pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn
against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh. My lord asked his
servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother? And we said unto my
lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child of his old age, a little
one; and his brother is dead, and he alone is left of his mother, and
his father loveth him. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Bring him down
unto me, that I may set mine eyes upon him. And we said unto my lord,
The lad cannot leave his father: for if he should leave his father, his
father would die. And thou saidst unto thy servants, Except your
youngest brother come down with you, ye shall see my face no more. And
it came to pass when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him
the words of my lord. And our father said, Go again, buy us a little
food. And we said, We cannot go down: if our youngest brother be with
us, then will we go down: for we may not see the man's face, except our
youngest brother be with us. And thy servant my father said unto us, Ye
know that my wife bare me two sons: and the one went out from me, and I
said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I have not seen him since: and if
ye take this one also from me, and mischief befall him, ye shall bring
down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Now therefore when I come
to thy servant my father, and the lad be not with us; seeing that his
life is bound up in the lad's life; it shall come to pass, when he seeth
that the lad is not with us, that he will die: and thy servants shall
bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the
grave. For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying,
If I bring him not unto thee, then shall I bear the blame to my father
for ever. Now therefore, let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of
the lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.
For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me? lest I
see the evil that shall come on my father.
Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him;
and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man
with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept
aloud: and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard. And
Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And
his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his
presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray
you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother whom ye
sold into Egypt. And now be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that
ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For
these two years hath the famine been in the land: and there are yet five
years in the which there shall be neither plowing nor harvest. And God
sent me before you to preserve you a remnant in the earth, and to save
you alive by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me
hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of
all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Haste ye, and go up
to my father, and say unto him, Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made
me lord of all Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: and thou shalt dwell
in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy
children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds,
and all that thou hast: and there will I nourish thee; for there are yet
five years of famine; lest thou come to poverty, thou, and thy
household, and all that thou hast. And, behold, your eyes see, and the
eyes of my brother Benjamin, that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.
And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye
have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither. And he
fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck, and wept; and Benjamin wept upon
his neck. And he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them: and after
that his brethren talked with him.
And the fame thereof was heard in Pharaoh's house, saying, Joseph's
brethren are come: and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his servants. And
Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your
beasts, and go, get you unto the land of Canaan; and take your father
and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of
the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land. Now thou art
commanded, this do ye; take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your
little ones, and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Also
regard not your stuff; for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
And the sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to
the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. To all
of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave
three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment. And to his
father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things
of Egypt, and ten she-asses, laden with corn and bread and victual for
his father by the way. So he sent his brethren away, and they departed:
and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.
And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto
Jacob their father. And they told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and
he is ruler over all the land of Egypt. And his heart fainted, for he
believed them not. And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he
had said unto them: and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to
carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived: and Israel said, It
is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I
die.
And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to
Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. And
God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob,
Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said, I am God, the God of thy
father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a
great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also
surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine
eyes. And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried
Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the
wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle,
and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came
into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: his sons, and his sons'
sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed
brought he with him into Egypt.
And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to shew the way before him
unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. And Joseph made
ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and
he presented himself unto him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his
neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I
have seen thy face, that thou art yet alive. And Joseph said unto his
brethren, and unto his father's house, I will go up, and tell Pharaoh,
and will say unto him, My brethren, and my father's house, which were in
the land of Canaan, are come unto me; and the men are shepherds, for
they have been keepers of cattle; and they have brought their flocks,
and their herds, and all that they have. And it shall come to pass, when
Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say, What is your occupation? that ye
shall say, Thy servants have been keepers of cattle from our youth even
until now, both we, and our fathers: that ye may dwell in the land of
Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
Then Joseph went in and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my
brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, are
come out of the land of Canaan; and, behold, they are in the land of
Goshen. And from among his brethren he took five men, and presented them
unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your
occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both
we, and our fathers. And they said unto Pharaoh, To sojourn in the land
are we come; for there is no pasture for thy servants' flocks; for the
famine is sore in the land of Canaan: now, therefore, we pray thee, let
thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph,
saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee: the land of
Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and thy
brethren to dwell: in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou
knowest any able men among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.
And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and
Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How many are the
days of the years of thy life? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of
the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil
have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained
unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of
their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from the
presence of Pharaoh. And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and
gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in
the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his
father, and his brethren, and all his father's household, with bread,
according to their families.
II
THE WITNESS OF BALAAM TO ISRAEL
And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the
Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were
many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. And
Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this multitude lick up
all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field.
And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. And he sent
messengers unto Balaam the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the
River, to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying,
Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the
face of the earth, and they abide over against me: come now therefore, I
pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me:
peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may
drive them out of the land: for I know that he whom thou blessest is
blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. And the elders of Moab and
the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their
hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.
And he said unto them, Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word
again, as the LORD shall speak unto me: and the princes of Moab abode
with Balaam. And God came unto Balaam, and said, What men are these with
thee? And Balaam said unto God, Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab,
hath sent unto me, saying, Behold, the people that is come out of Egypt,
it covereth the face of the earth: now, come curse me them; peradventure
I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out. And God
said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the
people: for they are blessed. And Balaam rose up in the morning, and
said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land: for the LORD
refuseth to give me leave to go with you.
And the princes of Moab rose up, and they went unto Balak, and said,
Balaam refuseth to come with us. And Balak sent yet again princes, more,
and more honourable than they. And they came to Balaam, and said to him,
Thus saith Balak, the son of Zippor, Let nothing, I pray thee, hinder
thee from coming unto me: for I will promote thee unto very great
honour, and whatsoever thou sayest unto me I will do: come therefore, I
pray thee, curse me this people. And Balaam answered and said unto the
servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and
gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or
more. Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I
may know what the LORD will speak unto me more. And God came unto Balaam
at night, and said unto him, If the men be come to call thee, rise up,
go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou
do.
And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with
the princes of Moab. And God's anger was kindled because he went: and
the angel of the LORD placed himself in the way for an adversary against
him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his
sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and
went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.
Then the angel of the LORD stood in a hollow way between the vineyards,
a fence being on this side, and a fence on that side. And the ass saw
the angel of the LORD, and she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed
Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again. And the angel of
the LORD went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to
turn either to the right hand or to the left. And the ass saw the angel
of the LORD, and she lay down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was
kindled, and he smote the ass with his staff. And the LORD opened the
mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee,
that thou hast smitten me these three times? And Balaam said unto the
ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine
hand, for now I had killed thee. And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I
thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden all thy life long unto this day?
was I ever wont to do so unto thee? And he said, Nay. Then the LORD
opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in
the way, with his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed his head, and
fell on his face. And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Wherefore
hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I am come forth
for an adversary, because thy way is perverse before me: and the ass saw
me, and turned aside before me these three times: unless she had turned
aside from me, surely now I had even slain thee, and saved her alive.
And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, I have sinned; for I knew
not that thou stoodest in the way against me: now therefore, if it
displease thee, I will get me back again. And the angel of the LORD said
unto Balaam, Go with the men: but only the word that I shall speak unto
thee, that thou shalt speak.
So Balaam went with the princes of Balak. And when Balak heard that
Balaam was come, he went out to meet him unto the city of Moab, which is
on the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost part of the border. And
Balak said unto Balaam, Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee?
wherefore camest thou not unto me? am I not able indeed to promote thee
to honour? And Balaam said unto Balak, Lo, I am come unto thee: have I
now any power at all to speak anything? the word that God putteth in my
mouth, that shall I speak.
And Balaam went with Balak, and they came unto Kiriath-huzoth. And Balak
sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent to Balaam, and to the princes that
were with him. And it came to pass in the morning, that Balak took
Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, and he saw from
thence the utmost part of the people. And Balaam said unto Balak, Build
me here seven altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams.
And Balak did as Balaam had spoken; and Balak and Balaam offered on
every altar a bullock and a ram. And Balaam said unto Balak, Stand by
thy burnt offering, and I will go; peradventure the LORD will come to
meet me: and whatsoever he sheweth me I will tell thee. And he went to a
bare height. And God met Balaam: and he said unto him, I have prepared
the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every
altar. And the LORD put a word in Balaam's mouth, and said, Return unto
Balak, and thus thou shalt speak. And he returned unto him, and, lo, he
stood by his burnt offering, he, and all the princes of Moab. And he
took up his parable, and said:
From Aram hath Balak brought me,
The king of Moab from the mountains of the East:
Come, curse me Jacob,
And come, defy Israel.
How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?
And how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?
For from the top of the rocks I see him,
And from the hills I behold him:
Lo, it is a people that dwell alone,
And shall not be reckoned among the nations.
Who can count the dust of Jacob,
Or number the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous,
And let my last end be like his!
And Balak said unto Balaam, What hast thou done unto me? I took thee to
curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast blessed them altogether. And
he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the LORD
putteth in my mouth?
And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place,
from whence thou mayest see them; thou shalt see but the utmost part of
them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. And he
took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven
altars, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar. And he said
unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD
yonder. And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said,
Return unto Balak, and thus shalt thou speak. And he came to him, and,
lo, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him.
And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken? And he took up his
parable, and said:
Rise up, Balak, and hear;
Hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor:
God is not a man, that he should lie;
Neither the son of man, that he should repent:
Hath he said, and shall he not do it?
Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Behold, I have received commandment to bless:
And he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob,
Neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel:
The LORD his God is with him,
And the shout of a king is among them.
God bringeth them forth out of Egypt;
He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox.
Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob,
Neither is there any divination against Israel:
Now shall it be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!
Behold, the people riseth up as a lioness,
And as a lion doth he lift himself up:
He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey,
And drink the blood of the slain.
And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at
all. But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying,
All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?
And Balak said unto Balaam, Come now, I will take thee unto another
place; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them
from thence. And Balak took Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh
down upon the desert. And Balaam said unto Balak, Build me here seven
altars, and prepare me here seven bullocks and seven rams. And Balak did
as Balaam had said, and offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.
And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he went
not, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his
face toward the wilderness. And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw
Israel dwelling according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came
upon him. And he took up his parable, and said:
Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye is opened saith:
He saith, which heareth the words of God,
Which seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob,
Thy tabernacles, O Israel!
As valleys are they spread forth,
As gardens by the river side,
As lign-aloes which the LORD hath planted,
As cedar trees beside the waters.
Water shall flow from his buckets,
And his seed shall be in many waters,
And his king shall be higher than Agag,
And his kingdom shall be exalted.
God bringeth him forth out of Egypt;
He hath as it were the strength of the wild-ox:
He shall eat up the nations his adversaries,
And shall break their bones in pieces,
And smite them through with his arrows.
He couched, he lay down as a lion,
And as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?
Blessed be every one that blesseth thee,
And cursed be every one that curseth thee.
And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands
together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine
enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three
times. Therefore now flee thou to thy place: I thought to promote thee
unto great honour; but, lo, the LORD hath kept thee back from honour.
And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers which
thou sentest unto me, saying, If Balak would give me his house full of
silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either
good or bad of mine own mind; what the LORD speaketh, that will I speak?
And now, behold, I go unto my people: come, and I will advertise thee
what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days. And he took
up his parable, and said:
Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye is opened saith:
He saith, which heareth the words of God,
And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High,
Which seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
I see him, but not now:
I behold him, but not nigh:
There shall come forth a star out of Jacob,
And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
And shall smite through the corners of Moab,
And break down all the sons of tumult.
And Edom shall be a possession,
Seir also shall be a possession, which were his enemies;
While Israel doeth valiantly.
And out of Jacob shall one have dominion,
And shall destroy the remnant from the city.
And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said:
Amalek was the first of the nations;
But his latter end shall come to destruction.
And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said:
Strong is thy dwelling place,
And thy nest is set in the rock.
Nevertheless Kain shall be wasted,
Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.
And he took up his parable, and said:
Alas, who shall live when God doeth this?
But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,
And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber,
And he also shall come to destruction.
And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also
went his way.
III
THE CROWNING OF ABIMELECH
And Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and dwelt in his own house. And
Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many
wives. And his concubine that was in Sechem, she also bare him a son,
and he called his name Abimelech. And Gideon the son of Joash died in a
good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in
Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of
Israel turned again, and went a whoring after the Baalim, and made
Baal-berith their god. And the children of Israel remembered not the
LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their
enemies on every side: neither shewed they kindness to the house of
Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had
shewed unto Israel.
And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's
brethren, and spake with them, and with all the family of the house of
his mother's father, saying, Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the
men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, that all the sons of
Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, rule over you, or that
one rule over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.
And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of
Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech;
for they said, He is our brother. And they gave him threescore and ten
pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech
hired vain and light fellows, which followed him. And he went unto his
father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal,
being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: but Jotham the
youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.