January 12
Genesis 35:1 — 37:22

35  After that God said to Jacob: “Rise, go up to Bethel and dwell there, and make an altar there to the [true] God who appeared to you when you were running away from Esau your brother.”

     2 Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him: “Put away the foreign gods that are in the midst of YOU and cleanse yourselves and change YOUR mantles, 3 and let us rise and go up to Bethel. And there I shall make an altar to the [true] God who answered me in the day of my distress in that he proved to be with me in the way that I have gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their hands and the earrings that were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the big tree that was close by Shechem.

     5 After that they pulled away, and the terror of God came to be upon the cities that were round about them, so that they did not chase after the sons of Jacob. 6 Eventually Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is to say, Bethel, he and all the people who were with him. 7 Then he built an altar there and began to call the place El-bethel, because there the [true] God had revealed himself to him at the time of his running away from his brother. 8 Later Deborah the nursing woman of Rebekah died and was buried at the foot of Bethel under a massive tree. Hence he called its name Allon-bacuth.

     9 God now appeared to Jacob once again during his coming from Paddan-aram and blessed him. 10 And God went on to say to him: “Your name is Jacob. No longer is your name to be called Jacob, but Israel will your name become.” And he began to call his name Israel. 11 And God said further to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and become many. Nations and a congregation of nations will proceed out of you, and kings will come out of your loins. 12 As for the land that I have given to Abraham and to Isaac, to you I shall give it, and to your seed after you I shall give the land.” 13 After that God went up from above him at the place where he had spoken with him.

     14 Consequently Jacob stationed a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured a drink offering upon it and poured oil upon it. 15 And Jacob continued to call the name of the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

     16 Then they pulled away from Bethel. And while there was yet a good stretch of land before coming to Ephrath, Rachel proceeded to give birth, and it was going hard with her in making the delivery. 17 But so it was that while she had difficulty in making the delivery the midwife said to her: “Do not be afraid, for you will have this son also.” 18 And the result was that as her soul was going out (because she died) she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 Thus Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is to say, Bethlehem. 20 Hence Jacob stationed a pillar over her grave. This is the pillar of Rachel’s grave down to this day.

21 After that Israel pulled away and pitched his tent a distance beyond the tower of Eder. 22 And it came about while Israel was tabernacling in that land that once Reuben went and lay down with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel got to hear of it.

     So there came to be twelve sons of Jacob. 23 The sons by Leah were Jacob’s firstborn Reuben and Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun. 24 The sons by Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. 25 And the sons by Bilhah, Rachel’s maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali. 26 And the sons by Zilpah, Leah’s maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These are Jacob’s sons who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

     27 At length Jacob came to Isaac his father to Mamre, to Kiriath-arba, that is to say, Hebron, where Abraham and also Isaac had resided as aliens. 28 And the days of Isaac came to be a hundred and eighty years. 29 After that Isaac expired and died and was gathered to his people, old and satisfied with days, and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him.

36  And this is the history of Esau, that is to say, Edom.

     2 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite, 3 and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.

     4 And Adah proceeded to bear Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel, 5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush and Jalam and Korah.

     These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. 6 After that Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters and all the souls of his house and his herd and all his other beasts and all his wealth, which he had accumulated in the land of Canaan, and went to a land away from Jacob his brother, 7 because their goods had become too great for them to dwell together and the land of their alien residences was not able to sustain them as a result of their herds. 8 So Esau took up dwelling in the mountainous region of Seir. Esau is Edom.

        9 And this is the history of Esau the father of Edom in the mountainous region of Seir.
     10 These are the names of the sons of Esau: Eliphaz the son of Adah, Esau’s wife; Reuel the son of Basemath, Esau’s wife.
     11 And the sons of Eliphaz came to be Teman, Omar, Zepho and Gatam and Kenaz. 12 And Timna became the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son. In time she bore to Eliphaz Amalek. These are the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife.
     13 These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath and Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These came to be the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.
     14 And these came to be the sons of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the granddaughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife, in that she bore to Esau Jeush and Jalam and Korah.

     15 These are the sheiks of the sons of Esau: The sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn: Sheik Teman, sheik Omar, sheik Zepho, sheik Kenaz, 16 sheik Korah, sheik Gatam, sheik Amalek. These are the sheiks of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. These are the sons by Adah.
     17 These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: Sheik Nahath, sheik Zerah, sheik Shammah, sheik Mizzah. These are the sheiks of Reuel in the land of Edom. These are the sons by Basemath, Esau’s wife.
     18 Finally these are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: Sheik Jeush, sheik Jalam, sheik Korah. These are the sheiks of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife.
     19 These are the sons of Esau, and these are their sheiks. He is Edom.


      20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan and Shobal and Zibeon and Anah 21 and Dishon and Ezer and Dishan. These are the sheiks of the Horite, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom.
     22 And the sons of Lotan came to be Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna.
     23 And these are the sons of Shobal: Alvan and Manahath and Ebal, Shepho and Onam.
     24 And these are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness while he was tending the asses for Zibeon his father.
     25 And these are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah.
     26 And these are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan and Eshban and Ithran and Cheran.
     27 These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan and Zaavan and Akan.
      28 These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
      29 These are the sheiks of the Horite: Sheik Lotan, sheik Shobal, sheik Zibeon, sheik Anah, 30 sheik Dishon, sheik Ezer, sheik Dishan. These are the sheiks of the Horite according to their sheiks in the land of Seir.

     31 Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the sons of Israel. 32 And Bela son of Beor proceeded to reign in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. 33 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah began to reign instead of him. 34 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites began to reign instead of him. 35 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the field of Moab, began to reign instead of him, and the name of his city was Avith. 36 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah began to reign instead of him. 37 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth by the River began to reign instead of him. 38 When Shaul died, Baal-hanan son of Achbor began to reign instead of him. 39 When Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, Hadar began to reign instead of him; and the name of his city was Pau, and the name of his wife was Mehetabel the daughter of Matred the daughter of Mezahab.

     40 So these are the names of the sheiks of Esau according to their families, according to their places, by their names: Sheik Timna, sheik Alvah, sheik Jetheth, 41 sheik Oholibamah, sheik Elah, sheik Pinon, 42 sheik Kenaz, sheik Teman, sheik Mibzar, 43 sheik Magdiel, sheik Iram. These are the sheiks of Edom according to their dwellings in the land of their possession. This is Esau the father of Edom.

37  And Jacob continued to dwell in the land of the alien residences of his father, in the land of Canaan.
     2 This is the history of Jacob.

     Joseph, when seventeen years old, happened to be tending sheep with his brothers among the flock, and, being but a boy, he was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father. So Joseph brought a bad report about them to their father. 3 And Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he was the son of his old age; and he had a long, striped shirtlike garment made for him. 4 When his brothers came to see that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they began to hate him, and they were not able to speak peacefully to him.

     5 Later on Joseph had a dream and told it to his brothers, and they found further reason to hate him. 6 And he went on to say to them: “Listen, please, to this dream that I have dreamed. 7 Well, here we were binding sheaves in the middle of the field when here my sheaf got up and also stood erect and here YOUR sheaves proceeded to encircle and bow down to my sheaf.” 8 And his brothers began to say to him: “Are you going to be king over us for certain? or, Are you going to dominate over us for certain?” So they found fresh reason to hate him over his dreams and over his words.

     9 After that he had still another dream, and he related it to his brothers and said: “Here I have had a dream once more, and here the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 Then he related it to his father as well as his brothers, and his father began to rebuke him and say to him: “What does this dream that you have dreamed mean? Am I and also your mother and your brothers for certain going to come and bow down to the earth to you?” 11 And his brothers grew jealous of him, but his father observed the saying.

     12 His brothers now went to feed the flock of their father close by Shechem. 13 After a while Israel said to Joseph: “Your brothers are tending [flocks] close by Shechem, are they not? Come, and let me send you to them.” At this he said to him: “Here I am!” 14 So he said to him: “Go, please. See whether your brothers are safe and sound and whether the flock is safe and sound, and bring me back word.” With that he sent him away from the low plain of Hebron, and he went on toward Shechem. 15 Later a man found him and here he was wandering in a field. Then the man inquired of him, saying: “What are you looking for?” 16 To this he said: “It is my brothers I am looking for. Tell me, please, Where are they tending flocks?” 17 And the man continued: “They have pulled away from here, because I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph kept on after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

     18 Well, they caught sight of him from a distance, and before he could get close by them they began plotting cunningly against him to put him to death. 19 So they said to one another: “Look! Here comes that dreamer. 20 And now come and let us kill him and pitch him into one of the waterpits; and we must say a vicious wild beast devoured him. Then let us see what will become of his dreams.” 21 When Reuben heard this he tried to deliver him out of their hand. So he said: “Let us not strike his soul fatally.” 22 And Reuben went on to say to them: “Do not spill blood. Pitch him into this waterpit which is in the wilderness and do not lay a violent hand upon him.” His purpose was to deliver him out of their hand in order to return him to his father.