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Flight GEN02
Genesis 12-50
Skip Heitzig

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Genesis 12 (NKJV™)
1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
4 So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.
6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
9 So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.
11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance.
12 "Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13 "Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that Imay live because of you."
14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.
15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house.
16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.
18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
19 "Why did you say, 'She is my sister'? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way."
20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.
Genesis 13 (NKJV™)
1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South.
2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents.
6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.
7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
8 So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.
9 "Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left."
10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.
11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.
12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.
13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.
14 And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are--northward, southward, eastward, and westward;
15 "for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.
16 "And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.
17 "Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you."
18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.
Genesis 14 (NKJV™)
1 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations,
2 that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
3 All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim,
6 and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness.
7 Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazezon Tamar.
8 And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim
9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar--four kings against five.
10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains.
11 Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way.
12 They also took Lot, Abram's brother's son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram.
14 Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
15 He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
16 So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.
17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.
19 And he blessed him and said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tithe of all.
21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself."
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth,
23 "that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I have made Abram rich'--
24 "except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion."
Genesis 15 (NKJV™)
1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."
2 But Abram said, "Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"
3 Then Abram said, "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!"
4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir."
5 Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."
6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
7 Then He said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it."
8 And he said, "Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?"
9 So He said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon."
10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
13 Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
14 "And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
15 "Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.
16 "But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.
18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates--
19 "the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites,
20 "the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21 "the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
Genesis 16 (NKJV™)
1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.
2 So Sarai said to Abram, "See now, the LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her." And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.
3 Then Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.
4 So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The LORD judge between you and me."
6 So Abram said to Sarai, "Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please." And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
7 Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.
8 And He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai."
9 The Angel of the LORD said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand."
10 Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, "I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude."
11 And the Angel of the LORD said to her: "Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has heard your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man's hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."
13 Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, "Have I also here seen Him who sees me?"
14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Genesis 17 (NKJV™)
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
2 "And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly."
3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:
4 "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
5 "No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
6 "I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
7 "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.
8 "Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
9 And God said to Abraham: "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
10 "This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised;
11 "and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
12 "He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.
13 "He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
14 "And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant."
15 Then God said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
16 "And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her."
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, "Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?"
18 And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!"
19 Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.
20 "And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
21 "But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year."
22 Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
23 So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him.
24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
26 That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael;
27 and all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Genesis 18 (NKJV™)
1 Then the LORD appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.
2 So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground,
3 and said, "My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.
4 "Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
5 "And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant." They said, "Do as you have said."
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, "Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes."
7 And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it.
8 So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.
9 Then they said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" So he said, "Here, in the tent."
10 And He said, "I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son." (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.)
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
13 And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?'
14 "Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son."
15 But Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh!"
16 Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way.
17 And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing,
18 "since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19 "For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him."
20 And the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave,
21 "I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know."
22 Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD.
23 And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 "Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?
25 "Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
26 So the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes."
27 Then Abraham answered and said, "Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord:
28 "Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?" So He said, "If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it."
29 And he spoke to Him yet again and said, "Suppose there should be forty found there?" So He said, "I will not do it for the sake of forty."
30 Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?" So He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."
31 And he said, "Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?" So He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty."
32 Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of ten."
33 So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
Genesis 19 (NKJV™)
1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.
2 And he said, "Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way." And they said, "No, but we will spend the night in the open square."
3 But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
4 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house.
5 And they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally."
6 So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him,
7 and said, "Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly!
8 "See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof."
9 And they said, "Stand back!" Then they said, "This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them." So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door.
10 But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.
11 And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.
12 Then the men said to Lot, "Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city--take them out of this place!
13 "For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it."
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, "Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!" But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.
15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, "Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city."
16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed."
18 Then Lot said to them, "Please, no, my lords!
19 "Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die.
20 "See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live."
21 And he said to him, "See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken.
22 "Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
23 The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar.
24 Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens.
25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD.
28 Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.
29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.
30 Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave.
31 Now the firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth.
32 "Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father."
33 So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
34 It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, "Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father."
35 Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
37 The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
38 And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.
Genesis 20 (NKJV™)
1 And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.
2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife."
4 But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also?
5 "Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she, even she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this."
6 And God said to him in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.
7 "Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours."
8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid.
9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done."
10 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?"
11 And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.
12 "But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
13 "And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, "He is my brother."'"
14 Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him.
15 And Abimelech said, "See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you."
16 Then to Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody." Thus she was rebuked.
17 So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children;
18 for the LORD had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
Genesis 21 (NKJV™)
1 And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken.
2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him--whom Sarah bore to him--Isaac.
4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, "God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me."
7 She also said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age."
8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing.
10 Therefore she said to Abraham, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac."
11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham's sight because of his son.
12 But God said to Abraham, "Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.
13 "Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed."
14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
15 And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs.
16 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, "Let me not see the death of the boy." So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.
17 And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, "What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.
18 "Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation."
19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.
20 So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
21 He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
22 And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, "God is with you in all that you do.
23 "Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt."
24 And Abraham said, "I will swear."
25 Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech's servants had seized.
26 And Abimelech said, "I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today."
27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant.
28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
29 Then Abimelech asked Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?"
30 And he said, "You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well."
31 Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.
32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.
33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.
34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.
Genesis 22 (NKJV™)
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."
2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.
5 And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you."
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.
7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." Then he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
8 And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." So the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he said, "Here I am."
12 And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of The LORD it shall be provided."
15 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,
16 and said: "By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son--
17 "blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
18 "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
20 Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, "Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:
21 "Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,
22 "Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel."
23 And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.
24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.
Genesis 23 (NKJV™)
1 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.
2 So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3 Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
4 "I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
5 And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,
6 "Hear us, my lord: You are a mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may bury your dead."
7 Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth.
8 And he spoke with them, saying, "If it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me,
9 "that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me at the full price, as property for a burial place among you."
10 Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who entered at the gate of his city, saying,
11 "No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!"
12 Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land;
13 and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "If you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there."
14 And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
15 "My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead."
16 And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.
17 So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded
18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
19 And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
20 So the field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.
Genesis 24 (NKJV™)
1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.
2 So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, "Please, put your hand under my thigh,
3 "and I will make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell;
4 "but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac."
5 And the servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?"
6 But Abraham said to him, "Beware that you do not take my son back there.
7 "The LORD God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.
8 "And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there."
9 So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
10 Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, for all his master's goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.
11 And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water.
12 Then he said, "O LORD God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham.
13 "Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
14 "Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, 'Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,' and she says, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink'--let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master."
15 And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder.
16 Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up.
17 And the servant ran to meet her and said, "Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher."
18 So she said, "Drink, my lord." Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink.
19 And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking."
20 Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.
21 And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the LORD had made his journey prosperous or not.
22 So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold,
23 and said, "Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father's house for us to lodge?"
24 So she said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah's son, whom she bore to Nahor."
25 Moreover she said to him, "We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge."
26 Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the LORD.
27 And he said, "Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren."
28 So the young woman ran and told her mother's household these things.
29 Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well.
30 So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, "Thus the man spoke to me," that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well.
31 And he said, "Come in, O blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels."
32 Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.
33 Food was set before him to eat, but he said, "I will not eat until I have told about my errand." And he said, "Speak on."
34 So he said, "I am Abraham's servant.
35 "The LORD has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.
36 "And Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has.
37 "Now my master made me swear, saying, 'You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell;
38 'but you shall go to my father's house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.'
39 "And I said to my master, 'Perhaps the woman will not follow me.'
40 "But he said to me, 'The LORD, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father's house.
41 'You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.'
42 "And this day I came to the well and said, 'O LORD God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go,
43 'behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, "Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,"
44 'and she says to me, "Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,"--let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master's son.'
45 "But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, 'Please let me drink.'
46 "And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, 'Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.' So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also.
47 "Then I asked her, and said, 'Whose daughter are you?' And she said, 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.' So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.
48 "And I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son.
49 "Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left."
50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, "The thing comes from the LORD; we cannot speak to you either bad or good.
51 "Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as the LORD has spoken."
52 And it came to pass, when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he worshiped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.
53 Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.
54 And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, "Send me away to my master."
55 But her brother and her mother said, "Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go."
56 And he said to them, "Do not hinder me, since the LORD has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master."
57 So they said, "We will call the young woman and ask her personally."
58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go."
59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men.
60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: "Our sister, may you become The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those who hate them."
61 Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.
62 Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South.
63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming.
64 Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel;
65 for she had said to the servant, "Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." So she took a veil and covered herself.
66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.
67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
Genesis 25 (NKJV™)
1 Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
2 And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
3 Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.
4 And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
5 And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac.
6 But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east.
7 This is the sum of the years of Abraham's life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years.
8 Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.
9 And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite,
10 the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife.
11 And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at Beer Lahai Roi.
12 Now this is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maidservant, bore to Abraham.
13 And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
15 Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
16 These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, twelve princes according to their nations.
17 These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.
18 (They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He died in the presence of all his brethren.
19 This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begot Isaac.
20 Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian.
21 Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If all is well, why am I like this?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.
23 And the LORD said to her: "Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger."
24 So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb.
25 And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau.
26 Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
27 So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.
28 And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary.
30 And Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary." Therefore his name was called Edom.
31 But Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright as of this day."
32 And Esau said, "Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?"
33 Then Jacob said, "Swear to me as of this day." So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.
34 And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Genesis 26 (NKJV™)
1 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.
3 "Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
4 "And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
5 "because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."
6 So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.
7 And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, "She is my sister"; for he was afraid to say, "She is my wife," because he thought, "lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold."
8 Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife.
9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, "Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, 'She is my sister'?" And Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die on account of her.'"
10 And Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us."
11 So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."
12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the LORD blessed him.
13 The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;
14 for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.
15 Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth.
16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we."
17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.
19 Also Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there.
20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours." So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him.
21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah.
22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."
23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba.
24 And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham's sake."
25 So he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well.
26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army.
27 And Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?"
28 But they said, "We have certainly seen that the LORD is with you. So we said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you,
29 'that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.'"
30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.
31 Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32 It came to pass the same day that Isaac's servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water."
33 So he called it Shebah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
35 And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.
Genesis 27 (NKJV™)
1 Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, "My son." And he answered him, "Here I am."
2 Then he said, "Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death.
3 "Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me.
4 "And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die."
5 Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it.
6 So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, "Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying,
7 'Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.'
8 "Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you.
9 "Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves.
10 "Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death."
11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man.
12 "Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing."
13 But his mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me."
14 And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved.
15 Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.
16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
17 Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
18 So he went to his father and said, "My father.' And he said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"
19 Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn; I have done just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me."
20 But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the LORD your God brought it to me."
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not."
22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau."
23 And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him.
24 Then he said, "Are you really my son Esau?" He said, "I am."
25 He said, "Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's game, so that my soul may bless you." So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come near now and kiss me, my son."
27 And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: "Surely, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field Which the LORD has blessed.
28 Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine.
29 Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, And let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you!"
30 Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
31 He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, "Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that your soul may bless me."
32 And his father Isaac said to him, "Who are you?" So he said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau."
33 Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, "Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him--and indeed he shall be blessed."
34 When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me--me also, O my father!"
35 But he said, "Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing."
36 And Esau said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!" And he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"
37 Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, "Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?"
38 And Esau said to his father, "Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me--me also, O my father!" And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: "Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above.
40 By your sword you shall live, And you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, That you shall break his yoke from your neck."
41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob."
42 And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, "Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you.
43 "Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran.
44 "And stay with him a few days, until your brother's fury turns away,
45 "until your brother's anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?"
46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?"
Genesis 28 (NKJV™)
1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.
2 "Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother's father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.
3 "May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples;
4 And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham."
5 So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, "You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,"
7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram.
8 Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac.
9 So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.
11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.
12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.
14 "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
15 "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you."
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it."
17 And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!"
18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.
19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,
21 "so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God.
22 "And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God's house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You."
Genesis 29 (NKJV™)
1 So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the East.
2 And he looked, and saw a well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well's mouth.
3 Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well's mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well's mouth.
4 And Jacob said to them, "My brethren, where are you from?" And they said, "We are from Haran."
5 Then he said to them, "Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?" And they said, "We know him."
6 So he said to them, "Is he well?" And they said, "He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep."
7 Then he said, "Look, it is still high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them."
8 But they said, "We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well's mouth; then we water the sheep."
9 Now while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess.
10 And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.
11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept.
12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's relative and that he was Rebekah's son. So she ran and told her father.
13 Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister's son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things.
14 And Laban said to him, "Surely you are my bone and my flesh." And he stayed with him for a month.
15 Then Laban said to Jacob, "Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?"
16 Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
17 Leah's eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance.
18 Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter."
19 And Laban said, "It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me."
20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her."
22 And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast.
23 Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her.
24 And Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid.
25 So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?"
26 And Laban said, "It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.
27 "Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years."
28 Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also.
29 And Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid.
30 Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years.
31 When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
32 So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, "The LORD has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me."
33 Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also." And she called his name Simeon.
34 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons." Therefore his name was called Levi.
35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, "Now I will praise the LORD." Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing.
Genesis 30 (NKJV™)
1 Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die!"
2 And Jacob's anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, "Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?"
3 So she said, "Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her."
4 Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her.
5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
6 Then Rachel said, "God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son." Therefore she called his name Dan.
7 And Rachel's maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
8 Then Rachel said, "With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed." So she called his name Naphtali.
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife.
10 And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
11 Then Leah said, "A troop comes!" So she called his name Gad.
12 And Leah's maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.
13 Then Leah said, "I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed." So she called his name Asher.
14 Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."
15 But she said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?" And Rachel said, "Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes."
16 When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes." And he lay with her that night.
17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.
18 Leah said, "God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband." So she called his name Issachar.
19 Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.
20 And Leah said, "God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons." So she called his name Zebulun.
21 Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.
23 And she conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach."
24 So she called his name Joseph, and said, "The LORD shall add to me another son."
25 And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, "Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country.
26 "Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you."
27 And Laban said to him, "Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the LORD has blessed me for your sake."
28 Then he said, "Name me your wages, and I will give it."
29 So Jacob said to him, "You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me.
30 "For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the LORD has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?"
31 So he said, "What shall I give you?" And Jacob said, "You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks:
32 "Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages.
33 "So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me."
34 And Laban said, "Oh, that it were according to your word!"
35 So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons.
36 Then he put three days' journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
37 Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods.
38 And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink.
39 So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.
40 Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban's flock.
41 And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.
42 But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban's and the stronger Jacob's.
43 Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
Genesis 31 (NKJV™)
1 Now Jacob heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, "Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and from what was our father's he has acquired all this wealth."
2 And Jacob saw the countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not favorable toward him as before.
3 Then the LORD said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you."
4 So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock,
5 and said to them, "I see your father's countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.
6 "And you know that with all my might I have served your father.
7 "Yet your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.
8 "If he said thus: 'The speckled shall be your wages,' then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: 'The streaked shall be your wages,' then all the flocks bore streaked.
9 "So God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.
10 "And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted.
11 "Then the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, 'Jacob.' And I said, 'Here I am.'
12 "And He said, 'Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.
13 'I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.'"
14 Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, "Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house?
15 "Are we not considered strangers by him? For he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money.
16 "For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children's; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it."
17 Then Jacob rose and set his sons and his wives on camels.
18 And he carried away all his livestock and all his possessions which he had gained, his acquired livestock which he had gained in Padan Aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.
19 Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the household idols that were her father's.
20 And Jacob stole away, unknown to Laban the Syrian, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee.
21 So he fled with all that he had. He arose and crossed the river, and headed toward the mountains of Gilead.
22 And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled.
23 Then he took his brethren with him and pursued him for seven days' journey, and he overtook him in the mountains of Gilead.
24 But God had come to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said to him, "Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad."
25 So Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains, and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mountains of Gilead.
26 And Laban said to Jacob: "What have you done, that you have stolen away unknown to me, and carried away my daughters like captives taken with the sword?
27 "Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and not tell me; for I might have sent you away with joy and songs, with timbrel and harp?
28 "And you did not allow me to kiss my sons and my daughters. Now you have done foolishly in so doing.
29 "It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, 'Be careful that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.'
30 "And now you have surely gone because you greatly long for your father's house, but why did you steal my gods?"
31 Then Jacob answered and said to Laban, "Because I was afraid, for I said, 'Perhaps you would take your daughters from me by force.'
32 "With whomever you find your gods, do not let him live. In the presence of our brethren, identify what I have of yours and take it with you." For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.
33 And Laban went into Jacob's tent, into Leah's tent, and into the two maids' tents, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent.
34 Now Rachel had taken the household idols, put them in the camel's saddle, and sat on them. And Laban searched all about the tent but did not find them.
35 And she said to her father, "Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is with me." And he searched but did not find the household idols.
36 Then Jacob was angry and rebuked Laban, and Jacob answered and said to Laban: "What is my trespass? What is my sin, that you have so hotly pursued me?
37 "Although you have searched all my things, what part of your household things have you found? Set it here before my brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us both!
38 "These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried their young, and I have not eaten the rams of your flock.
39 "That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
40 "There I was! In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from my eyes.
41 "Thus I have been in your house twenty years; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.
42 "Unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and rebuked you last night."
43 And Laban answered and said to Jacob, "These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children, and this flock is my flock; all that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these my daughters or to their children whom they have borne?
44 "Now therefore, come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me."
45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.
46 Then Jacob said to his brethren, "Gather stones." And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on the heap.
47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.
48 And Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me this day." Therefore its name was called Galeed,
49 also Mizpah, because he said, "May the LORD watch between you and me when we are absent one from another.
50 "If you afflict my daughters, or if you take other wives besides my daughters, although no man is with us--see, God is witness between you and me!"
51 Then Laban said to Jacob, "Here is this heap and here is this pillar, which I have placed between you and me.
52 "This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.
53 "The God of Abraham, the God of Nahor, and the God of their father judge between us." And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his brethren to eat bread. And they ate bread and stayed all night on the mountain.
55 And early in the morning Laban arose, and kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.
Genesis 32 (NKJV™)
1 So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2 When Jacob saw them, he said, "This is God's camp." And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
3 Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
4 And he commanded them, saying, "Speak thus to my lord Esau, 'Thus your servant Jacob says: "I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now.
5 "I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight."'"
6 Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him."
7 So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies.
8 And he said, "If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape."
9 Then Jacob said, "O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, 'Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you':
10 "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies.
11 "Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children.
12 "For You said, 'I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'"
13 So he lodged there that same night, and took what came to his hand as a present for Esau his brother:
14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
15 thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals.
16 Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass over before me, and put some distance between successive droves."
17 And he commanded the first one, saying, "When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, 'To whom do you belong, and where are you going? Whose are these in front of you?'
18 "then you shall say, 'They are your servant Jacob's. It is a present sent to my lord Esau; and behold, he also is behind us.'"
19 So he commanded the second, the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, "In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him;
20 "and also say, 'Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.'" For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me."
21 So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.
22 And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.
23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had.
24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.
25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.
26 And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!"
27 So He said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob."
28 And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed."
29 Then Jacob asked, saying, "Tell me Your name, I pray." And He said, "Why is it that you ask about My name?" And He blessed him there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: "For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."
31 Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.
32 Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob's hip in the muscle that shrank.
Genesis 33 (NKJV™)
1 Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants.
2 And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last.
3 Then he crossed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
5 And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, "Who are these with you?" So he said, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant."
6 Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down.
7 And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down.
8 Then Esau said, "What do you mean by all this company which I met?" And he said, "These are to find favor in the sight of my lord."
9 But Esau said, "I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself."
10 And Jacob said, "No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me.
11 "Please, take my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough." So he urged him, and he took it.
12 Then Esau said, "Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you."
13 But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die.
14 "Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, are able to endure, until I come to my lord in Seir."
15 And Esau said, "Now let me leave with you some of the people who are with me." But he said, "What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord."
16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.
17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
18 Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city.
19 And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for one hundred pieces of money.
20 Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.
Genesis 34 (NKJV™)
1 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her.
3 His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman.
4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, "Get me this young woman as a wife."
5 And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob held his peace until they came.
6 Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.
7 And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, a thing which ought not to be done.
8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, "The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife.
9 "And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves.
10 "So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it."
11 Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give.
12 "Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife."
13 But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.
14 And they said to them, "We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us.
15 "But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised,
16 "then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
17 "But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone."
18 And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor's son.
19 So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob's daughter. He was more honorable than all the household of his father.
20 And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying:
21 "These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters.
22 "Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised.
23 "Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us."
24 And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
25 Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males.
26 And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem's house, and went out.
27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled.
28 They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field,
29 and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I."
31 But they said, "Should he treat our sister like a harlot?"
Genesis 35 (NKJV™)
1 Then God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother."
2 And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.
3 "Then let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me in the way which I have gone."
4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree which was by Shechem.
5 And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.
6 So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.
7 And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother.
8 Now Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the terebinth tree. So the name of it was called Allon Bachuth.
9 Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram, and blessed him.
10 And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel.
11 Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.
12 "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I give this land."
13 Then God went up from him in the place where He talked with him.
14 So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He talked with him, a pillar of stone; and he poured a drink offering on it, and he poured oil on it.
15 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Bethel.
16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor.
17 Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, "Do not fear; you will have this son also."
18 And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).
20 And Jacob set a pillar on her grave, which is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day.
21 Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.
22 And it happened, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heard about it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
23 the sons of Leah were Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun;
24 the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin;
25 the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant, were Dan and Naphtali;
26 and the sons of Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, were Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Padan Aram.
27 Then Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre, or Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had dwelt.
28 Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years.
29 So Isaac breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
Genesis 36 (NKJV™)
1 Now this is the genealogy of Esau, who is Edom.
2 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite; Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
3 and Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebajoth.
4 Now Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel.
5 And Aholibamah bore Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah. These were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.
6 Then Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the persons of his household, his cattle and all his animals, and all his goods which he had gained in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the presence of his brother Jacob.
7 For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they were strangers could not support them because of their livestock.
8 So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom.
9 And this is the genealogy of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir.
10 These were the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, and Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau.
11 And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
12 Now Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These were the sons of Adah, Esau's wife.
13 These were the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife.
14 These were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau's wife, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon. And she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah.
15 These were the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn son of Esau, were Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz,
16 Chief Korah, Chief Gatam, and Chief Amalek. These were the chiefs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. They were the sons of Adah.
17 These were the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah, and Chief Mizzah. These were the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife.
18 And these were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau's wife: Chief Jeush, Chief Jaalam, and Chief Korah. These were the chiefs who descended from Aholibamah, Esau's wife, the daughter of Anah.
19 These were the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these were their chiefs.
20 These were the sons of Seir the Horite who inhabited the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom.
22 And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam. Lotan's sister was Timna.
23 These were the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
24 These were the sons of Zibeon: both Ajah and Anah. This was the Anah who found the water in the wilderness as he pastured the donkeys of his father Zibeon.
25 These were the children of Anah: Dishon and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.
26 These were the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
27 These were the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
28 These were the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
29 These were the chiefs of the Horites: Chief Lotan, Chief Shobal, Chief Zibeon, Chief Anah,
30 Chief Dishon, Chief Ezer, and Chief Dishan. These were the chiefs of the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir.
31 Now these were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel:
32 Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
33 And when Bela died, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place.
34 When Jobab died, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.
35 And when Husham died, Hadad the son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. And the name of his city was Avith.
36 When Hadad died, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place.
37 And when Samlah died, Saul of Rehoboth-by-the-River reigned in his place.
38 When Saul died, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.
39 And when Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadar reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pau. His wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
40 And these were the names of the chiefs of Esau, according to their families and their places, by their names: Chief Timnah, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth,
41 Chief Aholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon,
42 Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar,
43 Chief Magdiel, and Chief Iram. These were the chiefs of Edom, according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. Esau was the father of the Edomites.
Genesis 37 (NKJV™)
1 Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
2 This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of many colors.
4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.
6 So he said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:
7 "There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf."
8 And his brothers said to him, "Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?" So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
9 Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, "Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me."
10 So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?"
11 And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
12 Then his brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.
13 And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." So he said to him, "Here I am."
14 Then he said to him, "Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me." So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.
15 Now a certain man found him, and there he was, wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying, "What are you seeking?"
16 So he said, "I am seeking my brothers. Please tell me where they are feeding their flocks."
17 And the man said, "They have departed from here, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" So Joseph went after his brothers and found them in Dothan.
18 Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.
19 Then they said to one another, "Look, this dreamer is coming!
20 "Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, 'Some wild beast has devoured him.' We shall see what will become of his dreams!"
21 But Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, "Let us not kill him."
22 And Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit which is in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him"--that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father.
23 So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him.
24 Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
25 And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry them down to Egypt.
26 So Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
27 "Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh." And his brothers listened.
28 Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
29 Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.
30 And he returned to his brothers and said, "The lad is no more; and I, where shall I go?"
31 So they took Joseph's tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood.
32 Then they sent the tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, "We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son's tunic or not?"
33 And he recognized it and said, "It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces."
34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
35 And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, "For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning." Thus his father wept for him.
36 Now the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.
Genesis 38 (NKJV™)
1 It came to pass at that time that Judah departed from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah.
2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua, and he married her and went in to her.
3 So she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Er.
4 She conceived again and bore a son, and she called his name Onan.
5 And she conceived yet again and bore a son, and called his name Shelah. He was at Chezib when she bore him.
6 Then Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.
7 But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD killed him.
8 And Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife and marry her, and raise up an heir to your brother."
9 But Onan knew that the heir would not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in to his brother's wife, that he emitted on the ground, lest he should give an heir to his brother.
10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD; therefore He killed him also.
11 Then Judah said to Tamar his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your father's house till my son Shelah is grown." For he said, "Lest he also die like his brothers." And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.
12 Now in the process of time the daughter of Shua, Judah's wife, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.
13 And it was told Tamar, saying, "Look, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep."
14 So she took off her widow's garments, covered herself with a veil and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place which was on the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given to him as a wife.
15 When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot, because she had covered her face.
16 Then he turned to her by the way, and said, "Please let me come in to you"; for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. So she said, "What will you give me, that you may come in to me?"
17 And he said, "I will send a young goat from the flock." So she said, "Will you give me a pledge till you send it?"
18 Then he said, "What pledge shall I give you?" So she said, "Your signet and cord, and your staff that is in your hand." Then he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.
19 So she arose and went away, and laid aside her veil and put on the garments of her widowhood.
20 And Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand, but he did not find her.
21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, "Where is the harlot who was openly by the roadside?" And they said, "There was no harlot in this place."
22 So he returned to Judah and said, "I cannot find her. Also, the men of the place said there was no harlot in this place."
23 Then Judah said, "Let her take them for herself, lest we be shamed; for I sent this young goat and you have not found her."
24 And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, "Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; furthermore she is with child by harlotry." So Judah said, "Bring her out and let her be burned!"
25 When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, "By the man to whom these belong, I am with child." And she said, "Please determine whose these are--the signet and cord, and staff."
26 So Judah acknowledged them and said, "She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son." And he never knew her again.
27 Now it came to pass, at the time for giving birth, that behold, twins were in her womb.
28 And so it was, when she was giving birth, that the one put out his hand; and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, "This one came out first."
29 Then it happened, as he drew back his hand, that his brother came out unexpectedly; and she said, "How did you break through? This breach be upon you!" Therefore his name was called Perez.
30 Afterward his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand. And his name was called Zerah.
Genesis 39 (NKJV™)
1 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there.
2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand.
4 So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority.
5 So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house and in the field.
6 Thus he left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.
7 And it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, "Lie with me."
8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand.
9 "There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"
10 So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.
11 But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside,
12 that she caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me." But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.
13 And so it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside,
14 that she called to the men of her house and spoke to them, saying, "See, he has brought in to us a Hebrew to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.
15 "And it happened, when he heard that I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me, and fled and went outside."
16 So she kept his garment with her until his master came home.
17 Then she spoke to him with words like these, saying, "The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me;
18 "so it happened, as I lifted my voice and cried out, that he left his garment with me and fled outside."
19 So it was, when his master heard the words which his wife spoke to him, saying, "Your servant did to me after this manner," that his anger was aroused.
20 Then Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison.
21 But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing.
23 The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph's authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.
Genesis 40 (NKJV™)
1 It came to pass after these things that the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.
2 And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker.
3 So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined.
4 And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.
5 Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man's dream in one night and each man's dream with its own interpretation.
6 And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad.
7 So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in the custody of his lord's house, saying, "Why do you look so sad today?"
8 And they said to him, "We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it." So Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please."
9 Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, "Behold, in my dream a vine was before me,
10 "and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes.
11 "Then Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand."
12 And Joseph said to him, "This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days.
13 "Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler.
14 "But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house.
15 "For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon."
16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, "I also was in my dream, and there were three white baskets on my head.
17 "In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head."
18 So Joseph answered and said, "This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days.
19 "Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you."
20 Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
21 Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.
22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.
23 Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
Genesis 41 (NKJV™)
1 Then it came to pass, at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh had a dream; and behold, he stood by the river.
2 Suddenly there came up out of the river seven cows, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow.
3 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river.
4 And the ugly and gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke.
5 He slept and dreamed a second time; and suddenly seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, plump and good.
6 Then behold, seven thin heads, blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them.
7 And the seven thin heads devoured the seven plump and full heads. So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream.
8 Now it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. And Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them for Pharaoh.
9 Then the chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying: "I remember my faults this day.
10 "When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker,
11 "we each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.
12 "Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream.
13 "And it came to pass, just as he interpreted for us, so it happened. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him."
14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh.
15 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that you can understand a dream, to interpret it."
16 So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace."
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: "Behold, in my dream I stood on the bank of the river.
18 "Suddenly seven cows came up out of the river, fine looking and fat; and they fed in the meadow.
19 "Then behold, seven other cows came up after them, poor and very ugly and gaunt, such ugliness as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt.
20 "And the gaunt and ugly cows ate up the first seven, the fat cows.
21 "When they had eaten them up, no one would have known that they had eaten them, for they were just as ugly as at the beginning. So I awoke.
22 "Also I saw in my dream, and suddenly seven heads came up on one stalk, full and good.
23 "Then behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blighted by the east wind, sprang up after them.
24 "And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads. So I told this to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me."
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do:
26 "The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads are seven years; the dreams are one.
27 "And the seven thin and ugly cows which came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty heads blighted by the east wind are seven years of famine.
28 "This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do.
29 "Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt;
30 "but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land.
31 "So the plenty will not be known in the land because of the famine following, for it will be very severe.
32 "And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
33 "Now therefore, let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt.
34 "Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years.
35 "And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
36 "Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine."
37 So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.
38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?"
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.
40 "You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you."
41 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."
42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph's hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
43 And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, "Bow the knee!" So he set him over all the land of Egypt.
44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no man may lift his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt."
45 And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-Paaneah. And he gave him as a wife Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On. So Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.
46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
47 Now in the seven plentiful years the ground brought forth abundantly.
48 So he gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities; he laid up in every city the food of the fields which surrounded them.
49 Joseph gathered very much grain, as the sand of the sea, until he stopped counting, for it was immeasurable.
50 And to Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.
51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: "For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house."
52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim: "For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction."
53 Then the seven years of plenty which were in the land of Egypt ended,
54 and the seven years of famine began to come, as Joseph had said. The famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.
55 So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Then Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do."
56 The famine was over all the face of the earth, and Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians. And the famine became severe in the land of Egypt.
57 So all countries came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all lands.
Genesis 42 (NKJV™)
1 When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?"
2 And he said, "Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there, that we may live and not die."
3 So Joseph's ten brothers went down to buy grain in Egypt.
4 But Jacob did not send Joseph's brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he said, "Lest some calamity befall him."
5 And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
6 Now Joseph was governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth.
7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he acted as a stranger to them and spoke roughly to them. Then he said to them, "Where do you come from?" And they said, "From the land of Canaan to buy food."
8 So Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him.
9 Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!"
10 And they said to him, "No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
11 "We are all one man's sons; we are honest men; your servants are not spies."
12 But he said to them, "No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land."
13 And they said, "Your servants are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan; and in fact, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more."
14 But Joseph said to them, "It is as I spoke to you, saying, 'You are spies!'
15 "In this manner you shall be tested: By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here.
16 "Send one of you, and let him bring your brother; and you shall be kept in prison, that your words may be tested to see whether there is any truth in you; or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies!"
17 So he put them all together in prison three days.
18 Then Joseph said to them the third day, "Do this and live, for I fear God:
19 "If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be confined to your prison house; but you, go and carry grain for the famine of your houses.
20 "And bring your youngest brother to me; so your words will be verified, and you shall not die." And they did so.
21 Then they said to one another, "We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us."
22 And Reuben answered them, saying, "Did I not speak to you, saying, 'Do not sin against the boy'; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us."
23 But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.
24 And he turned himself away from them and wept. Then he returned to them again, and talked with them. And he took Simeon from them and bound him before their eyes.
25 Then Joseph gave a command to fill their sacks with grain, to restore every man's money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. Thus he did for them.
26 So they loaded their donkeys with the grain and departed from there.
27 But as one of them opened his sack to give his donkey feed at the encampment, he saw his money; and there it was, in the mouth of his sack.
28 So he said to his brothers, "My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!" Then their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, "What is this that God has done to us?"
29 Then they went to Jacob their father in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying:
30 "The man who is lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us for spies of the country.
31 "But we said to him, 'We are honest men; we are not spies.
32 'We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father this day in the land of Canaan.'
33 "Then the man, the lord of the country, said to us, 'By this I will know that you are honest men: Leave one of your brothers here with me, take food for the famine of your households, and be gone.
34 'And bring your youngest brother to me; so I shall know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. I will grant your brother to you, and you may trade in the land.'"
35 Then it happened as they emptied their sacks, that surprisingly each man's bundle of money was in his sack; and when they and their father saw the bundles of money, they were afraid.
36 And Jacob their father said to them, "You have bereaved me: Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin. All these things are against me."
37 Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, "Kill my two sons if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hands, and I will bring him back to you."
38 But he said, "My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If any calamity should befall him along the way in which you go, then you would bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave."
Genesis 43 (NKJV™)
1 Now the famine was severe in the land.
2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the grain which they had brought from Egypt, that their father said to them, "Go back, buy us a little food."
3 But Judah spoke to him, saying, "The man solemnly warned us, saying, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"
4 "If you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food.
5 "But if you will not send him, we will not go down; for the man said to us, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"
6 And Israel said, "Why did you deal so wrongfully with me as to tell the man whether you had still another brother?"
7 But they said, "The man asked us pointedly about ourselves and our family, saying, 'Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?' And we told him according to these words. Could we possibly have known that he would say, 'Bring your brother down'?"
8 Then Judah said to Israel his father, "Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones.
9 "I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.
10 "For if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned this second time."
11 And their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best fruits of the land in your vessels and carry down a present for the man--a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds.
12 "Take double money in your hand, and take back in your hand the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks; perhaps it was an oversight.
13 "Take your brother also, and arise, go back to the man.
14 "And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!"
15 So the men took that present and Benjamin, and they took double money in their hand, and arose and went down to Egypt; and they stood before Joseph.
16 When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, "Take these men to my home, and slaughter an animal and make ready; for these men will dine with me at noon."
17 Then the man did as Joseph ordered, and the man brought the men into Joseph's house.
18 Now the men were afraid because they were brought into Joseph's house; and they said, "It is because of the money, which was returned in our sacks the first time, that we are brought in, so that he may make a case against us and fall upon us, to take us as slaves with our donkeys."
19 When they drew near to the steward of Joseph's house, they talked with him at the door of the house,
20 and said, "O sir, we indeed came down the first time to buy food;
21 "but it happened, when we came to the encampment, that we opened our sacks, and there, each man's money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight; so we have brought it back in our hand.
22 "And we have brought down other money in our hands to buy food. We do not know who put our money in our sacks."
23 But he said, "Peace be with you, do not be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has given you treasure in your sacks; I had your money." Then he brought Simeon out to them.
24 So the man brought the men into Joseph's house and gave them water, and they washed their feet; and he gave their donkeys feed.
25 Then they made the present ready for Joseph's coming at noon, for they heard that they would eat bread there.
26 And when Joseph came home, they brought him the present which was in their hand into the house, and bowed down before him to the earth.
27 Then he asked them about their well-being, and said, "Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?"
28 And they answered, "Your servant our father is in good health; he is still alive." And they bowed their heads down and prostrated themselves.
29 Then he lifted his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, "Is this your younger brother of whom you spoke to me?" And he said, "God be gracious to you, my son."
30 Now his heart yearned for his brother; so Joseph made haste and sought somewhere to weep. And he went into his chamber and wept there.
31 Then he washed his face and came out; and he restrained himself, and said, "Serve the bread."
32 So they set him a place by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.
33 And they sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked in astonishment at one another.
34 Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin's serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were merry with him.
Genesis 44 (NKJV™)
1 And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, "Fill the men's sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put each man's money in the mouth of his sack.
2 "Also put my cup, the silver cup, in the mouth of the sack of the youngest, and his grain money." So he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
3 As soon as the morning dawned, the men were sent away, they and their donkeys.
4 When they had gone out of the city, and were not yet far off, Joseph said to his steward, "Get up, follow the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, 'Why have you repaid evil for good?
5 'Is not this the one from which my lord drinks, and with which he indeed practices divination? You have done evil in so doing.'"
6 So he overtook them, and he spoke to them these same words.
7 And they said to him, "Why does my lord say these words? Far be it from us that your servants should do such a thing.
8 "Look, we brought back to you from the land of Canaan the money which we found in the mouth of our sacks. How then could we steal silver or gold from your lord's house?
9 "With whomever of your servants it is found, let him die, and we also will be my lord's slaves."
10 And he said, "Now also let it be according to your words; he with whom it is found shall be my slave, and you shall be blameless."
11 Then each man speedily let down his sack to the ground, and each opened his sack.
12 So he searched. He began with the oldest and left off with the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
13 Then they tore their clothes, and each man loaded his donkey and returned to the city.
14 So Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and he was still there; and they fell before him on the ground.
15 And Joseph said to them, "What deed is this you have done? Did you not know that such a man as I can certainly practice divination?"
16 Then Judah said, "What shall we say to my lord? What shall we speak? Or how shall we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants; here we are, my lord's slaves, both we and he also with whom the cup was found."
17 But he said, "Far be it from me that I should do so; the man in whose hand the cup was found, he shall be my slave. And as for you, go up in peace to your father."
18 Then Judah came near to him and said: "O my lord, please let your servant speak a word in my lord's hearing, and do not let your anger burn against your servant; for you are even like Pharaoh.
19 "My lord asked his servants, saying, 'Have you a father or a brother?'
20 "And we said to my lord, 'We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, who is young; his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother's children, and his father loves him.'
21 "Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me, that I may set my eyes on him.'
22 "And we said to my lord, 'The lad cannot leave his father, for if he should leave his father, his father would die.'
23 "But you said to your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.'
24 "So it was, when we went up to your servant my father, that we told him the words of my lord.
25 "And our father said, 'Go back and buy us a little food.'
26 "But we said, 'We cannot 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.'
27 "Then your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons;
28 'and the one went out from me, and I said, "Surely he is torn to pieces"; and I have not seen him since.
29 'But if you take this one also from me, and calamity befalls him, you shall bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave.'
30 "Now therefore, when I come to your servant my father, and the lad is not with us, since his life is bound up in the lad's life,
31 "it will happen, when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die. So your servants will bring down the gray hair of your servant our father with sorrow to the grave.
32 "For your servant became surety for the lad to my father, saying, 'If I do not bring him back to you, then I shall bear the blame before my father forever.'
33 "Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers.
34 "For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?"
Genesis 45 (NKJV™)
1 Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, "Make everyone go out from me!" So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers.
2 And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it.
3 Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph; does my father still live?" But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence.
4 And Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come near to me." So they came near. Then he said: "I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
5 "But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.
6 "For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.
7 "And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8 "So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
9 "Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, 'Thus says your son Joseph: "God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry.
10 "You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children's children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have.
11 "There I will provide for you, lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty; for there are still five years of famine."'
12 "And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my mouth that speaks to you.
13 "So you shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that you have seen; and you shall hurry and bring my father down here."
14 Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept on his neck.
15 Moreover he kissed all his brothers and wept over them, and after that his brothers talked with him.
16 Now the report of it was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, "Joseph's brothers have come." So it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well.
17 And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Say to your brothers, 'Do this: Load your animals and depart; go to the land of Canaan.
18 'Bring your father and your households and come to me; I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.
19 'Now you are commanded--do this: Take carts out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and your wives; bring your father and come.
20 'Also do not be concerned about your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.'"
21 Then the sons of Israel did so; and Joseph gave them carts, according to the command of Pharaoh, and he gave them provisions for the journey.
22 He gave to all of them, to each man, changes of garments; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments.
23 And he sent to his father these things: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and food for his father for the journey.
24 So he sent his brothers away, and they departed; and he said to them, "See that you do not become troubled along the way."
25 Then they went up out of Egypt, and came to the land of Canaan to Jacob their father.
26 And they told him, saying, "Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt." And Jacob's heart stood still, because he did not believe them.
27 But when they told him all the words which Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived.
28 Then Israel said, "It is enough. Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."
Genesis 46 (NKJV™)
1 So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
2 Then God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, "Jacob, Jacob!" And he said, "Here I am."
3 So He said, "I am God, the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there.
4 "I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes."
5 Then Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the carts which Pharaoh had sent to carry him.
6 So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, Jacob and all his descendants with him.
7 His sons and his sons' sons, his daughters and his sons' daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
8 Now these were the names of the children of Israel, Jacob and his sons, who went to Egypt: Reuben was Jacob's firstborn.
9 The sons of Reuben were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.
11 The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 The sons of Issachar were Tola, Puvah, Job, and Shimron.
14 The sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the persons, his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three.
16 The sons of Gad were Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
17 The sons of Asher were Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, Beriah, and Serah, their sister. And the sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel.
18 These were the sons of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter; and these she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons.
19 The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife, were Joseph and Benjamin.
20 And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him.
21 The sons of Benjamin were Belah, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
22 These were the sons of Rachel, who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons in all.
23 The son of Dan was Hushim.
24 The sons of Naphtali were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and she bore these to Jacob: seven persons in all.
26 All the persons who went with Jacob to Egypt, who came from his body, besides Jacob's sons' wives, were sixty-six persons in all.
27 And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy.
28 Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen.
29 So Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.
30 And Israel said to Joseph, "Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive."
31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, "I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, 'My brothers and those of my father's house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me.
32 'And the men are shepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock; and they have brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.'
33 "So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, 'What is your occupation?'
34 "that you shall say, 'Your servants' occupation has been with livestock from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,' that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians."
Genesis 47 (NKJV™)
1 Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, "My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen."
2 And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh.
3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers."
4 And they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."
5 Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.
6 "The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock."
7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh.
8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How old are you?"
9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage."
10 So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
11 And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
12 Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with bread, according to the number in their families.
13 Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.
14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.
15 So when the money failed 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 the money has failed."
16 Then Joseph said, "Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone."
17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.
18 When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, "We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands.
19 "Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land may not be desolate."
20 Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh's.
21 And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end.
22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, "Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land.
24 "And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones."
25 So they said, "You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants."
26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh's.
27 So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly.
28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob's life was one hundred and forty-seven years.
29 When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, "Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt,
30 "but let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place." And he said, "I will do as you have said."
31 Then he said, "Swear to me." And he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed.
Genesis 48 (NKJV™)
1 Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, "Indeed your father is sick"; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2 And Jacob was told, "Look, your son Joseph is coming to you"; and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed.
3 Then Jacob said to Joseph: "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
4 "and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.'
5 "And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
6 "Your offspring whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.
7 "But as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem)."
8 Then Israel saw Joseph's sons, and said, "Who are these?"
9 And Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place." And he said, "Please bring them to me, and I will bless them."
10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.
11 And Israel said to Joseph, "I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!"
12 So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth.
13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him.
14 Then Israel 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.
15 And he blessed Joseph, and said: "God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
16 The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
17 Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.
18 And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."
19 But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations."
20 So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you Israel will bless, saying, 'May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!'" And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
22 "Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow."
Genesis 49 (NKJV™)
1 And Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:
2 "Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob, And listen to Israel your father.
3 "Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
4 Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father's bed; Then you defiled it--He went up to my couch.
5 "Simeon and Levi are brothers; Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.
6 Let not my soul enter their council; Let not my honor be united to their assembly; For in their anger they slew a man, And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob And scatter them in Israel.
8 "Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father's children shall bow down before you.
9 Judah is a lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down, he lies down as a lion; And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
11 Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey's colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine, And his teeth whiter than milk.
13 "Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea; He shall become a haven for ships, And his border shall adjoin Sidon.
14 "Issachar is a strong donkey, Lying down between two burdens;
15 He saw that rest was good, And that the land was pleasant; He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden, And became a band of slaves.
16 "Dan shall judge his people As one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, A viper by the path, That bites the horse's heels So that its rider shall fall backward.
18 I have waited for your salvation, O LORD!
19 "Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him, But he shall triumph at last.
20 "Bread from Asher shall be rich, And he shall yield royal dainties.
21 "Naphtali is a deer let loose; He uses beautiful words.
22 "Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.
23 The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot at him and hated him.
24 But his bow remained in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),
25 By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 The blessings of your father Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.
27 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil."
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.
29 Then he charged them and said to them: "I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 "in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite as a possession for a burial place.
31 "There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah.
32 "The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth."
33 And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
Genesis 50 (NKJV™)
1 Then Joseph fell on his father's face, and wept over him, and kissed him.
2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.
3 Forty days were required for him, for such are the days required for those who are embalmed; and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days.
4 And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the hearing of Pharaoh, saying,
5 'My father made me swear, saying, "Behold, I am dying; in my grave which I dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me." Now therefore, please let me go up and bury my father, and I will come back.'"
6 And Pharaoh said, "Go up and bury your father, as he made you swear."
7 So Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt,
8 as well as all 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.
9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen, and it was a very great gathering.
10 Then they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and they mourned there with a great and very solemn lamentation. He observed seven days of mourning for his father.
11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, "This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians." Therefore its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
12 So his sons did for him just as he had commanded them.
13 For his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as property for a burial place.
14 And after he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who went up with him to bury his father.
15 When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him."
16 So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, "Before your father died he commanded, saying,
17 'Thus you shall say to Joseph: "I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you."' Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.
18 Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, "Behold, we are your servants."
19 Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?
20 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
21 "Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
22 So Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's household. And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.
23 Joseph saw Ephraim's children to the third generation. The children of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were also brought up on Joseph's knees.
24 And Joseph said to his brethren, "I am dying; but God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land to the land of which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."
25 Then Joseph took an oath from the children of Israel, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here."
26 So Joseph died, being one hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Bible from 30,000 Feet - 2018, The

This flight takes us through the biographical part of Genesis and God's response to man's rebellion. Four men are prominent in the formation of the nation of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Through this lineage, God would fulfill His promise of salvation for humanity.

Take your knowledge of the full scope of Scripture to soaring heights with The Bible from 30,000 Feet. In this series, Skip Heitzig pilots you through all sixty-six books of the Bible, revealing major themes, principles, people, and events from Genesis to Revelation. Fasten your seatbelt and open your Bible for this sweeping panorama of Scripture that will increase your faith in God's plan for the world-and for you.

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Genesis 12-50 - The Bible from 30,000 Feet - Skip Heitzig - Flight GEN02

The Bible from 30,000 feet. Soaring through the scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

Would you turn, in your Bibles, please, to the book of Genesis. Let's begin in chapter 12 tonight. And let's finish the book of Genesis. Now, if you were with us last week-- and I think most of you were, raise your hands if you were? Awesome.

So we moved pretty fast. Did we not? So we're going to move as fast, at least tonight. So I need to have you buckle your seat belts, put your heart in the upright position, and we have now officially taken off. We're the book of Genesis.

The book of Genesis shows to us the beginning of everything, except God. The beginning of everything, except God. It shows us the beginning of the universe, the beginning of mankind, the beginning of God's plan to rescue men from sin. It gives to us the beginning of sin itself.

It shows us the beginning of the Sabbath day, because God rested, the Bible says, on the seventh day. It tells us the beginning of marriage. It shows us the beginning of the family. It shows us the beginning of God's judgment-- we see, in the flood of chapter 6, 7, and 8.

It shows us the beginning of human government, which comes in chapters 10 and 11, the beginning of nations-- and now, now we focus-- the beginning of the nation of Israel. That's what the rest of this book, you might say, deals with. Last week, it was all about the beginning of the human race. From chapter 12 to 50, this is the beginning of the Hebrew race, God's chosen race.

So the book of Genesis, as we said last time can be seen by looking at four great events followed by four great people. The four great events we covered last time-- formation, of the heavens and the earth, fall, of mankind, the flood, the great judgment that encircled the earth, and the fallout of man's rebellion against God-- in those last two chapters, 10 and 11.

Now we go and look at four great people-- Abraham and his son Isaac, and then Isaac's son Jacob, and then one of Jacob's sons, Joseph. Abraham, Isaac Jacob, Joseph. So if chapters 1 through 11 are about primeval history, then chapters 12 through 50 are patriarchal history.

Again, the first 11 chapters are about events. The last section of the book of Genesis 12 to 50 is about people. And one thing you will discover-- that's what God is more interested in. There's more description given to people than to events-- even creation. I mean, God's whole creation is summed up in two short chapters. But when he wants to talk about Abraham, he'll give you 14 chapters. When he wants to talk about Joseph, he'll give you 14 more chapters.

Because that is what God is most interested in-- not the events, but in people. And that is what the book of Genesis does. It is God reaching people. He gets ahold of a man named Adam, a couple named Adam and Eve, a nation called Israel, and finally, the whole world-- when we get to John 3:16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. So the theme of the book of Genesis, you might say, at least the theme of this portion of the book, is God's selection of a nation so that he can bring forth his son, the Messiah, who will fulfill the promise that he gave in Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, the seed of the woman who will come and destroy the rulership of Satan himself.

So we're going to begin in chapter 12 with Abraham. We have looked at the lineage of Adam. And then the lineage of Adam was very selective in that it eliminated the line of Cain, and the line of Abel, and focuses on the line of the third son, Seth. Now, we're focused on the line of Shem, of Noah's sons after they left the Ark that we saw last time.

Chapter 11 introduces us to Abraham, or Abram, as he is called. But I'm going to pick it up in chapter 12, verse 1. Now Abraham-- that's how we know him best. Abraham is highlighted in three world religions-- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He plays a major role, which indicates his importance. And for our purpose, the amount of scriptural real estate that is devoted to Abraham is noteworthy-- as I mentioned, 14 chapters.

So chapters 1 through 11-- I don't know if you remember from last week-- covers about how many years? 2,000 years. About 2,000 years. 2,000-plus years. Chapters 12 through 50 covered just around 300 years or so. That's what it's limited to. But it's about people.

Now Abraham is important in our Bibles. One chapter in the book of Romans is devoted to him. Two chapters in the book of Galatians is devoted to him. He is called, in those sections, the Father of those who believe. The Father of those who believe. Why? Because it will say Abraham believed God, and God accounted it to him as righteousness.

Then we'll get to Hebrews, chapter 11, where you have a whole listing of people who believed God, and Abraham as one of them. By the way, three times in the Bible, Abraham is known as the friend of God. Isn't that a great title? Isn't that a great nickname? Who are you? Oh, I'm God's buddy.

He is the friend of God. In fact, today, to this day, Arabs refer to him as [SPEAKING ARABIC], which is friend. And [SPEAKING ARABIC] is friend of God, and that's the name they get to Hebron because that was the place that he bought a cave for himself and his wife to be buried.

Well, as I said, the story begins in chapter 11 in Ur of the Chaldees. That's his hometown. He is called to leave that place and go to a place God tells him. His father was a pagan worshipper, and his wife is infertile at the time. That sets the stage for chapter 12, verse 1.

"Now the Lord had said to Abraham, get out of your country. And from your family, from your father's house to a land that I will show you." So he leaves. He goes upriver to Haran, until his father dies, then continues his journey to Canaan. Verse 2, God says, "I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing."

Now, can I just say, at this point, I think this shows, at least in part, the irony of God, or even the sense of humor of God. God tells a man, who has no offspring, and has a wife who is completely and totally infertile. He says, hey, you know what? I'm going to make you a great nation. He's thinking, nation? I don't even have a first kid yet.

But God promises him a nation. Against all odds, he tells this man, who has no child, with a wife who can bear no child, that he's going to be a great nation. "I will bless you," verse 3, "and I will bless those who bless you. I will curse him who curses you. And in you, all the families of the Earth shall be blessed." Please notice that verse. Because everything from this verse, all the way to chapter 50, flow out of this verse. All of God's program from now on will flow out of this verse. In you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed. The rest of Genesis, yea, the rest of the Bible, has this as its theme-- how God will bless the world through the offspring of Abraham, namely, Christ.

So Abraham, or Abram, as he is called here, which means exalted father-- departed as the Lord had spoken to him. And Lot went with him. And Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Heron. Now, God has big blessings in store for this guy.

But before he can see big blessings, he has to separate from old relationships. He has to cut things from the past out of his life before he can go forward. And I think God calls all of us to do the same-- maybe not this, but he calls all of us to make a clean break from our past. It's called repentance in the Bible. And to start all over.

Jesus even said, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. So, to the extent that we are willing to leave our old life, that will be the extent to which we will enjoy the new life. So he is called to leave, and he is called to be blessed in a new place.

In this section, five times, God says "I will." This is what I will do. This is what I will do. This is what I will do. The emphasis in the early part of chapter 12 is what God is going to accomplish. Why is this important? Because sometimes, brothers and sisters, we get a little bit cocky, do we not, in our Christian walk?

And we think, I'm going to do something great for God. Well good on you with that attitude, but can I just say, you can't do nothing for God until you realize what God has done for you, and what God can do through you. God does not choose exalted people. He chooses foolish people, weak people, insignificant ones. He's on the lookout for those who will admit their deficit and their need of him.

Well, he gets to Canaan, the new land, verse 7. The Lord appeared to Abraham and said, to your descendants, I will give this land-- please mark that-- this land, what today we call Israel, that land of Canaan. God is going to make a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the 12 tribes of Israel for that piece of real estate. It is a land covenant.

"And there, he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountains east of Bethel. He pitched his tent with-- Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east." Now, when you see that little word Ai, I've heard people pronounce it Ai, but it's pronounced I. Think eye. Or pirate, aye, matey. That's how you pronounce it. That's the city of Ai, a little bit in that area in the center portion of the land.

"With Ai on the east, and he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. He called on the name of the Lord. Now in chapters 12 and 13 we have a problem, he's in the land. And the land is called the land of promise, or the promised land. He gets to the promised land, and do you know what he finds? A famine.

A famine in the promised land? I thought it was supposed to be a land flowing with milk and honey. It's a land of promise. He gets there, and he finds a famine in the land. You know, if I were Abraham, what I'd be thinking about now?

Did I hear God right? Was this, was I following the GPS coordinates the right way? Should I have taken a left at Heron, or a right, or somewhere else, kept that Tigres Euphrates River thing going on? Because why is there a famine in the land of promise. Why would God allow this?

Folks, this is called Faith 101. Your physical muscles will never develop unless they meet resistance, unless you add pressure to those muscles. When you lift weights, and you are tearing down a muscle, you are adding pressure and resistance because, in tearing it down, it leaves it now open to be built back up.

So when it comes to faith, our faith muscles will never grow on a steady diet of blessing after blessing after blessing. That's how we like it. I don't want to go through the valley of the shadow of death. I'd like to be airlifted from mountain peak to mountain peak, thank you very much, God.

But your faith won't grow unless you find famine in the land. Because that's where your faith kicks in. That's where you have to trust the Lord, that he has called you here. So there is a famine. He decides to go to Egypt to figure this thing out and to get some food.

He lies about his wife, saying she is my sister. In so doing, he endangers his wife. God resolves it. He gets her back, and he returns back to the land of Canaan. Also, Abraham, or Abram, as he is called still, and his nephew, Lot, get into a little bit of an argument, a little bit of a tiff.

They say, we don't have enough land for our growing families and livestock. So Abraham says look, Lot, you can just pick whatever place you want, and I'll take what you don't want. So he looks at the well-watered plane of the Jordan, and he goes towards Sodom. But wouldn't you know it, God is so good to Abraham-- after a Lot leaves and gets the best portion of the land, so to speak, God says, hey, I want you to look north, and I want you to look south, and I want you to look east, and I want you to look west. Every single place you can see with your eyes in all directions, I've given to you as a covenant with you and your offspring forever.

When we get to chapter 14, we smell war. We have nine kings, five and four, who are battling against each other. Four are Shemite kings against five Hamite kings. You know what I mean when I say Shemite-- descendants of Shem, descendants of Ham. Those kings are fighting each other.

We are told that five kings made a coalition with a guy named Chedorlaomer. He's mentioned in this Bible text. Chedorlaomer is the head king to whom these other nations are paying taxes, or tribute. So he is controlling them for 12 years.

In year 13, they decide to rebel. When they rebel a battle breaks out. Chedorlaomer and his contingency win the battle. He takes the spoils of war with him, but-- and the reason this is in the Bible-- he takes a Lot with him, Abram's nephew. Abram hears that his nephew has been taken captive in this battle. So he gets 318 of his trained servants-- he had quite a household. He had, on his payroll, a militia-- 318 paid, trained servants who were people of war who could fight this battle. And he wins the battle.

So he beats the four kings, and we come to chapter 14, verse 17. And the King of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of the Shaveh-- that is the King's Valley-- after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the Kings who were with him. Then-- watch this name-- Melchizedek. He'll be important in other portions of the Bible.

"Then Melchizedek, King of Salem, brought out bread and wine." That name, Melchizedek, comes from two Hebrew words put together. The first is Melech, which means king, and the second is Zedek, which is righteousness. So his name, Melech-Zedek is king of righteousness, or lord of righteousness. That's what his name means.

Notice what he is the king of-- Salem. Salem means peace. Salem was the name given to a city before it was called Jeru-Salem, or city of peace. That's ancient Jerusalem. So king of righteousness, who is called king of peace, brought out bread and wine-- that's interesting in and of itself. He was the priest of God most high, in Hebrew, [SPEAKING HEBREW], or the sovereign Lord. So whoever Melchizedek was, he was a monotheistic worshipper. He believed in one God, not many gods like the Canaanites believed in, but one God. He was a monotheistic monarch who lived in that region.

Verse 19, he blessed him and said, blessed be Abraham of [SPEAKING HEBREW], God most high, possessor of heaven and Earth, and blessed be God most high who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him a tithe of all. Now, this is an obscure incident. And everybody asks the question-- who was Melchizedek?

And the reason they ask who Melchizedek was is because this isn't the end of him. We read in Psalm 110, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. It's a reference to the Messiah who had come. That the Messiah would both be, like Melchizedek, a priest and a king. Now you know, in ancient times, priests were never kings, and kings were never priests. They were always separated. Even in Judaism, the tribe of Judah, the royal line, that's where the kings came from, the tribe of Levi, that's where the priest came from. You'd never mix them.

Melchizedek was both a king and a priest. And so the Psalms say, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, looking forward to Jesus Christ, who will not follow the line of Aaron. He's of the tribe of Judah. But he is also a king and a priest, our great high priest.

In Hebrews, chapter 7, Melchizedek shows up again. And there, the author says that he is without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. So who was he, exactly? Well again, I'm going to let you take your pick.

Some say, number one, he was Shem, the son of Noah. How they come up with that, I still really have no clue. But I've read it, so I share it with you. So let's just dismiss that, because I just think that's wacky. But you may not. So you may want to believe that.

Number two, he was simply some monotheistic Canaanite king. He was a guy, a real guy, who lived there in that town, and he believed in one God. That's a possibility. The third-- because of the way psalms and Hebrews treat Melchizedek, some have speculated-- oh, he's much more. If he has no father or mother, no genealogy, if he has neither beginning of days and or end of days, this must be, third explanation, a theophony, a theophony, an appearance of Christ in the Old Testament-- a pre-incarnate representation of Christ. A theophony, or, more directly, a Christophony-- and appearance of Jesus in the Old Testament, our great high priest and King of kings.

When we get to chapter 15, we have the elaboration of an unconditional covenant. Now you're going to hear us talk about covenants as we go through the Bible. They're big in the Bible. You need to know what they are. Basically, there were two kinds. I say basically. I don't want to get into too much detail. There were unconditional covenants and conditional covenants.

An unconditional covenant-- let's call it a unilateral covenant. That is, one party makes a promise and will fulfill it. A bilateral covenant-- that is, a conditional covenant. There's conditions on both sides. Both parties have to do things for that covenant to stay intact.

This is an unconditional covenant that we're reading about here. Now, in chapter 15, Abraham is about 90 years old when God makes his covenant with him. Basically, he makes a promise to Abraham that is going to have what he always wanted-- and more. He's going to have a son. That's what he wanted.

Oh, but he's going to have much more. He's going to have a heritage of offspring. A nation will come out of him. Nations will come out of him. And with that will come many hardships to this family of Abraham. I know you've heard the saying, be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. Or be careful what you wish for, you might get more than you bargained for?

I heard about a couple, they were in their 60s. They had been married for 40 years. They were having their anniversary party, and people were there. And while they were celebrating, the good fairy appeared to this couple. And the good fairy, said you have been such a loving and wonderful couple all these years, I'm going to grant you each one wish.

And so the wife thought about it. She goes, well I've always wanted to see the world. I'd like to travel the world. So the good fairy waved her little wand, and, poof, tickets appeared, and ready cash for world travel. And then the good fairy said to the man, the husband, time for your wish.

Well, he paused a while, and he thought about, and he said, I think I'd like a wife 30 years younger. So the good fairy said, you sure? He said, yes, that's what I want. So waved the wand-- poof-- instantly, he was 90 years old.

[LAUGHTER]

Be careful what you wish for. Abraham will get what he wished for, but much more than that. Chapter 15, verse 1, "After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. But Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me? Seeing that I go childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus."

And Abram said, look, "you have given me no offspring. Indeed, one born in my house is my heir"-- speaking of that eldest servant. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him saying, "this one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." Now he is how old at this point? He is 90. That's the promise. Then he brought him outside. Verse 5, I love this. And he said, "look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to number them. And he said to him, so shall your descendants be." Verse six, "and he believed in the Lord, and he encountered it to him for righteousness."

See that little word believed? You know what it is in the Hebrew? Amen. That's the Hebrew word for belief, Amen. So God gave him a promise. And he said, amen. He believed it. That's where we get the idea of amen. It's so be it. I believe it. He believed in the Lord and counted it to him for righteousness.

So, on some clear, dry, Middle Eastern night, God took Abraham outside and said, look up. That's what I can do. And if I can do that-- I just want you to count the stars. See how many you can count. Because I'm going to make you have not just one son, but a whole host of progeny that will become a nation.

And let me just encourage you. When you feel down, when you feel despairing, when life seems overwhelming, go outside at night and look up. And just realize, my dad did that. He just spoke that into existence, and he holds all of that at play so simply, so effortlessly.

Isaiah put it this way. Isaiah 40, "who else has held the oceans in his hand? And who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?" I often like to think of this, especially when I'm out camping, and I look up at those stars, and I realize I'm looking at a portion of the Milky Way galaxy-- just a portion of it. But that that galaxy, our home, the Milky Way, is 10,000 light years wide by 100,000 light years long.

A light year is the time, or the distance, it takes light to travel in a year. Light travels at 186,000 miles per second. So get this, if you could go that fast, 186,000 miles per second, you could circle your earth, this earth, which has the circumference of what, 25,000, 24,900 and some miles in circumference, you could circle the earth 7 and 1/2 times in a second. That's the speed of light. 7 and half times in a second.

If you went out to the moon, which is a quarter of a million miles away, you would get to the moon in 1 and 1/2 seconds. Keep going, you're going to get to Venus in two minutes, 18 seconds. You're going to sail past mercury in 4 and 1/2 minutes. You're going to get to the sun in 7 and 1/2 minutes.

But for you to go from one end of your galaxy to the other is going to take you 100,000 years traveling at 186,000 miles per second. You know what God does with that? He says, it's only about that big. Small stuff. Easy for me.

So here's God saying, Abram, look at that. So shall your offspring be. This is the God you serve. This is what I can do. I can handle it. Well, in this chapter is a weird set of instructions. I'm just going to cut to the chase.

It's a ritual that makes no sense to us in modern society. But in ancient times, it was known as cutting a covenant. There are two words in Hebrew at play in this chapter-- [SPEAKING HEBREW] and [SPEAKING HEBREW], which means "covenant" and "cut." Its means to cut a covenant.

And in those days, when you would make a deal with somebody, you would often cut an animal, lay the pieces on either side, and walk between them. You go, that is so gross. What's the purpose of that? The idea is, that's what's going to happen to you if you break this covenant. That was the idea, in ancient times.

So the cutting of the covenant is highlighted here. God is basically saying, this is how much emphasis I place on my promise. When I make a promise, I'm serious about it. So a covenant is cut. Verse 12, chapter 15, "When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon a Abram. Behold horror and great darkness fell upon him. And he, the Lord, said to Abraham, know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs and will serve them and afflict them for 400 years." Also, verse 14, "the nation whom they serve"-- that is Egypt-- "I will judge. And afterward, they will come up, or come out, with great possessions.

Now, as for you, you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation, they shall return here for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. And it came to pass, when the sun was going down, and it was dark, that, behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces." Those are the pieces of the animal.

So Abraham is, like, sleeping, opens his eyes, sees this kind of torch going through these pieces of cut up animals. And a dread comes upon him. After he sees that, God tells him the borders of the land that he promises for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob to inherit.

Now God is making a covenant by himself. Typically both parties, or whoever is involved in making and keeping the covenant, would walk between these pieces of animal. But Abraham looks up and sees this torch-- this is the Lord, represented-- that is moving through these pieces.

Abraham didn't walk through those pieces. He's out. He's sleeping. This is a unilateral covenant, a one-sided covenant, an unconditional covenant. God is making a promise, and he's saying, I'm going to do it. I'm going to fulfill what I said.

If you fail to understand the nature of this covenant, this unilateral covenant that God makes with Abram, Isaac, and Jacob for that land, you will fail to understand the place of Israel in God's plan. It won't make sense to you. God is saying, I'm going to give you-- not based upon how good you are, but based upon my nature forever-- this land for you and your progeny to inherit.

Well, it's such a wonderful promise that in the next chapter, chapter 16, Sarah-- called Sarai at this point-- it's such a wonderful promise that Sarai wants to help God fulfill his promise. It's almost as if-- well, you know, it's such a wonderful promise, God can't really do this on his own. He needs me to get involved, me to help him out.

So her plan is, look, I can't get pregnant. I'm infertile, right? But I have a handmaiden named Hagar, an Egyptian handmaid. Abram, sleep with her, and she will conceive, and that child that is born, we'll call that God's fulfillment.

I remember, when I was a boy, my dad would always say God helps those who help themselves. And I remember because he would always say, you know, the Bible says, that God helps those who help themselves. So I grew up thinking that's what the Bible says.

Then I got saved, and I started reading the Bible. And I said, dad I can't find it. He goes, "it's in there somewhere." And then I remember the day when I found out it was not in the Bible. It was Benjamin Franklin that said that.

I said, you know, I know Benjamin's in the Bible. But that one isn't. And that's not in the Bible.

And I discovered that God helps the helpless-- not those who help themselves. God helps those who can't help themselves. And so this man is growing older, and older, and older. And by chapter 17, he is 99 years old. He cannot help himself, nor can Sarah.

What's funny about chapter 17 is, in this hopeless condition, his name is, what, by this time? It's not Abraham yet, it's what? Abram, which means what? Exalted father. Exalted father. Chapter 17, God gives him a new name-- Abraham, which means father of a whole bunch of people, father of a multitude.

Can I just say-- how embarrassing for Abraham. Look, I can't have a kid. I don't have a kid. You said I'm going to have a nation. My name is exalted father. That's bad enough. But now you're calling me father of a whole bunch.

I've got to tell people, hey, I changed my name to father of a multitude. It's not going to go over well. Also God changes Sarai's name to Sarah. Sarai means, she strives. Sarah means princess.

And it's just a small voice inflection to change it, right, from Sarai to Sarah. But that's how effortless it is for the Holy Spirit of God to change a life, just a single breath. The Holy Spirit means the holy breath or the holy wind. It's just, God goes, [BREATH]-- a life change happens. From Sarai to Sarah.

Now, in chapter 17, verse 9, God said to Abraham, as for you, you shall keep my covenant. You and your descendants after you throughout their generations. It's going to happen. I'm doing it. But it's extended now to them. This is my covenant, which you shall keep between me, and you, and your descendants after you.

Every male child among you shall be circumcised. So this is the covenant I'm going to do. To signify that you're a part of it, that you believe in it-- because you're really not going to do it. It's unilateral. You just have to indicate that you agree with it by just having those babies of yours those male children circumcised. And when-- verse 12-- he that is eight days old. Because of this, every Jewish boy who has ever been born in Judaism, to keep the Jewish covenant, is circumcised on the eighth day.

Why the eighth today? Well, I'm glad you asked.

[LAUGHTER]

The blood clotting in the human body does not reach optimal levels until the eighth day. Vitamin K in the human body kicks in between day five and day seven. And another element, called prothrombin, is below normal levels. But it peaks at 110% on-- guess which day? The eighth day.

Now, Abraham didn't know that, but God did. So God initiates this on the eighth day. And so he did it. It was an act of faith. Can I just say something? That when God gives you an order, or a promise, or he tells you to do something, and because Abraham , he says, eighth day, why? Why the eighth day? I'm going to write that into the pastor next week. Why the eighth day?

When God gives you command, you need to create a file in your heart, and you label it, waiting for further instructions, or waiting for further information and you just file that. You don't know the answer now, but later on, as we develop science, we can look back, and go, oh, that's why the eighth day was so important. But at this point, it was an act of faith.

Well, in chapter 18 and 19, three visitors come to Abraham and Sarah in their tent, in the heat of the day. These three visitors look like normal people. But it turns out, one of them is the Lord, and two of them are angels. Which, to me, is just a wonderful thought. God comes to your house. Angels come to your house. What do you serve them for dinner?

You're going to just heat up any old thing? You're going to make them a feast? Angel hair pasta? Maybe? What would you give for dessert?

Angel food cake.

You said it, angel food cake. Or devil's food cake, just to have a little fun with it, maybe? I don't know.

[LAUGHTER]

Well, in this chapter, chapter 18, God promises Sarah that she will have a son birthed from her womb. That it won't be Abraham and Hagar. It won't be a surrogate. That she herself, this old woman is, going to birth a son.

Now she is on the other side of the tent flap, and she hears this, and she snickers a little bit. She laughs. And so the Lord, the visitor who is the Lord said, why did Sarah laugh? And she said, I didn't laugh. And God said, yeah, you did.

[LAUGHTER]

I heard it. She's 90 years old at the time. She gets this promise. The visitors get up, and they go toward the Dead Sea, to that region where they can overlook the area. And they overlook the area of Sodom.

Now Abraham is concerned because they announce that judgment is coming to these cities of the plain. Abraham is concerned because somebody he knows lives there by the name of Lot. So Abraham sort of enters into Middle Eastern negotiations. Hey God, if you found 50 people who are righteous in this city, would you spare them? God said, I'll spare them. If you can find me 50 people, I'll spare the city.

Abraham thinks about that and goes, not Sodom, you won't find 50 righteous people there. Would you do it for 40? Sure, you find 40 people, I'll spare the city. He thinks about that it. He goes, hey, 30. Would you do it for 30? Works the Lord all the way down to 10 people. Tell you what, God, if I could find 10 people, would you spare the city for 10?

God says, yes. Guess what God did to that city? He destroyed it because 10 righteous were not found. Only Lot was found, and he was only relatively righteous. So God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah.

Now why does he destroy them for what sin? For what sins? You see, I ask that question because we typically, glibly, answer that by saying, it was homosexuality. It was sexual immorality. All of that is true.

But you would be shortsighted if that's all you said God judged them for. In a Ezekiel 16, he said that he would judge them for pride, laziness, gluttony, and because they mistreated the poor and the needy. Along with sexual perversion was pride, laziness, gluttony, and indifference.

Well, the next few chapters are grim. Chapter 18, Sodom's doom is pronounced. Chapter 19, there is a destruction that goes on. After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah-- which, by the way, as far as I know, the world's best living expert on the times of Abraham and Lot, and the cities of the plain goes to this church, and his name is Dr. Steve Collins. Steve might even be here tonight.

Yeah, he's right back here. So any questions about Sodom and Gomorrah, ask him. He's been digging it for 15 years.

[APPLAUSE]

We get to chapter 20, and old Abe has a relapse of unbelief. Yeah, he was the guy who went down to Egypt and said, Sarah is my sister, not my wife. Now he does it again. He goes into old style behavior.

And so the chapter is filled with lies and deception. So, by this time, if you are reading through the book of Genesis, by this time, you're ready for a break. You need a little laughter.

And that's good because chapter 21 kicks in. And the Lord visited Sarah, as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had spoken. You're going to have a baby, Sarah. I'm 90. I'm going to laugh about that. That is so funny, what a good joke.

No it's not. It's really going to happen. I didn't laugh. Yeah you did.

So time elapses, and it happens. She ends up pregnant. She has a child.

You know, God is never late. God is always exactly on time. He's always punctual. We say punctual, why did God then make this couple way 25 years from making the promise to fulfilling the promise? Why do they have to wait so long.

Well, wouldn't you agree that would make the fulfillment all that much more dramatic? Because, as the years go by, God is stacking the odds against himself that that could ever happen. You say, well you know a 90-year-old man can't have a child. Well, what about a 100-year-old man? Well, you know a 70-year-old woman can't have a baby. Well, what about a 90-year-old woman? See, God just makes it harder and harder so that when it happens, you go, whoa, I guess God can do anything. It makes the fulfillment more dramatic.

So verse 2 of chapter 21, "Sarah conceived and born Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him." Verse 5, "now Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, God has made me laugh. And all who hear will laugh with me." She also said, "who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children. For I have borne him a son in his old age."

God basically turned a retirement home into a maternity home and made this couple so happy. They're laughing, but they're not laughing a laughter of unbelief. This is a laughter of sheer joy that God pulled it off. They're rejoicing.

Chapter 22 is a pivotal chapter. Verse 1, "Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham." Hardest test he's ever had so far, by the way. And said to him, Abraham. And he said, here I am. And he said, take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him-- there is a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."

When Abraham heard this, his first thought must have been, that doesn't make sense. That's counterintuitive. God promised me a son. It took 25 years for that son to come. He was born miraculously, according to God's promise. Why would God want to kill the kid he promised and gave so miraculously?

I want you to notice the wording here. Take now your son, your only son. By this time, he had two sons, not one. He had Ishmael, that was his son. That was his first born through Hagar, the Egyptian handmaid. This is his second son. But God calls him his only son. It's the only son God is recognizing because this is the son of promise, not the son of the flesh, not the son of trying to help God out.

But this is the son of promise. So the wording is interesting. Take your only son, or your only begotten son, if I can add a word, whom you love. Does that mean he didn't love Ishmael? Of course he loved Ishmael. But again, the wording is remarkable. Take your only son, whom you love-- the very first time the word love is used in the Bible is here. And it's the love of a father giving his only begotten son in a sacrifice. That's noteworthy.

What also is noteworthy is he says, go to the land of Moriah. Now Moriah is a ridge system of mountains in Jerusalem. I'm going to throw up a couple of slides and let you look at them. First of all is a shot of modern day Jerusalem. That is the little section of where Jerusalem started. That's Salem, where Melchizedek lived. It became the City of David. That's the very beginnings of Jerusalem.

But then look at how the mountain goes up, and this is the Temple Mount area. See how it rises in elevation from down here? This is the ridge of Moriah. Now notice, in the distance, this area is actually topographically taller than this area. This is modern Jerusalem. Let me take you to slide number two.

OK, I showed you David's Jerusalem, Salem. That's right here. See that little toungue? Mark two and below. And then, above it, you see that area? The Temple Mount? Today there's a mosque on it. That's where the temple stood.

OK, so this is the ridge of Moriah. It goes from the City of David, goes up to the Temple Mount. But then it rises further, north of the city. The elevation here is taller than that. Now go to the next slide. I'm showing it to you again. The City of David, that's that little tongue I showed you. The Temple Mount, Solomon's temple. The peak of Mount Moriah is further north.

So think about it in Abraham's day. Abraham didn't see a temple, didn't see a mosque, didn't see the Hilton hotel, or the Sheraton Hotel, or the bus stops. It was all just mountain ridge. For him to go to the land of Moriah and sacrifice his son on top of Mount Moriah, he would have gone north of, today, the city of Jerusalem because that's the tallest point. Make sense?

What's interesting is that that is the region, north of that Temple Mount area, where it rises up, where we find Golgotha-- the place of the skull. So take now your son, your only son, whom you love, to the mountains of Moriah. And on that place, where Abraham almost sacrificed his only begotten son, God himself sacrificed, indeed-- not almost, but indeed, his only begotten son, probably in the same spot or area where Abraham. So that's a significant chapter. It's a foreshadowing of things to come.

So verse 3, Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, took two of his young men with him, and Isaac, his son. Split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose, and went to the place which God told him. Then, on the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place of far off. What that means is, his son Isaac was dead to him, in his mind, for three days. For three days, he said, I'm going to kill my son. I'm going to kill my son. I"m going to kill my son. For three days, he had to live with that. My son is going to die.

And Abraham said to the young man, stay here with the donkey. The lad and I will go yonder and worship-- now watch this-- and we will come back. He didn't say, we're going to go to worship, and I'm coming back-- alone. He said, we're going, but we're coming back again.

This is why the book of Hebrews says, by faith, Abraham went to offer or sacrifice his son, Hebrews 11-- listen to what he says-- concluding that God is able to raise the dead. Concluding, or reasoning, in his mind, in his heart, that God is able to raise the dead. So he brings his son to mount Moriah. And as he's bringing up there, he's thinking, God is not a liar. God told me I'm going to have a son. Here is my son. He has to live through this, or else he's going to die, and God's going to raise him up.

That's the faith he lived with. That's the reasoning Abraham went through, as he brought his son. So I want you to apply that to your hardships in life. When you are facing insurmountable obstacles, I want you to think logically about it. Think like this.

I'm going to reason here. God is able to do anything. I'm going to reason based on God's character. I'm going to reason based on God's ability and what God has promised. I'm going to bring God into the equation. And then, that will raise your faith to a higher level, when you start calculating your hardships like Abraham calculated when he was about to sacrifice-- almost-- his son.

Now chapter 23, we come to the story of Isaac. And we're going to sum this up very quickly. Chapter 23, Sarah dies. Chapter 24, Abraham knows his son Isaac needs a wife, sends his servant Eliezer to go back to his hometown to find the right wife to bring a bride for his son, Isaac. Turns out to be Rebecca.

Let me have a little fun with this. We have Abraham sending out his servant to find a gentile bride for his son. Ring any bells? The church? Gentile church? The bride of Christ?

Moreover, the word Eliezer means the helper, or the comforter. So the comforter, the helper, is set out to go to a country to bring a gentile bride back for his son, Isaac. I just think the Holy Spirit has a lot of fun putting this text together. Chapter 24, verse 64. She's coming back. Her name is Rebecca. It says Rebecca lifted up her eyes. And when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from her camel.

I'm glad that this is the translation, the Old King James says, she lit off her camel. That's old English. She lit off her camel and when I read that as a young kid who used to smoke--

[LAUGHTER]

I think, wow, Rebecca lit off her camel. She was smoking unfiltered at the time, I guess.

[LAUGHTER]

Modern translation, "she dismounted from her camel. Where she said to her servant, who is this man walking in the field to meet us? The servant said it is my master. She took a veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. Then Isaac brought her to his mother Sarah's tent. And he took Rebecca. And she became his wife. And he loved her, and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death."

Did they live happily ever after? Nope. They had kids.

[LAUGHTER]

They had Esau and Jacob. And that takes us to chapter 27 through 36. Now Rebecca is also barren. She cannot have children. Isaac prays. She gets pregnant. But it's a very difficult pregnancy.

And now we find out why. Chapter 25, verse 23, "The Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb." Well, that explains it. Two nations in there? Come on. No wonder I have a hard pregnancy. That's a lot. "Two people shall be separated from your body. One will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."

Now the first born, Esau-- he's named that because his name means red or hairy. So he came out all hairy, and so they said we're going to call him hairy. Make sense?

The second born came out grabbing the heel of his brother, so they called him heel catcher. Yakov, Jacob. So Hairy and Heel-catcher are born. Harry was an outdoorsman, liked to hunt and fish. Jacob like to cook soup with mom in the kitchen.

So he waited till his dad got really old and couldn't see, because he wants to take the blessing, which he does, chapter 27, verse 18. So he went to his father and he said, my father. And he said, here I am. Who are you, my son? And Jacob said to his father-- and he probably had the lower his voice, I am Esau, your firstborn. Because he probably didn't naturally sound like that.

"I have done just as you told me. Please arise, sit, and eat of my game that your soul may bless me." Verse 21. "Then Isaac said to Jacob, please come near that I may feel you, or touch you, my son," whether you really are hairy, you know, like Esau, or not. So he steals the blessing. He goes east to Laban land, where his uncle Laban lives, to find a wife for himself.

Esau runs after him. They'll be joined and reconciled later on. But God is still up to fulfilling his promise that the older Esau will serve the younger. That's what this chapter is about. On his way to Laban land, he lays his head down on a rock at night, and he has a dream. He has a vision of angels going from heaven to earth and earth to heaven.

It wasn't a stairway to heaven. It was the stairway to Earth from heaven. It was God invading the scene. And he woke up, and he said, surely the Lord is in this place, and I didn't know it. But I know it now. It was a confirmation to him. Genesis 28, verse 13. "Behold the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, I will give you and your descendants."

So he goes to where Laban lives. Meets the gentleman at the well. Out comes this beautiful, knockout girl named Rachel. Look at chapter 29, verse 11. "Then Jacob kissed Rachel, lifted up his voice, and wept." One of the funniest verses in all the Bible. Because she's thinking, what? Was it the garlic I ate? I mean, this is a weird date.

He ends up working for her father for 14 years. The labor, it says, seemed but a day to him because of the love he had for her. So now, he gets married. The family grows. He has two wives by this point, Leah and Rachel, two handmaids, Zilpah and Bilhah, and 12 sons, and at least one daughter-- so a large family.

Chapter 32, verse 24. "Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him to the breaking of day. And when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the socket of his hip. The socket of his hip was out of joint as he wrestled with him. And he said, let me go, for the day breaks. But he said, I will not let you go unless you bless me."

And that's what Jacob said to his dad. I want the blessing. Now he's saying it to God. I want the blessing. God changes his name from Heel-catcher, Jacob, one who fights against God, one who tries to grab something on his own, to Israel-- one who fights with God, victoriously fights along with God.

Chapters 37 through 50 ends the book. It is the story of Joseph. It is 14 chapters of Joseph's story. He is the central figure. He was a dreamer of dreams. Remember, he had a dream, and he said, I was out in the field, you guys. Says to his brothers, and there were 12 sheaves. And 11 of them bowed down to my sheaf.

And they hated him because of that. He had another dream, and he said, well, I had another dream of the sun, and the moon, and 12 stars, and the sun, and the moon, and the 11 stars, bowed down to me-- my star. Why is that significant? By the time we get to Revelation, we're going to understand that metaphor is used again. And people say, who is the woman clothed with the sun and the moon and the 12 stars?

We now know, from Genesis, it's the nation of Israel. Because that is how Jacob interprets the dream to his son. It's a representation of all of us, the 12 tribes of Israel, your mom and me bowing down to you. So that unlocks a very important prophetic piece later on.

Well, he is sold to the Midianites. He is taken to Egypt. He is accused falsely of coming onto Potiphar's wife. He is placed in jail with a butler and a baker. They have these wild dreams. Joseph says, one of you will be raised back to pharaoh's employment. Another of you will have your head chopped off.

But remember me, he says to the butler, when you go back to work for pharaoh. Two years go, by doesn't remember him until pharaoh has a dream. Pharaoh has a dream, seven emaciated cows coming out of the river, seven fat cows. Remember the story?

The seven emaciated cows do what? Eat consume, the seven fat cows. But they're not fatter. Then he sees bundles, or sheaves of grain. Seven plump ears of grain. Seven withered ones. And the withered ones consume the plump ones, but they don't grow any bigger.

Genesis 41:25, Joseph said to pharaoh, the dreams of pharaoh or one. God has shown pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years. The seven good heads are seven years. The dreams are one. The seven thin and ugly cows, which came up after them, are seven years. And the seven empty heads blighted by the East wind are seven years of famine.

He tells pharaoh, prepare for seven years of hell on earth, worst famine you have ever seen that will affect this part of the world. He does so. Verse 37, the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, in the eyes of his servants.

And pharaoh said to his servants, can we find such a one as this? A man in whom is the spirit of God? So, he is promoted to the second most important authority in the land of Egypt. So pharaoh's chariot, his license plate, said Egypt 1. Joseph's license plate said Egypt 2. He was like the prime minister. He was second in command.

The famine hit hard. Even the people down in Canaan were hit hard by this famine. Jacob, the Father of Joseph, the Father of the 12 tribes, sends his boys to Egypt to get grain but leave their youngest, Benji.

Benjamin, the youngest, stays at home. I love him. I don't want anything to happen to them. So the boys go to Egypt. They see Joseph. They don't recognize him. He's had an extreme Egyptian makeover.

He's garbed like an Egyptian. He walks like an Egyptian, talks like an Egyptian. He is an Egyptian. They don't recognize him Joseph says, do you have any other boys left at home? He said, well, we have one kid, but our dad told us to leave him. His name is Benji. He says, go home and bring Benji with you.

So they bring Benjamin back. Chapter 45, verse 1. "Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out. Make everyone go out for me, so no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. He wants them to clear the room. Why? Because he's about to get very emotional. And he wept aloud," verse 2, "and the Egyptians in the house of Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph." Gulp. I am who?

"I am Joseph. Does my father still live? But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence." They reconcile, eventually. Jacob, and the whole household, comes to be cared for in Egypt. Jacob eventually dies, in chapter 50, last chapter, verse 19, Joseph said to them, "do not be afraid for am I in the place of God. But as for you, you meant evil against me. But God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."

Jacob and the 70 members of the family moved to Egypt. They become a nation. They are there 400 years. They eventually become oppressed. That's when Moses is born. That's where Exodus picks up.

While Joseph is in Egypt, he has two sons. First born named Manasseh, second born named Ephraim. Brings them to Jacob to have Jacob blessed them. Jacob deliberately crosses his arms, to put his right hand on the youngest, his left hand on the oldest, so that the youngest would get the blessing and not the oldest.

You see how God keeps mixing this up? It's always like, I'm not going to prefer that one. I'm going to go this way and prefer that one. And so again with Joseph, Ephraim is the second born, but he is called the first born because he gets the blessing.

Well, I actually had more to share, but time is over. So with that, we conclude the book of Genesis. And we pick up next time with the Book of Exodus. Let's have a word of prayer.

Father, we have seen four great events, and four great men. But all of them point to one magnanimous God man, the Messiah. Those events that shook the world, that reformed the Earth in the early part of Genesis, but then you shift to consider a nation, a people, because, through that lineage, you want to bring the savior of the world, who will be a blessing to the whole world. And that is Jesus Christ.

Lord, thank you that we know him. Thank you that he has chosen us. Thank you that we are your children because of what that one God man did on Mount Moriah 2,000 years ago in Jesus' name. Amen.

We hope you enjoyed this message from Skip Heitzig of Calvary Church. For more resources, visit calvarynm.church. Thank you for joining us for this Teaching from the Bible from 30,000 Feet.

Additional Messages in this Series

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8/8/2018
completed
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Flight GEN01
Genesis 1-11
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We're going back to the beginning in this first flight. Written by Moses and inspired by God Himself, Genesis means origin. From the formation of all created things and the fall of man to the flood and the fallout of man's rebellion, Genesis 1-11 chronicles the beginning of everything. It all starts here.
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8/22/2018
completed
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Flight EXO01
Exodus 1-18
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The central event in this flight through Exodus is the redemption of God's people, the Israelites, from their bondage in Egypt. We fly over Egypt and the wilderness where Israel wandered for forty years. The plight of the Israelites, their disobedience, and God's deliverance all foreshadow Jesus Christ.
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9/5/2018
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Flight EXO02
Exodus 19-40
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The Sinai Peninsula is the backdrop for this flight to Exodus, where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments along with detailed instructions for how He was to be worshiped. Miraculous signs of God's absolute power abound, along with the revelation from God that would define Israel's national identity.
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9/12/2018
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Flight LEV01
Leviticus 1-27
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Leviticus describes the worship life of the nation of Israel. We discover how the Israelites were instructed to make atonement for their sin through sacrifice. The overarching theme of this book can be summed up in one word: holiness. After centuries of captivity in Egypt, the Israelites needed a reminder of who God is, His absolute holiness, and how they were to live set apart for Him.
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10/10/2018
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Flight NUM01
Numbers 1-36
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Numbers contains two censuses of the Hebrew people. The first is of the generation that left Egypt, including how they were organized, their journey in the wilderness, and their refusal to enter the Promised Land. Due to their disobedience, the first generation of Israelites failed to enter the land God had promised; however, God remained faithful by leading a new generation into the Promised Land.
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10/17/2018
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Flight DEU01
Deuteronomy 1-34
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After forty years of wandering, the Israelites were finally ready to enter the Promised Land. The book of Deuteronomy can be organized around three messages Moses gave while the Israelites waited to enter the land. With the key word of this book being covenant, Deuteronomy speaks of the special relationship God established with His people.
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10/24/2018
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Flight JOS01
Joshua 1-24
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In this flight over the book of Joshua, we get to know its namesake, who shared in all the events since Exodus and held the place of military commander under Moses' leadership. We'll also get a tour of the Promised Land and follow Israel's conquest of Canaan, after which Joshua divided the land among the twelve tribes.
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11/7/2018
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Flight JUD01
Judges 1-21
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The Israelites experienced a period of victorious conquests in Canaan after Joshua's death. But as their obedience to God's laws and their faith in God's promises diminished, Israel became entrenched in the sin cycle. God divinely appointed Judges to provide leadership and deliverance during this chaotic time. Sadly, God's people repeatedly did what was right in their own eyes.
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11/28/2018
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Flight RUT01
Ruth 1-4
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In this flight, we'll see the godly love and courage of two very different women from very different backgrounds. And we'll meet Boaz, who became Ruth's kinsman-redeemer, a type of Christ. Although the book of Ruth is short, it is prophetically important in terms of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Ruth's story of romantic grace places love at the center of each of its four chapters.
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12/5/2018
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Flight 1SAM1
1 Samuel 1-31
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In this flight, we find the nation of Israel in desperate need of direction and leadership. We will meet the man whose good looks, physical stature, and success in war made him an obvious choice from a human perspective, but Israel's first king had a tragic flaw: pride. From the ashes of King Saul's calamitous reign, God raised up an unlikely man who would become Israel's next king, a man after His own heart.
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1/16/2019
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Flight 2SAM1
2 Samuel 1-24
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David went from shepherding livestock to serving as God's sovereign king in Israel. His faith and obedience assured him military and political victory as one by one he defeated Israel's enemies. In this flight, we both celebrate David's successes and identify with his failures as we get to know this man whom God called, "a man after My own heart."
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1/23/2019
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Flight 1KIN1
1 Kings 1-22
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After years of being a powerful unified nation under King David, Israel, because of their disobedience, became a divided nation under many different kings. This book reveals a story of good kings and bad kings, true prophets and false prophets, and faithfulness and disobedience to God.
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2/6/2019
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Flight 2KIN1
2 Kings 1-25
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Despite the many kings who took control of Israel, the nation still lacked true leadership. Second Kings continues the history of a divided Israel, and we see what happens when a nation passes from affluence and influence to poverty and paralysis.
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2/13/2019
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Flight 1CHR1
1 Chronicles 1-29
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The book of 1 Chronicles recounts the lineage of King David as well as God's promise that He would establish His reign on earth through this man after His own heart. As we see how God fulfilled His promises to David, we discover how that presents a witness of His faithfulness to us today.
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3/6/2019
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Flight 2CHR1
2 Chronicles 1-36
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After King Solomon's reign and death, the nation of Israel went on a spiritual roller coaster ride that ended with the division of the kingdom and the people's exile. From the temple's building to its decline and destruction, we see a parallel to 1 and 2 Kings from a spiritual viewpoint.
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3/27/2019
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Flight EZR01
Ezra 1-10
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The book of Ezra begins with King Cyrus' decree for the children of Israel to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. Ezra tells of two different returns: the first led by Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple, and the second by Ezra to bring reformation to the people. In this flight, we see God's faithfulness in keeping His promise to return His people to their homeland.
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4/3/2019
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Flight NEH01
Nehemiah 1-13
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At the end of Ezra, the temple in Jerusalem had been rebuilt and dedicated, but the city walls were still in ruins. After gaining permission from the king of Persia, Nehemiah led a group to repair and rebuild the walls. Though he was met with hostility and conflict, we see how Nehemiah gathered his spiritual strength from God during trialing times.
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4/10/2019
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Flight EST01
Esther 1-10
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Esther reads almost like a fairy tale: A Jewish maiden becomes queen of Persia. The villain launches an attack to destroy the Jews. In the end, his plot is thwarted by the hero and the brave maiden, who risks her life to save her people. Though the name of God isn't mentioned once in this short book, we clearly see God's providence and faithfulness in dealing with His people.
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4/24/2019
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Flight JOB01
Job 1-42
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The book of Job opens in the throne room of heaven with a conversation between God and Satan regarding the faithfulness of a man named Job. God allowed Satan to test Job, and Satan caused Job to lose his health, wealth, and even his beloved family. But in the midst of Job's tragic circumstances, God revealed His sovereignty and faithfulness, and Job's steadfast faith prevailed.
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5/1/2019
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Flight PSA01
Psalms 1-150
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The book of Psalms is a collection of songs, prayers, and poetry that express the deepest of human emotions. These artistic masterpieces were compiled over a period of roughly 1,000 years from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra and the return from the Babylonian exile. As we fly over the Psalms, we'll see beautiful writings of gladness and grief, pleading and prayers, and reverence and worship—all with one overarching theme: a complete dependence on the love and power of God.
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5/8/2019
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Flight PRO01
Proverbs 1-31
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Known for the wisdom it contains, the book of Proverbs reveals how to deal with everyday situations. But more than just good advice, it is God's words of wisdom, which we need in order to live righteously. These proverbs are universal principles that apply to all people for all times, because they speak of the character of God and the nature of man—both of which remain constant.
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5/15/2019
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Flight ECC01
Ecclesiastes 1- 12
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The book of Ecclesiastes records King Solomon's intense search to find meaning and fulfillment in life. In this flight, we discover some significant truths—namely, that all worldly things are empty and that life's pursuits only lead to frustration. After tasting all that this world has to offer, Solomon ultimately concluded that life without God is meaningless.
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5/22/2019
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Flight SON01
Song of Solomon 1-8
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The Song of Solomon portrays a moving love story between King Solomon and a shepherdess. The story reveals the intimacy, love, and passion that a bridegroom and his bride share in a marriage relationship. Even more than the fulfillment found in the love between a husband and wife, we'll discover that the spiritual life finds its greatest joy in the love God has for His people and Christ has for His church.
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5/29/2019
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Flight ISA01
Isaiah 1-27
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The prophet Isaiah's ministry lasted around fifty years and spanned the reigns of four kings in Judah. His prophecies are quoted in the New Testament more often than any other prophet's. In this first flight over Isaiah, we focus on his prophecies of condemnation that pulled no punches and pointed out Israel's need for God.
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6/26/2019
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Flight ISA02
Isaiah 28-66
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Of all the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah is thought by many to be the greatest, in part because of his clear prophecies about the Messiah. In this second flight over his book, we see his continued work and how God used his prophecies of both condemnation and comfort to generate change in the individuals he encountered.
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7/3/2019
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Flight JER01
Jeremiah 1-20
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The book of Jeremiah is a series of oracles written in the southern kingdom of Judah over a period of fifty-plus years. It speaks of judgment, the promise of restoration, and the protective hand of God over those He loves. In this flight, we catch a glimpse of the man behind the prophecies as he allowed God to speak through him in unusual ways to open the eyes of the people of Israel.
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7/10/2019
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Flight JLA01
Jeremiah 21-52; Lamentations 1-5
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The prophet Jeremiah allowed God to speak through him in unusual ways to open the eyes of the people of Israel. As we complete our flight over his book, we find the prophet reinvigorated by God's promises as he continued to prophesy Babylon's impending invasions and, ultimately, Judah's captivity. Then our flight continues over the poetic book of Lamentations, which Jeremiah wrote as he wept and grieved over Jerusalem's destruction, ending the book with a prayer for Israel's restoration from captivity.
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7/17/2019
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Flight EZE01
Ezekiel 1-48
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Written by Ezekiel the priest, this book takes place during the second Babylonian captivity and documents the fulfillment of several prophecies from previous Old Testament books. In this flight, we see God continue to offer promises of restoration through Ezekiel, bringing the nation hope despite their tribulations.
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7/24/2019
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Flight DAN01
Daniel 1-8
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Chronologically, the book of Daniel links the time of the kings in 2 Chronicles to the restoration of Jerusalem in the book of Ezra. It begins with the first Babylonian captivity and ends with Daniel's vision of seventy weeks. In it, we witness both prophetic history and the four prophetic visions of Daniel, as well as powerful stories that reveal a faithful man of God who was unwilling to compromise his beliefs.
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7/31/2019
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Flight DAN02
Daniel 9-12
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Midway through the book of Daniel, the focus shifts from the historic to the prophetic. Daniel's four prophetic visions reveal the stunning accuracy of biblical prophecy, as well as Daniel's uncompromising faith in God's fulfillment. From the rise and fall of human kingdoms to the Messiah and the day of judgment, Daniel's visions drove him to his knees in fervent prayer for the people of Israel.
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8/7/2019
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Flight HOS01
Hosea 1-14
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Hosea prophesied to the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Jeroboam II, and he had a clear message to deliver: Israel had rejected God, so they would be sent into exile and become wanderers in other nations. On this flight, we see a clear parallel between Hosea's adulterous wife—whom God had instructed Hosea to marry—and Israel's unfaithfulness. But even as Hosea endured a rocky marriage, he continued to share God's plan that He would bring His people back to Himself.
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8/14/2019
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Flight JAO01
Joel 1-3; Amos 1-9; Obadiah
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Through three ordinary men—Joel, Amos, and Obadiah—God delivered extraordinary messages to His people, warning them against greed, injustice, false worship, and self-righteousness. On this flight, we witness God's patience and love for Israel, and we see how He stands ready to forgive and restore all who turn away from their sin.
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8/21/2019
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Flight JON01
Jonah 1-4
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Rather than focusing on prophecy, the book of Jonah narrates a prophet's story. Jonah was blatantly disobedient to God's call, but despite his defiance, God redirected his path through a unique situation. The resulting revival in Nineveh shows us that God's grace reaches beyond the boundaries of Israel to embrace all nations.
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8/28/2019
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Flight MNH01
Micah 1-7; Nahum 1-3; Habakkuk 1-3
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God used three prophets—Micah, Nahum, and Habakkuk—to criticize, comfort, and inspire: Micah encouraged social justice and the authentic worship of God. Nahum prophesied against the Assyrians for returning to their evil practices. And though Habakkuk didn't address Israel directly, his message assured them that evil does not endure forever. Through these prophets, God's people confessed their sins and grew confident in His salvation.
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9/4/2019
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Flight ZHA01
Zephaniah 1-3; Haggai 1-2
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The prophet Zephaniah addressed the social injustice and moral decay of Judah and her neighbors, proclaiming the coming day of the Lord and His wrath upon the nations—both an immediate judgment and a future end-times judgment. God sent Haggai the prophet to preach to the restored community of Jews in Jerusalem after their return from exile in Babylonia. Haggai encouraged the nation to set aside their selfishness and finish rebuilding the temple, an act of obedience that would align their desire with God's desire.
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9/18/2019
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Flight ZMA01
Zechariah 1-14; Malachi 1-4
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As we fly over the last books of the Old Testament, we first look at the expanded message of rebuilding the temple when Zechariah encouraged Israel to anticipate their ultimate deliverance and the Messiah's future reign. One hundred years after the temple was rebuilt, the book of Malachi revealed that God's chosen people had once again slid back into their sinful practices. Malachi declared God's promise of a coming messenger, John the Baptist, and a coming Messiah.
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10/2/2019
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Flight INT01
Intertestamental Period
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In between the Old and New Testaments lies 400 years of history. During this intertestamental period, God chose not to speak to His people through prophets as He orchestrated people, politics, and events in preparation of the coming Messiah. Scholars have come to call these four centuries the silent years. Remarkably, the silence would be broken by a newborn baby's cry in Bethlehem.
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10/9/2019
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Flight MML01
Matthew 1-28; Mark 1-16; Luke 1-24
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These three Synoptic Gospels give us our first glimpses of Jesus' life and death here on earth. Matthew, Mark, and Luke present Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah, the Servant of the Lord, and the Son of Man, respectively. On this flight, we'll see the service, sermons, sacrifices, and sovereignty of Jesus as we witness the fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies.
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10/16/2019
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Flight JOH01
John 1-21
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The spiritual depth of John sets it apart from the other Gospels, with one-third of its content dedicated to the last week of Jesus' life. Rather than focusing on what Jesus did, John focused on who Jesus is, presenting Him as God incarnate and highlighting His deity. On this flight, we'll see seven miraculous signs of Jesus, as well as seven statements that He used to identify Himself as God.
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10/23/2019
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Flight ACT01
Acts 1-28
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The book of Acts presents the history of a dynamic, growing community of believers that started in Jerusalem and went on to spread the gospel throughout the known world. In this book, the gospel writer Luke also recorded how the early church received the Holy Spirit, who enabled them to witness, love, and serve with boldness and courage, even when faced with persecution.
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10/30/2019
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Flight ROM01
Romans 1-16
Skip Heitzig
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The book of Romans is the apostle Paul's letter to the church in Rome, and it focuses on God's plan of salvation for all humankind. Romans is the most systematic of Paul's letters, reading more like an elaborate theological essay rather than a letter. On this flight, we look at Paul's strong emphasis on Christian doctrine as well as his concern for Israel.
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11/13/2019
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Flight 1COR1
1 Corinthians 1-16
Skip Heitzig
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In 1 Corinthians, Paul confronted the problems that had infiltrated the influential church at Corinth and defended his position as an apostle of Christ. He later rejoiced over their repentance and acceptance of his God-given authority. On this flight, we discover the power of a new life in Jesus as we see how Paul shared the heart of the gospel with his fellow believers.
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11/20/2019
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Flight 2COR1
2 Corinthians 1-13
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After Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, false teachers began spreading opposition to him in the Corinthian church. Paul sent Titus as his representative to deal with them, and most of the church repented. Paul wrote this epistle to express his joy at the turnaround and to appeal to them to accept his authority, which was confirmed by the many hardships he suffered for the gospel. On this flight, we find beautiful truths to carry with us through our own times of suffering.
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12/4/2019
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Flight GAL01
Galatians 1-6
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Galatians is a firm statement of the doctrine of justification by grace through faith. When Paul wrote this letter, the false doctrine of legalism and faith by works had infiltrated the church throughout Galatia. As a result, believers had traded their freedom in Christ for bondage to the old Jewish law that had been fulfilled by Jesus. On this flight, we discover the differences between law and grace as well as the practical application and results of the proper doctrine of grace.
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1/8/2020
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Flight EPH01
Ephesians 1-6
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Who are we in Christ? In Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus, he answered that very question as he addressed a group of believers who were ignorant of their spiritual wealth in Jesus. He explained how the Christian is the bride of Christ, a temple in the Lord, and a soldier for the gospel. On this flight, we see how Paul also emphasized unity among believers, describing the church as a body that works together for a common goal.
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1/15/2020
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Flight PHI01
Philippians 1-4
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Referred to as the epistle of joy, Philippians contains the message that joy is possible in all of life's circumstances, including suffering. Paul wrote this very personal letter while in prison, and despite his trials, he rejoiced over the caring and generous church in Philippi and encouraged them in unity, humility, and prayer.
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1/22/2020
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Flight COL01
Colossians 1-4
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On this flight, we see how the young church in Colossae became the target of a heretical attack that included angel worship, the depreciation of Christ, and reliance on human wisdom. In Paul's letter to this church, he refuted the heresy by exalting Christ as the very image of God, the preexistent sustainer of all things, the head of the church, and the first to be resurrected.
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2/12/2020
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Flight THE01
1 Thessalonians 1-5; 2 Thessalonians 1-3
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The apostle Paul wrote 1 and 2 Thessalonians in response to a report that some errors and misunderstandings about his teaching had crept into the church at Thessalonica. But Paul also used the opportunity to encourage the believers there, exhorting them in the Word, warning them against pagan immorality, and urging them to remain steadfast in God's truth in the face of persecution.
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6/10/2020
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Flight TIM01
1 Timothy 1-6; 2 Timothy 1-4
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These loving letters to Timothy, a young pastor in Ephesus, reveal Paul's true love for his brother in Christ. Timothy was facing a heavy burden of responsibility, so Paul not only instructed him about the conduct of the church and its ministers but also encouraged him to stand strong for the faith against false teachings, to endure hardship, and to preach the Word.
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6/17/2020
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Flight TPH01
Titus 1-3; Philemon
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Paul's brief letter to Titus focuses on Titus' role and responsibility in the organization and supervision of the churches in Crete. Throughout the letter, Paul also stressed the importance of sound doctrine and church order. In Philemon, on the other hand, the apostle took a more personal approach and spoke on the application of the great principles of Christian brotherhood to social life.
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6/24/2020
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Flight HEB01
Hebrews 1-13
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Although this well-written book's author is unknown, it reveals a man with a great desire to encourage Jewish believers to live in the grace of Jesus, especially since many of them were slipping back into the rites and rituals of Judaism to escape persecution. The letter centers on the person and work of Christ, inspiring believers through all the ages to pursue Jesus in every area of life.
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7/1/2020
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Flight JAM01
James 1-5
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While it's vital for Christians to understand that salvation comes by faith, the book of James emphasizes an active faith, characterized by good deeds that flow from salvation. In this unmistakably Jewish epistle, the author encourages believers to live out and grow in their faith by embracing trials, carefully controlling their speech, and letting God's love flow through them to others.
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7/15/2020
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Flight PET01
1 Peter 1-5; 2 Peter 1-3
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The apostle Peter wrote these letters to encourage persecuted Christians and to defend the authenticity of God's Word against false teaching that had infiltrated the church. He called on believers to grow in their faith so they might detect and combat the spreading apostasy. On this flight, we see how these letters uniquely encourage us as we live in conflict with our culture, giving us incentive for holy living as we look forward to Jesus' second coming.
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7/22/2020
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Flight 1JOH1
1 John 1-5
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In this letter, John lived up to his nickname—the apostle of love—as he urged the church to continue living a life of faith in Christ. He defended the nature of Jesus against heretical teachings and warned his readers about those who taught such things. John not only addressed the preeminence of God's love for us but also emphasized our duty to love others in return. This flight shows you how God can transform your life when you follow Him wholeheartedly.
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7/29/2020
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Flight JJU01
2 John, 3 John; Jude
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These three epistles were written to encourage the church to keep a strong biblical foundation. The authors exhorted believers to walk in love but to be discerning in their expression of love, to have and enjoy fellowship with other Christians, and to stay strong in the faith. On this flight, you'll discover why it's so vital to balance love and truth to reach a lost world with the gospel of Jesus.
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8/5/2020
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Flight REV01
Revelation 1-11
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Considered to be one of the most powerful books in Scripture, Revelation is a direct vision from God to the apostle John. It's both a warning to the world of a coming tribulation and a source of hope for believers as we anticipate Jesus' return. The book is filled with prophecies of future judgment, but in it, we find a glimpse of heaven and the glories awaiting Jesus' bride, the church.
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8/12/2020
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Flight REV02
Revelation 12-22
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In the second half of Revelation, we read some of the most thrilling text in the entire Bible, getting a preview of a future judgment, Jesus' thousand-year reign on earth, the eventual fate of unbelievers, and the church's eternal destination in the new heaven and earth. As we conclude our journey at 30,000 feet over the Scriptures, we discover how the history of the world culminates as we look to Jesus in all His splendid glory.
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8/19/2020
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Visit to the Cockpit Q&A with Pastor Skip
Skip Heitzig
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Our midweek series The Bible from 30,000 Feet came to a close with a final Visit to the Cockpit Q & A session. In the last message of our series, Pastor Skip answers questions from the congregation on topics throughout the Bible, from creation to the end times.
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There are 58 additional messages in this series.
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