The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

These men are peaceable, and are willing to dwell with us: let them trade in the land, and till it, which being large and wide wanteth men to till it: we shall take their daughters for wives, and we will give them ours.

One thing there is for which so great a good is deferred: We must circumcise every male among us, following the manner of the nation.

And their substance, and cattle, and all that they possess, shall be ours; only in this let us condescend, and by dwelling together, we shall make one people.

And they all agreed, and circumcised all the males.

And behold the third day, when the pain of the wound was greatest: two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dina, taking their swords, entered boldly into the city and slew all the men.

And they killed also Hemor and Sichem, and took away their sister Dina out of Sichem's house.

And when they were gone out, the other sons of Jacob came upon the slain; and plundered the city in revenge of the rape.

And they took their sheep, and their herds, and their asses, wasting all they had in their houses and in their fields.

And their children and wives they took captive.

And when they had boldly perpetrated these things, Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: You have troubled me, and made me hateful to the Chanaanites and Pherezites, the inhabitants of this land. We are few: they will gather themselves together and kill me; and both I, and my house shall be destroyed.

They answered: Should they abuse our sister as a strumpet?

In the mean time God said to Jacob: Arise and go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared to thee when thou didst flee from Esau, thy brother.

And Jacob having called together all his household, said: Cast away the strange gods that are among you, and be cleansed, and change your garments.

Arise, and let us go up to Bethel, that we may make there an altar to God; who heard me in the day of my affliction, and accompained me in my journey.

So they gave him all the strange gods they had, and the earrings which were in their ears: and he buried them under the turpentine tree, that is behind the city of Sichem.

And when they were departed, the terror of God fell upon all the cities round about, and they durst not pursue after them as they went away.

And Jacob came to Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, surnamed Bethel: he and all the people that were with him.

And he built there an altar, and called the name of that place, The house of God: for there God appeared to him when he fled from his brother.

At the same time Debora, the nurse of Rebecca, died, and was buried at the foot of Bethel, under an oak, and the name of that place was called, The oak of weeping.

And God appeared again to Jacob, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria, and he blessed him,

Saying: Thou shalt not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And he called him Israel.

And said to him: I am God almighty, increase thou and be multiplied. Nations and peoples of nations shall be from thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.

And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to thee, and to thy seed after thee.

And he departed from him.

But he set up a monument of stone, in the place where God had spoken to him: pouring drink-offerings upon it, and pouring oil thereon:

And calling the name of that place Bethel.

And going forth from thence, he came in the spring time to the land which leadeth to Ephrata: wherein when Rachel was in travail,

By reason of her hard labour, she began to be in danger, and the midwife said to her: Fear not, for thou shalt have this son also.

And when her soul was departing for pain, and death was now at hand, she called the name of her son Benoni, that is, the son of my pain: but his father called him Benjamin, that is, the son of the right hand.

So Rachel died, and was buried in the highway that leadeth to Ephrata, this is Bethlehem.

And Jacob erected a pillar over her sepulchre: this is the pillar of Rachel's monument, to this day.

Departing thence, he pitched his tent beyond the Flock tower.

And when he dwelt in that country, Ruben went, and slept with Bala the concubine of his father: which he was not ignorant of. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.

The sons of Lia: Ruben the first born, and Simeon, and Levi, and Juda, and Issachar, and Zabulon.

The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

The sons of Bala, Rachel's handmaid: Dan and Nephthali.

The sons of Zelpha, Lia's handmaid: Gad and Aser: these are the sons of Jacob, that were born to him in Mesopotamia of Syria.

And he came to Isaac his father in Mambre, the city of Arbee, this is Hebron: wherein Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

And the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.

And being spent with age he died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

And these are the generations of Esau, the same is Edom.

Esau took wives of the daughters of Chanaan: Ada the daughter of Elon the Hethite, and Oolibama the daughter of Ana, the daughter of Sebeon the Hevite:

And Basemath, the daughter of Ismael, sister of Nabajoth.

And Ada bore Eliphaz: Basemath bore Rahuel.

Oolibama bore Jehus, and Ihelon, and Core. These are the sons of Esau, that were born to him in the land of Chanaan.

And Esau took his wives, and his sons and daughters, and every soul of his house, and his substance, and cattle, and all that he was able to acquire in the land of Chanaan: and went into another country, and departed from his brother Jacob.

For they were exceeding rich, and could not dwell together: neither was the land in which they sojourned able to bear them, for the multitude of their flocks.

And Esau dwelt in mount Seir: he is Edom.

And these are the generations of Esau, the father of Edom, in mount Seir.

And these the names of his sons: Eliphaz the son of Ada, the wife of Esau: and Rahuel, the son of Basemath, his wife.

And Eliphaz had sons: Theman, Omar, Sepho, and Gatham and Cenez.

And Thamna was the concubine of Eliphaz, the son of Esau: and she bore him Amalech. These are the sons of Ada, the wife of Esau.

And the sons of Rahuel were Nahath and Zara, Samma and Meza. These were the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

And these were the sons of Oolibama, the daughter of Ana, the daughter of Sebeon, the wife of Esau, whom she bore to him, Jehus, and Ihelon, and Core.

These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau: duke Theman, duke Omar, duke Sepho, duke Cenez,

Duke Core, duke Gatham, duke Amalech: these are the sons of Eliphaz, in the land of Edom, and these the sons of Ada.

And these were the sons of Rahuel, the son of Esau: duke Nahath, duke Zara, duke Samma, duke Meza. And these are the dukes of Rahuel, in the land of Edom: these the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

And these the sons of Oolibama, the wife of Esau: duke Jehus, duke Ihelon, duke Core. These are the dukes of Oolibama, the daughter of Ana, and wife of Esau.

These are the sons of Esau, and these the dukes of them: the same is Edom.

These are the sons of Seir, the Horrite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, and Sobal, and Sebeon, and Ana,

And Dison, and Eser, and Disan. These are dukes of the Horrites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom.

And Lotan had sons: Hori and Heman. And the sister of Lotan was Thamna.

And these the sons of Sobal: Alvan, and Manahat, and Ebal, and Sepho, and Onam.

And these the sons of Sebeon: Aia and Ana. This is Ana that found the hot waters in the wilderness, when he fed the asses of Sebeon, his father:

And he had a son Dison, and a daughter Oolibama.

And these were the sons of Dison: Hamdan, and Eseban, and Jethram, and Charan.

These also were the sons of Eser: Balaan, and Zavan, and Acan.

And Dison had sons: Hus and Aram.

These were dukes of the Horrites: duke Lotan, duke Sobal, duke Sebeon, duke Ana,

Duke Dison, duke Eser, duke Disan: these were dukes of the Horrites that ruled in the land of Seir.

And the kings that ruled in the land of Edom, before the children of Israel had a king, were these:

Bela the son of Beor, and the name of his city Denaba.

And Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zara, of Bosra, reigned in his stead.

And when Jobab was dead, Husam, of the land of the Themanites, reigned in his stead.

And after his death, Adad, the son of Badad, reigned in his stead, who defeated the Madianites in the country of Boab; and the name of his city was Avith.

And when Adad was dead, there reigned in his stead, Semla, of Masreca.

And he being dead, Saul, of the river Rohoboth, reigned in his stead.

And when he also was dead, Balanan, the son of Achobor, succeeded to the kingdom.

This man also being dead, Adar reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Phau: and his wife was called Meetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezaab.

And these are the names of the dukes of Esau in their kindreds, and places, and callings: duke Thamna, duke Alva, duke Jetheth,

Duke Oolibama, duke Ela, duke Phinon,

Duke Cenez, duke Theman, duke Mabsar,

Duke Magdiel, duke Hiram: these are the dukes of Edom dwelling in the land of their government; the same is Esau, the father of the Edomites.

And Jacob dwelt in the land of Chanaan, wherein his father sojourned.

And these are his generations: Joseph, when he was sixteen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, being but a boy: and he was with the sons of Bala and of Zelpha his father's wives: and he accused his brethren to his father of a most wicked crime.

Now Israel loved Joseph above all his sons, because he had him in his old age: and he made him a coat of divers colours.

And his brethren seeing that he was loved by his father, more than all his sons, hated hem, and could not speak peaceably to him.

Now it fell out also that he told his brethren a dream, that he had dreamed: which occasioned them to hate him the more.

And he said to them: Hear my dream which I dreamed.

I thought we were binding sheaves in the field: and my sheaf arose as it were, and stood, and your sheaves standing about bowed down before my sheaf.

His brethren answered: Shalt thou be our king? or shall we be subject to thy dominion? Therefore this matter of his dreams and words ministered nourishment to their envy and hatred.

He dreamed also another dream, which he told his brethren, saying: I saw in a dream, as it were the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars worshipping me.

And when he had told this to his father, and brethren, his father rebuked him and said: What meaneth this dream that thou hast dreamed? shall I and thy mother, and thy brethren worship thee upon the earth?

His brethren therefore envied him: but his father considered the thing with himself.

And when his brethren abode in Sechem, feeding their father's flocks,

Israel said to him: Thy brethren feed the sheep in Sichem: come, I will send thee to them. And when he answered:

I am ready: he said to him: Go, and see if all things be well with thy brethren, and the cattle: and bring me word again what is doing. So being sent from the vale of Hebron, he came to Sichem:

And a man found him there wandering in the field, and asked what he sought.

But he answered: I seek my brethren, tell me where they feed the flocks.

And the man said to him: They are departed from this place: for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothain. And Joseph went forward after his brethren, and found them in Dothain.