Cain and Abel

1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten¹ a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of ^uthe fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of ^vthe firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord ^whad regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but ^xfor Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 ^yIf you do well, will you not be accepted?² And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. ^zIts desire is contrary to³ you, but you must rule over it.”

8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother.⁴ And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and ^akilled him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, ^b“I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ^cis crying to me from the ground. 11 And now ^dyou are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My ^epunishment is greater than I can bear.⁵ 14 Behold, ^fyou have driven me today away from the ground, and ^gfrom your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, ^hand whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him ⁱsevenfold.” And the Lord ^jput a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod,⁶ east of Eden.

5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that ^dthe land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, 7 ^eand there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time ^fthe Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.

8 Then Abram said to Lot, ^g“Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, ^hfor we are kinsmen.¹

22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?”¹ So she went ^jto inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her,

41 Now Esau ^bhated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, ^c“The days of mourning for my father are approaching; ^dthen I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42 But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran 44 and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away— 45 until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?”

2 These are the generations of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought ^ha bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was ⁱthe son of his old age. And he made him ^ja robe of many colors.¹ 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, ^kmy sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and ^lbowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

9 Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” 10 But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and ^myour mother and your brothers indeed come ⁿto bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And ^ohis brothers were jealous of him, ^pbut his father kept the saying in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near ^qShechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring me word.” So he sent him from the Valley of ^rHebron, and he came to Shechem. 15 And a man found him wandering in the fields. And the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said. “Tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 And the man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to ^sDothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at ^sDothan.

18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them ^tthey conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, ^ulet us kill him and throw him into one of the pits.² Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when ^vReuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—^wthat he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, ^xthe robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and ^ythrew him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

25 Then they sat down to eat. And looking up they saw a ^zcaravan of ^aIshmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing ^bgum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. 26 Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it ^cif we kill our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and ^dlet not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. 28 Then ^eMidianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and ^fsold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels³ of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.

29 When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he ^gtore his clothes 30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy ^his gone, and I, where shall I go?” 31 Then they took ⁱJoseph’s robe and slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 And they sent the robe of many colors and brought it to their father and said, “This we have found; please identify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. ^jA fierce animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn to pieces.” 34 Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and all his daughters ^krose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “No, ^lI shall go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.