The Gospel of Mark (Part Six)

The Story of the Bible

No Pressure

The Wonder of Grace | Devotional for Adults

Giant, It's Time for You to Come Down!

Finding Freedom: How God Leads From Rescue to Rest

Retirement: Top 5 Challenges in the First Years

Experiencing Blessing in Transition

Genesis | Reading Plan + Study Questions

Virtuous: A Devotional for Women

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch25" data-usfm="GEN.25">
 <div class="label">25</div><div class="s1">The Death of Abraham</div><div class="p"> 1Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. 3Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites and the Leummites. 4The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.</div><div class="p"> 5Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.</div><div class="p"> 7Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. 8Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. 9His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, 10the field Abraham had bought from the Hittites.#25:10 Or the descendants of Heth There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. 11After Abraham&#8217;s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who then lived near Beer Lahai Roi.</div><div class="s1">Ishmael&#8217;s Sons</div><div class="p"> 12This is the account of the family line of Abraham&#8217;s son Ishmael, whom Sarah&#8217;s slave, Hagar the Egyptian, bore to Abraham.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 13These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. 16These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps. 17Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people. 18His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward#25:18 Or lived to the east of all the tribes related to them.</div><div class="s1">Jacob and Esau</div><div class="p"> 19This is the account of the family line of Abraham&#8217;s son Isaac.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram#25:20 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia and sister of Laban the Aramean.</div><div class="p"> 21Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, &#8220;Why is this happening to me?&#8221; So she went to inquire of the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 23The Lord said to her,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Two nations are in your womb,</div><div class="q2">and two peoples from within you will be separated;</div><div class="q1">one people will be stronger than the other,</div><div class="q2">and the older will serve the younger.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 24When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.#25:25 Esau may mean hairy. 26After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau&#8217;s heel; so he was named Jacob.#25:26 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he deceives. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.</div><div class="p"> 27The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. 28Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.</div><div class="p"> 29Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30He said to Jacob, &#8220;Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I&#8217;m famished!&#8221; (That is why he was also called Edom.#25:30 Edom means red.)</div><div class="p"> 31Jacob replied, &#8220;First sell me your birthright.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 32&#8220;Look, I am about to die,&#8221; Esau said. &#8220;What good is the birthright to me?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 33But Jacob said, &#8220;Swear to me first.&#8221; So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.</div><div class="p"> 34Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left.</div><div class="p">So Esau despised his birthright.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="chapter ch26" data-usfm="GEN.26">
 <div class="label">26</div><div class="s1">Isaac and Abimelek</div><div class="p"> 1Now there was a famine in the land&#8212;besides the previous famine in Abraham&#8217;s time&#8212;and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, &#8220;Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring#26:4 Or seed all nations on earth will be blessed,#26:4 Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20) 5because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.&#8221; 6So Isaac stayed in Gerar.</div><div class="p"> 7When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, &#8220;She is my sister,&#8221; because he was afraid to say, &#8220;She is my wife.&#8221; He thought, &#8220;The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, &#8220;She is really your wife! Why did you say, &#8216;She is my sister&#8217;?&#8221;</div><div class="p">Isaac answered him, &#8220;Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10Then Abimelek said, &#8220;What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: &#8220;Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. 13The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15So all the wells that his father&#8217;s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.</div><div class="p"> 16Then Abimelek said to Isaac, &#8220;Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. 18Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.</div><div class="p"> 19Isaac&#8217;s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, &#8220;The water is ours!&#8221; So he named the well Esek,#26:20 Esek means dispute. because they disputed with him. 21Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.#26:21 Sitnah means opposition. 22He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth,#26:22 Rehoboth means room. saying, &#8220;Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 23From there he went up to Beersheba. 24That night the Lord appeared to him and said, &#8220;I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 25Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.</div><div class="p"> 26Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27Isaac asked them, &#8220;Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 28They answered, &#8220;We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, &#8216;There ought to be a sworn agreement between us&#8217;&#8212;between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you 29that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 30Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.</div><div class="p"> 32That day Isaac&#8217;s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, &#8220;We&#8217;ve found water!&#8221; 33He called it Shibah,#26:33 Shibah can mean oath or seven. and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.#26:33 Beersheba can mean well of the oath and well of seven.</div><div class="s1">Jacob Takes Esau&#8217;s Blessing</div><div class="p"> 34When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch27" data-usfm="GEN.27">
 <div class="label">27</div><div class="p"> 1When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, &#8220;My son.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Here I am,&#8221; he answered.</div><div class="p"> 2Isaac said, &#8220;I am now an old man and don&#8217;t know the day of my death. 3Now then, get your equipment&#8212;your quiver and bow&#8212;and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me. 4Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, &#8220;Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7&#8216;Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.&#8217; 8Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, &#8220;But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin. 12What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13His mother said to him, &#8220;My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins. 17Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.</div><div class="p"> 18He went to his father and said, &#8220;My father.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Yes, my son,&#8221; he answered. &#8220;Who is it?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19Jacob said to his father, &#8220;I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 20Isaac asked his son, &#8220;How did you find it so quickly, my son?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;The Lord your God gave me success,&#8221; he replied.</div><div class="p"> 21Then Isaac said to Jacob, &#8220;Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, &#8220;The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.&#8221; 23He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him. 24&#8220;Are you really my son Esau?&#8221; he asked.</div><div class="p">&#8220;I am,&#8221; he replied.</div><div class="p"> 25Then he said, &#8220;My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.&#8221;</div><div class="p">Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. 26Then his father Isaac said to him, &#8220;Come here, my son, and kiss me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 27So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Ah, the smell of my son</div><div class="q2">is like the smell of a field</div><div class="q2">that the Lord has blessed.</div><div class="q1"> 28May God give you heaven&#8217;s dew</div><div class="q2">and earth&#8217;s richness&#8212;</div><div class="q2">an abundance of grain and new wine.</div><div class="q1"> 29May nations serve you</div><div class="q2">and peoples bow down to you.</div><div class="q1">Be lord over your brothers,</div><div class="q2">and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.</div><div class="q1">May those who curse you be cursed</div><div class="q2">and those who bless you be blessed.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 30After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father&#8217;s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. 31He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, &#8220;My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 32His father Isaac asked him, &#8220;Who are you?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;I am your son,&#8221; he answered, &#8220;your firstborn, Esau.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 33Isaac trembled violently and said, &#8220;Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him&#8212;and indeed he will be blessed!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 34When Esau heard his father&#8217;s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, &#8220;Bless me&#8212;me too, my father!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 35But he said, &#8220;Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 36Esau said, &#8220;Isn&#8217;t he rightly named Jacob#27:36 Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives.? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he&#8217;s taken my blessing!&#8221; Then he asked, &#8220;Haven&#8217;t you reserved any blessing for me?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 37Isaac answered Esau, &#8220;I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 38Esau said to his father, &#8220;Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!&#8221; Then Esau wept aloud.</div><div class="p"> 39His father Isaac answered him,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;Your dwelling will be</div><div class="q2">away from the earth&#8217;s richness,</div><div class="q2">away from the dew of heaven above.</div><div class="q1"> 40You will live by the sword</div><div class="q2">and you will serve your brother.</div><div class="q1">But when you grow restless,</div><div class="q2">you will throw his yoke</div><div class="q2">from off your neck.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 41Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, &#8220;The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 42When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, &#8220;Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. 43Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44Stay with him for a while until your brother&#8217;s fury subsides. 45When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I&#8217;ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, &#8220;I&#8217;m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch28" data-usfm="GEN.28">
 <div class="label">28</div><div class="p"> 1So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: &#8220;Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2Go at once to Paddan Aram,#28:2 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6 and 7 to the house of your mother&#8217;s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother&#8217;s brother. 3May God Almighty#28:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.&#8221; 5Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.</div><div class="p"> 6Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, &#8220;Do not marry a Canaanite woman,&#8221; 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac; 9so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.</div><div class="s1">Jacob&#8217;s Dream at Bethel</div><div class="p"> 10Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13There above it#28:13 Or There beside him stood the Lord, and he said: &#8220;I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.#28:14 Or will use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20) 15I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, &#8220;Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.&#8221; 17He was afraid and said, &#8220;How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19He called that place Bethel,#28:19 Bethel means house of God. though the city used to be called Luz.</div><div class="p"> 20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, &#8220;If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21so that I return safely to my father&#8217;s household, then the Lord#28:20,21 Or Since God&#8230; father&#8217;s household, the Lord will be my God 22and#28:21,22 Or household, and the Lord will be my God, 22 then this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God&#8217;s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkGEN">
 <div class="chapter ch29" data-usfm="GEN.29">
 <div class="label">29</div><div class="s1">Jacob Arrives in Paddan Aram</div><div class="p"> 1Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. 2There he saw a well in the open country, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well. The stone over the mouth of the well was large. 3When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well&#8217;s mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.</div><div class="p"> 4Jacob asked the shepherds, &#8220;My brothers, where are you from?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;We&#8217;re from Harran,&#8221; they replied.</div><div class="p"> 5He said to them, &#8220;Do you know Laban, Nahor&#8217;s grandson?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Yes, we know him,&#8221; they answered.</div><div class="p"> 6Then Jacob asked them, &#8220;Is he well?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Yes, he is,&#8221; they said, &#8220;and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7&#8220;Look,&#8221; he said, &#8220;the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 8&#8220;We can&#8217;t,&#8221; they replied, &#8220;until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father&#8217;s sheep, for she was a shepherd. 10When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of his uncle Laban, and Laban&#8217;s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle&#8217;s sheep. 11Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud. 12He had told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and a son of Rebekah. So she ran and told her father.</div><div class="p"> 13As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister&#8217;s son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things. 14Then Laban said to him, &#8220;You are my own flesh and blood.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel</div><div class="p">After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, 15Laban said to him, &#8220;Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17Leah had weak#29:17 Or delicate eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. 18Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, &#8220;I&#8217;ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19Laban said, &#8220;It&#8217;s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.&#8221; 20So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.</div><div class="p"> 21Then Jacob said to Laban, &#8220;Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. 23But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. 24And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant.</div><div class="p"> 25When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, &#8220;What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn&#8217;t I? Why have you deceived me?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 26Laban replied, &#8220;It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. 27Finish this daughter&#8217;s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 28And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant. 30Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.</div><div class="s1">Jacob&#8217;s Children</div><div class="p"> 31When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. 32Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,#29:32 Reuben sounds like the Hebrew for he has seen my misery; the name means see, a son. for she said, &#8220;It is because the Lord has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 33She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, &#8220;Because the Lord heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.&#8221; So she named him Simeon.#29:33 Simeon probably means one who hears.</div><div class="p"> 34Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, &#8220;Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.&#8221; So he was named Levi.#29:34 Levi sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for attached.</div><div class="p"> 35She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, &#8220;This time I will praise the Lord.&#8221; So she named him Judah.#29:35 Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise. Then she stopped having children.</div>
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 <div class="chapter ch30" data-usfm="GEN.30">
 <div class="label">30</div><div class="p"> 1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, &#8220;Give me children, or I&#8217;ll die!&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 2Jacob became angry with her and said, &#8220;Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3Then she said, &#8220;Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, 5and she became pregnant and bore him a son. 6Then Rachel said, &#8220;God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son.&#8221; Because of this she named him Dan.#30:6 Dan here means he has vindicated.</div><div class="p"> 7Rachel&#8217;s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8Then Rachel said, &#8220;I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.&#8221; So she named him Naphtali.#30:8 Naphtali means my struggle.</div><div class="p"> 9When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10Leah&#8217;s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11Then Leah said, &#8220;What good fortune!&#8221;#30:11 Or &#8220;A troop is coming!&#8221; So she named him Gad.#30:11 Gad can mean good fortune or troop.</div><div class="p"> 12Leah&#8217;s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13Then Leah said, &#8220;How happy I am! The women will call me happy.&#8221; So she named him Asher.#30:13 Asher means happy.</div><div class="p"> 14During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, &#8220;Please give me some of your son&#8217;s mandrakes.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15But she said to her, &#8220;Wasn&#8217;t it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son&#8217;s mandrakes too?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Very well,&#8221; Rachel said, &#8220;he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son&#8217;s mandrakes.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. &#8220;You must sleep with me,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I have hired you with my son&#8217;s mandrakes.&#8221; So he slept with her that night.</div><div class="p"> 17God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18Then Leah said, &#8220;God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.&#8221; So she named him Issachar.#30:18 Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for reward.</div><div class="p"> 19Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20Then Leah said, &#8220;God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.&#8221; So she named him Zebulun.#30:20 Zebulun probably means honor.</div><div class="p"> 21Some time later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.</div><div class="p"> 22Then God remembered Rachel; he listened to her and enabled her to conceive. 23She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, &#8220;God has taken away my disgrace.&#8221; 24She named him Joseph,#30:24 Joseph means may he add. and said, &#8220;May the Lord add to me another son.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Jacob&#8217;s Flocks Increase</div><div class="p"> 25After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, &#8220;Send me on my way so I can go back to my own homeland. 26Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I&#8217;ve done for you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 27But Laban said to him, &#8220;If I have found favor in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.&#8221; 28He added, &#8220;Name your wages, and I will pay them.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 29Jacob said to him, &#8220;You know how I have worked for you and how your livestock has fared under my care. 30The little you had before I came has increased greatly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I have been. But now, when may I do something for my own household?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 31&#8220;What shall I give you?&#8221; he asked.</div><div class="p">&#8220;Don&#8217;t give me anything,&#8221; Jacob replied. &#8220;But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them: 32Let me go through all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb and every spotted or speckled goat. They will be my wages. 33And my honesty will testify for me in the future, whenever you check on the wages you have paid me. Any goat in my possession that is not speckled or spotted, or any lamb that is not dark-colored, will be considered stolen.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 34&#8220;Agreed,&#8221; said Laban. &#8220;Let it be as you have said.&#8221; 35That same day he removed all the male goats that were streaked or spotted, and all the speckled or spotted female goats (all that had white on them) and all the dark-colored lambs, and he placed them in the care of his sons. 36Then he put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob continued to tend the rest of Laban&#8217;s flocks.</div><div class="p"> 37Jacob, however, took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond and plane trees and made white stripes on them by peeling the bark and exposing the white inner wood of the branches. 38Then he placed the peeled branches in all the watering troughs, so that they would be directly in front of the flocks when they came to drink. When the flocks were in heat and came to drink, 39they mated in front of the branches. And they bore young that were streaked or speckled or spotted. 40Jacob set apart the young of the flock by themselves, but made the rest face the streaked and dark-colored animals that belonged to Laban. Thus he made separate flocks for himself and did not put them with Laban&#8217;s animals. 41Whenever the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs in front of the animals so they would mate near the branches, 42but if the animals were weak, he would not place them there. So the weak animals went to Laban and the strong ones to Jacob. 43In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="chapter ch31" data-usfm="GEN.31">
 <div class="label">31</div><div class="s1">Jacob Flees From Laban</div><div class="p"> 1Jacob heard that Laban&#8217;s sons were saying, &#8220;Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.&#8221; 2And Jacob noticed that Laban&#8217;s attitude toward him was not what it had been.</div><div class="p"> 3Then the Lord said to Jacob, &#8220;Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. 5He said to them, &#8220;I see that your father&#8217;s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. 6You know that I&#8217;ve worked for your father with all my strength, 7yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. 8If he said, &#8216;The speckled ones will be your wages,&#8217; then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, &#8216;The streaked ones will be your wages,&#8217; then all the flocks bore streaked young. 9So God has taken away your father&#8217;s livestock and has given them to me.</div><div class="p"> 10&#8220;In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. 11The angel of God said to me in the dream, &#8216;Jacob.&#8217; I answered, &#8216;Here I am.&#8217; 12And he said, &#8216;Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. 13I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14Then Rachel and Leah replied, &#8220;Do we still have any share in the inheritance of our father&#8217;s estate? 15Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us. 16Surely all the wealth that God took away from our father belongs to us and our children. So do whatever God has told you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17Then Jacob put his children and his wives on camels, 18and he drove all his livestock ahead of him, along with all the goods he had accumulated in Paddan Aram,#31:18 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.</div><div class="p"> 19When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father&#8217;s household gods. 20Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away. 21So he fled with all he had, crossed the Euphrates River, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.</div><div class="s1">Laban Pursues Jacob</div><div class="p"> 22On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. 23Taking his relatives with him, he pursued Jacob for seven days and caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead. 24Then God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, &#8220;Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 25Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country of Gilead when Laban overtook him, and Laban and his relatives camped there too. 26Then Laban said to Jacob, &#8220;What have you done? You&#8217;ve deceived me, and you&#8217;ve carried off my daughters like captives in war. 27Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn&#8217;t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels and harps? 28You didn&#8217;t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. You have done a foolish thing. 29I have the power to harm you; but last night the God of your father said to me, &#8216;Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.&#8217; 30Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father&#8217;s household. But why did you steal my gods?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 31Jacob answered Laban, &#8220;I was afraid, because I thought you would take your daughters away from me by force. 32But if you find anyone who has your gods, that person shall not live. In the presence of our relatives, see for yourself whether there is anything of yours here with me; and if so, take it.&#8221; Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.</div><div class="p"> 33So Laban went into Jacob&#8217;s tent and into Leah&#8217;s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah&#8217;s tent, he entered Rachel&#8217;s tent. 34Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel&#8217;s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.</div><div class="p"> 35Rachel said to her father, &#8220;Don&#8217;t be angry, my lord, that I cannot stand up in your presence; I&#8217;m having my period.&#8221; So he searched but could not find the household gods.</div><div class="p"> 36Jacob was angry and took Laban to task. &#8220;What is my crime?&#8221; he asked Laban. &#8220;How have I wronged you that you hunt me down? 37Now that you have searched through all my goods, what have you found that belongs to your household? Put it here in front of your relatives and mine, and let them judge between the two of us.</div><div class="p"> 38&#8220;I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. 39I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen by day or night. 40This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes. 41It was like this for the twenty years I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, and you changed my wages ten times. 42If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 43Laban answered Jacob, &#8220;The women are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. All you see is mine. Yet what can I do today about these daughters of mine, or about the children they have borne? 44Come now, let&#8217;s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 45So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46He said to his relatives, &#8220;Gather some stones.&#8221; So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. 47Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.#31:47 The Aramaic Jegar Sahadutha and the Hebrew Galeed both mean witness heap.</div><div class="p"> 48Laban said, &#8220;This heap is a witness between you and me today.&#8221; That is why it was called Galeed. 49It was also called Mizpah,#31:49 Mizpah means watchtower. because he said, &#8220;May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. 50If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 51Laban also said to Jacob, &#8220;Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. 52This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. 53May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.&#8221;</div><div class="p">So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. 54He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.</div><div class="p"> 55Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.#31:55 In Hebrew texts this verse (31:55) is numbered 32:1.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="chapter ch32" data-usfm="GEN.32">
 <div class="label">32</div><div class="s1">Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau</div><div class="p"> # In Hebrew texts 32:1-32 is numbered 32:2-33. 1Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2When Jacob saw them, he said, &#8220;This is the camp of God!&#8221; So he named that place Mahanaim.#32:2 Mahanaim means two camps.</div><div class="p"> 3Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4He instructed them: &#8220;This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: &#8216;Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. 5I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, &#8220;We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups,#32:7 Or camps and the flocks and herds and camels as well. 8He thought, &#8220;If Esau comes and attacks one group,#32:8 Or camp the group#32:8 Or camp that is left may escape.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9Then Jacob prayed, &#8220;O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, &#8216;Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,&#8217; 10I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. 11Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. 12But you have said, &#8216;I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: 14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, &#8220;Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 17He instructed the one in the lead: &#8220;When my brother Esau meets you and asks, &#8216;Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?&#8217; 18then you are to say, &#8216;They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 19He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: &#8220;You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20And be sure to say, &#8216;Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; For he thought, &#8220;I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.&#8221; 21So Jacob&#8217;s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.</div><div class="s1">Jacob Wrestles With God</div><div class="p"> 22That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob&#8217;s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26Then the man said, &#8220;Let me go, for it is daybreak.&#8221;</div><div class="p">But Jacob replied, &#8220;I will not let you go unless you bless me.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 27The man asked him, &#8220;What is your name?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Jacob,&#8221; he answered.</div><div class="p"> 28Then the man said, &#8220;Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,#32:28 Israel probably means he struggles with God. because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 29Jacob said, &#8220;Please tell me your name.&#8221;</div><div class="p">But he replied, &#8220;Why do you ask my name?&#8221; Then he blessed him there.</div><div class="p"> 30So Jacob called the place Peniel,#32:30 Peniel means face of God. saying, &#8220;It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 31The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,#32:31 Hebrew Penuel, a variant of Peniel and he was limping because of his hip. 32Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob&#8217;s hip was touched near the tendon.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="label">33</div><div class="s1">Jacob Meets Esau</div><div class="p"> 1Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. 2He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. 3He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.</div><div class="p"> 4But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. 5Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. &#8220;Who are these with you?&#8221; he asked.</div><div class="p">Jacob answered, &#8220;They are the children God has graciously given your servant.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6Then the female servants and their children approached and bowed down. 7Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.</div><div class="p"> 8Esau asked, &#8220;What&#8217;s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;To find favor in your eyes, my lord,&#8221; he said.</div><div class="p"> 9But Esau said, &#8220;I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10&#8220;No, please!&#8221; said Jacob. &#8220;If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. 11Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.&#8221; And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.</div><div class="p"> 12Then Esau said, &#8220;Let us be on our way; I&#8217;ll accompany you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13But Jacob said to him, &#8220;My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. 14So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15Esau said, &#8220;Then let me leave some of my men with you.&#8221;</div><div class="p">&#8220;But why do that?&#8221; Jacob asked. &#8220;Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. 17Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.#33:17 Sukkoth means shelters.</div><div class="p"> 18After Jacob came from Paddan Aram,#33:18 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. 19For a hundred pieces of silver,#33:19 Hebrew hundred kesitahs; a kesitah was a unit of money of unknown weight and value. he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. 20There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.#33:20 El Elohe Israel can mean El is the God of Israel or mighty is the God of Israel.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
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 <div class="chapter ch34" data-usfm="GEN.34">
 <div class="label">34</div><div class="s1">Dinah and the Shechemites</div><div class="p"> 1Now Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. 2When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and raped her. 3His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob; he loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4And Shechem said to his father Hamor, &#8220;Get me this girl as my wife.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he did nothing about it until they came home.</div><div class="p"> 6Then Shechem&#8217;s father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. 7Meanwhile, Jacob&#8217;s sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were shocked and furious, because Shechem had done an outrageous thing in#34:7 Or against Israel by sleeping with Jacob&#8217;s daughter&#8212;a thing that should not be done.</div><div class="p"> 8But Hamor said to them, &#8220;My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. 9Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. 10You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade#34:10 Or move about freely; also in verse 21 in it, and acquire property in it.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 11Then Shechem said to Dinah&#8217;s father and brothers, &#8220;Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. 12Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I&#8217;ll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the young woman as my wife.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 13Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob&#8217;s sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. 14They said to them, &#8220;We can&#8217;t do such a thing; we can&#8217;t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. 15We will enter into an agreement with you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. 16Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We&#8217;ll settle among you and become one people with you. 17But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we&#8217;ll take our sister and go.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 18Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19The young man, who was the most honored of all his father&#8217;s family, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob&#8217;s daughter. 20So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to the men of their city. 21&#8220;These men are friendly toward us,&#8221; they said. &#8220;Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. 22But the men will agree to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. 23Won&#8217;t their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us agree to their terms, and they will settle among us.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 24All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.</div><div class="p"> 25Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob&#8217;s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah&#8217;s brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. 26They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem&#8217;s house and left. 27The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where#34:27 Or because their sister had been defiled. 28They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. 29They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses.</div><div class="p"> 30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, &#8220;You have brought trouble on me by making me obnoxious to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 31But they replied, &#8220;Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?&#8221;</div>
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