Now no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has just come to you,” Israel regained strength and sat up on his bed.

and they started on their journey. The surrounding cities were afraid of God, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

They traveled on from Bethel, and when Ephrath was still some distance away, Rachel went into labor – and her labor was hard.

Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority.

Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.’ I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.

Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”

Joseph harnessed his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. When he met him, he hugged his neck and wept on his neck for quite some time.

So tell them you are my sister so that it may go well for me because of you and my life will be spared on account of you.”

“The man, the lord of the land, spoke harshly to us and treated us as if we were spying on the land.

When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth.”

Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised.

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it displeased him. So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep the covenantal requirement I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.’”

So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, accompanied by her female attendant, with Abraham’s servant and his men.

“Before I finished praying in my heart, along came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the first dream was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also appeared in my dream and there were three baskets of white bread on my head.

After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so that I can go home to my own country.