So

So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants.

Please accept my gift that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” So Jacob pressed him until he accepted.

So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir,

So Shechem told his father Hamor, “Get me this girl as a wife.”

So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and addressed the men of their city:

So 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.

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

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

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

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

And 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.

So 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.

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

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

Now 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.

“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.

Then 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,

“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.

“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.

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

So 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.

All 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.

So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and Judah named him Er.

But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so the LORD put him to death.

But Onan knew that the offspring would not belong to him; so whenever he would sleep with his brother’s wife, he would spill his seed on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother.

But Onan knew that the offspring would not belong to him; so whenever he would sleep with his brother’s wife, he would spill his seed on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother.

What he did was wicked in the sight of the LORD, so He put Onan to death as well.

Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He may die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.

“What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

So Hirah returned to Judah and said, “I could not find her, and furthermore, the men of that place said, ‘No shrine prostitute has been here.’”

And as she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it around his wrist. “This one came out first,” she announced.

But when he pulled his hand back and his brother came out, she said, “You have broken out first!” So he was named Perez.

So Potiphar left all that he owned in Joseph’s care; he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,

No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?”

…she called her household servants. “Look,” she said, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, but I screamed as loud as I could.

So Potiphar’s wife kept Joseph’s cloak beside her until his master came home.

So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. While Joseph was there in the prison,

And the warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care, so that he was responsible for all that was done in the prison.

So he asked the officials of Pharaoh who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so downcast today?”

So he asked the officials of Pharaoh who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so downcast today?”

So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream: “In my dream there was a vine before me,

Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.

In the morning his spirit was troubled, so he summoned all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of the dungeon. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he went in before Pharaoh.

When they had devoured them, however, no one could tell that they had done so; their appearance was as ugly as it had been before. Then I awoke.

Moreover, the seven thin, ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind—they are seven years of famine.

The abundance in the land will not be remembered, since the famine that follows it will be so severe.

So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, in whom the Spirit of God abides?”

He had Joseph ride in his second chariot, with men calling out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt.

So Joseph stored up grain in such abundance, like the sand of the sea, that he stopped keeping track of it; for it was beyond measure.

“Look,” he added, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”

So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.

So the sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, since the famine had also spread to the land of Canaan.

Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

“Not so, my lord,” they replied. “Your servants have come to buy food.

Send one of your number to get your brother; the rest of you will be confined so that the truth of your words may be tested. If they are untrue, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

So Joseph imprisoned them for three days,

…and on the third day he said to them, “I fear God. So do this and you will live:

Then bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be verified, that you may not die.” And to this they consented.

But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are not spies but honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the land.’”

So when Jacob’s sons had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

And Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me, and we will go at once, so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our children.

Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.

Take double the silver with you so that you may return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.

So the men took these gifts, along with double the amount of silver, and Benjamin as well. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.

So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.

When the portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of the others. So they feasted and drank freely with Joseph.

Put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” So the steward did as Joseph had instructed.

So each one quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it.

Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so that I can see him for myself.’

So we said to my lord, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he were to leave, his father would die.’

But we answered, ‘We cannot go down there unless our younger brother goes with us. So if our younger brother is not with us, we cannot see the man.’

So if the boy is not with us when I return to your servant, and if my father, whose life is wrapped up in the boy’s life,

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me!” So none of them were with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.

But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household soon heard of it.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt!

So the sons of Israel did as they were told. Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had instructed, and he also gave them provisions for their journey.

So the brothers went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan.

So Israel set out with all that he had, and when he came to Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

So Joseph went and told Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.”

Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live in the land for a time, because there is no pasture for the flocks of your servants, since the famine in the land of Canaan has been severe. So now, please allow your servants to settle in the land of Goshen.”

So Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

There was no food, however, in all that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Egypt and Canaan had been exhausted by the famine.

So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. Throughout that year he provided them with food in exchange for all their livestock.

So Joseph acquired for Pharaoh all the land in Egypt; the Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields because the famine was so severe upon them. The land became Pharaoh’s,

So Joseph acquired for Pharaoh all the land in Egypt; the Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields because the famine was so severe upon them. The land became Pharaoh’s,

However, he did not acquire the priests’ portion of the land, for it had been given to them by Pharaoh. They ate the rations that Pharaoh supplied; so they did not sell their land.

So Joseph established a law that a fifth of the produce belongs to Pharaoh, and it is in effect in the land of Egypt to this day. Only the priests’ land does not belong to Pharaoh.

“Swear to me,” Jacob said. So Joseph swore to him, and Israel bowed in worship at the head of his bed.

Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Now as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way in the land of Canaan, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.” So Jacob said, “Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.”

“Not so, my father!” Joseph said. “This one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:

He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant.

He will be a snake by the road, a viper in the path that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward.