Chapter 1

¹In the beginning GodAfter “God,” the Hebrew has the two letters “Aleph Tav” (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet) as a grammatical marker. created the heavens and the earth. ²Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

³God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. There was evening and there was morning, one day.

⁶God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” ⁷God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse, and it was so. ⁸God called the expanse sky. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear,” and it was so. ¹⁰God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas. God saw that it was good. ¹¹God said, “Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with its seed in it, on the earth,” and it was so. ¹²The earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with its seed in it, after their kind: and God saw that it was good. ¹³There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth,” and it was so. ¹⁶God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth, ¹⁸and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. ¹⁹There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky.” ²¹God created the large sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good. ²²God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

²⁴God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind,” and it was so. ²⁵God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.

²⁶God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. ²⁸God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. ³⁰To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food.” And it was so.

³¹God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

Chapter 2

¹The heavens and the earth were finished, and all their vast array. ²On the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. ³God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work which he had created and made.

⁴This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens. ⁵No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, ⁶but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. ⁷Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. ⁸Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ¹⁰A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became four heads. ¹¹The name of the first is Pishon: this is the one which flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; ¹²and the gold of that land is good. There is aromatic resin and the onyx stone. ¹³The name of the second river is Gihon: the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴The name of the third river is Hiddekel: this is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. ¹⁵Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. ¹⁶Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die.”

¹⁸Yahweh God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” ¹⁹Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper suitable for him. ²¹Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. ²²He made the rib, which Yahweh God had taken from the man, into a woman, and brought her to the man. ²³The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” ²⁴Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. ²⁵They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Chapter 3

¹Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’”

²The woman said to the serpent, “Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, ³but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

⁴The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t surely die, ⁵for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit of it, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷The eyes of both them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. ⁸They heard the voice of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.

⁹Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

¹⁰The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

¹¹God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹²The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”

¹³Yahweh God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

¹⁴Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. On your belly shall you go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. ¹⁵I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”

¹⁶To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

¹⁷To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. ¹⁸Thorns also and thistles will it bring forth to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. ¹⁹By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

²⁰The man called his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. ²¹Yahweh God made coats of skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.

²²Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he put forth his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...” ²³Therefore Yahweh God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴So he drove out the man; and he placed Cherubs at the east of the garden of Eden, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Chapter 4

¹The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man with Yahweh’s help.” ²Again she gave birth, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³As time passed, it happened that Cain brought an offering to Yahweh from the fruit of the ground. ⁴Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat of it. Yahweh respected Abel and his offering, ⁵but he didn’t respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell. ⁶Yahweh said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? ⁷If you do well, will it not be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.” ⁸Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” It happened when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.

⁹Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?”

He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰Yahweh said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground. ¹¹Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²From now on, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth.”

¹³Cain said to Yahweh, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴Behold, you have driven me out this day from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. It will happen that whoever finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵Yahweh said to him, “Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” Yahweh appointed a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should strike him.

¹⁶Cain went out from Yahweh’s presence, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. ¹⁷Cain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. ¹⁸To Enoch was born Irad. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech. ¹⁹Lamech took two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. ²⁰Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ²¹His brother’s name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe. ²²Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron. Tubal Cain’s sister was Naamah. ²³Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice,

You wives of Lamech, listen to my speech,

For I have slain a man for wounding me,

A young man for bruising me.

²⁴If Cain will be avenged seven times,

Truly Lamech seventy-seven times.”

²⁵Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, “for God has appointed me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” ²⁶There was also born a son to Seth, and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on Yahweh’s name.

Chapter 5

¹This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in God’s likeness. ²He created them male and female, and blessed them, and called their name Adam,“Adam” and “Man” are spelled with the exact same consonants in Hebrew, so this can be correctly translated either way. in the day when they were created. ³Adam lived one hundred thirty years, and became the father of a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. ⁴The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he became the father of sons and daughters. ⁵All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years, then he died.

⁶Seth lived one hundred five years, and became the father of Enosh. ⁷Seth lived after he became the father of Enosh eight hundred seven years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ⁸All the days of Seth were nine hundred twelve years, then he died.

⁹Enosh lived ninety years, and became the father of Kenan. ¹⁰Enosh lived after he became the father of Kenan, eight hundred fifteen years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ¹¹All the days of Enosh were nine hundred five years, then he died.

¹²Kenan lived seventy years, and became the father of Mahalalel. ¹³Kenan lived after he became the father of Mahalalel eight hundred forty years, and became the father of sons and daughters ¹⁴and all the days of Kenan were nine hundred ten years, then he died.

¹⁵Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Jared. ¹⁶Mahalalel lived after he became the father of Jared eight hundred thirty years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ¹⁷All the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety-five years, then he died.

¹⁸Jared lived one hundred sixty-two years, and became the father of Enoch. ¹⁹Jared lived after he became the father of Enoch eight hundred years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ²⁰All the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty-two years, then he died.

²¹Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. ²²Enoch walked with God after he became the father of Methuselah three hundred years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ²³All the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years. ²⁴Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.

²⁵Methuselah lived one hundred eighty-seven years, and became the father of Lamech. ²⁶Methuselah lived after he became the father of Lamech seven hundred eighty-two years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ²⁷All the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty-nine years, then he died.

²⁸Lamech lived one hundred eighty-two years, and became the father of a son, ²⁹and he named him Noah, saying, “This same will comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, because of the ground which Yahweh has cursed.” ³⁰Lamech lived after he became the father of Noah five hundred ninety-five years, and became the father of sons and daughters. ³¹All the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy-seven years, then he died.

³²Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Chapter 6

¹It happened, when men began to multiply on the surface of the ground, and daughters were born to them, ²that God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took for themselves wives of all that they chose. ³Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; yet will his days be one hundred twenty years.” ⁴The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God’s sons came in to men’s daughters. They bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

⁵Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. ⁷Yahweh said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground; man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” ⁸But Noah found favor in Yahweh’s eyes.

⁹This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with God. ¹⁰Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ¹¹The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹²God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

¹³God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴Make an ark of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ark, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch. ¹⁵This is how you shall make it. The length of the ark will be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. ¹⁶You shall make a roof in the ark, and to a cubit shall you finish it upward. You shall set the door of the ark in the side of it. You shall make it with lower, second, and third levels. ¹⁷I, even I, do bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die. ¹⁸But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹Of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. ²⁰Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort shall come to you, to keep them alive. ²¹Take with you of all food that is eaten, and gather it to you; and it will be for food for you, and for them.” ²²Thus Noah did. According to all that God commanded him, so he did.

Chapter 7

¹Yahweh said to Noah, “Come with all of your household into the ark, for I have seen your righteousness before me in this generation. ²You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two, the male and his female. ³Also of the birds of the sky, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive on the surface of all the earth. ⁴In seven days, I will cause it to rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. Every living thing that I have made, I will destroy from the surface of the ground.”

⁵Noah did everything that Yahweh commanded him.

⁶Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth. ⁷Noah went into the ark with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, because of the waters of the flood. ⁸Clean animals, animals that are not clean, birds, and everything that creeps on the ground ⁹went by pairs to Noah into the ark, male and female, as God commanded Noah. ¹⁰It happened after the seven days, that the waters of the flood came on the earth. ¹¹In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep were burst open, and the sky’s windows were opened. ¹²The rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

¹³In the 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, entered into the ark; ¹⁴they, and every animal after its kind, all the livestock after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. ¹⁵They went to Noah into the ark, by pairs of all flesh with the breath of life in them. ¹⁶Those who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him; and Yahweh shut him in. ¹⁷The flood was forty days on the earth. The waters increased, and lifted up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth. ¹⁸The waters prevailed, and increased greatly on the earth; and the ark floated on the surface of the waters. ¹⁹The waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth. All the high mountains that were under the whole sky were covered. ²⁰The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. ²¹All flesh died that moved on the earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. ²²All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land, died. ²³Every living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the ground, including man, livestock, creeping things, and birds of the sky. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. ²⁴The waters prevailed on the earth one hundred fifty days.

Chapter 8

¹God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided. ²The deep’s fountains and the sky’s windows were also stopped, and the rain from the sky was restrained. ³The waters receded from the earth continually. After the end of one hundred fifty days the waters decreased. ⁴The ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat’s mountains. ⁵The waters receded continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

⁶It happened at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made, ⁷and he sent forth a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth. ⁸He sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground, ⁹but the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him into the ark; for the waters were on the surface of the whole earth. He put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ark. ¹⁰He stayed yet another seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. ¹¹The dove came back to him at evening, and, behold, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth. ¹²He stayed yet another seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she didn’t return to him any more.

¹³It happened in the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked. He saw that the surface of the ground was dried. ¹⁴In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

¹⁵God spoke to Noah, saying, ¹⁶“Go forth from the ark, you, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁷Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.”

¹⁸Noah went forth, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him. ¹⁹Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went forth out of the ark.

²⁰Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. ²¹Yahweh smelled the sweet savor. Yahweh said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake, because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done. ²²While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

Chapter 9

¹God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. ²The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that the ground teems with, and all the fish of the sea are delivered into your hand. ³Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As the green herb, I have given everything to you. ⁴But flesh with the life of it, the blood of it, you shall not eat. ⁵I will surely require your blood of your lives. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. ⁶Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image. ⁷Be fruitful and multiply. Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it.”

⁸God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, ⁹“As for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you, ¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, even every animal of the earth. ¹¹I will establish my covenant with you: all flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood, neither will there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹²God said, “This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: ¹³I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴It will happen, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud, ¹⁵and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. ¹⁶The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” ¹⁷God said to Noah, “This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

¹⁸The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan. ¹⁹These three were the sons of Noah, and from these, the whole earth was populated.

²⁰Noah began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard. ²¹He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent. ²²Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. ²³Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn’t see their father’s nakedness. ²⁴Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him. ²⁵He said,

“Canaan is cursed.

He will be servant of servants to his brothers.”

²⁶He said,

“Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem;

Let Canaan be his servant.

²⁷God enlarge Japheth,

Let him dwell in the tents of Shem;

Let Canaan be his servant.”

²⁸Noah lived three hundred fifty years after the flood. ²⁹All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years, then he died.

Chapter 10

¹Now this is the history of the generations of the sons of Noah and of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.

²The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ³The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. ⁵Of these were the islands of the nations divided in their lands, everyone after his language, after their families, in their nations.

⁶The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. ⁷The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. ⁸Cush became the father of Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth. ⁹He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before Yahweh.” ¹⁰The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. ¹¹Out of that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, ¹²and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (the same is the great city). ¹³Mizraim became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹⁴Pathrusim, Casluhim (which the Philistines descended from), and Caphtorim.

¹⁵Canaan became the father of Sidon (his firstborn), Heth, ¹⁶the Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite, ¹⁷the Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite, ¹⁸the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad. ¹⁹The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as you go toward Gerar, to Gaza; as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, to Lasha. ²⁰These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their languages, in their lands, in their nations.

²¹To Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, to him also were children born. ²²The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. ²³The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. ²⁴Arpachshad became the father of Shelah. Shelah became the father of Eber. ²⁵To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided. His brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰Their dwelling was from Mesha, as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. ³¹These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their languages, in their lands, after their nations.

³²These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations. Of these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

Chapter 11

¹The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. ²It happened, as they traveled east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there. ³They said one to another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. ⁴They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”

⁵Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. ⁶Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. ⁷Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city. ⁹Therefore the name of it was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.

¹⁰This is the history of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood. ¹¹Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹²Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelah. ¹³Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Shelah, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹⁴Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber: ¹⁵and Shelah lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹⁶Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg. ¹⁷Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹⁸Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu. ¹⁹Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁰Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug. ²¹Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²²Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor. ²³Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁴Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah. ²⁵Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁶Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. ²⁸Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees. ²⁹Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran who was also the father of Iscah. ³⁰Sarai was barren. She had no child. ³¹Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there. ³²The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.

Chapter 12

¹Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. ²I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. In you will all of the families of the earth be blessed.”

⁴So Abram went, as Yahweh had spoken to him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran. ⁵Abram took Sarai his wife, Lot his brother’s son, all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls whom they had gotten in Haran, and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. Into the land of Canaan they came. ⁶Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. The Canaanite was then in the land.

⁷Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your seedor, offspring.”

He built an altar there to Yahweh, who appeared to him. ⁸He left from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to Yahweh and called on the name of Yahweh. ⁹Abram traveled, going on still toward the South.

¹⁰There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land. ¹¹It happened, when he had come near to enter Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at. ¹²It will happen, when the Egyptians will see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me, but they will save you alive. ¹³Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you.”

¹⁴It happened that when Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. ¹⁷Yahweh plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way.”

²⁰Pharaoh gave men charge concerning him, and they brought him on the way with his wife and all that he had.

Chapter 13

¹Abram went up out of Egypt: he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South. ²Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. ³He went on his journeys from the South even to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, ⁴to the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first. There Abram called on the name of Yahweh. ⁵Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. ⁶The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together: for their substance was great, so that they could not live together. ⁷There was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite lived in the land at that time. ⁸Abram said to Lot, “Please, let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are relatives. ⁹Isn’t the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left.”

¹⁰Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well-watered everywhere, before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Yahweh, like the land of Egypt, as you go to Zoar. ¹¹So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves the one from the other. ¹²Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. ¹³Now the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinners against Yahweh.

¹⁴Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, “Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, ¹⁵for all the land which you see, I will give to you, and to your offspring forever. ¹⁶I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then your seed may also be numbered. ¹⁷Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it to you.”

¹⁸Abram moved his tent, and came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to Yahweh.

Chapter 14

¹It happened in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim, ²that they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar). ³All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (the same is the Salt Sea). ⁴Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year, they rebelled. ⁵In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, ⁶and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to Elparan, which is by the wilderness. ⁷They returned, and came to En Mishpat (the same is Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar. ⁸The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim; ⁹against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five. ¹⁰Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the hills. ¹¹They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way. ¹²They took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

¹³One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. Now he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were allies of Abram. ¹⁴When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. ¹⁵He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. ¹⁶He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

¹⁷The king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). ¹⁸Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High. ¹⁹He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth: ²⁰and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Abram gave him a tenth of all.

²¹The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, and take the goods to yourself.”

²²Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, ²³that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ ²⁴I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion.”

Chapter 15

¹After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

²Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³Abram said, “Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.”

⁴Behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir.” ⁵Yahweh brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So shall your seed be.” ⁶He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness. ⁷He said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”

⁸He said, “Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?”

⁹He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn’t divide the birds. ¹¹The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

¹²When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him. ¹³He said to Abram, “Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth, ¹⁵but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.” ¹⁷It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ¹⁸In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: ¹⁹the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, ²⁰the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, ²¹the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

Chapter 16

¹Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. ²Sarai said to Abram, “See now, Yahweh has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my handmaid. It may be that I will obtain children by her.” Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. ³Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. ⁴He went in to Hagar, and she conceived. When she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. ⁵Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my handmaid into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes. Yahweh judge between me and you.”

⁶But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your hand. Do to her whatever is good in your eyes.” Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.

⁷The angel of Yahweh found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. ⁸He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s handmaid, where did you come from? Where are you going?”

She said, “I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai.”

⁹The angel of Yahweh said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands.” ¹⁰The angel of Yahweh said to her, “I will greatly multiply your seed, that they will not be numbered for multitude.” ¹¹The angel of Yahweh said to her, “Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction. ¹²He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. He will live opposite all of his brothers.”

¹³She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees,” for she said, “Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?” ¹⁴Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi.Beer Lahai Roi means “well of the one who lives and sees me.” Behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.

¹⁵Hagar bore a son for Abram. Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. ¹⁶Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

Chapter 17

¹When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless. ²I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”

³Abram fell on his face. God talked with him, saying, ⁴“As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵Neither will your name any more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. ⁷I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your seed after you. ⁸I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God.”

⁹God said to Abraham, “As for you, you will keep my covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you. ¹²He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed. ¹³He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴The uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”

¹⁵God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?” ¹⁸Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”

¹⁹God said, “No, but Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You shall call his name Isaac.Isaac means “he laughs.” I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. ²⁰As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹But my covenant I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”

²²When he finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. ²³Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his money; every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the same day, as God had said to him. ²⁴Abraham was ninety-nine years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵Ishmael, his son, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶In the same day both Abraham and Ishmael, his son, were circumcised. ²⁷All the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money of a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Chapter 18

¹Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. ²He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth, ³and said, “My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don’t go away from your servant. ⁴Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵I will get a morsel of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant.”

They said, “Very well, do as you have said.”

⁶Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly make ready three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.” ⁷Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it. ⁸He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.

⁹They said to him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?

He said, “See, in the tent.”

¹⁰He said, “I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him. ¹¹Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. It had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. ¹²Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

¹³Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?’ ¹⁴Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵Then Sarah denied, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” for she was afraid.

He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

¹⁶The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way. ¹⁷Yahweh said, “Will I hide from Abraham what I do, ¹⁸seeing that Abraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? ¹⁹For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.” ²⁰Yahweh said, “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, ²¹I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”

²²The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh. ²³Abraham drew near, and said, “Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”

²⁶Yahweh said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake.” ²⁷Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes. ²⁸What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?”

He said, “I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there.”

²⁹He spoke to him yet again, and said, “What if there are forty found there?”

He said, “I will not do it for the forty’s sake.”

³⁰He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?”

He said, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.”

³¹He said, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?”

He said, “I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake.”

³²He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?”

He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.”

³³Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

Chapter 19

¹The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth, ²and he said, “See now, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you will rise up early, and go on your way.”

They said, “No, but we will stay in the street all night.”

³He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter. ⁵They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.”

⁶Lot went out to them to the door, and shut the door after him. ⁷He said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly. ⁸See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.”

⁹They said, “Stand back!” They said, “This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now will we deal worse with you, than with them!” They pressed hard on the man Lot, and drew near to break the door. ¹⁰But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. ¹¹They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

¹²The men said to Lot, “Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whoever you have in the city, bring them out of the place: ¹³for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before Yahweh that Yahweh has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city.”

But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking. ¹⁵When the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, “Get up! Take your wife, and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.” ¹⁶But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughters’ hands, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city. ¹⁷It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!”

¹⁸Lot said to them, “Oh, not so, my lord. ¹⁹See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can’t escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die. ²⁰See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn’t it a little one?), and my soul will live.”

²¹He said to him, “Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. ²²Hurry, escape there, for I can’t do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.Zoar means “little.”

²³The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky. ²⁵He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground. ²⁶But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahweh. ²⁸He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹It happened, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

³⁰Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. ³¹The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. ³²Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s seed.” ³³They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose. ³⁴It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine again, tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s seed.” ³⁵They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up. ³⁶Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father. ³⁷The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

Chapter 20

¹Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the South, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar. ²Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. ³But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken. For she is a man’s wife.”

⁴Now Abimelech had not come near her. He said, “Lord, will you kill even a righteous nation? ⁵Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister?’ She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands have I done this.”

⁶God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn’t allow you to touch her. ⁷Now therefore, restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours.”

⁸Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared. ⁹Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!” ¹⁰Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?”

¹¹Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’ ¹²Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³It happened, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

¹⁴Abimelech took sheep and oxen, male servants and womale servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him. ¹⁵Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you.” ¹⁶To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated.”

¹⁷Abraham prayed to God. God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children. ¹⁸For Yahweh had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Chapter 21

¹Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said, and Yahweh did to Sarah as he had spoken. ²Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. ³Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.Isaac means “He laughs.” ⁴Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. ⁵Abraham was one hundred years old when his son, Isaac, was born to him. ⁶Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” ⁷She said, “Who would have said to Abraham, that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

⁸The child grew, and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ⁹Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. ¹⁰Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this handmaid and her son! For the son of this handmaid will not be heir with my son, Isaac.”

¹¹The thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight on account of his son. ¹²God said to Abraham, “Don’t let it be grievous in your sight because of the boy, and because of your handmaid. In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice. For from Isaac will your seed be called. ¹³I will also make a nation of the son of the handmaid, because he is your seed.” ¹⁴Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and sent her away. She departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵The water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. ¹⁶She went and sat down opposite him, a good way off, about a bow shot away. For she said, “Don’t let me see the death of the child.” She sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. ¹⁷God heard the voice of the boy.

The angel of God called to Hagar out of the sky, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. For God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. ¹⁸Get up, lift up the boy, and hold him in your hand. For I will make him a great nation.”

¹⁹God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. She went, filled the bottle with water, and gave the boy drink. ²⁰God was with the boy, and he grew. He lived in the wilderness, and became, as he grew up, an archer. ²¹He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

²²It happened at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol the captain of his army spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do. ²³Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.”

²⁴Abraham said, “I will swear.” ²⁵Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away. ²⁶Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this thing. Neither did you tell me, neither did I hear of it, until today.”

²⁷Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech. Those two made a covenant. ²⁸Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. ²⁹Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves mean?”

³⁰He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well.” ³¹Therefore he called that place Beersheba,Beersheba can mean “well of the oath” or “well of seven.” because they both swore there. ³²So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Abimelech rose up with Phicol, the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. ³³Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and called there on the name of Yahweh, the Everlasting God. ³⁴Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines many days.

Chapter 22

¹It happened after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”

He said, “Here I am.”

²He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”

³Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off. ⁵Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you. ⁶Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together. ⁷Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, “My father?”

He said, “Here I am, my son.”

He said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

⁸Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they both went together. ⁹They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood. ¹⁰Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.

¹¹The angel of Yahweh called to him out of the sky, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

He said, “Here I am.”

¹²He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

¹³Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provideor, Yahweh-Jireh, or, Yahweh-Seeing. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.

¹⁵The angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time out of the sky, ¹⁶and said, “I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies. ¹⁸In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”

¹⁹So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. Abraham lived at Beersheba.

²⁰It happened after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, “Behold, Milcah, she also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ²¹Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²²Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Chapter 23

¹Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years. This was the length of Sarah’s life. ²Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. ³Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke to the children of Heth, saying, ⁴“I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

⁵The children of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, ⁶“Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb. Bury your dead.”

⁷Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. ⁸He talked with them, saying, “If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar, ⁹that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he has, which is in the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in the midst of you for a possession of a burying-place.”

¹⁰Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the children of Heth. Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the children of Heth, even of all who went in at the gate of his city, saying, ¹¹“No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.”

¹²Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land. ¹³He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, “But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there.”

¹⁴Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ¹⁵“My lord, listen to me. What is a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver between me and you? Therefore bury your dead.”

¹⁶Abraham listened to Ephron. Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the current merchants’ standard.

¹⁷So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all of its borders, were deeded ¹⁸to Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city. ¹⁹After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. ²⁰The field, and the cave that is in it, were deeded to Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the children of Heth.

Chapter 24

¹Abraham was old, and well stricken in age. Yahweh had blessed Abraham in all things. ²Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please put your hand under my thigh. ³I will make you swear by Yahweh, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live. ⁴But you shall go to my country, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵The servant said to him, “What if the woman isn’t willing to follow me to this land? Must I bring your son again to the land you came from?”

⁶Abraham said to him, “Beware that you don’t bring my son there again. ⁷Yahweh, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my birth, who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, ‘I will give this land to your seedor, offspring.’ He will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. ⁸If the woman isn’t willing to follow you, then you shall be clear from this my oath. Only you shall not bring my son there again.”

⁹The servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter. ¹⁰The servant took ten camels, of his master’s camels, and departed, having a variety of good things of his master’s with him. He arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor. ¹¹He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water. ¹²He said, “Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³Behold, I am standing by the spring of water. The daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴Let it happen, that the young lady to whom I will say, ‘Please let down your pitcher, that I may drink,’ and she will say, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink,’„let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵It happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher on her shoulder. ¹⁶The young lady was very beautiful to look at, a virgin, neither had any man known her. She went down to the spring, filled her pitcher, and came up. ¹⁷The servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please give me a drink, a little water from your pitcher.”

¹⁸She said, “Drink, my lord.” She hurried, and let down her pitcher on her hand, and gave him drink. ¹⁹When she had done giving him drink, she said, “I will also draw for your camels, until they have done drinking.” ²⁰She hurried, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again to the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.

²¹The man looked steadfastly at her, remaining silent, to know whether Yahweh had made his journey prosperous or not. ²²It happened, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden ring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold, ²³and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me. Is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge in?”

²⁴She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵She said moreover to him, “We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.”

²⁶The man bowed his head, and worshiped Yahweh. ²⁷He said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his loving kindness and his truth toward my master. As for me, Yahweh has led me in the way to the house of my master’s relatives.”

²⁸The young lady ran, and told her mother’s house about these words. ²⁹Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban. Laban ran out to the man, to the spring. ³⁰It happened, when he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “This is what the man said to me,” that he came to the man. Behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹He said, “Come in, you blessed of Yahweh. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels.”

³²The man came into the house, and he unloaded the camels. He gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told my message.”

He said, “Speak on.”

³⁴He said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵Yahweh has blessed my master greatly. He has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶Sarah, my master’s wife, bore a son to my master when she was old. He has given all that he has to him. ³⁷My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live, ³⁸but you shall go to my father’s house, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.’ ³⁹I said to my master, ‘What if the woman will not follow me?’ ⁴⁰He said to me, ‘Yahweh, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you, and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son of my relatives, and of my father’s house. ⁴¹Then will you be clear from my oath, when you come to my relatives. If they don’t give her to you, you shall be clear from my oath.’ ⁴²I came this day to the spring, and said, ‘Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, if now you do prosper my way which I go„ ⁴³behold, I am standing by this spring of water. Let it happen, that the maiden who comes forth to draw, to whom I will say, “Give me, I pray you, a little water from your pitcher to drink,” ⁴⁴and she will tell me, “Drink, and I will also draw for your camels,”„let her be the woman whom Yahweh has appointed for my master’s son.’ ⁴⁵Before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder. She went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ⁴⁶She hurried and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink.’ So I drank, and she made the camels drink also. ⁴⁷I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her hands. ⁴⁸I bowed my head, and worshiped Yahweh, and blessed Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take my master’s brother’s daughter for his son. ⁴⁹Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.”

⁵⁰Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The thing proceeds from Yahweh. We can’t speak to you bad or good. ⁵¹Behold, Rebekah is before you. Take her, and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as Yahweh has spoken.”

⁵²It happened that when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth to Yahweh. ⁵³The servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and her mother. ⁵⁴They ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed all night. They rose up in the morning, and he said, “Send me away to my master.”

⁵⁵Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young lady stay with us a few days, at least ten. After that she will go.”

⁵⁶He said to them, “Don’t hinder me, seeing Yahweh has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷They said, “We will call the young lady, and ask her.” ⁵⁸They called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”

She said, “I will go.”

⁵⁹They sent away Rebekah, their sister, with her nurse, Abraham’s servant, and his men. ⁶⁰They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, “Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your seed possess the gate of those who hate them.”

⁶¹Rebekah arose with her ladies. They rode on the camels, and followed the man. The servant took Rebekah, and went his way. ⁶²Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he lived in the land of the South. ⁶³Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the evening. He lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, there were camels coming. ⁶⁴Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel. ⁶⁵She said to the servant, “Who is the man who is walking in the field to meet us?”

The servant said, “It is my master.”

She took her veil, and covered herself. ⁶⁶The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. He loved her. Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Chapter 25

¹Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. ²She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³Jokshan became the father of Sheba, and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. ⁵Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac, ⁶but to the sons of Abraham’s concubines, Abraham gave gifts. He sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, to the east country. ⁷These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred seventy-five years. ⁸Abraham gave up the spirit, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people. ⁹Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre, ¹⁰the field which Abraham purchased of the children of Heth. Abraham was buried there with Sarah, his wife. ¹¹It happened after the death of Abraham that God blessed Isaac, his son. Isaac lived by Beer Lahai Roi.

¹²Now this is the history of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s handmaid, bore to Abraham. ¹³These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to the order of their birth: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, by their villages, and by their encampments: twelve princes, according to their nations. ¹⁷These are the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred thirty-seven years. He gave up the spirit and died, and was gathered to his people. ¹⁸They lived from Havilah to Shur that is before Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He lived opposite all his relatives.

¹⁹This is the history of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham became the father of Isaac. ²⁰Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian, to be his wife. ²¹Isaac entreated Yahweh for his wife, because she was barren. Yahweh was entreated by him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²²The children struggled together within her. She said, “If it be so, why do I live?” She went to inquire of Yahweh. ²³Yahweh said to her,

Two nations are in your womb,

Two peoples will be separated from your body.

The one people will be stronger than the other people.

The elder will serve the younger.

²⁴When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment. They named him Esau. ²⁶After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esau’s heel. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

²⁷The boys grew. Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. ²⁸Now Isaac loved Esau, because he ate his venison. Rebekah loved Jacob. ²⁹Jacob boiled stew. Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. ³⁰Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom.

³¹Jacob said, “First, sell me your birthright.”

³²Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die. What good is the birthright to me?”

³³Jacob said, “Swear to me first.”

He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.

Chapter 26

¹There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar. ²Yahweh appeared to him, and said, “Don’t go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about. ³Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For to you, and to your seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and will give to your seed all these lands. In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, ⁵because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

⁶Isaac lived in Gerar. ⁷The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “My wife,” lest, he thought, “the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at.” ⁸It happened, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife. ⁹Abimelech called Isaac, and said, “Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, ‘She is my sister?’”

Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die because of her.’”

¹⁰Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”

¹¹Abimelech charged all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

¹²Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. Yahweh blessed him. ¹³The man grew great, and grew more and more until he became very great. ¹⁴He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Philistines envied him. ¹⁵Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped, and filled with earth. ¹⁶Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go from us, for you are much mightier than we.”

¹⁷Isaac departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there.

¹⁸Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father. For the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them. ¹⁹Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. ²⁰The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” He called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. ²¹They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. He called the name of it Sitnah. ²²He left that place, and dug another well. They didn’t argue over that one. He called it Rehoboth. He said, “For now Yahweh has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

²³He went up from there to Beersheba. ²⁴Yahweh appeared to him the same night, and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.”

²⁵He built an altar there, and called on the name of Yahweh, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac’s servants dug a well.

²⁶Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army. ²⁷Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?”

²⁸They said, “We saw plainly that Yahweh was with you. We said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace.’ You are now the blessed of Yahweh.”

³⁰He made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹They rose up some time in the morning, and swore one to another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. ³²It happened the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³He called it Shibah.Shibah means “oath” or “seven.” Therefore the name of the city is BeershebaBeersheba means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven” to this day.

³⁴When Esau was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵They grieved Isaac’s and Rebekah’s spirits.

Chapter 27

¹It happened, that 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?”

He said to him, “Here I am.”

²He said, “See now, I am old. I don’t know the day of my death. ³Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and take me venison. ⁴Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die.”

⁵Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. ⁶Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ⁷‘Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you before Yahweh before my death.’ ⁸Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you. ⁹Go now to the flock, and get me from there two good kids of the goats. I will make them savory food for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”

¹¹Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. ¹²What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing.”

¹³His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me.”

¹⁴He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his father loved. ¹⁵Rebekah took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son. ¹⁶She put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck. ¹⁷She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

¹⁸He came to his father, and said, “My father?”

He said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

¹⁹Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me.”

²⁰Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?”

He said, “Because Yahweh your God gave me success.”

²¹Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”

²²Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³He didn’t recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother, Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. ²⁴He said, “Are you really my son Esau?”

He said, “I am.”

²⁵He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, that my soul may bless you.”

He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank. ²⁶His father Isaac said to him, “Come near now, and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said,

“Behold, the smell of my son

Is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed.

²⁸God give you of the dew of the sky,

of the fatness of the earth,

and plenty of grain and new wine.

²⁹Let peoples serve you,

And nations bow down to you.

Be lord over your brothers;

Let your mother’s sons bow down to you.

Cursed be everyone who curses you;

Blessed be everyone who blesses you.”

³⁰It happened, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that your soul may bless me.”

³²Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?”

He said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

³³Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed.”

³⁴When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, my father.”

³⁵He said, “Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing.”

³⁶He said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing.” He said, “Haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?”

³⁷Isaac answered Esau, “Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers have I given to him for servants. With grain and new wine have I sustained him. What then will I do for you, my son?”

³⁸Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father.” Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

³⁹Isaac his father answered him,

“Behold, of the fatness of the earth will be your dwelling,

and of the dew of the sky from above.

⁴⁰By your sword will you live, and you will serve your brother.

It will happen, when you will break loose,

That you shall shake his yoke from off your neck.”

⁴¹Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him. Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴²The words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebekah. She sent and called Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. ⁴³Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban, my brother, in Haran. ⁴⁴Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away; ⁴⁵until your brother’s anger turn away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send, and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”

⁴⁶Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?”

Chapter 28

¹Isaac called Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. ²Arise, go to Paddan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father. Take a wife from there from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples, ⁴and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you, and to your seed with you, that you may inherit the land where you travel, which God gave to Abraham.”

⁵Isaac sent Jacob away. He went to Paddan Aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, Rebekah’s brother, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

⁶Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan 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,” ⁷and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Paddan Aram. ⁸Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan didn’t please Isaac, his father. ⁹Esau went to Ishmael, and took, besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife.

¹⁰Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. ¹¹He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. ¹²He dreamed. Behold, a stairway set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. ¹³Behold, Yahweh stood above it, and said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed. ¹⁴Your seed will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your seed will all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵Behold, I am with you, and will keep you, wherever you go, and will bring you again into this land. For I will not leave you, until I have done that which I have spoken of to you.”

¹⁶Jacob awakened out of his sleep, and he said, “Surely Yahweh is in this place, and I didn’t know it.” ¹⁷He was afraid, and said, “How dreadful is this place! This is none other than God’s house, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. ¹⁹He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. ²⁰Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, ²¹so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, and Yahweh will be my God, ²²then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God’s house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give the tenth to you.”

Chapter 29

¹Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the children of the east. ²He looked, and behold, a well in the field, and, behold, three flocks of sheep lying there by it. For out of that well they watered the flocks. The stone on the well’s mouth was large. ³There all the flocks were gathered. They rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again on the well’s mouth in its place. ⁴Jacob said to them, “My relatives, where are you from?”

They said, “We are from Haran.”

⁵He said to them, “Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?”

They said, “We know him.”

⁶He said to them, “Is it well with him?”

They said, “It is well. See, Rachel, his daughter, is coming with the sheep.”

⁷He said, “Behold, it is still the middle of the day, not time to gather the livestock together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”

⁸They said, “We can’t, until all the flocks are gathered together, and they roll the stone from the well’s mouth. Then we water the sheep.”

⁹While he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she kept them. ¹⁰It happened, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban, his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. ¹²Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father.

¹³It happened, when Laban heard the news of Jacob, his sister’s son, that he ran to meet Jacob, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things. ¹⁴Laban said to him, Surely you are my bone and my flesh. He lived with him for a month. ¹⁵Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?”

¹⁶Laban had two daughters. The name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and attractive. ¹⁸Jacob loved Rachel. He said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.”

¹⁹Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you, than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.”

²⁰Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.

²¹Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.”

²²Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast. ²³It happened in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him. He went in to her. ²⁴Laban gave Zilpah his handmaid to his daughter Leah for a handmaid. ²⁵It happened in the morning that, behold, it was Leah. He said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Didn’t I serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”

²⁶Laban said, “It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷Fulfill the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which you will serve with me yet seven other years.”

²⁸Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife. ²⁹Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah, his handmaid, to be her handmaid. ³⁰He went in also to Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

³¹Yahweh saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³²Leah conceived, and bore a son, and she named him Reuben. For she said, “Because Yahweh has looked at my affliction. For now my husband will love me.” ³³She conceived again, and bare a son, and said, “Because Yahweh has heard that I am hated, he has therefore given me this son also.” She named him Simeon. ³⁴She conceived again, and bare a son. Said, “Now this time will my husband be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore was his name called Levi. ³⁵She conceived again, and bore a son. She said, “This time will I praise Yahweh.” Therefore she named him Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

Chapter 30

¹When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.”

²Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in God’s place, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

³She said, “Behold, my maid Bilhah. Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain children by her.” ⁴She gave him Bilhah her handmaid as wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵Bilhah conceived, and bore Jacob a son. ⁶Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore called she his name Dan. ⁷Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid, conceived again, and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed.” She named him Naphtali.

⁹When Leah saw that she had finished bearing, she took Zilpah, her handmaid, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, bore Jacob a son. ¹¹Leah said, “How fortunate!” She named him Gad. ¹²Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, bore Jacob a second son. ¹³Leah said, “Happy am I, for the daughters will call me happy.” She named him Asher.

¹⁴Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother, Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵She said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes, also?”

Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶Jacob came from the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, “You must come in to me; for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.”

He lay with her that night. ¹⁷God listened to Leah, and she conceived, and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸Leah said, “God has given me my hire, because I gave my handmaid to my husband.” She named him Issachar. ¹⁹Leah conceived again, and bore a sixth son to Jacob. ²⁰Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good dowry. Now my husband will live with me, because I have borne him six sons.” She named him Zebulun. ²¹Afterwards, she bore a daughter, and named her Dinah.

²²God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb. ²³She conceived, bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” ²⁴She named him Joseph,Joseph means “may he add.” saying, “May Yahweh add another son to me.”

²⁵It happened, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place, and to my country. ²⁶Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service with which I have served you.”

²⁷Laban said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, stay here, for I have divined that Yahweh has blessed me for your sake.” ²⁸He said, “Appoint me your wages, and I will give it.”

²⁹He said to him, “You know how I have served you, and how your livestock have fared with me. ³⁰For it was little which you had before I came, and it has increased to a multitude. Yahweh has blessed you wherever I turned. Now when will I provide for my own house also?”

³¹He said, “What shall I give you?”

Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it. ³²I will pass through all your flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. This will be my hire. ³³So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that might be with me, will be counted stolen.”

³⁴Laban said, “Behold, I desire it to be according to your word.”

³⁵That day, he removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white in it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. ³⁶He set three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷Jacob took to himself rods of fresh poplar, almond, plane tree, peeled white streaks in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. ³⁸He set the rods which he had peeled opposite the flocks in the gutters in the watering-troughs where the flocks came to drink. They conceived when they came to drink. ³⁹The flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the streaked and all the black in the flock of Laban: and he put his own droves apart, and didn’t put them into Laban’s flock. ⁴¹It happened, whenever the stronger of the flock conceived, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the flock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods; ⁴²but when the flock were feeble, he didn’t put them in. So the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s. ⁴³The man increased exceedingly, and had large flocks, female servants and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Chapter 31

¹He heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s. From that which was our father’s, has he gotten all this wealth.” ²Jacob saw the expression on Laban’s face, and, behold, it was not toward him as before. ³Yahweh said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers, and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

⁴Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field to his flock, ⁵and said to them, “I see the expression on your father’s face, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me. ⁶You know that I have served your father with all of my strength. ⁷Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but God didn’t allow him to hurt me. ⁸If he said this, ‘The speckled will be your wages,’ then all the flock bore speckled. If he said this, ‘The streaked will be your wages,’ then all the flock bore streaked. ⁹Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock, and given them to me. ¹⁰It happened during mating season that I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which leaped on the flock were streaked, speckled, and grizzled. ¹¹The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹²He said, ‘Now lift up your eyes, and behold, all the male goats which leap on the flock are streaked, speckled, and grizzled, for I have seen all that Laban does to you. ¹³I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you vowed a vow to me. Now arise, get out from this land, and return to the land of your birth.”

¹⁴Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? ¹⁵Aren’t we accounted by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also quite devoured our money. ¹⁶For all the riches which God has taken away from our father, that is ours and our children’s. Now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”

¹⁷Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives on the camels, ¹⁸and he took away all his livestock, and all his possessions which he had gathered, including the livestock which he had gained in Paddan Aram, to go to Isaac his father, to the land of Canaan. ¹⁹Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep: and Rachel stole the teraphimteraphim were household idols that may have been associated with inheritance rights to the household property. that were her father’s.

²⁰Jacob deceived Laban the Syrian, in that he didn’t tell him that he was running away. ²¹So he fled with all that he had. He rose up, passed over the River, and set his face toward the mountain of Gilead.

²²Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled. ²³He took his relatives with him, and pursued after him seven days’ journey. He overtook him in the mountain of Gilead. ²⁴God came to Laban, the Syrian, in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Take heed to yourself that you don’t speak to Jacob either good or bad.”

²⁵Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain, and Laban with his relatives encamped in the mountain of Gilead. ²⁶Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have deceived me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword? ²⁷Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, and didn’t tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs, with tambourine and with harp; ²⁸and didn’t allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters? Now have you done foolishly. ²⁹It is in the power of my hand to hurt you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Take heed to yourself that you don’t speak to Jacob either good or bad.’ ³⁰Now, you want to be gone, because you greatly longed for your father’s house, but why have you stolen my gods?”

³¹Jacob answered Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I said, ‘Lest you should take your daughters from me by force.’ ³²Anyone you find your gods with shall not live. Before our relatives, discern what is yours with me, and take it.” For Jacob didn’t know that Rachel had stolen them.

³³Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two female servants; but he didn’t find them. He went out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent. ³⁴Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt about all the tent, but didn’t find them. ³⁵She said to her father, “Don’t let my lord be angry that I can’t rise up before you; for the manner of women is on me.” He searched, but didn’t find the teraphim.

³⁶Jacob was angry, and argued with Laban. Jacob answered Laban, “What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued after me? ³⁷Now that you have felt around in all my stuff, what have you found of all your household stuff? Set it here before my relatives and your relatives, that they may judge between us two. ³⁸These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks. ³⁹That which was torn of animals, I didn’t bring to you. I bore the loss of it. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ⁴⁰This was my situation: in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times. ⁴²Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”

⁴³Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine: and what can I do this day to these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne? ⁴⁴Now come, let us make a covenant, you and I; and let it be for a witness between me and you.”

⁴⁵Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. ⁴⁶Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” They took stones, and made a heap. They ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha,“Jegar Sahadutha” means “Witness Heap” in Aramaic. but Jacob called it Galeed.“Galeed” means “Witness Heap” in Hebrew. ⁴⁸Laban said, “This heap is witness between me and you this day.” Therefore it was named Galeed ⁴⁹and Mizpah, for he said, “Yahweh watch between me and you, when we are absent one from another. ⁵⁰If you afflict my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, no man is with us; behold, God is witness between me and you.” ⁵¹Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap, and see the pillar, which I have set between me and you. ⁵²May this heap be a witness, and the pillar be a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and that you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. ⁵³The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” Then Jacob swore by the fear of his father, Isaac. ⁵⁴Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his relatives to eat bread. They ate bread, and stayed all night in the mountain. ⁵⁵Early in the morning, Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them. Laban departed and returned to his place.

Chapter 32

¹Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ²When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s army.” He called the name of that place Mahanaim.

³Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. ⁴He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: ‘This is what your servant, Jacob, says. I have lived as a foreigner with Laban, and stayed until now. ⁵I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.’” ⁶The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau. Not only that, but he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with him.” ⁷Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies; ⁸and he said, “If Esau comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape.” ⁹Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Yahweh, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’ ¹⁰I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies. ¹¹Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and strike me, and the mothers with the children. ¹²You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which can’t be numbered because there are so many.’”

¹³He lodged there that night, and took from that which he had with him, a present for Esau, his brother: ¹⁴two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. ¹⁶He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd.” ¹⁷He commanded the foremost, saying, “When Esau, my brother, meets you, and asks you, saying, ‘Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?’ ¹⁸Then you shall say, ‘They are your servant, Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us.’” ¹⁹He commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, “This is how you shall speak to Esau, when you find him. ²⁰You shall say, ‘Not only that, but behold, 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.”

²¹So the present passed over before him, and he himself lodged that night in the camp.

²²He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok. ²³He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had. ²⁴Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day. ²⁵When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained, as he wrestled. ²⁶The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.”

Jacob said, “I won’t let you go, unless you bless me.”

²⁷He said to him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Jacob.” ²⁸He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

²⁹Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”

He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” He blessed him there.

³⁰Jacob called the name of the place PenielPeniel means “face of God.”: for, he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” ³¹The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh. ³²Therefore the children of Israel don’t eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Chapter 33

¹Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau was coming, and with him four hundred men. He divided the children between Leah, Rachel, and the two handmaids. ²He put the handmaids and their children in front, Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear. ³He himself passed over in front of them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

⁴Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, fell on his neck, kissed him, and they wept. ⁵He lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, “Who are these with you?”

He said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶Then the handmaids came near with their children, and they bowed themselves. ⁷Leah also and her children came near, and bowed themselves. After them, Joseph came near with Rachel, and they bowed themselves.

⁸Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?”

Jacob said, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”

⁹Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; let that which you have be yours.”

¹⁰Jacob said, “Please, no, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present at my hand, because I have seen your face, as one sees the face of God, and you were pleased with me. ¹¹Please take the gift that I brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” He urged him, and he took it.

¹²Esau said, “Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before you.”

¹³Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young, and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴Please let my lord pass over before his servant, and I will lead on gently, according to the pace of the livestock that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord to Seir.”

¹⁵Esau said, “Let me now leave with you some of the folk who are with me.”

He said, “Why? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”

¹⁶So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷Jacob traveled to Succoth, built himself a house, and made shelters for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.succoth means shelters or booths.

¹⁸Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan Aram; and encamped before the city. ¹⁹He bought the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money. ²⁰He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel.El Elohe Israel means “God, the God of Israel” or “The God of Israel is mighty.”

Chapter 34

¹Dinah, the daughter of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. ²Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. He took her, lay with her, and humbled her. ³His soul joined to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young lady, and spoke kindly to the young lady. ⁴Shechem spoke to his father, Hamor, saying, “Get me this young lady as a wife.”

⁵Now Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah, his daughter; and his sons were with his livestock in the field. Jacob held his peace until they came. ⁶Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to talk with him. ⁷The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had done folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter; a which thing ought not to be done. ⁸Hamor talked with them, saying, “The soul of my son, Shechem, longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. ⁹Make marriages with us. Give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰You shall dwell with us, and the land will be before you. Live and trade in it, and get possessions in it.”

¹¹Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you will tell me I will give. ¹²Ask me a great amount for a dowry, and I will give whatever you ask of me, but give me the young lady as a wife.”

¹³The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit, and spoke, because he had defiled Dinah their sister, ¹⁴and said to them, “We can’t do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us. ¹⁵Only on this condition will we consent to you. If you will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised; ¹⁶then will we give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people. ¹⁷But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our sister,Hebrew has, literally, “daughter” and we will be gone.”

¹⁸Their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son. ¹⁹The young man didn’t wait to do this thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter, and he was honored above all the house of his father. ²⁰Hamor and Shechem, his son, came to the gate of their city, and talked with the men of their city, saying, ²¹“These men are peaceful with us. Therefore let them live in the land and trade in it. For behold, the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters. ²²Only on this condition will the men consent to us to live with us, to become one people, if every male among us is circumcised, as they are circumcised. ²³Won’t their livestock and their possessions and all their animals be ours? Only let us give our consent to them, and they will dwell with us.”

²⁴All who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor, and to Shechem his son; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city. ²⁵It happened on the third day, when they were sore, that two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males. ²⁶They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away. ²⁷Jacob’s sons came on the dead, and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. ²⁸They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, that which was in the field, ²⁹and all their wealth. They took captive all their little ones and their wives, and took as plunder everything that was in the house. ³⁰Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house.”

³¹They said, “Should he deal with our sister as with a prostitute?”

Chapter 35

¹God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.”

²Then Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, change your garments. ³Let us arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.”

⁴They gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. ⁵They traveled, and a terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they didn’t pursue the sons of Jacob. ⁶So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him. ⁷He built an altar there, and called the place El Beth El; because there God was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother. ⁸Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and the name of it was called Allon Bacuth.

⁹God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him. ¹⁰God said to him, “Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel.” He named him Israel. ¹¹God said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body. ¹²The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your seed after you will I give the land.”

¹³God went up from him in the place where he spoke with him. ¹⁴Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it. ¹⁵Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him “Bethel.”

¹⁶They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor. ¹⁷When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for now you will have another son.”

¹⁸It happened, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Benoni,“Benoni” means “son of my trouble.” but his father named him Benjamin.“Benjamin” means “son of my right hand.” ¹⁹Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem). ²⁰Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. The same is the Pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. ²¹Israel traveled, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder. ²²It happened, while Israel lived in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. ²³The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. ²⁴The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵The sons of Bilhah (Rachel’s handmaid): Dan and Naphtali. ²⁶The sons of Zilpah (Leah’s handmaid): Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram. ²⁷Jacob came to Isaac his father, to Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (which is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac lived as foreigners.

²⁸The days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years. ²⁹Isaac gave up the spirit, and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. Esau and Jacob, his sons, buried him.

Chapter 36

¹Now this is the history of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom). ²Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon, the Hittite; and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, the Hivite; ³and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, sister of Nebaioth. ⁴Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz. Basemath bore Reuel. ⁵Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan. ⁶Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, with his livestock, all his animals, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan, and went into a land away from his brother Jacob. ⁷For their substance was too great for them to dwell together, and the land of their travels couldn’t bear them because of their livestock. ⁸Esau lived in the hill country of Seir. Esau is Edom.

⁹This is the history of the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir: ¹⁰these are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esau; and Reuel, the son of Basemath, the wife of Esau. ¹¹The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz. ¹²Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau’s son; and she bore to Eliphaz Amalek. These are the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife. ¹³These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. ¹⁴These were the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

¹⁵These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, ¹⁶chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek: these are the chiefs who came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah. ¹⁷These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah: these are the chiefs who came of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife. ¹⁸These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah: these are the chiefs who came of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife. ¹⁹These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

²⁰These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, ²¹Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs who came of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom. ²²The children of Lotan were Hori and Heman. Lotan’s sister was Timna. ²³These are the children of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. ²⁴These are the children of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he fed the donkeys of Zibeon his father. ²⁵These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah. ²⁶These are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. ²⁷These are the children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. ²⁸These are the children of Dishan: Uz and Aran. ²⁹These are the chiefs who came of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, ³⁰chief Dishon, chief Ezer, and chief Dishan: these are the chiefs who came of the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir.

³¹These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel. ³²Bela, the son of Beor, reigned in Edom. The name of his city was Dinhabah. ³³Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his place. ³⁴Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. ³⁵Husham died, and Hadad, the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. The name of his city was Avith. ³⁶Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. ³⁷Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the river, reigned in his place. ³⁸Shaul died, and Baal Hanan, the son of Achbor reigned in his place. ³⁹Baal Hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place. The name of his city was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

⁴⁰These are the names of the chiefs who came from Esau, according to their families, after their places, and by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, ⁴¹chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, ⁴²chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, ⁴³chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession. This is Esau, the father of the Edomites.

Chapter 37

¹Jacob lived in the land of his father’s travels, in the land of Canaan. ²This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father. ³Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors. ⁴His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.

⁵Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more. ⁶He said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: ⁷for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf.”

⁸His brothers said to him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Or will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words. ⁹He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.” ¹⁰He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?” ¹¹His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.

¹²His brothers went to feed their father’s flock in Shechem. ¹³Israel said to Joseph, “Aren’t your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them.” He said to him, “Here I am.”

¹⁴He said to him, “Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again.” So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem. ¹⁵A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶He said, “I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock.”

¹⁷The man said, “They have left here, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’”

Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan. ¹⁸They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹They said one to another, “Behold, this dreamer comes. ²⁰Come now therefore, and let’s kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, ‘An evil animal has devoured him.’ We will see what will become of his dreams.”

²¹Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, “Let’s not take his life.” ²²Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”„that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. ²³It happened, when Joseph came to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; ²⁴and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.

²⁵They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷Come, and let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh.” His brothers listened to him. ²⁸Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt.

²⁹Reuben returned to the pit; and saw that Joseph wasn’t in the pit; and he tore his clothes. ³⁰He returned to his brothers, and said, “The child is no more; and I, where will I go?” ³¹They took Joseph’s coat, and killed a male goat, and dipped the coat in the blood. ³²They took the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, whether it is your son’s coat or not.”

³³He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s coat. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.” ³⁴Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. ³⁵All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to SheolSheol is the place of the dead. to my son mourning.” His father wept for him. ³⁶The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.

Chapter 38

¹It happened at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. ²Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her, and went in to her. ³She conceived, and bore a son; and he named him Er. ⁴She conceived again, and bore a son; and she named him Onan. ⁵She yet again bore a son, and named him Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bore him. ⁶Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. ⁷Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of Yahweh. Yahweh killed him. ⁸Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her, and raise up seed to your brother.” ⁹Onan knew that the seed wouldn’t be his; and it happened, when he went in to his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother. ¹⁰The thing which he did was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and he killed him also. ¹¹Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, until Shelah, my son, is grown up;” for he said, “Lest he also die, like his brothers.” Tamar went and lived in her father’s house.

¹²After many days, Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah, the Adullamite. ¹³It was told Tamar, saying, “Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” ¹⁴She took off of her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she wasn’t given to him as a wife. ¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. ¹⁶He turned to her by the way, and said, “Please come, let me come in to you,” for he didn’t know that she was his daughter-in-law.

She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?”

¹⁷He said, “I will send you a kid of the goats from the flock.”

She said, “Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?”

¹⁸He said, “What pledge will I give you?”

She said, “Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.”

He gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him. ¹⁹She arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. ²⁰Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, but he didn’t find her. ²¹Then he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the road?”

They said, “There has been no prostitute here.”

²²He returned to Judah, and said, “I haven’t found her; and also the men of the place said, ‘There has been no prostitute here.’” ²³Judah said, “Let her keep it, lest we be shamed. Behold, I sent this kid, and you haven’t found her.”

²⁴It happened about three months later, that it was told Judah, saying, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute; and moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution.”

Judah said, “Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.” ²⁵When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man, whose these are, I am with child.” She also said, “Please discern whose are these„the signet, and the cords, and the staff.”

²⁶Judah acknowledged them, and said, “She is more righteous than I, because I didn’t give her to Shelah, my son.”

He knew her again no more. ²⁷It happened in the time of her travail, that behold, twins were in her womb. ²⁸When she travailed, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, “This came out first.” ²⁹It happened, as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out, and she said, “Why have you made a breach for yourself?” Therefore his name was called Perez.Perez means “breaking out.” ³⁰Afterward his brother came out, that had the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.Zerah means “scarlet” or “brightness.”

Chapter 39

¹Joseph was brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites that had brought him down there. ²Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian. ³His master saw that Yahweh was with him, and that Yahweh made all that he did prosper in his hand. ⁴Joseph found favor in his sight. He ministered to him, and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. ⁵It happened from the time that he made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that Yahweh blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of Yahweh was on all that he had, in the house and in the field. ⁶He left all that he had in Joseph’s hand. He didn’t concern himself with anything, except for the food which he ate.

Joseph was well-built and handsome. ⁷It happened after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph; and she said, “Lie with me.”

⁸But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, my master doesn’t know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand. ⁹He isn’t greater in this house than I, neither has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

¹⁰As she spoke to Joseph day by day, he didn’t listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her. ¹¹About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside. ¹²She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!”

He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside. ¹³When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had run outside, ¹⁴she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, “Behold, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice. ¹⁵It happened, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and ran outside.” ¹⁶She laid up his garment by her, until his master came home. ¹⁷She spoke to him according to these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me, ¹⁸and it happened, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and ran outside.”

¹⁹It happened, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your servant did to me,” that his wrath was kindled. ²⁰Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody. ²¹But Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. ²²The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there, he was responsible for it. ²³The keeper of the prison didn’t look after anything that was under his hand, because Yahweh was with him; and that which he did, Yahweh made it prosper.

Chapter 40

¹It happened after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord, the king of Egypt. ²Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. ³He put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. ⁴The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he took care of them. They stayed in prison many days. ⁵They both dreamed a dream, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison. ⁶Joseph came in to them in the morning, and saw them, and saw that they were sad. ⁷He asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?”

⁸They said to him, “We have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.”

Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Please tell it to me.”

⁹The chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, behold, a vine was in front of me, ¹⁰and in the vine were three branches. It was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters of it brought forth ripe grapes. ¹¹Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”

¹²Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days. ¹³Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head, and restore you to your office. You will give Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, the way you did when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴But remember me when it will be well with you, and show kindness, please, to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. ¹⁵For indeed, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.”

¹⁶When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head. ¹⁷In the uppermost basket there was all kinds of baked food for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸Joseph answered, “This is the interpretation of it. The three baskets are three days. ¹⁹Within three more days, Pharaoh will lift up your head from off you, and will hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from off you.” ²⁰It happened the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants, and he lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants. ²¹He restored the chief cupbearer to his position again, and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand; ²²but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. ²³Yet the chief cupbearer didn’t remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Chapter 41

¹It happened at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and behold, he stood by the river. ²Behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass. ³Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river. ⁴The ugly and thin cattle ate up the seven sleek and fat cattle. So Pharaoh awoke. ⁵He slept and dreamed a second time: and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good. ⁶Behold, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. ⁷The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. ⁸It happened in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all of Egypt’s magicians and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

⁹Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my faults today. ¹⁰Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker. ¹¹We dreamed a dream in one night, I and he. We dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. ¹²There was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. To each man according to his dream he interpreted. ¹³It happened, as he interpreted to us, so it was: he restored me to my office, and he hanged him.”

¹⁴Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh. ¹⁵Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”

¹⁶Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

¹⁷Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I stood on the brink of the river: ¹⁸and behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, fat and sleek. They fed in the marsh grass, ¹⁹and behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for ugliness. ²⁰The thin and ugly cattle ate up the first seven fat cattle, ²¹and when they had eaten them up, it couldn’t be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke. ²²I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good: ²³and behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. ²⁴The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

²⁵Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh. ²⁶The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one. ²⁷The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine. ²⁸That is the thing which I spoke to Pharaoh. What God is about to do he has shown to Pharaoh. ²⁹Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. ³⁰There will arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, ³¹and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous. ³²The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

³³Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt’s produce in the seven plenteous years. ³⁵Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. ³⁶The food will be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt; that the land not perish through the famine.”

³⁷The thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” ³⁹Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is none so discreet and wise as you. ⁴⁰You shall be over my house, and according to your word will all my people be ruled. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.” ⁴¹Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” ⁴²Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck, ⁴³and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, “Bow the knee!” He set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.” ⁴⁵Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

⁴⁶Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁷In the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth abundantly. ⁴⁸He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, he laid up in the same. ⁴⁹Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. ⁵⁰To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. ⁵¹Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh,“Manasseh” sounds like the Hebrew for “forget.” “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” ⁵²The name of the second, he called Ephraim“Ephraim” sounds like the Hebrew for “twice fruitful.”: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

⁵³The seven years of plenty, that were in the land of Egypt, came to an end. ⁵⁴The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. ⁵⁵When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” ⁵⁶The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.

Chapter 42

¹Now Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, and Jacob said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” ²He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die.” ³Joseph’s ten brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴But Jacob didn’t send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers; for he said, “Lest perhaps harm happen to him.” ⁵The sons of Israel came to buy among those who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. ⁶Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth. ⁷Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?”

They said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”

⁸Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. ⁹Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

¹⁰They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”

¹²He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land.”

¹³They said, “We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and behold, the youngest is this day with our father, and one is no more.”

¹⁴Joseph said to them, “It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies.’ ¹⁵By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go forth from here, unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.” ¹⁷He put them all together into custody for three days.

¹⁸Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this, and live, for I fear God. ¹⁹If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses. ²⁰Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won’t die.”

They did so. ²¹They said one to another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.” ²²Reuben answered them, saying, “Didn’t I tell you, saying, ‘Don’t sin against the child,’ and you wouldn’t listen? Therefore also, behold, his blood is required.” ²³They didn’t know that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them. ²⁴He turned himself away from them, and wept. Then he returned to them, and spoke to them, and took Simeon from among them, and bound him before their eyes. ²⁵Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to restore every man’s money into his sack, and to give them food for the way. So it was done to them.

²⁶They loaded their donkeys with their grain, and departed from there. ²⁷As one of them opened his sack to give his donkey food in the lodging place, he saw his money. Behold, it was in the mouth of his sack. ²⁸He said to his brothers, “My money is restored! Behold, it is in my sack!” Their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling one to another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?” ²⁹They came to Jacob their father, to the land of Canaan, and told him all that had happened to them, saying, ³⁰“The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly with us, and took us for spies of the country. ³¹We said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are no spies. ³²We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is this day with our father in the land of Canaan.’ ³³The man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way. ³⁴Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. So I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’”

³⁵It happened as they emptied their sacks, that behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid. ³⁶Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”

³⁷Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “Kill my two sons, if I don’t bring him to you. Entrust him to my care, and I will bring him to you again.”

³⁸He said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm happens to him along the way in which you go, then you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

Chapter 43

¹The famine was severe in the land. ²It happened, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought out of Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little more food.”

³Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’ ⁴If you’ll send our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy you food, ⁵but if you’ll not send him, we’ll not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’”

⁶Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?”

⁷They said, “The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’”

⁸Judah said to Israel, his father, “Send the boy with me, and we’ll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones. ⁹I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever, ¹⁰for if we hadn’t delayed, surely we would have returned a second time by now.”

¹¹Their father, Israel, said to them, “If it must be so, then do this. Take from the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down a present for the man, a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts, and almonds; ¹²and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight. ¹³Take your brother also, get up, and return to the man. ¹⁴May God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release to you your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

¹⁵The men took that present, and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin; and got up, went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph. ¹⁶When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and make ready; for the men will dine with me at noon.”

¹⁷The man did as Joseph commanded, and the man brought the men to Joseph’s house. ¹⁸The men were afraid, because they were brought to Joseph’s house; and they said, “Because of the money that was returned in our sacks at the first time, we’re brought in; that he may seek occasion against us, attack us, and sieze us as slaves, along with our donkeys.” ¹⁹They came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house, ²⁰and said, “Oh, my lord, we indeed came down the first time to buy food. ²¹When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, every man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand. ²²We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don’t know who put our money in our sacks.”

²³He said, “Peace be to you. Don’t be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money.” He brought Simeon out to them. ²⁴The man brought the men into Joseph’s house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder. ²⁵They made ready the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

²⁶When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to him to the earth. ²⁷He asked them of their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?”

²⁸They said, “Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive.” They bowed the head, and did homage. ²⁹He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” He said, “God be gracious to you, my son.” ³⁰Joseph hurried, for his heart yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there. ³¹He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, “Serve the meal.”

³²They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians, that ate with him, by themselves, because the Egyptians don’t eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. ³³They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled one with another. ³⁴He sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.

Chapter 44

¹He 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. ²Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack’s mouth of the youngest, with his grain money.” He did according to the word that Joseph had spoken. ³As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys. ⁴When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, ‘Why have you rewarded evil for good? ⁵Isn’t this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.’” ⁶He overtook them, and he spoke these words to them.

⁷They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing! ⁸Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord’s house? ⁹With whoever of your servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondservants.”

¹⁰He said, “Now also let it be according to your words: he with whom it is found will be my bondservant; and you will be blameless.”

¹¹Then they hurried, and every man took his sack down to the ground, and every man opened his sack. ¹²He searched, beginning with the eldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin’s sack. ¹³Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and returned to the city.

¹⁴Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him. ¹⁵Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Don’t you know that such a man as I can indeed divine?”

¹⁶Judah said, “What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord’s bondservants, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found.”

¹⁷He said, “Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my bondservant; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

¹⁸Then Judah came near to him, and said, “Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord’s ears, and don’t let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh. ¹⁹My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ ²⁰We said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.’ ²¹You said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.’ ²²We said to my lord, ‘The boy can’t leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’ ²³You said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.’ ²⁴It happened when we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord. ²⁵Our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food.’ ²⁶We said, ‘We can’t go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man’s face, unless our youngest brother is with us.’ ²⁷Your servant, my father, said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons: ²⁸and the one went out from me, and I said, “Surely he is torn in pieces;” and I haven’t seen him since. ²⁹If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.’ ³⁰Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the boy’s life; ³¹it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol. ³²For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, ‘If I don’t bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.’ ³³Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, a bondservant to my lord; and let the boy go up with his brothers. ³⁴For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn’t with me?„lest I see the evil that will come on my father.”

Chapter 45

¹Then Joseph couldn’t control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, “Cause every man to go out from me!” No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ²He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. ³Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Does my father still live?”

His brothers couldn’t answer him; for they were terrified at his presence. ⁴Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.”

They came near. “He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. ⁷God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance. ⁸So now it wasn’t you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says, “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t wait. ¹⁰You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children’s children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have. ¹¹There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have.”’ ¹²Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. ¹³You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here.” ¹⁴He fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck. ¹⁵He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.

¹⁶The report of it was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, “Joseph’s brothers have come.” It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. ¹⁷Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do this. Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ ¹⁹Now you are commanded: do this. Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. ²⁰Also, don’t concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all of the land of Egypt is yours.”

²¹The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. ²²He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing. ²³To his father, he sent after this manner: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way. ²⁴So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, “See that you don’t quarrel on the way.”

²⁵They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father. ²⁶They told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” His heart fainted, for he didn’t believe them. ²⁷They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived. ²⁸Israel said, “It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”

Chapter 46

¹Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac. ²God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”

He said, “Here I am.”

³He said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation. ⁴I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph will close your eyes.”

⁵Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶They took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt„Jacob, and all his seed with him, ⁷his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters, and he brought all his seed with him into Egypt.

⁸These are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn. ⁹The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ¹⁰The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. ¹¹The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ¹²The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. ¹³The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron. ¹⁴The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. ¹⁵These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three. ¹⁶The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. ¹⁷The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel. ¹⁸These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, even sixteen souls. ¹⁹The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁰To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. ²¹The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. ²²These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen. ²³The son of Dan: Hushim. ²⁴The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. ²⁵These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls were seven. ²⁶All the souls who came with Jacob into Egypt, who were his direct descendants, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were sixty-six. ²⁷The sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy.

²⁸He sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show the way before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen. ²⁹Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. ³⁰Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.”

³¹Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father’s house, “I will go up, and speak with Pharaoh, and will tell him, ‘My brothers, and my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. ³²These men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.’ ³³It will happen, when Pharaoh summons you, and will say, ‘What is your occupation?’ ³⁴that you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

Chapter 47

¹Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen.” ²From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. ³Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?”

They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers.” ⁴They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”

⁵Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. ⁶The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”

⁷Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. ⁸Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?”

⁹Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” ¹⁰Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.

¹¹Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. ¹²Joseph nourished his father, his brothers, and all of his father’s household, with bread, according to their families.

¹³There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. ¹⁴Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁵When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, “Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails.”

¹⁶Joseph said, “Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone.”

¹⁷They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year. ¹⁸When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands. ¹⁹Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won’t be desolate.”

²⁰So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh’s. ²¹As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end of it. ²²Only he didn’t buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they didn’t sell their land. ²³Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. ²⁴It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.”

²⁵They said, “You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.”

²⁶Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone didn’t become Pharaoh’s.

²⁷Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly. ²⁸Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years. ²⁹The time drew near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don’t bury me in Egypt, ³⁰but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place.”

He said, “I will do as you have said.”

³¹He said, “Swear to me,” and he swore to him. Israel bowed himself on the bed’s head.

Chapter 48

¹It happened after these things, that someone said to Joseph, “Behold, your father is sick.” He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. ²Someone told Jacob, and said, “Behold, your son Joseph comes to you,” and Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed. ³Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, ⁴and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession.’ ⁵Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine. ⁶Your issue, who you become the father of after them, will be yours. They will be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance. ⁷As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem).”

⁸Israel saw Joseph’s sons, and said, “Who are these?”

⁹Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.”

He said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.” ¹⁰Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn’t see. He brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. ¹¹Israel said to Joseph, “I didn’t think I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your seed also.” ¹²Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. ¹³Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near to him. ¹⁴Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. ¹⁵He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, ¹⁶the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

¹⁷When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. ¹⁸Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

¹⁹His father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a multitude of nations.” ²⁰He blessed them that day, saying, “In you will Israel bless, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh’” He set Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers. ²²Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.”

Chapter 49

¹Jacob called to his sons, and said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.

²Assemble yourselves, and hear, you sons of Jacob;

Listen to Israel, your father.

³“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength;

Excelling in dignity, and excelling in power.

⁴Boiling over as water, you shall not excell;

Because you went up to your father’s bed;

Then defiled it. He went up to my couch.

⁵“Simeon and Levi are brothers;

Weapons of violence are their swords.

⁶My soul, don’t come into their council;

My glory, don’t be united to their assembly;

For in their anger they killed men,

In their self-will they hamstrung oxen.

⁷Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;

And their wrath, for it was cruel.

I will divide them in Jacob,

Scatter them in Israel.

⁸“Judah, your brothers will praise you:

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;

Your father’s sons will bow down before you.

⁹Judah is a lion’s cub.

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

He stooped down, he crouched as a lion,

As a lioness.

Who will rouse him up?

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah,

Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

Until he comes to whom it belongs.

To him will the obedience of the peoples be.

¹¹Binding his foal to the vine,

His donkey’s colt to the choice vine;

He has washed his garments in wine,

His robes in the blood of grapes:

¹²His eyes will be red with wine,

His teeth white with milk.

¹³“Zebulun will dwell at the haven of the sea.

He will be for a haven of ships.

His border will be on Sidon.

¹⁴“Issachar is a strong donkey,

Lying down between the saddlebags.

¹⁵He saw a resting place, that it was good,

The land, that it was pleasant;

He bows his shoulder to the burden,

And becomes a servant doing forced labor.

¹⁶“Dan will judge his people,

As one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷Dan will be a serpent in the way,

An adder in the path,

That bites the horse’s heels,

So that his rider falls backward.

¹⁸I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.

¹⁹“Gad, a troop will press on him;

But he will press on their heel.

²⁰Out of Asher his bread will be fat,

He will yield royal dainties.

²¹“Naphtali is a doe set free,

Who bears beautiful fawns.

²²“Joseph is a fruitful vine,

A fruitful vine by a spring;

His branches run over the wall.

²³The archers have sorely grieved him,

Shot at him, and persecute him:

²⁴But his bow abode in strength,

The arms of his hands were made strong,

By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,

(From there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),

²⁵Even by the God of your father, who will help you,

By the Almighty, who will bless you,

With blessings of heaven above,

Blessings of the deep that lies below,

Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.

²⁶The blessings of your father

Have prevailed above the blessings of your ancestors,

Above the boundaries of the ancient hills.

They will be on the head of Joseph,

On the crown of the head of him who is separated from his brothers.

²⁷“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.

In the morning he will devour the prey.

At evening he will divide the spoil.”

²⁸All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them and blessed them. He blessed everyone according to his blessing. ²⁹He charged them, and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. ³¹There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah: ³²the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth.” ³³When Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the spirit, and was gathered to his people.

Chapter 50

¹Joseph fell on his father’s face, wept on him, and kissed him. ²Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel. ³Forty days were fulfilled for him, for that is how many the days it takes to embalm. The Egyptians wept for him for seventy days.

⁴When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, ⁵‘My father made me swear, saying, “Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan.” Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come again.’”

⁶Pharaoh said, “Go up, and bury your father, just like he made you swear.”

⁷Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt, ⁸all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. ⁹There went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. ¹⁰They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and sore lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days. ¹¹When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians.” Therefore, the name of it was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. ¹²His sons did to him just as he commanded them, ¹³for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre. ¹⁴Joseph returned into Egypt„he, and his brothers, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.

¹⁵When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all of the evil which we did to him. ¹⁶They sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father commanded before he died, saying, ¹⁷“So you shall tell Joseph, ‘Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you.’ Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, “Behold, we are your servants.” ¹⁹Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God? ²⁰As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive. ²¹Now therefore don’t be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones.” He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.

²²Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father’s house. Joseph lived one hundred ten years. ²³Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees. ²⁴Joseph said to his brothers, “I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” ²⁵Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” ²⁶So Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Chapter 1

¹Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob): ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, ³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, ⁴Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. ⁵All the souls who came out of Jacob’s body were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already. ⁶Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation. ⁷The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

⁸Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who didn’t know Joseph. ⁹He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. ¹⁰Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies, and fight against us, and escape out of the land.” ¹¹Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. ¹²But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They were grieved because of the children of Israel. ¹³The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve, ¹⁴and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.

¹⁵The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah, ¹⁶and he said, “When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive. ¹⁸The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and have saved the boys alive?”

¹⁹The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous, and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”

²⁰God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty. ²¹It happened, because the midwives feared God, that he gave them families. ²²Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”

Chapter 2

¹A man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as his wife. ²The woman conceived, and bore a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. ³When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank. ⁴His sister stood far off, to see what would be done to him. ⁵Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her handmaid to get it. ⁶She opened it, and saw the child, and behold, the baby cried. She had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

⁷Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?”

⁸Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.”

The maiden went and called the child’s mother. ⁹Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.”

The woman took the child, and nursed it. ¹⁰The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses,“Moses” sounds like the Hebrew for “draw out”. and said, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

¹¹It happened in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brothers, and looked at their burdens. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers. ¹²He looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no one, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

¹³He went out the second day, and behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting with each other. He said to him who did the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow?”

¹⁴He said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?”

Moses was afraid, and said, “Surely this thing is known.” ¹⁵Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

¹⁶Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. ¹⁷The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. ¹⁸When they came to Reuel, their father, he said, “How is it that you have returned so early today?”

¹⁹They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock.”

²⁰He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.”

²¹Moses was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter. ²²She bore a son, and he named him Gershom,“Gershom” sounds like the Hebrew for “an alien there.” for he said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land.”

²³It happened in the course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. ²⁴God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵God saw the children of Israel, and God was concerned about them.

Chapter 3

¹Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb. ²The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. ³Moses said, “I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.”

⁴When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!”

He said, “Here I am.”

⁵He said, “Don’t come close. Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.” ⁶Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.

⁷Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. ⁸I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ⁹Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

¹¹Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

¹²He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

¹³Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you;’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What should I tell them?”

¹⁴God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: “I AM has sent me to you.” ¹⁵God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations. ¹⁶Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt; ¹⁷and I have said, 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.”’ ¹⁸They will listen to your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.’ ¹⁹I know that the king of Egypt won’t give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand. ²⁰I will put forth my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst of it, and after that he will let you go. ²¹I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed. ²²But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall despoil the Egyptians.

Chapter 4

¹Moses answered, “But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, ‘Yahweh has not appeared to you.’”

²Yahweh said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

He said, “A rod.”

³He said, “Throw it on the ground.”

He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it.

⁴Yahweh said to Moses, “Put forth your hand, and take it by the tail.”

He put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand.

⁵“That they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” ⁶Yahweh said furthermore to him, “Now put your hand inside your cloak.”

He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.

⁷He said, “Put your hand inside your cloak again.”

He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh.

⁸“It will happen, if they will neither believe you nor listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. ⁹It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land.”

¹⁰Moses said to Yahweh, “Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.”

¹¹Yahweh said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn’t it I, Yahweh? ¹²Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.”

¹³He said, “Oh, Lord, please send someone else.”

¹⁴The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Moses, and he said, “What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he comes forth to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. ¹⁵You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do. ¹⁶He will be your spokesman to the people; and it will happen, that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God. ¹⁷You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs.”

¹⁸Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.”

Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”

¹⁹Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.”

²⁰Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God’s rod in his hand. ²¹Yahweh said to Moses, “When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. ²²You shall tell Pharaoh, ‘Thus says Yahweh, Israel is my son, my firstborn, ²³and I have said to you, “Let my son go, that he may serve me;” and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.’”

²⁴It happened on the way at a lodging place, that Yahweh met him and wanted to kill him. ²⁵Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”

²⁶So he let him alone. Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

²⁷Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.”

He went, and met him on God’s mountain, and kissed him. ²⁸Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had charged him. ²⁹Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. ³⁰Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. ³¹The people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Chapter 5

¹Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’”

²Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don’t know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”

³They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword.”

⁴The king of Egypt said to them, “Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!” ⁵Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens.” ⁶The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, ⁷“You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. ⁸The number of the bricks, which they made before, you require from them. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ ⁹Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labor therein; and don’t let them pay any attention to lying words.”

¹⁰The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, This is what Pharaoh says: “I will not give you straw. ¹¹Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.” ¹²So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. ¹³The taskmasters were urgent saying, “Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!” ¹⁴The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, “Why haven’t you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?”

¹⁵Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants? ¹⁶No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, ‘Make brick!’ and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”

¹⁷But he said, “You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’ ¹⁸Go therefore now, and work, for no straw shall be given to you, yet shall you deliver the same number of bricks!”

¹⁹The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble, when it was said, “You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!”

²⁰They met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: ²¹and they said to them, “May Yahweh look at you, and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

²²Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me? ²³For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people; neither have you delivered your people at all.”

Chapter 6

¹Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and by a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land.”

²God spoke to Moses, and said to him, “I am Yahweh; ³and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them. ⁴I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens. ⁵Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. ⁶Therefore tell the children of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments: ⁷and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am Yahweh.’”

⁹Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they didn’t listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

¹⁰Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹“Go in, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.”

¹²Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, “Behold, the children of Israel haven’t listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am of uncircumcised lips?” ¹³Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge to the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁴These are the heads of their fathers’ houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. ¹⁵The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. ¹⁶These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years. ¹⁷The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. ¹⁸The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-three years. ¹⁹The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. ²⁰Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty-seven years. ²¹The sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. ²²The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri. ²³Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ²⁴The sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. ²⁵Eleazar Aaron’s son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families. ²⁶These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom Yahweh said, “Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.” ²⁷These are those who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are that Moses and Aaron.

²⁸It happened on the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, ²⁹that Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “I am Yahweh. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you.”

³⁰Moses said before Yahweh, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?”

Chapter 7

¹Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. ²You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. ³I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. ⁴But Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring forth my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. ⁵The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I stretch forth my hand on Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”

⁶Moses and Aaron did so. As Yahweh commanded them, so they did. ⁷Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.

⁸Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ⁹“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a serpent.’”

¹⁰Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. ¹¹Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their enchantments. ¹²For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. ¹³Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken.

¹⁴Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he goes out to the water; and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. ¹⁶You shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, 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, until now you haven’t listened. ¹⁷Thus says Yahweh, “In this you shall know that I am Yahweh. Behold, I will strike with the rod that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. ¹⁸The fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall become foul; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink water from the river.”’” ¹⁹Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

²⁰Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. ²¹The fish that were in the river died; and the river became foul, and the Egyptians couldn’t drink water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt. ²²The magicians of Egypt did in like manner with their enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken. ²³Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he lay even this to heart. ²⁴All the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to drink; for they couldn’t drink of the water of the river. ²⁵Seven days were fulfilled, after Yahweh had struck the river.

Chapter 8

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, “This is what Yahweh says, ‘Let my people go, that they may serve me. ²If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs: ³and the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into your house, and into your bedchamber, and on your bed, and into the house of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading troughs: ⁴and the frogs shall come up both on you, and on your people, and on all your servants.’” ⁵Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch forth your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’” ⁶Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷The magicians did in like manner with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt.

⁸Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat Yahweh, that he take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh.”

⁹Moses said to Pharaoh, “I give you the honor of setting the time that I should pray for you, and for your servants, and for your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, and remain in the river only.”

¹⁰He said, “Tomorrow.”

He said, “Be it according to your word, that you may know that there is none like Yahweh our God. ¹¹The frogs shall depart from you, and from your houses, and from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.”

¹²Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to Yahweh concerning the frogs which he had brought on Pharaoh. ¹³Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courts, and out of the fields. ¹⁴They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. ¹⁵But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

¹⁶Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’” ¹⁷They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice on man, and on animal; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. ¹⁸The magicians tried with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they couldn’t. There were lice on man, and on animal. ¹⁹Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God:” and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken.

²⁰Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he comes forth to the water; and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh says, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ²¹Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. ²²I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end you may know that I am Yahweh in the midst of the earth. ²³I will put a division between my people and your people: by tomorrow shall this sign be.”’” ²⁴Yahweh did so; and there came grievous swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses: and in all the land of Egypt the land was corrupted by reason of the swarms of flies.

²⁵Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God in the land!”

²⁶Moses said, “It isn’t appropriate to do so; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to Yahweh our God. Behold, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and won’t they stone us? ²⁷We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh our God, as he shall command us.”

²⁸Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to Yahweh your God in the wilderness, only you shall not go very far away. Pray for me.”

²⁹Moses said, “Behold, I go out from you, and I will pray to Yahweh that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow; only don’t let Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to Yahweh.” ³⁰Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh. ³¹Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people. There remained not one. ³²Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he didn’t let the people go.

Chapter 9

¹Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ²For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still, ³behold, the hand of Yahweh is on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks with a very grievous pestilence. ⁴Yahweh will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt; and there shall nothing die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.”’” ⁵Yahweh appointed a set time, saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh shall do this thing in the land.” ⁶Yahweh did that thing on the next day; and all the livestock of Egypt died, but of the livestock of the children of Israel, not one died. ⁷Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not so much as one of the livestock of the Israelites dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn, and he didn’t let the people go.

⁸Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. ⁹It shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal, throughout all the land of Egypt.”

¹⁰They took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward the sky; and it became a boil breaking forth with boils on man and on animal. ¹¹The magicians couldn’t stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were on the magicians, and on all the Egyptians. ¹²Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken to Moses.

¹³Yahweh said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, that they may serve me. ¹⁴For this time I will send all my plagues against your heart, against your officials, and against your people; that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. ¹⁵For now I would have put forth my hand, and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth; ¹⁶but indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth; ¹⁷as you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won’t let them go. ¹⁸Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded even until now. ¹⁹Now therefore command that all of your livestock and all that you have in the field be brought into shelter. Every man and animal that is found in the field, and isn’t brought home, the hail shall come down on them, and they shall die.”’”

²⁰Those who feared the word of Yahweh among the servants of Pharaoh made their servants and their livestock flee into the houses. ²¹Whoever didn’t regard the word of Yahweh left his servants and his livestock in the field.

²²Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand toward the sky, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on animal, and on every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt.”

²³Moses stretched forth his rod toward the heavens, and Yahweh sent thunder, hail, and lightning flashed down to the earth. Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt. ²⁴So there was very severe hail, and lightning mixed with the hail, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. ²⁵The hail struck throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and animal; and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field. ²⁶Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.

²⁷Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked. ²⁸Pray to Yahweh; for there has been enough of mighty thunderings and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”

²⁹Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands to Yahweh. The thunders shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that you may know that the earth is Yahweh’s. ³⁰But as for you and your servants, I know that you don’t yet fear Yahweh God.”

³¹The flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was in bloom. ³²But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they had not grown up. ³³Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands to Yahweh; and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured on the earth. ³⁴When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants. ³⁵The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go, just as Yahweh had spoken through Moses.

Chapter 10

¹Yahweh said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I may show these my signs in the midst of them, ²and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your son’s son, what things I have done to Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that you may know that I am Yahweh.”

³Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. ⁴Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, ⁵and they shall cover the surface of the earth, so that one won’t be able to see the earth. They shall eat the residue of that which has escaped, which remains to you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which grows for you out of the field. ⁶Your houses shall be filled, and the houses of all your servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; as neither your fathers nor your fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were on the earth to this day.’” He turned, and went out from Pharaoh.

⁷Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh, their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”

⁸Moses and Aaron were brought again to Pharaoh, and he said to them, “Go, serve Yahweh your God; but who are those who will go?”

⁹Moses said, “We will go with our young and with our old; with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast to Yahweh.”

¹⁰He said to them, “Yahweh be with you if I will let you go with your little ones! See, evil is clearly before your faces. ¹¹Not so! Go now you who are men, and serve Yahweh; for that is what you desire!” They were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

¹²Yahweh 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 every herb of the land, even all that the hail has left.” ¹³Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and Yahweh brought an east wind on the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. ¹⁴The locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt. They were very grievous. Before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. ¹⁵For they covered the surface of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened, and they ate every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. There remained nothing green, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt. ¹⁶Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you. ¹⁷Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to Yahweh your God, that he may also take away from me this death.”

¹⁸He went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to Yahweh. ¹⁹Yahweh turned an exceeding strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt. ²⁰But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go.

²¹Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.” ²²Moses stretched forth his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. ²³They didn’t see one another, neither did anyone rise from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

²⁴Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, “Go, serve Yahweh. Only let your flocks and your herds stay behind. Let your little ones also go with you.”

²⁵Moses said, “You must also give into our hand sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God. ²⁶Our livestock also shall go with us. There shall not a hoof be left behind, for of it we must take to serve Yahweh our God; and we don’t know with what we must serve Yahweh, until we come there.”

²⁷But Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he wouldn’t let them go. ²⁸Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Be careful to see my face no more; for in the day you see my face you shall die!”

²⁹Moses said, “You have spoken well. I will see your face again no more.”

Chapter 11

¹Yahweh said to Moses, “Yet one plague more will I bring on Pharaoh, and on Egypt; afterwards he will let you go. When he lets you go, he will surely thrust you out altogether. ²Speak now in the ears of the people, and let them ask every man of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.” ³Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.

⁴Moses said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt, ⁵and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of livestock. ⁶There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been, nor shall be any more. ⁷But against any of the children of Israel a dog won’t even bark or move its tongue, against man or animal; that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel. ⁸All these your servants shall come down to me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you; and after that I will go out.’” He went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.

⁹Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh won’t listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go out of his land.

Chapter 12

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ²“This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. ³Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household; ⁴and if the household be too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats: ⁶and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening. ⁷They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it. ⁸They shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. ⁹Don’t eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts. ¹⁰You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. ¹¹This is how you shall eat it: with your waist girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh’s Passover. ¹²For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Yahweh. ¹³The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. ¹⁴This day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to Yahweh: throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.

¹⁵Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you. ¹⁷You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall you observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever. ¹⁸In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening. ¹⁹Seven days shall there be no yeast found in your houses, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a foreigner, or one who is born in the land. ²⁰You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread.’”

²¹Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, “Draw out, and take lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover. ²²You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. ²³For Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two doorposts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you. ²⁴You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. ²⁵It shall happen when you have come to the land which Yahweh will give you, according as he has promised, that you shall keep this service. ²⁶It will happen, when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ ²⁷that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of Yahweh’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.’”

The people bowed their heads and worshiped. ²⁸The children of Israel went and did so; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

²⁹It happened at midnight, that Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of livestock. ³⁰Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and 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. ³¹He called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve Yahweh, as you have said! ³²Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!”

³³The Egyptians were urgent with the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We are all dead men.” ³⁴The people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. ³⁵The children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing. ³⁶Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. They despoiled the Egyptians.

³⁷The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, besides children. ³⁸A mixed multitude went up also with them, with flocks, herds, and even very much livestock. ³⁹They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt; for it wasn’t leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and couldn’t wait, neither had they prepared for themselves any food. ⁴⁰Now the time that the children of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. ⁴¹It happened at the end of four hundred thirty years, even the same day it happened, that all the armies of Yahweh went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴²It is a night to be much observed to Yahweh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of Yahweh, to be much observed of all the children of Israel throughout their generations.

⁴³Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover. There shall no foreigner eat of it, ⁴⁴but every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat of it. ⁴⁵A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat of it. ⁴⁶In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry forth anything of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall you break a bone of it. ⁴⁷All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ⁴⁸When a stranger shall live as a foreigner with you, and will keep the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one who is born in the land: but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. ⁴⁹One law shall be to him who is born at home, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you.” ⁵⁰Thus did all the children of Israel. As Yahweh commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. ⁵¹It happened the same day, that Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.

Chapter 13

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Sanctify to me all of the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal. It is mine.”

³Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. ⁴This day you go forth in the month Abib. ⁵It shall be, when Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. ⁶Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Yahweh. ⁷Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with you, neither shall there be yeast seen with you, in all your borders. ⁸You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’ ⁹It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt. ¹⁰You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.

¹¹“It shall be, when Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, as he swore to you and to your fathers, and shall give it you, ¹²that you shall set apart to Yahweh all that opens the womb, and every firstborn which you have that comes from an animal. The males shall be Yahweh’s. ¹³Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and you shall redeem all the firstborn of man among your sons. ¹⁴It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall tell him, ‘By strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage; ¹⁵and it happened, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that Yahweh killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of animal. Therefore I sacrifice to Yahweh all that opens the womb, being males; but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ¹⁶It shall be for a sign on your hand, and for symbols between your eyes: for by strength of hand Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt.”

¹⁷It happened, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God didn’t lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt;” ¹⁸but God led the people around by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea; and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁹Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away from here with you.” ²⁰They took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. ²¹Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night: ²²the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, didn’t depart from before the people.

Chapter 14

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea. ³Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.’ ⁴I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh.” They did so.

⁵It was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” ⁶He made ready his chariot, and took his army with him; ⁷and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over all of them. ⁸Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel; for the children of Israel went out with a high hand. ⁹The Egyptians pursued after them: all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army; and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

¹⁰When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to Yahweh. ¹¹They said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us forth out of Egypt? ¹²Isn’t this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?’ For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”

¹³Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again. ¹⁴Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still.”

¹⁵Yahweh said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward. ¹⁶Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots, and over his horsemen. ¹⁸The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.” ¹⁹The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them. ²⁰It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night: and the one didn’t come near the other all the night.

²¹Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. ²²The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left. ²³The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea: all of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. ²⁴It happened in the morning watch, that Yahweh looked out on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and confused the Egyptian army. ²⁵He took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee from the face of Israel, for Yahweh fights for them against the Egyptians!”

²⁶Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” ²⁷Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. ²⁸The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh’s army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them. ²⁹But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left. ³⁰Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹Israel saw the great work which Yahweh did to the Egyptians, and the people feared Yahweh; and they believed in Yahweh, and in his servant Moses.

Chapter 15

¹Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said,

“I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously:

The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

²Yah is my strength and song,

He has become my salvation:

This is my God, and I will praise him;

My father’s God, and I will exalt him.

³Yahweh is a man of war.

Yahweh is his name.

⁴He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea;

His chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea.

⁵The deeps cover them.

They went down into the depths like a stone.

⁶Your right hand, Yahweh, is glorious in power,

Your right hand, Yahweh, dashes the enemy in pieces.

⁷In the greatness of your excellency, you overthrow those who rise up against you:

You send forth your wrath. It consumes them as stubble.

⁸With the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up.

The floods stood upright as a heap.

The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.

⁹The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil.

My desire shall be satisfied on them.

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

¹⁰You blew with your wind.

The sea covered them.

They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

¹¹Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods?

Who is like you, glorious in holiness,

Fearful in praises, doing wonders?

¹²You stretched out your right hand.

The earth swallowed them.

¹³“You, in your loving kindness, have led the people that you have redeemed.

You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation.

¹⁴The peoples have heard.

They tremble.

Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia.

¹⁵Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed.

Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab.

All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away.

¹⁶Terror and dread falls on them.

By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone;

Until your people pass over, Yahweh,

Until the people pass over who you have purchased.

¹⁷You shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance,

The place, Yahweh, which you have made for yourself to dwell in;

The sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established.

¹⁸Yahweh shall reign forever and ever.”

¹⁹For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and Yahweh brought back the waters of the sea on them; but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea. ²⁰Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances. ²¹Miriam answered them,

“Sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously:

The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”

²²Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. ²³When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink from the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.Marah means bitter. ²⁴The people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” ²⁵Then he cried to Yahweh. Yahweh showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them; ²⁶and he said, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you.”

²⁷They came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water, and seventy palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters.

Chapter 16

¹They took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. ²The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness; ³and the children of Israel said to them, “We wish that we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

⁴Then said Yahweh to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law, or not. ⁵It shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”

⁶Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening, then you shall know that Yahweh has brought you out from the land of Egypt; ⁷and in the morning, then you shall see the glory of Yahweh; because he hears your murmurings against Yahweh. Who are we, that you murmur against us?” ⁸Moses said, “Now Yahweh shall give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you; because Yahweh hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against Yahweh.” ⁹Moses said to Aaron, “Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before Yahweh, for he has heard your murmurings.’” ¹⁰It happened, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of Yahweh appeared in the cloud. ¹¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²“I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread: and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God.’”

¹³It happened at evening that quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp. ¹⁴When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground. ¹⁵When the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, “What is it?” For they didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat.” ¹⁶This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded: “Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, shall you take it, every man for those who are in his tent.” ¹⁷The children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less. ¹⁸When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating. ¹⁹Moses said to them, “Let no one leave of it until the morning.” ²⁰Notwithstanding they didn’t listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and became foul: and Moses was angry with them. ²¹They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted. ²²It happened that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. ²³He said to them, “This is that which Yahweh has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.” ²⁴They laid it up until the morning, as Moses asked, and it didn’t become foul, neither was there any worm in it. ²⁵Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to Yahweh. Today you shall not find it in the field. ²⁶Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. In it there shall be none.” ²⁷It happened on the seventh day, that some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. ²⁸Yahweh said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? ²⁹Behold, because Yahweh has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰So the people rested on the seventh day.

³¹The house of Israel called the name of it Manna,“Manna” means “What is it?” and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey. ³²Moses said, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded, ‘Let an omer-full of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.” ³³Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before Yahweh, to be kept throughout your generations.” ³⁴As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. ³⁵The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. ³⁶Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

Chapter 17

¹All the congregation of the children of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, by their journeys, according to Yahweh’s commandment, and encamped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. ²Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?”

³The people were thirsty for water there; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”

⁴Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

⁵Yahweh said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go. ⁶Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷He called the name of the place Massah,Massah means testing. and Meribah,Meribah means quarreling. because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us, or not?”

⁸Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. ⁹Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God’s rod in my hand.” ¹⁰So Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹It happened, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹²But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset. ¹³Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. ¹⁴Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.” ¹⁵Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Yahweh our Banner.Hebrew, Yahweh Nissi ¹⁶He said, “Yah has sworn: ‘Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’”

Chapter 18

¹Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, how that Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt. ²Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, received Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her away, ³and her two sons. The name of one son was Gershom,“Gershom” sounds like the Hebrew for “an alien there.” for Moses said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land”. ⁴The name of the other was Eliezer,Eliezer means “God is my helper.” for he said, “My father’s God was my help and delivered me from Pharaoh’s sword.” ⁵Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the Mountain of God. ⁶He said to Moses, I, your father-in-law Jethro, have come to you with your wife, and her two sons with her. ⁷Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent. ⁸Moses told his father-in-law all that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardships that had come on them on the way, and how Yahweh delivered them. ⁹Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which Yahweh had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰Jethro said, “Blessed be Yahweh, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh; who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. ¹¹Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods because of the thing in which they dealt arrogantly against them.” ¹²Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. Aaron came with all of the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.

¹³It happened on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from the morning to the evening. ¹⁴When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, “What is this thing that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning to evening?”

¹⁵Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. ¹⁶When they have a matter, 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.” ¹⁷Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. ¹⁸You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to perform it yourself alone. ¹⁹Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You represent the people before God, and bring the causes to God. ²⁰You shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and shall show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. ²¹Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ²²Let them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for you, and they shall share the load with you. ²³If you will do this thing, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all of these people also will go to their place in peace.”

²⁴So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. ²⁵Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. ²⁶They judged the people at all times. They brought the hard causes to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves. ²⁷Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land.

Chapter 19

¹In the third month after the children of Israel had gone forth out of the land of Egypt, on that same day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. ²When they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mountain. ³Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him out of the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall tell the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: ⁴‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to myself. ⁵Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine; ⁶and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

⁷Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which Yahweh commanded him. ⁸All the people answered together, and said, “All that Yahweh has spoken we will do.”

Moses reported the words of the people to Yahweh. ⁹Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh. ¹⁰Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments, ¹¹and be ready against the third day; for on the third day Yahweh will come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai. ¹²You shall set bounds to the people round about, saying, ‘Be careful that you don’t go up onto the mountain, or touch its border. Whoever touches the mountain shall be surely put to death. ¹³No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether it is animal or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come up to the mountain.”

¹⁴Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵He said to the people, “Be ready by the third day. Don’t have sexual relations with a woman.”

¹⁶It happened on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. ¹⁷Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the lower part of the mountain. ¹⁸Mount Sinai, the whole of it, smoked, because Yahweh descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. ¹⁹When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by a voice. ²⁰Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹Yahweh said to Moses, “Go down, charge the people, lest they break through to Yahweh to gaze, and many of them perish. ²²Let the priests also, who come near to Yahweh, sanctify themselves, lest Yahweh break forth on them.”

²³Moses said to Yahweh, “The people can’t come up to Mount Sinai, for you charged us, saying, ‘Set bounds around the mountain, and sanctify it.’”

²⁴Yahweh said to him, “Go down and you shall bring Aaron up with you, but don’t let the priests and the people break through to come up to Yahweh, lest he break forth on them.”

²⁵So Moses went down to the people, and told them.

Chapter 20

¹GodAfter “God,” the Hebrew has the two letters “Aleph Tav” (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet), not as a word, but as a grammatical marker. spoke all these words, saying, ²“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ³You shall have no other gods before me.

⁴“You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: ⁵you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷“You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

⁸“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹You shall labor six days, and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God. You shall not do any work in it, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; ¹¹for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore Yahweh blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.

¹²“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

¹³“You shall not murder.

¹⁴“You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵“You shall not steal.

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

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

¹⁸All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance. ¹⁹They said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let God speak with us, lest we die.”

²⁰Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, that you won’t sin.” ²¹The people stayed at a distance, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

²²Yahweh said to Moses, “This is what you shall tell the children of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. ²³You shall most certainly not make alongside of me gods of silver, or gods of gold for yourselves. ²⁴You shall make an altar of earth for me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record my name I will come to you and I will bless you. ²⁵If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it. ²⁶Neither shall you go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed to it.’

Chapter 21

¹“Now these are the ordinances which you shall set before them.

²If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years and in the seventh he shall go out free without paying anything. ³If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself. ⁵But if the servant shall plainly say, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;’ ⁶then his master shall bring him to God, and shall bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever.

⁷“If a man sells his daughter to be a female servant, she shall not go out as the male servants do. ⁸If she doesn’t please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, seeing he has dealt deceitfully with her. ⁹If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters. ¹⁰If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights. ¹¹If he doesn’t do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.

¹²“One who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death, ¹³but not if it is unintentional, but God allows it to happen: then I will appoint you a place where he shall flee. ¹⁴If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

¹⁵“Anyone who attacks his father or his mother shall be surely put to death.

¹⁶“Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷“Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

¹⁸“If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t die, but is confined to bed; ¹⁹if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed.

²⁰“If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished. ²¹Notwithstanding, if he gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his property.

²²“If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he shall be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and the judges allow. ²³But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life, ²⁴eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise.

²⁶“If a man strikes his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake. ²⁷If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his female servant’s tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.

²⁸“If a bull gores a man or a woman to death, the bull shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall not be held responsible. ²⁹But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and it has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death. ³⁰If a ransom is laid on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is laid on him. ³¹Whether it has gored a son or has gored a daughter, according to this judgment it shall be done to him. ³²If the bull gores a male servant or a female servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned.

³³“If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn’t cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his.

³⁵“If one man’s bull injures another’s, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live bull, and divide its price; and they shall also divide the dead animal. ³⁶Or if it is known that the bull was in the habit of goring in the past, and its owner has not kept it in, he shall surely pay bull for bull, and the dead animal shall be his own.

Chapter 22

¹“If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it, or sells it; he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. ²If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him. ³If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt of bloodshed for him; he shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. ⁴If the stolen property is found in his hand alive, whether it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall pay double.

⁵“If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten, and lets his animal loose, and it grazes in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field, and from the best of his own vineyard.

⁶“If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, or the field are consumed; he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

⁷“If a man delivers to his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief is found, he shall pay double. ⁸If the thief isn’t found, then the master of the house shall come near to God, to find out if he hasn’t put his hand to his neighbor’s goods. ⁹For every matter of trespass, whether it be for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any kind of lost thing, about which one says, ‘This is mine,’ the cause of both parties shall come before God. He whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.

¹⁰“If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured, or driven away, no man seeing it; ¹¹the oath of Yahweh shall be between them both, whether he hasn’t put his hand to his neighbor’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution. ¹²But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to the owner of it. ¹³If it is torn in pieces, let him bring it for evidence. He shall not make good that which was torn.

¹⁴“If a man borrows anything of his neighbor’s, and it is injured, or dies, the owner of it not being with it, he shall surely make restitution. ¹⁵If the owner of it is with it, he shall not make it good. If it is a leased thing, it came for its lease.

¹⁶“If a man entices a virgin who isn’t pledged to be married, and lies with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife. ¹⁷If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.

¹⁸“You shall not allow a sorceress to live.

¹⁹“Whoever has sex with an animal shall surely be put to death.

²⁰“He who sacrifices to any god, except to Yahweh only, shall be utterly destroyed.

²¹“You shall not wrong an alien, neither shall you oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

²²“You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child. ²³If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry; ²⁴and my wrath will grow hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

²⁵“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 charge him interest. ²⁶If you take your neighbor’s garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down, ²⁷for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious.

²⁸“You shall not blaspheme God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

²⁹“You shall not delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses.

“You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me. ³⁰You shall do likewise with your oxen and with your sheep. Seven days it shall be with its mother, then on the eighth day you shall give it me.

³¹“You shall be holy men to me, therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by animals in the field. You shall cast it to the dogs.

Chapter 23

¹“You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. ²You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; neither shall you testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice; ³neither shall you favor a poor man in his cause.

⁴“If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. ⁵If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don’t leave him, you shall surely help him with it.

⁶“You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.

⁷“Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous: for I will not justify the wicked.

⁸You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous.

⁹“You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, seeing you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰“For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase, ¹¹but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the animal of the field shall eat. In like manner you shall deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove.

¹²“Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your handmaid, and the alien may be refreshed.

¹³“Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don’t invoke the name of other gods, neither let them be heard out of your mouth.

¹⁴“You shall observe a feast to me three times a year. ¹⁵You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it you came out from Egypt), and no one shall appear before me empty. ¹⁶And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field: and the feast of harvest, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field. ¹⁷Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁸“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread, neither shall the fat of my feast remain all night until the morning. ¹⁹The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of Yahweh your God.

“You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

²⁰“Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. ²¹Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him. ²²But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. ²³For my angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off. ²⁴You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars. ²⁵You shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from your midst. ²⁶No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. ²⁷I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. ²⁸I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you. ²⁹I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you. ³⁰Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land. ³¹I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. ³²You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. ³³They 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.”

Chapter 24

¹He said to Moses, “Come up to Yahweh, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship from a distance. ²Moses alone shall come near to Yahweh, but they shall not come near, neither shall the people go up with him.”

³Moses came and told the people all the words of Yahweh, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which Yahweh has spoken will we do.”

⁴Moses wrote all the words of Yahweh, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mountain, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to Yahweh. ⁶Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that Yahweh has spoken will we do, and be obedient.”

⁸Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.”

⁹Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. ¹⁰They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphireor, lapis lazuli stone, like the skies for clearness. ¹¹He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank.

¹²Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the tables of stone with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them.”

¹³Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God’s Mountain. ¹⁴He said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.”

¹⁵Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. ¹⁶The glory of Yahweh settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. ¹⁷The appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. ¹⁸Moses entered into the midst of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Chapter 25

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, that they take an offering for me. From everyone whose heart makes him willing you shall take my offering. ³This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, brass, ⁴blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, ⁵rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, ⁶oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, ⁷onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate. ⁸Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. ⁹According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tent, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it.

¹⁰“They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its breadth a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height. ¹¹You shall overlay it with pure gold. Inside and outside shall you overlay it, and shall make a gold molding around it. ¹²You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four feet. Two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. ¹³You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. ¹⁵The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it. ¹⁶You shall put the testimony which I shall give you into the ark. ¹⁷You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. ¹⁸You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. You shall make the cherubim on its two ends of one piece with the mercy seat. ²⁰The cherubim shall spread out their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. ²¹You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you. ²²There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony, all that I command you for the children of Israel.

²³“You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth, and one and a half cubits its height. ²⁴You shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it. ²⁵You shall make a rim of a handbreadth around it. You shall make a golden molding on its rim around it. ²⁶You shall make four rings of gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that are on its four feet. ²⁷the rings shall be close to the rim, for places for the poles to carry the table. ²⁸You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them. ²⁹You shall make its dishes, its spoons, its ladles, and its bowls to pour out offerings with. Of pure gold shall you make them. ³⁰You shall set bread of the presence on the table before me always.

³¹“You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. Of hammered work shall the lampstand be made, even its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers, shall be of one piece with it. ³²There shall be six branches going out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of its one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of its other side; ³³three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower; and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower, so for the six branches going out of the lampstand; ³⁴and in the lampstand four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers; ³⁵and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of the lampstand. ³⁶Their buds and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it one beaten work of pure gold. ³⁷You shall make its lamps seven, and they shall light its lamps to give light to the space in front of it. ³⁸Its snuffers and its snuff dishes shall be of pure gold. ³⁹It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these accessories. ⁴⁰See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain.

Chapter 26

¹“Moreover you shall make the tent with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with cherubim. The work of the skillful workman you shall make them. ²The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits: all the curtains shall have one measure. ³Five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and the other five curtains shall be coupled one to another. ⁴You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling; and likewise shall you make in the edge of the curtain that is outmost in the second coupling. ⁵You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that is in the second coupling. The loops shall be opposite one to another. ⁶You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains one to another with the clasps: and the tent shall be a unit.

⁷“You shall make curtains of goats’ hair for a covering over the tent: eleven curtains shall you make them. ⁸The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits: the eleven curtains shall have one measure. ⁹You shall couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shall double over the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tent. ¹⁰You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the one curtain that is outmost in the coupling, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which is outmost in the second coupling. ¹¹You shall make fifty clasps of brass, and put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one. ¹²The overhanging part that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tent. ¹³The cubit on the one side, and the cubit on the other side, of that which remains in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tent on this side and on that side, to cover it. ¹⁴You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above.

¹⁵“You shall make the boards for the tent of acacia wood, standing up. ¹⁶Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and one and a half cubits the breadth of each board. ¹⁷There shall be two tenons in each board, joined to one another: thus shall you make for all the boards of the tent. ¹⁸You shall make the boards for the tent, twenty boards for the south side southward. ¹⁹You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. ²⁰For the second side of the tent, on the north side, twenty boards, ²¹and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. ²²For the far part of the tent westward you shall make six boards. ²³Two boards shall you make for the corners of the tent in the far part. ²⁴They shall be double beneath, and in like manner they shall be entire to the top of it to one ring: thus shall it be for them both; they shall be for the two corners. ²⁵There shall be eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

²⁶“You shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tent, ²⁷and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tent, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tent, for the far part westward. ²⁸The middle bar in the midst of the boards shall pass through from end to end. ²⁹You shall overlay the boards with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars: and you shall overlay the bars with gold. ³⁰You shall set up the tent according to the way that it was shown to you on the mountain.

³¹“You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. The work of the skillful workman shall it be made. ³²You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold; their hooks shall be of gold, on four sockets of silver. ³³You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil: and the veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for you. ³⁴You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the most holy place. ³⁵You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand over against the table on the side of the tent toward the south: and you shall put the table on the north side.

³⁶“You shall make a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer. ³⁷You shall make for the screen five pillars of acacia, and overlay them with gold: their hooks shall be of gold: and you shall cast five sockets of brass for them.

Chapter 27

¹“You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and its height shall be three cubits. ²You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it; and you shall overlay it with brass. ³You shall make its pots to take away its ashes, its shovels, its basins, its flesh hooks, and its fire pans: all its vessels you shall make of brass. ⁴You shall make a grating for it of network of brass: and on the net you shall make four brazen rings in its four corners. ⁵You shall put it under the ledge around the altar beneath, that the net may reach halfway up the altar. ⁶You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with brass. ⁷Its poles shall be put into the rings, and the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar, when carrying it. ⁸Hollow with planks shall you make it: as it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall they make it.

⁹“You shall make the court of the tent: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long for one side: ¹⁰and the pillars of it shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. ¹¹Likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, and the pillars of it twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. ¹²For the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits; their pillars ten, and their sockets ten. ¹³The breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits. ¹⁴The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. ¹⁵For the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. ¹⁶For the gate of the court shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their sockets four. ¹⁷All the pillars of the court round about shall be filleted with silver; their hooks of silver, and their sockets of brass. ¹⁸The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits, of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass. ¹⁹All the instruments of the tent in all its service, and all the pins of it, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass.

²⁰“You shall command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. ²¹In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh: it shall be a statute forever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.

Chapter 28

¹“Bring Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, near to you from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. ²You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. ³You shall speak to all who are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁴These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a coat of checker work, a turban, and a sash: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and his sons, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁵They shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine linen.

⁶“They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the skillful workman. ⁷It shall have two shoulder straps joined to the two ends of it, that it may be joined together. ⁸The skillfully woven band, which is on it, that is on him, shall be like its work and of the same piece; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen. ⁹You shall take two onyx stones, and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel: ¹⁰six of their names on the one stone, and the names of the six that remain on the other stone, in the order of their birth. ¹¹With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, shall you engrave the two stones, according to the names of the children of Israel: you shall make them to be enclosed in settings of gold. ¹²You shall put the two stones on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel: and Aaron shall bear their names before Yahweh on his two shoulders for a memorial. ¹³You shall make settings of gold, ¹⁴and two chains of pure gold; you shall make them like cords of braided work: and you shall put the braided chains on the settings.

¹⁵“You shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the skillful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it; of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, shall you make it. ¹⁶It shall be square and folded double; a spanA span is the length from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger when the hand is stretched out (about 9 inches or 22.8 cm.) shall be its length of it, and a span its breadth. ¹⁷You shall set in it settings of stones, four rows of stones: a row of ruby, topaz, and beryl shall be the first row; ¹⁸and the second row a turquoise, a sapphireor, lapis lazuli, and an emerald; ¹⁹and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ²⁰and the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be enclosed in gold in their settings. ²¹The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, they shall be for the twelve tribes. ²²You shall make on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold. ²³You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold, and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. ²⁴You shall put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. ²⁵The other two ends of the two braided chains you shall put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in the forepart of it. ²⁶You shall make two rings of gold, and you shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on its edge, which is toward the side of the ephod inward. ²⁷You shall make two rings of gold, and shall put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in the forepart of it, close by the coupling of it, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. ²⁸They shall bind the breastplate by the rings of it to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not swing out from the ephod. ²⁹Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment on his heart, when he goes in to the holy place, for a memorial before Yahweh continually. ³⁰You shall put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before Yahweh: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his heart before Yahweh continually.

³¹“You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. ³²It shall have a hole for the head in the midst of it: it shall have a binding of woven work round about the hole of it, as it were the hole of a coat of mail, that it not be torn. ³³On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, around its hem; and bells of gold between them round about: ³⁴a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, on the hem of the robe round about. ³⁵It shall be on Aaron to minister: and the sound of it shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before Yahweh, and when he comes out, that he not die.

³⁶“You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘HOLY TO YAHWEH.’ ³⁷You shall put it on a lace of blue, and it shall be on the sash; on the front of the sash it shall be. ³⁸It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall make holy in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always on his forehead, that they may be accepted before Yahweh. ³⁹You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash, the work of the embroiderer.

⁴⁰“You shall make coats for Aaron’s sons, and you shall make sashes for them and headbands shall you make for them, for glory and for beauty. ⁴¹You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁴²You shall make them linen breeches to cover the flesh of their nakedness; from the waist even to the thighs they shall reach: ⁴³They shall be on Aaron, and on his sons, when they go in to the tent of meeting, or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place; that they don’t bear iniquity, and die: it shall be a statute forever to him and to his descendants after him.

Chapter 29

¹“This is the thing that you shall do to them to make them holy, to minister to me in the priest’s office: take one young bull and two rams without blemish, ²unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil: you shall make them of fine wheat flour. ³You shall put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams. ⁴You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water. ⁵You shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and dress him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod; ⁶and you shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban. ⁷Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him. ⁸You shall bring his sons, and put coats on them. ⁹You shall dress them with belts, Aaron and his sons, and bind headbands on them: and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute: and you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰“You shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting: and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹You shall kill the bull before Yahweh, at the door of the tent of meeting. ¹²You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. ¹³You shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. ¹⁴But the flesh of the bull, and its skin, and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp: it is a sin offering.

¹⁵“You shall also take the one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. ¹⁶You shall kill the ram, and you shall take its blood, and sprinkle it around on the altar. ¹⁷You shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its innards, and its legs, and put them with its pieces, and with its head. ¹⁸You shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to Yahweh; it is a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

¹⁹“You shall take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. ²⁰Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip of the right ear of his sons, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood on the altar round about. ²¹You shall take of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments, and on his sons, and on the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be made holy, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him. ²²Also you shall take some of the ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), ²³and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before Yahweh. ²⁴You shall put all of this in Aaron’s hands, and in his sons’ hands, and shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ²⁵You shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a sweet savor before Yahweh: it is an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

²⁶“You shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before Yahweh: and it shall be your portion. ²⁷You shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the thigh of the wave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons: ²⁸and it shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel; for it is a wave offering: and it shall be a wave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their wave offering to Yahweh.

²⁹“The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to be consecrated in them. ³⁰Seven days shall the son who is priest in his place put them on, when he comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.

³¹“You shall take the ram of consecration, and boil its flesh in a holy place. ³²Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the tent of meeting. ³³They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to consecrate and sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat of it, because they are holy. ³⁴If anything of the flesh of the consecration, or of the bread, remains to the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵“Thus shall you do to Aaron, and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Seven days shall you consecrate them. ³⁶Every day shall you offer the bull of sin offering for atonement: and you shall cleanse the altar, when you make atonement for it; and you shall anoint it, to sanctify it. ³⁷Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it: and the altar shall be most holy; whatever touches the altar shall be holy.

³⁸“Now this is that which you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day continually. ³⁹The one lamb you shall offer in the morning; and the other lamb you shall offer at evening: ⁴⁰and with the one lamb a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering. ⁴¹The other lamb you shall offer at evening, and shall do to it according to the meal offering of the morning, and according to its drink offering, for a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ⁴²It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tent of meeting before Yahweh, where I will meet with you, to speak there to you. ⁴³There I will meet with the children of Israel; and the place shall be sanctified by my glory. ⁴⁴I will sanctify the tent of meeting and the altar: Aaron also and his sons I will sanctify, to minister to me in the priest’s office. ⁴⁵I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. ⁴⁶They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them: I am Yahweh their God.

Chapter 30

¹“You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood. ²Its length shall be a cubit, and its breadth a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. ³You shall overlay it with pure gold, the top of it, the sides of it around it, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding around it. ⁴You shall make two golden rings for it under its molding; on its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make them; and they shall be for places for poles with which to bear it. ⁵You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. ⁶You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you. ⁷Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it. ⁸When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations. ⁹You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall pour no drink offering on it. ¹⁰Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to Yahweh.”

¹¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹²“When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are numbered among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh, when you number them; that there be no plague among them when you number them. ¹³They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary; (the shekel is twenty gerahs;) half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh. ¹⁴Everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to Yahweh. ¹⁵The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls. ¹⁶You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the tent of meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls.”

¹⁷Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸“You shall also make a basin of brass, and the base of it of brass, in which to wash. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. ¹⁹Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it. ²⁰When they go into the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water, that they not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ²¹So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die: and it shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their generations.”

²²Moreover Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²³“Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty; ²⁴and of cassia five hundred, after the shekel of the sanctuary; and a hin of olive oil. ²⁵You shall make it a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil. ²⁶You shall use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, ²⁷the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, ²⁸the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base. ²⁹You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy. ³⁰You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. ³¹You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations. ³²It shall not be poured on man’s flesh, neither shall you make any like it, according to its composition: it is holy. It shall be holy to you. ³³Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.’”

³⁴Yahweh said to Moses, “Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be an equal weight; ³⁵and you shall make incense of it, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy: ³⁶and 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. ³⁷The incense which you shall make, according to its composition you shall not make for yourselves: it shall be to you holy for Yahweh. ³⁸Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people.”

Chapter 31

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Behold, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: ³and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, ⁴to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, ⁵and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all manner of workmanship. ⁶I, behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you: ⁷the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent, ⁸the table and its vessels, the pure lampstand with all its vessels, the altar of incense, ⁹the altar of burnt offering with all its vessels, the basin and its base, ¹⁰the finely worked garments„the holy garments for Aaron the priest„the garments of his sons to minister in the priest’s office, ¹¹the anointing oil, and the incense of sweet spices for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded you they shall do.”

¹²Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹³“Speak also to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Most assuredly you shall keep my Sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies you. ¹⁴You shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. ¹⁵Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Yahweh. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall surely be put to death. ¹⁶Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. ¹⁷It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days Yahweh made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.’”

¹⁸He gave to Moses, when he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets, written with God’s finger.

Chapter 32

¹When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.”

²Aaron said to them, “Take off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me.”

³All the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. ⁴He received what they handed him, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said, “These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

⁵When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Yahweh.”

⁶They rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

⁷Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, get down; for your people, who you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves! ⁸They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”

⁹Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen these people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.”

¹¹Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹²Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘He brought them forth for evil, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the surface of the earth?’ Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against your people. ¹³Remember 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 sky, and all this land that I have spoken of I will give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.’”

¹⁴Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.

¹⁵Moses turned, and went down from the mountain, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand; tablets that were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. ¹⁶The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tables.

¹⁷When Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is the noise of war in the camp.”

¹⁸He said, “It isn’t the voice of those who shout for victory, neither is it the voice of those who cry for being overcome; but the noise of those who sing that I hear.” ¹⁹It happened, as soon as he came near to the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing: and Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain. ²⁰He took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, ground it to powder, and scattered it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

²¹Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”

²²Aaron said, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. ²³For they said to me, ‘Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’ ²⁴I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them take it off:’ so they gave it to me; and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

²⁵When Moses saw that the people had broken loose, (for Aaron had let them loose for a derision among their enemies), ²⁶then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on Yahweh’s side, come to me!”

All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him. ²⁷He said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.” ²⁸The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. ²⁹Moses said, “Consecrate yourselves today to Yahweh, yes, every man against his son, and against his brother; that he may bestow on you a blessing this day.”

³⁰It happened on the next day, that Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I shall make atonement for your sin.”

³¹Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made themselves gods of gold. ³²Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin„and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.”

³³Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. ³⁴Now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” ³⁵Yahweh struck the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

Chapter 33

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Depart, go up from here, you and the people that you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your seed.’ ²I will send an angel before you; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: ³to a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of you, for you are a stiff-necked people, lest I consume you in the way.”

⁴When the people heard this evil news, they mourned: and no one put on his jewelry.

⁵Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell the children of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go up into your midst for one moment, I would consume you. Therefore now take off your jewelry from you, that I may know what to do to you.”

⁶The children of Israel stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.

⁷Now Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it outside the camp, far away from the camp, and he called it “The tent of meeting.” It happened that everyone who sought Yahweh went out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. ⁸It happened that when Moses went out to the Tent, that all the people rose up, and stood, everyone at their tent door, and watched Moses, until he had gone into the Tent. ⁹It happened, when Moses entered into the Tent, that the pillar of cloud descended, stood at the door of the Tent, and spoke with Moses. ¹⁰All the people saw the pillar of cloud stand at the door of the Tent, and all the people rose up and worshiped, everyone at their tent door. ¹¹Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. He turned again into the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, didn’t depart out of the Tent.

¹²Moses said to Yahweh, “Behold, you tell me, ‘Bring up this people:’ and you haven’t let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ ¹³Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight: and consider that this nation is your people.”

¹⁴He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

¹⁵He said to him, “If your presence doesn’t go with me, don’t carry us up from here. ¹⁶For how would people know that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Isn’t it in that you go with us, so that we are separated, I and your people, from all the people who are on the surface of the earth?”

¹⁷Yahweh said to Moses, “I will do this thing also that you have spoken; for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

¹⁸He said, “Please show me your glory.”

¹⁹He said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” ²⁰He said, “You cannot see my face, for man may not see me and live.” ²¹Yahweh also said, “Behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand on the rock. ²²It will happen, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; ²³then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back; but my face shall not be seen.”

Chapter 34

¹Yahweh said to Moses, “Chisel two stone tablets like the first: and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. ²Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain. ³No one shall come up with you; neither let anyone be seen throughout all the mountain; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mountain.”

⁴He chiseled two tablets of stone like the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and took in his hand two stone tablets. ⁵Yahweh descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Yahweh. ⁶Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth, ⁷keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.”

⁸Moses hurried and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. ⁹He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us; although this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

¹⁰He said, “Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been worked in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among which you are shall see the work of Yahweh; for it is an awesome thing that I do with you. ¹¹Observe that which I command you this day. Behold, I drive out before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. ¹²Be careful, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare in the midst of you: ¹³but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherim; ¹⁴for you shall worship no other god: for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. ¹⁵Don’t make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, lest they play the prostitute after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and one call you and you eat of his sacrifice; ¹⁶and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods. ¹⁷You shall make no cast idols for yourselves.

¹⁸“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 Abib; for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. ¹⁹All that opens the womb is mine; and all your livestock that is male, the firstborn of cow and sheep. ²⁰The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb: and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. No one shall appear before me empty.

²¹Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. ²²You shall observe the feast of weeks with the first fruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of harvest at the year’s end. ²³Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel. ²⁴For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders; neither shall any man desire your land when you go up to appear before Yahweh, your God, three times in the year.

²⁵“You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the Passover be left to the morning. ²⁶You shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground to the house of Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

²⁷Yahweh said to Moses, “Write you these words: for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

²⁸He was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread, nor drank water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.

²⁹It happened, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mountain, that Moses didn’t know that the skin of his face shone by reason of his speaking with him. ³⁰When Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; and Moses spoke to them. ³²Afterward all the children of Israel came near, and he gave them all of the commandments that Yahweh had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. ³³When Moses was done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. ³⁴But when Moses went in before Yahweh to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and he came out, and spoke to the children of Israel that which he was commanded. ³⁵The children of Israel saw Moses’ face, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Chapter 35

¹Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel, and said to them, “These are the words which Yahweh has commanded, that you should do them. ²‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of solemn rest to Yahweh: whoever does any work in it shall be put to death. ³You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Sabbath day.’”

⁴Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which Yahweh commanded, saying, ⁵‘Take from among you an offering to Yahweh. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, Yahweh’s offering: gold, silver, brass, ⁶blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, ⁷rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, ⁸oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense, ⁹onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate.

¹⁰“Let every wise-hearted man among you come, and make all that Yahweh has commanded: ¹¹the tent, its outer covering, its roof, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; ¹²the ark, and its poles, the mercy seat, the veil of the screen; ¹³the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the show bread; ¹⁴the lampstand also for the light, with its vessels, its lamps, and the oil for the light; ¹⁵and the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door, at the door of the tent; ¹⁶the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of brass, it poles, and all its vessels, the basin and its base; ¹⁷the hangings of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court; ¹⁸the pins of the tent, the pins of the court, and their cords; ¹⁹the finely worked garments, for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office.’”

²⁰All the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. ²¹They came, everyone whose heart stirred him up, and everyone whom his spirit made willing, and brought Yahweh’s offering, for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all of its service, and for the holy garments. ²²They came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought brooches, earrings, signet rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man who offered an offering of gold to Yahweh. ²³Everyone, with whom was found blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, and sea cow hides, brought them. ²⁴Everyone who did offer an offering of silver and brass brought Yahweh’s offering; and everyone, with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. ²⁵All the women who were wise-hearted spun with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the fine linen. ²⁶All the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats’ hair. ²⁷The rulers brought the onyx stones, and the stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastplate; ²⁸and the spice, and the oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. ²⁹The children of Israel brought a freewill offering to Yahweh; every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which Yahweh had commanded to be made by Moses.

³⁰Moses said to the children of Israel, “Behold, Yahweh has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³¹He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; ³²and to make skillful works, to work in gold, in silver, in brass, ³³in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of skillful workmanship. ³⁴He has put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. ³⁵He has filled them with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of workmanship, of the engraver, of the skillful workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any workmanship, and of those who make skillful works.

Chapter 36

¹“Bezalel and Oholiab shall work with every wise-hearted man, in whom Yahweh has put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that Yahweh has commanded.”

²Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart Yahweh had put wisdom, even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to the work to do it: ³and they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, with which to make it. They brought yet to him freewill offerings every morning. ⁴All the wise men, who performed all the work of the sanctuary, each came from his work which they did. ⁵They spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which Yahweh commanded to make.”

⁶Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman make anything else for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing. ⁷For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.

⁸All the wise-hearted men among those who did the work made the tent with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, blue, purple, and scarlet, with cherubim, the work of the skillful workman, they made them. ⁹The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains had one measure. ¹⁰He coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled one to another. ¹¹He made loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from the edge in the coupling. Likewise he made in the edge of the curtain that was outmost in the second coupling. ¹²He made fifty loops in the one curtain, and he made fifty loops in the edge of the curtain that was in the second coupling. The loops were opposite one to another. ¹³He made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to another with the clasps: so the tent was a unit.

¹⁴He made curtains of goats’ hair for a covering over the tent. He made them eleven curtains. ¹⁵The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits the breadth of each curtain. The eleven curtains had one measure. ¹⁶He coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. ¹⁷He made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was outmost in the coupling, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which was outmost in the second coupling. ¹⁸He made fifty clasps of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be a unit. ¹⁹He made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of sea cow hides above.

²⁰He made the boards for the tent of acacia wood, standing up. ²¹Ten cubits was the length of a board, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each board. ²²Each board had two tenons, joined one to another. He made all the boards of the tent this way. ²³He made the boards for the tent: twenty boards for the south side southward. ²⁴He made forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for its two tenons, and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. ²⁵For the second side of the tent, on the north side, he made twenty boards, ²⁶and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board. ²⁷For the far part of the tent westward he made six boards. ²⁸He made two boards for the corners of the tent in the far part. ²⁹They were double beneath, and in like manner they were all the way to the top of it to one ring. He did thus to both of them in the two corners. ³⁰There were eight boards, and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; under every board two sockets.

³¹He made bars of acacia wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tent, ³²and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tent, and five bars for the boards of the tent for the hinder part westward. ³³He made the middle bar to pass through in the midst of the boards from the one end to the other. ³⁴He overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold for places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

³⁵He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubim. He made it the work of a skillful workman. ³⁶He made four pillars of acacia for it, and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold. He cast four sockets of silver for them. ³⁷He made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer; ³⁸and the five pillars of it with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold, and their five sockets were of brass.

Chapter 37

¹Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its breadth a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height. ²He overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold for it round about. ³He cast four rings of gold for it, in its four feet; even two rings on its one side, and two rings on its other side. ⁴He made poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. ⁵He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. ⁶He made a mercy seat of pure gold. Its length was two and a half cubits, and a cubit and a half its breadth. ⁷He made two cherubim of gold. He made them of beaten work, at the two ends of the mercy seat; ⁸one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. He made the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. ⁹The cherubim spread out their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.

¹⁰He made the table of acacia wood. Its length was two cubits, and its breadth was a cubit, and its height was a cubit and a half. ¹¹He overlaid it with pure gold, and made a gold molding around it. ¹²He made a border of a handbreadth around it, and made a golden molding on its border around it. ¹³He cast four rings of gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that were on its four feet. ¹⁴The rings were close by the border, the places for the poles to carry the table. ¹⁵He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, to carry the table. ¹⁶He made the vessels which were on the table, its dishes, its spoons, its bowls, and its pitchers with which to pour out, of pure gold.

¹⁷He made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of beaten work. Its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers were of one piece with it. ¹⁸There were six branches going out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of its one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of its other side: ¹⁹three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower, and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower: so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. ²⁰In the lampstand were four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers; ²¹and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of it. ²²Their buds and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole thing was one beaten work of pure gold. ²³He made its seven lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff dishes, of pure gold. ²⁴He made it of a talent of pure gold, with all its vessels.

²⁵He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. It was square: its length was a cubit, and its breadth a cubit. Its height was two cubits. Its horns were of one piece with it. ²⁶He overlaid it with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns. He made a gold molding around it. ²⁷He made two golden rings for it under its molding crown, on its two ribs, on its two sides, for places for poles with which to carry it. ²⁸He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. ²⁹He made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices, after the art of the perfumer.

Chapter 38

¹He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. It was square. Its length was five cubits, its breadth was five cubits, and its height was three cubits. ²He made its horns on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with brass. ³He made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its vessels of brass. ⁴He made for the altar a grating of a network of brass, under the ledge around it beneath, reaching halfway up. ⁵He cast four rings for the four ends of brass grating, to be places for the poles. ⁶He made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with brass. ⁷He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks.

⁸He made the basin of brass, and its base of brass, out of the mirrors of the ministering women who ministered at the door of the tent of meeting.

⁹He made the court: for the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, one hundred cubits; ¹⁰their pillars were twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. ¹¹For the north side one hundred cubits, their pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. ¹²For the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. ¹³For the east side eastward fifty cubits. ¹⁴The hangings for the one side were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three; ¹⁵and so for the other side: on this hand and that hand by the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. ¹⁶All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen. ¹⁷The sockets for the pillars were of brass. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver; and the overlaying of their capitals, of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver. ¹⁸The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. Twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, like to the hangings of the court. ¹⁹Their pillars were four, and their sockets four, of brass; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals, and their fillets, of silver. ²⁰All the pins of the tent, and around the court, were of brass.

²¹This is the amount of material used for the tent, even the Tent of the Testimony, as they were counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. ²²Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that Yahweh commanded Moses. ²³With him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a skillful workman, and an embroiderer in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen.

²⁴All the gold that was used for the work in all the work of the sanctuary, even the gold of the offering, was twenty-nine talents, and seven hundred thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary. ²⁵The silver of those who were numbered of the congregation was one hundred talents, and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: ²⁶a beka a head, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for everyone who passed over to those who were numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty men. ²⁷The one hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil; one hundred sockets for the one hundred talents, a talent for a socket. ²⁸Of the one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them. ²⁹The brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand four hundred shekels. ³⁰With this he made the sockets to the door of the tent of meeting, the brazen altar, the brazen grating for it, all the vessels of the altar, ³¹the sockets around the court, the sockets of the gate of the court, all the pins of the tent, and all the pins around the court.

Chapter 39

¹Of the blue, purple, and scarlet, they made finely worked garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron; as Yahweh commanded Moses.

²He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. ³They beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in the blue, in the purple, in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, the work of the skillful workman. ⁴They made shoulder straps for it, joined together. At the two ends it was joined together. ⁵The skillfully woven band that was on it, with which to fasten it on, was of the same piece, like its work; of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen; as Yahweh commanded Moses.

⁶They worked the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold, engraved with the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the children of Israel. ⁷He put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod, to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

⁸He made the breastplate, the work of a skillful workman, like the work of the ephod; of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. ⁹It was square. They made the breastplate double. Its length was a span, and its breadth a span, being double. ¹⁰They set in it four rows of stones. A row of ruby, topaz, and beryl was the first row; ¹¹and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphireor, lapis lazuli, and an emerald; ¹²and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ¹³and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold settings. ¹⁴The stones were according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names; like the engravings of a signet, everyone according to his name, for the twelve tribes. ¹⁵They made on the breastplate chains like cords, of braided work of pure gold. ¹⁶They made two settings of gold, and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. ¹⁷They put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. ¹⁸The other two ends of the two braided chains they put on the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod, in the front of it. ¹⁹They made two rings of gold, and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it, which was toward the side of the ephod inward. ²⁰They made two rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulder straps of the ephod underneath, in the front of it, close by its coupling, above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. ²¹They bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not come loose from the ephod, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

²²He made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. ²³The opening of the robe in the midst of it was like the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding around its opening, that it should not be torn. ²⁴They made on the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, scarlet, and twined linen. ²⁵They made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates around the skirts of the robe, between the pomegranates; ²⁶a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, around the skirts of the robe, to minister in, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

²⁷They made the coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron, and for his sons, ²⁸and the turban of fine linen, and the linen headbands of fine linen, and the linen breeches of fine twined linen, ²⁹and the sash of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, the work of the embroiderer, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

³⁰They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it a writing, like the engravings of a signet: “HOLY TO YAHWEH.” ³¹They tied to it a lace of blue, to fasten it on the turban above, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

³²Thus all the work of the tent of the tent of meeting was finished. The children of Israel did according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses; so they did. ³³They brought the tent to Moses, the tent, with all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, it bars, its pillars, its sockets, ³⁴the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, the covering of sea cow hides, the veil of the screen, ³⁵the ark of the testimony with its poles, the mercy seat, ³⁶the table, all its vessels, the show bread, ³⁷the pure lampstand, its lamps, even the lamps to be set in order, all its vessels, the oil for the light, ³⁸the golden altar, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door of the Tent, ³⁹the brazen altar, its grating of brass, its poles, all of its vessels, the basin and its base, ⁴⁰the hangings of the court, its pillars, its sockets, the screen for the gate of the court, its cords, its pins, all the instruments of the service of the tent, for the tent of meeting, ⁴¹the finely worked garments for ministering in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest’s office. ⁴²According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work. ⁴³Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it as Yahweh had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.

Chapter 40

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“On the first day of the first month you shall raise up the tent of the Tent of Meeting. ³You shall put the ark of the testimony in it, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. ⁴You shall bring in the table, and set in order the things that are on it. You shall bring in the lampstand, and light the lamps of it. ⁵You shall set the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and put the screen of the door to the tent. ⁶You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tent of the tent of meeting. ⁷You shall set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and shall put water therein. ⁸You shall set up the court around it, and hang up the screen of the gate of the court. ⁹You shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tent, and all that is in it, and shall make it holy, and all its furniture: and it will be holy. ¹⁰You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering, with all its vessels, and sanctify the altar: and the altar will be most holy. ¹¹You shall anoint the basin and its base, and sanctify it. ¹²You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting, and shall wash them with water. ¹³You shall put on Aaron the holy garments; and you shall anoint him, and sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. ¹⁴You shall bring his sons, and put coats on them. ¹⁵You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. Their anointing shall be to them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations. ¹⁶Thus did Moses: according to all that Yahweh commanded him, so he did.

¹⁷It happened in the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tent was raised up. ¹⁸Moses raised up the tent, and laid its sockets, and set up the boards of it, and put in the bars of it, and raised up its pillars. ¹⁹He spread the covering over the tent, and put the roof of the tent above on it, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ²⁰He took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the poles on the ark, and put the mercy seat above on the ark. ²¹He brought the ark into the tent, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ²²He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the side of the tent northward, outside of the veil. ²³He set the bread in order on it before Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ²⁴He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table, on the side of the tent southward. ²⁵He lit the lamps before Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ²⁶He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil; ²⁷and he burnt incense of sweet spices on it, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ²⁸He put up the screen of the door to the tent. ²⁹He set the altar of burnt offering at the door of the tent of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ³⁰He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water therein, with which to wash. ³¹Moses, Aaron, and his sons washed their hands and their feet there. ³²When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they came near to the altar, they washed, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ³³He raised up the court around the tent and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.

³⁴Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Yahweh filled the tent. ³⁵Moses wasn’t able to enter into the tent of meeting, because the cloud stayed on it, and Yahweh’s glory filled the tent. ³⁶When the cloud was taken up from over the tent, the children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys; ³⁷but if the cloud wasn’t taken up, then they didn’t travel until the day that it was taken up. ³⁸For the cloud of Yahweh was on the tent by day, and there was fire in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

Chapter 1

¹Yahweh called to Moses, and spoke to him out of the Tent of Meeting, saying, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When anyone of you offers an offering to Yahweh, you shall offer your offering of the livestock, from the herd and from the flock.

³“‘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 Yahweh. ⁴He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. ⁵He shall kill the bull before Yahweh. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁶He shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into pieces. ⁷The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay wood in order on the fire; ⁸and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar; ⁹but its innards and its legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall burn the whole on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh.

¹⁰“‘If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep, or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without blemish. ¹¹He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before Yahweh. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. ¹²He shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat. The priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar, ¹³but the innards and the legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh.

¹⁴“‘If his offering to Yahweh is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall offer his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons. ¹⁵The 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; ¹⁶and he shall take away its crop with its filth, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, in the place of the ashes. ¹⁷He shall tear it by its wings, but shall not divide it apart. 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, of a sweet savor to Yahweh.

Chapter 2

¹“‘When anyone offers an offering of a meal offering to Yahweh, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it. ²He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests; and he shall take his handful of its fine flour, and of its oil, with all its frankincense; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh. ³That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is a most holy thing of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire.

⁴“‘When you offer an offering of a meal offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. ⁵If your offering is a meal offering of the baking pan, it shall be of unleavened fine flour, mixed with oil. ⁶You shall cut it in pieces, and pour oil on it. It is a meal offering. ⁷If your offering is a meal offering of the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. ⁸You shall bring the meal offering that is made of these things to Yahweh: and it shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to the altar. ⁹The priest shall take from the meal offering its memorial, and shall burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh. ¹⁰That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is a thing most holy of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire.

¹¹“‘No meal offering, which you shall offer to Yahweh, shall be made with yeast; for you shall burn no yeast, nor any honey, as an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ¹²As an offering of firstfruits you shall offer them to Yahweh: but they shall not come up for a sweet savor on the altar. ¹³Every offering of your meal offering you shall season with salt; neither shall you allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your meal offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.

¹⁴“‘If you offer a meal offering of first fruits to Yahweh, you shall offer for the meal offering of your first fruits grain in the ear parched with fire, bruised grain of the fresh ear. ¹⁵You shall put oil on it, and lay frankincense on it: it is a meal offering. ¹⁶The priest shall burn as its memorial, part of its bruised grain, and part of its oil, along with all its frankincense: it is an offering made by fire to Yahweh.

Chapter 3

¹“‘If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings; if he offers it from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before Yahweh. ²He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tent of meeting: and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood on the altar round about. ³He shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to Yahweh; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, ⁴and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away. ⁵Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh.

⁶“‘If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh is from the flock; male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. ⁷If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before Yahweh; ⁸and he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the tent of meeting: and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood on the altar round about. ⁹He shall offer from the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to Yahweh; its fat, the entire tail fat, he shall take away close to the backbone; and the fat that covers the inwards, and all the fat that is on the inwards, ¹⁰and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away. ¹¹The priest shall burn it on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to Yahweh.

¹²“‘If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before Yahweh: ¹³and he shall lay his hand on its head, and kill it before the tent of meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood on the altar round about. ¹⁴He shall offer from it as his offering, an offering made by fire to Yahweh; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, ¹⁵and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away. ¹⁶The priest shall burn them on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a sweet savor; all the fat is Yahweh’s.

¹⁷“‘It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that you shall eat neither fat nor blood.’”

Chapter 4

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If anyone sins unintentionally, in any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and does any one of them: ³if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin, which he has sinned, a young bull without blemish to Yahweh for a sin offering. ⁴He shall bring the bull to the door of the Tent of Meeting before Yahweh; and he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull, and kill the bull before Yahweh. ⁵The anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull, and bring it to the Tent of Meeting. ⁶The priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Yahweh, before the veil of the sanctuary. ⁷The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of sweet incense before Yahweh, which is in the tent of meeting; and he shall pour out all of rest of the blood of the bull at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁸He shall take all the fat of the bull of the sin offering off of it; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, ⁹and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away, ¹⁰as it is taken off of the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering. ¹¹The bull’s skin, all its flesh, with its head, and with its legs, its innards, and its dung, ¹²even the whole bull shall he carry forth outside the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. Where the ashes are poured out it shall be burned.

¹³“‘If the whole congregation of Israel sins, and the thing is hidden from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and are guilty; ¹⁴when the sin in which they have sinned is known, then the assembly shall offer a young bull for a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁵The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before Yahweh; and the bull shall be killed before Yahweh. ¹⁶The anointed priest shall bring of the blood of the bull to the Tent of Meeting: ¹⁷and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before Yahweh, before the veil. ¹⁸He shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar which is before Yahweh, that is in the Tent of Meeting; and the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ¹⁹All its fat he shall take from it, and burn it on the altar. ²⁰Thus shall he do with the bull; as he did with the bull of the sin offering, so shall he do with this; and the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven. ²¹He shall carry forth the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.

²²“‘When a ruler sins, and unwittingly does any one of all the things which Yahweh his God has commanded not to be done, and is guilty; ²³if his sin, in which he has sinned, is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without blemish. ²⁴He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before Yahweh. It is a sin offering. ²⁵The 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. He shall pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. ²⁶All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he will be forgiven.

²⁷“‘If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and is guilty; ²⁸if his sin, which he has sinned, is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without blemish, for his sin which he has sinned. ²⁹He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill the sin offering in the place of burnt offering. ³⁰The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. ³¹All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from off of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet savor to Yahweh; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

³²“‘If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish. ³³He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. ³⁴The 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 its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. ³⁵All its fat he shall take away, like the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, and he will be forgiven.

Chapter 5

¹“‘If anyone sins, in that he hears the voice of adjuration, he being a witness, whether he has seen or known, if he doesn’t report it, then he shall bear his iniquity.

²“‘Or if anyone touches any unclean thing, whether it is the carcass of an unclean animal, or the carcass of unclean livestock, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and it is hidden from him, and he is unclean, then he shall be guilty.

³“‘Or if he touches the uncleanness of man, whatever his uncleanness is with which he is unclean, and it is hidden from him; when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty.

⁴“‘Or if anyone swears rashly with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatever it is that a man might utter rashly with an oath, and it is hidden from him; when he knows of it, then he shall be guilty of one of these. ⁵It shall be, when he is guilty of one of these, he shall confess that in which he has sinned: ⁶and he shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh for his sin which he has sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin.

⁷“‘If he can’t afford a lamb, then he shall bring his trespass offering for that in which he has sinned, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to Yahweh; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. ⁸He shall bring them to the priest, who shall first offer the one which is for the sin offering, and wring off its head from its neck, but shall not sever it completely. ⁹He 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. ¹⁰He shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the ordinance; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has sinned, and he shall be forgiven.

¹¹“‘But if he can’t afford two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he shall bring his offering for that in which he has sinned, the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it, neither shall he put any frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering. ¹²He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as the memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. It is a sin offering. ¹³The priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned in any of these things, and he will be forgiven; and the rest shall be the priest’s, as the meal offering.’”

¹⁴Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁵“If anyone commits a trespass, and sins unwittingly, in the holy things of Yahweh; then he shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, a ram without blemish from the flock, according to your estimation in silver by shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering. ¹⁶He shall make restitution for that which he has done wrong in the holy thing, and shall add a fifth part to it, and give it to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and he will be forgiven.

¹⁷“If anyone sins, and does any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done; though he didn’t know it, yet he is guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. ¹⁸He shall bring a ram without blemish from of the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning the thing in which he sinned and didn’t know it, and he will be forgiven. ¹⁹It is a trespass offering. He is certainly guilty before Yahweh.”

Chapter 6

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“If anyone sins, and commits a trespass against Yahweh, and deals falsely with his neighbor in a matter of deposit, or of bargain, or of robbery, or has oppressed his neighbor, ³or has found that which was lost, and dealt falsely therein, and swearing to a lie; in any of all these things that a man does, sinning therein; ⁴then it shall be, if he has sinned, and is guilty, he shall restore that which he took by robbery, or the thing which he has gotten by oppression, or the deposit which was committed to him, or the lost thing which he found, ⁵or any thing about which he has sworn falsely; he shall restore it even in full, and shall add a fifth part more to it. To him to whom it belongs he shall give it, in the day of his being found guilty. ⁶He shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, a ram without blemish from the flock, according to your estimation, for a trespass offering, to the priest. ⁷The priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh, and he will be forgiven concerning whatever he does to become guilty.”

⁸Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁹“Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: the burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning; and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. ¹⁰The priest shall put on his linen garment, and he shall put on his linen breeches upon his body; and he shall remove the ashes from where the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. ¹¹He shall take off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. ¹²The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not go out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning: and he shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. ¹³Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.

¹⁴“‘This is the law of the meal offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before Yahweh, before the altar. ¹⁵He shall take from there his handful of the fine flour of the meal offering, and of its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the meal offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a sweet savor, as its memorial, to Yahweh. ¹⁶That which is left of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten without yeast in a holy place. They shall eat it in the court of the Tent of Meeting ¹⁷It shall not be baked with yeast. I have given it as their portion of my offerings made by fire. It is most holy, as the sin offering, and as the trespass offering. ¹⁸Every male among the children of Aaron shall eat of it, as their portion forever throughout your generations, from the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Whoever touches them shall be holy.’”

¹⁹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁰“This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer to Yahweh in the day when he is anointed: the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering perpetually, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening. ²¹It shall be made with oil in a baking pan. When it is soaked, you shall bring it in. You shall offer the meal offering in baked pieces for a sweet savor to Yahweh. ²²The anointed priest that will be in his place from among his sons shall offer it. By a statute forever, it shall be wholly burnt to Yahweh. ²³Every meal offering of a priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.”

²⁴Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁵“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: in the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before Yahweh. It is most holy. ²⁶The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the Tent of Meeting. ²⁷Whatever shall touch its flesh shall be holy. When there is any of its blood sprinkled on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was sprinkled in a holy place. ²⁸But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken; and if it is boiled in a brazen vessel, it shall be scoured, and rinsed in water. ²⁹Every male among the priests shall eat of it: it is most holy. ³⁰No sin offering, of which any of the blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be eaten: it shall be burned with fire.

Chapter 7

¹“‘This is the law of the trespass offering. It is most holy. ²In the place where they kill the burnt offering, he shall kill the trespass offering; and its blood he shall sprinkle on the altar round about. ³He shall offer all of its fat: the fat tail, and the fat that covers the innards, ⁴and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, shall he take away; ⁵and the priest shall burn them on the altar for an offering made by fire to Yahweh: it is a trespass offering. ⁶Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.

⁷“‘As is the sin offering, so is the trespass offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with them shall have it. ⁸The priest who offers any man’s burnt offering, even the priest shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered. ⁹Every meal offering that is baked in the oven, and all that is dressed in the frying pan, and on the baking pan, shall be the priest’s who offers it. ¹⁰Every meal offering, mixed with oil or dry, belongs to all the sons of Aaron, one as well as another.

¹¹“‘This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which one shall offer to Yahweh. ¹²If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mixed with oil. ¹³With cakes of leavened bread he shall offer his offering with the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving. ¹⁴Of it he shall offer one out of each offering for a heave offering to Yahweh. It shall be the priest’s who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings. ¹⁵The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning.

¹⁶“‘But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow, or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice; and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten: ¹⁷but what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire. ¹⁸If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed to him who offers it. It will be an abomination, and the soul who eats any of it will bear his iniquity.

¹⁹“‘The flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. As for the flesh, everyone who is clean may eat it; ²⁰but the soul who eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that belongs to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people. ²¹When anyone touches any unclean thing, the uncleanness of man, or an unclean animal, or any unclean abomination, and eats some of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which belong to Yahweh, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’”

²²Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²³“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘You shall eat no fat, of ox, or sheep, or goat. ²⁴The fat of that which dies of itself, and the fat of that which is torn of animals, may be used for any other service, but you shall in no way eat of it. ²⁵For whoever eats the fat of the animal, of which men offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh, even the soul who eats it shall be cut off from his people. ²⁶You shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal, in any of your dwellings. ²⁷Whoever it is who eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’”

²⁸Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁹“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to Yahweh shall bring his offering to Yahweh out of the sacrifice of his peace offerings. ³⁰With his own hands he shall bring the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before Yahweh. ³¹The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. ³²The right thigh you shall give to the priest for a heave offering out of the sacrifices of your peace offerings. ³³He among the sons of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right thigh for a portion. ³⁴For the waved breast and the heaved thigh I have taken from the children of Israel out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel.’”

³⁵This is the anointing portion of Aaron, and the anointing portion of his sons, out of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister to Yahweh in the priest’s office; ³⁶which Yahweh commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them. It is their portion forever throughout their generations. ³⁷This is the law of the burnt offering, of the meal offering, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecration, and of the sacrifice of peace offerings; ³⁸which Yahweh commanded Moses in Mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to Yahweh, in the wilderness of Sinai.

Chapter 8

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and the bull of the sin offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread; ³and assemble all the congregation at the door of the Tent of Meeting.”

⁴Moses did as Yahweh commanded him; and the congregation was assembled at the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁵Moses said to the congregation, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded to be done.” ⁶Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. ⁷He put the coat on him, tied the sash on him, clothed him with the robe, put the ephod on him, and he tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod on him, and fastened it to him with it. ⁸He placed the breastplate on him; and in the breastplate he put the Urim and the Thummim. ⁹He set the turban on his head; and on the turban, in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ¹⁰Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and sanctified them. ¹¹He sprinkled it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the basin and its base, to sanctify them. ¹²He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head, and anointed him, to sanctify him. ¹³Moses brought Aaron’s sons, and clothed them with coats, and tied sashes on them, and put headbands on them; as Yahweh commanded Moses.

¹⁴He 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. ¹⁵He killed it; and Moses took the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar, and sanctified it, to make atonement for it. ¹⁶He took all the fat that was on the innards, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat; and Moses burned it on the altar. ¹⁷But the bull, and its skin, and its flesh, and its dung, he burned with fire outside the camp; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ¹⁸He presented the ram of the burnt offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ¹⁹He killed it; and Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar round about. ²⁰He cut the ram into its pieces; and Moses burned the head, and the pieces, and the fat. ²¹He washed the innards and the legs with water; and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a sweet savor. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ²²He presented the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ²³He killed it; and Moses 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. ²⁴He brought Aaron’s sons; and Moses put some of the blood on the tip of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the great toe of their right foot; and Moses sprinkled the blood on the altar round about. ²⁵He took the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that was on the innards, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right thigh; ²⁶and out of the basket of unleavened bread, that was before Yahweh, he took one unleavened cake, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat, and on the right thigh. ²⁷He put all these in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and waved them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ²⁸Moses took them from their hands, and burned them on the altar on the burnt offering. They were a consecration for a sweet savor. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ²⁹Moses took the breast, and waved it for a wave offering before Yahweh. It was Moses’ portion of the ram of consecration, as Yahweh commanded Moses. ³⁰Moses took some of the anointing oil, and some of the blood which was on the altar, and sprinkled it on Aaron, on his garments, and on his sons, and on his sons’ garments with him, and sanctified Aaron, his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him.

³¹Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “Boil the flesh at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of consecration, as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ ³²What remains of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn with fire. ³³You shall not go out from the door of the Tent of Meeting seven days, until the days of your consecration are fulfilled: for he shall consecrate you seven days. ³⁴What has been done this day, so Yahweh has commanded to do, to make atonement for you. ³⁵At the door of the Tent of Meeting you shall stay day and night seven days, and keep the charge of Yahweh, that you don’t die: for so I am commanded.” ³⁶Aaron and his sons did all the things which Yahweh commanded by Moses.

Chapter 9

¹It happened on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel; ²and he said to Aaron, “Take a calf from the herd for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before Yahweh. ³You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering; and a calf and a lamb, both a year old, without blemish, for a burnt offering; ⁴and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before Yahweh; and a meal offering mixed with oil: for today Yahweh appears to you.’”

⁵They brought what Moses commanded before the Tent of Meeting: and all the congregation drew near and stood before Yahweh. ⁶Moses said, “This is the thing which Yahweh commanded that you should do: and the glory of Yahweh shall appear to you.” ⁷Moses 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 Yahweh commanded.”

⁸So Aaron drew near to the altar, and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. ⁹The sons of Aaron presented the blood to him; and he dipped his finger in the blood, and put it on the horns of the altar, and poured out the blood at the base of the altar: ¹⁰but the fat, and the kidneys, and the cover from the liver of the sin offering, he burned upon the altar; as Yahweh commanded Moses. ¹¹The flesh and the skin he burned with fire outside the camp. ¹²He killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons delivered the blood to him, and he sprinkled it on the altar round about. ¹³They delivered the burnt offering to him, piece by piece, and the head: and he burned them upon the altar. ¹⁴He washed the innards and the legs, and burned them on the burnt offering on the altar. ¹⁵He 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, like the first. ¹⁶He presented the burnt offering, and offered it according to the ordinance. ¹⁷He presented the meal offering, and filled his hand from there, and burned it upon the altar, besides the burnt offering of the morning. ¹⁸He also killed the ox and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people: and Aaron’s sons delivered to him the blood, which he sprinkled on the altar round about, ¹⁹and the fat of the ox and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covers the innards, and the kidneys, and the cover of the liver: ²⁰and they put the fat upon the breasts, and he burned the fat on the altar: ²¹and the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved for a wave offering before Yahweh, as Moses commanded. ²²Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people, and blessed them; and he came down from offering the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings.

²³Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the people. ²⁴There came forth fire from before Yahweh, and consumed the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar: and when all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

Chapter 10

¹Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered strange fire before Yahweh, which he had not commanded them. ²And fire came forth from before Yahweh, and devoured them, and they died before Yahweh.

³Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what Yahweh spoke of, saying,

“‘I will show myself holy to those who come near me,

And before all the people I will be glorified.’”

Aaron held his peace. ⁴Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Draw near, carry your brothers from before the sanctuary out of the camp.” ⁵So they drew near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said.

⁶Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons, “Don’t let the hair of your heads go loose, neither tear your clothes; that you don’t die, and that he not be angry with all the congregation: but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which Yahweh has kindled. ⁷You shall not go out from the door of the Tent of Meeting, lest you die; for the anointing oil of Yahweh is on you.” They did according to the word of Moses.

⁸Yahweh spoke to Aaron, saying, ⁹“Drink no wine nor strong drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the Tent of Meeting, that you don’t die: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations: ¹⁰and that you are to make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean; ¹¹and that you are to teach the children of Israel all the statutes which Yahweh has spoken to them by Moses.”

¹²Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons who were left, “Take the meal offering that remains of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, and eat it without yeast beside the altar; for it is most holy; ¹³and you shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your portion, and your sons’ portion, of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire: for so I am commanded. ¹⁴The waved breast and the heaved thigh you shall eat in a clean place, you, and your sons, and your daughters with you: for they are given as your portion, and your sons’ portion, out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the children of Israel. ¹⁵The heaved thigh and the waved breast they shall bring with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before Yahweh: and it shall be yours, and your sons’ with you, as a portion forever; as Yahweh has commanded.”

¹⁶Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burned: and he was angry with Eleazar and with Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying, ¹⁷“Why haven’t you eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, seeing it is most holy, and he has given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before Yahweh? ¹⁸Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary: you certainly should have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.”

¹⁹Aaron spoke to Moses, “Behold, this day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before Yahweh; and such things as these have happend to me: and if I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been pleasing in the sight of Yahweh?”

²⁰When Moses heard that, it was pleasing in his sight.

Chapter 11

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘These are the living things which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. ³Whatever parts the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and chews the cud among the animals, that you may eat.

⁴“‘Nevertheless these you shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those who part the hoof: the camel, because he chews the cud but doesn’t have a parted hoof, he is unclean to you. ⁵The coney, because he chews the cud but doesn’t have a parted hoof, he is unclean to you. ⁶The hare, because she chews the cud but doesn’t part the hoof, she is unclean to you. ⁷The pig, because he has a split hoof, and is cloven-footed, but doesn’t chew the cud, he is unclean to you. ⁸Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you.

⁹These 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, that you may eat. ¹⁰All that don’t have fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are an abomination to you, ¹¹and you detest them. You shall not eat of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses. ¹²Whatever has no fins nor scales in the waters, that is an abomination to you.

¹³“‘These you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the vulture, and the black vulture, ¹⁴and the red kite, any kind of black kite, ¹⁵any kind of raven, ¹⁶the horned owl, the screech owl, and the gull, any kind of hawk, ¹⁷the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, ¹⁹the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰“‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are an abomination to you. ²¹Yet you may eat these: of all winged creeping things that go on all fours, which have legs above their feet, with which to hop on the earth. ²²Even of these you may eat: any kind of locust, any kind of katydid, any kind of cricket, and any kind of grasshopper. ²³But all winged creeping things which have four feet, are an abomination to you.

²⁴“‘By these you will become unclean: whoever touches the carcass of them shall be unclean until the evening. ²⁵Whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

²⁶“‘Every animal which parts the hoof, and is not cloven-footed, nor chews the cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. ²⁷Whatever goes on its paws, among all animals that go on all fours, they are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening. ²⁸He who carries their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. They are unclean to you.

²⁹“‘These are they which are unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, ³⁰the gecko, and the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink, and the chameleon. ³¹These are they which are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead, shall be unclean until the evening. ³²On whatever any of them falls when they are dead, it shall be unclean; whether it is any vessel of wood, or clothing, or skin, or sack, whatever vessel it is, with which any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it will be clean. ³³Every earthen vessel, into which any of them falls, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break it. ³⁴All food which may be eaten, that on which water comes, shall be unclean; and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. ³⁵Everything whereupon part of their carcass falls shall be unclean; whether oven, or range for pots, it shall be broken in pieces: they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you. ³⁶Nevertheless a spring or a cistern in which water is a gathered shall be clean: but that which touches their carcass shall be unclean. ³⁷If part of their carcass falls on any sowing seed which is to be sown, it is clean. ³⁸But if water is put on the seed, and part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

³⁹“‘If any animal, of which you may eat, dies; he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening. ⁴⁰He who eats of its carcass 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.

⁴¹“‘Every creeping thing that creeps on the earth is an abomination. It shall not be eaten. ⁴²Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even all creeping things that creep on the earth, them you shall not eat; for they are an abomination. ⁴³You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps, neither shall you make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled thereby. ⁴⁴For I am Yahweh your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy: neither shall you defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that moves on the earth. ⁴⁵For I am Yahweh who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

⁴⁶“‘This is the law of the animal, and of the bird, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth, ⁴⁷to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.’”

Chapter 12

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a woman conceives, and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her monthly period she shall be unclean. ³In the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴She shall continue in the blood of purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any holy thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. ⁵But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her period; and she shall continue in the blood of purification sixty-six days.

⁶“‘When the days of her purification are completed, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the door of the Tent of Meeting, a year old lamb for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering: ⁷and he shall offer it before Yahweh, and make atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood.

“‘This is the law for her who bears, whether a male or a female. ⁸If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons; the one for a burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.’”

Chapter 13

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²“When a man shall have a rising in his body’s skin, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it becomes in the skin of his body the plague of leprosy, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests: ³and the priest shall examine the plague in the skin of the body: and if the hair in the plague has turned white, and the appearance of the plague is deeper than the body’s skin, it is the plague of leprosy; and the priest shall examine him, and pronounce him unclean. ⁴If the bright spot is white in the skin of his body, and the appearance of it isn’t deeper than the skin, and the hair of it hasn’t turned white, then the priest shall isolate the infected person for seven days. ⁵The priest shall examine him on the seventh day, and, behold, if in his eyes the plague is arrested, and the plague hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days. ⁶The priest shall examine him again on the seventh day; and behold, if the plague has faded, and the plague hasn’t spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. It is a scab. He shall wash his clothes, and be clean. ⁷But if the scab spreads on the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again. ⁸The priest shall examine him; and behold, if the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is leprosy.

⁹“When the plague of leprosy is in a man, then he shall be brought to the priest; ¹⁰and the priest shall examine him. Behold, if there is a white rising in the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the rising, ¹¹it is a chronic leprosy in the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. He shall not isolate him, for he is unclean.

¹²“If the leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the infected person from his head even to his feet, as far as it appears to the priest; ¹³then the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the leprosy has covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean of the plague. It has all turned white: he is clean. ¹⁴But whenever raw flesh appears in him, he shall be unclean. ¹⁵The priest shall examine the raw flesh, and pronounce him unclean: the raw flesh is unclean. It is leprosy. ¹⁶Or if the raw flesh turns again, and is changed to white, then he shall come to the priest; ¹⁷and the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the plague has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him clean of the plague. He is clean.

¹⁸“When the body has a boil on its skin, and it has healed, ¹⁹and in the place of the boil there is a white rising, or a bright spot, reddish-white, then it shall be shown to the priest; ²⁰and the priest shall examine it; and behold, if the appearance of it is lower than the skin, and the hair of it has turned white, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. It has broken out in the boil. ²¹But if the priest examines it, and behold, there are no white hairs in it, and it isn’t deeper than the skin, but is dim, then the priest shall isolate him seven days. ²²If it spreads in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is a plague. ²³But if the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn’t spread, it is the scar from the boil; and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

²⁴“Or when the body has a burn from fire on its skin, and the raw flesh of the burn becomes a bright spot, reddish-white, or white, ²⁵then the priest shall examine it; and behold, if the hair in the bright spot has turned white, and the appearance of it is deeper than the skin; it is leprosy. It has broken out in the burning, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. ²⁶But if the priest examines it, and behold, there is no white hair in the bright spot, and it isn’t lower than the skin, but is faded; then the priest shall isolate him seven days. ²⁷The priest shall examine him on the seventh day. If it has spread in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It is the plague of leprosy. ²⁸If the bright spot stays in its place, and hasn’t spread in the skin, but is faded, it is the swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce him clean; for it is the scar from the burn.

²⁹“When a man or woman has a plague on the head or on the beard, ³⁰then the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if the appearance of it is deeper than the skin, and the hair in it is yellow and thin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is an itch, it is leprosy of the head or of the beard. ³¹If the priest examines the plague of itching, and behold, its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, and there is no black hair in it, then the priest shall isolate him the person infected with itching seven days. ³²On the seventh day the priest shall examine the plague; and behold, if the itch hasn’t spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the appearance of the itch isn’t deeper than the skin, ³³then he shall be shaved, but he shall not shave the itch; and the priest shall shut him up who has the itch seven more days. ³⁴On the seventh day, the priest shall examine the itch; and behold, if the itch hasn’t spread in the skin, and its appearance isn’t deeper than the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. He shall wash his clothes, and be clean. ³⁵But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing, ³⁶then the priest shall examine him; and behold, if the itch has spread in the skin, the priest shall not look for the yellow hair; he is unclean. ³⁷But if in his eyes the itch is arrested, and black hair has grown in it; the itch is healed, he is clean. The priest shall pronounce him clean.

³⁸“When a man or a woman has bright spots in the skin of the body, even white bright spots; ³⁹then the priest shall examine them; and behold, if the bright spots on the skin of their body are a dull white, it is a harmless rash, it has broken out in the skin; he is clean.

⁴⁰“If a man’s hair has fallen from his head, he is bald. He is clean. ⁴¹If his hair has fallen off from the front part of his head, he is forehead bald. He is clean. ⁴²But if there is in the bald head, or the bald forehead, a reddish-white plague; it is leprosy breaking out in his bald head, or his bald forehead. ⁴³Then the priest shall examine him; and, behold, if the rising of the plague is reddish-white in his bald head, or in his bald forehead, like the appearance of leprosy in the skin of the flesh, ⁴⁴he is a leprous man. He is unclean. The priest shall surely pronounce him unclean. His plague is on his head.

⁴⁵“The leper in whom the plague is shall wear torn clothes, and the hair of his head shall hang loose. He shall cover his upper lip, and shall cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ ⁴⁶All the days in which the plague is in him he shall be unclean. He is unclean. He shall dwell alone. Outside of the camp shall be his dwelling.

⁴⁷“The garment also that the plague of leprosy is in, whether it is a woolen garment, or a linen garment; ⁴⁸whether it is in warp, or woof; of linen, or of wool; whether in a skin, or in anything made of skin; ⁴⁹if the plague is greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything made of skin; it is the plague of leprosy, and shall be shown to the priest. ⁵⁰The priest shall examine the plague, and isolate the plague seven days. ⁵¹He shall examine the plague on the seventh day. If the plague has spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in the skin, whatever use the skin is used for, the plague is a destructive mildew. It is unclean. ⁵²He shall burn the garment, whether the warp or the woof, in wool or in linen, or anything of skin, in which the plague is: for it is a destructive mildew. It shall be burned in the fire.

⁵³“If the priest examines it, and behold, the plague hasn’t spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin; ⁵⁴then the priest shall command that they wash the thing in which the plague is, and he shall isolate it seven more days. ⁵⁵Then the priest shall examine it, after the plague is washed; and behold, if the plague hasn’t changed its color, and the plague hasn’t spread, it is unclean; you shall burn it in the fire. It is a mildewed spot, whether the bareness is inside or outside. ⁵⁶If the priest looks, and behold, the plague has faded after it is washed, then he shall tear it out of the garment, or out of the skin, or out of the warp, or out of the woof: ⁵⁷and if it appears again in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin, it is spreading. You shall burn with fire that in which the plague is. ⁵⁸The garment, either the warp, or the woof, or whatever thing of skin it is, which you shall wash, if the plague has departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and it will be clean.”

⁵⁹This is the law of the plague of mildew in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp, or the woof, or in anything of skin, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.

Chapter 14

¹Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

²“This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, ³and the priest shall go forth out of the camp. The priest shall examine him, and behold, if the plague of leprosy is healed in the leper, ⁴then the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two living clean birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop. ⁵The priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water. ⁶As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water. ⁷He shall sprinkle on him who is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird go into the open field.

⁸“He who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and bathe himself in water; and he shall be clean. After that he shall come into the camp, but shall dwell outside his tent seven days. ⁹It shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off. He shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his body in water, then he shall be clean.

¹⁰“On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. ¹¹The priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed, and those things, before Yahweh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

¹²“The priest shall take one of the male lambs, and offer him for a trespass offering, with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ¹³He shall kill the male lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary; for as the sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering. It is most holy. ¹⁴The priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall 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 big toe of his right foot. ¹⁵The priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. ¹⁶The 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 Yahweh. ¹⁷The priest shall put some of the rest of the oil that is in his hand 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 big toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering. ¹⁸The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh.

¹⁹“The priest shall offer the sin offering, and make atonement for him who is to be cleansed because of his uncleanness: and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering; ²⁰and the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meal offering on the altar. The priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean.

²¹“If he is poor, and can’t afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and one tenth of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil for a meal offering, and a log of oil; ²²and two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to afford; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering.

²³“On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, before Yahweh. ²⁴The priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. ²⁵He shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering. The priest shall take some of the blood of the 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 big toe of his right foot. ²⁶The priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand; ²⁷and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Yahweh. ²⁸Then the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand 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 big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the trespass offering. ²⁹The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before Yahweh. ³⁰He shall offer one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he is able to afford, ³¹even such as he is able to afford, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meal offering. The priest shall make atonement for him who is to be cleansed before Yahweh.”