Edom's chiefs, a pit, Tamar's pledge, and dreams in prison.

Genesis 36

Esau's generations, chiefs, and kings in Edom are written in full before any king reigned in Israel, and he settles in Seir because the land cannot hold both brothers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Genesis 37

Joseph's dreams and his father's favor provoke his brothers, they sell him toward Egypt, and a bloodied robe convinces Jacob that a beast has torn his son.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Genesis 38

Judah's sons Er and Onan die under judgment, Tamar secures offspring by Judah's own pledge, and she bears the twins Perez and Zerah.

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

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

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

¹⁷He said, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

²⁴About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute. Moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution.”

Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” ²⁵When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “I am with child by the man who owns these.” She also said, “Please discern whose these are—the signet, and the cords, and the staff.”

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

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

Genesis 39

The Lord prospers Joseph in Potiphar's house, Joseph refuses his master's wife because he will not sin against God, and a lie about his garment puts him in prison.

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

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

⁸But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, my master doesn’t know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand. ⁹No one is greater in this house than I am, and he has not kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”

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

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

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

Genesis 40

Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharaoh's cupbearer and baker, both words come true within three days, and the restored cupbearer forgets him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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