Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife?
Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore, see your wife, take her, and go your way.”
Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”
Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister?’ She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.”
Now therefore, restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours.”
Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared.
Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!”
Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?”
When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”
To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated.”
Now, therefore, swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son. But according to the kindness that I have done to you, you shall do to me, and to the land in which you have lived as a foreigner.”
Abraham said, “I will swear.”
Abraham complained to Abimelech because of a water well, which Abimelech’s servants had violently taken away.
Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this thing. You didn’t tell me, and I didn’t hear of it until today.”
Abimelech said to Abraham, “What do these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves mean?”
He said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that it may be a witness to me, that I have dug this well.”
He spoke to Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, “But if you will, please hear me. I will give the price of the field. Take it from me, and I will bury my dead there.”
Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. If not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand, or to the left.”
Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” He swore to him. He sold his birthright to Jacob.
When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife.
Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”
Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what will your wages be?”
Laban said, “It is not done so in our place, to give the younger before the firstborn.
Laban said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, stay here, for I have divined that Yahweh has blessed me for your sake.”
He said, “Appoint me your wages, and I will give it.”
He said to him, “You know how I have served you, and how your livestock have fared with me.
He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it.
I will pass through all your flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted one, and every black one among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. This will be my hire.
So my righteousness will answer for me hereafter, when you come concerning my hire that is before you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and black among the sheep, that might be with me, will be considered stolen.”
Laban said, “Behold, let it be according to your word.”
but when the flock were feeble, he didn’t put them in. So the feebler were Laban’s, and the stronger Jacob’s.
He heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s. He has obtained all this wealth from that which was our father’s.”
You know that I have served your father with all of my strength.
Your father has deceived me, and changed my wages ten times, but God didn’t allow him to hurt me.
Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep: and Rachel stole the teraphim that were her father’s.
Why did you flee secretly, and deceive me, and didn’t tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth and with songs, with tambourine and with harp;
Now that you have felt around in all my stuff, what have you found of all your household stuff? Set it here before my relatives and your relatives, that they may judge between us two.
“These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not cast their young, and I haven’t eaten the rams of your flocks.
That which was torn of animals, I didn’t bring to you. I bore its loss. Of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.
These twenty years I have been in your house. I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.
Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, but Jacob called it Galeed.
Laban said, “This heap is witness between me and you today.” Therefore it was named Galeed
He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob”.
He said, “I will send you a young goat from the flock.” She said, “Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?”
He said, “What pledge will I give you?” She said, “Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” He gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him.
Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, but he didn’t find her.
He returned to Judah, and said, “I haven’t found her; and also the men of the place said, ‘There has been no prostitute here.’”
Judah said, “Let her keep it, lest we be shamed. Behold, I sent this young goat, and you haven’t found her.”
When she was brought out, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, “By the man, whose these are, I am with child.” She also said, “Please discern whose are these—the signet, and the cords, and the staff.”
Judah acknowledged them, and said, “She is more righteous than I, because I didn’t give her to Shelah, my son.” He knew her again no more.
But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, my master doesn’t know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand.
No one is greater in this house than I am, and he has not kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside.
But remember me when it will be well with you, and please show kindness to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.
For indeed, I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.”
Then the chief cup bearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my faults today.
Joseph saw his brothers, and he recognized them, but acted like a stranger to them, and spoke roughly with them. He said to them, “Where did you come from?” They said, “From the land of Canaan to buy food.”
They said to him, “No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food.
We are all one man’s sons; we are honest men. Your servants are not spies.”
He said to them, “No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land!”
Joseph said to them, “It is like I told you, saying, ‘You are spies!’
By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here, unless your youngest brother comes here.
Send one of you, and let him get your brother, and you shall be bound, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you, or else by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies.”
If you are honest men, then let one of your brothers be bound in your prison; but you go, carry grain for the famine of your houses.
Bring your youngest brother to me; so will your words be verified, and you won’t die.” They did so.
They said to one another, “We are certainly guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us, and we wouldn’t listen. Therefore this distress has come upon us.”
They didn’t know that Joseph understood them; for there was an interpreter between them.
Then Joseph gave a command to fill their bags with grain, and to restore each man’s money into his sack, and to give them food for the way. So it was done to them.
We said to him, ‘We are honest men. We are no spies.
The man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain for the famine of your houses, and go your way.
Bring your youngest brother to me. Then I will know that you are not spies, but that you are honest men. So I will deliver your brother to you, and you shall trade in the land.’”
As they emptied their sacks, behold, each man’s bundle of money was in his sack. When they and their father saw their bundles of money, they were afraid.
Judah spoke to him, saying, “The man solemnly warned us, saying, ‘You shall not see my face, unless your brother is with you.’
If you’ll send our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy you food,
Israel said, “Why did you treat me so badly, telling the man that you had another brother?”
They said, “The man asked directly concerning ourselves, and concerning our relatives, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Have you another brother?’ We just answered his questions. Is there any way we could know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother down?’”
I’ll be collateral for him. From my hand will you require him. If I don’t bring him to you, and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever,
and take double money in your hand, and take back the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks. Perhaps it was an oversight.
They came near to the steward of Joseph’s house, and they spoke to him at the door of the house,
When we came to the lodging place, we opened our sacks, and behold, each man’s money was in the mouth of his sack, our money in full weight. We have brought it back in our hand.
We have brought down other money in our hand to buy food. We don’t know who put our money in our sacks.”
They said to him, “Why does my lord speak such words as these? Far be it from your servants that they should do such a thing!
Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again to you out of the land of Canaan. How then should we steal silver or gold out of your lord’s house?
Judah said, “What will we tell my lord? What will we speak? Or how will we clear ourselves? God has found out the iniquity of your servants. Behold, we are my lord’s slaves, both we, and he also in whose hand the cup is found.”
He said, “Far be it from me that I should do so. The man in whose hand the cup is found, he will be my slave; but as for you, go up in peace to your father.”
When we came up to your servant my father, we told him the words of my lord.
When that year was ended, they came to him the second year, and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord how our money is all spent, and the herds of livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
the owner of the pit shall make it good. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall be his.
“If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it, or sells it; he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
If the stolen property is found in his hand alive, whether it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall pay double.
“If a man delivers to his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief is found, he shall pay double.
If the thief isn’t found, then the master of the house shall come near to God, to find out if he hasn’t put his hand to his neighbor’s goods.
For every matter of trespass, whether it is for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any kind of lost thing, about which one says, ‘This is mine,’ the cause of both parties shall come before God. He whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.
“If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured, or driven away, no man seeing it;
the oath of Yahweh shall be between them both, whether he hasn’t put his hand to his neighbor’s goods; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution.
But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner.
If it is torn in pieces, let him bring it for evidence. He shall not make good that which was torn.