Chapter 1

In the beginning, everything was formless and then God said, "Let there be light," and light appears. God named the light "day" and the darkness "night." God then created the great sky above and gathered the waters together to create land. Then God created plands and trees which grew in the ground. God then made the two great lights to rule the day and the night and a host of stars. Next, God created animals to live in the water and to fly in the sky, and he ordered them to be fruitful and multiply until the covered the earth. Finally, God decided to create man in his own image to rule over the creatures and all the earth. So god created male and female and gave them the creatures of the world. And at the end of this work, six days had passed.

Chapter 2

By the seventh day, God had finished and rested and blessed the seventh day and made it holy.

When the world was first created, rain never fell, but springs appear to water the world and no one tilled the soil. God made man from the dust and breathed life into him. God took the man he had formed and put him in the Garden of Eden where all good things grew, including the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God commanded the man to care for the garden but to never eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or else he would die. Then God caused the man to fall asleep and he took a single rib and made woman from the rib. When the man and woman awoke, they were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Chapter 3

The serpent was smarter and more devious than any other animal God made. He went to the woman and told her that God was jealous and only ordered them to stay away from the tree of knowledge of good and evil because God wanted to prevent them from becoming gods themselves. The woman tasked the fruit and gave some to her husband, and they instantly understood shame and tried to cover themselves. When God came to walk in the garden, the man and woman hid, ashamed of their nudity. When God demanded an explanation, the man told God that the woman was to blame and the woman told God the serpent was to blame. God cursed the serpent to crawl on his belly without legs and to be forever hated by humans. God cursed the woman to suffer pain in childbirth and to be ruled by her husband. God cursed the man to work hard his whole life just to raise enough food to live. God then created clothes for Adam and Eve and banished them from the Garden of Eden forever.

Chapter 4

Eve gave birth to Cain who raised crops and Abel who kept flocks of sheep. Each went to offer gifts to God: Cain offered fruit and Abel young lambs. God looked with favor on Abel, but he told Cain that he had not made a proper offering and that he needed to work harder to avoid sin. In jealousy, Cain then killed his brother while the two walked in the fields. When God asked Cain where his brother was, Cain replied, "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?" Then God told Cain that he knew of the murder. God cursed Cain to never have success and to wander the earth homeless. God then put a mark on Cain so that everyone would know to not kill him but to allow him to live in misery. Cain moved to the land of Nod and had a son Enoch. Eve gave birth to a third son, a son named Seth who had a son on his own who he named Enosh.

Chapter 5

When God created man, he created them male and female and blessed them. Adam lived 930 years and had many sons and daughters. Seth lived 912 years and had Enosh and many other children. Enosh lived 905 years and had Kenan and many other children. Kenan lived 910 years and had Mahalalel and many other children. Mahalalel lived 895 years and had Jared and many other children. Jared lived 962 years and had Enoch and many other children. Enoch lived 365 years and had Methuselah and many other children. Methuselah lived 969 years and had Lamech and many other children. Lamech lived 595 years and had Noah and many other children. By the time Noah was 500 years old, he had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth

Chapter 6

The sons of God married the daughter of men and married them without any thought and became increasingly evil. God grew sorry that he had created man, and he vowed to destroy all men in order to end the evil, but God loved Noah, who was a good man with three good sons even though he lived in a world of evil. So, God ordered Noah to build a 450 foot boat that would save the creatures of the world even as a great flood destroyed all life outside the ark. God told Noah to take two of every animal and his sons and his sons' wives and food for them all.

Chapter 7

God told Noah to take seven of every clean type of animal and two of every unclean animal. He then said that in seven days he would destroy the world. Noah and his family escaped the flood inside the arc as the flooding continued for 40 days. The waters reached the tallest mountain and the waters flooded the earth for 150 days

Chapter 8

After 150 days, the water had gone down and on the 17th day of the 7th month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. After 40 days, Noah opened a window and sent out a raven which flew back to the ark. Then he sent out a dove, but it flew back to the ark. After seven more days, Noah sent out another dove, and when the dove returned it had an olive leaf, telling Noah that plants were growing again and the waters had retreated. After seven more days, Noah let the dove go, but it never returned. God then told Noah to leave the ark with all the creatures and make an offering. After that, God promised to never again destroy all living creatures.

Chapter 9

God blessed Noah and gave him control of all the animals of the world, ordering Noah to "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth." God then commanded Noah to make a sacrafice for every animal he killed and ordered that any man who spilled the blood of another would pay with his life. God then gave Noah his covenant: he would never again flood the whole earth and he set the rainbow in the sky as part of his promise. Noah made a vineyard and wine and became drank and lay down naked. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his brothers. But the brothers were faithful and turned their eyes away even as they sneaked into the tent and put clothing over their father. When Noah woke and found out what happened, he cursed Canaan and blessed Shem, asking God to make Canaan the slave of Shem and asking God to give Japhenth great property.

Chapter 10

Each of Noah's sons had children and their lands expanded and they built great cities.

Chapter 11

The world all spoke one language and the children of Noah moved all the way to the fields of Shinar. They decided to make a tower that reached the heavens so that they could be remembered for their greatness. God saw this and confused them by confusing their languages so they could not plan or even understand each other. This stopped them from building their grand city, and that is why the city and the tower were called Babel.

After many generations, a man named Terah was born from the line of Shem. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. While Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur, leaving behind his son Lot. Abram married Sarai, but she could not have children. Terah took Abram, Sarai, and Lot to live in the land of Haran.

Chapter 12

God promised to turn Abram's children into a great nation, so Abram built and alter to God. A terrible famine then drove Abram to move to Egypt, but Abram feared that the Egyptians would see the beautiful Sarai and kill him in order to steal her. So, he told everyone he met that she was his sister and even the Pharoah treated them well because the Pharoah wanted to marry Sarai. But God sent disease to Pharaoh to punish him for lusting after Abram's wife, and the Pharaoh demanded to know why Abram had lied about Sarai being his sister. The Pharaoh was angry and sent the family away, but he allowed Abram to keep the gifts he had given Sarai.

Chapter 13

So Abram, Sarai, and Lot left and went to Negev. However, the two brothers had so many herds that the animals could not find grazing, so Abram said to Lot, "We are brothers and shouldn't fight. If you go left, I'll take my flocks right and we will both be able to find enough grass. If you go right, I'll take my flocks left." Lot saw that the plains of Jordan were green and well watered, so he set out for the east. So Lot settled near the city of Sodom where the men had become evil and corrupt. Abram settled in Canaan where God spoke to him and said, "Look north and south, east and west. All the land that you see I will give to your and your offspring forever. I will give you so many children and grandchildren that you will have as many descendants as the earth has dust particles." So Abram built an altar and believed even though he had no children.

Chapter 14

At the same time, a war broke out between the kings of several great cities. The kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Bela (the five kings) marched against the kings of Elam, Goiim, Shinar, and Ellasar (the four kings). In a great battle, the four kings seized all the goods from the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah after the kings of those two cities fled the battle. The four kings also captured Lot and his possessions, carrying them away to Dan (the land, not the person). Abram gathered men and pursued the kings who held Lot, chasing them as far as Hobah before he rescued Lot and all his possessions and women and servants. When the king of Sodom, who had fled the battle, saw Abram returning victorius, he blessed Abram and the God who had made it possible. Abram gave the king a tenth of what he had captured, but the king told Abram to keep the goods and only return the people who he had rescued. But Abram told the king that he had promised God to not take anything from the king of Sodom so that the king could never claim to have made Abram successful--God alone had done that.

Chapter 15

God came to Abram in a vision offering to be Abram's shield and reward. But Abram was not grateful. He said that his success didn't matter since he had no one to inherit. God told Abram to go out and count the stars because that is how many offspring he would have. He then told Abram to sacrafice a heifer, a goat, a ram, a dove, and a young pigeon. Abram did and then fell into a sleep. In the dream, God promised Abram that his descendants would wander strange lands and become slaves, but that God would eventually save them and give them great riches. God finished by promising Abram, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."

Chapter 16

Sarai had an Egyptian servant named Hagar, and she told her maidservant to lay with Abram and have a child who could be Abram's heir. Hagar did become pregnant and she began to hate Sarai. When Sarai complained to her husband that Hagar had become spiteful, Abram told his wife to handle it any way she wished. Sarai began to mistreat Hagar, so Hagar fled into the desert where an angel found her beside a small stream. The angel asked what she was doing in the desert, and Hagar explained that she was running away from Sarai. The angel told her to go back and submit to Sarai and God would make her son, Ishmael, the father of so many descendants that they could not be counted. But the angel also told her that Ismael would be a wild donkey of a man who fought all other men. Hagar returned and gave birth to a son who Abram named Ishmael.

Chapter 17

When Abram was 97, God told Abram to change his name from Abram (meaning exalted father) to Abraham (meaning exalted father to many). He then made a covenant with Abraham to be the God of all his descendants. In return, God asked to have every male circumcised as a sign of the covenant and their faith in God. Every male of at least 8 days old whether born or bought had to be circumcised or cast out. God then changed Sarai's name to Sarah and promised to give her a son named Isaac. Abraham went and immediately cicumcised every male in his household, whether born in his household or bought. At the time, Ishmael was 13, and Abraham and his first born son were circumcised on the same day.

Chapter 18

Abraham saw three men near his tent and offered to wash their feet and allow them to rest in the shade of his tree, not knowing that the three men were actually God. He had Sarah bake bread and he had a calf killed and prepared for dinner. Then the Lord showed himself and promised that Sarah would have a child within the year. Sarah laughed because she was so old that she did not think it was possible. When God asked Abraham why his wife had laughed, Sarah became afraid and lied, but God told her that he had heard her.

Abraham Pleads for Sodom
When the Lord left, Abraham walked with him toward Sodom. God said that he was going to visit Sodom and Gomorrah because their sinfullness had grown too great. Abraham plead with God to have mercy. He begged God to not kill the innocent with the guilty. God said that if 50 innocent people existed in the city, he would spare the city. Abraham now grew bold, having spoken to the Lord and he said, "What if you find 5 less than 50 people who are good. Would you destroy the whole city because you were short five people?" The Lord responded that if he found 45 good people, he would spare the city. Abraham continued, "What if there are only forty good people?" This continued until finally the Lord agreed that if 10 good people lived within Sodom he would spare the city.

Chapter 19

Two angels in the form of men appear to Lot in Sodom, and he bowed before them and offered them a place to sleep for the night, but the angels refused and said they would stay in the town square; however, Lot insisted and took the angels home. After a meal, the men of Sodom appeared outside Lot's house, having heard that handsome strangers had come to visit. They called out, "Bring out your visitors so that we might have sex with them." Lot went outside, and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof." The crowd began to force their way past Lot, and the angels then came out. They began to strike the men, and they told Lot to flee the city or be detroyed with it. Lot went to his daughters' finaces, but the two men laughed, thinking he was joking. When Lot hesitated leaving his future son-in laws and his home, the angels took him by the hand and led him from Sodom and told him to flee without looking back. As Lot's family fled toward the town of Zoar, Lot's wife looked back, sad at having to leave her home even though it had been evil. She was instantly turned into a pillar of salt even as God rained sulfur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying them completely.

Lot took his daughters and settled in the mountains, but the daughter worried that they would never have children with no men to marry in the area. So, the two girls gave their father wine, and when he was drunk, the oldest went in and had sex with her father, and he didn't even remember in the morning. The second day, the girls gave their father wine again, and the second girl had sex with her father, and he didn't even remember. The first girl had a son by Lot who she named Moab who became the father of all the Moabites. The younger daughter had a son she named Ben-Ammi who became the father of all the Ammonites.

Chapter 20

Abraham moved to lands in Gerar, and again told Sarah to call him brother to avoid danger. The king there, Abimelech saw Sarah and took her, believing that she was unmarried. Before Abimelech could lay with her, God sent a dream and told the king he would be punished because Sarah was the wife of a great prophet. In the morning, Abimelech demanded to know why Abraham had lied, and Abraham explained that he had feared the people of Gerar and didn't want to be killed by someone envying his wife. Furthermore, he said that since they were all the children of God, Sarah was, in a way, his sister as well as his wife. Abimelech gave Abraham cattle and sheep and female slaves and 1000 shekels of silver, and asked Abraham to pray for him because God had made every woman in Abimelech's household barren to punish him for taking Sarah. Abraham prayed to God, and God allowed Abimelech's women to again have children.

Chapter 21

Before the year was up, Sarah had given birth to a child that Abraham named Isaac, meaning "to laugh." When Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him. As the child grew, Sarah saw Ishmael mocking her son. She went to Abraham and demanded that he put Ishmael out so that Hagar's son would not share the inheritance of her son. Abraham hesitated, but God told him to follow Sarah's advice. So Abraham gave Hagar some food and water and sent her to wander the desert of Beersheba. When the water was gone, Hagar had Ishmael lay under one bush while she went off a distance so she would not have to see him die. She sat there and cried, and an angel appeared to her and told her to not fear because God would make Ishmael the father of a great nation. God opened Hagar's eyes so that she found a well and brought him water. They stayed in the desert, and when the time came, Hagar went to Egypt and got him a wife.

King Abimelech asked Abraham for assurance that God would treat his descendants kindly just as he had treated Abraham kindly. Abraham swore that God would look kindly on Abimelech, but Abraham complained that someone had seized one of his wells. Abraham offered seven ewe lambs and gave them to Abimelech as his vow that he had dug the well. The king accepted Abrahams word, and he made a treaty that the well and the area belonged to Abraham, and Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines a long time.

Chapter 22

When Isaac was a child, God told Abraham to take the child to a mountain in Moriah and sacrafice him a sign of his faith. The next day, Abraham gathered enough wood to make a burnt sacrafice and traveled with the boy to the mountain. When they reached the top, Isaac asked how they could make a sacrafice without a lamb, Abraham promised his son that God would provide the lamb. Then he built the alter and tied his son to it, preparing to slay Isaac with the knife he brought. But then an angel called out that he should not kill his son, but that his willingness to sacrafice his son showed his faith and fear of God. When Abraham looked up, he saw a ram caught in the bushes and offered the ram as the burnt offering instead of his son.

Soon after, Abraham learned that his brother, Nahor had many sons including Uz, Buz, Kemuel, Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel (who would become the father of Rebekah.

Chapter 23

At 127, Sarah died. The Hittite people allowed Abraham to bury her in the choicest tomb, a cave belonging to Ephron. Abraham insisting on paying for the site even though Ephron offered it for free.

Chapter 24

Abraham was old and weak, so he called his servant to him and commanded him to return to Abraham's homeland to get a wife for Isaac because he did not want his son to marry a Canaanite. The servant asked if it wasn't easier for Isaac to return to his father's homeland, but Abraham forbid this because God had promised the land of Canaan to Abrahams descendants. The servant headed for the town where Nahor, Abraham's brother, lived. When he reached the town well, women were coming to draw water and the servant prayed to God to help him find the right woman by having her not only offer him water but offer to water his camels. A beautiful virgin, Rebekah daugher to Bethuel and granddaughter to Nahor came to draw water. When the servant asked for water, she offered him water and then offered to water his camels as well. Afterwards, the servant offered Rebekah gold jewelry and asked if her father's house might have room for a traveler. Rebekah gave her father's name and then offered him a place before rushing home. When she reached home, she showed her brother Laban the gifts, and he went out and found the servant and offered him a place to stay and a place for his camels. When the servant reached the house, the family offered him food, but he refused to eat until he told of his mission. He told of Abraham's wish for his son to marry, and he told of Abraham's wealth. He also told them of his prayer and Rebekah's offer to draw water for his camels. Laban, her brother, and Bethuel, her father, both agreed that the Lord had chosen Rebekah as a wife for Isaac. The servant gave them the gifts he had brought them, and they called the girl ans asked if she would go. She agreed and gathered her maids and camels and went with the servant to the land of Canaan where Isaac waited. When she reached Abraham's camp, she married Isaac and he loved her.

Chapter 25

Abraham had married Keturah who gave birth to six sons who had many children of their own, but Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac and sent the sons of his concubines away to the east. At 175, Abraham died and Isaac and Ishmael buried him with his wife Sarah.

In his 137 years, Ishmael bore many sons who became rulers of twelve tribes which lived in hostility in the lands between Havilah to Shur.

Isaac was forty when he married Rebekah, the grandaughter of his father's brother. At first, Rebekah was barren, but Isaac prayed and Rebekah grew pregnant with two babies who jostled each other in the womb. The Lord told her that two nations would rise from her two sons, but one would be stronger and the older son would serve the younger. Back then, the oldest son always inherited, so Rebekah was surprised. When she gave birth, the first born was so hairy they named him Esau, meaning "hairy." The second son came out holding his brother's heel, so they named him Jacob, meaning "he grasps the heel." But back then, to grasp another's heel was figurative language meaning to deceive. Esau grew to be a mighty hunter and the favorite of his father; Jacob was a quiet man who Rebekah preferred. One day, young Esau had been hunting all day, and he came home to find Jacob cooking stew. He told his brother to give him some stew, and Jacob offered to trade the stew for Esau's birthright. Esau, who was terribly hungry and who thought Jacob was not serious, swore to give his birthright to his brother.

Chapter 26

When the men of Gerar asked Isaac about Rebekah, he told them she was his sister to avoid being killed by a man seeking to marry her, but one day King Abimelech saw Isaac with Rebekah, and he knew they were married. He told Isaac that he and Rebekeh would be safe in the lands of Gerar, but as Isaac grew wealthier and wealthier, the Philistines envied him, and Abimelch told Isaac to move away. So Isaac moved to the valley and opened the wells his father had dug. However, the herdsman of the area claimed the water as their own, forcing Isaac to continually dig new wells. The Lord appeared to Isaac in a dream, promising to make his descendants into a nation, and Isaac built an altar to the Lord. Shortly thereafter, King Abimelech appeared and offered to make a treaty with Isaac because he saw that Isaac was blessed by the Lord. By now, Esau was forty and had married Judith and Basemath, two Hittite women who were a source of grief for Isaac and Rebekah.

Chapter 27

When Isaac was old and blind, he called to Esau and asked him to hunt wild game and fix him a meal before he blessed Esau. Rebekah overheard this and told Jacob to get two goats that she could make to taste like wild game. But Jacob worried that his father would feel his smooth skin and curse him, but his mother said that any curse would fall on her, so he should do as she told him. She prepared the goats Jacob brought her, dressed Jacob in Esau's clothing, and then tied goatskin around Jacob's hands and neck so that he would feel like his hairy brother. Jacob went to his father, saying "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game so that you may give me your blessing." When Jacob ate the bood and touched his son's hairy hand and smelled the clothes, he offered his blessing

"Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the LORD has blessed.
May God give you of heaven's dew
and of earth's richness-
an abundance of grain and new wine.
May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed
and those who bless you be blessed."

No sooner had Jacob left, when Esau came with the food. When he learned what his brother had done, he cried out that Jacob had cheated him out of both birthright and blessing. He begged his father for a blessing, and Isaac could only give him this

"Your dwelling will be
away from the earth's richness,
away from the dew of heaven above.
You will live by the sword
and you will serve your brother.
But when you grow restless,
you will throw his yoke
from off your neck."

Esau was so angry that he threated to kill Jacob as soon as Isaac passed away. Rebekah heard of this and sent Jacob to her own brother, Laban, until Esau could calm down. She hoped he would take a wife there because the Hittite women were disgusting and not worthy of Jacob.

Chapter 28

Isaac called Jacob in and agreed that he should marry one of the daughters of his uncle Laban. When Esau learned that his parents had sent Jacob away and that they disapproved of his Canaanite women, he went to his uncle Ishmael and took as his wife Ishmael's granddaughter, Mahalath.

When Jacob stopped to sleep on the ground as he traveled, he had a dream where he saw a great stair reaching heaven, and the Lord stood on it and promised to make Jacob the father of nations. When Jacob awoke, he made a vow to give back to God a tenth of all the wealth God provided him

Chapter 29

When Jacob saw herders on a hill watering their sheep, he asked if they knew Laban. They replied that they knew him and that the young woman coming tending her flock was his daughter, Rachel. Jacob immediately opened the well for Rachel and helped to water his uncle's sheep. Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept and told her his story. Rachel ran to tell her father who hurried out to greet his nephew.

After Jacob had worked for a month, Laban insisted on paying him for his labor. Jacob offered to work for seven years in return for Rachel, Laban's younger and prettier daughter. Laban agreed, and Jacob worked for seven years which went by quickly because of his great love for Rachel. After seven years, Jacob asked his uncle for his wife so that he could lie with her. Laban gave a great feast, but he gave Jacob Leah, the older daughter with weak eyes. In the morning, Jacob accused Laban of tricking him, but Laban replied that it was the custom to marry the older daughter before the younger. He promised Jacob that if Jacob finished the bridal week with Leah and took her as wife, he could work another seven years for Rachel's hand. Jacob did so. After seven more years, Jacob married Rachel and loved her more than Leah.

God took pity on Leah, who was not loved, and gave her sons even while Rachel remained barren. When Leah had her first son, she knew that the Lord had seen her misery, and she named the boy Reuben, meaning "he has seen my misery." When Leah had her second son, she knew that the Lord had heard she was not loved and she named the boy Simeon, meaning "one who hears." At her third son's birth, she thought her husband must become attached to her and love her for providing such sons, and she named him Levi, meaning "attached." When she gave birth to her fourth and final child, she decided to praise the Lord for giving her such sons, and she named him Judah, meaning "praise."

Chapter 30

Rachel grew jealous and demanded Jacob give her children, but Jacob could not, so Rachel sent Bilhah, her maidservant, to Jacob so that Bilhah could have children for her. Jacob took her as wife and Bilhah conceived a child who Rachel named Dan, meaning "vindicated" because God had given Rachel a son to raise. Rachel's servant had a second son, and Rachel said, "I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won." She named him Naphtali, meaning "my struggle." However Leah saw that she was having no more children while Rachel's servant bore sons for Jacob and Rachel. Leah sent her servant Zilpah to Jacob and Zilpah gave birth to a son who Leah named Gad, meaning "good fortune." When Zilpah had a second son, Leah named him Asher, meaning "happy."

One day, Reuben found mandrake for his mother, Leah, and Rachel asked for some. In return, Rachel promised to send Jacob to lie with Leah. God knew Leah's lonliness and he sent her another son who she named Issachar, meaning "reward." Leah later had a sixth son who she named Zebulun, meaning "honor." Finally Leah had a daughter and named her Dinah. God finally remembered Rachel and opened her womb so that she gave birth to a son she named Joseph, meaning "may he add," and she prayed that the Lord may add to her another son.

Jacob's Flocks Increase
Soon Jacob wanted to leave, but Laban asked Jacob to stay and offered to pay him wages. Jacob asked as his wages all the dark sheep and spotted goats, which were very rare, and Laban agreed. But then took poplar and almond branches and peeled the bark to make them spotted. Whenever the strong animals of Laban's flock were mating, Jacob would place the spotted branches in front of the water, and the animals would bear spotted young. Whenever the weak animals mated, Jacob removed the branches and the young were born without spots. This way Jacob became more wealthy with each season until he had flocks and servants and camels and donkeys.

Chapter 31

Jacob soon heard rumors about how Laban and his sons were jealous, so he called for Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields. There he told them that Laban had ten times cheated him by changing his wages, and he told them that the Lord had told him to go back to the land of his fathers. Both women agreed to return with Jacob and agreed that any wealth Jacob had accumulated was part of their inheritance from their father, Laban. So then, Jacob took his children, and wives, and livestock, and left. But while Laban was out of the house, Rachel stole her father's household gods.

Three days later, Laban learned that Jacob had fled, he chased him. It took seven days for him to catch Jacob in the hills of Gilead. God warned Jacob not to talk to Laban. When Laban confronted Jacob, he demanded to know why Jacob had fled in the night, talking his daughters without any warning and without any good-byes. Laban then began searching for his gods. Not realizing what Rachel had done, Jacob swore that he had not taken anything of Laban's and told Laben to search all he wanted, and if he found the missing gods, the person who stole them would be put to death. When Laben entered Rachel's tent, Rachel had put the family gods in a bag under her and when her father came in, she claimed that the time of the month prevented her from standing. So Laban offered to make a covenant with Jacob and they gathered stones and made a mark past which neither would go and neither would harm each other. So Laban kissed his grandchildren and daughters and returned home.

Chapter 32

Jacob knew that his older brother, Esau, might still be angry, so he sent one of his servants to see Esau and deliver this message, "'Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, menservants and maidservants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes." When the messenger returned, he told Jacob that Esau was coming with 400 men. Afraid for his life, Jacob divided his party into two groups so that one group could escape while Esau attacked the other. Then he prayed and asked for God's protection. He went and took hundreds of animals and broke them into three herds. He had servants drive each of the three herds ahead of him in three separate groups, and as each group reached Esau, Jacob ordered the servant to say, "These herds belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us." Jacob himself sent his wives and his eleven children across the river and he waited for his brother alone.

Jacob wrestled with a man and when the man could not overpower Jacob, he touched Jacob's hips so that Jacob's hip was wrenched. Then the man demanded to be released, but Jacob refused to release the man until the man had blessed him. The man then asked for Jacob's name, which Jacob told him, but the man said that his name would no longer be Jacob but would instead be Israel ("he struggles with God") because he had struggled with both God and men and had survived. At that, Jacob asked for the man's name, but the man replied "Why do you ask my name?' right before blessing Isreal. To this day, Isralites should not eat the tendon attacted to the socket of the hip because Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon. When Jacob rose, he still limped from the hip.

Chapter 33

When Jacob saw Esau coming, he put the two maidservants and their children in the found group, Leah and her children in the middle group, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. He went forward, expecting his brother to be angry, but instead Esau ran forward and hugged his brother. His brother then told Jacob to keep the hundreds of animals Jacob had offered as gifts because he had done well, but Jacob insisted that Esau keep the gift. Jacob told Esau again that he would be a servant in Esau's household, and then Jacob purchased land and set up his householdnear the city of Shechem.

Chapter 34

Jacob and Leah had a daughter named Dinah and she was raped by a man named Shechem who claimed to love the girl and asked his father, Hamor, to arrange his marriage to Dinah. Hamor offered to pay the bride price if Jacob would allow this marriage and other marriages between the two families. Jacob's sons replied for their father and lied, saying, "We can't do such a thing; we can't give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. We will give our consent to you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males." They then said that the daughters of Jacob could marry the sons of Hamor and the daughters of Hamor could marry the sons of Jacob. All of the men of Hamor's town envied the wealth of Jacob and hoped to marry into his clan, so they all agreed. All the men were circumcised, and three days later, while the men still lay in their beds in pain, Simeon and Levi (Dinah's brothers) killed every male and rescued Dinah and took all the women and livestock. Jacob said to this two sons that they were foolish because the other towns might ban together and attack their family.

Chapter 35

God appeared to Jacob and told him to move to Bethel. Jacob woke and demanded his sons turn over all the foreign wealth they had taken, and buried the rings and foreign idols and the gold under a tree. He then moved the entire family. Once again, God appeared in a dream and told Jacob that he was now known as Israel. Once the family moved to Bethel, Rachel went into labor. In her dying breath, she named her last son Ben-Oni meaning "son of my trouble," but when Jacob looked at his youngest child, he named the boy Benjamin meaning "son of my right hand." Later, Reuben who was the oldest son and the child of Leah slept with Jacob's concubine Bihah who had been Rachel's maidservant and the mother of Reuben's two brothers: Dan and Naphtali. Isaac lived to be 180 years old, and then Esau and Jacob buried him.

Chapter 36

Esau married Canaanite women and his wealth grew so great he had to move his flocks to Seir. Esau had many sons and daughters and the sons were kings in Edom before the first Israelite king was crowned.

Chapter 37

Jacob loved Joseph more than his other children because he was Rachel's firstborn and because Joseph had been born when Jacob was older. To show this, Jacob gave Joseph a beautiful, richly ornamented robe. This made his brothers jealous, and they were even more angry when Joseph told them about his dreams. Joseph had dreamed that each of them had make a bundle of grain while harvesting and that all the brothers' bundles had knelt to his bundle. His brothers thought that Joseph was being really arrogant, especially since Joseph was younger than they were. Later Joseph had a dream where the sun, moon, and eleven stars all knelt down to him. When Joseph told his family, even his father scolded him. One day, Joseph's brothers were tending the flocks near Shechem and Jacob told him to go check on them. When Joseph finally found his brothers in Dothan, the brothers decided to kill him so that he wouldn't bother them with his dreams any more. They could lie to their father and claim a wild animal had killed Joseph. However, Reuben, Jacob's oldest son convinced his brothers to lower Joseph into a dry well. Reuben figured that when the others left to take care of the flocks he could come back and save Joseph. So, when Joseph reached his brothers, they grabbed him and tore the coat off him. Joseph pleaded for his life, but the brothers quickly put Joseph down the well and sat down to dinner, leaving Joseph trapped. Reuben left, not wanting to eat with his brothers. In the middle of dinner, the brothers saw a group of Ishmaelites who carried trade goods for Egypt. Judah convinced his bothers to sell Joseph for 20 shekels of silver. The brothers then killed a goat and dipped the coat in the blood before returning the coat to Jacob. Jacob was so upset that no one could comfort him once he learned of Joseph's death. Meanwhile, the merchants sold Joseph to Potiphar of Egypt.

Chapter 38

Judah left his brothers and married a Canaanite woman who gave him three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. Er married Tamar, but the Lord put Er to death for being wicked. So Judah told Onan to lie with Tamar so that Tamar could have children in the name of Er, but Onan knew that any children of Tamar would inherit Er's name, so each time he lay with Tamar, he spilled his semen on the ground to prevent pregancy, and the Lord put Onan to death for his wickedness. Judah then sent Tamar to live with her own father until Shelah had grown up. After a long time, Judah and Shelah went to Timnah to sheer the sheep, and Tamar disguised herself to see why Judah had not sent for her. When Judah saw Tamar, he thought she was a shrine prostitute and offered her a goat in return for sleeping with him. He gave her his seal to keep until he paid. She agreed and became pregnant by Judah, but she hid so that he could not pay her and she kept his seal. When Judah learned that his daughter-in-law as pregnant, he declared that she should burn for her disloyalty, but when the townspeople brought Tamar, she showed the seal and Judah realized what had happened. He declaired that she was more righteous that he was because he had never sent Shelah to her. He decided that he could not then judge her, and she gave birth to twins.

Chapter 39

Potiphar, the captain of the Pharaoh's guard, bought Joseph, and was very pleased with him because the Lord helped Joseph prosper. Eventually, Joseph's master put him in charge of the household. Eventually, Potiphar's wife noticed how handsome Joseph was and ordered him to join her in bed. He refused saying that he would betray both his master and the Lord if he slept with her. Every day she called him to her bed, and every day he refused. Then one day she found him in the house alone and caught his cloak, but Joseph slipped out of the cloak and ran from the house. Potiphar's wife then told everyone that Joseph had come to rape her, and she had screamed, causing him to leave his cloak behind. Potiphar sent Joseph to prison, but the Lord was with Joseph and caused the prison warden to trust Joseph and make him responsible for many of the day to day activities. Joseph acted as the warden's slave rather than as a prisoner.

Chapter 40

After Joseph had been in prison for a while two other prisoners arrived: a cupbearer and a baker who had offended the Pharaoh. Joseph attended them and saw how upset they were. Each admitted to having dreams, and Joseph told them that God sent dreams, so they should tell him the dream and let him interpret them. The cupbearer dreamed of a vine with three branches and he squeezed the grapes into a cup which he offered the Pharaoh. Joseph told the cupbearer that in three days he would return to the palace. He then asked the cupbearer to mention him to the Pharaoh and tell the Pharaoh how he had been unjustly imprisoned. The baker had dreamed of three baskets of bread, which he carried until the birds ate them. Joseph said that in three days the Pharaoh would behead the baker and hang his body in the trees for the birds to eat. Three days later, during the Pharaoh's birthday celebration, all of Joseph's comments came true; however, the cupbearer never mentioned Joseph.

Chapter 41

For two years, Joseph stayed in prison and then the Pharaoh started having dreams where seven fat cows appeared out of the Nile only to then be eaten by seven gaunt starving cows. The next time the Pharaoh fell asleep he dreamed of seven heads of grain growing on one stalk which were swallowed by seven thin, scorched heads. None of the wise men could interpret the dream, so the cupbearer told Pharaoh about Joseph who had, two years earlier, interpreted his own dreams. When Pharaoh called for Joseph, Joseph agreed that God could help him interpret the dreams. After hearing the details, Joseph told Pharaoh that God would send seven years of abundant crops to be followed by seven years of drought and famine. He told Pharaoh to find a man responsible enough to collect one fifth of every harvest for seven years so that there would be food through the famine. Since Joseph had interepreted the dreams, Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of the project, gave him a signet ring, and made him second in command of the entire empire. Pharaoh declared that Joseph would now be known as Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him the daughter of a priest as a wife. By the time the famine came, Joseph had two children, Manasseh which means "forget" and Ephraim which means "twice fruitful."

Chapter 42

Jacob, who was now aging, sent his ten children to buy grain, but Jacob kept Benjamin because he feared losing Rachel's last child. When Joseph's brothers reached Egypt, they bowed to Joseph and didn't recognize them. Remembering his dreams and what his brothers had done, Joseph accused the brothers of being spies. The brothers denied it and claimed to be ten honest sons of a father who had eleven children and who had lost one son, but Joseph kept one of the brothers hostage until they others returned home to give their starving families the grain and bring back the youngest brother, Benjamin. The brothers thought that God was punishing them for not listening when Joseph pleaded for his life and freedom. Reuben told the brothers that they deserved to pay for the spilt blood. They said all this in front of Joseph because they believed that Joseph, who used an interpreter, could not speak Hebrew. Joseph nearly cried at this, but he ordered Simeon to be tied up and taken from them. Joseph then ordered that the other brothers' bags be filled with grain and the money they offered to pay be placed back in each bag. When the brothers got home, they told Jacob about how poorly the Pharaoh's second in command had treated them and how they feared they would be accused of stealing since the pay had been found in each bag. Jacob accused them of causing him to lose first Joseph and then Simeon. He told the sons that they would lose Benjamin as well. Rueben, however, promised to keep him safe, and told his father that his own two sons could be put to death if they did not bring Benjamin home safely, but Jacob refused to allow Benjamin to go.

Chapter 43

After a time, the grain the brothers brought from Egypt failed, and Jacob told them to go buy more, but Judah said they could not unless they took Benjamin. Judah promised to return Benjamin safely, and Jacob knew he had to allow Benjamin to go, so he sent them with gifts of balm and honey and spice and myrrh and nuts. He also sent both the silver that they had found in the bags as well as enough silver to buy more grain. When they reached Egypt, Joseph ordered them to be taken to his house for dinner, and the brothers feared that they would be seized and taken as slaves, but Joseph had Simeon waiting for them and had his steward wash their feet. When he saw Benjamin, bowing with the others, he had to leave and go to his room and weep before he could return for dinner. When he did return, he had his servants give Benjamin five times more food than the other brothers.

Chapter 44

Joseph had his steward fill the brothers' sacks and place the silver payment in the top of each bag. He then had his own silver cup placed in Benjamin's sack. The next morning the brothers left, but they had not gone far when Joseph's steward caught them and accused them of stealing. the brothers insisted they were honest, and offered to have the bags searched. They said that if any brother had stolen, that brother would die and the rest become slaves. However, the steward said that the guilty brother would be kept as a slave and the rest would go free. When the cup was found in Benjamin's sack, all the brothers returned to the city and threw themselves at Joseph's feet. Judah then told Joseph that his father would die if he lost Benjamin, and Judah begged Joseph to accept him as a slave in place of Benjamin.

Chapter 45

At this, Joseph cried out for all the attendants to leave and he revealed himself to his brothers. He forgave them, saying that God had sent him to Egypt to help preserve the family. He told them that the entire family of Israel could now move to Goshen and Joseph would provide for the entire family. When the Pharaoh learned of Joseph's family, he offered the best land of Egypt. The brothers then went back to their father with 10 donkeys loaded with wealth and 10 female donkeys loaded with grain and new clothing, and Benjamin received 300 shekels. When the brothers told Jacob, Jacob agreed to go to Egypt.

Chapter 46

So Isreal (Jacob) made a sacrafice to God to thank him, and in a dream, God told Israel that he would become a great nation in Egypt. He told Israel that he would go with Isreal into Egypt and return with Israel's descendants out of Egypt. When Isreal awoke, he took his children, and their wives and the livestock and his grandchildren to Egypt. When Joseph saw his father, he threw his arms around him and wept. Joseph told his father that Pharaoh would allow the family to settle in Goshen away from the Egyptians because the Egyptians detested shepherds.

Chapter 47

When Joseph went to the Pharaoh, Pharaoh provided the family with land in the district of Ramses and said that if any of the family had special ability, they would be in charge of the Pharaoh's own livestock. The famine was so severe that people soon ran out of money, so Joseph traded them food for livestock, and the following year they people traded their land for food. Soon the people offered to live in bondage to the Pharaoh in return for food. Then Joseph gave them seed to plant and said that one-fifth of the crop must go to Pharaoh. After years, Isreal grew weak, and he made Joseph promise to bury him with his fathers.

Chapter 48

As Isreal lay on his bed, he told Joseph that Joseph's son would be considered his own sons just as Reuben and Simeon were his children. He said that all children born to his line would be known as the children of Israel. Then Joseph brought his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, Israel went to bless Epphraim with is right hand, and Joseph was displeased because Manasseh was older, but Isreal told Joseph that both would become great men, but the younger would be greater and his descendants would be a group of nations.

Chapter 49

Jacob then called all his sons and told them what would happen to them in days to come.

* Reuben will no longer excel because he had defiled his father's bed by sleeping with his father's concubine
* Simeon and Levi had killed in anger, so their families will be scattered.
* Judah will lead the family and hold the ruler's staff until the power returned to the rightful line.
* Zebulun will live by the sea and become a haven for ships
* Issachar who always traveled will discover the joy of land and labor and learn to work
* Dan will become one the tribes of Isreal and become a serpent by the roadside
* Gad will be attacked by raiders
* Asher will provide food for kings
* Naphtali will be as a doe that bears beautiful fawns.
* Joseph will be a fruitful vine blessed by God and Isreal. Others will attack him in bitterness, but his bow will remain steady
* Benjamin will be the ravenous wolf who devours prey in the morning and divides the plunder in the evening.

These are the twelve tribes. Again, Israel asked to be buried with his fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron near Mamre--the place that Abraham bought and the burial place of Abraphan and Sarah, Issac and Rebekah.

Chapter 50

Joseph wept over his father and directed the physicians of Egypt to embalm him, talking a full 40 days. The Pharaoh's officials accompanied Joseph and the family as they went to bury Isreal. At this point, Joseph's brothers feared that Joseph would hold a grudge, but Joseph told them that God had intended it to happen and so he held no grudge. Joseph lived for 110 years, and as he lay on his deathbed, he made his family promise to take his bones when God took the family of Isreal out of Egypt. So Joseph died and he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.