Then he said to them, “If you agree ¹  that I may bury my dead, ²  then hear me out. ³  Ask ⁴  Ephron the son of Zohar

If you are honest men, leave one of your brothers confined here in prison ¹  while the rest of you go ²  and take grain back for your hungry families. ³ 

For how can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? I couldn’t bear to see ¹  my father’s pain.” ² 

Silently the man watched her with interest to determine ¹  if the Lord had made his journey successful ²  or not.

But I said to my master, ‘What if the woman does not want to go ¹  with me?’ ² 

“No,” he insisted, “but you have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” ¹ 

“No, please take them,” Jacob said. ¹  “If I have found favor in your sight, accept ²  my gift from my hand. Now that I have seen your face and you have accepted me, ³  it is as if I have seen the face of God. ⁴ 

But we replied, ‘We cannot go down there. ¹  If our youngest brother is with us, then we will go, ²  for we won’t be permitted to see the man’s face if our youngest brother is not with us.’

When the days of mourning ¹  had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s royal court, ²  “If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh, ³ 

But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, ¹  you will be free ²  from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!”

You will be free from your oath ¹  if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.’

When I came to the spring today, I prayed, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you have decided to make my journey successful, ¹  may events unfold as follows: ² 

If one of us has it, ¹  he will die, and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves!”

And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted. ¹ 

But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, ¹  for I have learned by divination ²  that the Lord has blessed me on account of you.”

But if you will not send him, we won’t go down there because the man said to us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”

May the sovereign God ¹  grant you mercy before the man so that he may release ²  your other brother ³  and Benjamin! As for me, if I lose my children I lose them.” ⁴ 

But the children struggled ¹  inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” ²  So she asked the Lord, ³ 

Abraham ¹  spoke to him again, ²  “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

The Lord ¹  took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars – if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”