don't give her back, know that you will surely die along with all who belong to you."

To Sarah he said, "Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your 'brother.' This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you."

She went on to say, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!"

"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.

I will say to a young woman, 'Please lower your jar so I may drink.' May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, 'Drink, and I'll give your camels water too.' In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master."

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

So Abraham's servant went to the house and unloaded the camels. Straw and feed were given to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet.

"The Lord has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. The Lord has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.

My master's wife Sarah bore a son to him when she was old, and my master has given him everything he owns.

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."

"Before I finished praying in my heart, along came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, 'Please give me a drink.'

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.

When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, there were twins in her womb.

Stay in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham.

I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.

Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham died. Isaac gave these wells the same names his father had given them.

May God give you the dew of the sky and the richness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.

So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. Esau said privately, "The time of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill my brother Jacob!"

May the sovereign God bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! Then you will become a large nation.

May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham so that you may possess the land God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident."

and the Lord stood at its top. He said, "I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear,

Then this stone that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely give you back a tenth of everything you give me."

Laban replied, "I'd rather give her to you than to another man. Stay with me."

Finally Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my time of service is up. I want to have marital relations with her."

"It is not our custom here," Laban replied, "to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn.

Complete my older daughter's bridal week. Then we will give you the younger one too, in exchange for seven more years of work."

She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, "Now this time my husband will show me affection, because I have given birth to three sons for him." That is why he was named Levi.

When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, "Give me children or I'll die!"

Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer and given me a son." That is why she named him Dan.

At the time of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Give me some of your son's mandrakes."

Then Leah said, "God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons." So she named him Zebulun.

She named him Joseph, saying, "May the Lord give me yet another son."

After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me on my way so that I can go home to my own country.

So Laban asked, "What should I give you?" "You don't need to give me a thing," Jacob replied, "but if you agree to this one condition, I will continue to care for your flocks and protect them:

In this way God has snatched away your father's livestock and given them to me.

Laban replied to Jacob, "These women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, and these flocks are my flocks. All that you see belongs to me. But how can I harm these daughters of mine today or the children to whom they have given birth?

When Esau looked up and saw the women and the children, he asked, "Who are these people with you?" Jacob replied, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant."

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!"

They said to them, "We cannot give our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace to us.

We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become like us by circumcising all your males.

Then we will give you our daughters to marry, and we will take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people.

"These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry.

The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. To your descendants I will also give this land."

But Onan knew that the child would not be considered his. So whenever he had sexual relations with his brother's wife, he withdrew prematurely so as not to give his brother a descendant.

So she removed her widow's clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, even though he had now grown up.)

He turned aside to her along the road and said, "Come on! I want to have sex with you." (He did not realize it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, "What will you give me in exchange for having sex with you?"

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

He said, "What pledge should I give you?" She replied, "Your seal, your cord, and the staff that's in your hand." So he gave them to her and had sex with her. She became pregnant by him.

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.

Judah recognized them and said, "She is more upright than I am, because I wouldn't give her to Shelah my son." He did not have sexual relations with her again.

When it was time for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb.

But he refused, saying to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not give any thought to his household with me here, and everything that he owns he has put into my care.

"So now Pharaoh should look for a wise and discerning man and give him authority over all the land of Egypt.

Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man's money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. His orders were carried out.

But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are honest men and not spies. Then I will give your brother back to you and you may move about freely in the land.'"

"Everything is fine," the man in charge of Joseph's household told them. "Don't be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money." Then he brought Simeon out to them.

Get your father and your households and come to me! Then I will give you the best land in Egypt and you will eat the best of the land.'

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?"

Then Joseph said, "If your money is gone, bring your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock."

Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become Pharaoh's slaves. Give us seed that we may live and not die. Then the land will not become desolate."

When you gather in the crop, give one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children."

He said to me, 'I am going to make you fruitful and will multiply you. I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants as an everlasting possession.'

Joseph said to his father, "They are the sons God has given me in this place." His father said, "Bring them to me so I may bless them."

As one who is above your brothers, I give to you the mountain slope, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow."

Joseph saw the descendants of Ephraim to the third generation. He also saw the children of Makir the son of Manasseh; they were given special inheritance rights by Joseph.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die. But God will surely come to you and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

They made their lives bitter by hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous.

The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women -- for the Hebrew women are vigorous; they give birth before the midwife gets to them!"

"You must no longer give straw to the people for making bricks as before. Let them go and collect straw for themselves.

No straw is given to your servants, but we are told, 'Make bricks!' Your servants are even being beaten, but the fault is with your people."

So now, get back to work! You will not be given straw, but you must still produce your quota of bricks!"

and they said to them, "May the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the opinion of Pharaoh and his servants, so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!"

I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as resident foreigners.

I will bring you to the land I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob -- and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord!'"

When you enter the land that the Lord will give to you, just as he said, you must observe this ceremony.