Book of Jasher 25 - 40
CHAPTER 25
1 And it was at that time that
Abraham again took a wife in his old age, and her name was Keturah, from the
land of Canaan.
2 And she bare unto him
Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuach, being six sons. And the
children of Zimran were Abihen, Molich and Narim.
3 And the sons of Jokshan were
Sheba and Dedan, and the sons of Medan were Amida, Joab, Gochi, Elisha and Nothach;
and the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Chanoch, Abida and Eldaah.
4 And the sons of Ishbak were
Makiro, Beyodua and Tator.
5 And the sons of Shuach were
Bildad, Mamdad, Munan and Meban; all these are the families of the children of
Keturah the Canaanitish woman which she bare unto Abraham the Hebrew.
6 And Abraham sent all these
away, and he gave them gifts, and they went away from his son Isaac to dwell
wherever they should find a place.
7 And all these went to the
mountain at the east, and they built themselves six cities in which they dwelt
unto this day.
8 But the children of Sheba
and Dedan, children of Jokshan, with their children, did not dwell with their
brethren in their cities, and they journeyed and encamped in the countries and
wildernesses unto this day.
9 And the children of Midian,
son of Abraham, went to the east of the land of Cush, and they there found a
large valley in the eastern country, and they remained there and built a city,
and they dwelt therein, that is the land of Midian unto this day.
10 And Midian dwelt in the city
which he built, he and his five sons and all belonging to him.
11 And these are the names of
the sons of Midian according to their names in their cities, Ephah, Epher,
Chanoch, Abida and Eldaah.
12 And the sons of Ephah were
Methach, Meshar, Avi and Tzanua, and the sons of Epher were Ephron, Zur, Alirun
and Medin, and the sons of Chanoch were Reuel, Rekem, Azi, Alyoshub and Alad.
13 And the sons of Abida were
Chur, Melud, Kerury, Molchi; and the sons of Eldaah were Miker, and Reba, and
Malchiyah and Gabol; these are the names of the Midianites according to their
families; and afterward the families of Midian spread throughout the land of
Midian.
14 And these are the
generations of Ishmael the son Abraham, whom Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid, bare unto
Abraham.
15 And Ishmael took a wife from
the land of Egypt, and her name was Ribah, the same is Meribah. 16 And Ribah bare unto Ishmael
Nebayoth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam and their sister Bosmath.
17 And Ishmael cast away his
wife Ribah, and she went from him and returned to Egypt to the house of her
father, and she dwelt there, for she had been very bad in the sight of Ishmael,
and in the sight of his father Abraham.
18 And Ishmael afterward took a
wife from the land of Canaan, and her name was Malchuth, and she bare unto him Nishma, Dumah, Masa,
Chadad, Tema, Yetur, Naphish and Kedma.
19 These are the sons of
Ishmael, and these are their names, being twelve princes according to their
nations; and the families of Ishmael afterward spread forth, and Ishmael took
his children and all the property that he had gained, together with the souls
of his household and all belonging to him, and they went to dwell where they
should find a place.
20 And they went and dwelt near
the wilderness of Paran, and their dwelling was from Havilah unto Shur, that is
before Egypt as thou comest toward Assyria.
21 And Ishmael and his sons
dwelt in the land, and they had children born to them, and they were fruitful
and increased abundantly.
22 And these are the names of
the sons of Nebayoth the first born of
Ishmael; Mend, Send, Mayon; and the sons of Kedar were Alyon, Kezem, Chamad and
Eli.
23 And the sons of Adbeel were
Chamad and Jabin; and the sons of Mibsam were Obadiah, Ebedmelech and Yeush;
these are the families of the children of Ribah the wife of Ishmael.
24 And the sons of Mishma the
son of Ishmael were Shamua, Zecaryon and
Obed; and the sons of Dumah were Kezed, Eli, Machmad and Amed.
25 And the sons of Masa were
Melon, Mula and Ebidadon; and the sons of Chadad were Azur, Minzar and
Ebedmelech; and the sons of Tema were Seir, Sadon and Yakol.
26 And the sons of Yetur were
Merith, Yaish, Alyo, and Pachoth; and the sons of Naphish were Ebed-Tamed,
Abiyasaph and Mir; and the sons of Kedma were Calip, Tachti, and Omir; these
were the children of Malchuth the wife of Ishmael according to their families.
27 All these are the families of Ishmael according to
their generations, and they dwelt in those lands wherein they had built
themselves cities unto this day.
28 And Rebecca the daughter of
Bethuel, the wife of Abraham’s son Isaac, was barren in those days, she had no
offspring; and Isaac dwelt with his father in the land of Canaan; and the Lord
was with Isaac; and Arpachshad the son of Shem the son of Noah died in those
days, in the forty-eighth year of the life of Isaac, and all the days that
Arpachshad lived were four hundred and thirty-eight years, and he died.
1 And in the fifty-ninth year
of the life of Isaac the son of Abraham, Rebecca his wife was still barren in
those days.
2 And Rebecca said unto Isaac,
Truly I have heard, my lord, that thy mother Sarah was barren in her days until
my Lord Abraham, thy father, prayed for her and she conceived by him.
3 Now therefore stand up, pray
thou also to God and he will hear thy prayer and remember us through his
mercies.
4 And Isaac answered his wife
Rebecca, saying, Abraham has already prayed for me to God to multiply his seed,
now therefore this barrenness must proceed to us from thee.
5 And Rebecca said unto him,
But arise now thou also and pray, that the Lord may hear thy prayer and grant
me children, and Isaac hearkened to the words of his wife, and Isaac and his
wife rose up and went to the land of Moriah to pray there and to seek the Lord,
and when they had reached that place Isaac stood up and prayed to the Lord on
account of his wife because she was barren. 6 And Isaac said, O Lord God of heaven and earth, whose goodness
and mercies fill the earth, thou who didst take my father from his father’s
house and from his birthplace, and didst bring him unto this land, and didst
say unto him, To thy seed will I give the land, and thou didst promise him and
didst declare unto him, I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as
the sand of the sea, now may thy words be verified which thou didst speak unto
my father.
7 For thou art the Lord our
God, our eyes are toward thee to give us seed of men, as thou didst promise us,
for thou art the Lord our God and our eyes are directed toward thee only.
8 And the Lord heard the
prayer of Isaac the son of Abraham, and the Lord was entreated of him and
Rebecca his wife conceived.
9 And in about seven months
after the children struggled together within her, and it pained her greatly
that she was wearied on account of them, and she said to all the women who were
then in the land, Did such a thing happen to you as it has to me? and they said
unto her, No.
10 And she said unto them, Why
am I alone in this amongst all the women that were upon earth? and she went to
the land of Moriah to seek the Lord on account of this; and she went to Shem
and Eber his son to make inquiries of them in this matter, and that they should
seek the Lord in this thing respecting her.
11 And she also asked Abraham
to seek and inquire of the Lord about all that had befallen her. 12 And they all inquired of the Lord concerning this matter, and they
brought her word from the Lord and told her, Two children are in thy womb, and
two nations shall rise from them; and one nation shall be stronger than the
other, and the greater shall serve the younger.
13 And when her days to be
delivered were completed, she knelt down, and behold there were twins in her
womb, as the Lord had spoken to her.
14 And the first came out red all
over like a hairy garment, and all the people of the land called his name Esau,
saying, That this one was made complete from the womb.
15 And after that came his
brother, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel, therefore they called his name
Jacob.
16 And Isaac, the son of
Abraham, was sixty years old when he begat them.
17 And the boys grew up to
their fifteenth year, and they came amongst the society of men. Esau was a
designing and deceitful man, and an expert hunter in the field, and Jacob was a
man perfect and wise, dwelling in tents, feeding flocks and learning the instructions
of the Lord and the commands of his father and mother.
18 And Isaac and the children
of his household dwelt with his father Abraham in the land of Canaan, as God
had commanded them.
19 And Ishmael the son of
Abraham went with his children and all belonging to them, and they returned
there to the land of Havilah, and they dwelt there.
20 And all the children of
Abraham’s concubines went to dwell in the land of the east, for Abraham had
sent them away from his son, and had given them presents, and they went away.
21 And Abraham gave all that he
had to his son Isaac, and he also gave him all his treasures. 22 And he commanded him saying, Dost
thou not know and understand the Lord is God in heaven and in earth, and there
is no other beside him?
23 And it was he who took me
from my father’s house, and from my birth place, and gave me all the delights
upon earth; who delivered me from the counsel of the wicked, for in him did I
trust. 24 And he brought me to this
place, and he delivered me from Ur Casdim; and he said unto me, To thy seed
will I give all these lands, and they shall inherit them when they keep my
commandments, my statutes and my judgments that I have commanded thee, and
which I shall command them.
25 Now therefore my son,
hearken to my voice, and keep the
commandments of the Lord thy God, which I commanded thee, do not turn from the
right way either to the right or to the left, in order that it may be well with
thee and thy children after thee forever.
26 And remember the wonderful works
of the Lord, and his kindness that he has shown toward us, in having delivered
us from the hands of our enemies, and the Lord our God caused them to fall into
our hands; and now therefore keep all that I have commanded thee, and turn not
away from the commandments of thy God, and serve none beside him, in order that
it may be well with thee and thy seed after thee.
27 And teach thou thy children
and thy seed the instructions of the Lord and his commandments, and teach them
the upright way in which they should go, in order that it may be well with them
forever.
28 And Isaac answered his
father and said unto him, That which my Lord has commanded that will I do, and
I will not depart from the commands of the Lord my God, I will keep all that he
commanded me; and Abraham blessed his son Isaac, and also his children; and
Abraham taught Jacob the instruction of the Lord and his ways.
29 And it was at that time that
Abraham died, in the fifteenth year of the life of Jacob and Esau, the sons of
Isaac, and all the days of Abraham were one hundred and seventy-five years, and
he died and was gathered to his people in good old age, old and satisfied with
days, and Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him.
30 And when the inhabitants of
Canaan heard that Abraham was dead, they all came with their kings and princes
and all their men to bury Abraham.
31 And all the inhabitants of
the land of Haran, and all the families of the house of Abraham, and all the
princes and grandees, and the sons of Abraham by the concubines, all came when
they heard of Abraham’s death, and they requited Abraham’s kindness, and comforted
Isaac his son, and they buried Abraham in the cave which he bought from Ephron
the Hittite and his children, for the possession of a burial place.
32 And all the inhabitants of
Canaan, and all those who had known Abraham, wept for Abraham a whole year, and
men and women mourned over him.
33 And all the little children,
and all the inhabitants of the land wept on account of Abraham, for Abraham had
been good to them all, and because he had been upright with God and men.
34 And there arose not a man
who feared God like unto Abraham, for he had feared his God from his youth, and
had served the Lord, and had gone in all his ways during his life, from his
childhood to the day of his death.
35 And the Lord was with him
and delivered him from the counsel of Nimrod and his people, and when he made
war with the four kings of Elam he conquered them.
36 And he brought all the
children of the earth to the service of God, and he taught them the ways of the
Lord, and caused them to know the Lord.
37 And he formed a grove and he
planted a vineyard therein, and he had always prepared in his tent meat and
drink to those that passed through the land, that they might satisfy themselves
in his house.
38 And the Lord God delivered
the whole earth on account of Abraham.
39 And it was after the death
of Abraham that God blessed his son Isaac and his children, and the Lord was
with Isaac as he had been with his father Abraham, for Isaac kept all the
commandments of the Lord as Abraham his father had commanded him; he did not
turn to the right or to the left from the right path which his father had
commanded him.
CHAPTER 27
1 And Esau at that time, after
the death of Abraham, frequently went in the field to hunt.
2 And Nimrod king of Babel,
the same was Amraphel, also frequently went with his mighty men to hunt in the
field, and to walk about with his men in the cool of the day.
3 And Nimrod was observing
Esau all the days, for a jealousy was formed in the heart of Nimrod against
Esau all the days.
4 And on a certain day Esau
went in the field to hunt, and he found
Nimrod walking in the wilderness with his two men.
5 And all his mighty men and
his people were with him in the wilderness, but they removed at a distance from
him, and they went from him in different directions to hunt, and Esau concealed
himself for Nimrod, and he lurked for him in the wilderness.
6 And Nimrod and his men that
were with him did not know him, and Nimrod and his men frequently walked about
in the field at the cool of the day, and to know where his men were hunting in
the field.
7 And Nimrod and two of his
men that were with him came to the place
where they were, when Esau started suddenly from his lurking place, and drew
his sword, and hastened and ran to Nimrod and cut off his head.
8 And Esau fought a desperate
fight with the two men that were with Nimrod,
and when they called out to him, Esau turned to them and smote them to death
with his sword.
9 And all the mighty men of
Nimrod, who had left him to go to the wilderness, heard the cry at a distance,
and they knew the voices of those two men, and they ran to know the cause of
it, when they found their king and the two men that were with him lying dead in
the wilderness.
10 And when Esau saw the mighty
men of Nimrod coming at a distance, he fled, and thereby escaped; and Esau took
the valuable garments of Nimrod, which Nimrod’s father had bequeathed to
Nimrod, and with which Nimrod prevailed over the whole land, and he ran and
concealed them in his house.
11 And Esau took those garments
and ran into the city on account of Nimrod’s men, and he came unto his father’s
house wearied and exhausted from fight, and he was ready to die through grief
when he approached his brother Jacob and sat before him.
12 And he said unto his brother
Jacob, Behold I shall die this day, and wherefore then do I want the
birthright? And Jacob acted wisely with Esau in this matter, and Esau sold his
birthright to Jacob, for it was so brought about by the Lord.
13 And Esau’s portion in the
cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham had bought from the children of
Heth for the possession of a burial ground, Esau also sold to Jacob, and Jacob
bought all this from his brother Esau for value given.
14 And Jacob wrote the whole of
this in a book, and he testified the same with witnesses, and he sealed it, and
the book remained in the hands of Jacob.
15 And when Nimrod the son of
Cush died, his men lifted him up and brought him in consternation, and buried
him in his city, and all the days that Nimrod lived were two hundred and
fifteen years and he died.
16 And the days that Nimrod
reigned upon the people of the land were one hundred and eighty-five years; and
Nimrod died by the sword of Esau in shame and contempt, and the seed of Abraham
caused his death as he had seen in his dream.
17 And at the death of Nimrod
his kingdom became divided into many divisions, and all those parts that Nimrod
reigned over were restored to the respective kings of the land, who recovered
them after the death of Nimrod, and all the people of the house of Nimrod were
for a long time enslaved to all the other kings of the land.
CHAPTER 28
1 And in those days, after the death of Abraham, in
that year the Lord brought a heavy famine in the land, and whilst the famine
was raging in the land of Canaan, Isaac rose up to go down to Egypt on account
of the famine, as his father Abraham had done.
2 And the Lord appeared that night to Isaac and he
said to him, Do not go down to Egypt but rise and go to Gerar, to Abimelech
king of the Philistines, and remain there till the famine shall cease. 3 And
Isaac rose up and went to Gerar, as the Lord commanded him, and he remained
there a full year.
4 And when Isaac came to Gerar, the people of the land
saw that Rebecca his wife was of a beautiful appearance, and the people of
Gerar asked Isaac concerning his wife, and he said, She is my sister, for he
was afraid to say she was his wife lest the people of the land should slay him
on account of her.
5 And the princes of Abimelech went and praised the
woman to the king, but he answered them not, neither did he attend to their
words.
6 But he heard them say that
Isaac declared her to be his sister, so the king reserved this within himself.
7 And when Isaac had remained
three months in the land, Abimelech looked out at the window, and he saw, and
behold Isaac was sporting with Rebecca his wife, for Isaac dwelt in the outer
house belonging to the king, so that the house of Isaac was opposite the house
of the king.
8 And the king said unto
Isaac, What is this thou hast done to us in saying of thy wife, She is my
sister? how easily might one of the great men of the people have lain with her,
and thou wouldst then have brought guilt upon us.
9 And Isaac said unto
Abimelech, Because I was afraid lest I die on account of my wife, therefore I
said, She is my sister.
10 At that time Abimelech gave
orders to all his princes and great men,
and they took Isaac and Rebecca his wife and brought them before the king.
11 And the king commanded that
they should dress them in princely garments, and make them ride through the
streets of the city, and proclaim before them throughout the land, saying, This
is the man and this is his wife; whoever toucheth this man or his wife shall
surely die. And Isaac returned with his wife to the king’s house, and the Lord
was with Isaac and he continued to wax great and lacked nothing.
12 And the Lord caused Isaac to
find favor in the sight of Abimelech, and in the sight of all his subjects, and
Abimelech acted well with Isaac, for Abimelech remembered the oath and the
covenant that existed between his father and Abraham.
13 And Abimelech said unto
Isaac, Behold the whole earth is before thee; dwell wherever it may seem good
in thy sight until thou shalt return to thy land; and Abimelech gave Isaac
fields and vineyards and the best part of the land of Gerar, to sow and reap
and eat the fruits of the ground until the days of the famine should have passed by.
14 And Isaac sowed in that land, and received a hundred-fold in the
same year, and the Lord blessed him.
15 And the man waxed great, and
he had possession of flocks and possession of herds and great store of
servants.
16 And when the days of the
famine had passed away the Lord appeared to Isaac and said unto him, Rise up,
go forth from this place and return to thy land, to the land of Canaan; and
Isaac rose up and returned to Hebron which is in the land of Canaan, he and all
belonging to him as the Lord commanded him.
17 And after this Shelach the
son at Arpachshad died in that year, which is the eighteenth year of the lives
of Jacob and Esau; and all the days that Shelach lived were four hundred and
thirty-three years and he died.
18 At that time Isaac sent his
younger son Jacob to the house of Shem and Eber, and he learned the
instructions of the Lord, and Jacob remained in the house of Shem and Eber for
thirty- two years, and Esau his brother did not go, for he was not willing to
go, and he remained in his father’s house in the land of Canaan.
19 And Esau was continually
hunting in the fields to bring home what he could get, so did Esau all the
days.
20 And Esau was a designing and
deceitful man, one who hunted after the hearts of men and inveigled them, and
Esau was a valiant man in the field, and in the course of time went as usual to
hunt; and he came as far as the field of Seir, the same is Edom.
21 And he remained in the land
of Seir hunting in the field a year and four months.
22 And Esau there saw in the
land of Seir the daughter of a man of Canaan, and her name was Jehudith, the
daughter of Beeri, son of Epher, from the families of Heth the son of
Canaan.
23 And Esau took her for a wife, and he came unto her;
forty years old was Esau when he took her, and he brought her to Hebron, the land
of his father’s dwelling place, and he dwelt there.
24 And it came to pass in those
days, in the hundred and tenth year of the life of Isaac, that is in the
fiftieth year of the life of Jacob, in that year died Shem the son of Noah;
Shem was six hundred years old at his death.
25 And when Shem died Jacob
returned to his father to Hebron which is in the land of Canaan. 26 And in the fifty-sixth year of the
life of Jacob, people came from Haran, and Rebecca was told concerning her
brother Laban the son of Bethuel.
27 For the wife of Laban was
barren in those days, and bare no children, and also all his handmaids bare
none to him.
28 And the Lord afterward
remembered Adinah the wife of Laban, and she conceived and bare twin daughters,
and Laban called the names of his daughters, the name of the elder Leah, and
the name of the younger Rachel.
29 And those people came and
told these things to Rebecca, and Rebecca rejoiced greatly that the Lord had
visited her brother and that he had got children.
1 And Isaac the son of Abraham
became old and advanced in days, and his eyes became heavy through age; they
were dim and could not see.
2 At that time Isaac called
unto Esau his son, saying, Get I pray thee thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow,
rise up and go forth into the field and get me some venison, and make me savory
meat and bring it to me, that I may eat in order that I may bless thee before
my death, as I have now become old and gray-headed.
3 And Esau did so; and he took
his weapon and went forth into the field to hunt for venison, as usual, to
bring to his father as he had ordered him, so that he might bless him.
4 And Rebecca heard all the
words that Isaac had spoken unto Esau, and she hastened and called her
son Jacob, saying, Thus did thy father speak unto thy brother Esau, and thus
did I hear, now therefore hasten thou and make that which I shall tell
thee.
5 Rise up and go, I pray thee,
to the flock and fetch me two fine kids of the goats, and I will get the savory
meat for thy father, and thou shalt bring the savory meat that he may eat
before thy brother shall have come from the chase, in order that thy father may
bless thee.
6 And Jacob hastened and did
as his mother had commanded him, and he made the savory meat and brought it
before his father before Esau had come from his chase.
7 And Isaac said unto Jacob,
Who art thou, my son? And he said, I am thy first born Esau, I have done as
thou didst order me, now therefore rise up I pray thee, and eat of my hunt, in
order that thy soul may bless me as thou didst speak unto me.
8 And Isaac rose up and he ate
and he drank, and his heart was comforted, and he blessed Jacob and Jacob went
away from his father; and as soon as Isaac had blessed Jacob and he had gone
away from him, behold Esau came from his hunt from the field, and he also made
savory meat and brought it to his father to eat thereof and to bless him.
9 And Isaac said unto Esau,
And who was he that has taken venison and brought it me before thou camest and
whom I did bless? And Esau knew that his brother Jacob had done this, and the
anger of Esau was kindled against his brother Jacob that he had acted thus
toward him.
10 And Esau said, Is he not
rightly called Jacob? for he has supplanted me twice, he took away my birthright
and now he has taken away my blessing; and Esau wept greatly; and
when Isaac heard the voice of his son Esau weeping, Isaac said unto Esau, What
can I do, my son, thy brother came with subtlety and took away thy blessing;
and Esau hated his brother Jacob on account of the blessing that his father had
given him, and his anger was greatly roused against him.
11 And Jacob was very much afraid of his brother Esau, and he
rose up and fled to the house of Eber the son of Shem, and he concealed himself
there on account of his brother, and Jacob was sixty-three years old when he
went forth from the land of Canaan from Hebron, and Jacob was concealed in
Eber’s house fourteen years on account of his brother Esau, and he there
continued to learn the ways of the Lord and his commandments.
12 And when Esau saw that Jacob
had fled and escaped from him, and that Jacob had cunningly obtained the
blessing, then Esau grieved exceedingly, and he was also vexed at his father
and mother; and he also rose up and took his wife and went away from his father
and mother to the land of Seir, and he dwelt there; and Esau saw there a woman
from amongst the daughters of Heth whose name was Bosmath, the daughter of Elon
the Hittite, and he took her for a wife in addition to his first wife, and Esau
called her name Adah, saying the blessing had in that time passed from him.
13 And Esau dwelt in the land
of Seir six months without seeing his father and mother, and afterward Esau
took his wives and rose up and returned to the land of Canaan, and Esau placed
his two wives in his father’s house in Hebron.
14 And the wives of Esau vexed
and provoked Isaac and Rebecca with their works, for they walked not in the
ways of the Lord, but served their father’s gods of wood and stone as their
father had taught them, and they were more wicked than their father.
15 And they went according to
the evil desires of their hearts, and they sacrificed and burnt incense to the
Baalim, and Isaac and Rebecca became weary of them.
16 And Rebecca said, I am weary
of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob take a wife of the
daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what
good then is life unto me?
17 And in those days Adah the
wife of Esau conceived and bare him a son, and Esau called the name of the son
that was born unto him Eliphaz, and Esau was sixty-five years old when she bare
him.
18 And Ishmael the son of
Abraham died in those days, in the sixty-forth year of the life of Jacob, and
all the days that Ishmael lived were one hundred and thirty-seven years and he
died.
19 And when Isaac heard that
Ishmael was dead he mourned for him, and Isaac lamented over him many days.
20 And at the end of fourteen
years of Jacob’s residing in the house of Eber, Jacob desired to see his father
and mother, and Jacob came to the house of his father and mother to Hebron, and
Esau had in those days forgotten what Jacob had done to him in having taken the
blessing from him in those days.
21 And when Esau saw Jacob
coming to his father and mother he remembered what Jacob had done to him, and
he was greatly incensed against him and he sought to slay him.
22 And Isaac the son of Abraham
was old and advanced in days, and Esau said, Now my father’s time is drawing
nigh that he must die, and when he shall die I will slay my brother Jacob.
23 And this was told to
Rebecca, and she hastened and sent and called for Jacob her son, and she said
unto him, Arise, go and flee to Haran to my brother Laban, and remain there for
some time, until thy brother’s anger be turned from thee and then shalt thou
come back.
24 And Isaac called unto Jacob
and said unto him, Take not a wife from the daughters of Canaan, for thus did
our father Abraham command us according to the word of the Lord which he had
commanded him, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; if thy children
keep my covenant that I have made with thee, then will I also perform to thy
children that which I have spoken unto thee and I will not forsake them.
25 Now therefore my son hearken
to my voice, to all that I shall command thee, and refrain from taking a wife
from amongst the daughters of Canaan; arise, go to Haran to the house of
Bethuel thy mother’s father, and take unto thee a wife from there from the daughters
of Laban thy mother’s brother.
26 Therefore take heed lest
thou shouldst forget the Lord thy God and all his ways in the land to which
thou goest, and shouldst get connected with the people of the land and pursue
vanity and forsake the Lord thy God.
27 But when thou comest to the
land serve there the Lord, do not turn to the right or to the left from the way
which I commanded thee and which thou didst learn.
28 And may the Almighty God
grant thee favor in the sight of the people of the earth, that thou mayest take
there a wife according to thy choice; one who is good and upright in the ways
of the Lord.
29 And may God give unto thee
and thy seed the blessing of thy father Abraham, and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, and mayest
thou become a multitude of people in the land whither thou goest, and may God
cause thee to return to this land, the land of thy father’s dwelling, with
children and with great riches, with joy and with pleasure.
30 And Isaac finished
commanding Jacob and blessing him, and he gave him many gifts, together with
silver and gold, and he sent him away; and Jacob hearkened to his father and
mother; he kissed them and arose and
went to Padan-aram; and Jacob was seventy-seven years old when he went out
from the land of Canaan
from Beersheba.
31 And when Jacob went away to go to Haran Esau called unto his son Eliphaz, and secretly spoke unto him,
saying, Now hasten, take thy sword in thy hand and pursue Jacob and pass before
him in the road, and lurk for him, and slay him with thy sword in one of the
mountains, and take all belonging to him and come back.
32 And Eliphaz the son of Esau
was an active man and expert with the bow as his father had taught him, and he
was a noted hunter in the field and a valiant man.
33 And Eliphaz did as his
father had commanded him, and Eliphaz was at that time thirteen years old, and
Eliphaz rose up and went and took ten of his mother’s brothers with him and
pursued Jacob.
34 And he closely followed
Jacob, and he lurked for him in the border of the land of Canaan opposite to
the city of Shechem.
35 And Jacob saw Eliphaz and his
men pursuing him, and Jacob stood still in the place in which he was going, in
order to know what this was, for he did not know the thing; and Eliphaz drew
his sword and he went on advancing, he and his men, toward Jacob; and Jacob
said unto them, What is to do with you that you have come hither, and what
meaneth it that you pursue with your swords.
36 And Eliphaz came near to
Jacob and he answered and said unto him, Thus did my father command me, and now
therefore I will not deviate from the orders which my father gave me; and when
Jacob saw that Esau had spoken to Eliphaz to employ force, Jacob then
approached and supplicated Eliphaz and his men, saying to him,
37 Behold all that I have and
which my father and mother gave unto me, that take unto thee and go from me, and do not slay me, and may this
thing be accounted unto thee a righteousness.
38 And the Lord caused Jacob to
find favor in the sight of Eliphaz the son of Esau, and his men, and they
hearkened to the voice of Jacob, and they did not put him to death, and Eliphaz
and his men took all belonging to Jacob together with the silver and gold that
he had brought with him from Beersheba; they left him nothing.
39 And Eliphaz and his men went
away from him and they returned to Esau to Beersheba, and they told him all
that had occurred to them with Jacob, and they gave him all that they had taken
from Jacob.
40 And Esau was indignant at
Eliphaz his son, and at his men that
were with him, because they had not put Jacob to death.
41 And they answered and said
unto Esau, Because Jacob supplicated us
in this matter not to slay him, our pity was excited toward him, and we took
all belonging to him and brought it unto thee; and Esau took all the silver and
gold which Eliphaz had taken from Jacob and he put them by in his house.
42 At that time when Esau saw
that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and had commanded him, saying, Thou shalt not
take a wife from amongst the daughters of Canaan, and that the daughters of
Canaan were bad in the sight of Isaac and Rebecca,
43 Then he went to the house of
Ishmael his uncle, and in addition to his older wives he took Machlath the
daughter of Ishmael, the sister of Nebayoth, for a wife.
CHAPTER 30
1
And Jacob went forth continuing his road to Haran, and he
came as far as mount Moriah, and he tarried there all night near the city of
Luz; and the Lord appeared there unto Jacob on that night, and he said unto
him, I am the Lord God of Abraham and the God of Isaac thy father; the land
upon which thou liest I will give unto thee and thy seed.
2
And behold I am with thee and will keep thee wherever thou
goest, and I will multiply thy seed as the
stars of Heaven, and I will cause all thine enemies to fall before thee;
and when they shall make war with thee they shall not prevail over thee, and I
will bring thee again unto this land with joy, with children, and with great
riches.
3
And Jacob awoke from his sleep and he rejoiced greatly at
the vision which he had seen; and he called the name of that place Bethel.
4 And Jacob rose up from that
place quite rejoiced, and when he walked his feet felt light to him for joy, and he went from
there to the land of the children of the East, and he returned to Haran and he
set by the shepherd’s well.
5 And he there found some men;
going from Haran to feed their flocks, and Jacob made inquiries of them, and
they said, We are from Haran.
6 And he said unto them, Do
you know Laban, the son of Nahor? and they said, We know him, and behold his
daughter Rachel is coming along to feed her father’s flock.
7 Whilst he was yet speaking
with them, Rachel the daughter of Laban came to feed her father’s sheep, for
she was a shepherdess.
8 And when Jacob saw Rachel,
the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, he ran and kissed her, and lifted
up his voice and wept.
9 And Jacob told Rachel that
he was the son of Rebecca, her father’s sister, and Rachel ran and told her
father, and Jacob continued to cry because he had nothing with him to bring to
the house of Laban.
10 And when Laban heard that
his sister’s son Jacob had come, he ran and kissed him and embraced him and
brought him into the house and gave him bread, and he ate.
11 And Jacob related to Laban
what his brother Esau had done to him, and what his son Eliphaz had done to him
in the road.
12 And Jacob resided
in Laban’s house
for one month, and Jacob ate and drank in the house of Laban, and afterward Laban said unto Jacob, Tell me
what shall be thy wages, for how canst thou serve me for nought?
13 And Laban had no sons but
only daughters, and his other wives and handmaids were still barren in those
days; and these are the names of Laban’s daughters which his wife Adinah had
borne unto him; the name of the elder was Leah and the name of the younger was
Rachel; and Leah was tender-eyed, but Rachel was beautiful and well favored,
and Jacob loved her.
14 And Jacob said unto Laban, I
will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter; and Laban
consented to this and Jacob served Laban seven years for his daughter Rachel.
15 And in the second year of
Jacob’s dwelling in Haran, that is in the seventy ninth year of the life of
Jacob, in that year died Eber the son of Shem, he was four hundred and
sixty-four years old at his death.
16 And when Jacob heard that
Eber was dead he grieved exceedingly, and he lamented and mourned over him many
days.
17 And in the third year of
Jacob’s dwelling in Haran, Bosmath, the daughter of Ishmael, the wife of Esau,
bare unto him a son, and Esau called his name Reuel.
18 And in the fourth year of
Jacob’s residence in the house of Laban, the Lord visited Laban and remembered
him on account of Jacob, and sons were born unto him, and his first born was
Beor, his second was Alib, and the third was Chorash.
19 And the Lord gave Laban
riches and honor, sons and daughters, and the man increased greatly on account
of Jacob.
20 And Jacob in those days
served Laban in all manner of work, in the house and in the field, and the
blessing of the Lord was in all that belonged to Laban in the house and in the
field. 21And in the fifth year died
Jehudith, the daughter of Beeri, the wife of Esau, in the land of Canaan, and
she had no sons but daughters only.
22 And these are the names of
her daughters which she bare to Esau, the name of the elder was Marzith, and
the name of the younger was Puith.
23 And when Jehudith died, Esau
rose up and went to Seir to hunt in the
field, as usual, and Esau dwelt in the land of Seir for a long time.
24 And in the sixth year Esau
took for a wife, in addition to his other wives, Ahlibamah, the daughter of
Zebeon the Hivite, and Esau brought her to the land of Canaan.
25 And Ahlibamah conceived and
bare unto Esau three sons, Yeush, Yaalan, and Korah.
26 And in those days, in the
land of Canaan, there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of Esau and the
herdsmen of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, for Esau’s cattle and goods
were too abundant for him to remain in the land of Canaan, in his father’s
house, and the land of Canaan could not bear him on account of his cattle.
27 And when Esau saw that his
quarreling increased with the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, he rose up and
took his wives and his sons and his daughters, and all belonging to him, and
the cattle which he possessed, and all his property that he had acquired in the
land of Canaan, and he went away from the inhabitants of the land to the land
of Seir, and Esau and all belonging to him dwelt in the land of Seir.
28 But from time to time Esau
would go and see his father and mother in the land of Canaan, and Esau
intermarried with the Horites, and he gave his daughters to the sons of Seir,
the Horite.
29 And he gave his elder
daughter Marzith to Anah, the son of Zebeon, his wife’s brother, and Puith he
gave to Azar, the son of Bilhan the Horite; and Esau dwelt in the mountain, he
and his children, and they were fruitful and
multiplied.
CHAPTER 31
1 And in the seventh year,
Jacob’s service which he served Laban was completed, and Jacob said unto Laban,
Give me my wife, for the days of my service are fulfilled; and Laban did so,
and Laban and Jacob assembled all the people of that place and they made a
feast.
2 And in the evening Laban
came to the house, and afterward Jacob came there with the people of the feast,
and Laban extinguished all the lights that were there in the house.
3 And Jacob said unto Laban,
Wherefore dost thou do this thing unto us? and Laban answered, Such is our custom to act in this land.
4 And afterward Laban took his
daughter Leah, and he brought her to Jacob, and he came to her and Jacob did
not know that she was Leah.
5 And Laban gave his daughter
Leah his maid Zilpah for a handmaid.
6 And all the people at the
feast knew what Laban had done to Jacob, but they did not tell the thing to
Jacob.
7 And all the neighbors came
that night to Jacob’s house, and they ate and drank and rejoiced, and played
before Leah upon timbrels, and with dances, and they responded before Jacob, “Heleah,
Heleah”.
8 And Jacob heard their words
but did not understand their meaning, but he thought such might be their custom
in this land.
9 And the neighbors spoke
these words before Jacob during the night, and all the lights that were in the
house Laban had that night extinguished.
10 And in the morning, when
daylight appeared, Jacob turned to his wife and he saw, and behold it was Leah
that had been lying in his bosom, and Jacob said, Behold now I know what the neighbors said last night, Heleah, they said, and I knew it not.
11 And Jacob called unto Laban, and said unto him, What is this that thou
didst unto me? Surely I served thee for Rachel, and why didst thou deceive me
and didst give me Leah?
12 And Laban answered Jacob,
saying, Not so is it done in our place to give the younger before the elder now
therefore if thou desirest to take her sister likewise, take her unto thee for
the service which thou wilt serve me for
another seven years.
13 And Jacob did so, and he
also took Rachel for a wife, and he served Laban seven years more, and Jacob
also came to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and Laban gave her his maid Bilhah for
a handmaid.
14 And when the Lord saw that
Leah was hated, the Lord opened her womb, and she conceived and bare Jacob four
sons in those days.
15 And these are their names,
Reuben Simeon, Levi, and Judah, and she afterward left bearing.
16 And at that time Rachel was
barren, and she had no offspring, and Rachel envied her sister Leah, and when
Rachel saw that she bare no children to Jacob, she took her handmaid Bilhah, and
she bare Jacob two sons, Dan and Naphtali.
17 And when Leah saw that she
had left bearing, she also took her handmaid Zilpah, and she gave her to Jacob
for a wife, and Jacob also came to Zilpah, and she also bare Jacob two sons,
Gad and Asher.
18 And Leah again conceived and
bare Jacob in those days two sons and one daughter, and these are their names,
Issachar, Zebulon, and their sister Dinah.
19 And Rachel was still barren
in those days, and Rachel prayed unto the Lord at that time, and she said, O
Lord God remember me and visit me, I beseech thee, for now my husband will cast
me off, for I have borne him no
children.
20 Now O Lord God, hear my
supplication before thee, and see my affliction, and give me children like one
of the handmaids, that I may no more bear my reproach.
21 And God heard her and opened
her womb, and Rachel conceived and bare a son, and she said, The Lord has taken
away my reproach, and she called his name Joseph, saying, May the Lord add to
me another son; and Jacob was ninety-one years old when she bare him.
22 At that time Jacob’s mother,
Rebecca, sent her nurse Deborah the daughter of Uz, and two of Isaac’s servants
unto Jacob.
23 And they came to Jacob to
Haran and they said unto him, Rebecca has sent us to thee that thou shalt
return to thy father’s house to the land of Canaan; and Jacob hearkened unto
them in this which his mother had spoken.
24 At that time, the other
seven years which Jacob served Laban for Rachel were completed, and it was at
the end of fourteen years that he had dwelt in Haran that Jacob said unto
Laban, give me my wives and send me away, that I may go to my land, for behold
my mother did send unto me from the land at Canaan that I should return to my
father’s house.
25 And Laban said unto him, Not
so I pray thee; if I have found favor in thy sight do not leave me; appoint me
thy wages and I will give them, and remain with me.
26 And Jacob said unto him,
This is what thou shalt give me for wages, that I shall this day pass through
all thy flock and take away from them every lamb that is speckled and spotted
and such as are brown amongst the sheep, and amongst the goats, and if thou
wilt do this thing for me I will return and feed thy flock and keep them as at
first.
27 And Laban did so, and Laban
removed from his flock all that Jacob had said and gave them to him.
28 And Jacob placed all that he
had removed from Laban’s flock in the hands of his sons, and Jacob was feeding
the remainder of Laban’s flock.
29 And when the servants of Isaac which
he had sent unto Jacob saw that Jacob would not then return with them to the
land of Canaan to his father, they then went away from him, and they returned
home to the land of Canaan.
30 And Deborah remained with
Jacob in Haran, and she did not return with the servants of Isaac to the land
of Canaan, and Deborah resided with Jacob’s wives and children in Haran.
31 And Jacob served Laban six
years longer, and when the sheep brought forth, Jacob removed from them such as
were speckled and spotted, as he had determined with Laban, and Jacob did so at
Laban’s for six years, and the man increased abundantly and he had cattle and
maid servants and men servants, camels, and asses.
32 And Jacob had two hundred
drove of cattle, and his cattle were of large size and of beautiful appearance
and were very productive, and all the families of the sons of men desired to
get some of the cattle of Jacob, for they were exceedingly prosperous.
33 And many of the sons of men
came to procure some of Jacob’s flock, and Jacob gave them a sheep for a man
servant or a maid servant or for an ass or a camel, or whatever Jacob desired
from them they gave him.
34 And Jacob obtained riches
and honor and possessions by means of these transactions with the sons of men,
and the children of Laban envied him of this honor.
35 And in the course of time he
heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, Jacob has taken away all that was our
father’s, and of that which was our father’s has he acquired all this glory.
36 And Jacob beheld the
countenance of Laban and of his children, and behold it was not toward him in
those days as it had been before.
37 And the Lord appeared to Jacob
at the expiration of the six years, and said unto him, Arise, go forth out of
this land, and return to the land of thy birthplace and I will be with thee.
38 And Jacob rose up at that
time and he mounted his children and wives and all belonging to him upon
camels, and he went forth to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.
39 And Laban did not know that
Jacob had gone from him, for Laban had been that day sheep-shearing.
40 And Rachel stole her
father’s images, and she took them and she concealed them upon the camel upon
which she sat, and she went on.
41 And this is the manner of
the images; in taking a man who is the first born and slaying him and taking
the hair off his head, and taking salt and salting the head and anointing it in
oil, then taking a small tablet of copper or a tablet of gold and writing the
name upon it, and placing the tablet under his tongue, and taking the head with
the tablet under the tongue and putting it in the house, and lighting up lights
before it and bowing down to it.
42 And at the time when they
bow down to it, it speaketh to them in all matters that they ask of it, through
the power of the name which is written in it.
43 And some make them in the
figures of men, of gold and silver, and go to them in times known to them, and
the figures receive the influence of the stars, and tell them future things,
and in this manner were the images which Rachel stole from her father.
44 And Rachel stole these
images which were her father’s, in order that Laban might not know through them
where Jacob had gone.
45 And Laban came home and he
asked concerning Jacob and his household, and he was not to be found, and Laban
sought his images to know where Jacob had gone, and could not find them, and he
went to some other images, and he inquired of them and they told him that Jacob
had fled from him to his father’s, to the land of Canaan.
46 And Laban then rose up and
he took his brothers and all his
servants, and he went forth and pursued Jacob, and he overtook him in mount
Gilead.
47 And Laban said unto Jacob,
What is this thou hast done to me to flee and deceive me, and lead my daughters
and their children as captives taken by the sword?
48 And thou didst not suffer me
to kiss them and send them away with joy, and thou didst steal my gods and
didst go away.
49 And Jacob answered Laban,
saying, Because I was afraid lest thou wouldst take thy daughters by force from
me; and now with whomsoever thou findest thy gods he shall die.
50 And Laban searched for the
images and he examined in all Jacob’s tents and furniture, but could not find
them.
51 And Laban said unto Jacob,
We will make a covenant together and it shall be a testimony between me and
thee; if thou shalt afflict my daughters, or shalt take other wives besides my
daughters, even God shall be a witness between me and thee in this matter.
52 And they took stones and
made a heap, and Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee,
therefore he called the name thereof Gilead.
53 And Jacob and Laban offered
sacrifice upon the mount, and they ate there by the heap, and they tarried in
the mount all night, and Laban rose up early in the morning, and he wept with
his daughters and he kissed them, and he returned unto his place.
54 And he hastened and sent off
his son Beor, who was seventeen years old, with Abichorof the son of Uz, the
son of Nahor, and with them were ten men.
55 And they hastened and went
and passed on the road before Jacob, and they came by another road to the land
of Seir.
56 And they came unto Esau and
said unto him, Thus saith thy brother and relative, thy mother’s brother Laban,
the son of Bethuel, saying,
57 Hast thou heard what Jacob
thy brother has done unto me, who first came to me naked and bare, and I went
to meet him, and brought him to my house with honor, and I made him great, and
I gave him my two daughters for wives and also two of my maids.
58 And God blessed him on my
account, and he increased abundantly, and had sons, daughters and maid
servants.
59 He has also an immense stock
of flocks and herds, camels and asses, also silver and gold in abundance; and
when he saw that his wealth increased, he left me whilst I went to shear my
sheep, and he rose up and fled in secrecy.
60 And he lifted his wives and
children upon camels, and he led away all his cattle and property which he
acquired in my land, and he lifted up his countenance to go to his father
Isaac, to the land of Canaan.
61 And he did not suffer me to
kiss my daughters and their children, and he led my daughters as captives taken
by the sword, and he also stole my gods and he fled.
62 And now I have left him in
the mountain of the brook of Jabuk, him and all belonging to him; he lacketh
nothing.
63 If it be thy wish to go to
him, go then and there wilt thou find
him, and thou canst do unto him as thy soul desireth; and Laban’s messengers
came and told Esau all these things.
64 And Esau heard all the words
of Laban’s messengers, and his anger was greatly kindled against Jacob, and he
remembered his hatred, and his anger burned within him.
65 And Esau hastened and took
his children and servants and the souls of his household, being sixty men, and
he went and assembled all the children of Seir the Horite and their people,
being three hundred and forty men, and took all this number of four hundred men
with drawn swords, and he went unto Jacob to smite him.
66 And Esau divided this number
into several parts, and he took the sixty men of his children and servants and
the souls of his household as one head, and gave them in care of Eliphaz his
eldest son.
67 And the remaining heads he
gave to the care of the six sons of Seir the Horite, and he placed every man
over his generations and children.
68 And the whole of this camp
went as it was, and Esau went amongst them toward Jacob, and he conducted them
with speed.
69 And Laban’s messengers
departed from Esau and went to the land of Canaan, and they came to the house of Rebecca the mother of Jacob and Esau.
70 And they told her saying,
Behold thy son Esau has gone against his brother Jacob with four hundred men,
for he heard that he was coming, and he is gone to make war with him, and to
smite him and to take all that he has.
71 And Rebecca hastened and
sent seventy two men from the servants of Isaac to meet Jacob on the road; for
she said, Peradventure, Esau may make war in the road when he meets him.
72 And these messengers went on
the road to meet Jacob, and they met him in the road of the brook on the opposite
side of the brook Jabuk, and Jacob said when he saw them, This camp is destined
to me from God, and Jacob called the name of that place Machnayim.
73 And Jacob knew all his
father’s people, and he kissed them and embraced them and came with them, and
Jacob asked them concerning his father and mother, and they said, They were
well.
74 And these messengers said
unto Jacob, Rebecca thy mother has sent us to thee, saying, I have heard, my
son, that thy brother Esau has gone forth against thee on the road with men
from the children of Seir the Horite.
75 And therefore, my son,
hearken to my voice and see with thy counsel what thou wilt do, and when he
cometh up to thee, supplicate him, and do not speak rashly to him, and give him
a present from what thou possessest, and from what God has favored thee with.
76 And when he asketh thee
concerning thy affairs, conceal nothing from him, perhaps he
may turn from his anger against thee and thou wilt thereby save thy
soul, thou and all belonging to thee, for it is thy duty to honor him, for he
is thy elder brother.
77 And when Jacob heard the
words of his mother which the messengers had spoken to him, Jacob lifted up his
voice and wept bitterly, and did as his mother then commanded him.
CHAPTER 32
1 And at that time Jacob sent
messengers to his brother Esau toward the land of Seir, and he spoke to him
words of supplication.
2 And he commanded them,
saying, Thus shall ye say to my lord, to Esau, Thus saith thy servant Jacob,
Let not my lord imagine that my father’s blessing with which he did bless me
has proved beneficial to me.
3 For I have been these twenty
years with Laban, and he deceived me and changed my wages ten times, as it has
all been already told unto my lord.
4 And I served him in his
house very laboriously, and God afterward saw my affliction, my labor and the
work of my hands, and he caused me to find grace and favor in his sight.
5 And I afterward through
God’s great mercy and kindness acquired oxen and asses and cattle, and men
servants and maid servants.
6 And now I am coming to my
land and my home to my father and mother, who are in the land of Canaan; and I
have sent to let my lord know all this in order to find favor in the sight of
my lord, so that he may not imagine that I have of myself obtained wealth, or
that the blessing with which my father blessed me has benefited me.
7 And those messengers went to
Esau, and found him on the borders of the land of Edom going toward Jacob, and
four hundred men of the children of Seir the Horite were standing with drawn
swords.
8 And the messengers of Jacob
told Esau all the words that Jacob had spoken to them concerning Esau.
9 And Esau answered them with
pride and contempt, and said unto them, Surely I have heard and truly it has
been told unto me what Jacob has done to Laban, who exalted him in his house
and gave him his daughters for wives, and he begat sons and daughters, and
abundantly increased in wealth and riches in Laban’s house through his means.
10 And when he saw that his
wealth was abundant and his riches great he fled with all belonging to him,
from Laban’s house, and he led Laban’s daughters away from the face of their
father, as captives taken by the sword without telling him of it.
11 And not only to Laban has
Jacob done thus but also unto me has he done so and has twice supplanted me,
and shall I be silent?
12 Now therefore I have this
day come with my camps to meet him, and I will do unto him according to the
desire of my heart.
13 And the messengers returned
and came to Jacob and said unto him, We came to thy brother, to Esau, and we
told him all thy words, and thus has he answered us, and behold he cometh to
meet thee with four hundred men.
14 Now then know and see what
thou shalt do, and pray before God to deliver thee from him.
15 And when he heard the words
of his brother which he had spoken to the messengers of Jacob, Jacob was
greatly afraid and he was distressed.
16 And Jacob prayed to the Lord
his God, and he said, O Lord God of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, thou didst
say unto me when I went away from my father’s house, saying,
17 I am the Lord God of thy
father Abraham and the God of Isaac, unto thee do I give this land and thy seed
after thee, and I will make thy seed as the stars of heaven, and thou shalt
spread forth to the four sides of heaven, and in thee and in thy seed shall all
the families of the earth be blessed.
18 And thou didst establish thy words, and didst give unto me riches and children and cattle, as the utmost wishes of my heart didst
thou give unto thy servant; thou didst give unto me all that I asked from thee,
so that I lacked nothing.
19 And thou didst afterward say
unto me, Return to thy parents and to thy birth place and I will still do well
with thee.
20 And now that I have come,
and thou didst deliver me from Laban, I shall fall in the hands of Esau who
will slay me, yea, together with the mothers of my children.
21 Now therefore, O Lord God,
deliver me, I pray thee, also from the hands of my brother Esau, for I am
greatly afraid of him.
22 And if there is no righteousness
in me, do it for the sake of Abraham and my father Isaac.
23 For I know that through
kindness and mercy have I acquired this wealth; now therefore I beseech thee to
deliver me this day with thy kindness and to answer me.
24 And Jacob ceased praying to
the Lord, and he divided the people that were with him with the flocks and
cattle into two camps, and he gave the half to the care of Damesek, the son of
Eliezer, Abraham’s servant, for a camp, with his children, and the other half
he gave to the care of his brother Elianus the son of Eliezer, to be for a camp
with his children.
25 And he commanded them,
saying, Keep yourselves at a distance with your camps, and do not come too near
each other, and if Esau come to one camp and slay it, the other camp at a
distance from it will escape him.
26 And Jacob tarried there that
night, and during the whole night he gave his servants instructions concerning
the forces and his children.
27 And the Lord heard the prayer of
Jacob on that day, and the Lord then delivered Jacob from the hands of his
brother Esau.
28 And the Lord sent three angels
of the angels of heaven, and they went before Esau and came to him.
29 And these angels appeared
unto Esau and his people as two thousand men, riding upon horses furnished with
all sorts of war instruments, and they appeared in the sight of Esau and all
his men to be divided into four camps, with four chiefs to them.
30 And one camp went on and
they found Esau coming with four hundred men toward his brother Jacob, and this
camp ran toward Esau and his people and terrified them, and Esau fell off the
horse in alarm, and all his men separated from him in that place, for they were
greatly afraid.
31 And the whole of the camp
shouted after them when they fled from Esau, and all the warlike men answered,
saying,
32 Surely we are the servants
of Jacob, who is the servant of God, and who then can stand against us? And
Esau said unto them, O then, my lord and brother Jacob is your lord, whom I
have not seen for these twenty years, and now that I have this day come to see
him, do you treat me in this
manner?
33 And the angels answered him
saying, As the Lord liveth, were not Jacob of whom thou speaketh thy brother,
we had not let one remaining from thee and thy people, but only on account of
Jacob we will do nothing to them.
34 And this camp passed from
Esau and his men and it went away, and Esau and his men had gone from them
about a league when the second camp came toward him with all sorts of weapons,
and they also did unto Esau and his men as the first camp had done to them.
35 And when they had left it to
go on, behold the third camp came toward him and they were all terrified, and
Esau fell off the horse, and the whole camp cried out, and said, Surely we are
the servants of Jacob, who is the servant of God, and who can stand against us?
36 And Esau again answered them
saying, O then, Jacob my lord and your lord is my brother, and for twenty years
I have not seen his countenance and hearing this day that he was coming, I went
this day to meet him, and do you treat me in this manner?
37 And they answered him, and
said unto him, As the Lord liveth, were not Jacob thy brother as thou didst
say, we had not left a remnant from thee and thy men, but on account of Jacob
of whom thou speakest being thy brother, we will not meddle with thee or thy
men.
38 And the third camp also
passed from them, and he still continued his road with his men toward Jacob,
when the fourth camp came toward him, and they also did unto him and his men as
the others had done.
39 And when Esau beheld the
evil which the four angels had done to
him and to his men, he became greatly afraid of his brother Jacob, and
he went to meet him in peace.
40 And Esau concealed his
hatred against Jacob, because he was afraid of his life on account of his
brother Jacob, and because he imagined that the four camps that he had lighted
upon were Jacob’s servants.
41 And Jacob tarried that night
with his servants in their camps, and he resolved with his servants to give
unto Esau a present from all that he had with him, and from all his property;
and Jacob rose up in the morning, he and his men, and they chose from amongst
the cattle a present for Esau.
42 And this is the amount of
the present which Jacob chose from his flock to give unto his brother Esau: and
he selected two hundred and forty head from the flocks, and he selected from
the camels and asses thirty each, and of the herds he chose fifty kine.
43 And he put them all in ten
droves, and he placed each sort by itself, and he delivered them into the hands
of ten of his servants, each drove by itself.
44 And he commanded them, and
said unto them, Keep yourselves at a distance from each other, and put a space
between the droves, and when Esau and those who are with him shall meet you and
ask you, saying, Whose are you, and whither do you go, and to whom belongeth
all this before you, you shall say unto them, We are the servants of Jacob, and
we come to meet Esau in peace, and behold Jacob cometh behind us.
45 And that which is before us is a present sent from Jacob
to his brother Esau.
46 And if they shall say unto
you, Why doth he delay behind you, from coming to meet his brother and to see
his face, then you shall say unto them, Surely he cometh joyfully behind us to
meet his brother, for he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth
to him, and after this I will see his face, peradventure he will accept of me.
47 So the whole present passed
on in the hands of his servants, and went before him on that day, and he lodged
that night with his camps by the border of the brook of Jabuk, and he rose up
in the midst of the night, and he took his wives and his maid servants, and all
belonging to him, and he that night passed them over the ford Jabuk.
48 And when he passed all
belonging to him over the brook, Jacob was left by himself, and a man met him,
and he wrestled with him that night until the breaking of the day, and the
hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint through wrestling with him.
49 And at the break of day the
man left Jacob there, and he blessed him and went away, and Jacob passed the
brook at the break of day, and he halted upon his thigh.
50 And the sun rose upon him
when he had passed the brook, and he came up to the place of his cattle and
children.
51 And they went on till
midday, and whilst they were going the present was passing on before them.
52 And Jacob lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold Esau was at a distance, coming along with many men,
about four hundred, and Jacob was greatly afraid of his brother.
53 And Jacob hastened and
divided his children unto his wives and his handmaids, and his daughter Dinah
he put in a chest, and delivered her into the hands of his servants.
54 And he passed before his
children and wives to meet his brother, and he bowed down to the ground, yea he
bowed down seven times until he approached his brother, and God caused Jacob to
find grace and favor in the sight of Esau and his men, for God had heard the
prayer of Jacob.
55 And the fear of Jacob and
his terror fell upon his brother Esau, for Esau was greatly afraid of Jacob for
what the angels of God had done to Esau, and Esau’s anger against Jacob was
turned into kindness.
56 And when Esau saw Jacob
running toward him, he also ran toward him and he embraced him, and he fell
upon his neck, and they kissed and they wept.
57 And God put fear and
kindness toward Jacob in the hearts of the men that came with Esau, and they
also kissed Jacob and embraced him.
58 And also Eliphaz, the son of
Esau, with his four brothers, sons of Esau, wept with Jacob, and they kissed
him and embraced him, for the fear of Jacob had fallen upon them all.
59 And Esau lifted up his eyes
and saw the women with their offspring, the children of Jacob, walking behind
Jacob and bowing along the road to Esau.
60 And Esau said unto Jacob,
Who are these with thee, my brother? are they thy children or thy servants? and
Jacob answered Esau and said, They are my children which God hath graciously
given to thy servant.
61 And whilst Jacob was
speaking to Esau and his men, Esau beheld the whole camp, and he said unto Jacob, Whence didst thou get the
whole of the camp that I met yesternight? and Jacob said, To find favor in the
sight of my lord, it is that which God graciously gave to thy servant.
62 And the present came before
Esau, and Jacob pressed Esau, saying, Take I pray thee the present that I have
brought to my lord, and Esau said, Wherefore is this my purpose? keep that
which thou hast unto thyself.
63 And Jacob said, It is
incumbent upon me to give all this, since I have seen thy face, that thou still
livest in peace.
64 And Esau refused to take the
present, and Jacob said unto him, I beseech thee my lord, if now I have found
favor in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand, for I have therefore
seen thy face, as though I had seen a god-like face, because thou wast pleased
with me.
65 And Esau took the present,
and Jacob also gave unto Esau silver and gold and bdellium, for he pressed him
so much that he took them.
66 And Esau divided the cattle
that were in the camp, and he gave the half to the men who had come with him,
for they had come on hire, and the other half he delivered unto the hands of
his children.
67 And the silver and gold and
bdellium he gave in the hands of Eliphaz his eldest son, and Esau said unto
Jacob, Let us remain with thee, and we will go slowly along with thee until
thou comest to my place with me, that we may dwell there together.
68 And Jacob answered his
brother and said, I would do as my lord speaketh unto me, but my lord knoweth
that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with their young who are
with me, go but slowly, for if they went swiftly they would all die, for thou
knowest their burdens and their fatigue.
69 Therefore let my lord pass
on before his servant, and I will go on slowly for the sake of the children and
the flock, until I come to my lord’s place to Seir.
70 And Esau said unto Jacob, I
will place with thee some of the people
that are with me to take care of thee in the road, and to bear thy fatigue and
burden, and he said, What needeth it my lord, if I may find grace in thy sight?
71 Behold I will come unto thee
to Seir to dwell there together as thou
hast spoken, go thou then with thy people for I will follow thee.
72 And Jacob said this to Esau
in order to remove Esau and his men from him, so that Jacob might afterward go
to his father’s house to the land of Canaan.
73 And Esau hearkened to the voice of Jacob, and Esau returned with the four hundred
men that were with him on their road to Seir, and Jacob and all belonging to
him went that day as far as the extremity of the land of Canaan in its borders,
and he remained there some time.
CHAPTER 33
1 And in some time after Jacob
went away from the borders of the land, and he came to the land of Shalem, that
is the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, and he rested in front
of the city.
2 And he bought a parcel of the field which was there, from the
children of Hamor the people of the land, for five shekels.
3 And Jacob there built
himself a house, and he pitched his tent there, and he made booths for his
cattle, therefore he called the name of that place Succoth.
4 And Jacob remained in
Succoth a year and six months.
5 At that time some of the
women of the inhabitants of the land went to the city of Shechem to dance and
rejoice with the daughters of the people of the city, and when they went forth
then Rachel and Leah the wives of Jacob with their families also went to behold
the rejoicing of the daughters of the city.
6 And Dinah the daughter of
Jacob also went along with them and saw the daughters of the city, and they
remained there before these daughters whilst all the people of the city were
standing by them to behold their rejoicings, and all the great people of the
city were there.
7 And Shechem the son of
Hamor, the prince of the land was also standing there to see them.
8 And Shechem beheld Dinah the
daughter of Jacob sitting with her mother before the daughters of the city, and
the damsel pleased him greatly, and he there asked his friends and his people,
saying, Whose daughter is that sitting amongst the women, whom I do not know in
this city?
9 And they said unto him,
Surely this is the daughter of Jacob the son of Isaac the Hebrew, who has dwelt
in this city for some time, and when it was reported that the daughters of the
land were going forth to rejoice she
went with her mother and maid servants to sit amongst them as thou seest.
10 And Shechem beheld Dinah the daughter of
Jacob, and when he looked at her his soul became fixed upon Dinah.
11 And he sent and had her
taken by force, and Dinah came to the house of Shechem and he seized her
forcibly and lay with her and humbled her, and he loved her exceedingly and
placed her in his house.
12 And they came and told the
thing unto Jacob, and when Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter
Dinah, Jacob sent twelve of his servants to fetch Dinah from the house of
Shechem, and they went and came to the house of Shechem to take away Dinah from
there.
13 And when they came Shechem
went out to them with his men and drove them from his house, and he would not
suffer them to come before Dinah, but Shechem was sitting with Dinah kissing
and embracing her before their eyes.
14 And the servants of Jacob
came back and told him, saying, When we
came, he and his men drove us away, and thus did Shechem do unto Dinah before
our eyes.
15 And Jacob knew moreover that
Shechem had defiled his daughter, but he said nothing, and his sons were
feeding his cattle in the field, and Jacob remained silent till their return.
16 And before his sons came
home Jacob sent two maidens from his
servants’ daughters to take care of Dinah in the house of Shechem, and to
remain with her, and Shechem sent three of his friends to his father Hamor the
son of Chiddekem, the son of Pered, saying, Get me this damsel for a wife.
17 And Hamor the son of
Chiddekem the Hivite came to the house of Shechem his son, and he sat before
him, and Hamor said unto his son, Shechem, Is there then no woman amongst the
daughters of thy people that thou wilt take an Hebrew woman who is not of thy
people?
18 And Shechem said to him,
Her only must thou get for me, for she
is delightful in my sight; and Hamor did according to the word of his son, for
he was greatly beloved by him.
19 And Hamor went forth to
Jacob to commune with him concerning this matter, and when he had gone from the
house of his son Shechem, before he came to Jacob to speak unto him, behold the
sons of Jacob had come from the field, as soon as they heard the thing that
Shechem the son of Hamor had done.
20 And the men were very much
grieved concerning their sister, and they all came home fired with anger,
before the time of gathering in their cattle.
21 And they came and sat before
their father and they spoke unto him
kindled with wrath, saying, Surely death is due to this man and to his
household, because the Lord God of the whole earth commanded Noah and his children
that man shall never rob, nor commit adultery; now behold Shechem has both
ravaged and committed fornication with our sister, and not one of all the
people of the city spoke a word to him.
22 Surely thou knowest and
understandest that the judgment of death is due to Shechem, and to his father, and to the whole city on
account of the thing which he has done.
23 And whilst they were
speaking before their father in this matter, behold Hamor the father of Shechem
came to speak to Jacob the words of his son concerning Dinah,
and he sat before Jacob and before
his sons.
24 And Hamor spoke unto them,
saying, The soul of my son Shechem longeth for your daughter; I pray you give
her unto him for a wife and intermarry with us; give us your daughters and we
will give you our daughters, and you shall dwell with us in our land and we
will be as one people in the land.
25 For our land is very
extensive, so dwell ye and trade therein
and get possessions in it, and do therein as you desire, and no one
shall prevent you by saying a word to you.
26 And Hamor ceased speaking
unto Jacob and his sons, and behold Shechem his son had come after him, and he
sat before them.
27 And Shechem spoke before
Jacob and his sons, saying, May I find favor in your sight that you will give
me your daughter, and whatever you say unto me that will I do for her.
28 Ask me for abundance of
dowry and gift, and I will give it, and whatever you shall say unto me that
will I do, and whoever he be that will rebel against your orders, he shall die;
only give me the damsel for a wife.
29 And Simeon and Levi answered
Hamor and Shechem his son deceitfully, saying, All you have spoken unto us we
will do for you.
30 And behold our sister is in
your house, but keep away from her until we send to our father Isaac concerning
this matter, for we can do nothing without his consent.
31 For he knoweth the ways of
our father Abraham, and whatever he sayeth unto us we will tell you, we will
conceal nothing from you.
32 And Simeon and Levi spoke
this unto Shechem and his father in order to find a pretext, and to seek
counsel what was to be done to Shechem and to his city in this matter.
33 And when Shechem and his
father heard the words of Simeon and Levi, it seemed good in their sight, and
Shechem and his father came forth to go home.
34 And when they had gone, the
sons of Jacob said unto their father,
saying, Behold, we know that death is due to these wicked ones and to their
city, because they transgressed that which God had commanded unto Noah and his
children and his seed after them.
35 And also because Shechem did
this thing to our sister Dinah in defiling her, for such vileness shall never
be done amongst us.
36 Now therefore know and see
what you will do, and seek counsel and pretext what is to be done to them, in
order to kill all the inhabitants of this city.
37 And Simeon said to them,
Here is a proper advice for you: tell
them to circumcise every male amongst them as we are circumcised, and if
they do not wish to do this, we shall take our daughter from them and go away.
38 And if they consent to do
this and will do it, then when they are sunk down with pain, we will attack
them with our swords, as upon one who is quiet and peaceable, and we will slay
every male person amongst them.
39 And Simeon’s advice pleased
them, and Simeon and Levi resolved to do unto them as it was proposed.
40 And on the next morning
Shechem and Hamor his father came again unto Jacob and his sons, to speak
concerning Dinah, and to hear what answer the sons of Jacob would give to their
words.
41 And the sons of Jacob spoke
deceitfully to them, saying, We told our father Isaac all your words, and your
words pleased him.
42 But he spoke unto us,
saying, Thus did Abraham his father command him from God the Lord of the whole
earth, that any man who is not of his descendants that should wish to take one
of his daughters, shall cause every male belonging to him to be circumcised, as
we are circumcised, and then we may give him our daughter for a wife.
43 Now we have made known to
you all our ways that our father spoke unto us, for we cannot do this of which
you spoke unto us, to give our daughter to an uncircumcised man, for it is a
disgrace to us.
44 But herein will we consent
to you, to give you our daughter, and we will also take unto ourselves your daughters,
and will dwell amongst you and be one people as you have spoken, if you will
hearken to us, and consent to be like us, to circumcise every male belonging to
you, as we are circumcised.
45 And if you will not hearken
unto us, to have every male circumcised as we are circumcised, as we have
commanded, then we will come to you, and take our daughter from you and go
away.
46 And Shechem and his father
Hamor heard the words of the sons of Jacob, and the thing pleased them
exceedingly, and Shechem and his father Hamor hastened to do the wishes of the
sons of Jacob, for Shechem was very fond of Dinah, and his soul was riveted to
her.
47 And Shechem and his father
Hamor hastened to the gate of the city, and they assembled all the men of their
city and spoke unto them the words of the sons of Jacob, saying,
48 We came to these men, the
sons of Jacob, and we spoke unto them concerning their daughter, and these men
will consent to do according to our wishes, and behold our land is of great
extent for them, and they will dwell in it, and trade in it, and we shall be
one people; we will take their daughters, and our daughters we will give unto
them for wives.
49 But only on this condition
will these men consent to do this
thing, that every male amongst us be circumcised as they are circumcised, as
their God commanded them, and when we shall have done according to their
instructions to be circumcised, then will they dwell amongst us, together with
their cattle and possessions, and we shall be as one people with them.
50 And when all the men of the
city heard the words of Shechem and his father Hamor, then all the men of their
city were agreeable to this proposal, and they obeyed to be circumcised, for
Shechem and his father Hamor were greatly esteemed by them, being the princes
of the land.
51 And on the next day, Shechem
and Hamor his father rose up early in the morning, and they assembled all the
men of their city into the middle of the city, and they called for the sons of
Jacob, who circumcised every male belonging to them on that day and the next.
52 And they circumcised Shechem and Hamor his
father, and the five brothers of Shechem, and then every one rose up and went
home, for this thing was from the Lord against the city of Shechem, and from
the Lord was Simeon’s counsel in this matter, in order that the Lord might
deliver the city of Shechem into the hands of Jacob’s two sons.
1 And the number of all the
males that were circumcised, were six hundred and forty-five men, and two
hundred and forty-six children.
2 But Chiddekem, son of Pered,
the father of Hamor, and his six brothers, would not listen unto Shechem and his father Hamor, and
they would not be circumcised, for the proposal of the sons of Jacob was
loathsome in their sight, and their anger was greatly roused at this, that the
people of the city had not hearkened to them.
3 And in the evening of the
second day, they found eight small children who had not been circumcised, for
their mothers had concealed them from Shechem and his father Hamor, and from
the men of the city.
4 And Shechem and his father
Hamor sent to have them brought before them to be circumcised, when Chiddekem
and his six brothers sprang at them with their swords, and sought to slay them.
5 And they sought to slay also
Shechem and his father Hamor and they sought to slay Dinah with them on account
of this matter.
6 And they said unto them,
What is this thing that you have done? are there no women amongst the daughters
of your brethren the Canaanites, that you wish to take unto yourselves
daughters of the Hebrews, whom ye knew not before, and will do this act which
your fathers never commanded you?
7 Do you imagine that you will
succeed through this act which you have done? and what will you answer in this
affair to your brethren the Canaanites, who will come tomorrow and ask you
concerning this thing?
8 And if your act shall not
appear just and good in their sight, what will you do for your lives, and me
for our lives, in your not having hearkened to our voices?
9 And if the inhabitants of
the land and all your brethren the children of Ham, shall hear of your act,
saying,
10 On account of a Hebrew woman
did Shechem and Hamor his father, and all the inhabitants of their city, do
that with which they had been unacquainted and which their ancestors never
commanded them, where then will you fly or where conceal your shame, all your
days before your brethren, the inhabitants of the land of Canaan?
11 Now therefore we cannot bear
up against this thing which you have done, neither can we be burdened with this
yoke upon us, which our ancestors did not command us.
12 Behold tomorrow we will go
and assemble all our brethren, the
Canaanitish brethren who dwell in the land, and we will all come and smite you
and all those who trust in you, that there shall not be a remnant left from you
or them.
13 And when Hamor and his son
Shechem and all the people of the city heard the words of Chiddekem and his
brothers, they were terribly afraid of their lives at their words, and they
repented of what they had done.
14 And Shechem and his father
Hamor answered their father Chiddekem and his brethren, and they said unto
them, All the words which you spoke unto us are true.
15 Now do not say, nor imagine
in your hearts that on account of the love of the Hebrews we did this thing
that our ancestors did not command us.
16 But because we saw that it
was not their intention and desire to accede to our wishes concerning their
daughter as to our taking her, except on this condition, so we hearkened to
their voices and did this act which you saw, in order to obtain our desire from
them.
17 And when we shall have
obtained our request from them, we will then return to them and do unto them
that which you say unto us.
18 We beseech you then to wait
and tarry until our flesh shall be healed and we again become strong, and we
will then go together against them, and do unto them that which is in your
hearts and in ours.
19 And Dinah the daughter of
Jacob heard all these words which Chiddekem and his brothers had spoken, and
what Hamor and his son Shechem and the people of their city had answered them.
20 And she hastened and sent
one of her maidens, that her father had sent to take care of her in the house
of Shechem, to Jacob her father and to her brethren, saying:
21 Thus did Chiddekem and his
brothers advise concerning you, and thus did Hamor and Shechem and the people
of the city answer them.
22 And when Jacob heard these
words he was filled with wrath, and he was indignant at them, and his anger was
kindled against them.
23 And Simeon and Levi swore
and said, As the Lord liveth, the God of the whole earth, by this time
tomorrow, there shall not be a remnant left in the whole city.
24 And twenty young men had concealed themselves who were not
circumcised, and these young men fought against Simeon and Levi, and Simeon and Levi killed eighteen of them, and two fled from them and escaped to some lime pits that were inthe city, and Simeon and Levi sought for
them, but could not find them.
25 And Simeon and Levi
continued to go about in the city, and
they killed all the people of the city at the edge of the sword, and they left
none remaining.
26 And there was a great
consternation in the midst of the city, and the cry of the people of the city
ascended to heaven, and all the women and children cried aloud.
27 And Simeon and Levi slew
all the city; they left not a male remaining in the whole city.
28 And they slew Hamor and
Shechem his son at the edge of the sword, and they brought away Dinah from the
house of Shechem and they went from there.
29 And the sons of Jacob went
and returned, and came upon the slain, and spoiled all their property which was
in the city and the field.
30 And whilst they were taking
the spoil, three hundred men stood up and threw dust at them and struck them
with stones, when Simeon turned to them and he slew them all with the edge of
the sword, and Simeon turned before Levi, and came into the city. 31 And they took away their sheep and
their oxen and their cattle, and also the remainder of the women and little
ones, and they led all these away, and they opened a gate and went out and came
unto their father Jacob with vigor.
32 And when Jacob saw all that
they had done to the city, and saw the spoil that they took from them, Jacob
was very angry at them, and Jacob said unto them, What is this that you have
done to me? behold I obtained rest amongst the Canaanitish inhabitants of the
land, and none of them meddled with me.
33 And now you have done to
make me obnoxious to the inhabitants of the land, amongst the Canaanites and
the Perizzites, and I am but of a small number, and they will all assemble
against me and slay me when they hear of your work with their brethren, and I
and my household will be destroyed.
34 And Simeon and Levi and all
their brothers with them answered their father Jacob and said unto him, Behold
we live in the land, and shall Shechem do this to our sister? why art thou
silent at all that Shechem has done? and shall he deal with our sister as with
a harlot in the streets?
35 And the number of women
whom Simeon and Levi took captives from
the city of Shechem, whom they did not slay, was eighty-five who had not known
man.
36 And amongst them was a
young damsel of beautiful appearance and well favored, whose name was Bunah,
and Simeon took her for a wife, and the number of the males which they took
captives and did not slay, was forty-seven men, and the rest they slew.
37 And all the young men and
women that Simeon and Levi had taken captives from the city of Shechem, were servants to the sons of
Jacob and to their children after them, until the day of the sons of Jacob
going forth from the land of Egypt.
38 And when Simeon and Levi
had gone forth from the city, the two young men that were left, who had
concealed themselves in the city, and did not die amongst the people of the
city, rose up, and these young men went into the city and walked about in it,
and found the city desolate without man, and only women weeping, and these
young men cried out and said, Behold, this is the evil which the sons of Jacob
the Hebrew did to this city in their having this day destroyed one of the
Canaanitish cities, and were not afraid of their lives of all the land of
Canaan.
39 And these men left the city
and went to the city of Tapnach, and they came there and told the inhabitants
of Tapnach all that had befallen them, and all that the sons of Jacob had done
to the city of Shechem.
40 And the information reached
Jashub king of Tapnach, and he sent men to the city of Shechem to see those young men, for the king
did not believe them in this account, saying, How could two men lay waste such
a large town as Shechem?
41 And the messengers of
Jashub came back and told him, saying, We came unto the city, and it is
destroyed, there is not a man there; only weeping women; neither is any flock
or cattle there, for all that was in the city the sons of Jacob took away.
42 And Jashub wondered at
this, saying, How could two men do this thing, to destroy so large a city, and
not one man able to stand against them?
43 For the like has not been
from the days of Nimrod, and not even from the remotest time, has the like
taken place; and Jashub, king of Tapnach, said to his people, Be courageous and
we will go and fight against these Hebrews, and do unto them as they did unto
the city, and we will avenge the cause of the people of the city.
44 And Jashub, king of Tapnach, consulted with his
counsellors about this matter, and his advisers said unto him, Alone thou wilt
not prevail over the Hebrews, for they must be powerful to do this work to the
whole city.
45 If two of them laid waste
the whole city, and no one stood against them, surely if thou wilt go against
them, they will all rise against us and destroy us likewise.
46 But if thou wilt send to
all the kings that surround us, and let them come together, then we will go
with them and fight against the sons of Jacob; then wilt thou prevail against
them.
47 And Jashub heard the words of his counsellors,
and their words pleased him and his people, and he did so; and Jashub king of
Tapnach sent to all the kings of the Amorites that surrounded Shechem and
Tapnach, saying,
48 Go up with me and assist
me, and we will smite Jacob the Hebrew and all his sons, and destroy them from
the earth, for thus did he do to the city of Shechem, and do you not know of
it?
49 And all the kings of the
Amorites heard the evil that the sons of Jacob had done to the city of Shechem,
and they were greatly astonished at them.
50 And the seven kings of the Amorites assembled with all their armies,
about ten thousand men with drawn swords, and they came to fight against the
sons of Jacob; and Jacob heard that the kings of the Amorites had assembled to
fight against his sons, and Jacob was greatly afraid, and it distressed him.
51 And Jacob exclaimed against
Simeon and Levi, saying, What is this act that you did? why have you injured
me, to bring against me all the children of Canaan to destroy me and my
household? for I was at rest, even I and my household, and you have done this
thing to me, and provoked the inhabitants of the land against me by your
proceedings.
52 And Judah answered his
father, saying, Was it for naught my brothers Simeon and Levi killed all the
inhabitants of Shechem? Surely it was because Shechem had humbled our sister, and
transgressed the command of our God to Noah and his children, for Shechem took
our sister away by force, and committed adultery with her.
53 And Shechem did all this
evil and not one of the inhabitants of his city interfered with him, to say,
Why wilt thou do this? surely for this
my brothers went and smote the city, and the Lord delivered it into their
hands, because its inhabitants had transgressed the commands of our God. Is it
then for naught that they have done all this?
54 And now why art thou afraid
or distressed, and why art thou displeased at my brothers, and why is thine
anger kindled against them?
55 Surely our God who
delivered into their hand the city of Shechem and its people, he will also
deliver into our hands all the Canaanitish kings who are coming against us, and
we will do unto them as my brothers did unto Shechem.
56 Now be tranquil about them
and cast away thy fears, but trust in the Lord our God, and pray unto him to
assist us and deliver us, and deliver our enemies into our hands.
57 And Judah called to one of
his father’s servants, Go now and see where those kings, who are coming against
us, are situated with their armies.
58 And the servant went and
looked far off, and went up opposite Mount Sihon, and saw all the camps of the
kings standing in the fields, and he returned to Judah and said, Behold the
kings are situated in the field with all their camps, a people exceedingly
numerous, like unto the sand upon the sea shore.
59 And Judah said unto Simeon
and Levi, and unto all his brothers, Strengthen yourselves and be sons of
valor, for the Lord our God is with us, do not fear them.
60 Stand forth each man, girt
with his weapons of war, his bow and his sword, and we will go and fight
against these uncircumcised men; the Lord is our God, He will save us.
61 And they rose up, and each
girt on his weapons of war, great and small, eleven sons of Jacob, and all the
servants of Jacob with them.
62 And all the servants of
Isaac who were with Isaac in Hebron, all came to them equipped in all sorts of
war instruments, and the sons of Jacob and their servants, being one hundred
and twelve men, went towards these kings, and Jacob also went with them.
63 And the sons of Jacob sent
unto their father Isaac the son of Abraham to Hebron, the same is Kireath-arba,
saying,
64 Pray we beseech thee for us
unto the Lord our God, to protect us from the hands of the Canaanites who are coming against us, and to deliver
them into our hands.
65 And Isaac the son of
Abraham prayed unto the Lord for his sons, and he said, O Lord God, thou didst
promise my father, saying, I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and
thou didst also promise me, and establish thou thy word, now that the kings of
Canaan are coming together, to make war with my children because they committed
no violence.
66 Now therefore, O Lord God,
God of the whole earth, pervert, I pray thee, the counsel of these kings that
they may not fight against my sons.
67 And impress the hearts of
these kings and their people with the terror of my sons and bring down their
pride, and that they may turn away from my sons.
68 And with thy strong hand
and outstretched arm deliver my sons and their servants from them, for power
and might are in thy hands to do all this.
69 And the sons of Jacob and
their servants went toward these kings, and they trusted in the Lord their God,
and whilst they were going, Jacob their father also prayed unto the Lord and
said, O
Lord God, powerful and exalted God, who has reigned
from days of old, from thence till now and forever;
70 Thou art He who stirreth up
wars and causeth them to cease, in thy hand are power and might to exalt and to
bring down; O may my prayer be acceptable before thee that thou mayest turn to
me with thy mercies, to impress the hearts of these kings and their people with
the terror of my sons, and terrify them and their camps, and with thy great
kindness deliver all those that trust in thee, for it is thou who canst bring
people under us and reduce nations under our
power.
1 And all the kings of the
Amorites came and took their stand in the field to consult with their
counsellors what was to be done with the sons of Jacob, for they were still
afraid of them, saying, Behold, two of them slew the whole
of the city of Shechem.
2 And the Lord heard the
prayers of Isaac and Jacob, and he filled the hearts of all these kings’
advisers with great fear and terror that they unanimously exclaimed,
3 Are you silly this day, or
is there no understanding in you, that you will fight with the Hebrews, and why
will you take a delight in your own destruction this day?
4 Behold two of them came to
the city of Shechem without fear or terror, and they killed all the inhabitants
of the city, that no man stood up against them, and how will you be able to
fight with them all?
5 Surely you know that their
God is exceedingly fond of them, and has done mighty things for them, such as
have not been done from days of old, and amongst all the gods of nations, there
is none can do like unto his mighty deeds.
6 Surely he delivered their
father Abraham, the Hebrew, from the hand of Nimrod, and from the hand of all
his people who had many times sought to slay him.
7 He delivered him also from
the fire in which king Nimrod had cast him, and his God delivered him from it.
8 And who else can do the
like? surely it was Abraham who slew the five kings of Elam, when they had
touched his brother’s son who in those days dwelt in Sodom.
9 And took his servant that
was faithful in his house and a few of his men, and they pursued the kings of
Elam in one night and killed them, and restored to his brother’s son all his
property which they had taken from him.
10 And surely you know the God
of these Hebrews is much delighted with them, and they are also delighted with
him, for they know that he delivered them from all their enemies.
11 And behold through his love
toward his God, Abraham took his only and precious son and intended to bring
him up as a burnt offering to his God, and had it not been for God who
prevented him from doing this, he would then have done it through his love to
his God.
12 And God saw all his works,
and swore unto him, and promised him that he would deliver his sons and all his
seed from every trouble that would befall them, because he had done this thing,
and through his love to his God stifled his compassion for his child.
13 And have you not heard what
their God did to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to Abimelech king of Gerar, through
taking Abraham’s wife, who said of her, She is my sister, lest they might slay
him on account of her, and think of taking her for a wife? and God did unto
them and their people all that you heard of.
14 And behold, we ourselves
saw with our eyes that Esau, the brother of Jacob, came to him with four
hundred men, with the intention of slaying him, for he called to mind that he
had taken away from him his father’s blessing.
15 And he went to meet him
when he came from Syria, to smite the mother with the children, and who
delivered him from his hands but his God in whom he trusted? he delivered him
from the hand of his brother and also from the hands of his enemies, and surely
he again will protect them.
16 Who does not know that it
was their God who inspired them with strength to do to the town of Shechem the
evil which you heard of?
17 Could it then be with their
own strength that two men could destroy such a large city as Shechem had it not
been for their God in whom they trusted? he said and did unto them all this to
slay the inhabitants of the city in their city.
18 And can you then prevail
over them who have come forth together from your city to fight with the whole
of them, even if a thousand times as many more should come to your assistance?
19 Surely you know and
understand that you do not come to fight with them, but you come to war with
their God who made choice of them, and you have therefore all come this day to
be destroyed.
20 Now therefore refrain from
this evil which
you are endeavoring to bring upon yourselves, and it
will be better for you not to go to battle with them, although they are but few
in numbers, because their God is with them.
21 And when the kings of the
Amorites heard all
the words of
their advisers, their hearts were filled with terror, and they were afraid of
the sons of Jacob and would not fight against them.
22 And they inclined their
ears to the words of their advisers, and they listened to all their words, and
the words of the counsellors greatly pleased the kings, and they did so.
23 And the kings turned and
refrained from the sons of Jacob, for they durst not approach them to make war
with them, for they were greatly afraid of them, and their hearts melted within
them from their fear of them.
24 For this proceeded from the
Lord to them, for he heard the prayers of his servants Isaac and Jacob, for
they trusted in him; and all these kings returned with their camps on that day,
each to his own city, and they did not at that time fight with the sons of
Jacob.
25 And the sons of Jacob kept
their station that day till evening opposite mount Sihon, and seeing that these
kings did not come to fight against them, the sons of Jacob returned home.
CHAPTER 36
1 At that time the Lord
appeared unto Jacob saying, Arise, go to Bethel and remain there, and make
there an altar to the Lord who appeareth unto thee, who delivered thee and thy
sons from affliction.
2 And Jacob rose up with his
sons and all belonging to him, and they went and came to Bethel according to
the word of the Lord.
3 And Jacob was ninety-nine
years old when he went up to Bethel, and Jacob and his sons and all the people
that were with him, remained in Bethel in Luz, and he there built an altar to
the Lord who appeared unto him, and Jacob and his sons remained in Bethel six
months.
4 At that time died Deborah
the daughter of Uz, the nurse of Rebecca, who had been with Jacob; and Jacob
buried her beneath Bethel under an oak that was there.
5 And Rebecca the daughter of
Bethuel, the mother of Jacob, also died at that time in Hebron, the same is
Kireath-arba, and she was buried in the cave of Machpelah which Abraham had
bought from the children of Heth.
6 And the life of Rebecca was one hundred and thirty-three
years, and she died and when Jacob heard that his mother Rebecca was dead he
wept bitterly for his mother, and made a great mourning for her, and for
Deborah her nurse beneath the oak, and he called the name of that place
Allon-bachuth.
7 And Laban the Syrian died
in those days, for God smote him because he transgressed the covenant that
existed between him and Jacob.
8 And Jacob was a hundred
years old when the Lord appeared unto him, and blessed him and called his name
Israel, and Rachel the wife of Jacob conceived in those days.
9 And at that time Jacob and
all belonging to him journeyed from Bethel to go to his father’s house, to
Hebron.
10 And whilst they were going
on the road, and there was yet but a little way to come to Ephrath, Rachel bare
a son and she had hard labor and she died.
11 And Jacob buried her in the
way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem, and he set a pillar upon her grave, which
is there unto this day; and the days of Rachel were forty-five years and she
died.
12 And Jacob called the name
of his son that was born to him, which Rachel bare unto him, Benjamin, for he
was born to him in the land on the right hand.
13 And it was after the death
of Rachel, that Jacob pitched his tent in the tent of her handmaid Bilhah.
14 And Reuben was jealous
for his mother Leah on account of this,
and he was filled with anger, and he rose up in his anger and went and entered
the tent of Bilhah and he thence removed his father’s bed.
15 At that time the portion of
birthright, together with the kingly and priestly offices, was removed from the
sons of Reuben, for he had profaned his father’s bed, and the birthright was
given unto Joseph, the kingly office to Judah, and the priesthood unto Levi,
because Reuben had defiled his father’s bed.
16 And these are the
generations of Jacob who were born to him in Padan-aram, and the sons of Jacob
were twelve.
17 The sons of Leah were
Reuben the first born, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and their
sister Dinah; and the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.
18 The sons of Zilpah, Leah’s
handmaid, were Gad and Asher, and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid, were
Dan and Naphtali; these are the sons of Jacob which were born to him in
Padan-aram.
19 And Jacob and his sons and
all belonging to him journeyed and came to Mamre, which is Kireath-arba, that
is in Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned, and Jacob with his sons and
all belonging to him, dwelt with his father in Hebron.
20 And his brother Esau and
his sons, and all belonging to him went to the land of Seir and dwelt there,
and had possessions in the land of Seir, and the children of Esau were fruitful
and multiplied exceedingly in the land of Seir.
21 And these are the
generations of Esau that were born to him in the land of Canaan, and the sons
of Esau were five.
22 And Adah bare to Esau his
first born Eliphaz, and she also bare to him Reuel, and Ahlibamah bare to him
Jeush, Yaalam and Korah.
23 These are the children of
Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan; and the sons of Eliphaz the
son of Esau were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz and Amalex, and the sons of
Reuel were Nachath, Zerach, Shamah and Mizzah.
24 And the sons of Jeush were
Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth; and the sons of Yaalam were Alah, Phinor and Kenaz.
25 And the sons of Korah were
Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel and Eram; these are the families of the sons of Esau
according to their dukedoms in the land of Seir.
26 And these are the
names of the sons of Seir the Horite,
inhabitants of the land of Seir, Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishan, Ezer and
Dishon, being seven sons.
27 And the children of Lotan
were Hori, Heman and their sister Timna, that is Timna who came to Jacob and
his sons, and they would not give ear to her, and she went and became a
concubine to Eliphaz the son of Esau, and she bare to him Amalek.
28 And the sons of Shobal were
Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam, and the sons of Zibeon were Ajah, and
Anah, this was that Anah who found the Yemim in the wilderness when he fed the
asses of Zibeon his father.
29 And whilst he was feeding
his father’s asses he led them to the
wilderness at different times to feed them.
30 And there was a day that he
brought them to one of the deserts on the sea shore, opposite the wilderness of the people,
and whilst he was feeding
them, behold a very
heavy storm came from the other side of the sea and rested upon the asses that
were feeding there, and they all stood still.
31 And afterward about one
hundred and twenty great and terrible animals came out from the wilderness at
the other side of the sea, and they all came to the place where the asses were,
and they placed themselves there.
32 And those animals, from
their middle downward, were in the shape of the children of men, and from their
middle upward, some had the likeness of bears, and some the likeness of the
keephas, with tails behind them from between their shoulders reaching down to
the earth, like the tails of the ducheephath, and these animals came and
mounted and rode upon these asses, and led them away, and they went away unto
this day.
33 And one of these animals
approached Anah and smote him with his tail, and then fled from that place.
34 And when he saw this work
he was exceedingly afraid of his life, and he fled and escaped to the city.
35 And he related to his sons
and brothers all that had happened to him, and many men went to seek the asses
but could not find them, and Anah and his brothers went no more to that place
from that day following, for they were greatly afraid of their lives.
36 And the children of Anah
the son of Seir, were Dishon and his sister Ahlibamah, and the children of
Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Cheran, and the children of Ezer were
Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan, and the children of Dishon were Uz and Aran.
37 These are the families of
the children of Seir the Horite, according to their dukedoms in the land of
Seir.
38 And Esau and his children
dwelt in the land of Seir the Horite,
the inhabitant of the land, and they had possessions in it and were fruitful and
multiplied exceedingly, and Jacob and his children and all belonging to them,
dwelt with their father Isaac in the land of Canaan, as the Lord had commanded
Abraham their father.
1 And in the one hundred and
fifth year of the life of Jacob, that is the ninth year of Jacob’s dwelling
with his children in the land of Canaan, he came from Padan-aram.
2 And in those days Jacob
journeyed with his children from Hebron, and they went and returned to the city
of Shechem, they and all belonging to them, and they dwelt there, for the
children of Jacob obtained good and fat pasture land for their cattle in the
city of Shechem, the city of Shechem having then been rebuilt, and there were
in it about three hundred men and women.
3 And Jacob and his children
and all belonging to him dwelt in the part of the field which Jacob had bought
from Hamor the father of Shechem, when he came from Padan-aram before Simeon
and Levi had smitten the city.
4 And all those kings of the
Canaanites and Amorites that surrounded the city of Shechem, heard that the
sons of Jacob had again come to Shechem and dwelt there.
5 And they said, Shall the
sons of Jacob the Hebrew again come to the city and dwell therein, after that they have smitten
its inhabitants and driven them out? shall they now return and also drive out
those who are dwelling in the city or slay them?
6 And all the kings of Canaan
again assembled, and they came together to make war with Jacob and his sons.
7 And Jashub king of Tapnach
sent also to all his neighboring kings,
to Elan king of Gaash, and to Ihuri king of Shiloh, and to Parathon king of
Chazar, and to Susi king of Sarton, and to Laban king of Bethchoran, and to
Shabir king of Othnay-mah, saying,
8 Come up to me and assist
me, and let us smite Jacob the Hebrew and his sons, and all belonging to him,
for they are again come to Shechem to possess it and to slay its inhabitants as
before.
9 And all these kings
assembled together and came with all their camps, a people exceedingly
plentiful like the sand upon the sea shore, and they were all opposite to
Tapnach.
10 And Jashub king of Tapnach
went forth to them with all his army, and he encamped with them opposite to
Tapnach without the city, and all these kings they divided into seven
divisions, being seven camps against the sons of Jacob.
11 And they sent a declaration
to Jacob and his son, saying, Come you all forth to us that we may have an
interview together in the plain, and revenge the cause of the men of Shechem
whom you slew in their city, and you will now again return to the city of
Shechem and dwell therein, and slay its inhabitants as before.
12 And the sons of Jacob heard
this and their anger was kindled exceedingly at the words of the kings of
Canaan, and ten of the sons of Jacob hastened and rose up, and each of them
girt on his weapons of war; and there were one hundred and two of their
servants with them equipped in battle array.
13 And all these men, the sons
of Jacob with their servants, went toward these kings, and Jacob their father
was with them, and they all stood upon the heap of Shechem.
14 And Jacob prayed to the
Lord for his sons, and he spread forth
his hands to the Lord, and he said, O God, thou art an Almighty God, thou art
our father, thou didst form us and we are the works of thine hands; I pray thee deliver my sons through thy mercy from the hand of their enemies, who are this day coming to
fight with them and save them from their hand, for in thy hand is power and
might, to save the few from the many.
15 And give unto my sons, thy
servants, strength of heart and might to fight with their enemies, to subdue
them, and make their enemies fall before them, and let not my sons and their
servants die through the hands of the children of Canaan.
16 But if it seemeth good in
thine eyes to take away the lives of my
sons and their servants, take them in thy great mercy through the hands of thy
ministers, that they may not perish this day by the hands of the kings of the
Amorites.
17 And when Jacob ceased
praying to the Lord the earth shook from its place, and the sun darkened, and
all these kings were terrified and a great consternation seized them.
18 And the Lord hearkened to
the prayer of Jacob, and the Lord
impressed the hearts of all the kings and their hosts with the terror
and awe of the sons of Jacob.
19 For the Lord caused them to
hear the voice of chariots, and the voice of mighty horses from the sons of
Jacob, and the voice of a great army accompanying them.
20 And these kings were seized
with great terror at the sons of Jacob, and whilst they were standing in their
quarters, behold the sons of Jacob advanced upon them, with one hundred and
twelve men, with a great and tremendous shouting.
21 And when the kings saw the
sons of Jacob advancing toward them, they were still more panic struck, and
they were inclined to retreat from before the sons of Jacob as at first, and
not to fight with them.
22 But they did not retreat,
saying, It would be a disgrace to us thus twice to retreat from before the
Hebrews.
23 And the sons of Jacob came
near and advanced against all these kings and their armies, and they saw, and
behold it was a very mighty people, numerous as the sand of the sea.
24 And the sons of Jacob
called unto the Lord and said, Help us O Lord, help us and answer us, for we
trust in thee, and let us not die by the hands of these uncircumcised men, who
this day have come against us.
25 And the sons of Jacob girt
on their weapons of war, and they took in their hands each man his shield and
his javelin, and they approached to battle.
26 And Judah, the son of
Jacob, ran first before his brethren, and ten of his servants with him, and he
went toward these kings.
27 And Jashub, king of
Tapnach, also came forth first with his army before Judah, and Judah saw Jashub
and his army coming toward him, and Judah’s wrath was kindled, and his anger
burned within him, and he approached to battle in which Judah ventured his
life.
28 And Jashub and all his army
were advancing toward Judah, and he was riding upon a very strong and powerful
horse, and Jashub was a very valiant man, and covered with iron and brass from
head to foot.
29 And whilst he was upon the
horse, he shot arrows with both hands from before and behind, as was his manner
in all his battles, and he never missed the
place to which he aimed his arrows.
30 And when Jashub came to
fight with Judah, and was darting many
arrows against Judah, the Lord bound the hand of Jashub, and all the
arrows that he shot rebounded upon his own men.
31 And notwithstanding this,
Jashub kept advancing toward Judah, to challenge him with the arrows, but the distance between them was about thirty
cubits, and when Judah saw Jashub darting forth his arrows against him, he ran
to him with his wrath-excited might.
32 And Judah took up a large
stone from the ground, and its weight was sixty shekels, and Judah ran toward
Jashub, and with the stone struck him on his shield, that Jashub was stunned
with the blow, and fell off from his horse to the ground.
33 And the shield burst
asunder out of the hand of Jashub, and through the force of the blow sprang to
the distance of about fifteen cubits, and the shield fell before the second
camp.
34 And the kings that came
with Jashub saw at a distance the strength of Judah, the son of Jacob, and what
he had done to Jashub, and they were terribly afraid of Judah.
35 And they assembled near
Jashub’s camp, seeing his confusion, and Judah drew his sword and smote
forty-two men of the camp of Jashub, and the whole of Jashub’s camp fled before
Judah, and no man stood against him, and they left Jashub and fled from him,
and Jashub was still prostrate upon the ground.
36 And Jashub seeing that all
the men of his camp had fled from him, hastened and rose up with terror against
Judah, and stood upon his legs opposite Judah.
37 And Jashub had a single
combat with Judah, placing shield toward shield, and Jashub’s men all fled, for
they were greatly afraid of Judah.
38 And Jashub took his spear
in his hand to strike Judah upon his head, but Judah had quickly placed his
shield to his head against Jashub’s spear, so that the shield of Judah received
the blow from Jashub’s spear, and the shield was split in too.
39 And when Judah saw that his
shield was split, he hastily drew his sword and smote Jashub at his ankles, and
cut off his feet that Jashub fell upon the ground, and the spear fell from his
hand.
40 And Judah hastily picked up
Jashub’s spear, with which he severed his head and cast it next to his feet.
41 And when the sons of Jacob
saw what Judah had done to Jashub, they all ran into the ranks of the other
kings, and the sons of Jacob fought with the army of Jashub, and the armies of
all the kings that were there.
42 And the sons of Jacob
caused fifteen thousand of their men to
fall, and they smote them as if smiting at gourds, and the rest fled for their
lives.
43 And Judah was still
standing by the body of Jashub, and stripped Jashub of his coat of mail. 44
And Judah also took off the iron and brass that was about Jashub, and behold
nine men of the captains of Jashub came along to fight against Judah.
45 And Judah hastened and took
up a stone from the ground, and with it smote one of them upon the head, and
his skull was fractured, and the body also fell from the horse to the
ground.
46 And the eight captains that
remained, seeing the strength of Judah, were greatly afraid and they fled, and
Judah with his ten men pursued them, and they overtook them and slew them.
47 And the sons of Jacob were
still smiting the armies of the kings, and they slew many of them, but those
kings daringly kept their stand with their captains, and did not retreat from
their places, and they exclaimed against those of their armies that fled from
before the sons of Jacob, but none would listen to them, for they were afraid
of their lives lest they should die.
48 And all the sons of Jacob,
after having smitten the armies of the kings, returned and came before Judah, and Judah was still slaying
the eight captains of Jashub, and stripping off their garments.
49 And Levi saw Elon, king of
Gaash, advancing toward him, with his fourteen captains to smite him, but Levi
did not know it for certain.
50 And Elon with his captains
approached nearer, and Levi looked back and saw that battle was given him in
the rear, and Levi ran with twelve of his servants, and they went and slew Elon
and his captains with the edge of the sword.
1 And Ihuri king of Shiloh
came up to assist Elon, and he approached Jacob, when Jacob drew his bow that
was in his hand and with an arrow struck Ihuri which caused his death.
2 And when Ihuri king of
Shiloh was dead, the four remaining kings fled from their station with the rest
of the captains, and they endeavored to retreat, saying, We have no more
strength with the Hebrews after their having killed the three kings and their captains
who were more powerful than we are.
3 And when the sons of Jacob
saw that the remaining kings had removed from their station, they pursued them,
and Jacob also came from the heap of Shechem from the place where he was
standing, and they went after the kings and they approached them with their
servants.
4 And the kings and the
captains with the rest of their armies, seeing that the sons of Jacob
approached them, were afraid of their lives and fled till they reached the city
of Chazar.
5 And the sons of Jacob
pursued them to the gate of the city of Chazar, and they smote a great smiting
amongst the kings and their armies, about four thousand men, and whilst they
were smiting the army of the kings, Jacob was occupied with his bow confining
himself to smiting the kings, and he slew them all.
6 And he slew Parathon king
of Chazar at the gate of the city of Chazar, and he afterward smote Susi king
of Sarton, and Laban king of Bethchorin, and Shabir king of Machnaymah, and he
slew them all with arrows, an arrow to each of them, and they died.
7 And the sons of Jacob
seeing that all the kings were dead and that they were broken up and
retreating, continued to carry on the battle with the armies of the kings
opposite the gate of Chazar, and they still smote about four hundred of their
men.
8 And three men of the
servants of Jacob fell in that battle,
and when Judah saw that three of his servants had died, it grieved him greatly,
and his anger burned within him against the Amorites.
9 And all the men that
remained of the armies of the kings were greatly afraid of their lives, and they ran and broke the
gate of the walls of the city of Chazar, and they all entered the city for
safety.
10 And they concealed
themselves in the midst of the city of Chazar, for the city of Chazar was
very large and extensive, and when all
these armies had entered the city, the sons of Jacob ran after them to the
city.
11 And four mighty men,
experienced in battle, went forth from the city and stood against the entrance of
the city, with drawn swords and spears in their hands, and they placed
themselves opposite the sons of Jacob, and would not suffer them to enter the
city.
12 And Naphtali ran and came
between them and with his sword smote two of them, and cut off their heads at
one stroke.
13 And he turned to the other
two, and behold they had fled, and he pursued them, overtook them, smote them
and slew them.
14 And the sons of Jacob came
to the city and saw, and behold there
was another wall to the city, and they sought for the gate of the wall and
could not find it, and Judah sprang upon the top of the wall, and Simeon and
Levi followed him, and they all three descended from the wall into the city.
15 And Simeon and Levi slew
all the men who ran for safety into the city, and also the inhabitants of the
city with their wives and little ones, they slew with the edge of the sword,
and the cries of the city ascended up to heaven.
16 And Dan and Naphtali sprang
upon the wall to see what caused the noise of lamentation, for the sons of
Jacob felt anxious about their brothers, and they heard the inhabitants of the
city speaking with weeping and supplications, saying, Take all that we possess in the city and go away, only do not put us to death.
17 And when Judah, Simeon, and
Levi had ceased smiting the inhabitants of the city, they ascended the wall and
called to Dan and Naphtali, who were upon the wall, and to the rest of their
brothers, and Simeon and Levi informed them of the entrance into the city, and
all the sons of Jacob came to fetch the spoil.
18 And the sons of Jacob took
the spoil of the city of Chazar, the flocks and herds, and the property, and
they took all that could be captured, and went away that day from the city.
19 And on the next day the
sons of Jacob went to Sarton, for they heard that the men of Sarton who had
remained in the city were assembling to fight with them for having slain their
king, and Sarton was a very high and fortified city, and it had a deep rampart
surrounding the city.
20 And the pillar of the
rampart was about fifty cubits and its breadth forty cubits, and there was no place
for a man to enter the city on account of the rampart, and the sons of Jacob
saw the rampart of the city, and they sought an entrance in it but could not
find it.
21 For the entrance to the
city was at the rear, and every man that wished to come into the city came by
that road and went around the whole city, and he afterwards entered the city.
22 And the sons of Jacob
seeing they could not find the way into the city, their anger was kindled
greatly, and the inhabitants of the city seeing that the sons of Jacob were
coming to them were greatly afraid of them, for they had heard of their
strength and what they had done to Chazar.
23 And the inhabitants of the
city of Sarton could not go out toward the sons of Jacob after having assembled
in the city to fight against them, lest they might thereby get into the city,
but when they saw that they were coming toward them, they were greatly afraid
of them, for they had heard of their strength and what they had done to Chazar.
24 So the inhabitants of
Sarton speedily took away the bridge of the road of the city, from its place,
before the sons of Jacob came, and they brought it into the city.
25 And the sons of Jacob came
and sought the way into the city, and could not find it and the inhabitants of the city went up to the top
of the wall, and saw, and behold the sons of Jacob were seeking an entrance into
the city.
26 And the inhabitants of the
city reproached the sons of Jacob from the top of the wall, and they cursed
them, and the sons of Jacob heard the reproaches, and they were greatly
incensed, and their anger burned within them.
27 And the sons of Jacob were
provoked at them, and they all rose and sprang over the rampart with the force
of their strength, and through their might passed the forty cubits’ breadth of
the rampart.
28 And when they had passed
the rampart they stood under the wall of the city, and they found all the gates
of the city enclosed with iron doors.
29 And the sons of Jacob came
near to break open the doors of the gates of the city, and the inhabitants did
not let them, for from the top of the wall they were casting stones and arrows
upon them.
30 And the number of the
people that were upon the wall was about four hundred men, and when the sons of
Jacob saw that the men of the city would not let them open the gates of the
city, they sprang and ascended the top of the wall, and Judah went up first to
the east part of the city.
31 And Gad and Asher went up
after him to the west corner of the city, and Simeon and Levi to the north, and
Dan and Reuben to the south.
32 And the men who were on the
top of the wall, the inhabitants of the city, seeing that the sons of Jacob
were coming up to them, they all fled from the wall, descended into the city,
and concealed themselves in the midst of the city.
33 And Issachar and Naphtali
that remained under the wall approached and broke the gates of the city, and
kindled a fire at the gates of the city, that the iron melted, and all the sons
of Jacob came into the city, they and all their men, and they fought with the
inhabitants of the city of Sarton, and smote them with the edge of the sword,
and no man stood up before them.
34 And about two hundred men
fled from the city, and they all went and hid themselves in a certain tower in
the city, and Judah pursued them to the tower and he broke down the tower,
which fell upon the men, and they all died.
35 And the sons of Jacob went up
the road of the roof of that tower, and they saw, and behold there was another
strong and high tower at a distance in the city, and the top of it reached to
heaven, and the sons of Jacob hastened and descended, and went with all their
men to that tower, and found it filled with about three hundred men, women and
little ones.
36 And the sons of Jacob smote
a great smiting amongst those men in the tower and they ran away and fled from
them.
37 And Simeon and Levi pursued
them, when twelve mighty and valiant men came out to them from the place where
they had concealed themselves.
38 And those twelve men
maintained a strong battle against Simeon and Levi, and Simeon and Levi could
not prevail over them, and those valiant men broke the shields of Simeon and
Levi, and one of them struck at Levi’s head with his sword, when Levi hastily
placed his hand to his head, for he was afraid of the sword, and the sword
struck Levi’s hand, and it wanted but little to the hand of Levi being cut off.
39 And Levi seized the sword
of the valiant man in his hand, and took it forcibly from the man, and with it
he struck at the head of the powerful man, and he severed his head.
40 And eleven men approached
to fight with Levi, for they saw that one of them was killed, and the sons of Jacob fought, but the sons of Jacob could not prevail over them, for those men were very powerful.
41 And the sons of Jacob seeing that they could not prevail over them,
Simeon gave a loud and tremendous shriek, and
the eleven powerful men were stunned at the voice of Simeon’s shrieking.
42 And Judah at a distance
knew the voice of Simeon’s shouting, and Naphtali and Judah ran with their
shields to Simeon and Levi, and found them fighting with those powerful men,
unable to prevail over them as their shields were broken.
43 And Naphtali saw that the
shields of Simeon and Levi were broken, and he took two shields from his
servants and brought them to Simeon and Levi.
44 And Simeon, Levi and Judah
on that day fought all three against the eleven mighty men until the time of
sunset, but they could not prevail over them.
45 And this was told unto
Jacob, and he was sorely grieved, and he prayed unto the Lord, and he and
Naphtali his son went against these mighty men.
46 And Jacob approached and
drew his bow, and came nigh unto the mighty men, and slew three of their men
with the bow, and the remaining eight turned back, and behold, the war waged
against them in the front and rear, and they were greatly afraid of their
lives, and could not stand before the sons of Jacob, and they fled from before
them.
47 And in their flight they
met Dan and Asher coming toward them, and they suddenly fell upon them, and
fought with them, and slew two of them, and Judah and his brothers pursued them,
and smote the remainder of them, and slew them.
48 And all the sons of Jacob
returned and walked about the city, searching if they could find any men, and
they found about twenty young men in a cave in the city, and Gad and Asher
smote them all, and Dan and Naphtali lighted upon the rest of the men who had
fled and escaped from the second tower, and they smote them all.
49 And the sons of Jacob smote
all the inhabitants of the city of Sarton, but the women and little ones they
left in the city and did not slay them.
50 And all the inhabitants of
the city of Sarton were powerful men, one of them would pursue a thousand, and
two of them would not flee from ten thousand of the rest of men.
51 And the sons of Jacob slew
all the inhabitants of the city of Sarton with the edge of the sword, that no
man stood up against them, and they left the women in the city.
52 And the sons of Jacob took
all the spoil of the city, and captured what they desired, and they took flocks
and herds and property from the city, and the sons of Jacob did unto Sarton and
its inhabitants as they had done to Chazar and its inhabitants, and they turned
and went away.
1 And when the sons of Jacob
went from the city of Sarton, they had gone about two hundred cubits when they
met the inhabitants of Tapnach coming toward them, for they went out to fight
with them, because they had smitten the king of Tapnach and all his men.
2 So all that remained in the
city of Tapnach came out to fight with the sons of Jacob, and they thought to
retake from them the booty and the spoil which they had captured from Chazar
and Sarton.
3 And the rest of the men of
Tapnach fought with the sons of Jacob in that place, and the sons of Jacob
smote them, and they fled before them, and they pursued them to the city of
Arbelan, and they all fell before the sons of Jacob.
4 And the sons of Jacob
returned and came to Tapnach, to take away the spoil of Tapnach, and when they
came to Tapnach they heard that the people of Arbelan had gone out to meet them
to save the spoil of their brethren, and the sons of Jacob left ten of their
men in Tapnach to plunder the city, and they went out toward the people of
Arbelan.
5 And the men of Arbelan went
out with their wives to fight with
the sons of Jacob, for their wives were
experienced in battle, and they went out, about four hundred men and women.
6 And all the sons of Jacob
shouted with a loud voice, and they all ran toward the inhabitants of Arbelan,
and with a great and tremendous voice.
7 And the inhabitants of
Arbelan heard the noise of the shouting of the sons of Jacob, and their roaring
like the noise of lions and like the roaring of the sea and its waves.
8 And fear and terror
possessed their hearts on account of the sons of Jacob, and they were terribly
afraid of them, and they retreated and fled before them into the city, and the
sons of Jacob pursued them to the gate of the city, and they came upon them in the
city.
9 And the sons of Jacob
fought with them in the city, and all their women were engaged in slinging
against the sons of Jacob, and the combat was very severe amongst them the
whole of that day till evening.
10 And the sons of Jacob could
not prevail over them, and the sons of Jacob had almost perished in that
battle, and the sons of Jacob cried unto the Lord and greatly gained strength toward
evening, and the sons of Jacob smote all the inhabitants of Arbelan by the edge
of the sword, men, women and little ones.
11 And also the remainder of
the people who had fled from Sarton, the sons of Jacob smote them in Arbelan,
and the sons of Jacob did unto Arbelan and Tapnach as they had done to Chazar
and Sarton, and when the women saw that all the men were dead, they went upon the roofs of the city and smote the sons of Jacob by showering down stones like rain.
12 And the sons of Jacob
hastened and came into the city and seized all the women and smote them with
the edge of the sword, and the sons of Jacob captured all the spoil and booty,
flocks and herds and cattle.
13 And the sons of Jacob did
unto Machnaymah as they had done to Tapnach, to Chazar and to Shiloh, and they
turned from there and went away.
14 And on the fifth day the
sons of Jacob heard that the people of Gaash had gathered against them to
battle, because they had slain their king and their captains, for there had
been fourteen captains in the city of Gaash, and the sons of Jacob had slain
them all in the first battle.
15 And the sons of Jacob that
day girt on their weapons of war, and they marched to battle against the
inhabitants of Gaash, and in Gaash there was a strong and mighty people of the
people of the Amorites, and Gaash was the strongest and best fortified city of
all the cities of the Amorites, and it had three walls.
16 And the sons of Jacob came
to Gaash and they found the gates of the city locked, and about five hundred
men standing at the top of the outer-most wall, and a people numerous as the
sand upon the sea shore were in ambush for the sons of Jacob from without the
city at the rear thereof.
17 And the sons of Jacob
approached to open the gates of the city, and whilst they were drawing nigh,
behold those who were in ambush at the rear of the city came forth from their
places and surrounded the sons of Jacob.
18 And the sons of Jacob were
enclosed between the people of Gaash, and the battle was both to their front
and rear, and all the men that were upon the wall, were casting from the wall
upon them, arrows and stones.
19 And Judah, seeing that the
men of Gaash were getting too heavy for them, gave a most piercing and tremendous shriek and all the men of
Gaash were terrified at the voice of Judah’s cry, and men fell from the wall at
his powerful shriek, and all those that were from without and within the city
were greatly afraid of their lives.
20 And the sons of Jacob still
came nigh to break the doors of the city, when the men of Gaash threw stones
and arrows upon them from the top of the wall, and made them flee from the
gate.
21 And the sons of Jacob
returned against the men of Gaash who were with them from without the city, and
they smote them terribly, as striking against gourds, and they could not stand
against the sons of Jacob, for fright and terror had seized them at the shriek
of Judah.
22 And the sons of Jacob slew
all those men who were without the city, and the sons of Jacob still drew nigh
to effect an entrance into the city, and to fight under the city walls, but
they could not for all the inhabitants of Gaash who remained in the city had
surrounded the walls of Gaash in every direction, so that the sons of Jacob
were unable to approach the city to fight with them. 23 And the sons of Jacob came nigh to one corner to fight under the
wall, the inhabitants of Gaash threw arrows and stones upon them like showers
of rain, and they fled from under the wall.
24 And the people of Gaash who
were upon the wall, seeing that the sons of Jacob could not prevail over them
from under the wall, reproached the sons of Jacob in these words, saying,
25 What is the matter with you
in the battle that you cannot prevail? can you then do unto the mighty city of
Gaash and its inhabitants as you did to the cities of the Amorites that were
not so powerful? Surely to those weak ones amongst us you did those things, and
slew them in the entrance of the city, for they had no strength when they were
terrified at the sound of your shouting.
26 And will you now then be
able to fight in this place? Surely here you will all die, and we will avenge
the cause of those cities that you have laid waste.
27 And the inhabitants of
Gaash greatly reproached the sons of Jacob and reviled them with their gods,
and continued to cast arrows and stones upon them from the wall.
28 And Judah and his brothers
heard the words of the inhabitants of Gaash and their anger was greatly roused,
and Judah was jealous of his God in this matter, and he called out and said, O
Lord, help, send help to us and our brothers.
29 And he ran at a distance
with all his might, with his drawn sword in his hand, and he sprang from the
earth and by dint of his strength, mounted the wall, and his sword fell from
his hand.
30 And Judah shouted upon the
wall, and all the men that were upon the wall were terrified, and some of them
fell from the wall into the city and died, and those who were yet upon the
wall, when they saw Judah’s strength, they were greatly afraid and fled for
their lives into the city for safety.
31 And some were emboldened to
fight with Judah upon the wall, and they came nigh to slay him when they saw
there was no sword in Judah’s hand, and they thought of casting him from the
wall to his brothers, and twenty men of the city came up to assist them, and
they surrounded Judah and they all shouted over him, and approached him with
drawn swords, and they terrified Judah, and Judah cried out to his brothers from
the wall.
32 And Jacob and his sons drew
the bow from under the wall, and smote three of the men that were upon the top
of the wall, and Judah continued to cry and he exclaimed, O Lord help us, O
Lord deliver us, and he cried out with a loud voice upon the wall, and the cry
was heard at a great distance.
33 And after this cry he again
repeated to shout, and all the men who surrounded Judah on the top of the wall
were terrified, and they each threw his sword from his hand at the sound of
Judah’s shouting and his tremor,
and fled.
34 And Judah took the swords which had fallen from their hands, and Judah fought with them and slew twenty of their
men upon the wall.
35 And about eighty men and
women still ascended the wall from the city and they all surrounded Judah, and
the Lord impressed the fear of Judah in their hearts, that they were unable to
approach him.
36 And Jacob and all who were
with him drew the bow from under the wall, and they slew ten men upon the wall,
and they fell below the wall, before Jacob and his sons.
37 And the people upon the
wall seeing that twenty of their men had fallen, they still ran toward Judah
with drawn swords, but they could not approach him for they were greatly
terrified at Judah’s strength.
38 And one of their mighty men
whose name was Arud approached to strike Judah upon the head with his sword,
when Judah hastily put his shield to his head, and the sword hit the shield,
and it was split in two.
39 And this mighty man after
he had struck Judah ran for his life, at the fear of Judah, and his feet
slipped upon the wall and he fell amongst the sons of Jacob who were below the
wall, and the sons of Jacob smote him and slew him.
40 And Judah’s head pained him
from the blow of the powerful man, and Judah had nearly died from it.
41 And Judah cried out upon
the wall owing to the pain produced by the blow, when Dan heard him, and his
anger burned within him, and he also rose up and went at a distance and ran and
sprang from the earth and mounted the wall with his wrath-excited strength.
42 And when Dan came upon the
wall near unto Judah all the men upon the wall fled, who had stood against
Judah, and they went up to the second wall, and they threw arrows and stones
upon Dan and Judah from the second wall, and endeavored to drive them from the
wall.
43 And the arrows and stones
struck Dan and Judah, and they had nearly been killed upon the wall, and
wherever Dan and Judah fled from the wall, they were attacked with arrows and
stones from the second wall.
44 And Jacob and his sons were
still at the entrance of the city below the first wall, and they were not able
to draw their bow against the inhabitants of the city, as they could not be
seen by them, being upon the second wall.
45 And Dan and Judah when they
could no longer bear the stones and arrows that fell upon them from the second
wall, they both sprang upon the second wall near the people of the city, and
when the people of the city who were upon the second wall saw that Dan and
Judah had come to them upon the second wall, they all cried out and descended
below between the walls.
46 And Jacob and his sons
heard the noise of the shouting from the people of the city, and they were still
at the entrance of the city, and they were anxious about Dan and Judah who were
not seen by them, they being upon the second wall.
47 And Naphtali went up with
his wrath-excited might and sprang upon the first wall to see what caused the
noise of shouting which they had heard in the city, and Issachar and Zebulun
drew nigh to break the doors of the city, and they opened the gates of the city
and came into the city.
48 And Naphtali leaped from
the first wall to the second, and came to assist his brothers, and the
inhabitants of Gaash who were upon the wall, seeing that Naphtali was the third
who had come up to assist his brothers, they all fled and descended into the
city, and Jacob and all his sons and all their young men came into the city to
them.
49 And Judah and Dan and
Naphtali descended from the wall into the city and pursued the inhabitants of
the city, and Simeon and Levi were from without the city and knew not that the
gate was opened, and they went up from there to the wall and came down to their
brothers into the city.
50 And the inhabitants of the
city had all descended into the city, and the sons of Jacob came to them in
different directions, and the battle waged against them from the front and the
rear, and the sons of Jacob smote them terribly, and slew about twenty thousand
of them men and women, not one of them could stand up against the sons of
Jacob.
51 And the blood flowed
plentifully in the city, and it was like a brook of water, and the blood flowed
like a brook to the outer part of the city, and reached the desert of
Bethchorin.
52 And the people of
Bethchorin saw at a distance the blood flowing from the city of Gaash, and
about seventy men from amongst them ran to see the blood, and they came to the
place where the blood was.
53 And they followed the track
of the blood and came to the wall of the city of Gaash, and they saw the blood
issue from the city, and they heard the voice of crying from the inhabitants of
Gaash, for it ascended unto heaven, and the blood was continuing to flow
abundantly like a brook of water.
54 And all the sons of Jacob
were still smiting the inhabitants of Gaash, and were engaged in slaying them
till evening, about twenty thousand men and women, and the people of Chorin
said, Surely this is the work of the Hebrews, for they are still carrying on
war in all the cities of the Amorites.
55 And those people hastened
and ran to Bethchorin, and each took his weapons of war, and they cried out to
all the inhabitants of Bethchorin, who also girt on their weapons of war to go
and fight with the sons of Jacob.
56 And when the sons of Jacob
had done smiting the inhabitants of Gaash, they walked about the city to strip
all the slain, and coming in the innermost part of the city and farther on they
met three very powerful men, and there was no sword in their hand.
57 And the sons of Jacob came
up to the place where they were, and the powerful men ran away, and one of them
had taken Zebulun, who he saw was a young lad and of short stature, and with
his might dashed him to the ground.
58 And Jacob ran to him with
his sword and Jacob smote him below his loins with the sword, and cut him in
two, and the body fell upon Zebulun.
59 And the second one
approached and seized Jacob to fell him to the ground, and Jacob turned to him
and shouted to him, whilst Simeon and Levi ran and smote him on the hips with
the sword and felled him to the ground.
60 And the powerful man rose up
from the ground with wrath- excited might, and Judah came to him before he had
gained his footing, and struck him upon the head with the sword, and his head
was split and he died.
61 And the third powerful man,
seeing that his companions were killed, ran from before the sons of Jacob, and
the sons of Jacob pursued him in the city; and whilst the powerful man was
fleeing he found one of the swords of the inhabitants of the city, and he
picked it up and turned to the sons of Jacob and fought them with that sword.
62 And the powerful man ran to
Judah to strike him upon the head with the sword, and there was no shield in
the hand of Judah; and whilst he was aiming to strike him, Naphtali hastily
took his shield and put it to Judah’s head, and the sword of the powerful man
hit the shield of Naphtali and Judah escaped the sword.
63 And Simeon and Levi ran
upon the powerful man with their swords and struck at him forcibly with their
swords, and the two swords entered the body of the powerful man and divided it
in two, length-wise.
64 And the sons of Jacob smote
the three mighty men at that time, together with all the inhabitants of Gaash,
and the day was about to decline.
65 And the sons of Jacob
walked about Gaash and took all the spoil of the city, even the little ones and
women they did not suffer to live, and the sons of Jacob did unto Gaash as they
had done to Sarton and Shiloh.
CHAPTER 40
1 And the sons of Jacob led
away all the spoil of Gaash, and went out of the city by night.
2 They were going out marching
toward the castle of Bethchorin, and the inhabitants of Bethchorin were going
to the castle to meet them, and on that night the sons of Jacob fought with the
inhabitants of Bethchorin, in the castle of Bethchorin.
3 And all the inhabitants of
Bethchorin were mighty men, one of them would not flee from before a thousand
men, and they fought on that night upon the castle, and their shouts were heard
on that night from afar, and the earth quaked at their shouting.
4 And all the sons of Jacob
were afraid of those men, as they were not accustomed to fight in the dark, and
they were greatly confounded, and the sons of Jacob cried unto the Lord,
saying, Give help to us O Lord, deliver us that we may not die by the hands of
these uncircumcised men.
5 And the Lord hearkened to the voice of the sons of Jacob,
and the Lord caused great terror and confusion to seize the people of
Bethchorin, and they fought amongst themselves the one with the other in the
darkness of night, and smote each other in great numbers.
6 And the sons of Jacob,
knowing that the Lord had brought a spirit of perverseness amongst those men,
and that they fought each man with his neighbor, went forth from among the
bands of the people of Bethchorin and went as far as the descent of the castle
of Bethchorin, and farther, and they tarried there securely with their young
men on that night.
7 And the people of Bethchorin
fought the whole night, one man with his brother, and the other with his
neighbor, and they cried out in every direction upon the castle, and their cry
was heard at a distance, and the whole earth shook at their voice, for they
were powerful above all the people of the earth.
8 And all the inhabitants of
the cities of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites and all the kings of Canaan, and also those who
were on the other side of the Jordan, heard the noise of the shouting on that
night.
9 And they said, Surely these
are the battles of the Hebrews who are fighting against the seven cities, who
came nigh unto them; and who can stand against those Hebrews?
10 And all the inhabitants of
the cities of the Canaanites, and all those who were on the other side of the
Jordan, were greatly afraid of the sons of Jacob, for they said, Behold the
same will be done to us as was done to those cities, for who can stand against
their mighty strength?
11 And the cries of the
Chorinites were very great on that night, and continued to increase; and they smote each other till
morning, and numbers of them were killed.
12 And the morning appeared, and all the sons of Jacob rose up
at daybreak and went up to the castle, and they smote those who remained of the
Chorinites in a terrible manner, and they were all killed in the castle.
13 And the sixth day appeared,
and all the inhabitants of Canaan saw at a distance all the people of
Bethchorin lying dead in the castle of Bethchorin, and strewed about as the
carcasses of lambs and goats.
14 And the sons of Jacob led
all the spoil which they had captured from Gaash and went to Bethchorin, and
they found the city full of people like the sand
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