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Chapter 35
Jacob Returns to Bethel
1Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”
2So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.
3Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.”
4So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem.
5Then they set out, and the terror of God fell upon the towns all around them so that no one pursued them.
6Jacob and all the people with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.
7There he built an altar, and he called the place El Bethel,El Bethel means God of Bethel. because it was there that God revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.
8Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So it was named Allon Bacuth.Allon Bacuth means oak of weeping.
9After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram,That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verse 26 God appeared to him again and blessed him.
10God said to him, “Your name is Jacob,Jacob means he grasps the heel (figuratively, he deceives). but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.Israel means he struggles with God.” So he named him Israel.
11And God said to him, “I am God AlmightyHebrew El-Shaddai; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body.
12The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”
13Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.
14Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.
15Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.Bethel means house of God.
The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac
16Then they moved on from Bethel. While they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and had great difficulty.
17And as she was having great difficulty in childbirth, the midwife said to her, “Don't be afraid, for you have another son.”
18As she breathed her last—for she was dying—she named her son Ben-Oni.Ben-Oni means son of my trouble. But his father named him Benjamin.Benjamin means son of my right hand.
19So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
20Over her tomb Jacob set up a pillar, and to this day that pillar marks Rachel's tomb.
21Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.
22While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it.
Jacob had twelve sons:
23The sons of Leah:
Reuben the firstborn of Jacob,
Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun.
24The sons of Rachel:
Joseph and Benjamin.
25The sons of Rachel's maidservant Bilhah:
Dan and Naphtali.
26The sons of Leah's maidservant Zilpah:
Gad and Asher.
These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.
27Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Mamre, near Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.
28Isaac lived a hundred and eighty 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.
Chapter 36
Esau's Descendants
1This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom).
2Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite—
3also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.
4Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel,
5and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the sons of Esau, who were born to him in Canaan.
6Esau took his wives and sons and daughters and all the members of his household, as well as his livestock and all his other animals and all the goods he had acquired in Canaan, and moved to a land some distance from his brother Jacob.
7Their possessions were too great for them to remain together; the land where they were staying could not support them both because of their livestock.
8So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the hill country of Seir.
9This is the account of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.
10These are the names of Esau's sons:
Eliphaz, the son of Esau's wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau's wife Basemath.
11The sons of Eliphaz:
Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz.
12Esau's son Eliphaz also had a concubine named Timna, who bore him Amalek. These were grandsons of Esau's wife Adah.
13The sons of Reuel:
Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath.
14The sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon, whom she bore to Esau:
Jeush, Jalam and Korah.
15These were the chiefs among Esau's descendants:
The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau:
Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,
16Korah,Masoretic Text; Samaritan Pentateuch (see also Gen. 36:11 and 1 Chron. 1:36) does not have Korah. Gatam and Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in Edom; they were grandsons of Adah.
17The sons of Esau's son Reuel:
Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in Edom; they were grandsons of Esau's wife Basemath.
18The sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah:
Chiefs Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau's wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah.
19These were the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these were their chiefs.
20These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the region:
Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
21Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These sons of Seir in Edom were Horite chiefs.
22The sons of Lotan:
Hori and Homam.Hebrew Hemam, a variant of Homam (see 1 Chron. 1:39) Timna was Lotan's sister.
23The sons of Shobal:
Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam.
24The sons of Zibeon:
Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who discovered the hot springsVulgate; Syriac discovered water; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. in the desert while he was grazing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.
25The children of Anah:
Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah.
26The sons of DishonHebrew Dishan, a variant of Dishon:
Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran.
27The sons of Ezer:
Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan.
28The sons of Dishan:
Uz and Aran.
29These were the Horite chiefs:
Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
30Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These were the Horite chiefs, according to their divisions, in the land of Seir.
The Rulers of Edom
31These were the kings who reigned in Edom before any Israelite king reignedOr before an Israelite king reigned over them:
32Bela son of Beor became king of Edom. His city was named Dinhabah.
33When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah succeeded him as king.
34When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites succeeded him as king.
35When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, succeeded him as king. His city was named Avith.
36When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah succeeded him as king.
37When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the riverPossibly the Euphrates succeeded him as king.
38When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Acbor succeeded him as king.
39When Baal-Hanan son of Acbor died, HadadMany manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch and Syriac (see also 1 Chron. 1:50); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text Hadar succeeded him as king. His city was named Pau, and his wife's name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.
40These were the chiefs descended from Esau, by name, according to their clans and regions:
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 occupied.
This was Esau the father of the Edomites.
Chapter 37
Joseph's Dreams
1Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.
2This is the account of Jacob.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
3Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamentedThe meaning of the Hebrew for richly ornamented is uncertain; also in verses 23 and 32. robe for him.
4When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
5Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.
6He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had:
7We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
8His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
10When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”
11His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Joseph Sold by His Brothers
12Now his brothers had gone to graze their father's flocks near Shechem,
13and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.”
“Very well,” he replied.
14So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.
When Joseph arrived at Shechem,
15a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16He replied, “I'm looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”
17“They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let's go to Dothan.’”
So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan.
18But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
19“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other.
20“Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams.”
21When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let's not take his life,” he said.
22“Don't shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the desert, but don't lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
23So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the richly ornamented robe he was wearing—
24and they took him and threw him into the cistern. Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
25As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
26Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?
27Come, let's sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
28So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekelsThat is, about 8 ounces (about 0.2 kilogram) of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
29When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes.
30He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn't there! Where can I turn now?”
31Then they got Joseph's robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood.
32They took the ornamented robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son's robe.”
33He recognized it and said, “It is my son's robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”
34Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days.
35All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “in mourning will I go down to the graveHebrew Sheol to my son.” So his father wept for him.
36Meanwhile, the MidianitesSamaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac (see also verse 28); Masoretic Text Medanites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.

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