"*** Genesis 23 ***"
"Dinah is raped by the ruler of Shechems son Now Dinah the daughter of Leah went to visit the women of Shechem. When the son of Hamor, the ruler of the town saw her, he seized her and raped her, yet his heart was drawn to Dinah and he spoke tenderly to her. Afterward he said to his father, Get me this girl as my wife. Dinahs brothers are angry When Israel heard that his daughter had been defiled, he held his peace until his sons came in from the fields. When they heard what had happened they were indignant, and burned with anger. Dinahs brothers demand that all the men of Shechem be circumcised, to take revenge Because Dinah had been defiled, Israels sons replied deceitfully and said,"
"We cannot give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised. We will only give our consent if you become like us and circumcise all your males. The ruler of Shechem asks for Dinah to be given to his son as a wife Hamor came out with his son. He said to Israel, My son longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. Intermarry with us and settle here. The land is open to you. Then the son of Hamor spoke and said to Israel and his sons, Let me find favour in your eyes and I will give you whatever you ask. Make the price for the bride and the gift as great as you like. I will pay whatever you ask. Every male in Shechem circumcised This proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son. So Hamor"
"returned to speak to the men of Shechem. He said to them, These men are friendly toward us. Let them live here and trade with us, and we can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. Then will not their livestock and property become ours? But they will only consent to live with us on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they are themselves. The men agreed with Hamor, so every male in Shechem was circumcised. Dinahs brothers Simeon and Levi kill all the men of Shechem However three days later, while all the men of Shechem were sore, Simeon and Levi the brothers of Dinah took their swords and fell upon the town unawares. They killed every male, and took Dinah and left. The sons of"
"Israel plunder Shechem Then the sons of Israel plundered Shechem, seizing the flocks, herds, and donkeys. They carried off all the wealth, including the women and children. Israel said to Simeon and Levi, You have brought trouble on me by making me odious to the people living in this land. We are few in number. If they join forces against us we will be destroyed. But they replied, Should our sister be treated like a harlot? God commands Israel to return to Bethel Then God said to Israel, Return to Bethel. There build an altar to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from Esau. Israel purifies his people and buries their false gods and amulets So Israel said to all the people who had"
"joined him, Put away the foreign gods you have among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes. We are going to Bethel. There I will build an altar to the God who answered me in the day of my distress. The people with Israel gave him their gods and also the amulets from their ears and Israel buried them under the oak tree at Shechem. Israel returns to Bethel As they set out for Bethel a fear of God fell upon the towns all around, therefore no one pursued them. So Israel camped at Bethel and there built an altar. Israel returns home to his father Isaac After a time, Israel left Bethel to return home to his father Isaac in Hebron. Rachel gives birth to Benjamin but dies On the journey,"
"Rachel his wife began to give birth and had great difficulty. As she breathed her last, for she was dying, she named her son Ben-oni, but Israel renamed him Benjamin. Rachel died and was buried there, near Bethlehem. Israel set up a pillar over her tomb then continued his journey. Reuben commits adultery At a camp on the way, Reuben lay with Bilhah his fathers concubine, and Israel got to hear of it. Jacob comes home to his father Isaac who dies soon afterward aged 180 So Jacob came home to his father Isaac in Hebron. His father was now 180 years old. Soon afterward his father Isaac died, and was gathered to his forefathers.He was old and full of years and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him"
"*** Genesis 24 ***"
"The twelve sons of Israel These are the twelve sons of Israel: Born of Leah: Reuben (the firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Born of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. Born of Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali. Born of Zilpah: Gad and Asher. Joseph and his coat of many colours Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons because he had been born to him in his old age. And he made him a coat of many colours. When the older brothers of Joseph saw that their father loved him more than them, they hated Joseph and could not say a kind word to him. Josephs dreams arouse great jealousy in his brothers One night when Joseph was seventeen years of age, he had a dream and told it to his brothers."
"He said to them, Hear this dream I had. We were binding sheaves of grain in the field when suddenly my sheaf arose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it. His brothers replied, So you think to rule over us? And they hated him all the more. Then Joseph had another dream and again told it to his brothers. He said, I have had another dream. This time the sun, moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me. When Joseph told the dream to his father Israel, he rebuked him and said, What is this dream you had? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed bow down before you? Josephs brothers were highly jealous of him, but his father pondered the dream in"
"his mind. Israel sends Joseph out to his brothers who are tending the flocks Now one day, when Josephs brothers had gone to graze their fathers flocks near Shechem, Israel said to Joseph, Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks and bring back word to me. So Joseph went to Shechem. A man found him wandering there in the fields and asked him, What are you looking for? He replied, I am looking for my brothers. The man answered, They have moved on from here to Dothan. So Joseph went there. Some of Josephs brothers propose killing him When his brothers saw Joseph coming in the distance they said to one another, Here comes the dreamer. Let us kill him and throw him into"
"one of the pits and say that a wild animal has devoured him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams. Reuben tries to save Joseph But Reuben said, Let us not shed blood, but just throw him into a pit. He said this that he might later rescue Joseph and restore him to his father. Joseph stripped of his coat and thrown in a pit So they stripped Joseph of his coat of many colours and threw him into a pit and left him there. Judah suggests they sell Joseph to Ishmaelite traders Later as the brothers were sitting down to eat, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelite traders approaching on their way down to Egypt, their camels laden with spices. Judah said to his brothers, What will we gain by killing"
"our brother? Let us sell him to these Ishmaelites. After all he is our own flesh and blood. His brothers agreed. Joseph is pulled out of the pit and sold to the Ishmaelites So Joseph was pulled up out of the pit and sold to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Reuben distressed when he finds Joseph gone When Reuben, who had been absent went to the pit and found that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes and returned to his brothers and said, The boy is not there Where can I turn now? Josephs brothers deceive their father Israel So they took a goat and killed it and dipped Josephs coat in the blood. Then they took the coat back to their father and said, We found this."
"Israel said, It is my sons coat A wild animal has devoured him Joseph has been torn to pieces A caravan of Ishmaelite (Arab) traders. Joseph was sold to a similar group. Israel mourns his son Joseph many days Then Israel tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and mourned Joseph for many days. His sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted and said, In mourning I shall go down to Sheol,  to my son."
"*** Genesis 25 ***"
"Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar Soon after this, Judah left his brothers and went to live near Adullam.  There he married a Canaanite woman who bore him three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. His eldest son Er married a girl whose name was Tamar. But Er was wicked so the Lord took his life. Judah said to his second son Onan, Marry your brothers wife and fulfil your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother.  But Onan knew that the children would not be his, so whenever he lay with Tamar he spilled his semen to keep from producing offspring for his brother. This displeased the Lord so he took the life of Onan also. Judah then said to his daughter-in-law Tamar," 
"Live as a widow until my youngest son Shelah grows up. But Judah thought, He may die also. Judah fails to keep his promise to Tamar So Tamar returned to live with her father in Timnah. After many years, Judahs wife died. When Judah had recovered from his grief, he journeyed to Timnah to be with the men who were shearing his sheep. His friend Hirah went with him. Tamar deceives Judah by pretending to be a harlot Tamar was told, Your father-in-law is coming to Timnah to shear his sheep. So Tamar changed her widows clothes, and covering herself with a veil to disguise herself she sat down at a place on the road leading to Timnah. For although Judah‘s son Shelah was now grown up," 
"Judah had not given Tamar to him as his wife. When Judah saw Tamar he did not recognise her, and thought she was a harlot for she had covered her face. So he went over to her and said, Come, let me lie with you. She said, What will you pay me? He replied, I will send you a young goat. She said, Then give me your sealing ring and its cord and the staff in your hand as a pledge until you send it. So Judah gave them to her and then lay with her, and she became pregnant by him. Later Judah sent a young goat by his friend Hirah to obtain his pledge back from the woman, but Hirah could not find her. Tamar conceives and has twin boys About three months later Judah was told," 
"Your daughter-in-law Tamar is guilty of harlotry, for she is with child. Judah said, Have her burned to death. But Tamar sent a message to her father-in-law Judah saying, I am with child by the man who owns this sealing ring, cord, and staff. Judah recognised them and said, She is more righteous than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah. When Tamar gave birth there were twin boys in her womb. One of them put out his hand, so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist saying, This one came out first. But then he drew back his hand and his brother came out before him." 
"Joseph resists the temptations of Potiphars wife Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a time Potiphars wife said, Come lie with me. But Joseph refused saying, How can I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? And although she tempted Joseph day after day, he refused to lie with her, or even to be with her. One day when none of the other servants were around, she caught Joseph by his outer garment and said, Come lie with me. But he left his garment in her hand and fled out of the house. Potiphars wife falsely accuses Joseph At this Potiphars wife called the other household servants and said to them, My husband has brought this Hebrew here to insult us. Look." 
"He came in here to lie with me but I screamed for help, and he left his garment beside me and ran from the house. And she kept the garment beside her until her husband came home."
"*** Genesis 26 ***"
"Joseph sold to Potiphar in Egypt Meanwhile the Ishmaelites had sold Joseph in Egypt, to Potiphar, one of Pharaohs officials, the captain of the guard. The Lord gives Joseph success in everything he does The Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in everything he did. So Potiphar put him in charge of his household and all that he owned. The Lord blessed the Egyptian because of Joseph, both in house and field. Egypt, where Joseph was sold as a slave. A dominant and wealthy nation in Josephs day. Joseph is cast into prison by Potiphar When Potiphar heard the story his wife told him, he was angry with Joseph and cast him into prison. However the Lord was still with Joseph and granted him"
"favour in the eyes of the prison warden. The warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners. Joseph interprets the dreams of two fellow prisoners Some time later, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker of Pharaoh king of Egypt offended their master. So he cast them both into prison, the same prison where Joseph was confined. After they had been there for some time, both men had a dream the same night. When Joseph came to them next morning he said, Why are your faces dejected today? They answered, We both had dreams, but there is no one to interpret them. Joseph said Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams. The cupbearer said, In my dream I saw three clusters of"
"grapes. I took the grapes and squeezed them into Pharaohs cup and put the cup in his hand. Joseph said, This is what it means: The three clusters are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will restore you to your position and you will put his cup in his hand as you did before. When all goes well with you, remember me. Mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison, for I have done nothing to deserve it. Then the chief baker said to Joseph, I too had a dream. On my head were three baskets of bread for Pharaoh. But the birds were eating them out of the top basket on my head. Joseph said, The three baskets are also three days. Within three days Pharaoh will remove your head and hang you"
"on a tree and the birds will eat your flesh. The dreams come to pass as Joseph foretold Now the third day was Pharaohs birthday and he gave a feast for all of his officials. He restored the cupbearer to his former position, but hanged the baker just as Joseph had foretold. The cupbearer however did not remember Joseph."