This eBook was produced by David Widger
from etext #1581 prepared by Dennis McCarthy, Atlanta, Georgia and Tad Book, student, Pontifical North American College, Rome.
THE HOLY BIBLE
Translated from the Latin Vulgate
Diligently Compared with the Hebrew, Greek, and Other Editions in Divers Languages
THE OLD TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Douay
A.D. 1609 & 1610
and
THE NEW TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Rheims
A.D. 1582
With Annotations
The Whole Revised and Diligently Compared with the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner A.D. 1749-1752
HISTORY
This e-text comes from multiple editions of Challoner's revised Douay- Rheims Version of the Holy Bible. In 1568 English exiles, many from Oxford, established the English College of Douay (Douai/Doway), Flanders, under William (later Cardinal) Allen. In October, 1578, Gregory Martin began the work of preparing an English translation of the Bible for Catholic readers, the first such translation into Modern English. Assisting were William Allen, Richard Bristow, Thomas Worthington, and William Reynolds who revised, criticized, and corrected Dr. Martin's work. The college published the New Testament at Rheims (Reims/Rhemes), France, in 1582 through John Fogny with a preface and explanatory notes, authored chiefly by Bristol, Allen, and Worthington. Later the Old Testament was published at Douay in two parts (1609 and 1610) by Laurence Kellam through the efforts of Dr. Worthington, then superior of the seminary. The translation had been prepared before the appearance of the New Testament, but the publication was delayed due to financial difficulties. The religious and scholarly adherence to the Latin Vulgate text led to the less elegant and idiomatic words and phrases often found in the translation. In some instances where no English word conveyed the full meaning of the Latin, a Latin word was Anglicized and its meaning defined in a glossary. Although ridiculed by critics, many of these words later found common usage in the English language. Spellings of proper names and the numbering of the Psalms are adopted from the Latin Vulgate.
In 1749 Dr. Richard Challoner began a major revision of the Douay and Rheims texts, the spellings and phrasing of which had become increasingly archaic in the almost two centuries since the translations were first produced. He modernized the diction and introduced a more fluid style, while faithfully maintaining the accuracy of Dr. Martin's texts. This revision became the 'de facto' standard text for English speaking Catholics until the twentieth century. It is still highly regarded by many for its style, although it is now rarely used for liturgical purposes. The notes included in this electronic edition are generally attributed to Bishop Challoner.
CONTENTS
The Old Testament
Book of Genesis Book of Exodus Book of Leviticus Book of Numbers Book of Deuteronomy Book of Josue Book of Judges Book of Ruth First Book of Samuel, alias 1 Kings Second Book of Samuel, alias 2 Kings Third Book of Kings Fourth Book of Kings First Book of Paralipomenon Second Book of Paralipomenon First Book of Esdras Book of Nehemias, alias 2 Esdras Book of Tobias Book of Judith Book of Esther Book of Job Book of Psalms Book of Proverbs Ecclesiastes Solomon's Canticle of Canticles Book of Wisdom Ecclesiasticus Prophecy of Isaias Prophecy of Jeremias Lamentations of Jeremias Prophecy of Baruch Prophecy of Ezechiel Prophecy of Daniel Prophecy of Osee Prophecy of Joel Prophecy of Amos Prophecy of Abdias Prophecy of Jonas Prophecy of Micheas Prophecy of Nahum Prophecy of Habacuc Prophecy of Sophonias Prophecy of Aggeus Prophecy of Zacharias Prophecy of Malachias First Book of Machabees Second Book of Machabees
The New Testament
Gospel According to St. Matthew
Gospel According to St. Mark
Gospel According to St. Luke
Gospel According to St. John
Acts of the Apostles
Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans
First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians
Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians
Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians
Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians
Epistle of St. Paul to the Philippians
Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians
First Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians
Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians
First Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy
Second Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy
Epistle of St. Paul to Titus
Epistle of St. Paul to Philemon
Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews
Catholic Epistle of St. James the Apostle
First Epistle of St. Peter the Apostle
Second Epistle of St. Peter the Apostle
First Epistle of St. John the Apostle
Second Epistle of St. John the Apostle
Third Epistle of St. John the Apostle
Catholic Epistle of St. Jude the Apostle
Apocalypse of St. John the Apostle
THE BOOK OF GENESIS
This book is so called from its treating of the GENERATION, that is, of the creation and the beginning of the world. The Hebrews call it BERESITH, from the Word with which it begins. It contains not only the history of the Creation of the world; but also an account of its progress during the space of 2369 years, that is, until the death of JOSEPH.
Genesis Chapter 1
God createth Heaven and Earth, and all things therein, in six days.
1:1. In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.
1:2. And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.
1:3. And God said: Be light made. And light was made.
1:4. And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness.
1:5. And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was evening and morning one day.
1:6. And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters.
A firmament… By this name is here understood the whole space between the earth, and the highest stars. The lower part of which divideth the waters that are upon the earth, from those that are above in the clouds.
1:7. And god made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so.
1:8. And God called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning were the second day.
1:9. God also said; Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done.
1:10. And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
1:11. And he said: let the earth bring forth green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done.
1:12. And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
1:13. And the evening and the morning were the third day.
1:14. And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years:
1:15. To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth, and it was so done.
1:16. And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night: and The stars.
Two great lights… God created on the first day, light, which being moved from east to west, by its rising and setting, made morning and evening. But on the fourth day he ordered and distributed this light, and made the sun, moon, and stars. The moon, though much less than the stars, is here called a great light, from its giving a far greater light to the earth than any of them.
1:17. And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth.
1:18. And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
1:19. And the evening and morning were the fourth day.
1:20. God also said: let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.
1:21. And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waaters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
1:22. And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.
1:23. And the evening and morning were the fifth day.
1:24. And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was so done.
1:25. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
1:26. And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.
Let us make man to our image… This image of God in man, is not in the body, but in the soul; which is a spiritual substance, endued with understanding and free will. God speaketh here in the plural number, to insinuate the plurality of persons in the Deity.
1:27. And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.
1:28. And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.
Increase and multiply… This is not a precept, as some Protestant controvertists would have it, but a blessing, rendering them fruitful; for God had said the same words to the fishes, and birds, (ver. 22) who were incapable of receiving a precept.
1:29. And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat:
1:30. And to all beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon. And it was so done.
1:31. And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day.
Genesis Chapter 2
God resteth on the seventh day and blesseth it. The earthly paradise, in which God placeth man. He commandeth him not to eat of the tree of knowledge. And formeth a woman of his rib.
2:1. So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them.
2:2. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.
He rested, etc… That is, he ceased to make or create any new kinds of things. Though, as our Lord tells us, John 5.17, "He still worketh", viz., by conserving and governing all things, and creating souls.
2:3. And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
2:4. These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the earth:
2:5. And every plant of the field before it sprung up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.
2:6. But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth.
2:7. And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
2:8. And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed.
2:9. And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
The tree of life… So called because it had that quality, that by eating of the fruit of it, man would have been preserved in a constant state of health, vigour, and strength, and would not have died at all. The tree of knowledge… To which the deceitful serpent falsely attributed the power of imparting a superior kind of knowledge, beyond that which God was pleased to give.
2:10. And a river went out of the place of pleasure to water paradise, which from thence is divided into four heads.
2:11. The name of the one is Phison: that is it which compasseth all the land of Hevilath, where gold groweth.
2:12. And the gold of that land is very good: there is found bdellium, and the onyx stone.
2:13. And the name of the second river is Gehon: the same is it that compasseth all the land of Ethiopia.
2:14. And the name of the third river is Tigris: the same passeth along by the Assyrians. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
2:15. And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it.
2:16. And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat:
2:17. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death.
2:18. And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself.
2:19. And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature the same is its name.
2:20. And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself.
2:21. Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it.
2:22. And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and brought her to Adam.
2:23. And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.
2:24. Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh.
2:25. And they were both naked: to wit, Adam and his wife: and were not ashamed.
Genesis Chapter 3
The serpent's craft. The fall of our first parents. Their punishment.
The promise of a Redeemer.
3:1. Now the serpent was more subtle tha any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?
3:2. And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat:
3:3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die.
3:4. And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death.
3:5. For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil.
3:6. And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband, who did eat.
3:7. And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made themselves aprons.
And the eyes, etc… Not that they were blind before, (for the woman saw that the tree was fair to the eyes, ver. 6.) nor yet that their eyes were opened to any more perfect knowledge of good; but only to the unhappy experience of having lost the good of original grace and innocence, and incurred the dreadful evil of sin. From whence followed a shame of their being naked; which they minded not before; because being now stript of original grace, they quickly began to be subject to the shameful rebellions of the flesh.
3:8. And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise.
3:9. And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou?
3:10. And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.
3:11. And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?
3:12. And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
3:13. And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.
3:14. And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
3:15. I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall cursh thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
She shall crush… Ipsa, the woman; so divers of the fathers read this place, conformably to the Latin: others read it ipsum, viz., the seed. The sense is the same: for it is by her seed, Jesus Christ, that the woman crushes the serpent's head.
3:16. To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband's power, and he shall have dominion over thee.
3:17. And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee, that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work: with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life.
3:18. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth.
3:19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.
3:20. And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all the living.
3:21. And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.
3:22. And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now therefore lest perhaps he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.
Behold Adam, etc… This was spoken by way of reproaching him with his pride, in affecting a knowledge that might make him like to God.
3:23. And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken.
3:24. And he cast out Adam: and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Genesis Chapter 4
The history of Cain and Abel.
4:1. And Adam knew Eve his wife; who conceived and brought forth Cain, saying: I have gotten a man through God.
4:2. And again she brought forth his brother Abel. And Abel was a shepherd, and Cain a husbandman.
4:3. And it came to pass after many days, that Cain offered, of the fruits of the earth, gifts to the Lord.
4:4. Abel also offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat: and the Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offerings.
Had respect… That is, shewed his acceptance of his sacrifice (as coming from a heart full of devotion): and that, as we may suppose, by some visible token, such as sending fire from heaven upon his offerings.
4:5. But to Cain and his offerings he had no respect: and Cain was exceeding angry, and his countenance fell.
4:6. And the Lord said to him: Why art thou angry? and why is thy countenance fallen?
4:7. If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.
4:8. And Cain said to Abel his brother: Let us go forth abroad. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him.
4:9. And the Lord said to Cain: Where is thy brother Abel? And he answered: I know not: am I my brother's keeper?
4:10. And he said to him: What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the earth.
4:11. Now therefore cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath opened her mouth and recieved the blood of thy brother at thy hand.
4:12. When thou shalt till it, it shall not yield to thee its fruit: a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth.
4:13. And Cain said to the Lord: My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon.
4:14. Behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face I shall be hid, and I shall be a vagabond and a fugitive on the earth: every one therefore that findeth me, shall kill me.
Every one that findeth me shall kill me… His guilty conscience made him fear his own brothers and nephews; of whom, by this time, there might be a good number upon the earth; which had now endured near 130 years; as may be gathered from Gen. 5.3, compared with chap. 4.25, though in the compendious account given in the scriptures, only Cain and Abel are mentioned.
4:15. And the Lord said to him: No, it shall not so be: but whosoever shall kill Cain, shall be punished sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, that whosoever found him should not kill him.
Set a mark, etc… The more common opinion of the interpreters of holy writ supposes this mark to have been a trembling of the body; or a horror and consternation in his countenance.
4:16. And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a fugitive on the earth at the east side of Eden.
4:17. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and brought forth Henoch: and he built a city, and called the name thereof by the name of his son Henoch.
His wife… She was a daughter of Adam, and Cain's own sister; God dispensing with such marriages in the beginning of the world, as mankind could not otherwise be propagated. He built a city, viz… In process of time, when his race was multiplied, so as to be numerous enough to people it. For in the many hundred years he lived, his race might be multiplied even to millions.
4:18. And Henoch begot Irad, and Irad begot Maviael, and Maviael begot Mathusael, and Mathusael begot Lamech,
4:19. Who took two wives: the name of the one was Ada, and the name of the other Sella.
4:20. And Ada brought forth Jabel: who was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of herdsmen.
4:21. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of them that play upon the harp and the organs.
4:22. Sella also brought forth Tubalcain, who was a hammerer and artificer in every work of brass and iron. And the sister of Tubalcain was Noema.
4:23. And Lamech said to his wives Ada and Sella: Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech: for I have slain a man to the wounding of myself, and a stripling to my own bruising.
I have slain a man, etc… It is the tradition of the Hebrews, that Lamech in hunting slew Cain, mistaking him for a wild beast; and that having discovered what he had done, he beat so unmercifully the youth, by whom he was led into that mistake, that he died of the blows.
4:24. Sevenfold vengeance shall be taken for Cain: but for Lamech seventy times sevenfold.
4:25. Adam also knew his wife again: and she brought forth a son, and called his name Seth, saying: God hath given me another seed for Abel, whom Cain slew.
4:26. But to Seth also was born a son, whom he called Enos: this man began to call upon the name of the Lord.
Began to call upon, etc… Not that Adam and Seth had not called upon God, before the birth of Enos; but that Enos used more solemnity in the worship and invocation of God.
Genesis Chapter 5
The genealogy, age, and death of the Patriarchs, from Adam to Noe. The translation of Henoch.
5:1. This is the book of the generation of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him to the likeness of God.
5:2. He created them male and female; and blessed them: and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
5:3. And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son to his own image and likeness, and called his name Seth.
5:4. And the days of Adam, after he begot Seth, were eight hundred years: and he begot sons and daughters.
5:5. And all the time that Adam lived, came to nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.
5:6. Seth also lived a hundred and five years, and begot Enos.
5:7. And Seth lived after he begot Enos, eight hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.
5:8. And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.
5:9. And Enos lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.
5:10. After whose birth he lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and begot sons and daughters.
5:11. And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died.
5:12. And Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Malaleel.
5:13. And Cainan lived after he begot Malaleel, eight hundred and forty years, and begot sons and daughters.
5:14. And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.
5:15. And Malaleel lived sixty-five years and begot Jared.
5:16. And Malaleel lived after he begot Jared, eight hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.
5:17. And all the days of Malaleel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.
5:18. And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Henoch.
5:19. And Jared lived after he begot Henoch, eight hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
5:20. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.
5:21. And Henoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Mathusala.
5:22. And Henoch walked with God: and lived after he begot Mathusala, three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
5:23. And all the days of Henoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.
5:24. And he walked with God, and was seen no more: because God took him.
5:25. And Mathusala lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech.
5:26. And Mathlusala lived after he begot Lamech, seven hundred and eighty-two years, and begot sons and daughters.
5:27. And all the days of Mathusala were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.
5:28. And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and begot a son.
5:29. And he called his name Noe, saying: This same shall comfort us from the works and labours of our hands on the earth, which the Lord hath cursed.
5:30. And Lamech lived after he begot Noe, five hundred and ninety-five years, and begot sons and daughters.
5:31. And all the days of Lamech came to seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died. And Noe, when he was five hundred years old, begot Sem, Cham, and Japheth.
Genesis Chapter 6
Man's sin is the cause of the deluge. Noe is commanded to build the ark.
6:1. And after that men began to be multiplied upon the earth, and daughters were born to them,
6:2. The sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, took to themselves wives of all which they chose.
The sons of God… The descendants of Seth and Enos are here called sons of God from their religion and piety: whereas the ungodly race of Cain, who by their carnal affections lay grovelling upon the earth, are called the children of men. The unhappy consequence of the former marrying with the latter, ought to be a warning to Christians to be very circumspect in their marriages; and not to suffer themselves to be determined in their choice by their carnal passion, to the prejudice of virtue or religion.
6:3. And God said: My spirit shall not remain in man for ever, because he is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.
His days shall be, etc… The meaning is, that man's days, which before the flood were usually 900 years, should now be reduced to 120 years. Or rather, that God would allow men this term of 120 years, for their repentance and conversion, before he would send the deluge.
6:4. Now giants were upon the earth in those days. For after the sons of God went in to the daughters of men, and they brought forth children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown.
Giants… It is likely the generality of men before the flood were of a gigantic stature in comparison with what men now are. But these here spoken of are called giants, as being not only tall in stature, but violent and savage in their dispositions, and mere monsters of cruelty and lust.
6:5. And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times,
6:6. It repented him that he had made man on the earth. And being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart,
It repented him, etc… God, who is unchangeable, is not capable of repentance, grief, or any other passion. But these expressions are used to declare the enormity of the sins of men, which was so provoking as to determine their Creator to destroy these his creatures, whom before he had so much favoured.
6:7. He said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.
6:8. But Noe found grace before the Lord.
6:9. These are the generations of Noe: Noe was a just and perfect man in his generations, he walked with God.
6:10. And he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth.
6:11. And the earth was corrupted before God, and was filled with iniquity.
6:12. And when God had seen that the earth was corrupted (for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth),
6:13. He said to Noe: The end of all flesh is come before me, the earth is filled with iniquity through them, and I will destroy them with the earth.
6:14. Make thee an ark of timber planks: thou shalt make little rooms in the ark, and thou shalt pitch it within and without.
6:15. And thus shalt thou make it. The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits: the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
Three hundred cubits, etc… The ark, according to the dimensions here set down, contained four hundred and fifty thousand square cubits; which was more than enough to contain all the kinds of living creatures, with all necessary provisions: even supposing the cubits here spoken of to have been only a foot and a half each, which was the least king of cubits.
6:16. Thou shalt make a window in the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish the top of it: and the door of the ark thou shalt set in the side: with lower, middle chambers, and third stories shalt thou make it.
6:17. Behold, I will bring the waters of a great flood upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life under heaven. All things that are in the earth shall be consumed.
6:18. And I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt enter into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of thy sons with thee.
6:19. And of every living creature of all flesh, thou shalt bring two of a sort into the ark, that they may live with thee: of the male sex, and the female.
6:20. Of fowls according to their kind, and of beasts in their kind, and of every thing that creepeth on the earth according to its kind: two of every sort shall go in with thee, that they may live.
6:21. Thou shalt take unto thee of all food that may be eaten, and thou shalt lay it up with thee: and it shall be food for thee and them.
6:22. And Noe did all things which God commanded him.
Genesis Chapter 7
Noe with his family go into the ark. The deluge overflows the earth.
7:1. And the Lord said to him: Go in, thou and all thy house, into the ark: for thee I have seen just before me in this generation.
7:2. Of all clean beasts take seven and seven, the male and the female.
Of all clean… The distintion of clean and unclean beasts appears to have been made before the law of Moses, which was not promulgated till the year of the world 2514.
7:3. But of the beasts that are unclean two and two, the male and the female. Of the fowls also of the air seven and seven, the male and the female: that seed may be saved upon the face of the whole earth.
7:4. For yet a while, and after seven days, I will rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights: and I will destroy every substance that I have made, from the face of the earth.
7:5. And Noe did all things which the Lord had commanded him.
7:6. And he was six hundred years old, when the waters of the flood overflowed the earth.
7:7. And Noe went in and his sons, his wife and the wives of his sons with him into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
7:8. And of beasts clean and unclean, and of fowls, and of every thing that moveth upon the earth,
7:9. Two and two went in to Noe into the ark, male and female, as the Lord had commanded Noe.
7:10. And after the seven days were passed, the waters of the flood overflowed the earth.
7:11. In the six hundredth year of the life of Noe, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the floodgates of heaven were opened:
7:12. And the rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
7:13. In the selfsame day Noe, and Sem, and Cham, and Japheth, his sons: his wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark.
7:14. They and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle in their kind, and every thing that moveth upon the earth, according to its kind, and every fowl according to its kind, all birds, and all that fly,
7:15. Went in to Noe into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein was the breath of life.
7:16. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in on the outside.
7:17. And the flood was forty days upon the earth: and the waters increased, and lifted up the ark on high from the earth.
7:18. For they overflowed exceedingly: and filled all on the face of the earth: and the ark was carried upon the waters.
7:19. And the waters prevailed beyond measure upon the earth: and all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.
7:20. The water was fifteen cubits higher than the mountains which it covered.
7:21. And all flesh was destroyed that moved upon the earth, both of fowl and of cattle, and of beasts, and of all creeping things that creep upon the earth: and all men.
7:22. And all things wherein there is the breath of life on the earth, died.
7:23. And he destroyed all the substance that was upon the earth, from man even to beast, and the creeping things and fowls of the air: and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noe only remained, and they that were with him in the ark.
7:24. And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.
Genesis Chapter 8
The deluge ceaseth. Noe goeth out of the ark, and offereth a sacrifice.
God's covenant to him.
8:1. And God remembered Noe, and all the living creatures, and all the cattle which were with him in the ark, and brought a wind upon the earth, and the waters were abated:
8:2. The fountains also of the deep, and the floodgates of heaven, were shut up, and the rain from heaven was restrained.
8:3. And the waters returned from off the earth going and coming: and they began to be abated after a hundred and fifty days.
8:4. And the ark rested in the seventh month, the seven and twentieth day of the month, upon the mountains of Armenia.
8:5. And the waters were going and decreasing until the tenth month: for in the tenth month, the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.
8:6. And after that forty days were passed, Noe opening the window of the ark, which he had made, sent forth a raven:
8:7. Which went forth and did not return, till the waters were dried up upon the earth.
Did not return… The raven did not return into the ark; but (as it may be gathered from the Hebrew) went to and fro; sometimes going to the mountains, where it found carcasses to feed on: and other times returning, to rest upon the top of the ark.
8:8. He sent forth also a dove after him, to see if the waters had now ceased upon the face of the earth.
8:9. But she not finding where her foot might rest, returned to him into the ark: for the waters were upon the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and caught her, and brought her into the ark.
8:10. And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove out of the ark.
8:11. And she came to him in the evening carrying a bough of an olive tree, with green leaves, in her mouth. Noe therefore understood that the waters were ceased upon the earth.
8:12. And he stayed yet other seven days: and he sent forth the dove, which returned not any more unto him.
8:13. Therefore in the six hundredth and first year, the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were lessened upon the earth, and Noe opening the covering of the ark, looked, and saw that the face of the earth was dried.
8:14. In the second month, the seven and twentieth day of the month, the earth was dried.
8:15. And God spoke to Noe, saying:
8:16. Go out of the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons and the wives of thy sons with thee.
8:17. All living things that are with thee of all flesh, as well in fowls as in beasts, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, bring out with thee, and go ye upon the earth: increase and multiply upon it.
8:18. So Noe went out, he and his sons: his wife, and the wives of his sons with him.
8:19. And all living things, and cattle, and creeping things that creep upon the earth, according to their kinds went out of the ark.
8:20. And Noe built an altar unto the Lord: and taking of all cattle and fowls that were clean, offered holocausts upon the altar.
Holocausts,… or whole burnt offerings. In which the whole victim was consumed by fire upon God's altar, and no part was reserved for the use of priest or people.
8:21. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said: I will no more curse the earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought of man's heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no more destroy every living soul as I have done.
Smelled, etc… A figurative expression, denoting that God was well pleased with the sacrifices which his servant offered.
8:22. All the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, shall not cease.
Genesis Chapter 9
God besseth Noe: forbiddeth blood, and promiseth never more to destroy the world by water. The blessing of Sem and Japheth.
9:1. And God blessed Noe and his sons. And he said to them: Increase, and multiply, and fill the earth.
9:2. And let the fear and dread of you be upon all the beasts of the earth, and upon all the fowls of the air, and all that move upon the earth: all the fishes of the sea are delivered into your hand.
9:3. And every thing that moveth, and liveth shall be meat for you: even as the green herbs have I delivered them all to you:
9:4. Saving that flesh with blood you shall not eat.
9:5. For I will require the blood of your lives at the hand of every beast, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man, and of his brother, will I require the life of man.
9:6. Whosoever shall shed man's blood, his blood shall be shed: for man was made to the image of God.
9:7. But increase you and multiply, and go upon the earth and fill it.
9:8. Thus also said God to Noe, and to his sons with him:
9:9. Behold I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you:
9:10. And with every living soul that is with you, as well in all birds, as in cattle and beasts of the earth, that are come forth out of the ark, and in all the beasts of the earth.
9:11. I will establish my covenant with you, and all flesh shall be no more destroyed with the waters of a flood, neither shall there be from henceforth a flood to waste the earth.
9:12. And God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I give between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual generations.
9:13. I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me and between the earth.
9:14. And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear in the clouds:
9:15. And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.
9:16. And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it, and shall remember the everlasting covenant, that was made between God and every living soul of all flesh which is upon the earth.
9:17. And God said to Noe: This shall be the sign of the covenant, which I have established, between me and all flesh upon the earth.
9:18. And the sons of Noe, who came out of the ark, were Sem, Cham, and Japheth: and Cham is the father of Chanaan.
9:19. These three are the sons of Noe: and from these was all mankind spread over the whole earth.
9:20. And Noe a husbandman began to till the ground, and planted a vineyard.
9:21. And drinking of the wine was made drunk, and was uncovered in his tent.
Drunk… Noe by the judgment of the fathers was not guilty of sin, in being overcome by wine: because he knew not the strength of it.
9:22. Which when Cham the father of Chanaan had seen, to wit, that his father's nakedness was uncovered, he told it to his two brethren without.
9:23. But Sem and Japheth put a cloak upon their shoulders, and going backward, covered the nakedness of their father: and their faces were turned away, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
Covered the nakedness… Thus, as St. Gregory takes notice L. 35; Moral. c. 22, we ought to cover the nakedness, that is, the sins, of our spiritual parents and superiors.
9:24. And Noe awaking from the wine, when he had learned what his younger son had done to him,
9:25. He said: Cursed be Chanaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
Cursed be Chanaan… The curses, as well as the blessings, of the partiarchs, were prophetical: And this in particular is here recorded by Moses, for the children of Israel, who were to possess the land of Chanaan. But why should Chanaan be cursed for his father's faults? The Hebrews answer, that he being then a boy, was the first that saw his grandfather's nakedness, and told his father Cham of it; and joined with him in laughing at it: which drew upon him, rather than upon the rest of the children of Cham, this prophetical curse.
9:26. And he said: Blessed be the Lord God of Sem, be Chanaan his servant.
9:27. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Sem, and Chanaan be his servant.
9:28. And Noe lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
9:29. And all his days were in the whole nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
Genesis Chapter 10
The genealogy of the children of Noe, by whom the world was peopled after the flood.
10:1. These are the generations of the sons of Noe: Sem, Cham, and Japheth: and unto them sons were born after the flood.
10:2. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Thubal, and Mosoch, and Thiras.
10:3. And the sons of Gomer: Ascenez and Riphath and Thogorma.
10:4. And the sons of Javan: Elisa and Tharsis, Cetthim and Dodanim.
10:5. By these were divided the islands of the Gentiles in their lands, every one according to his tongue and their families in their nations.
The islands… So the Hebrews called all the remote countries, to which they went by ships from Judea, to Greece, Italy, Spain, etc.
10:6. And the Sons of Cham: Chus, and Mesram, and Phuth, and Chanaan.
10:7. And the sons of Chus: Saba, and Hevila, and Sabatha, and Regma, and Sabatacha. The sons of Regma: Saba, and Dadan.
10:8. Now Chus begot Nemrod: he began to be mighty on the earth.
10:9. And he was a stout hunter before the Lord. Hence came a proverb: Even as Nemrod the stout hunter before the Lord.
A stout hunter… Not of beasts but of men: whom by violence and tyranny he brought under his dominion. And such he was, not only in the opinion of men, but before the Lord, that is, in his sight who cannot be deceived.
10:10. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, and Arach, and Achad, and Chalanne in the land of Sennaar.
10:11. Out of that land came forth Assur, and built Ninive, and the streets of the city, and Chale.
10:12. Resen also between Ninive and Chale: this is the great city.
10:13. And Mesraim begot Ludim, and Anamim and Laabim, Nephthuim.
10:14. And Phetrusim, and Chasluim; of whom came forth the Philistines, and the Capthorim.
10:15. And Chanaan begot Sidon his firstborn, the Hethite,
10:16. And the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite, and the Gergesite.
10:17. The Hevite and Aracite: the Sinite,
10:18. And the Aradian, the Samarite, and the Hamathite: and afterwards the families of the Chanaanites were spread abroad.
10:19. And the limits of Chanaan were from Sidon as one comes to Gerara even to Gaza, until thou enter Sodom and Gomorrha, and Adama, and Seboim even to Lesa.
10:20. These are the children of Cham in their kindreds and tongues, and generations, and lands, and nations.
10:21. Of Sem also the father of all the children of Heber, the elder brother of Japheth, sons were born.
10:22. The sons of Sem: Elam and Assur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
10:23. The sons of Aram: Us, and Hull, and Gether; and Mes.
10:24. But Arphaxad begot Sale, of whom was born Heber.
10:25. And to Heber were born two sons: the name of the one was Phaleg, because in his days was the earth divided: and his brother's name Jectan.
10:26. Which Jectan begot Elmodad, and Saleph, and Asarmoth, Jare,
10:27. And Aduram, and Uzal, and Decla,
10:28. And Ebal, and Abimael, Saba,
10:29. And Ophir, and Hevila, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Jectan.
10:30. And their dwelling was from Messa as we go on as far as Sephar, a mountain in the east.
10:31. These are the children of Sem according to their kindreds and tongues, and countries in their nations.
10:32. These are the families of Noe, according to their people and nations. By these were the nations divided on the earth after the flood.
Genesis Chapter 11
The tower of Babel. The confusion of tongues. The genealogy of Sem down to Abram.
11:1. And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech.
11:2. And when they removed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Sennaar, and dwelt in it.
11:3. And each one said to his neighbour: Come let us make brick, and bake them with fire. And they had brick instead of stones, and slime instead of mortar:
11:4. And they said: Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top whereof may reach to heaven; and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands.
11:5. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of Adam were building.
11:6. And he said: Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue: and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their designs, till they accomplish them in deed.
11:7. Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there confound their tongue, that they may not understand one another's speech.
11:8. And so the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build the city.
11:9. And therefore the name thereof was called Babel, because there the language of the whole earth was confounded: and from thence the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all countries.
Babel… That is, confusion.
11:10. These are the generations of Sem: Sem was a hundred years old when he begot Arphaxad, two years after the flood.
11:11. And Sem lived after he begot Arphaxad, five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
11:12. And Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Sale.
11:13. And Arphaxad lived after he begot Sale, three hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
11:14. Sale also lived thirty years, and begot Heber.
11:15. And Sale lived after he begot Heber, four hundred and three years: and begot sons and daughters.
11:16. And Heber lived thirty-four years, and begot Phaleg.
11:17. And Heber lived after he begot Phaleg, four hundred and thirty years: and begot sons and daughters.
11:18. Phaleg also lived thirty years, and begot Reu.
11:19. And Phaleg lived after he begot Reu, two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.
11:20. And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Sarug.
11:21. And Reu lived after he begot Sarug, two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.
11:22. And Sarug lived thirty years, and begot Nachor.
11:23. And Sarug lived after he begot Nachor, two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
11:24. And Nachor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Thare.
11:25. And Nachor lived after he begot Thare, a hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.
11:26. And Thare lived seventy years, and begot Abram, and Nachor, and Aran.
11:27. And these are the generations of Thare: Thare begot Abram, Nachor, and Aran. And Aran begot Lot.
11:28. And Aran died before Thare his father, in the land of his nativity in Ur of the Chaldees.
11:29. And Abram and Nachor married wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai: and the name of Nachor's wife, Melcha, the daughter of Aran, father of Melcha and father of Jescha.
11:30. And Sarai was barren, and had no children.
11:31. And Thare took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Aran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, the wife of Abram his son, and brought them out of Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Chanaan: and they came as far as Haran, and dwelt there.
11:32. And the days of Thare were two hundred and five years, and he died in Haran.
Genesis Chapter 12
The call of Abram, and the promise made to him. He sojourneth in
Chanaan, and then by occasion of a famine, goeth down to Egypt.
12:1. And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father's house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.
12:2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.
12:3. I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and IN THEE shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
12:4. So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran.
12:5. And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had gotten in Haran: and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan. And when they were come into it,
12:6. Abram passed through the country unto the place of Sichem, as far as the noble vale: now the Chanaanite was at that time in the land.
12:7. And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him: To thy seed will I give this land. And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
12:8. And passing on from thence to a mountain, that was on the east side of Bethel, he there pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: he built there also an altar to the Lord, and called upon his name.
12:9. And Abram went forward, going and proceeding on to the south.
12:10. And there came a famine in the country: and Abram went down into Egypt, to sojourn there: for the famine was very grievous in the land.
12:11. And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: I know that thou art a beautiful woman:
12:12. And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say: She is his wife: and they will kill me, and keep thee.
12:13. Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister: that I may be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake.
My sister… This was no lie; because she was his niece, being daughter to his brother Aran, and therefore, in the style of the Hebrews, she might truly be called his sister, as Lot is called Abram's brother, Gen. 14.14. See Gen. 20.12.
12:14. And when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very beautiful.
12:15. And the princes told Pharao, and praised her before him: and the woman was taken into the house of Pharao.
12:16. And they used Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep and oxen and he asses, and men servants, and maid servants, and she asses, and camels.
12:17. But the Lord scourged Pharao and his house with most grievous stripes for Sarai, Abram's wife.
12:18. And Pharao called Abram, and said to him: What is this that thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
12:19. For what cause didst thou say, she was thy sister, that I might take her to my wife? Now therefore there is thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
12:20. And Pharao gave his men orders concerning Abram: and they led him away and his wife, and all that he had.
Genesis Chapter 13
Abram and Lot part from each other. God's promise to Abram.
13:1. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him into the south.
13:2. And he was very rich in possession of gold and silver.
13:3. And he returned by the way, that he came, from the south to Bethel, to the place where before he had pitched his tent between Bethel and Hai,
13:4. In the place of the altar which he had made before, and there he called upon the name of the Lord.
13:5. But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and herds of beasts, and tents.
13:6. Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell together.
13:7. Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot. And at that time the Chanaanite and the Pherezite dwelled in that country.
13:8. Abram therefore said to Lot: Let there be no quarrel, I beseech thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen: for we are brethren.
13:9. Behold the whole land is before thee: depart from me, I pray thee: if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right: if thou choose the right hand, I will pass to the left.
13:10. And Lot lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor.
13:11. And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he departed from the east: and they were separated one brother from the other.
13:12. Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan: and Lot abode in the towns, that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.
13:13. And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the face of the Lord beyond measure.
13:14. And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him: Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west.
13:15. All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy seed for ever.
13:16. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any man be able to number the dust of the earth, he shall be able to number thy seed also.
13:17. Arise and walk through the land in the length, and the breadth thereof: for I will give it to thee.
13:18. So Abram removing his tent, came, and dwelt by the vale of Mambre, which is in Hebron: and he built there an altar to the Lord.
Genesis Chapter 14
The expedition of the four kings; the victory of Abram; he is blessed by
Melchisedech.
14:1. And it came to pass at that time, that Amraphel, king of Sennaar, and Arioch, king of Pontus, and Chodorlahomor, king of the Elamites, and Thadal, king of nations,
14:2. Made war against Bara, king of Sodom, and against Bersa, king of Gomorrha, and against Sennaab, king of Adama, and against Semeber, king of Seboim, and against the king of Bala, which is Segor.
14:3. All these came together into the woodland vale, which now is the salt sea.
14:4. For they had served Chodorlahomor twelve years, and in the thirteenth year they revolted from him.
14:5. And in the fourteenth year came Chodorlahomor, and the kings that were with him: and they smote the Raphaim in Astarothcarnaim, and the Zuzim with them, and the Emim in Save of Cariathaim.
14:6. And the Chorreans in the mountains of Seir, even to the plains of Pharan, which is in the wilderness.
14:7. And they returned, and came to the fountain of Misphat, the same is Cades: and they smote all the country of the Amalecites, and the Amorrhean that dwelt in Asasonthamar.
14:8. And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha, and the king of Adama, and the king of Seboim, and the king of Bala, which is Segor, went out: and they set themselves against them in battle array, in the woodland vale:
14:9. To wit, against Chodorlahomor king of the Elamites, and Thadal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Sennaar, and Arioch king of Pontus: four kings against five.
14:10. Now the woodland vale had many pits of slime. And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha turned their backs, and were overthrown there: and they that remained, fled to the mountain.
Of slime. Bituminis… This was a kind of pitch, which served for mortar in the building of Babel, Gen. 11.3, and was used by Noe in pitching the ark.
14:11. And they took all the substance of the Sodomites, and Gomorrhites, and all their victuals, and went their way:
14:12. And Lot also, the son of Abram's brother, who dwelt in Sodom, and his substance.
14:13. And behold one, that had escaped, told Abram the Hebrew, who dwelt in the vale of Mambre the Amorrhite, the brother of Escol, and the brother of Aner: for these had made a league with Abram.
14:14. Which when Abram had heard, to wit, that his brother Lot was taken, he numbered of the servants born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, well appointed: and pursued them to Dan.
14:15. And dividing his company, he rushed upon them in the night, and defeated them: and pursued them as far as Hoba, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
14:16. And he brought back all the substance, and Lot his brother, with his substance, the women also, and the people.
14:17. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he returned from the slaughter of Chodorlahomor, and of the kings that were with him in the vale of Save, which is the king's vale.
14:18. But Melchisedech, the king of Salem, bringing forth bread and wine, for he was the priest of the most high God,
14:19. Blessed him, and said: Blessed be Abram by the most high God, who created heaven and earth.
14:20. And blessed be the most high God, by whose protection, the enemies are in thy hands. And he gave him the tithes of all.
14:21. And the king of Sodom said to Abram: Give me the persons, and the rest take to thyself.
14:22. And he answered him: I lift up my hand to the Lord God the most high, the possessor of heaven and earth,
14:23. That from the very woofthread unto the shoe latchet, I will not take of any things that are thine, lest thou say: I have enriched Abram.
14:24. Except such things as the young men have eaten, and the shares of the men that came with me, Aner, Escol, and Mambre: these shall take their shares.
Genesis Chapter 15
God promiseth seed to Abram. His faith, sacrifice and vision.
15:1. Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.
15:2. And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus Eliezer.
15:3. And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my servant born in my house, shall be my heir.
15:4. And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt thou have for thy heir.
15:5. And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be.
15:6. Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.
15:7. And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it.
15:8. But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it?
15:9. And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old, and a she goat of three years and a ram of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon.
15:10. And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the other: but the birds he divided not.
15:11. And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
15:12. And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.
15:13. And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.
15:14. But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance.
15:15. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age.
15:16. But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present time.
15:17. And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace, and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.
15:18. That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I give this land, from the river to Egypt even to the great river Euphrates.
15:19. The Cineans, and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,
15:20. And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,
15:21. And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.
Genesis Chapter 16
Abram marrieth Agar, who bringeth forth Ismael.
16:1. Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had brought forth no children: but having a handmaid, an Egyptian, named Agar,
16:2. She said to her husband: Behold, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: go in unto my handmaid, it may be I may have children of her at least. And when he agreed to her request,
16:3. She took Agar the Egyptian her handmaid, ten years after they first dwelt in the land of Chanaan, and gave her to her husband to wife.
To wife… Plurality of wives, though contrary to the primitive institution of marriage, Gen. 2.24, was by divine dispensation allowed to the patriarchs: which allowance seems to have continued during the time of the law of Moses. But Christ our Lord reduced marriage to its primitive institution. Matt. 19.
16:4. And he went in to her. But she perceiving that she was with child, despised her mistress.
16:5. And Sarai said to Abram: Thou dost unjustly with me: I gave my handmaid into thy bosom, and she perceiving herself to be with child, despiseth me. The Lord judge between me and thee.
16:6. And Abram made answer, and said to her: Behold thy handmaid is in thy own hand, use her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai afflicted her, she ran away.
16:7. And the angel of the Lord having found her, by a fountain of water in the wilderness, which is in the way to Sur in the desert,
16:8. He said to her: Agar, handmaid of Sarai, whence comest thou? and whither goest thou? And she answered: I flee from the face of Sarai, my mistress.
16:9. And the angel of the Lord said to her: Return to thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hand.
16:10. And again he said: I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, and it shall not be numbered for multitude.
16:11. And again: Behold, said he, thou art with child, and thou shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Ismael, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.
16:12. He shall be a wild man: his hand will be against all men, and all men's hands against him: and he shall pitch his tents over against all his brethren.
16:13. And she called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her: Thou the God who hast seen me. For she said: Verily, here have I seen the hinder parts of him that seeth me.
16:14. Therefore she called that well, the well of him that liveth and seeth me. The same is between Cades and Barad.
16:15. And Agar brought forth a son to Abram: who called his name Ismael.
16:16. Abram was four score and six years old when Agar brought him forth Ismael.
Genesis Chapter 17
The Covenant of circumcision.
17:1. And after he began to be ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to him: and said unto him: I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be perfect.
17:2. And I will make my covenant between me and thee: and I will multiply thee exceedingly.
17:3. Abram fell flat on his face.
17:4. And God said to him: I am, and my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
17:5. Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram: but thou shalt be called Abraham: because I have made thee a father of many nations.
Abram… in the Hebrew, signifies a high father: but Abraham, the father of the multitude; Sarai signifies my Lady, but Sara absolutely Lady.
17:6. And I will make thee increase exceedingly, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
17:7. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and between thy seed after thee in their generations, by a perpetual covenant: to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee.
17:8. And I will give to thee, and to thy seed, the land of thy sojournment, all the land of Chanaan, for a perpetual possession, and I will be their God.
17:9. Again God said to Abraham: And thou therefore shalt keep my covenant, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
17:10. This is my covenant which you shall observe between me and you, and thy seed after thee: All the male kind of you shall be circumcised.
17:11. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, that it may be for a sign of the covenant between me and you.
17:12. An infant of eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every manchild in your generations: he that is born in the house, as well as the bought servant, shall be circumcised, and whosoever is not of your stock:
17:13. And my covenant shall be in your flesh for a perpetual covenant.
17:14. The male whose flesh of his foreskin shall not be circumcised, that soul shall be destroyed out of his people: because he hath broken my covenant.
17:15. God said also to Abraham: Sarai thy wife thou shalt not call Sarai, but Sara.
17:16. And I will bless her, and of her I will give thee a son, whom I will bless, and he shall become nations, and kings of people shall spring from him.
17:17. Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, saying in his heart: Shall a son, thinkest thou, be born to him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sara that is ninety years old bring forth?
17:18. And he said to God: O that Ismael may live before thee.
17:19. And God said to Abraham: Sara thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for a perpetual covenant, and with his seed after him.
17:20. And as for Ismael I have also heard thee. Behold, I will bless him, and increase, and multiply him exceedingly: he shall beget twelve chiefs, and I will make him a great nation.
17:21. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sara shall bring forth to thee at this time in the next year.
17:22. And when he had left off speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.
17:23. And Abraham took Ismael his son, and all that were born in his house: and all whom he had bought, every male among the men of his house: and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin forthwith the very same day, as God had commanded him.
17:24. Abraham was ninety and nine years old, when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin.
17:25. And Ismael his son was full thirteen years old at the time of his circumcision.
17:26. The selfsame day was Abraham circumcised and Ismael his son.
17:27. And all the men of his house, as well they that were born in his house, as the bought servants and strangers, were circumcised with him.
Genesis Chapter 18
Angels are entertained by Abraham. They foretell the birth of Isaac.
Abraham's prayer for the men of Sodom.
18:1. And the Lord appeared to him in the vale of Mambre as he was sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day.
18:2. And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men standing near to him: and as soon as he saw them, he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and adored down to the ground.
18:3. And he said: Lord, if I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away from thy servant.
18:4. But I will fetch a little water, and wash ye your feet, and rest ye under the tree.
18:5. And I will set a morsel of bread, and strengthen ye your heart, afterwards you shall pass on: for therefore are you come aside to your servant. And they said: Do as thou hast spoken.
18:6. Abraham made haste into the tent to Sara, and said to her: Make haste, temper together three measures of flour, and make cakes upon the hearth.
18:7. And he himself ran to the herd, and took from thence a calf, very tender and very good, and gave it to a young man, who made haste and boiled it.
18:8. He took also butter and milk, and the calf which he had boiled, and set before them: but he stood by them under the tree.
18:9. And when they had eaten, they said to him: Where is Sara thy wife? He answered: Lo she is in the tent.
18:10. And he said to him: I will return and come to thee at this time, life accompanying, and Sara, thy wife, shall have a son. Which when Sara heard, she laughed behind the door of the tent.
18:11. Now they were both old, and far advanced in years, and it had ceased to be with Sara after the manner of women.
18:12. And she laughed secretly, saying: After I am grown old, and my lord is an old man, shall I give myself to pleasure?
18:13. And the Lord said to Abraham: Why did Sara laugh, saying: Shall I, who am an old woman, bear a child indeed?
18:14. Is there any thing hard to God? According to appointment I will return to thee at this same time, life accompanying, and Sara shall have a son.
18:15. Sara denied, saying: I did not laugh: for she was afraid. But the Lord said: Nay; but thou didst laugh.
18:16. And when the men rose up from thence, they turned their eyes towards Sodom: and Abraham walked with them, bringing them on the way.
18:17. And the Lord said: Can I hide from Abraham what I am about to do:
18:18. Seeing he shall become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed?
18:19. For I know that he will command his children, and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, and do judgment and justice: that for Abraham's sake, the Lord may bring to effect all the things he hath spoken unto him.
18:20. And the Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievous.
18:21. I will go down and see whether they have done according to the cry that is come to me; or whether it be not so, that I may know.
I will go down, etc… The Lord here accommodates his discourse to the way of speaking and acting amongst men; for he knoweth all things, and needeth not to go anywhere for information. Note here, that two of the three angels went away immediately for Sodom; whilst the third, who represented the Lord, remained with Abraham.
18:22. And they turned themselves from thence, and went their way to Sodom: but Abraham as yet stood before the Lord.
18:23. And drawing nigh, he said: Wilt thou destroy the just with the wicked?
18:24. If there be fifty just men in the city, shall they perish withal? and wilt thou not spare that place for the sake of the fifty just, if they be therein?
18:25. Far be it from thee to do this thing, and to slay the just with the wicked, and for the just to be in like case as the wicked; this is not beseeming thee: thou who judgest all the earth, wilt not make this judgment.
18:26. And the Lord said to him: If I find in Sodom fifty just within the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.
18:27. And Abraham answered, and said: Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes.
18:28. What if there be five less than fifty just persons? wilt thou for five and forty destroy the whole city: And he said: I will not destroy it, if I find five and forty.
18:29. And again he said to him: But if forty be found there, what wilt thou do? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of forty.
18:30. Lord, saith he, be not angry, I beseech thee, if I speak: What if thirty shall be found there? He answered: I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
18:31. Seeing, saith he, I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord: What if twenty be found there? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.
18:32. I beseech thee, saith he, be not angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more: What if ten shall be found there? And he said: I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.
18:33. And the Lord departed, after he had left speaking to Abraham: and Abraham returned to his place.
Genesis Chapter 19
Lot, entertaining Angels in his house, is delivered from Sodom, which is destroyed: his wife for looking back is turned into a statue of salt.
19:1. And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of the city. And seeing them, he rose up and went to meet them: and worshipped prostrate to the ground.
19:2. And said: I beseech you, my lords, turn in to the house of your servant, and lodge there: wash your feet, and in the morning you shall go on your way. And they said: No, but we will abide in the street.
19:3. He pressed them very much to turn in unto him: and when they were come into his house, he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate:
19:4. But before they went to bed, the men of the city beset the house, both young and old, all the people together.
19:5. And they called Lot, and said to him: Where are the men that came in to thee at night? bring them out hither, that we may know them:
19:6. Lot went out to them, and shut the door after him, and said:
19:7. Do not so, I beseech you, my brethren, do not commit this evil.
19:8. I have two daughters who, as yet, have not known man; I will bring them out to you, and abuse you them as it shall please you, so that you do no evil to these men, because they are come in under the shadow of my roof.
19:9. But they said: Get thee back thither. And again: Thou camest in, said they, as a stranger, was it to be a judge? therefore we will afflict thee more than them. And they pressed very violently upon Lot: and they were even at the point of breaking open the doors.
19:10. And behold the men put out their hand, and drew in Lot unto them, and shut the door.
19:11. And them, that were without, they struck with blindness from the least to the greatest, so that they could not find the door.
19:12. And they said to Lot: Hast thou here any of thine? son in law, or sons, or daughters, all that are thine bring them out of this city:
19:13. For we will destroy this place, because their cry is grown loud before the Lord, who hath sent us to destroy them.
19:14. So Lot went out, and spoke to his sons in law that were to have his daughters, and said: Arise: get you out of this place, because the Lord will destroy this city. And he seemed to them to speak as it were in jest.
19:15. And when it was morning, the angels pressed him, saying: Arise, take thy wife, and the two daughters that thou hast: lest thou also perish in the wickedness of the city.
19:16. And as he lingered, they took his hand, and the hand of his wife, and of his two daughters, because the Lord spared him.
19:17. And they brought him forth, and set him without the city: and there they spoke to him, saying: Save thy life: look not back, neither stay thou in all the country about: but save thy self in the mountain, lest thou be also consumed.
19:18. And Lot said to them: I beseech thee, my Lord,
19:19. Because thy servant hath found grace before thee, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewn to me, in saving my life, and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil seize me, and I die.
19:20. There is this city here at hand, to which I may flee, it is a little one, and I shall be saved in it: is it not a little one, and my soul shall live?
19:21. And he said to him: Behold also in this, I have heard thy prayers, not to destroy the city for which thou hast spoken.
19:22. Make haste, and be saved there: because I cannot do any thing till thou go in thither. Therefore the name of that city was called Segor.
Segor… That is, a little one.
19:23. The sun was risen upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segor.
19:24. And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.
19:25. And he destroyed these cities, and all the country about, all the inhabitants of the cities, and all things that spring from the earth.
19:26. And his wife looking behind her, was turned into a statue of salt.
And his wife… As a standing memorial to the servants of God to proceed in virtue, and not to look back to vice or its allurements.
19:27. And Abraham got up early in the morning, and in the place where he had stood before with the Lord:
19:28. He looked towards Sodom and Gomorrha, and the whole land of that country: and he saw the ashes rise up from the earth as the smoke of a furnace.
19:29. Now when God destroyed the cities of that country, remembering Abraham, he delivered Lot out of the destruction of the cities wherein he had dwelt.
19:30. And Lot went up out of Segor, and abode in the mountain, and his two daughters with him (for he was afraid to stay in Segor) and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.
19:31. And the elder said to the younger: Our father is old, and there is no man left on the earth, to come in unto us after the manner of the whole earth.
19:32. Come, let us make him drunk with wine, and let us lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
19:33. And they made their father drink wine that night: and the elder went in, and lay with her father: but he perceived not, neither when his daughter lay down, nor when she rose up.
19:34. And the next day the elder said to the younger: Behold I lay last night with my father, let us make him drink wine also to night, and thou shalt lie with him, that we may save seed of our father.
19:35. They made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and lay with him: and neither then did he perceive when she lay down, nor when she rose up.
19:36. So the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
19:37. And the elder bore a son, and she called his name Moab: he is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
19:38. The younger also bore a son, and she called his name Ammon; that is, the son of my people: he is the father of the Ammonites unto this day.
Genesis Chapter 20
Abraham sojourned in Gerara: Sara is taken into king Abimelech's house, but by God's commandment is restored untouched.
20:1. Abraham removed from thence to the south country, and dwelt between Cades and Sur, and sojourned in Gerara.
20:2. And he said of Sara his wife: She is my sister. So Abimelech the king of Gerara sent, and took her.
20:3. And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and he said to him: Lo thou shalt die for the woman that thou hast taken: for she hath a husband.
20:4. Now Abimelech had not touched her, and he said: Lord, wilt thou slay a nation that is ignorant and just?
20:5. Did not he say to me: She is my sister: and she say, He is my brother? in the simplicity of my heart, and cleanness of my hands have I done this.
20:6. And God said to him: And I know that thou didst it with a sincere heart: and therefore I withheld thee from sinning against me, and I suffered thee not to touch her.
20:7. Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet: and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: but if thou wilt not restore her, know that thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are thine.
20:8. And Abimelech forthwith rising up in the night, called all his servants: and spoke all these words in their hearing, and all the men were exceedingly afraid.
20:9. And Abimelech called also for Abraham, and said to him: What hast thou done to us? what have we offended thee in, that thou hast brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done to us what thou oughtest not to do.
20:10. And again he expostulated with him, and said: What sawest thou, that thou hast done this?
20:11. Abraham answered: I thought with myself, saying: Perhaps there is not the fear of God in this place: and they will kill me for the sake of my wife:
20:12. Howbeit, otherwise also she is truly my sister, the daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother, and I took her to wife.
20:13. And after God brought me out of my father's house, I said to her: Thou shalt do me this kindness: In every place, to which we shall come, thou shalt say that I am thy brother.
20:14. And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and servants and handmaids, and gave to Abraham: and restored to him Sara his wife,
20:15. And said: The land is before you, dwell wheresoever it shall please thee.
20:16. And to Sara he said: Behold I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver, this shall serve thee for a covering of thy eyes to all that are with thee, and whithersoever thou shalt go: and remember thou wast taken.
20:17. And when Abraham prayed, God healed Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they bore children:
20:18. For the Lord had closed up every womb of the house of Abimelech, on account of Sara, Abraham's wife.
Genesis Chapter 21
Isaac is born. Agar and Ismael are cast forth.
21:1. And the Lord visited Sara, as he had promised: and fulfilled what he had spoken.
21:2. And she conceived and bore a son in her old age, at the time that God had foretold her.
21:3. And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sara bore him, Isaac.
Isaac… This word signifies laughter.
21:4. And he circumcised him the eighth day, as God had commanded him,
21:5. When he was a hundred years old: for at this age of his father, was Isaac born.
21:6. And Sara said: God hath made a laughter for me: whosoever shall hear of it will laugh with me.
21:7. And again she said: Who would believe that Abraham should hear that Sara gave suck to a son, whom she bore to him in his old age?
21:8. And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day of his weaning.
21:9. And when Sara had seen the son of Agar, the Egyptian, playing with Isaac, her son, she said to Abraham:
21:10. Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.
21:11. Abraham took this grievously for his son.
21:12. And God said to him: Let it not seem grievous to thee for the boy, and for thy bondwoman: in all that Sara hath said to thee, hearken to her voice: for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
21:13. But I will make the son also of the bondwoman a great nation, because he is thy seed.
21:14. So Abraham rose up in the morning, and taking bread and a bottle of water, put it upon her shoulder, and delivered the boy, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Bersabee.
21:15. And when the water in the bottle was spent, she cast the boy under one of the trees that were there.
21:16. And she went her way, and sat overagainst him a great way off, as far as a bow can carry, for she said: I will not see the boy die: and sitting overagainst, she lifted up her voice and wept.
21:17. And God heard the voice of the boy: and an angel of God called to Agar from heaven, saying: What art thou doing, Agar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the boy, from the place wherein he is.
21:18. Arise, take up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make him a great nation.
21:19. And God opened her eyes: and she saw a well of water, and went and filled the bottle, and gave the boy to drink.
21:20. And God was with him: and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became a young man, an archer.
21:21. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Pharan, and his mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.
21:22. At the same time Abimelech, and Phicol the general of his army, said to Abraham: God is with thee in all that thou dost.
21:23. Swear therefore by God, that thou wilt not hurt me, nor my posterity, nor my stock: but according to the kindness that I have done to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land wherein thou hast lived a stranger.
21:24. And Abraham said: I will swear.
21:25. And he reproved Abimelech for a well of water, which his servants had taken away by force.
21:26. And Abimelech answered: I knew not who did this thing: and thou didst not tell me, and I heard not of it till today.
21:27. Then Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech: and both of them made a league.
21:28. And Abraham set apart seven ewelambs of the flock.
21:29. And Abimelech said to him: What mean these seven ewelambs which thou hast set apart?
21:30. But he said: Thou shalt take seven ewelambs at my hand: that they may be a testimony for me, that I dug this well.
21:31. Therefore that place was called Bersabee; because there both of them did swear.
Bersabee… That is, the well of oath.
21:32. And they made a league for the well of oath.
21:33. And Abimelech and Phicol, the general of his army, arose and returned to the land of the Palestines. But Abraham planted a grove in Bersabee, and there called upon the name of the Lord God eternal.
21:34. And he was a sojourner in the land of the Palestines many days.
Genesis Chapter 22
The faith and obedience of Abraham is proved in his readiness to sacrifice his son Isaac. He is stayed from the act by an angel. Former promises are renewed to him. His brother Nachor's issue.
22:1. After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.
God tempted, etc… God tempteth no man to evil, James 1.13; but by trial and experiment maketh known to the world, and to ourselves, what we are, as here by this trial the singular faith and obedience of Abraham was made manifest.
22:2. He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision; and there thou shalt offer him for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will shew thee.
22:3. So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass, and took with him two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut wood for the holocaust, he went his way to the place which God had commanded him.
22:4. And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off.
22:5. And he said to his young men: Stay you here with the ass; I and the boy will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have worshipped, will return to you.
22:6. And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. And as they two went on together,
22:7. Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt thou, son? Behold, saith he, fire and wood: where is the victim for the holocaust?
22:8. And Abraham said: God will provide himself a victim for an holocaust, my son. So they went on together.
22:9. And they came to the place which God had shewn him, where he built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it; and when he had bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood.
22:10. And he put forth his hand, and took the sword, to sacrifice his son.
22:11. And behold, an angel of the Lord from heaven called to him, saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.
22:12. And he said to him: Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou any thing to him: now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake.
22:13. Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram, amongst the briers, sticking fast by the horns, which he took and offered for a holocaust instead of his son.
22:14. And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth. Whereupon, even to this day, it is said: In the mountain the Lord will see.
22:15. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, saying:
22:16. By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord: because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake:
22:17. I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore; thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies.
22:18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.
22:19. Abraham returned to his young men, and they went to Bersabee together, and he dwelt there.
22:20. After these things, it was told Abraham, that Melcha also had borne children to Nachor his brother.
22:21. Hus, the firstborn, and Buz, his brother, and Camuel the father of the Syrians,
22:22. And Cased, and Azau, and Pheldas, and Jedlaph,
22:23. And Bathuel, of whom was born Rebecca: these eight did Melcha bear to Nachor, Abraham's brother.
22:24. And his concubine, named Roma, bore Tabee, and Gaham, and Tahas, and Maacha.
Genesis Chapter 23
Sara's death and burial in the field bought of Ephron.
23:1. And Sara lived a hundred and twenty-seven years.
23:2. And she died in the city of Arbee which is Hebron, in the land of Chanaan: and Abraham came to mourn and weep for her.
23:3. And after he rose up from the funeral obsequies, he spoke to the children of Heth, saying:
23:4. I am a stranger and sojourner among you: give me the right of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead.
23:5. The children of Heth answered, saying:
23:6. My lord, hear us, thou art a prince of God among us: bury thy dead in our principal sepulchres: and no man shall have power to hinder thee from burying thy dead in his sepulchre.
23:7. Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to wit, the children of Heth:
Bowed down to the people… Adoravit, literally adored. But this word here, as well as in many other places in the Latin scriptures, is used to signify only an inferior honour and reverence paid to men, expressed by a bowing down of the body.
23:8. And said to them: If it please your soul that I should bury my dead, hear me, and intercede for me to Ephron the son of Seor.
23:9. That he may give me the double cave, which he hath in the end of his field: For as much money as it is worth he shall give it me before you, for a possession of a burying place.
23:10. Now Ephron dwelt in the midst of the children of Heth. And Ephron made answer to Abraham in the hearing of all that went in at the gate of the city, saying:
23:11. Let it not be so, my lord, but do thou rather hearken to what I say: The field I deliver to thee, and the cave that is therein; in the presence of the children of my people, bury thy dead.
23:12. Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.
23:13. And he spoke to Ephron, in the presence of the people: I beseech thee to hear me: I will give money for the field; take it, and so will I bury my dead in it.
23:14. And Ephron answered:
23:15. My lord, hear me. The ground which thou desirest, is worth four hundred sicles of silver: this is the price between me and thee: but what is this? bury thy dead.
23:16. And when Abraham had heard this, he weighed out the money that Ephron had asked, in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred sicles of silver, of common current money.
23:17. And the field that before was Ephron's, wherein was the double cave, looking towards Mambre, both it and the cave, and all the trees thereof, in all its limits round about,
23:18. Was made sure to Abraham for a possession, in the sight of the children of Heth, and of all that went in at the gate of his city.
23:19. And so Abraham buried Sara, his wife, in the double cave of the field, that looked towards Mambre, this is Hebron in the land of Chanaan.
23:20. And the field was made sure to Abraham, and the cave that was in it, for a possession to bury in, by the children of Heth.
Genesis Chapter 24
Abraham's servant, sent by him into Mesopotamia, bringeth from thence
Rebecca, who is married to Isaac.
24:1. Now Abraham was old, and advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed him in all things.
24:2. And he said to the elder servant of his house, who was ruler over all he had: Put thy hand under my thigh,
24:3. That I may make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that thou take not a wife for my son, of the daughters of the Chanaanites, among whom I dwell:
24:4. But that thou go to my own country and kindred, and take a wife from thence for my son Isaac.
24:5. The servant answered: If the woman will not come with me into this land, must I bring thy son back again to the place from whence thou camest out?
24:6. And Abraham said: Beware thou never bring my son back again thither.
24:7. The Lord God of heaven, who took me out of my father's house, and out of my native country, who spoke to me, and swore to me, saying: To thy seed will I give this land: he will send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take from thence a wife for my son.
He will send his angel before thee… This shows that the Hebrews believed that God gave them guardian angels for their protection.
24:8. But if the woman will not follow thee, thou shalt not be bound by the oath: only bring not my son back thither again.
24:9. The servant, therefore, put his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his lord, and swore to him upon his word.
24:10. And he took ten camels of his master's herd, and departed, carrying something of all his goods with him, and he set forward and went on to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nachor.
24:11. And when he had made the camels lie down without the town, near a well of water, in the evening, at the time when women are wont to come out to draw water, he said:
24:12. O Lord, the God of my master, Abraham, meet me today, I beseech thee, and shew kindness to my master, Abraham.
24:13. Behold, I stand nigh the spring of water, and the daughters of the inhabitants of this city will come out to draw water:
24:14. Now, therefore, the maid to whom I shall say: Let down thy pitcher that I may drink: and she shall answer, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let it be the same whom thou hast provided for thy servant Isaac: and by this, I shall understand that thou hast shewn kindness to my master.
24:15. He had not yet ended these words within himself, and behold Rebecca came out, the daughter of Bathuel, son of Melcha, wife to Nachor the brother of Abraham, having a pitcher on her shoulder:
24:16. An exceeding comely maid, and a most beautiful virgin, and not known to man: and she went down to the spring, and filled her pitcher, and was coming back.
24:17. And the servant ran to meet her, and said: Give me a little water to drink of thy pitcher.
24:18. And she answered: Drink, my lord. And quickly she let down the pitcher upon her arm, and gave him drink.
24:19. And when he had drunk, she said: I will draw water for thy camels also, till they all drink.
24:20. And pouring out the pitcher into the troughs, she ran back to the well to draw water; and having drawn, she gave to all the camels.
24:21. But he musing, beheld her with silence, desirous to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
24:22. And after that the camels had drunk, the man took out golden earrings, weighing two sicles; and as many bracelets, of ten sicles weight.
24:23. And he said to her: Whose daughter art thou? tell me: is there any place in thy father's house to lodge?
24:24. And she answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Melcha, whom she bore to Nachor.
24:25. And she said, moreover, to him: We have good store of both straw and hay, and a large place to lodge in.
24:26. The man bowed himself down, and adored the Lord,
24:27. Saying: Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not taken away his mercy and truth from my master, and hath brought me the straight way into the house of my master's brother.
24:28. Then the maid ran, and told in her mother's house all that she had heard.
24:29. And Rebecca had a brother, named Laban, who went out in haste to the man, to the well.
24:30. And when he had seen the earrings and bracelets in his sister's hands, and had heard all that she related, saying, Thus and thus the man spoke to me: he came to the man who stood by the camels, and near to the spring of water,
24:31. And said to him: Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; why standest thou without? I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.
24:32. And he brought him into his lodging; and he unharnessed the camels, and gave straw and hay, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men that were come with him.
24:33. And bread was set before him. But he said: I will not eat, till I tell my message. He answered him: Speak.
24:34. And he said: I am the servant of Abraham:
24:35. And the Lord hath blessed my master wonderfully, and he is become great: and he hath given him sheep and oxen, silver and gold, men servants and women servants, camels and asses.
24:36. And Sara, my master's wife, hath borne my master a son in her old age, and he hath given him all that he had.
24:37. And my master made me swear, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the Chanaanites, in whose land I dwell:
24:38. But thou shalt go to my father's house, and shalt take a wife of my own kindred for my son:
24:39. But I answered my master: What if the woman will not come with me?
24:40. The Lord, said he, in whose sight I walk, will send his angel with thee, and will direct thy way: and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my own kindred, and of my father's house.
24:41. But thou shalt be clear from my curse, when thou shalt come to my kindred, if they will not give thee one.
24:42. And I came today to the well of water, and said: O Lord God of my master, Abraham, if thou hast prospered my way, wherein I now walk,
24:43. Behold, I stand by the well of water, and the virgin, that shall come out to draw water, who shall hear me say: Give me a little water to drink of thy pitcher:
24:44. And shall say to me: Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman, whom the Lord hath prepared for my master's son.
24:45. And whilst I pondered these things secretly with myself, Rebecca appeared, coming with a pitcher, which she carried on her shoulder: and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her: Give me a little to drink.
24:46. And she speedily let down the pitcher from her shoulder, and said to me: Both drink thou, and to thy camels I will give drink. I drank, and she watered the camels.
24:47. And I asked her, and said: Whose daughter art thou? And she answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Nachor, whom Melcha bore to him. So I put earrings on her to adorn her face, and I put bracelets on her hands.
24:48. And falling down, I adored the Lord, blessing the Lord God of my master, Abraham, who hath brought me the straight way to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son.
24:49. Wherefore, if you do according to mercy and truth with my master, tell me: but if it please you otherwise, tell me that also, that I may go to the right hand, or to the left.
24:50. And Laban and Bathuel answered: The word hath proceeded from the Lord: we cannot speak any other thing to thee but his pleasure.
24:51. Behold, Rebecca is before thee, take her and go thy way, and let her be the wife of thy master's son, as the Lord hath spoken.
24:52. Which when Abraham's servant heard, falling down to the ground, he adored the Lord.
24:53. And bringing forth vessels of silver and gold, and garments, he gave them to Rebecca, for a present. He offered gifts also to her brothers, and to her mother.
24:54. And a banquet was made, and they ate and drank together, and lodged there. And in the morning, the servant arose, and said: Let me depart, that I may go to my master.
24:55. And her brother and mother answered: Let the maid stay, at least, ten days with us, and afterwards she shall depart.
24:56. Stay me not, said he, because the Lord hath prospered my way: send me away, that I may go to my master.
24:57. And they said: Let us call the maid, and ask her will.
Let us call the maid, and ask her will… Not as to her marriage, as she had already consented, but of her quitting her parents and going to her husband.
24:58. And they called her, and when she was come, they asked: Wilt thou go with this man? She said: I will go.
24:59. So they sent her away, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his company.
24:60. Wishing prosperity to their sister, and saying: Thou art our sister, mayst thou increase to thousands of thousands; and may thy seed possess the gates of their enemies.
24:61. So Rebecca and her maids, being set upon camels, followed the man: who with speed returned to his master.
24:62. At the same time, Isaac was walking along the way to the well which is called Of the living and the seeing: for he dwelt in the south country:
24:63. And he was gone forth to meditate in the field, the day being now well spent: and when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw camels coming afar off.
24:64. Rebecca also, when she saw Isaac, lighted off the camel,
24:65. And said to the servant: Who is that man who cometh towards us along the field? And he said to her: That man is my master. But she quickly took her cloak, and covered herself.
24:66. And the servant told Isaac all that he had done.
24:67. Who brought her into the tent of Sara his mother, and took her to wife: and he loved her so much, that it moderated the sorrow which was occasioned by his mother's death.
Genesis Chapter 25
Abraham's children by Cetura; his death and that of Ismael. Isaac hath
Esau and Jacob twins. Esau selleth his first birthright to Jacob.
25:1. And Abraham married another wife named Cetura:
25:2. Who bore him Zamram, and Jecsan, and Madan, and Madian, and Jesboc, and Sue.
25:3. Jecsan also begot Saba, and Dadan. The children of Dadan were Assurim, and Latusim, and Loomim.
25:4. But of Madian was born Epha, and Opher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaa: all these were the children of Cetura.
25:5. And Abraham gave all his possessions to Isaac:
25:6. And to the children of the concubines he gave gifts, and separated them from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, to the east country.
Concubines… Agar and Cetura are here called concubines, (though they were lawful wives, and in other places are so called,) because they were of an inferior degree, and such in scripture are usually called concubines.
25:7. And the days of Abraham's life were a hundred and seventy-five years.
25:8. And decaying he died in a good old age, and having lived a long time, and being full of days: and was gathered to his people.
25:9. And Isaac and Ismael his sons buried him in the double cave, which was situated in the field of Ephron the son of Seor the Hethite, over against Mambre,
25:10. Which he had bought of the children of Heth: there was he buried, and Sara his wife.
25:11. And after his death, God blessed Isaac his son, who dwelt by the well named Of the living and seeing.
25:12. These are the generations of Ismael the son of Abraham, whom Agar the Egyptian, Sara's servant, bore unto him:
25:13. And these are the names of his children according to their calling and generations. The firstborn of Ismael was Nabajoth, then Cedar, and Adbeel, and Mabsam,
25:14. And Masma, and Duma, and Massa,
25:15. Hadar, and Thema, and Jethur, and Naphis, and Cedma.
25:16. These are the sons of Ismael: and these are their names by their castles and towns, twelve princes of their tribes.
25:17. And the years of Ismael's life were a hundred and thirty-seven, and decaying he died, and was gathered unto his people.
25:18. And he dwelt from Hevila as far as Sur, which looketh towards Egypt, to them that go towards the Assyrians. He died in the presence of all his brethren.
25:19. These also are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac:
25:20. Who when he was forty years old, took to wife Rebecca the daughter of Bathuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia, sister to Laban.
25:21. And Isaac besought the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and he heard him, and made Rebecca to conceive.
25:22. But the children struggled in her womb, and she said: If it were to be so with me, what need was there to conceive? And she went to consult the Lord.
25:23. And he answering, said: Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be divided out of thy womb, and one people shall overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.
25:24. And when her time was come to be delivered, behold twins were found in her womb.
25:25. He that came forth first was red, and hairy like a skin: and his name was called Esau. Immediately the other coming forth, held his brother's foot in his hand: and therefore he was called Jacob.
25:26. Isaac was threescore years old when the children were born unto him.
25:27. And when they were grown up, Esau became a skilful hunter, and a husbandman: but Jacob, a plain man, dwelt in tents.
25:28. Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his hunting: and Rebecca loved Jacob.
25:29. And Jacob boiled pottage: to whom Esau, coming faint out of the field,
25:30. Said: Give me of this red pottage, for I am exceeding faint. For which reason his name was called Edom.
25:31. And Jacob said to him: Sell me thy first birthright.
25:32. He answered: Lo I die, what will the first birthright avail me?
25:33. Jacob said: Swear therefore to me. Esau swore to him, and sold his first birthright.
25:34. And so taking bread and the pottage of lentils, he ate, and drank, and went on his way; making little account of having sold his first birthright.
Genesis Chapter 26
Isaac sojourneth in Gerara, where God reneweth to him the promise made to Abraham. King Abimelech maketh league with him.
26:1. And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Palestines, to Gerara.
26:2. And the Lord appeared to him, and said: Go not down into Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee.
26:3. And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfil the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father.
26:4. And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
26:5. Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws.
26:6. So Isaac abode in Gerara.
26:7. And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister: for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would kill him because of her beauty.
26:8. And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech, king of the Palestines, looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca, his wife.
26:9. And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake.
26:10. And Abimelech said: Why hast thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:
26:11. He that shall touch this man's wife, shall surely be put to death.
26:12. And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.
26:13. And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great.
26:14. And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him,
26:15. Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father, Abraham, had digged, filling them up with earth:
26:16. Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we.
26:17. So he departed, and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there:
26:18. And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father, Abraham, had digged, and which, after his death, the Philistines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names, by which his father before had called them.
26:19. And they digged in the torrent, and found living water:
Torrent… That is, a channel where sometimes a torrent or violent stream had run.
26:20. But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.
26:21. And they digged also another; and for that they quarrelled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity.
26:22. Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not; therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth.
Latitude… That is, wideness, or room.
26:23. And he went up from that place to Bersabee,
26:24. Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father, do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.
26:25. And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent; and commanded his servants to dig a well.
26:26. To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers, came from Gerara,
26:27. Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you?
26:28. And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,
26:29. That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee; but with peace have sent thee away, increased with the blessing of the Lord.
26:30. And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:
26:31. Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home.
26:32. And behold, the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water.
26:33. Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even to this day.
26:34. And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hethite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon, of the same place.
26:35. And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.
Genesis Chapter 27
Jacob, by him mother's counsel, obtaineth his father's blessing instead of Esau. And by her is advised to fly to his uncle Laban.
27:1. Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see: and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him: My son? And he answered: Here I am.
27:2. And his father said to him, Thou seest that I am old, and know not the day of my death.
27:3. Take thy arms, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad; and when thou hast taken something by hunting,
27:4. Make me a savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring it that I may eat: and my soul may bless thee, before I die.
27:5. And when Rebecca had heard this, and he was gone into the field to fulfil his father's commandment,
27:6. She said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau, thy brother, and saying to him:
27:7. Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die.
27:8. Now therefore, my son, follow my counsel:
27:9. And go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth.
27:10. Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die.
27:11. And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau, my brother, is a hairy man, and I am smooth:
27:12. If my father should feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse instead of a blessing.
27:13. And his mother said to him: Upon me be this curse, my son: only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said.
27:14. He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meats, such as she knew his father liked.
27:15. And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her:
27:16. And the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck.
27:17. And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that she had baked.
27:18. Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear. Who art thou, my son?
27:19. And Jacob said: I am Esau, thy firstborn: I have done as thou didst command me: arise, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
I am Esau thy firstborn… St. Augustine (L. Contra mendacium, c. 10), treating at large upon this place, excuseth Jacob from a lie, because this whole passage was mysterious, as relating to the preference which was afterwards to be given to the Gentiles before the carnal Jews, which Jacob by prophetic light might understand. So far is certain, that the first birthright, both by divine election and by Esau's free cession belonged to Jacob: so that if there were any lie in the case, it could be no more than an officious and venial one.
27:20. And Isaac said to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, my son? He answered: It was the will of God, that what I sought came quickly in my way:
27:21. And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may feel thee, my son, and may prove whether thou be my son Esau, or no.
27:22. He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob; but the hands, are the hands of Esau.
27:23. And he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like to the elder. Then blessing him,
27:24. He said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am.
27:25. Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. And when they were brought, and he had eaten, he offered him wine also, which after he had drunk,
27:26. He said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son.
27:27. He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed.
27:28. God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine.
27:29. And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee: be thou lord of thy brethren, and let thy mother's children bow down before thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee: and let him that blesseth thee be filled with blessings.
27:30. Isaac had scarce ended his words, when, Jacob being now gone out abroad, Esau came,
27:31. And brought in to his father meats, made of what he had taken in hunting, saying: Arise, my father, and eat of thy son's venison; that thy soul may bless me.
27:32. And Isaac said to him: Why! who art thou? He answered: I am thy firstborn son, Esau.
27:33. Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly; and wondering beyond what can be believed, said: Who is he then that even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou camest? and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed.
27:34. Esau having heard his father's words, roared out with a great cry; and, being in a consternation, said: Bless me also, my father.
27:35. And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing.
27:36. But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath supplanted me lo this second time: My birthright he took away before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And again he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing?
Jacob… That is, a supplanter.
27:37. Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants: I have established him with corn and wine, and after this, what shall I do more for thee, my son?
27:38. And Esau said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I beseech thee bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry,
27:39. Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above,
27:40. Shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword, and shalt serve thy brother: and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off and loose his yoke from thy neck.
27:41. Esau therefore always hated Jacob, for the blessing wherewith his father had blessed him; and he said in his heart: The days will come of the mourning for my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob.
27:42. These things were told to Rebecca: and she sent and called Jacob, her son, and said to him: Behold Esau, thy brother, threateneth to kill thee.
27:43. Now therefore, my son, hear my voice, arise and flee to Laban, my brother, to Haran:
27:44. And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till the wrath of thy brother be assuaged,
27:45. And his indignation cease, and he forget the things thou hast done to him: afterwards I will send, and bring thee from thence hither. Why shall I be deprived of both my sons in one day?
27:46. And Rebecca said to Isaac: I am weary of my life, because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the stock of this land, I choose not to live.
Genesis Chapter 28
Jacob's journey to Mesopotamia: his vision and vow.
28:1. And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, saying: Take not a wife of the stock of Chanaan:
28:2. But go, and take a journey to Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house of Bathuel, thy mother's father, and take thee a wife thence of the daughters of Laban, thy uncle.
28:3. And God almighty bless thee, and make thee to increase and multiply thee: that thou mayst be a multitude of people.
28:4. And give the blessings of Araham to thee, and to thy seed after thee: that thou mayst possess the land of thy sojournment, which he promised to thy grandfather.
28:5. And when Isaac had sent him away, he took his journey and went to Mesopotamia of Syria, to Laban, the son of Bathuel, the Syrian, brother to Rebecca, his mother.
28:6. And Esau seeing that his father had blessed Jacob, and had sent him into Mesopotamia of Syria, to marry a wife thence; and that after the blessing he had charged him, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Chanaan:
28:7. And that Jacob obeying his parents, was gone into Syria:
28:8. Experiencing also, that his father was not well pleased with the daughters of Chanaan:
28:9. He went to Ismael, and took to wife, besides them he had before, Maheleth, the daughter of Ismael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nabajoth.
28:10. But Jacob being departed from Bersabee, went on to Haran.
28:11. And when he was come to a certain place, and would rest in it after sunset, he took of the stones that lay there, and putting under his head, slept in the same place.
28:12. And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven: the angels also of God ascending and descending by it.
28:13. And the Lord leaning upon the ladder saying to him: I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: The land, wherein thou sleepest, I will give to thee and to thy seed.
28:14. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth: thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and IN THEE and thy seed, all the tribes of the earth SHALL BE BLESSED.
28:15. And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land: neither will I leave thee, till I shall have accomplished all that I have said.
28:16. And when Jacob awaked out of sleep, he said: Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.
28:17. And trembling, he said: How terrible is this place? this is no other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.
28:18. And Jacob arising in the morning, took the stone which he had laid under his head, and set it up for a title, pouring oil upon the top of it.
28:19. And he called the name of the city Bethel, which before was called Luza.
Bethel… This name signifies the house of God.
28:20. And he made a vow, saying: If God shall be with me, and shall keep me in the way, by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
28:21. And I shall return prosperously to my father's house: the Lord shall be my God:
28:22. And this stone, which I have set up for a title, shall be called the house of God: and of all things that thou shalt give to me, I will offer tithes to thee.
Genesis Chapter 29
Jacob serveth Laban seven years for Rachel: but is deceived with Lia: he afterwards marrieth Rachel. Lia bears him four sons.
29:1. Then Jacob went on in his journey, and came into the east country.
29:2. And he saw a well in the field, and three flocks of sheep lying by it: for the beasts were watered out of it, and the mouth thereof was closed with a great stone.
29:3. And the custom was, when all the sheep were gathered together, to roll away the stone, and after the sheep were watered, to put it on the mouth of the well again.
29:4. And he said to the shepherds: Brethren, whence are you? They answered: Of Haran.
29:5. And he asked them, saying: Know you Laban, the son of Nachor? They said: We know him.
29:6. He said: Is he in health? He is in health, say they: and behold, Rachel, his daughter, cometh with his flock.
29:7. And Jacob said: There is yet much day remaining, neither is it time to bring the flocks into the folds again: first give the sheep drink, and so lead them back to feed.
29:8. They answered: We cannot, till all the cattle be gathered together, and we remove the stone from the well's mouth, that we may water the flocks.
29:9. They were yet speaking, and behold Rachel came with her father's sheep; for she fed the flock.
29:10. And when Jacob saw her, and knew her to be his cousin german, and that they were the sheep of Laban, his uncle: he removed the stone wherewith the well was closed.
29:11. And having watered the flock, he kissed her: and lifting up his voice wept.
29:12. And he told her that he was her father's brother, and the son of Rebecca: but she went in haste and told her father.
29:13. Who, when he heard that Jacob his sister's son was come, ran forth to meet him: and embracing him, and heartily kissing him, brought him into his house. And when he had heard the causes of his journey,
29:14. He answered: Thou art my bone and my flesh. And after the days of one month were expired,
29:15. He said to him: Because thou art my brother, shalt thou serve me without wages? Tell me what wages thou wilt have.
29:16. Now he had two daughters, the name of the elder was Lia; and the younger was called Rachel.
29:17. But Lia was blear eyed: Rachel was well favoured, and of a beautiful countenance.
29:18. And Jacob being in love with her, said: I will serve thee seven years for Rachel, thy younger daughter.
29:19. Laban answered: It is better that I give her to thee than to another man; stay with me.
29:20. So Jacob served seven years for Rachel: and they seemed but a few days, because of the greatness of his love.
29:21. And he said to Laban: Give me my wife; for now the time is fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.
29:22. And he, having invited a great number of his friends to the feast, made the marriage.
29:23. And at night he brought in Lia, his daughter, to him,
29:24. Giving his daughter a handmaid, named Zelpha. Now when Jacob had gone in to her according to custom, when morning was come he saw it was Lia.
29:25. And he said to his father in law: What is it that thou didst mean to do? did not I serve thee for Rachel? why hast thou deceived me?
29:26. Laban answered: It is not the custom in this place, to give the younger in marriage first.
29:27. Make up the week of days of this match: and I will give thee her also, for the service that thou shalt render me other seven years.
29:28. He yielded to his pleasure: and after the week was past, he married Rachel:
29:29. To whom her father gave Bala, for her servant.
29:30. And having at length obtained the marriage he wished for, he preferred the love of the latter before the former, and served with him other seven years.
29:31. And the Lord seeing that he despised Lia, opened her womb, but her sister remained barren.
29:32. And she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Ruben, saying: The Lord saw my affliction: now my husband will love me.
29:33. And again she conceived and bore a son, and said: Because the Lord heard that I was despised, he hath given this also to me: and she called his name Simeon.
29:34. And she conceived the third time, and bore another son, and said: Now also my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons: and therefore she called his name Levi.
29:35. The fourth time she conceived and bore a son, and said: Now will I praise the Lord: and for this she called him Juda. And she left bearing.
Genesis Chapter 30
Rachel, being barren, delivereth her handmaid to Jacob; she beareth two sons. Lia ceasing to bear, giveth also her handmaid, and she beareth two more. Then Lia beareth other two sons and one daughter. Rachel beareth Joseph. Jacob, desirous to return home, is hired to stay for a certain part of the flock's increase, whereby he becometh exceeding rich.
30:1. And Rachel seeing herself without children, envied her sister, and said to her husband: Give me children, otherwise I shall die.
30:2. And Jacob being angry with her, answered: Am I as God, who hath deprived thee of the fruit of thy womb?
30:3. But she said: I have here my servant Bala: go in unto her, that she may bear upon my knees, and I may have children by her.
30:4. And she gave him Bala in marriage: who,
30:5. When her husband had gone in unto her, conceived and bore a son.
30:6. And Rachel said: The Lord hath judged for me, and hath heard my voice, giving me a son; and therefore she called his name Dan.
30:7. And again Bala conceived, and bore another,
30:8. For whom Rachel said: God hath compared me with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called him Nephthali.
30:9. Lia perceiving that she had left of bearing, gave Zelpha, her handmaid, to her husband.
30:10. And when she had conceived, and brought forth a son,
30:11. She said: Happily. And therefore called his name Gad.
30:12. Zelpha also bore another.
30:13. And Lia said: This is for my happiness: for women will call me blessed. Therefore she called him Aser.
30:14. And Ruben going out in the time of the wheat harvest into the field, found mandrakes: which he brought to his mother Lia. And Rachel said: Give me part of thy son's mandrakes.
30:15. She answered: Dost thou think it a small matter, that thou hast taken my husband from me, unless thou take also my son's mandrakes? Rachel said: He shall sleep with thee this night, for thy son's mandrakes.
30:16. And when Jacob returned at even from the field, Lia went out to meet him, and said: Thou shalt come in unto me, because I have hired thee for my son's mandrakes. And he slept with her that night.
30:17. And God heard her prayers; and she conceived: and bore a fifth son:
30:18. And said: God hath given me a reward, because I gave my handmaid to my husband. And she called his name Issachar.
30:19. And Lia conceived again, and bore the sixth son,
30:20. And said: God hath endowed me with a good dowry; this turn also my husband will be with me, because I have borne him six sons: and therefore she called his name Zabulon.
30:21. After whom she bore a daughter, named Dina.
30:22. The Lord also remembering Rachel, heard her, and opened her womb.
30:23. And she conceived, and bore a son, saying: God hath taken away my reproach.
30:24. And she called his name Joseph: saying: The Lord give me also another son.
30:25. And when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his father in law: Send me away, that I may return into my country, and to my land.
30:26. Give me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served thee, that I may depart: thou knowest the service that I have rendered thee.
30:27. Laban said to him: Let me find favour in thy sight: I have learned, by experience, that God hath blessed me for thy sake.
30:28. Appoint thy wages which I shall give thee.
30:29. But he answered: Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how great thy possession hath been in my hands.
30:30. Thou hadst but little before I came to thee, and now thou art become rich: and the Lord hath blessed thee at my coming. It is reasonable, therefore, that I should now provide also for my own house.
30:31. And Laban said: What shall I give thee? But he said: I require nothing; but if thou wilt do what I demand, I will feed and keep thy sheep again.
30:32. Go round through all thy flocks, and separate all the sheep of divers colours, and speckled; and all that is brown and spotted, and of divers colours, as well among the sheep as among the goats, shall be my wages.
30:33. And my justice shall answer for me tomorrow before thee, when the time of the bargain shall come; and all that is not of divers colours, and spotted, and brown, as well among the sheep as among the goats, shall accurse me of theft.
30:34. And Laban said: I like well what thou demandest.
30:35. And he separated the same day the she goats, and the sheep, and the he goats, and the rams of divers colours, and spotted; and all the flock of one colour, that is, of white and black fleece, he deliverdd into the hands of his sons.
30:36. And he set the space of three days journey betwixt himself and his son in law, who fed the rest of his flock.
30:37. And Jacob took green rods of poplar, and of almond, and of plane trees, and pilled them in part: so when the bark was taken off, in the parts that were pilled, there appeared whiteness: but the parts that were whole, remained green: and by this means the colour was divers.
30:38. And he put them in the troughs, where the water was poured out; that when the flocks should come to drink, they might have the rods before their eyes, and in the sight of them might conceive.
30:39. And it came to pass, that in the very heat of coition, the sheep beheld the rods, and brought forth spotted, and of divers colours, and speckled.
30:40. And Jacob separated the flock, and put the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the rams; and all the white and the black were Laban's, and the rest were Jacob's, when the flocks were separated one from the other.
30:41. So when the ewes went first to ram, Jacob put the rods in the troughs of water before the eyes of the rams, and of the ewes, that they might conceive while they were looking upon them.