i-t
In the Beginning
i-t An EasyEnglish Version with Notes (TEE level A) of the Book of Genesis
i-t Christine Muir
i-t The translated Bible text has been through Advanced Checking.
i-t Words in boxes are comments on the text.
i-t A word list at the end explains words with a *star by them.
i-t_= title
i-v_= verse
i-c_= comment
i-g_= glossary term
v1 In2 the2 beginning, God began to make2 the4 earth and the4 *heavens and everything in them. v2 The4 earth was without shape. Nothing was alive on3 it. Deep water covered the4 earth. There2 was no2 light. Everywhere was dark. The4 Spirit of3 God moved2 above the2 water.
i-c God was present before he made2 the4 earth. He made2 everything.
v3 God said ‘I want2 light to appear.’ And there2 was light. v4 God looked3 at2 the2 light. And he saw that3 it was good. He separated the2 light from the2 dark. v5 God called the2 light ‘day’. He called the2 dark2 ‘night’. Evening passed and morning came. This was the first day2.
i-c Verse 3 God spoke2 and told the2 light to appear.
Verse 5 Light appeared when2 it was morning. It was dark at night2. One3 day2 is a time4 of2 light and a time4 of2 dark2.
v6 Then God said ‘A wide space will appear between the2 waters. So the2 waters will separate. Some of2 the2 water will stay above the2 space. The rest of2 the2 water will stay below2 the2 space.’ v7 So God made a wide space. He separated the2 water under2 the2 space from the2 water above it. And what God said happened. v8 God called the wide space ‘sky’. Evening passed and then it was morning. This was the second day2.
v9 God said ‘The2 water under the2 sky will gather in one place. And dry ground will appear.’ And what God said happened. v10 God called the dry ground ‘land’. He called the2 water (that3 he put2 in one3 place) ‘sea’. God looked3 at2 what he had made. And he saw that3 it was good.
v11 God said ‘Plants will grow in the2 land. They will make seeds. And fruit trees will grow, with seeds inside the2 fruit. Then they can2 make more2 plants and trees. These plants and trees will be the same as the2 plants and trees that3 they have come from4.’ And it was like that2. v12 So plants and trees began to grow in the2 ground. The2 plants and trees made seeds, so that3 more2 of2 the same plants and trees could grow. God looked3 at2 what he had made. And he saw that3 it was good. v13 Evening passed, and then it was morning. This was the third day2.
v14 God said ‘There2 will be lights in the2 sky. They will separate the2 day2 from2 the2 night. They will show2 the2 seasons, days2 and years. v15 The2 lights in the2 sky will give light to3 the4 earth.’ And this happened. v16 God made two2 great lights. The brightest light ruled2 over2 the2 day. The less bright light ruled2 over2 the2 night. God also made the2 stars. v17 God put2 the2 lights and stars in the2 sky to give5 light on3 the4 earth. v18 They were to rule2 over2 the2 day2 and night. And they separated the2 light from dark2. God looked3 at2 what he had made. And he saw that3 it was good. v19 Evening passed, and then it was morning. This was the fourth day2.
i-c ‘Lights’ mean something bright that3 shines. (That2 is not the same as2 the2 light in verse 3.)
v20 God said ‘The2 waters will be filled with fish and other2 living things. And birds will appear and fly2 in the2 sky, above the4 earth.’ v21 So God made big animals to live in the2 sea. He made every different living thing that3 filled the2 sea. God made every different bird and flying2 thing in the2 sky. God looked3 at2 what4 he made. And he saw that3 it was good. v22 God *blessed them. He said ‘Have2 many young ones, and grow in3 number2. Fill the2 water in the2 seas. And let the2 birds also have2 many young ones so that3 they will grow in3 number2 on3 the4 earth.’ v23 Evening passed and then it was morning. This was the fifth day2.
i-c ‘Birds’ means any living thing that3 can2 fly2 (for6 example insects).
Everything that3 God made would have2 young ones. These would be the same as2 the2 parents.
v24 God said ‘I will make different animals come up from4 the2 ground. I will make *livestock and wild animals. There2 will be other2 small animals to move2 along the2 ground. I will make many different animals to live on3 the4 earth.’ And what God said happened. v25 So God made the different wild animals and the different *livestock. He made all the different animals that3 move2 along the2 ground. God looked3 at2 what he had made. And he saw that3 it was good.
i-c *Livestock in verse 24 are animals that3 are not wild. For6 example, cows kept3 for3 milk. *Livestock usually live in a village or farm. They live near people, and people feed them.
Wild animals do2 not live near people. They sometimes kill other animals to eat. Some of2 them eat plants and fruit.
v26 God said ‘We will make man3. Men2 and women will be like us. They will rule2 over2 the2 fish of the2 sea and over2 the2 birds of the2 sky. They will rule2 over2 the2 *livestock. And they will rule2 over2 the4 earth. They will rule2 over2 the2 animals that3 move2 along the2 ground.’
i-c ‘Man3’ means people. In verse 26 ‘man’ does not mean one3 person. It means the first people that3 God made to live on3 the4 earth.
When2 God uses ‘us’, he is speaking2 as the4 *Trinity. That3 is, the three persons of God. They are God the4 Father, God the4 Son (Jesus) and God the4 *Holy Spirit. All were present when2 God made the4 earth.
v27 So God made man3. He made man3 to be like God. God made them. He made some males2, and some females. v28 God *blessed them. He said, ‘Grow in3 number2. Fill the4 earth and rule2 over2 it. Rule2 over2 the2 fish of the2 seas and over2 the2 birds of the2 sky. Rule2 over2 every different living animal that3 moves2 on3 the2 ground.’
i-c God made men2 and women to be ‘like’ him. This means that3 people could think2. And they could understand what God wanted2 them to do. God *blesses men2 and women.
God tells the2 man and woman to grow in3 number2. He means that3 they are to have2 many children. He tells the2 man and woman to rule2 over2 the4 earth. This means that3 they have2 authority over2 all the4 earth and everything in it. But they are to *care for2 everything.
v29 Then God said, ‘Look2! I give you every plant on3 the4 earth that3 has seeds in it. I give you every tree that3 has fruit with a seed in it. They are yours. The2 seeds and fruits will be food for2 you. v30 And they will be food for2 all the2 animals on3 the4 earth. They will be food for all the2 birds in the2 sky and for all the2 animals that3 move2 along the2 ground. Everything that3 has2 life can3 eat every green plant.’ And what God said happened.
v31 God looked3 at2 everything that3 he had made. And he saw that3 it was very good. Evening passed. And then it was morning. This was the sixth day2.
i-g bless ~ to say or do much good to a person.
i-g care ~ doing everything that we can to help someone or something and to make them happy.
i-g heavens ~ the skies or the home of God.
i-g holy ~ what God is like. Holy is different and better than all other things. It is all good with no bad in it.
i-g livestock ~ animals that are not wild. Livestock usually live in a village or farm. They live near people, and people feed them.
i-g Trinity ~ God who is three persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit [see Holy Spirit].
v1 So God finished making the4 earth and everything in it. He made the whole world.
v2 The seventh day came. And God stopped3 working3, because he had finished making the4 earth. God rested on4 the seventh day. v3 God *blessed the seventh day. He made3 it a special day, because he had finished making the4 earth. God did2 not work3 on3 that day.
v4 This is what happened when God made the4 earth and everything in it.
When the4 *Lord God made2 the4 *heavens and the4 earth, v5 there2 were no2 plants or trees growing on3 it. That2 was because God had not sent any rain2. And there2 was no2 man3 to work3 and *care for6 the2 ground. There was no2 man3 to *care for6 things2 that2 grow from4 the ground. v6 But streams came up3 from4 the4 earth. And they made3 all2 the2 top2 of the2 ground wet. v7 Then the4 *Lord God made a man2 from4 the2 ground. He gave life to3 the2 man2. He put2 air from4 himself into the2 nose of the2 man2. And the2 man2 became alive.
i-c *Lord is a special name for7 God. It means that3 he is above all2 other things. And it means that3 he has2 authority over2 everything.
‘Man2’ in3 verse 7 means one3 man2. It is the2 report of5 how God made the first man2.
v8 The4 *Lord God planted2 a garden. This was east of4*Israel. It was in a place called Eden. And he put2 the2 man2 that3 he made in the2 garden. v9 And the4 *Lord God made different trees grow from4 the2 ground. These trees were good to look at3. The2 fruit from4 the2 trees was good to eat. In the middle of the2 garden were two2 trees. One3 was the2 tree tha3t lets you live for5 ever. And the2 other2 was the2 tree of *knowledge of 5 good and *evil.
i-c Eden was a very good place to live. It had2 everything that3 the2 man needed in it.
*Knowledge means to know or2 understand something. *Evil is the opposite2 of4 good. It is bad. There2 is nothing good in3 *evil.
v10 A river began in Eden. It went through Eden. And it gave5 water for3 the2 ground. It separated into four smaller rivers. v11 The2 name of the first river is the4 Pishon. It goes through the whole of the2 land of Havilah. There2 is gold in this land. v12 The2 gold there is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also in Havilah.
i-c Bdellium is something that2 smells nice. It comes out7 from4 certain trees when2 you cut them. Onyx is a valuable stone.
v13 The2 name of the second river is the4 Gihon. It goes through the whole of th2 land of Cush. v14 The2 name of the third2 river is the44 Tigris. It goes along the east2 side of the4 Asshur. The2 name of the fourth river is the 4Euphrates.
v15 The4 *Lord God put the2 man2 into the4 Garden of3 Eden. The2 man2 was to work3 on3 the2 ground and work3 in th2 garden. v16 Then the4 *Lord God told the2 man2, ‘You can3 eat the2 fruit from4 any tree in the2 garden. v17 But you must not eat the2 fruit from4 the2 tree of *knowledge of5 good and *evil. The2 day when2 you eat this fruit you will die.’
v18 Then the4 *Lord God said, ‘The2 man2 should not be alone. I will make a helper for2 him.’
i-c The2 helper was someone to live with3 the2 man2 and help him.
v19 The4 *Lord God had made all the2 animals and birds. He made them from4 the2 ground. And he brought them to2 the man2 to3 hear what3 names the2 man2 would give5 them. Whatever the2 man2 called each living thing would be its name. v20 So the2 man2 gave5 names to3 the2 *livestock, the2 birds of the2 air, and all the other animals.
But th2e man2 did2 not find2 a helper. v21 So the4 *Lord God made3 the2 man2 go to sleep. While the2 man2 was sleeping, the4 *Lord God took4 a rib from4 the2 man2. Then he closed up3 the2 place4 tha2t he took4 the2 rib from4. He closed up3 that part of the2 man’s2 body with2 skin. v22 Then the4 *Lord God made a woman.
v23 Then the2 man2 said to3 God, ‘At last2, this is one3 like me. She has2 bones taken4 from4 my bones. And her body is from4 my body. I will call her ‘woman’ because God took4 her out5 of a man2.’ v24 Because2 of this, a man2 will leave his father and mother to be with3 his wife. And the two2 people will become like one2 person.
i-c The4 *Lord God made3 the2 man2 sleep. This is not the same as the2 man2 going to sleep because he wants to. The2 man2 will not wake up until God lets him.
A rib is a bone inside the middle of the2 body. God made woman from4 the2 rib that2 he took4 from4 the2 man2. And he brought the2 woman to3 the2 man2. Verse 24 God wanted2 men to leave their mother and father. He wanted them to marry a woman. The2 man2 and the2 woman would become a separate family.
v25 The2 man2 and his wife did2 not wear any clothes. But they did2 not feel ashamed.
i-g bless ~ to say or do much good to a person.
i-g care ~ doing everything that we can to help someone or something and to make them happy.
i-g evil ~ things or people that are very bad. There is no good in them.
i-g heavens ~ the skies or the home of God.
i-g Israel ~ the home country of the *Jews. God gave Jacob the new name, *Israel. The children of *Israel are *Jews or *Israelites.
i-g Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children.
i-g knowledge ~ knowledge means to know or understand something.
i-g livestock ~ animals that are not wild. Livestock usually live in a village or farm. They live near people, and people feed them.
i-g Lord ~ a special name for God that his people use.
v1 God made many wild animals. But the2 snake was the most cunning (clever and *evil) of2 them all. The2 snake asked the2 woman, ‘Did God really say, “Both of you must not eat from4 any tree in the2 garden”?’
v2 The2 woman replied, ‘We can3 eat fruit from4 the2 trees in the2 garden. v3 But God said, “You must not eat fruit from4 the2 tree that3 is in the middle of the2 garden And you must not touch it. You will die if you touch that fruit.” ’
v4 But the2 snake said to3 the2 woman, ‘You will not die. v5 God knows3 that3 when2 you eat the2 fruit from4 this tree you will be like him. You will understand. And you will know3 good and *evil.’
i-c *Satan is in the2 snake. Cunning means that3 the2 snake will not always say what3 is true. *Satan wants to stop the2 woman believing what3 God said. He wants the2 woman to *disobey God. The woman tells the2 snake that3 they must not touch the2 tree in the middle of the2 garden. God did2 not tell the2 woman this. God told the2 woman that3 she must not eat the2 fruit from4 it. *Satan tells the2 woman that she will not die if she eats the fruit from the Tree of *knowledge of good and *evil. This is not true. *Satan tells the woman that3 if she eats the2 fruit she will be like God.
If the2 man2 and the2 woman eat the2 fruit, they will be like God. They will understand what3 good and *evil is. That2 is how they will be like God. When2 God made the2 man2 and the2 woman, he did2 not put2 anything bad into them. So they did2 not know about3 *evil.
v6 The2 woman looked3 at2 the2 fruit. She saw that3 it was good to eat. And she thought2 that3 it would be good to know3 about3 good and *evil. So, she took some fruit and ate it. She gave5 some to3 her husband who was with3 her. And he ate it. v7 Then they saw2 that3 they had5 no2 clothes. And they felt ashamed. So, they joined2 leaves from4 fig trees together to cover their bodies.
i-c Fig trees grew in the4 Garden of3 Eden. They are fruit trees.
v8 In2 the2 evening the2 man2 and the2 woman heard the2 sound of3 the4 *Lord God walking in the2 garden. They hid behind the2 trees. They hid because they did not want the4 *Lord God to see them. v9 The4 *Lord God called out to3 th2e man2. He asked ‘Where2 are you?’
v10 The2 man2 replied, ‘I heard you in the2 garden. I was afraid because I had5 no2 clothes. So I hid from you.’
v11 The4 *Lord God said, ‘Who told you that3 you had5 no2 clothes? Have you eaten from4 the2 tree that3 I told2 you not to eat from4?’
v12 The2 man2 said, ‘The2 woman that3 you put2 here – she gave5 me some fruit4 from the2 tree. So I ate it.’
i-c The2 man2 is saying that3 the2 woman was wrong to give5 him the2 fruit to eat. And he is saying that3 God was wrong2 to put the2 woman in the2 garden.
v13 The4 *Lord God asked the2 woman, ‘What have you done2?’ The2 woman replied, ‘The2 snake told2 me that3 I would not die if I ate the2 fruit. So I ate the2 fruit.’
i-c The2 woman is saying that3 the2 snake told2 her something that3 was not true. So, she is saying that3 the2 snake was wrong2. But the2 woman was wrong2 to believe the2 snake instead of3 God.
v14 The4 *Lord God said to3 the2 snake, ‘Because you have done2 this, out6 of all the2 *livestock and wild animals I will only2 *curse you. I tell you that3 you will move across the2 ground on3 your stomach. And you will eat dust. You will do2 this for5 the whole of your life.
v15 I will make3 you and the2 woman enemies. Your *descendant and her *descendant will always be enemies. He will hit your head and you will hurt his foot.’
i-c Verse 14 ‘*Curse’ means make3 or ask2 that3 bad2 things2 will happen to3 someone or something. God is speaking2 the2 *curse. So, he does not ask2 for6 something bad2 to happen. He makes3 what4 he says happen to3 the3 snake.
‘Dust’ is the dry top2 part of the2 ground. Many very small pieces2 of this make3 ‘dust’.
‘Eat dust’ means that3 the2 snake will always have2 its head low in the3 dust. And everything that3 it eats will have dust on3 it.
Verse 15 God is speaking3 of ‘the2 woman’s *descendant’. He means Jesus. Jesus would come and destroy *Satan.
v16 The4 *Lord God said to3 the2 woman, ‘I will make3 it more2 painful for6 you while you are *pregnant. And I will make3 it very painful for6 you when2 you give birth. You will still want to be with3 your husband. He will rule2 over2 you and be like a master.’
i-c ‘*Pregnant’ is when2 a baby is growing inside2 a woman before it is born.
God tells the2 woman that3 her husband will have2 authority over2 her in3 the2 marriage.
v17 The4 *Lord God said to3 Adam, ‘You listened to3 your wife. You ate the2 fruit from4 the2 tree after I said, “You must not eat from4 this tree.” Because you did2 this, I will *curse the2 ground. You will have3 to work for5 a long2 time4 before any food plants grow from4 it. It will be like this for5 the whole of your life. v18 Thistles and thorns will grow out5 of the2 ground. You will eat the2 plants that3 grow in the2 fields. v19 But you will have3 to work for5 a long2 time4 before you have2 any food to eat. You will do2 this until you return2 to2 the2 ground. This is where2 you came from. I made you from4 the2 ground. And you will return2 to2 the2 ground.’
i-c Adam is the2 name of the2 man. It means ‘All people’.
Adam did2 what his wife said. He did2 not do2 as God had said. He ate the2 fruit. So God *cursed the2 ground.
Thistles and thorns are plants that3 are painful to touch. They are not food plants. But they grow quickly, and cover up food plants. Because God has *cursed the2 ground, Adam will have3 to work for5 a very long2 time4 to grow food plants. God lets food plants grow for6 Adam. But he has3 to work for6 them.
Verse 19 ‘Until2 you return2 to2 the2 ground’ means that3 the2 man2 will work3 for6 food for6 his whole life. Then one3 day he will die. And people will bury his body in the2 ground.
v20 Adam gave5 the2 woman a name. He called her Eve. This was because2 she would be the2 mother of all people.
i-c All people on3 earth are *descendants of Adam and Eve.
v21 The4 *Lord God made clothes for6 Adam and Eve to wear. He made them from4 animal skins.
v22 The4 *Lord God said, ‘The2 man2 has now become like one2 of us. He understands good and *evil. He must not eat the2 fruit from4 the2 tree that3 lets him live for5 ever. If he does2, he will live for5 ever. He will not die.’ v23 So, the4 *Lord God sent Adam and Eve out5 of the4 Garden of3 Eden. Adam had3 to work on3 the2 ground that3 he came from4. They could not return2 to3 the2 garden. v24 Then God put2 cherubim and a *sword of fire at3 the2 east of the2 garden. The *sword went from3 side to2 side. So, no2 one could go near to2 the2 tree that3 lets him live for5 ever.
i-c Cherubim are *angels. They are God’s servants. A *sword is like a long knife. God put2 *swords at3 the2 east of the4 Garden of3 Eden. He made3 the2 swords of fire. No2 one could go past the2 cherubim and *swords of fire. No2 one could ever go back2 into the4 Garden of3 Eden.
i-g angel ~ a servant from God to bring his messages.
i-g curse ~ to say bad words against someone else.
i-g evil ~ things or people that are very bad. There is no good in them.
i-g descendant of ~ people born into the family of someone.
i-g disobey ~ not obey.
i-g knowledge ~ knowledge means to know or understand something.
i-g livestock ~ animals that are not wild. Livestock usually live in a village or farm. They live near people, and people feed them.
i-g Lord ~ a special name for God that his people use.
i-g pregnant ~ pregnant means that a woman will have a baby.
i-g Satan ~ the bad one, known also as the devil.
i-g sword ~ a long metal knife to attack enemies.
v1 Adam had4 sex with3 his wife Eve. And she became *pregnant. Some time4 passed and she gave birth to3 Cain. She said, ‘With3 the2 help of3 th4 *Lord I have given birth to3 a son.’
i-c Eve knows that3 God has2 authority over2 life and death.
v2 After some time4 had passed, Eve gave birth to3 Cain’s brother. She called him Abel. When2 they had grown, Abel kept3 sheep. And Cain worked3 on3 the2 land.
v3 Some time4 passed. Then one3 day Cain brought to3 God some of2 the2 fruit that3 he had grown. The2 fruits were an *offering to3 the4 *Lord God. v4 But Abel brought fat pieces2 from4 some of2 the first young ones3 of5 the2 animals that3 he kept3. The4 *Lord God was happy with4 Abel and his offering. v5 But the4 *Lord God was not happy with4 Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry. His face looked sad.
i-c Abel chose the2 first-born young animals to give to3 God. He killed them, and then he gave God the3 fat pieces2. This is the best2 part of the2 meat from4 the2 animal.
Cain is angry because God is not happy with him and his *offering. But God is happy with Abel and his offering.
Instead of trying to please God, Cain shows2 God that3 he is angry.
v6 Then God said to3 Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why do2 you look sad? v7 If you do2 what3 is right, I will be happy with4 you. But if you do2 wrong things2, *sin will be like a wild animal at2 your door. It will be like an animal that2 wants to eat you. But you must be its master.
i-c God is telling Cain this. If he does2 wrong things, *sin will destroy him. *Sin is bad. It came into the2 world (and into people) when2 Adam and Eve went3 against God in the4 Garden of3 Eden. God is telling Cain that3 Cain must have4 authority over2 *sin. Then Cain will not do2 wrong things2. Then God will be happy with4 Cain and his *offering.
v8 One3 day Cain said to3 his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out4 to2 the2 field.’ While they were in the2 field, Cain attacked his brother Abel. And he killed him.
v9 Some time4 passed2 and God said to3 Cain, ‘Where is Abel, your brother?’ Cain replied, ‘I do not know3. Must I always keep3 my brother safe?’
i-c God’s question sounds like the2 question that3 he asked Adam and Eve. That2 was when they hid in the4 Garden. God knows3 that3 Cain has killed Abel. God is giving5 Cain time4 to say what3 is true. (He is giving5 him time4 to say that3 he killed Abel.) But Cain does not tell God what3 he has done2.
v10 Then the4 *Lord God said, ‘What have you done2? Listen! The2 blood of3 your brother is like a dead person calling out3 to3 me from4 the2 ground.’
i-c God is saying that3 Abel’s blood 3is like a person. It is crying out3 to3 God to *punish Cain for3 the2 death of3 Abel.
v11 Then God said, ‘I have *cursed you. I will not let you grow food in the2 ground. This is because it is wet with2 your brother’s blood. This is because2 you killed your brother. v12 When2 you work3 on3 the2 land, no2 plants will grow in it. There2 will be no2 plants that3 you can3 eat. You will travel from3 place to2 place. You will not live in one place.’
i-c Cain would have3 to travel from3 place to2 place to find2 food. The2 ground will not let any plants grow when2 Cain works3 on3 it. This is because2 of God’s *curse.
v13 Cain said to3 the4 *Lord, ‘What you are doing2 to3 me is too2 much3. v14 From2 today, you will not let me work3 on3 the2 land. You will not be with3 me. I will be like a traveller without a home. If someone sees me, they will kill me.’
i-c Cain is not sorry that3 he killed his brother. He did not tell God what he had done2. He is not sorry about3 that2 either. Cain thinks2 that3 God is doing2 too2 much3 to3 him. That2 is why he is sorry.
v15 But God said to3 Cain, ‘I will not let anyone kill you. If anyone kills Cain, I will hurt that person 7 times3 more2.’ Then the4 *Lord God put2 a mark on3 Cain. This was to let other2 people know3 that3 they must not kill Cain. v16 Cain went away3 from God. He went to live in the2 land of4 Nod, which2 is East of4 Eden.
v17 Cain had sex with3 his wife. After some time4 she gave birth to3 Enoch. Cain was building2 a city. He called the2 city Enoch because it was his son’s name. v18 Enoch was the2 father of Irad. Irad was the2 father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the2 father of Methushael. Methushael was the2 father of Lamech.
v19 Lamech married 2 women. One was called Adah and one was called Zillah. v20 Adah gave birth to3 Jabal. Jabal was the2 father of the2 people who live in *tents and keep *livestock.
i-c Lamech went3 against what3 God wanted2 by marrying 2 women. As more2 people were born, *sin came into their l-ives.
People can3 live in *tents. In3 *Old2 Testament times2, they were made of5 material or animal skins. You can3 take4 *tents down and move them. Then you put them back2 up in another place.
v21 Jabal had2 a brother called Jubal. Jubal was the2 father of the2 people who play the2 harp and flute.
i-c People use harps and flutes to make music.
v22 A son was born to3 Zillah. His name was Tubal-Cain. He made tools out7 of 3bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain had2 a sister. Her name was Naamah.
i-c Bronze and iron are both metals.
v23 Lamech said to2 his wives, ‘Adah and Zillah, listen to3 me; wives of3 Lamech hear my words. A man2 hurt me, so I killed him. I killed a young man2 because he hurt me. v24 If a man2 kills Cain, then God will hurt him 7 times3 more2. So I will hurt the2 man2 who hurts me 77 times3 more2.’
i-c Because Adam and Eve went3 against God, *sin has come into *humans. As2 time passes, *sin becomes worse2. Lamech is happy because he killed the2 young man2. He wants to tell people what he has done2. He does not think2 that3 he has done anything wrong.
v25 Adam had2 sex with3 Eve. And she gave birth to3 a son. She called him Seth. Eve said, ‘God has given me another child because Cain killed Abel.’ v26 Seth became the2 father of Enosh.
At this time2, men3 began to *worship and to *praise the2 name of God.
i-g curse ~ to say bad words against someone else.
i-g holy ~ what God is like. Holy is different and better than all other things. It is all good with no bad in it.
i-g human ~ a person, not an animal or anything else that is alive.
i-g livestock ~ animals that are not wild. Livestock usually live in a village or farm. They live near people, and people feed them.
i-g Lord ~ a special name for God that his people use.
i-g offering ~ a gift to please God.
i-g Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible. It is the *holy things that the writers wrote before Christ’s birth.
i-g praise ~ to say how good a person is. Or to tell God how great he is.
i-g pregnant ~ pregnant means that a woman will have a baby.
i-g punish ~ to hurt someone for the wrong things that they have done.
i-g sin ~ when people do things against God or other people. We do not follow the rules that God gives us. Then we are sinning.
i-g tent ~ a home or building that people have made from animal skins; a place to live in that people have made out of cloth. You can move a tent-house to different places.
i-g worship ~ what we should do when we are with God. We can worship God with other people, or alone. It is when we sing. It is when we pray. It is when we *praise God.
v1 This is a report of3 Adam’s family. When2 God made man3, he made him like God. v2 God made both2 male2 and female. He *blessed them. When2 God made them, he called them ‘man’3.
i-c ‘Man’3 in verse 2 means both2 males2 and females.
v3 When2 Adam was 130 years old, he had2 a son. The2 son was like Adam. Adam called him Seth. v4 After Seth was born, Adam was alive for5 800 years. During this2 time, he had2 other2 sons and daughters. v5 Adam was 930 years old when2 he died.
v6 When2 Seth was 105 years old, he had2 a son. He called him Enosh. v7 After Seth became the father of3 Enosh, Seth was alive for5 807 years. During this time2, he had2 other2 sons and daughters. v8 Seth was 912 years old when2 he died.
v9 When2 Enosh was 90 years old, he had2 a son. He called him Kenan. v10 Enosh was alive for5 815 years. During this time2, he had2 other2 sons and daughters. v11 Enosh was 905 years old when2 he died.
v12 When2 Kenan was 70 years old, he had2 a son. He called him Mahalalel. v13 After Kenan became the2 father of3 Mahalalel, Kenan was alive for5 840 years. During this time2, he had2 other2 sons and daughters. v14 Kenan was 910 years old when2 he died.
v15 When2 Mahalalel was 65 years old, he had a son. He called him Jared. v16 After he became the2 father of3 Jared, Mahalalel was alive for5 830 years. During this time2, he had2 other2 sons and daughters. v17 Mahalalel was 895 years old when2 he died.
v18 When2 Jared was 162 years old, he had2 a son. He called him Enoch. v19 After Jared became the2 father of3 Enoch, Jared was alive for5 800 years. During this time2, he had2 other2 sons and daughters. v20 Jared was 962 years old when2 he died.
v21 When2 Enoch was 65 years old, he had2 a son. He called him Methuselah. v22 After that2, Enoch did2 as God wanted for5 300 years. During this time2, he had2 other2 sons and daughters. v23 Enoch lived on3 earth for5 365 years. v24 Enoch did2 as God wanted for5 all2 this time2; then Enoch was no2 more. God took4 Enoch to be with3 him.
i-c Verse 24 God took Enoch to be with3 him. So Enoch did2 not die.
v25 When2 Methuselah was 187 years old, he had2 a son. He called him Lamech.
i-c This is not the same Lamech as the2 one3 who killed a young man2 (4:23).
v26 After Methuselah became the2 father of3 Lamech, Methuselah was alive for5 782 years. During this time2, he had2 other2 sons and daughters. v27 Methuselah was 969 years old when2 he died.
v28 When2 Lamech was 182 years old, he had2 a son. v29 He called his son Noah. Lamech said ‘He will help us in3 our difficult work3 on the2 land. Our hands hurt when2 we work3 the2 land. That2 is because the4 *Lord God *cursed it.’ v30 After Noah was born, Lamech was alive for5 595 years. During this time2, he had2 other2 sons and daughters. v31 Lamech was 777 years old when2 he died.
v32 When2 Noah was 500 years old, he became the2 father of3 Shem, Ham and Japheth.
i-g bless ~ to say or do much good to a person.
i-g curse ~ to say bad words against someone else.
i-g descendant of ~ people born into the family of someone.
i-g Lord ~ a special name for God that his people use.
v1 People began to grow in3 number2 all2 over2 the4 earth. And daughters were born to3 them. v2 The2 sons of3 God saw the2 daughters. They thought2 that3 the2 daughters of3 men3 were beautiful to look at2. They took the2 daughters of3 men3 as2 their wives. They took anyone that3 they wanted.
i-c The2 sons of3 God were men2 who were like gods.
v3 The4 *Lord said, ‘I will not let men2 and women live for5 ever. One3 day2 they will die. I will not let them live for5 more than 120 years. Then they will die.
v4 The2 Nephilim lived on3 the4 earth at that time2. (They also lived on3 the4 earth after this time2.) This is when2 the2 sons of3 God had2 children with3 the2 daughters of3 men. People thought2 that3 the3 Nephilim were great men2 and leaders.
v5 The4 *Lord God saw how bad men2 and women had become. God saw that3 they thought2 only of *evil things2. v6 He was sad that3 he had made men2 and women. And he was sad that3 he had put2 them on3 the4 earth. v7 So the4 *Lord God said, ‘I made men2 and women, but I will take4 them off the4 earth. I will take4 men3 and animals off the4 earth. I will take4 animals that3 move across the2 ground and the2 birds in the2 air off the4 earth. Because I am very sad that3 I made them.’ v8 But God was happy with4 Noah.
i-c Men3 and women have gone6 against God. God feels very sad. God is always sad when2 we *sin (go2 against what3 God wants2). God was happy with4 Noah. Noah and his family *worshipped God.
v9 This is a report of3 Noah. Noah was a good man2. He was the only man2 at that time2 who obeyed God. The2 people who lived near him could not find2 anything wrong with4 what he did2. v10 Noah was the2 father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
v11 God saw that3 everything on3 the4 earth was bad. People began to hurt and kill each other2. And they did2 everything that3 was wrong. v12 God saw how bad the4 earth had become. All2 the2 people were doing2 bad things2. v13 He said to3 Noah, ‘I am going3 to destroy all2 the2 people. The4 earth is bad because2 of3 them. I am going3 to destroy the2 people and the4 earth. v14 Make yourself a boat. Use wood from4 cypress trees. Make rooms in the2 boat. Cover the2 inside and outside of the2 boat with2 pitch.’
i-c Cypress trees are trees with hard wood. Pitch stops water coming into the2 boat.
v15 ‘This is how you will build2 the2 boat. The2 boat must be 150 metres long, 25 metres wide and 15 metres high.
v16 Make a roof for3 the2 boat and put2 windows 45 centimetres high along the2 top2 of3 it. Put2 a door in the2 side2 of3 the2 boat. Make 3 floors on3 top2 of each other2 (lower, middle and top floor). v17 I am going2 to cover the4 earth with2 water. I will destroy all2 life under2 the4 *heavens. Everything that3 has2 my life in it will die. v18 But I will make3 a *covenant with3 you (Noah). You will go into the2 boat. You and your sons will go into the2 boat. And their wives and your wife will go with3 you. v19 You must bring 2 of all the different animals into the2 boat. They must be male2 and female. They will stay alive with3 you. v20 Bring 2 of2 every different bird. And bring 2 of2 every different animal and 2 of2 every different animal that3 moves along the2 ground. All these will come to3 you, and they will stay alive with3 you. v21 You must take every different food on3 the4 earth. Store this for3 food for2 you and the2 animals.’
v22 Noah did2 everything that3 God had told him.
i-g covenant ~ when people agree together. Or when God and a person or people agree to a special thing.
i-g evil ~ things or people that are very bad. There is no good in them.
i-g heavens ~ the skies or the home of God.
i-g Lord ~ a special name for God that his people use.
i-g praise ~ to say how good a person is. Or to tell God how great he is
i-g sin ~ when people do things against God or other people. We do not follow the rules that God gives us. Then we are sinning.
i-g worship ~ what we should do when we are with God. We can worship God with other people, or alone. It is when we sing. It is when we pray. It is when we *praise God.
v1 Then the4 *Lord said to3 Noah, ‘Go into the2 *ark (large boat) with3 your wife and family. I have found2 you to be *righteous in5 these times2.’
i-c *Righteous means that3 God sees Noah as2 someone who does2 what is right. At that time2, Noah was telling people that3 God was going7 to destroy the4 earth. Noah told them that3 they must stop doing2 wrong. But the2 people would not listen to3 him.
v2 God said ‘Take 7 of3 every different clean2 animal. Take a male2 and a female together. Take 2 of3 every different *unclean animal. Take a male2 and a female together. v3 Take 7 of5 every kind of bird. Take males2 and females. Do2 this so that3 they will have2 young ones again. Then the different animals and birds will not die.
i-c Clean2 animals are animals that3 God accepts as a *sacrifice. *Unclean animals are those2 that3 God does2 not accept as a *sacrifice. God told Noah to take more2 clean2 animals so that3 Noah could make *sacrifices to3 God.
v4 In5 7 days, I will send rain2 down2 to2 the4 earth. It will rain3 for5 40 days and 40 nights. I will destroy every living thing that3 I have made on3 the4 earth.’
v5 Noah did2 everything that3 God told him.
v6 Noah was 600 years old when2 God sent the2 rain2 to cover the4 earth with2 water. v7 Noah and his wife went into the2 boat. And his sons and their wives went into it. They all went into the2 boat to be safe from the2 water that3 would cover the4 earth. v8 Pairs of3 clean2 and *unclean animals came to3 Noah. Also, pairs of3 birds and pairs of3 all the2 animals that3 move across the2 ground came to3 him. v9 Both2 males2 and females came to3 Noah and went into the2 *ark. Everything happened as God had told Noah. v10 After 7 days had passed, God sent the2 waters to cover the4 earth.
i-c God told the2 animals to go to3 Noah. God did2 not destroy those animals that3 went into the2 *ark. Noah and his family listened to3 God. And they did2 what3 he told them. And God kept2 them safe.
v11 On4 the3 17th day of the 2nd month all2 the2 water below2 the4 earth came up and covered the4 earth. All2 the4 water in the2 *heavens came down on3 the4 earth. At that time2, Noah was 600 years old. v12 Rain2 fell on3 the4 earth for5 40 days and 40 nights.
v13 On4 the2 day that3 the2 rains2 began, Noah and his sons went into the2 boat with3 their wives. (Noah’s sons are Shem, Ham and Japheth.) v14 With3 them was every different wild animal and every different *livestock animal. They also had2 with3 them every kind of3 animal that3 moves along the2 ground, and every different kind of3 bird and flying2 thing. v15 Pairs of3 every animal alive came to3 Noah2 and went into the boat.
i-c The2 things that3 lived in the2 sea were safe in the2 waters. (See 1:21-25.)
v16 The2 animals were male2 and female of3 every different animal. This happened as God told Noah. Then Noah went into the2 boat and God shut the2 door.
v17 For5 40 days, the2 waters came on3 the4 earth.2 More water came and lifted the2 boat high above the2 ground.
v18 The2 waters rose and covered the4 earth. The2 boat was safe on3 top of the2 water. v19 More2 water came and covered every high mountain on3 the4 earth. v20 And even more2 water came. It covered all2 the2 mountains. The2 water was more than 20 feet higher than the3 top of the2 mountains. v21 Everything still living on3 the4 earth died. Birds, *livestock and wild animals died. Every animal that3 moved across the2 ground died. All2 the2 people living on3 the4 earth died. v22 Everything that3 was alive on3 the dry land died. v23 Every living thing on3 the4 earth died. Men3 and animals died. The2 animals that3 move across the2 ground and the2 birds of the2 air died. God destroyed all2 of3 them. Only Noah and his family, and the2 animals that3 were in the2 boat stayed alive.
v24 The2 waters covered the4 earth for5 150 days.
i-g ark ~ a big boat that Noah built; a box that someone has made out of wood.
i-g creature ~ all the living things that God made are creatures.
i-g forgive ~ show love and not remember bad things against someone; when God does not remember the wrong things that we do.
i-g heavens ~ the skies or the home of God.
i-g livestock ~ animals that are not wild. Livestock usually live in a village or farm. They live near people, and people feed them.
i-g righteous ~ when God makes a person right with him. God sees them as clean, and not his enemies.
i-g sacrifice ~ to ask God to *forgive us by killing an animal.
i-g sin ~ when people do things against God or other people. We do not follow the rules that God gives us. Then we are sinning.
i-g unclean ~ when something is not right to use because God does not accept it.
v1 Then God thought2 of5 Noah, and all th2 animals in the2 boat. He sent a wind to blow over2 the whole world. And the2 waters began to go down. v2 Water stopped coming up3 from4 below2 the4 earth. And water stopped coming down from4 *heaven. The2 rain2 stopped falling from4 the2 sky. v3 The2 waters went down, and at the3 end2 of 150 days the2 water had almost gone. v4 On4 the3 17th day of3 the3 7th month, the2 boat *settled on3 the2 mountains of Ararat. v5 The2 water continued to go down until the3 10th month. On4 the3 1st day of3 the3 10th month the2 tops of the2 mountains appeared.
v6 After 40 more2 days, Noah opened2 the2 window in the2 boat. v7 He sent out4 a raven. The2 raven flew2 back2 to2 the2 boat. Then it flew2 away from3 it again. It did2 this several times3 until the4 earth was dry. v8 Noah also sent out a dove. He sent the2 dove to see if the2 water had gone from3 the32 top of the2 ground. v9 But the2 dove could not find2 anywhere to stand. This was because still there2 was water over2 all2 of the2 ground. So it returned3 to3 Noah in the2 boat. Noah put out his hand and took the2 dove back2 into the2 boat. v10 He waited for5 7 days. Then he sent the2 dove out again. v11 The2 dove returned to3 him in2 the2 evening. It carried a fresh olive leaf in its mouth. Then Noah knew3 that3 th2e waters had gone down. v12 He waited for5 7 more2 days. Then he sent the2 dove out again. This time2, it did2 not return to3 Noah.
i-c A raven is a big black bird. A dove is a white bird. Olives are small round fruits. They grow on3 an olive tree. An olive leaf is a leaf from4 this tree.
v13 It was the3 1st day of the first month. Noah was now 601 years old. The2 water that3 covered the4 earth was gone. The2 earth was dry. Noah removed the3 top of the2 *ark. He saw that3 the3 top of the2 ground was dry. v14 Some time2 passed. On4 the3 27th day of the3 2nd month, the4 earth was completely dry.
v15 God said to3 Noah, v16 ‘Come out of the2 boat. Bring your wife, your sons and their wives with3 you. v17 Bring every different living animal out of the2 boat. Bring out the2 birds and the2 animals. And bring out those animals that3 move across the2 ground. Bring them out so that3 they may2 have2 young ones. Then they can3 grow in3 number2 on3 the4 earth.’
v18 Noah came out of4 the2 boat. His wife, and his sons and their wives came too. v19 All the2 animals came out of4 the2 boat. Those that3 moved across the2 ground, and the2 birds came too. Every different animal came out of4 the2 boat.
v20 Then Noah built2 an *altar to3 the4 *Lord. He took some of2 the2 clean animals and birds. And he *sacrificed a burnt offering on3 the2 *altar.
i-c When2 Noah leaves the2 *ark, he *worships God. He builds2 an *altar to do2 this. He makes3 a *sacrifice on3 the2 *altar. He does2 this before anything else. He thanks God for3 keeping3 them safe.
v21 The4 *Lord smelled the2 *sacrifice and was happy with4 it. He said (in his heart) ‘I will never again *curse the2 ground because2 of men2 and women. I will never curse it even when2 they think2 of doing2 wrong. They think2 of doing wrong from2 the3 time that3 they are children. But still I will never destroy all the3 living animals again, as I have done.
v22 As2 long2 as2 the2 earth is here, the2 time2 for3 planting2 will come each year. The2 time2 for3 getting2 the2 plants out of the2 ground will come each year. Cold and heat, and summer and winter will always2 come. They will never stop. Day and night will never stop.’
i-c As2 long2 as2 the2 earth is here, the2 seasons will carry on4 as before. God made the4 earth like this.
i-g altar ~ a table, (usually stone) for burning animal and other gifts as a *sacrifice to God.
i-g ark ~ a big boat that Noah built; a box that someone has made out of wood.
i-g curse ~ to say bad words against someone else.
i-g forgive ~ show love and not remember bad things against someone; when God does not remember the wrong things that we do.
i-g heavens ~ the skies or the home of God.
i-g Lord ~ a special name for God that his people use.
i-g sacrifice ~ to ask God to *forgive us by killing an animal.
i-g settle ~ come to live.
v1 God *blessed Noah and his sons. He said ‘Have2 many children and fill the4 earth with them. v2 Every animal will be afraid of3 you. All the2 birds will be afraid of3 you. And every animal that3 moves across the2 ground will be afraid of3 you. All the2 fish in the2 sea will be afraid of3 you. You will have2 authority over2 all of them. v3 All living animals will be food for2 you. Before, I gave5 you the green plants to eat. Now I give5 you everything.
v4 But you must not eat meat that3 still has2 the2 blood of5 life in it.
v5 Men3 must not kill other2 men3. Animals must not kill men3. If an animal kills a man3, kill the2 animal. If a man3 kills another man3, kill the2 man3.
v6 God made men3 like himself. So, if anyone kills a man2 or a woman, a man2 must kill him. v7 You must have2 many children, so that3 the3 number of3 people on3 the4 earth will grow.’
v8 God said to3 Noah and his sons that3 were with3 him, v9 ‘I will make3 my2 promise with3 you, and with3 all your *descendants, v10 and with3 all the2 animals on3 the4 earth. v11 This is my2 promise. I will never destroy all life on3 the4 earth again. I will never cover the4 earth with2 water again.’ v12 God said, ‘I will show you that3 I have made3 a promise with3 you, and every living animal. It is a promise for3 all that3 live on3 the4 earth, now and as2 long2 as2 the4 earth is here. v13 I have put2 my rainbow in th2 sky. It will show2 you the2 promise between me and everything on3 the4 earth. v14 When2 I bring clouds over2 the4 earth, a rainbow will appear. v15 Then I will remember my2 promise. Never again will the2 waters destroy all life. v16 When2 I see a rainbow in the2 clouds, I will remember my2 promise to3 you. It is for3 all2 time2. It is a promise between God and every thing that3 lives on3 the4 earth.’ v17 God said to3 Noah, ‘This will show you the2 promise that3 I have made3. My2 promise is between me and all life on3 earth.’
v18 The3 names of3 Noah’s sons were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham had2 a son called Canaan. They all came out of4 the2 *ark with3 Noah. v19 All the2 people who are on3 the4 earth are *descendants of3 Noah’s three sons.
v20 Noah worked3 on3 th2 ground. He planted2 a *vineyard.
v21 He drank2 some of5 the2 *wine that3 he made. And he became *drunk2. He lay2 inside his *tent and fell asleep. He was not wearing any clothes. v22 Ham, Canaan’s father, saw that3 Noah was not wearing any clothes. He went outside. He told2 his two brothers what he had seen. v23 Shem and Japheth took some clothes and put2 them across their shoulders. They walked into Noah’s *tent. They kept2 their backs to3 Noah, so that3 they could not see him. Then they covered their father with2 the2 clothes. They did2 not look at2 their father’s body because there2 were no2 clothes on3 it.
i-c A *vineyard is a field planted2 with2 *grapes. *Grapes are small round fruits that3 people use to make *wine. *Wine is a drink containing alcohol.
v24 Noah woke up2 from2 his sleep. He found2 out what3 his youngest son (Ham) had done2. v25 He said ‘*Cursed be Canaan! He will be a slave to3 his brothers.’ v26 Noah also said, ‘*Blessings to3 the4 *Lord, the4 God of Shem! Let Canaan be the2 slave of Shem. v27 Let God make3 the2 land of Japheth grow. Let Japheth receive the good things of3 Shem. Let Canaan be his slave.’
i-c Noah knows3 that3 Shem’s *blessings will come from4 God. He asks for2 good things for3 the2 *descendants of3 Japheth and Shem, because they did2 the right thing2. Noah asks2 for6 a *curse on the2 *descendants of3 Ham because he did2 the wrong thing2.
v28 Noah was alive for5 350 years after God covered the4 earth with2 water. v29 Noah’s whole life lasted2 for5 950 years. Then he died.
i-g ark ~ a big boat that Noah built; a box that someone has made out of wood.
i-g bless ~ to say or do much good to a person.
i-g blessing ~ the good things that God does for us. Asking God to help us and do good in us.
i-g curse ~ to say bad words against someone else.
i-g descendant of ~ people born into the family of someone.
i-g drunk ~ drinking too much alcohol makes you drunk.
i-g grape ~ a small, sweet fruit that people make a drink (*wine) from.
i-g Lord ~ a special name for God that his people use.
i-g tent ~ a home or building that people have made from animal skins; a place to live in that people have made out of cloth. You can move a tent-house to different places.
i-g vineyard ~ place where *grapes grow.
i-g wine ~ a drink that has alcohol in it; people make it from small, sweet fruit called grapes.
These things happened after the things that we read about in Chapter 11.
v1 This is the story of Shem, Ham and Japheth. They are Noah’s sons. After God covered the earth with water, they had sons.
v2 These are the sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. v3 These are the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah. v4 These are the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim and the Rodanim.
The Kittim are people who went to live in Cyprus.
v5 These people lived by the sea. They lived in groups. Each group went to live in a different place. Each group spoke its own language.
v6 These are the sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan. v7 These are the sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca. v8 These are the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. v9 Cush was the father of Nimrod. Nimrod grew into a great soldier on the earth. Nimrod was a great hunter in front of the *Lord. That is why people say ‘Like Nimrod, a great hunter in front of the *Lord’.
‘In front of the *Lord’ means, ‘God knew that Nimrod was a great hunter.’ Nimrod beat many groups of people, living in many lands. He became a king.
v10 The first of Nimrod’s lands were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar. v11 From that land he went to Assyria. This is where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir and Calah. v12 He also built Resen. Resen is between Nineveh and Calah, which is a large city. v13 Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, v14 Pathrusites, Casluhites (this is where Philistines came from) and Caphtorites.
All these groups of people came from the *descendants of Mizraim. They all lived in their own land.
v15 Canaan was the father of Sidon, who was born first. Canaan was also the father of the Hittites, v16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, v17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, v18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. After some time had passed, the Canaanite families separated, v19 and the land of Canaan went from Sidon to Gerar, as far as Gaza. It went to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. v20 These are all *descendants of Ham. They lived in groups in their own parts of the land. Each group spoke their own language.
v21 Shem also had sons. Shem’s older brother was Japheth. All the sons of Eber are *descendants of Shem. v22 These are the sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram. v23 These are the sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech. v24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah. Shelah was the father of Eber. v25 Eber had 2 sons. He called one Peleg. When he was alive, people began to live in different places on the earth. So he called him Peleg. He called the other son Joktan.
Peleg means to go away from each other.
v26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, v27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, v28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, v29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. v30 The land where they lived went from Mesha to Sephar. This is in the land with hills in the east. v31 These are the *descendants of Shem. They lived in groups in their own parts of the land. Each group spoke their own language.
v32 All these people (verses 2-13) are *descendants of Noah, through many years. They went to live in different parts of the earth. This happened after God covered the earth with water.
People were living in groups. They lived in different parts of the earth. And each group spoke a different language. Chapter 11 shows us why this happened.
The events in verses 1-9 happened before the events that we read about in chapter 10.
v1 At this time, everyone who lived on the earth spoke one language. v2 People moved to the East. They reached a large flat piece of land called Shinar. They stayed and lived there. v3 They said to each other, ‘Let us build a city with a *tower. We will first make bricks and heat them until they are hard. They used brick instead of stone. They used *tar to hold the bricks together.
You use bricks to build things. If you cook them like bread, they go hard. *Tar is black and sticky. It becomes soft when hot and hard when cold.
v4 They said, ‘Let us build a city with a *tower. The *tower will go up into the *heavens. Then people will remember us. If we build a *tower then we will not have to go and live in different places.’
v5 But the *Lord came down. He came down to see the city and the *tower that the men were building. v6 The *Lord said, ‘Because they all speak the same language, they can build this *tower. What will they do after this? v7 Let us go down. Let us make them speak in different languages. Then they will not understand each other.’ v8 So God separated the people, and they went to live in different lands. They stopped building the city. v9 That is why people called the city Babel. It was because the *Lord gave the people different languages. They could not understand each other. From that time, the *Lord separated the people. They lived in different countries all over the earth.
A *tower is a very tall building. The name ‘Babel’ means that God confused the people.
v10 This is the report of the *descendants of Shem. Two years after the earth was dry, Shem was 100 years old. He became the father of Arphaxad. v11 After he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem was alive for 500 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v12 When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah. v13 After he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad was alive for 403 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v14 When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber. v15 After he became the father of Eber, Shelah was alive for 403 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v16 When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg. v17 After he became the father of Peleg, Eber was alive for 430 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v18 When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu. v19 After he became the father of Reu, Peleg was alive for 209 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v20 When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug. v21 After he became the father of Serug, Reu was alive for 207 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v22 When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor. v23 After he became the father of Nahor, Serug was alive for 200 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah. v25 After he became the father of Terah, Nahor was alive for 119 years. He had other sons and daughters.
v26 When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
v27 This is the report of the *descendants of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. v28 While Terah was alive, Haran died. Haran died in Ur, the land of the Chaldeans. This was where Haran was born. v29 Abram married Sarai. Nahor married Milcah. Milcah was Haran’s daughter. Haran was the father of Milcah and Iscah. v30 Sarai could not give birth to children. She did not have any children.
v31 Terah took his son Abram, and Abram’s wife, Sarai. Terah took his grandson Lot. (Lot is the son of Haran.) They all left Ur, the land of the Chaldeans. They began to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they stayed there. v32 Terah was alive for 205 years. He died in Haran.
v1 The *Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your land and your people. Leave your father’s house. Go to the land that I will show you.’
The *Lord spoke to Abram, before Terah took them all to Haran. This is when Abram lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans did not *worship God. They *worshipped a moon god. Terah (Abram’s father) *worshipped other gods. We can read about this in Joshua 24:2.
v2 (The *Lord said), ‘I will make you the father of many children. I will *bless you. Everyone will know your name. You will be a *blessing to other people.’ v3 ‘I will *bless people who *bless you. I will *curse people who *curse you. I will *bless all the people on the earth through you.’
Some people will say good things to Abram or do good things for Abram. God will make good things happen to those people. Some people will say bad things to Abram or do bad things for Abram. God will make bad things happen to those people.
But Jesus Christ is a *descendant of Abram. And by Jesus, God will *bless all the people on the earth.
v4 Abram left Haran as the *Lord told him. Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. v5 Abram took his wife Sarai, and his *nephew Lot. Abram took everything that was theirs. He took their slaves and the servants that he had in Haran. They all left to go to the land of Canaan. And they arrived there.
Abram does what God tells him to do.
Someone’s *nephew is his brother’s son.
v6 Abram walked through the land. He went as far as the big tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time, Canaanites lived in this land. v7 The *Lord appeared to Abram. The *Lord said ‘I will give this land to your children.’ So Abram built an *altar to the *Lord because the *Lord had appeared to him.
The people of Canaan did not *worship God. The big tree of Moreh is a place where the Canaanites *worshipped other gods. Abram built an *altar to *worship God. The Canaanites would see Abram *worshipping God. But Abram was not afraid. Abram knew that this place belonged to God.
v8 Abram left Shechem. He went to the hills. The hills are east of Bethel. This is where he put his *tent. Bethel was to the west of his *tent. Ai was to the east of his *tent. Abram built an *altar there to *worship the *Lord and he prayed to the *Lord. v9 Then Abram took his *tent and left that place. He began to go to the Negev.
The Negev is a dry land. It goes to the South.
v10 There was a *famine in the land. So Abram went to live in Egypt for a while. He went there because the *famine was very bad.
A *famine happens because there is no water in the land. And no rain has fallen for a long time. Nothing can grow in the ground because there is no water. So there is no food for people or their animals. Egypt did not often have famines because the River Nile went through the land.
v11 When Abram was going into Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, ‘I know that you are a very beautiful woman. v12 When the people of Egypt see you they will say, “This is his wife.” They will kill me. But they will not kill you. v13 Tell them that you are my sister. Then they will do good things for me because of you. They will not kill me. Because they will think that you are my sister.’
Pharaoh (this is the name of a king of Egypt) may want to take Sarai as one of his wives. If he knows that she is Abram’s wife, Pharaoh will have to kill Abram.
v14 When Abram came to Egypt, the people saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. v15 Pharaoh’s officers saw her. They said good things about her to Pharaoh. They took Sarai to Pharaoh’s palace. (Pharaoh is the name for all the kings of Egypt.)
A palace is a large house for a king.
v16 Pharaoh did good things for Abram because of Sarai. He gave him sheep and cows. He also gave Abram male and female *donkeys. And he gave him *camels and male servants and female servants.
*Donkeys and *camels are animals. People use them to carry things, and to ride on.
v17 But the *Lord made Pharaoh and the people in the palace very ill. The *Lord did this because of Abram’s wife Sarai. v18 So Pharaoh called Abram to come before him. Pharaoh said, ‘You have done this to me. You did not tell me that she was your wife! v19 You told me “She is my sister”, so I took her to be my wife. Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!’ v20 Pharaoh told his men what to do with Abram. They sent Abram away with his wife and everything that they had.
People of Egypt thought it was important to say what was true. Abram did not do this. God made Pharaoh and the people in the palace ill. This was to stop Pharaoh from taking Sarai as his wife. It would be wrong for Pharaoh to take Sarai for his wife. God stopped Pharaoh from doing something wrong.
God had *blessed Abram. God would not let Pharaoh take Abram’s wife. God had made a promise to Abram. This was that Abram would have many *descendants. God always keeps his promise.
v1 Abram went from Egypt to the Negev. He took his wife and everything that he had. Lot went with him.
v2 Abram had many valuable things. He had cows, *silver and gold.
*Silver is a valuable metal.
v3 Abram left the Negev. He went from place to place until he came to Bethel. He came to the place between Bethel and Ai. This is where he had put his *tent before. v4 This is where Abram had built an *altar to *worship God. There, Abram called out to the *Lord.
v5 Lot was moving from place to place with Abram. Lot also had cows, sheep and *tents. v6 The ground could not grow enough food for all the animals to eat. The ground could not grow enough food for Abram’s animals and for Lot’s animals. Abram and Lot could not stay together. They had too many animals and people with them. v7 Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen began to quarrel. At that time, Canaanites and Perizzites also lived in the land.
Herdsmen are men who keep cows and other animals safe.
v8 Abram said to Lot, ‘We must not quarrel with each other. Your herdsmen and my herdsmen must not quarrel with each other. There must be no more quarrelling because we belong to the same family.’
v9 ‘The whole land is in front of you. We must separate. If you go to the left, I will go to the right. If you go to the right, I will go to the left.’
v10 Lot looked up. He saw the flat land of Jordan. He saw that it had water. It was like the garden of the *Lord. It was like the land of Egypt, towards Zoar. (This was before the *Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) v11 So Lot chose the flat land of Jordan. He went towards the East.
The Canaanites and Perizzites did not *worship God. It was not good for them to see people who *worship God quarrelling with each other.
Lot chose the land that he thought was the best.
v12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan. Lot lived in the cities of the land that he had chosen. Lot put his *tents near Sodom. v13 The men of Sodom were very bad. They *sinned against the *Lord.
v14 After Lot had gone, the *Lord said to Abram, ‘Look up from where you are. Look to the north and south. Look to the east and west. v15 I will give you all the land that you can see. I will give it to you and your *descendants for all time. v16 I will make your *descendants like the dust of the ground. If anyone can count the pieces of dust, they can count your *descendants.’
Dust is the dry top of the ground. No one can count dust on top of the ground. There are too many small parts. God is telling Abram that his *descendants will be too many to count.
v17 The *Lord said, ‘Go and walk through all this land. Because I am giving it to you.’ v18 Abram moved his *tents. He went to live near the big trees of Mamre. This is at Hebron. Abram built an *altar here. This was so that he could *worship the *Lord.
v1-4 Now there were many kings living in that land, at that time. They fought against each other. One fight was when Kedorlaomer had ruled over the other kings for 12 years. And in the next year, 5 kings made one group like that and fought against him. Kedorlaomer joined with 3 other kings. So, it was 4 kings against 5 other kings.
The 4 kings were Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim. And these fought a war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela. Bela is another name for the town Zoar. They fought in the Valley of Siddim. (That is the Salt Sea.) v5 In the 14th year, Kedorlaomer and the kings with him beat the Rephaites. This was in Ashteroth Karnaim. They beat the Zuzites in Ham. They beat the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim. v6 And they beat the Horites in the country of Seir. This was as far as El Paran near the land of dry sand. v7 They then went back. They went to En Mishpat. (That is Kadesh.) They took the whole land of the Amalekites. They also took the land of the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar. v8 Then, the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is Zoar) went to fight. This was in the Valley of Siddim. v9 They fought against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar. There were 4 kings fighting against 5 kings. v10 The Valley of Siddim had many holes in the ground. The holes were filled with *tar. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah ran away. And some of their men fell into the *tar. The rest of the men ran away to the hills. v11 The 4 kings took everything in Sodom and Gomorrah. And they took all the food. Then they went away. v12 They also took Abram’s *nephew. This is Lot. They took everything that Lot had. That was because Lot lived in Sodom.
v13 A man ran away from the kings. He told Abram the *Hebrew everything that had happened. Abram lived near the big trees of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre was a brother of Eshcol and Aner. These men would fight with Abram. v14 Abram heard that the kings caught his *nephew. He called 318 men. These men knew how to fight. They were born into Abram’s *household. Abram and the men went after the men who took Lot. They went as far as Dan.
*Household means everyone who lived with Abram. They did not have to be Abram’s family.
v15 During the night, Abram separated his men into 2 groups. Then they attacked the men who took Lot. Abram followed them as far as Hobah. Hobah is North of Damascus. v16 Abram took back everything that the men took from Sodom. He brought back his *nephew Lot. Abram also brought back the women and other people.
v17 Abram beat Kedorlaomer and the kings with him. He returned, and the king of Sodom came out to meet Abram. This was in the Valley of Shaveh. (That is the Kings’ valley.) v18 Melchizedek was the king of Salem. He brought out bread and *wine. Melchizedek was a *priest of God Most High. v19 He *blessed Abram. He said ‘Abram is *blessed by God Most High who made *heaven and earth. v20 *Blessed is God Most High. He gave your enemies to you.’ Abram gave king Melchizedek a 10th of everything.
Abram gave Melchizedek a 10th of everything taken in war. This was a king’s part.
v21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me the people. Keep everything else.’ v22 But Abram said ‘I have raised my hand to the *Lord God Most High. He made *heaven and earth. And I have made a promise to him. v23 I promised not to take anything from you. I will not take even a part of your shoe. So you can never say “I made Abram rich.” v24 The men who went with me may take their part. They may take their part of anything that we took. They are Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their part.’
The people who won a war took things. They took things from the people whom they had beaten. The leader gave these things to the men who had fought. Abram promised God that he would not take anything from the king of Sodom. The people of Sodom *sinned against God. But Abram lets the men who fought with him have their things.
v1 After this, Abram had a dream. God spoke to Abram in this dream. God said, ‘Do not be afraid Abram. I will keep you safe. And I will give you many good things.’
v2 But Abram said, ‘*Lord, I have no children. I want you to give me a son. You have not given me a son. So Eliezer of Damascus will *inherit everything that I have.’
*Inherit means to have someone’s things when they die.
Eliezer of Damascus was Abram’s servant. Abram did not have any children. When Abram died, there was no son to continue the family.
In the *Old Testament, the oldest servant could have his master’s things when his master died.
v3 Abram said ‘You have not given me any children. So a servant in my house will *inherit everything that I have.’ v4 Then the *Lord said to him, ‘Eliezer will not *inherit everything that you have. You will have your own son. He will *inherit everything that you have.’ v5 Then the *Lord took Abram outside. The *Lord said, ‘Look up at the *heavens. Count the stars. You cannot count them because there are too many.’ Then the *Lord said, ‘This is how many *descendants you will have.’ v6 Abram believed the *Lord. And God said that Abram was *righteous. God said this because Abram believed.
v7 The *Lord also said to Abram, ‘I am the *Lord. I brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans. I did this to give you this land. It will be yours to take.’ v8 But Abram said, ‘My *Lord, how will I know that I can take this land?’ v9 The *Lord said to Abram, ‘Bring me a young cow, a goat and a male sheep. Each animal must be 3 years old. Also bring a dove and a young pigeon.’
A dove is a bird. A pigeon is a bird.
v10 Abram brought all the animals and birds to God. Abram cut each one in half. He put the halves opposite each other. But he did not cut the birds in half. v11 Some other birds came. These birds liked to eat dead animals. But Abram sent them away.
v12 The sun went down. Abram fell asleep. It was very dark. He felt afraid. v13 Then the *Lord said to Abram, ‘Be sure of this. Your *descendants will live in a country which is not their own. They will be strangers there. They will be slaves. People will do bad things to them. This will go on for 400 years. v14 But I will *judge the people who made them slaves. After this, your *descendants will leave that land. They will take many valuable things. v15 And yet, you will have a long life. You will have a long, good and quiet life. Then you will die very happy. v16 After 4 generations, your *descendants will come back here. The Amorites *sin against me. But I will not do anything against them. I will not do anything until the 4th generation (of your people).’
One generation is how old a man is when his son is born. Two generations is how old the son is when he has a son.
The Amorites did not *worship the *Lord God. They *worshipped other gods. They *sacrificed children to these gods.
v17 The sun went down. It became dark. Abram saw a smoking pot of fire. He also saw a light made of fire. Both of these passed between the halves of the animals.
The fire shows that God is present.
In the *Old Testament, people would walk between halves of animals. They did this to show that they made a promise (*covenant). God is passing between the halves of the animals. This is to show that he is making a *covenant (promise) with Abram.
v18 On that day, the *Lord made a *covenant with Abram. The *Lord said, ‘I give this land to your *descendants. I give them the land from the river of Egypt to the River Euphrates. v19 This is the land where these people live: Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, v20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, v21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.’
The land that God is giving to Abram’s *descendants belongs to these people. Abram’s *descendants will beat these people. Then they will take the land.
v1 Abram’s wife was Sarai. She did not have any children. She had a servant from Egypt. The servant’s name was Hagar. v2 Sarai said to Abram, ‘The *Lord has stopped me having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Her children will be mine.’ Abram agreed to do this.
Sarai wants Abram to have a son. God has told Abram that he will have many *descendants. But neither Abram nor Sarai will wait for God to keep his promise.
v3 Abram had been living in Canaan for 10 years. Sarai took Hagar. She gave Hagar to Abram to be his wife.
v4 Abram had sex with Hagar. And Hagar became *pregnant. Hagar knew that she was *pregnant. Because of this, she would not *respect Sarai.
Sarai gave Hagar to Abram. ‘To be his wife’ means that Abram would have sex with Hagar. This is so that Abram could have a son. Sarai is still Abram’s wife.
v5 Sarai said to Abram, ‘It is because of you that this has happened. What Hagar is doing is wrong. I gave her to you. And now she is *pregnant. So now she does not *respect me. The *Lord will say who is right, you or me.’ v6 Abram said to Sarai, ‘Do whatever you think is right. Do what you want to do with Hagar.’ Then Sarai did bad things to Hagar. So Hagar ran away.
Abram and Sarai went against God. They would not wait for God to give them a son. Hagar is *pregnant. But Abram and Sarai are quarrelling. Abram is the family leader. He should have told Hagar to *respect Sarai. Respect here means this. Hagar knows that Sarai has authority over her. She knows that Sarai is her *mistress. She should show that she knows this.
v7 The *angel of the *Lord found Hagar. She was by some water in the land of dry sand. The water was by the road to Shur. v8 The *angel said, ‘Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from? Where are you going?’ Hagar replied, ‘I am running away from Sarai. I am her servant.’
The *angel calls Hagar the servant of Sarai. He does not call Hagar ‘Abram’s wife’. God’s plan was for Abram and Sarai to have a son. But they would not wait for God to give them a son.
Hagar replies to the *angel. She says that she is Sarai’s servant. She does not say that she is Abram’s wife.
v9 The *angel of the *Lord told Hagar, ‘Go back to Sarai. You are her servant. Do whatever she tells you to.’
v10 The *angel also said, ‘I will make the number of your *descendants grow. They will be too many to count.’ v11 The *angel of the *Lord said,
‘You will have a child.
You will have a son.
You must name him Ishmael.
Because the *Lord has heard how sad you are.
v12 He will be a wild man.
He will be like a *donkey.
He will fight against everyone.
And everyone will fight against him.
He will think that everyone is his enemy.
He will think that his brothers are his enemies.’
Ishmael means ‘God hears’.
Wild *donkeys lived in the land of dry sand.
v13 Hagar said to the *Lord ‘You are the God who sees me.’ And she said ‘I have seen the One who sees me. And he has let me live.’ v14 That is why they called the well ‘Beer Lahai Roi’. The well is between Kadesh and Bered.
‘Beer Lahai Roi’ means ‘well of the One who lives and has seen me’.
Hagar came from Egypt. People in Egypt *worshipped different gods. Now Hagar has spoken with the living God.
v15 Some time passed. Hagar had a son. Abram was his father. Abram gave Hagar’s son a name. The name of Hagar’s son was Ishmael. v16 Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.
v1 Abram was 99 years old. The *Lord appeared to him. The *Lord said ‘I am God *Almighty. Walk before me. And do nothing wrong.’
‘*Almighty’ means that God is the *Lord of everything. He had power over everything. God says that Abram is his friend. He knows that Abram *worships him. God knows that Abram does what is right for God.
v2 ‘I will fix my *covenant. My *covenant will be between me and you. I will make the number of your *descendants grow.’
God had told Abram this in chapter 15. But Abram and Sarai did not wait for God. So Abram used Hagar to have a son. Now God is fixing the *covenant between them.
v3 Abram fell to the ground. He put his face to the ground. God said to him,
v4 ‘This is what I will do. This is my *covenant to you. You will be the father of many people.’
Abram will have many *descendants. They will live all over the earth, in many different countries.
v5 ‘Your name is not Abram any longer. Now your name is Abraham. This is because you are the father of many people. I will make this happen. v6 I will give you many *descendants. These will make many different groups of people. Some of your *descendants will be kings.
v7 My *covenant will be for all time. It is between me and you. And it will be between me and your *descendants and their sons. (It will be for all time.) I will be your God. I will also be the God of all your *descendants. v8 You are a foreign person here. This is the land of Canaan. I will give you all of Canaan. I give it to you and all your *descendants. And I will be their God.
v9 This is what you must do. You must do as I tell you. Then you will keep my *covenant. You, and all your *descendants must keep it. v10 This is my *covenant with you and with all your *descendants. This is what you must do to keep my *covenant. This is for every male who lives with you. You must *circumcise them. v11 You must be *circumcised too. This will show that the *covenant is between you and me. v12 You must *circumcise every *generation of males. Do this when they are 8 days old. This is for every male that lives with you. *Circumcise servants and slaves bought with money. This includes males that are not your children. v13 They may be born in your *household. Or you may have bought them with your money. *Circumcise all males. This is my *covenant in your body. It will be for all time.’
‘*Covenant in your body’ means that being *circumcised shows that the people are living in God’s promise.
v14 ‘*Circumcise every male. If you do not *circumcise someone, I will separate him from his people. Because my *covenant is broken.’
*Circumcision showed that a person worshipped God. If he is not *circumcised, the *covenant with God is broken. Every father had to *circumcise his son. This showed that they were both living in God’s *covenant.
v15 God also said to Abraham, ‘As for your wife Sarai, you must not call her Sarai. Her name will be Sarah. v16 I will *bless her. I will give you a son through her. I will *bless her. And she will be the mother of many *descendants. Some of her *descendants will be kings.’ v17 Abraham fell to the ground. He put his face to the ground. Abraham laughed. He said to himself, ‘I am 100 years old. That is too old to have a son. Sarah is 90 years old. That is too old to have a child.’ v18 Abraham said to God, ‘If only Ishmael may have your *blessing.’ v19 God said to Abraham, ‘No, your wife Sarah will have a child. You must call him Isaac. I will make my *covenant with him. It will be for all time. My *covenant will be for him and all his *descendants.’
God tells Abraham that Sarah’s child, Isaac, will live under God’s *covenant. Isaac will continue Abraham’s family line. Ishmael is Hagar’s child.
‘Isaac’ means ‘he laughs’.
v20 God said, ‘I have heard what you want for Ishmael. I will *bless him. He will have many *descendants. 12 rulers will come from his *descendants. His *descendants will be great people. v21 But I will make my *covenant with Isaac. Isaac will be Sarah’s child. He will be born before one year has passed.’
v22 God had finished speaking to Abraham. So God left Abraham.
Again, God tells Abraham that Isaac will have the *covenant with God. But God will also *bless Ishmael because Abraham has asked him to.
But God’s *covenant is with Isaac because he will be Abraham and Sarah’s son. This is what God had promised.
v23 On that day, Abraham went to Ishmael. He also went to all the males born into his *household. Also, he went to every male that he had bought with money. Abraham went to every male in his *household. He *circumcised them. He did this because God had told him to do it. v24 Abraham’s *circumcision happened when he was 99 years old. v25 Ishmael’s *circumcision happened when he was 13 years old. v26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were *circumcised on the same day. v27 Abraham *circumcised every male living in his *household. This included males bought with money. It also included foreign males living in Abraham’s *household. He *circumcised them all on that day.
v1 The *Lord appeared to Abraham. This happened near the big trees of Mamre. Abraham was sitting by the door of his *tent. v2 Abraham looked up. He saw 3 men. He hurried to meet them. He bowed to the ground.
In verse 2, ‘bowed’ means that Abraham bent his body until his face was at the ground. Abraham knew that they had authority. He was showing them that he knew it.
This is a visit from the *Lord. Abraham did not know this at that time.
v3 Abraham said to them, ‘If it makes you happy, my *lords, do not go past me.
v4 ‘Let us bring some water for you. Then you can all wash your feet. Then you can rest under this tree.’ v5 Abraham said, ‘Let me get you some bread. Then you will be ready to continue with your journey. I will do this now because you have come to me.’ The men replied, ‘Very well, do as you have said.’ v6 Abraham hurried to the *tent. This is where Sarah was. He said to her, ‘Quick, get some good flour. Make bread with it.’ v7 Then Abraham ran to his cows. He chose a baby cow. He gave it to a servant. The servant quickly prepared it for the men to eat. v8 Then Abraham brought some butter, milk and the meat from the cow. He put all these in front of the men. The men ate the food. And Abraham stood near them. He stood under a tree.
v9 The men asked Abraham ‘Where is Sarah, your wife?’ Abraham replied, ‘She is in the *tent.’ v10 Then the *Lord said, ‘I will return to you at this time, after one year has passed. And you and Sarah your wife will have a son.’ Sarah was in the *tent. She heard what the *Lord said. She heard it because the *tent was behind him. v11 Abraham and Sarah were very old. Sarah was past the age of giving birth to a child. v12 So Sarah laughed to herself. She thought ‘I am too old. And my husband is too old. I cannot have this baby now.’ v13 The *Lord said to Abraham, ‘Sarah laughed. She said, “I am too old to have a child.” ’ v14 The *Lord said, ‘Nothing is too difficult for the *Lord. At this time next year, I will return to you. I will return to you and Sarah will have a son.’ v15 Sarah was afraid. So she did not say what was true. She said, ‘I did not laugh.’ But the *Lord said, ‘Yes, you did laugh.’
v16 The men got up. They were leaving. They looked down in the direction of Sodom. Abraham walked with them. He walked with them for part of their journey. v17 Then the *Lord said, ‘Will I tell Abraham my plan?’ v18 ‘Abraham’s *descendants will be great people. They will be very powerful. Because of him, everyone on the earth will receive my *blessing.’
See Genesis 12:2-3.
v19 ‘I chose him. Then he will teach his children and everyone in his *household. He will teach them to know me. He will teach them to do what is right. Then I will keep the promise that I made to him.’ v20 The *Lord said to Abraham, ‘The *outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. The people who live there are *evil.’
v21 ‘I will go down to Sodom and Gomorrah. I will see what they have done. I will see if it is as bad as the *outcry against them. Then I will know how badly they have *sinned.’
v22 The men turned away. They went towards Sodom. But Abraham remained with the *Lord.
v23 Then Abraham went near to the *Lord. Abraham asked, ‘Will you kill your people with the *evil people? v24 There might be 50 people who know you in the city. Will you still destroy the city? Or will you let the people live, because of the 50 people who know you? v25 The ruler of all the earth will do what is right! So, you will not kill the people who know you. You will not kill them along with the *evil people. You will not do the same thing to the people who know you, as you do to the *evil people. I know that you would not do such a thing!’
Abraham is God’s friend. That is why Abraham can say this to God.
v26 The *Lord said, ‘Because of 50 people who know me in the city of Sodom, I will not destroy that place and everybody in it.’ v27 Then Abraham spoke again. ‘I have been brave enough to speak to the *Lord. I know that I am nothing but dust and ashes.’
Dust is on the top of the ground. It is dry. It blows away easily. When something burns, ashes are left. Abraham is saying that he is nothing.
v28 Then Abraham asked, ‘What if there are 45 people in the city who know you. Will you destroy the city, because there are only 45 good people there?’ The *Lord said, ‘Because of 45 people who know me in the city, I will not destroy it.’ v29 Abraham spoke to God again. ‘What will you do if only 40 good people are there?’ The *Lord said, ‘Because of 40 good people I will not destroy the city.’ v30 Then Abraham said ‘Please do not be angry. Let me speak. What if there are only 30 people who know you there?’ The *Lord answered, ‘I will not destroy the city if I find 30 good people in the city.’ v31 Abraham said ‘I have been brave. I have spoken to the *Lord. What if only 20 good people are there?’ The *Lord said, ‘Because of 20 good people I will not destroy the city.’ v32 Abraham said, ‘Please do not be angry. Let me speak once more. What if only 10 good people live there?’ The *Lord answered, ‘Because of 10 good people I will not destroy the city.’ v33 The *Lord had finished speaking with Abraham. So the *Lord left him. And Abraham returned home.
Lot is living in Sodom. Lot is Abraham’s *nephew. Abraham does not want God to kill Lot and his family. That is why Abraham asks ‘what if only 10 good people live there?’
v1 The 2 *angels arrived at Sodom. It was evening. Lot was sitting at the city gate. Lot saw the *angels. He got up to meet them. He *bowed down. He put his face to the ground. v2 Lot said ‘My *lords, please come to my house. You can wash your feet and stay the night there. You can continue your journey early in the morning.’ The *angels replied, ‘No, we will stay the night in the square.’
The square is a large open space. It is in the middle of the city. People often meet there.
v3 But Lot asked them to stay with him again. So they went with Lot. The *angels went to Lot’s house. Lot prepared a meal for them. He made special bread. The *angels ate the food.
This special bread was quick to make. It did not have any yeast. Cooks put yeast in other bread to make it rise.
v4 They had not yet gone to bed. All the men from every part of Sodom came to the house. Old and young men came. They were all outside the house. v5 The men said ‘Where are the men who are staying with you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them’ v6 Lot went outside to the men. He shut the door of his house. v7 Lot said, ‘No, my friends. Do not do this bad thing. v8 I have 2 daughters. They have never had sex with a man. Let me bring them out to you. You can do whatever you want with them. But do not do anything to these men. They are staying at my house. I cannot let anyone hurt them.’ v9 The men from the city said ‘Get out of our way. You are a foreign person in this city. Now you are telling us what to do! We will do worse things to you.’ They pushed Lot. They began to break the door of his house. v10 The 2 men inside the house pulled Lot. They pulled him back into his house. They shut the door. v11 Then they made the men outside blind. They made the young men blind. They also made the old men blind. This was so that they could not find the door to the house.
Blind means that the men could not see anything.
v12 The 2 men spoke to Lot. They said, ‘Do you have any people belonging to you here? Do you have men who are going to marry your daughters? Do you have sons or daughters? Do you have any people belonging to you in the city? If you do, get them out of here. v13 We are going to destroy this city. The *outcry against this city is great. God has sent us to destroy it.’ v14 Lot went out. He spoke to the men who were going to marry his daughters. Lot said to them, ‘Hurry! Leave this place because the *Lord is going to destroy this city.’ But the men laughed.
v15 At dawn, the *angels said to Lot, ‘Hurry! Take your wife. And take your 2 daughters that are here. If not, you will all be killed when the city is destroyed.’ v16 Lot did not go with the *angels at once. So the *angels held on to Lot’s hand. And they held the hands of his wife and his 2 daughters. The *angels led them away from the city, because the *Lord was *merciful to them.
Lot and his family did not want to leave Sodom. They would be leaving everything that they had.
v17 As soon as the *angel brought them out he said, ‘Run! Your life is in danger. Do not look back. Do not stop anywhere on this land. Run to the mountains or you will die.’ v18 But Lot said, ‘No! Please, my *lords! v19 You are happy with me, your servant. You have been very kind to me. You have saved my life. But I cannot run to the mountains. This *evil will over take me. Then I will die.’
v20 Lot said, ‘Look! Here is a town. It is near. I can run to it. And the town is small. Let me run to it. The town is very small. Then I will stay alive.’ v21 The *angel said to Lot, ‘Very well, I will let you do what you have asked. I will not destroy the town of which you speak. v22 But run to the town quickly. I cannot do anything until you get to the town.’ (The name of the town was Zoar.) v23 The sun had risen in the sky. Then Lot reached Zoar.
v24 Then the *Lord made it rain. He made it rain burning sulphur on Sodom and Gomorrah. The burning sulphur came from the *Lord. It came out of the *heavens.
God used hot sulphur to destroy the cities. Sulphur is yellow. It burns quickly with a lot of heat. But when it gets cold, it becomes like stone. Hot sulphur covered the cities and the people in them. It would burn them. Then it would become like stone over everything in the city.
v25 So the *Lord destroyed those cities. He killed everyone who lived in those cities. And he killed all the plants that grew on that land.
v26 But Lot’s wife looked back at the city. And she changed into a large piece of salt.
The *angel had told Lot and his family not to look back (verse 17).
v27 Early the next morning, Abraham returned to where he had stood before God. v28 He looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah. And he looked down towards all the land near the cities. He saw thick smoke. It was rising from the land. It was the smoke from a big fire.
v29 God destroyed the cities of that land. And Lot lived in these cities. But God had remembered Abraham. God brought Lot out of the cities, before he destroyed them.
v30 Lot was afraid to live in Zoar. So, he and his 2 daughters stayed in the mountains. Lot and his 2 daughters lived in the rocks in the side of the mountain. v31 The oldest daughter said to the youngest daughter, ‘Our father is old. And there is no other man here. So, we will not have any man to marry us. Then we will not have children. Everyone on the earth wants to have children. v32 Let us cause our father to drink *wine. Then we will have sex with him. Then our family will continue.’
Drinking too much *wine makes you drunk.
v33 That night they gave their father *wine to drink. And the oldest daughter had sex with him. Lot did not know when she came to him. And he did not know when she left him. v34 The next day the oldest daughter said to the youngest daughter, ‘Last night I had sex with my father. Let us make him drink *wine tonight. Then you can have sex with him. Then our family line will continue through him.’ v35 So that night, they gave their father *wine to drink. And the youngest daughter had sex with her father. He did not know when she came to him. And he did not know when she left him. v36 Both of Lot’s daughters would give birth to a baby. This was because they had both had sex with their father. v37 The oldest daughter had a son. She called him Moab. All the Moabites of today are his *descendants. v38 The youngest daughter also had a son. She called him Ben-Ammi. All the Ammonites of today are his *descendants.
v1 Abraham moved on to the land of Negev. He lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a time he stayed in Gerar. v2 While he was there, he told people that Sarah was his sister. Because of this, Abimelech sent for Sarah. Abimelech is the king of Gerar. He wanted Sarah to be his wife.
v3 But God spoke to Abimelech in a dream. God said, ‘You are a dead man. This is because of the woman that you have taken. She is a married woman.’ v4 But Abimelech had not gone near Sarah. He said, ‘Will you destroy people who have not done anything wrong? v5 Abraham said to me “I am her brother.” Sarah said to me “I am his sister.” I did not know that I was doing anything wrong.’ v6 God spoke to Abimelech in a dream. God said, ‘You did not know that you were doing wrong. I knew that. So I kept you from *sinning against me. I did not let you touch her. v7 Give her back to her husband. He is a *prophet. He will pray for you. Then you will live. If you do not give her back, be sure of this. You and your *household will die.’
v8 Early the next morning, Abimelech called together his officers. He told them what had happened. They were very afraid. v9 Then Abimelech called Abraham to him. Abimelech said, ‘What have you done to us? What have I done against you? Why have you brought this bad *sin on me? You should not have done this to me.’ v10 Abimelech asked Abraham, ‘Why did you do this?’ v11 Abraham said, ‘Because I thought that the people here were not afraid of God. They will kill me because of my wife.’
Verses 1-11 are like Genesis 12:11-20. Again, Abraham does not think that God will keep him safe.
v12 Abraham said, ‘But she is my sister. She is the daughter of my father. But she is not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife. v13 God caused me to leave my father’s *household. Then I said to her, “This is how you can show your love for me. Everywhere we go, say to people, ‘He is my brother’.” ’
v14 Abimelech brought sheep and cows. He also brought male and female slaves. He gave them to Abraham. He gave Sarah, Abraham’s wife back to him. v15 Abimelech said, ‘Here is my land. Live anywhere you want to live.’ v16 He said to Sarah, ‘I have given your brother 1000 pieces of *silver. This is to show everyone that you did nothing wrong.’ v17 Then Abraham prayed to God. And God made Abimelech well again. He also made his wife and his female slaves well again. So, they could have children again. v18 God had made them unable to have children. God had done this because of Abraham’s wife, Sarah.
v1 The *Lord was good to Sarah. He kept his promise to her. v2 Sarah became *pregnant. She gave birth to a son. Abraham was his father. Abraham was old. This happened at the time that God said it would.
See Genesis 18:8.
v3 Abraham called his son Isaac. This is the son that Sarah gave birth to. v4 Isaac was 8 days old. Abraham *circumcised him. This is what God had told him to do.
See chapter 17.
v5 Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born. v6 Sarah said, ‘God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about my son will be happy with me.’ v7 She also said, ‘Who would think that I would have a child? But I have given Abraham a son, even when he is old.’
v8 The child grew, and his mother weaned him. On that day, Abraham gave a big feast.
Weaned means that Isaac did not have to drink his mother’s milk any more.
A feast is a time of eating and drinking.
v9 Sarah saw that Ishmael was laughing at Isaac. Ishmael was Hagar’s son. Hagar was the slave from Egypt. v10 Sarah said to Abraham, ‘Send that slave woman and her son away. He must never have a part in the *inheritance. He will not have a part with my son Isaac.’
Inheritance is what someone receives after a person dies.
v11 This made Abraham very sad, because it was about his son Ishmael.
Ishmael is Hagar’s son. He is also Abraham’s son.
v12 God said to Abraham, ‘Do not be sad about the boy Ishmael and your female servant. Listen to Sarah. Do whatever she tells you, because I will continue my promise through Isaac. v13 I will also make many people from the *descendants of Ishmael, too. I will do that because he is your son.’
v14 Abraham was awake early the next morning. He took some food. And he took a bottle that someone had made out of animal skin. He filled it with water. He put the food and water on Hagar’s shoulders. Then he sent Hagar and her son Ishmael away. She went to the *desert of Beersheba.
The *desert of Beersheba is dry and hot. There is not very much water there.
v15 After they had drunk the water, Hagar put her son under a bush. v16 She thought, ‘I cannot watch the boy die.’ As she sat near the boy, she began to cry. Then she went away from him. She sat down. She was not very far away from him. v17 God heard the boy crying. The *angel of God spoke to Hagar from *heaven. He said ‘What is the matter Hagar? Do not be afraid. God has heard the boy crying, while the boy is lying there. v18 Lift the boy up. Take him by the hand. I will make him into a great people.’
God has told Hagar this, when she ran away from Sarah (16:10).
v19 Then God opened Hagar’s eyes. She saw a well of water. Hagar filled the bottle with water. And she gave the boy a drink. v20 God was with the boy while he grew up. The boy lived in the *desert. He became an *archer.
A *desert is a hot, dry place. It has lots of sand. There is not much water there.
An *archer is someone who can use a bow and *arrows to kill an animal. An *arrow is like a stick with a sharp point at the end.
v21 The boy lived in the *desert of Paran. And his mother found a wife for him. The wife was from Egypt.
v22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, his officer, said to Abraham, ‘God is with you in everything that you do. v23 Tell me that you will not do things in a false way. You will not do anything false with me or with my children or with my *descendants. Do this before God. You live here as a foreign person. Be kind to me, as I was to you.’ v24 Abraham said ‘I will do as you say.’
v25 Then Abraham told Abimelech about a well of water. Abimelech’s servants had said that the well belonged to them and not to Abraham. v26 Abimelech said ‘I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me before. I only heard about it today.’ v27 Abraham brought sheep and cows. He gave them to Abimelech. The two men made a promise. v28 Abraham separated 7 young female sheep from the other sheep. v29 Abimelech asked Abraham ‘Why have you separated 7 young female sheep? What does this mean?’ v30 Abraham replied ‘Take these 7 young female sheep from my hand. You know that I dug this well. This shows that you know it.’ v31 So he called that place Beersheba. He called it that because the 2 men made a promise there.
Beersheba means ‘well of seven’ or ‘well of the promise’.
v32 So they made a promise at Beersheba. Abimelech and Phicol, his officer, returned to the land of the Philistines.
v33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba. He called on the name of the *Lord who is for ever. That is the *Lord who never changes.
A tamarisk tree is a tree that can grow without using much water.
v34 Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
v1 Some time passed. God wanted to see how *faithful Abraham was. God said to him, ‘Abraham!’ Abraham replied, ‘Here I am.’ v2 God said ‘Take your son. Take your only son Isaac, whom you love. Go to the place of Moriah. *Sacrifice your son there, as a burnt *offering. Do this on a mountain. I will tell you which mountain.’
v3 Abraham got up early the next morning. He put a blanket on his *donkey. He took 2 servants, and his son Isaac. He cut wood for the fire for the burnt offering. He started to go to the place that God had told him. He took the wood with him. v4 On the 3rd day, Abraham looked up. He saw the place. It was not too far away. v5 Abraham spoke to his servants. He said ‘Stay here with the *donkey. The boy and I will go over there. We will *worship God. Then we will come back to you.’
Abraham shows that he has *faith in God. He says ‘we will come back to you’. He does not say ‘I will come back to you’.
v6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt *offering. He gave it to Isaac to carry. Abraham carried the fire and the knife. And the 2 of them went on together. v7 Isaac spoke to Abraham. He said ‘Father?’ Abraham replied ‘Yes my son?’ Isaac said, ‘The fire and the wood are here. But where is the *lamb, the lamb for the burnt *offering?’
A *lamb is a young sheep. In the *Old Testament people killed lambs as a *sacrifice to God.
v8 Abraham replied, ‘God will give himself the lamb for the burnt *offering, my son.’ And the 2 of them went on together.
v9 They came to the place that God told them. Abraham built an *altar. He put the wood on it. He tied his son Isaac. And he put him on top of the wood on the *altar. v10 Then Abraham took the knife in his hand to kill his son.
v11 But the *angel of the *Lord called out to him. He said ‘Abraham! Abraham!’ Abraham replied ‘Here I am.’ v12 The *angel of the *Lord said, ‘Do not put a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God. I know this because you have not kept your son from me. And he is your only son.’
To fear God means to have *faith in him. And it means to do whatever God says. Abraham believed that God would keep his promise. God’s promise was that Abraham would have many *descendants. Abraham believed that God would not let Isaac die for ever. He believed that God had the power to bring Isaac back from death. (See Hebrews 11:17-19.)
These verses *remind us that Jesus died for us. Jesus died for us, as the lamb died to save Isaac.
Jesus was the ‘lamb of God’ (John 1:29). He was *sacrificed for us. He died instead of us.
v13 Abraham looked up. He saw a ram, caught in a bush. He took the ram. Abraham *sacrificed it as a burnt offering. He *sacrificed the ram instead of his son.
A ram is a male sheep.
v14 Abraham called that place ‘The *Lord will provide.’ And it is still said ‘On the mountain of the *Lord it will be provided’.
Provide means to give someone what they need.
So Abraham called that place ‘The *Lord will give me what I need.’ And it is still said ‘On the mountain of the *Lord, he will give us what we need.’
v15 The *angel of the *Lord called to Abraham again. He called from *heaven. v16 The *angel said, ‘I tell you this, says the *Lord. You did not keep your son from me. And he was your only son. v17 Because you have done this, I will *bless you. I will make your *descendants as many as the stars. They will be as many as the stars that are in the sky. They will be as many as the pieces of sand by the sea. Your *descendants will take the cities of their enemies. v18 I will *bless everyone on the earth through your *descendants. I will do this because you obeyed me.’ v19 Abraham returned to his servants. Together they left for Beersheba.
v20 Some time passed. Someone told Abraham ‘Milcah is also a mother. She has given birth to sons through your brother Nahor. v21 They are: Uz, the first born, his brother Buz, Kemuel, (who is the father of Aram), v22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph and Bethuel. v23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah gave birth to these 8 sons. Nahor was the father of these 8 sons. Nahor was Abraham’s brother. v24 Nahor had a slave wife. Her name was Reumah. She also had sons. They were Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.
v1 Sarah lived for 127 years. v2 She died in Kiriath Arba (that is Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham was very sad because Sarah had died. He sat by her body and cried. He cried because she was dead.
v3 Then Abraham got up and said, v4 ‘I am a foreign person among you. Sell me some land for a *burial place here so that I can bury my dead.’ v5 The Hittites replied, v6 ‘My *lord, you are a powerful person among us. Bury your dead in any *burial place that you choose. No one will refuse what you ask. You may have a *burial place belonging to any of us. Then you can bury your dead.’ v7 Abraham got up. He *bowed down before the people of the land, in front of the Hittites.
‘Bowed’ means that he bent his body. (See 18:2.)
v8 He said to the Hittites ‘As you will let me bury my dead, listen to me. Speak with Ephron son of Zohar for me. v9 Speak to him so that he will sell me the *burial place in Machpelah. This belongs to him. It is at the end of the field. Ask Ephron to sell it to me. I will pay the full price. It will be a place to bury my dead among you.’ v10 Ephron the Hittite was sitting with his people. He spoke so that all the Hittites could hear him. They were at the city gate. v11 Ephron said ‘No my *lord. Listen to me. I give you the field. And I give you the *burial place that is in the field. I give it to you now. I give it to you in front of all my people. Bury your dead.’ v12 Abraham *bowed down to the Hittites again. v13 He said to Ephron, ‘Listen to me. I will pay you the price of the field. Accept the price from me. Then I can bury my dead there.’ Abraham said this so that everyone could hear him. v14 Ephron replied to Abraham, v15 ‘Listen to me, my *lord. The land is worth 400 *shekels of *silver. But that is nothing between you and me. Bury your dead there.’
People used shekels to measure weight.
Ephron is telling Abraham how much the land will cost. But he is still saying that he will give it to Abraham. (But Ephron knows that Abraham will not accept the field. He knows that Abraham wants to buy it.)
v16 Abraham agreed to this price. He weighed the amount of *silver, that Ephron had asked for. All the Hittites heard that this amount was 400 *shekels of *silver. Abraham used the weights that the people who sell things use.
v17 Ephron’s field in Machpelah, near Mamre, now belonged to Abraham. The field, the *burial place in it and all the trees in the field now belonged to Abraham. They recorded the field as belonging to Abraham. v18 It now belonged to Abraham. They did this in front of all the Hittites at the city gate. v19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife. He did this in the *burial place in the field of Machpelah. This is near Mamre. (Mamre is at Hebron.) This is in the land of Canaan. v20 They recorded the field and the *burial place as belonging to Abraham. The Hittites sold it to him. They sold it as a *burial place to bury his family.
v1 Abraham was now very old. He had been alive for many years. The *Lord had *blessed him in every way. v2 Abraham had a servant. This servant had authority over everything in Abraham’s *household. Abraham said to him ‘Put your hand under my thigh.’
In *Old Testament times, people did this to show that they were making a promise.
The thigh is the top part of the leg.
v3 Abraham said ‘I live among the Canaanites. But I want you to make a promise to me. Make a promise to me in front of the *Lord who is the God of *heaven. He is also the God of earth. Say that you will not get a Canaanite wife for my son. v4 You must go to my country. Go to my *relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.’ v5 The servant asked Abraham ‘What if the woman will not come back with me to this land? Must I take your son to the country that you came from?’ v6 Abraham replied ‘You must not take my son back there. v7 The *Lord, who is the God of *heaven, brought me from there. He brought me out of my father’s *household. That was in the land where I was born. The *Lord spoke to me. He made a promise to me. He said “I will give this land to your *descendants.” Because of this, the *Lord will send His *angel to go before you. He will send him so that you can get a wife for my son. Get the wife from the land that I was born in. v8 Perhaps the woman will not come back. Then you do not have to do as I have told you. But do not take my son back to that land.’ v9 The servant put his hand under Abraham’s thigh. The servant said that he would do everything that Abraham had said.
The servant agreed to do what Abraham said. He did this in front of the *Lord. He put his hand under Abraham’s thigh. This was to show Abraham that he was making a promise to him.
v10 The servant took 10 of his master’s *camels. He left. He took many good things with him. These were from his master. He started to go to Aram Naharaim. He made his way to the town of Nahor.
The town of Nahor was in the direction of Aram Naharaim.
The servant took good things from his master. These were gifts for the lady who would become Isaac’s wife, and for her mother and father.
v11 The servant was outside the town. He made the *camels go down on their knees. They were near the well. It was almost evening. At this time, women came to the well to get water. v12 The servant *prayed to God. He prayed ‘*Lord, God of my master, Abraham. Help me to do what I promised. And be kind to my master Abraham. v13 See, I am standing by this well. The daughters of the people who live in the town are coming out. They are coming to get water from the well. v14 May this happen. I will say to a girl “Please put your water pot down the well so that I may have a drink.” She may say, “Drink and I will give water to your *camels”. Then let her be the wife that you have chosen for your servant Isaac. I want you to do this. Then I know that you have been kind to my master Abraham.’
v15 The servant was still praying when Rebekah came out. She had her pot on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel. Bethuel was the son of Milcah. Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother, Nahor. v16 The girl was very beautiful. She had not had sex with a man. No man had slept with her. She went down to the well. She filled her pot with water. And she came up again. v17 The servant hurried to meet the girl. He said ‘Please give me some water from your pot.’ v18 The girl replied ‘Drink my *lord. She quickly took the pot from her shoulders. She held the pot in her hands and gave him a drink. v19 After she had done this, she said ‘I will get water for your *camels too. I will do this until they have finished drinking.’ v20 So Rebekah quickly emptied her pot. She emptied the water into the place where animals drank. She ran back to the well. She took more water from the well. She took enough for all the *camels. v21 The servant did not say anything. But he watched the girl. He wanted to see if the *Lord had shown him a wife for Isaac.
v22 The *camels finished drinking. The servant took out a gold nose ring. It weighed a beka. He also took out two gold bracelets. They weighed 10 *shekels.
A beka is half a *shekel. You wear bracelets on your arm.
v23 The servant asked ‘Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room in your father’s house for me and my men to spend the night there?’ v24 She replied ‘I am the daughter of Bethuel. He is the son of Milcah (his mother) and Nahor (his father).’ v25 She said ‘We have plenty of dry grass and food for the *camels. And we have room for you. You can stay the night with us.’ v26 Then the man *bowed down. He *worshipped the *Lord. v27 He said ‘*Praise to the *Lord, the God of my master Abraham. He is kind and *faithful to my master. And the *Lord has been kind to me. He has led me on a journey to my master’s *relatives.’
A *relative is someone belonging to your family or to your parents’ family. For example, your brother’s son is a *relative.
v28 The girl ran on before the servant. She told her mother’s *household about what had happened.
v29 Rebekah had a brother. His name was Laban. v30 Laban saw the nose ring and the bracelets. The bracelets were on his sister’s arms. He heard Rebekah tell what the man said to her. So Laban went out to the servant. He found him standing by the *camels, near the well. v31 Laban said ‘You are *blessed by the *Lord. Why are you standing out here? Come, I have prepared the house for you and a place for your *camels.’ v32 So the servant went to the house. He took everything off the *camels. Someone brought dried grass and food for the *camels. And they brought water so that he could wash his feet. And the men with him could wash their feet.
*Camels sleep on dried grass. And they eat it.
v33 They gave him food. But the servant said ‘I will not eat. Not until I tell you why I have come here.’ Laban said, ‘Then tell us.’
v34 The servant said ‘I am Abraham’s servant. v35 The *Lord has given my master many *blessings. My master is very rich. The *Lord has given him sheep and cows, and *silver and gold. He has also given him male and female servants, and *camels and *donkeys. v36 Sarah was my master’s wife. She gave him a son even when she was very old. My master has given his son everything that belongs to him. v37 My master made me make a promise. He said, “You must not get a Canaanite woman to be a wife for my son. I live in the land of the Canaanites. v38 Go to my father’s family and to my own *relatives. And get a wife for my son.” v39 I asked my master “What if the woman will not return with me?” v40 My master said “The *Lord will send His *angel with you. You will find what you want on your journey. You will get a wife for my son. Get a wife from my own *relatives. v41 Go to my *relatives’ house. If they will not let you take her, you will be free from your promise.”
v42 I came to the well today. I prayed to the *Lord. I prayed “*Lord, God of my master Abraham. If you will, let me find a wife for my master’s son. This is why I have travelled. v43 Look. I am standing by a well. If a girl comes to get water, I will say to her, ‘Please let me drink some water from your jar.’ v44 She may say to me, ‘Drink and I will get some water for your *camels too.’ Then I will know that she is the wife for my master’s son. She will be the wife that the *Lord has chosen.”
v45 While I was still praying, Rebekah came out. She carried her pot on her shoulder. She went down to the well, and got some water. I said to her “Please give me a drink.” v46 She quickly took her pot off her shoulder. She said, “Drink. And I will get water for your *camels too.” So I drank. And she gave water to the *camels. v47 I asked her “Whose daughter are you?” She said, “I am the daughter of Bethuel. He is the son of Nahor. Milcah is Bethuel’s mother.” Then I put the ring in her nose. I put the bracelets on her arms. v48 And I *bowed down. I *worshipped the *Lord. I *praised the *Lord, the God of my master, Abraham. The *Lord led me to this girl. She is the granddaughter of my master’s brother. The *Lord led me to her, for my master’s son. v49 If you want to say, “No” then tell me. Or if you want to say, “Yes” then tell me. Then I will know what to do.’
v50 Laban and Bethuel replied ‘These things are from the *Lord. We cannot go against the *Lord. v51 Here is Rebekah. Take her and go. She will become the wife of your master’s son. This is as the *Lord has said.’
v52 Abraham’s servant heard what they said. He *bowed to the ground in front of the *Lord. v53 Then the servant brought out things made from gold and *silver. He brought out special clothes. He gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable things to her brother and to her mother.
v54 Then the servant ate and drank. And the men with him ate and drank. They stayed the night there. The next morning they woke up. The servant said, ‘Let me go back to my master.’ v55 Rebekah’s brother and mother replied ‘Let her stay with us for 10 days or so. Then you can go.’ v56 The servant said ‘Do not stop me. The *Lord has given me what I need. Let me go now. Then I can go to my master.’ v57 The brother and mother said ‘Let us call the girl. Let us ask her what she wants to do.’ v58 So they called out to Rebekah. They asked her ‘Will you go with this man?’ Rebekah said ‘I will go.’ v59 So they sent their sister Rebekah away. And her nurse went with her. They went with Abraham’s servant, and his men. v60 And her brother and mother *blessed Rebekah. They said ‘Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands, and the mother of ten thousands. May your *descendants take the gates of their enemies.’
Her mother and brother are asking that Rebekah will have many children. And they are asking that her children will take the land of their enemies.
v61 Rebekah and her female servants left. They rode on *camels. And they went back with the servant. The servant took Rebekah and left.
v62 Isaac came from Beer Lahai Roi because he was living in the Negev.
Beer Lahai Roi is a well.
v63 It was evening. And Isaac went out to the field to meditate. He looked up. And he saw *camels coming near.
Meditate means to think a lot about something for a long time.
v64 Rebekah looked up. She saw Isaac. She got down from her *camel. v65 She asked the servant ‘Who is that man in the field? Who is that man coming to meet us?’ The servant replied ‘He is my master’. Rebekah covered herself with her veil.
A veil hid her face from Isaac. It is a piece of material. To cover herself with a veil showed Isaac that she was not married.
v66 The servant told Isaac everything that happened. v67 Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother’s *tent. Isaac married Rebekah. Rebekah became his wife. And Isaac loved Rebekah. So, Isaac was happy again, after the death of his mother.
v1 Abraham took another wife. Her name was Keturah. v2 She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. v3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. The *descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. v4 Midian became the father of Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were *descendants of Keturah. v5 When he died, Abraham left everything that was his to Isaac. v6 When he was still alive, he gave gifts to the sons of the other wives. He sent these sons away from Isaac. He sent them to the land of the east.
v7 Abraham’s whole life was 175 years. v8 And he died when he was very old. He joined his people who had died before him. v9 Isaac and Ishmael buried him. They were his sons. They buried Abraham in the *burial place of Machpelah. This is near Mamre. It is in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar. He is a Hittite. v10 Abraham bought this field. He bought it from the Hittites. They buried Abraham there with his wife, Sarah.
v11 After the death of Abraham, God *blessed Isaac. Isaac is Abraham’s son. Isaac then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.
v12 This is a report of Ishmael. Ishmael is Abraham’s son. Sarah’s female servant gave birth to Ishmael. Her name was Hagar. She was from Egypt. v13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons. The list starts from the first-born son and ends with the last born son. Nebaioth was the first born son of Ishmael. Then there were Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, v14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, v15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedmah. v16 These were all Ishmael’s sons. And these were the names of the 12 groups of people. They separated and lived in their own land. They ruled over the 12 groups of people. v17 Ishmael was alive for 137 years. He took his last *breath and died. He joined his people who died before him. v18 Ishmael’s *descendants lived in the lands from Havilah to Shur. These are near Egypt, towards Asshur. And they were always at war with each other.
The *Lord told Hagar this in chapter 16, verse 12.
v19 This is a report of what happened to Isaac. He was Abraham’s son. Abraham became the father of Isaac. v20 When Isaac was 40 years old, he married Rebekah. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel. Bethuel was an Aramean from Paddan Aram. She was the sister of Laban the Aramean. v21 Rebekah could not have children. So Isaac *prayed to the *Lord for Rebekah. The *Lord did as Isaac asked. And Isaac’s wife, Rebekah became *pregnant. v22 The babies inside her were fighting with each other. Rebekah said ‘Why is this happening to me?’ So Rebekah went to ask the *Lord. v23 The *Lord said to Rebekah, ‘The two who are in your body will separate. And they will be two groups of people. Two groups of people will separate from your body. One group will be stronger than the other. And the older will be like servants to the younger.’
In *Old Testament times, the youngest son would always be like a servant to the oldest son. But this time, God chose the youngest son to be master over the oldest son.
v24 The time came for Rebekah to give birth. There were two babies inside her. v25 The first baby to come out was red. Hair covered the whole of his body. They called him Esau. v26 After this, his brother came out. His hand was holding the back of Esau’s foot. They called him Jacob. Isaac was 166 years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.
v27 Time passed and the boys grew. Esau became a good hunter. He liked being in the country. Jacob was a quiet man. He stayed among the *tents. v28 Isaac liked to eat the meat from the animals that Esau killed. So he loved Esau. But Rebekah loved Jacob.
v29 One day, Jacob was cooking a meal. Esau came back from the country. He was very hungry. v30 He said to Jacob ‘Quick let me have some of that red food! I am very hungry.’ (That is also why he was called Edom.) v31 Jacob said, ‘You must first sell me your *birthright.’
Edom means red. In the *Old Testament, the oldest son had the *birthright. This means that he would be the leader of his family when his father died. And he would get two parts of the things that had belonged to his father.
v32 Esau said ‘Look I am going to die now. What good is my *birthright to me?’
Esau is not thinking about what will happen in the future. He is only thinking of what he can have now.
‘I am going to die’ – Esau is not going to die. He means that he has not eaten for some days. He feels very hungry and wants the food.
v33 Jacob said ‘First, say a promise to me.’ So Esau said a promise to Jacob. He promised to sell his *birthright to Jacob. v34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and the meal made from seeds. Esau ate and drank. Then he got up and left. So Esau showed that he did not care about his *birthright (he did not think that it was important).
Now Jacob had the *birthright. Jacob is the younger son. Jacob will receive God’s promise that he made with Abraham. This promise passed on to Isaac. When Isaac dies, it will pass to Jacob. This is what God told Rebekah in verse 23.
v1 There was a *famine in the land. This had happened before, when Abraham was alive. Isaac went to Gerar to visit Abimelech. He was the king of the Philistines. v2 The *Lord appeared to Isaac. He said ‘Do not go to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you to live in. v3 Stay in this land for a time. And I will be with you. And I will *bless you. I will give these lands to you and your *descendants. I will say again the promise that I told your father Abraham. v4 I will give you many *descendants. They will be as many as the stars in the sky. And I will give these lands to them. Through your *descendant, I will *bless everyone on the earth. v5 This will happen because of Abraham. He kept all my *laws and obeyed me.
v6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
Verse 5 – God will *bless everyone on the earth by sending Jesus Christ.
v7 The men of Gerar asked Isaac about his wife. He said, ‘She is my sister.’ He was afraid to say ‘She is my wife.’ He thought ‘The men of Gerar may kill me. They may kill me because of Rebekah. They may kill me because she is beautiful.’
See 12:11-14.
v8 Isaac stayed in Gerar for a long time. One day Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, looked down from his window. Abimelech saw Isaac touching his wife, Rebekah.
Abimelech saw that Isaac and Rebekah were married. He knew this by the way that Isaac touched Rebekah.
v9 Abimelech called Isaac to come to him. Abimelech said ‘She is your wife! Why did you say, “She is my sister”?’ Isaac replied ‘I thought that someone might kill me because of her.’ v10 Abimelech said ‘What have you done to us? One of my men might have had sex with your wife. Then we would have done wrong.’ v11 Abimelech told his people, ‘I will kill anyone who hurts this man.’
v12 Isaac planted *crops in the land. They grew well. They grew to 100 times the amount that he planted. This was because the *Lord *blessed him.
The *Lord kept his promise. He *blessed Isaac because he did not go to Egypt. He *blessed him, even when Isaac did not tell the *truth to the Philistines about Rebekah.
Crops are plants. They can be any plants that people or animals eat.
v13 Isaac became rich. His riches continued to grow. Then Isaac became very rich. v14 Isaac had many sheep, goats and cows. He also had many servants. He had so many that the Philistines became angry with him. They thought that he had more than they had. And they wanted what he had. That is why they were angry. v15 When Abraham was alive, his servants had dug many wells. Now, the Philistines filled them in again. They did this because they did not want Isaac to get rich. v16 Abimelech said to Isaac ‘You have become too powerful for us. Go and live away from us.’
v17 So Isaac moved away from that place. He put his *tents in the Valley of Gerar. And he stayed there. v18 Isaac dug the wells again. They were the wells that Abraham had dug. But the Philistines filled them with the ground. This happened when Abraham died. Isaac opened them. He gave them the same names as his father had given them. v19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley. They found a well there. It was full of fresh water. v20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarrelled with Isaac’s herdsmen. They said ‘The water belongs to us!’ So Isaac called the well Esek. He called it that because they quarrelled with him.
Herdsmen are people who keep cows and other animals safe.
Esek means quarrel.
v21 So Isaac’s men dug another well. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarrelled about that one. Isaac called that well Sitnah.
Sitnah means to go against someone.
v22 Isaac moved on from Sitnah. He dug another well. No one quarrelled with him about this well. He called it Rehoboth. He said ‘Now the *Lord has given us space. We will have good things in this land.’
Rehoboth means to have space or room.
v23 From that place, Isaac went to Beersheba. v24 That night the *Lord appeared to him. The *Lord said ‘I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, because I am with you. I will *bless you. I will give you many *descendants because of my servant Abraham.’
This is the promise that God gave to Abraham.
v25 Isaac built an *altar. He called out to the *Lord. He put his *tent there. And his servants dug a well.
v26 During that time, Abimelech came to Isaac. He came from Gerar. He came with Ahuzzath his officer and with Phicol the officer of his army.
Abimelech is a name for all the kings of the Philistines. Phicol is a family name.
v27 Isaac asked them ‘Why have you come to me? You were like an enemy. And you sent me away.’ v28 They replied ‘We saw that the *Lord is with you. So we said to one another, “There should be a promise between us and you.” So, let us make a promise with you. v29 Promise that you will not hurt us. We did not hurt you. We did only good to you. And we sent you away as friends. And now the *Lord is *blessing you.’ v30 Then Isaac made a large meal for them. And they all ate and drank.
Eating a meal together showed that they all agreed to keep the promise.
v31 Early the next morning, they made a promise to each other. And Isaac sent them away. They left without fighting. v32 The same day, Isaac’s servants came to him. They told him about a well that they had dug. They said, ‘We have found water!’ v33 Isaac called the well Shibah. And the name of the town is Beersheba.
Shibah means ‘promise’ or ‘7 (seven)’.
Beersheba means either ‘Well of the promise’ or ‘Well of seven’.
(In chapter 17 verse 28 Abraham gave Abimelech 7 (seven) sheep to show that he agreed to a promise.)
v34 When Esau was 40 years old, he got married. He married Judith. She was the daughter of Beer the Hittite. He also married Basemath. She was the daughter of Elon the Hittite. v35 This made Isaac and Rebekah very sad.
Abraham had wanted Isaac to marry a woman from his own *relatives (see chapter 24). But Esau married women from the land that he lived in. At this time, he did not go back to his *relatives to find a wife.
v1 Isaac became old. He could not see anything. He could not see because his eyes were weak. He called for Esau. Esau was his oldest son. Isaac said, ‘My son.’ Esau replied, ‘Yes’. v2 Isaac said ‘I am an old man. I do not know when I will die. v3 Now get your bow and arrows. Go out into the country. Kill some wild animals for me.’
Bow in verse 3 means something to kill an animal. People use bows to shoot *arrows. An *arrow is like a stick with a sharp point at the end.
v4 Isaac said, ‘Prepare the food that I like to eat. And bring it to me. Bring it to me so that I can eat it. Then I can give you my *blessing before I die.’
In the *Old Testament, a father gave his *blessing to the oldest son. This son has the *birthright. Isaac does not know that Esau sold his *birthright. (See 25:31-34.) Esau does not tell Isaac that he has sold his *birthright.
v5 Rebekah listened to what Isaac said to Esau. Esau went out into the country. He went to kill an animal and bring back the meat.
v6 Rebekah said to Jacob ‘I heard your father say this to Esau. v7 “Bring me some meat. And prepare the food that I like to eat. Bring it to me. Then I can give you my *blessing. I will *bless you in front of the *Lord. I will do this before I die.” ’ v8 Rebekah said ‘Now my son, listen carefully. And do as I tell you. v9 Go out to the animals. Bring me two nice looking goats. Bring me two young goats. Then I will prepare some food that your father likes to eat. It will be prepared how he likes it. v10 Then take the food to your father to eat. Then he will give you his *blessing before he dies.’ v11 Jacob said ‘Hair covers my brother’s skin. But my skin does not have any hair. v12 My father may touch me. Then he will know that I am telling him lies (words that are not true). Then he will not *bless me. He will *curse me.’ v13 Jacob’s mother said, ‘My son. Let the *curse fall on me. Do what I say. Go and get the things that I told you.’ v14 Jacob went and got the goats. He brought them to his mother. She prepared some food. She prepared the food that Isaac liked to eat. v15 Then Rebekah took some of Esau’s clothes. They were his best clothes. Rebekah had them in her house. She put them on Jacob, her younger son. v16 She covered Jacob’s hands with the skin from the goats. She also covered the part of his neck that had no hair.
Goats have hair on their skin. Rebekah did this to make Isaac think that Jacob was Esau. If Isaac touched Jacob, he would think that Jacob was Esau. He would think that because of the hair on the skin.
v17 Then she gave Jacob (her son) the food that Isaac liked to eat. And she gave him some bread that she had made.
v18 Jacob went to his father. He said ‘My father.’ Isaac replied ‘Yes, my son. Who is it?’ v19 Jacob said ‘I am Esau. I am your first born son. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my meat. Then you can give me your *blessing.’ v20 Isaac asked his son ‘My son. How did you find it so quickly?’ Jacob replied, ‘The *Lord your God helped me find it.’
Jacob says ‘the *Lord your God’. Jacob does not call God his own God.
v21 Isaac said to Jacob ‘Come near to me so that I can touch you. Then I will know if you really are my son Esau.’ v22 Jacob went close to his father. Isaac touched him. He said ‘The voice is that of Jacob. But the hands are those of Esau.’ v23 Isaac did not know that it was Jacob. He did not know because he could feel the hair on Jacob’s hands. They felt like Esau’s hands. So Isaac *blessed Jacob. v24 Isaac asked ‘Are you really my son Esau?’ Jacob replied ‘I am.’ v25 Isaac said ‘My son, bring me some of your meat. I will eat it. Then I can give you my *blessing.’ So Jacob brought the food to him. Isaac ate it. Then Jacob brought some *wine. And Isaac drank it. v26 Then Isaac said ‘Come here my son. And kiss me.’ v27 So Jacob went to Isaac and kissed him. Isaac smelled the clothes that Jacob wore. Then Isaac *blessed him. He said, ‘The smell of my son is like the smell of a field. It is like a field that God has *blessed. v28 May God give you rain for your crops. Then may he give you a good harvest of crops, and *grapes for *wine.
Crops are plants. They can be any plants that people or animals eat. Harvest means the amount of crops that grow in the field.
v29 May you be the master of many peoples living in many countries. And may they bow down to you. Be master over your brothers. May the sons of your mother bow down to you. May people who *curse you receive *curses. And may people who *bless you receive *blessings.’
Bow down. Bow here means to bend your body (as in 18:2).
This is what God told Rebekah in 25:23.
v30 Isaac finished *blessing Jacob. And Jacob left him. Then Esau came in from the country. He had killed an animal. v31 Esau prepared the food that Isaac liked to eat. Then he took the food to Isaac. Esau said ‘My father. Sit up and eat some of my meat. Then you can give me your *blessing.’
Esau does not know what Jacob has done. He does not know that Jacob has received the *blessing.
v32 His father Isaac asked ‘Who are you?’ Esau replied ‘I am your son. I am your first born son Esau.’ v33 Isaac *shook and *trembled. He said ‘Who was it who killed the animal? Who brought it to me? I ate it, just before you came. And I *blessed him. And he will get the *blessing!’
Isaac *trembled. He now knows what Jacob has done. He knows that he cannot take his *blessing away. The son that he loves cannot receive the *blessing. Isaac knows that now. Isaac knows that God will *bless Jacob and not Esau.
v34 Esau understood what his father had said. And he cried aloud. He said ‘*Bless me. *Bless me as well my father!’ v35 But Isaac said ‘Your brother came to me. He *deceived me. And he took your *blessing.’ v36 Esau said ‘Jacob is the right name for him. He has *deceived me two times. He took my *birthright. And now he has taken my *blessing!’ Then Esau asked ‘Do you have any *blessing left for me?’
Jacob means ‘He deceives’. This is what ‘deceives’ means. Jacob says things that are not true. And he does things that are not right.
v37 Isaac replied ‘I have made him master over you. And I have made all his *relatives his servants. I have given him *crops and *wine. So what can I do for you my son?’
Isaac is saying that there is no *blessing left for Esau.
v38 Esau said ‘My father! Do you have only one *blessing? My father! *Bless me as well!’ Then Esau wept aloud.
v39 Isaac replied ‘You will not grow rich from the earth. You will not have rain to make your *crops grow. v40 You will have to fight for everything. And your brother will rule over you. But after a time, you will break away from him, and from his *descendants.’
This is the only *blessing that Isaac could give Esau. He could not take back the *blessing that he gave to Jacob.
v41 Esau did not forget what Jacob had done. He hated Jacob because of the *blessing that Isaac gave him. Esau said, ‘My father will die soon. Then I will kill my brother.’ v42 Someone told Rebekah what Esau had said. She sent for Jacob. She said to him ‘Your brother Esau wants to kill you. When he thinks about killing you, it helps him to feel better. v43 Now my son, do what I tell you. Go to my brother Laban. He lives in Haran. v44 Stay with him for a time. Stay there until your brother is not angry with you. v45 When Esau is not angry with you, I will send someone to tell you. When he forgets what you did to him, you can come back from Haran. I do not want to lose both of you in one day.’
Rebekah thinks that Esau and Jacob will kill each other. Or that God will kill Esau, if he kills Jacob.
Jacob stayed in Haran for 20 years. Rebekah did not see Jacob again.
v46 Rebekah said to Isaac ‘I do not like living with Esau’s wives. I do not like it because they are Hittites. My life will be worse if Jacob marries a Hittite woman (a woman from the people of this land).’
Isaac does not want Jacob to marry a woman from the country that they live in. Rebekah knows this. She knows that Isaac will send Jacob away to find a wife. Isaac will send Jacob back to his *relatives. Then Esau will not kill Jacob.
v1 Isaac called for Jacob. Isaac *blessed him. He told him ‘Do not marry a Canaanite woman. v2 Go now to Paddan Aram. Go to the house of Bethuel. He is your mother’s father. Take a wife from there. Take a wife from the daughters of Laban. He is your mother’s brother. v3 May God *Almighty *bless you. May he make you rich. And may he give you many *descendants so that your *descendants become a group of people. v4 May God give to you the *blessing that he gave to Abraham. And may he give it to your *descendants. Then you can take the land in which you live as a foreign person. This is the land that God gave to Abraham.’ v5 Isaac sent Jacob on his journey. Jacob went to Paddan Aram. He went to Laban, who was the son of Bethuel the Aramean. Laban was the brother of Rebekah. Rebekah was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
v6 Esau heard that Isaac *blessed Jacob. He knew that Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan Aram. And he knew that Isaac told Jacob to take a wife from Paddan Aram. Esau knew that Isaac told Jacob ‘Do not marry a Canaanite woman.’ v7 Esau knew that Jacob obeyed his father and mother. And that Jacob went to Paddan Aram. v8 Esau knew that Isaac did not like the Canaanite women. v9 So Esau went to Ishmael. He married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth. Mahalath is also the daughter of Ishmael. Ishmael is the son of Abraham. Esau married Mahalath. And he kept his other wives.
v10 Jacob left Beersheba. He went towards Haran. v11 He came to a place. And he stayed there for the night. He stayed there because the sun had gone down. He took a stone. He put it under his head. And he lay down and went to sleep. v12 He had a dream. In the dream, he saw some steps. The steps went from the earth, into *heaven. The *angels of God went up and down the steps. v13 The *Lord stood above the steps. He said ‘I am the *Lord. I am the God of your father Abraham. And I am the God of Isaac. I will give you the land that you lie on. I will give it to you and to your *descendants. v14 Your *descendants will be as many as the *dust of the earth. They will go to the west and to the east. They will go to the north and to the south. I will *bless the people of the earth because of one of your *descendants.
This is the promise that God made to Abraham. See 13:16.
v15 I am with you. And I will watch over you everywhere you go. I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you. Not until I have done what I have promised you.’
God tells Jacob that he will always be with him.
v16 Jacob woke from his sleep. He thought ‘The *Lord is in this place. And I did not know.’ v17 Jacob was afraid. He said ‘How great this place is! This must be the house of God. This is the gate of *heaven.’
v18 In the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head. He made it stand up straight in the ground. He poured oil on top of it.
The oil was probably olive oil. Olives grow on trees. Pouring oil on something showed that it belonged to God.
v19 Jacob called that place Bethel. The name of the place was Luz. But Jacob called it Bethel.
Bethel means house of God.
v20 Then Jacob made a promise. He said ‘I want God to be with me and to watch over me, while I am on this journey. I want him to give me food to eat and clothes to wear. v21 I want to return to my father’s house. If God does all these things, then the *Lord will be my God. v22 This stone that I have put here will be God’s house. And from every thing that God gives me, I will give God one tenth.
v1 Jacob continued on his journey. He came to the land where the people from the east live. v2 He saw a well in a field. Three groups of sheep lay by the well. They lay there because the sheep had water from that well. A large stone covered the top of the well. v3 *Shepherds waited until all the sheep were there. Then they removed the stone from the well. And they gave their sheep water to drink. After this, they put the stone back on the top of the well.
Shepherds are people who keep sheep safe.
v4 Jacob asked the *shepherds ‘My brothers, where are you from?’ The *shepherds replied, ‘We are from Haran.’ v5 Jacob said ‘Do you know Laban? He is Nahor’s grandson.’ The *shepherds replied ‘Yes, we know him.’ v6 Jacob asked them ‘Is he in good health?’ They replied ‘Yes he is. Here comes his daughter with the sheep. Her name is Rachel.’ v7 Jacob said ‘Look. The sun is high in the sky. It is not the right time to bring all the sheep together. Give the sheep water. And take them back to the fields.’ v8 The *shepherds said ‘We cannot do that. We have to wait until all the sheep are here. Then we can remove the stone and give the sheep water.’
v9 When Jacob was speaking, Rachel came. She brought her father’s sheep with her. She was a shepherdess.
A shepherdess is a woman who keeps sheep safe.
v10 Jacob saw Rachel. She was the daughter of Laban. Laban was Jacob’s mother’s brother. Jacob saw Laban’s sheep. So Jacob went to the stone on the well. He removed it from the well. Then he gave water to Laban’s sheep. v11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel. He began to cry aloud.
Jacob cried because he was happy to find his *relatives.
v12 Jacob told Rachel that he was a *relative of Laban. He told him that he was a son of Rebekah. And Rachel ran in front of Jacob. She told her father.
v13 Laban heard what Rachel said. He hurried to meet Jacob. Jacob was the son of Laban’s sister. He put his arms round Jacob. And he kissed him. Laban brought Jacob to his home. And Jacob told Laban why he had come to him. v14 Then Laban said ‘You are my own *relative.’ Jacob stayed with Laban for a whole month.
v15 Then Laban said to Jacob ‘You should not work for me for nothing because you are my *relative. Tell me what I should pay you.’ v16 Laban had 2 daughters. The name of the older daughter was Leah. The name of the younger daughter was Rachel. v17 Leah had weak eyes. But Rachel was beautiful. v18 Jacob loved Rachel. He said ‘I will work for you for 7 years. In return, I want your daughter Rachel.’ v19 Laban said ‘It is better to give her to you than to another man. Stay here with me.’ v20 Jacob worked for 7 years to have Rachel. But the years passed quickly. They seemed like a few days to Jacob because he loved Rachel very much.
v21 After 7 years, Jacob said to Laban, ‘Give me my wife. My time is finished. And I want to marry her.’ v22 Laban called all the people in that place together. He gave a *feast. v23 Evening came. But Laban took his daughter Leah. And he gave her to Jacob. And Jacob married her. v24 Laban gave his female servant to Leah. Her name was Zilpah. Zilpah was now Leah’s servant. v25 When morning came, Jacob saw Leah! Jacob said to Laban, ‘What have you done to me? I worked for you to have Rachel. Why have you *deceived me?’ v26 Laban replied ‘In this land, we do not give the younger daughter first. We do not give her before the older daughter. v27 Finish Leah’s marriage week. Then we will give you the younger daughter also. And you must work for another 7 years.
Jacob *deceived Isaac. Now Laban has *deceived Jacob. (For ‘deceive’, see 27:36.)
A marriage week was the 7 days of the *feast. A feast is a time of eating and drinking.
v28 So Jacob did this. He finished the week with Leah. v29 Then Laban gave Rachel to Jacob to be his wife. Laban give his female servant Bilhah to Rachel. Bilhah was now one of Rachel’s servants. v30 Jacob married Rachel also. He loved Rachel more than he loved Leah. Jacob worked for Laban. He worked for 7 more years.
v31 The *Lord saw that Jacob did not love Leah. So he let her give birth to children. But the *Lord did not let Rachel give birth to children. v32 Leah became *pregnant. She gave birth to a son. She called him Reuben. She said ‘It is because the *Lord has heard. He has heard how sad I am. My husband will love me now because I have given birth to a son.’ v33 Leah became *pregnant again. She gave birth to another son. She said ‘The *Lord gave me another son. Because he knows that I am not loved.’ She called this son Simeon. v34 Leah became *pregnant again. And again she gave birth to a son. She said ‘I have given my husband 3 sons. So now he will want to stay with me.’ She called this son Levi. v35 Leah became *pregnant again. She gave birth to a son. She said ‘This time I will *praise the *Lord.’ She called this son Judah. Then she stopped having children.
v1 Rachel now knew that she could not have any children. She knew that she could not give Jacob any children. So, she did not like her sister because her sister had children. Rachel said to Jacob, ‘Give me children, or I will die.’
In *Old Testament times, it was very important for women to have children. It was a *blessing.
v2 Jacob became angry with Rachel. He said ‘Am I God? God has stopped you from giving birth to children!’ v3 Rachel said ‘Here is Bilhah. She is my female servant. Have sex with her so that she can have children for me. Through her, I can build a family.’
This is like what Sarah did with Hagar.
v4 So Rachel gave her servant Bilhah to Jacob. Jacob took her as a wife. v5 She became *pregnant. And she gave Jacob a son. v6 Rachel said ‘God has done what is right to me. He has listened to me. And he has given me a son.’ Because of this, she called the baby Dan. v7 Rachel’s servant Bilhah became *pregnant again. She gave Jacob another son. v8 Rachel said ‘I have fought with my sister. And I have won.’ She called this baby Naphtali.
v9 Leah saw that she had stopped having children. So she took her female servant. Her name was Zilpah. She gave her to Jacob as a wife. v10 Zilpah became *pregnant. And she gave Jacob a son. v11 Leah said ‘This is very good.’ And she called the baby Gad. v12 Leah’s servant gave Jacob another son. v13 Leah said ‘I am very happy! Women will call me happy.’ So she called this baby Asher.
v14 It was the time to get the wheat in from the fields. Reuben went out into the fields. He found some mandrake plants. He brought them to Leah, his mother. Rachel said to Leah, ‘Please give me some of the mandrake plants that your son gave to you.’
Wheat is part of a plant. People use it to make flour.
People thought that mandrake plants could help a woman become *pregnant.
Rachel thought that the plants would help her to have a child. That is why she wanted them. But only God could give her a child.
v15 But Leah said to Rachel ‘You took my husband. Was not that enough? Now you want my son’s mandrakes too!’ Rachel said, ‘You must give me some of your son’s mandrakes. Then Jacob can sleep with you tonight.’ v16 In the evening, Jacob came in from the fields. Leah went out to meet him. She said ‘You must sleep with me tonight. I have bought you with my son’s mandrakes.’ So Jacob slept with Leah that night. v17 God listened to Leah. And she became *pregnant. She gave Jacob a 5th son. v18 Leah said ‘God has paid me because I gave my servant to Jacob.’ She called her son Issachar. v19 Leah became *pregnant again. And she gave Jacob a 6th son. v20 Leah said ‘God has given me this valuable gift. Now my husband will want to stay with me because I have given him 6 sons.’ She called this son Zebulun. v21 Some time passed. And Leah became *pregnant again. She gave birth to a daughter. She called her daughter Dinah. v22 Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her. And he let her give birth to children. v23 She became *pregnant. She gave birth to a son. Rachel said, ‘I am not ashamed any more because God has given me a son.’ v24 Rachel called her son Joseph. She said ‘May the *Lord give me another son.’
v25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob spoke to Laban. He said ‘Let me go on my way. Let me go so that I can go back to my own land. v26 Give me my wives. Give me my children. I have worked for you to have them. Then I will go on my journey. You know how much I have worked for you.’ v27 Laban said to Jacob ‘If you are happy with me then please stay. I know that the *Lord has *blessed me. That is because you are here.’ v28 Laban continued, ‘Say what you want. And I will pay it.’ v29 Jacob said ‘You know how much I have worked for you. And you know how many more animals you have. v30 You had a small number of sheep and goats before I came. Now the number of them is much bigger. And anywhere that I have been, the *Lord has *blessed you. But now I want to give my family what they need.’ v31 Laban asked ‘What must I give you?’ Jacob replied, ‘Do not give me anything. But do one thing for me. Then I will still *care for your animals. And I will see that nothing bad happens to them. v32 Let me go among all your animals today. And let me remove any animal that has a mark on it. Let me remove any animal that has more than one colour on its skin. I will take them from your sheep and from your goats. These animals will be what I receive from you. v33 And this will show that I am honest. You can check on my animals when you want to. I may have a sheep or a goat that does not have more than one colour on its skin. Then you can say that I have taken it from you.’ v34 Laban said ‘I agree to this. It will be as you have said.’ v35 On that same day, Laban went to his animals. He quickly removed any animal that had more than one colour on its skin. And he gave them to his sons to *care for. v36 Then Laban went away. It would take Jacob 3 days to reach Laban. While this was happening, Jacob *cared for the rest of Laban’s animals.
Laban has *deceived Jacob. He has taken all the animals that should be Jacob’s. And he has given them to his own sons to *care for. Then he has gone away before Jacob knows what he has done.
v37 Jacob took branches cut from trees. He took them from the poplar tree, the almond tree and the plane tree. He made white lines on them. He did this by taking the outside part of the wood from some of the branch. Then he could see the white part of the branch. v38 Then he put the branches in the place where the animals drank. They were in front of the animals when they came to drink. Sometimes it was the right time when the animals came to drink. v39 They would have sex and become *pregnant. They did this in front of the branches. And they gave birth to young ones that had more than one colour on their skin. v40 Jacob kept the animals separate from Laban’s animals. Then he separated Laban’s animals. He separated the female animals from the male animals. And he would only let the female animals have sex with his own black male sheep. v41 Jacob waited until the time was right for the stronger female animals. Then he put the branches in front of them, when they had sex with his own black male animals. v42 But if the female animals were weak, he did not put the branches in front of the animals. So Jacob put the weak animals with Laban’s animals. But Jacob kept the strong animals. v43 By doing this, Jacob became very rich. He had many animals, female servants and male servants and *camels and *donkeys.
v1 Jacob heard Laban’s sons saying, ‘Jacob has taken everything that our father had. He has got rich from things belonging to our father.’ v2 And Jacob saw that Laban was not as nice to him as he had been before.
Laban does not want Jacob to leave because Jacob has God’s *blessing.
v3 Then the *Lord said to Jacob ‘Go back to the land where your fathers lived. Go back to your *relatives. I will be with you.’ v4 Jacob sent someone to go to Rachel and Leah. Jacob said that they must come to the field where he was. He was with his animals. v5 Jacob said to Rachel and Leah, ‘Your father is not as nice to me now, as he was before. I have seen that he is not so nice. But the God of my father has been with me. v6 You know how I have worked for your father. I have worked as well as I can. v7 But your father has changed what I receive in return for working. He changed it many times. But God has not let him hurt me. v8 Sometimes Laban said, “The animals with different colours on their skin will be your *payment.” Then the animals gave birth to young ones with different colours on their skins. Sometimes he said, “The animals with marks on them will be your *payment.” Then the animals gave birth to young ones with marks on them. v9 In this way God took your father’s animals, and gave them to me. v10 I had a dream. It was at the time when the animals became *pregnant. I looked up. I saw that the male animals had different colours on their skin. v11 The *angel of God spoke to me in the dream. He said “Jacob.” I replied, “Yes.” v12 And the *angel said, “Look up. See all the male animals have different colours on their skin. I have seen the bad things that Laban has done to you. v13 I am the God who appeared to you at Bethel. This is where you poured oil on the stone. And this is where you made a promise to me. Now leave this land. Go back to the land where your father lived.” ’ v14 Then Rachel and Leah replied, ‘We no longer have any part of our father’s *inheritance. v15 He thinks of us as foreign people. He sold us. Then he used what he received for us on himself.’
‘He sold us’ means that Laban gave Leah and Rachel to Jacob in return for Jacob’s work.
v16 They said, ‘Everything that God took from our father belongs to us, and to our children. So you must do what God tells you.’
v17 So Jacob put his children and wives on *camels. v18 He took all his animals, and everything that he had got in Paddan Aram. He left to go to his father Isaac. He left to go to the land of Canaan. v19 Before they left, Laban went to cut wool from his sheep. While he was gone, Rachel took his *household gods.
Wool grows on the back of a sheep. It is the coat from the animal.
The *household gods are small gods that someone made out of wood or metal. Laban *worshipped these gods.
v20 Jacob did not tell Laban the Aramean that he was going away. v21 So Jacob ran away. He took everything that he had. He went across the river. He went towards the hill country of Gilead.
v22 After 3 days, someone told Laban that Jacob had run away with his family. v23 Laban took his *relatives and followed Jacob. He followed him for 7 days, and then he found him. He found him in the hill country of Gilead. v24 Then God came to Laban the Aramean. He appeared to him in a dream at night. God said to Laban, ‘Be careful what you say to Jacob. Do not say that you will do anything to him.’
v25 Jacob had put up his *tent in the hill country of Gilead. And Laban found him. So Laban and his *relatives also put up their *tents in this place. v26 Laban said to Jacob, ‘What have you done? You have *deceived me. And you have taken my daughters as if you caught them in a war. v27 Why did you keep it a secret that you were leaving? You *deceived me. Why did you not tell me that you were leaving? I would have sent you away with *joy and singing to music. v28 You did not even let me kiss my grandchildren goodbye. Or let me kiss my daughters goodbye. What you have done is not right. v29 I have the power to hurt you. But last night the God of your father came to me. He said, “Be careful what you say to Jacob. Do not say that you will do anything to him.” v30 I know that you want to return to your father’s house. But why did you take my gods?’ v31 Jacob replied, ‘I was afraid. I thought that you would try to stop me. And I thought that you would try to take your daughters away from me. v32 But if you find your gods with anyone here, that person will die. While our *relatives watch, you may look for anything that belongs to you. If you find anything then take it.’ Jacob did not know that Rachel had taken her father’s gods.
v33 So Laban went into Jacob’s *tent. Then he went into Leah’s *tent. He also went into the female servants’ *tent. But he did not find anything. When he left Leah’s *tent, he went into Rachel’s *tent. v34 Rachel had taken the *household gods. She put them inside the seat that she sat on to ride her *camel. Then she sat on them. Laban looked through everything in the *tent. But he did not find the gods. v35 When he went into Rachel’s *tent, she said, ‘Do not be angry with me my *lord. I cannot stand up in front of you. It is the time of my monthly blood loss.’ So, Laban looked for the gods, but he did not find them.
In *Old Testament times, when a woman had her monthly blood loss, she was ‘unclean’. And anything that she sat on was *unclean. (It tells us this in Leviticus 15:20.)
Rachel was lying about the *household gods. She had stolen them.
v36 Then Jacob became angry with Laban. He asked him ‘What have I done wrong? What have I done against you? Why have you followed me? v37 Now you have looked through everything that I have. And what have you found that belongs to you? If you have found anything, put it in front of your *relatives and mine. Let them say which one of us is right. v38 I have worked for you for 20 years. Your animals have all given birth to young ones. I have not eaten any of your male animals. v39 I did not bring you animals killed by wild animals. I paid you for them. You said that I must pay for any animals that someone took in the day or night.’
v40 Jacob said, ‘This is what it was like to work for you: I could not get away from the heat of the sun in the day. It felt like it was eating me. And the night-time was so cold that I could not sleep. v41 It was like this for 20 years. That is the time that I have been working for you, in your *household. I worked for 14 years to pay you for your daughters. Then I worked for 6 years for your animals. And you changed what I received from you many times. v42 The God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac was with me. If he were not, then you would have sent me away with nothing. But God has seen what you have done to me. He has seen how I have worked for you. And last night he told you that he knew what you had done.’
The God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac are all names for God. God is very powerful and has authority over everything. Fear means to know that.
v43 Laban replied ‘These women are my daughters. Their children are my children. The animals are my animals. But what can I do today about my daughters or about their children? v44 Let us make a promise between you and me. And let it show what has happened between us.’ v45 So Jacob took a large stone and made it stand up. v46 He said to his *relatives, ‘Go and get some stones.’ So they went and got some stones. They put them together on the ground. Then they all ate a meal together, near the *heap of stones.
When people made a promise, they often ate a meal together.
v47 Laban called the place Jegar Sahadutha. Jacob called it Galeed.
Jegar Sahadutha are Aramaic words. Galeed is a *Hebrew word. Both mean that the stones showed that people made a promise there.
v48 Laban said ‘These stones show that we made a promise today.’ That is why Jacob called that place Galeed. v49 That place also had the name ‘Mizpah’. That was because Laban said ‘May the *Lord watch you and me when we are away from each other. v50 Remember that God is watching you. If you do wrong to my daughters, God will see it. And if you marry any other women, remember this. God is watching you. Even if no one else is with you, God will know.’
v51 Laban also said ‘I have set this stone up. And I have set the *heap of stones by it. They are between you and me. v52 I will not go past the stones to your side to hurt you. And you must not go past them to my side to hurt me. The stones will show where we can go. v53 Let the God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, the God of their father say who is right between us.’ So Jacob made a promise in the name of God. v54 He offered a *sacrifice to God in the hill country. He asked his *relatives to eat a meal with him. After they had eaten, they stayed the night there.
v55 Early the next morning, Laban woke. He kissed his grandchildren. And he kissed his daughters. He *blessed them. Then he left and went back to his home.
Jacob ran away from Laban because he was afraid. But God had already told Jacob that he would be with him (verse 3).
Jacob should have put his *trust in God. He should have told Laban that he was leaving. And he should have *trusted God to keep him safe.
v1 Jacob continued to go to his father’s house. And the *angels of God met him.
Now Jacob had to meet Esau. Jacob had *deceived Esau out of his *blessing. Then he had left Isaac’s house because Esau wanted to kill him.
Jacob had seen the *angels of God before (28:12).
Now, God sent his *angels to meet Jacob to show that he was with him.
v2 Jacob saw them and said, ‘This is where God’s army is!’ So he called that place Mahanaim.
v3 Jacob sent men with messages in front of him. He sent them to his brother Esau. He was in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. v4 Jacob told his men, ‘This is what you must say to my master Esau: Your servant Jacob says, “I have been staying with Laban. I have stayed there until now. v5 I have cows and *donkeys, sheep and goats. And I have male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my *lord so that you will be happy with me.” ’
v6 When the men returned, they said to Jacob, ‘We went to your brother Esau. And now he is coming to meet you. And he has 400 men with him.’ v7 Jacob was very frightened and *worried. So he separated his people into 2 groups. He also separated the animals. v8 He thought ‘If Esau attacks one group, the other group may be safe.’
v9 Then Jacob prayed, ‘God of Abraham and God of my father Isaac, *Lord, you said to me “Go back to your country. And go to your *relatives and I will do good things for you.” v10 I am not worth all the kind things that you have done for me. You have stayed with me. And I am not worth this. When I crossed the River Jordan, I only had my stick. But now I can make 2 groups of good things from what I have. v11 I pray that you will save me from my brother Esau. Because I am afraid that he will come and attack me. He may also attack my family. v12 But you have said, “I will give you many good things. I will make your *descendants as many as the pieces of sand by the sea. They are so many that they cannot be counted.” ’
God had said this to Jacob in 28:14.
v13 Jacob stayed the night in that place. He chose a gift for Esau from everything that he had. v14 He chose 200 female goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep. v15 Also he chose 30 female *camels, with their young ones, 40 cows and 10 male cows and 20 female *donkeys and 10 male *donkeys. v16 He told his servants to *care for them. He separated each group of animals from the other groups. Jacob said to his servants ‘Go before me. Keep some space between each group of animals.’ v17 He told the servant at the front, ‘When my brother Esau meets you and asks, “Who do you belong to? Where are you going? Who do all these animals belong to?” v18 You must say, “They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift that he has sent to my *lord Esau. And Jacob is coming behind us.” ’ v19 Jacob also told the other servants who followed a group of animals ‘You are to say the same thing to Esau, when you meet him. v20 And you must say “Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.” ’ Jacob thought ‘Esau will be pleased with my gifts. Then he will not hurt me.’ v21 So Jacob’s gifts went on before him. But he spent the night with his people.
Jacob prays in verses 9-12 for God to keep him safe from Esau. But perhaps he does not *trust God to keep him safe. Maybe he makes plans to please Esau with gifts so that Esau will not hurt him. He does this even when God has promised to give him too many *descendants to count. But perhaps he does not completely *trust God.
v22 That night Jacob took his 2 wives, 11 sons and 2 female servants. And he sent them over the part of the River Jabbok that was not very deep. v23 After he had sent his people across, he sent everything that was his over the stream. v24 Jacob was alone. And a man came and fought with him. The man fought with Jacob until it was day.
This man was God who came to Jacob as an *angel. (See Hosea 12:4-5.)
This part of the River Jabbok was not very deep and about 20 miles north of the Dead Sea.
v25 The man saw that he was not beating Jacob. So, he touched Jacob’s hip. And Jacob’s hip broke as he fought with the man. v26 Then the man said ‘Let me go because now it is day.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go until you *bless me.’
v27 The man asked Jacob ‘What is your name?’ Jacob replied ‘Jacob’. v28 Then the man said ‘Your name will not be Jacob any more. Your name will be *Israel. This is because you have fought with God. And you have fought with men. And you have shown that you are strong.’
v29 Jacob said ‘Please tell me your name.’ But the man said ‘Why do you ask my name?’ Then he *blessed Jacob there. v30 So Jacob called that place Peniel. He said ‘I saw God face to face. And I did not die.’
‘Hip’ is part of the body. It is at the top of the leg.
Jacob fought with the man (God). Jacob was showing that he was stronger. But this man still broke Jacob’s hip.
Israel means ‘fights with God’, ‘Prince of God’, or ‘May God keep me safe’.
A prince is the son of a king. By changing Jacob’s name, God gave him a new beginning.
The *descendants of Jacob, now called *Israel, are called the 12 *tribes of *Israel.
Peniel means ‘face of God’.
v31 The sun rose in the sky as Jacob passed through Peniel. And Jacob could not walk very well because of his hip.
v32 Even today, the *Israelites do not eat the part of an animal joined to the hip. This is because God touched Jacob’s hip.
The *Israelites were the *descendants of *Israel.
The hip is part of the body. It is at the top of the leg.
v1 Jacob looked up. He saw Esau with 400 men coming towards him. So, he separated his children into groups. Some went with Leah, some with his 2 female servants and Joseph went with Rachel. v2 He put his female servants and their children at the front of the group. Then came Leah and her children. But Jacob put Rachel and Joseph at the back of the group. v3 Jacob went in front of the group. He *bowed down to the ground. He did this 7 times as he came close to his brother Esau.
v4 But Esau ran to meet Jacob. And he hugged him. He hugged Jacob’s neck. And Esau kissed him. And they both wept.
v5 Then Esau looked up. He saw the women and children. He asked ‘Who are these people with you?’ Jacob replied, ‘They are the children that God has given to me.’ v6 Then the female servants and their children came to Esau. As they came close to him, they *bowed down. v7 Then Leah and her children came and *bowed down in front of Esau. Last of all, Joseph and Rachel came and *bowed down to Esau. v8 Esau asked ‘Why did you send all those animals in front of you?’ Jacob replied, ‘So that you would be happy to see me, my *lord.’ v9 But Esau said ‘Keep your animals for yourself my brother. I have enough of my own.’ v10 But Jacob replied ‘No! If you are happy to see me, accept these as a gift from me. I was afraid to see you. I was as afraid as if I could see the face of God. But I have seen you. And I did not die. v11 Please accept the gift that I brought to you. Accept it because God has given me many good things. And I have everything that I need.’ So, Esau accepted the gifts because Jacob wanted him to.
v12 Then Esau said ‘Let us go on our way. I will go with you.’ v13 But Jacob said, ‘My *lord, the children are young. And many of the animals have young ones. If we go too far in a day, then the animals will die. v14 So my *lord should go in front of me. I will move along slowly with the animals and children. I will come to you my *lord, in Seir.’
v15 Esau said ‘Then let me leave some of my men with you.’ But Jacob replied ‘You do not have to do that. All I want is for you to be happy with me.’
Jacob was not going to go to Seir.
v16 So Esau began his journey back to Seir. v17 But Jacob went to Succoth. He built a hut for himself. And he made places for his animals to sleep. That is why they called the place Succoth.
Succoth means huts. Jacob probably stayed there for some time.
v18 After Jacob left Paddan Aram he arrived at the city of Shechem. This is in Canaan. He put up his *tent near the city. v19 He bought the piece of ground where he put up his *tents. He bought it from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. He paid 400 pieces of *silver for the land. v20 Jacob built an *altar there. And he called the *altar El Elohe *Israel.
v1 Dinah was the daughter of Leah and Jacob. One day she went out to visit the women who lived in the land. v2 Shechem was the son of Hamor the Hivite. Hamor was the ruler of the land. When Shechem saw Dinah, he took her. And he had sex with her. Dinah did not want this to happen. v3 He liked Dinah, Jacob’s daughter, very much. And he loved her. He spoke kind words to her. v4 And Shechem said to Hamor his father ‘Get me this girl. I want her for my wife.’ v5 Jacob heard what had happened to his daughter. But his sons were out in the fields with his animals. So, Jacob did not do anything until his sons came home. And he did not say anything.
v6 Shechem’s father Hamor went to talk to Jacob. v7 Now Jacob’s sons heard what had happened. And they came in from the fields at once. They were very angry. They were angry because Shechem had done a very bad thing by having sex with Dinah. It was so bad that the whole of Jacob’s family were ashamed because of it. Shechem should not have done this.
v8 Hamor said to them, ‘My son Shechem loves your daughter. Please give her to him so that she can be his wife. v9 And make marriages with our people. Give your daughter to us. And take our daughters for wives for your people. v10 You can live among us. You can live anywhere you want to in this land. Live here. And buy and sell things here. Buy land and houses here.
Hamor wanted the Hivites to have some of Jacob’s riches.
v11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers ‘Perhaps what I say will make you happy. Then I will give you whatever you ask. v12 Tell me what you want me to pay for your daughter. Tell me the gift that I should bring. It can be as large as you want it to be. I will pay whatever you ask me. But give me the girl as my wife.’
v13 Because of what Shechem did to Dinah, Jacob’s sons planned to *deceive Shechem. And they *deceived his father Hamor too. v14 They said ‘We cannot do what you want. We cannot give our sister to an *uncircumcised man. We would be ashamed to do this. v15 You must do one thing. Then we will agree to what you want. You must *circumcise all your males. Then you will become like us. v16 Then we will give you our daughters so that your people can marry them. And we will marry your daughters. We will live among you. And we will be like one people with you. v17 But you must agree to *circumcision. Or we will take our sister and leave this place.’
v18 What Jacob’s sons suggested seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. v19 Shechem’s people liked him very much. So, he and his father agreed at once to do what Jacob’s sons told them. Shechem agreed with them because he loved Dinah. v20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the city gate. And they spoke to their people. v21 They said ‘These men are our friends. Let them live in our land. And they can sell things to us, and buy things from us. This land is big enough for them. We can marry their daughters. And they can marry our daughters. v22 But we must do what the men say. If we do not, then they will not agree to live among us. They say that we have to *circumcise all our males. This is because their men are *circumcised. v23 If they live among us, their things and animals will become ours. So let us agree to be *circumcised. And then they will live among us.’ v24 All the men who were at the city gate agreed with Hamor and Shechem. And they *circumcised every male in the city.
v25 And 3 days after the men were *circumcised, they were still all in a lot of pain. And at this time, 2 of Jacob’s sons, Dinah’s brothers, attacked the men with their swords. The 2 brothers were Simeon and Levi. And they killed every male in the city.
For ‘swords’ see 3:24.
The men in the city could not fight Simeon and Levi. They were in too much pain.
v26 Simeon and Levi killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords. And they took Dinah from Shechem’s house and left. v27 All Jacob’s sons saw that the men of the city were dead. So they took everything from the city. It was the city where Shechem had sex with their sister. v28 They took all the animals and everything in the city. And they took everything that was out in the fields. v29 They carried away everything valuable. And they took all the women and children, and everything from the houses in the city. v30 When they returned to Jacob, he said, ‘You have brought trouble on me. You have made me like a bad smell to the Canaanites and Perizzites, by what you have done. These people also live in this land. We do not have many men. If the Perizzites and Canaanites attack, they will destroy us all.’ v31 But Levi and Simeon replied ‘Shechem should not have used our sister as if she were a *prostitute.’
v1 After these things had happened, God said to Jacob, ‘Go to Bethel. Live there. Build an *altar to *worship the God who appeared to you. He appeared to you when you were running from Esau.’ v2 So Jacob told his *household. He told everyone who was with him, ‘Throw out all the foreign gods that you have with you. Wash your body. And change your clothes.’ v3 ‘Then we will go to Bethel. There I will build an *altar to *worship God. We will *worship the God who answered me. He answered me when I was in trouble. And he has been with me everywhere that I went.’ v4 So the people gave all their foreign gods to Jacob. And they gave him the rings from their ears. And Jacob buried them under the *oak tree at the place called Shechem.
To wear rings in their ears sometimes meant that they *worshipped foreign gods.
v5 Then they began their journey. And the fear of God fell on all the towns near to them. So, no one attacked or followed them.
The fear of God can mean that God caused something to happen in the towns. Or it might mean this. The people there knew that God was with Jacob. God kept Jacob and his *household safe on their journey.
v6 Jacob and everyone with him arrived at Luz. (That is Bethel.) This is in the land of Canaan. v7 And he built an *altar there. And he called the place El Bethel. Because that was where God appeared to him. He appeared to him when he was running from his brother Esau.
El Bethel means God of Bethel.
v8 Deborah was Rebekah’s nurse. (She was travelling with Jacob.) Deborah died. Jacob buried her under the oak tree below Bethel. That is why they call the place Allon Bacuth.
An oak tree is a tall strong tree. Allon Bacuth means oak tree of weeping.
v9 After Jacob returned from Paddan Aram, God appeared to him again. And God *blessed Jacob. v10 God said to Jacob ‘Your name is Jacob. But your name will no longer be Jacob Your name will be *Israel.’ So God called Jacob *Israel.
God tells Jacob what he told him in 32:28.
v11 And God said to Jacob, ‘I am *Almighty God. You will have many *descendants. Your *descendants will be a great people. Some of your *descendants will be kings. v12 I give you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, I will give this land to your *descendants that come after you.’
God is making to Jacob the promise that he made to Abraham (17:1-8) and to Isaac (26:3).
v13 Then God went from Jacob. He went from that place. It was the place where he spoke with Jacob. v14 Jacob set up a stone. This was at the place where God spoke to him. He poured a drink *offering on the stone. He also poured oil on it. v15 Jacob called the place where God talked to him Bethel.
v16 Then they left Bethel. When they were still several miles from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth. She had a lot of difficulty. v17 As she was having so much difficulty, the woman helping her said, ‘Do not be afraid. You have another son.’ v18 Rachel was dying. And with her last *breath, she gave a name to her son. The name was Ben-Oni. But Jacob, his father, called him Benjamin.
Ephrath is now called Bethlehem.
Ben-Oni means ‘son of my trouble.’
Benjamin means ‘son of my right hand.’
v19 Rachel died. They buried her on the way to Ephrath. v20 Jacob set up a stone over the place where he buried her. This stone shows where Jacob buried Rachel.
v21 Israel moved on again. He put up his *tents beyond Migdal Eder.
Ephrath became Bethlehem. Israel in verse 21 is the other name for Jacob.
v22 Israel stayed in that place. And Reuben went to Bilhah and had sex with her. Bilhah was his father’s *concubine. And *Israel heard what had happened.
Jacob had 12 sons:
v23 The sons of Leah were Reuben, who was the first of her sons, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. v24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. v25 The sons of Rachel’s female servant, Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali. v26 The sons of Leah’s female servant, Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.
v27 Jacob arrived home. He arrived at his father Isaac’s home. This is in Mamre near Kiriath Arba (that is Hebron.) This is where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. v28 Isaac was alive for 180 years. v29 Then he died. And he joined his people who had died before him. He was an old man when he died. And his sons, Esau and Jacob buried him.
v1 This is a list of the *descendants of Esau. (Esau is also called Edom.) v2 Esau took women from Canaan to be his wives. They were: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite v3 and Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. v4 Adah had a son called Eliphaz. Basemath had a son called Reuel. v5 Oholibamah had 3 sons: Jeush, Jalam and Korah.
v6 Esau took his wives, sons and daughters and everyone in his *household. Also, he took his animals and everything that he had got in Canaan. And he went to a land some miles from his brother Jacob. v7 They both owned too much to stay together in the same place. There was not enough land for all their animals. v8 So Esau (that is Edom) lived in the land of Seir.
v9 This is a list of the *descendants of Esau. They lived in the hill country of Seir. All the Edomites are his *descendants. v10 These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, the son of Adah who was Esau’s wife. Reuel, the son of Basemath, who was Esau’s wife. v11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam and Kenaz. v12 Esau’s son Eliphaz also had a *concubine. Her name was Timna. She had a son called Amalek. These were the grandsons of Esau’s wife Adah. v13 The sons of Reuel were: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath. v14 Esau’s wife Oholibamah was the daughter of Anah. And she was the granddaughter of Zibeon. Her sons were: Jeush, Jalam and Korah.
v15 These were his *descendants who were head of their *tribes: The sons of Eliphaz (who was the first born son of Esau): Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, v16 Korah, Gatam and Amalek. These were the heads of their *tribes who were *descendants of Eliphaz in Edom. They were grandsons of Adah. v17 The sons of Esau’s son Reuel were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizzah. These were the heads of their *tribes who were *descendants of Reuel in Edom. They were grandsons of Esau’s wife Basemath. v18 The sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah were Jeush, Jalam and Korah. These were the leaders of their *tribes who were *descendants of Esau’s wife Oholibamah. She was the daughter of Anah. v19 These were the sons of Esau (that is Edom) and these were their leaders of their *tribes.
v20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite. They lived in that place. They were Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, v21 Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These sons of Seir in Edom were leaders of the Horite *tribes. v22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam. Timna was Lotan’s sister. v23 The sons of Shobal were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho and Onam. v24 The sons of Zibeon were Aiah and Anah. This was the same Anah, who found the hot water in the *desert. He found it when he took his father’s *donkey to eat grass. His father’s name was Zibeon. v25 The children of Anah were Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah. v26 The sons of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Keran. v27 The sons of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan. v28 The sons of Dishan were Uz and Aran. v29 These were the leaders of the Horite *tribes: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, v30 Dishon, Ezer and Dishan. These were the leaders of the Horite *tribes in the land of Seir.
v31 These kings ruled in Edom. This was before any *Israelite king ruled in this land: v32 Bela the son of Beor became king of Edom. He ruled a city called Dinhabah. v33 When Bela died, Jobab, son of Zerah became king after him. v34 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites became king after him. v35 When Husham died, Hadad, son of Bedad became king after him. Bedad beat Midian in the country of Moab. He ruled a city called Avith. v36 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah became king after him. v37 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the river, became king after him. v38 When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan son of Acbor became king after him. v39 When Baal-Hanan son of Acbor died, Hadar became king after him. He ruled over a city called Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.
v40 These were the leaders of their *tribes. They were *descendants of Esau: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, v41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, v42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, v43 Magdiel and Iram. These were the leaders of the *tribes of Edom. They lived in different places in the land. These are the *descendants of Esau. All the Edomites were his *descendants.
v1 Israel (Jacob) lived in Canaan. This is where his father had lived.
v2 This is what happened to Jacob’s family:
Joseph was Jacob’s son. He was 17 years old. He kept the sheep safe with his brothers. These were the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah. Bilhah and Zilpah were his father’s wives. Now Joseph told Jacob bad things about his brothers. v3 Israel (Jacob) loved Joseph. He loved him more than he loved any of his other sons. This was because Joseph was born when Jacob was old. And Jacob made a special coat for him. v4 Joseph’s brothers knew that Jacob loved him more than them. And they hated Joseph. They could not say anything nice to him.
v5 Joseph had a dream. And he told his brothers about it. And his brothers hated Joseph even more than they did before. v6 Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Listen to what happened in my dream: v7 We were out in the field tying the *crops into *bundles. And my *bundle stood up. And your *bundles each stood in a circle with mine in the middle. And all your *bundles *bowed down to my *bundle.’ v8 Joseph’s brothers said to him ‘Do you think that you will be like a king to us? Will you rule over us?’ And they hated him even more. They hated him because of what Joseph told them about his dream. v9 Then Joseph had another dream. And he told his brothers about it. He said ‘Listen to me. I have had another dream. This is what happened. The sun and moon and 11 stars *bowed down to me.’ v10 Joseph told his father and his brothers about the dream. His father was angry with him. Jacob said, ‘What is this dream that you had? Do you think that your mother and me, and your brothers will come and *bow down in front of you? Do you really think that this will happen?’ v11 Joseph’s brothers felt very angry with him. But Jacob thought about what Joseph had said.
v12 Some time passed. Joseph’s brothers had taken their father’s sheep to eat grass. This was near the place called Shechem. v13 And *Israel (Jacob) said to Joseph ‘You know that your brothers have taken my sheep to eat grass. They are near Shechem. I want you to go to them.’ Joseph replied ‘Very well.’ v14 So *Israel said to Joseph ‘Go and see your brothers. Come back and tell me how everything is with them. And tell me if the sheep are all right.’ Then *Israel sent Joseph off from the Valley of Hebron. And Joseph arrived at Shechem. v15 A man found Joseph walking in the fields. He asked Joseph ‘What are you looking for?’ v16 Joseph replied ‘I am looking for my brothers. They have taken the sheep to eat grass. Can you tell me where they are?’ v17 The man said ‘They have moved away from here. I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan.” ’ So Joseph followed his brothers. And he found them near the place called Dothan. v18 But his brothers recognised Joseph, while he was still far away. And before he had arrived at the place, they planned to kill him. v19 They said to each other ‘Here comes the man who dreams! v20 We will kill him. And we will throw him down this dry well. We will that say a wild animal ate him. Then he will not dream again!’ v21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to save Joseph. He said ‘We should not kill him. v22 Do not have his blood on your hands. Throw him into this dry well in the *desert. But do not attack him.’ Reuben said this to save Joseph from his brothers. Then later Reuben would save Joseph and take him back to his father.
v23 So Joseph arrived at where his brothers were. He was wearing his special coat. They took his coat off him. v24 And they took Joseph. And they threw him into the dry well.
v25 Then the brothers sat down to eat their meal. They looked up and saw a group of Ishmaelites coming towards them. They came from the place called Gilead. The Ishmaelites had *camels that carried spices, balm and myrrh. They were on their way to Egypt. There they would sell them.
Ishmaelites were also called Midianites and Medanites. Ishmael, Midian and Medan were all sons of Abraham.
People put spices in food.
Balm is an oil to help make cuts better. It also makes ill people better.
Myrrh comes from the leaves of a special kind of rose (a flower). People put it in a drink. The ill people drink it. It helps to stop the pain.
v26 Judah said to his brothers, ‘We could kill our brother. We could then say that we did not kill him. But then we will not get anything. v27 Let us sell him to the Ishmaelites. Then we will not have to kill him. After all, he is our brother. He is our own *relative.’ His brothers agreed to what Judah said. v28 When the Midianite merchants (men who buy and sell things) came to them, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the dry well. And they sold Joseph for 20 pieces of *silver. They sold him to the Ishmaelites. And the Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt.
v29 Reuben returned to the dry well. And he saw that Joseph was not there. He tore his clothes because he was very *worried. v30 Reuben went back to his brothers. He said ‘The boy is not there! Where can I go now?’
Reuben could be *worried because he is the oldest son. And he will have to tell his father that Joseph is gone.
v31 Then the brothers got Joseph’s special coat. They killed a goat. And they put the blood from the goat on to Joseph’s coat. v32 They took the special coat back to their father. They told him ‘We found this. Look at it. Tell us if it is your son’s coat.’ v33 Israel (that is Jacob) saw that it was Joseph’s coat. He said ‘It is my son’s coat! A wild animal has eaten him. The animal has torn Joseph to pieces.’ v34 Then Jacob tore his own clothes. He did this because he was very sad. He put on clothes made from sackcloth because he was very sad. He wore sackcloth for many days.
Sackcloth is a kind of material. People wore it when they were sad.
v35 All Jacob’s sons and daughters came to him. They tried to make Jacob feel less sad. But Jacob was very sad. Jacob said ‘I will be sad until I die. I will be sad because my son is dead.’ And he wept because Joseph was dead. v36 While this was happening, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt. They sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officers. Potiphar had authority over all of Pharaoh’s *guards.
Judah lived in the middle of the Canaanites. This chapter shows what happened then. He married a Canaanite woman. But God wanted the *Jews to keep themselves separate from foreign people. Sometimes God’s people mix with people who do not know God. Sometimes they marry them. This chapter shows what trouble can happen then.
v1 At that time, Judah left his brothers. He went to stay with a man from the town of Adullam. His name was Hirah. v2 Then Judah met the daughter of Shua, a Canaanite man. Judah married her. v3 She became *pregnant, and gave birth to a son. She called him Er. v4 She became *pregnant again, and gave birth to another son. She called him Onan. v5 She gave birth to another son. She called him Shelah. She gave birth to Shelah at the place called Kezib. v6 Judah got a wife for his oldest son, Er. Her name was Tamar. v7 But God saw that Er, the first born son of Judah, was bad. So the *Lord made him die. v8 Then Judah said to Onan ‘Marry your dead brother’s wife. You must do this because you are her dead husband’s brother. You must have a son for your dead brother.
In the *Old Testament, if a man died before his wife had children, his brother must marry the dead man’s wife. If the wife then had a son, they called that son the child of the dead brother.
v9 But Onan did not want Tamar to have his child. He knew that a child like that would not belong to him. So when he had sex with his brother’s wife Tamar, he made his *semen go on to the ground. So Tamar could not become *pregnant. He would not give Tamar a child for his dead brother.
Semen comes out of the man’s sex part when he has sex. It can cause the woman to become *pregnant. Onan did not want Tamar to have a child, so he did not let his semen go into her.
v10 What Onan did was wrong. So God made him die also. v11 So Judah said to Tamar ‘Go to your father’s house. And live there as a widow. Live there until my son Shelah is older.’ Judah thought ‘Shelah may also die, because his brothers died.’ So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
A widow is a woman whose husband has died.
Judah thinks that Shelah may die if he marries Tamar. Judah does not plan to give Shelah to Tamar as a husband.
v12 A long time passed. And Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua died. When Judah had stopped being sad because of her, he went to the place called Timnah. He went to some men who were cutting the wool from his sheep. And Judah’s friend, Hirah the Adullamite went with him. v13 Someone told Tamar ‘Your husband’s father is going to Timnah to get the wool off his sheep.’
Wool covers sheep. It grows on their skin like hair. People use wool for making material.
v14 So Tamar took off her widow’s clothes. And she covered herself with a veil. She did not want anyone to know who she was. That is why she did this. Then she sat at the place called Enaim. This is on the road going to Timnah. Tamar knew that Jacob’s son Shelah had grown into a man. And he had not married her. That is why she did this. v15 Judah saw her. And he thought that she was a *prostitute. He thought that because she had covered her face. v16 He did not know that she was his son’s widow. And he went over to her while she was at the side of the road. He said ‘Let me sleep with you.’ Tamar asked, ‘If I sleep with you, what will you give me?’ v17 Judah replied ‘I will send a young goat from my animals.’ Tamar said, ‘You will have to give me something to show that you will do as you say.’ v18 Judah asked ‘What should I give you?’ Tamar replied ‘Give me your seal and the cord that holds it. And give me the staff in your hand.’ So Judah gave them to her. And he slept with her. And she became *pregnant.
A prostitute is someone (usually a woman) who has sex with another person for money or things.
People used seals to make a mark on something. Each person or family had their own seal. A cord went round a person’s neck. The seal went on the cord.
A staff is a long stick. Some people cut the top of their staff in a special way. So, other people would know whom the staff belonged to.
v19 After this, Tamar left Judah. And she took off her *veil. And she put her widow’s clothes on again.
v20 Judah sent his friend, the Adullamite with a young goat back to where the woman had been. Judah wanted to get his seal, cord and staff back from the woman that he had slept with. But the Adullamite could not find the woman. v21 The Adullamite asked some men who live there ‘Where is the shrine-prostitute? Where is the woman who was by the road at Enaim?’ But the men said, ‘There has not been any shrine-prostitute here.’
A shrine-prostitute sat at a place where people went to *worship foreign gods.
v22 So Judah’s friend went back to Judah. He said ‘I did not find her. The men who lived there said, “There has not been any shrine-prostitute here.” ’ v23 So Judah said ‘Let her keep the things that I gave to her. People will laugh at me if you go back there again. I sent a young goat for her. But you could not find her.’
v24 Then, 3 months later, someone told Judah ‘Your dead son’s wife, Tamar, is *pregnant. She has been a *prostitute.’ Judah said ‘Bring her out. And burn her to death!’ v25 So they brought Tamar out. They were going to kill her. But she sent a message to her dead husband’s father. She said ‘The man who owns these things has made me *pregnant. Look at them. See if you know who the seal and cord and staff belong to.’ v26 Judah saw that the things belonged to him. He said ‘She is more *righteous than I am. That is because I would not give her to Shelah my son. Judah did not sleep with Tamar again. And he did not marry her.
v27 The time came for Tamar to give birth. And she had two babies. v28 As she was giving birth, one baby put out his hand. So, the woman who was helping Tamar tied something red to that baby’s arm. She said ‘This baby came out first.’ v29 But the baby put his hand back inside Tamar. And his brother came out. And the woman said ‘So you have come out!’ And Tamar called him Perez. v30 Then his brother came out. He had something red on his arm. And Tamar called him Zerah.
Perez means ‘pushing out’.
Joseph’s brothers sold him to the Ishmaelites. Genesis now goes back to what happened to Joseph after that.
v1 Now the Ishmaelites took Joseph to Egypt. And they sold Joseph as a slave. Potiphar was one of Pharaoh’s officers. He had authority over all the *guards. And Potiphar bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites. v2 The *Lord was with Joseph. And the *Lord made good things happen to him. And Joseph lived in Potiphar’s house. Potiphar was Joseph’s Egyptian master. v3 Potiphar saw that the *Lord was with Joseph. And everything that Joseph did was good. Potiphar saw that too. v4 So Potiphar was happy with Joseph. And Joseph became Potiphar’s special servant. Potiphar gave Joseph authority over his *household. And Joseph kept safe everything that belonged to Potiphar. v5 Potiphar gave Joseph authority over everything that belonged to him. Then God *blessed that *household, because of Joseph.
v6 So Joseph kept safe everything that belonged to Potiphar. Potiphar did not think about anything in his *household. The only thing that Potiphar thought about was the food that he ate. Now, Joseph was a handsome man.
v7 And after some time had passed, Potiphar’s wife saw that Joseph was handsome. She said ‘Come to bed with me!’ v8 But Joseph would not do as she asked. He said ‘I *care for my master’s *household. And my master does not think about anything in the house. I keep safe everything that belongs to him. v9 No one has more authority in this house than I do. My master keeps nothing from me except you. That is because you are his wife. I could not do such a bad thing. And I will not *sin against God.’ v10 Potiphar’s wife spoke to Joseph every day. But he still would not go to bed with her. He would not even be with her. v11 One day Joseph went into the house to work. And there were no other servants there. v12 Potiphar’s wife took hold of Joseph’s coat. She said ‘Come to bed with me!’ but Joseph left his coat in her hand. And he ran out of the house.
v13 Potiphar’s wife saw that he left his coat in her hand. She saw that he had run out of the house. v14 So she called her *household servants. She said to them ‘Look, the *Hebrew that Potiphar brought to us has no *respect for us! He came in here to sleep with me. But I screamed. v15 When he heard me scream he ran out of the house. But he left his coat next to me.’ v16 Potiphar’s wife kept the coat next to her until Joseph’s master, Potiphar came home. v17 Then she told him this story: ‘That *Hebrew slave you brought us came to me. He wanted to sleep with me. v18 But I screamed for help. And he left his coat next to me. And he ran out of the house.’
v19 Joseph’s master heard the story that his wife told him. She said ‘This is what your slave did to me.’ And Potiphar was very angry. v20 Joseph’s master took Joseph, and put him in prison. He put Joseph in the king’s prison. v21 The *Lord was with Joseph while he was in prison. He was kind to Joseph, and the *keeper of the prison liked Joseph. v22 So this man gave Joseph authority over all the people in prison. And Joseph *cared for everything that was in the prison. v23 The *keeper did not think about anything that Joseph had authority over. For the *Lord was with Joseph. And everything that Joseph did went well.
v1 Some time later, 2 workers made the king of Egypt angry. He had many workers. He had a cupbearer and a baker. They did something to make him angry.
The cupbearer had authority in the king’s *household. He would make sure that the king’s *wine was safe for the king to drink.
v2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officers. He was angry with the cupbearer and the baker. v3 And Pharaoh put them in the same prison that Joseph was in. v4 The man who had authority in the prison put Joseph over them. And Joseph was over them. And they were there for some time. v5 And each of them - the cupbearer and the baker - had a dream. Both had a dream on the same night. And each dream had a different meaning.
v6 Joseph came to them the next day. And he saw that they were *worried. v7 So Joseph asked them both ‘Why are you sad today?’ v8 They replied ‘We both had dreams, but there is no one to tell us what they mean.’ Joseph said ‘Only God knows the meaning of dreams. But tell me your dreams.’
v9 So the cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He told Joseph, ‘In my dream I saw a fruit plant in front of me. v10 And there were 3 branches on the plant. As soon as new leaves came, flowers came. And they became fruit. v11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand. And I took the fruit. And I put the *juice into Pharaoh’s cup. Then I put the cup in his hand.’
v12 Joseph said ‘This is what your dream means. The 3 branches are 3 days. v13 In 3 days, Pharaoh will lift up your head. Then he will let you come out of this prison. And you will be Pharaoh’s cupbearer again. You will put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand. You did that when you were his cupbearer. v14 But when these things happen, remember me. And be kind to me. Tell Pharaoh about me. Then I will get out of this prison. v15 Truly, men took me from the land of the *Hebrews. I did not want to leave there. And even here, I have not done anything wrong. I should not be in this prison.’
Verse 12 ‘lift up your head’ means ‘you will be important again’.
v16 The baker heard that Joseph had given a good meaning to the cupbearer’s dream. So he said, ‘I also had a dream: I had 3 baskets of bread on my head.
v17 The top basket contained many different cooked things for Pharaoh. But birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.’
v18 Joseph said ‘This is what your dream means. The 3 baskets are 3 days. v19 In 3 days, Pharaoh will lift off your head. And he will hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat your body.’ v20 Now on the 3rd day it was Pharaoh’s birthday. He gave a *feast for all his officers. He lifted up the heads of the baker and the cupbearer. He did this in front of all his officers.
v21 He let the cupbearer be his own cupbearer again. So, the cupbearer put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand again.
v22 But Pharaoh hanged the baker. This is what Joseph said would happen. He had told the baker what his dream meant.
v23 But the cupbearer did not remember Joseph. The cupbearer forgot about Joseph.
v1 Then 2 years passed and Pharaoh had a dream. In his dream, he was standing by the River Nile. v2 And 7 cows walked out of the river. They were fat and good to look at. They ate the plants at the side of the river. v3 After them, 7 other cows came out of the river. They were thin. And their bones were close to their skin. They stood next to the cows already on the side of the river. v4 And the thin cows ate the 7 fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up. v5 He went to sleep again. And he had another dream. He dreamed that 7 food plants were growing on one branch. They were fat and good to look at. v6 After them, 7 other food plants grew. They seemed thin and burned by the east wind. v7 Then the thin food plants ate the 7 fat plants. Then Pharaoh woke up. It was a dream. v8 In the morning, Pharaoh was *worried. So, he sent for all the men who could tell the meaning of dreams. He also sent for all the *wise men in Egypt. Pharaoh told them about his dreams. But no one could tell Pharaoh what his dreams meant.
In the Bible God speaks to people in their dreams. The Egyptians did not worship God. But they knew that dreams had meaning. So, it was important to them to know the meaning of their dreams.
v9 Then the cupbearer said to Pharaoh, ‘Now I remember the wrong that I have done! v10 Two (2) years ago, Pharaoh was angry with his servants. He put the baker and me in prison. v11 One night we both had a dream And each of our dreams had a different meaning. v12 A young *Hebrew man was there with us. He was a servant of the man with authority over all the men who watched the people in prison. We told the *Hebrew our dreams. And then he told each of us the meaning of our dream. v13 And everything happened as he had told us. You gave me my job as cupbearer again. And you hanged the baker.’
The cupbearer had authority in the king’s *household. He would make sure that the king’s *wine was safe for the king to drink.
v14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph. And they quickly brought him from the prison. Joseph washed himself. He removed the hair that grew on his face. And he put on clean clothes. Then he stood in front of Pharaoh. v15 Pharaoh spoke to Joseph. He said, ‘I had a dream. And no one can tell me what it means. But I have heard people saying that you can tell the meaning of dreams.’ v16 Joseph replied, ‘I cannot do this. But God will give Pharaoh the answer that he is looking for.’ v17 Then Pharaoh said, ‘In my dream, I stood at the side of the River Nile. v18 Then 7 cows came out of the river. They were fat, and good to look at. And they ate the plants at the side of the river. v19 After them, 7 more cows came out of the river. They were thin and they were not good to look at. I have not seen cows as bad looking as these in Egypt before. v20 The thin bad looking cows ate the fat cows that came out of the river first. v21 They ate the 7 fat cows. But you could not see that they had eaten them. They looked thin before they ate the fat cows. They still looked as thin after they ate them. Then I woke up. v22 In my dream, I also saw 7 food plants. They grew from one branch. They were fat and good to look at. v23 After them, 7 other plants grew. They seemed thin and burned by the east wind. v24 The thin plants ate the fat plants. I told those dreams to my men who can tell the meaning of dreams. But they could not tell me the meaning of my dreams.’
v25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, ‘Pharaoh’s dreams both have the same meaning. God has shown Pharaoh what God is going to do. v26 The 7 fat cows are 7 years. And the 7 good food plants are 7 years. Both dreams have the same meaning. v27 The 7 thin cows that came out of the river mean 7 years. And the 7 bad plants mean 7 years. Both dreams mean 7 years of *famine. v28 This is what your dreams mean. God has shown Pharaoh what he is going to do. v29 There will be plenty of food for 7 years. All through the land of Egypt, there will be food. v30 But 7 years of *famine will follow. People will forget the 7 years of plenty. And *famine will destroy the land of Egypt. v31 No one will remember the first 7 years, when there was plenty of food. They will not remember them because the *famine will be so bad. v32 God gave you 2 dreams with the same meaning. This is because God has decided what he will do. And he will do it soon. v33 Now Pharaoh should look for a clever man. He should look for a man who knows what is right and wrong. Tell him to rule over the land of Egypt. v34 Pharaoh should choose some officers. They must take 1/5th (20%) of the food grown in Egypt, in the 7 years of plenty. v35 They must store all the food from these good years. Pharaoh will have authority over what happens to the food. v36 This food should be stored. So the people in Egypt will have enough food, when the 7 years of *famine come.’
v37 Pharaoh thought that Joseph’s plan was good. And he told it to all his servants. v38 Pharaoh said to them, ‘This man has the Spirit of God in him. Can we find anyone else like him?’ v39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘God has made these things known to you. There is no one more clever than you. v40 You will have authority in my palace. All my people will do whatever things you tell them. Only I will be greater than you because I am the king.’ v41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I give you authority in the whole land of Egypt.’ v42 Then Pharaoh took his king’s ring from his finger. And he put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed Joseph in clothes of good material. And he put gold on Joseph’s neck. v43 Joseph rode in a chariot. All the people knew that only Pharaoh had more authority in Egypt. Men shouted, “*Bow down!” So, Joseph had authority over everything in the land of Egypt.
A palace is a large house for a king. Horses pull chariots. And important people ride in chariots.
v44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I am Pharaoh. But nobody in Egypt will do anything, unless you tell them to.’ v45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. He also gave him a wife. She was called Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera. He was *priest of On. So Asenath became Joseph’s wife. Everyone knew that Joseph had authority in all the land of Egypt.
On was a place where people *worshipped the sun-god.
v46 Joseph was 30 years old when he became Pharaoh’s special servant. And Joseph started to work at once. And he travelled all over Egypt. v47 During the 7 years of plenty, lots of food grew in the land. v48 Joseph got all this food. He got all the food that they grew in the 7 years of plenty. He stored it in cities in Egypt. He stored the food near the fields where it grew. v49 Joseph stored large quantities of food. It was like the sand by the sea. Joseph stopped keeping records of the food. He stopped because there was too much food to measure.
v50 Before the years of *famine came, Joseph became a father. Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, *priest of On, gave birth to 2 sons. v51 Joseph called his first born son Manasseh. That was because Joseph said ‘God made me forget all my trouble. And he made me forget all the people who live with my father.’ v52 Joseph called his second son Ephraim. That was because Joseph said, ‘God has made me have children. I have had them in the land where bad things happened to me.’
v53 Then the 7 good years, when there was plenty of food in Egypt, ended. v54 And the 7 years of *famine began. This is what Joseph said would happen. There was a *famine in all the other countries. But there was food for all the people in Egypt. v55 The people of Egypt began to go hungry. And they cried out to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph. And do as he tells you.’ v56 The *famine was over the whole country. Then Joseph opened the places where he had stored the food. And he sold it to the Egyptians because the *famine was very bad in all of Egypt. v57 And people from other countries came to Egypt. They came to buy food from Joseph. They came because the *famine was very bad all over the world.
The story goes back to Jacob and his family. Jacob is living in Canaan. He does not have any food. But he knows that there is food in Egypt.
v1 Jacob heard that there was food in Egypt. So he said to his sons, ‘Why do you keep looking at each other? v2 I have heard that there is food in Egypt. Go there and buy some for us. Buy it so that we do not die.’
God was planning to save his people.
v3 Then 10 of Joseph’s brothers went to Egypt. They went to buy food. v4 But *Israel (Jacob) did not send Benjamin. Jacob was afraid that something bad might happen to him. That is why he did not send him. He was Joseph’s brother. v5 Jacob’s sons were among the people who went to Egypt, to buy food. They went to Egypt because there was *famine in Canaan.
v6 Now Joseph was the man who had authority in the land. He was the man who sold food to all the people. Joseph’s brothers arrived in Egypt. And they *bowed down to him. They put their faces to the ground.
Joseph’s first dream had showed his brothers *bowing down to him.
v7 As soon as Joseph saw the men, he knew that they were his brothers. But he did not tell them who he was. And he spoke words to them that were not kind. He asked them, ‘Where do you come from?’ They replied ‘From the land of Canaan. We have come to buy food.’ v8 Joseph knew that they were his brothers. But they did not recognise Joseph. He spoke to his brothers through a man who could speak *Hebrew. That is why they did not recognise him.
Joseph was only 17 years old when they sold him as a slave. He now looked like an Egyptian. He did not have hair on his face. And he wore special clothes. He was a man with authority.
v9 Then Joseph remembered his dream about his brothers. He said to them, ‘You have come to see where you can attack our land.’ v10 They replied ‘No my *lord! Your servants have come to buy food. v11 We are all the sons of one man. We are honest men. We are not enemies.’ v12 But Joseph said ‘No! You have come to see where you can attack us.’ v13 And Joseph’s brothers replied ‘We were 12 brothers, the sons of one man. He lives in Canaan. The youngest brother is with our father. And one brother is not with us any more.’ v14 Joseph said ‘It is as I told you. You have come to see where you can attack us. You are enemies! v15 I will see if what you say is true. This is how I will see it. As Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place. You will not leave until your youngest brother comes here. v16 Send one of you to get your brother. I will keep the other brothers in prison. Then I will know if what you said is true. If you are not saying what is true, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are enemies!’
Joseph said ‘As surely as Pharaoh lives’, to show that he meant what he said.
v17 And Joseph put his brothers in prison for 3 days.
v18 On the 3rd day Joseph said to them ‘Do what I say. Then you will stay alive, because I believe in God.’
Joseph showed his brothers that he had authority in Egypt. Now he showed them that he was under God’s authority.
v19 Joseph said ‘If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay in prison. The other brothers can go back to Canaan. And take food back with you, because your families are hungry. v20 But you must return to Egypt. And you must bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that what you say is true. And you will not die.’ And the brothers said, ‘Yes, we will do what you say.’
v21 They said to each other, ‘This is happening because of what we did to Joseph. He asked us not to kill him. We saw how sad he was. But we would not listen. That is why we are in this trouble.’ v22 Reuben said, ‘I told you not to do wrong to the boy. But you would not listen! Now we will have bad things done to us.’ v23 Joseph had a man who could speak *Hebrew. Joseph spoke to this servant in the Egyptian language. The servant then spoke to the brothers in *Hebrew. Joseph understood what the brothers said. But they did not know that.
The brothers still did not know that this important man was Joseph. They thought that he was an Egyptian. They did not know that he spoke *Hebrew too.
v24 Joseph turned away from his brothers. And he began to weep. But then he turned to face them again. And he spoke to them again. Then Joseph had Simeon taken from them. And the servants tied Simeon’s hands. This happened in front of the other brothers. v25 Then Joseph told servants to fill the brothers’ bags with food. And he told them to put each man’s *silver back into his bag. And he told them to give the brothers food for their journey. And the servants did what Joseph told them.
*Silver is a valuable metal. The brothers brought *silver to pay for the food.
v26 Then the brothers put their food on to their *donkeys. And they left. v27 They travelled until it was night. Then they stopped. One of the brothers opened his bag to get food for his *donkey. And he saw his *silver inside his bag. v28 He said to his brothers, ‘They have given back my *silver. Here it is in my bag.’ All the men were surprised. And they were very frightened. They said, ‘What has God done to us?’
v29 Some time passed. And they arrived at Canaan. They went to their father Jacob. And they hold Jacob everything that had happened to them. v30 They said, ‘There is a man who is *lord over the land. He spoke words to us that were not kind. And he said that we were enemies. He said that we were looking for a place to attack Egypt. v31 But we said to him “We are honest men. We are not enemies. v32 We are 12 brothers, all the sons of one father. One brother is not with us any more. And the youngest brother is with our father in Canaan.” v33 Then the man who is *lord over the land said, “I want to know if your are honest men. This is how I will know. You must leave one of your brothers here, with me. Then take food for your hungry families and leave. v34 But you must bring your youngest brother to me. So, I will know that you are not enemies. And I will know that you are honest men. Then I will give your brother back to you. And you can buy and sell things in the land.” ’
v35 The brothers emptied their bags. And in their bags, they found each man’s *silver! The brothers and their father saw the bags of *silver. And they were frightened. v36 Their father Jacob said to them ‘You have taken my children away from me. Joseph is not here any more. And Simeon is not here any more. And now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!’ v37 Then Reuben said to Jacob, ‘I will bring Benjamin back to you. If I do not, then you can kill both of my sons. *Trust me with Benjamin. I will bring him back.’ v38 But Jacob said, ‘My son will not go with you. He will not go with you because his brother is dead. He is the only one left. Something bad may happen on your journey. I am an old man. If something bad happened to him, I would die. I would die because I would be so sad.’
Benjamin is Jacob’s youngest son. Benjamin’s mother was Rachel. Jacob loved Rachel more than he loved his other wives. Jacob thinks that Joseph, Rachel’s other son is dead. Jacob shows that he loves Benjamin more than he loves his other sons. Even when Simeon is in prison, Jacob does not want Benjamin to go to Egypt.
v1 Time passed. And the *famine was still bad in the land. v2 Jacob and his *household ate all the food from Egypt. So Jacob said, ‘Go back to Egypt, and buy some more food.’ v3 But Judah said, ‘The man told us many times, “Unless your brother is with you, you will not see my face again. ” v4 You must send Benjamin with us. Then we will go and buy food for you. v5 But if you do not send Benjamin, we will not go. Because the man said to us, “Unless your brother is with you, you will not see my face again.” v6 Israel (that is Jacob) asked, ‘Why did you bring this trouble on me? You should not have told the man that you had another brother.’ v7 The brothers replied, ‘The man asked us many questions about our family. He asked, “Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?” We only answered his questions. We did not know that he would say, “Bring your brother here.” v8 Then Judah said to *Israel (that is Jacob), ‘Send the boy with me. And we will go at once. Then we, and you, and our children will not die.
Verse 8 ‘we will not die’ Judah says this because he would bring back food from Canaan.
v9 Judah said, ‘I will make you a promise. I will keep Benjamin safe. He will be with me. I will bring him back to you. If I do not, then you can say that it was because of me. And you can say this for all of my life. v10 Now say what you want to do. We have wasted much time, talking about this. We could have gone to Egypt and returned twice.’
v11 Then their father *Israel (Jacob) said to them, ‘If you must take Benjamin, do what I tell you. Put some of the best things from the land in your bags. And take them to the man as a gift. Take some balm, some *honey and some spices. Also take some myrrh, and pistachio *nuts and almond *nuts.
All these gifts were wanted and liked in Egypt. The Egyptians usually had to buy them from other countries. People put spices in food.
Balm is an oil to help make cuts better. It also makes ill people better.
Myrrh comes from the leaves of a special kind of rose (a flower). People put it in a drink. People drink it when they are ill. It helps to stop the pain.
v12 Jacob said, ‘Take 2 times the amount of *silver with you. This is because you must give back the *silver that they put back into your bags. It may have been a mistake. v13 Also take your brother Benjamin. And go back to the man at once. v14 I *pray that God *Almighty will help you. I pray this: When you go to the man, may he show you *mercy. And may he let your older brother and Benjamin return with you. As for me, if I lose my sons, then I lose them.
v15 So the brothers took the gifts. And they took twice as much *silver. They also took Benjamin and they hurried to Egypt. When they arrived there, they went to Joseph.
v16 Joseph saw that Benjamin was with them. He said to a servant who worked in his house, ‘Take these men to my house. Kill an animal and prepare it for a meal. These men will eat with me at noon.’ v17 The servant did as Joseph told him. He took the men to Joseph’s house. v18 The brothers were frightened when the servant took them to Joseph’s house. They thought, ‘He has brought us here because of the *silver that was in our bags. Someone put it back in when we came here the first time. He wants to attack us. And he will take us to be slaves. And he will take our *donkeys.’ v19 So the brothers went to Joseph’s servant. And they spoke to him at the door to Joseph’s house. v20 They said, ‘Please sir. The first time we came here, we came to buy food. v21 But on our journey back, we stopped because it was night. We opened our bags. And each of us found the same amount of *silver that he brought to Egypt. We brought it to pay for the food. It was in our bags. So we have brought the *silver back with us. v22 We have also brought more *silver. We have brought it so that we can buy food. We do not know who put the *silver back into our bags.’ v23 The servant replied, ‘Do *worry. Everything is all right. Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your fathers put the *silver there. I received your *silver.’ Then the servant brought Simeon out to his brothers. v24 The servant took the men into Joseph’s house. He gave them water to wash their feet. And he gave them food for their *donkeys. v25 The brothers prepared their gifts. They made them ready for when Joseph would come at noon. They had heard that they were to eat there.
v26 Joseph arrived. And they gave him the gifts that they had brought into his house. And they *bowed down before him. They *bowed down to the ground. v27 Joseph asked them if they were all right. Then he said ‘How is your old father whom you told me about? Is he still alive?’ v28 The brothers replied, ‘Your servant, our father is still alive. And he is well.’ And they *bowed down low to Joseph. v29 Joseph looked about. And he saw his brother Benjamin, who was his mother’s son. Joseph asked, ‘Is this your youngest brother? Is this the one that you told me about?’ And Joseph said to Benjamin, ‘God be kind to you, my son.’ v30 Joseph loved his brother very much and he hurried away. He hurried away because he wanted to weep. He went into his own room. And he wept there. v31 When he had finished weeping, he washed his face. And he returned to his brothers. And he stopped himself from weeping. He said, ‘Give them the food.’ v32 Joseph sat away from his brothers. And he ate there. The brothers sat together. And the Egyptians, who ate there, sat together. The Egyptians could not eat with *Hebrews, because that would make the Egyptians ashamed. v33 The brothers sat in front of Joseph. The servants told them to sit in special places, from the oldest to the youngest. And the brothers were surprised.
The brothers were surprised because Joseph knew their ages.
v34 The servants gave the brothers food from Joseph’s table. And they gave Benjamin 5 times more food than his brothers. So the brothers ate and drank *wine with Joseph.
v1 Joseph told his servant, ‘Fill the men’s bags. Give them as much food as their animals can carry. And put each man’s *silver in the top of the bag. v2 Then take my *silver cup. And put it in the top of the youngest man’s bag. Put it with the *silver that he brought to pay for his food.’ And the servant did as Joseph said. v3 Morning came, and the men went on their journey with their *donkeys. v4 They had not gone very far away from the city. Then Joseph said to his servant, ‘Go after those men. Go now. And when you find them, say to them. “Why have you done bad things? We did only good things for you. v5 You have taken my master’s own cup. It is the cup that he drinks from. And he uses it to know what will happen. What you did is wrong.” ’
v6 So Joseph’s servant went after the men. He found them. And he said the words that Joseph had told him. v7 But the men said to him, ‘Why do you say these things my *lord? Your servants would not do a thing like that!’ v8 We even gave back the *silver that we found in our bags. We found it when we returned to Canaan. But we gave it back. So why would we take *silver or gold from your master’s house? v9 If any one of us has this cup, they will die. And the rest of us will become my *lord’s slaves.’ v10 The servant said, ‘Very well. It will be as you say. Whoever has the cup, will become my slave. The rest of you will go free.’ v11 Each man quickly put his bag on the ground and opened it. v12 Then the servant began to look in the bags. He began with the oldest man’s bag. And he finished with the youngest man’s bag. And he found the cup in Benjamin’s bag. v13 When this happened they tore their clothes. They tore them because they were very *upset. Then they put their bags back on their *donkeys. And they returned to the city.
v14 Joseph was still in his house. And Judah and his brothers arrived. And they threw themselves on the ground in front of Joseph. v15 Joseph said, ‘What have you done? Do you not know about a man like me? I can find out what people do.’ v16 Judah said, ‘I do not know what to say to you, my *lord. There is nothing that we can do. We cannot show you that we did not do this. God knows that we have done wrong. We are your slaves. We are all your slaves. One man owns the bag where you found your cup. He is your slave too.’ v17 But Joseph said, ‘I would not do a thing like that! Only the man whose bag contained the cup will be my slave. The rest of you can return to your father. You may go as friends.’
v18 Then Judah went up to Joseph. He said, ‘Please my *lord. Let me speak to you. You are like Pharaoh, but please do not be angry with me. v19 My *lord asked us “Do you have a father? Or a brother?” v20 And we replied, “We have a father. He is old. And he has a young son. This son was born when our father was old. His brother is dead. And he is the only remaining son of his mother. And his father loves him.” v21 Then you said, “Bring him to me so that I can see him.” v22 And we said, “The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves him, his father will die.” v23 But you said to us “Your youngest brother must come with you. If he does not come, you will not see my face again.” v24 We returned to our father. And we told him what you said. v25 Some time passed. And our father said, “Go back and buy some more food.” v26 But we said, “We cannot go. We can only go if our youngest brother comes with us. Unless our youngest brother is with us, we cannot see the man’s face again.” v27 My father said to us, “My wife gave birth to 2 sons. v28 One of them went away from me. And I said, ‘He has been eaten by a wild animal.’ And I have not seen him after that. v29 If you take my youngest son from me, something bad may happen to him. Then I will die, because I will be so sad.” ’ v30 Judah said, ‘I could go back to my father. But my father lives because of this boy. And if the boy is not with us, then my father will die. He will die because he is so sad. He will die because we did not bring the boy back. v31 He will see that the boy is not with us. And he will die. Because we did not bring the boy back to him, he will be so sad. v32 I promised my father that I would keep the boy safe. I said, “I will bring the boy back. If I do not, then you can say that it was because of me. You can say this for the rest of my life!” v33 Please let me stay here. Let me stay as your slave instead of the boy. And let the boy return with his brothers. v34 I cannot go back to my father. Not if the boy is not with me. No! Do not let me see how sad my father will be.’
In chapter 44, Joseph wants to know if his brothers have changed. He wants to know this. Will they let Benjamin stay in Egypt, so that they can return to Canaan? Judah shows that he has changed. He says that he will stay in Egypt, as a slave. He will stay so that Benjamin can go home to his father.
In verse 34, Judah remembers when Jacob thought that Joseph was dead. He remembers how sad Jacob was.
v1 After Judah said this, Joseph could not stop himself from crying. In front of all his servants he shouted, ‘Make everyone leave me!’ So there was no one with Joseph except his brothers. And he told his brothers who he was. v2 And Joseph wept loudly. And the Egyptians heard him. And Pharaoh’s *household knew about it. v3 Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?’ But his brothers did not answer him. They did not answer him because they were too frightened. They were frightened because Joseph was with them.
The brothers were frightened because they had sold Joseph, as a slave. They did not know what Joseph would do to them.
v4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘Come close to me.’ When they did this he said, ‘I am your brother Joseph. I am the one that you sold into Egypt! v5 Now, do not *worry. And do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me. Do not be angry with yourselves because God sent me! He sent me in front of you. He sent me so that I could save people from dying. v6 There has been a *famine for 2 years, in this land. And no food will grow for another 5 years. v7 But God sent me in front of you, so that you would stay alive. And to make sure that your *descendants live. v8 So you did not send me here. God sent me here. He made me an officer to Pharaoh. I have more authority than any other officer. I have authority over all of Egypt. And I rule all Egypt.’
In 40:15, Joseph says that he should not be in prison. But everything that happened to him was in God’s plan. Now Joseph knows that. God wanted Jacob and his family to stay alive when there was *famine. That is why God did this.
v9 ‘Now hurry back to my father. Say to him, “This is what your son Joseph says. ‘God has made me *lord over all Egypt. Come to me. Come now. v10 You can live in the place called Goshen. You and your children can live there. And your grandchildren can live there. And all your animals and everything that you have can live there. And you will be near me. v11 I will give you everything that you need. Because there are still 5 years of *famine to come. If you do not come, you and your *household will have nothing.” v12 You can all see that I am Joseph. And so can my brother Benjamin. v13 Tell my father how much authority I have in Egypt. And tell him about everything that you saw here. And bring my father here quickly.’ v14 Then he hugged his brother Benjamin. And he wept. And Benjamin hugged Joseph. And Benjamin wept. v15 Then Joseph kissed all of his brothers. And he wept over them. After this, his brothers talked to him.
v16 Pharaoh heard that Joseph’s brothers were in Egypt. And Pharaoh and his officers were happy. v17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Tell your brothers, “Do this. Put food on your *donkeys’ backs. And return to Canaan. v18 And bring your father. And bring your families. Bring them back to me. I will give you the best land in Egypt. And you will have everything that Egypt can give you.” ’ v19 Pharaoh said, ‘You must also tell them, “Do this. Take some carts from Egypt. They are for your wives and children. And get your father. Then come here.”
The carts were for the women and children to sit on. Then they would not need to walk on the long journey. Carts have wheels and animals pull them. (*Chariots and cars all need wheels to move.)
v20 “Do not *worry. You do not have to bring everything from your own country. The best of everything in Egypt will be yours.” ’
v21 So the sons of *Israel (that is Jacob) did this. Joseph gave them carts as Pharaoh told him. He also gave them food for their journey. v22 Joseph gave each brother new clothes. But he gave Benjamin 300 pieces of *silver and 5 sets of clothes. v23 And Joseph sent these things to his father:
10 *donkeys carrying the best things from Egypt
10 female *donkeys carrying food and bread
and other food for the journey.
v24 Then Joseph sent his brothers on their journey. As they left he said, ‘Do not argue on the way!’
v25 So the brothers left Egypt. And then they arrived in Canaan, where their father Jacob was. v26 They told him, ‘Joseph is still alive!’ He rules over all of Egypt.’ Jacob was surprised. And he did not believe what they said. v27 So the brothers told Jacob everything that Joseph had said to them. And Jacob saw the carts that Joseph sent to carry him back to Egypt. So Jacob began to be happy. v28 And *Israel (that is Jacob) said, ‘I am sure! My son Joseph is still alive! I will go and see him before I die.’
v1 So *Israel (Jacob) left Canaan. He took everything that was his. When he came to Beersheba, he offered *sacrifices to God, the God of his father Isaac. v2 And God spoke to *Israel in a dream at night. He said, ‘Jacob! Jacob!’ And Jacob replied, ‘Yes.’ v3 God said, ‘I am God. I am the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go to Egypt. I will make you have many *descendants there. v4 I will go to Egypt with you. And I will bring you back again. And you will be with Joseph when you die.’
v5 Then Jacob left Beersheba. And *Israel’s sons took their father Jacob and their wives and children. They all sat on the carts that Pharaoh sent to take them to Egypt. v6 They also took all their animals and everything that they had got in Canaan. And Jacob and all his family went to Egypt. v7 He took his sons and grandsons, and his daughters and granddaughters. He took all his family to Egypt.
v8 These are the names of the sons of *Israel, (that is, the *descendants of Jacob). Reuben was the first-born of Jacob. v9 The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. v10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. v11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. v12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zerah, (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. v13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub and Shimron. v14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon and Jahleel. v15 These were the sons that Leah gave birth to in Paddan Aram. Jacob was their father. Leah also gave birth to a daughter, Dinah. These sons and daughters of Jacob’s were 33 in all. v16 The sons of Gad: Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Areli. v17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah. Their sister was Serah. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malkiel. v18 These were the children that Zilpah gave birth to. Jacob was their father. Leah gave Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. There were 16 children in all. v19 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. v20 In Egypt, Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph. Their mother was Asenath daughter of Potiphera, *priest of On. v21 The sons of Benjamin were Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard. v22 These were the sons of Rachel, born to Jacob. There were 14 in all. v23 The son of Dan: Hushim. v24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem. v25 These were the sons born to Jacob. Their mother was Bilhah. Rachel gave her to Jacob as a wife. There were 7 in all. v26 Jacob’s *descendants (not counting his son’s wives) were 66. All these people went with him to Egypt. v27 Jacob’s family came to 70 people. This included Joseph’s 2 sons. They were born in Egypt. All these were in Egypt with Jacob.
v28 Now Jacob sent Judah in front of him. He sent him to Joseph, to learn how to get to Goshen. v29 Joseph had his chariot prepared. And he went to Goshen to meet his father *Israel. Joseph saw Jacob. And Joseph hugged his father and wept for a long time.
Horses pull *chariots. And important people ride in *chariots.
v30 Israel said to Joseph, ‘Now I am ready to die. Because I have seen for myself that you are still alive.’ v31 Then Joseph spoke to his brother and to his father’s *household. He said, ‘I will go and speak to Pharaoh. I will say to him, “My brothers and my father’s *household have come to me. They were living in Canaan. v32 The men are *shepherds. They keep animals safe. And they have brought their animals and everything that they have.” v33 Pharaoh will call you to him and ask, “What is your job?” v34 Then you should answer, “We are *herdsmen. This is what we have always done. And our *ancestors were *herdsmen.” Then Pharaoh will let you stay in the place called Goshen. Say this because Egyptians hate *shepherds and *herdsmen. And the Egyptians do not want to live near them.’
Goshen was a place where *herdsmen lived. It had lots of grass for animals to eat. Joseph tells his brothers to say that they are *herdsmen. Then the Egyptians would not want to live near them, and Pharaoh would send them to Goshen.
v1 Joseph went to Pharaoh. He told him, ‘My father and brothers, and all their animals are now in Goshen. They have come from Canaan. And they have brought everything that belongs to them.’ v2 Joseph chose 5 of his brothers. And he took them to Pharaoh. v3 Pharaoh asked the brothers, ‘What is your job?’ The brothers replied, ‘We are *shepherds. And our *ancestors were *shepherds.’ v4 They said to Pharaoh, ‘We have come here because the *famine is very bad in Canaan. We would like to stay here for a while because our animals do not have any grass to eat. Now, please let us, who are your servants, stay in Goshen.’ v5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Your father and your brothers have come to you. v6 The land of Egypt is here for them. Your fathers and brothers can stay in the best part of the land. They can live in Goshen. You may know some of them who are good at what they do. If you do, then they can keep my own animals safe.’
v7 Then Joseph brought his father Jacob in to Pharaoh. Jacob *blessed Pharaoh. v8 Then Pharaoh asked Jacob, ‘How old are you?’ v9 Jacob replied, ‘I have been alive for 130 years. My years have been few, and difficult. And I am not as old as my *ancestors were.’
Abraham was alive for 175 years (25:7). And Isaac was alive for 180 years (35:28).
v10 Then Jacob *blessed Pharaoh and left him. v11 So Joseph’s father and brothers stayed in Egypt. And Joseph gave them houses in the best part of the land. This was in the place called Rameses. Joseph did as Pharaoh had told him to.
Rameses is the Egyptian name for Goshen.
v12 Joseph also gave food to his father, his brothers and all his father’s *household. He gave them enough food for themselves and all their children.
v13 But, because the *famine was bad, no food grew in all of Egypt. Everyone in Egypt and Canaan was hungry and thin. This was because they had no food to eat. v14 Joseph had all the money in Egypt. He received it from the people in return for food. And Joseph brought all the money to Pharaoh’s *palace. v15 Soon the people did not have any more money. Everyone came to Joseph and said, ‘Give us food. Do not let us die. We do not have any more money.’ v16 And Joseph replied, ‘Then bring me your animals. Because you do not have any more money, I will give you food. But you must give me your animals in return. v17 So the people brought their animals to Joseph. And he sold them food in return for their animals. They brought horses, sheep, goats, cows and *donkeys. And Joseph sold them enough food for the year. They used their animals to buy the food. v18 The year ended. And the people came to Joseph again and said, ‘You know that we do not have any money. And our animals now belong to you. We have nothing left to sell. We only have our land and ourselves. v19 Do not let us die! And do not let our fields stay empty because we do not have seed to plant. Give us food. And we will be Pharaoh’s slaves. And our land will belong to Pharaoh. Give us seed to plant. Give it to us so that we will not die. And then our fields will not be empty.’
v20 So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. Because the *famine was very bad, all the Egyptians sold their fields for food. So Pharaoh owned all the land. v21 And all the people in Egypt worked for Pharaoh. They were like slaves. v22 But Joseph did not buy the land belonging to the *tribe of the *priests. He did not buy it because Pharaoh gave the *priests enough food. So the *priests did not sell their land. v23 Joseph said to the people, ‘I have bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now I will give you some seed to plant in the fields. v24 But when the plants are ready to eat, you must give 1/5th to Pharaoh. You may keep the other 4/5th. You may keep it for seed to plant again. And for food for you, your *households and your children.’ v25 The people said, ‘You have not let us die. So we agree to be slaves of the king.’ v26 So Joseph made a *law about the land of Egypt. The *law was that 1/5th (or 20%) of all food grown, belonged to Pharaoh. Only the land belonging to the *priests did not belong to Pharaoh. And this *law is still obeyed today.
Verse 26, ‘still obeyed today’ means that the *law was still obeyed when Genesis was written.
v27 For all of that time, the *Israelites stayed in Goshen. They had *property there. And they had many children. v28 Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 years. And he lived for 147 years in all.
v29 The time came for *Israel (that is Jacob) to die. So he called for his son Joseph. Jacob said to him, ‘If you agree, put your hand under my thigh. And promise that you will be kind to me. And promise that you will do as I ask. Do not bury me in Egypt.’
Joseph put his hand under Jacob’s thigh. He was promising to do as Jacob asked. He put his hand under Jacob’s thigh to show this. (See also 24:2.) The thigh is the top of the leg.
v30 Jacob said, ‘When I die, carry my body out of Egypt. And bury me where my *ancestors are buried. Joseph said, ‘I will do as you say.’ v31 Jacob said ‘Promise me.’ Then Joseph made a promise to him. And *Israel rested on the top of his *staff and *worshipped there.
v1 Some time passed. And someone told Joseph, ‘Your father is ill.’ So, Joseph took his 2 sons, Manasseh and Ephraim with him. v2 Someone told Jacob, ‘Your son Joseph has come to you.’ So *Israel made himself as strong as he could. And he sat up on the bed. v3 Jacob said to Joseph, ‘God *Almighty appeared to me at Luz. That is in Canaan. And he *blessed me there. v4 He said to me, “I am going to make good things happen to you, and give you many *descendants. I will make you into a great group of people. And I will give you this land. And your *descendants will have this land when you die.” v5 Now you have 2 sons. They were born before I came to Egypt. They will be like my own sons. People will think of Ephraim and Manasseh as my sons, as they think of Reuben and Simeon as my sons. v6 Any children born to you after them will be your own children. They will *inherit the land of their brothers. v7 Rachel died on our journey from Paddan. I was very sad. She died a few miles from Ephrath. So I buried her there, next to the road to Ephrath (that is Bethlehem).’
Ephraim and Manasseh will *inherit along with Jacob’s other sons.
v8 Joseph brought Ephraim and Manasseh to Jacob. And Jacob asked, ‘Who are these?’ v9 Joseph replied, ‘They are my sons. God gave them to me in Egypt.’ Then *Israel said, ‘Bring them to me so that I can *bless them.’ v10 Now *Israel could not see very well. He could not see because he was old. So Joseph brought his sons close to *Israel. And his father kissed them and hugged them. v11 Israel said to Joseph, ‘I never thought that I would see your face again. And now God has let me see your children too.’ v12 Then Joseph removed his sons from Jacob’s knees. And he *bowed down. And put his face to the ground. v13 And Joseph took his 2 sons. He put Ephraim by *Israel’s left hand. And he put Manasseh by *Israel’s right hand. Then he brought his sons close to *Israel.
Manasseh was the oldest son. This son usually received the *blessing from his father. The father put his right hand on the head of the son who would receive his *blessing.
v14 But *Israel put out his right hand. And he put it on Ephraim’s head. But Ephraim was the youngest son. *Israel crossed his arms. And he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head. But Manasseh was the oldest son. v15 Then *Israel *blessed Joseph. He said, ‘May God *bless these boys. He is the God in front of whom my *ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked. He is the God who has been my *shepherd all my life, until this day. v16 He is the *Angel who kept me safe. May he *bless these boys. May they be called by my name, and the names of my *ancestors Abraham and Isaac. And may they have many *descendants and fill the earth.’
Verse 15 ‘in front of whom my *ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked’ means that Abraham and Isaac *worshipped and obeyed God.
‘shepherd’ – a *shepherd keeps sheep safe. They will not let anything bad happen to their sheep. Jacob is saying that God is like a *shepherd. The sheep are the people who love and *worship him. He keeps his people safe as a *shepherd keeps his sheep safe.
Verse 16 ‘*Angel’ – God appeared to Jacob as an *angel (32:29).
‘Called by my name and the name of Abraham and Isaac’ means that they will be known as *descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. God appeared to them and *blessed them.
v17 Joseph saw that his father put his right hand on Ephraim’s head. And Joseph thought that this was wrong. So he took hold of his father’s hand. And he moved it from Ephraim’s head. And he put it on Manasseh’s head. v18 And Joseph said to Jacob, ‘No my father. This son is the oldest. Put your right hand on his head.’ v19 But Jacob put his right hand on Ephraim’s head. And he said, ‘I know, my son, I know. Manasseh will also have many *descendants. And he will become famous. But Ephraim his younger brother will be better known than he. And Ephraim’s *descendants will become many *tribes.’ v20 That day Jacob *blessed them. He said, ‘In your name *Israel will give this *blessing. “May God be good to you, as he was to Ephraim and Manasseh.” ’ And *Israel put Ephraim before Manasseh.
This *blessing Jacob said was also said to other people for many years after this. Jacob is saying that God will be good to Ephraim and Manasseh. And people will remember how good God was to them.
v21 Then *Israel said to Joseph, ‘I will die soon. But God will be with you. And he will take you back to the land where your *ancestors lived. v22 And you are over your brothers. So, I give you the part of the land that I took from the Amorites. It is the land that I fought for.
Jacob is giving Joseph an extra *inheritance.
v1 Then Jacob called for his sons. He said, ‘Come here to me. Then I can tell you what will happen to you, in future years.
v2 Sons of Jacob come together and listen. Listen to your father, *Israel.’
Now Jacob says what is going to happen to each of his sons and to their *descendants.
v3 Jacob said, ‘Reuben you are my oldest son. You were my first child after I became a man. Of all my sons, you think yourself most important. And you are the strongest.
v4 Yet you are as wild as the sea. People will no longer know you as the most important son (or first-born son) because you went to your father’s bed. And you slept with my *concubine. This was a wrong thing to do. You made me ashamed.
v5 Simeon and Levi are brothers. They use their *swords only to hurt people.
Verse 4 See also 35:22.
Verse 5 See also 34:26.
v6 I will not take part in their plans. They kill men when they are angry. And they hurt animals only because they want to. So, I will not meet with them.
v7 May they be *cursed because they are angry. This is because they are so cruel. And I will make your *descendants live with other people. They will not have their own land. They will live all over the country of *Israel.
v8 Judah, your brothers will *praise you. You will kill your enemies. Your father’s sons will *bow down to you.
v9 Judah is like a wild animal that has eaten its meal. He rests after eating. Nobody would want to wake a wild animal.
v10 The royal sceptre will not leave him. And the *staff of rulers will stay with him. It will stay with him until one man comes. That will be the man that it belongs to. And everyone will obey that man.’
Judah will be like a king. Then the person that God has chosen will come to take his place. Bible students think that this means King David, then Christ.
A royal sceptre is something that a king holds. Its shape is like a stick with a ball on the top.
v11 ‘Judah will tie his *donkey to a *vine. He will tie his horse to the best branch. He will wash his clothes in red *wine.’
A vine is a plant. *Grapes grow on it These make *wine. Its branches grow over many things. Vines were valuable plants in *Old Testament times.
Jacob is saying that Judah will be very rich. He will tie his horse to the best branch of a valuable plant. And he will wash his clothes in *wine. He will be very rich.
v12 ‘His eyes are red from drinking lots of *wine. And his teeth are white from drinking milk.’
Jacob is saying that Judah will have plenty of everything.
v13 ‘Zebulun will live by the sea. And his town will be a safe place for ships to stay. His land will go as far as Sidon.
v14 Issachar is like a *donkey. The *donkey is lying down between 2 saddlebags.
v15 He saw how good his resting-place was. And he saw how nice the country was. So he stayed there. And he worked like a slave for other people.’
Jacob is saying that Issachar is strong. He is saying that he will work like a *donkey. *Donkeys carry heavy things in their saddlebags. Issachar will work for other people, for food and a nice place to stay.
v16 ‘Dan will be a ruler for his people. His *descendants will be like other *tribes of *Israel. They are a small *tribe. But they will still be like the other tribes.
v17 He will be as dangerous as a snake on the road. He will be like a snake that bites the feet of horses. Then the person falls off the horse.
v18 I look to you to keep me safe *Lord.’
Verse 18 Jacob says a small *prayer, then he continues.
v19 ‘People will attack Gad, but he will attack them.
v20 Asher will have good food. It will be good enough for kings to eat.’
The land where Asher lives will be good land. And he will grow very good food. The food will be so good that kings will buy it to eat.
v21 ‘Naphtali is like a wild animal. He runs free and has many young ones.
v22 Joseph is like a *vine that has lots of fruit. It grows by a well and the branches go over a wall.’
Jacob means that Joseph’s *descendants will go and live all over the land.
v23 ‘His enemies hated him. And they attacked him.
v24 But he stayed strong and beat them. That was because the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob (the *Shepherd, the Rock of *Israel) helped him.’
Mighty One is another name for God. It means that God is very strong. *Shepherd is also a name for God (see 48:15). Rock of *Israel, means that God is strong and d