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 the ^kfruit of the ground, 4 ^land Abel also brought of the ^mfirstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for 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 If you do well, will you not be accepted?² And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its ⁿdesire is for³ you, and you must rule over it.”

8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother.⁴ And when they were in the field, Cain rose up ^oagainst his brother Abel and ^pkilled him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of ^qyour brother’s blood is ^rcrying to me from the ground. 11 And now you are ^scursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you ^twork 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 punishment is greater than I can bear.⁵ 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be ^uhidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and 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 ^vsevenfold.” And the Lord put 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 ^tthe land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, 7 and there was ^ustrife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. ^vAt that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.

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

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

41 Now Esau ⁱhated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; ^jthen I will ^kkill 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, ^luntil 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. ^mWhy 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 a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel ^vloved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe ^wof many colors.¹ 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they ^xhated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

5 Now Joseph had a ^ydream, 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, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and ^zbowed 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 your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” 11 And his brothers were ^ajealous of him, but his father ^bkept the saying in mind.

Joseph Sold by His Brothers

12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 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 Hebron, 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 Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this ^cdreamer. 20 Come now, let us ^dkill 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 ^eBut when Reuben 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”—that 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, the robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and threw him into a ^fpit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.

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

29 ^lWhen Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes 30 and returned to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone, and I, where shall I go?” 31 ^mThen they took Joseph’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 ⁿidentify whether it is your son’s robe or not.” 33 And he identified it and said, “It is my son’s robe. ^oA 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 rose up to ^pcomfort him, but he ^qrefused to be comforted and said, “No, I shall ^rgo down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” Thus his father wept for him.