In those times, in the year of Abraham's death, the Lord brought a severe famine in the land. While the famine was raging in Canaan, Isaac left to go down to Egypt because of the famine, as his father Abraham had done. The Lord appeared to Isaac that night to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt but leave for Gerar, to Abimelech the king of the Philistines, and stay there until the famine ends."

Isaac left and went to Gerar, as the Lord commanded him. He stayed there for a full year. When Isaac arrived in Gerar, the people of the land saw that Rebecca his wife was beautiful. They asked Isaac about his wife, and he said, "She is my sister," as he was afraid to say she was his wife in case they killed him because of her. The princes of Abimelech praised the woman to the king, but he did not answer them or listen to them. But he heard them say that Isaac said she was his sister, the king noted this to himself.

When Isaac had stayed for three months in the land, Abimelech looked out at the window, and he saw Isaac was sporting with Rebecca his wife, for Isaac lived in the outer house belonging to the king. Isaac's house was opposite the house of the king. The king said to Isaac, "What have you have done by telling us that your wife was your sister? How easily one of the great men of the people may have lain with her, and you would then have brought guilt on us."

Isaac said to Abimelech, "I was afraid that I would die because of my wife, so I said she was my sister."

Abimelech gave orders to all his princes and great men, and they brought Isaac and Rebecca his wife to the king. The king commanded that they dress them in princely garments, and make them ride through the streets of the city, and proclaim before them throughout the land, "This is the man and his wife. Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely die."

Isaac returned with his wife to the king's house, and the Lord was with Isaac and he continued to do well and lacked nothing. The Lord made Isaac to find favor with Abimelech and all his subjects. Abimelech acted well to Isaac, for Abimelech remembered the oath and the covenant that existed between his father and Abraham. Abimelech said to Isaac, "The whole earth is before you! Live wherever you like until you will return to your land."

Abimelech gave Isaac fields and vineyards and the best part of the land of Gerar to sow, harvest and eat the produce of the ground until the famine was over. Isaac sowed in that land, and received a hundred-fold crop in the same year. The Lord blessed him. The man did well. He owned flocks, herds and a great number of servants. When the famine was over, the Lord appeared to Isaac and said, "Leave this place and return to your land, to Canaan."

Isaac left and returned to Hebron which is in Canaan, he and all belonging to him as the Lord had commanded. After this Shelach the son at Arpachshad died in that year, which is the eighteenth year of the lives of Jacob and Esau. Shelach was four hundred and thirty-three years when he died. At that time Isaac sent his younger son Jacob to the house of Shem and Eber, and he learned the instructions of the Lord. Jacob stayed in the house of Shem and Eber for thirty-two years.

Esau his brother did not go, as he did not want to. He stayed in his father's house in Canaan. Esau continually hunted in the fields to bring home what he could get. Esau was a cunning and deceitful man, one who hunted after the hearts of men and tricked them, but he was a brave man in the field.

In the course of time went as usual to hunt, and he went as far as the field of Seir, also known as Edom. He stayed in the land of Seir hunting in the field for a year and four months. In the land of Seir Esau saw a Canaanite woman by the name of Jehudith. She was the daughter of Beeri, the son of Epher, from the families of Heth the son of Canaan. Esau took her as a wife, and he had marital relations with her. He was forty when he took her. He brought her to Hebron, the land of his father's living place, and he lived there.

In those times, when Isaac was a hundred and ten years old, when Jacob was fifty years old, that Shem the son of Noah died. He was six hundred years old. When Shem died, Jacob returned to his father to Hebron which is in Canaan. When Jacob was fifty-sixth years old, people came from Haran, and Rebecca was told about her brother Laban the son of Bethuel. Laban's wife was barren in those times, and also all his handmaids did not bear to him.

Afterwards the Lord remembered Adinah the wife of Laban, and she conceived and bore twin daughters. Laban called the elder daughter Leah, and the younger Rachel. Those people told these things to Rebecca, and Rebecca celebrated greatly that the Lord had visited her brother and that he had children.

Ch. 29

Isaac the son of Abraham became old and, and his eyes became heavy through age; they were dim and could not see. At that time Isaac called to Esau his son, and said, "Get your weapons, your quiver and your bow. Go out into the field and get me some venison. Make savory meat and bring it to me, so that I may eat in order to bless you before my death, as I am now old and gray-headed."

Esau did so. He took his weapon and went into the field to hunt for venison, as usual, to bring to his father as he had ordered him so that he could bless him. Rebecca heard what Isaac had said to Esau, and she hurried and called her son Jacob. She said to him, "Your father said this to your brother Esau, and this is what I heard. So hurry and make what I tell you to. I pray you, go to the flock and fetch me two fine kids of the goats, and I will get the savory meat for your father. You will take him the savory meat to eat before your brother returns from the hunt, so that your father may bless you."

Jacob hurried to do as his mother had commanded him. He made the savory meat and took it his father before Esau had returned from the hunt.

Isaac said to Jacob, "Who are you, my son?"

He said, "I am your firstborn Esau. I have done as you ordered me. So I pray you, and eat my hunt, and bless me as you said you would."

Isaac left, and he ate and he drank and was comforted, and he blessed Jacob. Jacob left his father. As soon as Isaac had blessed Jacob and he had left him, Esau returned from his hunt from the field, and he made savory meat and brought it to his father to eat and to bless him. Isaac said to Esau, "Who was he that took venison and gave it to me before you came and who I blessed? "

Esau knew that his brother Jacob had done this, and Esau was angry with his brother Jacob for acting like this toward him. Esau said, "Is he not rightly called Jacob? He has supplanted me twice! He took away my birthright and now he has taken away my blessing."

Esau cried a lot, and when Isaac heard his son Esau crying, Isaac said to Esau, "What can I do, my son? Your brother came with subtlety and took away your blessing!"

Esau hated his brother Jacob because of the blessing that his father had given him, and he was very angry with him. Jacob was very much afraid of his brother Esau, and he fled to the house of Eber the son of Shem, and hid himself there because of his brother. Jacob was sixty-three years old when he left Canaan from Hebron. Jacob was hidden in Eber's house for fourteen years because of his brother Esau, and there he continued to learn the ways of the Lord and his commandments. When Esau saw that Jacob had escaped from him, and that Jacob had cunningly obtained the blessing, then Esau was very upset. He was also upset with his father and mother. He took his wife and left his father and mother and went to the land of Seir and lived there. Esau saw there a woman of the daughters of Heth whose name was Bosmath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and he took her as a wife in addition to his first wife. Esau called her Adah, saying the blessing had in that time passed from him.

Esau lived in the land of Seir for six months without seeing his father and mother. Afterwards Esau took his wives and returned to Canaan, and Esau placed his two wives in his father's house in Hebron. The wives of Esau vexed and provoked Isaac and Rebecca, as they did not follow the ways of the Lord, but served their father's gods of wood and stone as their father had taught them, and they were more wicked than their father. They followed the evil desires of their hearts, and sacrificed and burnt incense to the Baalim. Isaac and Rebecca became tired of them.

Rebecca said, "I am sick to death of the daughters of Heth! If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these which are of the daughters of the land, then what's the point of living?"

In those times Adah the wife of Esau conceived and bore him a son. Esau called him Eliphaz. Esau was sixty-five years old when she bore him. Ishmael the son of Abraham died in those times, when Jacob was sixty-four years old. Ishmael lived for one hundred and thirty-seven years. When Isaac heard that Ishmael was dead he mourned for him and lamented over him many days. After fourteen years of Jacob's living in Eber's house, Jacob wanted to see his father and mother. Jacob went to his father and mother's house in Hebron.

Esau by then had forgotten what Jacob had done to him in having taken the blessing from him. When Esau saw Jacob coming to his father and mother he remembered what Jacob had done to him. He was very angry with him and he wanted to kill him. Isaac the son of Abraham was old, and Esau said, "Now my father is drawing to the end of his life, and when he dies I will kill my brother Jacob."

This was repeated to Rebecca, and she hurried and called for Jacob her son, and said to him, "Hurry, flee to Haran to my brother Laban, and stay there for some time, until your brother's anger is turned from you, and then come back."

Isaac called Jacob and said, "Do not take a wife from the Canaanite women, because our father Abraham command this according to the word of the Lord who had said, 'I will give this land to your descendants. If your children keep my covenant that I have made with you, then will I also do for your children what I have said to you and I will not abandon them.' So then, my son, listen to me, to everything that I command you, and do not take a wife from the Canaanite women. Go to Haran to the house of Bethuel your mother's father, and take a wife from there from the daughters of Laban your mother's brother. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God and all his ways in the land to which you go. Do not mix with the people of the land by following their useless ways and abandoning the Lord your God. When you arrive there, serve the Lord, and do not depart from the way which I commanded you and which you learned. May the Almighty God grant you favor in the sight of the people of the earth, that you may take a wife of your choice; one who is good and just in the ways of the Lord. May God give you and your descendants the blessing of your father Abraham, and make you fruitful and multiply you, and may you become a multitude of people in the land where you go. May God make you return to this land, the land of your father, with children, great wealth, and with joy and pleasure."

Isaac finished commanding Jacob and blessing him. He gave him many gifts, together with silver and gold, and sent him away. Jacob listened to his father and mother. He kissed them and left for Padan-aram. Jacob was seventy-seven years old when he left Canaan from Beersheba. When Jacob went to go to Haran, Esau called his son Eliphaz, and secretly said to him, "Now hurry, take your sword in your hand and pursue Jacob and pass in front of him on the road. Lie in wait for him, and kill him with your sword in one of the mountains. Take all his belongings then come back."

Eliphaz the son of Esau was an active man and expert with the bow as his father had taught him, and he was a noted hunter in the field and a brave man. Eliphaz did as his father said. Eliphaz was thirteen years old. Eliphaz left and took ten of his mother's brothers with him and pursued Jacob. He closely followed Jacob, and he lay in wait for him in the border of Canaan opposite the city of Shechem. J

Jacob saw Eliphaz and his men pursuing him. Jacob stood still in the place in which he was going, in order to know what this was. Eliphaz drew his sword and kept on advancing, he and his men, toward Jacob. Jacob said to them, "Why have you come here and why do you chase me with your swords?"

Eliphaz approached Jacob and answered him, "My father ordered me to, and I won't deviate from the orders my father gave me."

When Jacob saw that Esau had told Eliphaz to use force, Jacob approached and supplicated Eliphaz and his men. He said to him, "Take everything that I have and which my father and mother gave me, and then leave from me. Do not kill me, and you will have done the right thing."

The Lord caused Jacob to find favor in the sight of Eliphaz the son of Esau, and his men. They listened to Jacob, and did not put him to death. Eliphaz and his men took everything that belonged to Jacob along with the silver and gold that he had brought with him from Beersheba; they left him nothing.

Eliphaz and his men left him and returned to Esau to Beersheba. They told him everything that had happened to them with Jacob, and they gave him everything that they had taken from Jacob. Esau was annoyed with Eliphaz his son and at his men because they had not killed Jacob. They said to Esau, "Jacob supplicated us not to kill him, so we felt sorry for him and we took everything that belonged to him and brought it to you."

Esau took all the silver and gold which Eliphaz had taken from Jacob and put it in his house. At that time when Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and had commanded him not take a wife from the Canaanite women, and that the Canaanite women were bad in the sight of Isaac and Rebecca, then he went to the house of Ishmael his uncle, and in addition to his older wives he took Machlath the daughter of Ishmael, the sister of Nebayoth, as a wife.

Ch. 30

Jacob continued his journey to Haran, and he came as far as mount Moriah. He stayed there all night near the city of Luz. The Lord appeared to Jacob on that night there and said to him, I am the Lord God of Abraham and the God of Isaac your father. I will give the land on which you live to you and your descendants. I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. I will multiply your descendants as many the stars of the sky. I will cause all your enemies to fall before you, and when they will make war with you they will not overcome you, and I will bring you again to this land with joy, children, and great wealth."

Jacob awoke from his sleep and celebrated greatly at the vision which he had seen. He named that place Bethel. Jacob left that place happy, and when he walked his feet felt light with joy. He left for the land of the men who lived in the east, and he returned to Haran and he stayed at the shepherd's well. He found some men there going from Haran to feed their flocks. Jacob made inquiries of them, and they said, "We are from Haran."

He asked them, "Do you know Laban, the son of Nahor?"

They said, "Yes, and his daughter Rachel is coming along to feed her father's flock."

While he was speaking with them, Rachel the daughter of Laban went to feed her father's sheep, as she was a shepherdess. When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, he ran and kissed her, and cried loudly. Jacob told Rachel that he was the son of Rebecca, her father's sister, and Rachel ran and told her father. Jacob continued to cry because he had nothing with him to bring to the house of Laban. When Laban heard that his sister's son Jacob had come, he ran to kiss him. He embraced him and brought him into the house and gave him bread, and he ate. Jacob told Laban what his brother Esau had done to him, and what his son Eliphaz had done to him on the road.

Jacob stayed in Laban's house for one month. Jacob ate and drank there. Afterwards Laban said to Jacob, "Tell me - what will be your wages be? How can you serve me for nothing? "

Laban had no sons but only daughters. His other wives and handmaids were still barren in those times. These are the names of Laban's daughters which his wife Adinah had borne to him. The name of the elder was Leah and the younger was Rachel. Leah had lovely eyes, but Rachel was beautiful and well favored, and Jacob loved her. Jacob said to Laban, "I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter."

Laban agreed and Jacob served Laban seven years for his daughter Rachel. In the second year that Jacob lived in Haran, when Jacob was seventy nine years old, Eber the son of Shem died. He was four hundred and sixty-four years old. When Jacob heard that Eber was dead he was very upset, and greatly mourned over him for many days.

In the third year that Jacob lived in Haran, Bosmath, the daughter of Ishmael, the wife of Esau, bore him a son. Esau called him Reuel. In the fourth year that Jacob lived in the house of Laban, the Lord visited Laban and remembered him because of Jacob, and sons were born to him. His first born was Beor, his second was Alib, and the third was Chorash. The Lord gave Laban riches and honor, sons and daughters, and he increased greatly because of Jacob.

Jacob in those times served Laban in all types of work, in the house and in the field. The blessing of the Lord was over everything that belonged to Laban in the house and in the field. In the fifth year Jehudith died, the daughter of Beeri, the wife of Esau, in Canaan, and she had no sons but only daughters. These are the names of her daughters which she bore to Esau: the elder was Marzith, and the younger was Puith. When Jehudith died, Esau left and went to Seir to hunt in the field as usual. Esau lived in the land of Seir for a long time. In the sixth year Esau took a wife, in addition to his other wives, Ahlibamah, the daughter of Zebeon the Hivite, and Esau brought her to Canaan. Ahlibamah conceived and bore to Esau three sons, Yeush, Yaalan, and Korah.

In those times in Canaan there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of Esau and the herdsmen of the inhabitants of Canaan. Esau's cattle and goods were too abundant for him to stay in Canaan, in his father's house, and Canaan could not support him because of his cattle. When Esau saw that his quarreling with the inhabitants of Canaan was getting worse, he left and took his wives and his sons and his daughters, and all belonging to him, and the cattle which he possessed, and all his property that he had acquired in Canaan, and he left the inhabitants of the land to the land of Seir. Esau and all belonging to him lived in the land of Seir. However, from time to time Esau went to see his father and mother in Canaan. Esau intermarried with the Horites, and he gave his daughters to the sons of Seir, the Horite. He gave his elder daughter Marzith to Anah, the son of Zebeon, his wife's brother, and he gave Puith to Azar, the son of Bilhan the Horite, and Esau lived in the mountain, he and his children, and they were fruitful and multiplied.

Ch. 31

In the seventh year, Jacob's service for Laban went to an end. Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife. I have finished my service."

Laban did. Laban and Jacob assembled all the people of that place and they made a feast. In the evening Laban went to the house, and afterwards Jacob went there with the people of the feast. Laban extinguished all the lights in the house. Jacob said to Laban, "Why did you do that?"

Laban answered, "That is the custom in this land."

Afterwards Laban took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob. Jacob had relations with her and did not know that she was Leah. Laban gave his daughter Leah his maid Zilpah as a handmaid. All the people at the feast knew what Laban had done to Jacob, but they did not tell Jacob.

All the neighbors came that night to Jacob's house, and they ate and drank and celebrated, and played before Leah on timbrels, and with dances, and they said "Heleah, Heleah" to Jacob. Jacob heard their words but did not understand their meaning, but he thought it was their custom. The neighbors said these words to Jacob during the night, and all the lights that were in the house had been extinguished by Laban.

In the morning, when daylight appeared, Jacob turned to his wife and he saw it was Leah that had been lying with him, and Jacob said, "Now I know what the neighbors said last night when they said 'Heleah'"

Jacob called to Laban, and asked him, "Why did you do this to me? I certainly served you for Rachel, so why did you deceive me and did give me Leah? "

Laban answered Jacob, "It is not done in our place to give the younger before the elder. If you wish to take her sister too, take her for serving me for another seven years."

Jacob did this. He also took Rachel as a wife, and served Laban seven years more. Jacob had relations with Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. Laban gave her his maid Bilhah for a handmaid. When the Lord saw that Leah was not liked as much, the Lord opened her womb, and she conceived and bore Jacob four sons. These are their names, Reuben Simeon, Levi, and Judah, and after that she stopped bearing.

At that time Rachel was barren, and she had no offspring. Rachel envied her sister Leah. When Rachel saw that she bore no children to Jacob, she took her handmaid Bilhah, and she bore Jacob two sons, Dan and Naphtali. When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she also took her handmaid Zilpah, and gave her to Jacob as a wife. Jacob had relations with Zilpah, and she bore Jacob two sons, Gad and Asher. Leah again conceived and bore Jacob two sons and one daughter. Their names are Issachar, Zebulon, and their sister Dinah.

Rachel was still barren in those times, and Rachel prayed to the Lord and said, "Lord God remember me and visit me, I beg you, for now my husband will cast me off, as I have not borne him any children. Now Lord God, hear my supplication and see my affliction, and give me children like one of the handmaids, so that I may no have a reproach."

God heard her and opened her womb. Rachel conceived and bore a son, and she said, "The Lord has taken away my reproach." She called him Joseph, and said, "May the Lord give me another son." Jacob was ninety-one years old when she bore him. At that time Jacob's mother, Rebecca, sent her nurse Deborah the daughter of Uz, and two of Isaac's servants to Jacob. They went to Jacob to Haran and said to him, "Rebecca has sent us to you so that you will return to your father's house to Canaan."

Jacob listened to them. At that time, the other seven years which Jacob served Laban for Rachel were over. It was at the end of fourteen years that he had lived in Haran that Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wives and send me away, so I can go to my land, as my mother did sent to me from the land at Canaan to ask me to return to my father's house."

Laban said to him, "No, I pray you, if I have found favor in your sight do not leave me. Name your wages and I will pay them, and stay with me."

Jacob said to him, "This is what you will give me for wages. Today I will go through all your flock and take away from them every lamb that is speckled and spotted and all the brown ones among the sheep and goats. If do this for me I will return and feed your flock and look after them as usual."

Laban did this. Laban removed from his flock all the ones that Jacob had said and gave them to him. Jacob placed all the ones that he had removed from Laban's flock in the hands of his sons, and Jacob was feeding the remainder of Laban's flock. When the servants of Isaac which he had sent to Jacob saw that Jacob would not return with them to Canaan to his father, they left him and went home to Canaan.

Deborah stayed with Jacob in Haran. She did not return with the servants of Isaac to Canaan. Deborah stayed with Jacob's wives and children in Haran. Jacob served Laban for six more years. When the sheep gave birth, Jacob removed from them all the speckled and spotted offspring, as he had agreed with Laban. Jacob did this at Laban's for six years. He increased abundantly and had cattle, maid servants, men servants, camels and donkeys . Jacob had two hundred head of cattle, and his cattle were large, beautiful and very productive. All the families wanted to get some of Jacob's cattle as they were exceedingly prosperous. Many of the men went to procure some of Jacob's flock, and Jacob gave them a sheep for a man servant or a maid servant or for a donkey or a camel. They gave Jacob whatever he wanted. Jacob obtained wealth, honor and possessions from these transactions, and the children of Laban were envious of him.

Eventually he heard that Laban's sons said, "Jacob has taken away everything that was our father's, and he has acquired all this glory out of what was our father's."

Jacob saw that Laban and his children were not acting towards him as they used to. The Lord appeared to Jacob after six years, and said to him, "Leave this land and return to the land of your birthplace and I will be with you."

Jacob left. He mounted his children and wives and all belonging to him on camels, and headed for Canaan to his father Isaac. Laban did not know that Jacob had left him, as Laban had been shearing sheep that day. Rachel stole her father's images and she hid them on the camel she was riding. This is the matter of the images - they take a man who is the first born and kill him and remove the hair from his head. Then they take salt and salt the head and anointing it with oil, and then take a small tablet of copper or gold and writing the name on it. Then they place the tablet in his tongue, and take the head with the tablet under the tongue and put it in the house, and light up lights in front of it and bow down to it.

When they bow down to it, it speaks to them about all matters they ask of it, through the power of the name which is written in it. Some make them in the figures of men, of gold and silver, and go to them at certain times. The figures receive the influence of the stars and tell them future things. These were the type of images that Rachel stole from her father. Rachel stole her father's images so that Laban would not find out where Jacob had gone from them.

Laban came home and asked about Jacob and his household, but he was not to be found. Laban went to ask his images where Jacob had gone, but could not find them. So he then went to some other images, and he inquired of them and they told him that Jacob had fled from him to his father's, to Canaan. Laban then left and he took his brothers and all his servants, and pursued Jacob. He overtook him at Mount Gilead.

Laban said to Jacob, "What have you done to me? You fled and deceived me, and took my daughters and their children away like captives taken by the sword? You did not allow me to kiss them and say goodbye happily, and you stole my gods and left!"

Jacob answered Laban, "I was afraid that you would forcibly take your daughters from me. Now whoever you find has your gods will die!"

Laban searched for the images. He examined in all Jacob's tents and furniture, but could not find them. Laban said to Jacob, "We will make a covenant together and it will be a testimony between me and you! If you harm my daughters, or take other wives besides my daughters, God will be a witness between me and you in this matter!"

They took stones and made a heap. Laban said, "This heap is a witness between me and you," and he called it Gilead. Jacob and Laban offered sacrifice on the mount, and they ate there by the heap. They stayed on the mount all night. Laban left early in the morning, and he wept with his daughters and he kissed them, and then he returned to his place.

He hurried and sent off his son Beor, who was seventeen years old, with Abichorof the son of Uz, the son of Nahor, and with them were ten men. They hurried passed on the road in front of Jacob, and they went by another road to the land of Seir. They went to Esau and said, "This is what your brother and relative, your mother's brother Laban, the son of Bethuel, says, 'Have you heard what Jacob your brother has done to me, who first went to me naked, and I went to meet him, and brought him to my house with honor, and I made him great, and I gave him my two daughters as wives and also two of my maids. God blessed him on my account, and he increased abundantly. He had had sons, daughters and maid servants. He also has a large amount of flocks and herds, camels and donkeys , as well as silver and gold in abundance, and when he saw that his wealth increased, he left me while I went to shear my sheep, and he fled in secrecy. He mounted his wives and children on camels, and he led away all his cattle and property which he acquired in my land, and he went to his father Isaac, to Canaan. He did not allow me to kiss my daughters and their children, and he took my daughters like captives taken by the sword, and he also stole my gods and he fled. But now I have left him in the mountain of the brook of Jabuk, him and all belonging to him; he lacks nothing. If you so desire, go there and find him, and do whatever you like to him.'"

Laban's messengers told Esau all these things. Esau heard Laban's messengers, and he was very angry with Jacob. He hated him again, and his anger burned within him. Esau hurried and took his children and servants and his household, sixty men. He assembled all the children of Seir the Horite and their people, three hundred and forty men. He took all the four hundred men with drawn swords, and he went to Jacob to kill him. Esau divided this number into several parts, and took the sixty men of his children and servants and his household as one group, and gave them to Eliphaz his eldest son. The remaining groups he gave Th the six sons of Seir the Horite, and he placed every man over his generations and children. The whole camp was like this. , Esau hurried to Jacob.

Laban's messengers left Esau and went to Canaan. They arrived at the house of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau. They said to her, "Your son Esau has gone against his brother Jacob with four hundred men. He heard that he was coming, and he's gone to make war with him. He wants to kill him and take everything he has!"

Rebecca hurried and sent seventy two men of Isaac's servants to meet Jacob on the road. She said, "Esau is likely to make war along the way when he meets him."

These messengers left to meet Jacob, and they met him on the road of the stream which is opposite the Jabukstream. When he saw them, Jacob said, "This camp is destined to me from God," and he named the place Machnayim. Jacob knew all his father's people, and he kissed them and embraced them.

Jacob asked them about his father and mother, and they said that they were well. The messengers said to Jacob, "Rebecca your mother has sent us to you with the message, "I have heard, my son, that your brother Esau has set out against you on the road with men from the children of Seir the Horite. My son, listen to me and decide what you will do. When he arrives, supplicate him, and do not speak rashly to him. Give him something of yours as a present from what God has favored you with. When he asks you about your affairs, don't hide anything from him. Then perhaps he will turn his anger from you and you will save your life, you and all belonging to you, for it is your duty to honor him as he is your elder brother."

When Jacob heard the words of his mother which the messengers had spoken to him, Jacob cried loudly, and did as his mother had commanded him.

Ch. 32

Jacob sent messengers to his brother Esau toward the land of Seir with words of supplication. He commanded them, "Say this to my lord, Esau, 'Thus says your servant Jacob, "Do not let my lord imagine that my father's blessing on me has proved beneficial to me. I have been these twenty years with Laban, and he deceived me and changed my wages ten times, as it has all been already told to my lord. I served him in his house very laboriously. God afterwards saw my affliction, my labor and work, and he caused me to find favor in his sight. Afterwards through God's great mercy and kindness I acquired oxen, donkey, cattle, men servants and maid servants. But now I am coming to my land and my home to my father and mother, who are in Canaan, and I have sent to let my lord in order to find favor in the sight of my lord, so that he may not imagine that I have of myself obtained wealth, or that the blessing of my father has benefited me."

The messengers went to Esau, and found him on the borders of the land of Edom going toward Jacob, and four hundred men of the children of Seir the Horite were standing with drawn swords. The messengers of Jacob told Esau all the words that Jacob had spoken to them about Esau. Esau answered them with pride and contempt, "I have most certainly heard and truly it has been told to me what Jacob has done to Laban! Laban exalted him in his house and gave him his daughters as wives, and he fathered sons and daughters, and abundantly increased his wealth and riches in Laban's house! When he saw that his wealth was abundant and his riches great he fled from Laban's house with all belonging to him, and he led Laban's daughters away from the face of their father, like captives taken by the sword without even telling him! Jacob has not only done this to Laban but he also did it to me ! He has twice supplanted me twice, so will I be silent? Today I have come with my camps to meet him, and I will what I like to him!"

The messengers returned and said to Jacob, "We went to your brother Esau, and we told him all your words, and this is how he answered us, and he comes to meet you with four hundred men. Now then decide what to do, and pray to God to deliver you from him."

Jacob was very afraid and distressed when he heard what his brother had said to the messengers. Jacob prayed to the Lord his God, and said, "Lord God of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, you said to me when I left my father's house, 'I am the Lord God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac, I give this land to you and your descendants after you. I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky. You will spread out to the four sides of heaven. By you and in your descendants will all the families of the earth be blessed.' You established your words, and gave me riches and children and cattle, as the utmost wishes of my heart did you give to your servant. You gave me everything that I asked from you, so that I lacked nothing. You said to me, 'Return to your parents and to your birth place and I will still do well with you.' But now that I have come, and you delivered me from Laban, I will fall in the hands of Esau who will kill me, together with the mothers of my children. So then, Lord God, deliver me, I pray you, from my brother Esau, for I am greatly afraid of him. If there is no righteousness in me, do it for the sake of Abraham and my father Isaac. I know that I acquired this wealth through kindness and mercy, so then I beg you to deliver me today with your kindness and to answer me."

Jacob finished praying to the Lord. He divided the people that were with him with the flocks and cattle into two camps. He gave half to the care of Damesek, the son of Eliezer, Abraham's servant, for a camp, with his children, and the other half to his brother Elianus the son of Eliezer, to be a camp with his children. He commanded them, "Keep yourselves at a distance with your camps, and do not come too near each other. If Esau comes to one camp and kill it, the other camp at a distance from it will escape him."

Jacob stayed there that night, and during the whole night he gave his servants instructions about the forces and his children. The Lord heard Jacob's prayer that day, and the Lord delivered Jacob from his brother Esau.

The Lord sent three angels of heaven, and they went before Esau. These angels appeared to Esau and his people as two thousand men, riding on horses furnished with all sorts of war instruments. They appeared to Esau and all his men to be divided into four camps, with four chiefs. One camp went on and found Esau coming with four hundred men toward his brother Jacob, and this camp ran toward Esau and his people and scared them. Esau fell off his horse in alarm, and all his men left him in that place, as they were very afraid. All the camp shouted after them when they fled from Esau, and all the warlike men said, "Surely we are the servants of Jacob, who is the servant of God, and who then can stand against us?"

Esau said to them, "Oh, so my lord and brother Jacob is your lord, whom I have not seen for these twenty years, and now that I have today come to see him, do you treat me in this manner?"

The angels answered him, "As the Lord lives, were not Jacob of whom you speak your brother, we would not have let one remaining from you and your people, but only because of Jacob we will do nothing to them."

This camp then left Esau and his men. Esau and his men had left them about a league when the second camp went toward him with all sorts of weapons, and they also did to Esau and his men as the first camp had done to them. When they had left it to go on, the third camp went toward him and they were all terrified, and Esau fell off the horse, and the whole camp cried out, and said, "Surely we are the servants of Jacob, who is the servant of God, and who can stand against us? "

Esau again answered them, "Jacob my lord and your lord is my brother, and for twenty years I have not seen his face. When I heard today that he was coming, I went to meet him! Why do you treat me in this manner?"

They answered, "As the Lord lives, were not Jacob your brother as you, we would leave none alive from you and your men, but as Jacob of whom you speak is your brother, we will not meddle with you or your men."

The third camp also passed from them, and he still continued his journey with his men toward Jacob, when the fourth camp went toward him, and they also did to him and his men as the others had done. When Esau saw the evil which the four angels had done to him and to his men, he became greatly afraid of his brother Jacob, and he went to meet him in peace.

Esau hid his hatred against Jacob, because he was afraid for his life because of Jacob, and because he imagined that the four camps that he had come upon were Jacob's servants. Jacob stayed that night with his servants in their camps, and he decided with his servants to give to Esau a present from what he had with him from all his property. Jacob left in the morning, he and his men, and they chose a present for Esau from among the cattle.

This is the present which Jacob chose from his flock to give to Esau: two hundred and forty head from the flocks, and he selected thirty camels and thirty donkeys , and fifty cattle. He put them all in ten droves, each sort by itself, and he delivered them to ten of his servants. He commanded them, "Keep yourselves at a distance from each other, and put a space between the droves. When Esau and those who are with him meet you and ask you whose you are, where are you going, and to whom does all this, you will say to them, 'We are Jacob's servants. We come to meet Esau in peace, and Jacob comes behind us. That which is in front of us is a present sent from Jacob to his brother Esau.' If they say to you why he delays from coming to meet his brother and to see him, tell them that he certainly does come joyfully behind us to meet his brother, and that he said, 'I will appease him with the present, and after this I will see his face, hopefully he will accept me.'"

So all the presents passed to his servants, and went in front of him on that day. He lodged that night with his camps by the border of the Jabuk stream. He left in the middle of the night, and took his wives, his maid servants, and all belonging to him, and by night passed them over the ford Jabuk. When all belonging to him had crossed the stream, Jacob was left by himself.

There he came upon a man, and he wrestled with him that night until the dawn. The hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint from wrestling with him. At the daybreak the man left Jacob there. He blessed him and went away. Jacob crossed the stream at the dawn. The sun arose when he had crossed the stream, and he arrived at the place of his cattle and children.

They went on until midday, and while they were going the presents were ahead of Jacob looked up and saw Esau at a distance, coming along with many men, about four hundred. Jacob was very afraid of his brother. Jacob hurried and divided his children to his wives and his handmaids, and put his daughter Dinah in a chest and gave her to servants. He passed in front of his children and wives to meet his brother. He bowed down to the ground seven times in front of his brother.

God caused Jacob to find grace and favor in the sight of Esau and his men, for God had heard Jacob's prayer. The Jacob's fear and his terror fell on his brother Esau, for Esau was very afraid of Jacob for what the angels of God had done to Esau. So Esau's anger against Jacob was turned into kindness.

When Esau saw Jacob running toward him, he also ran toward him and he embraced him, and they kissed and they wept. God put fear and kindness toward Jacob in the hearts of the men that came with Esau. They also kissed Jacob and embraced him. Eliphaz, the son of Esau, with his four brothers, sons of Esau, wept with Jacob, and they kissed him and embraced him, as the fear of Jacob had fallen on them all. Esau looked up and saw the women with their offspring, Jacob's children, walking behind Jacob and bowing along the road to Esau. Esau said to Jacob, "Who are these with you, my brother? Are they your children or your servants?"

Jacob answered Esau and said, "They are my children which God has graciously given to your servant."

While Jacob was speaking to Esau and his men, Esau looked at the whole camp, and he said to Jacob, "Where did you get the whole camp I met last night?"

Jacob said, "God graciously gave your servant in order to find favor in the sight of my lord."

The present came before Esau. Jacob urged Esau, and said, "Please take the present I have brought to my lord."

Esau said, "Why would I? Keep if for yourself."

Jacob said, "It is necessary for me to give all this, since I have seen that that you live in peace."

Esau refused to take the present, so Jacob said to him, "I beg you my lord, if I've have found favor in your sight, please receive my present! I have seen your face, as which is a god-like face, because you are pleased with me."

So Esau took the present. Jacob also gave him silver, gold and bdellium, and he urged him so much that he took them. Esau divided the cattle that were in the camp, and gave the half to the hired men who had come with him, and the other half he delivered to his children. The silver, gold and bdellium he gave Eliphaz his eldest son. Esau said to Jacob, "Let us stay with you, and we will go along slowly with you until you come to my place with me, so we can live there together."

Jacob answered his brother, "I would do as my lord says, but my lord knows that the children are young, and the flocks and herds with their young who are with me, go slowly, as they would die if they went swiftly, for you know their burdens and their fatigue. So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, and I will go on slowly for the sake of the children and the flock, until I reach to my lord's place in Seir."

Esau said to Jacob, "I will leave you some of the people with me to take care of you on the way, to help your fatigue and burden."

Jacob said, "What need is there, my lord, if you favor me? I will come to you to Seir to live there together as you have spoken. You then with your people and I will follow you." Jacob said this to Esau in order to remove Esau and his men from him, so that Jacob could later go to his father's house to Canaan. Esau listened to Jacob, and returned with the four hundred men with him on their way to Seir. However, Jacob and all belonging to him went as far as the extremity of Canaan in its borders, and he stayed there some time.

Ch. 33

Some time after Jacob left the borders of the land, he arrived at the land of Shalem, that is the city of Shechem, which is in Canaan, and he rested in front of the city. He bought a parcel of a field from the children of Hamor the people of the land, for five shekels. Jacob built himself a house, and pitched his tent there. He made stalls for his cattle, so he named the place Succoth. Jacob stayed in Succoth for a year and six months.

At that time some of the women of the inhabitants of the land went to the city of Shechem to dance and celebrate with the women of the city. When they left, Rachel and Leah, the wives of Jacob, with their families also went to the celebration with the women of the city. Dinah, Jacob's daughter, also went along with them and saw the women of the city. They stayed there with the women while all the people of the city were celebrating. All the important people of the city were there. Shechem the son of Hamor, the prince of the land, was also there to see them. Shechem saw Dinah, Jacob's daughter, sitting with her mother with the women of the city, and the girl pleased him greatly. He asked his friends and his people, "Whose daughter is that sitting among the women whom I don't know in this city?"

They answered, "She is certainly is the daughter of Jacob the son of Isaac the Hebrew, who has lived in this city for some time. When it was reported that the women of the land were going out to celebrate she went with her mother and maid servants to sit among them as you can see."

Shechem saw Dinah Jacob's daughter, and when he looked at her he became fixated on her. He had her taken by force. When Dinah went to the house of Shechem and he seized her forcibly and raped her, and he loved her exceedingly and placed her in his house.

They Jacob, and when Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, Jacob sent twelve of his servants to fetch Dinah from the house of Shechem, and they went to the house of Shechem to take away Dinah from there. When they arrived, Shechem went out to them with his men and drove them from his house. He would not allow them to come before Dinah, but Shechem was sitting with Dinah kissing and embracing her right in front of them.

The servants of Jacob came back and said, "When we came, he and his men drove us away, and this is what Shechem do to Dinah right before our eyes."

Jacob knew too that Shechem had defiled his daughter, but he said nothing, and his sons were feeding his cattle in the field, and Jacob stayed silent until their return. Before his sons came home, Jacob sent two girls from his servants' daughters to take care of Dinah in the house of Shechem, and to stay with her. Shechem sent three of his friends to his father Hamor the son of Chiddekem, the son of Pered, and said, "Get me this girl as a wife."

Hamor the son of Chiddekem the Hivite went to the house of Shechem his son, and he sat in front of him. Hamor said to his son, Shechem, "Is there then no woman your people that you will take an Hebrew woman who is not of your people?"

Shechem said to him, "Her alone must you get for me, as she delights me."

Hamor did what his son said, as he greatly beloved him. Hamor left to speak with Jacob about this matter. After he had left the house of his son Shechem, before he went to Jacob to speak to him, Jacob's sons returned from the field, as soon as they heard what Shechem the son of Hamor had done. The men were very angry about their sister, and they all came home fired up with anger, before the time to gather in their cattle. They sat before their father and they spoke to him angrily and said, "Surely death must come to this man and to his household, because the Lord God of the whole earth commanded Noah and his children that man will never rob, or commit adultery! But now Shechem has both ravaged and defiled our sister, and not one of all the people of the city said a word to him! Surely you understand that the judgment of death is on Shechem and on his father, and on the whole city because of what he has done!"

While they were speaking to their father about this matter, Hamor the father of Shechem went to speak to Jacob about what his son wanted with Dinah. He sat in front of Jacob and his sons. Hamor said to them, "My son Shechem longs for your daughter. I ask you to give her to him as a wife and intermarry with us. Give us your daughters and we will give you our daughters, and you will live with us in our land and we will be as one people in the land. Our land is extensive. Live in it and trade in it and get possessions in it, - do what you like in it - and no one will prevent you or say a word to you."

Hamor finished speaking to Jacob and his sons. Shechem his son had arrived after him, and he sat before them. Shechem said to Jacob and his sons, "May I find favor in your sight that you will give me your daughter, and I will do for her whatever you say to me. Ask me for abundance of dowry and gift, and I will give it. I will do whatever you say to me. If anyone rebels against your orders, he will die! Please give me the girl as a wife."

Simeon and Levi answered Hamor and Shechem his son deceitfully, and said, "We will do everything you have said. Our sister is in your house, but keep away from her until we send to our father Isaac about this matter, for we can do nothing without his consent. He knows the ways of our father Abraham, and whatever he says to us we will tell you. We will hide nothing from you."

Simeon and Levi said this to Shechem and his father in order to find a pretext, and to seek counsel about what was to be done to Shechem and to his city in this matter. When Shechem and his father heard what Simeon and Levi said, it seemed good to them, and Shechem and his father went home. After they left, Jacob's sons said to their father, "We know that death must come to these wicked ones and to their city, because they sinned against what God had commanded to Noah and his children and his descendants after them, and also because Shechem defiled our sister Dinah - such depravity will never be done among us! So decide you will do - seek counsel about what is to be done to them, how to kill all the inhabitants of this city!"

Simeon said to them, "Here is good advice for you! Tell them to circumcise every male among them as we are circumcised, and if they don't wish to do this, we will take our sister from them and leave. If they consent to do this and will do it, then when they are sunk low with pain, we will attack them with our swords! They will be like quiet and peaceable ones, and we will kill every male among them!"

Simeon's advice pleased them. Simeon and Levi decided to do to them as it was proposed. On the next morning Shechem and Hamor his father came again to Jacob and his son, to speak about Dinah, and to hear what answer Jacob's sons would say about o their words. Jacob's sons spoke deceitfully to them and said, "We told our father Isaac all your words, and your words pleased him. But he said to us that Abraham his father commanded him from God the Lord of the whole earth, that any man who is not of his descendants that wishes to take one of his daughters, will need to make every male belonging to him be circumcised, just as we are circumcised, and then we may give him our daughter as a wife. Now we have told you all our ways that our father spoke to us. We cannot do what you asked of us, to give our daughter to an uncircumcised man, as that is a disgrace to us. But will we agree to give you our daughter, and we will also take your daughters, and will live among you and be one people as you have said, if you listen to us and agree to be like us, to circumcise every male belonging to you, just as we are circumcised. If you will not listen to us and have every male circumcised as we are circumcised, as we have commanded, then we will come and take our daughter from you and go away."

Shechem and his father Hamor heard the words of Jacob's sons, and they greatly pleased them. Shechem and his father Hamor hurried to do the wishes of Jacob's sons, as Shechem was very fond of Dinah, and his soul was set on her. Shechem and his father told them what Jacob's sons had said. They said, "We went to Jacob's sons, and spoke to them about their daughter, and these men will agree to do according to our wishes. Our land is of great extent for them, and they will live trade in it, and we will be one people. We will take their daughters, and we will give them our daughters as wives. But only on this condition will these men agree to do this: every male among us is to be circumcised as they are circumcised, as their God commanded them. After we have been circumcised according to their instructions, then will they live among us, together with their cattle and possessions, and we will be as one people with them."

When all the men of the city heard the words of Shechem and his father Hamor, they were agreeable to this proposal. They obeyed and were circumcised, for Shechem and his father Hamor were greatly esteemed by them, being the princes of the land. On the next day, Shechem and Hamor his father left early in the morning, and they assembled all the men of their city into the middle of the city. They called for Jacob's sons, who circumcised every male on that day and the next. They circumcised Shechem and Hamor his father, and the five brothers of Shechem, and then every one left and went home. This was from the Lord against the city of Shechem, and Simeon's counsel in this matter from the Lord, so that the Lord would deliver the city of Shechem into the hands of Jacob's two sons.

Ch. 34

The number of all the males circumcised was six hundred and forty-five men, and two hundred and forty-six children. But Chiddekem, son of Pered, the father of Hamor, and his six brothers, would not listen to Shechem and his father Hamor, and they would not be circumcised, as the proposal of Jacob's sons was disgusting to them. They were very angry that the people of the city had not listened to them.

On the evening of the second day, they found eight small children who had not been circumcised, for their mothers had hidden them from Shechem and his father Hamor, and from the men of the city. Shechem and his father Hamor sent to have them brought before them to be circumcised, when Chiddekem and his six brothers sprang at them with their swords, and tried to kill them. They also tried to kill Shechem and his father Hamor and they also tried to kill Dinah too over this matter.

They said to them, "What have you done? Are there no women among the daughters of your brothers the Canaanites, that you wish to take women of the Hebrews, whom did not know before, and will do this act which your fathers never commanded you? Do you imagine that you will succeed through this act? How will you answer in this affair to your brothers the Canaanites, who will come tomorrow and ask you about this thing? If this doesn't appear just and good to them, what will you do for your lives, and me for our lives, for not listening to us? If the inhabitants of the land and all your brothers the children of Ham, hear of your act, they will say, 'Because of a Hebrew woman did Shechem and Hamor his father, and all the inhabitants of their city, did something they had never done before and which their ancestors never commanded them,' then where then will you flee or where will you hide your shame, all your days before your brothers, the inhabitants of Canaan?

"We cannot do anything about what you've done, but we can't be burdened with this yoke that our ancestors did not put on us! Tomorrow we will go and assemble all our brothers, the Canaanite brothers who live in the land, and we will all come and smite you and everyone trusts you! None of you will be left!"

When Hamor and his son Shechem and all the people of the city heard the words of Chiddekem and his brothers, they were very afraid and were sorry for what they had done. Shechem and his father Hamor answered their father Chiddekem and his brothers, "All the words which you spoke to us are true. Now do not say, nor imagine that it was because we liked the Hebrews we did this thing that our ancestors didn't command us. It was because we saw they had no intention or desire to agree with our wishes about taking their daughter except on this condition. This is why we listened to their voices and did this, in order to get what we wanted from them. After we get what we want from them, we will then return to them and do to them that which you say to us. We beg you to wait until our bodies have healed and we become strong again. Then we will go together against them, and do what we want to them."

Dinah. Jacob's daughter, heard everything that Chiddekem and his brothers had said, and what Hamor and his son Shechem and the people of their city had answered. She hurried and sent one of her maidens, that her father had sent to take care of her in the house of Shechem, to Jacob her father and to her brothers, and said, "This is what Chiddekem and his brothers advised about you, and this is what Hamor and Shechem and the people of the city answered them."

When Jacob heard this he was furious, resentful and angry. Simeon and Levi swore and said, "As the Lord lives, the God of the whole earth, by this time tomorrow, there will be no one in the whole city left!"

Twenty young men had hidden themselves who were not circumcised, and these young men fought against Simeon and Levi. Simeon and Levi killed eighteen of them, and two fled and escaped to some lime pits that were in the city. Simeon and Levi looked for them but could not find them. Simeon and Levi continued to go about in the city, and they killed all the people of the city with the sword, and they left none alive.

There was a great consternation in the city, and the cry of the people of the city ascended to heaven. And all the women and children cried aloud. Simeon and Levi had not left not a male remaining in the whole city. They killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the sword, and they took Dinah from the house of Shechem and they left. Jacob's sons returned, and came on the slain, and took all their property in the city and the field. While they were taking the spoil, three hundred men threw dust at them and struck them with stones. Then Simeon turned on them and killed them all the edge of the sword.

Simeon went in front of Levi into the city. They took away their sheep, their oxen and their cattle, and also the rest of the women and little ones, and they led all these away. They opened a gate and went out and went to their father Jacob with strength.

When Jacob saw what they had done to the city, and saw the spoil that they took from them, Jacob was very angry with them, and said to them, "What have you have done to me? I lived in peace with the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and none of them meddled with me. But now you have made me loathsome to the inhabitants of the land, to the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am but of a small number, and they will all assemble against me and kill me when they hear of your work with their brothers, and I and my household will be destroyed!"

Simeon and Levi and all their brothers with them said to him, "We live in the land, and will Shechem do this to our sister? Why are you silent about what Shechem has done? Will he treat our sister as a harlot in the streets?"

The number of women whom Simeon and Levi took captives from the city of Shechem, whom they did not slay, was eighty-five young girls. Among them was a beautiful and well favored young girl, whose name was Bunah. Simeon took her as a wife. The number of the males which they took captives and did not kill, was forty-seven men. All the young men and women that Simeon and Levi had taken captives from the city of Shechem were servants to Jacob's sons and to their children after them, until the day Jacob's sons left Egypt.

When Simeon and Levi left the city, the two young men that were left, who had hidden themselves in the city, and did not die among the people of the city, left. These young men went into the city and walked around in it, and found the city desolate with women crying. These young men called out, "This is the evil that Jacob's sons the Hebrew did to this city! They have destroyed one of the Canaanite cities!"

These men left the city and went to the city of Tapnach, and told the inhabitants of Tapnach everything that had happened, everything that Jacob's sons had done to the city of Shechem. The information reached Jashub the king of Tapnach. He sent men to the city of Shechem to see those young men, as the king did not believe them. He said, "How could two men lay were such a town as large as Shechem?"

The messengers of Jashub came back and reported, "We went to the city, and it is destroyed! There is not a man there, only crying women! There is no flock or cattle there, as Jacob's sons took away everything in the city."

Jashub was surprised at this. He said, "How could two men do such a thing, to destroy so large a city, and not one man able to stand against them? For the like has not been from the days of Nimrod, not even from the remotest time!"

Jashub, the king of Tapnach, said to his people, "Be brave and we will go and fight these Hebrews, and do to them what they did to the city! We will avenge the people of the city."

Jashub, the king of Tapnach, consulted with his counsellors about this matter, and his advisers said to him, "You alone you will not prevail over the Hebrews, as they must be powerful to do this work to the whole city. If two of them laid waste to the whole city, and no one stood against them, surely if you go against them, they will all rise against us and destroy us too. So send to all the kings that surround us, and ask them to assemble, then we will go with them and fight Jacob's sons - then you will overcome them!"

Jashub listened to his counsellors, and their words pleased him and his people, and he did as they said. Jashub the king of Tapnach sent to all the kings of the Amorites that surrounded Shechem and Tapnach, and said, "Come with me and help me to smite Jacob the Hebrew and all his sons, and wipe them off the earth. Have you heard what he did the city of Shechem?"

All the kings of the Amorites heard the evil that Jacob's sons had done to the city of Shechem, and they were greatly surprised. The seven kings of the Amorites assembled with all their armies, about ten thousand men with drawn swords, and they went to fight against Jacob's sons. Jacob heard that the kings of the Amorites had assembled to fight against his sons, and he was very afraid and distressed. Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "What have you done! Why have you harmed me by bringing all the children of Canaan to destroy me and my household? I was at peace, me and my household, and you have done this thing to me, and provoked the inhabitants of the land against me!"

Judah answered his father, "Did my brothers Simeon and Levi kill all the inhabitants of Shechem for nothing? No, it was because Shechem had humbled our sister, and sinned against the command of our God to Noah and his children! Shechem took our sister away by force, and raped her! Shechem did all this evil and not one of the inhabitants of his city interfered with him and asked why he did it. This is certainly why my brothers went and struck the city, and the Lord delivered it into their hands, because its inhabitants had sinned the commands of our God. Is it then for nothing that they have done all this? Now why are you afraid and distressed, and why are you displeased at my brothers, and why are you angry with them? Surely our God, who delivered the city of Shechem and its people to them, will also deliver all the Canaanite kings who are coming against us to us, and we will do to them as my brothers did to Shechem! Now be calm about it about them and throw away your fear! Trust the Lord our God, and pray to him to help us and deliver us, and deliver our enemies into our hands!"

Judah called to one of his father's servants, "Go now and see where those kings, who are coming against us, are situated with their armies."

The servant went and looked off into the distance, and went up opposite Mount Sihon, and saw all the camps of the kings standing in the fields. He returned to Judah and said, "The kings are in the field with all their camps. They are exceedingly numerous, like the sands on the sea shore."

Judah said to Simeon and Levi, and to all his brothers, "Strengthen yourselves and be brave, for the Lord our God is with us! Do not be afraid of them! Stand with your weapons of war, your bow and sword, and we will go and fight these uncircumcised men! The Lord our God will save us."

They left, and each girt on his weapons of war, great and small, eleven sons of Jacob, and all the servants of Jacob with them. All the servants of Isaac who were with Isaac in Hebron, went to them equipped with all sorts of weapons of war. Jacob's sons and their servants, one hundred and twelve men, went towards these kings, and Jacob went with them.

Jacob's sons sent to their father Isaac the son of Abraham to Hebron, also called Kireath-arba, and said, "Please pray for us to the Lord our God, to protect us from the Canaanites who are coming against us, to save them into our hands."

Isaac the son of Abraham prayed to the Lord for his sons, and said, "Lord God, you promised my father, that you would multiply his descendants as the stars of the sky, and you also promised me, and establish your word. The kings of Canaan are coming together to make war with my children because they committed no violence. Lord God, God of the whole earth, I pray you, please pervert the counsel of these kings that they may not fight against my sons. Impress the hearts of these kings and their people with the terror of my sons and bring down their pride, and turn them away my sons. With your power deliver my sons and their servants from them. You have the mighty power to do all this."

Jacob's sons and their servants went toward these kings, and they trusted the Lord their God. When they were on their way, Jacob their father also prayed to the Lord and said, "Lord God, powerful and exalted God, who has reigned from days of old, from then until now and forever; you are the one who stirs up wars and makes them to cease, the one who has the mighty power to exalt and to bring down, may my prayer be acceptable to you. Please show me mercies, and impress the hearts of these kings and their people with the terror of my sons. Terrify them and their camps, and with your great kindness deliver everyone who trusts you. It is you who can bring people under us and reduce nations under our power."

Ch. 35

All the kings of the Amorites came and took their stand in the field to consult with their counsellors what was to be done with Jacob's sons, as they were still afraid of them, for they said, "Two of them killed all the city of Shechem."

The Lord heard the prayers of Isaac and Jacob, and he filled the hearts of all the kings' advisers with great fear and terror so that they a;; exclaimed, "Are you silly today, or is there no understanding in you, that you would fight with the Hebrews, and take delight in your own destruction? Two of them went fearlessly to the city of Shechem and they killed all the inhabitants of the city! No one stood against them! So how can you fight them all? Surely you know that their God is exceedingly fond of them, and has done mighty things for them, such as have not been done from days of old, and among all the gods of nations, there is none can anything like to his mighty deeds. He rescued their father Abraham, the Hebrew, from Nimrod, and from all his people who had tried to kill him many a time. He rescued him from the fire into which king Nimrod had cast him, and his God saved him from it. Who else can do the like? Surely it was Abraham who killed the five kings of Elam, when they had touched his brother's son who in those times lived in Sodom. They took his servant that was faithful in his house and a few of his men, and they pursued the kings of Elam in one night and killed them, and restored to his brother's son all his property which they had taken from him. Surely you know the God of these Hebrews is delighted with them, and they are also delighted with him, as they know that he rescued them from all their enemies. Through his love for his God, Abraham took his only precious son and intended to offer him as a burnt offering to his God, and had it not been for God who prevented him from doing this, he would have done it through his love to his God. God saw his actions, swore to him, and promised him that he would save his sons and all his descendants from every trouble that would befall them, because he had done this, and through his love to his God stifled his compassion for his child. Have you not heard what their God did to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to Abimelech the king of Gerar, through taking Abraham's wife, who said of her, 'She is my sister, lest they might kill him because of her, and think of taking her as a wife?' God did to them and their people everything that you heard of. We ourselves saw with our own eyes that Esau, Jacob's brother, went to him with four hundred men, with the intention of killing him, for he had taken away from him his father's blessing. He went to meet him when he came from Syria, to kill the mother with the children, and who delivered him from his hands but his God whom he trusted? He delivered him from his brother and also from his enemies, and surely he again will protect them. Who does not know that it was their God who inspired them to do to the town of Shechem the evil which you heard of? Could two men by their own strength destroy such a large city as Shechem had it not been for their God in whom they trusted? He told them to kill the inhabitants of the city in their city. So how can you then prevail over them who have come from your city to fight with all them, even if a thousand times as many more should come to your assistance? Surely you understand that you do not come to fight with them, but you come to war with their God, so you have all come today to be destroyed! Refrain from this evil which you are trying to bring on yourselves! It will be better for you not to go to battle with them, although they are but few in numbers, because their God is with them!"

When the kings of the Amorites heard their advisers, they were filled with terror, and they were afraid of Jacob's sons and would not fight them. They listened to their advisers, to everything they had said. They thought it good advice and they took it.

The kings turned and refrained from Jacob's sons, for they dared not make war with them. They were greatly afraid of them, and their hearts melted with fear of them. This was from the Lord, for he heard the prayers of his servants Isaac and Jacob, who trusted him. All these kings returned with their camps on that day, each to his own city, and they did not fight with Jacob's sons. Jacob's sons kept their station that day until evening opposite mount Sihon, and when they saw that these kings did not come to fight them, Jacob's sons went home.

Ch. 36

At that time the Lord appeared to Jacob and said, "Leave; go to Bethel and stay there. Make there an altar to the Lord who appeared to you, who saved you and your sons from harm."

Jacob left with his sons and all belonging to him, and they went to Bethel as the Lord has ordered. Jacob was ninety-nine years old when he went to Bethel. Jacob and his sons and all the people that were with him stayed in Bethel in Luz. There he built an altar to the Lord who appeared to him. Jacob and his sons stayed in Bethel for six months. At that time Deborah the daughter of Uz, the nurse of Rebecca, who had been with Jacob, died. Jacob buried her beneath Bethel under an oak that was there.

Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel, the mother of Jacob, also died at that time in Hebron, also called Kireath-arba. She was buried in the cave of Machpelah which Abraham had bought from the children of Heth. Rebecca was one hundred and thirty-three years old when she died. When Jacob heard that his mother Rebecca was dead he cried bitterly for his mother, and made a great mourning for her, and for Deborah her nurse beneath the oak. He named the place Allon-bachuth.

Laban the Syrian died in those times. God struck him because he sinned against the covenant that existed between him and Jacob. Jacob was a hundred years old when the Lord appeared to him, and blessed him and called him Israel.

Rachel Jacob's wife conceived in those times. At that time Jacob and all belonging to him traveled from Bethel to go to his father's house, to Hebron. While they were on the way, a short way from Ephrath, Rachel gave birth to a son. She had a difficult labor and she died. Jacob buried her in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem, and he set a pillar on her grave, which is there today. Rachel was forty-five years when she died. Jacob named his son that was born to him, which Rachel bore to him, Benjamin, as he was born to him on the right hand.

It was after the death of Rachel that Jacob pitched his tent in the tent of her handmaid Bilhah. Reuben was jealous for his mother Leah because of this, and he was filled with anger. He left angrily and entered the tent of Bilhah and he removed his father's bed. At that time the portion of birthright, together with the kingly and priestly offices, was removed from the sons of Reuben, for he had profaned his father's bed, so the birthright was given to Joseph, the kingly office to Judah, and the priesthood to Levi, because Reuben had defiled his father's bed. These are the generations of Jacob who were born to him in Padan-aram, and Jacob's sons were twelve. The sons of Leah were Reuben the first born, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and their sister Dinah, and the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, were Gad and Asher, and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, were Dan and Naphtali. These are Jacob's sons which were born to him in Padan-aram. Jacob and his sons and all belonging to him traveled and went to Mamre, which is Kireath-arba, that is in Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac lived, and Jacob with his sons and all belonging to him, lived with his father in Hebron. His brother Esau and his sons, and all belonging to him went to the land of Seir and lived there. They had possessions in the land of Seir, and the children of Esau were fruitful and greatly increased in the land of Seir. These are the generations of Esau that were born to him in Canaan, and Esau's sons were five. Adah bore to Esau his first born Eliphaz, and she also bore to him Reuel, and Ahlibamah bore to him Jeush, Yaalam and Korah. These are the children of Esau who were born to him in Canaan, and the sons of Eliphaz the son of Esau were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz and Amalex, and the sons of Reuel were Nachath, Zerach, Shamah and Mizzah. The sons of Jeush were Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth, and the sons of Yaalam were Alah, Phinor and Kenaz. The sons of Korah were Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel and Eram; these are the families of Esau's sons according to their dukedoms in the land of Seir. These are the names of the sons of Seir the Horite, inhabitants of the land of Seir, Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishan, Ezer and Dishon, being seven sons. The children of Lotan were Hori, Heman and their sister Timna, that is Timna who went to Jacob and his sons, and they would not listen to her, so she went and became a concubine to Eliphaz the son of Esau, and she bore to him Amalek. The sons of Shobal were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, Onam, and the sons of Zibeon were Ajah, and Anah, this was that Anah who found the Yemim in the desert when he fed the donkeys of Zibeon his father. While he was feeding his father's donkeys he led them into the desert at different times to feed them. There was a day that he brought them to one of the deserts on the sea shore, opposite the desert of the people, and while he was feeding them, a very heavy storm came from the other side of the sea and rested on the donkeys that were feeding there, and they all stood still.

Afterwards about a hundred and twenty huge frightening animals came out of the desert at the other side of the sea, and they all went to the place where the donkeys were, and set themselves there. The animals, from their middle downward, were shaped liked humans. From their middle upward, some were like bears, and some were like a Keephas, and had tails behind them from between their shoulders reaching down to the earth, like the tails of a Ducheephath.

Note: No one knows what type of animals the Keephas and the Ducheephath were, but it is clear that they were animals known to the original author of The Book of Jasher. They may have even been common animals. It is clear that Mr. Parry was unaware how to translate the two words, as he has chosen to transliterate rather than to translate these words. This means that he has simply put the Hebrew letters into English letters without giving the meaning. Hebrew does not have the same letters (alphabet) as English. The process of putting Hebrew letters into English letters is called "transliteration." As an example, the Hebrew word for "light" is transliterated as 'owr, and the translation (the meaning) is light. As Mr. Parry did not know the meaning of the words, he wisely put them into English letters, the best thing to do in this case.

These animals mounted the donkeys and rode them away. One of these animals approached Anah and struck him with his tail, and then fled from that place. When he saw this he was afraid for his life, and he fled to the city. He told his sons and brothers what had happened to him, and many men went to look for the donkeys but could not find them. Anah and his brothers never went to that place again, as they were very afraid.

The children of Anah the son of Seir were Dishon and his sister Ahlibamah, and the children of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Cheran. The children of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan, and the children of Dishon were Uz and Aran. These are the families of the children of Seir the Horite, according to their territories in the land of Seir. Esau and his children lived in the land of Seir the Horite. They owned possessions in it and were fruitful and increased greatly. Jacob and his children and all belonging to them lived with their father Isaac in Canaan, as the Lord had commanded Abraham their father.

Ch. 37

When Jacob was one hundred and fifth years old, that is the ninth year of Jacob's living with his children in Canaan; he came from Padan-aram. In those times Jacob traveled with his children from Hebron, and they returned to the city of Shechem, they and all belonging to them, and they lived there. Jacob's children obtained good fat pasture land for their cattle in the city of Shechem, as the city of Shechem had then been rebuilt, and had about three hundred men and women living in it. Jacob and his children and all belonging to him lived in the part of the field which Jacob had bought from Hamor the father of Shechem, when he had come from Padan-aram before Simeon and Levi had struck down the city.

All the kings of the Canaanites and Amorites that surrounded the city of Shechem heard that Jacob's sons again come to Shechem and was living there. They said, "Will Jacob's sons the Hebrew again come to the city and live in it, after they have struck down its inhabitants and driven them out? Will they return and now drive out those who are living in the city or kill them?"

All the kings of Canaan assembled again to make war with Jacob and his sons. Jashub the king of Tapnach sent also to all his neighboring kings, to Elan the king of Gaash, and to Ihuri the king of Shiloh, and to Parathon the king of Chazar, and to Susi the king of Sarton, and to Laban the king of Bethchoran, and to Shabir the king of Othnay-mah, and said, "Come and assist me! Let's smite Jacob the Hebrew and his sons, and all belonging to him! They've come back to Shechem to possess it and to kill its inhabitants just like before!"

All the kings assembled and came with all their camps. They were very numerous like the sands on the shore, and they were all opposite Tapnach. Jashub the king of Tapnach left them with all his army, and encamped with them opposite Tapnach outside the city. They divided the kings into seven divisions, seven camps against Jacob's sons. They sent a declaration to Jacob and his son, "Come to us so that we can have an interview together in the plain, and revenge the cause of the men of Shechem who you killed in their city! You intend to return to the city of Shechem and live in it, and kill its inhabitants like before!"

Jacob's sons heard this and they were very angry with the kings of Canaan. Ten of Jacob's sons of Jacob hurried and left, and each of them putting on his weapons of war, and with them were one hundred and two of their servants with them equipped in battle array. All these men, Jacob's sons with their servants, went toward these kings. Jacob their father was with them, and they all stood on the heap of Shechem. Jacob prayed to the Lord for his sons, and he spread his hands to the Lord, and said, "God, you are an Almighty God! You are our father! You formed us and we are your work! I ask you to deliver my sons through your mercy from their enemies, who are coming to fight with them today! Rescue them from them, for you have the power to do so, to save the few from the many. Give to my sons, your servants, strength and bravery to fight with their enemies, to subdue them, and make their enemies fall before them. Do not let my sons and their servants die at the hands of the children of Canaan. But if it seems good to you to kill my sons and their servants, kill them in your great mercy through the hands of your ministers, so that they do not die today at the hands of the kings of the Amorites."

When Jacob finished praying to the Lord, the earth shook and the sun darkened, and all the kings were terrified and a great consternation seized them. The Lord listened to Jacob's prayer. The Lord impressed the minds of all the kings and their armies with the terror and awe of Jacob's sons. The Lord made them hear the sound of chariots, and the sound of mighty horses from Jacob's sons, and the sound of a great army accompanying them. The kings were seized with great terror at Jacob's sons, and while they were standing in their quarters, Jacob's sons advanced on them, with one hundred and twelve men, with a great and tremendous shouting. When the kings saw Jacob's sons advancing toward them, they were still more panic stricken, and they wanted to retreat from before Jacob's sons as at first, and not to fight with them. However they did not retreat, as they figured it would be a disgrace to retreat twice from the Hebrews.

Jacob's sons advanced against all the kings and their armies, and they saw that they were mighty people, numerous as the sands of the sea. Jacob's sons called to the Lord and said, "Help us, Lord, help us and answer us. We trust you, don't let us die by the hands of these uncircumcised men, who have come against us today!"

Jacob's sons put on their weapons of war. Each man took his shield and javelin, and went to battle. Judah, the son of Jacob, ran first before his brothers, and ten of his servants with him. He went toward these kings. Jashub, the king of Tapnach, also came out first with his army before Judah. When Judah saw Jashub and his army coming toward him, Judah was very angry. He approached to do battle. Jashub and all his army were advancing toward Judah, and he was riding a very strong, powerful horse. Jashub was a very brave man, and covered with iron and brass from head to foot. While he was on the horse, he shot arrows with both hands from in front and behind, as was his manner in all his battles, and he never missed his aim.

When Jashub went to fight Judah, and was darting many arrows against Judah, the Lord bound the hand of Jashub, and all the arrows that he shot rebounded on his own men. Nevertheless this, Jashub kept advancing toward Judah to challenge him with the arrows, but the distance between them was about thirty cubits. When Judah saw Jashub shooting his arrows against him, he ran to him powerfully, strengthened by his anger.

Judah picked up a large stone from the ground which weighed sixty shekels. He ran at Jashub, and struck him on his shield with the stone. Jashub was stunned with the blow, and fell off his horse. The shield burst out of Jashub's hands, and by the force of the blow sprang to the distance of about fifteen cubits, and the shield fell before the second camp. The kings that came with Jashub saw the strength of Judah, the son of Jacob, from at a distance and saw what he had done to Jashub, so they were terribly afraid of Judah. They assembled near Jashub's camp, seeing his confusion. Judah drew his sword and struck forty-two men of Jashub's camp, and all Jashub's camp fled before Judah, and no man stood against him for they left Jashub and fled from him, and Jashub was still prostrate on the ground. Jashub seeing that all the men of his camp had fled from him, hurried against Judah, and stood opposite Judah.

Jashub had a single combat with Judah, shield against shield. Jashub's men had all fled, as they were greatly afraid of Judah. Jashub took his spear in his hand to strike Judah on his head, but Judah had quickly placed his shield to his head against Jashub's spear, so that the shield of Judah received the blow from Jashub's spear, and the shield was split in half. When Judah saw that his shield was split, he drew his sword and struck Jashub at his ankles, and cut off his feet so that Jashub fell on the ground, and the spear fell from his hand. Judah hurriedly picked up Jashub's spear, and severed his head and threw it at his feet.

When Jacob's sons saw what Judah had done to Jashub, they all ran into the ranks of the other kings. Jacob's sons fought with the army of Jashub and the armies of all the kings that were there. Jacob's sons made fifteen thousand of their men fall, and they struck them as if smiting at gourds, and the rest fled for their lives.

Judah was still standing next to Jashub's body. He stripped Jashub of his coat of mail. Judah also removed the iron and brass from around Jashub, when nine men of the captains of Jashub came along to fight Judah. Judah picked up a stone from the ground, and struck one of them on the head. His skull was fractured, and his body also fell off his horse. The eight captains that stayed saw Judah's strength, so they fled through fear. Judah pursued them with ten men, and they overtook them and killed them. Jacob's sons were still smiting the armies of the kings, and they killed many of them, but those kings daringly kept their stand with their captains, and did not retreat from their places. They rebuked those of their armies that fled from Jacob's sons, but none would listen to them, as they were afraid they would die. All Jacob's sons, after having struck down the armies of the kings, returned to Judah, who was still slaying the eight captains of Jashub and stripping their garments. Levi saw Elon, the king of Gaash, advancing toward him, with his fourteen captains to smite him, but Levi was not certain of it. Elon with his captains came closer. Levi looked back and saw that battle was happening in the rear, so he ran with twelve of his servants, and they killed Elon and his captains with the sword.

Ch. 38

Ihuri the king of Shiloh came up to assist Elon, and approached Jacob. Jacob drew his bow and struck Ihuri with an arrow, killing him. When Ihuri the king of Shiloh was dead, the four remaining kings fled from their station with the rest of the captains, and they tried to retreat, as they figured that they had no more strength than the Hebrews who had killed the three kings and their captains who were more powerful than they.

When Jacob's sons saw that the remaining kings had moved from their station, they pursued them. Jacob also came from the heap of Shechem from the place where he was standing, and they went after the kings and they approached them with their servants. The kings and the captains with the rest of their armies, seeing that Jacob's sons approached them, were afraid for their lives and fled until they reached the city of Chazar. Jacob's sons pursued them to the gate of the city of Chazar. They greatly smote the kings and their armies, about four thousand men, and while they were smiting the army of the kings, Jacob was occupied with his bow killing all the kings.

He killed Parathon the king of Chazar at the gate of the city of Chazar, and afterwards he struck Susi the king of Sarton, Laban the king of Bethchorin and Shabir the king of Machnaymah, and he killed them all with arrows. Jacob's sons seeing that all the kings were dead and that they were broken up and retreating, continued to carry on the battle with the armies of the kings opposite the gate of Chazar, and they struck another four hundred of their men. Three men of the servants of Jacob fell in that battle, and when Judah saw that three of his servants had died, he was very upset, and very angry with the Amorites.

All the men that stayed with the armies of the kings were very afraid for their lives. They ran and broke the gate of the walls of the city of Chazar, and entered the city for safety. They hid themselves in the city of Chazar, for the city of Chazar was very large and extensive. After all the armies had entered the city, Jacob's sons ran after them to the city.

Four mighty men, experienced in battle, left the city and stood against the entrance of the city, with drawn swords and spears in their hands. They stood opposite Jacob's sons, and would not allow them to enter the city. Naphtali ran between them and with his sword struck two of them, and cut off their heads at one stroke. He turned to the other two, and they fled, He pursued them, overtook them, struck them and killed them. Jacob's sons went to the city and saw that there was another wall to the city. They looked for the gate of the wall but could not find it. Judah sprang on top of the wall, and Simeon and Levi followed him. All three descended from the wall into the city. Simeon and Levi killed all the men who ran for safety into the city, and also killed the inhabitants of the city with their wives and little ones with the sword, and the cries of the city ascended up to heaven. Dan and Naphtali sprang on the wall to see what caused the noise of lamentation, as Jacob's sons felt anxious about their brothers, and they heard the inhabitants of the city speaking with crying and supplications, saying, "Take everything we own in the city and go away, but do not kill us."

When Judah, Simeon, and Levi finished killing the inhabitants of the city, they ascended the wall and called to Dan and Naphtali, who were on the wall, and to the rest of their brothers. Simeon and Levi informed them of the entrance into the city, and all Jacob's sons went to fetch the spoil. Jacob's sons took the spoil of the city of Chazar, the flocks and herds, and the property. They took everything that could be captured, and that day left the city.

On the next day Jacob's sons went to Sarton, as they had heard that the men of Sarton who had stayed in the city were assembling to fight them for having killed their king. Sarton was a very high and fortified city, and it had a deep rampart surrounding the city. The pillar of the rampart was about fifty cubits and its breadth forty cubits. There was nowhere for a man to enter the city because of the rampart. Jacob's sons saw the rampart and they looked for an entrance but could not find it. The entrance to the city was at the rear, and every man that wished to enter the city came by that road and went around the whole city, and afterwards entered the city. Jacob's sons became angry as they could not find the way into the city, and the inhabitants of the city were very afraid of Jacob's sons as they had heard of their strength and what they had done to Chazar.

The inhabitants of the city of Sarton could not go out to fight Jacob's sons as they might get into the city, but when they saw that they were coming toward them, they were very afraid of them, for they had heard of their strength and what they had done to Chazar. So the inhabitants of Sarton speedily removed the bridge of the road to the city Jacob's sons came, and they brought it into the city. Jacob's sons tried to find the way into the city, but could not. The inhabitants of the city went up to the top of the wall, and saw Jacob's sons looking for an entrance into the city.

The inhabitants of the city insulted Jacob's sons from the top of the wall, and cursed them. Jacob's sons were very angry at the insults, and they sprang over the rampart with all their might, over the forty cubits' breadth of the rampart. When they had crossed the rampart they stood under the wall of the city, and they that found all the gates of the city were enclosed with iron doors. Jacob's sons tried to break open the doors of the gates of the city, but the inhabitants did not let them, and they were cast stones and arrows on them from the top of the wall.

The number of the people that were on the wall was about four hundred men. When Jacob's sons saw that the men of the city would not let them open the gates of the city, they sprang onto the top of the wall, and Judah went up first to the east part of the city. Gad and Asher went up after him to the west corner of the city, Simeon and Levi to the north, and Dan and Reuben to the south. The men who were on the top of the wall, seeing that Jacob's sons were coming up to them, all fled from the wall, and went down into the city where they hid themselves. Issachar and Naphtali who had stayed under the wall went up and broke the gates of the city, and kindled a fire at the gates of the city so that the iron melted. All Jacob's sons came into the city and they fought with the inhabitants of Sarton, and struck them with the sword, and no man stood against them. About two hundred men fled from the city. They all hid themselves in a certain tower in the city. Judah pursued them to the tower and he broke it down. The tower fell on the men and they all died. Jacob's sons went up the road of the roof of the tower, and they saw another strong, high tower at a distance in the city. The top of it reached the sky. Jacob's sons hurried up and descended, and went with all their men to that tower. They found it filled with about three hundred men, women and little ones. Jacob's sons killed most of the men in the tower and others fled from them. Simeon and Levi pursued them. Then twelve might, brave men came out to them from their hiding place. The twelve men maintained a strong battle against Simeon and Levi, who could not prevail over them. The brave men broke Simeon and Levi's shields. One of them struck at Levi's head with his sword. Levi placed his hand to his head, for he was afraid of the sword, and the sword struck Levi's hand, and nearly cut it off. Levi seized the sword and took it forcibly from the man, and with it he struck at the head of the powerful man, and he severed his head. Eleven men approached to fight Levi, for they saw that one of them was killed. Jacob's sons fought, but could not prevail over them, for those men were very powerful. Then Simeon gave a loud, remarkable screech, and the eleven powerful men were stunned at the sound. Judah from a distance knew the voice of Simeon's shouting, and Naphtali and Judah ran with their shields to Simeon and Levi. They found them fighting with the powerful men, unable to prevail over them as their shields were broken. Naphtali saw that the shields of Simeon and Levi were broken, so he took two shields from his servants and gave them to Simeon and Levi.

Simeon, Levi and Judah on that day fought against the eleven mighty men until sunset, but they could not prevail over them. This was told to Jacob, and he was very upset. He prayed to the Lord, and he and Naphtali his son went against the mighty men. Jacob approached and drew his bow near the mighty men, and killed three of their men. The remaining eight turned back. The war waged against them in the front and rear, and they were greatly afraid for their lives and could not stand before Jacob's sons, and so they fled.

In their flight they came across Dan and Asher coming toward them, and they suddenly fell on them, and fought with them, and killed two of them. Judah and his brothers pursued them, and killed the remainder of them. All Jacob's sons returned and walked around the city, searching for any men. They found about twenty young men in a cave in the city. Gad and Asher killed them all. Dan and Naphtali came upon the rest of the men who had fled and escaped from the second tower, and killed them all.

Jacob's sons killed all the inhabitants of the city of Sarton, but they left the women and the little ones in the city and did not kill them. All the inhabitants of the city of Sarton were powerful men. One of them would pursue a thousand, and two of them would not flee from ten thousand. Jacob's sons killed all the inhabitants of the city of Sarton with the sword. No man stood up against them. They left the women in the city. Jacob's sons took all the spoil of the city. They took what they liked. They took flocks and herds and property from the city, and Jacob's sons did to Sarton and its inhabitants as they had done to Chazar and its inhabitants. Then they left.

Ch. 39

When Jacob's sons left the city of Sarton, they had gone about two hundred cubits when they met the inhabitants of Tapnach. They had gone out to fight with them, because they had struck down the king of Tapnach and all his men. So all the ones that had stayed in the city of Tapnach came out to fight Jacob's sons, and they wanted to take back booty and the spoil they had captured from Chazar and Sarton. The rest of the men of Tapnach fought Jacob's sons in that place. Jacob's sons struck them, and they fled. They pursued them to the city of Arbelan, and they all fell before Jacob's sons. Jacob's sons returned to Tapnach, to take away the spoil, and then they heard that the people of Arbelan had gone out to meet them to save the spoil of their brothers. Jacob's sons left ten of their men in Tapnach to plunder the city, and they went out to go against the people of Arbelan. The men of Arbelan went out with their wives to fight with Jacob's sons, for their wives were experienced in battle, and they went out, about four hundred men and women. All Jacob's sons shouted with a loud voice, and they all ran toward the inhabitants of Arbelan, and with a huge loud noise. The inhabitants of Arbelan heard the noise of the shouting which was like the noise of lions and like the roaring of the sea and its waves. Fear and terror possessed them. They were terribly afraid of them, and so they fled into the city. Jacob's sons pursued them to the gate of the city, and fought with them in the city. All their women were engaged in slinging against Jacob's sons. The combat was very severe all that day until evening. Jacob's sons could not prevail over them, and they had almost perished in that battle. Jacob's sons cried to the Lord and greatly gained strength toward evening, and they struck all the inhabitants of Arbelan with the sword, men, women and little ones.

Jacob's sons struck the remainder of the people who had fled from Sarton, in Arbelan, and Jacob's sons did to Arbelan and Tapnach what they had done to Chazar and Sarton. When the women saw that all the men were dead, they went onto the roofs of the city and struck Jacob's sons by showering down stones like rain. Jacob's sons hurried into the city and seized all the women and killed them with the sword, and captured all the spoil, booty, flocks, herds and cattle.

Jacob's sons did to Machnaymah what they had done to Tapnach, Chazar and Shiloh, and then they left. On the fifth day Jacob's sons heard that the people of Gaash had gathered against them to battle, because they had killed their king and their captains, for there had been fourteen captains in the city of Gaash, and Jacob's sons had slain them all in the first battle.

That day Jacob's sons put on their weapons of war, and marched to battle against the inhabitants of Gaash. In Gaash there was a strong powerful people of the Amorites. Gaash was the strongest and best fortified city of all the cities of the Amorites, and it had three walls. Jacob's sons went to Gaash and found the gates of the city locked, with about five hundred men standing at the top of the outer-most wall. They found people numerous as the sands on the sea shore in ambush for Jacob's sons outside the city at the rear. Jacob's sons went to open the gates of the city, and while they were doing that, those who were in ambush at the rear of the city came out of their places and surrounded Jacob's sons. Jacob's sons were caught between the people of Gaash. The battle was both to their front and rear, and all the men that were on the wall were throwing arrows and stones from the wall on them.

Judah, seeing that the men of Gaash were getting too much for them, gave a most piercing and powerful shriek. All the men of Gaash were terrified at the sound of Judah's cry, and they fell off the wall. Everyone inside and outside the city was greatly afraid for their lives. Jacob's sons still went to break the doors of the city, when the men of Gaash threw stones and arrows on them from the top of the wall, and made them flee from the gate. Jacob's sons returned against the men of Gaash who outside the city, and they struck them terribly, like striking against gourds, and they could not stand against Jacob's sons, as fright and terror had seized them at Judah's shriek. Jacob's sons killed all the men who were outside the city, and Jacob's sons still approached to gain entrance into the city, and to fight under the city walls, but they could not as all the inhabitants of Gaash who had stayed in the city had surrounded the walls of Gaash in every direction, so that Jacob's sons were unable to approach the city to fight with them. Jacob's sons went to one corner to fight under the wall, but the inhabitants of Gaash threw arrows and stones on them like showers of rain, so they fled from under the wall. The people of Gaash who were on the wall, seeing that Jacob's sons could not prevail over them from under the wall, insulted them. They said, "What's the matter with you? You can't win! Can you do to the mighty city of Gaash and its inhabitants what you did to the cities of the Amorites that weren't so powerful? You only did that to those weak ones and killed them in the entrance of the city, as they had no strength as they were terrified at the sound of your shouting. Will you now then be able to fight in this place? Surely you will all die here! We will avenge those cities that you have laid waste!"

The inhabitants of Gaash greatly insulted Jacob's sons and insulted them with their gods, and kept throwing arrows and stones on them from the wall. When Judah and his brothers heard their words they were very angry. Judah was zealous for his God and he called out, "Lord, send help to us and our brothers!"

He ran at a distance with all his strength, with his drawn sword in his hand, and sprang from the earth. By virtue of his strength he mounted the wall, and his sword fell from his hand. Judah shouted on the wall, and all the men who were on the wall were terrified. Some of them fell from the wall into the city and died. Those who were still on the wall, when they saw Judah's strength, were very afraid and fled to the city for safety.

Some were heartened to fight with Judah on the wall, and they almost killed him when they saw there was no sword in Judah's hand. They intended to throw him off the wall to his brothers, and twenty men of the city came up to help them. They surrounded Judah and all shouted over him, and approached him with drawn swords. They terrified Judah. Judah cried out to his brothers from the wall. Jacob and his sons drew the bow from under the wall, and struck three of the men that were on the top of the wall, and Judah continued to cry and he exclaimed, "Lord help us! Lord save us!"

He cried loudly on the wall, and the cry was heard at a great distance. After this cry he shouted again, and all the men who surrounded Judah on the top of the wall were terrified. Each threw his sword away at the sound of Judah's shouting, and fled.

Judah took the swords which they had dropped. Judah fought with them and killed twenty of their men on the wall. About eighty men and women still climbed the wall from the city and they all surrounded Judah, but the Lord impressed the fear of Judah in their minds, and they were unable to approach him.

Jacob and all who were with him drew the bow under the wall, and killed ten men on the wall. They fell under the wall, before Jacob and his sons. The people on the wall seeing that twenty of their men had fallen, ran toward Judah with drawn swords, but they could not approach him for they were greatly afraid of his strength. One of their mighty men whose name was Arud approached to strike Judah on the head with his sword. Judah put his shield to his head, and the sword hit the shield, and it was split in half. This mighty man ran for his life from fear after he had struck Judah. His feet slipped on the wall and he fell among Jacob's sons who were below the wall, and Jacob's sons struck him and killed him. Judah's head hurt from the blow of the powerful man, and Judah had nearly died from it. Judah cried out on the wall owing to the pain produced by the blow, when Dan heard him, and his anger burned within him. He also left and ran at a distance and sprang from the earth and mounted the wall with his anger-induced strength. When Dan went on the wall near Judah all the men on the wall who had stood against Judah fled, and they went up to the second wall, they threw arrows and stones at Dan and Judah from the second wall, and tried to drive them from the wall. The arrows and stones struck Dan and Judah, who were nearly been killed on the wall. Wherever Dan and Judah fled from the wall, they were attacked with arrows and stones from the second wall. Jacob and his sons were still at the entrance of the city below the first wall. They were unable to draw their bow against the inhabitants of the city, as they could not be seen by them, being on the second wall. When Dan and Judah could no longer bear the stones and arrows that fell on them from the second wall, they both sprang onto the second wall near the people of the city. When the people of the city who were on the second wall saw that Dan and Judah had come to them on the second wall, they all cried out and descended between the walls.

Jacob and his sons heard the noise of the shouting from the people of the city. They were still at the entrance of the city. They were anxious about Dan and Judah as they could not see them, being on the second wall. Naphtali went up with his anger-induced strength and sprang onto the first wall to see what had caused the noise of shouting which they had heard in the city.

Issachar and Zebulun drew close to break the doors of the city. They opened the gates of the city and went into the city. Naphtali leaped from the first wall to the second, and went to assist his brothers. The inhabitants of Gaash who were on the wall, seeing that Naphtali was the third who had come up to assist his brothers, all fled down into the city. Jacob and all his sons and all their young men went into the city to them. Judah, Dan and Naphtali went down from the wall into the city to pursue the inhabitants of the city. Simeon and Levi were outside the city and did not know that the gate was opened, so they went up from there to the wall and went down to their brothers into the city.

The inhabitants of the city had all descended into the city, and Jacob's sons went to them in different directions. The battle waged against them from the front and the rear, and Jacob's sons struck them terribly, and killed about twenty thousand of them men and women. Not one of them could stand up against Jacob's sons. The blood flowed plentifully in the city like a stream of water. The blood flowed like a stream to the outer part of the city and then to the desert of Bethchorin.

The people of Bethchorin saw from a distance the blood flowing from the city of Gaash. About seventy men ran to see the blood, and they went to the place where the blood was. They followed the track of the blood and went to the wall of the city of Gaash, and they saw the blood coming from the city, and they heard the voice of crying from the inhabitants of Gaash, for it went up to heaven, and the blood kept flowing abundantly like a stream of water.

All Jacob's sons were still killing the inhabitants of Gaash. They kept killing them until evening, about twenty thousand men and women. The people of Chorin said, "Surely this is the work of the Hebrews! They are still carrying on war in all the cities of the Amorites!"

Those people hurried to Bethchorin, and each took his weapons of war. They called out to all the inhabitants of Bethchorin, who also put on their weapons of war to go and fight with Jacob's sons. When Jacob's sons had finished killing the inhabitants of Gaash, they walked around the city to strip all the slain. When they arrived in the innermost part of the city and farther on they met three very powerful men who carried no swords. Jacob's sons came up to the place where they were, and the powerful men ran away. One of them had taken Zebulun, as he saw he was a young lad and short, and powerfully dashed him to the ground. Jacob ran to him with his sword and struck him below his loins with the sword, and cut him in two, and the body fell on Zebulun. The second one seized Jacob to cut him to the ground, but Jacob turned to him and shouted to him, while Simeon and Levi ran and struck him on the hips with the sword and felled him to the ground. The powerful man left the ground with anger-induced strength, and Judah went to him before he had gained his footing, and struck him on the head with the sword, and his head was split and he died.

The third powerful man, seeing that his companions were killed, ran away from Jacob's sons, who pursued him into the city. While the powerful man was fleeing he found one of the swords of the inhabitants of the city, and he picked it up and turned to Jacob's sons and fought them with that sword. The powerful man ran to Judah to strike him on the head with the sword, and there was no shield in the hand of Judah, but while he was aiming to strike him, Naphtali hurriedly took his shield and put it to Judah's head, and the sword of the powerful man hit the shield of Naphtali and Judah escaped the sword. Simeon and Levi ran at the powerful man with their swords and struck at him hard with their swords, and the two swords entered the body of the powerful man and divided it in half, lengthwise. Jacob's sons struck the three mighty men at that time, along with all the inhabitants of Gaash towards the end of the day. Jacob's sons walked around Gaash and took all the spoil of the city. They did not allow the little ones and women to live. Jacob's sons did to Gaash what they had done to Sarton and Shiloh.

Ch. 40

Jacob's sons took all the spoil of Gaash, and left the city by night. They were marching toward the fortress of Bethchorin, and the inhabitants of Bethchorin were going to the fortress to meet them. On that night Jacob's sons fought the inhabitants of Bethchorin in the fortress of Bethchorin. All the inhabitants of Bethchorin were mighty men. Not one of them would flee before a thousand men. That night they fought in the fortress, and their shouts were heard from a distance, and the earth shook at their shouting. All Jacob's sons were afraid of those men, as they were not used to fighting in the dark, so they were very confused. They cried to the Lord, "Help us, Lord, save us so that we don't die at the hands of these uncircumcised men!"

The Lord listened to Jacob's sons. The Lord caused great terror and confusion to seize the people of Bethchorin. They fought amongst themselves in the darkness of night, and killed each other in great numbers. Jacob's sons, knowing that the Lord had brought a perverse spirit amongst those men, and that they fought their neighbors, left amongst the people of Bethchorin and went as far as the descent of the fortress of Bethchorin, and even farther on.

They stayed there safety that night with their young men. The people of Bethchorin fought the whole night, one man with his brother, and the other with his neighbor, and they cried out in every direction on the fortress. Their cry was heard at a distance, and the whole earth shook from the sound, for they were more powerful than all the people of the earth. All the inhabitants of the cities of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites and all the kings of Canaan, and also those who were on the other side of the Jordan, heard the noise of the shouting on that night. They said, "Surely these are the battles of the Hebrews who are fighting against the seven cities! Who can stand against those Hebrews?"

All the inhabitants of the cities of the Canaanites, and everyone on the other side of the Jordan, were very afraid of Jacob's sons. They said, "The same will be done to us as was done to those cities! Who can stand against their mighty strength?"

The cries of the Chorinites were very loud on that night, and increased. They killed each other until morning, and large numbers of them were killed. In the morning, and all Jacob's sons left at daybreak and went up to the fortress, and they killed the remaining Chorinites in a terrible manner in the fortress. On the sixth day, and all the inhabitants of Canaan saw at a distance all the people of Bethchorin lying dead in the fortress of Bethchorin, and strewn around like the of lambs and goats. Jacob's sons took all the spoil which they had captured from Gaash and went to Bethchorin, and they found the city full of people as many as the sands of the sea. They fought with them, and Jacob's sons killed them there until evening. Jacob's sons did to Bethchorin what they had done to Gaash and Tapnach, and as they had done to Chazar, to Sarton and to Shiloh. Jacob's sons took with them the spoil of Bethchorin and all the spoil of the cities. On that day they went home to Shechem. Jacob's sons came home to the city of Shechem. They stayed outside the city, and they then rested there from the war, all night. They left their servants together with all the spoil that they had taken from the cities, outside the city. They did not enter the city, as they said that there may be yet more fighting, and they may come to besiege them in Shechem.

Jacob, his sons and their servants stayed that night and the next day in the portion of the field which Jacob had purchased from Hamor for five shekels, and everything that they had captured was with them. The booty which Jacob's sons had captured, was in the portion of the field, and was as immense as the sands on the sea shore.

The inhabitants of the land observed them from a distance. All the inhabitants of the land were afraid of Jacob's sons who had done this thing, for no king from the days of old had ever done anything like it.

The seven kings of the Canaanites decided to make peace with Jacob's sons, as they were greatly afraid for their lives. On that day, the seventh day, Japhia the king of Hebron sent secretly to the king of Ai, to the king of Gibeon, to the king of Shalem, to the king of Adulam, to the king of Lachish, to the king of Chazar, and to all the Canaanite kings who were under their subjection, and said, "Come to me so that we may go to Jacob's sons. I will make peace with them, and form a treaty with them. Otherwise all your lands may be destroyed by the swords of Jacob's sons, as they did to Shechem and the cities around it, as you have heard and seen. When you come to me, do not come with many men, but let every king bring his three head captains, and every captain bring three of his officers. All of you come to Hebron, and we will go together to Jacob's sons, and supplicate them to form a treaty of peace with us."

All the kings did as the king of Hebron had asked, for they were all under his counsel and command. All the kings of Canaan assembled to make peace with Jacob's sons. Jacob's sons returned and went to the portion of the field that was in Shechem, as they had no confidence in the kings of the land. Jacob's sons returned and stayed in the portion of the field for ten days, and no one went to make war with them. When Jacob's sons saw that there was war, they all assembled and went to the city of Shechem, and stayed there. After forty days, all the kings of the Amorites assembled from all their places and went to Hebron, to Japhia, the king of Hebron. The number of kings that went to Hebron, to make peace with Jacob's sons, was twenty-one kings, the number of captains that came with them was sixty-nine, their men were one hundred and eighty-nine, and all these kings and their men rested at Mount Hebron. The king of Hebron went out with his three captains and nine men, and these kings decided to go to Jacob's sons to make peace. They said to the king of Hebron, "Go you ahead of us with your men, and speak to Jacob's sons on our behalf. Then we will come after you and confirm your words."

The king of Hebron did so. Jacob's sons heard that all the kings of Canaan had gathered and rested in Hebron. Jacob's sons sent four of their servants as spies, and said, "Go and spy these kings. Question their men whether they are few or many, and if they are but few in number, count them all and come back."

The servants of Jacob secretly went to these kings, and did as Jacob's sons had commanded them. On that day they came back to Jacob's sons, and said to them, "We went to those kings, and they are but few in number. We counted them all, and there are two hundred and eighty-eight, kings and men."

Jacob's sons said, "They are but few in number, so we will not all go out to them."

In the morning Jacob's sons left and chose sixty two of their men, and ten of Jacob's sons went with them. They put on their weapons of war, as they thought they were coming to make war with them. They did not know that they were coming to make peace with them. Jacob's sons went with their servants to the gate of Shechem, toward those kings, and their father Jacob was with them. When they had come out, the king of Hebron and his three captains and nine men with him were coming along the road towards Jacob's sons. Jacob's sons saw at a distance Japhia, the king of Hebron, with his captains, coming toward them. Jacob's sons took their stand at the place of the gate of Shechem, and did not proceed.

The king of Hebron continued to advance, he and his captains, until he came close to Jacob's sons, and he and his captains bowed down to them to the ground. The king of Hebron sat with his captains before Jacob and his sons. Jacob's sons said to him, "What has happened to you, king of Hebron? Why have you come to us today? What do you want from us?"

The king of Hebron said to Jacob, "I beg you my lord, all the kings of the Canaanites today have come to make peace with you."

Jacob's sons heard the words of the king of Hebron, but they would not consent to his proposals. They did not trust him, and they imagined that the king of Hebron had spoken deceitfully to them. The king of Hebron knew from the words of Jacob's sons, that they did not believe him. He went closer to Jacob, and said to him, "I beg you, my lord, to be assured that all these kings have come to you on peaceable terms. They have not come with all their men, and they did not bring their weapons of war with them. They have come to seek peace from my lord and his sons."

Jacob's sons answered the king of Hebron, "Send to all these kings, and if you speak the truth to us, then let them each come one by one to us. If they come to us unarmed, we will know that they do in fact seek peace from us."

Japhia, the king of Hebron, sent one of his men to the kings, and they all came before Jacob's sons, and bowed down to them to the ground. The kings sat before Jacob and his sons, and said to them, "We have heard everything that you did to the kings of the Amorites with your sword and great power. No man could stand up before you. We were afraid of you, in case what happened to them would happen to us. So we have come to you to form a peace treaty between us. So then contract with us a truthful covenant of peace, that you will not meddle with us, just as we have not meddled with you."

Jacob's sons then knew that they had really come to seek peace from them, so Jacob's sons listened to them, and formed a covenant with them. Jacob's sons swore to them that they would not meddle with them, and all the kings of the Canaanites swore to them too. Jacob's sons made them tributary from that day forward.

After this all the captains of the kings came with their men before Jacob, with presents for Jacob and his sons, and they bowed down to the ground to him. These kings then urged Jacob's sons and to return all the spoil they had captured from the seven cities of the Amorites, and Jacob's sons did so. They returned everything that they had captured, the women, the little ones, the cattle and all the spoil which they had taken, and they sent them off, and they went away each to his city. All these kings again bowed down to Jacob's sons. They gave them many gifts in those times. Jacob's sons sent off these kings and their men, and they left peaceably back to their cities. Jacob's sons also returned to their home, to Shechem. There was peace from that day forward between Jacob's sons and the kings of the Canaanites, until the Israelites inherited Canaan.

Ch. 41

At the revolution of the year Jacob's sons traveled from Shechem and went to Hebron, to their father Isaac. They lived there, but they fed their flocks and herds daily in Shechem, as in those times there was good pasture there. Jacob and his sons and their entire household lived in the valley of Hebron. It was in that year, when Jacob was a hundred and six years old, tenth years after Jacob came from Padan-aram, that Leah the wife of Jacob died. She was fifty-one years old when she died in Hebron. Jacob and his sons buried her in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which is in Hebron, which Abraham had bought from the children of Heth as a burial place.

Jacob's sons lived with their father in the valley of Hebron, and all the inhabitants of the land knew their strength. Their fame spread throughout the land. Joseph the son of Jacob, and his brother Benjamin, the sons of Rachel, the wife of Jacob, were still young in those times, and did not go out with their brothers to the battles in all the cities of the Amorites. When Joseph saw the strength of his brothers, and their greatness, he praised them and commended them, but he ranked himself above than them. Jacob, his father, also loved him more than any of his sons, for he was a son of his old age, and because of his love toward him, made him a coat of many colors.

When Joseph saw that his father loved him more than his brothers, he continued to exalt himself above his brothers, and he brought his father bad reports about them. Jacob's sons hated him and could not speak politely to him at all as they saw how Joseph behaved toward them, and that their father loved him more than any of them. Joseph was seventeen years old, and he was still exalting himself above his brothers. At that time he dreamed a dream, and he went to his brothers and told them his dream. He said to them, "I dreamed that we were all binding sheaves in the field, and my sheaf stood up on the ground and your sheaves surrounded it and bowed down to it."

His brothers said to him, "What does the dream mean? Do you imagine you will rule over us?"

He told that to his father Jacob, and Jacob kissed Joseph when he heard these words, and blessed him. When Jacob's sons saw that their father had blessed Joseph and had kissed him, and that he loved him greatly, they became jealous of him and hated him even more.

After this Joseph dreamed another dream and told the dream to his father in the presence of his brothers. Joseph said to his father and brothers, "I've had another dream! The sun, the moon and the eleven stars bowed down to me."

His father heard what Joseph said about his dream, and as he saw that his brothers hated Joseph over this matter, Jacob rebuked Joseph in front of them and said, "What's this dream all about? You're praising yourself in front of your brothers who are older than you are! Do you imagine that your mother and I and your eleven brothers will ever bow down to you?"

His brothers were jealous of him because of his words and dreams, and they hated him. Jacob kept his dreams to himself. One day Jacob's sons went to feed their father's flock in Shechem, as they were still herdsmen in those times. They became delayed, and when the time of gathering in the cattle had passed, and they had still not arrived. Jacob saw that his sons were delayed in Shechem, and said to himself, "Perhaps the people of Shechem fought with them; that's why they are delayed!"

Jacob called his son Joseph and commanded, "Your brothers are feeding in Shechem today, and they haven't come back yet. Go and see where they are, and bring back word about the welfare of your brothers and the welfare of the flock."

Jacob sent his son Joseph to the valley of Hebron. Joseph went to his brothers to Shechem, but could not find them. He went around the field near Shechem to see where his brothers had gone, and lost his way in the desert, and did not know which way to go. An angel of the Lord found him wandering along the road toward the field. Joseph asked the angel of the Lord, "I'm looking for my brothers - have you heard where they are feeding the livestock?"

The angel of the Lord said to Joseph, "I saw your brothers feeding the livestock here, and I heard them say they were going to Dothan."

Joseph listened to the angel of the Lord, and went to his brothers in Dothan. He found them there feeding the flock. Joseph went up to his brothers, but before he arrived, they had already decided to kill him. Simeon said to his brothers, "The man of dreams is coming to us today. Let's kill him and throw him into one of the pits in the desert. When his father asks us where he is, we will say that a wild animal has eaten him!"

Reuben listened to what his brothers said about Joseph, and he said to them, "You shouldn't do this! How could look our father Jacob in the eye? Throw him into the pit and let him die in it, but don't spill his blood."

Reuben said this to save him from them so he could bring him back to his father. When Joseph arrived he sat with his brothers. They seized him and struck him to the ground. They stripped off the coat of many colors he was wearing. They threw him into a pit. There was no water in the pit, only serpents and scorpions. Joseph was afraid of the serpents and scorpions in the pit. Joseph called out loudly, so the Lord hid the serpents and scorpions in the sides of the pit, and they did not harm Joseph. Joseph called out from the pit to his brothers, "What have I done to you? What have I done wrong? Why don't you fear the Lord about me? Am I not your flesh and blood? Isn't your father Jacob my father too? Why have you done this? How will you be able to look our father Jacob in the eye?"

He continued to call to his brothers from the pit. He said, "Judah, Simeon, and Levi, my brothers, get me out of the dark place you put me in! Have compassion on me, children of the Lord, sons of Jacob my father! Even if I've wronged you, aren't you the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? If they saw an orphan they had compassion for him - someone who was hungry, they gave him bread to eat, or someone who was thirsty, they gave him a drink of water to drink - or someone who was naked, they covered him with clothes! So why don't you pity your brother! I'm your flesh and blood! If I have wronged you, surely you'll have compassion on me because of my father!"

Joseph said this while in the pit, but his brothers could not listen to him. Joseph was crying and crying in the pit. Joseph said, "If only my father found out today what my brothers have done to me and what they've said to me!

All his brothers heard his cries in the pit, so they went away so they would not hear Joseph's cries from the pit.

Ch. 42

They sat on the opposite side, about the distance of a bow-shot, to eat bread. While they were eating, they decided what to do with him, whether to kill him or to bring him back to his father. They were holding counsel, when they looked up, and saw a company of Ishmaelites coming at a distance on Gilead road going down to Egypt. Judah said to them, "What good will it do us to kill our brother? Perhaps God will require him from us! This is my proposal, and it involves this company of Ishmaelites going down to Egypt. Let's get rid of him to them! We won't lay a hand on him! They will take him with them, and he will be lost among the people of the land. We personally won't kill him."

The proposal pleased his brothers and they did what Judah said. While they were discussing about this matter, before the company of Ishmaelites reached them, seven Midian traders passed by them. They were thirsty, and they saw the pit in which Joseph was imprisoned. These Midianites ran to the pit to drink water, as they thought it contained water. On arriving at the pit they heard Joseph crying in the pit. They looked down into the pit, and they saw a youth. They called to him "Who are you? How put you in this pit in the desert?"

They all helped to raise up Joseph out of the pit. They took him and went away on their way past his brothers. His brothers said to them, "Why did you take our servant from us leave? We placed this youth in the pit because he rebelled against us, and you brought him out and you're leading him away! Give him back!"

The Midianites answered Jacob's sons, "Is this your servant, does this man attend you? Perhaps you are all his servants, as he is better looking than any of you! Why are you lying to us? We won't listen to you! We found the youth in the pit in the desert, and we took him. We're leaving."

All Jacob's sons approached them and said, "Give us back our servant, or you will all die by the sword!"

The Midianites cried out against them, and drew their swords, and went to fight with Jacob's sons. Simeon left his seat against them, and sprang on the ground and drew his sword and ran at the Midianite. He gave a terrible shout before them, so loud that his shouting was heard at a distance, and the earth shook at Simeon's shouting. The Midianites were terrified at the noise and fell on their faces. They were excessively alarmed. Simeon said to them, "I am Simeon, the son of Jacob the Hebrew, who have, with my brother alone, destroyed the city of Shechem and the cities of the Amorites! Even more will God help me, if all your brothers the people of Midian, and also the kings of Canaan, came with you, they could not fight against me. Give us back the youth, or I will give your flesh to the birds of the skies and the beasts of the earth!"

The Midianites were more afraid of Simeon, and they approached Jacob's sons with terror and fright, and with pitiful words. They said, "You said that the young man is your servant, and that he rebelled against you, and so you placed him in the pit. What will you do with a servant who rebels against his master? Sell him to us! We will pay you what you want for him."

The Lord was pleased to do this so that Jacob's sons would not kill their brother. The Midianites saw that Joseph was of good-looking, so they wanted him and were urgent to buy him from his brothers. Jacob's sons listened to the Midianites and sold their brother Joseph to them for twenty pieces of silver. Reuben their brother was not with them. The Midianites took Joseph and went on their way to Gilead. As they were going along the road, the Midianites changed their minds about having purchased the young man, one said to the other, "What have we done by taking this good-looking youth from the Hebrews? Perhaps he's been stolen from the land of the Hebrews. Why did we do this? If he's looked for and found in our hands we will die because of him. Strong powerful men have sold him to us, the strength of one of whom you saw today. Perhaps they stole him from his land with their mighty power, and have sold him to us for the small payment we gave them."

While they were discussing this, they saw the company of Ishmaelites, the ones that Jacob's sons had seen, advancing toward them. The Midianites said to each other, "Let's sell this youth to the company of Ishmaelites who are coming toward us, and we will take for him the little that we gave for him, and we will be delivered from his evil. They did so. The Midianites sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver which is what they had paid his brothers for them. The Midianites went on their way to Gilead, but the Ishmaelites took Joseph. They let him ride one of the camels, and they were taking him to Egypt.

Joseph heard that the Ishmaelites were going to Egypt, so he cried because he was to be so far away from Canaan, from his father. He wept bitterly while he was riding on the camel. One of their men observed him, and made him get down from the camel and walk on foot. Nevertheless Joseph continued to cry and weep, and he said, "My father, my father!"

One of the Ishmaelites struck Joseph on the cheek, and still he continued to weep. Joseph was tired on the road, and was unable to proceed because of the bitterness of his life. They all struck him and afflicted him and frightened him so that he would stop crying. The Lord saw Joseph's trouble, so the Lord brought darkness and confusion on those men, and the hand of every one that struck him became withered. They said to each other, "What God has done to us?"

They did not know that this had happened to them because of Joseph. The men went along on the road, and passed the Ephrath way where Rachel was buried. Joseph reached his mother's grave. Joseph hurried and ran to his mother's grave, and fell on the grave and wept. Joseph cried aloud on his mother's grave. He said, "My mother, my mother, you who gave birth to me, wake up! Rise and see your son, how he has been sold for a slave, and no one to pity him! Rise and see your son, weep with me because of my troubles, and see the heart of my brothers! Arouse my mother, arouse, awaken from your sleep for me, and direct your battles against my brothers! They have they stripped me of my coat, and sold me twice for as slave, and separated me from my father, and there is no one to pity me! Rise up and accuse them to God, and see whom God will justify in the judgment, and who he will condemn! Rise, my mother, rise, awake from your sleep and see how my father is today, and comfort him and ease his heart!

Joseph continued to say these words, and cried aloud and bitterly on his mother's grave. After he finished speaking, and from bitterness of heart he became still as a stone on the grave. Joseph heard a voice speaking to him from under the ground, which answered him with bitterness of heart, and with a voice of crying and praying in these words, "My son, my son Joseph, I have heard your crying and your lamentation! I have seen your tears! I know your troubles, my son, and it grieves me for your sake, and abundant grief is added to my grief! So then my son, Joseph my son, set your hope on the Lord! Wait for him and do not fear, for the Lord is with you, he will save you from all trouble. Rise my son, go down to Egypt with your masters, and do not fear, for the Lord is with you, my son!" She continued to speak like to these words to Joseph, and she was still. Joseph heard this, and he was very surprised over it, and he continued to weep.

After this one of the Ishmaelites saw him crying on the grave, and was angry with him. He drove him away, and struck him and cursed him. Joseph said to the men, "May I find favor in your sight to take me back to my father's house, and he will give you abundant riches."

They answered him, "Aren't you a slave, and where is your father! If you had a father you would not twice have been sold twice as a slave for so little payment! They were angry with him, and they continued to smite him and to chastise him, and Joseph wept bitterly. The Lord saw Joseph's suffering, and Lord again struck the men and chastised them. The Lord caused darkness to cover them on the earth. The lightning flashed and the thunder roared, and the earth shook at the voice of the thunder and of the mighty wind. The men were terrified and did not know where to go. The beasts and camels stood still. They tried to lead them, but they would not go, so they struck them, but they crouched on the ground.

The men said to each other, "What has God has done to us? What are our sins to cause this to happen to us?"

One of them said, "Perhaps it's happened to us for striking this slave! We should encourage him to forgive us, and then we will know on if this evil happened to us because of him, and if God has compassion for us, then we will know that it all happened because we struck this slave."

The men did so, and they urged Joseph to forgive them. They said, "We have sinned against the Lord and you. Please ask your God not to kill us for sinning against him."

Joseph did what they said. The Lord listened to Joseph, and took away the harm he had inflicted on the men because of Joseph. The beasts got up from the ground and continued on their way. The raging storm subsided and the earth became calm. The men continued on their journey down to Egypt. The men knew that this evil had happened to them because of Joseph. They said to each other, "We know that it was because we struck him that this evil befell us, so why should we bring this death on ourselves? Let us hold counsel over what to do to this slave."

One answered, "He told us to take him back to his father. Let's take him back and we will go to the place that he says. We can take the price that we gave for him from his family and we will then go away."

Another one answered, "This counsel is very good, but we cannot do it because it's too far away."

Another one said, "This is the counsel to be adopted, we will not swerve from it: today we will go to Egypt, and when we arrive, we will sell him there for a high price, then we will be saved from his evil."

This pleased the men and they agreed to it, so they continued on their way to Egypt with Joseph.

Ch. 43

When Jacob's sons had sold their brother Joseph to the Midianites, they were upset over it and sorry for their actions. They wanted to bring him back, but could not find him. Reuben returned to the pit in which Joseph had been put, in order to get him out and give him back to his father. Reuben stood by the pit, but did not hear a word. He called out, "Joseph! Joseph!" but no one answered or uttered a word.

Reuben said, "Joseph has died from fright, or some serpent has killed him!"

Reuben descended into the pit, and searched for Joseph. He could not find him in the pit, so he came out again. Reuben tore his clothes and said, "The child is not there, and how will I tell my father about him if he is dead?"

He went to his brothers and found them grieving over Joseph, and deciding together how to tell their father about him. Reuben said to his brothers, "I went to the pit but Joseph was not there! What will we tell our father? My father will seek the lad from me."

His brothers answered, "We did it, and afterwards our hearts struck us over this act. Now we are thinking up a lie sit to tell our father about it."

Reuben said to them, "What is this you have done to bring down the grey hairs of our father in sorrow to the grave? What you have done is not good!"

Reuben sat with them. They all left and swore to each other not to tell this thing to Jacob. They all said, "The man who would tell this to our father or his household, or who will report this to any of the children of the land, we will all turn against him and kill him with the sword!"

Jacob's sons feared each other in this matter, from the youngest to the oldest, so no one spoke a word, and they hid the thing in their hearts. Later they sat down to invent something to tell their father Jacob about all this.

Issachar said to them, "Here is an advice for you if it seems good to you to do it: take Joseph's coat and tear it. Kill a goat kid and dip it in its blood. Send it to our father and when he sees it he will say a wild animal has eaten him. So tear his coat and the blood will be on his coat! By doing this we will be free of our father's murmurings."

Issachar's advice pleased them, so they listened to him and did what he said. They took Joseph's coat and tore it. They killed a goat kid and dipped the coat in the blood, then trampled it in the dust, and they sent the coat to their father Jacob with Naphtali, and they ordered him to say these words: "We had gathered the cattle and had gone as far as the road to Shechem and further, when we found this coat on the road in the desert covered in blood and in dust. Is this your son's coat or not?"

Naphtali went to his father and he gave him the coat, and he told to him what his brothers had told him to say. Jacob saw Joseph's coat and he recognized it. He fell on his face to the ground and became as still as a stone. Later he left and cried out loudly, "It is the coat of my son Joseph!"

Jacob hurried and sent one of his servants to his sons, who went to them and found them coming along the road with the flock. Jacob's sons went to their father about evening, and their clothes were torn and dust was on their heads. They found their father crying out loudly. Jacob said to his sons, "Tell me truly what evil have you suddenly brought on me today?"

They answered their father Jacob, "We were going along today after the flock had been gathered in, and we went as far as the city of Shechem by the road in the desert, when we found this coat filled with blood on the ground, and we recognized it and sent it to you if you would recognize it too."

Jacob heard their words and he cried out loudly, "It is my son's coat! A wild animal beast has eaten him! Joseph is torn in pieces! Today I sent him to see whether it was well with you and well with the flocks and to bring back word from you. He went as I commanded him, and this has happened to him today while I thought my son was with you!"

Jacob's sons answered, "He did not come to us. We haven't seen him from the time we left until now."

When Jacob heard their words he again cried out aloud. He left and tore his garments, and put sackcloth on his loins, and wept bitterly. He mourned and cried and said, "Joseph my son! My son Joseph! Today I sent you to check on the welfare of your brothers, and you have been torn in pieces! It's my fault that this has happened to my son! I grieve for you, Joseph my son, I grieve for you! How sweet you were to me during life, and how exceedingly bitter is your death to me! If only I had died in your place, Joseph my son! I grieve for you my son, my son, my son! Joseph my son, where are you? Arouse, arouse from your place, and come and see my grief for you, my son Joseph. Come now and count the tears gushing from my eyes down my face, and take them to the Lord, so that his anger may turn from me. Joseph my son, how did you fall, by the hand of one by whom no one had fallen from the beginning of the world today. You have been put to death by an enemy, inflicted with cruelty! I surely know that this has happened to you because of the multitude of my sins. Arouse now and see how bitter is my trouble for you my son, although I did not rear you, nor make you, nor give you breath and life, but it was God who formed you and built your bones and covered them with flesh, and breathed the breath of life into your nostrils, and then he gave you to me. Now truly God who gave you to me, has taken you from me, and this has befallen you!"

Jacob continued to say such words about Joseph, and he wept bitterly. He fell to the ground and became still. All Jacob's sons seeing their father's trouble, were sorry for what they had done, and they also wept bitterly. Judah left and lifted his father's head from the ground, and placed it on his lap, and he wiped his father's tears from his cheeks, and Judah wept an exceedingly greatly, while his father's head was reclining on his lap, still as a stone. Jacob's sons saw their father's trouble, and they lifted up their voices and continued to weep. Jacob was lying on the ground still as a stone. All his sons and his servants and his servant's children left and stood round him to comfort him, and he refused to be comforted. The whole household of Jacob left and mourned greatly because of Joseph and their father's trouble, and the news reached Isaac, the son of Abraham, the father of Jacob, and he wept bitterly because of Joseph, he and his entire household. He left the place where he lived in Hebron, and his men with him, and he comforted Jacob his son, but he refused to be comforted.

After this, Jacob left the ground, and his tears were running down his cheeks. He said to his sons, "Leave and take your swords and your bows, and go into the field, and see whether you can find my son's body and bring it to me so that I may bury it. I pray you, also look among the wild animals and hunt them. Bring the first one you come across today to me. Perhaps the Lord will today pity my suffering, and prepare that which did tore my son into pieces. Bring it to me, and I will avenge my son."

His sons did as their father had commanded. They left early in the morning, and each took his sword and his bow in his hand, and they left for the field to hunt the wild animals. Jacob was still crying aloud and walking to and fro in the house, and hitting his hands together, saying, "Joseph my son, Joseph my son"

Jacob's sons went into the desert to seize the wild animals. A wolf went toward them, and they seized him, and took him to their father. They said to him, "This is the first one we have found. We've brought him to you as you commanded us, and we could not find your son's body."

Jacob took the beast from his sons, and he cried out with a loud and crying voice, holding the beast by his hand. He spoke bitterly to the beast, "Why did you eat my son Joseph? Why didn't you fear of the God of the earth, or my trouble for my son Joseph? You ate my son for nothing! He did no violence, and thereby rendered me culpable on his account, so God will require him that is persecuted."

The Lord opened the mouth of the beast in order to comfort Jacob with its words, and it answered Jacob, "As God lives who created us on the earth, and as your life lives, my lord, I did not see your son, nor did I tear him to pieces, but I also came from a distant land to seek my son who left me today, and I do not know not whether he is living or dead. I went today into the field to seek my son, and your sons found me, and seized me and increased my grief, and have today brought me before you, and I have now said all my words to you. So then, human, I am in your hands, and do to me today as you like, but by the life of God who created me, I did not see your son, nor did I tear him to pieces, nor have I eaten the flesh of man all the days of my life."

When Jacob heard the words of the beast he was greatly surprised. He sent the beast away, and she left. Jacob was still crying aloud and crying for Joseph day after day, and he mourned for his son for many days.