Then

Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh water there.

Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.

And they got up early the next morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”

Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”

What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”

Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.

Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?”

“Serve me,” said Isaac, “and let me eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.” Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; then he brought him wine, and he drank.

Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”

Isaac began to tremble violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me? Before you came in, I ate it all and blessed him—and indeed, he will be blessed!”

So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

…until your brother’s rage against you wanes and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,

…so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God.

When all the flocks had been gathered there, the shepherds would roll away the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

But they replied, “We cannot, until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.”

Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud.

Then Laban declared, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” After Jacob had stayed with him a month,

And once more she conceived and gave birth to a son and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then Leah stopped having children.

Then she said, “Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Sleep with her, that she may bear children for me, so that through her I too can build a family.”

Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.

Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.

Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.

Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.

Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,

Then Jacob answered, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock have thrived under my care.

Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flocks.

Then he set the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of the flocks coming in to drink. So when the flocks were in heat and came to drink,

Jacob set apart the young, but made the rest face the streaked dark-colored sheep in Laban’s flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and did not put them with Laban’s animals.

Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”

If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore speckled offspring. If he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore streaked offspring.

If he said, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore speckled offspring. If he said, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then the whole flock bore streaked offspring.

Then Jacob got up and put his children and his wives on camels,

Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war!

So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.

So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.

So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.

Then Jacob became incensed and challenged Laban. “What is my crime?” he said. “For what sin of mine have you so hotly pursued me?

Then Laban declared, “This mound is a witness between you and me this day.” Therefore the place was called Galeed.

Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. And after they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain.

Early the next morning, Laban got up and kissed his grandchildren and daughters and blessed them. Then he left to return home.

He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one camp, then the other camp can escape.”

Then Jacob declared, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, the LORD who told me, ‘Go back to your country and to your kindred, and I will make you prosper,’

…then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift, sent to my lord Esau. And behold, Jacob is behind us.’”

Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”

And Jacob requested, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.

Then the maidservants and their children approached and bowed down.

Leah and her children also approached and bowed down, and then Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down.

But Jacob insisted, “No, please! If I have found favor in your sight, then receive this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing the face of God, since you have received me favorably.

Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way, and I will go ahead of you.”

Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Grant me this favor, and I will give you whatever you ask.

Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We will dwell among you and become one people.

But if you will not agree to be circumcised, then we will take our sister and go.”

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”

Then 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.”

Then 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.”

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

Then 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.

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

Then 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.”

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,

“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!”

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

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

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

Then she gave birth to another son and named him Shelah; it was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.

Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”

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.

Then Tamar got up and departed. And she removed her veil and put on her widow’s garments again.

Then his brother came out with the scarlet thread around his wrist, and he was named Zerah.

Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me,

“We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”

And the cows that were sickly and thin devoured the seven sleek, well-fed cows. Then Pharaoh woke up,

And the thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven plump, ripe ones. Then Pharaoh awoke and realized it was a dream.

Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures.

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile,

Then the thin, ugly cows devoured the seven well-fed cows that were there first.

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.

…but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will devastate the land.

This food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine to come upon the land of Egypt. Then the country will not perish in the famine.”

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.

Then Pharaoh removed the signet ring from his finger, put it on Joseph’s finger, clothed him in garments of fine linen, and placed a gold chain around his neck.

Then Joseph declared, “Just as I said, you are spies!

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!”

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

Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”

Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out,

Then the man who is lord of the land said to us, ‘This is how I will know whether you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go.

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.’”

Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him.”

I will guarantee his safety. You may hold me personally responsible. If I do not bring him back and set him before you, then may I bear the guilt before you all my life.

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.

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.

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.