Daily Text and Bible Reading: Sunday, January 12 [Press play below]

35.1 After that God said to Jacob: “Rise, go up to Bethel and dwell there, and make an altar there to the true God, who appeared to you when you were running away from Esau your brother.”
35.2 Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him: “Get rid of the foreign gods that are in your midst, and cleanse yourselves and change your garments,
35.3 and let us rise and go up to Bethel. There I will make an altar to the true God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.”
35.4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the earrings that were in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the big tree that was close to Shechem.
35.5 When they traveled on, the terror of God struck the cities around them, so they did not chase after the sons of Jacob.
35.6 Jacob eventually came to Luz, that is, Bethel, in the land of Canaan, he and all the people with him.
35.7 There he built an altar and called the place El-bethel, because there the true God had revealed himself to him when he had run away from his brother.
35.8 Later Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried at the foot of Bethel under an oak. So he named it Allon-bacuth.
35.9 God appeared to Jacob once again while he was coming from Paddan-aram and blessed him.
35.10 God said to him: “Your name is Jacob. Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel will be your name.” And he began to call him Israel.
35.11 God further said to him: “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and become many. Nations and a congregation of nations will come from you, and kings will descend from you.
35.12 As for the land that I have given to Abraham and to Isaac, to you I will give it, and to your offspring after you I will give the land.”
35.13 Then God went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him.
35.14 So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.
35.15 And Jacob continued to call the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
35.16 Then they pulled away from Bethel. And while they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was very difficult.
35.17 But while she was struggling to deliver the child, the midwife said to her: “Do not be afraid, for you will have this son also.”
35.18 Just as her life was slipping away (for she was dying), she named him Ben-oni, but his father called him Benjamin.
35.19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem.
35.20 Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day.
35.21 After that Israel pulled away and pitched his tent a distance beyond the tower of Eder.
35.22 Once while Israel was dwelling in that land, Reuben went and lay down with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard about it.
So there were 12 sons of Jacob.
35.23 The sons by Leah were Jacob’s firstborn Reuben, then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
35.24 The sons by Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
35.25 And the sons by Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, were Dan and Naphtali.
35.26 And the sons by Zilpah, Leah’s servant, were Gad and Asher. These are Jacob’s sons, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
35.27 Jacob eventually came to where his father Isaac was at Mamre, to Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron, where Abraham and also Isaac had resided as foreigners.
35.28 Isaac lived to be 180 years old.
35.29 Then Isaac breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, after a long and satisfying life; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
36.1 This is the history of Esau, that is, Edom.
36.2 Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
36.3 and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter, the sister of Nebaioth.
36.4 And Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Basemath bore Reuel,
36.5 and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan.
36.6 After that Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, all the members of his household, his herd and all his other beasts, and all the wealth he had accumulated in the land of Canaan and he went to another land some distance away from Jacob his brother.
36.7 For their goods had become too many for them to dwell together, and the land where they were residing was not able to sustain them because of their herds.
36.8 So Esau took up dwelling in the mountainous region of Seir. Esau is Edom.
36.9 And this is the history of Esau the father of Edom in the mountainous region of Seir.
36.10 These are the names of the sons of Esau: Eliphaz the son of Adah, Esau’s wife; Reuel the son of Basemath, Esau’s wife.
36.11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
36.12 Timna became the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son. In time she bore to Eliphaz, Amalek. These are the sons of Adah, Esau’s wife.
36.13 These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau’s wife.
36.14 These were the sons of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the granddaughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife, whom she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.
36.15 These are the sheikhs of the sons of Esau: The sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn: Sheikh Teman, Sheikh Omar, Sheikh Zepho, Sheikh Kenaz,
36.16 Sheikh Korah, Sheikh Gatam, and Sheikh Amalek. These are the sheikhs of Eliphaz in the land of Edom. These are the sons by Adah.
36.17 These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: Sheikh Nahath, Sheikh Zerah, Sheikh Shammah, and Sheikh Mizzah. These are the sheikhs of Reuel in the land of Edom. These are the sons by Basemath, Esau’s wife.
36.18 Finally these are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s wife: Sheikh Jeush, Sheikh Jalam, and Sheikh Korah. These are the sheikhs of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife.
36.19 These are the sons of Esau, and these are their sheikhs. He is Edom.
36.20 These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,
36.21 Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the sheikhs of the Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom.
36.22 The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam, and Lotan’s sister was Timna.
36.23 These are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
36.24 These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness while he was tending the donkeys for Zibeon his father.
36.25 These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah.
36.26 These are the sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
36.27 These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.
36.28 These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
36.29 These are the sheikhs of the Horites: Sheikh Lotan, Sheikh Shobal, Sheikh Zibeon, Sheikh Anah,
36.30 Sheikh Dishon, Sheikh Ezer, and Sheikh Dishan. These are the sheikhs of the Horites according to their sheikhs in the land of Seir.
36.31 Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites.
36.32 Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
36.33 When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah began to reign in his place.
36.34 When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites began to reign in his place.
36.35 When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the territory of Moab, began to reign in his place, and the name of his city was Avith.
36.36 When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah began to reign in his place.
36.37 When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth by the River began to reign in his place.
36.38 When Shaul died, Baal-hanan the son of Achbor began to reign in his place.
36.39 When Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, Hadar began to reign in his place. The name of his city was Pau, and the name of his wife was Mehetabel the daughter of Matred the daughter of Mezahab.
36.40 So these are the names of the sheikhs of Esau according to their families, according to their places, by their names: Sheikh Timna, Sheikh Alvah, Sheikh Jetheth,
36.41 Sheikh Oholibamah, Sheikh Elah, Sheikh Pinon,
36.42 Sheikh Kenaz, Sheikh Teman, Sheikh Mibzar,
36.43 Sheikh Magdiel, and Sheikh Iram. These are the sheikhs of Edom according to their settlements in the land of their possession. This is Esau the father of Edom.
37.1 Jacob continued to dwell in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner.
37.2 This is the history of Jacob. When Joseph was 17 years old, the young man was tending the flock with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, the wives of his father. And Joseph brought a bad report about them to their father.
37.3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons because he was the son of his old age, and he had a special robe made for him.
37.4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they began to hate him, and they could not speak peaceably to him.
37.5 Later Joseph had a dream and told it to his brothers, and they found further reason to hate him.
37.6 He said to them: “Please listen to this dream that I had.
37.7 There we were binding sheaves in the middle of the field when my sheaf got up and stood erect and your sheaves encircled and bowed down to my sheaf.”
37.8 His brothers said to him: “Are you really going to make yourself king over us and dominate us?” So they found another reason to hate him, because of his dreams and what he said.
37.9 After that he had still another dream, and he related it to his brothers: “I have had another dream. This time the sun and the moon and 11 stars were bowing down to me.”
37.10 Then he related it to his father as well as his brothers, and his father rebuked him and said to him: “What is the meaning of this dream of yours? Am I as well as your mother and your brothers really going to come and bow down to the earth to you?”
37.11 And his brothers grew jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
37.12 His brothers now went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem.
37.13 Israel later said to Joseph: “Your brothers are tending flocks near Shechem, are they not? Come, and let me send you to them.” At this he said to him: “I am ready!”
37.14 So he said to him: “Go, please, and see whether your brothers are well. See how the flock is, and bring word back to me.” With that he sent him away from the valley of Hebron, and he went on toward Shechem.
37.15 Later a man found him as he was wandering in a field. The man asked him: “What are you looking for?”
37.16 To this he said: “I am looking for my brothers. Please tell me, where are they tending flocks?”
37.17 The man continued: “They have pulled away from here, for I heard them saying, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
37.18 Now they caught sight of him from a distance, and before he reached them, they began plotting against him to put him to death.
37.19 So they said to one another: “Look! Here comes that dreamer.
37.20 Come, now, let us kill him and pitch him into one of the waterpits, and we will say that a vicious wild animal devoured him. Then let us see what will become of his dreams.”
37.21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from them. So he said: “Let us not take his life.”
37.22 Reuben said to them: “Do not shed blood. Throw him into this waterpit in the wilderness, but do not harm him.” His purpose was to rescue him from them in order to return him to his father.
37.23 So as soon as Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped Joseph of his robe, the special robe that he wore,
37.24 and they took him and threw him into the waterpit. At the time the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
37.25 Then they sat down to eat. When they looked up, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying labdanum gum, balsam, and resinous bark, and they were on their way down to Egypt.
37.26 At this Judah said to his brothers: “What profit would there be if we killed our brother and covered over his blood?
37.27 Come, now, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and do not let our hand be upon him. After all, he is our brother, our flesh.” So they listened to their brother.
37.28 And when the Midianite merchants were passing by, they lifted Joseph up out of the waterpit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver. These men took Joseph into Egypt.
37.29 Later when Reuben returned to the waterpit and saw that Joseph was not in the waterpit, he ripped his garments apart.
37.30 When he returned to his brothers, he exclaimed: “The child is gone! And I—what am I going to do?”
37.31 So they took Joseph’s robe and slaughtered a male goat and dipped the robe in the blood.
37.32 After that they sent the special robe to their father and said: “This is what we found. Please examine whether this is your son’s robe or not.”
37.33 Then he examined it and exclaimed: “It is my son’s robe! A vicious wild animal must have devoured him! Joseph is surely torn to pieces!”
37.34 With that Jacob ripped his garments apart and put sackcloth around his waist and mourned his son for many days.
37.35 And all his sons and all his daughters kept trying to comfort him, but he kept refusing to take comfort, saying: “I will go down into the Grave mourning my son!” And his father continued weeping for him.
37.36 Now the Midianites sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, a court official of Pharaoh and the chief of the guard.