Jo’s Place

​ Judah and Tamar (Part 1) About this time, Judah left home and moved to Adullam, where he stayed with a man named Hirah.  There he saw a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua, and he married her.  When he slept with her, she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and he named the boy Er. Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son, and she named him Onan.  And when she gave birth to a third son, she named him Shelah.  At the time of Shelah’s birth, they were living at Kezib.  In the course of time, Judah arranged for his firstborn son, Er, to marry a young woman named Tamar.  But Er was a wicked man in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord took his life.  Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and marry Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a man who has died.  You must produce an heir for your brother.”  But Onan was not willing to have a child who would not be his own heir. So whenever he had intercourse with his broth...

Joseph Sold into Slavery When Joseph’s brothers saw him coming, they recognized him in the distance.  As he approached, they made plans to kill him.  “Here comes the dreamer!” they said.  “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns.  We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’  Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”  But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue.  “Let’s not kill him,” he said.  “Why should we shed any blood?  Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness.  Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.”  Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father.  So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing.  Then they grabbed him and threw him into the cistern.  Now the cistern was empty; there was no water in it.  Then, just as they were sitting down to eat, t...

​ Joseph’s Dreams Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner.  This is the account of Jacob and his family.  When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks.  He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah.  But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing.  Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age.  So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe.  But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them.  They couldn’t say a kind word to him.  One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever.  “Listen to this dream,” he said.  “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain.  Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all...

​ Edomites: Descendants of Esau This is the account of the descendants of Esau (who was  also known as Edom) .  Esau married two young women from Canaan: Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite; and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite.  He also married his cousin Basemath, who was the daughter of Ishmael and the sister of Nebaioth.  Adah gave birth to a son named Eliphaz for Esau. Basemath gave birth to a son named Reuel.  Oholibamah gave birth to sons named Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. All these sons were born to Esau in the land of Canaan.  Esau took his wives, his children, and his entire household, along with his livestock and cattle—all the wealth he had acquired in the land of Canaan—and moved away from his brother, Jacob.  There was not enough land to support them both because of all the livestock and possessions they had acquired.  So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir.  … The descendants of Reuel ...

​ The Deaths of Rachel and Isaac Leaving Bethel, Jacob and his clan moved on toward Ephrath.  But Rachel went into labor while they were still some distance away… Her labor pains were intense.  After a very hard delivery, the midwife finally exclaimed, “Don’t be afraid—you have another son!”  Rachel was about to die, but with her last breath she named the baby Ben-oni (which means “son of my sorrow”).  The baby’s father, however, called him Benjamin (which means “son of my right hand”).  So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (now called Bethlehem).  Jacob set up a stone monument over Rachel’s grave, and it can be seen there to this day.  Then Jacob traveled on and camped beyond Migdal-eder.  While he was living there, Reuben had intercourse with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Jacob soon heard about it.  These are the names of the twelve sons of Jacob:  The sons of Leah were Reuben (Jacob’s oldest son), Simeon, Levi, Ju...

​ Jacob’s Return to Bethel Then God said to Jacob,  “Get ready and move to Bethel and settle there.  Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother, Esau.”  So Jacob told everyone in his household, “Get rid of all your pagan idols, purify yourselves, and put on clean clothing.  We are now going to Bethel, where I will build an altar to the God who answered my prayers when I was in distress.  He has been with me wherever I have gone.”  So they gave Jacob all their pagan idols and earrings, and he buried them under the great tree near Shechem.  As they set out, a terror from God spread over the people in all the towns of that area, so no one attacked Jacob’s family.  Eventually, Jacob and his household arrived at Luz (the place of light) in Canaan (also called Bethel - which means the house of God in Hebrew).  Jacob built an altar there and named the place El-bethel (which means “God of Bethel”), because God...

Revenge against Shechem One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the young women who lived in the area.  But when the local prince, Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, saw Dinah, he seized her and raped her.  But then he fell in love with her, and he tried to win her affection with tender words.  He said to his father, Hamor, “Get me this young girl.  I want to marry her.”  Soon Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter, Dinah.  But since his sons were out in the fields herding his livestock, he said nothing until they returned.  Hamor, Shechem’s father, came to discuss the matter with Jacob.  Meanwhile, Jacob’s sons had come in from the field as soon as they heard what had happened.  They were shocked and furious that their sister had been raped.  Shechem had done a disgraceful thing against Jacob’s family, something that should never be done.  Hamor tried to speak with Jacob and his sons.  “My...