<p class="bodytext">Then Laban said to Jacob, &#8220;Should you work<n id="1" /> for me for nothing because you are my relative?<n id="2" /> Tell me what your wages should be.&#8221;

She named him Joseph,<n id="1" /> saying, &#8220;May the <sc>Lordsc> give me yet another son.&#8221;p>

But Esau said, &#8220;I have plenty, my brother. Keep what belongs to you.&#8221;

Shechem said to his father Hamor, &#8220;Acquire this young girl as my wife.&#8221;<n id="1" />

He replied, &#8220;I&#8217;m looking for my brothers. Please tell<n id="1" /> me where they are grazing their flocks.&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">Israel said, &#8220;Why did you bring this trouble<n id="1" /> on me by telling<n id="2" /> the man you had one more brother?&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Then your servant my father said to us, &#8216;You know that my wife gave me two sons.<n id="1" />

<p class="bodytext">Jacob<n id="1" /> said, &#8220;Swear to me that you will do so.&#8221;<n id="2" /> So Joseph<n id="3" /> gave him his word.<n id="4" /> Then Israel bowed down<n id="5" /> at the head of his bed.<n id="6" />p>

Now swear to me right here in God&#8217;s name<n id="1" /> that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants.<n id="2" /> Show me, and the land<n id="3" /> where you are staying,<n id="4" /> the same loyalty<n id="5" /> that I have shown you.&#8221;<n id="6" />p>

&#8220;The <sc>Lordsc>, the God of heaven, who took me from my father&#8217;s house and the land of my relatives,<n id="1" /> promised me with a solemn oath,<n id="2" /> &#8216;To your descendants I will give this land.&#8217; He will send his angel<n id="3" /> before you so that you may find<n id="4" /> a wife for my son from there.

Now, if you will show faithful love to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me as well, so that I may go on my way.&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

<p class="bodytext">So Laban asked,<n id="1" /> &#8220;What should I give you?&#8221; &#8220;You don&#8217;t need to give me a thing,&#8221;<n id="2" /> Jacob replied,<n id="3" /> &#8220;but if you agree to this one condition,<n id="4" /> I will continue to care for<n id="5" /> your flocks and protect them:

<p class="bodytext">But Joseph said, &#8220;Far be it from me to do this! The man in whose hand the cup was found will become my slave, but the rest of<n id="1" /> you may go back<n id="2" /> to your father in peace.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine.<n id="1" /> Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are.

Why did you say, &#8216;She is my sister,&#8217; so that I took her<n id="1" /> to be my wife?<n id="2" /> Here is your wife!<n id="3" /> Take her and go!&#8221;<n id="4" />

<p class="bodytext">But Abram said, &#8220;O sovereign <sc>Lordsc>,<n id="1" /> what will you give me since<n id="2" /> I continue to be<n id="3" /> childless, and my heir<n id="4" /> is<n id="5" /> Eliezer of Damascus?&#8221;<n id="6" />

Did Abraham<n id="1" /> not say to me, &#8216;She is my sister&#8217;? And she herself said,<n id="2" /> &#8216;He is my brother.&#8217; I have done this with a clear conscience<n id="3" /> and with innocent hands!&#8221;p>

What&#8217;s more,<n id="1" /> she is indeed my sister, my father&#8217;s daughter, but not my mother&#8217;s daughter. She became my wife.

He replied, &#8220;You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof<n id="1" /> that I dug this well.&#8221;<n id="2" />

Then he said to them, &#8220;If you agree<n id="1" /> that I may bury my dead,<n id="2" /> then hear me out.<n id="3" /> Ask<n id="4" /> Ephron the son of Zohar