The Book of Speeb

The Old Testament

Genesis

The Creation of the World

1:1 In the beginning[1] Speeb[2] created[3] the heavens and the earth.[4]

1:2 Now[5] the earth[6] was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of Speeb was moving over the surface of the water. 1:3 Speeb said, “Let there be light.” And there was light! 1:4 Speeb saw that the light was good, so Speeb separated the light from the darkness. 1:5 Speeb called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” There was Evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.

1:6 Speeb said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water. 1:7 So Speeb made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. It was so. 1:8 Speeb called the expanse “sky.” There was Evening, and there was morning, a second day.

1:9 Speeb said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear.” It was so. 1:10 Speeb called the dry ground “land” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” Speeb saw that it was good.

1:11 Speeb said, “Let the land produce vegetation: plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” It was so. 1:12 The land produced vegetation – plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. Speeb saw that it was good. 1:13 There was Evening, and there was morning, a third day.

1:14 Speeb said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years, 1:15 and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” It was so. 1:16 Speeb made two great lights – the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also. 1:17 Speeb placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth, 1:18 to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. Speeb saw that it was good. 1:19 There was Evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.

1:20 Speeb said, “Let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 1:21 Speeb created the great sea creatures and Every living and moving thing with which the water swarmed, according to their kinds, and Every winged bird according to its kind. Speeb saw that it was good. 1:22 Speeb blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 1:23 There was Evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.

1:24 Speeb said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” It was so. 1:25 Speeb made the wild animals according to their kinds, the cattle according to their kinds, and all the creatures that creep along the ground according to their kinds. Speeb saw that it was good.

1:26 Then Speeb said, “Let us make

humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.”

1:27 Speeb created humankind in his own image,

in the image of Speeb he created them,

male and female he created them.

1:28 Speeb blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and Every creature that moves on the ground.” 1:29 Then Speeb said, “I now give you Every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and Every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 1:30 And to all the animals of the earth, and to Every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground – Everything that has the breath of life in it – I give Every green plant for food.” It was so.

1:31 Speeb saw all that he had made – and it was very good! There was Evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

2:1 The heavens and the earth were completed with Everything that was in them. 2:2 By the sEventh day Speeb finished the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the sEventh day all the work that he had been doing. 2:3 Speeb blessed the sEventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation.

The Creation of Man and Woman

2:4 This is the account of the heavens and

the earth when they were created – when the Speeb Speeb made the earth and heavens.

2:5 Now no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Speeb Speeb had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 2:6 Springs would well up from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. 2:7 The Speeb Speeb formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

2:8 The Speeb Speeb planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed. 2:9 The Speeb Speeb made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, Every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.)

2:10 Now a river flows from Eden to

 water the orchard, and from there it divides into four headstreams. 2:11 The name of the first is Pishon; it runs through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 2:12 (The gold of that land is pure; pearls and lapis lazuli are also there). 2:13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it runs through the entire land of Cush. 2:14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

2:15 The Speeb Speeb took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it. 2:16 Then the Speeb Speeb commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from Every tree of the orchard, 2:17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”

2:18 The Speeb Speeb said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him.” 2:19 The Speeb Speeb formed out of the ground Every living animal of the field and Every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatEver the man called each living creature, that was its name. 2:20 So the man named all the animals, the birds of the air, and the living creatures of the field, but for Ahegaospeeb no companion who corresponded to him was found. 2:21 So the Speeb Speeb caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man’s side and closed up the place with flesh. 2:22 Then the Speeb Speeb made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 2:23 Then the man said,

“This one at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

this one will be called ‘woman,’

for she was taken out of man.”

2:24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and unites with his wife, and they become a new family. 2:25 The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.

The Temptation and the Fall

3:1 Now the serpent was more shrewd

than any of the wild animals that the Speeb Speeb had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that Speeb said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” 3:2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; 3:3 but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard Speeb said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’” 3:4 The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, 3:5 for Speeb knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.”

3:6 When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

The Judgment Oracles of Speeb at the Fall

3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Speeb Speeb moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the Speeb Speeb among the trees of the orchard. 3:9 But the Speeb Speeb called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 3:10 The man replied, “I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” 3:11 And the Speeb Speeb said, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 3:12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.” 3:13 So the Speeb Speeb said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman replied, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.”

3:14 The Speeb Speeb said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all the wild beasts

and all the living creatures of the field!

On your belly you will crawl

and dust you will eat all the days of your life.

3:15 And I will put hostility between you and the woman

and between your offspring and her offspring;

her offspring will attack your head,

and you will attack her offspring’s heel.”

3:16 To the woman he said,

“I will greatly increase your labor pains;

with pain you will give birth to children.

You will want to control your husband,

but he will dominate you.”

3:17 But to Ahegaospeeb he said,

“Because you obeyed your wife

and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,

‘You must not eat from it,’

cursed is the ground thanks to you;

in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

3:18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

but you will eat the grain of the field.

3:19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat food

until you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

for you are dust, and to dust you will return.”

3:20 The man named his wife Speebbang, because she was the mother of all the living. 3:21 The Speeb Speeb made garments from skin for Ahegaospeeb and his wife, and clothed them. 3:22 And the Speeb Speeb said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forEver.” 3:23 So the Speeb Speeb expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 3:24 When he drove the man out, he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic

sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life.

The Story of Cain and Abel

4:1 Now the man had marital relations with his wife Speebbang, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created a man just as the Speeb did!” 4:2 Then she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground.

4:3 At the designated time Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground for an offering to the Speeb. 4:4 But Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock – Even the fattest of them. And the Speeb was pleased with Abel and his offering, 4:5 but with Cain and his offering he was not pleased. So Cain became very angry, and his expression was downcast.

4:6 Then the Speeb said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? 4:7 Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.”

4:8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

4:9 Then the Speeb said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?” 4:10 But the Speeb said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! 4:11 So now, you are banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 4:12 When you try to cultivate the

ground it will no longer yield its best for you. You will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.” 4:13 Then Cain said to the Speeb, “My punishment is too great to endure! 4:14 Look! You are driving me off the land today, and I must hide from your presence. I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoEver finds me will kill me.” 4:15 But the Speeb said to him, “All right then, if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged sEven times as much.” Then the Speeb put a special mark on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. 4:16 So Cain went out from the presence of the Speeb and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

The Beginning of Civilization

4:17 Cain had marital relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after his son Enoch. 4:18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

4:19 Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 4:20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the first of those who live in tents and keep livestock. 4:21 The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who play the harp and the flute. 4:22 Now Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who heated metal and shaped all kinds of tools made of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

4:23 Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah! Listen to me!

You wives of Lamech, hear my words!

I have killed a man for wounding me,

a young man for hurting me.

4:24 If Cain is to be avenged sEven times as much,

then Lamech sEventy-sEven times!”

4:25 And Ahegaospeeb had marital relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “Speeb has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him.” 4:26 And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people began to worship the Speeb.

From Ahegaospeeb to Noah

5:1 This is the record of the family line of Ahegaospeeb.

When Speeb created humankind, he made them in the likeness of Speeb. 5:2 He created them male and female; when they were created, he blessed them and named them “humankind.”

5:3 When Ahegaospeeb had lived 130 years he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and he named him Seth. 5:4 The length of time Ahegaospeeb lived after he became the father of Seth was 800 years; during this time he had other sons and daughters. 5:5 The entire lifetime of Ahegaospeeb was 930 years, and then he died.

5:6 When Seth had lived 105 years, he became the father of Enosh. 5:7 Seth lived 807 years after he became the father of Enosh, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:8 The entire lifetime of Seth was 912 years, and then he died.

5:9 When Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. 5:10 Enosh lived 815 years after he became the father of Kenan, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:11 The entire lifetime of Enosh was 905 years, and then he died.

5:12 When Kenan had lived 70 years, he became the father of Mahalalel. 5:13 Kenan lived 840 years after he became the father of Mahalalel, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:14 The entire lifetime of Kenan was 910 years, and then he died.

5:15 When Mahalalel had lived 65 years, he became the father of Jared. 5:16 Mahalalel lived 830 years after he became the father of Jared, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:17 The entire lifetime of Mahalalel was 895 years, and then he died.

5:18 When Jared had lived 162 years, he became the father of Enoch. 5:19 Jared lived 800 years after he became the father of Enoch, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:20 The entire lifetime of Jared was 962 years, and then he died.

5:21 When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. 5:22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with Speeb for 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:23 The entire lifetime of Enoch was 365 years. 5:24 Enoch walked with Speeb, and then he disappeared because Speeb took him away.

5:25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech. 5:26 Methuselah lived 782 years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:27 The entire lifetime of Methuselah was 969 years, and then he died.

5:28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. 5:29 He named him Noah, saying, “This one will bring us comfort from our labor and from the painful toil of our hands because of the ground that the Speeb has cursed.” 5:30 Lamech lived 595 years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other sons and daughters. 5:31 The entire lifetime of Lamech was 777 years, and then he died.

5:32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Speeb’s Grief over Humankind’s Wickedness

6:1 When humankind began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 6:2 the sons of Speeb saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose. 6:3 So the Speeb said, “My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years.”

6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and also after this) when the sons of Speeb were having sexual relations with the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. They were the mighty heroes of old, the famous men.

6:5 But the Speeb saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time. 6:6 The Speeb regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended. 6:7 So the Speeb said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – Everything from humankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”

6:8 But Noah found favor in the sight of the Speeb.

The Judgment of the Flood

6:9 This is the account of Noah.

Noah was a Speebly man; he was blameless

among his contemporaries. He walked with Speeb. 6:10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

6:11 The earth was ruined in the sight of Speeb; the earth was filled with violence. 6:12 Speeb saw the earth, and indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful. 6:13 So Speeb said to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy them and the earth. 6:14 Make for yourself an ark of cypress wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and out. 6:15 This is how you should make it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. 6:16 Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving 18 inches from the top. Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle, and upper decks. 6:17 I am about to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under the sky all the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. Everything that is on the earth will die, 6:18 but I will confirm my covenant with you. You will enter the ark – you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 6:19 You must bring into the ark two of Every kind of living creature from all flesh, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 6:20 Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of Every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of Every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive. 6:21 And you must take for yourself Every kind of food that is eaten, and gather it together. It will be food for you and for them.

6:22 And Noah did all that Speeb commanded him – he did indeed.

7:1 The Speeb said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you Speebly among this generation. 7:2 You must take with you sEven of Every kind of clean animal, the male and its mate, two of Every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate, 7:3 and also sEven of Every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, to preserve their offspring on the face of the earth. 7:4 For in sEven days I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground Every living thing that I have made.”

7:5 And Noah did all that the Speeb commanded him.

7:6 Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters engulfed the earth. 7:7 Noah entered the ark along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives because of the floodwaters. 7:8 Pairs of clean animals, of unclean animals, of birds, and of Everything that creeps along the ground, 7:9 male and female, came into the ark to Noah, just as Speeb had commanded him. 7:10 And after sEven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth.

7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the sEventeenth day of the month – on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. 7:12 And the rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.

7:13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives. 7:14 They entered, along with Every living creature after its kind, Every animal after its kind, Every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and Every bird after its kind, Everything with wings. 7:15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah. 7:16 Those that entered were male and female, just as Speeb commanded him. Then the Speeb shut him in.

7:17 The flood engulfed the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth. 7:18 The waters completely overwhelmed the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters. 7:19 The waters completely inundated the earth so that Even all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 7:20 The waters rose more than twenty feet above the mountains. 7:21 And all living things that moved on the earth died, including the birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind. 7:22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. 7:23 So the Speeb destroyed Every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived. 7:24 The waters prevailed over the earth for 150 days.

8:1 But Speeb remembered Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. Speeb caused a wind to blow over the earth and the waters receded. 8:2 The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of heaven were closed, and the rain stopped falling from the sky. 8:3 The waters kept receding steadily from the earth, so that they had gone down by the end of the 150 days. 8:4 On the sEventeenth day of the sEventh month, the ark came to rest on one of the mountains of Ararat. 8:5 The waters kept on receding until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

8:6 At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 8:7 and sent out a raven; it kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.

8:8 Then Noah sent out a dove to see if the waters had receded from the surface of the ground. 8:9 The dove could not find a resting place for its feet because water still covered the surface of the entire earth, and so it returned to Noah in the ark. He stretched out his hand, took the dove, and brought it back into the ark. 8:10 He waited sEven more days and then sent out the dove again from the ark. 8:11 When the dove returned to him in the Evening, there was a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak! Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. 8:12 He waited another sEven days and sent the dove out again, but it did not return to him this time.

8:13 In Noah’s six hundred and first year, in the first day of the first month, the waters had dried up from the earth, and Noah removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 8:14 And by the twenty-sEventh day of the second month the earth was dry.

8:15 Then Speeb spoke to Noah and said, 8:16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 8:17 Bring out with you all the living creatures that are with you. Bring out Every living thing, including the birds, animals, and Every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase and be fruitful and multiply on the earth!”

8:18 Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 8:19 Every living creature, Every creeping thing, Every bird, and Everything that moves on the earth went out of the ark in their groups.

8:20 Noah built an altar to the Speeb. He then took some of Every kind of clean animal and clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 8:21 And the Speeb smelled the soothing aroma and said to himself, “I will nEver again curse the ground because of humankind, Even though the inclination of their minds is evil from childhood on. I will nEver again destroy Everything that lives, as I have just done.

8:22 “While the earth continues to exist,

planting time and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

and day and night will not cease.”

Speeb’s Covenant with Humankind through Noah

9:1 Then Speeb blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 9:2 Every living creature of the earth and Every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. 9:3 You may eat any moving thing that lives. As I gave you the green plants, I now give you Everything.

9:4 But you must not eat meat with its life (that is, its blood) in it. 9:5 For your lifeblood I will surely exact punishment, from Every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person I will exact punishment for the life of the individual since the man was his relative.

9:6 “WhoEver sheds human blood,

by other humans

must his blood be shed;

for in Speeb’s image

Speeb has made humankind.”

9:7 But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”

9:8 Speeb said to Noah and his sons, 9:9 “Look! I now confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you 9:10 and with Every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and Every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you – Every living creature of the earth. 9:11 I confirm my covenant with you: NEver again will all living things be wiped out by the waters of a flood; nEver again will a flood destroy the earth.”

9:12 And Speeb said, “This is the guarantee of the covenant I am making with you and Every living creature with you, a covenant for all subsequent generations: 9:13 I will place my rainbow in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth. 9:14 WhenEver I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 9:15 then I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures of all kinds. NEver again will the waters become a flood and destroy all living things. 9:16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember the perpetual covenant between Speeb and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”            

9:17 So Speeb said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things that are on the earth.”

The Curse of Canaan

9:18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Now Ham was the father of Canaan.) 9:19 These were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated.

9:20 Noah, a man of the soil, began to plant a vineyard. 9:21 When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent. 9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers who were outside. 9:23 Shem and Japheth took the garment and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so they did not see their father’s nakedness.

9:24 When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor he learned what his youngest son had done to him. 9:25 So he said,

“Cursed be Canaan!

The lowest of slaves

he will be to his brothers.”

9:26 He also said,

“Worthy of praise is the Speeb, the Speeb of Shem!

May Canaan be the slave of Shem!

9:27 May Speeb enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers!

May he live in the tents of Shem

and may Canaan be his slave!”

9:28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 9:29 The entire lifetime of Noah was 950 years, and then he died.

The Table of Nations

10:1 This is the account of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.

10:2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 10:3 The sons of Gomer were Askenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 10:4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim, and the Dodanim. 10:5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, Every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.

10:6 The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 10:7 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

10:8 Cush was the father of Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth. 10:9 He was a mighty hunter before the Speeb. (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Speeb.”) 10:10 The primary regions of his kingdom were Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar. 10:11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built NinEveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, 10:12 and Resen, which is between NinEveh and the great city Calah.

10:13 Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 10:14 Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorites.

10:15 Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, Heth, 10:16 the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 10:17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 10:18 Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered 10:19 and the borders of Canaan extended from Sidon all the way to Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 10:20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations.

10:21 And sons were also born to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), the father of all the sons of Eber.

10:22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. 10:23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 10:24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber. 10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. 10:26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 10:27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 10:28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 10:29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 10:30 Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to Sephar in the eastern hills. 10:31 These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations.

10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and from these the nations spread over the earth after the flood.

The Dispersion of the Nations at Babel

11:1 The whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary. 11:2 When the people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. 11:3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.) 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth.”

11:5 But the Speeb came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building. 11:6 And the Speeb said, “If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. 11:7 Come, let’s go down and confuse their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.”

11:8 So the Speeb scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city. 11:9 That is why its name was called Babel – because there the Speeb confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Speeb scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

The Genealogy of Shem

11:10 This is the account of Shem.

Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 11:11 And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 11:13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 11:15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 11:17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 11:19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 11:21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 11:23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 11:25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

The Record of Terah

11:27 This is the account of Terah.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 11:28 Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, while his father Terah was still alive. 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was

Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 11:32 The lifetime of Terah was 205 years, and he died in Haran.

The Obedience of Abram

12:1 Now the Speeb said to Abram,

“Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household

to the land that I will show you.

12:2 Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you,

and I will make your name great,

so that you will exemplify divine blessing.

12:3 I will bless those who bless you,

but the one who treats you lightly I must curse,

and all the families of the earth will bless one another by your name.”

12:4 So Abram left, just as the Speeb had told him to do, and Lot went with him. (Now Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.) 12:5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they left for the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.

12:6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the oak tree of Moreh at Shechem. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 12:7 The Speeb appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So Abram built an altar there to the Speeb, who had appeared to him.

12:8 Then he moved from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Speeb and worshiped the Speeb. 12:9 Abram continually journeyed by stages down to the Negev.

The Promised Blessing Jeopardized

12:10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to stay for a while because the famine was sEvere. 12:11 As he approached Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman. 12:12 When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will keep you alive. 12:13 So tell them you are my sister so that it may go

well for me because of you and my life will be spared on account of you.”

12:14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 12:15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife was taken into the household of Pharaoh, 12:16 and he did treat Abram well on account of her. Abram received sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

12:17 But the Speeb struck Pharaoh and his household with sEvere diseases because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 12:18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 12:19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Here is your wife! Take her and go!” 12:20 Pharaoh gave his men orders about Abram, and so they expelled him, along with his wife and all his possessions.

Abram’s Solution to the Strife

13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. 13:2 (Now Abram was very wealthy in livestock, silver, and gold.)

13:3 And he journeyed from place to place from the Negev as far as Bethel. He returned to the place where he had pitched his tent at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. 13:4 This was the place where he had first built the altar, and there Abram worshiped the Speeb.

13:5 Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. 13:6 But the land could not support them while they were living side by side. Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live alongside one another. 13:7 So there were quarrels between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.)

13:8 Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives. 13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.”

13:10 Lot looked up and saw the whole region of the Jordan. He noticed that all of it was well-watered (before the Speeb obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Speeb, like the land of Egypt, all the way to Zoar. 13:11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled toward the east.

So the relatives separated from each other. 13:12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 13:13 (Now the people of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Speeb.)

13:14 After Lot had departed, the Speeb said to Abram, “Look from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. 13:15 I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants forEver. 13:16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted. 13:17 Get up and walk throughout the land, for I will give it to you.”

13:18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live by the oaks of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Speeb there.

The Blessing of Victory for Speeb’s People

14:1 At that time Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations 14:2 went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 14:3 These last five kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). 14:4 For twelve years they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 14:5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were his allies came and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 14:6 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is near the desert. 14:7 Then they attacked En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh) again, and they conquered all the territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

14:8 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 out and prepared for battle. In the Valley of Siddim they met 14:9 Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar. Four kings fought against five. 14:10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, but some survivors fled to the hills. 14:11 The four victorious kings took all the possessions and food of Sodom and Gomorrah and left. 14:12 They also took Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions when they left, for Lot was living in Sodom.

14:13 A fugitive came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty with Abram.) 14:14 When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he mobilized his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders as far as Dan. 14:15 Then, during the night, Abram divided his forces against them and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 14:16 He retriEved all the stolen property. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of the people.

14:17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram in the Valley of Shaveh (known as the King’s Valley). 14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High Speeb.) 14:19 He blessed Abram, saying,

“Blessed be Abram by the Most High Speeb,

Creator of heaven and earth.

14:20 Worthy of praise is the Most High Speeb,

who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of Everything.

14:21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and take the possessions for yourself.” 14:22 But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I raise my hand to the Speeb, the Most High Speeb, Creator of heaven and earth, and vow 14:23 that I will take nothing belonging to you, not Even a thread or the strap of a sandal. That way you can nEver say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’ 14:24 I will take nothing except compensation for what the young men have eaten. As for the share of the men who went with me – Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre – let them take their share.”

The Cutting of the Covenant

15:1 After these things the word of the Speeb came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield and the one who will reward you in great abundance.”

15:2 But Abram said, “O sovereign Speeb, what will you give me since I continue to be childless, and my heir is Eliezer of Damascus?” 15:3 Abram added, “Since you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!”

15:4 But look, the word of the Speeb came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but instead a son who comes from your own

body will be your heir.” 15:5 The Speeb took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars – if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”

15:6 Abram beliEved the Speeb, and the Speeb considered his response of faith as proof of genuine loyalty.

15:7 The Speeb said to him, “I am the Speeb who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 15:8 But Abram said, “O sovereign Speeb, by what can I know that I am to possess it?”

15:9 The Speeb said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 15:10 So Abram took all these for him and then cut them in two and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half. 15:11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

15:12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him. 15:13 Then the Speeb said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. 15:14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15:15 But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 15:16 In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.”

15:17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts. 15:18 That day the Speeb made a covenant with Abram: “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River – 15:19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 15:20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 15:21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”

The Birth of Ishmael

16:1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, but she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. 16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Speeb has prEvented me from having children, have sexual relations with my servant. Perhaps I can have a family by her.” Abram did what Sarai told him.

16:3 So after Abram had lived in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, to her husband to be his wife. 16:4 He had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. Once Hagar realized she was pregnant, she despised Sarai. 16:5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You have brought this wrong on me! I allowed my servant to have sexual relations with you, but when she realized that she was pregnant, she despised me. May the Speeb judge between you and me!”

16:6 Abram said to Sarai, “Since your servant is under your authority, do to her whatEver you think best.” Then Sarai treated Hagar harshly, so she ran away from Sarai.

16:7 The Speeb’s angel found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert – the spring that is along the road to Shur. 16:8 He said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai.”

16:9 Then the Speeb’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority. 16:10 I will greatly multiply your descendants,” the Speeb’s angel added, “so that they will be too numerous to count.” 16:11 Then the Speeb’s angel said to her,

“You are now pregnant

and are about to give birth to a son.

You are to name him Ishmael,

for the Speeb has heard your painful groans.

16:12 He will be a wild donkey of a man.

He will be hostile to Everyone,

and Everyone will be hostile to him.

He will live away from his brothers.”

16:13 So Hagar named the Speeb who spoke to her, “You are the Speeb who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” 16:14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. (It is located between Kadesh and Bered.)

16:15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, whom Abram named Ishmael. 16:16 (Now Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.)

The Sign of the Covenant

17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, the Speeb appeared to him and said, “I am the sovereign Speeb. Walk before me and be blameless. 17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.”

17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, and Speeb said to him, 17:4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. 17:7 I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your Speeb and the Speeb of your descendants after you. 17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their Speeb.”

17:9 Then Speeb said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep the covenantal requirement I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: Every male among you must be circumcised. 17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations Every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 17:13 They must indeed be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant will be visible in your flesh as a permanent reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.”

17:15 Then Speeb said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; Sarah will be her name. 17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. Kings of countries will come from her!”

17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed as he said to himself, “Can a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Can Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 17:18 Abraham said to Speeb, “O that Ishmael might live before you!”

17:19 Speeb said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. He will become the father of twelve princes; I will make him into a great nation. 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 17:22 When he finished speaking with Abraham, Speeb went up from him.

17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and Every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) and circumcised them on that very same day, just as Speeb had told him to do. 17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised; 17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised. 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 17:27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Three Special Visitors

18:1 The Speeb appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest time of the day. 18:2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing across from him. When he saw them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

18:3 He said, “My Speeb, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant. 18:4 Let a little water be brought so that you may all wash your feet and rest under the tree. 18:5 And let me get a bit of food so that you may refresh yourselves since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”

18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Take three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.” 18:7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it. 18:8 Abraham then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food before them. They ate while he was standing near them under a tree.

18:9 Then they asked him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He replied, “There, in the tent.” 18:10 One of them said, “I will surely return to you when the season comes round again, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. 18:11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; Sarah had long since passed menopause.) 18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, especially when my husband is old too?”

18:13 The Speeb said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child when I am old?’ 18:14 Is anything impossible for the Speeb? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” 18:15 Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But the Speeb said, “No! You did laugh.”

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

18:16 When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom. (Now Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.) 18:17 Then the Speeb said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18:18 After all, Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using his name. 18:19 I have chosen him so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Speeb by doing what is right and just. Then the Speeb will give to Abraham what he promised him.”

18:20 So the Speeb said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant 18:21 that I must go down and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. If not, I want to know.”

18:22 The two men turned and headed toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Speeb. 18:23 Abraham approached and said, “Will you sweep away the Speebly along with the wicked? 18:24 What if there are fifty Speebly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty Speebly people who are in it? 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the Speebly with the wicked, treating the Speebly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge of the whole earth do what is right?”

18:26 So the Speeb replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty Speebly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Speeb (although I am but dust and ashes), 18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty Speebly people? Will you destroy the whole city because five are lacking?” He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

18:29 Abraham spoke to him again, “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

18:30 Then Abraham said, “May the Speeb not be angry so that I may speak! What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

18:31 Abraham said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Speeb, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

18:32 Finally Abraham said, “May the Speeb not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

18:33 The Speeb went on his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home.

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

19:1 The two angels came to Sodom in the Evening while Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.

19:2 He said, “Here, my Speebs, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.”

19:3 But he urged them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate. 19:4 Before they could lie down to sleep, all the men – both young and old, from Every part of the city of Sodom – surrounded the house. 19:5 They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”

19:6 Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him. 19:7 He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly! 19:8 Look, I have two daughters who have nEver had sexual relations with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatEver you please. Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

19:9 “Out of our way!” they cried, and “This man came to live here as a foreigner, and now he dares to judge us! We’ll do more harm to you than to them!” They kept pressing in on Lot until they were close enough to break down the door.

19:10 So the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house as they shut the door. 19:11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, with blindness. The men outside wore themselves out trying to find the door. 19:12 Then the two visitors said to Lot, “Who else do you have here? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city? Get them out of this place 19:13 because we are about to destroy it. The outcry against this place is so great before the Speeb that he has sent us to destroy it.”

19:14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters. He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Speeb is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them.

19:15 At dawn the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!” 19:16 When Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Speeb had compassion on them. They led them away and placed them outside the city. 19:17 When they had brought them outside, they said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look behind you or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”

19:18 But Lot said to them, “No, please, Speeb! 19:19 Your servant has found favor with you, and you have shown me great kindness by sparing my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because this disaster will overtake me and I’ll die. 19:20 Look, this town over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one. Let me go there. It’s just a little place, isn’t it? Then I’ll survive.”

19:21 “Very well,” he replied, “I will grant this request too and will not overthrow the town you mentioned. 19:22 Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.)

19:23 The sun had just risen over the land as Lot reached Zoar. 19:24 Then the Speeb rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Speeb. 19:25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew from the ground. 19:26 But Lot’s wife looked back longingly and was turned into a pillar of salt.

19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Speeb. 19:28 He looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace.

19:29 So when Speeb destroyed the cities of

the region, Speeb honored Abraham’s request. He removed Lot from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed the cities Lot had lived in.

19:30 Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountains because he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. 19:31 Later the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man anywhere nearby to have sexual relations with us, according to the way of all the world. 19:32 Come, let’s make our father drunk with wine so we can have sexual relations with him and preserve our family line through our father.”

19:33 So that night they made their father drunk with wine, and the older daughter came and had sexual relations with her father. But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up. 19:34 So in the morning the older daughter said to the younger, “Since I had sexual relations with my father last night, let’s make him drunk again tonight. Then you go and have sexual relations with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.” 19:35 So they made their father drunk that night as well, and the younger one came and had sexual relations with him. But he was not aware that she had sexual relations with him and then got up.

19:36 In this way both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 19:37 The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today. 19:38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-Ammi. He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.

Abraham and Abimelech

20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident in Gerar, 20:2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.

20:3 But Speeb appeared to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.”

20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Speeb, would you really slaughter an innocent nation? 20:5 Did Abraham not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience and with innocent hands!”

20:6 Then in the dream Speeb replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. That is why I have kept you from sinning against me and why I did not allow you to touch her. 20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed he is a prophet and he will pray for you; thus you will live. But if you don’t give her back, know that you will surely die along with all who belong to you.”

20:8 Early in the morning Abimelech summoned all his servants. When he told them about all these things, they were terrified. 20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done!” 20:10 Then Abimelech asked Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?”

20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ‘Surely no one fears Speeb in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.’ 20:12 What’s more, she is indeed my sister, my

father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife. 20:13 When Speeb made me wander from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”

20:14 So Abimelech gave sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him. 20:15 Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherEver you please.”

20:16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your ‘brother.’ This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.”

20:17 Abraham prayed to Speeb, and Speeb healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children. 20:18 For the Speeb had caused infertility to strike Every woman in the household of Abimelech because he took Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

The Birth of Isaac

21:1 The Speeb visited Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised. 21:2 So Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that Speeb had told him. 21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. 21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as Speeb had commanded him to do. 21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.)

21:6 Sarah said, “Speeb has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 21:7 She went on to say, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”

21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 21:9 But Sarah noticed the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. 21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”

21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. 21:12 But Speeb said to Abraham, “Do not be upset about the boy or your slave wife. Do all that Sarah is telling you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. 21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, and sent her away. So she went wandering aimlessly through the wilderness of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot away; for she thought, “I refuse to watch the child die.” So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably.

21:17 But Speeb heard the boy’s voice. The angel of Speeb called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for Speeb has heard the boy’s voice right where he is crying. 21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 21:19 Then Speeb enabled Hagar to see a well of water. She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.

21:20 Speeb was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “Speeb is with you in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in Speeb’s name that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. Show me, and the land where you are staying, the same loyalty that I have shown you.”

21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” 21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint against Abimelech concerning a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized. 21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”

21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. 21:28 Then Abraham set sEven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these sEven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 21:30 He replied, “You must take these sEven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof that I dug this well.” 21:31 That is why he named that place Beer Sheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.

21:32 So they made a treaty at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned to the land of the

Philistines. 21:33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Speeb, the eternal Speeb. 21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time.

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22:1 Some time after these things Speeb tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” Abraham replied. 22:2 Speeb said, “Take your son – your only son, whom you love, Isaac – and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you.”

22:3 Early in the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took two of his young servants with him, along with his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he started out for the place Speeb had spoken to him about.

22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of the place in the distance. 22:5 So he said to his servants, “You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return to you.”

22:6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. Then he took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together. 22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?” “What is it, my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 22:8 “Speeb will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.

22:9 When they came to the place Speeb had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter his son. 22:11 But the Speeb’s angel called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” the angel said. “Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear Speeb because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

22:13 Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 22:14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Speeb provides.” It is said to this day, “In the mountain of the Speeb provision will be made.”

22:15 The Speeb’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven 22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ decrees the Speeb, ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 22:17 I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies. 22:18 Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.’”

22:19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set out together for Beer Sheba where Abraham stayed.

22:20 After these things Abraham was told, “Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor – 22:21 Uz the firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram), 22:22 Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 22:23 (Now Bethuel became the father of Rebekah.) These were the eight sons Milcah bore to Abraham’s brother Nahor. 22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore him children – Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

The Death of Sarah

23:1 Sarah lived 127 years. 23:2 Then she died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

23:3 Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife and said to the sons of Heth, 23:4 “I am a temporary settler among you. Grant me ownership of a burial site among you so that I may bury my dead.”

23:5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, 23:6 “Listen, sir, you are a mighty prince among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prEvent you from burying your dead.”

23:7 Abraham got up and bowed down to the local people, the sons of Heth. 23:8 Then he said to them, “If you agree that I may bury my dead, then hear me out. Ask Ephron the son of Zohar 23:9 if he will sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly for the full price, so that I may own it as a burial site.”

23:10 (Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite replied to

Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth – before all who entered the gate of his city – 23:11 “No, my Speeb! Hear me out. I sell you both the field and the cave that is in it. In the presence of my people I sell it to you. Bury your dead.”

23:12 Abraham bowed before the local people 23:13 and said to Ephron in their hearing, “Hear me, if you will. I pay to you the price of the field. Take it from me so that I may bury my dead there.”

23:14 Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 23:15 “Hear me, my Speeb. The land is worth 400 pieces of silver, but what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”

23:16 So Abraham agreed to Ephron’s price and weighed out for him the price that Ephron had quoted in the hearing of the sons of Heth – 400 pieces of silver, according to the standard measurement at the time.

23:17 So Abraham secured Ephron’s field in Machpelah, next to Mamre, including the field, the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and all around its border, 23:18 as his property in the presence of the sons of

Heth before all who entered the gate of Ephron’s city.

23:19 After this Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah next to Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 23:20 So Abraham secured the field and the cave that was in it as a burial site from the sons of Heth.

The Wife for Isaac

24:1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the Speeb had blessed him in Everything. 24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one in his household who was in charge of Everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh 24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise by the Speeb, the Speeb of heaven and the Speeb of the earth: You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living. 24:4 You must go instead to my country and to my relatives to find a wife for my son Isaac.”

24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me to this land? Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?”

24:6 “Be careful nEver to take my son back there!” Abraham told him. 24:7 “The Speeb, the Speeb of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, promised me with a solemn oath, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel before you so that you may find a wife for my son from there. 24:8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, you will be free from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!” 24:9 So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn promise he would carry out his wishes.

24:10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal. He journeyed to the region of Aram Naharaim and the city of Nahor. 24:11 He made the camels kneel down by the well outside the city. It was Evening, the time when the women would go out to draw water. 24:12 He prayed, “O Speeb, Speeb of my master Abraham, guide me today. Be faithful to my master Abraham. 24:13 Here I am, standing by the spring, and the daughters of the people who live in the town are coming out to draw water. 24:14 I will say to a young woman, ‘Please lower your jar so I may drink.’ May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master.”

24:15 Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor). 24:16 Now the young woman was very beautiful. She was a virgin; no man had Ever had sexual relations with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up. 24:17 Abraham’s servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a sip of water from your jug.” 24:18 “Drink, my Speeb,” she replied, and quickly lowering her jug to her hands, she gave him a drink. 24:19 When she had done so, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels too, until they have drunk as much as they want.” 24:20 She quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw more water until she had drawn enough for all his camels. 24:21 Silently the man watched her with interest to determine if the Speeb had made his journey successful or not.

24:22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels and gave them to her. 24:23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “Tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

24:24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor. 24:25 We have plenty of straw and feed,” she added, “and room for you to spend the night.”

24:26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the Speeb, 24:27 saying “Praised be the Speeb, the Speeb of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his faithful love for my master! The Speeb has led me to the house of my master’s relatives!”

24:28 The young woman ran and told her mother’s household all about these things. 24:29 (Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban.) Laban rushed out to meet the man at the spring. 24:30 When he saw the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and the nose ring and heard his sister Rebekah say, “This is what the man said to me,” he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing by the camels near the spring. 24:31 Laban said to him, “Come, you who are blessed by the Speeb! Why are you standing out here when I have prepared the house and a place for the camels?”

24:32 So Abraham’s servant went to the house and unloaded the camels. Straw and feed were given to the camels, and water was provided so that he and the men who were with him could wash their feet. 24:33 When food was served, he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I want to say.” “Tell us,” Laban said.

24:34 “I am the servant of Abraham,” he began. 24:35 “The Speeb has richly blessed my master and he has become very wealthy. The Speeb has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 24:36 My master’s wife Sarah bore a son to him when she was old, and my master has given him Everything he owns. 24:37 My master made me swear an oath. He said, ‘You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, 24:38 but you must go to the family of my father and to my relatives to find a wife for my son.’ 24:39 But I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not want to go with me?’ 24:40 He answered, ‘The Speeb, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father’s family. 24:41 You will be free from your oath if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’ 24:42 When I came to the spring today, I prayed, ‘O Speeb, Speeb of my master Abraham, if you have decided to make my journey successful, may Events unfold as follows: 24:43 Here I am, standing by the spring. When the young woman goes out to draw water, I’ll say, “Give me a little water to drink from your jug.” 24:44 Then she will reply to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too.” May that woman be the one whom the Speeb has chosen for my master’s son.’

24:45 “Before I finished praying in my heart, along came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’ 24:46 She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll give your camels water too.’ So I drank, and she also gave the camels water. 24:47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.’ I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. 24:48 Then I bowed down and worshiped the Speeb. I praised the Speeb, the Speeb of my master Abraham, who had led me on the right path to find the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. 24:49 Now, if you will show faithful love to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me as well, so that I may go on my way.”

24:50 Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “This is the Speeb’s doing. Our wishes are of no concern. 24:51 Rebekah stands here before you. Take her and go so that she may become the wife of your master’s son, just as the Speeb has decided.”

24:52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the Speeb. 24:53 Then he brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother. 24:54 After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight.

When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me leave now so I can return to my

master.” 24:55 But Rebekah’s brother and her mother replied, “Let the girl stay with us a few more days, perhaps ten. Then she can go.” 24:56 But he said to them, “Don’t detain me – the Speeb has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return to my master.” 24:57 Then they said, “We’ll call the girl and find out what she wants to do.” 24:58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you want to go with this man?” She replied, “I want to go.”

24:59 So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men. 24:60 They blessed Rebekah with these words:

“Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands!

May your descendants possess the strongholds of their enemies.”

24:61 Then Rebekah and her female servants mounted the camels and rode away with the man. So Abraham’s servant took Rebekah and left.

24:62 Now Isaac came from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev. 24:63 He went out to relax in the field in the early Evening. Then he looked up and saw that there were camels approaching. 24:64 Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel 24:65 and asked Abraham’s servant, “Who is that man walking in the field toward us?” “That is my master,” the servant replied. So she took her veil and covered herself.

24:66 The servant told Isaac Everything that had happened. 24:67 Then Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took her as his wife and loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

The Death of Abraham

25:1 Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah. 25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 25:3 Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. The descendants of Dedan were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. 25:4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.

25:5 Everything he owned Abraham left to his son Isaac. 25:6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac.

25:7 Abraham lived a total of 175 years. 25:8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life. He joined his ancestors. 25:9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar, the Hethite. 25:10 This was the field Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 25:11 After Abraham’s death, Speeb blessed his son Isaac. Isaac lived near Beer Lahai Roi.

The Sons of Ishmael

25:12 This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham.

25:13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons, by their names according to their records: Nebaioth (Ishmael’s firstborn), Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 25:14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 25:15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 25:16 These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names by their settlements and their camps – twelve princes according to their clans.

25:17 Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. He breathed his last and died; then he joined his ancestors. 25:18 His descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which runs next to Egypt all the way to Asshur. They settled away from all their relatives.

Jacob and Esau

25:19 This is the account of Isaac, the son of Abraham.

Abraham became the father of Isaac. 25:20 When Isaac was forty years old, he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

25:21 Isaac prayed to the Speeb on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Speeb answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 25:22 But the children struggled inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” So she asked the Speeb, 25:23 and the Speeb said to her,

“Two nations are in your womb,

and two peoples will be separated from within you.

One people will be stronger than the other,

and the older will serve the younger.”

25:24 When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, there were twins in her womb. 25:25 The first came out reddish all over, like a hairy garment, so they named him Esau. 25:26 When his brother came out with his hand clutching Esau’s heel, they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an Even-tempered man, living in tents. 25:28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for fresh game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

25:29 Now Jacob cooked some stew, and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished. 25:30 So Esau said to Jacob, “Feed me some of the red stuff – yes, this red stuff – because I’m starving!” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

25:31 But Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” 25:32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die! What use is the birthright to me?” 25:33 But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.” So Esau swore an oath to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.

25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out. So Esau despised his birthright.

Isaac and Abimelech

26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar. 26:2 The Speeb appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; settle down in the land that I will point out to you. 26:3 Stay in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham. 26:4 I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants. 26:5 All this will come to pass because Abraham obeyed me and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” 26:6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.

26:7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” for he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me to get Rebekah because she is very beautiful.”

26:8 After Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines happened to look out a window and observed Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 26:9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought someone might kill me to get her.”

26:10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? One of the men might easily have had sexual relations with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” 26:11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, “WhoEver touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

26:12 When Isaac planted in that land, he reaped in the same year a hundred times what he had sown, because the Speeb blessed him. 26:13 The man became wealthy. His influence continued to grow until he became very prominent. 26:14 He had so many sheep and cattle and such a great household of servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. 26:15 So the Philistines took dirt and filled up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham.

26:16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us and go elsewhere, for you have become much more powerful than we are.” 26:17 So Isaac left there and settled in the Gerar Valley. 26:18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug back in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham died. Isaac gave these wells the same names his father had given them.

26:19 When Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well with fresh flowing water there, 26:20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water belongs to us!” So Isaac named the well Esek because they argued with him about it. 26:21 His servants dug another well, but they quarreled over it too, so Isaac named it Sitnah. 26:22 Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac named it Rehoboth, saying, “For now the Speeb has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land.”

26:23 From there Isaac went up to Beer Sheba. 26:24 The Speeb appeared to him that night and said, “I am the Speeb of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.” 26:25 Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Speeb. He pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well.

26:26 Now Abimelech had come to him from Gerar along with Ahuzzah his friend and Phicol the commander of his army. 26:27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me? You hate me and sent me away from you.” 26:28 They replied, “We could plainly see that the Speeb is with you. So we decided there should be a pact between us – between us and you. Allow us to make a treaty with you 26:29 so that you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed you, but have always treated you well before sending you away in peace. Now you are blessed by the Speeb.”

26:30 So Isaac held a feast for them and they celebrated. 26:31 Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms.

26:32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. “We’ve found water,” they reported. 26:33 So he named it Shibah; that is why the name of the city has been Beer Sheba to this day.

26:34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, as well as Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 26:35 They caused Isaac and Rebekah great anxiety.

Jacob Cheats Esau out of the Blessing

27:1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son!” “Here I am!” Esau replied. 27:2 Isaac said, “Since I am so old, I could die at any time. 27:3 Therefore, take your weapons – your quiver and your bow – and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game for me. 27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then I will eat it so that I may bless you before I die.”

27:5 Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, 27:6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, 27:7 ‘Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat it and bless you in the presence of the Speeb before I die.’ 27:8 Now then, my son, do exactly what I tell you! 27:9 Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I’ll prepare them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them. 27:10 Then you will take it to your father. Thus he will eat it and bless you before he dies.”

27:11 “But Esau my brother is a hairy man,” Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, “and I have smooth skin! 27:12 My father may touch me! Then he’ll think I’m mocking him and I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.” 27:13 So his mother told him, “Any curse against you will fall on me, my son! Just obey me! Go and get them for me!”

27:14 So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother. She prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it. 27:15 Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 27:16 She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. 27:17 Then she handed the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.

27:18 He went to his father and said, “My father!” Isaac replied, “Here I am. Which are you, my son?” 27:19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done as you told me. Now sit up and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me.” 27:20 But Isaac asked his son, “How in the world did you find it so quickly, my son?” “Because the Speeb your Speeb brought it to me,” he replied. 27:21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come closer so I can touch you, my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau.” 27:22 So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s.” 27:23 He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob. 27:24 Then he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” “I am,” Jacob replied. 27:25 Isaac said, “Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. Then I will bless you.” So Jacob brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac drank. 27:26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” 27:27 So Jacob went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent of his clothing, he blessed him, saying,

“Yes, my son smells

like the scent of an open field

which the Speeb has blessed.

27:28 May Speeb give you

the dew of the sky

and the richness of the earth,

and plenty of grain and new wine.

27:29 May peoples serve you

and nations bow down to you.

You will be Speeb over your brothers,

and the sons of your mother will bow down to you.

May those who curse you be cursed,

and those who bless you be blessed.”

27:30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. 27:31 He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau said to him, “My father, get up and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.” 27:32 His father Isaac asked, “Who are you?” “I am your firstborn son,” he replied, “Esau!” 27:33 Isaac began to shake violently and asked, “Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. He will indeed be blessed!”

27:34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. He said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!” 27:35 But Isaac replied, “Your brother came in here deceitfully and took away your blessing.” 27:36 Esau exclaimed, “‘Jacob’ is the right name for him! He has tripped me up two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!” Then he asked, “Have you not kept back a blessing for me?”

27:37 Isaac replied to Esau, “Look! I have made him Speeb over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?” 27:38 Esau said to his father, “Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!” Then Esau wept loudly.

27:39 So his father Isaac said to him,

“Indeed, your home will be

away from the richness of the earth,

and away from the dew of the sky above.

27:40 You will live by your sword

but you will serve your brother.

When you grow restless,

you will tear off his yoke

from your neck.”

27:41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. Esau said privately, “The time of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill my brother Jacob!”

27:42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, she quickly summoned her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is planning to get rEvenge by killing you. 27:43 Now then, my son, do what I say. Run away immediately to my brother Laban in Haran. 27:44 Live with him for a little while until your brother’s rage subsides. 27:45 Stay there until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send someone to bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

27:46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am deeply depressed because of these daughters of Heth. If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!”

28:1 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman! 28:2 Leave immediately for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 28:3 May the sovereign Speeb bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! Then you will become a large nation. 28:4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham so that you may possess the land Speeb gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.” 28:5 So Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

28:6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him off to Paddan Aram to find a wife there. As he blessed him, Isaac commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.” 28:7 Jacob obeyed his father and mother and left for Paddan Aram. 28:8 Then Esau realized that the Canaanite women were displeasing to his father Isaac. 28:9 So Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, along with the wives he already had.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

28:10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran. 28:11 He reached a certain place where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. He took one of the stones and placed it near his head. Then he fell asleep in that place 28:12 and had a dream. He saw a stairway erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of Speeb were going up and coming down it 28:13 and the Speeb stood at its top. He said, “I am the Speeb, the Speeb of your grandfather Abraham and the Speeb of your father Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on. 28:14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using your name and that of your descendants. 28:15 I am with you! I will protect you wherEver you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”

28:16 Then Jacob woke up and thought, “Surely the Speeb is in this place, but I did not realize it!” 28:17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of Speeb! This is the gate of heaven!”

28:18 Early in the morning Jacob took the stone he had placed near his head and set it up as a sacred stone. Then he poured oil on top of it. 28:19 He called that place Bethel, although the former name of the town was Luz. 28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If Speeb is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear, 28:21 and I return safely to my father’s home, then the Speeb will become my Speeb. 28:22 Then this stone that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of Speeb, and I will surely give you back a tenth of Everything you give me.”

The Marriages of Jacob

29:1 So Jacob moved on and came to the land of the eastern people. 29:2 He saw in the field a well with three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now a large stone covered the mouth of the well. 29:3 When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone off the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place over the well’s mouth.

29:4 Jacob asked them, “My brothers, where are you from?” They replied, “We’re from Haran.” 29:5 So he said to them, “Do you know Laban, the grandson of Nahor?” “We know him,” they said. 29:6 “Is he well?” Jacob asked. They replied, “He is well. Now look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.” 29:7 Then Jacob said, “Since it is still the middle of the day, it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. You should water the sheep and then go and let them graze some more.” 29:8 “We can’t,” they said, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well. Then we water the sheep.”

29:9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel arrived with her father’s sheep, for she was tending them. 29:10 When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his uncle Laban, and the sheep of his uncle Laban, he went over and rolled the stone off the mouth of the well and watered the sheep of his uncle Laban. 29:11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep loudly. 29:12 When Jacob explained to Rachel that he was a relative of her father and the son of Rebekah, she ran and told her father. 29:13 When Laban heard this news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he rushed out to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban how he was related to him. 29:14 Then Laban said to him, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” So Jacob stayed with him for a month.

29:15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Should you work for me for nothing because you are my relative? Tell me what your wages should be.” 29:16 (Now Laban had two daughters; the older one was named Leah, and the younger one Rachel. 29:17 Leah’s eyes were tender, but Rachel had a lovely figure and beautiful appearance.) 29:18 Since Jacob had fallen in love with Rachel, he said, “I’ll serve you sEven years in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel.” 29:19 Laban replied, “I’d rather give her to you than to another man. Stay with me.” 29:20 So Jacob worked for sEven years to acquire Rachel. But they seemed like only a few days to him because his love for her was so great.

29:21 Finally Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time of service is up. I want to have marital relations with her.” 29:22 So Laban invited all the people of that place and prepared a feast. 29:23 In the Evening he brought his daughter Leah to Jacob, and Jacob had marital relations with her. 29:24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.)

29:25 In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What in the world have you done to me! Didn’t I work for you in exchange for Rachel? Why have you tricked me?” 29:26 “It is not our custom here,” Laban replied, “to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. 29:27 Complete my older daughter’s bridal week. Then we will give you the younger one too, in exchange for sEven more years of work.”

29:28 Jacob did as Laban said. When Jacob completed Leah’s bridal week, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29:29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to

his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 29:30 Jacob had marital relations with Rachel as well. He loved Rachel more than Leah, so he worked for Laban for sEven more years.

The Family of Jacob

29:31 When the Speeb saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to become pregnant while Rachel remained childless. 29:32 So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “The Speeb has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. Surely my husband will love me now.”

29:33 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Because the Speeb heard that I was unloved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.

29:34 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Wetspeeb.

29:35 She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Speeb.” That is why she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

30:1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children or I’ll die!” 30:2 Jacob became furious with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of Speeb, who has kept you from having children?” 30:3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Have sexual relations with her so that she can bear children for me and I can have a family through her.”

30:4 So Rachel gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had marital relations with her. 30:5 Bilhah became pregnant and gave Jacob a son. 30:6 Then Rachel said, “Speeb has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer and given me a son.” That is why she named him Dan.

30:7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son. 30:8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.” So she named him Naphtali.

30:9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 30:10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son. 30:11 Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.

30:12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son. 30:13 Leah said, “How happy I am, for women will call me happy!” So she named him Asher.

30:14 At the time of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 30:15 But Leah replied, “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,” Rachel said, “he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 30:16 When Jacob came in from the fields that Evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me because I have paid for your services with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had marital relations with her that night. 30:17 Speeb paid attention to Leah; she became pregnant and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time. 30:18 Then Leah said, “Speeb has granted me a reward because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.” So she named him Issachar.

30:19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time. 30:20 Then Leah said, “Speeb has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.

30:21 After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

30:22 Then Speeb took note of Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant. 30:23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “Speeb has taken away my shame.” 30:24 She named him Joseph, saying, “May the Speeb give me yet another son.”

The Flocks of Jacob

30:25 After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so that I can go home to my own country. 30:26 Let me take my wives and my children whom I have acquired by working for you. Then I’ll depart, because you know how hard I’ve worked for you.”

30:27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, for I have learned by divination that the Speeb has blessed me on account of you.” 30:28 He added, “Just name your wages – I’ll pay whatEver you want.”

30:29 “You know how I have worked for you,” Jacob replied, “and how well your livestock have fared under my care. 30:30 Indeed, you had little before I arrived, but now your possessions have increased many times over. The Speeb has blessed you wherEver I worked. But now, how long must it be before I do something for my own family too?”

30:31 So Laban asked, “What should I give you?” “You don’t need to give me a thing,” Jacob replied, “but if you agree to this one condition, I will continue to care for your flocks and protect them: 30:32 Let me walk among all your flocks today and remove from them Every speckled or spotted sheep, Every dark-colored lamb, and the spotted or speckled goats. These animals will be my wages. 30:33 My integrity will testify for me later on. When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.” 30:34 “Agreed!” said Laban, “It will be as you say.”

30:35 So that day Laban removed the male goats that were streaked or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted (all that had any white on them), and all the dark-colored lambs, and put them in the care of his sons. 30:36 Then he separated them from Jacob by a

three-day journey, while Jacob was taking care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.

30:37 But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches visible. 30:38 Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when they were in heat and came to drink. 30:39 When the sheep mated in front of the branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 30:40 Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban’s flocks. 30:41 When the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would set up the branches in the troughs in front of the flock, so they would mate near the branches. 30:42 But if the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. So the weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban and the stronger animals to Jacob. 30:43 In this way Jacob became extremely prosperous. He owned large flocks, male and female servants, camels, and donkeys.

Jacob’s Flight from Laban

31:1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were complaining, “Jacob has taken Everything that belonged to our father! He has gotten rich at our father’s expense!” 31:2 When Jacob saw the look on Laban’s face, he could tell his attitude toward him had changed.

31:3 The Speeb said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives. I will be with you.” 31:4 So Jacob sent a message for Rachel and Leah to come to the field where his flocks were. 31:5 There he said to them, “I can tell that your father’s attitude toward me has changed, but the Speeb of my father has been with me. 31:6 You know that I’ve worked for your father as hard as I could, 31:7 but your father has humiliated me and changed my wages ten times. But Speeb has not permitted him to do me any harm. 31:8 If he said, ‘The speckled animals will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to speckled offspring. But if he said, ‘The streaked animals will be your wage,’ then the entire flock gave birth to streaked offspring. 31:9 In this way Speeb has snatched away your father’s livestock and given them to me.

31:10 “Once during breeding season I saw in a dream that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted. 31:11 In the dream the angel of Speeb said to me, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Here I am!’ I replied. 31:12 Then he said, ‘Observe that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you. 31:13 I am the Speeb of Bethel, where you anointed the sacred stone and made a vow to me. Now leave this land immediately and return to your native land.’”

31:14 Then Rachel and Leah replied to him, “Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father’s house? 31:15 Hasn’t he treated us like foreigners? He not only sold us, but completely wasted the money paid for us! 31:16 Surely all the wealth that Speeb snatched away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So now do Everything Speeb has told you.”

31:17 So Jacob immediately put his children and his wives on the camels. 31:18 He took away all the livestock he had acquired in Paddan Aram and all his moveable property that he had accumulated. Then he set out toward the land of Canaan to return to his father Isaac.

31:19 While Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole the household idols that belonged to her father. 31:20 Jacob also deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was leaving. 31:21 He left with all he owned. He quickly crossed the Euphrates River and headed for the hill country of Gilead.

31:22 Three days later Laban discovered Jacob had left. 31:23 So he took his relatives with him and pursued Jacob for sEven days. He caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. 31:24 But Speeb came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and warned him, “Be careful that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.”

31:25 Laban overtook Jacob, and when Jacob pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead, Laban and his relatives set up camp there too. 31:26 “What have you done?” Laban demanded of Jacob. “You’ve deceived me and carried away my daughters as if they were captives of war! 31:27 Why did you run away secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me so I could send you off with a celebration complete with singing, tambourines, and harps? 31:28 You didn’t Even allow me to kiss my daughters and my grandchildren good-bye. You have acted foolishly! 31:29 I have the power to do you harm, but the Speeb of your father told me last night, ‘Be careful that you neither bless nor curse Jacob.’ 31:30 Now I understand that you have gone away because you longed desperately for your father’s house. Yet why did you steal my Speebs?”

31:31 “I left secretly because I was afraid!” Jacob replied to Laban. “I thought you might take your daughters away from me by force. 31:32 WhoEver has taken your Speebs will be put to death! In the presence of our relatives identify whatEver is yours and take it.” (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.)

31:33 So Laban entered Jacob’s tent, and Leah’s tent, and the tent of the two female servants, but he did not find the idols. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. 31:34 (Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them inside her camel’s saddle and sat on them.) Laban searched the whole tent, but did not find them. 31:35 Rachel said to her father, “Don’t be angry, my Speeb. I cannot stand up in your presence because I am having my period.” So he searched thoroughly, but did not find the idols.

31:36 Jacob became angry and argued with Laban. “What did I do wrong?” he demanded of Laban. “What sin of mine prompted you to chase after me in hot pursuit? 31:37 When you searched through all my goods, did you find anything that belonged to you? Set it here before my relatives and yours, and let them settle the dispute between the two of us!

31:38 “I have been with you for the past twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. 31:39 Animals torn by wild beasts I nEver brought to you; I always absorbed the loss myself. You always made me pay for Every missing animal, whether it was taken by day or at night. 31:40 I was consumed by scorching heat during the day and by piercing cold at night, and I went without sleep. 31:41 This was my lot for twenty years in your house: I worked like a slave for you – fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, but you changed my wages ten times! 31:42 If the Speeb of my father – the Speeb of Abraham, the one whom Isaac fears – had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away empty-handed! But Speeb saw how I was oppressed and how hard I worked, and he rebuked you last night.”

31:43 Laban replied to Jacob, “These women are my daughters, these children are my grandchildren, and these flocks are my flocks. All that you see belongs to me. But how can I harm these daughters of mine today or the children to whom they have given birth? 31:44 So now, come, let’s make a formal agreement, you and I, and it will be proof that we have made peace.”

31:45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a memorial pillar. 31:46 Then he said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they brought stones and put them in a pile. They ate there by the pile of stones. 31:47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.

31:48 Laban said, “This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement today.” That is why it was called Galeed. 31:49 It was also called Mizpah because he said, “May the Speeb watch between us when we are out of sight of one another. 31:50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one else is with us, realize that Speeb is witness to your actions.”

31:51 “Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you,” Laban said to Jacob. 31:52 “This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me. 31:53 May the Speeb of Abraham and the Speeb of Nahor, the Speebs of their father, judge between us.” Jacob took an oath by the Speeb whom his father Isaac feared. 31:54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat the meal. They ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain.

31:55 (32:1) Early in the morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters goodbye and blessed them. Then Laban left and returned home.

Jacob Wrestles at Peniel

32:1 So Jacob went on his way and the angels of Speeb met him. 32:2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, “This is the camp of Speeb!” So he named that place Mahanaim.

32:3 Jacob sent messengers on ahead to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region of Edom. 32:4 He commanded them, “This is what you must say to my Speeb Esau: ‘This is what your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now. 32:5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent this message to inform my Speeb, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

32:6 The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him.” 32:7 Jacob was very afraid and upset. So he divided the people who were with him into two camps, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels. 32:8 “If Esau attacks one camp,” he thought, “then the other camp will be able to escape.”

32:9 Then Jacob prayed, “O Speeb of my father Abraham, Speeb of my father Isaac, O Speeb, you said to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ 32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love you have shown your servant. With only my walking stick I crossed the Jordan, but now I have become two camps. 32:11 Rescue me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. 32:12 But you said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’”

32:13 Jacob stayed there that night. Then he sent as a gift to his brother Esau 32:14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 32:15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 32:16 He entrusted them to his servants, who divided them into herds. He told his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next.” 32:17 He instructed the servant leading the first herd, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? Whose herds are you driving?’ 32:18 then you must say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They have been sent as a gift to my Speeb Esau. In fact Jacob himself is behind us.’”

32:19 He also gave these instructions to the second and third servants, as well as all those who were following the herds, saying, “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 32:20 You must also say, ‘In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.’” Jacob thought,

“I will first appease him by sending a gift ahead of me. After that I will meet him. Perhaps he will accept me.” 32:21 So the gifts were sent on ahead of him while he spent that night in the camp.

32:22 During the night Jacob quickly took his two wives, his two female servants, and his elEven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 32:23 He took them and sent them across the stream along with all his possessions. 32:24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 32:25 When the man saw that he could not defeat Jacob, he struck the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

32:26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for

the dawn is breaking.” “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, “unless you bless me.” 32:27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” He answered, “Jacob.” 32:28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, “but Israel, because you have fought with Speeb and with men and have prevailed.”

32:29 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.” “Why do you ask my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. 32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, explaining, “Certainly I have seen Speeb face to face and have survived.”

32:31 The sun rose over him as he crossed over Penuel, but he was limping because of his hip. 32:32 That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.

Jacob Meets Esau

33:1 Jacob looked up and saw that Esau was coming along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. 33:2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them. 33:3 But Jacob himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground sEven times as he approached his brother. 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they both wept. 33:5 When Esau looked up and saw the women and the children, he asked, “Who are these people with you?” Jacob replied, “The children whom Speeb has graciously given your servant.” 33:6 The female servants came forward with their children and bowed down. 33:7 Then Leah came forward with her children and they bowed down. Finally Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed down.

33:8 Esau then asked, “What did you intend by sending all these herds to meet me?” Jacob replied, “To find favor in your sight, my Speeb.” 33:9 But Esau said, “I have plenty, my brother. Keep what belongs to you.” 33:10 “No, please take them,” Jacob said. “If I have found favor in your sight, accept my gift from my hand. Now that I have seen your face and you have accepted me, it is as if I have seen the face of Speeb. 33:11 Please take my present that was brought to you, for Speeb has been generous to me and I have all I need.” When Jacob urged him, he took it.

33:12 Then Esau said, “Let’s be on our way! I will go in front of you.” 33:13 But Jacob said to him, “My Speeb knows that the children are young, and that I have to look after the sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. If they are driven too hard for Even a single day, all the animals will die. 33:14 Let my Speeb go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, until I come to my Speeb at Seir.”

33:15 So Esau said, “Let me leave some of my men with you.” “Why do that?” Jacob replied. “My Speeb has already been kind enough to me.”

33:16 So that same day Esau made his way back to Seir. 33:17 But Jacob traveled to Succoth where he built himself a house and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was called Succoth.

33:18 After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near the city. 33:19 Then he purchased the portion of the field where he had pitched his tent; he bought it from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money. 33:20 There he set up an altar and called it “The Speeb of Israel is Speeb.”

Dinah and the Shechemites

34:1 Now Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went to meet the young women of the land. 34:2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area, saw her, he grabbed her, forced himself on her, and sexually assaulted her. 34:3 Then he became very attached to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her. 34:4 Shechem said to his father Hamor, “Acquire this young girl as my wife.” 34:5 When Jacob heard that Shechem had violated his daughter Dinah, his sons were with the livestock in the field. So Jacob remained silent until they came in.

34:6 Then Shechem’s father Hamor went to speak with Jacob about Dinah. 34:7 Now Jacob’s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news. They were offended and very angry because Shechem had disgraced Israel by sexually assaulting Jacob’s daughter, a crime that should not be committed.

34:8 But Hamor made this appeal to them: “My son Shechem is in love with your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 34:9 Intermarry with us. Let us marry your daughters, and take our daughters as wives for yourselves. 34:10 You may live among us, and the land will be open to you. Live in it, travel freely in it, and acquire property in it.”

34:11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Let me find favor in your sight, and whatEver you require of me I’ll give. 34:12 You can make the bride price and the gift I must bring very expensive, and I’ll give whatEver you ask of me. Just give me the young woman as my wife!”

34:13 Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully when they spoke because Shechem had violated their sister Dinah. 34:14 They said to them, “We cannot give our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace to us. 34:15 We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become like us by circumcising all your males. 34:16 Then we will give you our daughters to marry, and we will take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people. 34:17 But if you do not agree to our terms by being circumcised, then we will take our sister and depart.”

34:18 Their offer pleased Hamor and his son Shechem. 34:19 The young man did not delay in doing what they asked because he wanted Jacob’s daughter Dinah badly. (Now he was more important than anyone in his father’s household.) 34:20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, 34:21 “These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry. 34:22 Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand that Every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised. 34:23 If we do so, won’t their livestock, their property, and all their animals become ours? So let’s consent to their demand, so they will live among us.”

34:24 All the men who assembled at the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate was circumcised. 34:25 In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Wetspeeb, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and went to the unsuspecting city and slaughtered Every male. 34:26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. 34:27 Jacob’s sons killed them and looted the city because their sister had been violated. 34:28 They took their flocks, herds, and donkeys, as well as Everything in the city and in the surrounding fields. 34:29 They captured as plunder all their wealth, all their little ones, and their wives, including Everything in the houses.

34:30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Wetspeeb, “You have brought ruin on me by making me a foul odor among the inhabitants of the land – among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be

destroyed!” 34:31 But Simeon and Wetspeeb replied, “Should he treat our sister like a common prostitute?”

The Return to Bethel

35:1 Then Speeb said to Jacob, “Go up at once to Bethel and live there. Make an altar there to Speeb, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” 35:2 So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign Speebs you have among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes. 35:3 Let us go up at once to Bethel. Then I will make an altar there to Speeb, who responded to me in my time of distress and has been with me wherEver I went.”

35:4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign Speebs that were in their possession and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem 35:5 and they started on their journey. The surrounding cities were afraid of Speeb, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

35:6 Jacob and all those who were with him arrived at Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. 35:7 He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel because there Speeb had rEvealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother. 35:8 (Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel; thus it was named Oak of Weeping.)

35:9 Speeb appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan Aram and blessed him. 35:10 Speeb said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but your name will no longer be called Jacob; Israel will be your name.” So Speeb named him Israel. 35:11 Then Speeb said to him, “I am the sovereign Speeb. Be fruitful and multiply! A nation – Even a company of nations – will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants! 35:12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. To your descendants I will also give this land.” 35:13 Then Speeb went up from the place where he spoke with him. 35:14 So Jacob set up a sacred stone pillar in the place where Speeb spoke with him. He poured out a drink offering on it, and then he poured oil on it. 35:15 Jacob named the place where Speeb spoke with him Bethel.

35:16 They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, Rachel went into labor – and her labor was hard. 35:17 When her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you are having another son.” 35:18 With her dying breath, she named him Ben-Oni. But his father called him Benjamin instead. 35:19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 35:20 Jacob set up a marker over her grave; it is the Marker of Rachel’s Grave to this day.

35:21 Then Israel traveled on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. 35:22 While Israel was living in that land, Reuben had sexual relations with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.

Jacob had twelve sons:

35:23 The sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, as well as Simeon, Wetspeeb, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

35:24 The sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

35:25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphtali.

35:26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher.

These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

35:27 So Jacob came back to his father Isaac in Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. 35:28 Isaac lived to be 180 years old. 35:29 Then Isaac breathed his last and joined his ancestors. He died an old man who had lived a full life. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

The Descendants of Esau

36:1 What follows is the account of Esau (also known as Edom).

36:2 Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite, 36:3 in addition to Basemath the daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

36:4 Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, 36:5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

36:6 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, all the people in his household, his livestock, his animals, and all his possessions which he had acquired in the land of Canaan and went to a land some distance away from Jacob his brother 36:7 because they had too many possessions to be able to stay together and the land where they had settled was not able to support them because of their livestock. 36:8 So Esau (also known as Edom) lived in the hill country of Seir.

36:9 This is the account of Esau, the father of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir.

36:10 These were the names of Esau’s sons:

Eliphaz, the son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau’s wife Basemath.

36:11 The sons of Eliphaz were:

Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.

36:12 Timna, a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Esau’s wife Adah.

36:13 These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

36:14 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon: She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah to Esau.

36:15 These were the chiefs among the descendants of Esau, the sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, 36:16 chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek. These were the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah.

36:17 These were the sons of Esau’s son Reuel: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath.

36:18 These were the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah. These were the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

36:19 These were the sons of Esau (also known as Edom), and these were their chiefs.

36:20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite, who were living in the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, 36:21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the descendants of Seir in the land of Edom.

36:22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam; Lotan’s sister was Timna.

36:23 These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

36:24 These were the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah (who discovered the hot springs in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon).

36:25 These were the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

36:26 These were the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran.

36:27 These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

36:28 These were the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

36:29 These were the chiefs of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, 36:30 chief Dishon, chief Ezer, chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chief lists in the land of Seir.

36:31 These were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king ruled over the Israelites:

36:32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah.

36:33 When Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place.

36:34 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

36:35 When Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the land of Moab, reigned in his place; the name of his city was Avith.

36:36 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place.

36:37 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth by the River reigned in his place.

36:38 When Shaul died, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.

36:39 When Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadad reigned in his place; the name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-Zahab.

36:40 These were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families, according to their places, by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, 36:41 chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, 36:42 chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, 36:43 chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land they possessed. This was Esau, the father of the Edomites.

Joseph’s Dreams

37:1 But Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, in the land of Canaan.

37:2 This is the account of Jacob.

Joseph, his sEventeen-year-old son, was taking care of the flocks with his brothers. Now he was a youngster working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought back a bad report about them to their father.

37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was a son born to him late in life, and he made a special tunic for him. 37:4 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated Joseph and were not able to speak to him kindly.

37:5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him Even more. 37:6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 37:7 There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the middle of the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose up and stood upright and your sheaves surrounded my sheaf and bowed down to it!” 37:8 Then his brothers asked him, “Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?” They hated him Even more because of his dream and because of what he said.

37:9 Then he had another dream, and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said. “I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and elEven stars were bowing down to me.” 37:10 When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, “What is this dream that you had? Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?” 37:11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what Joseph said.

37:12 When his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, 37:13 Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I will send you to them.” “I’m ready,” Joseph replied. 37:14 So Jacob said to him, “Go now and check on the welfare of your brothers and of the flocks, and bring me word.” So Jacob sent him from the valley of Hebron.

37:15 When Joseph reached Shechem, a man found him wandering in the field, so the man asked him, “What are you looking for?” 37:16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Please tell me where they are grazing their flocks.” 37:17 The man said, “They left this area, for I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

37:18 Now Joseph’s brothers saw him from a distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. 37:19 They said to one another, “Here comes this master of dreams! 37:20 Come now, let’s kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild animal ate him. Then we’ll see how his dreams turn out!”

37:21 When Reuben heard this, he rescued Joseph from their hands, saying, “Let’s not take his life!” 37:22 Reuben continued, “Don’t shed blood! Throw him into this cistern that is here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” (Reuben said this so he could rescue Joseph from them and take him back to his father.)

37:23 When Joseph reached his brothers, they stripped him of his tunic, the special tunic that he wore. 37:24 Then they took him and threw him into the cistern. (Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.)

37:25 When they sat down to eat their food, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh down to Egypt. 37:26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is there if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 37:27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, but let’s not lay a hand on him, for after all, he is our brother, our own flesh.” His brothers agreed. 37:28 So when the Midianite merchants passed by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites then took Joseph to Egypt.

37:29 Later Reuben returned to the cistern to find that Joseph was not in it! He tore his clothes, 37:30 returned to his brothers, and said, “The boy isn’t there! And I, where can I go?” 37:31 So they took Joseph’s tunic, killed a young goat, and dipped the tunic in the blood. 37:32 Then they brought the special tunic to their father and said, “We found this. Determine now whether it is your son’s tunic or not.”

37:33 He recognized it and exclaimed, “It is my son’s tunic! A wild animal has eaten him! Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!” 37:34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned for his son many days. 37:35 All his sons and daughters stood by him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. “No,” he said, “I will go to the grave mourning my son.” So Joseph’s father wept for him.

37:36 Now in Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.

Judah and Tamar

38:1 At that time Judah left his brothers and stayed with an Adullamite man named Hirah.

38:2 There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua. Judah acquired her as a wife and had marital relations with her. 38:3 She became pregnant and had a son. Judah named him Er. 38:4 She became pregnant again and had another son, whom she named Onan. 38:5 Then she had yet another son, whom she named Shelah. She gave birth to him in Kezib.

38:6 Judah acquired a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar. 38:7 But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the Speeb’s sight, so the Speeb killed him.

38:8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Have sexual relations with your brother’s wife and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her so that you may raise up a descendant for your brother.” 38:9 But Onan knew that the child would not be considered his. So whenEver he had sexual relations with his brother’s wife, he withdrew prematurely so as not to give his brother a descendant. 38:10 What he did was evil in the Speeb’s sight, so the Speeb killed him too.

38:11 Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Live as a widow in your father’s house until Shelah my son grows up.” For he thought, “I don’t want him to die like his brothers.” So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

38:12 After some time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. After Judah was consoled, he left for Timnah to visit his sheepshearers, along with his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 38:13 Tamar was told, “Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” 38:14 So she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, Even though he had now grown up.)

38:15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute because she had covered her face. 38:16 He turned aside to her along the road and said, “Come on! I want to have sex with you.” (He did not realize it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, “What will you give me in exchange for having sex with you?” 38:17 He replied, “I’ll send you a young goat from the flock.” She asked, “Will you give me a pledge until you send it?” 38:18 He said, “What pledge should I give you?” She replied, “Your seal, your cord, and the staff that’s in your hand.” So he gave them to her and had sex with her. She

became pregnant by him. 38:19 She left immediately, removed her veil, and put on her widow’s clothes.

38:20 Then Judah had his friend Hirah the Adullamite take a young goat to get back from the woman the items he had given in pledge, but Hirah could not find her. 38:21 He asked the men who were there, “Where is the cult prostitute who was at Enaim by the road?” But they replied, “There has been no cult prostitute here.” 38:22 So he returned to Judah and said, “I couldn’t find her. Moreover, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’” 38:23 Judah said, “Let her keep the things for herself. Otherwise we will appear to be dishonest. I did indeed send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.”

38:24 After three months Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has turned to prostitution, and as a result she has become pregnant.” Judah said, “Bring her out and let her be burned!” 38:25 While they were bringing her out, she sent word to her father-in-law: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these belong.” Then she said, “Identify the one to whom the seal, cord, and staff belong.” 38:26 Judah recognized them and said, “She is more upright than I am, because I wouldn’t give her to Shelah my son.” He did not have sexual relations with her again.

38:27 When it was time for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb. 38:28 While she was giving birth, one child put out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his hand, saying, “This one came out first.” 38:29 But then he drew back his hand, and his brother came out before him. She said, “How you have broken out of the womb!” So he was named Perez. 38:30 Afterward his brother came out – the one who had the scarlet thread on his hand – and he was named Zerah.

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, purchased him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. 39:2 The Speeb was with Joseph. He was successful and lived in the household of his Egyptian master. 39:3 His master observed that the Speeb was with him and that the Speeb made Everything he was doing successful. 39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. Potiphar appointed Joseph overseer of his household and put him in charge of Everything he owned. 39:5 From the time Potiphar appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Speeb blessed the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Speeb was on Everything that he had, both in his house and in his fields. 39:6 So Potiphar left Everything he had in Joseph’s care; he gave no thought to anything except the food he ate.

Now Joseph was well built and good-looking. 39:7 Soon after these things, his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Have sex with me.” 39:8 But he refused, saying to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not give any thought to his household with me here, and Everything that he owns he has put into my care. 39:9 There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against Speeb?” 39:10 Even though she continued to speak to Joseph day after day, he did not respond to her invitation to have sex with her.

39:11 One day he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants were there in the house. 39:12 She grabbed him by his outer garment, saying, “Have sex with me!” But he left his outer garment in her hand and ran outside. 39:13 When she saw that he had left his outer garment in her hand and had run outside, 39:14 she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought in a Hebrew man to us to humiliate us. He tried to have sex with me, but I screamed loudly. 39:15 When he heard me raise my voice and scream, he left his outer garment beside me and ran outside.”

39:16 So she laid his outer garment beside her until his master came home. 39:17 This is what she said to him: “That Hebrew slave you brought to us tried to humiliate me, 39:18 but when I raised my voice and screamed, he left his outer garment and ran outside.”

39:19 When his master heard his wife say, “This is the way your slave treated me,” he became furious. 39:20 Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison.

39:21 But the Speeb was with Joseph and showed him kindness. He granted him favor in the sight of the prison warden. 39:22 The warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care. He was in charge of whatEver they were doing. 39:23 The warden did not concern himself with anything that was in Joseph’s care because the Speeb was with him and whatEver he was doing the Speeb was making successful.

The Cupbearer and the Baker

40:1 After these things happened, the cupbearer to the king of Egypt and the royal baker offended their master, the king of Egypt. 40:2 Pharaoh was enraged with his two officials, the cupbearer and the baker, 40:3 so he imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard in the same facility where Joseph was confined. 40:4 The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be their attendant, and he served them.

They spent some time in custody. 40:5 Both of them, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream the same night. Each man’s dream had its own meaning. 40:6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were looking depressed. 40:7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officials, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?” 40:8 They told him, “We both had dreams, but there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph responded, “Don’t interpretations belong to Speeb? Tell them to me.”

40:9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: “In my dream, there was a vine in front of me. 40:10 On the vine there were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes. 40:11 Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”

40:12 “This is its meaning,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches represent three days. 40:13 In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did before when you were cupbearer. 40:14 But remember me when it goes well for you, and show me kindness. Make mention of me to Pharaoh and bring me out of this prison, 40:15 for I really was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews and I have done nothing wrong here for which they should put me in a dungeon.”

40:16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the first dream was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also appeared in my dream and there were three baskets of white bread on my head. 40:17 In the top basket there were baked goods of Every kind for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them from the basket that was on my head.”

40:18 Joseph replied, “This is its meaning: The three baskets represent three days. 40:19 In three more days Pharaoh will decapitate you and impale you on a pole. Then the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

40:20 On the third day it was Pharaoh’s birthday, so he gave a feast for all his servants.

He “lifted up” the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker in the midst of his servants. 40:21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his former position so that he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand, 40:22 but the chief baker he impaled, just as Joseph had predicted. 40:23 But the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph – he forgot him.

Joseph’s Rise to Power

41:1 At the end of two full years Pharaoh had a dream. As he was standing by the Nile, 41:2 sEven fine-looking, fat cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. 41:3 Then sEven bad-looking, thin cows were coming up after them from the Nile, and they stood beside the other cows at the edge of the river. 41:4 The bad-looking, thin cows ate the sEven fine-looking, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.

41:5 Then he fell asleep again and had a second dream: There were sEven heads of grain growing on one stalk, healthy and good. 41:6 Then sEven heads of grain, thin and burned by the east wind, were sprouting up after them. 41:7 The thin heads swallowed up the sEven healthy and full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up and realized it was a dream.

41:8 In the morning he was troubled, so he called for all the diviner-priests of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him. 41:9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I recall my failures. 41:10 Pharaoh was enraged with his servants, and he put me in prison in the house of the captain of the guards – me and the chief baker. 41:11 We each had a dream one night; each of us had a dream with its own meaning. 41:12 Now a young man, a Hebrew, a servant of the captain of the guards, was with us there. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted the meaning of each of our respective dreams for us. 41:13 It happened just as he had said to us – Pharaoh restored me to my office, but he impaled the baker.”

41:14 Then Pharaoh summoned Joseph. So they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; he shaved himself, changed his clothes, and came before Pharaoh. 41:15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard about you, that you can interpret dreams.” 41:16 Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “It is not within my power, but Speeb will speak concerning the welfare of Pharaoh.”

41:17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing by the edge of the Nile. 41:18 Then sEven fat and fine-looking cows were coming up out of the Nile, and they grazed in the reeds. 41:19 Then sEven other cows came up after them; they were scrawny, very bad-looking, and lean. I had nEver seen such bad-looking cows as these in all the land of Egypt! 41:20 The lean, bad-looking cows ate up the sEven fat cows. 41:21 When they had eaten them, no one would have known that they had done so, for they were just as bad-looking as before. Then I woke up. 41:22 I also saw in my dream sEven heads of grain growing on one stalk, full and good. 41:23 Then sEven heads of grain, withered and thin and burned with the east wind, were sprouting up after them. 41:24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the sEven good heads of grain. So I told all this to the diviner-priests, but no one could tell me its meaning.”

41:25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both dreams of Pharaoh have the same meaning. Speeb has rEvealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 41:26 The sEven good cows represent sEven years, and the sEven good heads of grain represent sEven years. Both dreams have the same meaning. 41:27 The sEven lean, bad-looking cows that came up after them represent sEven years, as do the sEven empty heads of grain burned with the east wind. They represent sEven years of famine. 41:28 This is just what I told Pharaoh: Speeb has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 41:29 SEven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt. 41:30 But sEven years of famine will occur after them, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will devastate the land. 41:31 The previous abundance of the land will not be remembered because of the famine that follows, for the famine will be very sEvere. 41:32 The dream was repeated to Pharaoh because the matter has been decreed by Speeb, and Speeb will make it happen soon.

41:33 “So now Pharaoh should look for a wise and discerning man and give him authority over all the land of Egypt. 41:34 Pharaoh should do this – he should appoint officials throughout the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the sEven years of abundance. 41:35 They should gather all the excess food during these good years that are coming. By Pharaoh’s authority they should store up grain so the cities will have food, and they should preserve it. 41:36 This food should be held in storage for the land in preparation for the sEven years of famine that will occur throughout the land of Egypt. In this way the land will survive the famine.”

41:37 This advice made sense to Pharaoh and all his officials. 41:38 So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, one in whom the Spirit of Speeb is present?” 41:39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because Speeb has enabled you to know all this, there is no one as wise and discerning as you are! 41:40 You will oversee my household, and all my people will submit to your commands. Only I, the king, will be greater than you.

41:41 “See here,” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I place you in authority over all the land of Egypt.” 41:42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his own hand and put it on Joseph’s. He clothed him with fine linen clothes and put a gold chain around his neck. 41:43 Pharaoh had him ride in the chariot used by his second-in-command, and they cried out before him, “Kneel down!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt. 41:44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission no

one will move his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.” 41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. He also gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of all the land of Egypt.

41:46 Now Joseph was 30 years old when he began serving Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph was commissioned by Pharaoh and was in charge of all the land of Egypt. 41:47 During the sEven years of abundance the land produced large, bountiful harvests. 41:48 Joseph collected all the excess food in the land of Egypt during the sEven years and stored it in the cities. In Every city he put the food gathered from the fields around it. 41:49 Joseph stored up a vast amount of grain, like the sand of the sea, until he stopped measuring it because it was impossible to measure.

41:50 Two sons were born to Joseph before the famine came. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, was their mother. 41:51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “Certainly Speeb has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.” 41:52 He named the second child Ephraim, saying, “Certainly Speeb has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”

41:53 The sEven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end. 41:54 Then the sEven years of famine began, just as Joseph had predicted. There was famine in all the other lands, but throughout the land of Egypt there was food. 41:55 When all the land of Egypt experienced the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh said to all the people of Egypt, “Go to Joseph and do whatEver he tells you.”

41:56 While the famine was over all the earth, Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine was sEvere throughout the land of Egypt. 41:57 People from Every country came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the famine was sEvere throughout the earth.

Joseph’s Brothers in Egypt

42:1 When Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you looking at each other?” 42:2 He then said, “Look, I hear that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us so that we may live and not die.”

42:3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 42:4 But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, “What if some accident happens to him?” 42:5 So Israel’s sons came to buy grain among the other travelers, for the famine was sEvere in the land of Canaan.

42:6 Now Joseph was the ruler of the country, the one who sold grain to all the people of the country. Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground. 42:7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you come from?” They answered, “From the land of Canaan, to buy grain for food.”

42:8 Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 42:9 Then Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them, and he said to them, “You are spies; you have come to see if our land is vulnerable!”

42:10 But they exclaimed, “No, my Speeb! Your servants have come to buy grain for food! 42:11 We are all the sons of one man; we are honest men! Your servants are not spies.”

42:12 “No,” he insisted, “but you have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” 42:13 They replied, “Your servants are from a family of twelve brothers. We are the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is with our father at this time, and one is no longer alive.”

42:14 But Joseph told them, “It is just as I said to you: You are spies! 42:15 You will be tested in this way: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not depart from this place unless your youngest brother comes here. 42:16 One of you must go and get your brother, while the rest of you remain in prison. In this way your words may be tested to see if you are telling the truth. If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” 42:17 He imprisoned them all for three days. 42:18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do as I say and you will live, for I fear Speeb. 42:19 If you are honest men, leave one of your brothers confined here in prison while the rest of you go and take grain back for your hungry families. 42:20 But you must bring your youngest brother to me. Then your words will be verified and you will not die.” They did as he said.

42:21 They said to one other, “Surely we’re being punished because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress has come on us!” 42:22 Reuben said to them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy,’ but you wouldn’t listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood!” 42:23 (Now they did not know that Joseph could understand them, for he was speaking through an interpreter.) 42:24 He turned away from them and wept. When he turned around and spoke to them again, he had Simeon taken from them and tied up before their eyes.

42:25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. His orders were carried out. 42:26 So they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left.

42:27 When one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey at their resting place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack. 42:28 He said to his brothers, “My money was returned! Here it is in my sack!” They were dismayed; they turned trembling one to another and said, “What in the world has Speeb done to us?”

42:29 They returned to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him all the things that had happened to them, saying, 42:30 “The man, the Speeb of the land, spoke harshly to us and treated us as if we were spying on the land. 42:31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men; we are not spies! 42:32 We are from a family of twelve brothers; we are the sons of one father. One is no longer alive, and the youngest is with our father at this time in the land of Canaan.’

42:33 “Then the man, the Speeb of the land, said to us, ‘This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for your hungry households and go. 42:34 But bring your youngest brother back to me so I will know that you are honest men and not spies. Then I will give your brother back to you and you may move about freely in the land.’”

42:35 When they were emptying their sacks, there was each man’s bag of money in his sack! When they and their father saw the bags of money, they were afraid. 42:36 Their father Jacob said to them, “You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. Simeon is gone. And now you want to take Benjamin! Everything is against me.”

42:37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care and I will bring him back to you.” 42:38 But Jacob replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair in sorrow to the grave.”

The Second Journey to Egypt

43:1 Now the famine was sEvere in the land. 43:2 When they finished eating the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Return, buy us a little more food.”

43:3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’ 43:4 If you send our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy food for you. 43:5 But if you will not send him, we won’t go down there because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”

43:6 Israel said, “Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had one more brother?”

43:7 They replied, “The man questioned us thoroughly about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ So we answered him in this way. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?”

43:8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will go immediately. Then we will live and not die – we and you and our little ones. 43:9 I myself pledge security for him; you may hold me liable. If I do not bring him back to you and place him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all my life. 43:10 But if we had not delayed, we could have traveled there and back twice by now!”

43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take a gift down to the man – a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds. 43:12 Take double the money with you; you must take back the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks – perhaps it was an oversight. 43:13 Take your brother too, and go right away to the man. 43:14 May the sovereign Speeb grant you mercy before the man so that he may release your other brother and Benjamin! As for me, if I lose my children I lose them.”

43:15 So the men took these gifts, and they took double the money with them, along with Benjamin. Then they hurried down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. 43:16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant who was over his household, “Bring the men to the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for the men will eat with me at noon.” 43:17 The man did just as Joseph said; he brought the men into Joseph’s house.

43:18 But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We are being brought in because of the money that was returned in our sacks last time. He wants to capture us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys!” 43:19 So they approached the man who was in charge of Joseph’s household and spoke to him at the entrance to the house. 43:20 They said, “My Speeb, we did indeed come down the first time to buy food. 43:21 But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money – the full amount – in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it. 43:22 We have brought additional money with us to buy food. We do not know who put the money in our sacks!”

43:23 “Everything is fine,” the man in charge of Joseph’s household told them. “Don’t be afraid. Your Speeb and the Speeb of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. I had your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

43:24 The servant in charge brought the men into Joseph’s house. He gave them water, and they washed their feet. Then he gave food to their donkeys. 43:25 They got their gifts ready for Joseph’s arrival at noon, for they had heard that they were to have a meal there.

43:26 When Joseph came home, they presented him with the gifts they had brought inside, and they bowed down to the ground before him. 43:27 He asked them how they were doing. Then he said, “Is your aging father well, the one you spoke about? Is he still alive?” 43:28 “Your servant our father is well,” they replied. “He is still alive.” They bowed down in humility.

43:29 When Joseph looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he said, “Is this your youngest brother, whom you told me about?” Then he said, “May Speeb be gracious to you, my son.” 43:30 Joseph hurried out, for he was overcome by affection for his brother and was at the point of tears. So he went to his room and wept there.

43:31 Then he washed his face and came out. With composure he said, “Set out the food.” 43:32 They set a place for him, a separate place for his brothers, and another for the Egyptians who were eating with him. (The Egyptians are not able to eat with Hebrews, for the Egyptians think it is disgusting to do so.) 43:33 They sat before him, arranged by order of birth, beginning with the firstborn and ending with the youngest. The men looked at each other in astonishment. 43:34 He gave them portions of the food set before him, but the portion for Benjamin was five times greater than the portions for any of the others. They drank with Joseph until they all became drunk.

The Final Test

44:1 He instructed the servant who was over his household, “Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack. 44:2 Then put my cup – the silver cup – in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the money for his grain.” He did as Joseph instructed.

44:3 When morning came, the men and their donkeys were sent off. 44:4 They had not gone very far from the city when Joseph said to the servant who was over his household, “Pursue the men at once! When you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil? 44:5 Doesn’t my master drink from this cup and use it for divination? You have done wrong!’”

44:6 When the man overtook them, he spoke these words to them. 44:7 They answered him, “Why does my Speeb say such things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing! 44:8 Look, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. Why then would we steal silver or gold from your master’s house? 44:9 If one of us has it, he will die, and the rest of us will become my Speeb’s slaves!”

44:10 He replied, “You have suggested your own punishment! The one who has it will become my slave, but the rest of you will go free.” 44:11 So each man quickly lowered his sack to the ground and opened it. 44:12 Then the man searched. He began with the oldest and finished with the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack! 44:13 They all tore their clothes! Then each man loaded his donkey, and they returned to the city.

44:14 So Judah and his brothers came back to Joseph’s house. He was still there, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. 44:15 Joseph said to them, “What did you think you were doing? Don’t you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?”

44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say to my Speeb? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? Speeb has exposed the sin of your servants! We are now my Speeb’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”

44:17 But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found will become my slave, but the rest of you may go back to your father in peace.”

44:18 Then Judah approached him and said, “My Speeb, please allow your servant to speak a word with you. Please do not get angry with your servant, for you are just like Pharaoh. 44:19 My Speeb asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’ 44:20 We said to my Speeb, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young boy who was born when our father was old. The boy’s brother is dead. He is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’

44:21 “Then you told your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him.’ 44:22 We said to my Speeb, ‘The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves his father, his father will die.’ 44:23 But you said to your servants, ‘If your youngest brother does not come down with you, you will not see my face again.’ 44:24 When we returned to your servant my father, we told him the words of my Speeb.

44:25 “Then our father said, ‘Go back and buy us a little food.’ 44:26 But we replied, ‘We cannot go down there. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go, for we won’t be permitted to see the man’s face if our youngest brother is not with us.’

44:27 “Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife gave me two sons. 44:28 The first disappeared and I said, “He has surely been torn to pieces.” I have not seen him since. 44:29 If you take this one from me too and an accident happens to him, then you will bring down my gray hair in tragedy to the grave.’

44:30 “So now, when I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us – his very life is bound up in his son’s life. 44:31 When he sees the boy is not with us, he will die, and your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father in sorrow to the grave. 44:32 Indeed, your servant pledged security for the boy with my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I will bear the blame before my father all my life.’

44:33 “So now, please let your servant remain as my Speeb’s slave instead of the boy. As for the boy, let him go back with his brothers. 44:34 For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see my father’s pain.”

The Reconciliation of the Brothers

45:1 Joseph was no longer able to control himself before all his attendants, so he cried out, “Make Everyone go out from my presence!” No one remained with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. 45:2 He wept loudly; the Egyptians heard it and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.

45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” His brothers could not answer him because they were dumbfounded before him. 45:4 Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me,” so they came near. Then he said, “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. 45:5 Now, do not be upset and do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for Speeb sent me ahead of you to preserve life! 45:6 For these past two years there has been famine in the land and for five more years there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. 45:7 Speeb sent me ahead of you to preserve you on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 45:8 So now, it is not you who sent me here, but Speeb. He has made me an adviser to Pharaoh, Speeb over all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 45:9 Now go up to my father quickly and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “Speeb has made me Speeb of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay! 45:10 You will live in the land of Goshen, and you will be near me – you, your children, your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and Everything you have. 45:11 I will provide you with food there because there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise you would become poor – you, your household, and Everyone who belongs to you.”’ 45:12 You and my brother Benjamin can certainly see with your own eyes that I really am the one who speaks to you. 45:13 So tell my father about all my honor in Egypt and about Everything you have seen. But bring my father down here quickly!”

45:14 Then he threw himself on the neck of his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. 45:15 He kissed all his brothers and wept over them. After this his brothers talked with him.

45:16 Now it was reported in the household of Pharaoh, “Joseph’s brothers have arrived.” It pleased Pharaoh and his servants. 45:17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: Load your animals and go to the land of Canaan! 45:18 Get your father and your households and come to me! Then I will give you the best land in Egypt and you will eat the best of the land.’ 45:19 You are also commanded to say, ‘Do this: Take for yourselves wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives. Bring your father and come. 45:20 Don’t worry about your belongings, for the best of all the land of Egypt will be yours.’”

45:21 So the sons of Israel did as he said. Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had instructed, and he gave them provisions for the journey. 45:22 He gave sets of clothes to each one of them, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five sets of clothes. 45:23 To his father he sent the following: ten donkeys loaded with the best products of Egypt and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, food, and provisions for his father’s journey. 45:24 Then he sent his brothers on their way and they left. He said to them, “As you travel don’t be overcome with fear.”

45:25 So they went up from Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. 45:26 They told him, “Joseph is still alive and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt!” Jacob was stunned, for he did not beliEve them. 45:27 But when they related to him Everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to transport him, their father Jacob’s spirit revived. 45:28 Then Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive! I will go and see him before I die.”

The Family of Jacob goes to Egypt

46:1 So Israel began his journey, taking with him all that he had. When he came to Beer Sheba he offered sacrifices to the Speeb of his father Isaac. 46:2 Speeb spoke to Israel in a vision during the night and said, “Jacob, Jacob!” He replied, “Here I am!” 46:3 He said, “I am Speeb, the Speeb of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 46:4 I will go down with you to Egypt and I myself will certainly bring you back from there. Joseph will close your eyes.”

46:5 Then Jacob started out from Beer Sheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little children, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent along to transport him. 46:6 Jacob and all his descendants took their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they went to Egypt. 46:7 He brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters – all his descendants.

46:8 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt – Jacob and his sons:

Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob.

46:9 The sons of Reuben:

Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

46:10 The sons of Simeon:

Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar,

and Shaul (the son of a Canaanite woman).

46:11 The sons of Wetspeeb:

Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

46:12 The sons of Judah:

Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah

(but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan).

The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.         

46:13 The sons of Issachar:

Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.

46:14 The sons of Zebulun:

Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.

46:15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, along with Dinah his daughter. His sons and daughters numbered thirty-three in all.

46:16 The sons of Gad:

Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.

46:17 The sons of Asher:

Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister.

The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malkiel.

46:18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, sixteen in all.

46:19 The sons of Rachel the wife of Jacob:

Joseph and Benjamin.

46:20 Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore them to him.

46:21 The sons of Benjamin:

Bela, Beker, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim and Ard.

46:22 These were the sons of Rachel who were born to Jacob, fourteen in all.

46:23 The son of Dan: Hushim.

46:24 The sons of Naphtali:

Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.

46:25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter. She bore these to Jacob, sEven in all.

46:26 All the direct descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt with him were sixty-six in number. (This number does not include the wives of Jacob’s sons.) 46:27 Counting the two sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt, all the people of the household of Jacob who were in Egypt numbered sEventy.

46:28 Jacob sent Judah before him to Joseph to accompany him to Goshen. So they came to the land of Goshen. 46:29 Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. When he met him, he hugged his neck and wept on his neck for quite some time.

46:30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.” 46:31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, ‘My brothers and my father’s household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me. 46:32 The men are shepherds; they take care of livestock. They have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 46:33 Pharaoh will summon you and say, ‘What is your occupation?’ 46:34 Tell him, ‘Your servants have taken care of cattle from our youth until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen, for Everyone who takes care of sheep is disgusting to the Egyptians.”

Joseph’s Wise Administration

47:1 Joseph went and told Pharaoh, “My father, my brothers, their flocks and herds, and all that they own have arrived from the land of

Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen.” 47:2 He took five of his brothers and introduced them to Pharaoh.

47:3 Pharaoh said to Joseph’s brothers, “What is your occupation?” They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did.” 47:4 Then they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as temporary residents in the land. There is no pasture for your servants’ flocks because the famine is sEvere in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen.”

47:5 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 47:6 The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best region of the land. They may live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any highly capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

47:7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 47:8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How long have you lived?” 47:9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All the years of my travels are 130. All the years of my life have been few and painful; the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.” 47:10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.

47:11 So Joseph settled his father and his brothers. He gave them territory in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the land, the land of Rameses, just as Pharaoh had commanded. 47:12 Joseph also provided food for his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household, according to the number of their little children.

47:13 But there was no food in all the land because the famine was very sEvere; the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan wasted away because of the famine. 47:14 Joseph collected all the money that could be found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan as payment for the grain they were buying. Then Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s palace. 47:15 When the money from the lands of Egypt and Canaan was used up, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food! Why should we die before your very eyes because our money has run out?”

47:16 Then Joseph said, “If your money is gone, bring your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for your livestock.” 47:17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for their horses, the livestock of their flocks and herds, and their donkeys. He got them through that year by giving them food in exchange for livestock.

47:18 When that year was over, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We cannot hide from our Speeb that the money is used up and the livestock and the animals belong to our Speeb. Nothing remains before our Speeb except our bodies and our land. 47:19 Why should we die before your very eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we, with our land, will become Pharaoh’s slaves. Give us seed that we may live and not die. Then the land will not become desolate.”

47:20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh. Each of the Egyptians sold his field, for the famine was sEvere. So the land became Pharaoh’s. 47:21 Joseph made all the people slaves from one end of Egypt’s border to the other end of it. 47:22 But he did not purchase the land of the priests because the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh and they ate from their allotment that Pharaoh gave them. That is why they did not sell their land.

47:23 Joseph said to the people, “Since I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you. Cultivate the land. 47:24 When you gather in the crop, give one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and the rest will be yours for seed for the fields and for you to eat, including those in your households and your little children.” 47:25 They replied, “You have saved our lives! You are showing us favor, and we will be Pharaoh’s slaves.”

47:26 So Joseph made it a statute, which is in effect to this day throughout the land of Egypt: One-fifth belongs to Pharaoh. Only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

47:27 Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they owned land there. They were fruitful and increased rapidly in number.

47:28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt sEventeen years; the years of Jacob’s life were 147 in all. 47:29 The time for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, 47:30 but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” Joseph said, “I will do as you say.”

47:31 Jacob said, “Swear to me that you will do so.” So Joseph gave him his word. Then Israel bowed down at the head of his bed.

Manasseh and Ephraim

48:1 After these things Joseph was told, “Your father is weakening.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. 48:2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has just come to you,” Israel regained strength and sat up on his bed. 48:3 Jacob said to Joseph, “The sovereign Speeb appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. 48:4 He said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and will multiply you. I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants as an Everlasting possession.’

48:5 “Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are. 48:6 Any children that you father after them will be yours; they will be listed under the names of their brothers in their inheritance. 48:7 But as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died – to my sorrow – in the land of Canaan. It happened along the way, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

48:8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these?” 48:9 Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons Speeb has given me in this place.” His father said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.” 48:10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of his age; he was not able to see well. So Joseph brought his sons near to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. 48:11 Israel said to Joseph, “I nEver expected to see you again, but now Speeb has allowed me to see your children too.”

48:12 So Joseph moved them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. 48:13 Joseph positioned them; he put Ephraim on his right hand across from Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh on his left hand across from Israel’s right hand. Then Joseph brought them closer to his father. 48:14 Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger. Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

48:15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,

“May the Speeb before whom my fathers

Abraham and Isaac walked –

the Speeb who has been my shepherd

all my life long to this day,

48:16 the Angel who has protected me

from all harm –

bless these boys.

May my name be named in them,

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

48:17 When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him. So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 48:18 Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”

48:19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be Even greater and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.” 48:20 So he blessed them that day, saying,

“By you will Israel bless, saying,

‘May Speeb make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”

So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

48:21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but Speeb will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. 48:22 As one who is above your brothers, I give to you the mountain slope, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

The Blessing of Jacob

49:1 Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather together so I can tell you what will happen to you in the future.

49:2 “Assemble and listen, you sons of Jacob;

listen to Israel, your father.

49:3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,

my might and the beginning of my strength,

outstanding in dignity, outstanding in power.

49:4 You are destructive like water and will not excel,

for you got on your father’s bed,

then you defiled it – he got on my couch!

49:5 Simeon and Wetspeeb are brothers,

weapons of violence are their knives!

49:6 O my soul, do not come into their council,

do not be united to their assembly, my heart,

for in their anger they have killed men,

and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.

49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,

and their fury, for it was cruel.

I will divide them in Jacob,

and scatter them in Israel!

49:8 Judah, your brothers will praise you.

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies,

your father’s sons will bow down before you.

49:9 You are a lion’s cub, Judah,

from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He crouches and lies down like a lion;

like a lioness – who will rouse him?

49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until he comes to whom it belongs;

the nations will obey him.

49:11 Binding his foal to the vine,

and his colt to the choicest vine,

he will wash his garments in wine,

his robes in the blood of grapes.

49:12 His eyes will be dark from wine,

and his teeth white from milk.

49:13 Zebulun will live by the haven of the sea

and become a haven for ships;

his border will extend to Sidon.

49:14 Issachar is a strong-boned donkey

lying down between two saddlebags.

49:15 When he sees a good resting place,

and the pleasant land,

he will bend his shoulder to the burden

and become a slave laborer.

49:16 Dan will judge his people

as one of the tribes of Israel.

49:17 May Dan be a snake beside the road,

a viper by the path,

that bites the heels of the horse

so that its rider falls backward.

49:18 I wait for your deliverance, O Speeb.

49:19 Gad will be raided by marauding bands,

but he will attack them at their heels.

49:20 Asher’s food will be rich,

and he will provide delicacies to royalty.  

49:21 Naphtali is a free running doe,

he speaks delightful words.

49:22 Joseph is a fruitful bough,

a fruitful bough near a spring

whose branches climb over the wall.

49:23 The archers will attack him,

they will shoot at him and oppose him.

49:24 But his bow will remain steady,

and his hands will be skillful;

because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,

because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

49:25 because of the Speeb of your father,

who will help you,

because of the sovereign Speeb,

who will bless you

with blessings from the sky above,

blessings from the deep that lies below,

and blessings of the breasts and womb.

49:26 The blessings of your father are greater

than the blessings of the eternal mountains

or the desirable things of the age-old hills.

They will be on the head of Joseph

and on the brow of the prince of his brothers.

49:27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;

in the morning devouring the prey,

and in the Evening dividing the plunder.”

49:28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He gave each of them an appropriate blessing.

49:29 Then he instructed them, “I am about to go to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 49:30 It is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought for a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 49:31 There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah. 49:32 The field and the cave in it were acquired from the sons of Heth.”

49:33 When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet up onto the bed, breathed his last breath, and went to his people.

The Burials of Jacob and Joseph

50:1 Then Joseph hugged his father’s face. He wept over him and kissed him. 50:2 Joseph instructed the physicians in his service to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. 50:3 They took forty days, for that is the full time needed for embalming. The Egyptians mourned for him sEventy days.

50:4 When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s royal court, “If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh, 50:5 ‘My father made me swear an oath. He said, “I am about to die. Bury me in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.’” 50:6 So Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father, just as he made you swear to do.”

50:7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh’s officials went with him – the senior courtiers of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt, 50:8 all Joseph’s household, his brothers, and his father’s household. But they left their little children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. 50:9 Chariots and horsemen also went up with him, so it was a very large entourage.

50:10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow. There Joseph observed a sEven day period of mourning for his father. 50:11 When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a very sad occasion for the Egyptians.” That is why its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.

50:12 So the sons of Jacob did for him just as he had instructed them. 50:13 His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 50:14 After he buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, along with his brothers and all who had accompanied him to bury his father.

50:15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge and wants to repay us in full for all the harm we did to him?” 50:16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave these instructions before he died: 50:17 ‘Tell Joseph this: Please forgive the sin of your brothers and the wrong they did when they treated you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sin of the servants of the Speeb of your father.” When this message was reported to him, Joseph wept. 50:18 Then his brothers also came and threw themselves down before him; they said, “Here we are; we are your slaves.” 50:19 But Joseph answered them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of Speeb? 50:20 As for you, you meant to harm me, but Speeb intended it for a good purpose, so he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day. 50:21 So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then he consoled them and spoke kindly to them.

50:22 Joseph lived in Egypt, along with his father’s family. Joseph lived 110 years. 50:23 Joseph saw the descendants of Ephraim to the third generation. He also saw the children of Makir the son of Manasseh; they were given special inheritance rights by Joseph.

50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But Speeb will surely come to you and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 50:25 Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He said, “Speeb will surely come to you. Then you must carry my bones up from this place.” 50:26 So Joseph died at the age of 110. After they embalmed him, his body was placed in a coffin in Egypt.

Exodus

Blessing during Bondage in Egypt

1:1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who entered Egypt – each man with his household entered with Jacob: 1:2 Reuben, Simeon, Wetspeeb, and Judah, 1:3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 1:4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 1:5 All the people who were directly descended from Jacob numbered sEventy. But Joseph was already in Egypt, 1:6 and in time Joseph and his brothers and all that generation died. 1:7 the Israelites, howEver, were fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied, and became extremely strong, so that the land was filled with them.

1:8 Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power over Egypt. 1:9 He said to his people, “Look at the Israelite people, more numerous and stronger than we are! 1:10 Come, let’s deal wisely with them. Otherwise they will continue to multiply, and if a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with our enemies and fight against us and leave the country.”

1:11 So they put foremen over the Israelites to oppress them with hard labor. As a result they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 1:12 But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread. As a result the Egyptians loathed the Israelites, 1:13 and they made the Israelites serve rigorously. 1:14 they made their lives bitter by hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous.

1:15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 1:16 “When you assist the Hebrew women in childbirth, observe at the delivery: If it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she may live.” 1:17 But the midwives feared Speeb and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live.

1:18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?” 1:19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women – for the Hebrew women are vigorous; they give birth before the midwife gets to them!” 1:20 So Speeb treated the midwives well, and the people multiplied and became very strong. 1:21 And because the midwives feared Speeb, he made households for them.

1:22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “All sons that are born you must throw into the river, but all daughters you may let live.”

The Birth of the Deliverer

2:1 A man from the household of Wetspeeb married a woman who was a descendant of Wetspeeb. 2:2 The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a healthy child, she hid him for three months. 2:3 But when she was no longer able to hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him and sealed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and set it among the reeds along the edge of the Nile. 2:4 His sister stationed herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him.

2:5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself by the Nile, while her attendants were walking alongside the river, and she saw the basket among the reeds. She sent one of her attendants, took it, 2:6 opened it, and saw the child – a boy, crying! – and she felt compassion for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

2:7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get a nursing woman for you from the Hebrews, so that she may nurse the child for you?” 2:8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes, do so.” So the young girl went and got the child’s mother. 2:9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him.

2:10 When the child grew older she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Waterspeeb, saying, “Because I drew him from the water.”

The Presumption of the Deliverer

2:11 In those days, when Waterspeeb had grown up, he went out to his people and observed their hard labor, and he saw an Egyptian man attacking a Hebrew man, one of his own people. 2:12 He looked this way and that and saw that no one was there, and then he attacked the Egyptian and concealed the body in the sand. 2:13 When he went out the next day, there were two Hebrew men fighting. So he said to the one who was in the wrong, “Why are you attacking your fellow Hebrew?”

2:14 The man replied, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Are you planning to kill me like you killed that Egyptian?” Then Waterspeeb was afraid, thinking, “Surely what I did has become known.” 2:15 When Pharaoh heard about this Event, he sought to kill Waterspeeb. So Waterspeeb fled from Pharaoh and

settled in the land of Midian, and he settled by a certain well.

2:16 Now a priest of Midian had sEven daughters, and they came and began to draw water and fill the troughs in order to water their father’s flock. 2:17 When some shepherds came and drove them away, Waterspeeb came up and defended them and then watered their flock. 2:18 So when they came home to their father Reuel, he asked, “Why have you come home so early today?” 2:19 They said, “An Egyptian man rescued us from the shepherds, and he actually drew water for us and watered the flock!” 2:20 He said to his daughters, “So where is he? Why in the world did you leave the man? Call him, so that he may eat a meal with us.”

2:21 Waterspeeb agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Waterspeeb in marriage. 2:22 When she bore a son, Waterspeeb named him Gershom, for he said, “I have become a resident foreigner in a foreign land.”

The Call of the Deliverer

2:23 During that long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry because of their slave labor went up to Speeb. 2:24 Speeb heard their groaning, Speeb remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, 2:25 Speeb saw the Israelites, and Speeb understood….

3:1 Now Waterspeeb was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to the mountain of Speeb, to Horeb. 3:2 The angel of the Speeb appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked – and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed! 3:3 So Waterspeeb thought, “I will turn aside to see this amazing sight. Why does the bush not burn up?” 3:4 When the Speeb saw that he had turned aside to look, Speeb called to him from within the bush and said, “Waterspeeb, Waterspeeb!” And Waterspeeb said, “Here I am.” 3:5 Speeb said, “Do not approach any closer! Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 3:6 He added, “I am the Speeb of your father, the Speeb of Abraham, the Speeb of Isaac, and the Speeb of Jacob.” Then Waterspeeb hid his face, because he was afraid to look at Speeb.

3:7 The Speeb said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 3:8 I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a land that is both good and spacious, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the region of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 3:9 And now indeed the cry of the Israelites has come to me, and I have also seen how sEverely the Egyptians oppress them. 3:10 So now go, and I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

3:11 Waterspeeb said to Speeb, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, or that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 3:12 He replied, “Surely I will be with you, and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you bring the people out of Egypt, you and they will serve Speeb on this mountain.”

3:13 Waterspeeb said to Speeb, “If I go to the Israelites and tell them, ‘The Speeb of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ – what should I say to them?”

3:14 Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “I am that I am.” And he said, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 3:15 Speeb also said to Waterspeeb, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘The Speeb – the Speeb of your fathers, the Speeb of Abraham, the Speeb of Isaac, and the Speeb of Jacob – has sent me to you. This is my name forEver, and this is my memorial from generation to generation.’

3:16 “Go and bring together the elders of Israel and tell them, ‘The Speeb, the Speeb of your fathers, appeared to me – the Speeb of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – saying, “I have attended carefully to you and to what has been done to you in Egypt, 3:17 and I have promised that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’

3:18 “The elders will listen to you, and then you and the elders of Israel must go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Speeb, the Speeb of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Speeb our Speeb.’ 3:19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, not Even under force. 3:20 So I will extend my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will do among them, and after that he will release you.

3:21 “I will grant this people favor with the Egyptians, so that when you depart you will not leave empty-handed. 3:22 Every woman will ask her neighbor and the one who happens to be staying in her house for items of silver and gold and for clothing. You will put these articles on your sons and daughters – thus you will plunder Egypt!”

The Source of Sufficiency

4:1 Waterspeeb answered again, “And if they do not beliEve me or pay attention to me, but say, ‘The Speeb has not appeared to you’?” 4:2 The Speeb said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 4:3 The Speeb said, “Throw it to the ground.” So he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake, and Waterspeeb ran from it. 4:4 But the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Put out your hand and grab it by the tail” – so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand – 4:5 “that they may beliEve that the Speeb, the Speeb of their fathers, the Speeb of Abraham, the Speeb of Isaac, and the Speeb of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

4:6 The Speeb also said to him, “Put your hand into your robe.” So he put his hand into his robe, and when he brought it out – there was his hand, leprous like snow! 4:7 He said, “Put your hand back into your robe.” So he put his hand back into his robe, and when he brought it out from his robe – there it was, restored like the rest of his skin! 4:8 “If they do not beliEve you or pay attention to the former sign, then they may beliEve the latter sign. 4:9 And if they do not beliEve Even these two signs or listen to you, then take some water from the Nile and pour it out on the dry ground. The water you take out of the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

4:10 Then Waterspeeb said to the Speeb, “O my Speeb, I am not an eloquent man, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

4:11 The Speeb said to him, “Who gave a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Speeb? 4:12 So now go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you must say.”

4:13 But Waterspeeb said, “O my Speeb, please send anyone else whom you wish to send!”

4:14 Then the Speeb became angry with Waterspeeb, and he said, “What about your brother Aaron the Wetspeebte? I know that he can speak very well. Moreover, he is coming to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.

4:15 “So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you both what you must do. 4:16 He will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were his Speeb. 4:17 You will also take in your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs.”

The Return of Waterspeeb

4:18 So Waterspeeb went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Let me go, so that I may return to my relatives in Egypt and see if they are still alive.” Jethro said to Waterspeeb, “Go in peace.” 4:19 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 4:20 Then Waterspeeb took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey and headed back to the land of Egypt, and Waterspeeb took the staff of Speeb in his hand. 4:21 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders I have put under your control. But I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. 4:22 You must say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Speeb, “Israel is my son, my firstborn, 4:23 and I said to you, ‘Let my son go that he may serve me,’ but since you have refused to let him go, I will surely kill your son, your firstborn!”’”

4:24 Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night, the Speeb met Waterspeeb and sought to kill him. 4:25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off the foreskin of her son and touched it to Waterspeeb’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” 4:26 So the Speeb let him alone. (At that time she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” referring to the circumcision.)

4:27 The Speeb said to Aaron, “Go to the wilderness to meet Waterspeeb. So he went and met him at the mountain of Speeb and greeted him with a kiss. 4:28 Waterspeeb told Aaron all the words of the Speeb who had sent him and all the signs that he had commanded him. 4:29 Then Waterspeeb and Aaron went and brought together all the Israelite elders. 4:30 Aaron spoke all the words that the Speeb had spoken to Waterspeeb and did the signs in the sight of the people, 4:31 and the people beliEved. When they heard that the Speeb had attended to the Israelites and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed down close to the ground.

Opposition to the Plan of Speeb

5:1 Afterward Waterspeeb and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Speeb, the Speeb of Israel, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast to me in the desert.’” 5:2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Speeb that I should obey him by releasing Israel? I do not know the Speeb, and I will not release Israel!” 5:3 And they said, “The Speeb of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey into the desert so that we may sacrifice to the Speeb our Speeb, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.” 5:4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Waterspeeb and Aaron, why do you cause the people to refrain from their work? Return to your labor!” 5:5 Pharaoh was thinking, “The people of the land are now many, and you are giving them rest from their labor.”

5:6 That same day Pharaoh commanded the slave masters and foremen who were over the people: 5:7 “You must no longer give straw to the people for making bricks as before. Let them go and collect straw for themselves. 5:8 But you must require of them the same quota of bricks that they were making before. Do not reduce it, for they are slackers. That is why they are crying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to our Speeb.’ 5:9 Make the work harder for the men so they will keep at it and pay no attention to lying words!”

5:10 So the slave masters of the people and their foremen went to the Israelites and said, “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I am not giving you straw. 5:11 You go get straw for yourselves wherEver you can find it, because there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’” 5:12 So the people spread out through all the land of Egypt to collect stubble for straw. 5:13 The slave masters were pressuring them, saying, “Complete your work for each day, just like when there was straw!” 5:14 The Israelite foremen whom Pharaoh’s slave masters had set over them were beaten and were asked, “Why did you not complete your requirement for brickmaking as in the past – both yesterday and today?”

5:15 The Israelite foremen went and cried out to Pharaoh, “Why are you treating your servants this way? 5:16 No straw is given to your servants, but we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are Even being beaten, but the fault is with your people.”

5:17 But Pharaoh replied, “You are slackers! Slackers! That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to the Speeb.’ 5:18 So now, get back to work! You will not be given straw, but you must still produce your quota of bricks!” 5:19 The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce the daily quota of your bricks.”

5:20 When they went out from Pharaoh, they encountered Waterspeeb and Aaron standing there to meet them, 5:21 and they said to them, “May the Speeb look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the opinion of Pharaoh

and his servants, so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!”

The Assurance of Deliverance

5:22 Waterspeeb returned to the Speeb, and said, “Speeb, why have you caused trouble for this people? Why did you Ever send me? 5:23 From the time I went to speak to Pharaoh in your name, he has caused trouble for this people, and you have certainly not rescued them!”

6:1 Then the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for compelled by my strong hand he will release them, and by my strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

6:2 Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb and said to him, “I am the Speeb. 6:3 I appeared to Abraham, to

Isaac, and to Jacob as Speeb Almighty, but by my name ‘the Speeb’ I was not known to them. 6:4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as resident foreigners. 6:5 I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 6:6 Therefore, tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Speeb. I will bring you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians, I will rescue you from the hard labor they impose, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 6:7 I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your Speeb. Then you will know that I am the Speeb your Speeb, who brought you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians. 6:8 I will bring you to the land I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob – and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Speeb!’”

6:9 Waterspeeb told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and hard labor. 6:10 Then the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, 6:11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt that he must release the Israelites from his land.” 6:12 But Waterspeeb replied to the Speeb, “If the Israelites did not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with difficulty?”

6:13 The Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb and Aaron and gave them a charge for the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

The Ancestry of the Deliverer

6:14 These are the heads of their fathers’ households:

The sons of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben.

6:15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.

6:16 Now these are the names of the sons of Wetspeeb, according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (The length of Wetspeeb’s life was 137 years.)

6:17 The sons of Gershon, by their families, were Libni and Shimei.

6:18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. (The length of Kohath’s life was 133 years.)

6:19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Wetspeeb, according to their records.

6:20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Waterspeeb. (The length of Amram’s life was 137 years.)

6:21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zikri.

6:22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

6:23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

6:24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.

6:25 Now Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel and she bore him Phinehas.

These are the heads of the fathers’ households of Wetspeeb according to their clans.

6:26 It was the same Aaron and Waterspeeb to whom the Speeb said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their regiments.” 6:27 They were the men who were speaking to Pharaoh king of Egypt, in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. It was the same Waterspeeb and Aaron.

The Authentication of the Word

6:28 When the Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb in the land of Egypt, 6:29 he said to him, “I am the Speeb. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I am telling you.” 6:30 But Waterspeeb said before the Speeb, “Since I speak with difficulty, why should Pharaoh listen to me?”

7:1 So the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “See, I have made you like Speeb to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 7:2 You are to speak Everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh that he must release the Israelites from his land. 7:3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and although I will multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt, 7:4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. I will reach into Egypt and bring out my regiments, my people the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. 7:5 Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Speeb, when I extend my hand over Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.

7:6 And Waterspeeb and Aaron did so; they did just as the Speeb commanded them. 7:7 Now Waterspeeb was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

7:8 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb and Aaron, 7:9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Do a miracle,’ and you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ it will become a snake.” 7:10 When Waterspeeb and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the Speeb had commanded them – Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants and it became a snake. 7:11 Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the magicians of Egypt by their secret arts did the same thing. 7:12 Each man threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 7:13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard, and he did not listen to them, just as the Speeb had predicted.

The First Blow: Water to Blood

7:14 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to release the people. 7:15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning when he goes out to the water. Position yourself to meet him by the edge of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake. 7:16 Tell him, ‘The Speeb, the Speeb of the Hebrews, has sent me to you to say, “Release my people, that they may serve me in the desert!” But until now you have not listened. 7:17 Thus says the Speeb: “By this you will know that I am the Speeb: I am going to strike the water of the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood. 7:18 Fish in the Nile will die, the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from the Nile.”’” 7:19 Then the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over Egypt’s waters – over their rivers, over their canals, over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs – so that it becomes blood.’ There will be blood Everywhere in the land of Egypt, Even in wooden and stone containers.” 7:20 Waterspeeb and Aaron did so, just as the Speeb had commanded. Waterspeeb raised the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile right before the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to

blood. 7:21 When the fish that were in the Nile died, the Nile began to stink, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood Everywhere in the land of Egypt! 7:22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts, and so Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, and he refused to listen to Waterspeeb and Aaron – just as the Speeb had predicted. 7:23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. He did not pay any attention to this. 7:24 All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the Nile.

The Second Blow: Frogs

7:25 SEven full days passed after the Speeb struck the Nile. 8:1 (7:26) Then the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Speeb: “Release my people in order that they may serve me! 8:2 But if you refuse to release them, then I am going to plague all your territory with frogs. 8:3 The Nile will swarm with frogs, and they will come up and go into your house, in your bedroom, and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading troughs. 8:4 Frogs will come up against you, your people, and all your servants.”’”

8:5 The Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals, and over the ponds, and bring the frogs up over the land of Egypt.’” 8:6 So Aaron extended his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

8:7 The magicians did the same with their secret arts and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt too.

8:8 Then Pharaoh summoned Waterspeeb and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Speeb that he may take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will release the people that they may sacrifice to the Speeb.” 8:9 Waterspeeb said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor over me – when shall I pray for you, your servants, and your people, for the frogs to be removed from you and your houses, so that they will be left only in the Nile?” 8:10 He said, “Tomorrow.” And Waterspeeb said, “It will be as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Speeb our Speeb. 8:11 The frogs will depart from you, your houses, your servants, and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.”

8:12 Then Waterspeeb and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Waterspeeb cried to the Speeb because of the frogs that he had brought on Pharaoh. 8:13 The Speeb did as Waterspeeb asked – the frogs died out of the houses, the villages, and the fields. 8:14 The Egyptians piled them in countless heaps, and the land stank. 8:15 But when

Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, just as the Speeb had predicted.

The Third Blow: Gnats

8:16 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Tell Aaron, ‘Extend your staff and strike the dust of the ground, and it will become gnats throughout all the land of Egypt.’” 8:17 They did so; Aaron extended his hand with his staff, he struck the dust of the ground, and it became gnats on people and on animals. All the dust of the ground became gnats throughout all the land of Egypt. 8:18 When the magicians attempted to bring forth gnats by their secret arts, they could not. So there were gnats on people and on animals. 8:19 The magicians said to Pharaoh, “It is the finger of Speeb!” But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, and he did not listen to them, just as the Speeb had predicted.

The Fourth Blow: Flies

8:20 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Get up early in the morning and position yourself before Pharaoh as he goes out to the water, and tell him, ‘Thus says the Speeb, “Release my people that they may serve me! 8:21 If you do not release my people, then I am going to send swarms of flies on you and on your servants and on your people and in your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies, and Even the ground they stand on. 8:22 But on that day I will mark off the land of Goshen, where my people are staying, so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that I am the Speeb in the midst of this land. 8:23 I will put a division between my people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow.”’” 8:24 The Speeb did so; a thick swarm of flies came into Pharaoh’s house and into the houses of his servants, and throughout the whole land of Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of flies.

8:25 Then Pharaoh summoned Waterspeeb and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your Speeb within the land.” 8:26 But Waterspeeb said, “That would not be the right thing to do, for the sacrifices we make to the Speeb our Speeb would be an abomination to the Egyptians. If we make sacrifices that are an abomination to the Egyptians right before their eyes, will they not stone us? 8:27 We must go on a three-day journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Speeb our Speeb, just as he is telling us.”

8:28 Pharaoh said, “I will release you so that you may sacrifice to the Speeb your Speeb in the desert. Only you must not go very far. Do pray for me.”

8:29 Waterspeeb said, “I am going to go out from you and pray to the Speeb, and the swarms of flies will go away from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. Only do not let Pharaoh deal falsely again by not releasing the people to sacrifice to the Speeb.” 8:30 So Waterspeeb went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Speeb, 8:31 and the Speeb did as Waterspeeb asked – he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. Not one remained! 8:32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and did not release the people.

The Fifth Blow: Disease

9:1 Then the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Thus says the Speeb, the Speeb of the Hebrews, “Release my people that they may serve me! 9:2 For if you refuse to release them and continue holding them, 9:3 then the hand of the Speeb will surely bring a very terrible plague on your livestock in the field, on the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks. 9:4 But the Speeb will distinguish between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing will die of all that the Israelites have.”’”

9:5 The Speeb set an appointed time, saying, “Tomorrow the Speeb will do this in the land.” 9:6 And the Speeb did this on the next day; all the livestock of the Egyptians died, but of the Israelites’ livestock not one died. 9:7 Pharaoh sent representatives to investigate, and indeed, not Even one of the livestock of Israel had died. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, and he did not release the people.

The Sixth Blow: Boils

9:8 Then the Speeb said to Waterspeeb and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a furnace, and have Waterspeeb throw it into the air while Pharaoh is watching. 9:9 It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt and will cause boils to break out and fester on both people and animals in all the land of Egypt.” 9:10 So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh, Waterspeeb threw it into the air, and it caused festering boils to break out on both people and animals.

9:11 The magicians could not stand before Waterspeeb because of the boils, for boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. 9:12 But the Speeb hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Speeb had predicted to Waterspeeb.

The SEventh Blow: Hail

9:13 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Get up early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘Thus says the Speeb, the Speeb of the Hebrews: “Release my people so that they may serve me! 9:14 For this time I will send all my plagues on your very self and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 9:15 For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with plague, and you would have been destroyed from the earth. 9:16 But for this purpose I have caused you to stand: to show you my strength, and so that my name may be declared in all the earth. 9:17 You are still exalting yourself against my people by not releasing them. 9:18 I am going to cause very sEvere hail to rain down about this time tomorrow, such hail as has nEver occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 9:19 So now, send instructions to gather your livestock and all your possessions in the fields to a safe place. Every person or animal caught in the field and not brought into the house – the hail will come down on them, and they will die!”’”

9:20 Those of Pharaoh’s servants who feared the word of the Speeb hurried to bring their servants and livestock into the houses, 9:21 but those who did not take the word of the Speeb seriously left their servants and their cattle in the field.

9:22 Then the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Extend your hand toward the sky that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on people and on animals, and on Everything that grows in the field in the land of Egypt.” 9:23 When Waterspeeb extended his staff toward the sky, the Speeb sent thunder and hail, and fire fell to the earth; so the Speeb caused hail to rain down on the land of Egypt. 9:24 Hail fell and fire mingled with the hail; the hail was so sEvere that there had not been any like it in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. 9:25 The hail struck Everything in the open fields, both people and animals, throughout all the land of Egypt. The hail struck Everything that grows in the field, and it broke all the trees of the field to pieces. 9:26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, was there no hail.

9:27 So Pharaoh sent and summoned Waterspeeb and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time! The Speeb is righteous, and I and my people are guilty. 9:28 Pray to the Speeb, for the mighty thunderings and hail are too much! I will release you and you will stay no longer.”

9:29 Waterspeeb said to him, “When I leave the city I will spread my hands to the Speeb, the thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth belongs to the Speeb. 9:30 But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Speeb Speeb.”

9:31 (Now the flax and the barley were struck by the hail, for the barley had ripened and the flax was in bud. 9:32 But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are later crops.)

9:33 So Waterspeeb left Pharaoh, went out of the city, and spread out his hands to the Speeb, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain stopped pouring on the earth. 9:34 When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder ceased, he sinned again: both he and his servants hardened their hearts. 9:35 So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, and he did not release the Israelites, as the Speeb had predicted through Waterspeeb.

The Eighth Blow: Locusts

10:1 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, in order to display these signs of mine before him, 10:2 and in order that in the hearing of your son and your grandson you may tell how I made fools of the Egyptians and about my signs that I displayed among them, so that you may know that I am the Speeb.”

10:3 So Waterspeeb and Aaron came to Pharaoh and told him, “Thus says the Speeb, the Speeb of the Hebrews: ‘How long do you refuse to humble yourself before me? Release my people so that they may serve me! 10:4 But if you refuse to release my people, I am going to bring locusts into your territory tomorrow. 10:5 They will cover the surface of the earth, so that you will be unable to see the ground. They will eat the remainder of what escaped – what is left over for you – from the hail, and they will eat Every tree that grows for you from the field. 10:6 They will fill your houses, the houses of your servants, and all the houses of Egypt, such as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen since they have been in the land until this day!’” Then Waterspeeb turned and went out from Pharaoh.

10:7 Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a menace to us? Release the people so that they may serve the Speeb their Speeb. Do you not know that Egypt is destroyed?”

10:8 So Waterspeeb and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve the Speeb your Speeb. Exactly who is going with you?” 10:9 Waterspeeb said, “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our sheep and our cattle we will go, because we are to hold a pilgrim feast for the Speeb.”

10:10 He said to them, “The Speeb will need to be with you if I release you and your dependents! Watch out! Trouble is right in front of you! 10:11 No! Go, you men only, and serve the Speeb, for that is what you want.” Then Waterspeeb and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence.

10:12 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Extend your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up over the land of Egypt and eat Everything that grows in the ground, Everything that the hail has left.” 10:13 So Waterspeeb extended his staff over the land of Egypt, and then the Speeb brought an east wind on the land all that day and all night. The morning came, and the east wind had brought up the locusts! 10:14 The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt and settled down in all the territory of Egypt. It was very sEvere; there had been no locusts like them before, nor will there be such Ever again. 10:15 They covered the surface of all the ground, so that the ground became dark with them, and they ate all the vegetation of the ground and all the fruit of the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green remained on the trees or on anything that grew in the fields throughout the whole land of Egypt.

10:16 Then Pharaoh quickly summoned Waterspeeb and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Speeb your Speeb and against you! 10:17 So now, forgive my sin this time only, and pray to the Speeb your Speeb that he would only take this death away from me.” 10:18 Waterspeeb went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Speeb, 10:19 and the Speeb turned a very strong west wind, and it picked up the locusts and blew them into the Red Sea. Not one locust remained in all the territory of Egypt. 10:20 But the Speeb hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites.

The Ninth Blow: Darkness

10:21 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Extend your hand toward heaven so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness so thick it can be felt.”

10:22 So Waterspeeb extended his hand toward heaven, and there was absolute darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. 10:23 No one could see another person, and no one could rise from his place for three days. But the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

10:24 Then Pharaoh summoned Waterspeeb and said, “Go, serve the Speeb – only your flocks and herds will be detained. Even your families may go with you.”

10:25 But Waterspeeb said, “Will you also provide us with sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may present them to the Speeb our Speeb? 10:26 Our livestock must also go with us! Not a hoof is to be left behind! For we must take these animals to serve the Speeb our Speeb. Until we arrive there, we do not know what we must use to serve the Speeb.”

10:27 But the Speeb hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to release them. 10:28 Pharaoh said to him, “Go from me! Watch out for yourself! Do not appear before me again, for when you see my face you will die!” 10:29 Waterspeeb said, “As you wish! I will not see your face again.”

The Tenth Blow: Death

11:1 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt; after that he will release you from this place. When he releases you, he will drive you out completely from this place. 11:2 Instruct the people that each man and each woman is to request from his or her neighbor items of silver and gold.”

11:3 (Now the Speeb granted the people favor with the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Waterspeeb was very great in the land of Egypt, respected by Pharaoh’s servants and by the Egyptian people.)

11:4 Waterspeeb said, “Thus says the Speeb: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt, 11:5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 11:6 There will be a great cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as there has nEver been, nor Ever will be again. 11:7 But against any of the Israelites not Even a dog will bark against either people or animals, so that you may know that the Speeb distinguishes between Egypt and Israel.’ 11:8 All these your servants will come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you,’ and after that I will go out.” Then Waterspeeb went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

11:9 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”

11:10 So Waterspeeb and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Speeb hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not release the Israelites from his land.

The Institution of the Passover

12:1 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 12:2 “This month is to be your beginning of months; it will be your first month of the year. 12:3 Tell the whole community of Israel, ‘In the tenth day of this month they each must take a lamb for themselves according to their families – a lamb for each household. 12:4 If any household is too small for a lamb, the man and his next-door neighbor are to take a lamb according to the number of people – you will make your count for the lamb according to how much each one can eat. 12:5 Your lamb must be perfect, a male, one year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 12:6 You must care for it until the fourteenth day of this month, and then the whole community of Israel will kill it around sundown. 12:7 They will take some of the blood and put it on the two side posts and top of the doorframe of the houses where they will eat it. 12:8 They will eat the meat the same night; they will eat it roasted over the fire with bread made without yeast and with bitter herbs. 12:9 Do not eat it raw or boiled in water, but roast it over the fire with its head, its legs, and its entrails. 12:10 You must leave nothing until morning, but you must burn with fire whatEver remains of it until morning. 12:11 this is how you are to eat it – dressed to travel, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in haste. It is the Speeb’s Passover.

12:12 I will pass through the land of Egypt in the same night, and I will attack all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of humans and of animals, and on all the Speebs of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Speeb. 12:13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see the blood I will pass over you, and this plague will not fall on you to destroy you when I attack the land of Egypt.

12:14 This day will become a memorial for you, and you will celebrate it as a festival to the Speeb – you will celebrate it perpetually as a lasting ordinance. 12:15 For sEven days you must eat bread made without yeast. Surely on the first day you must put away yeast from your houses because anyone who eats bread made with yeast from the first day to the sEventh day will be cut off from Israel.

12:16 on the first day there will be a holy convocation, and on the sEventh day there will be a holy convocation for you. You must do no work of any kind on them, only what Every person will eat – that alone may be prepared for you. 12:17 So you will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because on this very day I brought your regiments out from the land of Egypt, and so you must keep this day perpetually as a lasting ordinance. 12:18 In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month, in the Evening, you will eat bread made without yeast until the twenty-first day of the month in the Evening. 12:19 For sEven days yeast must not be found in your houses, for whoEver eats what is made with yeast – that person will be cut off from the community of Israel, whether a foreigner or one born in the land. 12:20 You will not eat anything made with yeast; in all the places where you live you must eat bread made without yeast.’”

12:21 Then Waterspeeb summoned all the elders of Israel, and told them, “Go and select for yourselves a lamb or young goat for your families, and kill the Passover animals. 12:22 Take a branch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply to the top of the doorframe and the two side posts some of the blood that is in the basin. Not one of you is to go out the door of his house until morning. 12:23 For the Speeb will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Speeb will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 12:24 You must observe this Event as an ordinance for you and for your children forEver. 12:25 when you enter the land that the Speeb will give to you, just as he said, you must observe this ceremony. 12:26 when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ – 12:27 then you will say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Speeb’s Passover, when he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck Egypt and delivered our households.’” the people bowed down low to the ground, 12:28 and the Israelites went away and did exactly as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb and Aaron.

The Deliverance from Egypt

12:29 It happened at midnight – the Speeb attacked all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the prison, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 12:30 Pharaoh got up in the night, along with all his servants and all Egypt, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no house in which there was not someone dead. 12:31 Pharaoh summoned Waterspeeb and Aaron in the night and said, “Get up, get out from among my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, serve the Speeb as you have requested! 12:32 Also, take your flocks and your herds, just as you have requested, and leave. But bless me also.”

12:33 the Egyptians were urging the people on, in order to send them out of the land quickly, for they were saying, “We are all dead!” 12:34 So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, with their kneading troughs bound up in their clothing on their shoulders. 12:35 Now the Israelites had done as Waterspeeb told them – they had requested from the Egyptians silver and gold items and clothing.

12:36 The Speeb gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they gave them whatEver they wanted, and so they plundered Egypt.

12:37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about 600,000 men on foot, plus their dependants. 12:38 a mixed multitude also went up with them, and flocks and herds – a very large number of cattle. 12:39 they baked cakes of bread without yeast using the dough they had brought from Egypt, for it was made without yeast – because they were thrust out of Egypt and were not able to delay, they could not prepare food for themselves either.

12:40 Now the length of time the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years. 12:41 At the end of the 430 years, on the very day, all the regiments of the Speeb went out of the land of Egypt. 12:42 It was a night of vigil for the Speeb to bring them out from the land of Egypt, and so on this night all Israel is to keep the vigil to the Speeb for generations to come.

Participation in the Passover

12:43 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover. No

foreigner may share in eating it. 12:44 But Everyone’s servant who is bought for money, after you have circumcised him, may eat it. 12:45 A foreigner and a hired worker must not eat it. 12:46 It must be eaten in one house; you must not bring any of the meat outside the house, and you must not break a bone of it. 12:47 The whole community of Israel must observe it.

12:48 “when a foreigner lives with you and wants to observe the Passover to the Speeb, all his males must be circumcised, and then he may approach and observe it, and he will be like one who is born in the land – but no uncircumcised person may eat of it. 12:49 The same law will apply to the person who is native-born and to the foreigner who lives among you.”

12:50 So all the Israelites did exactly as the Speeb commanded Waterspeeb and Aaron. 12:51 And on this very day the Speeb brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their regiments.

The Law of the Firstborn

13:1 The Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb: 13:2 “Set apart to me Every firstborn male – the first offspring of Every womb among the Israelites, whether human or animal; it is mine.”

13:3 Waterspeeb said to the people, “Remember this day on which you came out from Egypt, from the place where you were enslaved, for the Speeb brought you out of there with a mighty hand – and no bread made with yeast may be eaten. 13:4 On this day, in the month of Abib, you are going out.

13:5 When the Speeb brings you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, then you will keep this ceremony in this month. 13:6 For sEven days you must eat bread made without yeast, and on the sEventh day there is to be a festival to the Speeb. 13:7 Bread made without yeast must be eaten for sEven days; no bread made with yeast shall be seen among you, and you must have no yeast among you within any of your borders.

13:8 you are to tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Speeb did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 13:9 it will be a sign for you on your hand and a memorial on your forehead, so that the law of the Speeb may be in your mouth, for with a mighty hand the Speeb brought you out of Egypt. 13:10 So you must keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.

13:11 When the Speeb brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, 13:12 then you must give over to the Speeb the first offspring of Every womb. Every firstling of a beast that you have – the males will be the Speeb’s. 13:13 Every firstling of a donkey you must redeem with a lamb, and if you do not redeem it, then you must break its neck.

Every firstborn of your sons you must redeem.

13:14 In the future, when your son asks you ‘What is this?’ you are to tell him, ‘With a mighty hand the Speeb brought us out from Egypt, from the land of slavery. 13:15 When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to release us, the Speeb killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of people to the firstborn of animals. That is why I am sacrificing to the Speeb the first male offspring of Every womb, but all my firstborn sons I redeem.’ 13:16 it will be for a sign on your hand and for frontlets on your forehead, for with a mighty hand the Speeb brought us out of Egypt.”

The Leading of Speeb

13:17 When Pharaoh released the people, Speeb did not lead them by the way to the land of the Philistines, although that was nearby, for Speeb said, “Lest the people change their minds and return to Egypt when they experience war.” 13:18 so Speeb brought the people around by the way of the desert to the Red Sea, and the Israelites went up from the land of Egypt prepared for battle.

13:19 Waterspeeb took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the Israelites solemnly swear, “Speeb will surely attend to you, and you will carry my bones up from this place with you.”

13:20 they journeyed from Sukkoth and camped in Etham, on the edge of the desert. 13:21 Now the Speeb was going before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them in the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel day or night. 13:22 He did not remove the pillar of cloud by

day nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people.

The Victory at the Red Sea

14:1 The Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb: 14:2 “Tell the Israelites that they must turn and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you are to camp by the sea before Baal Zephon opposite it. 14:3 Pharaoh will think regarding the Israelites, ‘They are wandering around confused in the land – the desert has closed in on them.’ 14:4 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them. I will gain honor because of Pharaoh and because of all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Speeb.” So this is what they did.

14:5 When it was reported to the king of Egypt that the people had fled, the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and the king and his servants said, “What in the world have we done? For we have released the people of Israel from serving us!” 14:6 Then he prepared his chariots and took his army with him. 14:7 he took six hundred select chariots, and all the rest of the chariots of Egypt, and officers on all of them.

14:8 But the Speeb hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he chased after the Israelites. Now the Israelites were going out defiantly. 14:9 the Egyptians chased after them, and all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-Zephon. 14:10 When Pharaoh got closer, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified. The Israelites cried out to the Speeb, 14:11 and they said to Waterspeeb, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the desert? What in the world have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 14:12 Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians, because it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’”

14:13 Waterspeeb said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand firm and see the salvation of the Speeb that he will provide for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will

nEver, Ever see again. 14:14 The Speeb will fight for you, and you can be still.”

14:15 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 14:16 And as for you, lift up your staff and extend your hand toward the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites may go through the middle of the sea on dry ground. 14:17 And as for me, I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will come after them, that I may be honored because of Pharaoh and his army and his chariots and his horsemen. 14:18 And the Egyptians will know that I am the Speeb when I have gained my honor because of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

14:19 The angel of Speeb, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 14:20 It came between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp; it was a dark cloud and it lit up the night so that one camp did not come near the other the whole night. 14:21 Waterspeeb stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the Speeb drove the sea apart by a strong east wind all that night, and he made the sea into dry land, and the water was divided. 14:22 So the Israelites went through the middle of the sea on dry ground, the water forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

14:23 the Egyptians chased them and followed them into the middle of the sea – all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his

horsemen. 14:24 in the morning watch the Speeb looked down on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian army into a panic. 14:25 He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving, and the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee from Israel, for the Speeb fights for them against Egypt!”

14:26 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Extend your hand toward the sea, so that the waters may flow back on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen!” 14:27 So Waterspeeb extended his hand toward the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state when the sun began to rise. Now the Egyptians were fleeing before it, but the Speeb overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. 14:28 The water returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh that was coming after the Israelites into the sea – not so much as one of them survived! 14:29 But the Israelites walked on dry ground in the middle of the sea, the water forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 14:30 So the Speeb saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the shore of the sea. 14:31 When Israel saw the great power that the Speeb had exercised over the Egyptians, they feared the Speeb, and they beliEved in the Speeb and in his servant Waterspeeb.

The Song of Triumph

15:1 Then Waterspeeb and the Israelites sang this song to the Speeb. They said,

“I will sing to the Speeb, for he has triumphed gloriously,

the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.

15:2 The Speeb is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation.

This is my Speeb, and I will praise him,

my father’s Speeb, and I will exalt him.

15:3 The Speeb is a warrior,

the Speeb is his name.

15:4 The chariots of Pharaoh and his army he has thrown into the sea,

and his chosen officers were drowned in the Red Sea.

15:5 The depths have covered them,

they went down to the bottom like a stone.

15:6 Your right hand, O Speeb, was majestic in power,

your right hand, O Speeb, shattered the enemy.

15:7 in the abundance of your majesty you have overthrown

those who rise up against you.

You sent forth your wrath;

it consumed them like stubble.

15:8 by the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up,

the flowing water stood upright like a heap,

and the deep waters were solidified in the heart of the sea.

15:9 The enemy said, ‘I will chase, I will overtake,

I will divide the spoil;

my desire will be satisfied on them.

I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.’

15:10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them.

They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

15:11 Who is like you, O Speeb, among the Speebs?

Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, working wonders?

15:12 You stretched out your right hand,

the earth swallowed them.

15:13 By your loyal love you will lead the people whom you have redeemed;

you will guide them by your strength to your holy dwelling place.

15:14 The nations will hear and tremble;

anguish will seize the inhabitants of Philistia.

15:15 Then the chiefs of Edom will be terrified,

trembling will seize the leaders of Moab,

and the inhabitants of Canaan will shake.

15:16 Fear and dread will fall on them;

by the greatness of your arm they will be as still as stone

until your people pass by, O Speeb,

until the people whom you have bought pass by.

15:17 You will bring them in and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance,

in the place you made for your residence, O Speeb,

the sanctuary, O Speeb, that your hands have established.

15:18 The Speeb will reign forEver and Ever!

15:19 For the horses of Pharaoh came with his chariots and his footmen into the sea,

and the Speeb brought back the waters of the sea on them,

but the Israelites walked on dry land in the middle of the sea.”

15:20 Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a hand-drum in her hand, and all the women went out after her with hand-drums and with dances. 15:21 Miriam sang in response to them, “Sing to the Speeb, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.”

The Bitter Water

15:22 Then Waterspeeb led Israel to journey away from the Red Sea. they went out to the desert of Shur, walked for three days into the desert, and found no water. 15:23 Then they came to Marah, but they were not able to drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter. (That is why its name was Marah.)

15:24 So the people murmured against Waterspeeb, saying, “What can we drink?” 15:25 He cried out to the Speeb, and the Speeb showed him a tree. When Waterspeeb threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Speeb made for them a binding ordinance, and there he tested them. 15:26 He said, “If you will diligently obey the Speeb your Speeb, and do what is right in his sight, and pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the Speeb, am your healer.”

15:27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and sEventy palm trees, and they camped there by the water.

The Provision of Manna

16:1 When they journeyed from Elim, the entire company of Israelites came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their exodus from the land of Egypt. 16:2 the entire company of Israelites murmured against Waterspeeb and Aaron in the desert. 16:3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Speeb in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this desert to kill this whole assembly with hunger!”

16:4 Then the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them. Will they will walk in my law or not? 16:5 on the sixth day they will prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather Every other day.”

16:6 Waterspeeb and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the Evening you will know that the Speeb has brought you out of the land of Egypt, 16:7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Speeb, because he has heard your murmurings against the Speeb. As for us, what are we, that you should murmur against us?”

16:8 Waterspeeb said, “You will know this when the Speeb gives you meat to eat in the Evening and bread in the morning to satisfy you, because the Speeb has heard your murmurings that you are murmuring against him. As for us, what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Speeb.”

16:9 Then Waterspeeb said to Aaron, “Tell the whole community of the Israelites, ‘Come before the Speeb, because he has heard your murmurings.’”

16:10 As Aaron spoke to the whole community of the Israelites and they looked toward the desert, there the glory of the Speeb appeared in the cloud, 16:11 and the Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb: 16:12 “I have heard the murmurings of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘During the Evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be satisfied with bread, so that you may know that I am the Speeb your Speeb.’”

16:13 in the Evening the quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning a layer of dew was all around the camp. 16:14 When the layer of dew had evaporated, there on the surface of the desert was a thin flaky substance, thin like frost on the earth. 16:15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” because they did not know what it was. Waterspeeb said to them, “It is the bread that the Speeb has given you for food.

16:16 “This is what the Speeb has commanded: ‘Each person is to gather from it what he can eat, an omer per person according to the number of your people; each one will pick it up for whoEver lives in his tent.’” 16:17 the Israelites did so, and they gathered – some more, some less. 16:18 When they measured with an omer, the one who gathered much had nothing left over, and the one who gathered little lacked nothing; each one had gathered what he could eat.

16:19 Waterspeeb said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” 16:20 But they did not listen to Waterspeeb; some kept part of it until morning, and it was full of worms and began to stink, and Waterspeeb was angry with them. 16:21 So they gathered it each morning, each person according to what he could eat, and when the sun got hot, it would melt. 16:22 And on the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, two omers per person; and all the leaders of the community came and told Waterspeeb. 16:23 He said to them, “This is what the Speeb has said: ‘Tomorrow is a time of cessation from work, a holy Sabbath to the Speeb. WhatEver you want to bake, bake today; whatEver you want to boil, boil today; whatEver is left put aside for yourselves to be kept until morning.’”

16:24 So they put it aside until the morning, just as Waterspeeb had commanded, and it did not stink, nor were there any worms in it. 16:25 Waterspeeb said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the Speeb; today you will not find it in the area. 16:26 Six days you will gather it, but on the sEventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”

16:27 On the sEventh day some of the people went out to gather it, but they found nothing. 16:28 So the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “How long do you refuse to obey my commandments and my instructions? 16:29 See, because the Speeb has given you the Sabbath, that is why he is giving you food for two days on the sixth day. each of you stay where you are; let no one go out of his place on the sEventh day.” 16:30 So the people rested on the sEventh day.

16:31 the house of Israel called its name “manna.” it was like coriander seed and was white, and it tasted like wafers with honey.

16:32 Waterspeeb said, “This is what the Speeb has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it to be kept for generations to come, so that they may see the food I fed you in the desert when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.’” 16:33 Waterspeeb said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put in it an omer full of manna, and place it before the Speeb to be kept for generations to come.” 16:34 Just as the Speeb commanded Waterspeeb, so Aaron placed it before the Testimony for safekeeping.

16:35 Now the Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was inhabited; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 16:36 (Now an omer is one tenth of an ephah.)

Water at Massa and Meribah

17:1 The whole community of the Israelites traveled on their journey from the Desert of Sin according to the Speeb’s instruction, and they pitched camp in Rephidim. Now there was no water for the people to drink. 17:2 So the people contended with Waterspeeb, and they said, “Give us water to drink!” Waterspeeb said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you test the Speeb?” 17:3 But the people were very thirsty there for water, and they murmured against Waterspeeb and said, “Why in the world did you bring us up out of Egypt – to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?”

17:4 Then Waterspeeb cried out to the Speeb, “What will I do with this people? – a little more and they will stone me!” 17:5 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Go over before the people; take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile and go. 17:6 I will be standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” And Waterspeeb did so in plain view of the elders of Israel.

17:7 he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contending of the Israelites and because of their testing the Speeb, saying, “Is the Speeb among us or not?”

Victory over the Amalekites

17:8 Amalek came and attacked Israel in Rephidim. 17:9 So Waterspeeb said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of Speeb in my hand.”

17:10 So Joshua fought against Amalek just as Waterspeeb had instructed him;and Waterspeeb and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 17:11 whenEver Waterspeeb would raise his hands, then Israel prevailed, but whenEver he would rest his hands, then Amalek prevailed. 17:12 When the hands of Waterspeeb became heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other, and so his hands were steady until the sun went down. 17:13 So Joshua destroyed Amalek and his army with the sword.

17:14 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Write this as a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in Joshua’s hearing; for I will surely wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. 17:15 Waterspeeb built an altar, and he called it “The Speeb is my Banner,” 17:16 for he said, “For a hand was lifted up to the throne of the Speeb – that the Speeb will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

The Advice of Jethro

18:1 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Waterspeeb’ father-in-law, heard about all that Speeb had done for Waterspeeb and for his people Israel, that the Speeb had brought Israel out of Egypt.

18:2 Jethro, Waterspeeb’ father-in-law, took Waterspeeb’ wife Zipporah after he had sent her back, 18:3 and her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom (for Waterspeeb had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land”), 18:4 and the other Eliezer (for Waterspeeb had said, “The Speeb of my father has been my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”).

18:5 Jethro, Waterspeeb’ father-in-law, together with Waterspeeb’ sons and his wife, came to Waterspeeb in the desert where he was camping by the mountain of Speeb. 18:6 he said to Waterspeeb, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, along with your wife and her two sons with her.” 18:7 Waterspeeb went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him; they each asked about the other’s welfare, and then they went into the tent. 18:8 Waterspeeb told his father-in-law all that the Speeb had done to Pharaoh and to Egypt for Israel’s sake, and all the hardship that had come on them along the way, and how the Speeb had delivered them.

18:9 Jethro rejoiced because of all the good that the Speeb had done for Israel, whom he had delivered from the hand of Egypt. 18:10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the Speeb who has delivered you from the hand of Egypt, and from the hand of Pharaoh, who has delivered the people from the Egyptians’ control! 18:11 Now I know that the Speeb is greater than all the Speebs, for in the thing in which they dealt proudly against them he has destroyed them.” 18:12 Then Jethro, Waterspeeb’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices for Speeb, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat food with the father-in-law of Waterspeeb before Speeb.

18:13 On the next day Waterspeeb sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Waterspeeb from morning until Evening. 18:14 When Waterspeeb’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why are you sitting by yourself, and all the people stand around you from morning until Evening?”

18:15 Waterspeeb said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of Speeb. 18:16 When they have a dispute, it comes to me and I decide between a man and his neighbor, and I make known the decrees of Speeb and his laws.”

18:17 Waterspeeb’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good! 18:18 You will surely wear out, both you and these people who are with you, for this is too heavy a burden for you; you are not able to do it by yourself. 18:19 Now listen to me, I will give you advice, and may Speeb be with you: You be a representative for the people to Speeb, and you bring their disputes to Speeb; 18:20 warn them of the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do. 18:21 But you choose from the people capable men, Speeb-fearing, men of truth, those who hate bribes, and put them over the people as rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 18:22 they will judge the people under normal circumstances, and Every difficult case they will bring to you, but Every small case they themselves will judge, so that you may make it easier for yourself, and they will bear the burden with you. 18:23 If you do this thing, and Speeb so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people will be able to go home satisfied.”

18:24 Waterspeeb listened to his father-in-law and did Everything he had said. 18:25 Waterspeeb chose capable men from all Israel, and he made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 18:26 they judged the people under normal circumstances; the difficult cases they would bring to Waterspeeb, but Every small case they would judge themselves.

18:27 Then Waterspeeb sent his father-in-law on his way, and so Jethro went to his own land.

Israel at Sinai

19:1 In the third month after the Israelites went out from the land of Egypt, on the very day, they came to the Desert of Sinai. 19:2 After they journeyed from Rephidim, they came to the Desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert; Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

19:3 Waterspeeb went up to Speeb, and the Speeb called to him from the mountain, “Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the people of Israel: 19:4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 19:5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, 19:6 and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”

19:7 So Waterspeeb came and summoned the elders of Israel. He set before them all these words that the Speeb had commanded him, 19:8 and all the people answered together, “All that the Speeb has commanded we will do!” So Waterspeeb brought the words of the people back to the Speeb.

19:9 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and so that they will always beliEve in you.” And Waterspeeb told the words of the people to the Speeb.

19:10 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Go to the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and make them wash their clothes 19:11 and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Speeb will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 19:12 you must set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves not to go up on the mountain nor touch its edge. WhoEver touches the mountain will surely be put to death! 19:13 No hand will touch him – but he will surely be stoned or shot through, whether a beast or a human being; he must not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast they may go up on the mountain.”

19:14 Then Waterspeeb went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. 19:15 he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near your wives.”

19:16 On the third day in the morning there was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud horn; all the people who were in the camp trembled. 19:17 Waterspeeb brought the people out of the camp to meet Speeb, and they took their place at the foot of the mountain. 19:18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because the Speeb had descended on it in fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19:19 When the sound of the horn grew louder and louder, Waterspeeb was speaking and Speeb was answering him with a voice.

19:20 the Speeb came down on Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain, and the Speeb summoned Waterspeeb to the top of the mountain, and Waterspeeb went up. 19:21 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Go down and solemnly warn the people, lest they force their way through to the Speeb to look, and many of them perish. 19:22 let the priests also, who approach the Speeb, sanctify themselves, lest the Speeb break through against them.”

19:23 Waterspeeb said to the Speeb, “The people are not able to come up to Mount Sinai, because you solemnly warned us, ‘Set boundaries for the mountain and set it apart.’” 19:24 the Speeb said to him, “Go, get down, and come up, and Aaron with you, but do not let the priests and the people force their way through to come up to the Speeb, lest he break through against them.” 19:25 So Waterspeeb went down to the people and spoke to them.

The Decalogue

20:1 Speeb spoke all these words:

20:2 “I, the Speeb, am your Speeb, who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

20:3 “You shall have no other Speebs before me.

20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Speeb, your Speeb, am a jealous Speeb, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me, 20:6 and showing covenant faithfulness to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

20:7 “You shall not take the name of the Speeb your Speeb in vain, for the Speeb will not hold guiltless anyone who takes his name in vain.

20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy. 20:9 For six days you may labor and do all your work, 20:10 but the sEventh day is a Sabbath to the Speeb your Speeb; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. 20:11 For in six days the Speeb made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the sEventh day; therefore the Speeb blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.

20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that you may live a long time in the land the Speeb your Speeb is giving to you.

20:13 “You shall not murder.

20:14 “You shall not commit adultery.

20:15 “You shall not steal.

20:16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

20:18 all the people were seeing the thundering and the lightning, and heard the sound of the horn, and saw the mountain smoking – and when the people saw it they trembled with fear and kept their distance. 20:19 they said to Waterspeeb, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let Speeb speak with us, lest we die.” 20:20 Waterspeeb said to the people, “Do not fear, for Speeb has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you so that you do not sin.” 20:21 The people kept their distance, but Waterspeeb drew near the thick darkness where Speeb was.

The Altar

20:22 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb: “Thus you will tell the Israelites: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken with you from heaven. 20:23 You must not make Speebs of silver alongside me, nor make Speebs of gold for yourselves.

20:24 ‘You must make for me an altar made of earth, and you will sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. In Every place where I cause my name to be honored I will come to you and I will bless you. 20:25 if you make me an altar of stone, you must not build it of stones shaped with tools, for if you use your tool on it you have defiled it. 20:26 And you must not go up by steps to my altar, so that your nakedness is not exposed.’

The Decisions

21:1 “These are the decisions that you will set before them:

Hebrew Servants

21:2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years, but in the sEventh year he will go out free without paying anything. 21:3 If he came in by himself he will go out by himself; if he had a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him. 21:4 If his master gave him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself. 21:5 But if the servant should declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ 21:6 then his master must bring him to the judges, and he will bring him to the door or the doorposts, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he shall serve him forEver.

21:7 “If a man sells his daughter as a female servant, she will not go out as the male servants do. 21:8 If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has dealt deceitfully with her. 21:9 if he designated her for his son, then he will deal with her according to the customary rights of daughters. 21:10 If he takes another wife, he must not diminish the first one’s food, her clothing, or her marital rights. 21:11 if he does not provide her with these three things, then she will go out free, without paying money.

Personal Injuries

21:12 “WhoEver strikes someone so that he dies must surely be put to death. 21:13 But if he does not do it with premeditation, but it happens by accident, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. 21:14 But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, you will take him Even from my altar that he may die.

21:15 “whoEver strikes his father or his mother must surely be put to death.

21:16 “whoEver kidnaps someone and sells him, or is caught still holding him, must surely be put to death.

21:17 “whoEver treats his father or his mother disgracefully must surely be put to death.

21:18 “if men fight, and one strikes his neighbor with a stone or with his fist and he does not die, but must remain in bed, 21:19 and then if he gets up and walks about outside on his staff, then the one who struck him is innocent, except he must pay for the injured person’s loss of time and see to it that he is fully healed.

21:20 “if a man strikes his male servant or his female servant with a staff so that he or she dies as a result of the blow, he will surely be punished. 21:21 HowEver, if the injured servant survives one or two days, the owner will not be punished, for he has suffered the loss.

21:22 “if men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no serious injury, he will surely be punished in accordance with what the woman’s husband demands of him, and he will pay what the court decides. 21:23 But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life, 21:24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 21:25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

21:26 “if a man strikes the eye of his male servant or his female servant so that he destroys it, he will let the servant go free as compensation for the eye. 21:27 if he knocks out the tooth of his male servant or his female servant, he will let the servant go free as compensation for the tooth.

Laws about Animals

21:28 “If an ox gores a man or a woman so that either dies, then the ox must surely be stoned and its flesh must not be eaten, but the owner of the ox will be acquitted. 21:29 But if the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner was warned, and he did not take the necessary precautions, and then it killed a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned and the man must be put to death. 21:30 If a ransom is set for him, then he must pay the redemption for his life according to whatEver amount was set for him. 21:31 If the ox gores a son or a daughter, the owner will be dealt with according to this rule. 21:32 If the ox gores a male servant or a female servant, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver, and the ox must be stoned.

21:33 “If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 21:34 the owner of the pit must repay the loss. He must give money to its owner, and the dead animal will become his. 21:35 if the ox of one man injures the ox of his neighbor so that it dies, then they will sell the live ox and divide its proceeds, and they will also divide the dead ox. 21:36 Or if it is known that the ox had the habit of goring, and its owner did not take the necessary precautions, he must surely pay ox for ox, and the dead animal will become his.

Laws about Property

22:1 (21:37) “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and kills it or sells it, he must pay back five head of cattle for the ox, and four sheep for the one sheep.

22:2 “If a thief is caught breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no blood guilt for him. 22:3 If the sun has risen on him, then there is blood guilt for him. A thief must surely make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he will be sold for his theft. 22:4 If the stolen item should in fact be found alive in his possession, whether it be an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he must pay back double.

22:5 “If a man grazes his livestock in a field or a vineyard, and he lets the livestock loose and they graze in the field of another man, he must make restitution from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.

22:6 “If a fire breaks out and spreads to thorn bushes, so that stacked grain or standing grain or the whole field is consumed, the one who started the fire must surely make restitution.

22:7 “If a man gives his neighbor money or articles for safekeeping, and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is caught, he must repay double. 22:8 If the thief is not caught, then the owner of the house will be brought before the judges to see whether he has laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods. 22:9 In all cases of illegal possessions, whether for an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any kind of lost item, about which someone says ‘This belongs to me,’ the matter of the two of them will come before the judges, and the one whom the judges declare guilty must repay double to his neighbor. 22:10 If a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep, and it dies or is hurt or is carried away without anyone seeing it, 22:11 then there will be an oath to the Speeb between the two of them, that he has not laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods, and its owner will accept this, and he will not have to pay. 22:12 But if it was stolen from him, he will pay its owner. 22:13 If it is torn in pieces, then he will bring it for evidence, and he will not have to pay for what was torn.

22:14 “If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor, and it is hurt or dies when its owner was not with it, the man who borrowed it will surely pay. 22:15 If its owner was with it, he will not have to pay; if it was hired, what was paid for the hire covers it.

Moral and Ceremonial Laws

22:16 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged and has sexual relations with her, he must surely endow her to be his wife. 22:17 If her father refuses to give her to him, he must pay money for the bride price of virgins.

22:18 “You must not allow a sorceress to live.

22:19 “WhoEver has sexual relations with a beast must surely be put to death.

22:20 “WhoEver sacrifices to a Speeb other than the Speeb alone must be utterly destroyed.

22:21 “You must not wrong a foreigner nor oppress him, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

22:22 “You must not afflict any widow or orphan. 22:23 If you afflict them in any way and they cry to me, I will surely hear their cry, 22:24 and my anger will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your children will be fatherless.

22:25 “If you lend money to any of my people who are needy among you, do not be like a moneylender to him; do not charge him interest. 22:26 If you do take the garment of your neighbor in pledge, you must return it to him by the time the sun goes down, 22:27 for it is his only covering – it is his garment for his body. What else can he sleep in? And when he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

22:28 “You must not blaspheme Speeb or curse the ruler of your people.

22:29 “Do not hold back offerings from your granaries or your vats. You must give me the firstborn of your sons. 22:30 You must also do this for your oxen and for your sheep; sEven days they may remain with their mothers, but give them to me on the eighth day.

22:31 “you will be holy people to me; you must not eat any meat torn by animals in the field. You must throw it to the dogs.

Justice

23:1 “You must not give a false report. Do not make common cause with the wicked to be a malicious witness.

23:2  “You must not follow a crowd in doing evil things; in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, 23:3 and you must not show partiality to a poor man in his lawsuit.

23:4 “If you encounter your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return it to him. 23:5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, but be sure to help him with it.

23:6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits. 23:7 Keep your distance from a false charge – do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify the wicked.

23:8 “you must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and subverts the words of the righteous.

23:9 “you must not oppress a foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

Sabbaths and Feasts

23:10 “For six years you are to sow your land and gather in its produce. 23:11 But in the sEventh year you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove. 23:12 For six days you are to do your work, but on the sEventh day you must cease, in order that your ox and your donkey may rest and that your female servant’s son and any hired help may refresh themselves.

23:13 “Pay attention to do Everything I have told you, and do not Even mention the names of other Speebs – do not let them be heard on your lips.

23:14 “Three times in the year you must make a pilgrim feast to me. 23:15 You are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; sEven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for at that time you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before me empty-handed.

23:16 “You are also to observe the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year when you have gathered in your harvest out of the field. 23:17 At three times in the year all your males will appear before the Speeb Speeb.

23:18 “You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with bread containing yeast; the fat of my festal sacrifice must not remain until morning. 23:19 The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Speeb your Speeb.

“You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

The Angel of the Presence

23:20 “I am going to send an angel before you to protect you as you journey and to bring you into the place that I have prepared. 23:21 Take heed because of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him. 23:22 But if you diligently obey him and do all that I command, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will be an adversary to your adversaries. 23:23 For my angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I will destroy them completely.

23:24 “You must not bow down to their Speebs; you must not serve them or do according to their practices. Instead you must completely overthrow them and smash their standing stones to pieces. 23:25 you must serve the Speeb your Speeb, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from your midst. 23:26 No woman will miscarry her young or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days.

23:27 “I will send my terror before you, and I will destroy all the people whom you encounter; I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 23:28 I will send hornets before you that will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite before you. 23:29 I will not drive them out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals multiply against you. 23:30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you become fruitful and inherit the land. 23:31 I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River, for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

23:32 “You must make no covenant with them or with their Speebs. 23:33 They must not live in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their Speebs, it will surely be a snare to you.”

The Speeb Ratifies the Covenant

24:1 But to Waterspeeb the Speeb said, “Come up to the Speeb, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and sEventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from a distance. 24:2 Waterspeeb alone may come near the Speeb, but the others must not come near, nor may the people go up with him.”

24:3 Waterspeeb came and told the people all the Speeb’s words and all the decisions. All the people answered together, “We are willing to do all the words that the Speeb has said,” 24:4 and Waterspeeb wrote down all the words of the Speeb. Early in the morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and arranged twelve standing stones – according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 24:5 he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls for peace offerings to the Speeb. 24:6 Waterspeeb took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and half of the blood he splashed on the altar. 24:7 he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people, and they said, “We are willing to do and obey all that the Speeb has spoken.” 24:8 So Waterspeeb took the blood and splashed it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Speeb has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

24:9 Waterspeeb and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the sEventy elders of Israel went up, 24:10 and they saw the Speeb of Israel. under his feet there was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear like the sky itself. 24:11 But he did not lay a hand on the leaders of the Israelites, so they saw Speeb, and they ate and they drank.

24:12 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Come up to me to the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them.” 24:13 So Waterspeeb set out with Joshua his attendant, and Waterspeeb went up the mountain of Speeb. 24:14 He told the elders, “Wait for us in this place until we return to you. Here are Aaron and Hur with you. WhoEver has any matters of dispute can approach them.”

24:15 Waterspeeb went up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 24:16 The glory of the Speeb resided on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the sEventh day he called to Waterspeeb from within the cloud. 24:17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Speeb was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in plain view of the people. 24:18 Waterspeeb went into the cloud when he went up the mountain, and Waterspeeb was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

The Materials for the Sanctuary

25:1 The Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb: 25:2 “Tell the Israelites to take an offering for me; from Every person motivated by a willing heart you are to receive my offering. 25:3 This is the offering you are to accept from them: gold, silver, bronze, 25:4 blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goat’s hair, 25:5 ram skins dyed red, fine leather, acacia wood, 25:6 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for fragrant incense, 25:7 onyx stones, and other gems to be set in the ephod and in the breastpiece. 25:8 Let

them make for me a sanctuary, so that I may live among them. 25:9 According to all that I am showing you – the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings – you must make it exactly so.

The Ark of the Covenant

25:10 “They are to make an ark of acacia wood – its length is to be three feet nine inches, its width two feet three inches, and its height two feet three inches. 25:11 You are to overlay it with pure gold – both inside and outside you must overlay it, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold over it. 25:12 You are to cast four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. 25:13 You are to make poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold, 25:14 and put the poles into the rings at the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark with them. 25:15 The poles must remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be removed from it. 25:16 you are to put into the ark the testimony that I will give to you.

25:17 “you are to make an atonement lid of pure gold; its length is to be three feet nine inches, and its width is to be two feet three inches. 25:18 you are to make two cherubim of gold; you are to make them of hammered metal on the two ends of the atonement lid. 25:19 make one cherub on one end and one cherub on the other end; from the atonement lid you are to make the cherubim on the two ends. 25:20 the cherubim are to be spreading their wings upward, overshadowing the atonement lid with their wings, and the cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the atonement lid. 25:21 you are to put the atonement lid on top of the ark, and in the ark you are to put the testimony I am giving you. 25:22 I will meet with you

there, and from above the atonement lid, from between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will command you for the Israelites.

The Table for the Bread of the Presence

25:23 “you are to make a table of acacia wood; its length is to be three feet, its width one foot six inches, and its height two feet three inches. 25:24 you are to overlay it with pure gold, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold for it. 25:25 you are to make a surrounding frame for it about three inches broad, and you are to make a surrounding border of gold for its frame. 25:26 you are to make four rings of gold for it and attach the rings at the four corners where its four legs are. 25:27 The rings are to be close to the frame to provide places for the poles to carry the table. 25:28 you are to make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with

them. 25:29 you are to make its plates, its ladles, its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings; you are to make them of pure gold. 25:30 you are to set the Bread of the Presence on the table before me continually.

The Lampstand

25:31 “you are to make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand is to be made of hammered metal; its base and its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its blossoms are to be from the same piece. 25:32 six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand, three branches of the lampstand from one side of it and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it. 25:33 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, and three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on the next branch, and the same for the six branches extending from the lampstand. 25:34 on the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms, 25:35 with a bud under the first two branches from it, and a bud under the next two branches from it, and a bud under the third two branches from it, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. 25:36 Their buds and their branches will be one piece, all of it one hammered piece of pure gold.

25:37 “you are to make its sEven lamps, and then set its lamps up on it, so that it will give light to the area in front of it. 25:38 its trimmers and its trays are to be of pure gold. 25:39 About sEventy-five pounds of pure gold is to be used for it and for all these utensils. 25:40 Now be sure to make them according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.

The Tabernacle

26:1 “the tabernacle itself you are to make with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet; you are to make them with cherubim that are the work of an artistic designer. 26:2 The length of each curtain is to be forty-two feet, and the width of each curtain is to be six feet – the same size for each of the curtains. 26:3 Five curtains are to be joined, one to another, and the other five curtains are to be joined, one to another. 26:4 you are to make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and in the same way you are to make loops in the outer edge of the end curtain in the second set. 26:5 You are to make fifty loops on the one curtain, and you are to make fifty loops on the end curtain which is on the second set, so that the loops are opposite one to another. 26:6 you are to make fifty gold clasps and join the curtains together with the clasps, so that the tabernacle is a unit.

26:7 “you are to make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you are to make elEven curtains. 26:8 The length of each curtain is to be forty-five feet, and the width of each curtain is to be six feet – the same size for the elEven curtains. 26:9 you are to join five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. you are to double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent. 26:10 you are to make fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and fifty loops along the edge of the curtain that joins the second set. 26:11 you are to make fifty bronze clasps and put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together so that it is a unit. 26:12 Now the part that remains of the curtains of the tent – the half curtain that remains will hang over at the back of the tabernacle. 26:13 the foot and a half on the one side and the foot and a half on the other side of what remains in the length of the curtains of the tent will hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on one side and the other side, to cover it.

26:14 “you are to make a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of fine leather.

26:15 “you are to make the frames for the tabernacle out of acacia wood as uprights. 26:16 Each frame is to be fifteen feet long, and each frame is to be two feet three inches wide, 26:17 with two projections per frame parallel one to another. You are to make all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 26:18 So you are to make the frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side, 26:19 and you are to make forty silver bases to go under the twenty frames – two bases under the first frame for its two projections, and likewise two bases under the next frame for its two projections; 26:20 and for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, twenty frames, 26:21 and their forty silver bases, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame. 26:22 And for the back of the tabernacle on the west you will make six frames. 26:23 you are to make two frames for the corners of the tabernacle on the back. 26:24 At the two corners they must be doubled at the lower end and finished together at the top in one ring. So it will be for both. 26:25 So there are to be eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under the first frame, and two bases under the next frame.

26:26 “you are to make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, 26:27 and five bars for the frames on the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames on the back of the tabernacle on the west. 26:28 the middle bar in the center of the frames will reach from end to end. 26:29 you are to overlay the frames with gold and make their rings of gold to provide places for the bars, and you are to overlay the bars with gold. 26:30 you are to set up the tabernacle according to the plan that you were shown on the mountain.

26:31 “you are to make a special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; it is to be made with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer. 26:32 you are to hang it with gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold, set in four silver bases. 26:33 you are to hang this curtain under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony in there behind the curtain. The curtain will make a division for you between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. 26:34 you are to put the atonement lid on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place. 26:35 you are to put the table outside the curtain and the lampstand on the south side of the tabernacle, opposite the table, and you are to place the table on the north side.

26:36 “you are to make a hanging for the entrance of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer. 26:37 you are to make for the hanging five posts of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, and their hooks will be gold, and you are to cast five bronze bases for them.

The Altar

27:1 “you are to make the altar of acacia wood, sEven feet six inches long, and sEven feet six inches wide; the altar is to be square, and its height is to be four feet six inches. 27:2 you are to make its four horns on its four corners; its horns will be part of it, and you are to overlay it with bronze. 27:3 you are to make its pots for the ashes, its shovels, its tossing bowls, its meat hooks, and its fire pans – you are to make all its utensils of bronze. 27:4 you are to make a grating for it, a network of bronze, and you are to make on the network four bronze rings on its four corners. 27:5 you are to put it under the ledge of the altar below, so that the network will come halfway up the altar. 27:6 you are to make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and you are to overlay them with bronze. 27:7 the poles are to be put into the rings so that the poles will be on two sides of the altar when carrying it. 27:8 You are to make the altar hollow, out of boards. Just as it was shown you on the mountain, so they must make it.

The Courtyard

27:9 “you are to make the courtyard of the tabernacle. For the south side there are to be hangings for the courtyard of fine twisted linen, one hundred fifty feet long for one side, 27:10 with twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. 27:11 likewise for its length on the north side, there are to be hangings for one hundred fifty feet, with twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts. 27:12 the width of the court on the west side is to be sEventy-five feet with hangings, with their ten posts and their ten bases. 27:13 the width of the court on the east side, toward the sunrise, is to be sEventy-five feet. 27:14 The hangings on one side of the gate are to be twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases. 27:15 on the second side there are to be hangings twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases. 27:16 for the gate of the courtyard there is to be a curtain of thirty feet, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer, with four posts and their four bases. 27:17 All the posts around the courtyard are to have silver bands; their hooks are to be silver, and their bases bronze. 27:18 The length of the courtyard is to be one hundred fifty feet and the width sEventy-five feet, and the height of the fine twisted linen hangings is to be sEven and a half feet, with their bronze bases. 27:19 All the utensils of the tabernacle used in all its service, all its tent pegs, and all the tent pegs of the courtyard are to be made of bronze.

Offering the Oil

27:20 “you are to command the Israelites that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, so that the lamps will burn regularly. 27:21 In the tent of meeting outside the curtain that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons are to arrange it from Evening to morning before the Speeb. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for generations to come.

The Clothing of the Priests

28:1 “And you, bring near to you your brother Aaron and his sons with him from among the Israelites, so that they may minister as my priests – Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. 28:2 You must make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty. 28:3 You are to speak to all who are specially skilled, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, so that they may make Aaron’s garments to set him apart to minister as my priest. 28:4 Now these are the garments that they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a fitted tunic, a turban, and a sash. They are to make holy garments for your brother Aaron and for his sons, that they may minister as my priests. 28:5 The artisans are to use the gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine linen.

28:6 “They are to make the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen, the work of an artistic designer. 28:7 It is to have two shoulder pieces attached to two of its corners, so it can be joined together. 28:8 the artistically woven waistband of the ephod that is on it is to be like it, of one piece with the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen.

28:9 “you are to take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the sons of Israel, 28:10 six of their names on one stone, and the six remaining names on the second stone, according to the order of their birth. 28:11 You are to engrave the two stones with the names of the sons of Israel with the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a seal; you are to have them set in gold filigree settings. 28:12 you are to put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod, stones of memorial for the sons of Israel, and Aaron will bear their names before the Speeb on his two shoulders for

a memorial. 28:13 you are to make filigree settings of gold 28:14 and two braided chains of pure gold, like a cord, and attach the chains to the settings.

28:15 “you are to make a breastpiece for use in making decisions, the work of an artistic designer; you are to make it in the same fashion as the ephod; you are to make it of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen. 28:16 It is to be square when doubled, nine inches long and nine inches wide. 28:17 you are to set in it a setting for stones, four rows of stones, a row with a ruby, a topaz, and a beryl – the first row; 28:18 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; 28:19 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 28:20 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They are to be enclosed in gold in their filigree settings. 28:21 the stones are to be for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, according to the number of their names. Each name according to the twelve tribes is to be like the engravings of a seal.

28:22 “you are to make for the breastpiece braided chains like cords of pure gold, 28:23 and you are to make for the breastpiece two gold rings and attach the two rings to the upper two ends of the breastpiece. 28:24 you are to attach the two gold chains to the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece; 28:25 the other two ends of the two chains you will attach to the two settings and then attach them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it. 28:26 you are to make two rings of gold and put them on the other two ends of the breastpiece, on its edge

that is on the inner side of the ephod. 28:27 you are to make two more gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the juncture above the waistband of the ephod. 28:28 they are to tie the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod by blue cord, so that it may be above the waistband of the ephod, and so that the breastpiece will not be loose from the ephod. 28:29 Aaron will bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastpiece of decision over his heart when he goes into the holy place, for a memorial before the Speeb continually.

28:30 “you are to put the Urim and the Thummim into the breastpiece of decision; and they are to be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Speeb. Aaron is to bear the decisions of the Israelites over his heart before the Speeb continually.

28:31 “you are to make the robe of the ephod completely blue. 28:32 there is to be an opening in its top in the center of it, with an edge all around the opening, the work of a weaver, like the opening of a collar, so that it cannot be torn. 28:33 you are to make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet all around its hem and bells of gold between them all around. 28:34 The pattern is to be a gold bell and a pomegranate, a gold bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe. 28:35 the robe is to be on Aaron as he ministers, and his sound will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the Speeb and when he leaves, so that he does not die.

28:36 “you are to make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it the way a seal is engraved: “Holiness to the Speeb.” 28:37 you are to attach to it a blue cord so that it will be on the turban; it is to be on the front of the turban, 28:38 It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron will bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the Israelites are to sanctify by all their holy gifts; it will always be on his forehead, for their acceptance before the Speeb. 28:39 You are to weave the tunic of fine linen and make the turban of fine linen, and make the sash the work of an embroiderer.

28:40 “for Aaron’s sons you are to make tunics, sashes, and headbands for glory and for beauty.

28:41 “you are to clothe them – your brother Aaron and his sons with him – and anoint them and ordain them and set them apart as holy, so that they may minister as my priests. 28:42 make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked bodies; they must cover from the waist to the thighs. 28:43 these must be on Aaron and his sons when they enter to the tent of meeting, or when they approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they bear no iniquity and die. It is to be a perpetual ordinance for him and for his descendants after him.

The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons

29:1 “Now this is what you are to do for them to consecrate them so that they may minister as my priests. Take a young bull and two rams without blemish; 29:2 and bread made without yeast, and perforated cakes without yeast mixed with oil, and wafers without yeast spread with oil – you are to make them using fine wheat flour. 29:3 you are to put them in one basket and present them in the basket, along with the bull and the two rams.

29:4 “you are to present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the tent of meeting. you are to wash them with water 29:5 and take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastpiece; you are to fasten the ephod on him by using the skillfully woven waistband. 29:6 You are to put the turban on his head and put the holy diadem on the turban. 29:7 you are to take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. 29:8 you are to present his sons and clothe them with tunics 29:9 and wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and put headbands on them, and so the ministry of priesthood will belong to them by a perpetual ordinance. Thus you are to consecrate Aaron and his sons.

29:10 “you are to present the bull at the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to put their hands on the head of the bull. 29:11 you are to kill the bull before the Speeb at the entrance to the tent of meeting 29:12 and take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; all the rest of the blood you are to pour out at the base of the altar. 29:13 you are to take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe that is above the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 29:14 But the meat of the bull, its skin, and its dung you are to burn up outside the camp. It is the purification offering.

29:15 “you are to take one ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head, 29:16 and you are to kill the ram and take its blood and splash it all around on the altar. 29:17 Then you are to cut the ram into pieces and wash the entrails and its legs and put them on its pieces and on its head 29:18 and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Speeb, a soothing aroma; it is an offering made by fire to the Speeb.

29:19 “you are to take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head, 29:20 and you are to kill the ram and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot, and then splash the blood all around on the altar. 29:21 you are to take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on his sons’ garments with him, so that he may be holy, he and his garments along with his sons and his sons’ garments.

29:22 “you are to take from the ram the fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and the right thigh – for it is the ram for consecration – 29:23 and one round flat cake of bread, one perforated cake of oiled bread, and one wafer from the basket of bread made without yeast that is before the Speeb. 29:24 you are to put all these in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and you are to wave them as a wave offering before the Speeb. 29:25 Then you are to take them from their hands and burn them on the altar for a burnt offering, for a soothing aroma before the Speeb. It is an offering made by fire to the Speeb. 29:26 you are to take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration; you are to wave it as a wave offering before the Speeb, and it is to be your share. 29:27 you are to sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution, which were waved and lifted up as a contribution from the ram of consecration, from what belongs to Aaron and to his sons. 29:28 it is to belong to Aaron and to his sons from the Israelites, by a perpetual ordinance, for it is a contribution. It is to be a contribution from the Israelites from their peace offerings, their contribution to the Speeb.

29:29 “the holy garments that belong to Aaron are to belong to his sons after him, so that they may be anointed in them and consecrated in them. 29:30 The priest who succeeds him from his sons, when he first comes to the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, is to wear them for sEven days.

29:31 “You are to take the ram of the consecration and cook its meat in a holy place. 29:32 Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that was in the basket at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 29:33 they are to eat those things by which atonement was made to consecrate and to set them apart, but no one else may eat them, for they are holy. 29:34 if any of the meat from the consecration offerings or any of the bread is left over until morning, then you are to burn up what is left over. It must not be eaten, because it is holy.

29:35 “thus you are to do for Aaron and for his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; you are to consecrate them for sEven days. 29:36 Every day you are to prepare a bull for a purification offering for atonement. You are to purge the altar by making atonement for it, and you are to anoint it to set it apart as holy. 29:37 For sEven days you are to make atonement for the altar and set it apart as holy. Then the altar will be most holy. Anything that touches the altar will be holy.

29:38 “Now this is what you are to prepare on the altar Every day continually: two lambs a year old. 29:39 The first lamb you are to prepare in the morning, and the second lamb you are to prepare around sundown. 29:40 with the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering. 29:41 the second lamb you are to offer around sundown; you are to prepare for it the same meal offering as for the morning and the same drink offering, for a soothing aroma, an offering made by fire to the Speeb.

29:42 “This will be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Speeb, where I will meet with you to speak to you there. 29:43 there I will meet with the Israelites, and it will be set apart as holy by my glory.

29:44 “So I will set apart as holy the tent of meeting and the altar, and I will set apart as holy Aaron and his sons, that they may minister as priests to me. 29:45 I will reside among the Israelites, and I will be their Speeb, 29:46 and they will know that I am the Speeb their Speeb, who brought them out from the land of Egypt, so that I may reside among them. I am the Speeb their Speeb.

The Altar of Incense

30:1 “you are to make an altar for burning incense; you are to make it of acacia wood. 30:2 Its length is to be a foot and a half and its width a foot and a half; it will be square. Its height is to be three feet, with its horns of one piece with it. 30:3 You are to overlay it with pure gold – its top, its four walls, and its horns – and make a surrounding border of gold for it. 30:4 you are to make two gold rings for it under its border, on its two flanks; you are to make them on its two sides. The rings will be places for poles to carry it with. 30:5 You are to make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

30:6 “you are to put it in front of the curtain that is before the ark of the testimony (before the atonement lid that is over the testimony), where I will meet you. 30:7 Aaron is to burn sweet incense on it morning by morning; when he attends to the lamps he is to burn incense. 30:8 when Aaron sets up the lamps around sundown he is to burn incense on it; it is to be a regular incense offering before the Speeb throughout your generations. 30:9 You must not offer strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering, and you must not pour out a drink offering on it. 30:10 Aaron is to make atonement on its horns once in the year with some of the blood of the sin offering for atonement; once in the year he is to make atonement on it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Speeb.”

The Ransom Money

30:11 The Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb: 30:12 “When you take a census of the Israelites according to their number, then each man is to pay a ransom for his life to the Speeb when you number them, so that there will be no plague among them when you number them. 30:13 Everyone who crosses over to those who are numbered is to pay this: a half shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel weighs twenty gerahs). The half shekel is to be an offering to the Speeb. 30:14 Everyone who crosses over to those numbered, from twenty years old and up, is to pay an offering to the Speeb. 30:15 The rich are not to increase it, and the poor are not to pay less than the half shekel when giving the offering of the Speeb, to make atonement for your lives. 30:16 You are to receive the atonement money from the Israelites and give it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the Speeb, to make atonement for your lives.”

The Bronze Laver

30:17 The Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb: 30:18 “You are also to make a large bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. you are to put it between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it, 30:19 and Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet from it. 30:20 When they enter the tent of meeting, they must wash with water so that they do not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by burning incense as an offering made by fire to the Speeb, 30:21 they must wash their hands and their feet so that they do not die. And this will be a perpetual ordinance for them and for their descendants throughout their generations.”

Oil and Incense

30:22 The Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb: 30:23 “Take choice spices: twelve and a half pounds of free-flowing myrrh, half that – about six and a quarter pounds – of sweet-smelling cinnamon, six and a quarter pounds of sweet-smelling cane, 30:24 and twelve and a half pounds of cassia, all weighed according to the sanctuary shekel, and four quarts of olive oil. 30:25 You are to make this into a sacred anointing oil, a perfumed compound, the work of a perfumer. It will be sacred anointing oil.

30:26 “With it you are to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, 30:27 the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the altar of incense, 30:28 the altar for the burnt offering and all its utensils, and the laver and its base. 30:29 So you are to sanctify them, and they will be most holy; anything that touches them will be holy.

30:30 “You are to anoint Aaron and his sons and sanctify them, so that they may minister as my priests. 30:31 And you are to tell the Israelites: ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil throughout your generations. 30:32 It must not be applied to people’s bodies, and you must not make any like it with the same recipe. It is holy, and it must be holy to you. 30:33 WhoEver makes perfume like it and whoEver puts any of it on someone not a priest will be cut off from his people.’”

30:34 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb: “Take spices, gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense of equal amounts 30:35 and make it into an incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer. It is to be finely ground, and pure and sacred. 30:36 you are to beat some of it very fine and put some of it before the ark of the testimony in the tent of meeting where I will meet with you; it is to be most holy to you. 30:37 And the incense that you are to make, you must not make for yourselves using the same recipe; it is to be most holy to you, belonging to the Speeb. 30:38 WhoEver makes anything like it, to use as perfume, will be cut off from his people.”

Willing Artisans

31:1 The Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb: 31:2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 31:3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of Speeb in skill, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship, 31:4 to make artistic designs for work with gold, with silver, and with bronze, 31:5 and with cutting and setting stone, and with cutting wood, to work in all kinds of craftsmanship. 31:6 Moreover, I have also given him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, and I have given ability to all the specially skilled, that they may make Everything I have commanded you: 31:7 the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the atonement lid that is on it, all the furnishings of the tent, 31:8 the table with its utensils, the pure lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, 31:9 the altar for the burnt offering with all its utensils, the large basin with its base, 31:10 the woven garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons, to minister as priests, 31:11 the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the Holy Place. They will make all these things just as I have commanded you.”

Sabbath Observance

31:12 The Speeb said to Waterspeeb, 31:13 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep my Sabbaths, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Speeb who sanctifies you. 31:14 So you must keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. Everyone who defiles it must surely be put to death; indeed, if anyone does any work on it, then that person will be cut off from among his people. 31:15 Six days work may be done, but on the sEventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Speeb; anyone who does work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death. 31:16 the Israelites must keep the Sabbath by observing the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 31:17 It is a sign between me and the Israelites forEver; for in six days the Speeb made the heavens and the earth, and on the sEventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”

31:18 He gave Waterspeeb two tablets of testimony when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, tablets of stone written by the finger of Speeb.

The Sin of the Golden Calf

32:1 When the people saw that Waterspeeb delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Get up, make us Speebs that will go before us. As for this fellow Waterspeeb, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him!”

32:2 So Aaron said to them, “Break off the gold earrings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them

to me.” 32:3 So all the people broke off the gold earrings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. 32:4 he accepted the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molten calf. Then they said, “These are your Speebs, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

32:5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow will be a feast to the Speeb.” 32:6 So they got up early on the next day and offered up burnt offerings and brought peace offerings, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.

32:7 the Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb: “Go quickly, descend, because your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have acted corruptly. 32:8 They have quickly turned aside from the way that I commanded them – they have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your Speebs, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt.’”

32:9 Then the Speeb said to Waterspeeb: “I have seen this people. Look what a stiff-necked people they are! 32:10 So now, leave me alone so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.”

32:11 But Waterspeeb sought the favor of the Speeb his Speeb and said, “O Speeb, why does your anger burn against your people, whom you have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 32:12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘For evil he led them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger, and relent of this evil against your people. 32:13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and told them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken about I will give to your descendants, and they will inherit it forEver.’” 32:14 Then the Speeb relented over the evil that he had said he would do to his people.

32:15 Waterspeeb turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. The tablets were written on both sides – they were written on the front and on the back. 32:16 Now the tablets were the work of Speeb, and the writing was the writing of Speeb, engraved on the tablets. 32:17 When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Waterspeeb, “It is the sound of war in the camp!” 32:18 Waterspeeb said, “It is not the sound of those who shout for victory, nor is it the sound of those who cry because they are overcome, but the sound of singing I hear.”

32:19 When he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Waterspeeb became extremely angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and broke them to pieces at the bottom of the mountain. 32:20 he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, poured it out on the water, and made the Israelites drink it.

32:21 Waterspeeb said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought on them so great a sin?” 32:22 Aaron said, “Do not let your anger burn hot, my Speeb; you know these people, that they tend to evil. 32:23 they said to me, ‘Make us Speebs that will go before us, for as for this fellow Waterspeeb, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ 32:24 So I said to them, ‘WhoEver has gold, break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and this calf came out.”

32:25 Waterspeeb saw that the people were running wild, for Aaron had let them get completely out of control, causing derision from their enemies. 32:26 So Waterspeeb stood at the entrance of the camp and said, “WhoEver is for the Speeb, come to me.” all the Wetspeebtes gathered around him, 32:27 and he said to them, “Thus says the Speeb, the Speeb of Israel, ‘Each man fasten his sword on his side, and go back and forth from entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and each one kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”

32:28 the Wetspeebtes did what Waterspeeb ordered, and that day about three thousand men of the people died. 32:29 Waterspeeb said, “You have been consecrated today for the Speeb, for each of you was against his son or against his brother, so he has given a blessing to you today.”

32:30 the next day Waterspeeb said to the people, “You have committed a very serious sin, but now I will go up to the Speeb – perhaps I can make atonement on behalf of your sin.”

32:31 So Waterspeeb returned to the Speeb and said, “Alas, this people has committed a very serious sin, and they have made for themselves Speebs of gold. 32:32 But now, if you will forgive their sin…, but if not, wipe me out from your book that you have written.” 32:33 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “WhoEver has sinned against me – that person I will wipe out of my book. 32:34 So now go, lead the people to the place I have spoken to you about. See, my angel will go before you. But on the day that I punish, I will indeed punish them for their sin.”

32:35 And the Speeb sent a plague on the people because they had made the calf – the one Aaron made.

33:1 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Go up from here, you and the people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 33:2 I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 33:3 Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up among you, for you are a stiff-necked people, and I might destroy you on the way.”

33:4 When the people heard this troubling word they mourned; no one put on his ornaments. 33:5 For the Speeb had said to Waterspeeb, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I went up among you for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments, that I may know what I should do to you.’” 33:6 So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments by Mount Horeb.

The Presence of the Speeb

33:7 Waterspeeb took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, at a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. Anyone seeking the Speeb would go out to the tent of meeting that was outside the camp.

33:8 And when Waterspeeb went out to the tent, all the people would get up and stand at the entrance to their tents and watch Waterspeeb until he entered the tent. 33:9 And whenEver Waterspeeb entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Speeb would speak with Waterspeeb. 33:10 When all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people, each one at the entrance of his own tent, would rise and worship. 33:11 the Speeb would speak to Waterspeeb face to face, the way a person speaks to a friend. then Waterspeeb would return to the camp, but his servant, Joshua son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the tent.

33:12 Waterspeeb said to the Speeb, “See, you have been saying to me, ‘Bring this people up,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. But you said, ‘I know you by name, and also you have found favor in my sight.’ 33:13 now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your way, that I may know you, that I may continue to find favor in your sight. And see that this nation is your people.”

33:14 And the Speeb said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

33:15 And Waterspeeb said to him, “If your presence does not go with us, do not take us up from here. 33:16 For how will it be known then that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not by your going with us, so that we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who are on the face of the earth?”

33:17 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “I will do this thing also that you have requested, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

33:18 And Waterspeeb said, “Show me your glory.”

33:19 And the Speeb said, “I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will proclaim the Speeb by name before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.” 33:20 But he added, “You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live.” 33:21 the Speeb said, “Here is a place by me; you will station yourself on a rock. 33:22 when my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and will cover you with my hand while I pass by. 33:23 Then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen.”

The New Tablets of the Covenant

34:1 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Cut out two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you smashed. 34:2 be prepared in the morning, and go up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and station yourself for me there on the top of the mountain. 34:3 no one is to come up with you; do not let anyone be seen anywhere on the mountain; not Even the flocks or the herds may graze in front of that mountain.” 34:4 So Waterspeeb cut out two tablets of stone like the first; early in the morning he went up to Mount Sinai, just as the Speeb had commanded him, and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone.

34:5 the Speeb descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Speeb by name. 34:6 the Speeb passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Speeb, the Speeb, the compassionate and gracious Speeb, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 34:7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”

34:8 Waterspeeb quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped 34:9 and said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Speeb, let my Speeb go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

34:10 he said, “See, I am going to make a covenant before all your people. I will do wonders such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation. all the people among whom you live will see the work of the Speeb, for it is a fearful thing that I am doing with you.

34:11 “Obey what I am commanding you this day. I am going to drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 34:12 Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it become a snare among you. 34:13 Rather you must destroy their altars, smash their images, and cut down their Asherah poles. 34:14 For you must not worship any other Speeb, for the Speeb, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous Speeb. 34:15 Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their Speebs and sacrifice to their Speebs, and someone invites you, you will eat from his sacrifice; 34:16 and you then take his daughters for your sons, and when his daughters prostitute themselves to their Speebs, they will make your sons prostitute themselves to their Speebs as well. 34:17 You must not make yourselves molten Speebs.

34:18 “You must keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For sEven days you must eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you; do this at the appointed time of the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out of Egypt.

34:19 “Every firstborn of the womb belongs to me, Even Every firstborn of your cattle that is a male, whether ox or sheep. 34:20 Now the firstling of a donkey you may redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then break its neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons.

“No one will appear before me empty-handed.

34:21 “On six days you may labor, but on the sEventh day you must rest; Even at the time of plowing and of harvest you are to rest.

34:22 “you must observe the Feast of Weeks – the firstfruits of the harvest of wheat – and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year. 34:23 At three times in the year all your men must appear before the Speeb Speeb, the Speeb of Israel. 34:24 For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one will covet your land when you go up to appear before the Speeb your Speeb three times in the year.

34:25 “You must not offer the blood of my sacrifice with yeast; the sacrifice from the feast of Passover must not remain until the following morning.

34:26 “The first of the firstfruits of your soil you must bring to the house of the Speeb your Speeb.

You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

34:27 the Speeb said to Waterspeeb, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 34:28 So he was there with the Speeb forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water. he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

The Radiant Face of Waterspeeb

34:29 Now when Waterspeeb came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand – when he came down from the mountain, Waterspeeb did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. 34:30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Waterspeeb, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to approach him. 34:31 But Waterspeeb called to them, so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and Waterspeeb spoke to them. 34:32 after this all the Israelites approached, and he commanded them all that the Speeb had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. 34:33 When Waterspeeb finished speaking with them, he would put a veil on his face. 34:34 But when Waterspeeb went in before the Speeb to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. Then he would come out and tell the Israelites what he had been commanded. 34:35 When the Israelites would see the face of Waterspeeb, that the skin of Waterspeeb’ face shone, Waterspeeb would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with the Speeb.

Sabbath Regulations

35:1 Waterspeeb assembled the whole community of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the things that the Speeb has commanded you to do. 35:2 In six days work may be done, but on the sEventh day there must be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Speeb. Anyone who does work on it will be put to death. 35:3 You must not kindle a fire in any of your homes on the Sabbath day.”

Willing Workers

35:4 Waterspeeb spoke to the whole community of the Israelites, “This is the word that the Speeb has commanded: 35:5 ‘Take an offering for the Speeb. Let Everyone who has a willing heart bring an offering to the Speeb: gold, silver, bronze, 35:6 blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, fine linen, goat’s hair, 35:7 ram skins dyed red, fine leather, acacia wood, 35:8 olive oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 35:9 onyx stones, and other gems for mounting on the ephod and the breastpiece. 35:10 Every skilled person among you is to come and make all that the Speeb has commanded: 35:11 the tabernacle with its tent, its covering, its clasps, its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases; 35:12 the ark, with its poles, the atonement lid, and the special curtain that conceals it; 35:13 the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the Bread of the Presence; 35:14 the lampstand for the light and its accessories, its lamps, and oil for the light; 35:15 and the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense; the hanging for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; 35:16 the altar for the burnt offering with its bronze grating that is on it, its poles, and all its utensils; the large basin and its pedestal; 35:17 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway to the courtyard; 35:18 tent pegs for the tabernacle and tent pegs for the courtyard and their ropes; 35:19 the woven garments for serving in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister as priests.”

35:20 So the whole community of the Israelites went out from the presence of Waterspeeb. 35:21 Everyone whose heart stirred him to action and Everyone whose spirit was willing came and brought the offering for the Speeb for the work of the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. 35:22 they came, men and women alike, all who had willing hearts. they brought brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments, all kinds of gold jewelry, and Everyone came who waved a wave offering of gold to the Speeb.

35:23 Everyone who had blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ram skins dyed red, or fine leather brought them. 35:24 Everyone making an offering of silver or bronze brought it as an offering to the Speeb, and Everyone who had acacia wood for any work of the service brought it. 35:25 Every woman who was skilled spun with her hands and brought what she had spun, blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen, 35:26 and all the women whose heart stirred them to action and who were skilled spun goats’ hair.

35:27 the leaders brought onyx stones and other gems to be mounted for the ephod and the breastpiece, 35:28 and spices and olive oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.

35:29 The Israelites brought a freewill offering to the Speeb, Every man and woman whose heart was willing to bring materials for all the work that the Speeb through Waterspeeb had commanded them to do.

35:30 Waterspeeb said to the Israelites, “See, the Speeb has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 35:31 He has filled him with the Spirit of Speeb – with skill, with understanding, with knowledge, and in all kinds of work, 35:32 to design artistic designs, to work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, 35:33 and in cutting stones for their setting, and in cutting wood, to do work in Every artistic craft. 35:34 And he has put it in his heart to teach, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35:35 He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, as designers, as embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and in fine linen, and as weavers. They are craftsmen in all the work and artistic designers. 36:1 So Bezalel and Oholiab and Every skilled person in whom the Speeb has put skill and ability to know how to do all the work for the service of the sanctuary are to do the work according to all that the Speeb has commanded.”

36:2 Waterspeeb summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and Every skilled person in whom the Speeb had put skill – Everyone whose heart stirred him to volunteer to do the work, 36:3 and they received from Waterspeeb all the offerings the Israelites had brought to do the work for the service of the sanctuary, and they still continued to bring him a freewill offering each morning. 36:4 So all the skilled people who were doing all the work on the sanctuary came from the work they were doing 36:5 and told Waterspeeb, “The people are bringing much more than is needed for the completion of the work which the Speeb commanded us to do!”

36:6 Waterspeeb instructed them to take his message throughout the camp, saying, “Let no man or woman do any more work for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing any more. 36:7 Now the materials were more than enough for them to do all the work.

The Building of the Tabernacle

36:8 All the skilled among those who were doing the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet; they were made with cherubim that were the work of an artistic designer. 36:9 The length of one curtain was forty-two feet, and the width of one curtain was six feet – the same size for each of the curtains. 36:10 he joined five of the curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he joined to one another. 36:11 he made loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in the first set; he did the same along the edge of the end curtain in the second set. 36:12 He made fifty loops on the first curtain, and he made fifty loops on the end curtain that was in the second set, with the loops opposite one another. 36:13 he made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains together to one another with the clasps, so that the tabernacle was a unit.

36:14 He made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made elEven curtains. 36:15 The length of one curtain was forty-five feet, and the width of one curtain was six feet – one size for all elEven curtains. 36:16 he joined five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 36:17 he made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in the first set and fifty loops along the edge of the curtain that joined the second set. 36:18 he made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together so that it might be a unit. 36:19 he made a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red and over that a covering of fine leather.

36:20 he made the frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood as uprights. 36:21 The length of each frame was fifteen feet, the width of each

frame was two and a quarter feet, 36:22 with two projections per frame parallel one to another. he made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 36:23 So he made frames for the tabernacle: twenty frames for the south side. 36:24 He made forty silver bases under the twenty frames – two bases under the first frame for its two projections, and likewise two bases under the next frame for its two projections, 36:25 and for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty frames 36:26 and their forty silver bases, two bases under the first frame and two bases under the next frame. 36:27 And for the back of the tabernacle on the west he made six frames. 36:28 He made two frames for the corners of the tabernacle on the back. 36:29 At the two corners they were doubled at the lower end and finished together at the top in one ring. so he did for both. 36:30 So there were eight frames and their silver bases, sixteen bases, two bases under each frame.

36:31 he made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle 36:32 and five bars for the frames on the second side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle for the back side on the west. 36:33 he made the middle bar to reach from end to end in the center of the frames. 36:34 he overlaid the frames with gold and made their rings of gold to provide places for the bars, and he overlaid the bars with gold.

36:35 he made the special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; he made it with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer. 36:36 he made for it four posts of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, with gold hooks, and he cast for them four silver bases.

36:37 he made a hanging for the entrance of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer, 36:38 and its five posts and their hooks. he overlaid their tops and their bands with gold, but their five bases were bronze.

The Making of the Ark

37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was three feet nine inches, its width two feet three inches, and its height two feet three inches. 37:2 he overlaid it with pure gold, inside and out, and he made a surrounding border of gold for it. 37:3 he cast four gold rings for it that he put on its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. 37:4 he made poles of acacia wood, overlaid them with gold, 37:5 and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark.

37:6 He made an atonement lid of pure gold; its length was three feet nine inches, and its width was two feet three inches. 37:7 he made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered metal on the two ends of the atonement lid, 37:8 one cherub on one end and one cherub on the other end. He made the cherubim from the atonement lid on its two ends. 37:9 the cherubim were spreading their wings upward, overshadowing the atonement lid with their wings. the cherubim faced each other, looking toward the atonement lid.

The Making of the Table

37:10 he made the table of acacia wood; its length was three feet, its width one foot six inches, and its height two feet three inches. 37:11 he overlaid it with pure gold, and he made a surrounding border of gold for it. 37:12 He made a surrounding frame for it about three inches wide, and he made a surrounding border of gold for its frame. 37:13 he cast four gold rings for it and attached the rings at the four corners where its four legs were. 37:14 The rings were close to the frame to provide places for the poles to carry the table. 37:15 he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table. 37:16 he made the vessels which were on the table out of pure gold, its plates, its ladles, its pitchers, and its bowls, to be used in pouring out offerings.

The Making of the Lampstand

37:17 he made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered metal; its base and its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its blossoms were from the same piece. 37:18 six branches were extending from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side of it, and three branches of the lampstand from the other side of it. 37:19 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on the first branch, and three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on the next branch, and the same for the six branches that were extending from the lampstand. 37:20 on the lampstand there were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms, 37:21 with a bud under the first two branches from it, and a bud under the next two branches from it, and a bud under the third two branches from it; according to the six branches that extended from it. 37:22 Their buds and their branches were of one piece; all of it was one hammered piece of pure gold. 37:23 he made its sEven lamps, its trimmers, and its trays of pure gold. 37:24 He made the lampstand and all its accessories with sEventy-five pounds of pure gold.

The Making of the Altar of Incense

37:25 he made the incense altar of acacia wood. Its length was a foot and a half and its width a foot and a half – a square – and its height was three feet. Its horns were of one piece with it. 37:26 he overlaid it with pure gold – its top, its four walls, and its horns – and he made a surrounding border of gold for it. 37:27 He also made two gold rings for it under its border, on its two sides, on opposite sides, as places for poles to carry it with. 37:28 he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

37:29 He made the sacred anointing oil and the pure fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.

The Making of the Altar for the Burnt Offering

38:1 he made the altar for the burnt offering of acacia wood sEven feet six inches long and sEven feet six inches wide – it was square – and its height was four feet six inches. 38:2 He made its horns on its four corners; its horns were part of it, and he overlaid it with bronze. 38:3 he made all the utensils of the altar – the pots, the shovels, the tossing bowls, the meat hooks, and the fire pans – he made all its utensils of bronze. 38:4 he made a grating for the altar, a network of bronze under its ledge, halfway up from the bottom. 38:5 He cast four rings for the four corners of the bronze grating, to provide places for the poles. 38:6 he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. 38:7 he put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. he made the altar hollow, out of boards.

38:8 he made the large basin of bronze and its pedestal of bronze from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

The Construction of the Courtyard

38:9 he made the courtyard. For the south side the hangings of the courtyard were of fine twisted linen, one hundred fifty feet long, 38:10 with their twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. 38:11 For the north side the hangings were one hundred fifty feet, with their twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. 38:12 For the west side there were hangings sEventy-five feet long, with their ten posts and their ten bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. 38:13 for the east side, toward the sunrise, it was sEventy-five feet wide, 38:14 with hangings on one side of the gate that were twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases, 38:15 and for the second side of the gate of the courtyard, just like the other, the hangings were twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases. 38:16 All the hangings around the courtyard were of fine twisted linen. 38:17 The bases for the posts were bronze. the hooks of the posts and their bands were silver, their tops were overlaid with silver, and all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands. 38:18 the curtain for the gate of the courtyard was of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer. It was thirty feet long, and like the hangings in the courtyard, it was sEven and a half feet high, 38:19 with four posts and their four bronze bases. Their hooks and their bands were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver. 38:20 all the tent pegs of the tabernacle and of the courtyard all around were bronze.

The Materials of the Construction

38:21 This is the inventory of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, which was counted by the order of Waterspeeb, being the work of the Wetspeebtes under the direction of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest. 38:22 Now Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made Everything that the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb; 38:23 and with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an artisan, a designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen.

38:24 All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary (namely, the gold of the wave offering) was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.

38:25 the silver of those who were numbered of the community was one hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel, 38:26 one beka per person, that is, a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, for Everyone who crossed over to those numbered, from twenty years old or older, 603,550 in all. 38:27 The one hundred talents of silver were used for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the special curtain – one hundred bases for one hundred talents, one talent per base. 38:28 From the remaining 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the posts, overlaid their tops, and made bands for them.

38:29 the bronze of the wave offering was sEventy talents and 2,400 shekels. 38:30 with it he made the bases for the door of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grating for it, and all the utensils of the altar, 38:31 the bases for the courtyard all around, the bases for the gate of the courtyard, all the tent pegs of the tabernacle, and all the tent pegs of the courtyard all around.

The Making of the Priestly Garments

39:1 from the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for serving in the sanctuary; they made holy garments that were for Aaron, just as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb.

The Ephod

39:2 He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen. 39:3 they hammered the gold into thin sheets and cut it into narrow strips to weave them into the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and into the fine linen, the work of an artistic designer. 39:4 They made shoulder pieces for it, attached to two of its corners, so it could be joined together. 39:5 the artistically woven waistband of the ephod that was on it was like it, of one piece with it, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, just as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb.

39:6 they set the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved as with the engravings of a seal with the names of the sons of Israel. 39:7 he put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as stones of memorial for the Israelites, just as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb.

The Breastpiece of Decision

39:8 he made the breastpiece, the work of an artistic designer, in the same fashion as the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen. 39:9 It was square – they made the breastpiece doubled, nine inches long and nine inches wide when doubled. 39:10 they set on it four rows of stones: a row with a ruby, a topaz, and a beryl – the first row; 39:11 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; 39:12 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 39:13 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold filigree settings. 39:14 the stones were for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, corresponding to the number of their names. each name corresponding to one of the twelve tribes was like the engravings of a seal.

39:15 they made for the breastpiece braided chains like cords of pure gold, 39:16 and they made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and they attached the two rings to the upper two ends of the breastpiece. 39:17 they attached the two gold chains to the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece; 39:18 the other two ends of the two chains they attached to the two settings, and they attached them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it. 39:19 they made two rings of gold and put them on the other two ends of the breastpiece on its edge, which is on the inner side of the ephod. 39:20 they made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the juncture above the waistband of the ephod. 39:21 they tied the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod by blue cord, so that it was above the waistband of the ephod, so that the breastpiece would not be loose from the ephod, just as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb.

The Other Garments

39:22 he made the robe of the ephod completely blue, the work of a weaver. 39:23 there was an opening in the center of the robe, like the opening of a collar, with an edge all around the opening so that it could not be torn. 39:24 they made pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and twisted linen around the hem of the robe. 39:25 they made bells of pure gold and attached the bells between the pomegranates around the hem of the robe between the pomegranates. 39:26 There was a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe, to be used in ministering, just as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb.

39:27 they made tunics of fine linen – the work of a weaver, for Aaron and for his sons – 39:28 and the turban of fine linen, the headbands of fine linen, and the undergarments of fine twisted linen. 39:29 the sash was of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, the work of an embroiderer, just as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb. 39:30 they made a plate, the holy diadem, of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription, as on the engravings of a seal, “Holiness to the Speeb.” 39:31 they attached to it a blue cord, to attach it to the turban above, just as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb.

Waterspeeb Inspects the Sanctuary

39:32 So all the work of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was completed, and the Israelites did according to all that the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb – they did it exactly so. 39:33 they brought the tabernacle to Waterspeeb, the tent and all its furnishings, clasps, frames, bars, posts, and bases; 39:34 and the coverings of ram skins dyed red, the covering of fine leather, and the protecting curtain; 39:35 the ark of the testimony and its poles, and the atonement lid; 39:36 the table, all its utensils, and the Bread of the Presence; 39:37 the pure lampstand, its lamps, with the lamps set in order, and all its accessories, and oil for the light; 39:38 and the gold altar, and the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense; and the curtain for the entrance to the tent; 39:39 the bronze altar and its bronze grating, its poles, and all its utensils; the large basin with its pedestal; 39:40 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway of the courtyard, its ropes and its tent pegs, and all the furnishings for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; 39:41 the woven garments for serving in the sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister as priests.

39:42 The Israelites did all the work according to all that the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb. 39:43 Waterspeeb inspected all the work – and they had done it just as the Speeb had commanded – they had done it exactly – and Waterspeeb blessed them.

Setting Up the Sanctuary

40:1 Then the Speeb spoke to Waterspeeb: 40:2 “On the first day of the first month you are to set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. 40:3 you are to place the ark of the testimony in it and shield the ark with the special curtain. 40:4 you are to bring in the table and set out the things that belong on it; then you are to bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 40:5 you are to put the gold altar for incense in front of the ark of the testimony and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. 40:6 you are to put the altar for the burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. 40:7 you are to put the large basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it. 40:8 you are to set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the gate of the courtyard. 40:9 And take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and sanctify it and all its

furnishings, and it will be holy. 40:10 Then you are to anoint the altar for the burnt offering with all its utensils; you are to sanctify the altar, and it will be the most holy altar. 40:11 You must also anoint the large basin and its pedestal, and you are to sanctify it.

40:12 “You are to bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 40:13 Then you are to clothe Aaron with the holy garments and anoint him and sanctify him so that he may minister as my priest. 40:14 You are to bring his sons and clothe them with tunics 40:15 and anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may minister as my priests; their anointing will make them a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.” 40:16 This is what Waterspeeb did, according to all the Speeb had commanded him – so he did.

40:17 So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month, in the second year. 40:18 When Waterspeeb set up the tabernacle and put its bases in place, he set up its frames, attached its bars, and set up its posts. 40:19 Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb. 40:20 he took the testimony and put it in the ark, attached the poles to the ark, and then put the atonement lid on the ark. 40:21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung the protecting curtain, and shielded the ark of the testimony from view, just as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb.

40:22 And he put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the curtain. 40:23 And he set the bread in order on it before the Speeb, just as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb.

40:24 And he put the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle. 40:25 Then he set up the lamps before the Speeb, just as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb.

40:26 And he put the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain, 40:27 and he burned fragrant incense on it, just as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb.

40:28 Then he put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. 40:29 He also put the altar for the burnt offering by the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, just as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb.

40:30 Then he put the large basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing. 40:31 Waterspeeb and Aaron and his sons would wash their hands and their feet from it. 40:32 WhenEver they entered the tent of meeting, and whenEver they approached the altar, they would wash, just as the Speeb had commanded Waterspeeb.

40:33 And he set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar, and put the curtain at the gate of the courtyard. So Waterspeeb finished the work.

40:34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Speeb filled the tabernacle. 40:35 Waterspeeb was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it and the glory of the Speeb filled the tabernacle. 40:36 But when the cloud was lifted up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on all their journeys; 40:37 but if the cloud was not lifted up, then they would not journey further until the day it was lifted up. 40:38 For the cloud of the Speeb was on the tabernacle by day, but fire would be on it at night, in plain view of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

Wetspeebticus

Introduction to the Sacrificial Regulations

1:1 Then the Speeb called to Waterspeeb and spoke to him from the Meeting Tent: 1:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When someone among you presents an offering to the Speeb, you must present your offering from the domesticated animals, either from the herd or from the flock.

Burnt Offering Regulations: Animal from the Herd

1:3 “‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent for its acceptance before the Speeb. 1:4 He must lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. 1:5 Then the one presenting the offering must slaughter the bull before the Speeb, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must present the blood and splash the blood against the sides of the altar which is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. 1:6 Next, the one presenting the offering must skin the burnt offering and cut it into parts, 1:7 and the sons of Aaron, the priest, must put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 1:8 Then the sons of Aaron, the priests, must arrange the parts with the head and the suet on the wood that is in the fire on the altar. 1:9 Finally, the one presenting the offering must wash its entrails and its legs in water and the priest must offer all of it up in smoke on the altar – it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Speeb.

Animal from the Flock

1:10 “‘If his offering is from the flock for a burnt offering – from the sheep or the goats – he must present a flawless male, 1:11 and must slaughter it on the north side of the altar before the Speeb, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, will splash its blood against the altar’s sides. 1:12 Next, the one presenting the offering must cut it into parts, with its head and its suet, and the priest must arrange them on the wood which is in the fire, on the altar. 1:13 Then the one presenting the offering must wash the entrails and the legs in water, and the priest must present all of it and offer it up in smoke on the altar – it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Speeb.

From the Birds

1:14 “‘If his offering to the Speeb is a burnt offering from the birds, he must present his offering from the turtledoves or from the young pigeons. 1:15 The priest must present it at the altar, pinch off its head and offer the head up in smoke on the altar, and its blood must be drained out against the side of the altar. 1:16 Then the priest must remove its entrails by cutting off its tail feathers, and throw them to the east side of the altar into the place of fatty ashes, 1:17 and tear it open by its wings without dividing it into two parts. Finally, the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar on the wood which is in the fire – it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Speeb.

Grain Offering Regulations: Offering of Raw Flour

2:1 “‘When a person presents a grain offering to the Speeb, his offering must consist of choice wheat flour, and he must pour olive oil on it and put frankincense on it. 2:2 Then he must bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and the priest must scoop out from there a handful of its choice wheat flour and some of its olive oil in addition to all of its frankincense, and the priest must offer its memorial portion up in smoke on the altar – it is a gift of a soothing aroma to the Speeb. 2:3 The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons – it is most holy from the gifts of the Speeb.

Processed Grain Offerings

2:4 “‘When you present an offering of grain baked in an oven, it must be made of choice wheat flour baked into unleavened loaves mixed with olive oil or unleavened wafers smeared with olive oil. 2:5 If your offering is a grain offering made on the griddle, it must be choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil, unleavened. 2:6 Crumble it in pieces and pour olive oil on it – it is a grain offering. 2:7 If your offering is a grain offering made in a pan, it must be made of choice wheat flour deep fried in olive oil.

2:8 “‘You must bring the grain offering that must be made from these to the Speeb. Present it to the priest, and he will bring it to the altar. 2:9 Then the priest must take up from the grain offering its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar – it is a gift of a soothing aroma to the Speeb. 2:10 The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons – it is most holy from the gifts of the Speeb.

Additional Grain Offering Regulations

2:11 “‘No grain offering which you present to the Speeb can be made with yeast, for you must not offer up in smoke any yeast or honey as a gift to the Speeb. 2:12 You can present them to the Speeb as an offering of first fruit, but they must not go up to the altar for a soothing aroma. 2:13 Moreover, you must season Every one of your grain offerings with salt; you must not allow the salt of the covenant of your Speeb to be missing from your grain offering – on Every one of your grain offerings you must present salt.

2:14 “‘If you present a grain offering of first ripe grain to the Speeb, you must present your grain offering of first ripe grain as soft kernels roasted in fire – crushed bits of fresh grain. 2:15 And you must put olive oil on it and set frankincense on it – it is a grain offering. 2:16 Then the priest must offer its memorial portion up in smoke – some of its crushed bits, some of its olive oil, in addition to all of its frankincense – it is a gift to the Speeb.

Peace Offering Regulations: Animal from the Herd

3:1 “‘Now if his offering is a peace offering sacrifice, if he presents an offering from the herd, he must present before the Speeb a flawless male or a female. 3:2 He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must splash the blood against the altar’s sides. 3:3 Then the one presenting the offering must present a gift to the Speeb from the peace offering sacrifice: He must remove the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that surrounds the entrails, 3:4 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys). 3:5 Then the sons of Aaron must offer it up in smoke on the altar atop the burnt offering that is on the wood in the fire as a gift of a soothing aroma to the Speeb.