I will indeed bless you, ¹  and I will greatly multiply ²  your descendants ³  so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession ⁴  of the strongholds ⁵  of their enemies.

Before he had finished praying, there came Rebekah ¹  with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah (Milcah was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor). ² 

“Before I finished praying in my heart, ¹  along came Rebekah ²  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 men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, “She is my sister.” ¹  He was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” for he thought to himself, ²  “The men of this place will kill me to get ³  Rebekah because she is very beautiful.”

So Esau hated ¹  Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. ²  Esau said privately, ³  “The time ⁴  of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill ⁵  my brother Jacob!”

He saw ¹  in the field a well with ²  three flocks of sheep lying beside it, because the flocks were watered from that well. Now ³  a large stone covered the mouth of the well.

When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds ¹  would roll the stone off the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place over the well’s mouth.

She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, “Now this time my husband will show me affection, ¹  because I have given birth to three sons for him.” That is why he was named Levi. ² 

My integrity will testify for me ¹  later on. ²  When you come to verify that I’ve taken only the wages we agreed on, ³  if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen.” ⁴ 

Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face ¹  the streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. So he made separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban’s flocks.

Then he said, ‘Observe ¹  that all the male goats mating with ²  the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you.

Jacob looked up ¹  and saw that Esau was coming ²  along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants.

“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 

In three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword ¹  and went to the unsuspecting city ²  and slaughtered every male.

So she removed her widow’s clothes and covered herself with a veil. She wrapped herself and sat at the entrance to Enaim which is on the way to Timnah. (She did this because ¹  she saw that she had not been given to Shelah as a wife, even though he had now grown up.) ² 

In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you ¹  and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did before ²  when you were cupbearer.

Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. ¹  He also gave him Asenath ²  daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, ³  to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of ⁴  all the land of Egypt.

Then Reuben said to his father, “You may ¹  put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my care ²  and I will bring him back to you.”

They replied, “The man questioned us ¹  thoroughly ²  about ourselves and our family, saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ ³  So we answered him in this way. ⁴  How could we possibly know ⁵  that he would say, ⁶  ‘Bring your brother down’?”

When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the servant who was over his household, “Bring the men to the house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for the men will eat with me at noon.”