James Carroll, “The Story of Abraham,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 71-76

1-3          Mark 10:28-31
1              Luke 9:57-62;  Acts 7:2-3; Hebrews 11:8
2-3          Genesis 15:5, 17:4-5, 18:18, 22:17-18, 26:4, 28:14, 35:11, 46:3;  Psalm 47:9;  72:17
3              Exodus 19:5-6;  Numbers 10:32; Psalm 47:9;  Matthew 28:19;  Galatians 3:8
7              Acts 7:5; Galatians 3:16
10-20     Genesis 20:1-18, 26:7-11

1-6          Samuel Terrien, “The Call of Abraham,” The Elusive Presence, p. 72-76

1-5          Dom Helder Camara, “First Abraham,” The Desert is Fertile, p. 12-14
1-5          Carlo Carretto, Love is for Living, p. 30-35
1-4          Walter Brueggemann, Imaging the Word, Vol. 2, p. 218-221

1-3          Ted Loder, Guerrillas of Grace, p. 132

1-3          Stephen Mitchell, The Gospel According to Jesus, p. 46

1-3          Kelley Nikondeha, Adopted, p. 12

2             Samuel Terrien, The Elusive Presence, p. 74 f.

10-20     Phillip Lopate, “The Story of Abraham and Sarah,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 93-114
10-13      Bharati Mukherjee, “Genesis (Hagar),” Communion, p. 98-102

1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.”

4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.  5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions which they had gathered, and the persons that they had gotten in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.  7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.  8 Thence he removed to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.  9 And Abram journeyed on, still going toward the Negeb.

10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.  11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful to behold; 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; then they will kill me, but they will let you live.  13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.”  14 When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.  15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.  16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, he-asses, menservants, maidservants, she-asses, and camels.

17 But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sar’ai, Abram’s wife.  18 So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?  19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her, and be gone.”  20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had.

10     Genesis 2:10
15     Acts 7:5; Galatians 3:16

1 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb.

2 Now Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.  3 And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first; and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.  5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, 7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites dwelt in the land.

8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen; for we are kinsmen.  9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”  10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and saw that the Jordan valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar; this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.  11 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan valley, and Lot journeyed east; thus they separated from each other.  12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, while Lot dwelt among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom.  13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD.

14 The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your descendants for ever.  16 I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your descendants also can be counted.  17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”  18 So Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron; and there he built an altar to the LORD.

Philip Davies, “Abraham and Yahweh,” Bible Review (August 1995), p. 24f. (30f.)

18-20     Hebrews 7:1-10

5       Ancient Near East, Vol. 1, p. 118
14     Ancient Near East, Vol. 1, p. 225

1 In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, 2 these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).  3 And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).  4 Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.  5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in their Mount Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness; 7 then they turned back and came to Enmishpat (that is, Kadesh), and subdued all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazazon-tamar.  8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim 9 with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five.  10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits; and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the mountain.  11 So the enemy took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way; 12 they also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

13 Then one who had escaped came, and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oakss of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner; these were allies of Abram.  14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.  15 And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus.  16 Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his goods, and the women and the people.

17 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).  18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.  19 And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
maker of heaven and earth;
20 and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abraham gave him a tenth of everything.  21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.”  22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, 23 that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’  24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me; let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.”

Samuel Terrien, “The Covenant with Abraham,” The Elusive Presence, p. 76

4       Genesis 17:16, 17:21, 18:10, 21:2
5       Romans 4:18; Hebrews 11:12
6      Psalm 106:31; Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23; 1 Maccabees 2:52
12     Job 4:13-14
13     Exodus 1:1-14; Acts 7:6
14     Exodus 12:40-41; Acts 7:7
18     Genesis 17:2-21; Acts 7:5

6      Martin Luther, quoted by Stanley Hauerwas in Minding the Web, p. 99

6      Samuel Terrien, The Elusive Presence, p. 77 f.

1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”  2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, thou hast given me no offspring; and a slave born in my house will be my heir.”  4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; your own son shall be your heir.”  5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”  6 And he believed the LORD; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness.

7 And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.”  8 But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”  10 And he brought him all these, cut them in two, and laid each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.  11 And when birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and lo, a dread and great darkness fell upon him.  13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know of a surety that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years; 14 but I will bring judgment on the nation which they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.  15 As for yourself, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.  18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Frederick Buechner, “Hagar,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 44-46
Bharati Mukherjee, “Genesis (Hagar),” Communion, p. 98-102
Norma Rosen, “The Story of Sarah’s Late Pregnancy,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 115-124
Lore Segal, “The Story of Sarah and Hagar,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 125-137

15     Galatians 4:22

1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar; 2 and Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.  3 So, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.  4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.  5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my maid to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!”  6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.

7 The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.  8 And he said, “Hagar, maid of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.”  9 The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her.”  10 The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will so greatly multiply your descendants that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”  11 And the angel of the LORD said to her,
“Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son;
you shall call his name Ishmael;
because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild ass of a man,
his hand against every man
and every man’s hand against him;
and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”
13 So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “Thou art a God of seeing”; for she said, “Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

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

Frederick Buechner, “Sarah,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 152-153

5             Romans 4:17
7             Luke 1:55; Galatians 3:16
8             Acts 7:5
10           Acts 7:8; Romans 4:11
11-14      Genesis 17:24, 21:4
20-21     Galatians 4:21-31

1-8     Imaging the Word, Vol. 3, p. 162

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.  2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”  3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.  5 No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.  6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you.  7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.  8 And I will give to you, and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.  10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.  11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.  12 He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised; every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house, or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money, shall be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant.  14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.  16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her; I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”  17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live in thy sight!”  19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him and make him fruitful and multiply him exceedingly; he shall be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.  21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.”  22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham.

23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all the slaves born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him.  24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.  26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised; 27 and all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Walter Brueggemann, “The Prophetic Word of God and History,” Interpretation (July 1994), p. 239-251

Denise Levertov, “Genesis (Abraham) and Gospels,” Communion, p. 483

Kathleen Norris, “Kitchen Trinity,” Little Girls in Church, p. 6

Norma Rosen, “The Story of Sarah’s Late Pregnancy,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 115-124
Imaging the Word, Vol. 1, p. 205

2       Hebrews 13:2
10     Romans 9:9
12     1 Peter 3:6
14     Luke 1:37; Romans 9:9

1-2        Jaroslav Pelikan, The Illustrated Jesus through the Centuries, p. 98
9-15     John Shea, “The Prayer of Isaac’s Birth,” The Hour of the Unexpected, p. 83

1 And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.  2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth, 3 and said, “My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.  4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, 5 while I fetch a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.”  6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.”  7 And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it.  8 Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.”  10 The LORD said, “I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.  11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.  12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, in the spring, and Sarah shall have a son.”  15 But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Philip Davies, “Abraham and Yahweh,” Bible Review (August 1995), p. 24 ff.

Gary Gunderson, Deeply Woven Roots, p. 44

Michael Lerner, Jewish Renewal, p. xii, 44

David Remnick, “The Devil Problem,” The New Yorker (4/3/95), p. 57 f.

16-33     Isaiah 1:9
18           Galatians 3:8

16-17      Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Divine Milieu, p. 112

25           William Safire, The First Dissident, p. xxiv

27-28     Francis Patrick Sullivan, “Chips Off the Old Block,” A Time To Sow, p. 155

16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way.  17 The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by him?  19 No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice; so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”  20 Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry which has come to me; and if not, I will know.”

22 So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom; but Abraham still stood before the LORD.  23 Then Abraham drew near, and said, “Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked?  24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it?  25 Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” 26 And the LORD said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”  27 Abraham answered, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.  28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Wilt thou destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”  29 Again he spoke to him, and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.”  30 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.”  31 He said, “Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.”  32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”  33 And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

Frederick Buechner, “Lot,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 90-92
Alfred Corn, “The Story of Lot,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 77-92
Katha Pollitt, “Cities of the Plain,” The New Yorker (September 27, 2004), p. 130

David Remnick, “The Devil Problem,” The New Yorker (April 3, 1995), p. 57 f.

Isaac Bashevis Singer, “The Wicked City,” Stories for Children, p. 77-88
Hans Walter Wolff, Old Testament and Christian Preaching, p. 19-26

1-38     Ezekiel 16:49
5-8      Judges 19:22-24
11         2 Kings 6:18
16        2 Peter 2:7
26        Luke 17:32
28        Revelation 9:2

15-26    Anna Akhmatova, “Lot’s Wife,” New and Collected Poems, p. 167

17          Jonathan Edwards, “Sermon,” Lend Me Your Ears, p. 418 ff.
26          Rebecca Goldstein, “Looking Back at Lot’s Wife,” Out of the Garden, p. 3-17

1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed himself with his face to the earth, 2 and said, “My lords, turn aside, I pray you, to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the street.”  3 But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.  4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; 5 and they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.”  6 Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him, 7 and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.  8 Behold, I have two daughters who have not known man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”  9 But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he would play the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door.  10 But the men put forth their hands and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. 11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves groping for the door.

12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you any one else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or any one you have in the city, bring them out of the place; 13 for we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”  14 So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up, get out of this place; for the LORD is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

15 When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.”  16 But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him forth and set him outside the city.  17 And when they had brought them forth, they said, “Flee for your life; do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley; flee to the hills, lest you be consumed.”  18 And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords; 19 behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life; but I cannot flee to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me, and I die.  20 Behold, yonder city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!”  21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.  22 Make haste, escape there; for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.  23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; 25 and he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.  26 But Lot’s wife behind him looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD; 28 and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.

29 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.

30 Now Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar; so he dwelt in a cave with his two daughters.  31 And the first-born said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth.  32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father.”  33 So they made their father drink wine that night; and the first-born went in, and lay with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.  34 And on the next day, the first-born said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring through our father.”  35 So they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.  36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.  37 The first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.  38 The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites to this day.

Phillip Lopate, “The Story of Abraham and Sarah,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 93-114

2     Genesis 12:13, 26:7

1 From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar.  2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.  3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by 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.”  4 Now Abimelech had not approached her; so he said, “Lord, wilt thou slay an innocent people?  5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.”  6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me; therefore I did not let you touch her.  7 Now then restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you, and all that are yours.”

8 So Abim’elech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told them all these things; and the men were very much afraid.  9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.”  10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What were you thinking of, that you did this thing?” 11 Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.  12 Besides she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.  13 And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, He is my brother.’”  14 Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah his wife to him.  15 And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.”  16 To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; it is your vindication in the eyes of all who are with you; and before every one you are righted.”  17 Then Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children.  18 For the LORD had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Frederick Buechner, “Isaac,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 52-54

2       Hebrews 11:11
4       Genesis 17:12; Acts 7:8
10     Galatians 4:29-30
12     Romans 7:9; Hebrews 11:18
22     Genesis 26:26
31     Genesis 26:33

1-21      Norma Rosen, “The Story of Sarah’s Late Pregnancy,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 115-124
1-21      Lore Segal, “The Story of Sarah and Hagar,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 125-137
5-6        Imaging the Word, Vol. 2, p. 222-225
8-20     Imaging the Word, Vol. 1, p. 251

1 The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised.  2 And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.  3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.  4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.  5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.  6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; every one who hears will laugh over me.”  7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would suckle children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

8 And the child grew, and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.  9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac.  10 So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.”  11 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.  12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the lad and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your descendants be named.  13 And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” 14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

15 When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes.  16 Then she went, and sat down over against him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Let me not look upon the death of the child.” And as she sat over against him, the child lifted up his voice and wept.  17 And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not; for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.  18 Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him fast with your hand; for I will make him a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.

20 And God was with the lad, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness, and became an expert with the bow.  21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do; 23 now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my offspring or with my posterity, but as I have dealt loyally with you, you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.”  24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

25 When Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized, 26 Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.”  27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.  28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart.  29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set apart?” 30 He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that you may be a witness for me that I dug this well.”  31 Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba; because there both of them swore an oath.  32 So they made a covenant at Beer-sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.  33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.  34 And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

Wendell Berry, “The Way of Pain,” Collected Poems, p. 210 f.

Ben Birnbaum, “How to Pray: Reverence, Stories and the Rebbe’s Dream,” The Best American Essays, 2001, p. 21

Roberta C. Bondi, “Crucifixion,” Weavings (September/October 1994), p. 12

Frederick Buechner, “Abraham” & “Isaac,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 3-4, 52-54
Leonard Cohen, “Story of Isaac,” Stranger Music, p. 139
John Dominic Crossan, “Other Healings,” The Essential Jesus, p. 196 f. [reliefs on pages 116, 140; discriptions p.195, 196]
Philip Davies, “Abraham and Yahweh,” Bible Review (August 1995), p. 24 ff.

Geoffrey Hartman, “The Story of Isaac’s Sacrifice,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 139-150
Roberta Kalechofsky, “Abraham and Isaac,” The Enduring Legasy, p. 85
Søren Kierkegaard, “Suspending the Ethical,” Provocations, p. 25-29, 89-90

Michael Lerner, Jewish Renewal, p. 45, 46, 48

Stephen Mitchell, “The Binding of Isaac,” Parables and Portraits, p. 27
Wilfred Owen, “The parable of the Old men and the Young,” The Enduring Legacy, p. 96
Jaroslav Pelikan, The Illustrated Jesus through the Centuries, p. 15
Dean Sullivan, Papal Bull, p. 63

Charles M. Swezey, “Expository Article,” Interpretation (January 1983), p. 68-73

Samuel Terrien, “The Test of Abraham’s Faith,” The Elusive Presence, p. 81-84

Geza Vermes, The Changing Faces of Jesus, p. 92

Elie Wiesel, “The Sacrifice of Isaac: A Survivor’s Story,” Messengers of God, p. 69-102

1-14       Romans 8:32; Hebrews 11:17-19
1             Sirach 44:20
2             2 Chronicles 3:1
9             James 2:21
12           1 Maccabees 2:52
16-17     Luke 1:73; Hebrews 6:13-14
16           Romans 8:32
17           Hebrews 11:12
18           Acts 3:25

1 After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.”  2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”  3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.  4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off.  5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the ass; I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.”  6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.  7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.  10 Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.  11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.”  12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”  13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.  14 So Abraham called the name of that place The LORD will provide; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

15 And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will indeed bless you, and I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies, 18 and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”  19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.

20 Now after these things it was told Abraham, “Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:  21 Uz the first-born, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethu’el.”  23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

24 Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Ma’acah.

4           Hebrews 11:9-13; Acts 7:16
16-17    Acts 7:16

1 Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.  2 And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.  3 And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and said to the Hittites, 4 “I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”  5 The Hittites answered Abraham, 6 “Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our sepulchres; none of us will withhold from you his sepulchre, or hinder you from burying your dead.”  7 Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land.  8 And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, 9 that he may give me the cave of Mach-pelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as a possession for a burying place.”  10 Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, 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 sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.”  12 Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.  13 And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me; I will give the price of the field; accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.”  14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”  16 Abraham agreed with Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

17 So the field of Ephron in Mach-pelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave which was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over 18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city.  19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Mach-pelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.  20 The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as a possession for a burying place by the Hittites.

Frederick Buechner, “Rebecca,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 145-146
Clarence Major, “The Story of Rebekah,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 151-158
Norma Rosen, “Rebecca and Isaac: A Marriage Made in Heaven,” Out of the Garden, p. 13-26

10-67     John 4:5-42
55-59     Luke 9:57-60
67            Song of Songs 3:4

1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.  2 And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh, 3 and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, 4 but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”  5 The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land; must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” 6 Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there.  7 The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your descendants I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.  8 But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.”  9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.  11 And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water.  12 And he said, “O LORD, God of my master Abraham, grant me success today, I pray thee, and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.  13 Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.  14 Let the maiden to whom I shall say, ‘Pray let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac. By this I shall know that thou hast shown steadfast love to my master.”

15 Before he had done speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar upon her shoulder.  16 The maiden was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known. She went down to the spring, and filled her jar, and came up.  17 Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Pray give me a little water to drink from your jar.”  18 She said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly let down her jar upon her hand, and gave him a drink.  19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw for your camels also, until they have done drinking.”  20 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.  21 The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not.

22 When the camels had done drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, 23 and said, “Tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge in?” 24 She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethu’el the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25 She added, “We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.”  26 The man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD, 27 and said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the LORD has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.”

28 Then the maiden ran and told her mother’s household about these things.  29 Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran out to the man, to the spring. 30 When he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.  31 He said, “Come in, O blessed of the LORD; why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”  32 So the man came into the house; and Laban ungirded the camels, and gave him straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 Then food was set before him to eat; but he said, “I will not eat until I have told my errand.” He said, “Speak on.”

34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.  35 The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, camels and asses.  36 And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has.  37 My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; 38 but you shall go to my father’s house and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son.’  39 I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’  40 But he said to me, ‘The LORD, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my kindred and from my father’s house; 41 then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my kindred; and if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’

42 “I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now thou wilt prosper the way which I go, 43 behold, I am standing by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, “Pray give me a little water from your jar to drink,” 44 and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,” let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.’

45 “Before I had done speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder; and she went down to the spring, and drew. I said to her, ‘Pray let me drink.’  46 She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also.  47 Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her arms.  48 Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son.  49 Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me; that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The thing comes from the LORD; we cannot speak to you bad or good. 51 Behold, Rebekah is before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the LORD has spoken.”

52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the earth before the LORD.  53 And the servant brought forth jewelry of silver and of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments.  54 And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me back to my master.”  55 Her brother and her mother said, “Let the maiden remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go.”  56 But he said to them, “Do not delay me, since the LORD has prospered my way; let me go that I may go to my master.”  57 They said, “We will call the maiden, and ask her.”  58 And they called Rebekah, and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go.”  59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah, and said to her,
“Our sister, be the mother
of thousands of ten thousands;
and may your descendants possess
the gate of those who hate them!”
61 Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and rode upon the camels and followed the man; thus the servant took Rebekah, and went his way.

62 Now Isaac had come from Beer-lahai-roi, and was dwelling in the Negeb.  63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there were camels coming.  64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she alighted from the camel, 65 and said to the servant, “Who is the man yonder, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself.  66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.  67 Then Isaac brought her into the tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Frederick Buechner, “Esau” “Rebecca,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 31-32, 145-146

10           Genesis 23:3-16
13-16     1 Chronicles 1:29-31
23           Genesis 4:1-5; Matthew 21:28-32; Luke 15:11-32; Romans 9:12
33           Hebrews 12:16

24-34     Frederick Buechner, “Jacob,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 56-58
24-26     Savina J. Teubal, “Naming is Creating,” Bible Review (August 1995), p. 40-41

1 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.  2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.  3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.  4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.  5 Abraham gave all he had to Isaac.  6 But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.

7 These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, a hundred and seventy-five years.  8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.  9 Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, 10 the field which Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife.

11 After the death of Abraham God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac dwelt at Beer-la’hai-roi. 12 These are the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham.  13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the first-born of Ishmael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.  16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes.  17 (These are the years of the life of Ishmael, a hundred and thirty-seven years; he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his kindred.) . 18 They dwelt from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria; he settled over against all his people.

19 These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took to wife Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean.  21 And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.  22 The children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is thus, why do I live?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.  23 And the LORD said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples, born of you, shall be divided;
the one shall be stronger than the other,
the elder shall serve the younger.”
24 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.  25 The first came forth red, all his body like a hairy mantle; so they called his name Esau.  26 Afterward his brother came forth, and his hand had taken hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.  28 Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his game; but Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 Once when Jacob was boiling pottage, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red pottage, for I am famished!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) . 31 Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.”  32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.  34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils, and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Frederick Buechner, “Esau,” “Jacob” & “Rebecca,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 31-32, 56-58, 145-146

3-4   Genesis 22:16-18
7       Genesis 12:13, 20:2
19    John 4:10
26    Genesis 21:22
33    Genesis 21:31

1 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.  2 And the LORD appeared to him, and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.  3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfil the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.  4 I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves:  5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.  7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister”; for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me for the sake of Rebekah”; because she was fair to look upon.  8 When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac fondling Rebekah his wife.  9 So Abimelech called Isaac, and said, “Behold, she is your wife; how then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’”  10 Abimelech 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 upon us.”  11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death.”

12 And Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.  14 He had possessions of flocks and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him.  15 (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.)  16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us; for you are much mightier than we.”

17 So Isaac departed from there, and encamped in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there.  18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names which his father had given them.  19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of springing water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.  21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also; so he called its name Sitnah. 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and over that they did not quarrel; so he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”

23 From there he went up to Beer-sheba.  24 And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father; fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your descendants for my servant Abraham’s sake.” 25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.  27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly that the LORD is with you; so we say, let there be an oath between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.”  30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.  31 In the morning they rose early and took oath with one another; and Isaac set them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.  32 That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”  33 He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day.

34 When Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; 35 and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

Frederick Buechner, “Esau,” “Jacob” & “Rebecca,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 31-32, 56-58, 145-146
John Donne, “Divine Poems (7),” Classics of Western Spirituality, p. 80

James McCourt, “Genesis (Jacob) and Luke,” Communion, p. 123 ff.
Kathleen Norris, “The Story of Rebekah as a Mother,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 159-168
Valerie Sayers, “Genesis (Rebecca) and Luke,” Communion, p. 39-48

5              Genesis 12:3; Numbers 24:9
27-29     Hebrews 11:20
29           Genesis 12:3
38          Genesis 25:29-34; Hebrews 12:17
39-40     Hebrews 11:20
40           Genesis 36:8; 2 Kings 8:20

1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son, and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.”  2 He said, “Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death.  3 Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me, 4 and prepare for me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat; that I may bless you before I die.”

5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food, that I may eat it, and bless you before the LORD before I die.’  8 Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you.  9 Go to the flock, and fetch me two good kids, that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he loves; 10 and you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”  11 But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.  12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him, and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.”  13 His mother said to him, “Upon me be your curse, my son; only obey my word, and go, fetch them to me.”  14 So he went and took them and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved.  15 Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son; 16 and the skins of the kids she put upon his hands and upon the smooth part of his neck; 17 and she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

18 So he went in to his father, and said, “My father”; and he said, “Here I am; who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your first-born. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that you may bless me.”  20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the LORD your God granted me success.”  21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.”  22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”  23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.  24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.”  25 Then he said, “Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.  26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.”  27 So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said,
“See, the smell of my son
is as the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed!
28 May God give you of the dew of heaven,
and of the fatness of the earth,
and plenty of grain and wine.
29 Let peoples serve you,
and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be every one who curses you,
and blessed be every one who blesses you!”

30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting.  31 He also prepared savory food, and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.”  32 His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your first-born, Esau.”  33 Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him?—yes, and he shall be blessed.” 34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”  35 But he said, “Your brother came with guile, and he has taken away your blessing.”  36 Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright; and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37 Isaac answered Esau, “Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

39 Then Isaac his father answered him:
“Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be,
and away from the dew of heaven on high.
40 By your sword you shall live,
and you shall serve your brother;
but when you break loose
you shall break his yoke from your neck.”

41 Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”  42 But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah; so she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself by planning to kill you.  43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran, 44 and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away; 45 until your brother’s anger turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send, and fetch you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?”

46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Samuel Terrien, “Jacob’s Dream of the Heavenly Stairway,” The Elusive Presence, p. 84

4             Genesis 17:4-8; Galatians 3:14
10-17     Matthew 16:18-19
12           John 1:51
13           Genesis 13:14-15
14           Genesis 12:3, 22:18

1-17        Frederick Buechner, “Jacob,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 56-58
10-22     Wendell Berry, “2006 I.” This Day, p. 283

10-22     Denise Levertov, “The Jacob’s Ladder,” The Jacob’s Ladder, p. 39

10-22     Denise Levertov, “Mark,” Footprints, p. 22

10-22     Dana Gioia, “The Burning Ladder,” Odd Angles of Heaven, p. 116

10-22     Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World, p. 2-15

11             Kathleen Norris, “Conversion: Seeking God Only to Find That God is Seeking You,” Earl Lectures (January 29, 1997)
12            Denise Levertov, “Ancient Stairway,” This Great Unknowing, p. 7

10-22     Wendell Berry, “2004, I,” This Day, p. 249

11             Kathleen Norris, “Conversion: Seeking God Only to Find That God is Seeking You,” Earl Lectures (January 29, 1997)

12            Denise Levertov, “Ancient Stairway,” This Great Unknowing, p. 7

1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, “You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women.  2 Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take as wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.  3 God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.  4 May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your descendants with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings which God gave to Abraham!”  5 Thus Isaac sent Jacob away; and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he charged him, “You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram.  8 So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, 9 Esau went to Ishmael and took to wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

10 Jacob left Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran.  11 And he came to a certain place, and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.  12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it” 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants; 14 and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves.  15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you.”  16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place; and I did not know it.”  17 And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

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

Frederick Buechner, “Rachel,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 142-143
Allegra Goodman, “The Story of Rachel,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 169-178

2     Mark 16:3-4

15-35    Ilana Pardes, “Rachel’s Dream of Grandeur,” Out of the Garden, p. 27-31

1 Then Jacob went on his journey, and came to the land of the people of the east.  2 As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and lo, three flocks of sheep lying beside it; for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large, 3 and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well, and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place upon the mouth of the well.

4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.”  5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.”  6 He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!”  7 He said, “Behold, it is still high day, it is not time for the animals to be gathered together; water the sheep, and go, pasture them.”  8 But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep; for she kept them.  10 Now when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.  11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and wept aloud.  12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son; and she ran and told her father.

13 When Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, 14 and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.

15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” 16 Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.  17 Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful and lovely.  18 Jacob loved Rachel; and he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”  19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.”  20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.”  22 So Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.  23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her.  24 (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.) . 25 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah; and Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the first-born. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.”  28 Jacob did so, and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to wife. 29 (Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maid.) . 30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.

31 When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.  32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.”  33 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also”; and she called his name Simeon.  34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons”; therefore his name was called Levi.  35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the LORD”; therefore she called his name Judah; then she ceased bearing.

Frederick Buechner, “Rachel,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 142-143
Ilana Pardes, “Rachel’s Dream of Grandeur,” Out of the Garden, p. 31-33

1-24     Allegra Goodman, “The Story of Rachel,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 169-178

1 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”  2 Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees, and even I may have children through her.”  4 So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife; and Jacob went in to her.  5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.  6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son”; therefore she called his name Dan.  7 Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.  8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and have prevailed”; so she called his name Naphtali.

9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.  10 Then Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.  11 And Leah said, “Good fortune!” so she called his name Gad.  12 Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.  13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For the women will call me happy”; so she called his name Asher.

14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Give me, I pray, some of your son’s mandrakes.”  15 But she 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, “Then he may lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”  16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him, and said, “You must come in to me; for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night.  17 And God hearkened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.  18 Leah said, “God has given me my hire because I gave my maid to my husband”; so she called his name Issachar.  19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son.  20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good dowry; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons”; so she called his name Zebulun.  21 Afterwards she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.

22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her and opened her womb.  23 She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach”; 24 and she called his name Joseph, saying, “May the LORD add to me another son!”

25 When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.  26 Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the service which I have given you.”  27 But Laban said to him, “If you will allow me to say so, I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you; 28 name your wages, and I will give it.” 29 Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you, and how your cattle have fared with me.  30 For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly; and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?” 31 He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything; if you will do this for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it:  32 let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages.  33 So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.”  34 Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.”  35 But that day Laban removed the he-goats that were striped and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black, and put them in charge of his sons; 36 and he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob; and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flock.

37 Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods.  38 He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the runnels, that is, the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, 39 the flocks bred in front of the rods and so the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted.  40 And Jacob separated the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own droves apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock.  41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding Jacob laid the rods in the runnels before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the rods, 42 but for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there; so the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.  43 Thus the man grew exceedingly rich, and had large flocks, maidservants and menservants, and camels and asses.

Frederick Buechner, “Rachel,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 142-143
Ilana Pardes, “Rachel’s Dream of Grandeur,” Out of the Garden, p. 33-40

13     Genesis 28:18-22

26-54     Ancient Near East, Vol. 1, p 168

1 Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s; and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth.”  2 And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before.  3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”  4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was, 5 and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me.  6 You know that I have served your father with all my strength; 7 yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me.  8 If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped.  9 Thus God has taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.

10 In the mating season of the flock I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream that the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were striped, spotted, and mottled.  11 Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’  12 And he said, ‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the goats that leap upon the flock are striped, spotted, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.  13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go forth from this land, and return to the land of your birth.’”  14 Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house?  15 Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us.  16 All the property which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children; now then, whatever God has said to you, do.”

17 So Jacob arose, and set his sons and his wives on camels; 18 and he drove away all his cattle, all his livestock which he had gained, the cattle in his possession which he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.

19 Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods.  20 And Jacob outwitted Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. 21 He fled with all that he had, and arose and crossed the Euphra’tes, and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.

22 When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled, 23 he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead.  24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night, and said to him, “Take heed that you say not a word to Jacob, either good or bad.”

25 And Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen encamped in the hill country of Gilead.  26 And Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done, that you have cheated me, and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword?  27 Why did you flee secretly, and cheat me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? 28 And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? Now you have done foolishly.  29 It is in my power to do you harm; but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Take heed that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’  30 And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house, but why did you steal my gods?” 31 Jacob answered Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force.  32 Any one with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two maidservants, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah’s tent, and entered Rachel’s. 34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat upon them. Laban felt all about the tent, but did not find them.  35 And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched, but did not find the household gods.

36 Then Jacob became angry, and upbraided Laban; Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me?  37 Although you have felt through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen, that they may decide between us two. 38 These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your she-goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks.  39 That which was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself; of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.  40 Thus I was; by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.  41 These 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.  42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night.”

43 Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters, or to their children whom they have borne?  44 Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I; and let it be a witness between you and me.” 45 So Jacob took a stone, and set it up as a pillar.  46 And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones,” and they took stones, and made a heap; and they ate there by the heap.  47 Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed.  48 Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he named it Galeed, 49 and the pillar Mizpah, for he said, “The LORD watch between you and me, when we are absent one from the other.  50 If you ill-treat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us, remember, God is witness between you and me.”

51 Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and the pillar, which I have set between you and me.  52 This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass over this heap to you, and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. 53 The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac, 54 and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called his kinsmen to eat bread; and they ate bread and tarried all night on the mountain.

55 Early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them; then he departed and returned home.

Stanley Hauerwas, “Wounded,” Minding the Web, p. 196

Kathleen Norris, “Conversion: Seeking God Only to Find That God is Seeking You,” Earl Lectures (January 29, 1997) & Amazing Grace, p. 298

Les Standiford, “Genesis (Esau),” Communion, p. 207-222

12            Genesis 22:17
22-32     Mark 1:12-13
24-26     Hosea 12:3-4
28           Genesis 35:10
29           Judges 13:17-18

22-32     Frederick Buechner, “The Magnificent Defeat,” The Magnificent Defeat, p. 10-18
22-32     George A. Buttrick, The Parables of Jesus, p. 174

22-32     Leonard Cohen, “The Altar,” Stranger Music, p. 234

22-32     Emily Dickenson, “CIII,” Collected Poems, p. 368

22-32     Thom Gunn, “The Vigil of Corpus Christi” & “Wrestling,” Collected Poems, p. 170 f., 260ff.

22-32    Edward Hirsch, “The Story of Jacob’s Wrestling with an Angel,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 179-188
22-32    Gerard Manley Hopkins, “(Carrion Comfort),” Poems and Prose, p. 60 f.

22-32    Denise Levertov, “Face,” The Freeing of the Dust, p. 17

22-32    Heather Murray Elkins, “Poem: “The Naming,” Weavings (January/February 1990), p. 36-38
22-32    Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, “The Spiritual Power of Matter,” Hymn of the Universe, p. 59-65

22-32      Samuel Terrien, The Elusive Presence, p. 85-92

22-32    Elie Wiesel, “And Jacob Fought the Angel,” Messengers of God, p. 103-138
24-30    Sheila Cassidy, “The Sorrowful,” The Beatitudes in Modern Life, p. 57-67
24-30    Imaging the Word, Vol. 2, p. 250-253
28           Horace Bushnell, “Personality Developed by Religion,” Sermons, p. 63-71

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

3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, 4 instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; 5 and I have oxen, asses, flocks, menservants, and maidservants; and I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’”

6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men with him.”  7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies, 8 thinking, “If Esau comes to the one company and destroys it, then the company which is left will escape.”

9 And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O LORD who didst say to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, and I will do you good,’ 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness which thou hast shown to thy servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.  11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, lest he come and slay us all, the mothers with the children.  12 But thou didst say, ‘I will do you good, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

13 So he lodged there that night, and took from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau, 14 two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten he-asses.  16 These he delivered into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on before me, and put a space between drove and drove.”  17 He instructed the foremost, “When Esau my brother meets you, and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these before you?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob; they are a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover he is behind us.’”  19 He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you meet him, 20 and you shall say, ‘Moreover your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterwards I shall see his face; perhaps he will accept me.”  21 So the present passed on before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp.

22 The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.  23 He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.  24 And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.  25 When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26 Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”  27 And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”  28 Then he said, “Your name shall no more be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”  29 Then Jacob asked him, “Tell me, I pray, your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.  30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.”  31 The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh.  32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh on the sinew of the hip.

Les Standiford, “Genesis (Esau),” Communion, p. 207-222

4       Luke 15:20
19     Joshua 24:32; John 4:5

10           Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace, p. 299

13-14     Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, p. 146
20          Thomas R. Kelly, A Testament of Devotion, p. 38

1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids.  2 And he put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all.  3 He himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.

4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.  5 And when Esau raised his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”  6 Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down; 7 Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and last Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down.  8 Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor in the sight of my lord.”  9 But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”  10 Jacob said, “No, I pray you, if I have found favor in your sight, then accept my present from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God, with such favor have you received me.  11 Accept, I pray you, my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.

12 Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go before you.”  13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and that the flocks and herds giving suck are a care to me; and if they are overdriven for one day, all the flocks will die. 14 Let my lord pass on before his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the cattle which are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

15 So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the men who are with me.” But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”  16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.  17 But Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house, and made booths for his cattle; therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

18 And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram; and he camped before the city.  19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent.  20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.

Frederick Buechner, “Dinah,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 27-28
John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus, p. 8

1 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land; 2 and when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humbled her.  3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob; he loved the maiden and spoke tenderly to her.  4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this maiden for my wife.”

5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with his cattle in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came.  6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.  7 The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard of it; and the men were indignant and very angry, because he had wrought folly in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing ought not to be done.

8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; I pray you, give her to him in marriage.  9 Make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves.  10 You shall dwell with us; and the land shall be open to you; dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.”  11 Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give.  12 Ask of me ever so much as marriage present and gift, and I will give according as you say to me; only give me the maiden to be my wife.”

13 The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully, because he had defiled their sister Dinah.  14 They said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a disgrace to us.  15 Only on this condition will we consent to you: that you will become as we are and every male of you be circumcised.  16 Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to ourselves, and we will dwell with you and become one people.  17 But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter, and we will be gone.”

18 Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor’s son Shechem.  19 And the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most honored of all his family.  20 So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city, saying, 21 “These men are friendly with us; let them dwell in the land and trade in it, for behold, the land is large enough for them; let us take their daughters in marriage, and let us give them our daughters.  22 Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us, to become one people: that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised.  23 Will not their cattle, their property and all their beasts be ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will dwell with us.”  24 And all who went out of the gate of his city hearkened to Hamor and his son Shechem; and every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.

25 On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came upon the city unawares, and killed all the males.  26 They slew Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away.  27 And the sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled; 28 they took their flocks and their herds, their asses, and whatever was in the city and in the field; 29 all their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and made their prey.  30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites and the Perizzites; my numbers are few, and if they gather themselves against me and attack me, I shall be destroyed, both I and my household.”  31 But they said, “Should he treat our sister as a harlot?”

1            Genesis 28:11-17
2            Colossians 3:10-12
10          Genesis 32:28
11-12     Genesis 17:4-8
14-15    Genesis 28:18-19
22          Genesis 49:4
27          Genesis 13:18

1 God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there; and make there an altar to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”  2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments; 3 then let us arise and go up to Bethel, that I may make there an altar to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”  4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem.

5 And as they journeyed, a terror from God fell upon the cities that were round about them, so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.  6 And Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him, 7 and there he built an altar, and called the place El-bethel, because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother.  8 And Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried under an oak below Bethel; so the name of it was called Allon-bacuth.

9 God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.  10 And God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; no longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name.” So his name was called Israel.  11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you.  12 The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you.”  13 Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him.  14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.  15 So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel.

16 Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor.  17 And when she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Fear not; for now you will have another son.”  18 And as her soul was departing (for she died), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called his name Benjamin.  19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20 and Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day.  21 Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

22 While Israel dwelt in that land Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine; and Israel heard of it.

Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.  23 The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob’s first-born), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.  24 The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.  25 The sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali.  26 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

27 And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. 28 Now the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.  29 And Isaac breathed his last; and he died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

2              Genesis 26:34
3              Genesis 28:9
20-43     1 Chronicles 1:38-53

1 These are the descendants of Esau (that is, Edom).  2 Esau took his wives from the Canaanites: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, Oholibamah the daughter of Anah the son of Zibeon the Hivite, 3 and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.  4 And Adah bore to Esau, Eliphaz; Basemath bore Reuel; 5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

6 Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, his cattle, all his beasts, and all his property which he had acquired in the land of Canaan; and he went into a land away from his brother Jacob.  7 For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together; the land of their sojournings could not support them because of their cattle.  8 So Esau dwelt in the hill country of Seir; Esau is Edom.

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

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

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

31 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the Israelites.  32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, the name of his city being Dinhabah.  33 Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.  34 Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his stead.  35 Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab, reigned in his stead, the name of his city being Avith.  36 Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.  37 Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates reigned in his stead.  38 Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead.  39 Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead, the name of his city being Pau; his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab.

40 These are the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families and their dwelling places, by their names: the chiefs Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, 41 Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, 42 Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, 43 Magdiel, and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom (that is, Esau, the father of Edom), according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession.

3-4     Genesis 4:4-7
11        Acts 7:9
28       Acts 7:9

1 Jacob dwelt in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.  2 This is the history of the family of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a lad with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought an ill report of them to their father.  3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a long robe with sleeves.  4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they only hated him the more.  6 He said to them, “Hear this dream which I have dreamed:  7 behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose and stood upright; and behold, your sheaves gathered round it, and bowed down to my sheaf.”  8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to have dominion over us?” So they hated him yet more for his dreams and for his words.

9 Then he dreamed another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream; and behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”  10 But when he 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? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.

12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem.  13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.”  14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers, and with the flock; and bring me word again.”

So he sent him from the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.  15 And a man found him wandering in the fields; and the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said, “tell me, I pray you, where they are pasturing the flock.”  17 And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan.  18 They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him.  19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer.  20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild beast has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.”  21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.”  22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; cast him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand, to restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; 24 and they took him and cast him into a pit. The pit was empty, there was no water in it.

25 Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood?  27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers heeded him.  28 Then Midianite traders passed by; and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver; and they took Joseph to Egypt.

29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he rent his clothes 30 and returned to his brothers, and said, “The lad is gone; and I, where shall I go?” 31 Then they took Joseph’s robe, and killed a goat, and dipped the robe in the blood; 32 and they sent the long robe with sleeves and brought it to their father, and said, “This we have found; see now whether it is your son’s robe or not.”  33 And he recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s robe; a wild beast has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.”  34 Then Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.  35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and said, “No, I shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him. 36 Meanwhile the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard.

Leonard Michaels, “The Story of Judah and Tamar,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 189-194

1-10       Frederick Buechner, “Onan,” Peculiar Treasures, p. 125-126
27-30    Savina J. Teubal, “Naming is Creating,” Bible Review (August 1995), p. 40-41

1 It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.  2 There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; he married her and went in to her, 3 and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.  4 Again she conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.  5 Yet again she bore a son, and she called his name Shelah. She was in Chezib when she bore him.  6 And Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, and her name was Tamar.  7 But Er, Judah’s first-born, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.  8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife, and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.”  9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife he spilled the semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother.  10 And what he did was displeasing in the sight of the LORD, and he slew him also.  11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, “Remain a widow in your father’s house, till Shelah my son grows up”—for he feared that he would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house.

12 In course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died; and when Judah was comforted, he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.  13 And when Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14 she put off her widow’s garments, and put on a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage.  15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot, for she had covered her face.  16 He went over to her at the road side, and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” 17 He answered, “I will send you a kid from the flock.” And she said, “Will you give me a pledge, till you send it?” 18 He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him. 19 Then she arose and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.

20 When Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, he could not find her.  21 And he asked the men of the place, “Where is the harlot who was at Enaim by the wayside?” And they said, “No harlot has been here.”  22 So he returned to Judah, and said, “I have not found her; and also the men of the place said, ‘No harlot has been here.’”  23 And Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, lest we be laughed at; you see, I sent this kid, and you could not find her.”

24 About three months later Judah was told, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; and moreover she is with child by harlotry.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” 25 As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am with child.” And she said, “Mark, I pray you, whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.”  26 Then Judah acknowledged them and said, “She is more righteous than I, inasmuch as I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not lie with her again.

27 When the time of her delivery came, there were twins in her womb.  28 And when she was in labor, one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a scarlet thread, saying, “This came out first.”  29 But as he drew back his hand, behold, his brother came out; and she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore his name was called Perez.  30 Afterward his brother came out with the scarlet thread upon his hand; and his name was called Zerah.

Barbara J. Essex, “Bad Girls of the Bible,” Earl Lectures (1/28/98)

Ancient Near East, Vol. 1, p. 12

2       Acts 7:9
21     Acts 7:9

1 Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.  2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian, 3 and his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hands.  4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had.  5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had, in house and field.  6 So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and having him he had no concern for anything but the food which he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking.  7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and said, “Lie with me.”  8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Lo, having me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand; 9 he is not greater in this house than I am; nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife; how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” 10 And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie with her or to be with her.  11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and got out of the house.  13 And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; 15 and when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment with me, and fled and got out of the house.”  16 Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; 18 but as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment with me, and fled out of the house.”

19 When his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled.  20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.  21 But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.  22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison; and whatever was done there, he was the doer of it; 23 the keeper of the prison paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.

Blaise Pascal, “# 767,” Pensées, p. 229

Robert Pinsky, “The Story of Joseph’s Interpretation of Dreams,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 203-208

1-23     Luke 23:39-43

1 Some time after this, the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt.  2 And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker, 3 and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined.  4 The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he waited on them; and they continued for some time in custody.  5 And one night they both dreamed—the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own meaning.  6 When Joseph came to them in the morning and saw them, they were troubled.  7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” 8 They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, I pray you.”

9 So the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me, 10 and on the vine there were three branches; as soon as it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and the clusters ripened into grapes.  11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”  12 Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days; 13 within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand as formerly, when you were his butler.  14 But remember me, when it is well with you, and do me the kindness, I pray you, to make mention of me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house.  15 For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews; and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.”

16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head, 17 and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.”  18 And Joseph answered, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days; 19 within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat the flesh from you.”

20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, and lifted up the head of the chief butler and the head of the chief baker among his servants.  21 He restored the chief butler to his butlership, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand; 22 but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.  23 Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

Ancient Near East, Vol. 1, p. 11, 25, 26

8       Daniel 2:2
40     Acts 7:10
42     Daniel 5:29
54     Acts 7:11
55     John 2:5

1-36     Robert Pinsky, “The Story of Joseph’s Interpretation of Dreams,” Genesis: As it is written, p. 203-208
46-57    Wendell Berry, “Leaving the Future Behind,” The Art of Loading Brush, l. 1457

1 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, 2 and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows sleek and fat, and they fed in the reed grass.  3 And behold, seven other cows, gaunt and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.  4 And the gaunt and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke.  5 And he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk.  6 And behold, after them sprouted seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind.  7 And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.  8 So in the morning his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men; and Pharaoh told them his dream, but there was none who could interpret it to Pharaoh.

9 Then the chief butler said to Pharaoh, “I remember my faults today.  10 When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me and the chief baker in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, 11 we dreamed on the same night, he and I, each having a dream with its own meaning.  12 A young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard; and when we told him, he interpreted our dreams to us, giving an interpretation to each man according to his dream.  13 And as he interpreted to us, so it came to pass; I was restored to my office, and the baker was hanged.”

14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon; and when he had shaved himself and changed his clothes, he came in before Pharaoh.  15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it; and I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”  16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.”  17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, in my dream I was standing on the banks of the Nile; 18 and seven cows, fat and sleek, came up out of the Nile and fed in the reed grass; 19 and seven other cows came up after them, poor and very gaunt and thin, such as I had never seen in all the land of Egypt.  20 And the thin and gaunt cows ate up the first seven fat cows, 21 but when they had eaten them no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were still as gaunt as at the beginning. Then I awoke.  22 I also saw in my dream seven ears growing on one stalk, full and good; 23 and seven ears, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them, 24 and the thin ears swallowed up the seven good ears. And I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”

25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.  26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dream is one.  27 The seven lean and gaunt cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine.  28 It is as I told Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do.  29 There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, 30 but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; the famine will consume the land, 31 and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of that famine which will follow, for it will be very grievous.  32 And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.  33 Now therefore let Pharaoh select a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.  34 Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land, and take the fifth part of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plenteous years.  35 And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and lay up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.  36 That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine which are to befall the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”

37 This proposal seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his servants.  38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a man as this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” 39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are; 40 you shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command; only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.”  41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”  42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; 43 and he made him to ride in his second chariot; and they cried before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt.  44 Moreover Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”  45 And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went through all the land of Egypt.  47 During the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth abundantly, 48 and he gathered up all the food of the seven years when there was plenty in the land of Egypt, and stored up food in the cities; he stored up in every city the food from the fields around it.  49 And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.

50 Before the year of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.  51 Joseph called the name of the first-born Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.”  52 The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

53 The seven years of plenty that prevailed in the land of Egypt came to an end; 54 and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.  55 When 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.” 56 So when the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt.  57 Moreover, all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all the earth.

2              Acts 7:12
9              Genesis 37:5-10
17            1 Corinthians 15:4
22            Genesis 37:21-22
25-28     Romans 12:20

1 When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you look at one another?” 2 And he said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live, and not die.”  3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.  4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with his brothers, for he feared that harm might befall him.  5 Thus the sons of Israel came to buy among the others who came, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.

6 Now Joseph was governor over the land; he it was who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.  7 Joseph saw his brothers, and knew them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.”  8 Thus Joseph knew his brothers, but they did not know him.  9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed of them; and he said to them, “You are spies, you have come to see the weakness of the land.”  10 They said to him, “No, my lord, but to buy food have your servants come.  11 We are all sons of one man, we are honest men, your servants are not spies.”  12 He said to them, “No, it is the weakness of the land that you have come to see.”  13 And they 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.”  14 But Joseph said to them, “It is as I said to you, you are spies.  15 By this you shall be tested: by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go from this place unless your youngest brother comes here.  16 Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain in prison, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.” 17 And he put them all together in prison for three days.

18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God:  19 if you are honest men, let one of your brothers remain confined in your prison, and let the rest go and carry grain for the famine of your households, 20 and bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they did so.  21 Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us and we would not listen; therefore is this distress come upon us.”  22 And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the lad? But you would not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.”  23 They did not know that Joseph understood them, for there was an interpreter between them. 24 Then he turned away from them and wept; and he returned to them and spoke to them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.  25 And Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, and to replace every man’s money in his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. This was done for them.

26 Then they loaded their asses with their grain, and departed.  27 And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender at the lodging place, he saw his money in the mouth of his sack; 28 and he said to his brothers, “My money has been put back; here it is in the mouth of my sack!” At this their hearts failed them, and they turned trembling to one another, saying, “What is this that God has done to us?”

29 When they came to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had befallen them, saying, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, spoke roughly to us, and took us to be spies of the land.  31 But we said to him, ‘We are honest men, we are not spies; 32 we 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.’  33 Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I shall know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your households, and go your way.  34 Bring your youngest brother to me; then I shall know that you are not spies but honest men, and I will deliver to you your brother, and you shall trade in the land.’”

35 As they emptied their sacks, behold, every man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were dismayed.  36 And Jacob their father said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin; all this has come upon me.” 37 Then Reuben said to his father, “Slay my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you.”  38 But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he only is left. If harm should befall him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

32     John 4:9; Galatians 2:11-14

1 Now the famine was severe in the land.  2 And when they had eaten the grain which they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go again, buy us a little food.”  3 But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’  4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food; 5 but if you will not send him, we will not go down, for the man said to us, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’”  6 Israel said, “Why did you treat me so ill as to tell the man that you had another brother?” 7 They replied, “The man questioned us carefully about ourselves and our kindred, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ What we told him was in answer to these questions; could we in any way know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down’?” 8 And Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.  9 I will be surety for him; of my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame for ever; 10 for if we had not delayed, we would now have returned twice.”

11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man a present, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds.  12 Take double the money with you; carry back with you the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight.  13 Take also your brother, and arise, go again to the man; 14 may God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may send back your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”  15 So the men took the present, and they took double the money with them, and Benjamin; and they arose and went down to Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.”  17 The man did as Joseph bade him, and brought the men to Joseph’s house.  18 And the men were afraid because they were brought to Joseph’s house, and they said, “It is because of the money, which was replaced in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may seek occasion against us and fall upon us, to make slaves of us and seize our asses.” 19 So they went up to the steward of Joseph’s house, and spoke with him at the door of the house, 20 and said, “Oh, my lord, we came down the first time to buy food; 21 and when we came to the lodging place we opened our sacks, and there was every man’s money in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; so we have brought it again with us, 22 and we have brought other money down in our hand to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks.”  23 He replied, “Rest assured, do not be afraid; your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your sacks for you; I received your money.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. 24 And when the man had brought the men into Joseph’s house, and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their asses provender, 25 they made ready the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.

26 When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present which they had with them, and bowed down to him to the ground.  27 And he inquired about their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” 28 They said, “Your servant our father is well, he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and made obeisance.  29 And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!”  30 Then Joseph made haste, for his heart yearned for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there.  31 Then he washed his face and came out; and controlling himself he said, “Let food be served.”  32 They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.  33 And they sat before him, the first-born according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked at one another in amazement.  34 Portions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.

L. William Countryman, Forgiven and Forgiving, p. 67 f.

1 Then he commanded the steward of his house, “Fill the men’s sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man’s money in the mouth of his sack, 2 and put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, with his money for the grain.” And he did as Joseph told him.  3 As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away with their asses.  4 When they had gone but a short distance from the city, Joseph said to his steward, “Up, follow after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you returned evil for good? Why have you stolen my silver cup?  5 Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he divines? You have done wrong in so doing.’”

6 When he overtook them, he spoke to them these words.  7 They 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!  8 Behold, the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan; how then should we steal silver or gold from your lord’s house?  9 With whomever of your servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord’s slaves.”  10 He said, “Let it be as you say: he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and the rest of you shall be blameless.”  11 Then every man quickly lowered his sack to the ground, and every man opened his sack.  12 And he searched, beginning with the eldest and ending with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin’s sack.  13 Then they rent their clothes, and every man loaded his ass, and they returned to the city.

14 When Judah and his brothers came to Joseph’s house, he was still there; and they fell before him to the ground.  15 Joseph said to them, “What deed is this that you have done? Do you not know that such a man as I can indeed divine?” 16 And Judah said, “What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how can we clear ourselves? God has found out the guilt of your servants; behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we and he also in whose hand the cup has been found.”  17 But he said, “Far be it from me that I should do so! Only the man in whose hand the cup was found shall be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”

18 Then Judah went up to him and said, “O my lord, let your servant, I pray you, speak a word in my lord’s ears, and let not your anger burn against your servant; for you are like Pharaoh himself.  19 My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father, or a brother?’ 20 And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother’s children; and his father loves him.’  21 Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes upon him.’ 22 We said to my lord, ‘The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.’  23 Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’  24 When we went back to your servant my father we told him the words of my lord.  25 And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ 26 we said, ‘We cannot go down. If our youngest brother goes with us, then we will go down; for we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’  27 Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; 28 one left me, and I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces; and I have never seen him since. 29 If you take this one also from me, and harm befalls him, you will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol.’  30 Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, then, as his life is bound up in the lad’s life, 31 when he sees that the lad is not with us, he will die; and your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant our father with sorrow to Sheol.  32 For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, ‘If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame in the sight of my father all my life.’  33 Now therefore, let your servant, I pray you, remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord; and let the lad go back with his brothers.  34 For how can I go back to my father if the lad is not with me? I fear to see the evil that would come upon my father.”

1           Acts 7:13
9-11     Acts 7:14

3-15       Imaging the Word, Vol. 1, p. 136-139
21-23    Ancient Near East, Vol. 1, p. 9

1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him; and he cried, “Make every one go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers.  2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.  3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph; is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.

4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, I pray you.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.  5 And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.  6 For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.  7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.  8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.  9 Make haste and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry; 10 you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have; 11 and there I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come; lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty.’  12 And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.  13 You must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Make haste and bring my father down here.”  14 Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

16 When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well.  17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan; 18 and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’  19 Command them also, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.  20 Give no thought to your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

21 The sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey.  22 To each and all of them he gave festal garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five festal garments.  23 To his father he sent as follows: ten asses loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten she-asses loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey.  24 Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, “Do not quarrel on the way.”

25 So they went up out of Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart fainted, for he did not believe them.  27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived; 28 and Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive; I will go and see him before I die.”

1-4        Matthew 2:13-15
6           Acts 7:15
8-27     Exodus 1:1-4; Numbers 26:4-50
20         Genesis 41:50-52
27         Acts 7:14

28     Ancient Near East, Vol. 1, p. 183

1 So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.  2 And God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here am I.”  3 Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt; for I will there make of you a great nation.  4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.”

5 Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; 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.  6 They also took their cattle and their goods, which they had gained in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, 7 his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

8 Now these are the names of the descendants of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons. Reuben, Jacob’s first-born, 9 and the sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.  10 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanitish woman.  11 The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.  12 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.  13 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron.  14 The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel 15 (these are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; altogether his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three).  16 The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.  17 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beri’ah, with Serah their sister. And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel 18 (these are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons).  19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob’s wife: Joseph and Benjamin.  20 And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera the priest of On, bore to him.  21 And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard 22 (these are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all).  23 The sons of Dan: Hushim.  24 The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem 25 (these are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all).  26 All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own offspring, not including Jacob’s sons’ wives, were sixty-six persons in all; 27 and the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob, that came into Egypt, were seventy.

28 He sent Judah before him to Joseph, to appear before him in Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 Then Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.  30 Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face and know that you are still alive.”  31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me; 32 and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.’  33 When Pharaoh calls you, and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

29-30     Genesis 49:29-32,  50:6

1             Ancient Near East, Vol. 1, p. 183
13-26     Wendell Berry, “Leaving the Future Behind,” The Art of Loading Brush, l. 1457

13-26     Walter Brueggemann, Journey to the Common Good, p. 5-7

1 So Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; they are now in the land of Goshen.”  2 And from among his brothers he took five men and presented them to Pharaoh.  3 Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” And they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were.”  4 They said to Pharaoh, “We have come to sojourn in the land; for there is no pasture for your servants’ flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan; and now, we pray you, let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”  5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Your father and your brothers have come to you.  6 The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen; and if you know any able men among them, put them in charge of my cattle.”

7 Then Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.  8 And Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many are the days of the years of your life?” 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my sojourning are a hundred and 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 sojourning.”  10 And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.  11 Then Joseph settled 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.  12 And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with food, according to the number of their dependents.

13 Now there was no food in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished by reason of the famine.  14 And Joseph 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. 15 And when 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 food; why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.”  16 And Joseph answered, “Give your cattle, and I will give you food in exchange for your cattle, if your money is gone.”  17 So they brought their cattle to Joseph; and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the herds, and the asses: and he supplied them with food in exchange for all their cattle that year.  18 And when that year was ended, they came to him the following year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is all spent; and the herds of cattle are my lord’s; there is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.  19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be slaves to Pharaoh; and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

20 So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for all the Egyptians sold their fields, because the famine was severe upon them. The land became Pharaoh’s; 21 and as for the people, he made slaves of them from one end of Egypt to the other. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had a fixed allowance from Pharaoh, and lived on the allowance which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their land.  23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.  24 And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.”  25 And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be slaves to Pharaoh.”  26 So Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt, and it stands to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth; the land of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh’s.

27 Thus Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they gained possessions in it, and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly.  28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred and forty-seven years.

29 And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh, and promise to deal loyally and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but let me lie with my fathers; carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.” He answered, “I will do as you have said.”  31 And he said, “Swear to me”; and he swore to him. Then Israel bowed himself upon the head of his bed.

3-4     Genesis 28:13-14
7         Genesis 35:16-19
20       Hebrews 11:21

1 After this Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill”; so he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.  2 And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you”; then Israel summoned his strength, and sat up in bed.  3 And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4 and 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 descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’  5 And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.  6 And the offspring born to you after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.  7 For when I came from Paddan, Rachel to my sorrow died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, I pray you, that I may bless them.”  10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and embraced them.  11 And Israel said to Joseph, “I had not thought to see your face; and lo, God has let me see your children also.”  12 Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph 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 him.  14 And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand upon the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the first-born.  15 And he blessed Joseph, and said,
“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has led me all my life long to this day,
16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads;
and in them let my name be perpetuated, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac;
and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; and he took his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.  18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father; for this one is the first-born; put your right hand upon his head.”  19 But his father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.”  20 So he blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying,
‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh’”;
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.  22 Moreover I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope which I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”

4        Genesis 35:22
6-7    Mark 3:17
9        Numbers 24:9; Revelation 5:5
10      Galatians 3:19
30      Genesis 23:3-20
31      Genesis 25:9-10, 35:29
33      Acts 7:15

10    Theodor H. Gaster, The Dead Sea Scriptures, p. 443 f.
10    Geza Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English, p. 462 f.
15    Ancient Near East, Vol. 1, p. 264

1 Then Jacob called his sons, and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in days to come.
2 Assemble and hear, O sons of Jacob,
and hearken to Israel your father.

3 Reuben, you are my first-born,
my might, and the first fruits of my strength,
pre-eminent in pride and pre-eminent in power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not have pre-eminence
because you went up to your father’s bed;
then you defiled it—you went up to my couch!

5 Simeon and Levi are brothers;
weapons of violence are their swords.
6 O my soul, come not into their council;
O my spirit, be not joined to their company;
for in their anger they slay men,
and in their wantonness they hamstring oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;
and their wrath, for it is cruel!
I will divide them in Jacob
and scatter them in Israel.

8 Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is a lion’s whelp;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down, he couched as a lion,
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him up?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he comes to whom it belongs;
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
11 Binding his foal to the vine
and his ass’s colt to the choice vine,
he washes his garments in wine
and his vesture in the blood of grapes;
12 his eyes shall be red with wine,
and his teeth white with milk.

13 Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea;
he shall become a haven for ships,
and his border shall be at Sidon.

14 Issachar is a strong ass,
crouching between the sheepfolds;
15 he saw that a resting place was good,
and that the land was pleasant;
so he bowed his shoulder to bear,
and became a slave at forced labor.

16 Dan shall judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent in the way,
a viper by the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that his rider falls backward.

18 I wait for thy salvation, O LORD.

19 Raiders shall raid Gad,
but he shall raid at their heels.

20 Asher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal dainties.

21 Naphtali is a hind let loose,
that bears comely fawns.

22 Joseph is a fruitful bough,
a fruitful bough by a spring;
his branches run over the wall.
23 The archers fiercely attacked him,
shot at him, and harassed him sorely;
24 yet his bow remained unmoved,
his arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob
(by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel),
25 by the God of your father who will help you,
by God Almighty who will bless you
with blessings of heaven above,
blessings of the deep that couches beneath,
blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father
are mighty beyond the blessings of the eternal mountains,
the bounties of the everlasting hills;
may they be on the head of Joseph,
and on the brow of him who was separate from his brothers.

27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
in the morning devouring the prey,
and at even dividing the spoil.”

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel; and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.

29 Then he 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, 30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah -32 the field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.”  33 When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed, and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

5       Genesis 47:29-31
13     Acts 7:16
25     Exodus 13:9; Joshua 24:32; Hebrews 11:22

1 Then Joseph fell on his father’s face, and wept over him, and kissed him.  2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel; 3 forty days were required for it, for so many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him seventy days.

4 And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, 5 My father made me swear, saying, ‘I am about to die: in my tomb which I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.’ Now therefore let me go up, I pray you, and bury my father; then I will return.”  6 And Pharaoh answered, “Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear.”

7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father’s household; only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen.  9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; it was a very great company.  10 When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a very great and sorrowful lamentation; and he made a mourning for his father seven days.  11 When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim; it is beyond the Jordan.  12 Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them; 13 for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite, to possess as a burying place.  14 After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father.

15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil which we did to him.”  16 So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died, 17 ‘Say to Joseph, Forgive, I pray you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.’ And now, we pray you, forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him.  18 His brothers also came and fell down before him, and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Fear not, for am I in the place of God?  20 As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.  21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he reassured them and comforted them.

22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s house; and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years.  23 And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation; the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were born upon Joseph’s knees.

24 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die; but God will visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph took an oath of the sons of Israel, saying, “God will visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.”  26 So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.