# verses

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The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.


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And God saw that the light was good (suitable, pleasant) <i>and</i> He approved it; and God separated the light from the darkness. <f>ⓑ</f>


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And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.


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And God said, Let there be a firmament [the expanse of the sky] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters [below] from the waters [above].


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And God made the firmament [the expanse] and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse. And it was so.


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And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be collected into one place [of standing], and let the dry land appear. And it was so.


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God called the dry land Earth, and the accumulated waters He called Seas. And God saw that this was good (fitting, admirable) <i>and</i> He approved it.


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And God said, Let the earth put forth [tender] vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees yielding fruit whose seed is in itself, each according to its kind, upon the earth. And it was so.


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The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed according to their own kinds and trees bearing fruit in which was their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (suitable, admirable) <i>and</i> He approved it.


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And God said, Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs <i>and</i> tokens [of God’s provident care], and [to mark] seasons, days, and years, <f>ⓒ</f>


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And God made the two great lights — the greater light (the sun) to rule the day and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night. He also made the stars.


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To rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good (fitting, pleasant) <i>and</i> He approved it.


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And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly <i>and</i> swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.


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God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (suitable, admirable) <i>and</i> He approved it.


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And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the fowl multiply in the earth.


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And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creeping things, and [wild] beasts of the earth according to their kinds. And it was so.


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And God made the [wild] beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and domestic animals according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (fitting, pleasant) <i>and</i> He approved it.


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God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. <f>ⓓ</f>


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So God created man in His own image, in the image <i>and</i> likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. <f>ⓔ</f>


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And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.


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And God said, See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the land and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.


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And to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the ground — to everything in which there is the breath of life — I have given every green plant for food. And it was so.


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And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (suitable, pleasant) <i>and</i> He approved it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.


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And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. <f>ⓐ</f>


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And God blessed (spoke good of) the seventh day, set it apart as His own, and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all His work which He had created and done. <f>ⓑ</f>


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This is the history of the heavens and of the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens —


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When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not [yet] caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground,


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Then the Lord God formed man from the <f>[1]</f>dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath <i>or</i> spirit of life, and man became a living being. <f>ⓒ</f>


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And the Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden [delight]; and there He put the man whom He had formed (framed, constituted).


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And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight <i>or</i> to be desired — good (suitable, pleasant) for food; the tree of life also in the center of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of [the difference between] good and evil <i>and</i> blessing and calamity. <f>ⓓ</f>


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Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four [river] heads.


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The first is named Pishon; it is the one flowing around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.


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The third river is named Hiddekel [the Tigris]; it is the one flowing east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.


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And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and guard <i>and</i> keep it.


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But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil <i>and</i> blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.


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Now the Lord God said, It is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him.


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And out of the ground the Lord God formed every [wild] beast <i>and</i> living creature of the field and every bird of the air and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever Adam called every living creature, that was its name.


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And Adam gave names to all the livestock and to the birds of the air and to every [wild] beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a helper meet (suitable, adapted, complementary) for him.


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And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and while he slept, He took one of his ribs <i>or</i> a part of his side and closed up the [place with] flesh.


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And the rib <i>or</i> part of his side which the Lord God had taken from the man He built up <i>and</i> made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.


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Then Adam said, This [creature] is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of a man.


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Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall become united <i>and</i> cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. <f>ⓔ</f>


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And the man and his wife were both naked and were not embarrassed <i>or</i> ashamed in each other’s presence.


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Now the serpent was more subtle <i>and</i> crafty than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And he [Satan] said to the woman, Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden? <f>ⓐ</f>


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Except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.


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For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil <i>and</i> blessing and calamity.


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And when the woman saw that the tree was good (suitable, pleasant) for food and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave some also to her husband, and he ate.


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Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves apronlike girdles.


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And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.


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He said, I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.


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And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?


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And the man said, The woman whom You gave to be with me — she gave me [fruit] from the tree, and I ate.


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And the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled (cheated, outwitted, and deceived) me, and I ate.


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And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above all [domestic] animals and above every [wild] living thing of the field; upon your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust [and what it contains] all the days of your life.


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And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her <f>[1]</f>Offspring; He will bruise <i>and</i> tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait <i>and</i> bruise His heel. <f>ⓒ</f>


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To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your grief <i>and</i> your suffering in pregnancy <i>and</i> the pangs of childbearing; with spasms of distress you will bring forth children. Yet your desire <i>and</i> craving will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.


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And to Adam He said, Because you have listened <i>and</i> given heed to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, the ground is under a curse because of you; in sorrow <i>and</i> toil shall you eat [of the fruits] of it all the days of your life.


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In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you shall return.


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And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of Us [the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit], to know [how to distinguish between] good and evil <i>and</i> blessing and calamity; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live <f>[2]</f>forever —


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Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.


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So [God] drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden the <f>[3]</f>cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep <i>and</i> guard the way to the tree of life. <f>ⓓ</f>


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And Adam knew Eve as his wife, and she became pregnant and bore Cain; and she said, I have gotten <i>and</i> gained a man with the help of the Lord.


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And [next] she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.


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And Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat portions. And the Lord had respect <i>and</i> regard for Abel and for his offering, <f>ⓐ</f>


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But for <f>[1]</f>Cain and his offering He had no respect <i>or</i> regard. So Cain was exceedingly angry <i>and</i> indignant, and he looked sad <i>and</i> depressed.


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And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why do you look sad <i>and</i> depressed <i>and</i> dejected?


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If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.


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And Cain said to his brother, <f>[2]</f>Let us go out to the field. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. <f>ⓑ</f>


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And the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? And he said, I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?


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And [the Lord] said, What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.


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And now you are cursed by reason of the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s [shed] blood from your hand.


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When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth [in perpetual exile, a degraded outcast].


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Behold, You have driven me out this day from the face of the land, and from Your face I will be hidden; and I will be a fugitive and a vagabond <i>and</i> a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.


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And the Lord said to him, <f>[4]</f>Therefore, if anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a <f>[5]</f>mark <i>or</i> sign upon Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.


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So Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod [wandering], east of Eden.


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And Cain’s wife [one of Adam’s offspring] became pregnant and bore Enoch; and Cain built a <f>[6]</f>city and named it after his son Enoch.


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To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael the father of Methusael, and Methusael the father of Lamech.


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Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle <i>and</i> purchase possessions.


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Zillah bore Tubal-cain; he was the forger of all [cutting] instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.


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Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say; for I have slain a man [merely] for wounding me, and a young man [only] for striking <i>and</i> bruising me.


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And Adam’s wife again became pregnant, and she bore a son and called his name Seth. For God, she said, has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, for Cain slew him.


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And to Seth also a son was born, whom he named Enosh. At that time men began to call [upon God] by the name of the Lord.


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This is the book (the written record, the history) of the generations of the offspring of Adam. When God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.


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He created them male and female and blessed them and named them [both] Adam [Man] at the time they were created.


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When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, after his image; and he named him Seth.


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Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God after the birth of Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.


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And Enoch walked [in habitual fellowship] with God; and he was not, for God took him [home with Him]. <f>ⓐ</f>


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He named him Noah, saying, This one shall bring us relief <i>and</i> comfort from our work and the [grievous] toil of our hands due to the ground being cursed by the Lord.


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The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took wives of all they desired <i>and</i> chose.


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Then the Lord said, My Spirit shall not forever dwell <i>and</i> strive with man, for he also is flesh; but his days shall yet be 120 years.


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There were giants on the earth in those days — and also afterward — when the sons of God lived with the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.


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The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination <i>and</i> intention of all human thinking was only evil continually.


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So the Lord said, I will destroy, blot out, <i>and</i> wipe away mankind, whom I have created from the face of the ground — not only man, [but] the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air — for it grieves Me <i>and</i> makes Me regretful that I have made them.


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This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a just <i>and</i> righteous man, blameless <i>in</i> his [evil] generation; Noah walked [in habitual fellowship] with God.


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The earth was depraved <i>and</i> putrid in God’s sight, and the land was filled with violence (desecration, infringement, outrage, assault, and lust for power).


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And God looked upon the world and saw how degenerate, debased, <i>and</i> vicious it was, for all humanity had corrupted their way upon the earth <i>and</i> lost their true direction.


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God said to Noah, I intend to make an end of all flesh, for through men the land is filled with violence; and behold, I will <f>[1]</f>destroy them and the land.


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Make yourself an ark of gopher <i>or</i> cypress wood; make in <i>it</i> rooms (stalls, pens, coops, nests, cages, and compartments) and cover it inside and out with pitch (bitumen).


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And this is the way you are to make it: the length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits [that is, 450 ft. x 75 ft. x 45 ft.].


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You shall make a roof or <f>[2]</f>window [a place for light] for the ark and finish it to a cubit [at least 18 inches] above — and the <f>[3]</f>door of the ark you shall put in the side of it; and you shall make it with lower, second, and third stories.


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For behold, I, even I, will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy <i>and</i> make putrid all flesh under the heavens in which are the breath <i>and</i> spirit of life; everything that is on the land shall die.


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But I will establish My covenant (promise, pledge) with you, and you shall come into the ark — you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.


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And of every living thing of all flesh [found on land], you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.


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Of fowls <i>and</i> birds according to their kinds, of beasts according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind — two of every sort shall come in with you, that they may be kept alive.


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Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and you shall collect <i>and</i> store it up, and it shall serve as food for you and for them.


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And the Lord said to Noah, Come with all your household into the ark, for I have seen you to be righteous (upright and in right standing) before Me in this generation. <f>ⓐ</f>


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Of every clean beast you shall receive <i>and</i> take with you seven pairs, the male and his mate, and of beasts that are not clean a pair of each kind, the male and his mate, <f>ⓑ</f>


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Also of the birds of the air seven pairs, the male and the female, to keep seed [their kind] alive over all the earth <i>or</i> land.


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For in seven days I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living substance <i>and</i> thing that I have made I will destroy, blot out, <i>and</i> wipe away from the face of the earth.


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And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. <f>ⓓ</f>


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Of <f>[1]</f>clean animals and of animals that are not clean, and of birds <i>and</i> fowls, and of everything that creeps on the ground,


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There went in two and two with Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.


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In the year 600 of Noah’s life, in the seventeenth day of the second month, that same day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up <i>and</i> burst forth, and the windows <i>and</i> floodgates of the heavens were opened.


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On the very same day Noah and Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark,


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They and every [wild] beast according to its kind, all the livestock according to their kinds, every moving thing that creeps on the land according to its kind, and every fowl according to its kind, every winged thing of every sort.


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And they went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there were the breath <i>and</i> spirit of life.


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And they that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded [Noah]; and the Lord shut him in <i>and</i> closed [the door] round about him.


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The flood [that is, the downpour of rain] was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased and bore up the ark, and it was lifted [high] above the land.


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And the waters became mighty and increased greatly upon the land, and the ark went [gently floating] upon the surface of the waters.


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And the waters prevailed so exceedingly <i>and</i> were so mighty upon the earth that all the high hills under the whole sky were covered.


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And all flesh ceased to breathe that moved upon the earth — fowls <i>and</i> birds, [tame] animals, [wild] beasts, all swarming <i>and</i> creeping things that swarm <i>and</i> creep upon the land, and all mankind.


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God destroyed (blotted out) every living thing that was upon the face of the earth; man and animals and the creeping things and the birds of the heavens were destroyed (blotted out) from the land. Only Noah remained alive, and those who were with him in the ark. <f>ⓔ</f>


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And God [earnestly] remembered Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind blow over the land, and the waters sank down <i>and</i> abated.


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Also the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the gushing rain from the sky was checked,


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On the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat [in Armenia].


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And the waters continued to diminish until the tenth month; on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the high hills were seen.


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But the dove found no resting-place on which to roost, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were [yet] on the face of the whole land. So he put forth his hand and drew her to him into the ark.


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And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a newly sprouted <i>and</i> freshly plucked olive leaf! So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the land.


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In the year 601 [of Noah’s life], on the first day of the first month, the waters were drying up from the land. And Noah <f>[1]</f>removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was drying.


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Bring forth every living thing that is with you of all flesh — birds and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the ground — that they may breed abundantly on the land and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth.


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And Noah went forth, and his wife and his sons and their wives with him [after being in the ark one year and ten days].


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Every beast, every creeping thing, every bird — and whatever moves on the land — went forth by families out of the ark.


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And Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean [four-footed] animal and of every clean fowl <i>or</i> bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.


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When the Lord smelled the pleasing odor [a scent of satisfaction to His heart], the Lord said to Himself, I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination (the strong desire) of man’s heart is evil <i>and</i> wicked from his youth; neither will I ever again smite <i>and</i> destroy every living thing, as I have done.


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While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.


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And God pronounced a blessing upon Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.


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And the fear of you and the dread <i>and</i> terror of you shall be upon every beast of the land, every bird of the air, all that creeps upon the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are delivered into your hand.


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Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green vegetables <i>and</i> plants, I give you everything.


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And surely for your lifeblood I will require an accounting; from every beast I will require it; and from man, from every man [who spills another’s lifeblood] I will require a reckoning.


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And with every living creature that is with you — whether the birds, the livestock, or the wild beasts of the earth along with you, as many as came out of the ark — every animal of the earth.


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I will establish My covenant <i>or</i> pledge with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood; neither shall there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth <i>and</i> make it corrupt.


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And God said, This is the token of the covenant (solemn pledge) which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:


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I set My bow [rainbow] in the cloud, and it shall be a token <i>or</i> sign of a covenant <i>or</i> solemn pledge between Me and the earth.


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And it shall be that when I bring clouds over the earth and the bow [rainbow] is seen in the clouds,


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I will [earnestly] remember My covenant <i>or</i> solemn pledge which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy <i>and</i> make all flesh corrupt.


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When the bow [rainbow] is in the clouds and I look upon it, I will [earnestly] remember the everlasting covenant <i>or</i> pledge between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.


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And God said to Noah, This [rainbow] is the token <i>or</i> sign of the covenant <i>or</i> solemn pledge which I have established between Me and all flesh upon the earth.


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The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan [born later].


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These are the three sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was overspread <i>and</i> stocked with inhabitants.


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And Ham, the father of Canaan, glanced at <i>and</i> saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.


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So Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it upon the shoulders of both, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.


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He exclaimed, Cursed be Canaan! He shall be the <f>[1]</f>servant of servants to his brethren! <f>ⓐ</f>


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He also said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem! <i>And</i> blessed by the Lord my God be Shem! And let Canaan be his servant.


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This is the history of the generations (descendants) of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The sons born to them after the flood <i>were</i>:


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From these the coastland peoples spread. [These are the sons of Japheth] in their lands, each with his own language, by their families within their nations.


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The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.


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He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.


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The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar [in Babylonia].


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The Arvadites, the Zemarites and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites spread abroad


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And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon as one goes to Gerar as far as Gaza, and as one goes to <f>[1]</f>Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.


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To Shem also, the younger brother of Japheth and the ancestor of all the children of Eber [including the Hebrews], children were born.


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To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg [division], because [the inhabitants of] the earth were divided up in his days; and his brother’s name was Joktan.


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The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha as one goes toward Sephar to the hill country of the east.


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These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, within their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
And as they journeyed eastward, they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar, and they settled <i>and</i> dwelt there.


text:
And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. So they had brick for stone, and slime (bitumen) for mortar.


text:
And they said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower whose top reaches into the sky, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the whole earth.


text:
And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they have <f>[1]</f>all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them.


text:
Come, let Us go down and there confound (mix up, confuse) their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.


text:
So the Lord scattered them abroad from that place upon the face of the whole earth, and they gave up building the city.


text:
Therefore the name of it was called Babel — because there the Lord confounded the language of all the earth; and from that place the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of the whole earth.


text:
This is the history of the generations of Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the flood.


text:
After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of [at different times], <f>[2]</f>Abram and Nahor and Haran, [his firstborn].


text:
Now this is the history of the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.


text:
Haran died before his father Terah [died] in the land of his birth, in <f>[3]</f>Ur of the Chaldees.


text:
And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah.


text:
And Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together to go from Ur of the Chaldees into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there.


text:
Now [in Haran] the Lord said to Abram, Go for yourself [for your own advantage] away from your country, from your relatives and your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous <i>and</i> distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others].


text:
And I will bless those who bless you [who confer prosperity or happiness upon you] and <f>[1]</f>curse him who curses <i>or</i> uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families <i>and</i> kindred of the earth be blessed [and by you they will bless themselves]. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
So Abram departed, as the Lord had directed him; and Lot [his nephew] went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.


text:
Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the persons [servants] that they had acquired in Haran, and they went forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,


text:
Abram passed through the land to the locality of Shechem, to the oak <i>or</i> terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.


text:
Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, I will give this land to your posterity. So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, Who had appeared to him.


text:
From there he pulled up [his tent pegs] <i>and</i> departed to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.


text:
Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram <f>[2]</f>went down into Egypt to live temporarily, for the famine in the land was oppressive (intense and grievous).


text:
And when he was about to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, I know that you are beautiful to behold.


text:
So when the Egyptians see you, they will say, This is his wife; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.


text:
Say, I beg of you, that you are <f>[3]</f>my sister, so that it may go well with me for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.


text:
The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh’s house [harem].


text:
And he treated Abram well for her sake; he acquired sheep, oxen, he-donkeys, menservants, maidservants, she-donkeys, and <f>[4]</f>camels.


text:
But the Lord scourged Pharaoh and his household with serious plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.


text:
And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?


text:
Why did you say, She is my sister, so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her and get away [from here]!


text:
And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they brought him on his way with his wife and all that he had.


text:
So Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South [country of Judah, the Negeb].


text:
And he journeyed on from the South [country of Judah, the Negeb] as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,


text:
Now the land was not able to nourish <i>and</i> support them so they could dwell together, for their possessions were too great for them to live together.


text:
And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land [making fodder more difficult to obtain].


text:
So Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I beg of you, between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are relatives.


text:
Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself, I beg of you, from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right hand, then I will go to the left.


text:
And Lot looked and saw that everywhere the Jordan Valley was well watered. Before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, [it was all] like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar.


text:
Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the [Jordan] Valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom <i>and</i> dwelt there.


text:
The Lord said to Abram after Lot had left him, Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;


text:
And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if a man could count the dust of the earth, then could your descendants also be counted. <f>ⓒ</f>


text:
Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt among the oaks <i>or</i> terebinths of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and built there an altar to the Lord.


text:
In the days of the kings Amraphel of Shinar, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim,


text:
They made war on the kings Bera of Sodom, Birsha of Gomorrah, Shinab of Admah, Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, <f>[1]</f>that is, Zoar.


text:
The latter kings joined together [as allies] in the Valley of Siddim, which is [now] the [Dead] Sea of Salt.


text:
And in the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him attacked <i>and</i> subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,


text:
Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat, which [now] is Kadesh, and subdued all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazazon-tamar.


text:
Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela, that is, Zoar, went out and [together] they joined battle [with those kings] in the Valley of Siddim,


text:
With the kings Chedorlaomer of Elam, Tidal of Goiim, Amraphel of Shinar, and Arioch of Ellasar — four kings against five.


text:
Now the Valley of Siddim was full of slime <i>or</i> bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell (were overthrown) there and the remainder [of the kings] fled to the mountain.


text:
[The victors] took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the supply of provisions and departed.


text:
Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew [one from the other side], who was living by the oaks <i>or</i> terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and of Aner — these were allies of Abram.


text:
When Abram heard that [his nephew] had been captured, he armed (led forth) the 318 trained servants born in his own house and pursued the enemy as far as Dan.


text:
He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and attacked <i>and</i> routed them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.


text:
And he brought back all the goods and also brought back his kinsman Lot and his possessions, the women also and the people.


text:
After his [Abram’s] return from the defeat <i>and</i> slaying of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh, that is, the King’s Valley.


text:
Melchizedek king of Salem [later called Jerusalem] brought out bread and wine [for their nourishment]; he was the priest of God Most High,


text:
And he blessed him and said, Blessed (favored with blessings, made blissful, joyful) be Abram by God Most High, Possessor <i>and</i> Maker of heaven and earth,


text:
And blessed, praised, <i>and</i> glorified be God Most High, Who has given your foes into your hand! And [Abram] gave him a tenth of all [he had taken]. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand <i>and</i> sworn to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor <i>and</i> Maker of heaven and earth,


text:
That I would not take a thread or a shoelace or anything that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich.


text:
[Take all] except only what my young men have eaten and the share of the men [allies] who went with me — Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.


text:
After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am your <f>[1]</f>Shield, your abundant compensation, <i>and</i> your reward shall be exceedingly great.


text:
And Abram said, Lord God, what can You give me, since I am going on [from this world] childless and he who shall be the owner <i>and</i> heir of my house is this [steward] Eliezer of Damascus?


text:
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This man shall not be your heir, but he who shall come from your own body shall be your heir.


text:
And He brought him outside [his tent into the starlight] and said, Look now toward the heavens and count the stars — if you are able to number them. Then He said to him, So shall your descendants be. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God). <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
And He said to him, I am the [same] Lord, Who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees to give you this land as an inheritance.


text:
And He said to him, Bring to Me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.


text:
And he brought Him all these and cut them down the middle [into halves] and laid each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not divide.


text:
When the sun was setting, a deep sleep overcame Abram, and a horror (a terror, a shuddering fear) of great darkness assailed <i>and</i> oppressed him.


text:
And [God] said to Abram, Know positively that your descendants will be strangers dwelling as temporary residents in a land that is not theirs [Egypt], and they will be slaves there and will be afflicted <i>and</i> oppressed for 400 years. [Fulfilled in Exod. 12:40.]


text:
But I will bring judgment on that nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. <f>ⓒ</f>


text:
And in the <f>[2]</f>fourth generation they [your descendants] shall come back here [to Canaan] again, for the iniquity of the <f>[3]</f>Amorites is not yet full <i>and</i> complete. <f>ⓓ</f>


text:
When the sun had gone down and a [thick] darkness had come on, behold, a smoking oven and a flaming torch passed between those pieces.


text:
On the same day the Lord made a covenant (promise, pledge) with Abram, saying, To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates — the land of


text:
And Sarai said to Abram, See here, the Lord has restrained me from bearing [children]. I am asking you to have intercourse with my maid; it may be that I can obtain children by her. And Abram listened to <i>and</i> heeded what Sarai said.


text:
So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her Egyptian maid, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his [secondary] wife.


text:
And he had intercourse with Hagar, and she became pregnant; and when she saw that she was with child, she looked with contempt upon her mistress <i>and</i> despised her.


text:
Then Sarai said to Abram, May [the responsibility for] my wrong <i>and</i> deprivation of rights be upon you! I gave my maid into your bosom, and when she saw that she was with child, I was contemptible <i>and</i> despised in her eyes. May the Lord be the judge between you and me.


text:
But Abram said to Sarai, See here, your maid is in your hands <i>and</i> power; do as you please with her. And when Sarai dealt severely with her, humbling <i>and</i> afflicting her, she [Hagar] fled from her.


text:
But <f>[1]</f>the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness on the road to Shur.


text:
And He said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where did you come from, and where are you intending to go? And she said, I am running away from my mistress Sarai.


text:
Also the Angel of the Lord said to her, I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be numbered for multitude.


text:
And the Angel of the Lord continued, See now, you are with child and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael [God hears], because the Lord has heard <i>and</i> paid attention to your affliction.


text:
And he [Ishmael] will be as a <f>[2]</f>wild ass among men; his hand will be against every man and every man’s hand against him, and he will live to the east <i>and</i> on the borders of all his kinsmen.


text:
So she called the name of the Lord Who spoke to her, You are a God of seeing, for she said, Have I [not] even here [in the wilderness] looked upon Him Who sees me [and lived]? <i>Or</i> have I here also seen [the future purposes or designs of] Him Who sees me?


text:
Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi [A well to the Living One Who sees me]; it is <f>[3]</f>between Kadesh and Bered.


text:
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am the Almighty God; walk <i>and</i> live habitually before Me and be perfect (blameless, wholehearted, complete).


text:
As for Me, behold, My covenant (solemn pledge) is with you, and you shall be the father of many nations.


text:
Nor shall your name any longer be Abram [high, exalted father]; but your name shall be Abraham [father of a multitude], for I have made you the father of many nations.


text:
And I will make you exceedingly fruitful and I will make nations of you, and <f>[1]</f>kings will come from you.


text:
And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting, solemn pledge, to be a God to you and to your posterity after you. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
And I will give to you and to your posterity after you the land in which you are a stranger [going from place to place], all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
And God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall therefore keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.


text:
This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your posterity after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.


text:
And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a token <i>or</i> sign of the covenant (the promise or pledge) between Me and you.


text:
He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male throughout your generations, whether born in [your] house or bought with [your] money from any foreigner not of your offspring.


text:
He that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money must be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.


text:
And the male who is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.


text:
And God said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai; but Sarah [Princess] her name shall be.


text:
And I will bless her and give you a son also by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.


text:
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a son?


text:
But God said, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed, and you shall call his name Isaac [laughter]; and I will establish My covenant <i>or</i> solemn pledge with him for an everlasting covenant and with his posterity after him.


text:
And as for Ishmael, I have heard <i>and</i> heeded you: behold, I will bless him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly; He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. [Fulfilled in Gen. 25:12-18.]


text:
But My covenant, My promise and pledge, I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.


text:
And Abraham took Ishmael his son and all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among [those] of Abraham’s house, and circumcised [them] the very same day, as God had said to him.


text:
And all the men of his house, both those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised along with him.


text:
Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks <i>or</i> terebinths of Mamre; as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day,


text:
He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood at a little distance from him. He ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the ground


text:
And said, My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant, I beg of you.


text:
Let a little water be brought, and you may wash your feet and recline <i>and</i> rest yourselves under the tree.


text:
And I will bring a morsel (mouthful) of bread to refresh <i>and</i> sustain your hearts before you go on further — for that is why you have come to your servant. And they replied, Do as you have said.


text:
So Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah and said, Quickly get ready three measures of fine meal, knead it, and bake cakes.


text:
And Abraham ran to the herd and brought a calf tender and good and gave it to the young man [to butcher]; then he [Abraham] hastened to prepare it.


text:
And he took curds and milk and the calf which he had made ready, and set it before [the men]; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.


text:
<f>[1]</f>[The Lord] said, I will surely return to you when the season comes round, and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son. And Sarah was listening <i>and</i> heard it at the tent door which was behind Him. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in years; it had ceased to be with Sarah as with [young] women. [She was past the age of childbearing].


text:
Therefore Sarah laughed to herself, saying, After I have become aged shall I have pleasure <i>and</i> delight, my lord (husband), being old also? <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
And the Lord asked Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I really bear a child when I am so old?


text:
Is anything too hard <i>or</i> too wonderful <f>[2]</f>for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season [for her delivery] comes around, I will return to you and Sarah shall have borne a son. <f>ⓒ</f>


text:
Then Sarah denied it, saying, I did not laugh; for she was afraid. And He said, No, but you did laugh.


text:
The men rose up from there and faced toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.


text:
And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham [My friend and servant] what I am going to do, <f>ⓓ</f>


text:
Since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through him <i>and</i> shall bless themselves by him? <f>ⓔ</f>


text:
For I have known (chosen, acknowledged) him [as My own], so that he may teach <i>and</i> command his children and the sons of his house after him to keep the way of the Lord and to do what is just and righteous, so that the Lord may bring Abraham what He has promised him.


text:
And the Lord said, Because the shriek [of the sins] of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is exceedingly grievous,


text:
I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether [as vilely and wickedly] as is the cry of it which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.


text:
And Abraham came close and said, Will You destroy the righteous (those upright and in right standing with God) together with the wicked?


text:
Suppose there are in the city fifty righteous; will You destroy the place and not spare it for [the sake of] the fifty righteous in it?


text:
Far be it from You to do such a thing — to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as do the wicked! Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth execute judgment <i>and</i> do righteously?


text:
And the Lord said, If I find in the city of Sodom fifty righteous (upright and in right standing with God), I will spare the whole place for their sake.


text:
Abraham answered, Behold now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord.


text:
If five of the fifty righteous should be lacking — will You destroy the whole city for lack of five? He said, If I find forty-five, I will not destroy it.


text:
And [Abraham] spoke to Him yet again, and said, Suppose [only] forty shall be found there. And He said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.


text:
Then [Abraham] said to Him, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak [again]. Suppose [only] thirty shall be found there. And He answered, I will not do it if I find thirty there.


text:
And [Abraham] said, Behold now, I have taken upon myself to speak [again] to the Lord. Suppose [only] twenty shall be found there. And [the Lord] replied, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.


text:
And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again only this once. Suppose ten [righteous people] shall be found there. And [the Lord] said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.


text:
And the Lord went His way when He had finished speaking with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.


text:
It was evening when the two angels came to Sodom. Lot was sitting at Sodom’s [city] gate. Seeing them, Lot rose up to meet them and bowed to the ground.


text:
And he said, My lords, turn aside, I beg of you, into your servant’s house and spend the night and bathe your feet. Then you can arise early and go on your way. But they said, No, we will spend the night in the square.


text:
[Lot] entreated <i>and</i> urged them greatly until they yielded and [with him] entered his house. And he made them a dinner [with drinking] and had unleavened bread which he baked, and they ate.


text:
But before they lay down, the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, all the men from every quarter, surrounded the house.


text:
And they called to Lot and said, Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know (be intimate with) them.


text:
Look now, I have two daughters who are virgins; let me, I beg of you, bring them out to you, and you can do as you please with them. But only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.


text:
But they said, Stand back! And they said, This fellow came in to live here temporarily, and now he presumes to be [our] judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them. So they rushed at <i>and</i> pressed violently against Lot and came close to breaking down the door.


text:
But the men [the angels] reached out and pulled Lot into the house to them and shut the door after him.


text:
And they struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness [which dazzled them], from the youths to the old men, so that they wearied themselves [groping] to find the door.


text:
And the [two] men asked Lot, Have you any others here — sons-in-law or your sons or your daughters? Whomever you have in the city, bring them out of this place,


text:
For we will spoil <i>and</i> destroy [Sodom]; for the outcry <i>and</i> shriek against its people has grown great before the Lord, and He has sent us to destroy it.


text:
And Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, Up, get out of this place, for the Lord will spoil <i>and</i> destroy this city! But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be [only] joking.


text:
When morning came, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, Arise, take your wife and two daughters who are here [and be off], lest you [too] be consumed <i>and</i> swept away in the iniquity <i>and</i> punishment of the city.


text:
But while he lingered, the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, for the Lord was merciful to him; and they brought him forth and set him outside the city and left him there.


text:
And when they had brought them forth, they said, Escape for your life! Do not look behind you or stop anywhere in <f>[1]</f>the whole valley; escape to the mountains [of Moab], lest you be consumed.


text:
Behold now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your kindness and mercy to me in saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest the evil overtake me, and I die.


text:
See now yonder city; it is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh, let me escape to it! Is it not a little one? And my life will be saved!


text:
And [the angel] said to him, See, I have yielded to your entreaty concerning this thing also; I will not destroy this city of which you have spoken.


text:
Make haste and take refuge there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar [little].


text:
He overthrew, destroyed, <i>and</i> ended those cities, and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.


text:
Abraham went up early the next morning to the place where he [only the day before] had stood before the Lord.


text:
And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and saw, and behold, the smoke of <f>[3]</f>the country went up like the smoke of a furnace.


text:
When God ravaged <i>and</i> destroyed the cities of the plain [of Siddim], He [earnestly] remembered Abraham [imprinted and fixed him indelibly on His mind], and He sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when He overthrew the cities where Lot lived.


text:
And Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him, for he feared to dwell in Zoar; and he lived in a cave, he and his two daughters.


text:
The elder said to the younger, Our father is aging, and there is not a man on earth to live with us in the customary way.


text:
Come, let us make our father drunk with wine, and we will lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring (our race) through our father.


text:
And they made their father drunk with wine that night, and the older went in and lay with her father; and he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she arose.


text:
Then the next day the firstborn said to the younger, See here, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drunk with wine tonight also, and then you go in and lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring (our race) through our father.


text:
And they made their father drunk with wine again that night, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she arose.


text:
The older bore a son, and named him Moab [of a father]; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.


text:
The younger also bore a son and named him Ben-ammi [son of my people]; he is the father of the Ammonites to this day.


text:
Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the <f>[1]</f>South country (the Negeb) and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he lived temporarily in Gerar.


text:
And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah [into his harem].


text:
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said, Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken [as your own], for she is a man’s wife.


text:
But Abimelech had not come near her, so he said, Lord, will you slay a people who are just <i>and</i> innocent?


text:
Did not the man tell me, She is my sister? And she herself said, He is my brother. In integrity of heart and innocency of hands I have done this.


text:
Then God said to him in the dream, Yes, I know you did this in the integrity of your heart, for it was I Who kept you back <i>and</i> spared you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not give you occasion to touch her.


text:
So now restore to the man his wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her [to him], know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.


text:
So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things; and the men were exceedingly filled with reverence <i>and</i> fear.


text:
Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, What have you done to us? And how have I offended you that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me what ought not to be done [to anyone].


text:
And Abimelech said to Abraham, What did you see [in us] that [justified] you in doing such a thing as this?


text:
And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely there is no reverence <i>or</i> fear of God at all in this place, and they will slay me because of my wife.


text:
But truly, she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father but not of my mother; and she became my wife.


text:
When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, This kindness you can show me: at every place we stop, say of me, He is my brother.


text:
Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham and restored to him Sarah his wife.


text:
And to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given this brother of yours a thousand pieces of silver; see, it is to compensate you [for all that has occurred] and to vindicate your honor before all who are with you; before all men you are cleared <i>and</i> compensated.


text:
So Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his female slaves, and they bore children,


text:
For the Lord had closed fast the wombs of all in Abimelech’s household because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.


text:
And she said, Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children at the breast? For I have borne him a son in his old age! <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
And the child grew and was <f>[2]</f>weaned, and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.


text:
Therefore she said to Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman shall not be an heir with my son Isaac. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
God said to Abraham, Do not let it seem grievous <i>and</i> evil to you because of the youth and your bondwoman; in all that Sarah has said to you, do what she asks, for in Isaac shall your posterity be called. <f>ⓒ</f>


text:
So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a bottle of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulders, and he sent her and the <f>[3]</f>youth away. And she wandered on [aimlessly] and lost her way in the wilderness of Beersheba.


text:
When the water in the bottle was all gone, Hagar caused the youth to lie down under one of the shrubs.


text:
Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about a bowshot, for she said, Let me not see the death of the lad. And as she sat down opposite him, <f>[4]</f><i>he</i> lifted up his voice and wept <i>and</i> she raised her voice and wept.


text:
And God heard the voice of the youth, and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the youth where he is.


text:
Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the [empty] bottle with water and caused the youth to drink.


text:
At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, God is with you in everything you do.


text:
So now, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my son or with my posterity; but as I have dealt with you kindly, you will do the same with me and with the land in which you have sojourned.


text:
When Abraham complained to <i>and</i> reasoned with Abimelech about a well of water [Abimelech’s] servants had violently seized,


text:
Abimelech said, I know not who did this thing; you did not tell me, and I did not hear of it until today.


text:
So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a league <i>or</i> covenant.


text:
Therefore that place was called Beersheba [well of the oath], because there both parties swore an oath.


text:
Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba; then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army returned to the land of the Philistines.


text:
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.


text:
After these events, God tested <i>and</i> proved Abraham and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am.


text:
[God] said, Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I will tell you.


text:
So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and then began the trip to the place of which God had told him.


text:
And Abraham said to his servants, Settle down <i>and</i> stay here with the donkey, and I and the young man will go yonder and worship and <f>[1]</f>come again to you.


text:
Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on [the shoulders of] Isaac his son, and he took the fire (the firepot) in his own hand, and a knife; and the two of them went on together.


text:
And Isaac said to Abraham, My father! And he said, Here I am, my son. [Isaac] said, See, here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt sacrifice?


text:
Abraham said, My son, <f>[2]</f>God Himself will provide a lamb for the burnt offering. So the two went on together.


text:
When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there; then he laid the wood in order and <f>[3]</f>bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar on the wood. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
But the <f>[4]</f>Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! He answered, Here I am.


text:
And He said, Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear <i>and</i> revere God, since you have not held back from Me <i>or</i> begrudged giving Me your son, your only son.


text:
Then Abraham looked up <i>and</i> glanced around, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering <i>and</i> an ascending sacrifice instead of his son!


text:
So Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide. And it is said to this day, On the mount of the Lord it will be provided.


text:
And said, I have sworn by Myself, says the Lord, that since you have done this and have not withheld [from Me] <i>or</i> begrudged [giving Me] your son, your only son,


text:
In blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore. And your Seed (Heir) will possess the gate of His enemies, <f>ⓒ</f>


text:
And in your Seed [<f>[5]</f>Christ] shall all the nations of the earth be blessed <i>and</i> [by Him] bless themselves, because you have heard <i>and</i> obeyed My voice. <f>ⓓ</f>


text:
So Abraham returned to his servants, and they rose up and went with him to Beersheba; there Abraham lived.


text:
And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba, <f>[1]</f>that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.


text:
I am a stranger and a sojourner with you; give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.


text:
Listen to us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in any tomb <i>or</i> grave of ours that you choose; none of us will withhold from you his tomb or hinder you from burying your dead.


text:
And he said to them, If you are willing to grant my dead a burial out of my sight, listen to me and ask Ephron son of Zohar for me,


text:
That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns — it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me here in your presence as a burial place to which I may hold fast among you.


text:
Now Ephron was present there among the sons of Heth; so, in the hearing of all who went in at the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, saying,


text:
No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and the cave that is in it I give you. In the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.


text:
And he said to Ephron in the presence of the people of the land, But if you will give it, I beg of you, hear me. I will give you the price of the field; accept it from me, and I will bury my dead there.


text:
My lord, listen to me. The land is worth 400 shekels of silver; what is that between you and me? So bury your dead.


text:
So Abraham listened to what Ephron said <i>and</i> acted upon it. He weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: 400 shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.


text:
So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre [Hebron] — the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and in all its borders round about — was made over


text:
As a possession to Abraham in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at his city gate.


text:
After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of <f>[2]</f>Machpelah to the east of Mamre, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan.


text:
The field and the cave in it were conveyed to Abraham for a permanent burial place by the sons of Heth.


text:
And Abraham said to the eldest servant of his house [Eliezer of Damascus], who ruled over all that he had, I beg of you, put your hand under my thigh; <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
And you shall swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I have settled,


text:
The servant said to him, But perhaps the woman will not be willing to come along after me to this country. Must I take your son to the country from which you came?


text:
The Lord, the God of heaven, Who took me from my father’s house, from the land of my family <i>and</i> my birth, Who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, To your offspring I will give this land — He will send His <f>[2]</f>Angel before you, and you will take a wife from there for my son.


text:
And if the woman should <f>[3]</f>not be willing to go along after you, then you will be clear from this oath; only you must not take my son back there.


text:
So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.


text:
And the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking some of all his master’s treasures with him; thus he journeyed to Mesopotamia [between the Tigris and the Euphrates], to the city of Nahor [Abraham’s brother].


text:
And he made his camels to kneel down outside the city by a well of water at the time of the evening when women go out to draw water.


text:
And he said, O Lord, God of my master Abraham, I pray You, cause me to meet with good success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.


text:
See, I stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming to draw water.


text:
And let it so be that the girl to whom I say, I pray you, let down your jar that I may drink, and she replies, Drink, and I will give your camels drink also — let her be the one whom You have selected <i>and</i> appointed <i>and</i> indicated for Your servant Isaac [to be a wife to him]; and by it I shall know that You have shown kindness <i>and</i> faithfulness to my master.


text:
Before he had finished speaking, behold, out came Rebekah, who was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, who was the wife of Nahor the brother of Abraham, with her water jar on her shoulder.


text:
And the girl was very beautiful <i>and</i> attractive, chaste <i>and</i> modest, and unmarried. And she went down to the well, filled her water jar, and came up.


text:
And the servant ran to meet her, and said, I pray you, let me drink a little water from your water jar.


text:
When she had given him a drink, she said, I will draw water for your camels also, until they finish drinking.


text:
So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well and drew water for all his camels.


text:
And when the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold earring <i>or</i> nose ring of half a shekel in weight, and for her hands two bracelets of ten shekels in weight in gold,


text:
And said, Whose daughter are you? I pray you, tell me: Is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge there?


text:
She said also to him, We have both straw and provender (fodder) enough, and also room in which to lodge.


text:
And said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, Who has not left my master bereft <i>and</i> destitute of His loving-kindness and steadfastness. As for me, going on the way [of obedience and faith] the Lord led me to the house of my master’s kinsmen.


text:
For when he saw the earring <i>or</i> nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and when he heard Rebekah his sister saying, The man said this to me, he went to the man and found him standing by the camels at the well.


text:
He cried, Come in, you blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside? For I have made the house ready <i>and</i> have prepared a place for the camels.


text:
So the man came into the house; and [Laban] ungirded his camels and gave straw and provender for the camels and water to bathe his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.


text:
A meal was set before him, but he said, <f>[4]</f>I will not eat until I have told of my errand. And [Laban] said, Speak on.


text:
And the Lord has blessed my master mightily, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks, herds, silver, gold, menservants, maidservants, camels, and asses.


text:
And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and to him he has given all that he has.


text:
And my master made me swear, saying, You must not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell,


text:
And he said to me, The Lord, in Whose presence I walk [habitually], will send His <f>[5]</f>Angel with you and prosper your way, and you will take a wife for my son from my kindred and from my father’s house.


text:
Then you shall be clear from my oath, when you come to my kindred; and if they do not give her to you, you shall be free <i>and</i> innocent of my oath.


text:
I came today to the well and said, O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if You are now causing me to go on my way prosperously —


text:
See, I am standing by the well of water; now let it be that when the maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, I pray you, give me a little water from your [water] jar to drink,


text:
And if she says to me, You drink, and I will draw water for your camels also, let that same woman be the one whom the Lord has selected <i>and</i> indicated for my master’s son.


text:
And before I had finished praying in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her [water] jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, I pray you, let me have a drink.


text:
And she quickly let down her [water] jar from her shoulder and said, Drink, and I will water your camels also. So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also.


text:
I asked her, Whose daughter are you? She said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him. And I put the earring <i>or</i> nose ring on her face and the bracelets on her arms.


text:
And I bowed down my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, Who had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter to his son.


text:
And now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master [showing faithfulness to him], tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left.


text:
Then Laban and Bethuel answered, The thing comes forth from the Lord; we cannot speak bad or good to you.


text:
Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has said.


text:
And the servant brought out jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and garments and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and her mother.


text:
Then they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed there all night. And in the morning they arose, and he said. Send me away to my master.


text:
But [Rebekah’s] brother and mother said, Let the girl stay with us a few days — at least ten; then she may go.


text:
But [the servant] said to them, Do not hinder <i>and</i> delay me, seeing that the Lord has caused me to go prosperously on my way. Send me away, that I may go to my master.


text:
And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, You are our sister; may you become the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your posterity possess the gate of their enemies.


text:
And Rebekah and her maids arose and followed the man upon their camels. Thus the servant took Rebekah and went on his way.


text:
Now Isaac had returned from going to the well Beer-lahai-roi [A well to the Living One Who sees me], for he [now] dwelt in the South country (the Negeb).


text:
And Isaac went out to meditate <i>and</i> bow down [in prayer] in the open country in the evening; and he looked up and saw that, behold, the camels were coming.


text:
For she [had] said to the servant, Who is that man walking across the field to meet us? And the servant [had] said, He is my master. So she took a veil and concealed herself with it.


text:
And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.


text:
The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.


text:
But to the sons of his concubines [Hagar and Keturah] Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them to the east country, away from Isaac his son [of promise].


text:
Then Abraham’s spirit was released, and he died at a good (ample, full) old age, an old man, satisfied <i>and</i> satiated, and <f>[1]</f>was gathered to his people. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
And his sons <f>[2]</f>Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is east of Mamre,


text:
After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac, and Isaac dwelt at Beer-lahai-roi [A well to the Living One Who sees me].


text:
Now this is the history of the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bore to Abraham.


text:
These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their births: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,


text:
These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments (sheepfolds) — twelve princes according to their tribes. [Foretold in Gen. 17:20.]


text:
And [Ishmael’s sons] dwelt from Havilah to Shur, which is before Egypt in the direction of Assyria. [Ishmael] dwelt close [to the lands] of all his brethren.


text:
And this is the history of the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac.


text:
Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Padan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean.


text:
And Isaac prayed much to the Lord for his wife because she was unable to bear children; and the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife became pregnant.


text:
[Two] children struggled together within her; and she said, If it is so [that the Lord has heard our prayer], why am I like this? And she went to inquire of the Lord.


text:
The Lord said to her, [The founders of] two nations are in your womb, and the separation of two peoples has begun in your body; the one people shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.


text:
Afterward his brother came forth, and his hand grasped Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob [supplanter]. Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them.


text:
When the boys grew up, Esau was a cunning <i>and</i> skilled hunter, a man of the outdoors; but Jacob was a plain <i>and</i> quiet man, dwelling in tents.


text:
Jacob was boiling pottage (lentil stew) one day, when Esau came from the field and was faint [with hunger].


text:
And Esau said to Jacob, I beg of you, let me have some of that red lentil stew to eat, for I am faint <i>and</i> famished! That is why his name was called Edom [red].


text:
Jacob said, Swear to me today [that you are selling it to me]; and he swore to [Jacob] and sold him his birthright.


text:
Then Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils, and he ate and drank and rose up and went his way. Thus Esau scorned his birthright as beneath his notice.


text:
And there was a famine in the land, other than the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.


text:
And the Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I will tell you.


text:
Dwell temporarily in this land, and I will be with you and will favor you with blessings; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.


text:
And I will make your descendants to multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your posterity all these lands (kingdoms); and by your Offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, <i>or</i> by Him bless themselves, <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
For Abraham listened to <i>and</i> obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commands, My statutes, and My laws.


text:
And the men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, She is my sister; for he was afraid to say, She is my wife — [thinking], Lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she is attractive <i>and</i> is beautiful to look upon.


text:
When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah his wife.


text:
And Abimelech called Isaac and said, See here, she is certainly your wife! How did you [dare] say to me, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, Because I thought, Lest I die on account of her.


text:
And Abimelech said, What is this you have done to us? One of the men might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt <i>and</i> sin upon us.


text:
Then Abimelech charged all his people, He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.


text:
Then Isaac sowed seed in that land and received in the same year a hundred times as much as he had planted, and the Lord favored him with blessings.


text:
And the man became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthy <i>and</i> distinguished;


text:
Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had closed and filled with earth.


text:
And Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names by which his father had called them.


text:
And the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, The water is ours. And he named the well Esek [contention] because they quarreled with him.


text:
Then [his servants] dug another well, and they quarreled over that also; so he named it Sitnah [enmity].


text:
And he moved away from there and dug another well, and for that one they did not quarrel. He named it Rehoboth [room], saying, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.


text:
And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will favor you with blessings and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.


text:
And [Isaac] <f>[1]</f>built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants were digging a well.


text:
Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzah, one of his friends, and Phicol, his army’s commander.


text:
And Isaac said to them, Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?


text:
They said, We saw that the Lord was certainly with you; so we said, Let there be now an oath between us [carrying a curse with it to befall the one who breaks it], even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you


text:
That you will do us no harm, inasmuch as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed <i>or</i> favored of the Lord!


text:
And they rose up early in the morning and took oaths [with a curse] with one another; and Isaac sent them on their way and they departed from him in peace.


text:
That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, saying, We have found water!


text:
And he named [the well] Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba [well of the oath] to this day. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
Now Esau was 40 years old when he took as wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.


text:
And they made life bitter <i>and</i> a grief of mind <i>and</i> spirit for Isaac and Rebekah [their parents-in-law].


text:
When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, My son! And he answered him, Here I am.


text:
So now, I pray you, take your weapons, your [arrows in a] quiver and your bow, and go out into the open country and hunt game for me,


text:
And prepare me appetizing meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat of it, [preparatory] to giving you my blessing [as my firstborn] before I die.


text:
But Rebekah heard what Isaac said to Esau his son; and when Esau had gone to the open country to hunt for game that he might bring it,


text:
Bring me game and make me appetizing meat, so that I may eat and declare my blessing upon you before the Lord before my death.


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Go now to the flock, and from it bring me two good <i>and</i> suitable kids; and I will make them into appetizing meat for your father, such as he loves.


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And you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat and declare his blessing upon you before his death.


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Suppose my father feels me; I will seem to him to be a cheat <i>and</i> an imposter, and I will bring [his] curse on me and not [his] blessing.


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But his mother said to him, On me be your curse, my son; only obey my word and go, fetch them to me.


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So [Jacob] went, got [the kids], and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared appetizing meat with a delightful odor, such as his father loved.


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Then Rebekah took her elder son Esau’s best clothes which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.


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And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau your firstborn; I have done what you told me to do. Now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may proceed to bless me.


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And Isaac said to his son, How is it that you have found the game so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord your God caused it to come to me.


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But Isaac said to Jacob, Come close to me, I beg of you, that I may feel you, my son, <i>and</i> know whether you really are my son Esau or not.


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So Jacob went near to Isaac, and his father felt him and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.


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He could not identify him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.


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Then [Isaac] said, Bring it to me and I will eat of my son’s game, that I may bless you. He brought it to him and he ate; and he brought him wine and he drank.


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So he came near and kissed him; and [Isaac] smelled his clothing and blessed him and said, The scent of my son is as the odor of a field which the Lord has blessed.


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And may God give you of the dew of the heavens and of the fatness of the earth and abundance of grain and [new] wine;


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Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you; be master over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Let everyone be cursed who curses you and favored with blessings who blesses you.


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As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob was scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting.


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Esau had also prepared savory food and brought it to his father and said to him, Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.


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Then Isaac trembled <i>and</i> shook violently, and he said, Who? Where is he who has hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate of it all before you came and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.


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When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with a great and bitter cry and said to his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father! <f>ⓐ</f>


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[Isaac] said, Your brother came with crafty cunning <i>and</i> treacherous deceit and has taken your blessing.


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[Esau] replied, Is he not rightly named Jacob [the supplanter]? For he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing! Have you not still a blessing reserved for me?


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And Isaac answered Esau, Behold, I have made [Jacob] your lord and master; I have given all his brethren to him for servants, and with corn and [new] wine have I sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?


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Esau said to his father, Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father! And Esau lifted up [could not control] his voice and wept aloud.


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Then Isaac his father answered, Your [blessing and] dwelling shall all come from the fruitfulness of the earth and from the dew of the heavens above;


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By your sword you shall live and serve your brother. But [the time shall come] when you will grow restive <i>and</i> break loose, and you shall tear his yoke from off your neck.


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And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are very near. When [he is gone] I will <f>[1]</f>kill my brother Jacob.


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These words of Esau her elder son were repeated to Rebekah. She sent for Jacob her younger son and said to him, See here, your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you [by intending] to kill you.


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When your brother’s anger is diverted from you, he will forget [the wrong] that you have done him. Then <f>[2]</f>I will send and bring you back from there. Why should I be deprived of both of you in one day?


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Then Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth [these wives of Esau]! If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth such as these Hittite girls around here, what good will my life be to me?


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So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and commanded him, You shall not marry one of the women of Canaan.


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Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take from there as a wife one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.


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May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you until you become a group of peoples.


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May He give the blessing [He gave to] Abraham to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land He gave to Abraham, in which you are a sojourner.


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Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. He went to Padan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau’s mother.


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Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Padan-aram to take him a wife from there, and that as he blessed him, he gave him a charge, saying, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;


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So Esau went to Ishmael and took to be his wife, [in addition] to the wives he [already] had, Mahalath daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.


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And he came to a certain place and stayed there overnight, because the sun was set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down there to sleep.


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And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!


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And behold, the Lord stood over <i>and</i> beside him and said, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father [forefather] and the God of Isaac; I will give to you and to your descendants the land on which you are lying.


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And your offspring shall be as [countless as] the dust <i>or</i> sand of the ground, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and the north and the south; and by you and your Offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed <i>and</i> bless themselves. <f>ⓐ</f>


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And behold, I am with you and will keep (watch over you with care, take notice of) you wherever you may go, and I will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done all of which I have told you.


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He was afraid and said, How to be feared <i>and</i> reverenced is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and <f>[1]</f>this is the gateway to heaven!


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And Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone he had put under his head, and he set it up for a pillar (a monument to the vision in his dream), and he poured oil on its top [in dedication].


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Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me food to eat and clothing to wear,


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And this stone which I have set up as a pillar (monument) shall be God’s house [a sacred place to me], and of all [the increase of possessions] that You give me I will give the tenth to You.


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Then Jacob went [briskly and cheerfully] on his way [400 miles] and came to the land of the people of the East.


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As he looked, he saw a well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was a big one,


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And when all the flocks were gathered there, [the shepherds] would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and replace the stone on the well’s mouth.


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He said to them, Is it well with him? And they said, He is doing well; and behold, here comes his daughter Rachel with [his] sheep!


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He said, The sun is still high; it is a long time yet before the flocks need be gathered [in their folds]. [Why not] water the sheep and return them to their pasture?


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But they said, We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together; then [the shepherds] roll the stone from the well’s mouth and we water the sheep.


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When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his uncle, Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of his uncle Laban.


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When Laban heard of the arrival of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced and kissed him and brought him to his house. And [Jacob] told Laban all these things.


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Then Laban said to Jacob, Just because you are my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?


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And Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, I will work for you for seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.


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And Laban said, It is better that I give her to you than to another man. Stay <i>and</i> live with me.


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And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.


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Finally, Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife, for my time is completed, so that I may take her to me.


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But when night came, he took Leah his daughter and brought her to [Jacob], who had intercourse with her.


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But in the morning [Jacob saw his wife, and] behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, What is this you have done to me? Did I not work for you [all those seven years] for Rachel? Why then have you deceived <i>and</i> cheated <i>and</i> thrown me down [like this]?


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And Laban said, It is not permitted in our country to give the younger [in marriage] before the elder.


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Finish the [wedding feast] week [for Leah]; then we will give you [Rachel] also, and you shall work for me yet seven more years in return.


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So Jacob complied and fulfilled [Leah’s] week; then [Laban] gave him Rachel his daughter as his wife.


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And Jacob lived with Rachel also as his wife, and he loved Rachel more than Leah and served [Laban] another seven years [for her].


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And when the Lord saw that Leah was despised, He made her able to bear children, but Rachel was barren.


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And Leah became pregnant and bore a son and named him Reuben [See, a son!]; for she said, Because the Lord has seen my humiliation <i>and</i> affliction; now my husband will love me.


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[Leah] became pregnant again and bore a son and said, Because the Lord heard that I am despised, He has given me this son also; and she named him Simeon [God hears].


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And she became pregnant again and bore a son and said, Now this time will my husband be a companion to me, for I have borne him three sons. Therefore he was named Levi [companion].


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Again she conceived and bore a son, and she said, Now will I praise the Lord! So she called his name Judah [praise]; then [for a time] she ceased bearing.


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When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister, and said to Jacob, Give me children, or else I will die!


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And Jacob became very angry with Rachel and he said, Am I in God’s stead, Who has denied you children?


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And she said, See here, take my maid Bilhah and have intercourse with her; and [when the baby comes] she shall deliver it upon my knees, that I by her may also have children.


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And Rachel said, God has judged <i>and</i> vindicated me, and has heard my plea and has given me a son; so she named him Dan [judged].


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And Rachel said, With mighty wrestlings [in prayer to God] I have struggled with my sister and have prevailed; so she named him [this second son Bilhah bore] Naphtali [struggled].


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And Leah said, I am happy, for women will call me blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied); and she named him Asher [happy].


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Now Reuben went at the time of wheat harvest and found some mandrakes (love apples) in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray you, some of your son’s mandrakes.


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But [Leah] answered, Is it not enough that you have taken my husband without your taking away my son’s <f>[1]</f>mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Jacob shall sleep with you tonight [in exchange] for your son’s mandrakes.


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And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him and said, You must sleep with me [tonight], for I have certainly paid your hire with my son’s mandrakes. So he slept with her that night.


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Leah said, God has given me my hire, because I have given my maid to my husband; and she called his name Issachar [hired].


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Then Leah said, God has endowed me with a good marriage gift [for my husband]; now will he dwell with me [and regard me as his wife in reality], because I have borne him six sons; and she named him Zebulun [dwelling].


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And [now for the first time] she became pregnant and bore a son; and she said, God has taken away my reproach, disgrace, <i>and</i> humiliation.


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When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, Send me away, that I may go to my own place and country.


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Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the work which I have done for you.


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And Laban said to him, If I have found favor in your sight, I pray you [do not go]; for I have learned by experience <i>and</i> from the omens in divination that the Lord has favored me with blessings on your account.


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Jacob answered him, You know how I have served you, and how your possessions, your cattle <i>and</i> sheep <i>and</i> goats, have fared with me.


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For you had little before I came, and it has increased <i>and</i> multiplied abundantly; and the Lord has favored you with blessings wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own house also?


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[Laban] said, What shall I give you? And Jacob said, You shall not give me anything, if you will do this one thing for me [of which I am about to tell you], and I will again feed <i>and</i> take care of your flock.


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Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted animal and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages.


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So later when the matter of my wages is brought before you, my fair dealing will be evident <i>and</i> answer for me. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the sheep, if found with me, shall be counted as stolen.


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But that same day [Laban] removed the he-goats that were streaked and spotted and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every black lamb, and put them in charge of his sons.


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And he set [a distance of] three days’ journey between himself and Jacob; and Jacob was then left in care of the rest of Laban’s flock.


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But Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white in the rods.


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Then he set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred <i>and</i> conceived when they came to drink,


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The flocks bred <i>and</i> conceived in sight of the rods and brought forth lambs <i>and</i> kids streaked, speckled, and spotted.


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Jacob separated the lambs, and [as he had done with the peeled rods] he also set the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the dark in the [new] flock of Laban; and he put his own droves by themselves and did not let them breed with Laban’s flock.


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And whenever the stronger animals were breeding, Jacob laid the rods in the watering troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed <i>and</i> conceive among the rods.


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But when the sheep <i>and</i> goats were feeble, he omitted putting the rods there; so the feebler animals were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.


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Thus the man increased <i>and</i> became exceedingly rich, and had many sheep <i>and</i> goats, and maidservants, menservants, camels, and donkeys.


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Jacob heard Laban’s sons complaining, Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s; he has acquired all this wealth <i>and</i> honor from what belonged to our father.


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Then the Lord said to Jacob, Return to the land of your fathers and to your people, and I will be with you.


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And he said to them, I see how your father looks at me, that he is not [friendly] toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.


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But your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.


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If he said, The speckled shall be your wages, then all the flock bore speckled; and if he said, The streaked shall be your hire, then all the flock bore streaked.


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And I had a <f>[1]</f>dream at the time the flock conceived. I looked up and saw that the rams which mated with the she-goats were streaked, speckled, and spotted.


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And He said, Look up and see, all the rams which mate with the flock are streaked, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban does to you.


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I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you vowed a vow to Me. Now arise, get out from this land and return to your native land.


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Are we not counted by him as strangers? For he sold us and has also quite devoured our money [the price you paid for us].


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For all the riches which God has taken from our father are ours and our children’s. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.


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And he drove away all his livestock and all his gain which he had gotten, the livestock he had obtained <i>and</i> accumulated in Padan-aram, to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.


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Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep [possibly to the feast of sheepshearing], and Rachel stole her father’s household gods.


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And Jacob outwitted Laban the Syrian [Aramean] in that he did not tell him that he [intended] to flee <i>and</i> slip away secretly.


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So he fled with all that he had, and arose and crossed the river [Euphrates] and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.


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So he took his kinsmen with him and pursued after [Jacob] for seven days, and they overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.


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But God came to Laban the Syrian [Aramean] in a dream by night and said to him, Be careful that you do not speak from good to bad to Jacob [peaceably, then violently].


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Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent on the hill, and Laban coming with his kinsmen pitched [his tents] on the same hill of Gilead.


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And Laban said to Jacob, What do you mean stealing away <i>and</i> leaving like this without my knowing it, and carrying off my daughters as if captives of the sword?


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Why did you flee secretly and cheat me and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with joy <i>and</i> gladness and with singing, with tambourine and lyre?


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And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons [grandchildren] and my daughters good-bye? Now you have done foolishly [in behaving like this].


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It is in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, Be careful that you do not speak from good to bad to Jacob [peaceably, then violently].


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And now you felt you must go because you were homesick for your father’s house, but why did you steal my [household] <f>[3]</f>gods?


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Jacob answered Laban, Because I was afraid; for I thought, Suppose you would take your daughters from me by force.


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The one with whom you find those gods of yours, let him not live. Here before our kinsmen [search my possessions and] take whatever you find that belongs to you. For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen [the images].


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So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. Then he went from Leah’s tent into Rachel’s tent.


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Now Rachel had taken the images (gods) and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. Laban searched <i>and</i> felt through all the tent, but did not find them.


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And [Rachel] said to her father, Do not be displeased, my lord, that I cannot rise up before you, for the period of women is upon me <i>and</i> I am unwell. And he searched, but did not find the gods.


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Then Jacob became angry and reproached <i>and</i> argued with Laban. And Jacob said to Laban, What is my fault? What is my sin, that you so hotly pursued me?


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Although you have searched <i>and</i> felt through all my household possessions, what have you found of all your household goods? Put it here before my brethren and yours, that they may judge <i>and</i> decide between us.


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These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your she-goats have not lost their young, and the rams of your flock have not been eaten by me.


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I did not bring you [the carcasses of the animals] torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss of it; you required of me [to make good] all that was stolen, whether it occurred by day or by night.


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I have been twenty years in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks; and you have changed my wages ten times.


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And if the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Dread [lest he should fall] <i>and</i> Fear [lest he offend] of Isaac, had not been with me, surely you would have sent me away now empty-handed. God has seen my affliction <i>and</i> humiliation and the [wearying] labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.


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Laban answered Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, these children are my children, these flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do today to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne?


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So come now, let us make a covenant <i>or</i> league, you and I, and let it be for a witness between you and me.


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And Jacob said to his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones and made a heap, and they ate [together] there upon the heap. <f>ⓐ</f>


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Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha [witness heap, <i>in Aramaic</i>], but Jacob called it Galeed [<f>[4]</f>witness heap, <i>in Hebrew</i>.]


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And [the pillar or monument was called] Mizpah [watchpost], for he [Laban] said, May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent <i>and</i> hidden one from another.


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If you should afflict, humiliate, <i>or</i> lower [divorce] my daughters, or if you should take other wives beside my daughters, although no man is with us [to witness], see (remember), God is witness between you and me.


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This heap is a witness and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you, and that you will not pass by this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.


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The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, and the god [the object of worship] of their father [Terah, an idolator], judge between us. But Jacob swore [only] by [the one true God] the Dread <i>and</i> Fear of his father Isaac. <f>ⓑ</f>


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Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called his brethren to eat food; and they ate food and lingered all night on the mountain.


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And early in the morning Laban rose up and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and pronounced a blessing [asking God’s favor] on them. Then Laban departed and returned to his home.


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When Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s army! So he named that place Mahanaim [two armies]. <f>ⓐ</f>


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And he commanded them, Say this to my lord Esau: Your servant Jacob says this: I have been living temporarily with Laban and have stayed there till now.


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And I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and women servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find mercy <i>and</i> kindness in your sight.


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And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau; and now he is [on the way] to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.


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Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups,


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Thinking, If Esau comes to the one group and smites it, then the other group which is left will escape.


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Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord Who said to me, Return to your country and to your people and I will do you good,


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I am not worthy of the least of all the mercy <i>and</i> loving-kindness and all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant, for with [only] my staff I passed over this Jordan [long ago], and now I have become two companies.


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Deliver me, I pray You, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and smite [us all], the mothers with the children.


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And You said, I will surely do you good and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.


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And Jacob lodged there that night and took from what he had with him as a present for his brother Esau:


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And he put them into the charge of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, Pass over before me and put a space between drove and drove.


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And he commanded the first, When Esau my brother meets you and asks to whom you belong, where you are going, and whose are the animals before you,


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Then you shall say, They are your servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover, he is behind us.


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And so he commanded the second and the third and all that followed the droves, saying, This is what you are to say to Esau when you meet him.


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And say, Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.


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But he rose up that [same] night and took his two wives, his two women servants, and his eleven sons and passed over the ford [of the] Jabbok.


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And when [the <f>[1]</f>Man] saw that He did not prevail against [Jacob], He touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with Him.


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Then He said, Let Me go, for day is breaking. But [Jacob] said, I will not let You go unless You declare a blessing upon me.


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[The Man] asked him, What is your name? And [in shock of realization, whispering] he said, Jacob [supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler]!


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And He said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob [supplanter], but Israel [contender with God]; for you have contended <i>and</i> have power with God and with men and have prevailed. <f>ⓑ</f>


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Then Jacob asked Him, Tell me, I pray You, what [in contrast] is Your name? But He said, Why is it that you ask My name? And <f>[2]</f>[the Angel of God declared] a blessing on [Jacob] there.


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And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [the face of God], saying, For I have seen God face to face, and my life is spared <i>and</i> not snatched away.


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That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the hollow of the thigh, because [the Angel of the Lord] touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh on the sinew of the hip.


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And Jacob raised his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming and with him 400 men. So he divided the children to Leah and to Rachel and to the two maids.


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And he put the maids and their children in front, Leah and her children after them, and Rachel and Joseph last of all.


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Then Jacob went over [the stream] before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.


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But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept. <f>ⓐ</f>


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[Esau] looked up and saw the women and the children and said, Who are these with you? And [Jacob] replied, They are the children whom God has graciously given your servant.


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And Leah also with her children came near, and they bowed themselves. After them Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed themselves.


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Esau said, What do you mean by all this company which I met? And he said, These are that I might find favor in the sight of my lord.


text:
But Jacob replied, No, I beg of you, if now I have found favor in your sight, receive my gift that I am presenting; for truly to see your face is to me as if I had seen the face of God, and you have received me favorably.


text:
Accept, I beg of you, my blessing <i>and</i> gift that I have brought to you; for God has dealt graciously with me and I have everything. And he kept urging him and he accepted it.


text:
But Jacob replied, You know, my lord, that the children are tender <i>and</i> delicate <i>and</i> need gentle care, and the flocks and herds with young are of concern to me; for if the men should overdrive them for a single day, the whole of the flocks would die.


text:
Let my lord, I pray you, pass over before his servant; and I will lead on slowly, governed by [consideration for] the livestock that set the pace before me and the endurance of the children, <f>[1]</f>until I come to my lord in Seir.


text:
Then Esau said, Let me now leave with you some of the people who are with me. But [Jacob] said, What need is there for it? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.


text:
But Jacob journeyed to Succoth and built himself a house and made booths <i>or</i> places of shelter for his livestock; so the name of the place is called Succoth [booths].


text:
When Jacob came from Padan-aram, he arrived safely <i>and</i> in peace at the town of Shechem, in the land of Canaan, and pitched his tents before the [enclosed] town.


text:
Then he bought the piece of land on which he had encamped from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of money.


text:
Now Dinah daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out [unattended] to see the girls of the place.


text:
And when Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he seized her, lay with her, and humbled, defiled, <i>and</i> disgraced her.


text:
But his soul longed for <i>and</i> clung to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke comfortingly to her young heart’s wishes.


text:
Jacob heard that [Shechem] had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field. So Jacob held his peace until they came.


text:
When Jacob’s sons heard it, they came from the field; and they were distressed and grieved and very angry, for [Shechem] had done a vile thing to Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter, which ought not to be done.


text:
And Hamor conferred with them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem craves your daughter [and sister]. I beg of you give her to him to be his wife.


text:
You shall dwell with us; the country will be open to you; live and trade and get your possessions in it.


text:
And Shechem said to [Dinah’s] father and to her brothers, Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask of me.


text:
Ask me ever so much dowry and [marriage] gift, and I will give according to what you tell me; only give me the girl to be my wife.


text:
The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, [justifying their intended action by saying, in effect, we are going to do this] because Shechem had defiled <i>and</i> disgraced their sister Dinah.


text:
They said to them, We cannot do this thing <i>and</i> give our sister to one who is not circumcised, for that would be a reproach <i>and</i> disgrace to us.


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Then we will give our daughters to you and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you and become one people.


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But if you will not listen to us and consent to be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.


text:
And the young man did not delay to do the thing, for he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was honored above all his family [so, ranking first, he acted first].


text:
Then Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their [enclosed] town and discussed the matter with the citizens, saying,


text:
These men are peaceable with us; so let them dwell in the land and trade in it; for the land is large enough [for us and] for them; let us take their daughters for wives and let us give them our daughters.


text:
But the men will consent to our request that they live among us and be one people only on condition that every male among us be circumcised, as they are.


text:
Shall not their cattle and their possessions and all their beasts be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell here with us.


text:
And all the people who went out of the town gate listened <i>and</i> heeded what Hamor and Shechem said; and every male was circumcised who was a resident of that town.


text:
But on the third day [after the circumcision] when [all the men] were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s [full] brothers, took their swords, boldly entered the city [without danger], and slew all the males.


text:
And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house [where she had been all this time] and departed.


text:
[Then the rest of] Jacob’s [eleven] sons came upon the slain and plundered the town, because there their sister had been defiled <i>and</i> disgraced.


text:
All their wealth and all their little ones and their wives they took captive, making spoil even of all [they found] in the houses.


text:
And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have ruined me, making me infamous <i>and</i> embroiling me with the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites! And we are few in number, and they will gather together against me and attack me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my household.


text:
And God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. And make there an altar to God Who appeared to you [in a distinct manifestation] when you fled from the presence of Esau your brother. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, Put away the [images of] strange gods that are among you, and purify yourselves and change [into fresh] garments;


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Then let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make there an altar to God Who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me wherever I went.


text:
So they [both young men and women] gave to Jacob all the strange gods they had and their earrings which were [worn as charms against evil] in their ears; and Jacob buried <i>and</i> hid them under the oak near Shechem.


text:
And they journeyed and a terror from God fell on the towns round about them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.


text:
So Jacob came to Luz, that is, Bethel, which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people with him.


text:
There he built an altar, and called the place El-bethel [God of Bethel], for there God revealed Himself to him when he fled from the presence of his brother.


text:
But Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried below Bethel under an oak; and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth [oak of weeping].


text:
And God [in a distinctly visible manifestation] appeared to Jacob again when he came out of Padan-aram, and declared a blessing on him. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
Again God said to him, Your name is Jacob [supplanter]; you shall not be called Jacob any longer, but Israel shall be your name. So He called him Israel [contender with God].


text:
And God said to him, I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you and kings shall be born of your stock;


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The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and to your descendants after you I will give the land.


text:
And Jacob set up a pillar (monument) in the place where he talked with [God], a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it and he poured oil on it.


text:
And they journeyed from Bethel and had but a little way to go to Ephrath [Bethlehem] when Rachel suffered the pangs of childbirth and had hard labor.


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When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, Do not be afraid; you shall have this son also.


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And as her soul was departing, for she died, she called his name Ben-oni [son of my sorrow]; but his father called him Benjamin [son of the right hand].


text:
When Israel dwelt there, Reuben [his eldest son] went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard about it. Now Jacob’s sons were twelve.


text:
And the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob born to him in Padan-aram.


text:
And Jacob came to Isaac his father at Mamre or Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned.


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And Isaac’s spirit departed; he died and was gathered to his people, being an old man, satisfied <i>and</i> satiated with days; his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.


text:
Esau took his wives from the women of Canaan: Adah daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah daughter of Anah, the son of Zibeon the Hivite,


text:
Now Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his cattle, all his beasts, and all his possessions which he had obtained in the land of Canaan, and he went into a land away from his brother Jacob.


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For their great flocks <i>and</i> herds <i>and</i> possessions [which they had collected] made it impossible for them to dwell together; the land in which they were strangers could not support them because of their livestock.


text:
And this is the history of the descendants of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir.


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These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, Esau’s wife, and Reuel, the son of Basemath, Esau’s wife.


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And Timna was a concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son; and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife.


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


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And these are the sons of Oholibamah daughter of Anah, the son of Zibeon, Esau’s wife. She bore to Esau: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.


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These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau: The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,


text:
Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These are the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Adah.


text:
These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: Chiefs Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, Mizzah. These are the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.


text:
These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: Chiefs Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the chiefs born of Oholibamah daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife.


text:
Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs of the <f>[1]</f>Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom.


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These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of Zibeon his father.


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And Husham died, and Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his stead. The name of his [enclosed] city was Avith.


text:
Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, and then Hadar reigned. His [enclosed] city was Pau; his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.


text:
And these are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families and places of residence, by their names: Chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,


text:
Magdiel, and Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom [that is, of Esau the father of the Edomites], according to their dwelling places in their land.


text:
So Jacob dwelt in the land in which his father had been a stranger <i>and</i> sojourner, in the land of Canaan.


text:
This is the history of the descendants of Jacob <i>and</i> this is Jacob’s line. Joseph, when he was seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s [secondary] wives; and Joseph brought to his father a bad report of them.


text:
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a [distinctive] long tunic with sleeves.


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But when his brothers saw that their father loved [Joseph] more than all of his brothers, they hated him and could not say, Peace [in friendly greeting] to him <i>or</i> speak peaceably to him.


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We [brothers] were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright, and behold, your sheaves stood round about my sheaf and bowed down!


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His brothers said to him, Shall you indeed reign over us? Or are you going to have us as your subjects <i>and</i> dominate us? And they hated him all the more for his dreams and for what he said.


text:
But Joseph dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brothers [also]. He said, See here, I have dreamed again, and behold, [this time not only] eleven stars [but also] the sun and the moon bowed down <i>and</i> did reverence to me!


text:
And he told it to his father [as well as] his brethren. But his father rebuked him and said to him, What is the meaning of this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow down ourselves to the earth <i>and</i> do homage to you?


text:
Joseph’s brothers envied him <i>and</i> were jealous of him, but his father observed the saying <i>and</i> pondered over it.


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[One day] Israel said to Joseph, Do not your brothers shepherd my flock at Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them. And he said, Here I am.


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And [Jacob] said to him, Go, I pray you, see whether everything is all right with your brothers and with the flock; then come back and bring me word. So he sent him out of the Hebron Valley, and he came to Shechem.


text:
And a certain man found him, and behold, he had lost his way <i>and</i> was wandering in the open country. The man asked him, What are you trying to find?


text:
And he said, I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, I pray you, where they are pasturing our flocks.


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But the man said, [They were here, but] they have gone. I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.


text:
So come on now, let us kill him and throw his body into some pit; then we will say [to our father], Some wild <i>and</i> ferocious animal has devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams!


text:
And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit <i>or</i> well that is out here in the wilderness and lay no hand on him. He was trying to get Joseph out of their hands in order to rescue him <i>and</i> deliver him again to his father.


text:
When Joseph had come to his brothers, they stripped him of his [distinctive] long garment which he was wearing;


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Then they sat down to eat their lunch. When they looked up, behold, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites [mixed Arabians] coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum [of the styrax tree], balm (balsam), and myrrh <i>or</i> ladanum, going on their way to carry them down to Egypt.


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Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites [and Midianites, these mixed Arabians who are approaching], and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh. And his brothers consented.


text:
Then as the Midianite [and Ishmaelite] merchants were passing by, the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the well. And they sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph [captive] into Egypt.


text:
Then Reuben [who had not been there when the brothers plotted to sell the lad] returned to the pit; and behold, Joseph was not in the pit, and he rent his clothes.


text:
He rejoined his brothers and said, The boy is not there! And I, where shall I go [to hide from my father]?


text:
Then they took Joseph’s [distinctive] long garment, killed a young goat, and dipped the garment in the blood;


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And they sent the garment to their father, saying, We have found this! Examine <i>and</i> decide whether it is your son’s tunic or not.


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He said, My son’s long garment! An evil [wild] beast has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.


text:
And all his sons and daughters attempted to console him, but he refused to be comforted and said, I will go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) to my son mourning. And his father wept for him.


text:
And the Midianites [and Ishmaelites] sold [Joseph] in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain <i>and</i> chief executioner of the [royal] guard.


text:
At that time Judah withdrew from his brothers and went to [lodge with] a certain Adullamite named Hirah.


text:
There Judah saw <i>and</i> met a daughter of Shuah, a Canaanite; he took her as wife and lived with her.


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Again she conceived and bore a son and named him Shelah. [They were living] at Chezib when she bore him.


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Then Judah told Onan, Marry your brother’s widow; live with her and raise offspring for your brother.


text:
But Onan knew that the family would not be his, so when he cohabited with his brother’s widow, he prevented conception, lest he should raise up a child for his brother.


text:
Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, Remain a widow at your father’s house till Shelah my [youngest] son is grown; for he thought, Lest perhaps [if Shelah should marry her] he would die also, as his brothers did. So Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.


text:
But later Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shuah, died; and when Judah was comforted, he went up to his sheepshearers at Timnath with his friend Hirah the Adullamite.


text:
So she put off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapped herself up [in disguise], and sat in the entrance of Enaim, which is by the road to Timnath; for she saw that Shelah was grown and she was not given to him as his wife.


text:
When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot <i>or</i> devoted prostitute [under a vow to her goddess], for she had covered her face [as such women did].


text:
He turned to her by the road and said, Come, let me have intercourse with you; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. And she said, What will you give me that you may have intercourse with me?


text:
He answered, I will send you a kid from the flock. And she said, Will you give me a pledge (deposit) until you send it?


text:
And he said, What pledge shall I give you? She said, Your signet [seal], your [signet] cord, and your staff that is in your hand. And he gave them to her and came in to her, and she became pregnant by him.


text:
And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman’s hand; but he was unable to find her.


text:
He asked the men of that place, Where is the harlot <i>or</i> cult prostitute who was openly by the roadside? They said, There was no harlot <i>or</i> temple prostitute here.


text:
So he returned to Judah and said, I cannot find her; and also the local men said, There was no harlot <i>or</i> temple prostitute around here.


text:
And Judah said, Let her keep [the pledge articles] for herself, lest we be made ashamed. I sent this kid, but you have not found her.


text:
But about three months later Judah was told, Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot, and also she is with child by her lewdness. And Judah said, Bring her forth and let her be burned!


text:
When she was brought forth, she [took the things he had given her in pledge and] sent [them] to her father-in-law, saying, I am with child by the man to whom these articles belong. Then she added, Make out clearly, I pray you, to whom these belong, the signet [seal], [signet] cord, and staff.


text:
And Judah acknowledged them and said, She has been more righteous <i>and</i> just than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son. And he did not cohabit with her again.


text:
And when she was in labor, one baby put out his hand; and the midwife took his hand and bound upon it a scarlet thread, saying, This baby was born first.


text:
But he drew back his hand, and behold, his brother was born first. And she said, What a breaking forth you have made for yourself! Therefore his name was called Perez [breaking forth]. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
And afterward his brother who had the scarlet thread on his hand was born and was named Zerah [scarlet].


text:
And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain <i>and</i> chief executioner of the [royal] guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.


text:
But the Lord was with Joseph, and he [though a slave] was a successful <i>and</i> prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.


text:
And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to flourish <i>and</i> succeed in his hand. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
So Joseph pleased [Potiphar] <i>and</i> found favor in his sight, and he served him. And [his master] made him supervisor over his house and he put all that he had in his charge.


text:
From the time that he made him supervisor in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the Lord’s blessing was on all that he had in the house and in the field.


text:
And [Potiphar] left all that he had in Joseph’s charge and paid no attention to anything he had except the food he ate. Now Joseph was an attractive person and fine-looking.


text:
But he refused and said to his master’s wife, See here, with me in the house my master has concern about nothing; he has put all that he has in my care.


text:
He is not greater in this house than I am; nor has he kept anything from me except you, for you are his wife. How then can I do this great evil and sin against God?


text:
Then it happened about this time that Joseph went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the men of the house were indoors.


text:
And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me! But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out [of the house].


text:
She called to the men of her household and said to them, Behold, he [your master] has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock <i>and</i> insult us; he came in where I was to lie with me, and I screamed at the top of my voice.


text:
And when he heard me screaming and crying, he left his garment with me and fled and got out of the house.


text:
Then she told him the same story, saying, The Hebrew servant whom you brought among us came to me to mock <i>and</i> insult me.


text:
And when [Joseph’s] master heard the words of his wife, saying to him, This is the way your servant treated me, his wrath was kindled.


text:
And Joseph’s master took him and put him in the prison, a place where the state prisoners were confined; so he was there in the prison.


text:
But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy <i>and</i> loving-kindness and gave him favor in the sight of the warden of the prison.


text:
And the warden of the prison committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatsoever was done there, he was in charge of it.


text:
The prison warden paid no attention to anything that was in [Joseph’s] charge, for the Lord was with him and made whatever he did to prosper.


text:
Now some time later the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, Egypt’s king.


text:
He put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined.


text:
And the captain of the guard put them in Joseph’s charge, and he served them; and they continued in custody for some time.


text:
And they both dreamed a dream in the same night, each man according to [the personal significance of] the interpretation of his dream — the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison.


text:
When Joseph came to them in the morning and looked at them, he saw that they were sad <i>and</i> depressed.


text:
So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were in custody with him in his master’s house, Why do you look so dejected <i>and</i> sad today?


text:
And they said to him, We have dreamed dreams, and there is no one to interpret them. And Joseph said to them, Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me [your dreams], I pray you.


text:
And on the vine were three branches. Then it was as though it budded; its blossoms burst forth and the clusters of them brought forth ripe grapes [almost all at once].


text:
And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup; then I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.


text:
Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will again put Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, as when you were his butler.


text:
But think of me when it shall be well with you and show kindness, I beg of you, to me, and mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this house.


text:
For truly I was carried away from the land of the Hebrews by unlawful force, and here too I have done nothing for which they should put me into the dungeon.


text:
When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, I also dreamed, and behold, I had three cake baskets on my head.


text:
And in the uppermost basket were some of all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds [of prey] were eating out of the basket on my head.


text:
Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head but will have you beheaded and hung on a tree, and [you will not so much as be given burial, but] the birds will eat your flesh.


text:
And on the third day, Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the heads of the chief butler and the chief baker [by inviting them also] among his servants.


text:
And he restored the chief butler to his butlership, and the butler gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand;


text:
And behold, there came up out of the river [Nile] seven well-favored cows, sleek <i>and</i> handsome and fat; and they grazed in the reed grass [in a marshy pasture].


text:
And behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river [Nile], ill favored and gaunt <i>and</i> ugly, and stood by the fat cows on the bank of the river [Nile].


text:
And the ill-favored, gaunt, <i>and</i> ugly cows ate up the seven well-favored and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke.


text:
But he slept and dreamed the second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came out on one stalk, plump and good.


text:
And the seven thin ears [of grain] devoured the seven plump and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.


text:
So when morning came his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians and all the wise men of Egypt. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but not one could interpret them to [him].


text:
When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in custody in the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the chief baker,


text:
We dreamed a dream in the same night, he and I; we dreamed each of us according to [the significance of] the interpretation of his dream.


text:
And there was there with us a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard <i>and</i> chief executioner; and we told him our dreams, and he interpreted them to us, to each man according to the significance of his dream.


text:
And as he interpreted to us, so it came to pass; I was restored to my office [as chief butler], and the baker was hanged.


text:
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. But Joseph [first] shaved himself, changed his clothes, <i>and</i> made himself presentable; then he came into Pharaoh’s presence.


text:
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream <i>and</i> interpret it.


text:
Joseph answered Pharaoh, It is not in me; God [not I] will give Pharaoh a [favorable] answer of peace.


text:
And behold, there came up out of the river [Nile] seven fat, sleek, <i>and</i> handsome cows, and they grazed in the reed grass [of a marshy pasture].


text:
And behold, seven other cows came up after them, undernourished, gaunt, <i>and</i> ugly [just skin and bones; such emaciated animals] as I have never seen in all of Egypt.


text:
And when they had eaten them up, it could not be detected <i>and</i> known that they had eaten them, for they were still as thin <i>and</i> emaciated as at the beginning. Then I awoke. [But again I fell asleep and dreamed.]


text:
And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears. Now I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could tell me what it meant.


text:
Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, The [two] dreams are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.


text:
The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears [of grain] are seven years; the [two] dreams are one [in their meaning].


text:
And the seven thin and ill favored cows that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty ears [of grain], blighted <i>and</i> shriveled by the east wind; they are seven years of hunger <i>and</i> famine.


text:
Then there will come seven years of hunger <i>and</i> famine, and [there will be so much want that] all the great abundance of the previous years will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and hunger (destitution, starvation) will exhaust (consume, finish) the land.


text:
And the plenty will become quite unknown in the land because of that following famine, for it will be very woefully severe.


text:
That the dream was sent twice to Pharaoh <i>and</i> in two forms indicates that this thing which God will very soon bring to pass is fully prepared <i>and</i> established by God.


text:
So now let Pharaoh seek out <i>and</i> provide a man discreet, understanding, proficient, <i>and</i> wise and set him over the land of Egypt [as governor].


text:
Let Pharaoh do this; then let him select and appoint officers over the land, and take one-fifth [of the produce] of the [whole] land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years [year by year].


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And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and lay up grain under the direction <i>and</i> authority of Pharaoh, and let them retain food [in fortified granaries] in the cities.


text:
And that food shall be put in store for the country against the seven years of hunger <i>and</i> famine that are to come upon the land of Egypt, so that the land may not be ruined <i>and</i> cut off by the famine.


text:
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Forasmuch as [your] God has shown you all this, there is nobody as intelligent <i>and</i> discreet <i>and</i> understanding and wise as you are.


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You shall have charge over my house, and all my people shall be governed according to your word [with reverence, submission, and obedience]. Only in matters of the throne will I be greater than you are.


text:
And Pharaoh took off his [signet] ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in [official] vestments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck;


text:
He made him to ride in the second chariot which he had, and [officials] cried before him, Bow the knee! And he set him over all the land of Egypt.


text:
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.


text:
And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph made an [inspection] tour of all the land of Egypt.


text:
Joseph [who had been in Egypt thirteen years] was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went [about his duties] through all the land of Egypt.


text:
And he gathered up all the [surplus] food of the seven [good] years in the land of Egypt and stored up the food in the cities; he stored away in each city the food from the fields around it.


text:
And Joseph gathered grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it could not be measured.


text:
Now to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, bore to him.


text:
And Joseph called the firstborn Manasseh [making to forget], For God, said he, has made me forget all my toil <i>and</i> hardship and all my father’s house.


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And the second he called Ephraim [to be fruitful], For [he said] God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.


text:
The seven years of scarcity <i>and</i> famine began to come, as Joseph had said they would; the famine was in all [the surrounding] lands, but in all of Egypt there was food.


text:
But when all the land of Egypt was weakened with hunger, the people [there] cried to Pharaoh for food; and Pharaoh said to [them] all, Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do.


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When the famine was over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians; for the famine grew extremely distressing in the land of Egypt.


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And all countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all [the known] earth.


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Now when Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, Why do you look at one another?


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For, he said, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; get down there and buy [grain] for us, that we may live and not die.


text:
But Benjamin, Joseph’s [full] brother, Jacob did not send with his brothers; for he said, Lest perhaps some harm <i>or</i> injury should befall him.


text:
So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who came, for there was hunger <i>and</i> general lack of food in the land of Canaan.


text:
Now Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was who sold to all the people of the land; and Joseph’s [half] brothers came and bowed themselves down before him with their faces to the ground.


text:
Joseph saw his brethren and he recognized them, but he treated them as if he were a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. He said, Where do you come from? And they replied, From the land of Canaan to buy food.


text:
And Joseph remembered the dreams he had dreamed about them and said to them, You are spies <i>and</i> with unfriendly purpose you have come to observe [secretly] the nakedness of the land.


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But they said, Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; the youngest is today with our father, and one is not.


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You shall be proved by this test: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go away from here unless your youngest brother comes here.


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Send one of you and let him bring your brother, and you will be kept in prison, that your words may be proved whether there is any truth in you; or else by the life of Pharaoh you certainly are spies.


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If you are true men, let one of your brothers be bound in your prison, but [the rest of] you go and carry grain for those weakened with hunger in your households.


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But bring your youngest brother to me, so your words will be verified and you shall live. And they did so.


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And they said one to another, We are truly guilty about our brother, for we saw the distress <i>and</i> anguish of his soul when he begged us [to let him go], and we would not hear. So this distress <i>and</i> difficulty has come upon us.


text:
Reuben answered them, Did I not tell you, Do not sin against the boy, and you would not hear? Therefore, behold, his blood is required [of us].


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And he turned away from them and wept; then he returned to them and talked with them, and took from them Simeon and bound him before their eyes.


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Then [privately] Joseph commanded that their sacks be filled with grain, every man’s money be restored to his sack, and provisions be given to them for the journey. And this was done for them.


text:
And as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey fodder at the lodging place, he caught sight of his money; for behold, it was in his sack’s mouth.


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And he said to his brothers, My money is restored! Here it is in my sack! And their hearts failed them and they were afraid <i>and</i> turned trembling one to another, saying, What is this that God has done to us?


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We are twelve brothers with the same father; one is no more, and the youngest is today with our father in the land of Canaan.


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And the man, the lord of the country, said to us, By this test I will know whether or not you are honest men: leave one of your brothers here with me and take grain for your famishing households and be gone.


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Bring your youngest brother to me; then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. And I will deliver to you your brother [whom I have kept bound in prison], and you may do business in the land.


text:
When they emptied their sacks, behold, every man’s parcel of money was in his sack! When both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.


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And Jacob their father said to them, You have bereaved me! Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and you would take Benjamin from me. All these things are against me!


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And Reuben said to his father, Slay my two sons if I do not bring [Benjamin] back to you. Deliver him into my keeping, and I will bring him back to you.


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But [Jacob] said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left [of his mother’s children]; if harm <i>or</i> accident should befall him on the journey you are to take, you would bring my hoary head down to Sheol (the place of the dead) with grief.


text:
But the hunger <i>and</i> destitution <i>and</i> starvation were very severe <i>and</i> extremely distressing in the land [Canaan].


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And when [the families of Jacob’s sons] had eaten up the grain which the men had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, Go again; buy us a little food.


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But Judah said to him, The man solemnly <i>and</i> sternly warned us, saying, You shall not see my face again unless your brother is with you.


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But if you will not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.


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And Israel said, Why did you do me such a wrong <i>and</i> suffer this evil to come upon me by telling the man that you had another brother?


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And they said, The man asked us straightforward questions about ourselves and our relatives. He said, Is your father still alive? Have you another brother? And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, Bring your brother down here?


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And Judah said to Israel his father, Send the lad with me and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.


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I will be security for him; you shall require him of me [personally]; if I do not bring him back to you and put him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.


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And their father Israel said to them, If it must be so, now do this; take of the choicest products in the land in your sacks and carry down a present to the man, a little balm (balsam) and a little honey, aromatic spices and gum (of rock rose) <i>or</i> ladanum, pistachio nuts, and almonds.


text:
And take double the [grain] money with you; and the money that was put back in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again with you; there is a possibility that [its being in your sacks] was an oversight.


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May God Almighty give you mercy <i>and</i> favor before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved [of my sons], I am bereaved.


text:
Then the men took the present, and they took double the [grain] money with them, and Benjamin; and they arose and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.


text:
And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, Bring the men into the house and kill an animal and make ready, for the men will dine with me at noon.


text:
The men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, We are brought in because of the money that was returned in our sacks the first time we came, so that he may find occasion to accuse and assail us, take us for slaves, and seize our donkeys.


text:
And when we came to the inn, we opened our sacks and there was each man’s money, full weight, returned in the mouth of his sack. Now we have brought it back again.


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And we have brought down with us other money to buy food; we do not know who put our money in our sacks.


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But [the steward] said, Peace be to you, fear not; your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money. And he brought Simeon out to them.


text:
And the man brought the men into Joseph’s house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys provender.


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And they made ready the present they had brought for Joseph before his coming at noon, for they heard that they were to dine there.


text:
And when Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present which they had with them, and bowed themselves to him to the ground.


text:
He asked them of their welfare and said, Is your old father well, of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?


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And they answered, Your servant our father is in good health; he is still alive. And they bowed down their heads and made obeisance.


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And he looked up and saw his [full] brother Benjamin, his mother’s [only other] son, and said, Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? And he said, God be gracious to you, my son!


text:
And Joseph hurried from the room, for his heart yearned for his brother, and he sought privacy to weep; so he entered his chamber and wept there.


text:
And [the servants] set out [the food] for [Joseph] by himself, and for [his brothers] by themselves, and for those Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, according to the Egyptian custom not to eat food with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.


text:
And [Joseph’s brothers] were given seats before him — the eldest according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked at one another amazed [that so much was known about them].


text:
[Joseph] took and sent helpings to them from before him, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank freely and were merry with him.


text:
And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man’s money in his sack’s mouth.


text:
And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, with his grain money. And [the steward] did according to what Joseph had said.


text:
When they had left the city and were not yet far away, Joseph said to his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, Why have you rewarded evil for good? [Why have you stolen the silver cup?]


text:
Is it not my master’s drinking cup with which he divines [the future]? You have done wrong in doing this.


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They said to him, Why does my lord say these things? Far be it from your servants to do such a thing!


text:
Note that the money which we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. Is it likely then that we would steal from your master’s house silver or gold?


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With whomever of your servants [your master’s cup] is found, not only let that one die, but the rest of us will be my lord’s slaves.


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And the steward said, Now let it be as you say: he with whom [the cup] is found shall be my slave, but [the rest of] you shall be blameless.


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And [the steward] searched, beginning with the eldest and stopping with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.


text:
Then they rent their clothes; and after each man had loaded his donkey again, they returned to the city.


text:
Judah and his brethren came to Joseph’s house, for he was still there; and they fell prostrate before him.


text:
Joseph said to them, What is this thing that you have done? Do you not realize that such a man as I can certainly detect <i>and</i> know by divination [everything you do without other knowledge of it]?


text:
And Judah said, What shall we say to my lord? What shall we reply? Or how shall we clear ourselves, since God has found out <i>and</i> exposed the iniquity of your servants? Behold, we are my lord’s slaves, the rest of us as well as he with whom the cup is found.


text:
But [Joseph] said, God forbid that I should do that; but the man in whose hand the cup is found, he shall be my servant; and as for [the rest of] you, arise <i>and</i> go in peace to your father.


text:
Then Judah came close to [Joseph] and said, O my lord, let your servant, I pray you, speak a word to you in private, and let not your anger blaze against your servant, for you are as Pharaoh [so I will speak as if directly to him].


text:
And we said to my lord, We have a father — an old man — and a young [brother, the] child of his old age; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s [offspring], and his father loves him.


text:
And we said to my lord, The lad cannot leave his father; for if he should do so, his father would die.


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And you told your servants, Unless your youngest brother comes with you, you shall not see my face again.


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But we said, We cannot go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down; for we may not see the man’s face except our youngest brother is with us.


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And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn to pieces, and I have never seen him since.


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And if you take this son also from me, and harm <i>or</i> accident should befall him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow <i>and</i> evil to Sheol (the place of the dead).


text:
Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad’s life <i>and</i> his soul knit with the lad’s soul,


text:
When he sees that the lad is not with us, he will die; and your servants will be responsible for his death <i>and</i> will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.


text:
For your servant became security for the lad to my father, saying, If I do not bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.


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Now therefore, I pray you, let your servant remain instead of the youth [to be] a slave to my lord, and let the young man go home with his [half] brothers.


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For how can I go up to my father if the lad is not with me? — lest I witness the woe <i>and</i> the evil that will come upon my father.


text:
Then Joseph could not restrain himself [any longer] before all those who stood by him, and he called out, Cause every man to go out from me! So no one stood there with Joseph while he made himself known to his brothers.


text:
And he wept <i>and</i> sobbed aloud, and the Egyptians [who had just left him] heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard about it.


text:
And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph! Is my father still alive? And his brothers could not reply, for they were distressingly disturbed <i>and</i> dismayed at [the startling realization that they were in] his presence.


text:
And Joseph said to his brothers, Come near to me, I pray you. And they did so. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt!


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But now, do not be distressed <i>and</i> disheartened or vexed <i>and</i> angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me ahead of you to preserve life.


text:
For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years more in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.


text:
God sent me before you to preserve for you a posterity <i>and</i> to continue a remnant on the earth, to save your lives by a great escape <i>and</i> save for you many survivors.


text:
So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.


text:
Hurry and go up to my father and tell him, Your son Joseph says this to you: God has put me in charge of all Egypt. Come down to me; do not delay.


text:
You will live in the land of Goshen, and you will be close to me — you and your children and your grandchildren, your flocks, your herds, and all you have.


text:
And there I will sustain <i>and</i> provide for you, so that you and your household and all that are yours may not come to poverty <i>and</i> want, for there are yet five [more] years of [the scarcity, hunger, and starvation of] famine.


text:
Now notice! Your own eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin can see that I am talking to you personally [in your language and not through an interpreter].


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And you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt and of all that you have seen; and you shall hurry and bring my father down here.


text:
Moreover, he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers conversed with him.


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When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house that Joseph’s brothers had come, it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well.


text:
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Tell your brothers this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan,


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And get your father and your households and come to me. And I will give you the best in the land of Egypt and you will live on the fat of the land.


text:
You therefore command them, saying, You do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come.


text:
Also do not look with regret <i>or</i> concern upon your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.


text:
And the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons, as the order of Pharaoh permitted, and gave them provisions for the journey.


text:
To each of them he gave changes of raiment, but to Benjamin he gave 300 pieces of silver and five changes of raiment.


text:
And to his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-donkeys laden with grain, bread, and nourishing food <i>and</i> provision for his father [to supply all who were with him] on the way.


text:
So he sent his brothers away, and they departed, and he said to them, See that you do not disagree (get excited, quarrel) along the road.


text:
And they said to him, Joseph is still alive! And he is governor over all the land of Egypt! And Jacob’s heart began to stop beating <i>and</i> [he almost] fainted, for he did not believe them.


text:
But when they told him all the words of Joseph which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived [and warmth and life returned].


text:
So Israel made his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba [a place hallowed by sacred memories] and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
And He said, I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will there make of you a great nation.


text:
I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you [your people Israel] up again; and Joseph will put his hand upon your eyes [when they are about to close in death].


text:
So Jacob arose <i>and</i> set out from Beersheba, and Israel’s sons conveyed their father, their little ones, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him.


text:
And they took their cattle and the gains which they had acquired in the land of Canaan and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him:


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His sons and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters and his sons’ daughters — all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.


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And these are the names of the descendants of Israel who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.


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The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.


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These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah. All of his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three.


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The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.


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These are the sons of Zilpah, [the maid] whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter. And these she bore to Jacob — sixteen persons all told.


text:
And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.


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And the sons of <f>[1]</f>Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.


text:
These are the sons of Bilhah, [the maid] whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter. And she bore these to Jacob — seven persons in all.


text:
All the persons who came with Jacob into Egypt — who were his own offspring, not counting the wives of Jacob’s sons — were sixty-six persons all told.


text:
And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob [including Joseph and Jacob himself], who came into Egypt, were seventy.


text:
And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to direct him to Goshen <i>and</i> meet him there; and they came into the land of Goshen.


text:
Then Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen; and he presented himself <i>and</i> gave distinct evidence of himself to him [that he was Joseph], and [each] fell on the [other’s] neck and wept on his neck a good while.


text:
And Israel said to Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen your face [and know] that you are still alive.


text:
Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, I will go up and tell Pharaoh and say to him, My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.


text:
And the men are shepherds, for their occupation has been keeping livestock, and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.


text:
You shall say, Your servants’ occupation has been as keepers of livestock from our youth until now, both we and our fathers before us — in order that you may live in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.


text:
Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, My father and my brothers, with their flocks and their herds and all that they own, have come from the land of Canaan, and they are in the land of Goshen.


text:
And Pharaoh said to his brothers, What is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers before us.


text:
Moreover, they said to Pharaoh, We have come to sojourn in the land, for your servants have no pasture for our flocks, for the famine is very severe in Canaan. So now, we pray you, let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.


text:
The land of Egypt is before you; make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them live in the land of Goshen. And if you know of any men of ability among them, put them in charge of my cattle.


text:
Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father and presented him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.


text:
Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are 130 years; few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and they have <f>[1]</f>not attained to those of the life of my fathers in their pilgrimage.


text:
Joseph settled his father and brethren and gave them a possession in Egypt in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses (Goshen), as Pharaoh commanded.


text:
And Joseph supplied his father and his brethren and all his father’s household with food, according to [the needs of] their families.


text:
[In the course of time] there was no food in all the land, for the famine was distressingly severe, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan hung in doubt and wavered by reason of the hunger (destitution, starvation) of the famine.


text:
And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan [in payment] for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.


text:
And when the money was exhausted in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, Give us food! Why should we die before your very eyes? For we have no money left.


text:
Joseph said, Give up your livestock, and I will give you food in exchange for [them] if your money is gone.


text:
So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and [he] gave them food in exchange for the horses, flocks, cattle of the herds, and the donkeys; and he supplied them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year.


text:
When that year was ended, they came to [Joseph] the second year and said to him, We will not hide from my lord [the fact] that our money is spent; my lord also has our herds of livestock; there is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.


text:
Why should we perish before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed [to plant], that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.


text:
And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field because of the overwhelming severity of the famine upon them. The land became Pharaoh’s,


text:
And as for the people, he removed them to cities <i>and</i> practically made slaves of them [at their own request], from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other.


text:
Only the priests’ land he did not buy, for the priests had a fixed pension from Pharaoh and lived on the amount Pharaoh gave them. So they did not sell their land.


text:
Then Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have today bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.


text:
At [harvest time when you reap] the increase, you shall give one-fifth of it to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own to use for seed for the field and as food for you and those of your households and for your little ones.


text:
And they said, You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord; and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.


text:
And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt — to this day — that Pharaoh should have the fifth part [of the crops]; it was the priests’ land only which did not become Pharaoh’s.


text:
And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they gained possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly.


text:
When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, If now I have found favor in your sight, <f>[2]</f>put your hand under my thigh and [promise to] deal loyally and faithfully with me. Do not bury me, I beg of you, in Egypt,


text:
But let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place. And [Joseph] said, I will do as you have directed.


text:
Then Jacob said, Swear to me [that you will do it]. And he swore to him. And Israel bowed himself upon the head of the bed.


text:
Some time after these things occurred, someone told Joseph, Behold, your father is sick. And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim [and went to Goshen].


text:
When Jacob was told, Your son Joseph has come to you, Israel collected his strength and sat up on the bed.


text:
And Jacob said to Joseph, God Almighty appeared to me at Luz [Bethel] in the land of Canaan and blessed me


text:
And said to me, Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make you a multitude of people and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
And now your two sons, [Ephraim and Manasseh], who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine. [I am adopting them, and now] as Reuben and Simeon, [they] shall be mine.


text:
But other sons who may be born after them shall be your own; and they shall be called after the names of these [two] brothers <i>and</i> reckoned as belonging to them [when they come] into their inheritance.


text:
And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died at my side in the land of Canaan on the way, when yet there was but a little way to come to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem.


text:
And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place. And he said, Bring them to me, I pray you, that I may bless them.


text:
Now Israel’s eyes were dim from age, so that he could not see. And Joseph brought them near to him, and he kissed and embraced them.


text:
Israel said to Joseph, I had not thought that I would see your face, but see, God has shown me your offspring also.


text:
Then Joseph took [the boys] from [his father’s embrace] and he bowed [before him] with his face to the earth.


text:
Then Joseph took both [boys], Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them close to him.


text:
And Israel reached out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, <f>[1]</f>crossing his hands intentionally, for Manasseh was the firstborn.


text:
Then [Jacob] blessed Joseph and said, God [Himself], before Whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac lived <i>and</i> walked habitually, God [Himself], Who has [been my Shepherd and has led and] fed me from the time I came into being until this day,


text:
The <f>[2]</f>redeeming Angel [that is, the Angel the Redeemer — not a created being but the Lord Himself] Who has redeemed me continually from every evil, bless the lads! And let my name be perpetuated in them [may they be worthy of having their names coupled with mine], and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them become a multitude in the midst of the earth.


text:
When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him; and he held up his father’s hand to move it to Manasseh’s head.


text:
But his father refused and said, I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people and shall be great; but his younger brother shall be <f>[3]</f>greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.


text:
And he blessed them that day, saying, By you shall Israel bless [one another], saying, May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh. And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.


text:
And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I [am about to] die, but God will be with you and bring you again to the land of your fathers.


text:
Moreover, I have given to you [Joseph] one portion [Shechem, one mountain slope] more than any of your brethren, which I took [reclaiming it] out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
And Jacob called for his sons and said, Gather yourselves together [around me], that I may tell you what shall befall you <f>[1]</f>in the latter <i>or</i> last days.


text:
Reuben, you are my <f>[2]</f>firstborn, my might, the beginning (the firstfruits) of my manly strength <i>and</i> vigor; [your birthright gave you] the preeminence in dignity and the preeminence in power.


text:
But unstable <i>and</i> boiling over like water, you shall <f>[3]</f>not excel <i>and</i> have the preeminence [of the firstborn], because you went to your father’s bed; you defiled it — he went to my couch! <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
Simeon and Levi are brothers [equally headstrong, deceitful, vindictive, and cruel]; their swords are weapons of violence. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
O my soul, come not into their secret council; unto their assembly let not my honor be united [for I knew nothing of their plot], because in their anger they slew men [an honored man, Shechem, and the Shechemites], and in their self-will they disabled oxen.


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Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and <f>[4]</f>scatter them in Israel.


text:
Judah, you are the one whom your brothers shall praise; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.


text:
Judah, a lion’s cub! With the prey, my son, you have gone high up [the mountain]. He stooped down, he crouched like a lion, and like a lioness — who dares provoke <i>and</i> rouse him? <f>ⓒ</f>


text:
The scepter <i>or</i> leadership shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh [the Messiah, the Peaceful One] comes to Whom it belongs, and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. <f>ⓓ</f>


text:
Binding His foal to the vine and His donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washes His garments in wine and His clothes in the blood of grapes. <f>ⓔ</f>


text:
Zebulun shall live toward the seashore, and he shall be a haven <i>and</i> a landing place for ships; and his border shall be toward Sidon.


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And he saw that rest was good and that the land was pleasant; and he bowed his shoulder to bear [his burdens] and became a servant to tribute [subjected to forced labor].


text:
Dan shall be a serpent by the way, a horned snake in the path, that bites at the horse’s heels, so that his rider falls backward.


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Gad — a raiding troop shall raid him, but he shall raid at their heels <i>and</i> assault them [victoriously].


text:
Asher’s food [supply] shall be rich <i>and</i> fat, and he shall yield <i>and</i> deliver royal delights.


text:
Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a well (spring or fountain), whose branches run over the wall.


text:
Skilled archers have bitterly attacked <i>and</i> sorely worried him; they have shot at him and persecuted him.


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But his bow remained strong <i>and</i> steady <i>and</i> rested in the Strength that does not fail him, for the arms of his hands were made strong <i>and</i> active by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, <f>ⓕ</f>


text:
By the God of your father, Who will help you, and by the Almighty, Who will bless you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings lying in the deep beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.


text:
The blessings of your father [on you] are greater than the blessings of my forefathers [Abraham and Isaac on me] <i>and</i> are as lasting as the bounties of the eternal hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was the consecrated one <i>and</i> the one separated from his brethren <i>and</i> [the one who] is prince among them.


text:
Benjamin is a <f>[5]</f>ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at night dividing the spoil.


text:
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each one according to the blessing suited to him.


text:
He charged them and said to them, I am to be gathered to my [departed] people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,


text:
In the cave in the field at Machpelah, east of Mamre in the land of Canaan, that Abraham bought, along with the field of Ephron the Hittite, to possess as a cemetery. <f>ⓖ</f>


text:
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah.


text:
When Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his [departed] people.


text:
And Joseph ordered his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.


text:
Then forty days were devoted [to this purpose] for him, for that is the customary number of days required for those who are embalmed. And the Egyptians wept and bemoaned him [as they would for royalty] for seventy days.


text:
And when the days of his weeping <i>and</i> deep grief were past, Joseph said to [the nobles of] the house of Pharaoh, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, to Pharaoh [for Joseph was dressed in mourning and could not do so himself], saying,


text:
My father made me swear, saying, I am about to die; in my tomb which I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me. So now let me go up, I pray you, and bury my father, and I will come again.


text:
And Joseph went up [to Canaan] to bury his father; and with him went all the officials of Pharaoh — the nobles of his court, <i>and</i> the elders of his house and all the nobles <i>and</i> elders of the land of Egypt —


text:
And all the household of Joseph and his brethren and his father’s household. Only their little ones and their flocks and herds they left in the land of Goshen.


text:
And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond [west of] the Jordan, and there they mourned with a great lamentation and extreme demonstrations of sorrow [according to Egyptian custom]; and [Joseph] made a mourning for his father seven days.


text:
When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning for the Egyptians. Therefore the place was called Abel-mizraim [mourning of Egypt]; it is west of the Jordan.


text:
For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, east of Mamre, which Abraham bought, along with the field, for a possession as a burying place from Ephron the Hittite.


text:
After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brethren and all who had gone up with him.


text:
When Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Perhaps now Joseph will hate us and will pay us back for all the evil we did to him.


text:
So shall you say to Joseph: Forgive (take up and away all resentment and all claim to requital concerning), I pray you now, the trespass of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you. Now, we pray you, forgive the trespass of the servants of your father’s God. And Joseph wept when they spoke thus to him.


text:
As for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many people should be kept alive, as they are this day.


text:
Now therefore, do not be afraid. I will provide for <i>and</i> support you and your little ones. And he comforted them [imparting cheer, hope, strength] and spoke to their hearts [kindly].


text:
And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation; the children also of Machir son of Manasseh were brought up on Joseph’s knees.


text:
And Joseph said to his brethren, I am going to die. But God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land to the land He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob [to give you].


text:
And Joseph took an oath from the sons of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and you will carry up my bones from here.


text:
So Joseph died, being 110 years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put <f>[1]</f>in a coffin in Egypt.


text:
But the descendants of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, and the land was full of them.


text:
He said to his people, Behold, the Israelites are too many and too mighty for us [and they <f>[1]</f>outnumber us both in people and in strength].


text:
Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply more and, should war befall us, they join our enemies, fight against us, and escape out of the land.


text:
So they set over [the Israelites] taskmasters to afflict <i>and</i> oppress them with [increased] burdens. And [the Israelites] built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.


text:
But the more [the Egyptians] oppressed them, the more they multiplied and expanded, so that [the Egyptians] were vexed <i>and</i> alarmed because of the Israelites.


text:
They made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar, brick, and all kinds of work in the field. All their service was with harshness <i>and</i> severity.


text:
Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, of whom one was named Shiprah and the other Puah,


text:
When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live.


text:
But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded, but let the male babies live.


text:
So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, Why have you done this thing and allowed the male children to live?


text:
The midwives answered Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; they are vigorous and quickly delivered; their babies are born before the midwife comes to them.


text:
Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son born [to the Hebrews] you shall cast into the river [Nile], but every daughter you shall allow to live.


text:
Now [Amram] a man of the house of Levi [the priestly tribe] went and took as his wife [Jochebed] a daughter of Levi. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
And the woman became pregnant and bore a son; and when she saw that he was [exceedingly] beautiful, she hid him three months. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark <i>or</i> basket made of bulrushes <i>or</i> papyrus [making it watertight by] daubing it with bitumen and pitch. Then she put the child in it and laid it among the rushes by the brink of the river [Nile].


text:
Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked along the bank; she saw the ark among the rushes and sent her maid to fetch it.


text:
When she opened it, she saw the child; and behold, the baby cried. And she took pity on him and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children!


text:
Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call a nurse of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?


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Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages. So the woman took the child and nursed it.


text:
And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. And she called him Moses, for she said, Because I drew him out of the water.


text:
One day, after Moses was grown, it happened that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of [Moses’] brethren.


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He looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.


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He went out the second day and saw two Hebrew men quarreling <i>and</i> fighting; and he said to the unjust aggressor, Why are you striking your comrade?


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And the man said, Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? Then Moses was afraid and thought, Surely this thing is known.


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When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh’s presence and <f>[2]</f>took refuge in the land of Midian, where he sat down by a well.


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Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.


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And when they came to Reuel [Jethro] their father, he said, How is it that you have come so soon today?


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They said, An Egyptian delivered us from the shepherds; also he drew water for us and watered the flock.


text:
And she bore a son, and he called his name Gershom [expulsion, or a stranger there]; for he said, I have been a stranger <i>and</i> a sojourner in a foreign land.


text:
However, after a long time [nearly forty years] the king of Egypt died; and the Israelites were sighing <i>and</i> groaning because of the bondage. They kept crying, and their cry because of slavery ascended to God.


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And God heard their sighing <i>and</i> groaning and [earnestly] remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.


text:
God saw the Israelites and took knowledge of them <i>and</i> concerned Himself about them [knowing all, understanding, remembering all]. <f>ⓒ</f>


text:
Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the back <i>or</i> west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb <i>or</i> Sinai, the mountain of God.


text:
The <f>[1]</f>Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, yet was not consumed.


text:
And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here am I.


text:
God said, Do not come near; put your shoes off your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.


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Also He said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.


text:
And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters <i>and</i> oppressors; for I know their sorrows <i>and</i> sufferings <i>and</i> trials.


text:
And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand <i>and</i> power of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a land good and large, a land flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty] — to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.


text:
Now behold, the cry of the Israelites has come to Me, and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.


text:
Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.


text:
And Moses said to God, <f>[2]</f>Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?


text:
God said, I will surely be with you; and this shall be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain [Horeb, or Sinai].


text:
And Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the Israelites and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, What is His name? What shall I say to them?


text:
And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM <i>and</i> WHAT I AM, <i>and</i> I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE; and He said, You shall say this to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you!


text:
God said also to Moses, This shall you say to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has sent me to you! This is My <f>[3]</f>name forever, and by this name I am to be remembered to all generations.


text:
Go, gather the elders of Israel together [the mature teachers and tribal leaders], and say to them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you and seen that which is done to you in Egypt;


text:
And I have declared that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.


text:
And [the elders] shall believe <i>and</i> obey your voice; and you shall go, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt and you shall say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now let us go, we beseech you, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.


text:
And I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go [unless forced to do so], no, not by a mighty hand.


text:
So I will stretch out My hand and smite Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in it; and after that he will let you go.


text:
And I will give this people favor <i>and</i> respect in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed.


text:
But every woman shall [insistently] solicit of her neighbor and of her that may be residing at her house jewels and articles of silver and gold, and garments, which you shall put on your sons and daughters; and you shall strip the Egyptians [of belongings due to you].


text:
And Moses answered, <f>[1]</f>But behold, they will not believe me or listen to <i>and</i> obey my voice; for they will say, The Lord has not appeared to you.


text:
And He said, Cast it on the ground. And he did so and it became a serpent [the symbol of royal and divine power worn on the crown of the Pharaohs]; and Moses fled from before it.


text:
And the Lord said to Moses, Put forth your hand and take it by the tail. And he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand,


text:
[This you shall do, said the Lord] that the elders may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has indeed appeared to you.


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The Lord said also to him, Put your hand into your bosom. He put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.


text:
[God] said, Put your hand into your bosom again. So he put his hand back into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored as the rest of his flesh.


text:
[Then God said] If they will not believe you or heed the voice <i>or</i> the testimony of the first sign, they may believe the voice <i>or</i> the witness of the second sign.


text:
But if they will also not believe these two signs or heed your voice, you shall take some water of the river [Nile] and pour it upon the dry land; and the water which you take out of the river [Nile] shall become blood on the dry land.


text:
And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent <i>or</i> a man of words, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and have a heavy <i>and</i> awkward tongue.


text:
And the Lord said to him, Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord?


text:
Then the anger of the Lord blazed against Moses; He said, Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know he can speak well. Also, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.


text:
You must speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you what you shall do.


text:
He shall speak for you to the people, acting as a mouthpiece for you, and you shall be as God to him.


text:
And you shall take this rod in your hand with which you shall work the signs [that prove I sent you].


text:
And Moses went away and, returning to Jethro his father-in-law, said to him, Let me go back, I pray you, to my relatives in Egypt to see whether they are still alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.


text:
The Lord said to Moses in Midian, Go back to Egypt; for all the men who were seeking your life [for killing the Egyptian] are dead. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
And Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on donkeys, and he returned to the land of Egypt; and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.


text:
And the Lord said to Moses, When you return into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all those miracles <i>and</i> wonders which I have put in your hand; but I will make him stubborn <i>and</i> harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.


text:
And I say to you, Let My son go, that he may serve Me; and if you refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay your son, your firstborn.


text:
Along the way at a [resting-] place, the Lord met [Moses] and sought to kill him [made him acutely and almost fatally ill].


text:
[Now apparently he had <f>[2]</f>failed to circumcise one of his sons, his wife being opposed to it; but seeing his life in such danger] Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it to touch [Moses’] feet, and said, Surely a husband of blood you are to me!


text:
When He let [Moses] alone [to recover], Zipporah said, A husband of blood are you because of the circumcision.


text:
The Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mountain of God [Horeb, or Sinai] and kissed him.


text:
Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and all the signs with which He had charged him.


text:
Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.


text:
And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the Israelites, and that He had looked [in compassion] upon their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.


text:
Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.


text:
But Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.


text:
And they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us; let us go, we pray you, three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.


text:
The king of Egypt said to Moses and Aaron, Why do you take the people from their jobs? Get to your burdens!


text:
Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and you make them rest from their burdens!


text:
But the number of the bricks which they made before you shall still require of them; you shall not diminish it in the least. For they are idle; that is why they cry, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.


text:
Let heavier work be laid upon the men that they may labor at it and pay no attention to lying words.


text:
The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they said to the people, Thus says Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.


text:
So the people were scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather the short stubble instead of straw.


text:
And the taskmasters were urgent, saying, Finish your work, your daily quotas, as when there was straw.


text:
And the Hebrew foremen, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, Why have you not fulfilled all your quota of making bricks yesterday and today, as before?


text:
No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, Make bricks! And behold, your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.


text:
But [Pharaoh] said, You are idle, lazy <i>and</i> idle! That is why you say, Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.


text:
Get out now and get to work; for no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the full quota of bricks.


text:
And the Hebrew foremen saw that they were in an evil situation when it was said, You shall not diminish in the least your full daily quota of bricks.


text:
And the foremen said to them, The Lord look upon you and judge, because you have made us a rotten stench to be detested by Pharaoh and his servants and have put a sword in their hand to slay us.


text:
Then Moses turned again to the Lord and said, O Lord, why have You dealt evil to this people? Why did You ever send me?


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For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people, neither have You delivered Your people at all.


text:
Then the Lord said to Moses, Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for [compelled] by a strong hand he will [not only] let them go, but he will drive them out of his land with a strong hand.


text:
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty [El-Shaddai], but by My <f>[1]</f>name the Lord [Yahweh — the redemptive name of God] I did not make Myself known to them [in acts and great miracles]. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
I have also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their temporary residence in which they were strangers.


text:
I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites whom the Egyptians have enslaved; and I have [earnestly] remembered My covenant [with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob].


text:
Accordingly, say to the Israelites, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will free you from their bondage, and I will rescue you with an outstretched arm [with special and vigorous action] and by mighty acts of judgment.


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And I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that it is I, the Lord your God, Who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.


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And I will bring you into the land concerning which I lifted up My hand <i>and</i> swore that I would give it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage. I am the Lord [you have the pledge of My changeless omnipotence and faithfulness].


text:
Moses told this to the Israelites, but they refused to listen to Moses because of their impatience <i>and</i> anguish of spirit and because of their cruel bondage.


text:
But Moses said to the Lord, Behold, [my own people] the Israelites have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh give heed to me, who am of deficient <i>and</i> impeded speech?


text:
But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a command for the Israelites and for Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.


text:
These are the heads of their clans. The sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.


text:
The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.


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These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their births: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari; and Levi lived 137 years.


text:
Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister as wife, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and Amram lived 137 years.


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Aaron took Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, as wife; she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.


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Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites by their families.


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These are the [same] Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, Bring out the Israelites from the land of Egypt by their hosts,


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And who spoke to [the] Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt; these are that Moses and Aaron.


text:
But Moses said to the Lord, Behold, I am of deficient <i>and</i> impeded speech; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me?


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The Lord said to Moses, Behold, I make you as God to Pharaoh [to declare My will and purpose to him]; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.


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You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land.


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And I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn <i>and</i> hard, and multiply My signs, My wonders, <i>and</i> miracles in the land of Egypt.


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But Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay My hand upon Egypt and bring forth My hosts, My people the Israelites, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.


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The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch forth My hand upon Egypt and bring out the Israelites from among them.


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When Pharaoh says to you, Prove [your authority] by a miracle, then tell Aaron, Throw your rod down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.


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So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.


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Then Pharaoh called for the wise men [skilled in magic and divination] and the sorcerers (wizards and jugglers). And they also, these magicians of Egypt, did similar things with their enchantments <i>and</i> secret arts.


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For they cast down every man his rod and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.


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But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened <i>and</i> stubborn and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hard <i>and</i> stubborn; he refuses to let the people go.


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Go to Pharaoh in the morning; he will be going out to the water; wait for him by the river’s brink; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand.


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And say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness; and behold, heretofore you have not listened.


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Thus says the Lord, In this you shall know, recognize, <i>and</i> understand that I am the Lord: behold, I will smite with the rod in my hand the waters in the [Nile] River, and they shall be turned to blood.


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The fish in the river shall die, the river shall become foul smelling, and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink from it.


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And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, rivers, pools, and ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, in containers both of wood and of stone.


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Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded; [Aaron] lifted up the rod and smote the waters in the river in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and all the waters in the river were turned to blood.


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And the fish in the river died; and the river became foul smelling, and the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.


text:
But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their enchantments <i>and</i> secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was made hard <i>and</i> obstinate, and he did not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.


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And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the [Nile].


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Then the Lord said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Let My people go, that they may serve Me.


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And the river shall swarm with frogs which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedchamber and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and upon your people, and into your ovens, your kneading bowls, <i>and</i> your dough.


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And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, the streams <i>and</i> canals, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.


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So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land.


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But the magicians did the same thing with their enchantments <i>and</i> secret arts, and brought up [more] frogs upon the land of Egypt.


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Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the Lord, that He may take away the frogs from me and my people; and I will let the people go that they may sacrifice to the Lord.


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Moses said to Pharaoh, Glory over me in this: dictate when I shall pray [to the Lord] for you, your servants, and your people, that the frogs may be destroyed from you and your houses and remain only in the river.


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And [Pharaoh] said, Tomorrow. [Moses] said, Let it be as you say, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.


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And the frogs shall depart from you and your houses and from your servants and your people; they shall remain in the river only.


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So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord [as he had agreed with Pharaoh] concerning the frogs which He had brought against him.


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And the Lord did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards <i>and</i> villages, and out of the fields.


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But when Pharaoh saw that there was temporary relief, he made his heart stubborn <i>and</i> hard and would not listen <i>or</i> heed them, just as the Lord had said.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the ground, that it may become biting gnats <i>or</i> mosquitoes throughout all the land of Egypt.


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And they did so; Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and there came biting gnats <i>or</i> mosquitoes on man and beast; all the dust of the land became biting gnats <i>or</i> mosquitoes throughout all the land of Egypt.


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The magicians tried by their enchantments <i>and</i> secret arts to bring forth gnats <i>or</i> mosquitoes, but they could not; and there were gnats <i>or</i> mosquitoes on man and beast.


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Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God! But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened <i>and</i> strong and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh as he comes forth to the water; and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Let My people go, that they may serve Me.


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Else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms [of bloodsucking gadflies] upon you, your servants, and your people, and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms [of bloodsucking gadflies], and also the ground on which they stand.


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But on that day I will sever <i>and</i> set apart the land of Goshen in which My people dwell, that no swarms [of gadflies] shall be there, so that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.


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And I will put a division <i>and</i> a sign of deliverance between My people and your people. By tomorrow shall this sign be in evidence.


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And the Lord did so; and there came heavy <i>and</i> oppressive swarms [of bloodsucking gadflies] into the house of Pharaoh and his servants’ houses; and in all of Egypt the land was corrupted <i>and</i> ruined by reason of the great invasion [of gadflies].


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And Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Go, sacrifice to your God [here] in the land [of Egypt].


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And Moses said, It is not suitable <i>or</i> right to do that; for the animals the Egyptians hold sacred and will not permit to be slain are those which we are accustomed to sacrifice to the Lord our God; if we did this before the eyes of the Egyptians, would they not stone us?


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We will go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as He will command us.


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So Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Entreat [your God] for me.


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Moses said, I go out from you, and I will entreat the Lord that the swarms [of bloodsucking gadflies] may depart from Pharaoh, his servants, and his people tomorrow; only let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.


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And the Lord did as Moses had spoken: He removed the swarms [of attacking gadflies] from Pharaoh, from his servants, and his people; there remained not one.


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But Pharaoh hardened his heart <i>and</i> made it stubborn this time also, nor would he let the people go.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and tell him, Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me.


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Behold, the hand of the Lord [will fall] upon your livestock which are out in the field, upon the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds and the flocks; there shall be a very severe plague.


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But the Lord shall make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing shall die of all that belongs to the Israelites.


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And the Lord did that the next day, and all [kinds of] the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the Israelites not one died.


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Pharaoh sent to find out, and behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened [his mind was set] and he did not let the people go.


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The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Take handfuls of ashes <i>or</i> soot from the brickkiln and let Moses sprinkle them toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh.


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And it shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast in all the land [occupied by the Egyptians].


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So they took ashes <i>or</i> soot of the kiln and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses threw them toward the sky, and it became boils erupting in sores on man and beast.


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And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of their boils; for the boils were on the magicians and all the Egyptians.


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But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, making it strong <i>and</i> obstinate, and he did not listen to them or heed them, just as the Lord had told Moses.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me.


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For this time I will send all My plagues upon your heart and upon your servants and your people, that you may recognize <i>and</i> know that there is none like Me in all the earth.


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For by now I could have put forth My hand and have struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth.


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But for this very purpose have I let you live, that I might show you My power, and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth. <f>ⓐ</f>


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Since you are still exalting yourself [in haughty defiance] against My people by not letting them go,


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Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very heavy <i>and</i> dreadful fall of hail, such as has not been in Egypt from its founding until now.


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Send therefore now and gather your cattle in hastily, and all that you have in the field; for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home shall be struck by the hail and shall die.


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Then he who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses <i>and</i> shelters.


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The Lord said to Moses, Stretch forth your hand toward the heavens, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man and beast, and upon all the vegetation of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.


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Then Moses stretched forth his rod toward the heavens, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire (lightning) ran down to <i>and</i> along the ground, and the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.


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So there was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the weighty hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.


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The hail struck down throughout all the land of Egypt everything that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail beat down all the vegetation of the field and shattered every tree of the field.


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And Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have sinned this time; the Lord is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong.


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Entreat the Lord, for there has been enough of these mighty thunderings and hail [these voices of God]; I will let you go; you shall stay here no longer.


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Moses said to him, As soon as I leave the city, I will stretch out my hands to the Lord; the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail, that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s.


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The flax and the barley were smitten <i>and</i> ruined, for the barley was in the ear and the flax in bloom.


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But the wheat and spelt [another wheat] were not smitten, for they ripen late and were not grown up yet.


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So Moses left the city and Pharaoh, and stretched forth his hands to the Lord; and the thunder and hail ceased, and rain was no longer poured upon the earth.


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But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more, and toughened <i>and</i> stiffened his hard heart, he and his servants.


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So Pharaoh’s heart was strong <i>and</i> obstinate; he would not let the Israelites go, just as the Lord had said by Moses. <f>ⓑ</f>


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The Lord said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh, for I have made his heart hard, and his servants’ hearts, that I might show these My signs [of divine power] before him,


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And that you may recount in the ears of your son and of your grandson what I have done in derision of the Egyptians <i>and</i> what things I have [repeatedly] done there — My signs [of divine power] done among them — that you may recognize <i>and</i> know that I am the Lord.


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So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and said to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me.


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And they shall cover the land so that one cannot see the ground; and they shall eat the remainder of what escaped and is left to you from the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field;


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The locusts shall fill your houses and those of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen from their birth until this day. Then Moses departed from Pharaoh.


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And Pharaoh’s servants said to him, How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God; do you not yet understand <i>and</i> know that Egypt is destroyed?


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So Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh; and he said to them, Go, serve the Lord your God; but just who are to go?


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And Moses said, We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds [all of us and all we have], for we must hold a feast to the Lord.


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Pharaoh said to them, Let the Lord be with you, if I ever let you go with your little ones! See, you have some evil purpose in mind.


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Not so! You that are men, [without your families] go and serve the Lord, for that is what you want. And [Moses and Aaron] were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up on the land of Egypt and eat all the vegetation of the land, all that the hail has left.


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And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the Lord brought an east wind upon the land all that day and all that night; when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.


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And the locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled down on the whole country of Egypt, a very dreadful mass of them; never before were there such locusts as these, nor will there ever be again.


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For they covered the whole land, so that the ground was darkened, and they ate every bit of vegetation of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left; there remained not a green thing of the trees or the plants of the field in all the land of Egypt.


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Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron in haste. He said, I have sinned against the Lord your God and you.


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Now therefore forgive my sin, I pray you, only this once, and entreat the Lord your God only that He may remove from me this [plague of] death.


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And the Lord turned a violent west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea; not one locust remained in all the country of Egypt.


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But the Lord made Pharaoh’s heart more strong <i>and</i> obstinate, and he would not let the Israelites go.


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And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand toward the heavens, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness which may be felt.


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So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and for three days a thick darkness was all over the land of Egypt.


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The Egyptians could not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days; but all the Israelites had natural light in their dwellings.


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And Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, Go, serve the Lord; let your little ones also go with you; it is only your flocks and your herds that must not go.


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But Moses said, You must give into our hand also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.


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Our livestock also shall go with us; there shall not a hoof be left behind; for of them must we take to serve the Lord our God, and we know not with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.


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And Pharaoh said to Moses, Get away from me! See that you never enter my presence again, for the day you see my face again you shall die!


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Then the Lord said to Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more on Pharaoh and on Egypt; afterwards he will let you go. When he lets you go from here, he will thrust you out altogether.


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Speak now in the hearing of the people, and let every man solicit <i>and</i> ask of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver and jewels of gold.


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And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was exceedingly great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants and of the people.


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And all the firstborn in the land [the pride, hope, and joy] of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the maidservant who is behind the hand mill, and all the firstborn of beasts.


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There shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as has never been nor ever shall be again.


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But against any of the Israelites shall not so much as a dog move his tongue against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel.


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And all these your servants shall come down to me and bow down to me, saying, Get out, and all the people who follow you! And after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in great anger.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh will not listen to you, that My wonders <i>and</i> miracles may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.


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Moses and Aaron did all these wonders <i>and</i> miracles before Pharaoh; and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s stubborn heart, and he did not let the Israelites go out of his land.


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Tell all the congregation of Israel, On the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb <i>or</i> kid, according to [the size of] the family of which he is the father, a lamb <i>or</i> kid for each house.


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And if the household is too small to consume the lamb, let him and his next door neighbor take it according to the number of persons, every man according to what each can eat shall make your count for the lamb.


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Your lamb <i>or</i> kid shall be without blemish, a male of the first year; you shall take it from the sheep or the goats. <f>ⓐ</f>


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And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall [each] kill [his] lamb in the evening.


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They shall take of the blood and put it on the two side posts and on the lintel [above the door space] of the houses in which they shall eat [the Passover lamb]. <f>ⓑ</f>


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They shall eat the flesh that night roasted; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it.


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Eat not of it raw nor boiled at all with water, but roasted — its head, its legs, and its inner parts.


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You shall let nothing of the meat remain until the morning; and the bones <i>and</i> unedible bits which remain of it until morning you shall burn with fire.


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And you shall eat it thus: [as fully prepared for a journey] your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.


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For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment [proving their helplessness]. I am the Lord.


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The blood shall be for a token <i>or</i> sign to you upon [the doorposts of] the houses where you are, [that] when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. <f>ⓒ</f>


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And this day shall be to you for a memorial. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations, keep it as an ordinance forever.


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[In celebration of the Passover in future years] seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away leaven [symbolic of corruption] out of your houses; for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.


text:
On the first day you shall hold a solemn <i>and</i> holy assembly, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn <i>and</i> holy assembly; no kind of work shall be done in them, save [preparation of] that which every person must eat — that only may be done by you.


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And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore shall you observe this day throughout your generations as an ordinance forever.


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In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread [and continue] until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.


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Seven days no leaven [symbolic of corruption] shall be found in your houses; whoever eats what is leavened shall be excluded from the congregation of Israel, whether a stranger or native-born. <f>ⓓ</f>


text:
You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread [during that week].


text:
Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, Go forth, select and take a lamb according to your families and kill the Passover [lamb].


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And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood in the basin, and touch the lintel above the door and the two side posts with the blood; and none of you shall go out of his house until morning.


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For the Lord will pass through to slay the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood upon the lintel and the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to slay you.


text:
When you come to the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall keep this service.


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You shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He slew the Egyptians but spared our houses. And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.


text:
At midnight the Lord slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.


text:
Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.


text:
He called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the Israelites; and go, serve the Lord, as you said.


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Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone! And [ask your God to] bless me also.


text:
The Egyptians were urgent with the people to depart, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We are all dead men.


text:
The people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.


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The Israelites did according to the word of Moses; and they [urgently] asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver and of gold, and clothing.


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The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they gave them what they asked. And they stripped the Egyptians [of those things].


text:
The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children.


text:
They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought from Egypt; it was not leavened because they were driven from Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared for themselves any food.


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It was a night of watching unto the Lord <i>and</i> to be much observed for bringing them out of Egypt; this same night of watching unto the Lord is to be observed by all the Israelites throughout their generations.


text:
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover: No foreigner shall eat of it;


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But every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then may he eat of it.


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In one house shall it be eaten [by one company]; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house; neither shall you break a bone of it. <f>ⓕ</f>


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When a stranger sojourning with you wishes to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.


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There shall be one law for the native-born and for the stranger or foreigner who sojourns among you.


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Sanctify (consecrate, set apart) to Me all the firstborn [males]; whatever is first to open the womb among the Israelites, both of man and of beast, is Mine.


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And Moses said to the people, [Earnestly] remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage <i>and</i> bondmen, for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place; no leavened bread shall be eaten.


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And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which He promised <i>and</i> swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty], you shall keep this service in this month.


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Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven in all your territory.


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You shall explain to your son on that day, This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.


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It shall be as a sign to you upon your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.


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And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He promised <i>and</i> swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you,


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You shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstlings of your livestock that are males shall be the Lord’s.


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Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem by [substituting for it] a lamb, or if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn among your sons shall you redeem.


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And when, in time to come, your son asks you, What does this mean? You shall say to him, By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage <i>and</i> bondmen.


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For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and of livestock. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb; but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.


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And it shall be as a reminder upon your hand or as frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.


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When Pharaoh let the people go, God led them not by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God said, Lest the people change their purpose when they see war and return to Egypt.


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But God led the people around by way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the Israelites went up marshaled [in ranks] out of the land of Egypt.


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And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for [Joseph] had strictly sworn the Israelites, saying, Surely God will be with you, and you must carry my bones away from here with you. <f>ⓐ</f>


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The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.


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Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the [Red] Sea, before <f>[1]</f>Baal-zephon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea.


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For Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, They are entangled in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.


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I will harden (make stubborn, strong) Pharaoh’s heart, that he will pursue them, and I will gain honor <i>and</i> glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. And they did so.


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It was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, What is this we have done? We have let Israel go from serving us!


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The Lord made hard <i>and</i> strong the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the Israelites, for [they] left proudly <i>and</i> defiantly. <f>ⓐ</f>


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The Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the [Red] Sea by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.


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When Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked up, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and the Israelites were exceedingly frightened and cried out to the Lord.


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And they said to Moses, Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way and brought us out of Egypt?


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Did we not tell you in Egypt, Let us alone; let us serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.


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Moses told the people, Fear not; stand still (firm, confident, undismayed) and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians you have seen today you shall never see again.


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Lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the Israelites shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.


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And I, behold, I will harden (make stubborn and strong) the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go [into the sea] after them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and horsemen.


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The Egyptians shall know <i>and</i> realize that I am the Lord when I have gained honor <i>and</i> glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.


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And the <f>[2]</f>Angel of God Who went before the host of Israel moved and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before them and stood behind them,


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Coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. It was a cloud and darkness to the Egyptians, but it gave light by night to the Israelites; and the one host did not come near the other all night.


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Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land; and the waters were divided.


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And the Israelites went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.


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The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.


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And in the morning watch the Lord through the pillar of fire and cloud looked down on the host of the Egyptians and discomfited [them],


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And bound (clogged, took off) their chariot wheels, making them drive heavily; and the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians!


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Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and horsemen.


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So Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength <i>and</i> normal flow when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled into it [being met by it]; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians <i>and</i> shook them off into the midst of the sea.


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The waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that pursued them; not even one of them remained.


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But the Israelites walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.


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Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore.


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And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did against the Egyptians, and the people [reverently] feared the Lord and trusted in (relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord and to His servant Moses.


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Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord, saying, I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider <i>or</i> its chariot has He thrown into the sea.


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The Lord is my Strength and my Song, and He has become my Salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.


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Pharaoh’s chariots and his host has He cast into the sea; his chosen captains also are sunk in the Red Sea.


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In the greatness of Your majesty You overthrow those rising against You. You send forth Your fury; it consumes them like stubble.


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With the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up, the floods stood fixed in a heap, the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.


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The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my desire shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.


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You [Lord] blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; [clad in mail] they sank as lead in the mighty waters.


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Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders?


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You in Your mercy <i>and</i> loving-kindness have led forth the people whom You have redeemed; You have guided them in Your strength to Your holy habitation.


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Now the chiefs of Edom are dismayed; the mighty men of Moab [renowned for strength], trembling takes hold of them; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away — little by little.


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Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of Your arm they are as still as a stone — till Your people pass by <i>and</i> over [into Canaan], O Lord, till the people pass by whom You have purchased.


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You will bring them in [to the land] and plant them on Your own mountain, the place, O Lord, You have made for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.


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For the horses of Pharaoh went with his chariots and horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the Israelites walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.


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Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and dancing.


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And Miriam responded to them, Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously <i>and</i> is highly exalted; the horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea.


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Then Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea and they went into the Wilderness of Shur; they went three days [thirty-three miles] in the wilderness and found no water.


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When they came to Marah, they could not drink its waters for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah [bitterness].


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And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree which he cast into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There [the Lord] made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He proved them,


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Saying, If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord your God and will do what is right in His sight, and will listen to <i>and</i> obey His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I brought upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord Who heals you.


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And they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; and they encamped there by the waters.


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They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they left the land of Egypt.


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And said to them, Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from the heavens for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law or not.


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So Moses and Aaron said to all Israel, At evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out from the land of Egypt,


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And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your murmurings against the Lord. For what are we, that you murmur against us?


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And Moses said, [This will happen] when the Lord gives you in the evening flesh to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumblings which you murmur against Him; what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.


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And Moses said to Aaron, Say to all the congregation of Israel, Come near before the Lord, for He has heard your murmurings.


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And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud!


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I have heard the murmurings of the Israelites; speak to them, saying, At twilight you shall eat meat, and between the two evenings you shall be filled with bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.


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In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay round about the camp.


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And when the dew had gone, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a fine, round <i>and</i> flakelike thing, as fine as hoarfrost on the ground.


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When the Israelites saw it, they said one to another, Manna [What is it?]. For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. <f>ⓐ</f>


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This is what the Lord has commanded: Let every man gather of it as much as he will need, an omer for each person, according to the number of your persons; take it, every man for those in his tent.


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When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack; each gathered according to his need.


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But they did not listen to Moses; some of them left of it until morning, and it bred worms, became foul, <i>and</i> stank; and Moses was angry with them.


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And on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each person; and all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses.


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He said to them, The Lord has said, Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord; bake and boil what you will bake and boil today; and all that remains over put aside for you to keep until morning.


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They laid it aside till morning, as Moses told them; and it did not become foul, neither was it wormy.


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Moses said, Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you shall find none in the field.


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See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day the bread for two days; let every man remain in his place; let no man leave his place on the seventh day.


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The house of Israel called the bread manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and it tasted like wafers made with honey.


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Moses said, This is what the Lord commands, Take an omer of it to be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.


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And Moses said to Aaron, Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept throughout your generations.


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As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron laid it up before the Testimony to be kept [in the ark]. <f>ⓑ</f>


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And the Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a habitable land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.


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All the congregation of the Israelites moved on from the Wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and encamped at Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.


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Therefore, the people contended with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said to them, Why do you find fault with me? Why do you tempt the Lord <i>and</i> try His patience?


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But the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?


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And the Lord said to Moses, Pass on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand the rod with which you smote the river [Nile], and go.


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Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at [Mount] Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. <f>ⓐ</f>


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He called the place Massah [proof] and Meribah [contention] because of the faultfinding of the Israelites and because they tempted <i>and</i> tried the patience of the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not?


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And Moses said to Joshua, Choose us out men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.


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So Joshua did as Moses said and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the hilltop.


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But Moses’ hands were heavy <i>and</i> grew weary. So [the other men] took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other side; so his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.


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And the Lord said to Moses, Write this for a memorial in the book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens. <f>ⓑ</f>


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And he said, Because [theirs] is a hand against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.


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Now Jethro [Reuel], the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.


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Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after Moses had sent her back [to her father],


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And her two sons, of whom the name of the one was Gershom [ expulsion, or a stranger there], for Moses said, I have been an alien in a strange land;


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And the name of the other was Eliezer [God is help], for the God of my father, said Moses, was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.


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And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with Moses’ sons and his wife to the wilderness where he was encamped at the mount of God [Horeb, or Sinai].


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And he said [in a message] to Moses, I, your father-in-law Jethro, am come to you and your wife and her two sons with her.


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And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed in homage and kissed him; and each asked the other of his welfare and they came into the tent.


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Moses told his father-in-law all the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and all the hardships that had come upon them by the way and how the Lord delivered them.


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Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness the Lord had done to Israel in that He had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.


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Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, Who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, Who has delivered the people [Israel] from under the hand of the Egyptians.


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Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods. Yes, in the [very] thing in which they dealt proudly [He showed Himself infinitely superior to all their gods].


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And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices [to offer] to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.


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Next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening.


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When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, What is this that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?


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When they have a dispute they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God and His laws.


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You will surely wear out both yourself and this people with you, for the thing is too heavy for you; you are not able to perform it all by yourself.


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Listen now to [me]; I will counsel you, and God will be with you. You shall represent the people before God, bringing their cases <i>and</i> causes to Him,


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Moreover, you shall choose able men from all the people — God-fearing men of truth who hate unjust gain — and place them over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, to be their rulers.


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And let them judge the people at all times; every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.


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If you will do this, and God so commands you, you will be able to endure [the strain], and all these people also will go to their [tents] in peace.


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Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.


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And they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but every small matter they decided themselves.


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In the third month after the Israelites left the land of Egypt, the same day, they came into the Wilderness of Sinai.


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When they had departed from Rephidim and had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, they encamped there before the mountain.


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And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him out of the mountain, Say this to the house of Jacob and tell the Israelites:


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You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.


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Now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession <i>and</i> treasure from among <i>and</i> above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine.


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And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation [consecrated, set apart to the worship of God]. These are the words you shall speak to the Israelites.


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So Moses called for the elders of the people and told them all these words which the Lord commanded him.


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And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do. And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.


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And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe you <i>and</i> remain steadfast forever. Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.


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And the Lord said to Moses, Go and sanctify the people [set them apart for God] today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes


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And be ready by the third day, for the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai [in the cloud] in the sight of all the people.


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And you shall set bounds for the people round about, saying, Take heed that you go not up into the mountain or touch the border of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.


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No hand shall touch it [or the offender], but he shall surely be stoned or shot [with arrows]; whether beast or man, he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain. <f>ⓐ</f>


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So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified them [set them apart for God], and they washed their clothes.


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The third morning there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.


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Then Moses brought the people from the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.


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Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, for the Lord descended upon it in fire; its smoke ascended like that of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.


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As the trumpet blast grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with a voice. <f>ⓑ</f>


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The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.


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The Lord said to Moses, Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to gaze and many of them perish.


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And also let the priests, who come near to the Lord, sanctify (set apart) themselves [for God], lest the Lord break forth against them.


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And Moses said to the Lord, The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You Yourself charged us, saying, Set bounds about the mountain and sanctify it [set it apart for God].


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Then the Lord said to him, Go, get down and you shall come up, you and Aaron with you; but let not the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break forth against them.


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You shall not make yourself any graven image [to worship it] or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;


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You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, <f>ⓐ</f>


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But showing mercy <i>and</i> steadfast love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.


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You shall not use <i>or</i> repeat the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, lightly or frivolously, in false affirmations or profanely]; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.


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[Earnestly] remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy (withdrawn from common employment and dedicated to God).


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But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your domestic animals, or the sojourner within your gates.


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For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it [set it apart for His purposes].


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Regard (treat with honor, due obedience, and courtesy) your father and mother, that your days may be long in the land the Lord your God gives you.


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You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s. <f>ⓔ</f>


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Now all the people perceived the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the smoking mountain, and as [they] looked they trembled with fear <i>and</i> fell back and stood afar off.


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And they said to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, lest we die.


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And Moses said to the people, Fear not; for God has come to prove you, so that the [reverential] fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin.


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And the Lord said to Moses, Thus shall you say to the Israelites, You have seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven.


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You shall not make [gods to share] with Me [My glory and your worship]; gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.


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An altar of earth you shall make to Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name and cause it to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.


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And if you will make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone, for if you lift up a tool upon it you have polluted it.


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If you buy a Hebrew servant [as the result of debt or theft], he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, paying nothing. <f>ⓐ</f>


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If he came [to you] by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he came married, then his wife shall go out with him.


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If his master has given him a wife and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out [of your service] alone.


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But if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go free,


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Then his master shall bring him to God [the judges as His agents]; he shall bring him to the door or doorpost and shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him for life.


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If a man sells his daughter to be a maidservant <i>or</i> bondwoman, she shall not go out [in six years] as menservants do.


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If she does not please her master who has not espoused her to himself, he shall let her be redeemed. To sell her to a foreign people he shall have no power, for he has dealt faithlessly with her.


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And if he does not do these three things for her, then shall she go out free, without payment of money.


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But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God allowed him to fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee [for protection until duly tried]. <f>ⓑ</f>


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But if a man comes willfully upon another to slay him craftily, you shall take him from My altar [to which he may have fled for protection], that he may die.


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Whoever kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or is found with him in his possession, shall surely be put to death.


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If men quarrel and one strikes another with a stone or with his fist and he does not die but keeps his bed,


text:
If he rises again and walks about leaning upon his staff, then he that struck him shall be clear, except he must pay for the loss of his time and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.


text:
And if a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod and he [or she] dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished.


text:
But if the servant lives on for a day or two, the offender shall not be punished, for he [has injured] his own property.


text:
If men contend with each other, and a pregnant woman [interfering] is hurt so that she has a miscarriage, yet no further damage follows, [the one who hurt her] shall surely be punished with a fine [paid] to the woman’s husband, as much as the judges determine.


text:
And if a man hits the eye of his servant or the eye of his maid so that it is destroyed, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.


text:
And if he knocks out his manservant’s tooth or his maidservant’s tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.


text:
If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be clear.


text:
But if the ox has tried to gore before, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it closed in and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also put to death.


text:
If a ransom is put on [the man’s] life, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is laid upon him.


text:
If the [man’s ox] has gored another’s son or daughter, he shall be dealt with according to this same rule.


text:
If the ox gores a manservant or a maidservant, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.


text:
The owner of the pit shall make it good; he shall give money to the animal’s owner, but the dead beast shall be his.


text:
If one man’s ox hurts another’s so that it dies, they shall sell the live ox and divide the price of it; the dead ox also they shall divide between them.


text:
Or if it is known that the ox has gored in the past, and its owner has not kept it closed in, he shall surely pay ox for ox, and the dead beast shall be his.


text:
If a man steals an ox or sheep and kills or sells it, he shall pay five oxen for an ox, or four sheep for a sheep.


text:
If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no blood shed for him.


text:
But if the sun has risen [so he can be seen], blood must be shed for slaying him. The thief [if he lives] must make full restitution; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.


text:
If the beast which he stole is found in his possession alive, whether it is ox or ass or sheep, he shall restore double.


text:
If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution of the best of his own field or his own vineyard.


text:
If fire breaks out and catches so that the stacked grain or standing grain or the field be consumed, he who kindled the fire shall make full restitution.


text:
If a man delivers to his neighbor money or goods to keep and it is stolen out of the neighbor’s house, then, if the thief is found, he shall pay double.


text:
But if the thief is not found, the house owner shall appear before God [the judges as His agents] to find whether he stole his neighbor’s goods.


text:
For every unlawful deed, whether it concerns ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or any lost thing at all, which another identifies as his, the cause of both parties shall come before God [the judges]. Whomever [they] shall condemn shall pay his neighbor double.


text:
If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep and it dies or is hurt or driven away, no man seeing it,


text:
Then an oath before the Lord shall be required between the two that the man has not taken his neighbor’s property; and the owner of it shall accept his word and not require him to make good the loss.


text:
If it be torn in pieces [by some wild beast or by accident], let him bring [the mangled carcass] for witness; he shall not make good what was torn.


text:
And if a man borrows anything of his neighbor and it gets hurt or dies without its owner being with it, the borrower shall make full restitution.


text:
But if the owner is with it [when the damage is done], the borrower shall not make it good. If it is a hired thing, the damage is included in its hire.


text:
If a man seduces a virgin not betrothed and lies with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to become his wife.


text:
If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equivalent to the dowry of virgins.


text:
And My wrath shall burn; I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless.


text:
If you lend money to any of My people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor, neither shall you require interest from him.


text:
If you ever take your neighbor’s garment in pledge, you shall give it back to him before the sun goes down;


text:
For that is his only covering, his clothing for his body. In what shall he sleep? When he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious <i>and</i> merciful.


text:
You shall not revile God [the judges as His agents] or esteem lightly <i>or</i> curse a ruler of your people.


text:
You shall not delay to bring to Me from the fullness [of your harvested grain] and the outflow [of your grape juice <i>and</i> olive oil]; give Me the firstborn of your sons [or redeem them]. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
Likewise shall you do with your oxen <i>and</i> your sheep. Seven days the firstborn [beast] shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.


text:
And you shall be holy men [consecrated] to Me; therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.


text:
You shall not repeat <i>or</i> raise a false report; you shall not join with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.


text:
You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you bear witness at a trial so as to side with a multitude to pervert justice.


text:
If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.


text:
If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying [helpless] under his load, you shall refrain from leaving the man to cope with it alone; you shall help him to release the animal.


text:
Keep far from a false matter and [be very careful] not to condemn to death the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify <i>and</i> acquit the wicked.


text:
You shall take no bribe, for the bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the testimony <i>and</i> the cause of the righteous.


text:
Also you shall not oppress a temporary resident, for you know the heart of a stranger <i>and</i> sojourner, seeing you were strangers <i>and</i> sojourners in Egypt.


text:
But the seventh year you shall release it <i>and</i> let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat [what the land voluntarily yields], and what they leave the wild beasts shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard and olive grove.


text:
Six days you shall do your work, but the seventh day you shall rest and keep Sabbath, that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your bondwoman, and the alien, may be refreshed.


text:
In all I have said to you take heed; do not mention the name of other gods [either in blessing or cursing]; do not let such speech be heard from your mouth.


text:
You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before Me empty-handed.


text:
Also you shall keep the Feast of Harvest [Pentecost], [acknowledging] the firstfruits of your toil, of what you sow in the field. And [third] you shall keep the Feast of Ingathering [Booths or Tabernacles] at the end of the year, when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.


text:
You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread [but keep it unmixed], neither shall the fat of My feast remain all night until morning.


text:
The first of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.


text:
Behold, I send an <f>[1]</f>Angel before you to keep <i>and</i> guard you on the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.


text:
Give heed to Him, listen to <i>and</i> obey His voice; be not rebellious before Him <i>or</i> provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgression; for My <f>[2]</f>Name is in Him. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
But if you will indeed listen to and obey His voice and all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.


text:
When My Angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I reject them <i>and</i> blot them out,


text:
You shall not bow down to their gods or serve them or do after their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break down their pillars <i>and</i> images.


text:
You shall serve the Lord your God; He shall bless your bread and water, and I will take sickness from your midst.


text:
None shall lose her young by miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.


text:
I will send My terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people to whom you shall come, and I will make all your foes turn from you [in flight].


text:
And I will send hornets before you which shall drive out the Hivite, Canaanite, and Hittite from before you.


text:
I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate [for lack of attention] and the wild beasts multiply against you.


text:
Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased <i>and</i> are numerous enough to take possession of the land.


text:
I will set your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the river [Euphrates]; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand and you shall drive them out before you.


text:
They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.


text:
God said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu [Aaron’s sons], and seventy of Israel’s elders, and worship at a distance.


text:
Moses alone shall come near the Lord; the others shall not come near, and neither shall the people come up with him.


text:
Moses came and told the people all that the Lord had said and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, All that the Lord has spoken we will do.


text:
Moses <f>[1]</f>wrote all the words of the Lord. He rose up early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve pillars representing Israel’s twelve tribes.


text:
And he sent young Israelite men, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord.


text:
And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he dashed against the altar.


text:
Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people; and they said, All that the Lord has said we will do, and we will be obedient.


text:
And Moses took the [remaining half of the] blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up [the mountainside].


text:
And they saw the God of Israel [that is, a convincing manifestation of His presence], and under His feet it was like pavement of bright sapphire stone, like the very heavens in clearness. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
And upon the nobles of the Israelites He laid not His hand [to conceal Himself from them, to rebuke their daring, or to harm them]; but they saw [the manifestation of the presence of] God, and ate and drank. <f>ⓒ</f>


text:
And the Lord said to Moses, Come up to Me into the mountain and be there, and I will give you tables of stone, with the law and the commandments which <f>[2]</f>I have written that you may teach them. <f>ⓓ</f>


text:
And he said to the elders, Tarry here for us until we come back to you; remember, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a cause, let him go to them.


text:
The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day [God] called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.


text:
And the glory of the Lord appeared to the Israelites like devouring fire on the top of the mountain.


text:
Moses entered into the midst of the cloud and went up the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and nights.


text:
Speak to the Israelites, that they take for Me an offering. From every man who gives it willingly <i>and</i> ungrudgingly with his heart you shall take My offering.


text:
And you shall make it according to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle <i>or</i> dwelling and the pattern of all the furniture of it.


text:
They shall make an ark of acacia wood: two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.


text:
You shall overlay the ark with pure gold, inside and out, and make a gold crown, a rim <i>or</i> border, around its top.


text:
You shall cast four gold rings and attach them to the four lower corners of it, two rings on either side.


text:
The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it [that the ark be not touched].


text:
And you shall make a mercy seat (a covering) of pure gold, two cubits and a half long and a cubit and a half wide.


text:
And you shall make two cherubim (winged angelic figures) of [solid] hammered gold on the two ends of the mercy seat.


text:
Make one cherub on each end, making the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat, on the two ends of it.


text:
And the cherubim shall spread out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, facing each other and looking down toward the mercy seat.


text:
You shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony [the Ten Commandments] that I will give you.


text:
There I will meet with you and, from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the Testimony, I will speak intimately with you of all which I will give you in commandment to the Israelites.


text:
Also, make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high [for the showbread].


text:
You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a crown, a rim <i>or</i> molding, of gold around the top of it;


text:
And make a frame of a handbreadth around <i>and</i> below the top of it and put around it a gold molding as a border.


text:
You shall make for it four rings of gold and fasten them at the four corners that are on the table’s four legs.


text:
Close against the frame shall the rings be as places for the poles to pass to carry the table [of showbread].


text:
You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them.


text:
And you shall make its plates [for showbread] and cups [for incense], and its flagons and bowls [for liquids in sacrifice]; make them of pure gold.


text:
You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. Of beaten <i>and</i> turned work shall the lampstand be made, both its base and its shaft; its cups, its knobs, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it.


text:
Six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the lampstand out of the one side and three branches out of its other side;


text:
Three cups made like almond blossoms, each with a knob and a flower on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms on the other branch with a knob and a flower; so for the six branches coming out of the lampstand;


text:
And on the [center shaft] itself you shall [make] four cups like almond blossoms with their knobs and their flowers.


text:
Also make a knob [on the shaft] under each pair of the six branches going out from the lampstand and one piece with it;


text:
Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece with it; the whole of it one beaten work of pure gold.


text:
And you shall make the lamps of the [lampstand] to include a <f>[1]</f>seventh one [at the top of the shaft]. [The priests] shall set up the [seven] lamps of it so they may give light in front of it.


text:
Moreover, you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, and blue and purple and scarlet [stuff], with cherubim skillfully embroidered shall you make them.


text:
The length of one curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; each of the curtains shall measure the same.


text:
The five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another.


text:
And you shall make loops of blue on the edge of the last curtain in the first set, and likewise in the second set.


text:
Fifty loops you shall make on the one curtain and fifty loops on the edge of the last curtain that is in the second coupling <i>or</i> set, so that the loops on one correspond to the loops on the other.


text:
And you shall make fifty clasps of gold and fasten the curtains together with the clasps; then the tabernacle shall be one whole.


text:
And make curtains of goats’ hair to be a [second] covering over the tabernacle; eleven curtains shall you make.


text:
One curtain shall be thirty cubits long and four cubits wide; and the eleven curtains shall all measure the same.


text:
You shall join together five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves, and shall double over the sixth curtain in the front of the tabernacle [to make a closed door].


text:
And make fifty loops on the edge of the outmost curtain in the one set and fifty loops on the edge of the outmost curtain in the second set.


text:
You shall make fifty clasps of bronze and put the clasps into the loops and couple the tent together, that it may be one whole.


text:
The surplus that remains of the tent curtains, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle.


text:
And the cubit on the one side and the cubit on the other side of what remains in the length of the curtains of the tent shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and that side, to cover it.


text:
You shall make a [third] covering for the tent of rams’ skins tanned red, and a [fourth] covering above that of dolphin <i>or</i> porpoise skins.


text:
Make two tenons in each board for dovetailing <i>and</i> fitting together; so shall you do for all the tabernacle boards.


text:
And you shall make forty silver sockets under the twenty boards, two sockets under each board for its two tenons.


text:
They shall be coupled down below and coupled together on top with one ring. Thus shall it be for both of them; they shall form the two corners.


text:
And that will be eight boards and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets, two sockets under each board.


text:
And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the rear end of the tabernacle, for the back wall to the west.


text:
You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold to hold the bars and overlay the bars with gold.


text:
And make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and fine twined linen, skillfully worked with cherubim on it.


text:
You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold, with gold hooks, on four sockets of silver.


text:
And you shall hang the veil from the clasps and bring the ark of the Testimony into place within the veil; and the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.


text:
And you shall set the table [for the showbread] outside the veil [in the Holy Place] on the north side and the lampstand opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle.


text:
You shall make a hanging [to form a screen] for the door of the tent of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and fine twined linen, embroidered. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
You shall make five pillars of acacia wood to support the hanging curtain and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, and you shall cast five [base] sockets of bronze for them.


text:
Make horns for it on its four corners; they shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze.


text:
You shall make pots to take away its ashes, and shovels, basins, forks, and firepans; make all its utensils of bronze.


text:
Also make for it a grate, a network of bronze; and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners.


text:
And you shall put it under the ledge of the altar, so that the net will extend halfway down the altar.


text:
The poles shall be put through the rings on the two sides of the altar, with which to carry it. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
You shall make [the altar] hollow with slabs <i>or</i> planks; as shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made.


text:
And you shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side the court shall have hangings of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits long for one side;


text:
Their pillars shall be twenty and their sockets twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their joinings shall be of silver;


text:
Likewise for the north side hangings, a hundred cubits long, and their twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their joinings shall be of silver.


text:
And for the breadth of the court on the west side there shall be hangings of fifty cubits, with ten pillars and ten sockets.


text:
The hangings for one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits, with three pillars and three sockets.


text:
And for the gate of the court there shall be a hanging [for a screen] twenty cubits long, of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and fine twined linen, embroidered. It shall have four pillars and four sockets for them.


text:
All the pillars round about the court shall be joined together with silver rods; their hooks shall be of silver and their sockets of bronze.


text:
The length of the court shall be a hundred cubits and the breadth fifty and the height five cubits, [with hangings of] fine twined linen and sockets of bronze.


text:
All the tabernacle’s utensils <i>and</i> instruments used in all its service, and all its pegs and all the pegs for the court, shall be of bronze.


text:
You shall command the Israelites to provide you with pure oil of crushed olives for the light, to cause it to burn continually [every night].


text:
In the Tent of Meeting [of God with His people], outside the veil which sets apart the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it burning from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute to be observed on behalf of the Israelites throughout their generations.


text:
From among the Israelites take your brother Aaron and his sons with him, that he may minister to Me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons.


text:
And you shall make for Aaron your brother sacred garments [appointed official dress set apart for special holy services] for honor and for beauty.


text:
Tell all who are expert, whom I have endowed with skill <i>and</i> good judgment, that they shall make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him for My priesthood.


text:
They shall make these garments: a breastplate, an ephod [a distinctive vestment to which the breastplate was to be attached], a robe, long <i>and</i> sleeved tunic of checkerwork, a turban, and a sash <i>or</i> band. They shall make sacred garments for Aaron your brother and his sons to minister to Me in the priest’s office.


text:
They shall receive [from the people] <i>and</i> use gold, and blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and fine linen.


text:
And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and fine twined linen, skillfully woven <i>and</i> worked.


text:
It shall have two shoulder straps to join the two [back and front] edges, that it may be held together.


text:
The skillfully woven girding band which is on the ephod shall be made of the same, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and fine twined linen.


text:
And you shall take two onyx <i>or</i> beryl stones and engrave on them the names of the twelve sons of Israel;


text:
Six of their names on one stone and the six names of the rest on the other stone, arranged in order of their birth.


text:
With the work of a stone engraver, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones according to the names of the sons of Israel. You shall have them set in sockets <i>or</i> rosettes of gold.


text:
And you shall put the two stones upon the [two] shoulder straps of the ephod [of the high priest] as memorial stones for Israel; and Aaron shall bear their names upon his two shoulders as a memorial before the Lord.


text:
And two chains of pure gold, like cords shall you twist them, and fasten the corded chains to the settings.


text:
You shall make a breastplate of judgment, in skilled work; like the workmanship of the ephod shall you make it, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and of fine twined linen.


text:
The breastplate shall be square <i>and</i> doubled; a span [nine inches] shall be its length and a span shall be its breadth.


text:
You shall set in it four rows of stones: a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle shall be the first row;


text:
And the stones shall be twelve, according to the names of the sons of Israel, like the engravings of a signet, each with its name for the twelve tribes.


text:
You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold and put [them] on the two edges of the breastplate.


text:
And you shall put the two twisted, cordlike chains of gold in the two rings which are on the edges of the breastplate.


text:
The other two ends of the two twisted, cordlike chains you shall fasten in the two sockets <i>or</i> rosettes in front, putting them on the shoulder straps of the ephod;


text:
And make two rings of gold and put them at the two ends of the breastplate on its inside edge next to the ephod.


text:
Two gold rings you shall make and attach them to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod in front, close by where they join, above the skillfully woven girdle <i>or</i> band of the ephod.


text:
And they shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the skillfully woven girding band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not become loose from the ephod.


text:
So Aaron shall bear the names of the sons of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart when he goes into the Holy Place, to bring them in continual remembrance before the Lord.


text:
In the breastplate of judgment you shall put the Urim and the Thummim [unspecified articles used when the high priest asked God’s counsel for all Israel]; they shall be upon Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord, and Aaron shall bear the judgment (rights, judicial decisions) of the Israelites upon his heart before the Lord continually.


text:
There shall be a hole in the center of it [to slip over the head], with a binding of woven work around the hole, like the opening in a coat of mail <i>or</i> a garment, that it may not fray <i>or</i> tear.


text:
And you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] around about its skirts, with gold bells between them;


text:
A gold bell and a pomegranate, a gold bell and a pomegranate, round about on the skirts of the robe.


text:
Aaron shall wear the robe when he ministers, and its sound shall be heard when he goes [alone] into the Holy of Holies before the Lord and when he comes out, lest he die there.


text:
And you shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLY TO THE LORD. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
It shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may take upon himself <i>and</i> bear [any] iniquity [connected with] the holy things which the Israelites shall give <i>and</i> dedicate; and it shall always be upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord [in the priest’s person]. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
And you shall weave the long <i>and</i> sleeved tunic of checkerwork of fine linen <i>or</i> silk and make a turban of fine linen <i>or</i> silk; and you shall make a girdle, the work of the embroiderer.


text:
For Aaron’s sons you shall make long <i>and</i> sleeved tunics and belts <i>or</i> sashes and caps, for glory <i>and</i> honor and beauty.


text:
And you shall put them on Aaron your brother and his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain and sanctify them [set them apart for God], that they may serve Me as priests.


text:
You shall make for them [white] linen trunks to cover their naked flesh, reaching from the waist to the thighs.


text:
And they shall be on Aaron and his sons when they go into the Tent of Meeting or when they come near to the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bring iniquity upon themselves and die; it shall be a statute forever to Aaron and to his descendants after him.


text:
This is what you shall do to consecrate (set them apart) that they may serve Me as priests. Take one young bull and two rams, all without blemish,


text:
And unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil; of fine flour shall you make them.


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And bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting [out where the laver is] and wash them with water.


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Then take the garments and put on Aaron the long <i>and</i> sleeved tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastplate, and gird him with the skillfully woven girding band of the ephod.


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And you shall gird them with sashes <i>or</i> belts, Aaron and his sons, and bind caps on them; and the priest’s office shall be theirs by a perpetual statute. Thus you shall ordain <i>and</i> consecrate Aaron and his sons.


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Then bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon its head.


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And you shall take of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out all the blood at the base of the altar.


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And take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the appendage that is on the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.


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But the flesh of the bull, its hide, and the contents of its entrails you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering. <f>ⓐ</f>


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You shall also take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram.


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And you shall cut the ram in pieces and wash its entrails and legs and put them with its pieces and its head,


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And you shall burn the whole ram upon the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord; it is a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying fragrance, an offering made by fire to the Lord.


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And you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of the ram;


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Then you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ears of Aaron and his sons and on the thumb of their right hands and on the great toe of their right feet, and dash the rest of the blood against the altar round about.


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Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments; and he and his garments and his sons and their garments shall be sanctified <i>and</i> made holy.


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Also you shall take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the appendage on the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh; for it is a ram of consecration <i>and</i> ordination.


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Take also one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord.


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And put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and they shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.


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Then you shall take them from their hands, add them to the burnt offering, and burn them on the altar for a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying fragrance before the Lord; it is an offering made by fire to the Lord.


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And take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s consecration <i>and</i> ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion [Moses].


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And you shall sanctify (set apart for God) the waved breast of the ram used in the ordination and the waved thigh of the priests’ portion, since it is for Aaron and his sons.


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It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their due portion from the Israelites perpetually, an offering from the Israelites of their peace <i>and</i> thanksgiving sacrifices, their offering to the Lord.


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The holy garments of Aaron shall pass to his descendants who succeed him, to be anointed in them and to be consecrated <i>and</i> ordained in them.


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And that son who is [high] priest in his stead shall put them on [each day for] seven days when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place.


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You shall take the ram of the consecration <i>and</i> ordination and boil its flesh in a holy <i>and</i> set-apart place.


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Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread in the basket, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.


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They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to ordain and consecrate them; but a stranger (layman) shall not eat of them because they are holy (set apart to the worship of God).


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And if any of the flesh or bread for the ordination remains until morning, you shall burn it with fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy (set apart to the worship of God).


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Thus shall you do to Aaron and to his sons according to all I have commanded you; during seven days shall you ordain them.


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You shall offer every day a bull as a sin offering for atonement. And you shall cleanse the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.


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Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it [set it apart for God]; and the altar shall be most holy; whoever <i>or</i> whatever touches the altar must be holy (set apart for God’s service).


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Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old shall be offered day by day continually.


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And with the one lamb a tenth measure of fine flour mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering [to be poured out].


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And the other lamb you shall offer at evening, and do with it as with the cereal offering of the morning and with the drink offering, for a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying fragrance, an offering made by fire to the Lord.


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This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you to speak there to you.


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There I will meet with the Israelites, and the Tent of Meeting shall be sanctified by My glory [the Shekinah, God’s visible presence].


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And I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar; I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me in the priest’s office.


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And they shall know [from personal experience] that I am the Lord their God, Who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.


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A cubit shall be its length and a cubit its breadth; its top shall be square and it shall be two cubits high. Its horns shall be of one piece with it.


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And you shall overlay it with pure gold, its top and its sides round about and its horns, and you shall make a crown (a rim or molding) of gold around it.


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You shall make two golden rings under the rim of it, on the two ribs on the two opposite sides of it; and they shall be holders for the poles with which to carry it.


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You shall put the altar [of incense] in front <i>and</i> outside of the veil that screens the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony (the Law, the tables of stone), where I will meet with you.


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And Aaron shall burn on it incense of sweet spices; every morning when he trims <i>and</i> fills the lamps he shall burn it. <f>ⓐ</f>


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And when Aaron lights the lamps in the evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.


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You shall offer no unholy incense on the altar nor burnt sacrifice nor cereal offering; and you shall pour no libation (drink offering) on it.


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Aaron shall make atonement upon the horns of it once a year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year shall he make atonement upon <i>and</i> for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.


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When you take the census of the Israelites, every man shall give a ransom for himself to the Lord when you number them, that no plague may fall upon them when you number them. <f>ⓑ</f>


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This is what everyone shall give as he joins those already numbered: a half shekel, in terms of the sanctuary shekel, a shekel being twenty gerahs; a half shekel as an offering to the Lord.


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Everyone from twenty years old and upward, as he joins those already numbered, shall give this offering to the Lord. <f>ⓒ</f>


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The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel when [you] give this offering to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves.


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And you shall take the atonement money of the Israelites and use it [exclusively] for the service of the Tent of Meeting, that it may bring the Israelites to remembrance before the Lord, to make atonement for yourselves.


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You shall also make a laver <i>or</i> large basin of bronze, and its base of bronze, for washing; and you shall put it [outside in the court] between the Tent of Meeting and the altar [of burnt offering], and you shall put water in it;


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When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the Lord, <f>ⓔ</f>


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So they shall wash their hands and their feet, lest they die; it shall be a perpetual statute for [Aaron] and his descendants throughout their generations.


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Take the best spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, of sweet-scented cinnamon half as much, 250 shekels, of fragrant calamus 250 shekels,


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And you shall make of these a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer; it shall be a sacred anointing oil.


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And the [showbread] table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense,


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You shall sanctify (separate) them, that they may be most holy; whoever <i>and</i> whatever touches them must be holy (set apart to God).


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And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons and sanctify (separate) them, that they may minister to Me as priests.


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And say to the Israelites, This is a holy anointing oil [symbol of the Holy Spirit], sacred to Me alone throughout your generations. <f>ⓕ</f>


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It shall not be poured upon a layman’s body, nor shall you make any other like it in composition; it is holy, and you shall hold it sacred.


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Then the Lord said to Moses, Take sweet spices — stacte, onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense, an equal amount of each —


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And make of them incense, a perfume after the perfumer’s art, seasoned with salt <i>and</i> mixed, pure and sacred.


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You shall beat some of it very small and put some of it before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you; it shall be to you most holy.


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And the incense which you shall make according to its composition you shall not make for yourselves; it shall be to you holy to the Lord.


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And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom <i>and</i> ability, in understanding <i>and</i> intelligence, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship,


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And in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of craftsmanship.


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And behold, I have appointed with him Aholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and to all who are wisehearted I have given wisdom <i>and</i> ability to make all that I have commanded you:


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The Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furnishings of the tent —


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The table [of the showbread] and its utensils, the pure lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense,


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The finely worked garments, the holy garments for Aaron the [high] priest and for his sons to minister as priests,


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And the anointing oil and incense of sweet spices for the Holy Place. According to all that I have commanded you shall they do.


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Say to the Israelites, Truly you shall keep My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you [set you apart for Myself].


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You shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy to you; everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does work on the Sabbath shall be cut off from among his people.


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Six days may work be done, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, sacred to the Lord; whoever does work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death.


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Wherefore the Israelites shall keep the Sabbath to observe it throughout their generations, a perpetual covenant.


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It is a sign between Me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the Lord made the heavens and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased and was refreshed.


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And He gave to Moses, when He had ceased communing with him on Mount Sinai, the two tables of the Testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.


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When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, [they] gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, Up, make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.


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So Aaron replied, Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives, your sons, and daughters, and bring them to me.


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And he received the gold at their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it a molten calf; and they said, These are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt!


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And when Aaron saw the molten calf, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.


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And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.


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The Lord said to Moses, Go down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves;


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They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made them a molten calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, These are your gods, O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt!


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Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and that I may destroy them; but I will make of you a great nation.


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But Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why does Your wrath blaze hot against Your people, whom You have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?


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Why should the Egyptians say, For evil He brought them forth, to slay them in the mountains and consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and change Your mind concerning this evil against Your people.


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[Earnestly] remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.


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And Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tables of the Testimony in his hand, tables <i>or</i> tablets that were written on both sides.


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And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.


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But Moses said, It is not the sound of shouting for victory, neither is it the sound of the cry of the defeated, but the sound of singing that I hear.


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And as soon as he came near to the camp he saw the calf and the dancing. And Moses’ anger blazed hot and he cast the tables out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.


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And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.


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And Moses said to Aaron, What did this people do to you, that you have brought so great a sin upon them?


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And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord blaze hot; you know the people, that they are set on evil.


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For they said to me, Make us gods which shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.


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I said to them, Those who have any gold, let them take it off. So they gave it to me; then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.


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And when Moses saw that the people were unruly <i>and</i> unrestrained (for Aaron had let them get out of control, so that they were a derision <i>and</i> object of shame among their enemies),


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Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoever is on the Lord’s side, let him come to me. And all the Levites [the priestly tribe] gathered together to him.


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And he said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Every man put his sword on his side and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.


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And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell of the people that day about 3000 men.


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And Moses said [to the Levites, By your obedience to God’s command] you have consecrated yourselves today [as priests] to the Lord, each man [at the cost of being] against his own son and his own brother, that the Lord may restore <i>and</i> bestow His blessing upon <i>you</i> this day.


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The next day Moses said to the people, You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.


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So Moses returned to the Lord, and said, Oh, these people have sinned a great sin and have made themselves gods of gold!


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Yet now, if You will forgive their sin — and if not, blot me, I pray You, out of Your book which You have written!


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But the Lord said to Moses, Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him [not you] out of My book. <f>ⓐ</f>


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But now go, lead the people to the place of which I have told you. Behold, My <f>[1]</f>Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I punish I will visit their sin upon them! <f>ⓑ</f>


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And the Lord sent a plague upon the people because they made the calf which Aaron fashioned for them.


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The Lord said to Moses, Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought from the land of Egypt, to the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, To your descendants I will give it.


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I will send an <f>[1]</f>Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, Amorite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite. <f>ⓐ</f>


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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, lest I destroy you on the way.


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For the Lord had said to Moses, Say to the Israelites, You are a stiff-necked people! If I should come among you for one moment, I would consume <i>and</i> destroy you. Now therefore [penitently] leave off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.


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Now Moses used to take [his own] tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting [of God with His own people]. And everyone who sought the Lord went out to [that temporary] tent of meeting which was outside the camp.


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When Moses went out to the tent of meeting, all the people rose and stood, every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses until he had gone into the tent.


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When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the door of the tent, and the Lord would talk with Moses.


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And all the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the tent door, and all the people rose up and worshiped, every man at his tent door.


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And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Moses returned to the camp, but his minister Joshua son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the [temporary prayer] tent.


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Moses said to the Lord, See, You say to me, Bring up this people, but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You said, I know you by name and you have also found favor in My sight.


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Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You [progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, perceiving and recognizing and understanding more strongly and clearly] and that I may find favor in Your sight. And [Lord, do] consider that this nation is Your people.


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For by what shall it be known that I and Your people have found favor in Your sight? Is it not in Your going with us so that we are distinguished, I and Your people, from all the other people upon the face of the earth?


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And the Lord said to Moses, I will do this thing also that you have asked, for you have found favor, loving-kindness, <i>and</i> mercy in My sight and I know you personally <i>and</i> by name. <f>ⓑ</f>


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And God said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim My name, THE LORD, before you; for I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy <i>and</i> loving-kindness on whom I will show mercy <i>and</i> loving-kindness. <f>ⓒ</f>


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And while My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.


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The Lord said to Moses, Cut two tables of stone like the first, and I will write upon these tables the words that were on the first tables, which you broke.


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Be ready and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain.


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And no man shall come up with you, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mountain; neither let flocks or herds feed before that mountain.


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So Moses cut two tables of stone like the first, and he rose up early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took <f>[1]</f>in his hand two tables of stone.


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And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord! the Lord! a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth,


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Keeping mercy <i>and</i> loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but Who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.


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And he said, If now I have found favor <i>and</i> loving-kindness in Your sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray You, go in the midst of us, although it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your inheritance.


text:
And the Lord said, Behold, I lay down [afresh the terms of the mutual agreement between Israel and Me] a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels (wonders, miracles) such as have not been wrought <i>or</i> created in all the earth or in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord; for it is a terrible thing [fearful and full of awe] that I will do with you.


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Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I drive out before you the Amorite, Canaanite, Hittite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite.


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Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant <i>or</i> mutual agreement with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in the midst of you.


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But you shall destroy their altars, dash in pieces their pillars (obelisks, images), and cut down their Asherim [symbols of the goddess Asherah];


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For you shall worship no other god; for the Lord, Whose name is Jealous, is a jealous (impassioned) God,


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Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they play the harlot after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and one invites you, you eat of his food sacrificed to idols,


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And you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters play the harlot after their gods and make your sons play the harlot after their gods.


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The Feast of Unleavened Bread you shall keep. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, in the time of the month of Abib; for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.


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But the firstling of a donkey [an unclean beast] you shall redeem with a lamb <i>or</i> kid, and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none of you shall appear before Me empty-handed.


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Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest [on the Sabbath].


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You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end.


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For I will cast out the nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire [and molest] your land when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.


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You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover be left until morning.


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The first of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a kid in his mother’s milk.


text:
And the Lord said to Moses, Write these words, for after the purpose <i>and</i> character of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.


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Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.


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When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tables of the Testimony in his hand, he did not know that the skin of his face shone <i>and</i> sent forth beams by reason of his speaking with the Lord.


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When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they feared to come near him.


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But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and [he] talked with them.


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Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all the Lord had said to him in Mount Sinai.


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But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, <f>[2]</f>he took the veil off until he came out. And he came out and told the Israelites what he was commanded.


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The Israelites saw the face of Moses, how the skin of it shone; and Moses put the veil on his face again until he went in to speak with God.


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Moses gathered all the congregation of the Israelites together and said to them, These are the things which the Lord has commanded that you do:


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Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day shall be to you a holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord; whoever works [on that day] shall be put to death.


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Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a willing <i>and</i> generous heart, let him bring the Lord’s offering: gold, silver, and bronze;


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And let every able <i>and</i> wisehearted man among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded:


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The tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its hooks, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets <i>or</i> bases;


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And the incense altar and its poles, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, the hanging <i>or</i> screen for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle;


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The altar of burnt offering, with its bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils, the laver and its base;


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The court’s hangings, its pillars and their sockets <i>or</i> bases, and the hanging <i>or</i> screen for the gate of the court;


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The finely wrought garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the [high] priest and for his sons to minister as priests.


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And they came, each one whose heart stirred him up and whose spirit made him willing, and brought the Lord’s offering to be used for the [new] Tent of Meeting, for all its service, and the holy garments.


text:
They came, both men and women, all who were willinghearted, and brought brooches, earrings <i>or</i> nose rings, signet rings, and armlets <i>or</i> necklaces, all jewels of gold, everyone bringing an offering of gold to the Lord.


text:
And everyone with whom was found blue or purple or scarlet [stuff], or fine linen, or goats’ hair, or rams’ skins made red [in tanning], or dolphin <i>or</i> porpoise skins brought them.


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Everyone who could make an offering of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord’s offering, and every man with whom was found any acacia wood for any work of the service brought it.


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All the women who had ability <i>and</i> were wisehearted spun with their hands and brought what they had spun of blue and purple and scarlet [stuff] and fine linen;


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And all the women who had ability <i>and</i> whose hearts stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats’ hair.


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The Israelites brought a freewill offering to the Lord, all men and women whose hearts made them willing <i>and</i> moved them to bring anything for any of the work which the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done.


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And Moses said to the Israelites, See, the Lord called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;


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And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability <i>and</i> wisdom, with intelligence <i>and</i> understanding, and with knowledge and all craftsmanship,


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And God has put in Bezalel’s heart that he may teach, both he and Aholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.


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He has filled them with wisdom of heart <i>and</i> ability to do all manner of craftsmanship, of the engraver, of the skillful workman, of the embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do or design any skilled work.


text:
Bezalel and Aholiab and every wisehearted man in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work for the service of the sanctuary shall work according to all that the Lord has commanded.


text:
And Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab and every able <i>and</i> wisehearted man in whose mind the Lord had put wisdom <i>and</i> ability, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work;


text:
And they received from Moses all the freewill offerings which the Israelites had brought for doing the work of the sanctuary, to prepare it for service. And they continued to bring him freewill offerings every morning.


text:
And all the wise <i>and</i> able men who were doing the work on the sanctuary came, every man from the work he was doing,


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And they said to Moses, The people bring much more than enough for doing the work which the Lord commanded to do.


text:
So Moses commanded and it was proclaimed in all the camp, Let no man or woman do anything more for the sanctuary offering. So the people were restrained from bringing,


text:
And all the able <i>and</i> wisehearted men among them who did the work on the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen and blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], with cherubim skillfully worked on them.


text:
The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits and its breadth four cubits; all the curtains were one size.


text:
[Bezalel] coupled five curtains one to another and the other five curtains he coupled one to another.


text:
And he made loops of blue on the outer edge of the last curtain in the first set; this he did also on the inner edge of the first curtain in the second set.


text:
Fifty loops he made in the one curtain and fifty loops in the edge of the curtain which was the second set; the loops were opposite one another.


text:
And he made fifty clasps of gold and coupled the curtains together with the clasps so that the tabernacle became one unit.


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The length of one curtain was thirty cubits and four cubits was the breadth; the eleven curtains were of equal size.


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And he made fifty loops on the outmost edge of the curtain to be coupled and fifty loops he made on the inner edge of the second curtain to be coupled.


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He made a covering for the tent of <f>[1]</f>rams’ skins tanned red, and above it a covering of dolphin <i>or</i> porpoise skins.


text:
Each board had two tenons (projections) to fit into a mortise to form a clutch; he did this for all the boards of the tabernacle.


text:
And he made under the twenty boards forty sockets <i>or</i> bases of silver, two sockets under one board for its two tenons <i>or</i> hands, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons.


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They were separate below but linked together at the top with one ring; thus he made both of them in both corners.


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There were eight boards with sixteen sockets <i>or</i> bases of silver, and under [the end of] each board two sockets.


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And five bars for the boards of its other side, and five bars for the boards at the rear or west side.


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And he made the veil of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and fine twined linen, with cherubim skillfully worked. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
For [the veil] he made four pillars of acacia [wood] and overlaid them with gold; their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four sockets <i>or</i> bases of silver.


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And he made a screen for the tent door of blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and fine twined linen, embroidered,


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And he made the five pillars of it with their hooks, and overlaid their ornamental tops and joinings with gold, but their five sockets were of bronze.


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Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood — two cubits and a half was the length of it, a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it.


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He overlaid it with pure gold within and without and made a molding <i>or</i> crown of gold to go around the top of it.


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[Bezalel] made the mercy seat of pure gold, two cubits and a half its length and one cubit and a half its breadth.


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One cherub at one end and one at the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim at its two ends.


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And the cherubim spread out their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces to each other, looking down to the mercy seat. <f>ⓐ</f>


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Bezalel made the [showbread] table of acacia wood; it was two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high.


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And he made a border around it [just under the top] a handbreadth wide, and a molding of gold around the border.


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And he cast for it four rings of gold and fastened the rings on the four corners that were at its four legs.


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Close to the border were the rings, the places for the poles to pass through to carry the [showbread] table.


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He made of pure gold the vessels which were to be on the table, its plates and dishes [for bread], its bowls and flagons for pouring [liquid sacrifices].


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And he made the lampstand of pure gold; its base and shaft were made of hammered work; its cups, its knobs, and its flowers were of one piece with it.


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There were six branches going out of the sides of the lampstand, three branches out of one side of it and three branches out of the other side of it;


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Three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, each with a [calyx] knob and a flower, and three cups made like almond blossoms in the [opposite] branch, each with a [calyx] knob and a flower; and so for the six branches going out of the lampstand.


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On [the shaft of] the lampstand were four cups made like almond blossoms, with knobs and flowers [one at the top].


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And a knob under each pair of branches, of one piece with the lampstand, for the six branches going out of it.


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And [Bezalel] made the incense altar of acacia wood; its top was a cubit square and it was two cubits high; the horns were one piece with it.


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He overlaid it with pure gold, its top, its sides round about, and its horns; also he made a rim around it of gold.


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And he made two rings of gold for it under its rim, on its two opposite sides, as places for the poles [to pass through] to carry it.


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He also made the holy anointing oil [symbol of the Holy Spirit] and the pure, fragrant incense, after the perfumer’s art.


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Bezalel made the burnt offering altar of acacia wood; its top was five cubits square and it was three cubits high.


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He made its horns on the four corners of it; the horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze.


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He made all the utensils <i>and</i> vessels of the altar, the pots, shovels, basins, forks <i>or</i> fleshhooks, and firepans; all its utensils <i>and</i> vessels he made of bronze.


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He cast four rings for the four corners of the bronze grating to be places for the poles [with which to carry it].


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And he put the poles through the rings on the altar’s sides with which to carry it; he made it hollow with planks.


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He made the laver and its base of bronze from the mirrors of the women who ministered at the door of the Tent of Meeting.


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And he made the court: for the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits;


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Their pillars and their bronze sockets <i>or</i> bases were twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their joinings were silver.


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And for the north side the hangings were [also] a hundred cubits; their pillars and their sockets <i>or</i> bases of bronze were twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their joinings were of silver.


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But for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits; their pillars and their sockets <i>or</i> bases were ten; the hooks of the pillars and their joinings were of silver.


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The hangings for one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three and their sockets <i>or</i> bases three.


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Also for the other side of the court gate, left and right, were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three and their sockets <i>or</i> bases three.


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The sockets for the pillars were of bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their joinings of silver, the overlaying of their tops of silver, and all the pillars of the court were joined with silver.


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The hanging <i>or</i> screen for the gate of the court was embroidered in blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and fine twined linen; the length was twenty cubits and the height in the breadth was five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the court.


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Their pillars were four and their sockets of bronze four; their hooks were of silver, and the overlaying of their tops and their joinings were of silver.


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This is the sum of the things for the tabernacle of the Testimony, as counted at the command of Moses, for the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the [high] priest.


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With him was Aholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, a skillful craftsman, and embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and in fine linen.


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All the gold that was used for the work in all the building <i>and</i> furnishing of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was 29 talents and 730 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary.


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And the silver from those numbered of the congregation was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, by sanctuary standards:


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A beka for each man, that is, half a shekel, by the sanctuary shekel, for everyone who was counted, from twenty years old and upward, for 603,550 men.


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The 100 talents of silver were for casting the sockets <i>or</i> bases of the sanctuary and of the veil; 100 sockets for the 100 talents, a talent for a socket.


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Of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their tops, and made joinings for them.


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With it Bezalel made the sockets for the door of the Tent of Meeting, and the bronze altar and the bronze grate for it, and all the utensils of the altar,


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The sockets of the court round about and of the court gate, and all the pegs of the tabernacle and around the court.


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And of the blue and purple and scarlet [stuff] they made finely wrought garments for serving in the Holy Place; they made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord had commanded Moses.


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And they beat the gold into thin sheets and cut it into wires to work into the blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff] and the fine linen, in skilled design.


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And the skillfully woven band on it, to gird it on, was of the same piece and workmanship with it, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and fine twined linen, as the Lord had commanded Moses.


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And they prepared the onyx stones enclosed in settings of gold filigree and engraved as signets are engraved with the names of the sons of Israel.


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And he put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be stones of memorial <i>or</i> remembrance for the Israelites, as the Lord had commanded Moses.


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And [Bezalel] made the breastplate skillfully, like the work of the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet [stuff], and fine twined linen.


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There were twelve stones with their names according to those of the sons of Israel, engraved like a signet, each with its name, according to the twelve tribes.


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And they made two settings of gold filigree and two gold rings which they put on the two ends of the breastplate.


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And they put the two twisted cords <i>or</i> woven chains of gold in the two rings on the end edges of the breastplate.


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And the other two ends of the twisted cords <i>or</i> chains of gold they put on the two settings and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, in front.


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They made two rings of gold and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the inside edge of it next to the ephod.


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And they made two [other] gold rings and attached them to the two shoulder pieces of the ephod underneath, in front, at its joining above the skillfully woven band of the ephod.


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They bound the breastplate by its rings to those of the ephod with a blue lace, that it might lie upon the skillfully woven band of the ephod and that the breastplate might not be loosed from the ephod, as the Lord commanded Moses.


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And there was an opening [for the head] in the middle of the robe like the hole in a coat of mail, with a binding around it, that it should not be torn.


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On the skirts of the robe they made pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet [stuff] and twined linen.


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And they made bells of pure gold and put [them] between the pomegranates around the skirts of the robe;


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A bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, round about on the skirts of the robe for ministering, as the Lord commanded Moses.


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The girdle <i>or</i> sash of fine twined linen, and blue, purple, and scarlet embroidery, as the Lord commanded Moses.


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And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold and wrote upon it an inscription, like the engravings of a signet, HOLY TO THE LORD. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was finished; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the Israelites had done.


text:
And they brought the tabernacle to Moses: the tent and all its furnishings, its clasps, its [frame] boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets <i>or</i> bases;


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And the covering of rams’ skins made red, and the covering of dolphin <i>or</i> porpoise skins, and the veil of the screen;


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The pure [gold] lampstand and its lamps, with the lamps set in order, all its utensils, and the oil for the light;


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The golden altar, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense, and the hanging for the door of the tent;


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The hangings of the court, its pillars and sockets <i>or</i> bases, and the screen for the court gate, its cords, and pegs, and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the Tent of Meeting [of God with His people]; <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
The finely worked vestments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons to minister as priests.


text:
And Moses inspected all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. And Moses blessed them.


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On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting [of God with you].


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And you shall put in it the ark of the Testimony and screen the ark [of God’s Presence] with the veil. <f>ⓐ</f>


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You shall bring in the [showbread] table and set in order the things that are to be upon it; and you shall bring in the lampstand and set up <i>and</i> light its lamps. <f>ⓑ</f>


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You shall set the golden altar for the incense before the ark of the Testimony [outside the veil] and put the hanging <i>or</i> screen at the tabernacle door.


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You shall set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting.


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And you shall <f>[1]</f>set the laver between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it.


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And you shall set up the court [curtains] round about and hang up the hanging <i>or</i> screen at the court gate.


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You shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and shall consecrate it and all its furniture, and it shall be holy.


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You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; and consecrate (set apart for God) the altar, and the altar shall be most holy.


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You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. <f>ⓒ</f>


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You shall put on Aaron the holy garments, and anoint and consecrate him, so he may serve Me as priest.


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And you shall anoint them as you anointed their father, that they may minister to Me as priests; for their anointing shall be to them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.


text:
Moses set up the tabernacle, laid its sockets, set up its boards, put in its bars, and erected its pillars.


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[Moses] spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the Lord had commanded him.


text:
He took the Testimony [the Ten Commandments] and put it into the ark, and set the poles [in the rings] on the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark.


text:
[Moses] brought the ark into the tabernacle and set up the veil of the screen and screened the ark of the Testimony, as the Lord had commanded him.


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Moses put the table [of showbread] in the Tent of Meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the veil;


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He set the bread [of the Presence] in order on it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded him. <f>ⓓ</f>


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And he put the lampstand in the Tent of Meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle.


text:
[Moses] put the altar of burnt offering at the door of the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting and offered on it the burnt offering and the cereal offering, as the Lord commanded him.


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When they went into the Tent of Meeting or came near the altar, they washed, as the Lord commanded Moses.


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And he erected the court round about the tabernacle and the altar and set up the hanging <i>or</i> screen at the court gate. So Moses finished the work.


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Then the cloud [the Shekinah, God’s visible presence] covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle! <f>ⓕ</f>


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And Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud remained upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.


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In all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the Israelites went onward;


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For throughout all their journeys the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.


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Say to the Israelites, When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of [domestic] animals from the herd or from the flock.


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If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it at the door of the Tent of Meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. <f>ⓐ</f>


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And he shall lay [both] his hands upon the head of the burnt offering [transferring symbolically his guilt to the victim], and it shall be <f>[2]</f>an acceptable atonement for him. <f>ⓑ</f>


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The man shall kill the young bull before the Lord, and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall present the blood and dash [it] round about upon the altar that is at the door of the Tent of Meeting.


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And Aaron’s sons the priests shall lay the pieces, the head and the fat, in order on the wood on the fire on the altar.


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But its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar for a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying odor to the Lord. <f>ⓒ</f>


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And if the man’s offering is of the flock, from the sheep or the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without blemish.


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And he shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall dash its blood round about against the altar.


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And [the man] shall cut it into pieces, with its head and its fat, and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire on the altar.


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But he shall wash the entrails and legs with water. The priest shall offer all of it and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying fragrance to the Lord.


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And if the offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, then [the man] shall bring turtledoves or young pigeons.


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And the priest shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar.


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And he shall take away its crop with its feathers and cast it beside the altar on the east side, in the place for ashes.


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And he shall split it open [holding it] by its wings, but shall not cut it in two. And the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire; it is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying odor to the Lord.


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When anyone offers a cereal offering to the Lord, it shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil over it and lay frankincense on it.


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And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. Out of it he shall take a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this on the altar as the memorial portion of it, an offering made by fire, of a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying fragrance to the Lord.


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What is left of the cereal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; it is a most holy part of the offerings made to the Lord by fire.


text:
When you bring as an offering cereal baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers spread with oil.


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If your offering is cereal baked on a griddle, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mixed with oil.


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And you shall bring the cereal offering that is made of these things to the Lord; it shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to the [bronze] altar.


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The priest shall take from the cereal offering its memorial portion and burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying fragrance to the Lord.


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No cereal offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven or honey in any offering made by fire to the Lord. <f>ⓐ</f>


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As an offering of firstfruits you may offer leaven and honey to the Lord, but <f>[1]</f>they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet odor [to the Lord, for their aid to fermentation is symbolic of corruption in the human heart].


text:
Every cereal offering you shall season with salt [symbol of preservation]; neither shall you allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your cereal offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
If you offer a cereal offering of your firstfruits to the Lord, you shall offer for it of your firstfruits grain in the ear parched with fire, bruised <i>and</i> crushed grain out of the fresh <i>and</i> fruitful ear.


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The priest shall burn as its memorial portion part of the bruised <i>and</i> crushed grain of it and part of the oil of it, with all its frankincense; it is an offering made by fire to the Lord.


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If a man’s offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord.


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He shall lay [both] his <f>[1]</f>hands upon the head of his offering and kill it at the door of the Tent of Meeting; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall throw the blood against the altar round about.


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And from the sacrifice of the peace offering, an offering made by fire to the Lord, he shall offer the fat that covers and is upon the entrails,


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And the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver which he shall take away with the kidneys.


text:
Aaron’s sons shall burn it all on the altar upon the burnt offering which is on the wood on the fire, an offering made by fire, of a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying odor to the Lord.


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If his peace offering to the Lord is an animal from the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish.


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He shall lay [both] his hands on the head of his offering and kill it before the Tent of Meeting; and Aaron’s sons shall throw its blood around against the altar.


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And he shall offer from the peace offering as an offering made by fire to the Lord: the fat of it, the fat tail as a whole, taking it off close to the backbone, and the fat that covers and is upon the entrails,


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And the two kidneys, and the fat on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which he shall take away with the kidneys.


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And lay his hands upon its head, and kill it before the Tent of Meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall throw its blood against the altar round about.


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Then he shall offer from it as his offering made by fire to the Lord: the fat that covers and is on the entrails,


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And the two kidneys and the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver which he shall take away with the kidneys.


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The priest shall burn them on the altar as food, offered by fire, for a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying fragrance. All the fat is the Lord’s.


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It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.


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Say to the Israelites, If anyone shall sin through error <i>or</i> unwittingly in any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and shall do any one of them —


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If it is the anointed priest who sins, thus bringing guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin which he has committed a young bull without blemish to the Lord as a sin offering. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
He shall bring the bull to the door of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, and shall lay [both] his hands on the bull’s head and kill [it] before the Lord.


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And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of [it] seven times before the Lord before the veil of the sanctuary.


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And the priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord which is in the Tent of Meeting; and all the rest of the blood of the bull shall he pour out at the base of the altar of the burnt offering at the door of the Tent of Meeting.


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And all the fat of the bull for the sin offering he shall take off of it — the fat that covers and is on the entrails,


text:
And the two kidneys and the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which he shall take away with the kidneys —


text:
Just as these are taken off of the bull of the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering.


text:
Even the whole bull shall he carry forth without the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on a fire of wood, there where the ashes are poured out. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
If the whole congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, and it be hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done what the Lord has commanded not to be done and are guilty,


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When the sin which they have committed becomes known, then the congregation shall offer a young bull for a sin offering and bring it before the Tent of Meeting.


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The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bull before the Lord, and the bull shall be killed before the Lord.


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And shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, before the veil [which screens the ark of the covenant].


text:
He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar [of incense] which is before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting, and he shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering near the door of the Tent of Meeting.


text:
Thus shall he do with the bull; as he did with the bull for a sin offering, so shall he do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for [the people], and they shall be forgiven.


text:
And he shall carry forth the bull outside the camp and burn it as he burned the first bull; it is the sin offering for the congregation.


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When a ruler <i>or</i> leader sins and unwittingly does any one of the things the Lord his God has forbidden, and is guilty,


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If his sin which he has committed be known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish.


text:
He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering.


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The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering.


text:
And he shall burn all its fat upon the altar like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; so the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.


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If any one of the common people sins unwittingly in doing anything the Lord has commanded not to be done, and is guilty,


text:
When the sin which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has committed.


text:
The offender shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill [it] at the place of the burnt offering.


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And the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar.


text:
And all the fat of it he shall take away, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying fragrance to the Lord; and the priest shall make atonement for [the man], and he shall be forgiven.


text:
He shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering.


text:
And the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and all the rest of the blood of the lamb he shall pour out at the base of the altar.


text:
And he shall take away all the fat of it, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar upon the offerings made by fire to the Lord; and the priest shall make atonement for the sin which the man has committed, and he shall be forgiven. <f>ⓒ</f>


text:
If anyone sins in that he is sworn to testify and has knowledge of the matter, either by seeing or hearing of it, but fails to report it, then he shall bear his iniquity <i>and</i> willfulness.


text:
Or if anyone touches an unclean thing, whether the carcass of an unclean wild beast or of an unclean domestic animal or of unclean creeping things that multiply prolifically, even if he is unaware of it, and he has become unclean, he is guilty.


text:
Or if he touches human uncleanness, of whatever kind the uncleanness may be with which he becomes defiled, and he is unaware of it, when he does know it, then he shall be guilty.


text:
Or if anyone unthinkingly swears he will do something, whether to do evil or good, whatever it may be that a man shall pronounce rashly taking an oath, then, when he becomes aware of it, he shall be guilty in either of these. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
He shall bring his guilt <i>or</i> trespass offering to the Lord for the sin which he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for his sin.


text:
But if he cannot afford a lamb, then he shall bring for his guilt offering to the Lord two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.


text:
He shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer the one for the sin offering first, and wring its head from its neck, but shall not sever it;


text:
And he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar; it is a sin offering.


text:
And he shall prepare the second bird for a burnt offering, according to the ordinance; and the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven.


text:
But if the offender cannot afford to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil or frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering.


text:
He shall bring it to the priest, who shall take a handful of it as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar, on the offerings made by fire to the Lord; it is a sin offering.


text:
Thus the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin that he has committed in any of these things, and he shall be forgiven; and the remainder shall be for the priest, as in the cereal offering.


text:
If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unwittingly in the holy things of the Lord, he shall bring his trespass <i>or</i> guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued by you in shekels of silver, that is, the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass <i>or</i> guilt offering.


text:
And he shall make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing, and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass <i>or</i> guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.


text:
If anyone sins and does any of the things the Lord has forbidden, though he was not aware of it, yet he is guilty and shall bear his iniquity. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
He shall bring [to the priest] a ram without blemish out of the flock, estimated by you to the amount [of the trespass], for a guilt <i>or</i> trespass offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him for the error which he committed unknowingly, and he shall be forgiven.


text:
If anyone sins and commits a trespass against the Lord and deals falsely with his neighbor in a matter of deposit given him to keep, or of bargain <i>or</i> pledge, or of robbery, or has oppressed his neighbor,


text:
Or has found what was lost and lied about it, or swears falsely, in any of all the things which men do and sin in so doing,


text:
Then if he has sinned and is guilty, he shall restore what he took by robbery, or what he secured by oppression <i>or</i> extortion, or what was delivered him to keep in trust, or the lost thing which he found,


text:
Or anything about which he has sworn falsely; he shall not only restore it in full, but shall add to it one fifth more and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day of his trespass <i>or</i> guilt offering.


text:
And he shall bring to the priest his trespass <i>or</i> guilt offering to the Lord, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued by you to the amount of his trespass;


text:
And the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he shall be forgiven for anything of all that he may have done by which he has become guilty.


text:
Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering shall remain on the altar all night until morning; the fire shall be kept burning on the altar.


text:
And the priest shall put on his linen garment and put his linen breeches on his body, and take up the ashes of what the fire has consumed with the burnt offering on the altar and put them beside the altar.


text:
And he shall put off his garments and put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place.


text:
And the fire upon the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be allowed to go out. The priest shall burn wood on it every morning and lay the burnt offering in order upon it and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.


text:
And this is the law of the cereal offering: The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, in front of the altar.


text:
One of them shall take his handful of the fine flour of the cereal offering, the oil of it, and all the frankincense which is upon the cereal offering, and burn it on the altar as the memorial of it, a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying fragrance to the Lord.


text:
And the remainder of it shall Aaron and his sons eat, without leaven in a holy place; in the court of the Tent of Meeting shall they eat it. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.


text:
Every male among the children of Aaron may eat of it, as his portion forever throughout your generations, from the Lord’s offerings made by fire; whoever touches them shall [first] be holy (consecrated and ceremonially clean).


text:
This is the offering which Aaron and his sons shall offer to the Lord on the day when one is anointed (and consecrated): the tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a regular cereal offering, half of it in the morning and half of it at night.


text:
On a griddle <i>or</i> baking pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is fried you shall bring it in; in broken <i>and</i> fried pieces shall you offer the cereal offering as a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying odor to the Lord.


text:
And the priest among Aaron’s sons who is consecrated <i>and</i> anointed in his stead shall offer it; by a statute forever it shall be entirely burned to the Lord.


text:
Say to Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the Lord; it is most holy.


text:
The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it; in a sacred place shall it be eaten, in the court of the Tent of Meeting.


text:
Whoever <i>or</i> whatever touches its flesh shall [first] be dedicated and made clean, and when any of its blood is sprinkled on a garment, you shall wash that garment in a place set apart to God’s worship.


text:
But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken, and if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, that vessel shall be scoured and rinsed in water.


text:
But no sin offering shall be eaten of which any of the blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place; it shall be [wholly] burned with fire. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the guilt <i>or</i> trespass offering; the blood of it shall the priest dash against the altar round about.


text:
And the two kidneys and the fat that is on them at the loins, and the lobe <i>or</i> appendage of the liver, which he shall take away with the kidneys.


text:
And the priest shall burn them on the altar for an offering made by fire to the Lord; it is a guilt <i>or</i> trespass offering.


text:
As is the sin offering, so is the guilt <i>or</i> trespass offering; there is one law for them: the priest who makes atonement with it shall have it.


text:
And the priest who offers any man’s burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the hide of the burnt offering which he has offered.


text:
And every cereal offering that is baked in the oven and all that is prepared in a pan or on a griddle shall belong to the priest who offered it.


text:
And every cereal offering, mixed with oil or dry, all the sons of Aaron may have, one as well as another.


text:
If one offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the thank offering unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of fine flour mixed with oil.


text:
With cakes of leavened bread he shall offer his sacrifice of thanksgiving with the sacrifice of his peace offerings.


text:
And of it he shall offer one cake from each offering as an offering to the Lord; it shall belong to the priest who dashes the blood of the peace offerings.


text:
The flesh of the sacrifice of thanksgiving presented as a peace offering shall be eaten on the day that it is offered; none of it shall be left until morning.


text:
But if the sacrifice of the worshiper’s offering is a vow or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the morrow that which remains of it shall be eaten;


text:
But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be [wholly] burned with fire.


text:
If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, then the one who brought it shall not be credited with it; it shall not be accepted. It shall be an abomination <i>and</i> an abhorred thing; the one who eats of it shall bear his iniquity <i>and</i> answer for it.


text:
The flesh that comes in contact with anything that is not clean shall not be eaten; it shall be burned with fire. As for the meat, everyone who is clean [ceremonially] may eat of it.


text:
But the one who eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belong to the Lord when he is [ceremonially] unclean, that person shall be cut off from his people [deprived of the privileges of association with them].


text:
And if anyone touches any unclean thing — the uncleanness of man or an unclean beast or any unclean abomination — and then eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of the Lord’s peace offerings, that person shall be cut off from his people.


text:
The fat of the beast that dies of itself and the fat of one that is torn with beasts may be put to any other use, but under no circumstances are you to eat of it.


text:
For whoever eats the fat of the beast from which men offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, that person shall be cut off from his people.


text:
Moreover, you shall eat no blood of any kind, whether of bird or of beast, in any of your dwellings.


text:
Tell the Israelites, He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the Lord shall bring his offering to the Lord; from the sacrifice of his peace offerings


text:
He shall bring with his own hands the offerings made by fire to the Lord; he shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before the Lord.


text:
And the right thigh you shall give to the priest for an offering from the sacrifices of your peace offerings.


text:
The son of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat shall have the right thigh for his portion.


text:
For I have taken the breast that was waved and the thigh that was offered from the Israelites, out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their perpetual due from the Israelites.


text:
This is the anointing portion of Aaron and his sons out of the offerings to the Lord made by fire on the day when they were presented to minister to the Lord in the priest’s office.


text:
The Lord commanded this to be given them of the Israelites on the day when they were anointed. It is their portion perpetually throughout their generations.


text:
This is the law of the burnt offering, the cereal offering, the sin offering, the guilt <i>or</i> trespass offering, the consecration offering, and the sacrifice of peace offerings,


text:
Which the Lord ordered Moses on Mount Sinai on the day He commanded the Israelites to offer their sacrifices to the Lord, in the Wilderness of Sinai.


text:
Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments [symbols of their office], and the anointing oil, and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread;


text:
Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the congregation was assembled at the door of the Tent of Meeting.


text:
He put on Aaron the long undertunic, girded him with the long sash, clothed him with the robe, put the ephod (an upper vestment) upon him, and girded him with the skillfully woven cords attached to the ephod, binding it to him.


text:
And Moses put upon Aaron the breastplate; also he put in the breastplate the Urim and the Thummim [articles upon which the high priest put his hand when seeking the divine will concerning the nation].


text:
And he put the turban <i>or</i> miter on his head; on it, in front, Moses put the shining gold plate, the holy diadem, as the Lord commanded him.


text:
And Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them.


text:
And he sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the laver and its base, to consecrate them.


text:
And Moses brought Aaron’s sons and put undertunics on them and girded them with sashes and wound turbans on them, as the Lord commanded Moses.


text:
Then he brought the bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering.


text:
Moses killed it and took the blood and put it on the horns of the altar round about with his finger and poured the blood at the base of the altar and purified and consecrated the altar to make atonement for it.


text:
He took all the fat that was on the entrails, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and Moses burned them on the altar.


text:
But the bull [the sin offering] and its hide, its flesh, and its dung he burned with fire outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.


text:
He brought the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.


text:
And he washed the entrails and the legs in water; then Moses burned the whole ram on the altar; it was a burnt sacrifice, for a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying fragrance, an offering made by fire to the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.


text:
And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration <i>and</i> ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram.


text:
And Moses killed it and took some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot.


text:
And he brought Aaron’s sons and Moses put some of the blood on the tips of their right ears, and the thumbs of their right hands, and the great toes of their right feet; and Moses dashed the blood upon the altar round about.


text:
And he took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat that was on the entrails, the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh;


text:
And out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before the Lord, he took one unleavened cake, a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer and put them on the fat and on the right thigh;


text:
And he put all these in Aaron’s hands and his sons’ hands and waved them for a wave offering before the Lord.


text:
Then Moses took these things from their hands and burned them on the altar with the burnt offering as an ordination offering, for a sweet <i>and</i> satisfying fragrance, an offering made by fire to the Lord.


text:
And Moses took the breast and waved it for a wave offering before the Lord; for of the ram of consecration <i>and</i> ordination it was Moses’ portion, as the Lord commanded Moses.


text:
And Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and upon his sons and their garments also; so Moses consecrated Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments.


text:
And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, Boil the flesh at the door of the Tent of Meeting and there eat it with the bread that is in the basket of consecration <i>and</i> ordination, as I commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it.


text:
And you shall not go out of the door of the Tent of Meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration <i>and</i> ordination are ended; for it will take seven days to consecrate <i>and</i> ordain you.


text:
At the door of the Tent of Meeting you shall remain day and night for seven days, <f>[1]</f>doing what the Lord has charged you to do, that you die not; for so I am commanded.


text:
And he said to Aaron, Take a young calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, [each] without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
And say to the Israelites, Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old, without blemish, for a burnt offering,


text:
Also a bull and a ram for peace offerings to sacrifice before the Lord, and a cereal offering mixed with oil, for today the Lord will appear to you.


text:
They brought before the Tent of Meeting what Moses [had] commanded; all the congregation drew near and stood before the Lord.


text:
And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commanded you to do, and the glory of the Lord will appear to you.


text:
And Moses said to Aaron, Draw near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and for the people; and offer the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord commanded. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
So Aaron drew near to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was designated for himself.


text:
The sons of Aaron presented the blood to him; he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the altar’s base;


text:
But the fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver from the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses.


text:
He killed the burnt offering, and Aaron’s sons delivered to him the blood, which he dashed round about upon the altar.


text:
And they brought the burnt offering to him piece by piece, and the head, and Aaron burned them upon the altar.


text:
Then Aaron presented the people’s offering, and took the goat of the sin offering which was for the people and killed it and offered it for sin as he did the first sin offering. <f>ⓒ</f>


text:
And Aaron presented the cereal offering and took a handful of it and burned it on the altar in addition to the burnt offering of the morning.


text:
He also killed the bull and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings, for the people; and Aaron’s sons presented to him the blood, which he dashed upon the altar round about,


text:
And the fat of the bull and of the ram, the fat tail and that which covers the entrails, and the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver.


text:
But the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses commanded.


text:
Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them, and came down [from the altar] after offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings.


text:
Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord [the Shekinah cloud] appeared to all the people [as promised]. <f>ⓓ</f>


text:
Then there came a fire out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.


text:
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and offered strange <i>and</i> unholy fire before the Lord, as He had not commanded them.


text:
Then Moses said to Aaron, This is what the Lord meant when He said, I <f>[1]</f>[and My will, not their own] will be acknowledged as hallowed by those who come near Me, and before all the people I will be honored. And Aaron said nothing.


text:
Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Uzziel uncle of Aaron, and said to them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp.


text:
So they drew near and carried them in their undertunics [stripped of their priestly vestments] out of the camp, as Moses had said.


text:
And Moses said to Aaron and Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons [the father and brothers of the two priests whom God had slain for offering false fire], Do not uncover your heads <i>or</i> let your hair go loose or tear your clothes, lest you die [also] and lest God’s wrath should come upon all the congregation; but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled.


text:
And you shall not go out from the door of the Tent of Meeting, lest you die, for the Lord’s anointing oil is upon you. And they did according to Moses’ word.


text:
Do not drink wine or strong drink, you or your sons, when you go into the Tent of Meeting, lest you die; it shall be a statute forever in all your generations.


text:
You shall make a distinction <i>and</i> recognize a difference between the holy and the common <i>or</i> unholy, and between the unclean and the clean;


text:
And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left, Take the cereal offering that remains of the offerings of the Lord made by fire and eat it without leaven beside the altar, for it is most holy.


text:
You shall eat it in a sacred place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, from the offerings made by fire to the Lord; for so I am commanded.


text:
But the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and daughters with you; for they are your due and your sons’ due, given out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the Israelites.


text:
The thigh that is offered and the breast that is waved they shall bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be yours and your sons’ with you as a portion <i>or</i> due perpetually, as the Lord has commanded.


text:
And Moses diligently tried to find [what had become of] the goat [that had been offered] for the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up [as waste]! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left alive, and said,


text:
Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the Holy Place? It is most holy; and God has given it to you to bear <i>and</i> take away the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord.


text:
Behold, the blood of it was not brought within the Holy Place; you should indeed have eaten [the flesh of it] in the Holy Place, as I commanded.


text:
But Aaron said to Moses, Behold, this very day in which they have [obediently] offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, such [terrible calamities] have befallen me [and them]! If I [and they] had eaten the most holy sin offering today [humbled as we have been by the sin of our kinsmen and God’s judgment upon them], would it have been acceptable in the sight of the Lord? <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
Say to the Israelites: These are the animals <f>[1]</f>which you may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
Nevertheless these you shall not eat of those that chew the cud or divide the hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you.


text:
And the coney <i>or</i> rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you.


text:
And the swine, because it divides the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud; it is unclean to you.


text:
These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, these you may eat;


text:
But all that have not fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, of all the creeping things in the waters, and of all the living creatures which are in the waters, they are [to be considered] an abomination and abhorrence to you. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
They shall continue to be an abomination to you; you shall not eat of their flesh, but you shall detest their carcasses.


text:
Everything in the waters that has not fins or scales shall be abhorrent <i>and</i> detestable to you.


text:
These you shall have in abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, for they are detestable: the eagle, the ossifrage, the ospray,


text:
Yet of all winged insects that go upon all fours you may eat those which have legs above their feet with which to leap on the ground.


text:
Of these you may eat: the whole species of locust, of bald locust, of cricket, and of grasshopper. <f>ⓒ</f>


text:
And by [contact with] these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the carcass of them shall be unclean until the evening,


text:
And whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.


text:
Every beast which parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you; everyone who touches them shall be unclean.


text:
And all that go on their paws, among all kinds of four-footed beasts, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening,


text:
And he who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.


text:
These also are unclean to you among the creeping things [that multiply greatly] <i>and</i> creep upon the ground: the weasel, the mouse, any kind of great lizard,


text:
These are unclean to you among all that creep; whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening.


text:
And upon whatever they may fall when they are dead, it shall be unclean, whether it is an article of wood or clothing or skin (bottle) or sack, any vessel in which work is done; it must be put in water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; so it shall be cleansed.


text:
And every earthen vessel into which any of these [creeping things] falls, whatever may be in it shall be unclean, and you shall break the vessel.


text:
Of all the food [in one of these unclean vessels] which may be eaten, that on which such water comes shall be unclean, and all drink that may be drunk from every such vessel shall be unclean.


text:
And everything upon which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether an oven, <i>or</i> pan with a lid, or hearth for pots, it shall be broken in pieces; they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you.


text:
Yet a spring or a cistern <i>or</i> reservoir of water shall be clean; but whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean.


text:
But if any water be put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it shall be unclean to you.


text:
If any animal of which you may eat dies [unslaughtered], he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening.


text:
And he who eats of its carcass [ignorantly] shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening; he also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.


text:
And everything that creeps on the ground <i>and</i> [multiplies in] swarms shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten.


text:
Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has more [than four] feet among all things that creep on the ground <i>and</i> swarm you shall not eat; for they are detestable.


text:
You shall not make yourselves loathsome <i>and</i> abominable [by eating] any swarming thing that [multiplies by] swarms, neither shall you make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled by them.


text:
For I am the Lord your God; so consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy; neither defile yourselves with any manner of thing that multiplies in large numbers <i>or</i> swarms. <f>ⓓ</f>


text:
For I am the Lord Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God; therefore you shall be holy, for I am holy. <f>ⓔ</f>


text:
This is the law of the beast, and of the bird, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and creeps on the earth <i>and</i> multiplies in large numbers,


text:
To make a difference (a distinction) between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.


text:
Say to the Israelites, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be unclean seven days, unclean as during her monthly discomfort.


text:
Then she shall remain [separated] thirty-three days to be purified [from her loss] of blood; she shall touch no hallowed thing nor come into the [court of the] sanctuary until the days of her purifying are over.


text:
But if the child she bears is a girl, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her periodic impurity, and she shall remain separated sixty-six days to be purified [from her loss] of blood.


text:
When the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb a year old for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering to the door of the Tent of Meeting to the priest;


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And he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who has borne a male or a female child.


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If she is unable to bring a lamb [for lack of means] then she shall bring two turtledoves or young pigeons, one for a burnt offering, the other for a sin offering; the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean. <f>ⓐ</f>


text:
When a man has a swelling on his skin, a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes the disease of <f>[1]</f>leprosy in his skin, then he shall be brought to the priest, to Aaron or one of his sons.


text:
The priest shall look at the diseased spot on his skin, and if the hair in it has turned white and the disease appears depressed <i>and</i> deeper than his skin, it is a leprous disease; and the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean.


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If the bright spot is white on his skin, not depressed, and the hair on it not turned white, the priest shall quarantine the person <i>or</i> bind up the spot for seven days.


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And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and if the disease in his estimation is at a standstill <i>and</i> has not spread in the skin, then the priest shall quarantine the person <i>or</i> bind up the spot seven more days.


text:
And the priest shall examine him again the seventh day, and if the diseased part has a more normal color and the disease has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean; it is only an eruption <i>or</i> a scab; and he shall wash his clothes and be clean.


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But if the eruption <i>or</i> scab spreads farther in the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen by the priest again.


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If the priest sees that the eruption <i>or</i> scab is spreading in the skin, then he shall pronounce him unclean; it is leprosy.


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And the priest shall examine him, and if there is a white swelling in the skin and the hair on it has turned white and there is quick raw flesh in the swelling,


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It is a chronic leprosy in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not bind the spot up, for he is unclean.


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But if [supposed] leprosy breaks out in the skin, and it covers all the skin of him who has the disease from head to foot, wherever the priest looks,


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The priest shall examine him; if the [supposed] leprosy covers all his body, he shall pronounce him clean of the disease; it is all turned white, and he is clean.


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And the priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce him unclean; for the raw flesh is unclean; it is leprosy.


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And the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased part is turned to white again, then the priest shall pronounce him clean who had the disease; he is clean.


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And in the place of the boil there is a white swelling or a bright spot, reddish white, and it is shown to the priest,


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And if when the priest examines it it looks lower than the skin and the hair on it is turned white, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the disease of leprosy; it has broken out in the boil.


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But if the priest examines it and finds no white hair in it and it is not lower than the skin but appears darker, then the priest shall bind it up for seven days.


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But if the bright spot does not spread, it is the scar of the boil, and the priest shall pronounce him clean.


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Or if there is any flesh in the skin of which there is a burn by fire and the quick flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish white or white,


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Then the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the bright spot is turned white, and it appears deeper than the skin, it is leprosy broken out in the burn. Therefore the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is the disease of leprosy.


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But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the bright spot and it is not lower than the rest of the skin but is darker, then the priest shall bind it up for seven days.


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And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day; if it is spreading in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is leprosy.


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But if the bright spot has not spread but is darker, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean; for it is the scar of the burn.


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The priest shall examine the diseased place; if it appears to be deeper than the skin, with yellow, thin hair in it, the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is a mangelike leprosy of the head or beard.


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If the priest examines the spot infected by the mangelike disease, and it does not appear deeper than the skin and there is no black hair in it, the priest shall bind up the spot for seven days.


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On the seventh day the priest shall examine the diseased spot; if the mange has not spread and has no yellow hair in it and does not look deeper than the skin,


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Then the patient shall be shaved, except the mangelike spot; and the priest shall bind up the spot seven days more.


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On the seventh day the priest shall look at the mangelike spot; if the mange has not spread and looks no deeper than the skin, he shall pronounce the patient clean; he shall wash his clothes and be clean.


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Then the priest shall examine him, and if the mangelike spot is spread in the skin, the priest need not look for the yellow hair; the patient is unclean.


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But if in his estimation the mange is at a standstill and has black hair in it, the mangelike disease is healed; he is clean; the priest shall pronounce him clean.


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Then the priest shall look, and if the bright spots in the skin are a dull white, it is a harmless eruption; he is clean.


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And if his hair has fallen out from the front of his head, he has baldness of the forehead, but he is clean.


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But if there is on the bald head or forehead a reddish white diseased spot, it is leprosy breaking out on his baldness.


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Then the priest shall examine him, and if the diseased swelling is reddish white on his bald head or forehead like the appearance of leprosy in the skin of the body,


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He is a leprous man; he is unclean; the priest shall surely pronounce him unclean; his disease is on his head.


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And the leper’s clothes shall be rent, and the hair of his head shall hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry, Unclean, unclean!


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He shall remain unclean as long as the disease is in him; he is unclean; he shall live alone [and] his dwelling shall be outside the camp.


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The garment also that the disease of leprosy [symbolic of sin] is in, whether a wool or a linen garment, <f>ⓐ</f>


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Whether it be in woven or knitted stuff <i>or</i> in the warp or woof of linen or of wool, or in a skin or anything made of skin,


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If the disease is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in a skin or in the warp or woof or in anything made of skin, it is the plague of leprosy; show it to the priest.


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He shall examine the disease on the seventh day; if [it] is spread in the garment, or in the article, whatever service it may be used for, the disease is a rotting <i>or</i> corroding leprosy; it is unclean.


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He shall burn the garment, whether diseased in warp or woof, in wool or linen, or anything made of skin; for it is a rotting <i>or</i> corroding leprosy, to be burned in the fire.


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But if the priest finds the disease has not spread in the garment, in the warp or the woof, or in anything made of skin,


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Then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which the plague is, and he shall shut it up seven days more.


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And the priest shall examine the diseased article after it has been washed, and if the diseased portion has not changed color, though the disease has not spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in the fire; it is a rotting <i>or</i> corroding [disease], whether the leprous spot be inside or outside.


text:
If the priest looks and the diseased portion is less noticeable after it is washed, he shall tear it out of the garment, or the skin (leather), or out of the warp or woof.


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If it appears still in the garment, either in the warp or in the woof, or in anything made of skin, it is spreading; you shall burn the diseased part with fire.


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But the garment, or the woven or knitted stuff <i>or</i> warp or woof, or anything made of skin from which the disease departs when you have washed it, shall then be washed a second time, and be clean.


text:
This is the law for a leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or woof, or in anything made of skin, to pronounce it clean or unclean.


text:
This shall be the law of the leper on the day when he is to be pronounced clean: he shall be brought to the priest [at a meeting place outside the camp];


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The priest shall go out of the camp [to meet him]; and [he] shall examine him, and if the disease is healed in the leper,


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Then the priest shall command to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds and cedar wood and scarlet [material] and hyssop. <f>ⓐ</f>


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And the priest shall command to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over fresh, running water.


text:
As for the living bird, he shall take it, the cedar wood, and the scarlet [material], and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird killed over the running water;


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And he shall sprinkle [the blood] on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let go the living bird into the open field. <f>ⓑ</f>


text:
He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but stay outside his tent seven days.


text:
But on the seventh day he shall shave all his hair off his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and his [body]; and he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and be clean.


text:
On the eighth day he shall take two he-lambs without blemish and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with oil, and one log of oil.


text:
And the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed and these things before the Lord at the door of the Tent of Meeting;


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The priest shall take one of the male lambs and offer it for a guilt <i>or</i> trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.


text:
He shall kill the lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the sacred place [the court of the tabernacle]; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the guilt <i>or</i> trespass offering; it is most holy;


text:
And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt <i>or</i> trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot.


text:
And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord;


text:
And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot, on the blood of the guilt <i>or</i> trespass offering [which he has previously placed in each of these places].


text:
And the rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall pour upon the head of him who is to be cleansed and make atonement for him before the Lord.


text:
And the priest shall offer the sin offering and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness, and afterward kill the burnt offering [victim].


text:
And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the cereal offering on the altar; and he shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.


text:
If the cleansed leper is poor and cannot afford so much, he shall take one lamb for a guilt <i>or</i> trespass offering to be waved to make atonement for him, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a cereal offering, and a log of oil,


text:
And two turtledoves or two young pigeons, such as he can afford, one for a sin offering, the other for a burnt offering.


text:
He shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing to the priest at the door of the Tent of Meeting, before the Lord.


text:
And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt <i>or</i> trespass offering, and the log of oil, and shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.


text:
And he shall kill the lamb of the guilt <i>or</i> trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot.


text:
And shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord.


text:
The priest shall put some of the oil in his hand on the tip of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot, on the places where he has put the blood of the guilt offering.


text:
The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord.


text:
As he can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, together with the cereal offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before the Lord.


text:
This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, who is not able to get what is required for his cleansing.


text:
When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the disease of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession,


text:
Then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, It seems to me there is some sort of disease in my house.


text:
Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before [he] goes in to examine the disease, so that all that is in the house may not be declared unclean; afterward [he] shall go in to see the house.


text:
He shall examine the disease, and if it is in the walls of the house with depressed spots of dark green or dark red appearing beneath [the surface of] the wall,


text:
The priest shall come again on the seventh day and shall look; and if the disease has spread in the walls of the house,


text:
He shall command that they take out the diseased stones and cast them into an unclean place outside the city.


text:
He shall cause the house to be scraped within round about and the plaster <i>or</i> mortar that is scraped off to be emptied out in an unclean place outside the city.


text:
And they shall put other stones in the place of those stones, and he shall plaster the house with fresh mortar.


text:
If the disease returns, breaking out in the house after he has removed the stones and has scraped and plastered the house,


text:
Then the priest shall come and look, and if the disease is spreading in the house, it is a rotting <i>or</i> corroding leprosy in the house; it is unclean.


text:
He shall tear down the house — its stones and its timber and all the plaster <i>or</i> mortar of the house — and shall carry them forth out of the city to an unclean place.


text:
Moreover, he who enters the house during the whole time that it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening.


text:
But if the priest inspects it and the disease has not spread after the house was plastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the disease is healed.


text:
And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet [material], and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times.


text:
And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, the running water, the living bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet [material].


text:
But he shall let the living bird go out of the city into the open field; so he shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean.


text:
Say to the Israelites, When any man has a running discharge from his body, because of his discharge he is unclean.


text:
This shall be [the law concerning] his uncleanness in his discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge or has stopped [running], it is uncleanness in him.


text:
Every bed on which the one who has the discharge lies is unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.


text:
Whoever touches that person’s bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.


text:
And whoever sits on anything on which he who has the discharge has sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.


text:
And he who touches the flesh of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.


text:
And if he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.


text:
Whoever touches anything that has been under him shall be unclean until evening; and he who carries those things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until evening.


text:
Whomever he who has the discharge touches without rinsing his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until evening.


