Genesis 35–37

1Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

2So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments.

3Then let us arise and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to God, who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”

4So they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and all their earrings, and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem.

5As they set out, a terror from God fell over the surrounding cities, so that they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.

6So Jacob and everyone with him arrived in Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.

7There Jacob built an altar, and he called that place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed Himself to Jacob as he fled from his brother.

8Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bacuth.

9After Jacob had returned from Paddan-aram, God appeared to him again and blessed him.

10And God said to him, “Though your name is Jacob, you will no longer be called Jacob. Instead, your name will be Israel.” So God named him Israel.

11And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.

12The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”

13Then God went up from the place where He had spoken with him.

14So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God had spoken with him—a stone marker—and he poured out a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil.

15Jacob called the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

16Later, they set out from Bethel, and while they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult.

17During her severe labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for you are having another son.”

18And with her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni. But his father called him Benjamin.

19So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

20Jacob set up a pillar on her grave; it marks Rachel’s tomb to this day.

21Israel again set out and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder.

22While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons:

23The sons of Leah were Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

24The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

25The sons of Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali.

26And the sons of Leah’s maidservant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

27Jacob returned to his father Isaac at Mamre, near Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.

28And Isaac lived 180 years.

29Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

1This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom).

2Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite,

3and Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

4And Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath gave birth to Reuel,

5and Oholibamah gave birth to Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

6Later, Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the people of his household, along with his livestock, all his other animals, and all the property he had acquired in Canaan, and he moved to a land far away from his brother Jacob.

7For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together; the land where they stayed could not support them because of their livestock.

8So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the area of Mount Seir.

9This is the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the area of Mount Seir.

10These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel son of Esau’s wife Basemath.

11The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

12Additionally, Timna, a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, gave birth to Amalek. These are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah.

13These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. They are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

14These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah (daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon) whom she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

15These are the chiefs among the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,

16Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. They are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom, and they are the grandsons of Adah.

17These are the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. They are the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom, and they are the grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

18These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: Chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. They are the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

19All these are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and they were their chiefs.

20These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

21Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. They are the chiefs of the Horites, the descendants of Seir in the land of Edom.

22The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. Timna was Lotan’s sister.

23These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

24These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. (This is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness as he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.)

25These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.

26These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.

27These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

28These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

29These are the chiefs of the Horites: Chiefs Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

30Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. They are the chiefs of the Horites, according to their divisions in the land of Seir.

31These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites:

32Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.

33When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.

34When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

35When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Avith.

36When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place.

37When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his place.

38When Shaul died, Baal-hanan son of Achbor reigned in his place.

39When Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, Hadad reigned in his place. His city was named Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-zahab.

40These are the names of Esau’s chiefs, according to their families and regions, by their names: Chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,

41Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon,

42Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar,

43Magdiel, and Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they possessed. Esau was the father of the Edomites.

1Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had resided, the land of Canaan.

2This is the account of Jacob. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he was tending the flock with his brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah, and he brought their father a bad report about them.

3Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons, because Joseph had been born to him in his old age; so he made him a robe of many colors.

4When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.

5Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

6He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had:

7We were binding sheaves of grain in the field, and suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to mine.”

8“Do you intend to reign over us?” his brothers asked. “Will you actually rule us?” So they hated him even more because of his dream and his statements.

9Then Joseph had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

10He told his father and brothers, but his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream that you have had? Will your mother and brothers and I actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”

11And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.

12Some time later, Joseph’s brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks near Shechem.

13Israel said to him, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flocks at Shechem? Get ready; I am sending you to them.” “I am ready,” Joseph replied.

14Then Israel told him, “Go now and see how your brothers and the flocks are faring, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron. And when Joseph arrived in Shechem,

15a man found him wandering in the field and asked, “What are you looking for?”

16“I am looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Can you please tell me where they are pasturing their flocks?”

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

18Now Joseph’s brothers saw him in the distance, and before he arrived, they plotted to kill him.

19“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to one another.

20“Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal has devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams!”

21When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue Joseph from their hands. “Let us not take his life,” he said.

22“Do not shed his blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this so that he could rescue Joseph from their hands and return him to his father.

23So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the robe of many colors he was wearing—

24and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, with no water in it.

25And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt.

26Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

27Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And they agreed.

28So when the Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

29When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,

30returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?”

31Then they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a young goat, and dipped the robe in its blood.

32They sent the robe of many colors to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe or not.”

33His father recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!”

34Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

35All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol mourning for my son.” So his father wept for him.

36Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.