This book is so called from its treating of the GENERATION, that is, of the creation and the beginning of the world. The Hebrews call it BERESITH, from the Word with which it begins. It contains not only the history of the Creation of the world; but also an account of its progress during the space of 2369 years, that is, until the death of JOSEPH.
Chapters:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50
Douay Rheims - Old Testament
1 In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.
2 And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.
3 And God said: Be light made. And light was made.
4 And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness.
5 And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was evening and morning one day.
6 And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning were the second day.
9 God also said: Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done.
10 And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 And he said: Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done.
12 And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit having seed each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years:
15 To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth. And it was so done.
16 And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night: and the stars.
17 And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth.
18 And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and morning were the fourth day.
20 God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.
21 And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.
23 And the evening and morning were the fifth day.
24 And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was so done.
25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.
27 And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.
29 And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat:
30 And to all the beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon. And it was so done.
31 And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day.
1 So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.
3 And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
4 These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the earth:
5 And every plant of the field before it spring up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.
6 But a spring rose out the earth, watering all the surface of the earth.
7 And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
8 And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed.
9 And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10 And a river went out the place of pleasure to water paradise, which from thence is divided into four heads.
11 The name of the one is Phison: that is it which compasseth all the land of Hevilath, where gold groweth.
12 And the gold of that land is very good: there is found bdellium, and the onyx stone.
13 And the name of the second river is Gehon: the same is it that compasseth all the land of Ethiopia
14 And the name of the third river is Tigris: the same passeth along by the Assyrians. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
15 And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise for pleasure, to dress it, and keep it.
16 And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat:
17 But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. for in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death.
18 And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself.
19 And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature the same is its name.
20 And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself.
21 Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it.
22 And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and brought her to Adam.
23 And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.
24 Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh.
25 And they were both naked: to wit, Adam and his wife: and were not ashamed.
1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?
2 And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die.
4 And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death.
5 For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband who did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons.
8 And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise.
9 And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou?
10 And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.
11 And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?
12 And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived men, and I did eat.
14 And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and the beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
16 To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband's power, and he shall have dominion over thee.
17 And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work; with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life.
18 Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou eat the herbs of the earth.
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth, out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.
20 And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all the living.
21 And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife, garments of skins, and clothed them.
22 And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now, therefore, lest perhaps he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.
23 And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken.
24 And he cast out Adam; and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
1 And Adam knew Eve his wife: who conceived and brought forth Cain, saying: I have gotten a man through God.
2 And again she brought forth his brother Abel. And Abel was a shepherd, and Cain a husbandman.
3 And it came to pass after many days, that Cain offered, of the fruits of the earth, gifts to the Lord.
4 Abel also offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat: and the Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offerings.
5 But to Cain and his offerings he had no respect: and Cain was exceedingly angry, and his countenance fell.
6 And the Lord said to him: Why art thou angry? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.
8 And Cain said to Abel his brother: Let us go forth abroad. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him.
9 And the Lord said to Cain: Where is thy brother Abel? And he answered, I know not: am I my brother's keeper?
10 And he said to him: What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the earth.
11 Now, therefore, cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath opened her mouth and received the blood of thy brother at thy hand,
12 When thou shalt till it, it shall not yield to thee its fruit: a fugitive and vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth.
13 And Cain said to the Lord: My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon.
14 Behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from thy face, and I shall be a vagabond and a fugitive on the earth: everyone, therefore, that findeth me, shall kill me.
15 And the Lord said to him: No, it shall not be so: but whosoever shall kill Cain, shall be punished sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, that whosoever found him should not kill him.
16 And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a fugitive on the earth, at the east side of Eden.
17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and brought forth Henoch: and he built a city, and called the name thereof by the name of his son Henoch.
18 And Henoch begot Irad, and Irad begot Maviael, and Maviael begot Mathusael, and Mathusael begot Lamech:
19 Who took two wives: the name of the one was Ada, and the name of the other was Sella.
20 And Ada brought forth Jabel: who was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of herdsmen.
21 And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of them that play upon the harp and the organs.
22 Sella also brought forth Tubalcain, who was a hammerer and artificer in every work of brass and iron. And the sister of Tubalcain was Noema.
23 And Lamech said to his wives Ada and Sell: Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech: for I have slain a man to the wounding of myself, and a stripling to my own bruising.
24 Sevenfold vengeance shall be taken for Cain: but for Lamech seventy times sevenfold.
25 Adam also knew his wife again: and she brought forth a son, and called his name Seth, saying: God hath given me another seed, for Abel whom Cain slew.
26 But to Seth also was born a son, whom he called Enos; this man began to call upon the name of the Lord.
1 This is the book of the generation of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him to the likeness of God.
2 He created them male and female; and blessed them: and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
3 And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son to his own image and likeness, and called his name Seth.
4 And the days of Adam, after he begot Seth, were eight hundred years: and he begot sons and daughters.
5 And all the time that Adam lived came to nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.
6 Seth also lived a hundred and five years, and begot Enos.
7 And Seth lived after he begot Enos, eight hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.
8 And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.
9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.
10 After whose birth he lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and begot sons and daughters.
11 And the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died.
12 And Cainan lived after he begot Malaleel, eight hundred and forty years, and begot sons and daughters.
13 And Cainan lived after he begot Malaleel, eight hundred forty years, and begot sons and daughters.
14 And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.
15 And Malaleel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared.
16 And Malaleel lived after he begot Jared, eight hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.
17 And all the days of Malaleel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.
18 And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Henoch.
19 And Jared lived after he begot Henoch, eight hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.
21 And Henoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Mathusala.
22 And Henoch walked with God: and lived after he begot Mathusala, three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
23 And all the days of Henoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.
24 And he walked with God, and was seen no more: because God took him.
25 And Mathusala lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech.
26 And Mathusala lived after he begot Lamech, seven hundred and eighty-two years, and begot sons and daughters.
27 And all the days of Mathusala were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.
28 And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and begot a son.
29 And he called his name Noe, saying: This same shall comfort us from the works and labours of our hands on the earth which the Lord hath cursed.
30 And Lamech lived after he begot Noe, five hundred and ninety-five years, and he begot sons and daughters.
31 And all the days of Lamech came to seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died. And Noe, when he was five hundred years old, begot Sem, Cham, and Japheth.
1 And after that men began to be multiplied upon the earth, and daughters were born to them.
2 The sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, took themselves wives of all which they chose.
3 And God said: My Spirit shall remain in man for ever, because he is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.
4 Now giants were upon the earth in those days. For after the sons of God went in to the daughters of men and they brought forth children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown.
5 And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times,
6 It repented him that he had made man on the earth. And being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart,
7 He said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8 But Noe found grace before the Lord.
9 These are the generations of Noe: Noe was a just and perfect man in his generations, he walked with God.
10 And he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth.\
11 And the earth was corrupted before God, and was filled with iniquity.
12 And when God had seen that the earth was corrupted (for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth,)
13 He said to Noe: The end of all flesh is come before me, the earth is filled with iniquity through them, and I will destroy them with the earth.
14 Make thee an ark of timber planks: thou shalt make little rooms in the ark, and thou shalt pitch it within and without.
15 And thus shalt thou make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits: the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
16 Thou shalt make a window in the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish the top of it: and the door of the ark thou shalt set in the side: with lower, middle chambers, and third stories shalt thou make it.
17 Behold I will bring the waters of a great flood upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, under heaven. All things that are in the earth shall be consumed.
18 And I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt enter into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of thy sons with thee.
19 And of every living creature of all flesh, thou shalt bring two of each sort into the ark, that they may live with thee: of the male sex, and the female.
20 Of fowls according to their kind, and of beasts in their kind, and of every thing that creepeth on earth according to its kind; two of every sort shall go in with thee, that they may live.
21 Thou shalt take unto thee of all food that may be eaten, and thou shalt lay it up with thee: and it shall be food for thee and them.
22 And Noe did all things which God commanded him.
1 And the Lord said to him: Go in thou and all thy house into the ark: for thee I have seen just before me in this generation.
2 Of all clean beasts take seven and seven, the male and female.
3 But of the beasts that are unclean two and two, the male and female. Of the fowls also of the air seven and seven,the male and the female: that seed may be saved upon the face of the whole earth.
4 For yet a while, and after seven days, I will rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will destroy every substance that I have made, from the face of the earth.
5 And Noe did all things which the Lord had commanded him.
6 And he was six hundred years old, when the waters of the flood overflowed the earth.
7 And Noe went in and his sons, his wife and the wives of his sons with him into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 And of the beasts clean and unclean, and of fowls, and of every thing that moveth upon the earth,
9 Two and two went in to Noe into the ark, male and female, as the Lord had commanded Noe.
10 And after seven days were passed, the waters of the flood overflowed the earth.
11 In the six hundreth year of the life of Noe in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the flood gates of heaven were open:
12 And the rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 In the selfsame day Noe, and Sem, and Cham, and Japheth his sons: his wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark:
14 They and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle in their kind, and every thing that moveth upon the earth according to its kind, and every fowl according to its kind, and every fowl according to its kind, all birds, and all that fly.
15 Went in to Noe into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein was the breath of life.
16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in on the outside.
17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and lifted up the ark on high from earth.
18 For they overflowed exceedingly: and filled all on the face of the earth: and the ark was carried upon the waters.
19 And the waters prevailed beyond measure upon the earth: and all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.
20 The water was fifteen cubits higher than the mountains which it covered.
21 And all flesh was destroyed that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beasts, and of all creeping things that creep upon the earth: and all men.
22 And all things wherein there is the breath of life on the earth, died.
23 And he destroyed all the substance that was upon the earth, from man to beast, and the creeping things and fowls of the air: and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noe only remained, and they that were with him in the ark.
24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.
1 And God remembered Noe, and all the living creatures, and all the cattle which were with him in the ark, and brought a wind upon the earth, and the waters were abated.
2 The fountains also of the deep, and the flood gates of heaven were shut up, and the rain from heaven was restrained.
3 And the waters returned from off the earth going and coming: and they began to be abated after a hundred and fifty days.
4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, the seven and twentieth day of the month, upon the mountains of Armenia.
5 And the waters were going and decreasing until the tenth month: for in the tenth month, the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.
6 And after that forty days were passed, Noe, opening the window of the ark which he had made, sent forth a raven:
7 Which went forth and did not return, till the waters were dried up upon the earth.
8 He sent forth also a dove after him, to see if the waters had now ceased upon the face of the earth.
9 But she, not finding where her foot might rest, returned to him into the ark: for the waters were upon the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and caught her, and brought her into the ark.
10 And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove out of the ark.
11 And she came to him in the evening, carrying a bough of an olive tree, with green leaves, in her mouth. Noe therefore understood that the waters were ceased upon the earth.
12 And he stayed yet other seven days: and he sent forth the dove, which returned not any more unto him.
13 Therefore in the six hundreth and first year, the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were lessened upon the earth, and Noe opening the covering of the ark, looked, and saw that the face of the earth was dried.
14 In the second month, the seven and twentieth day of the month, the earth was dried.
15 And God spoke to Noe, saying:
16 Go out of the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons, and the wives of thy sons with thee.
17 All livings things that are with thee of all flesh, as well in fowls as in beasts, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, bring out with thee, and go ye upon the earth: increased and multiply upon it.
18 So Noe went out, he and his sons: his wife, and the wives of his sons with him.
19 And all living things, and cattle, and creeping things that creep upon the earth, according to their kinds, went out of the ark.
20 And Noe built an altar unto the Lord: and taking of all cattle and fowls that were clean, offered holocausts upon the altar.
21 And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said: I will no more curse the earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought of man's heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no more destroy every living soul as I have done.
22 All the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, shall not cease.
1 And God blessed Noe and his sons. And he said to them: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth.
2 And let the fear and dread of you be upon all the beasts of the earth, and upon all the fowls of the air, and all that move upon the earth: all the fishes of the sea are delivered into your hand.
3 And every thing that moveth and liveth shall be meat for you: even as the green herbs have I delivered them all to you:
4 Saving that flesh with blood you shall not eat.
5 For I will require the blood of your lives at the hand of every beast, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man, and of his brother, will I require the life of man.
6 Whosoever shall shed man's blood, his blood shall be shed: for man was made to the image of God.
7 But increase you and multiply, and go upon the earth, and fill it.
8 This also said God to Noe, and to his sons with him,
9 Behold I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you:
10 And with every living soul that is with you, as well in all birds as in cattle and beasts of the earth, that are come forth out of the ark, and in all the beasts of the earth.
11 I will establish my covenant with you, and all flesh shall be no more destroyed with the waters of a flood, neither shall there be from henceforth a flood to waste the earth.
12 And God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I will give between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual generations.
13 I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me, and between the earth.
14 And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear in the clouds:
15 And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it, and shall remember the everlasting covenant, that was made between God and every living soul of all flesh which is upon the earth.
17 And God said to Noe: This shall be the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh upon the earth.
18 And the sons of Noe who came out of the ark, were Sem, Cham, and Japheth: and Cham is the father of Chanaan.
19 These three are the sons of Noe: and from these was all mankind spread over the whole earth.
20 And Noe, a husbandman, began to till the ground, and planted a vineyard.
21 And drinking of the wine was made drunk, and was uncovered in his tent.
22 Which when Cham the father of Chaanan had seen, to wit, that his father's nakedness was uncovered, he told it to his two brethren without.
23 But Sem and Japheth put a cloak upon their shoulders, and going backward, covered the nakedness of their father: and their faces were turned away, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
24 And Noe awaking from the wine, when he had learned what his younger son had done to him,
25 He said: Cursed be Chaanan, a servant of servants, shall he be unto his brethren.
26 And he said: Blessed be the Lord God of Sem, be Chanaan his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Sem, and Chanaan be his servant.
28 And Noe lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years:
29 And all his days were in the whole nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
1 These are the generations of the sons of Noe: Sem, Cham, and Japheth: and unto them sons were born after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Thubal, and Mosoch, and Thiras.
3 And the sons of Gomer: Ascenez and Riphath and Thogorma.
4 And the sons of Javan: Elisa and Tharsis, Cetthim, and Dodanim.
5 By these were divided the islands of the Gentiles in their lands, every one according to his tongue and their families in their nations.
6 And the sons of Cham: Chus, and Mesram, and Phuth, and Chanaan.
7 And the sons of Chus: Saba and Hevila, and Sabatha, and Regma, and Sabatacha. The sons of Regma: Saba and Dadan.
8 Now Chus begot Nemrod: he began to be mighty on earth.
9 And he was a stout hunter before the Lord. Hence came a proverb: Even as Nemrod the stout hunter before the Lord.
10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, and Arach, and Achad, and Chalanne in the land of Sennaar.
11 Out of that land came forth Assur, and built Ninive, and the streets of the city, and Chale.
12 Resen also between Ninive and Chale: this is the great city.
13 And Mesraim begot Ludim, and Anamim, and Laabim, Nepthuim,
14 And Phetrusim, and Chasluim; of whom came forth the Philistines, and the Capthorim.
15 And Chanaan begot Sidon, his firstborn, the Hethite,
16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite, and the Gergesite,
17 The Hevite and the Aracite: the Sinite,
18 And the Aradian, the Samarite, and the Hamathite: and afterwards the families of the Chanaanites were spread abroad.
19 And the limits of Chanaan were from Sidon as one comes to Gerara even to Gaza, until thou enter Sodom and Gomorrha, and Adama, and Seboim even to Lesa.
20 These are the children of Cham in their kindreds, and tongues, and generations, and lands, and nations.
21 Of Sem also, the father of all children of Heber, the elder brother of Japheth, sons were born.
22 The sons of Sem: Elam and Assur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
23 The sons of Aram: Us and Hull, and Gether: and Mess.
24 But Arphaxad begot Sale, of whom was born Heber.
25 And to Heber were born two sons: the name of the one was Phaleg, because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother's name Jectan.
26 Which Jectan begot Elmodad, and Saleph, and Asarmoth, Jare,
27 And Anduram, and Uzal, and Decla,
28 And Ebal, and Abimael, Saba,
29 And Ophir, and Hevila, and Jobab.
30 And their dwelling was from Messa as we go on as far as Sephar, a mountain in the east.
31 These are the children of Sem according to their kindreds and tongues, and countries in their nations.
32 These are the families of Noe, according to their peoples and nations. By these were the nations divided on the earth after the flood.
1 And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech.
2 And when they removed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Sennaar, and dwelt in it.
3 And each one said to his neighbour: Come, let us make brick, and bake them of stones, and slime instead of mortar.
4 And they said: Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top whereof may reach to heaven: and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands.
5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of Adam were building.
6 And he said: Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue: and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their designs, till they accomplish them in deed.
7 Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there may not understand one another's speech.
8 And so the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build the city.
9 And therefore the name thereof was called Babel, because there the language of the whole earth was confounded: and from thence the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all countries.
10 These are the generations of Sem: Sem was a hundred years old when he begot Arphaxad, two years after the flood.
11 And Sem lived after he begot Arphaxad, five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
12 And Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Sale.
13 And Arphaxad lived after he begot Sale, three hundred and three years; and begot sons and daughters.
14 Sale also lived thirty years, and begot Heber.
15 And Sale lived after he begot Heber, four hundred and three years; and begot sons and daughters.
16 And Heber lived thirty-four years, and begot Phaleg.
17 And Heber lived after he begot Phaleg, four hundred and thirty years: and begot sons and daughters.
18 Phaleg also lived thirty years, and begot Reu.
19 And Phaleg lived after he begot Reu, two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.
20 And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Sarug.
21 And Reu lived after he begot Sarug, two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.
22 And Sarug lived thirty years, and begot Nachor.
23 And Sarug lived after he begot Nachor, two hundred years: and begot sons and daughters.
24 And Nachor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Thare.
25 And Nachor lived after he begot Thare, a hundred and nineteen years: and begot sons and daughters.
26 And Thare lived seventy years, and begot Abram, and Nachor, and Aran.
27 And these are the generations of Thare: Thare begot Abram, Nachor, and Aran. And Aran begot Lot.
28 And Aran died before Thare his father, in the land of his nativity in Ur of the Chaldees.
29 And Abram and Nachor married wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai: and the name of Nachor's wife, Melcha, the daughter of Aran, father of Melcha, and father of Jescha.
30 And Sarai was barren, and had no children.
31 And Thare took Abram, his son, and Lot the son of Aran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, the wife of Abram his son, and brought them out of Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Chanaan: and they came as far as Haran, and dwelt there.
32 And the days of Thare were tow hundred and five years, and he died in Haran.
1 And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of they father's house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.
3 I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and IN THEE shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed:
4 So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran.
5 And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had gotten in Haran: and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan. And when they were come into it,
6 Abram passed through the country into the place of Sichem, as far as the noble vale: now the Chanaanite was at that time in the land.
7 And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him: To thy seed will I give this land. And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8 And passing on from thence to a mountain, that was on the east side of Bethel, he there pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east; he built there also an altar to the Lord, and called upon his name.
9 And Abram went forward, going, and proceeding on to the south.
10 And there came a famine in the country; and Abram went down into Egypt, to sojourn there: for the famine was very grievous in the land.
11 And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: I know that thou art a beautiful woman:
12 And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say: She is his wife: and they will kill me, and keep thee.
13 Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister: that I may be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake.
14 And when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very beautiful.
15 And the princes told Pharao, and praised her before him: and the woman was taken into the house of Pharao.
16 And they used Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep and oxen, and he asses, and menservants and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
17 But the Lord scourged Pharao and his house with most grievous stripes for Sarai, Abram's wife.
18 And Pharao called Abram, and said to him: What is this that thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife.
19 For what cause didst thou say, she was thy sister, that I might take her to my wife? Now therefore, there is thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
20 And Pharao gave his men orders concerning Abram: and they led him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
2 And he was very rich in possession of gold and silver.
3 And he returned by the way that he came, from the south to Bethel, to the place where before he had pitched his tent between Bethel and Hai:
4 In the place of the altar which he had made before; and there he called upon the name of the Lord.
5 But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and herds of beasts, and tents.
6 Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell together.
7 Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot. And at that time the Chanaanite and the Pherezite dwelled in that country.
8 Abram therefore said to Lot: Let there be no quarrel, I beseech thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen: for we are brethren.
9 Behold the whole land is before thee: depart from me I pray thee: if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right: if thou choose the right hand, I will pass to the left.
10 And Lot, lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor.
11 And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he departed from the east: and they were separated one brother from the other.
12 Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan; and Lot abode in the towns that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.
13 And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the face of the Lord, beyond measure.
14 And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him: Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west.
15 All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy seed for ever.
16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any man be able to number the dust of the earth, he shall be able to number thy seed also.
17 Arise and walk through the land in the length, and in the breadth thereof: for I will give it to thee.
18 So Abram removing his tent came and dwelt by the vale of Mambre, which is in Hebron: and he built there an altar to the Lord.
1 And it came to pass at that time, that Amraphel king of Sennaar, and Arioch king of Pontus, and Chodorlahomor king of the Elamites, and Thadal king of nations,
2 Made war against Bara king of Sodom, and against Bersa king of Gomorrha, and against Sennaab king of Adama, and against Semeber king of Seboim, and against the king of Bala, which is Segor.
3 All these came together into the woodland vale, which now is the salt sea.
4 For they had served Chodorlahomor twelve years, and in the thirteenth year they revolted from him.
5 And in the fourteenth year came Chodorlahomor, and the kings that were with him: and they smote the Raphaim in Astarothcarnaim, and the Zuzim with them, and the Emim in Save of Cariathaim.
6 And the Chorreans in the mountains of Seir, even to the plains of Pharan, which is in the wilderness.
7 And they returned, and came to the fountain of Misphat, the same is Cades: and they smote all the country of the Amalecites, and the Amorrhean that dwelt in Asasonthamar.
8 And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha, and the king of Adama, and the king of Seboim, and the king of Bala, which is Segor, went out: and they set themselves against them in battle array in the woodland vale:
9 To wit, against Chodorlahomor king of the Elamites, and Thadal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Sennaar, and Arioch king of Pontus: four kings against five.
10 Now the woodland vale had many pits of slime. And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha turned their backs and were overthrown there: and they that remained fled to the mountain.
11 And they took all the substance of the Sodomites, and Gomorrhites, and all their victuals, and went their way:
12 And Lot also, the son of Abram's brother, who dwelt in Sodom, and his substance.
13 And behold one that had escaped told Abram the Hebrew, who dwelt in the vale of Mambre the Amorrhite, the brother of Escol, and the brother of Aner: for these had made league with Abram.
14 Which when Abram had heard, to wit, that his brother Lot was taken, he numbered of the servants born in his house, three hundred and eighteen well appointed: and pursued them to Dan.
15 And dividing his company, he rushed upon them in the night: and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hoba, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
16 And he brought back all the substance, and Lot his brother, with his substance, the women also the people.
17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he returned from the slaughter of Chodorlahomor, and of the kings that were with him in the vale of Save, which is the king's vale.
18 But Melchisedech the king of Salem, bringing forth bread and wine, for he was the priest of the most high God,
19 Blessed him, and said: Blessed be Abram by the most high God, who created heaven and earth.
20 And blessed be the most high God, by whose protection the enemies are in thy hands. And he gace him the tithes of all.
21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram: Give me the persons, and the rest take to thyself.
22 And he answered him: I lift up my hand to the Lord God the most high, the possessor of heaven and earth,
23 That from the very woof thread unto the shoe latchet, I will not take of any things that are thine, lest thou say I have enriched Abram:
24 Except such things as the young men have eaten, and the shares of the men that came with me, Aner, Escol, and Mambre: these shall take their shares.
1 Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.
2 And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus Eliezer.
3 And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my servant, born in my house, shall be my heir.
4 And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt thou have for thy heir.
5 And he thought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars, if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be.
6 Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.
7 And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to gibe thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it.
8 But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it?
9 And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old, and a she goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon.
10 And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the other; but the birds he divided not.
11 And the fowls came down upon carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
12 And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.
13 And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.
14 But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance.
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age.
16 But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present time.
17 And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.
18 That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river Euphrates.
19 The Cineans and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,
20 And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,
21 And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanits, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.
1 Now Sarai the wife of Abram, had brought forth no children; having a handmaid, an Egyptian, named Agar,
2 She said to her husband: Behold, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: go in unto my handmaid, it may be I may have children of her at least. And when he agreed to her request,
3 She took Agar the Egyptian her handmaid, ten years after they first dwelt in the land of Chanaan, and gave her to her husband to wife.
4 And he went in to her. But she, perceiving that she was with child, despised her mistress.
5 And Sarai said to Abram: Thou dost unjustly with me: I gave my handmaid into thy bosom, and she perceiving her- self to be with child, despiseth me. The Lord judge between me and thee.
6 And Abram made answer, and said to her: Behold thy handmaid is in thy own hand, use her its it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai afflicted her, she ran away.
7 And the angel of the Lord having found her, by a fountain of water in the wilderness, which is in the way to Sur in the desert,
8 He said to her: Agar, handmaid of Sarai, whence comest thou? and whither goest thou? And she answered: I flee from the face of Sarai, my mistress.
9 And the angel of the Lord said to her: Return to thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hand.
10 And again he said: I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, and it shall not be numbered for multitude.
11 And again: Behold, said he, thou art with child, and thou shalt bring forth son: and thou shalt call his name Ismael, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.
12 He shall be a wild man: his hand will be against all men, and all men's hands against him: and he shall pitch his tents over against all his brethren.
13 And she called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her: Thou the God who hast seen me. For she add: Verily here have I seen the hinder parts of him that seeth me.
14 Therefore she called that well, The well of him that liveth and seeth me. The same is between Cades and Bared.
15 And Agar brought forth a son to Abram: who called his name Ismael.
16 Abram was fourscore and six years old when Agar brought him forth Ismael.
1 And after he began to be ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to him: and said unto him: I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be perfect.
2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee: and I will multiply thee exceedingly.
3 Abram tell flat on his face.
4 And God said to him: I AM, and my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father. of many nations.
5 Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram: but thou shalt be called Abraham: because I have made thee a father of many nations.
6 And I will make thee increase, exceedingly, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and between thy sad after thee in their generations, by a perpetual covenant: to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee.
8 And I will give to thee, and to thy seed, the land of thy sojournment, all the land of Chanaan for a perpetual possession, and I will be their God.
9 Again God said to Abraham: And thou therefore shalt keep my covenant, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
10 This is my covenant which you shall observe, between me and you, and thy seed after thee: All the male kind of you shall be circumcised:
11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, that it may be for a h sign of the covenant between me and you.
12 An infant of eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations: he that is born in the house, as well as the bought servant shall be circumcised, and whosoever is not of your stock:
13 And my covenant shall be in your flesh for a perpetual covenant.
14 The male, whose dash of his foreskin shall not be circumcised, that soul shall be destroyed out of his people: because he hath broken my covenant.
15 God said also to Abraham: Barai thy wife thou shalt not call Sarai, but Sara.
18 And I will bless her, and of her I will give thee a son, whom I will bless, and he shell become nations, and kings of people shall spring from him.
17 Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, saying in his heart: Shall a son, thinkest thou, be born to him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sara that is ninety years old bring forth?
18 And he said to God: O that Ismael may live before thee.
19 And God said to Abraham: Sara thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for a perpetual covenant, and with his seed after him.
20 And as for Ismael I have also heard thee. Behold, I will bless him, and increase, and multiply him exceedingly: he shall beget twelve chiefs, and I will make him a great nation.
21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sera shall bring forth to thee at this time in the next year.
22 And when he had left oil speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.
23 And Abraham took Ismael his son, and all that were born in his house: and all whom he had bought, every male among the men of his house: and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin forthwith the very same day, as God had commanded him.
24 Abraham was ninety and nine years old, when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin.
25 And Ismael his son was full thirteen years old at the time of his circumcision.
28 The selfsame day was Abraham circumcised and Ismael his son.
27 And all the men of his house, as well they that were born in his house, as the bought servants and strangers were circumcised with him.
1 And the Lord appeared to him in the vale of Mambre as he was sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day.
2 And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men standing near him: and as soon as he saw them he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and adored down to the ground.
3 And he said: Lord, if I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away from thy servant:
4 But I will fetch a little water, and wash ye your feet, and rest ye under the tree.
5 And I will set a morsel of bread, and strengthen ye your heart, afterwards you shall pass on: for therefore are you come aside to your servant. And they said: Do as thou hast spoken.
6 Abraham made haste into the tent to Sera, and said to her: Make haste, temper together three measures of flour, and make cakes upon the hearth.
7 And he himself ran to the herd, and took from thence a calf very tender and very good, and gave it to a young man: who made haste and boiled it.
8 He took also butter and milk, and the calf which he had boiled, and set before them: but he stood by them under the tree.
9 And when they had eaten, they said to him: Where is Sara thy wife? He answered: Lo, she is in the tent.
10 And he said to him: I will return and come to thee at this time, life accompanying and Sara thy wife shall have a son. Which when Sara heard, she laughed behind the door of the tent.
11 Now they were both old, and far advanced in years, and it had ceased to be with Sara after the manner of women.
12 And she laughed secretly, saying: After I am grown old
1 and my lord is an old man, shall I give myself to pleasure?
13 And the Lord said to Abraham: Why did Sera laugh, saying: Shall I who am an old woman bear a child indeed ?
14 Is there any thing hard to God? according to appointment I will return to thee at this same time, life accompanying, and Sara shall have a son.
15 Sara denied, saying: I did not laugh: for she was afraid. But the Lord said, Nay: but thou didst laugh:
16 And when the men rose up from thence, they turned their eyes towards Sodom: and Abraham walked with them, bringing them on the way.
17 And the Lord said: Can I hide from Abraham what I am about to do:
18 "Seeing he shall become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed?
19 For I know that he will command his children, and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord, and do judgment and justice: that for Abraham's sake the Lord may bring to effect all the things he hath spoken unto him.
20 And the Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievous.
21 I will go down and see whether they have done according to the cry that is come to me: or whether it be not so, that I may know.
22 And they turned themselves from thence, and went their way to Sodom: but Abraham as yet stood before the Lord.
23 And drawing nigh he said: Wilt thou destroy the just with the wicked?
24 If there be fifty just men in the city, shall they perish withal? and wilt thou not spare that place for the sake of the fifty just, if they be therein?
25 Far be it from thee to do this thing, and to slay the just with the wicked, and for the just to be in like case as the wicked, this is not beseeming thee: thou who judgest all the earth, wilt not make this judgment.
26 And the Lord said to him: If I And in Sodom fifty just within the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.
27 And Abraham answered, and said: Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes.
28 What if there be Ave less than fifty just persons? wilt thou for five and forty destroy the whole city? And he said: I will not destroy it, if I find five and forty.
29 And again he said to him: But if forty be found there, what wilt thou do? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of forty.
30 Lord, saith he, be not angry, I beseech thee, if I speak: What if thirty shall be found there? He answered: I will not do it, if I And thirty there.
31 Seeing, saith he, I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord. What if twenty be found there? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.
32 I beseech thee, saith he, be not angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more: What if tell should be found there ? And he said: I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.
33 And the Lord departed, after he had left speaking to Abraham: and Abraham returned to his place.
1 And the two angels came to Sodom ii in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of the city. And seeing them, he rose up and went to meet them: and worshipped prostrate to the ground,
2 And said: I beseech you, my lords, turn in to the house of your servant, and lodge there: wash your feet, and in the morning you shall go on your way. And they said: No, but we will abide in the street.
3 He pressed them very much to turn in unto him: and when they were come in to his house, he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread and they ate:
4 But before they went to bed, the men of the city beset the house both young and old, all the people together.
5 And they called Lot, and said to him: Where are the men that came in to thee at night? bring them out hither that we may know them:
6 Lot went out to them, and shut the door after him, and said:
7 no not so, I beseech you, my brethren, do not commit this evil.
8 I have two daughters who as yet have not known man : I will bring them out to you, and abuse you them as it shall please you, so that you do no evil to these men, because they are come in under the shadow of my roof.
9 But they said: Get thee back thither. And again: Thou camest in, said they, as a, stranger, was it to be a judge? therefore we will afflict thee more than them. 0 And they pressed very violently upon Lot: and they were even at the point of breaking open the doors.
10 And behold the men put out their hand, and drew in Lot unto them, and shut the door:
11 And them that were without, p they struck with blindness from the least to the greatest, so that they could not find the door.
12 And they said to Lot: Hast thou here ally of thine? son in law, or sons, or daughters, all that are thine bring them out of this city:
13 For we will destroy this place, because their cry is grown loud before the Lord, who hath sent us to destroy them.
14 So Lot went out, and spoke to his sons in law that were to have his daughters, and said : Arise : get you out of this place, because the Lord will destroy this city. And he seemed to them to speak as it were in jest.
15 And when it was- morning, the angels pressed him, saying: Arise, take thy wife, and the two daughters which thou hast: lest thou also perish in the wickedness of the city.
16 And as he lingered, they took his hand, and the hand of his wife, and of his two daughters, because the Lord spared him.
17 And they brought him forth, and set him without the city: and there they spoke to him, saying : Save thy life : look not back, neither stay thou in all the country about: but save thyself in the mountain, lest thou be also consumed.
18 And Lot said to them: I beseech thee my Lord,
19 Because thy servant hath found grace before thee, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewn to me, in saving my life, and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil seize me, and I die :
20 There is this city here at hand, to which I may flee, it is a little one, and I shall be saved in it: is it not a little one, and my soul shall live?
21 And he said to him: Behold also in this, I have heard thy prayers, not to destroy the city for which thou hast spoken.
22 Make haste and be saved there, because I cannot do any thing till thou go in thither. Therefore the name of that city was called Segor.
23 The sun was risen upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segor.
24 And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.
25 And he destroyed these cities, and all the country about, all the inhabitants of the cities, and all things that spring from the earth.
26 And his wife looking behind her, was turned into a statue of salt.
27 And Abraham got up early in the morning and in the place where he had stood before with the Lord, U
28 He looked towards Sodom and Gomorrha, and the whole land of that country: and he saw the ashes rise up from the earth as the smoke of a furnace.
29 Now when God destroyed the cities of that country, remembering Abraham, he delivered Lot out of the destruction of the cities wherein he had dwelt.
30 And Lot went up out of Segor, and abode in the mountain, and his two daughters with him, (for he was afraid to stay in Segor,) and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.
31 And the elder said to the younger Our father is old, and there is no man left on the earth, to come in unto us after the manner of the whole earth.
32 Come, let us make him drunk with wine, and let us lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
33 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the elder went in and lay with her father : but he perceived not neither when his daughter lay down, nor when she rose up.
34 And the next day the elder said to the younger : Behold I lay last night with my father, let us make him drink wine also to night, and thou shalt lie with him, that we may save seed of our father.
35 They made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and lay with him: and neither then did he perceive when she lay down, nor when she rose up.
36 the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
37 And the elder bore a son, and called his name Moab: he is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
38 The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ammon, that is, the son of my people: he is the father of the Ammonites unto this day.
1 Abraham removed from thence to the south country, and dwelt between Cedes and Sur, and sojourned in Gerara.
2 And he said of Sara his wife: She is my sister. So Abimelech the king of Oerara sent, and took her.
3 And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and he said to him: Lo thou shalt die for the woman thou hast taken: for she hath a husband.
4 Now Abimelech had not touched her, and he said : Lord, wilt thou slay a nation, that is ignorant and justl
5 Did not he say to me : She is my sister: and she say, He is my brother? in the simplicity of my heart, and cleanness of my hands have I done this.
6 And God said to him: And I know that thou didst it with a sincere heart: and therefore I withheld thee from sinning against me, and I suffered thee not to touch her.
7 Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet: and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: but if thou wilt not restore her, know that thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are thins.
8 And Abimelech forthwith rising up in the night, called all his servants: and spoke all these words in their hearing, and all the men were exceedingly afraid.
9 And Abimelech called also for Abraham, and said to him: What hast thou done to us? what have we offended thee in, that thou hast brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done to us what thou oughtest not to do.
10 And again he expostulated with him, and said, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this?
11 Abraham answered: I thought with myself, saying: Perhaps there is not the fear of God in this place: and they will kill me for the sake of my wife:
12 Howbeit, otherwise also she is truly my sister, the daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother, and I took her to wife.
13 And after God brought me out of my father's house, I said to her: I Thou shalt do me this kindness: In every place, to which we shall come, thou shalt say that I am thy brother.
14 And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and servants and handmaids, and gave to Abraham: and restored to him Sara, his wife.
16 And said: The land is before you, dwell wheresoever it shall please thee.
16 And to Sara he said: Behold I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: this shall serve thee for a covering of thy eyes to all that are with thee, and whithersoever thou shalt go: and remember thou wast taken.
17 And when Abraham prayed, God healed Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they bore children:
18 For the Lord had closed up every womb of the house of Abimelech on ac- count of Sara, Abraham's wife.
1 And the Lord visited Sara, as he had promised: and fulfilled what he had spoken.
2 And she conceived and bore a son in her old age, at the time that God had foretold her.
3 And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sara bore him, Isaac.
4 And he circumcised him the eighth day, as God had commanded him,
5 When he was a hundred years old: for at this age of his father was Isaac born.
6 And Sara said: God hath made a laughter for me: whosoever shall hear of it will laugh with me.
7 And again she said: Who would believe that Abraham should hear that Sara gave suck to a son, whom she bore to him in his old age.
8 And the child grew and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day of his weaning.
9 And when Sara had seen the son of Agar the Egyptian playing with Isaac her son, she said to Abraham:
10 Cast out this bondwoman, and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.
11 Abraham took this grievously for his son.
12 And God said to him: Let it not seem grievous to thee for the boy, and for thy bondwoman: in all that Sara hath said to thee, hearken to her voice: for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
13 But I will make the son also of the bondwoman a great nation, because he is thy seed.
14 So Abraham rose up in the morning, and taking bread and a bottle of water, put it upon her shoulder, and delivered the boy, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Bersabee.
15 And when the water in the bottle was spent, she cast the boy under one of the trees that were there.
16 And she went her way, and sat over against him a great way off as far as a bow can carry, for she said: I will not see the boy die: and sitting over against, she lifted up her voice and wept.
17 And God heard the voice of the boy: and an angel of God called to Agar from heaven, saying: What art thou doing, Agar? fear not: for God hath heard the voice of the boy, from the place wherein he is.
18 Arise, take up the boy, and hold him by the hand: for I will make him a great nation.
19 And God opened her eyes: and she saw a well of water, and went and filled the bottle, and gave the boy to drink.
20 And God was with him: and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became a young man, an archer.
21 And he dwelt in the wilderness of Pharan, and his mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.
22 At the same time Abimelech, and Phicol the general of his army said to Abraham: God is with thee in all that thou dost.
23 Swear therefore by God, that thou wilt not hurt me, nor my posterity, nor my stock: but according to the kindness that I have done to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land wherein thou hast lived a stranger.
24 And Abraham said: I will swear.
25 And he reproved Abimelech for a well of water, which his servants had taken away by force.
26 And Abimelech answered: I knew not who did this thing: and thou didst not tell me, and I heard not of it till today.
27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech: and both of them made a league.
28 And Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock.
29 And Abimelech said to him: What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set apart?
30 But he said: Thou shalt take seven ewe lambs at my hand: that they may be a testimony for me, that I dug this well.
31 Therefore that place was called Bersabee: because both of them did swear.
32 And they made a league for the well of oath.
33 And Abimelech, and Phicol the general of his army arose and returned to the land of the Palestines. But Abraham planted a grove in Bersabee, and there called upon the name of the Lord God eternal.
34 And he was a sojourner in the land of the Palestines many days.
1 After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.
2 He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision: and there thou shalt offer him for a holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will show thee.
3 So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass: and took with him two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut wood for the holocaust he went his way to the place which God had commanded him.
4 And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off.
5 And he said to his young men: Stay you here with the ass: I and the boy will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have worshipped, will return to you.
6 And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his son: and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. And as they two went on together,
7 Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt thou, son? Behold, saith he, fire and wood: where is the victim for the holocaust?
8 And Abraham said: God will provide himself a victim for an holocaust, my son. So they went on together.
9 And they came to the place which God had shown him, where he built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it: and when he had bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood.
10 And he put forth his hand and took the sword, to sacrifice his son.
11 And behold an angel of the Lord from heaven called to him, saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.
12 And he said to him: Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou any thing to him: now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake.
13 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram amongst the briers sticking fast by the horns, which he took and offered for a holocaust instead of his son.
14 And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth. Whereupon even to this day it is said: In the mountain the Lord will see.
15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, saying:
16 By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord: because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake:
17 I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the seashore: thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies.
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.
19 Abraham returned to his young men, and they went to Bersabee together, and he dwelt there.
20 After these things, it was told Abraham that Melcha also had borne children to Nachor his brother.
21 Hus the firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Camuel the father of the Syrians,
22 And Cased, and Azau, and Pheldas, and Jedlaph,
23 And Bathuel, of whom was born Rebecca: These eight did Melcha bear to Nachor Abraham's brother.
24 And his concubine, named Roma, bore Tabee, and Gaham, and Tahas, and Maacha.
1 And Sara lived a hundred and twenty-seven years.
2 And she died in the city of Arbee which is Hebron, in the land of Chanaan: and Abraham came to mourn and weep for her.
3 And after he rose up from the funeral obsequies, he spoke to the children of Heth, saying:
4 I am a stranger and sojourner among you: give me the right of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead.
5 The children of Heth answered, saying:
6 My Lord, hear us, thou art a prince of God among us: bury thy dead in our principle sepulchers: and no man shall have power to hinder thee from burying thy dead in his sepulcher.
7 Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to wit the children of Heth:
8 And said to them: If it please your soul that I should bury my dead, hear me, and intercede for me to Ephron the son of Seor.
9 That he may give me the double cave, which he hath in the end of his field: for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me before you, for a possession of a buryingplace.
10 Now Ephron dwelt in the midst of the children of Heth. And Ephron made answer to Abraham in the hearing of all that went in at the gate of the city, saying:
11 Let it not be so, my lord, but do thou rather hearken to what I say: The field I deliver to thee, and the cave that is therein, in the presence of the children of my people, bury thy dead.
12 Abraham bowed down before the people of the land,
13 And he spoke to Ephron, in the presence of the people: I beseech thee to hear me: I will give money for the field: take it, and so I will bury my dead in it.
14 And Ephron answered:
15 My lord, hear me. The ground which thou desirest, is worth four hundred sicles of silver: this is the price between me and thee: but what is this? bury thy dead.
16 And when Abraham had heard this, he weighed out the money that Ephron had asked, in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred sicles of silver of common current money.
17 And the field that before was Ephron's, wherein was the double cave, looking towards Mambre, both it and the cave, and all the trees thereof in all its limits round about,
18 Was made sure to Abraham for a possession, in the sight of the children of Heth, and of all that went in at the gate of his city.
19 And so Abraham buried Sara his wife, in a double cave of the field, that looked towards Mambre, this is Hebron in the land of Chanaan.
20 And the field was made sure to Abraham, and the cave that was in it, for a possession to bury in, by the children of Heth.
1 Now Abraham was old; and advanced in age: and the Lord had blessed him in all things.
2 And he said to the elder servant of his house, who was ruler over all he had: Put thy hand under my thigh,
3 That I may make thee swear by the Lord the God of heaven and earth, that thou take not a wife for my son, of the daughters of the Chanaanites, among whom I dwell:
4 But that thou go to my own country and kindred, and take a wife from thence for my son Isaac.
5 The servant answered: If the woman will not come with me into this land, must I bring thy son back again to the place, from whence thou camest out?
6 And Abraham said: Beware thou never bring my son back again thither.
7 The Lord God of heaven, who took me out of my father's house, and out of my native country, who spoke to me, and swore to me, saying: To thy seed will I give this land: he will send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take from thence a wife for my son.
8 But if the woman will not follow thee, thou shalt not be bound by the oath; only bring not my son back thither again.
9 The servant therefore put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his lord, and swore to him upon this word.
10 And he took ten camels of his master's herd, and departed, carrying something of all his goods with him, and he set forth and went on to Mesopotamia to the city of Nachor.
11 And when he had made the camels lie down without the town near a well of water in Evening, at the time when women were wont to come out to draw water, he said:
12 O Lord the God of my master Abraham, meet me today, I beseech thee, and show kindness to my master Abraham.
13 Behold I stand nigh the spring of water, and the daughters of the inhabitants of this city will come out to draw water.
14 Now, therefore, the maid to whom I shall say: Let down thy pitcher that I may drink: and she shall answer, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let it be the same whom thou hast provided for thy servant Isaac: and by this I shall understand, that thou hast shown kindness to my master.
15 he had not yet ended these words within himself, and behold Rebecca came out, the daughter of Bathuel, son of Melcha, wife to Nachor the brother of Abraham, having a pitcher on her shoulder:
16 An exceedingly comely maid, and a most beautiful virgin, and not known to man: and she went down to the spring, and filled her pitcher and was coming back.
17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said: Give me a little water to drink of thy pitcher.
18 And she answered: Drink, my lord. And quickly she let down the pitcher upon her arm, and gave him drink.
19 And when he had drunk, she said: I will draw water for thy camels also, till they all drink.
20 And pouring out the pitcher into the troughs, she ran back to the well to draw water: and having drawn she gave to all the camels.
21 But he musing beheld her with silence, desirous to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
22 And after that the camels had drunk, the man took out golden earrings, weighing two sicles: and as many bracelets of ten sicles weight.
23 And he said to her: Whose daughter art thou? tell me: is there any place in thy father's house to lodge?
24 And she answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Melcha, whom she bore to Nachor.
25 And she said moreover to him: We have good store of both straw and hay, and a large place to lodge in.
26 The man bowed himself down, and adored the Lord,
27 Saying: Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not taken away his mercy and truth from my master, and hath brought me the straight way into the house of my master's brother.
28 Then the maid ran, and told in her mother's house, all that she had heard.
29 And Rebecca had a brother named Laban, who went out in haste to the man, to the well.
30 And when he had seen the earrings and bracelets in his sister's hands, and had heard all that she related, saying: Thus and thus the man spoke to me: he came to the man who stood by the camels, and near to the spring of water,
31 And said to him: Come in, thou blessed of the Lord: why standest thou without? I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.
32 And he brought him in into his lodging: and he unharnessed the camels and gave straw and hay, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men that were come with him.
33 And bread was set before him. But he said: I will not eat, till I tell my message. He answered him: Speak.
34 And he said: I am the servant of Abraham:
35 And the Lord hath blessed my master wonderfully, and he is become great: and he hath given him sheep and oxen, silver and gold, menservants and womenservants, camels and asses.
36 And Sara my master's wife hath borne my master a son in her old age, and he hath given him all that he had.
37 And my master made me swear, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the Chanaanites, in whose land I dwell:
38 But thou shalt go to my father's house, and shalt take a wife of my own kindred for my son:
39 But I answered my master: What if the woman will not come with me?
40 The Lord, said he, in whose sight I walk, will send his angel with thee, and will direct thy way: and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my own kindred, and of my father's house.
41 But thou shalt be clear from my curse, when thou shalt come to my kindred, if they will not give thee one.
42 And I came today to the well of water, and said: O Lord God of my master Abraham, if thou hast prospered my way, wherein I now walk,
43 Behold I stand by the well of water, and the virgin, that shall come out to draw water, who shall hear me say: Give me a little water to drink of thy pitcher:
44 And shall say to me: Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman, whom the Lord hath prepared for my master's son.
45 And whilst I pondered these things secretly with myself, Rebecca appeared coming with a pitcher, which she carried on her shoulder: and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her: Give me a little to drink.
46 And she speedily let down the pitcher from her shoulder, and said to me: Both drink thou, and to thy camels I will give drink. I drank, and she watered the camels.
47 And I asked her, and said: Whose daughter art thou? And she answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Nachor, whom Melcha bore to him. So I put earrings on her to adorn her face, and I put bracelets on her hands.
48 And falling down I adored the Lord, blessing the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath brought me the straight way to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son.
49 Wherefore if you do according to mercy and truth with my master, tell me: but if it please you otherwise, tell me that also, that I may go to the right hand, or to the left.
50 And Laban and Bathuel answered: The word hath proceeded from the Lord, we cannot speak any other thing to thee but his pleasure.
51 Behold Rebecca is before thee, take her and go thy way, and let her be the wife of thy master's son, as the Lord hath spoken.
52 WHich when Abraham's servant heard, falling down to the ground he adored the Lord.
53 And bringing forth vessels of silver and gold, and garments, he gave them to Rebecca for a present. He offered gifts also to her brothers, and to her mother.
54 And a banquet was made, and they ate and drank together, and lodged there. And in the morning, the servant arose, and said: Let me depart, that I may go to my master.
55 And her brother and mother answered: Let the maid stay at least ten days with us, and afterwards she shall depart.
56 Stay me not, said he, because the Lord hath prospered my way: send me away, that I may go to my master.
57 And they said: Let us call the maid, and ask her will.
58 And they called her, and when she was come, they asked: Wilt thou go with this man? She said: I will go.
59 So they sent her away, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his company,
60 Wishing prosperity to their sister, and saying: Thou art our sister, mayst thou increase to thousands of thousands, and may thy seed possess the gates of their enemies.
61 So Rebecca and her maids, being set upon camels, followed the man: who with speed returned to his master.
62 At the same time Isaac was walking along the way to the well which is called Of the living and the seeing: for he dwelt in the south country.
63 And he was gone forth to meditate in the field, the day being now well spent: and when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw camels coming afar off.
64 Rebecca also, when she saw Isaac, lighted off the camel,
65 And said to the servant: Who is that man who cometh towards us along the field? And he said to her: That man is my master. But she quickly took her cloak, and covered herself.
66 And the servant told Isaac all that he had done.
67 Who brought her into the tent of Sara his mother, and took her to wife: and he loved her so much, that it moderated the sorrow which was occasioned by his mother's death.
1 And Abraham married another wife, named Cetura:
2 Who bore to him Zamran, and Jecsan, and Madan, and Madian, and Jesboc, and Sue.
3 Jecsan also begot Saba and Dadan. The children of Dadan were Assurim, and Latusim, and Loomin.
4 But of Madian was born Epha, and Opher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaa: all these were the children of Cetura.
5 And Abraham gave all his possessions to Isaac.
6 And to the children of the concubines he gave gifts, and separated them from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, to the east country.
7 And the days of Abraham's life were a hundred and seventy-five years.
8 And decaying he died in a good old age, and having lived a long time, and being full of days: and was gathered to his people.
9 And Isaac and Ismael his sons buried him in the double cave, which was situated in the field of Ephron the son of Seor the Hethite, over against Mambre;
10 Which he had bought of the children of Heth: there was he buried, and Sara his wife.
11 And after his death, God blessed Isaac his son, who dwelt by the well named Of the living and seeing.
12 These are the generations of Ismael the son of Abraham, whom Agar the Egyptian, Sara's servant, bore unto him:
13 And these are the names of his children according to their calling and generations. The firstborn of Ismael was Nabajoth, then Cedar, and Adbeel, and Mabsam.
14 And Masma, and Duma, and Massa,
15 Hadar, and Thema, and Jethur, and Naphis, and Cedma.
16 These are the sons of Ismael: and these are their names by their castles and towns, twelve princes of their tribes.
17 And the years of Ismael's life were a hundred and thirty-seven, and decaying he died, and was gathered unto his people.
18 And he dwelt from Hevila as far as Sur, which looketh towards Egypt, to them that go towards the Assyrians. He died in the presence of all his brethren.
19 These also are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac:
20 Who when he was forty years old, took to wife Rebecca the daughter of Bathuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia, sister to Laban.
21 And Isaac besought the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and he heard him, and made Rebecca to conceive.
22 But the children struggled in her womb: and she said: If it were to be so with me, what need was there to conceive? And she went to consult the Lord.
23 And he answering said: Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be divided out of thy womb, and one people shall overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.
24 And when her time was come to be delivered, behold twins were found in her womb.
25 He that came forth first was red, and hairy like a skin: and his name was called Esau. Immediately the other coming forth, held his brother's foot in his hand, and therefore he was called Jacob.
26 Isaac was threescore years old when the children were born unto him.
27 And when they were grown up, Esau became a skillful hunter, and a husbandman, but Jacob a plain man dwelt in tents.
28 Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his hunting: and Rebecca loved Jacob.
29 And Jacob boiled Pottage: to whom Esau, coming faint out of the field,
30 Said: Give me of this red pottage, for I am exceeding faint. For which reason his name was called Edom.
31 And Jacob said to him: Sell me thy first birthright.
32 He answered: Lo I die, what will the first birthright avail me.
33 Jacob said: Swear therefore to me. Esau swore to him, and sold his first birthright.
34 And so taking bread and the pottage of lentils, he ate, and drank, and went his way; making little account of having sold his first birthright.
1 And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Palestines to Gerara.
2 And the Lord appeared to him and said: Go not down into Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee.
3 And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father.
4 And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
5 Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws.
6 So Isaac abode in Gerara.
7 And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister; for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would like him because of her beauty.
8 And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech king of the Palestines looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca his wife.
9 And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake.
10 And Abimelech said: Why hadst thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:
11 He that shall touch this man's wife, shall surely be put to death.
12 And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.
13 And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great:
14 And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him,
15 Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father Abraham had digged, filling them up with earth:
16 Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we.
17 So he departed and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there:
18 And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father Abraham had digged, and which, after his death, the Palestines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names by which his father before had called them.
19 And they digged in the torrent, and found living water.
20 But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.
21 And they digged also another; and for that they quarreled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity.
22 Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not: therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth.
23 And he went up from that place to Bersabee,
24 Where the Lord appeared to him that same might, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father; do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.
25 And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent: and commanded his servants to dig a well.
26 To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers came from Gerara,
27 Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you?
28 And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,
29 That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee: but with peace have sent thee away increased with the blessing of the Lord.
30 And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:
31 Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home.
32 And behold the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water.
33 Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even to this day.
34 And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hethite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon of the same place.
35 And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.
1 Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see: and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him: My son? And he answered: Here I am.
2 And his father said to him: Thou seest that I am old, and know not the day of my death.
3 Take thy arms, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad: and when thou hast taken some thing by hunting,
4 Make me savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring it, that I may eat: and my soul may bless thee before I die.
5 And when Rebecca had heard this, and he was gone into the field to fulfill his father's commandment,
6 She said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau thy brother, and saying to him:
7 Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die.
8 Now, therefore, my son, follow my counsel:
9 And go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth:
10 Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die.
11 And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am smooth.
12 If my father shall feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse instead of a blessing.
13 And his mother said to him: Upon me be this curse, my son: only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said.
14 He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meats, such as she knew his father liked.
15 And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her:
16 And the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck.
17 And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that she had baked.
18 Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear. Who art thou, my son?
19 And Jacob said: I am Esau thy firstborn: I have done as thou didst command me: arise, sit, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
20 And Isaac said to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, my son?
21 And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may feel thee, my son, and may prove whether thou be my son Esau, or not.
22 He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob; but the hands are the hands of Esau.
23 He said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am.
25 Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. And when they were brought, and he had eaten, he offered him wine also, which after he had drunk,
26 He said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son.
27 He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which Lord hath blessed.
28 God give thee the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine.
29 And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee: be thou lord of thy brethren, and let they mother's children bow down before thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee: and let him that blesseth thee be filled with blessings.
30 Isaac had scarce ended his words, when Jacob being now gone out abroad, Esau came,
31 And brought in to his father meats made of what he had taken in hunting, saying: Arise, my father, and eat of thy son's venison; that thy soul may bless me.
32 And Isaac said to him: Why! who art thou? He answered: I am thy firstborn son Esau.
33 Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly: and wondering beyond what can be believed, said Who is he then the even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou camest? and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed.
34 Esau having heard his father's words, roared out with a great cry: and being in a great consternation, said: Bless me also, my father.
35 And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing.
36 But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath supplanted me lo this second time: my first birthright he took away before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And again he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing?
37 Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants: I have established him with corn and wine, and after this, what shall I do more for thee, my son?
38 And Esac said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I beseech thee bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry,
39 Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above,
40 Shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword and shalt serve thy brother: and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off and loose his yoke from thy neck.
41 Esau therefore always hated Jacob for the blessing wherewith his father had blessed him: and he said in his heart: The days will come of the mourning of my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob.
42 These things were told to Rebecca: and she sent and called Jacob her son, and said to him: Behold Esau thy brother threateneth to kill thee.
43 Now therefore, my son, hear my voice: arise and flee to Laban my brother to Haran:
44 And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till wrath of thy brother be assuaged,
45 And his indignation cease, and he forget the things thou hast done to him: afterwards I will send, and bring thee from thence hither. Why shall I be deprived of both my sons in one day?
46 And Rebecca said to Isaac: I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth:
if Jacob take a wife of the stock of this land, I choose not to live.
www.theworkofgod.org