<p class="bodytext">So the men took these gifts, and they took double the money with them, along with Benjamin. Then they hurried down to Egypt<n id="1" /> and stood before Joseph.

But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money &#8211; the full amount<n id="1" /> &#8211; in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it.<n id="2" />

Joseph said to them, &#8220;What did you think you were doing?<n id="1" /> Don&#8217;t you know that a man like me can find out things like this by divination?&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">O my soul, do not come into their council,p> <p class="poetry">do not be united to their assembly, my heart,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">for in their anger they have killed men,p> <p class="poetry">and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.p>

<p class="bodytext">The Nephilim<n id="1" /> were on the earth in those days (and also after this)<n id="2" /> when the sons of God were having sexual relations with<n id="3" /> the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children.<n id="4" /> They were the mighty heroes<n id="5" /> of old, the famous men.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="bodytext">Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money)<n id="1" /> and circumcised them<n id="2" /> on that very same day, just as God had told him to do.

But now give back the man&#8217;s wife. Indeed<n id="1" /> he is a prophet<n id="2" /> and he will pray for you; thus you will live.<n id="3" /> But if you don&#8217;t give her back,<n id="4" /> know that you will surely die<n id="5" /> along with all who belong to you.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, &#8220;Now this time my husband will show me affection,<n id="1" /> because I have given birth to three sons for him.&#8221; That is why he was named Levi.<n id="2" />p>

Then Leah said, &#8220;God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.&#8221; So she named him Zebulun.<n id="1" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Jacob looked up<n id="1" /> and saw that Esau was coming<n id="2" /> along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.

Now Jacob&#8217;s sons had come in from the field when they heard the news.<n id="1" /> They<n id="2" /> were offended<n id="3" /> and very angry because Shechem<n id="4" /> had disgraced Israel<n id="5" /> by sexually assaulting<n id="6" /> Jacob&#8217;s daughter, a crime that should not be committed.<n id="7" />p>

&#8220;These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough<n id="1" /> for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry.<n id="2" />

In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob&#8217;s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah&#8217;s brothers, each took his sword<n id="1" /> and went to the unsuspecting city<n id="2" /> and slaughtered every male.

So when the Midianite<n id="1" /> merchants passed by, Joseph&#8217;s brothers pulled<n id="2" /> him<n id="3" /> out of the cistern and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Ishmaelites<n id="4" /> then took Joseph to Egypt.p>

<p class="bodytext">They said to one other,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Surely we&#8217;re being punished<n id="2" /> because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was<n id="3" /> when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress<n id="4" /> has come on us!&#8221;

He said to his brothers, &#8220;My money was returned! Here it is in my sack!&#8221; They were dismayed;<n id="1" /> they turned trembling one to another<n id="2" /> and said, &#8220;What in the world has God done to us?&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, &#8216;This is how I will find out if you are honest men. Leave one of your brothers with me, and take grain<n id="1" /> for your hungry households and go.

<p class="bodytext">They replied, &#8220;The man questioned us<n id="1" /> thoroughly<n id="2" /> about ourselves and our family, saying, &#8216;Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?&#8217;<n id="3" /> So we answered him in this way.<n id="4" /> How could we possibly know<n id="5" /> that he would say,<n id="6" /> &#8216;Bring your brother down&#8217;?&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">But the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph&#8217;s house. They said, &#8220;We are being brought in because of<n id="1" /> the money that was returned in our sacks last time.<n id="2" /> He wants to capture us,<n id="3" /> make us slaves, and take<n id="4" /> our donkeys!&#8221;

They had not gone very far from the city<n id="1" /> when Joseph said<n id="2" /> to the servant who was over his household, &#8220;Pursue the men at once!<n id="3" /> When you overtake<n id="4" /> them, say to them, &#8216;Why have you repaid good with evil?