43:23He said, "Peace be to you. Don't be afraid. Your God, and the God of your father, has given you treasure in your sacks. I received your money." He brought Simeon out to them.43:24The man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet. He gave their donkeys fodder.43:25They made ready the present for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.
43:26When Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed themselves down to him to the earth.43:27He asked them of their welfare, and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he yet alive?"
43:28They said, "Your servant, our father, is well. He is still alive." They bowed the head, and did homage.43:29He lifted up his eyes, and saw Benjamin, his brother, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?" He said, "God be gracious to you, my son."43:30Joseph hurried, for his heart yearned over his brother; and he sought a place to weep. He entered into his room, and wept there.43:31He washed his face, and came out. He controlled himself, and said, "Serve the meal."
43:32They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians, that ate with him, by themselves, because the Egyptians don't eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.43:33They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth, and the men marveled one with another.43:34He sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin's portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.
44:1He commanded the steward of his house, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth.44:2Put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, with his grain money." He did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.44:3As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.44:4When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, "Up, follow after the men. When you overtake them, ask them, 'Why have you rewarded evil for good?44:5Isn't this that from which my lord drinks, and by which he indeed divines? You have done evil in so doing.'"44:6He overtook them, and he spoke these words to them.
44:7They said to him, "Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!44:8Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord's house?44:9With whoever of your servants it be found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondservants."
44:10He said, "Now also let it be according to your words: he with whom it is found will be my bondservant; and you will be blameless."
44:11Then they hurried, and every man took his sack down to the ground, and every man opened his sack.44:12He searched, beginning with the eldest, and ending at the youngest. The cup was found in Benjamin's sack.44:13Then they tore their clothes, and every man loaded his donkey, and returned to the city.
44:14Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there. They fell on the ground before him.44:15Joseph said to them, "What deed is this that you have done? Don't you know that such a man as I can indeed divine?"
44:16Judah said, "What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord's bondservants, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found."
44:17He said, "Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my bondservant; but as for you, go up in peace to your father."
44:18Then Judah came near to him, and said, "Oh, my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's ears, and don't let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even as Pharaoh.44:19My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father, or a brother?'44:20We said to my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother; and his father loves him.'44:21You said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.'44:22We said to my lord, 'The boy can't leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.'44:23You said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will see my face no more.'44:24It happened when we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.44:25Our father said, 'Go again, buy us a little food.'44:26We said, 'We can't go down. If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go down: for we may not see the man's face, unless our youngest brother is with us.'44:27Your servant, my father, said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons:44:28and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn in pieces;" and I haven't seen him since.44:29If you take this one also from me, and harm happens to him, you will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.'44:30Now therefore when I come to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the boy's life;44:31it will happen, when he sees that the boy is no more, that he will die. Your servants will bring down the gray hairs of your servant, our father, with sorrow to Sheol.44:32For your servant became collateral for the boy to my father, saying, 'If I don't bring him to you, then I will bear the blame to my father forever.'44:33Now therefore, please let your servant stay instead of the boy, a bondservant to my lord; and let the boy go up with his brothers.44:34For how will I go up to my father, if the boy isn't with me?--lest I see the evil that will come on my father."
45:1Then Joseph couldn't control himself before all those who stood before him, and he cried, "Cause every man to go out from me!" No one else stood with him, while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.45:2He wept aloud. The Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.45:3Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Does my father still live?"
His brothers couldn't answer him; for they were terrified at his presence.45:4Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please."
They came near. "He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.45:5Now don't be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.45:6For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years, in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.45:7God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to save you alive by a great deliverance.45:8So now it wasn't you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.45:9Hurry, and go up to my father, and tell him, 'This is what your son Joseph says, "God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me. Don't wait.45:10You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you will be near to me, you, your children, your children's children, your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.45:11There I will nourish you; for there are yet five years of famine; lest you come to poverty, you, and your household, and all that you have."'45:12Behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaks to you.45:13You shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. You shall hurry and bring my father down here."45:14He fell on his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.45:15He kissed all his brothers, and wept on them. After that his brothers talked with him.
45:16The report of it was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, "Joseph's brothers have come." It pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants.45:17Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers, 'Do this. Load your animals, and go, travel to the land of Canaan.45:18Take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.'45:19Now you are commanded: do this. Take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come.45:20Also, don't concern yourselves about your belongings, for the good of all of the land of Egypt is yours."
45:21The sons of Israel did so. Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.45:22He gave each one of them changes of clothing, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.45:23To his father, he sent after this manner: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain and bread and provision for his father by the way.45:24So he sent his brothers away, and they departed. He said to them, "See that you don't quarrel on the way."
45:25They went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan, to Jacob their father.45:26They told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." His heart fainted, for he didn't believe them.45:27They told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them. When he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived.45:28Israel said, "It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."
46:1Israel traveled with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father, Isaac.46:2God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, "Jacob, Jacob!"
He said, "Here I am."
46:3He said, "I am God, the God of your father. Don't be afraid to go down into Egypt, for there I will make of you a great nation.46:4I will go down with you into Egypt. I will also surely bring you up again. Joseph will close your eyes."
46:5Jacob rose up from Beersheba, and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.46:6They took their livestock, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt--Jacob, and all his seed with him,46:7his sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and he brought all his seed with him into Egypt.
46:8These are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons: Reuben, Jacob's firstborn.46:9The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.46:10The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman.46:11The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.46:12The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.46:13The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Iob, and Shimron.46:14The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.46:15These are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty-three.46:16The sons of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.46:17The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.46:18These are the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob, even sixteen souls.46:19The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin.46:20To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.46:21The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.46:22These are the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: all the souls were fourteen.46:23The son of Dan: Hushim.46:24The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.46:25These are the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter, and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls were seven.46:26All the souls who came with Jacob into Egypt, who were his direct descendants, besides Jacob's sons' wives, all the souls were sixty-six.46:27The sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy.
46:28He sent Judah before him to Joseph, to show the way before him to Goshen, and they came into the land of Goshen.46:29Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, in Goshen. He presented himself to him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.46:30Israel said to Joseph, "Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive."
46:31Joseph said to his brothers, and to his father's house, "I will go up, and speak with Pharaoh, and will tell him, 'My brothers, and my father's house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.46:32These men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock, and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.'46:33It will happen, when Pharaoh summons you, and will say, 'What is your occupation?'46:34that you shall say, 'Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we, and our fathers:' that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians."
47:1Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brothers, with their flocks, their herds, and all that they own, have come out of the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen."47:2From among his brothers he took five men, and presented them to Pharaoh.47:3Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?"
They said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we, and our fathers."47:4They said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live as foreigners in the land, for there is no pasture for your servants' flocks. For the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."
47:5Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.47:6The land of Egypt is before you. Make your father and your brothers dwell in the best of the land. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen. If you know any able men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock."
47:7Joseph brought in Jacob, his father, and set him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.47:8Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many are the days of the years of your life?"
47:9Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage."47:10Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the presence of Pharaoh.
47:11Joseph placed his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.47:12Joseph nourished his father, his brothers, and all of his father's household, with bread, according to their families.
47:13There was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine.47:14Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.47:15When the money was all spent in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph, and said, "Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For our money fails."
47:16Joseph said, "Give me your livestock; and I will give you food for your livestock, if your money is gone."
47:17They brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, and for the flocks, and for the herds, and for the donkeys: and he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock for that year.47:18When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord's. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands.47:19Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants to Pharaoh. Give us seed, that we may live, and not die, and that the land won't be desolate."
47:20So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine was severe on them, and the land became Pharaoh's.47:21As for the people, he moved them to the cities from one end of the border of Egypt even to the other end of it.47:22Only he didn't buy the land of the priests, for the priests had a portion from Pharaoh, and ate their portion which Pharaoh gave them. That is why they didn't sell their land.47:23Then Joseph said to the people, "Behold, I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh. Behold, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.47:24It will happen at the harvests, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four parts will be your own, for seed of the field, for your food, for them of your households, and for food for your little ones."
47:25They said, "You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants."
47:26Joseph made it a statute concerning the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have the fifth. Only the land of the priests alone didn't become Pharaoh's.
47:27Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen; and they got themselves possessions therein, and were fruitful, and multiplied exceedingly.47:28Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were one hundred forty-seven years.47:29The time drew near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please don't bury me in Egypt,47:30but when I sleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place."
He said, "I will do as you have said."
47:31He said, "Swear to me," and he swore to him. Israel bowed himself on the bed's head.
48:1It happened after these things, that someone said to Joseph, "Behold, your father is sick." He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.48:2Someone told Jacob, and said, "Behold, your son Joseph comes to you," and Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed.48:3Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,48:4and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting possession.'48:5Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine.48:6Your issue, who you become the father of after them, will be yours. They will be called after the name of their brothers in their inheritance.48:7As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem)."
48:8Israel saw Joseph's sons, and said, "Who are these?"
48:9Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here."
He said, "Please bring them to me, and I will bless them."48:10Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn't see. He brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.48:11Israel said to Joseph, "I didn't think I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your seed also."48:12Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.48:13Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near to him.48:14Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.48:15He blessed Joseph, and said, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day,48:16the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
48:17When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.48:18Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."
48:19His father refused, and said, "I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his seed will become a multitude of nations."48:20He blessed them that day, saying, "In you will Israel bless, saying, 'God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh'" He set Ephraim before Manasseh.48:21Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.48:22Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow."
49:1Jacob called to his sons, and said: "Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.
49:28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them and blessed them. He blessed everyone according to his blessing.49:29He instructed 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,49:30in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place.49:31There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah:49:32the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth."49:33When Jacob made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the spirit, and was gathered to his people.
50:1Joseph fell on his father's face, wept on him, and kissed him.50:2Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father; and the physicians embalmed Israel.50:3Forty days were fulfilled for him, for that is how many the days it takes to embalm. The Egyptians wept for him for seventy days.
50:4When the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying,50:5'My father made me swear, saying, "Behold, I am dying. Bury me in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan." Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come again.'"
50:6Pharaoh said, "Go up, and bury your father, just like he made you swear."
50:7Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, all the elders of the land of Egypt,50:8all the house of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's house. Only their little ones, their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen.50:9There went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company.50:10They came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they lamented with a very great and sore lamentation. He mourned for his father seven days.50:11When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, "This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians." Therefore, its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.50:12His sons did to him just as he commanded them,50:13for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burial site, from Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.50:14Joseph returned into Egypt--he, and his brothers, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.
50:15When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will fully pay us back for all of the evil which we did to him."50:16They sent a message to Joseph, saying, "Your father commanded before he died, saying,50:17'You shall tell Joseph, "Now please forgive the disobedience of your brothers, and their sin, because they did evil to you."' Now, please forgive the disobedience of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him.50:18His brothers also went and fell down before his face; and they said, "Behold, we are your servants."50:19Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid, for am I in the place of God?50:20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.50:21Now therefore don't be afraid. I will nourish you and your little ones." He comforted them, and spoke kindly to them.
50:22Joseph lived in Egypt, he, and his father's house. Joseph lived one hundred ten years.50:23Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph's knees.50:24Joseph said to his brothers, "I am dying, but God will surely visit you, and bring you up out of this land to the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."50:25Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here."50:26So Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.
Notes:
[1]back to 1:1After "God," the Hebrew has the two letters "Aleph Tav" (the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet) as a grammatical marker.
[2]back to 5:2"Adam" and "Man" are spelled with the exact same consonants in Hebrew, so this can be correctly translated either way.
[3]back to 12:7or, offspring
[4]back to 16:14Beer Lahai Roi means "well of the one who lives and sees me."
[5]back to 17:19Isaac means "he laughs."
[6]back to 19:22Zoar means "little."
[7]back to 21:3Isaac means "He laughs."
[8]back to 21:31Beersheba can mean "well of the oath" or "well of seven."
[9]back to 22:14or, Yahweh-Jireh, or, Yahweh-Seeing
[10]back to 24:7or, offspring
[11]back to 26:33Shibah means "oath" or "seven."
[12]back to 26:33Beersheba means "well of the oath" or "well of the seven"
[13]back to 30:24Joseph means "may he add."
[14]back to 31:19teraphim were household idols that may have been associated with inheritance rights to the household property.
[15]back to 31:47"Jegar Sahadutha" means "Witness Heap" in Aramaic.
[16]back to 31:47"Galeed" means "Witness Heap" in Hebrew.
[17]back to 32:30Peniel means "face of God."
[18]back to 33:17succoth means shelters or booths.
[19]back to 33:20El Elohe Israel means "God, the God of Israel" or "The God of Israel is mighty."
[20]back to 34:17Hebrew has, literally, "daughter"
[21]back to 35:18"Benoni" means "son of my trouble."
[22]back to 35:18"Benjamin" means "son of my right hand."
[23]back to 37:35Sheol is the place of the dead.
[24]back to 38:29Perez means "breaking out."
[25]back to 38:30Zerah means "scarlet" or "brightness."
[26]back to 41:51"Manasseh" sounds like the Hebrew for "forget."
[27]back to 41:52"Ephraim" sounds like the Hebrew for "twice fruitful."
1:1Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob):1:2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,1:3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,1:4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.1:5All the souls who came out of Jacob's body were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already.1:6Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation.1:7The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
1:8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who didn't know Joseph.1:9He said to his people, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.1:10Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies, and fight against us, and escape out of the land."1:11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses.1:12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They were grieved because of the children of Israel.1:13The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve,1:14and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
1:15The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah,1:16and he said, "When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."1:17But the midwives feared God, and didn't do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.1:18The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, "Why have you done this thing, and have saved the boys alive?"
1:19The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women aren't like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous, and give birth before the midwife comes to them."
1:20God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty.1:21It happened, because the midwives feared God, that he gave them families.1:22Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive."
2:1A man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as his wife.2:2The woman conceived, and bore a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.2:3When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank.2:4His sister stood far off, to see what would be done to him.2:5Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her handmaid to get it.2:6She opened it, and saw the child, and behold, the baby cried. She had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."
2:7Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?"
2:8Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go."
The maiden went and called the child's mother.2:9Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages."
The woman took the child, and nursed it.2:10The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named himMoses,and said, "Because I drew him out of the water."
2:11It happened in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brothers, and looked at their burdens. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his brothers.2:12He looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no one, he killed the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
2:13He went out the second day, and behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting with each other. He said to him who did the wrong, "Why do you strike your fellow?"
2:14He said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you plan to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?"
Moses was afraid, and said, "Surely this thing is known."2:15Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.
2:16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.2:17The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.2:18When they came to Reuel, their father, he said, "How is it that you have returned so early today?"
2:19They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock."
2:20He said to his daughters, "Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread."
2:21Moses was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter.2:22She bore a son, and he named himGershom,for he said, "I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land."
2:23It happened in the course of those many days, that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.2:24God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.2:25God saw the children of Israel, and God was concerned about them.
3:1Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God's mountain, to Horeb.3:2The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.3:3Moses said, "I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."
3:4When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses! Moses!"
He said, "Here I am."
3:5He said, "Don't come close. Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground."3:6Moreover he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.
3:7Yahweh said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.3:8I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.3:9Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.3:10Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."
3:11Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
3:12He said, "Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."
3:13Moses said to God, "Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you;' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' What should I tell them?"
3:14God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM," and he said, "You shall tell the children of Israel this: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"3:15God said moreover to Moses, "You shall tell the children of Israel this, 'Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.3:16Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, 'Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt;3:17and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey."'3:18They will listen to your voice, and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.'3:19I know that the king of Egypt won't give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand.3:20I will put forth my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in its midst, and after that he will let you go.3:21I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed.3:22But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall despoil the Egyptians.
4:1Moses answered, "But, behold, they will not believe me, nor listen to my voice; for they will say, 'Yahweh has not appeared to you.'"
4:2Yahweh said to him, "What is that in your hand?"
He said, "A rod."
4:3He said, "Throw it on the ground."
He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses ran away from it.
4:4Yahweh said to Moses, "Put forth your hand, and take it by the tail."
He put forth his hand, and laid hold of it, and it became a rod in his hand.
4:5"That they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."4:6Yahweh said furthermore to him, "Now put your hand inside your cloak."
He put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow.
4:7He said, "Put your hand inside your cloak again."
He put his hand inside his cloak again, and when he took it out of his cloak, behold, it had turned again as his other flesh.
4:8"It will happen, if they will neither believe you nor listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.4:9It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land."
4:10Moses said to Yahweh, "Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before now, nor since you have spoken to your servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue."
4:11Yahweh said to him, "Who made man's mouth? Or who makes one mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Isn't it I, Yahweh?4:12Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak."
4:13He said, "Oh, Lord, please send someone else."
4:14The anger of Yahweh was kindled against Moses, and he said, "What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he comes forth to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.4:15You shall speak to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with your mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.4:16He will be your spokesman to the people; and it will happen, that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God.4:17You shall take this rod in your hand, with which you shall do the signs."
4:18Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive."
Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace."
4:19Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, "Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead."
4:20Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God's rod in his hand.4:21Yahweh said to Moses, "When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go.4:22You shall tell Pharaoh, 'Thus says Yahweh, Israel is my son, my firstborn,4:23and I have said to you, "Let my son go, that he may serve me;" and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.'"
4:24It happened on the way at a lodging place, that Yahweh met him and wanted to kill him.4:25Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me."
4:26So he let him alone. Then she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision.
4:27Yahweh said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses."
He went, and met him on God's mountain, and kissed him.4:28Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahweh with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had instructed him.4:29Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel.4:30Aaron spoke all the words which Yahweh had spoken to Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.4:31The people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
5:1Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, "This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'"
5:2Pharaoh said, "Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don't know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go."
5:3They said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword."
5:4The king of Egypt said to them, "Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!"5:5Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens."5:6The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,5:7"You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.5:8The number of the bricks, which they made before, you require from them. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'5:9Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labor therein; and don't let them pay any attention to lying words."
5:10The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, This is what Pharaoh says: "I will not give you straw.5:11Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished."5:12So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.5:13The taskmasters were urgent saying, "Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!"5:14The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, "Why haven't you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?"
5:15Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, "Why do you deal this way with your servants?5:16No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, 'Make brick!' and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people."
5:17But he said, "You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh.'5:18Go therefore now, and work, for no straw shall be given to you, yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!"
5:19The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble, when it was said, "You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!"
5:20They met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:5:21and they said to them, "May Yahweh look at you, and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us."
5:22Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, "Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me?5:23For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people; neither have you delivered your people at all."
6:1Yahweh said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and by a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land."
6:2God spoke to Moses, and said to him, "I am Yahweh;6:3and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them.6:4I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens.6:5Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant.6:6Therefore tell the children of Israel, 'I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments:6:7and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.6:8I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am Yahweh.'"
6:9Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they didn't listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.
6:10Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,6:11"Go in, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land."
6:12Moses spoke before Yahweh, saying, "Behold, the children of Israel haven't listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, who am of uncircumcised lips?"6:13Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a command to the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
6:14These are the heads of their fathers' houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.6:15The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.6:16These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years.6:17The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families.6:18The sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred thirty-three years.6:19The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.6:20Amram took Jochebed his father's sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty-seven years.6:21The sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.6:22The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri.6:23Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.6:24The sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites.6:25Eleazar Aaron's son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites according to their families.6:26These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom Yahweh said, "Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies."6:27These are those who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt. These are that Moses and Aaron.
6:28It happened on the day when Yahweh spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,6:29that Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "I am Yahweh. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I speak to you."
6:30Moses said before Yahweh, "Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?"
7:1Yahweh said to Moses, "Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.7:2You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.7:3I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.7:4But Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring forth my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.7:5The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I stretch forth my hand on Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them."
7:6Moses and Aaron did so. As Yahweh commanded them, so they did.7:7Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
7:8Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,7:9"When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Perform a miracle!' then you shall tell Aaron, 'Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it become a serpent.'"
7:10Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.7:11Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did in like manner with their enchantments.7:12For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.7:13Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken.
7:14Yahweh said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go.7:15Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he goes out to the water; and you shall stand by the river's bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand.7:16You shall tell him, 'Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, "Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness:" and behold, until now you haven't listened.7:17Thus says Yahweh, "In this you shall know that I am Yahweh. Behold, I will strike with the rod that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.7:18The fish that are in the river shall die, and the river shall become foul; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink water from the river."'"7:19Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'"
7:20Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.7:21The fish that were in the river died; and the river became foul, and the Egyptians couldn't drink water from the river; and the blood was throughout all the land of Egypt.7:22The magicians of Egypt did in like manner with their enchantments; and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't listen to them; as Yahweh had spoken.7:23Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he lay even this to heart.7:24All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn't drink of the water of the river.7:25Seven days were fulfilled, after Yahweh had struck the river.