Book of Jubilees 44

JUBILEES 44

Yisrael goes down into Egypt

1 And Yisrael took his journey from Haran from his house on the new month of the third month, and he went on the way of the Well of the Oath, and he offered a sacrifice to YAHWEH the ALMIGHTY of his father Yitschaq on the seventh of this month.
2 And Yacob remembered the dream that he had seen at Bethel, and he feared to go down into Egypt.
3 And while he was thinking of sending word to Yoseph to come to him, and that he would not go down, he remained there seven days, if perchance he could see a vision as to whether he should remain or go down.
4 And he celebrated the harvest festival of the first-fruits with old grain, for in all the land of Canaan there was not a handful of seed [in the land], for the famine was over all the beasts and cattle and birds, and also over man.
5 And on the sixteenth YAHWEH appeared to him, and said to him, 'Yacob, Yacob'; and he said, 'Here am I.'
6 And He said to him: 'I am YAHWEH the ALMIGHTY of your fathers, the ALMIGHTY of Abraham and Yitschaq; fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of you a great nation I will go down with you, and I will bring you up (again), and in this land shall you be buried, and Yoseph shall put his hands upon your eyes. Fear not; go down into Egypt.'
7 And his sons rose up, and his sons' sons, and they placed their father and their possessions upon wagons.
8 And Yisrael rose up from the Well of the Oath on the sixteenth of this third month, and he went to the land of Egypt.
9 And Yisrael sent Yahudah before him to his son Yoseph to examine the Land of Goshen, for Yoseph had told his brothers that they should come and dwell there that they might be near him.
10 And this was the goodliest (land) in the land of Egypt, and near to him, for all (of them) and also for the cattle.
11 And these are the names of the sons of Yacob who went into Egypt with Yacob their father Reuben, the First-born of Yisrael;
12 And these are the names of his sons Enoch, and Pallu, and Hezron and Carmi-five.
13 Simeon and his sons; and these are the names of his sons: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul, the son of the Zephasite woman-seven.
14 Levi and his sons; and these are the names of his sons: Gershon, and Kohas, and Merari-four. Yahudah and his sons; and these are the names of his sons: Shela, and Perez, and Zerah-four.
15 Issachar and his sons; and these are the names of his sons: Tola, and Phua, and Jasub, and Shimron-five.
17 Zebulon and his sons; and these are the names of his sons: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel-four.
18 And these are the sons of Yacob and their sons whom Leah bore to Yacob
in Mesopotamia, six, and their one sister, Dinah and all the souls of the sons of Leah, and their sons, who went with Yacob their father into Egypt, were twenty- nine, and Yacob their father being with them, they were thirty.
19 And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, the wife of Yacob, who bore unto Yacob Gad and Ashur.
20 And there are the names of their sons who went with him into Egypt. The sons of Gad: Ziphion, and Haggi, and Shuni, and Ezbon, (and Eri, and Areli, and Arodi-eight.
21 And the sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah, (and Ishvi), and Beriah, and Serah, their one sister-six.
22 All the souls were fourteen, and all those of Leah were forty-four.
23 And the sons of Rachel, the wife of Yacob: Yoseph and Benjamin.
24 And there were born to Yoseph in Egypt before his father came into Egypt, those whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphar priest of Heliopolis bare unto him, Manasseh, and Ephraim-three.
25 And the sons of Benjamin: Bela and Becher and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, and Ehi, and Rosh, and Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard-eleven. 26 And all the souls of Rachel were fourteen.
27 And the sons of Bilhah, the handmaid of Rachel, the wife of Yacob, whom she bare to Yacob, were Dan and Naphtali.
28 And these are the names of their sons who went with them into Egypt. And the sons of Dan were Hushim, and Samon, and Asudi, and 'Ijaka, and Salomon- six.
29 And they died the year in which they entered into Egypt, and there was left to Dan Hushim alone.
30 And these are the names of the sons of Naphtali Jahziel, and Guni and Jezer, and Shallum, and 'Iv.
31 And 'Iv, who was born after the years of famine, died in Egypt.
32 And all the souls of Rachel were twenty-six.
33 And all the souls of Yacob which went into Egypt were seventy souls. These are his children and his children's children, in all seventy, but five died in Egypt before Yoseph, and had no children.
34 And in the land of Canaan two sons of Yahudah died, Er and Onan, and they had no children, and the children of Yisrael buried those who perished, and they were reckoned among the seventy Gentile nations.

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Book of Jubilees 35, 36

JUBILEES 35

Rebecca commanded Yacob regarding his father Yitschaq

1 And in the first year of the first week of the forty-fifth jubilee [2157 A.M.] Rebecca called Yacob, her son, and commanded him regarding his father and regarding his brother, that he should honor them all the days of his life.
2 And Yacob said: 'I will do everything as you have commanded me; for this thing will be honor and greatness to me, and righteousness before YAHWEH, that I should honor them.
3 And you too, mother, know from the time I was born until this day, all my deeds and all that is in my heart, that I always think good concerning all.
4 And how should I not do this thing which you have commanded me, that I should honor my father and my brother!
5 Tell me, mother, what perversity have you seen in me and I shall turn away from it, and mercy will be upon me.'
6 And she said to him: 'My son, I have not seen in you all my days any perverse but (only) upright deeds. And yet I will tell you the truth, my son: I shall die this year, and I shall not survive this year in my life; for I have seen in a dream the day of my death, that I should not live beyond a hundred and fifty- five years: and behold I have completed all the days of my life which I am to live.'
7 And Yacob laughed at the words of his mother, because his mother had said to him that she should die; and she was sitting opposite to him in possession of her strength, and she was not infirm in her strength; for she went in and out and saw, and her teeth were strong, and no ailment had touched her all the days of her life.
8 And Yacob said to her: 'Blessed am I, mother, if my days approach the days of your life, and my strength remain with me thus as your strength: and you will not die, for you are jesting idly with me regarding your death.'
9 And she went in to Yitschaq and said to him: 'One petition I make unto you: make Esau swear that he will not injure Yacob, nor pursue him with enmity; for you know Esau's thoughts that they are perverse from his youth, and there is no goodness in him; for he desires after your death to kill him.
10 And you know all that he has done since the day Yacob his brother went to Haran until this day: how he has forsaken us with his whole heart, and has done evil to us; your flocks he has taken to himself, and carried off all your possessions from before your face.
11 And when we implored and besought him for what was our own, he did as a man who was taking pity on us.
12 And he is bitter against you because you did bless Yacob your perfect and upright son; for there is no evil but only goodness in him, and since he came from Haran unto this day he has not robbed us of aught, for he brings us everything in its season always, and rejoices with all his heart when we take at his hands and he blesses us, and has not departed from us since he came from Haran until this day, and he remains with us continually at home honoring us.'
13 And Yitschaq said to her: 'I, too, know and see the deeds of Yacob who is with us, how that with all his heart he honors us; but I loved Esau formerly more than Yacob, because he was the firstborn; but now I love Yacob more than Esau, for he has done manifold evil deeds, and there is no righteousness in him, for all his ways are unrighteousness and violence, and there is no righteousness around him.
14 And now my heart is troubled because of all his deeds, and neither he nor his seed is to be saved, for they are those who will be destroyed from the earth and who will be rooted out from under heaven, for he has forsaken YAHWEH the ALMIGHTY of Abraham and gone after his wives and after their uncleanness and after their error, he and his children.
15 And you do bid me make him swear that he will not slay Yacob his brother; even if he swear he will not abide by his oath, and he will not do good but evil only.
16 But if he desires to slay Yacob, his brother, into Yacob's hands will he be given, and he will not escape from his hands, for he will descend into his hands.
17 And fear you not on account of Yacob; for the guardian of Yacob is great and powerful and honored, and praised more than the guardian of Esau.'
18 And Rebecca sent and called Esau and he came to her, and she said to him: 'I have a petition, my son, to make to you, and do you promise to do it, my son.'
19 And he said: 'I will do everything that you say to me, and I will not refuse your petition.'
20 And she said to him: 'I ask you that the day I die, you will take me in and bury me near Sarah, your father's mother, and that you and Yacob will love each other and that neither will desire evil against the other, but mutual love only, and (so) you will prosper, my sons, and be honored in the midst of the land, and no enemy will rejoice over you, and you will be a blessing and a mercy in the eyes of all those that love you.'
21 And he said: 'I will do all that you have told me, and I shall bury you on the day you die near Sarah, my father's mother, as you have desired that her bones may be near your bones.
22 And Yacob, my brother, also, I shall love above all flesh; for I have not a brother in all the earth but him only: and this is no great merit for me if I love him; for he is my brother, and we were sown together in your body, and together came we forth from your womb, and if I do not love my brother, whom shall I love?
23 And I, myself, beg you to exhort Yacob concerning me and concerning my sons, for I know that he will assuredly be king over me and my sons, for on the day my father blessed him he made him the higher and me the lower.
24 And I swear unto you that I shall love him, and not desire evil against him all the days of my life but good only.'
25 And he swore unto her regarding all this matter. And she called Yacob before the eyes of Esau, and gave him commandment according to the words which she had spoken to Esau.
26 And he said: 'I shall do your pleasure; believe me that no evil will proceed from me or from my sons against Esau, and I shall be first in naught save in love only.'
27 And they eat and drank, she and her sons that night, and she died, three jubilees and one week and one year old, on that night, and her two sons, Esau and Yacob, buried her in the double cave near Sarah, their father's mother.

JUBILEES 36

Yitschaq called his two sons to instruct before he dies

1 And in the sixth year of this week [2162 A.M.] Yitschaq called his two sons Esau and Yacob, and they came to him, and he said to them: 'My sons, I am going the way of my fathers, to the eternal house where my fathers are.
2 Wherefore bury me near Abraham my father, in the double cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, where Abraham purchased a sepulcher to bury in; in the sepulcher which I digged for myself, there bury me.
3 And this I command you, my sons, that you practice righteousness and uprightness on the earth, so that YAHWEH may bring upon you all that YAHWEH said that he would do to Abraham and to his seed.
4 And love one another, my sons, your brothers as a man who loves his own soul, and let each seek in what he may benefit his brother, and act together on the earth; and let them love each other as their own souls. And concerning the question of idols, I command and admonish you to reject them and hate them, and love them not, for they are full of deception for those that worship them and for those that bow down to them.
6 Remember you, my sons, YAHWEH ALMIGHTY of Abraham your father, and how I too worshipped Him and served Him in righteousness and in joy, that He might multiply you and increase your seed as the stars of heaven in multitude, and establish you on the earth as the plant of righteousness which will not be rooted out unto all the generations forever.
7 And now I shall make you swear a great oath -for there is no oath which is greater than it by the NAME magnificent and honored and great and splendid and wonderful and mighty, which created the heavens and the earth and all things together- that you will fear Him and worship Him.
8 And that each will love his brother with affection and righteousness, and that neither will desire evil against his brother from henceforth forever all the days of your life so that you may prosper in all your deeds and not be destroyed.
9 And if either of you devises evil against his brother, know that from henceforth everyone that devises evil against his brother shall fall into his hand, and shall be rooted out of the land of the living, and his seed shall be destroyed from under heaven.
10 But on the day of turbulence and execration and indignation and anger, with flaming devouring fire as He burnt Sodom, so likewise will He burn his land and his city and all that is his, and he shall be blotted out of the book of the discipline of the children of men, and not be recorded in the book of life, but in that which is appointed to destruction, and he shall depart into eternal execration; so that their condemnation may be always renewed in hate and in execration and in wrath and in torment and in indignation and in plagues and in disease forever. I say and testify to you, my sons, according to the judgment which shall come upon the man who wishes to injure his brother.
12 And he divided all his possessions between the two on that day and he gave the larger portion to him that was the first-born, and the tower and all that was about it, and all that Abraham possessed at the Well of the Oath.
13 And he said: 'This larger portion I will give to the firstborn.'
14 And Esau said, 'I have sold to Yacob and given my birthright to Yacob; to him let it be given, and I have not a single word to say regarding it, for it is his.'
15 And Yitschaq said, May a blessing rest upon you, my sons, and upon your seed this day, for you have given me rest, and my heart is not pained concerning the birthright, lest you should work wickedness on account of it.
16 May the Most High YAHWEH bless the man that works righteousness, him and his seed forever.'
17 And he ended commanding them and blessing them, and they eat and drank together before him, and he rejoiced because there was one mind between them, and they went forth from him and rested that day and slept.
18 And Yitschaq slept on his bed that day rejoicing; and he slept the eternal sleep, and died one hundred and eighty years old. He completed twenty-five weeks and five years; and his two sons Esau and Yacob buried him.
19 And Esau went to the land of Edom, to the mountains of Seir, and dwelt there.
20 And Yacob dwelt in the mountains of Hebron, in the tower of the land of the sojournings of his father Abraham, and he worshipped YAHWEH with all his heart and according to the visible commands according as He had divided the days of his generations.
21 And Leah his wife died in the fourth year of the second week of the forty- fifth jubilee, [2167 A.M.] and he buried her in the double cave near Rebecca his mother to the left of the grave of Sarah, his father's mother.
22 And all her sons and his sons came to mourn over Leah his wife with him and to comfort him regarding her, for he was lamenting her for he loved her exceedingly after Rachel her sister died;
23 For she was perfect and upright in all her ways and honored Yacob, and all the days that she lived with him he did not hear from her mouth a harsh word, for she was gentle and peaceable and upright and honorable.
24 And he remembered all her deeds which she had done during her life and he lamented her exceedingly; for he loved her with all his heart and with all his soul.

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Book of Jubilees 29

JUBILEES 29

After Rachel had borne Yoseph, Yacob leaves Laban secretly

1 And it came to pass when Rachel had borne Yoseph, that Laban went to shear his sheep; for they were distant from him a three days' journey.
2 And Yacob saw that Laban was going to shear his sheep, and Yacob called Leah and Rachel, and spoke kindly unto them that they should come with him to the land of Canaan.
3 For he told them how he had seen everything in a dream, even all that He had spoken unto him that he should return to his father's house, and they said: 'To every place where you go we will go with you.'
4 And Yacob blessed YAHWEH the ALMIGHTY of Yitschaq his father, and the ALMIGHTY of Abraham his father's father, and he arose and mounted his wives and his children, and took all his possessions and crossed the river, and came to the land of Gilead, and Yacob hid his intention from Laban and told him not.
5 And in the seventh year of the fourth week Yacob turned his face toward Gilead in the first month, on the twenty-first thereof. [2135 A.M.] And Laban pursued after him and overtook Yacob in the mountain of Gilead in the third month, on the thirteenth thereof.
6 And YAHWEH did not suffer him to injure Yacob; for he appeared to him in a dream by night.
7 And Laban spoke to Yacob. And on the fifteenth of those days Yacob made a feast for Laban, and for all who came with him, and Yacob swore to Laban that day, and Laban also to Yacob, that neither should cross the mountain of Gilead to the other with evil purpose.
8 And he made there a heap for a witness; wherefore the name of that place is called: 'The Heap of Witness,' after this heap.
9 But before they used to call the land of Gilead the land of the Rephaim; for it was the land of the Rephaim, and the Rephaim were born (there), giants whose height was ten, nine, eight down to seven cubits.
10 And their habitation was from the land of the children of Ammon to Mount Hermon, and the seats of their kingdom were Karnaim and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, and Misur, and Beon.
11 And YAHWEH destroyed them because of the evil of their deeds; for they were very malignant, and the Amorites dwelt in their stead, wicked and sinful, and there is no people to-day which has wrought to the full all their sins, and they have no longer length of life on the earth.
12 And Yacob sent away Laban, and he departed into Mesopotamia, the land of the East, and Yacob returned to the land of Gilead.
13 And he passed over the Jabbok in the ninth month, on the eleventh thereof. And on that day Esau, his brother, came to him, and he was reconciled to him, and departed from him to the land of Seir, but Yacob dwelt in tents.
14 And in the first year of the fifth week in this jubilee [2136 A.M.] he crossed the Jordan, and dwelt beyond the Jordan, and he pastured his sheep from the sea of the heap unto Bethshan, and unto Dothan and unto the forest of Akrabbim.
15 And he sent to his father Yitschaq of all his substance, clothing, and food, and meat, and drink, and milk, and butter, and cheese, and some dates of the valley.
16 And to his mother Rebecca also four times a year, between the times of the months, between ploughing and reaping, and between autumn and the rain (season) and between winter and spring, to the tower of Abraham.
17 For Yitschaq had returned from the ‘Well of the Oath’ and gone up to the tower of his father Abraham, and he dwelt there apart from his son Esau.
18 For in the days when Yacob went to Mesopotamia, Esau took to himself a wife Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, and he gathered together all the flocks of his father and his wives, and went up and dwelt on Mount Seir, and left Yitschaq his father at the ‘Well of the Oath’ alone.
19 And Yitschaq went up from the ‘Well of the Oath’ and dwelt in the tower of Abraham his father on the mountains of Hebron,
20 And thither Yacob sent all that he did send to his father and his mother from time to time, all they needed, and they blessed Yacob with all their heart and with all their soul.

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Book of Jubilees 27, 28

JUBILEES 27

Rebecca calls Yacob and sends him to Laban

1 And the words of Esau, her elder son, were told to Rebecca in a dream, and Rebecca sent and called Yacob her younger son,
2 And said to him: 'Behold Esau your brother will take vengeance on you so as to kill you.
3 Now, therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise and flee you to Laban, my brother, to Haran, and tarry with him a few days until your brother's anger turns away, and he remove his anger from you, and forget all that you have done; then I will send and fetch you from there.'
4,5 And Yacob said: 'I am not afraid; if he wishes to kill me, I will kill him.' But she said unto him: 'Let me not be bereft of both my sons on one day.'
6 And Yacob said to Rebecca his mother: 'Behold, you know that my father has become old, and does not see because his eyes are dull, and if I leave him it will be evil in his eyes, because I leave him and go away from you, and my father will be angry, and will curse me. I will not go; when he sends me, then only will I go.'
7 And Rebecca said to Yacob: 'I will go in and speak to him, and he will send you away.'
8 And Rebecca went in and said to Yitschaq: 'I loathe my life because of the two daughters of Heth, whom Esau has taken him as wives; and if Yacob take a wife from among the daughters of the land such as these, for what purpose do I further live, for the daughters of Canaan are evil.'
9 And Yitschaq called Yacob and blessed him, and admonished him and said to him:
10 'Do not take you a wife of any of the daughters of Canaan; arise and go to Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and take you a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.
11 And YAHWEH Almighty bless you and increase and multiply you that you may become a company of nations, and give you the blessings of my father Abraham, to you and to your seed after you, that you may inherit the land of your sojournings and all the land which YAHWEH gave to Abraham: go, my son, in shalom.'
12 And Yitschaq sent Yacob away, and he went to Mesopotamia, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebecca, Yacob's mother.
13 And it came to pass after Yacob had arisen to go to Mesopotamia that the spirit of Rebecca was grieved after her son, and she wept.
14 And Yitschaq said to Rebecca: 'My sister, weep not on account of Yacob, my son; for he goes in shalom, and in shalom will he return.
15 The Most High YAHWEH will preserve him from all evil, and will be with him; for He will not forsake him all his days;
16 For I know that his ways will be prospered in all things wherever he goes, until he return in shalom to us, and we see him in shalom.
17 Fear not on his account, my sister, for he is on the upright path and he is a perfect man: and he is faithful and will not perish. Weep not.'
18 And Yitschaq comforted Rebecca on account of her son Yacob, and blessed him.
19 And Yacob went from the “Well of the Oath” to go to Haran on the first year of the second week in the forty-fourth jubilee, and he came to Luz on the mountains, that is, Bethel, on the new month of the first month of this week, [2115 A.M.] and he came to the place at even and turned from the way to the west of the road that night: and he slept there; for the sun had set.
20 And he took one of the stones of that place and laid under the tree, and he was journeying alone, and he slept.
21 And he dreamt that night, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold, the malakim of YAHWEH ascended and descended on it: and behold, YAHWEH stood upon it.
22 And he spoke to Yacob and said: 'I am YAHWEH ALMIGHTY of Abraham, your father, and the ALMIGHTY of Yitschaq; the land whereon you are sleeping, to you will I give it, and to your seed after you.
23 And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall increase to the west and to the east, to the north and the south, and in you and in your seed shall all the families of the nations be blessed.
24 And behold, I will be with you, and will keep you wheresoever’s you go, and I will bring you again into this land in shalom; for I will not leave you until I do everything that I told you of.'
25 And Yacob awoke from his sleep, and said, 'Truly this place is the house of YAHWEH, and I knew it not.' And he was afraid and said: 'Dreadful is this place which is none other than the house of YAHWEH, and this is the gate of heaven.'
26 And Yacob arose early in the morning, and took the stone which he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar for a sign, and he poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of the place was Luz at the first.
27 And Yacob vowed a vow unto YAHWEH, saying: 'If YAHWEH will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and give me bread to eat and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in shalom, then shall YAHWEH be my Sovereign Ruler, and this stone which I have set up as a pillar for a sign in this place, shall be YAHWEH's house, and of all that you give me, I shall give the tenth to you, my ALMIGHTY.'

JUBILEES 28

Laban gives Leah his elder daughter to Yacob as a wife

1 And he went on his journey, and came to the land of the east, to Laban, the brother of Rebecca, and he was with him, and served him for Rachel his daughter one week.
2 And in the first year of the third week [2122 A.M.] he said to him: 'Give me my wife, for whom I have served you seven years '; and Laban said to Yacob: 'I will give you your wife.'
3 And Laban made a feast, and took Leah his elder daughter, and gave (her) to Yacob as a wife, and gave her Zilpah his handmaid for an handmaid; and Yacob did not know, for he thought that she was Rachel.
4 And he went in unto her, and behold, she was Leah; and Yacob was angry with Laban, and said to him: 'Why have you dealt this way with me? Did not I serve you for Rachel and not for Leah? Why have you wronged me?
5 Take your daughter, and I will go; for you have done evil to me.' For Yacob loved Rachel more than Leah; for Leah's eyes were weak, but her form was very handsome; but Rachel had beautiful eyes and a beautiful and very handsome form.
6 And Laban said to Yacob: 'It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the elder.' And it is not right to do this; for thus it is ordained and written in the heavenly tablets, that no one should give his younger daughter before the elder; but the elder, one gives first and after her the younger -and the man who does so, they set down guilt against him in heaven, and none is righteous that does this thing, for this deed is evil before YAHWEH.
7 And command you the children of Yisrael that they do not this thing; let them neither take nor give the younger before they have given the elder, for it is very wicked.
8 And Laban said to Yacob: 'Let the seven days of the feast of this one pass by, and I shall give you Rachel, that you may serve me another seven years, that you may pasture my sheep as you didst in the former week.' And on the day when the seven days of the feast of Leah had passed, Laban gave Rachel to Yacob, that he might serve him another seven years, and he gave to Rachel Bilhah, the sister of Zilpah, as a handmaid.
10 And he served yet other seven years for Rachel, for Leah had been given to him for nothing.
11 And YAHWEH opened the womb of Leah, and she conceived and bare Yacob a son, and he called his name Reuben, on the fourteenth day of the ninth month, in the first year of the third week. [2122 A.M.]
12 But the womb of Rachel was closed, for YAHWEH saw that Leah was hated and Rachel loved.
13 And again Yacob went in unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare Yacob a second son, and he called his name Simeon, on the twenty-first of the tenth month, and in the third year of this week. [2124 A.M.]
14 And again Yacob went in unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare him a third son, and he called his name Levi, in the new month of the first month in the sixth year of this week. [2127 A.M.]
15 And again Yacob went in unto her, and she conceived, and bare him a fourth son, and he called his name Yahudah, on the fifteenth of the third month, in the first year of the fourth week. [2129 A.M.]
16 And on account of all this Rachel envied Leah, for she did not bear, and she said to Yacob: 'Give me children'; and Yacob said: 'Have I withheld from you the fruits of your womb? Have I forsaken you?'
17 And when Rachel saw that Leah had borne four sons to Yacob, Reuben and Simeon and Levi and Yahudah, she said to him: 'Go in unto Bilhah my handmaid, and she will conceive, and bear a son unto me.'
18 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife. And he went in unto her, and she conceived, and bare him a son, and he called his name Dan, on the ninth of the sixth month, in the sixth year of the third week. [2127 A.M.]
19 And Yacob went in again unto Bilhah a second time, and she conceived, and bare Yacob another son, and Rachel called his name Napthali, on the fifth of the seventh month, in the second year of the fourth week. [2130 A.M.]
20 And when Leah saw that she had become sterile and did not bear, she envied Rachel, and she also gave her handmaid Zilpah to Yacob to wife, and she conceived, and bare a son, and Leah called his name Gad, on the twelfth of the eighth month, in the third year of the fourth week. [2131 A.M.]
21 And he went in again unto her, and she conceived, and bare him a second son, and Leah called his name Asher, on the second of the eleventh month, in the fifth year of the fourth week. [2133 A.M.]
22 And Yacob went in unto Leah, and she conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Issachar, on the fourth of the fifth month, in the fourth year of the fourth week,[2132 A.M.] and she gave him to a nurse.
23 And Yacob went in again unto her, and she conceived, and bare two (children), a son and a daughter, and she called the name of the son Zabulon, and the name of the daughter Dinah, in the seventh of the seventh month, in the sixth year of the fourth week. [2134 A.M.]
24 And YAHWEH was gracious to Rachel, and opened her womb, and she conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Yoseph, on the new month of the fourth month, in the sixth year in this fourth week. [2134 A.M.]
25 And in the days when Yoseph was born, Yacob said to Laban: 'Give me my wives and sons, and let me go to my father Yitschaq, and let me make me an house; for I have completed the years in which I have served you for your two daughters, and I will go to the house of my father.'
26 And Laban said to Yacob: 'Tarry with me for your wages, and pasture my flock for me again, and take your wages.'
27 And they agreed with one another that he should give him as his wages those of the lambs and kids which were born black and spotted and white, (these) were to be his wages.
28 And all the sheep brought forth spotted and speckled and black, variously marked, and they brought forth again lambs like themselves, and all that were spotted were Yacob's and those which were not were Laban's.
29 And Yacob's possessions multiplied exceedingly, and he possessed oxen and sheep and asses and camels, and menservants and maid-servants.
30 And Laban and his sons envied Yacob, and Laban took back his sheep from him, and he observed him with evil intent.

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Jasher, Chapter 59

1 And these are the names of the sons of Yisrael who dwelt in Egypt, who had come with Yacob, all the sons of Yacob came unto Egypt, every man with his household.
2 The children of Leah were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Yahudah, Issachar and Zebulun, and their sister Dinah.
3 And the sons of Rachel were Yoseph and Benjamin.
4 And the sons of Zilpah, the handmaid of Leah, were Gad and Asher.
5 And the sons of Bilhah, the handmaid of Rachel, were Dan and Naphtali.
6 And these were their offspring that were born unto them in the land of Canaan, before they came unto Egypt with their father Yacob.
7 The sons of Reuben were Chanoch, Pallu, Chetzron and Carmi.
8 And the sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zochar and Saul, the son of the Canaanitish woman.
9 And the children of Levi were Gershon, Kehath and Merari, and their sister Jochebed, who was born unto them in their going down to Egypt.
10 And the sons of Yahudah were Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez and Zarach.
11 And Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan; and the sons of Perez were Chezron and Chamul.
12 And the sons of Issachar were Tola, Puvah, Job and Shomron.
13 And the sons of Zebulun were Sered, Elon and Jachleel, and the son of Dan was Chushim.
14 And the sons of Naphtali were Jachzeel, Guni, Jetzer and Shilam.
15 And the sons of Gad were Ziphion, Chaggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi and Areli.
16 And the children of Asher were Jimnah, Jishvah, Jishvi, Beriah and their sister Serach; and the sons of Beriah were Cheber and Malchiel.
17 And the sons of Benjamin were Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Achi, Rosh, Mupim, Chupim and Ord.
18 And the sons of Yoseph, that were born unto him in Egypt, were Manasseh and Ephraim.
19 And all the souls that went forth from the loins of Yacob, were seventy souls; these are they who came with Yacob their father unto Egypt to dwell there: and Yoseph and all his brethren dwelt securely in Egypt, and they ate of the best of Egypt all the days of the life of Yoseph.
20 And Yoseph lived in the land of Egypt ninety-three years, and Yoseph reigned over all Egypt eighty years.
21 And when the days of Yoseph drew nigh that he should die, he sent and called for his brethren and all his father's household, and they all came together and sat before him.
22 And Yoseph said unto his brethren and unto the whole of his father's household, Behold I die, and YAHWEH will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land which he swore to your fathers to give unto them.
23 And it shall be when YAHWEH shall visit you to bring you up from here to the land of your fathers, then bring up my bones with you from here.
24 And Yoseph made the sons of Yisrael to swear for their seed after them, saying, YAHWEH will surely visit you and you shall bring up my bones with you from here.
Year 2309
25 And it came to pass after this that Yoseph died in that year, the seventy-first year of the Yisraelites going down to Egypt.
26 And Yoseph was one hundred and ten years old when he died in the land of Egypt, and all his brethren and all his servants rose up and they embalmed Yoseph, as was their custom, and his brethren and all Egypt mourned over him for seventy days.
27 And they put Yoseph in a coffin filled with spices and all sorts of perfume, and they buried him by the side of the river, that is Sihor, and his sons and all his brethren, and the whole of his father's household made a seven day's mourning for him.
28 And it came to pass after the death of Yoseph, all the Egyptians began in those days to rule over the children of Yisrael, and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who reigned in his father's stead, took all the laws of Egypt and conducted the whole government of Egypt under his counsel, and he reigned securely over his people.

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Jasher, Chapter 41

1 And at the revolution of the year the sons of Yacob journeyed from Shechem, and they came to Hebron, to their father Yitschaq, and they dwelt there, but their flocks and herds they fed daily in Shechem, for there was there in those days good and fat pasture, and Yacob and his sons and all their household dwelt in the valley of Hebron.
Year 2214
2 And it was in those days, in that year, being the hundred and sixth year of the life of Yacob, in the tenth year of Yacob's coming from Padan-aram, that Leah the wife of Yacob died; she was fifty-one years old when she died in Hebron.
3 And Yacob and his sons buried her in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which is in Hebron, which Abraham had bought from the children of Heth, for the possession of a burial place.
4 And the sons of Yacob dwelt with their father in the valley of Hebron, and all the inhabitants of the land knew their strength and their fame went throughout the land.
5 And Yoseph the son of Yacob, and his brother Benjamin, the sons of Rachel, the wife of Yacob, were yet young in those days, and did not go out with their brethren during their battles in all the cities of the Amorites.
6 And when Yoseph saw the strength of his brethren, and their greatness, he praised them and extolled them, but he ranked himself greater than them, and extolled himself above them; and Yacob, his father, also loved him more than any of his sons, for he was a son of his old age, and through his love toward him, he made him a coat of many colors.
7 And when Yoseph saw that his father loved him more than his brethren, he continued to exalt himself above his brethren, and he brought unto his father evil reports concerning them.
8 And the sons of Yacob seeing the whole of Yoseph's conduct toward them, and that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him all the days.
9 And Yoseph was seventeen years old, and he was still magnifying himself above his brethren, and thought of raising himself above them.
10 At that time he dreamed a dream, and he came unto his brothers and told them his dream, and he said unto them, I dreamed a dream, and behold we were all binding sheaves in the field, and my sheaf rose and placed itself upon the ground and your sheaves surrounded it and bowed down to it.
11 And his brethren answered him and said unto him, What means this dream that you didst dream? dost you imagine in your heart to reign or rule over us?
12 And he still came, and told the thing to his father Yacob, and Yacob kissed Yoseph when he heard these words from his mouth, and Yacob blessed Yoseph.
13 And when the sons of Yacob saw that their father had blessed Yoseph and had kissed him, and that he loved him exceedingly, they became jealous of him and hated him the more.
14 And after this Yoseph dreamed another dream and related the dream to his father in the presence of his brethren, and Yoseph said unto his father and brethren, Behold I have again dreamed a dream, and behold the sun and the moon and the eleven stars bowed down to me.
15 And his father heard the words of Yoseph and his dream, and seeing that his brethren hated Yoseph on account of this matter, Yacob therefore rebuked Yoseph before his brethren on account of this thing, saying, What means this dream which you hast dreamed, and this magnifying thyself before your brethren who are older than you are?
16 Dost you imagine in your heart that I and your mother and your eleven brethren will come and bow down to you, that you speakest these things?
17 And his brethren were jealous of him on account of his words and dreams, and they continued to hate him, and Yacob reserved the dreams in his heart.
18 And the sons of Yacob went one day to feed their father's flock in Shechem, for they were still herdsmen in those days; and while the sons of Yacob were that day feeding in Shechem they delayed, and the time of gathering in the cattle was passed, and they had not arrived.
19 And Yacob saw that his sons were delayed in Shechem, and Yacob said within himself, Peradventure the people of Shechem have risen up to fight against them, therefore they have delayed coming this day.
20 And Yacob called Yoseph his son and commanded him, saying, Behold your brethren are feeding in Shechem this day, and behold they have not yet come back; go now therefore and see where they are, and bring me word back concerning the welfare of your brethren and the welfare of the flock.
21 And Yacob sent his son Yoseph to the valley of Hebron, and Yoseph came for his brothers to Shechem, and could not find them, and Yoseph went about the field which was near Shechem, to see where his brothers had turned, and he missed his road in the wilderness, and knew not which way he should go.
22 And an heavenly messenger of YAHWEH found him wandering in the road toward the field, and Yoseph said unto the heavenly messenger of YAHWEH, I seek my brethren; hast you not heard where they are feeding? and the heavenly messenger of YAHWEH said unto Yoseph, I saw your brethren feeding here, and I heard them say they would go to feed in Dothan.
23 And Yoseph hearkened to the voice of the heavenly messenger of YAHWEH, and he went to his brethren in Dothan and he found them in Dothan feeding the flock.
24 And Yoseph advanced to his brethren, and before he had come nigh unto them, they had resolved to slay him.
25 And Simeon said to his brethren, Behold the man of dreams is coming unto us this day, and now therefore come and let us kill him and cast him in one of the pits that are in the wilderness, and when his father shall seek him from us, we will say an evil beast has devoured him.
26 And Reuben heard the words of his brethren concerning Yoseph, and he said unto them, You should not do this thing, for how can we look up to our father Yacob? Cast him into this pit to die there, but stretch not forth a hand upon him to spill his blood; and Reuben said this in order to deliver him from their hand, to bring him back to his father.
27 And when Yoseph came to his brethren he sat before them, and they rose upon him and seized him and smote him to the earth, and stripped the coat of many colors which he had on.
28 And they took him and cast him into a pit, and in the pit there was no water, but serpents and scorpions. And Yoseph was afraid of the serpents and scorpions that were in the pit. And Yoseph cried out with a loud voice, and YAHWEH hid the serpents and scorpions in the sides of the pit, and they did no harm unto Yoseph.
29 And Yoseph called out from the pit to his brethren, and said unto them, What have I done unto you, and in what have I sinned? why do you not fear YAHWEH concerning me? am I not of your bones and flesh, and is not Yacob your father, my father? why do you do this thing unto me this day, and how will you be able to look up to our father Yacob?
30 And he continued to cry out and call unto his brethren from the pit, and he said, O Yahudah, Simeon, and Levi, my brethren, lift me up from the place of darkness in which you have placed me, and come this day to have compassion on me, ye children of YAHWEH, and sons of Yacob my father. And if I have sinned unto you, are you not the sons of Abraham, Yitschaq, and Yacob? if they saw an orphan they had compassion over him, or one that was hungry, they gave him bread to eat, or one that was thirsty, they gave him water to drink, or one that was naked, they covered him with garments!
31 And how then will you withhold your pity from your brother, for I am of your flesh and bones, and if I have sinned unto you, surely you will do this on account of my father!
32 And Yoseph spoke these words from the pit, and his brethren could not listen to him, nor incline their ears to the words of Yoseph, and Yoseph was crying and weeping in the pit.
33 And Yoseph said, O that my father knew, this day, the act which my brothers have done unto me, and the words which they have this day spoken unto me.
34 And all his brethren heard his cries and weeping in the pit, and his brethren went and removed themselves from the pit, so that they might not hear the cries of Yoseph and his weeping in the pit.

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Jasher, Chapter 36

1 At that time YAHWEH appeared unto Yacob (Jacob) saying, Arise, go to Bethel and remain there, and make there an altar to YAHWEH who appeares unto you, who delivered you and your sons from affliction.
2 And Yacob rose up with his sons and all belonging to him, and they went and came to Bethel according to the word of YAHWEH.
3 And Yacob was ninety-nine years old when he went up to Bethel, and Yacob and his sons and all the people that were with him, remained in Bethel in Luz, and he there built an altar to YAHWEH who appeared unto him, and Yacob and his sons remained in Bethel six months.
4 At that time died Deborah the daughter of Uz, the nurse of Rebecca, who had been with Yacob; and Yacob buried her beneath Bethel under an oak that was there.
Year 2208
5 And Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel, the mother of Yacob, also died at that time in Hebron, the same is Kireath-arba, and she was buried in the cave of Machpelah which Abraham had bought from the children of Heth.
6 And the life of Rebecca was one hundred and thirty-three years, and she died and when Yacob heard that his mother Rebecca was dead he wept bitterly for his mother, and made a great mourning for her, and for Deborah her nurse beneath the oak, and he called the name of that place Allon-bachuth.
7 And Laban the Syrian died in those days, for YAHWEH smote him because he transgressed the covenant that existed between him and Yacob.
8 And Yacob was a hundred years old when YAHWEH appeared unto him, and blessed him and called his name Yisrael, and Rachel the wife of Yacob conceived in those days.
9 And at that time Yacob and all belonging to him journeyed from Bethel to go to his father's house, to Hebron.
10 And while they were going on the road, and there was yet but a little way to come to Ephrath, Rachel bare a son and she had hard labor and she died.
11 And Yacob buried her in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem, and he set a pillar upon her grave, which is there unto this day; and the days of Rachel were forty-five years and she died.
12 And Yacob called the name of his son that was born to him, which Rachel bare unto him, Benjamin, for he was born to him in the land on the right hand.
13 And it was after the death of Rachel, that Yacob pitched his tent in the tent of her handmaid Bilhah.
14 And Reuben was jealous for his mother Leah on account of this, and he was filled with anger, and he rose up in his anger and went and entered the tent of Bilhah and he thence removed his father's bed.
15 At that time the portion of birthright, together with the kingly and priestly offices, was removed from the sons of Reuben, for he had profaned his father's bed, and the birthright was given unto Yoseph, the kingly office to Yahudah, and the priesthood unto Levi, because Reuben had defiled his father's bed.
16 And these are the generations of Yacob who were born to him in Padan-aram, and the sons of Yacob were twelve.
17 The sons of Leah were Reuben the first born, and Simeon, Levi, Yahudah, Issachar, Zebulun, and their sister Dinah; and the sons of Rachel were Yoseph and Benjamin.
18 The sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, were Gad and Asher, and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, were Dan and Naphtali; these are the sons of Yacob which were born to him in Padan-aram.
19 And Yacob and his sons and all belonging to him journeyed and came to Mamre, which is Kireath-arba, that is in Hebron, where Abraham and Yitschaq sojourned, and Yacob with his sons and all belonging to him, dwelt with his father in Hebron.
20 And his brother Esau and his sons, and all belonging to him went to the land of Seir and dwelt there, and had possessions in the land of Seir, and the children of Esau were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly in the land of Seir.
21 And these are the generations of Esau that were born to him in the land of Canaan, and the sons of Esau were five.
22 And Adah bare to Esau his first born Eliphaz, and she also bare to him Reuel, and Ahlibamah bare to him Jeush, Yaalam and Korah.
23 These are the children of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan; and the sons of Eliphaz the son of Esau were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz and Amalex, and the sons of Reuel were Nachath, Zerach, Shamah and Mizzah.
24 And the sons of Jeush were Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth; and the sons of Yaalam were Alah, Phinor and Kenaz.
25 And the sons of Korah were Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel and Eram; these are the families of the sons of Esau according to their dukedoms in the land of Seir.
26 And these are the names of the sons of Seir the Horite, inhabitants of the land of Seir, Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishan, Ezer and Dishon, being seven sons.
27 And the children of Lotan were Hori, Heman and their sister Timna, that is Timna who came to Yacob and his sons, and they would not give ear to her, and she went and became a concubine to Eliphaz the son of Esau, and she bare to him Amalek.
28 And the sons of Shobal were Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam, and the sons of Zibeon were Ajah, and Anah, this was that Anah who found the Yemim in the wilderness when he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.
29 And while he was feeding his father's asses he led them to the wilderness at different times to feed them.
30 And there was a day that he brought them to one of the deserts on the sea shore, opposite the wilderness of the people, and while he was feeding them, behold a very heavy storm came from the other side of the sea and rested upon the asses that were feeding there, and they all stood still.
31 And afterward about one hundred and twenty great and terrible animals came out from the wilderness at the other side of the sea, and they all came to the place where the asses were, and they placed themselves there.
32 And those animals, from their middle downward, were in the shape of the children of men, and from their middle upward, some had the likeness of bears, and some the likeness of the keephas, with tails behind them from between their shoulders reaching down to the earth, like the tails of the ducheephath, and these animals came and mounted and rode upon these asses, and led them away, and they went away unto this day.
33 And one of these animals approached Anah and smote him with his tail, and then fled from that place.
34 And when he saw this work he was exceedingly afraid of his life, and he fled and escaped to the city.
35 And he related to his sons and brothers all that had happened to him, and many men went to seek the asses but could not find them, and Anah and his brothers went no more to that place from that day following, for they were greatly afraid of their lives.
36 And the children of Anah the son of Seir, were Dishon and his sister Ahlibamah, and the children of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Cheran, and the children of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan and Akan, and the children of Dishon were Uz and Aran.
37 These are the families of the children of Seir the Horite, according to their dukedoms in the land of Seir.
38 And Esau and his children dwelt in the land of Seir the Horite, the inhabitant of the land, and they had possessions in it and were fruitful and multiplied exceedingly, and Yacob and his children and all belonging to them, dwelt with their father Yitschaq in the land of Canaan, as YAHWEH had commanded Abraham their father.

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Jasher, Chapter 33

1 And in some time after Yacob went away from the borders of the land, and he came to the land of Shalem, that is the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, and he rested in front of the city.
2 And he bought a parcel of the field which was there, from the children of Hamor the people of the land, for five shekels.
3 And Yacob there built himself a house, and he pitched his tent there, and he made booths for his cattle, therefore he called the name of that place Succoth.
4 And Yacob remained in Succoth a year and six months.
5 At that time some of the women of the inhabitants of the land went to the city of Shechem to dance and rejoice with the daughters of the people of the city, and when they went forth then Rachel and Leah the wives of Yacob with their families also went to behold the rejoicing of the daughters of the city.
6 And Dinah the daughter of Yacob also went along with them and saw the daughters of the city, and they remained there before these daughters while all the people of the city were standing by them to behold their rejoicings, and all the great people of the city were there.
7 And Shechem the son of Hamor, the prince of the land was also standing there to see them.
8 And Shechem beheld Dinah the daughter of Yacob sitting with her mother before the daughters of the city, and the damsel pleased him greatly, and he there asked his friends and his people, saying, Whose daughter is that sitting amongst the women, whom I do not know in this city?
9 And they said unto him, Surely this is the daughter of Yacob the son of Yitschaq the Hebrew, who has dwelt in this city for some time, and when it was reported that the daughters of the land were going forth to rejoice she went with her mother and maid servants to sit amongst them as you seest.
10 And Shechem beheld Dinah the daughter of Yacob, and when he looked at her his soul became fixed upon Dinah.
11 And he sent and had her taken by force, and Dinah came to the house of Shechem and he seized her forcibly and lay with her and humbled her, and he loved her exceedingly and placed her in his house.
12 And they came and told the thing unto Yacob, and when Yacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, Yacob sent twelve of his servants to fetch Dinah from the house of Shechem, and they went and came to the house of Shechem to take away Dinah from there.
13 And when they came Shechem went out to them with his men and drove them from his house, and he would not suffer them to come before Dinah, but Shechem was sitting with Dinah kissing and embracing her before their eyes.
14 And the servants of Yacob came back and told him, saying, When we came, he and his men drove us away, and thus did Shechem do unto Dinah before our eyes.
15 And Yacob knew moreover that Shechem had defiled his daughter, but he said nothing, and his sons were feeding his cattle in the field, and Yacob remained silent till their return.
16 And before his sons came home Yacob sent two maidens from his servants' daughters to take care of Dinah in the house of Shechem, and to remain with her, and Shechem sent three of his friends to his father Hamor the son of Chiddekem, the son of Pered, saying, Get me this damsel for a wife.
17 And Hamor the son of Chiddekem the Hivite came to the house of Shechem his son, and he sat before him, and Hamor said unto his son, Shechem, Is there then no woman amongst the daughters of your people that you wilt take an Hebrew woman who is not of your people?
18 And Shechem said to him, Her only must you get for me, for she is delightful in my sight; and Hamor did according to the word of his son, for he was greatly beloved by him.
19 And Hamor went forth to Yacob to commune with him concerning this matter, and when he had gone from the house of his son Shechem, before he came to Yacob to speak unto him, behold the sons of Yacob had come from the field, as soon as they heard the thing that Shechem the son of Hamor had done.
20 And the men were very much grieved concerning their sister, and they all came home fired with anger, before the time of gathering in their cattle.
21 And they came and sat before their father and they spoke unto him kindled with wrath, saying, Surely death is due to this man and to his household, because YAHWEH the ALMIGHTY of the whole earth commanded Noah and his children that man shall never rob, nor commit adultery; now behold Shechem has both ravaged and committed fornication with our sister, and not one of all the people of the city spoke a word to him.
22 Surely you know and understand that the judgment of death is due to Shechem, and to his father, and to the whole city on account of the thing which he has done.
23 And while they were speaking before their father in this matter, behold Hamor the father of Shechem came to speak to Yacob the words of his son concerning Dinah, and he sat before Yacob and before his sons.
24 And Hamor spoke unto them, saying, The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter; I pray you give her unto him for a wife and intermarry with us; give us your daughters and we will give you our daughters, and you shall dwell with us in our land and we will be as one people in the land.
25 For our land is very extensive, so dwell ye and trade therein and get possessions in it, and do therein as you desire, and no one shall prevent you by saying a word to you.
26 And Hamor ceased speaking unto Yacob and his sons, and behold Shechem his son had come after him, and he sat before them.
27 And Shechem spoke before Yacob and his sons, saying, May I find favor in your sight that you will give me your daughter, and whatever you say unto me that will I do for her.
28 Ask me for abundance of dowry and gift, and I will give it, and whatever you shall say unto me that will I do, and whoever he be that will rebel against your orders, he shall die; only give me the damsel for a wife.
29 And Simeon and Levi answered Hamor and Shechem his son deceitfully, saying, All you have spoken unto us we will do for you.
30 And behold our sister is in your house, but keep away from her until we send to our father Yitschaq concerning this matter, for we can do nothing without his consent.
31 For he knows the ways of our father Abraham, and whatever he says unto us we will tell you, we will conceal nothing from you.
32 And Simeon and Levi spoke this unto Shechem and his father in order to find a pretext, and to seek counsel what was to be done to Shechem and to his city in this matter.
33 And when Shechem and his father heard the words of Simeon and Levi, it seemed good in their sight, and Shechem and his father came forth to go home.
34 And when they had gone, the sons of Yacob said unto their father, saying, Behold, we know that death is due to these wicked ones and to their city, because they transgressed that which YAHWEH had commanded unto Noah and his children and his seed after them.
35 And also because Shechem did this thing to our sister Dinah in defiling her, for such vileness shall never be done amongst us.
36 Now therefore know and see what you will do, and seek counsel and pretext what is to be done to them, in order to kill all the inhabitants of this city.
37 And Simeon said to them, Here is a proper advice for you: tell them to circumcise every male amongst them as we are circumcised, and if they do not wish to do this, we shall take our daughter from them and go away.
38 And if they consent to do this and will do it, then when they are sunk down with pain, we will attack them with our swords, as upon one who is quiet and peaceable, and we will slay every male person amongst them.
39 And Simeon's advice pleased them, and Simeon and Levi resolved to do unto them as it was proposed.
40 And on the next morning Shechem and Hamor his father came again unto Yacob and his sons, to speak concerning Dinah, and to hear what answer the sons of Yacob would give to their words.
41 And the sons of Yacob spoke deceitfully to them, saying, We told our father Yitschaq all your words, and your words pleased him.
42 But he spoke unto us, saying, Thus did Abraham his father command him from ALMIGHTY YAHWEH of the whole earth, that any man who is not of his descendants that should wish to take one of his daughters, shall cause every male belonging to him to be circumcised, as we are circumcised, and then we may give him our daughter for a wife.
43 Now we have made known to you all our ways that our father spoke unto us, for we cannot do this of which you spoke unto us, to give our daughter to an uncircumcised man, for it is a disgrace to us.
44 But herein will we consent to you, to give you our daughter, and we will also take unto ourselves your daughters, and will dwell amongst you and be one people as you have spoken, if you will hearken to us, and consent to be like us, to circumcise every male belonging to you, as we are circumcised.
45 And if you will not hearken unto us, to have every male circumcised as we are circumcised, as we have commanded, then we will come to you, and take our daughter from you and go away.
46 And Shechem and his father Hamor heard the words of the sons of Yacob, and the thing pleased them exceedingly, and Shechem and his father Hamor hastened to do the wishes of the sons of Yacob, for Shechem was very fond of Dinah, and his soul was riveted to her.
47 And Shechem and his father Hamor hastened to the gate of the city, and they assembled all the men of their city and spoke unto them the words of the sons of Yacob, saying,
48 We came to these men, the sons of Yacob, and we spoke unto them concerning their daughter, and these men will consent to do according to our wishes, and behold our land is of great extent for them, and they will dwell in it, and trade in it, and we shall be one people; we will take their daughters, and our daughters we will give unto them for wives.
49 But only on this condition will these men consent to do this thing, that every male amongst us be circumcised as they are circumcised, as YAHWEH their ALMIGHTY commanded them, and when we shall have done according to their instructions to be circumcised, then will they dwell amongst us, together with their cattle and possessions, and we shall be as one people with them.
50 And when all the men of the city heard the words of Shechem and his father Hamor, then all the men of their city were agreeable to this proposal, and they obeyed to be circumcised, for Shechem and his father Hamor were greatly esteemed by them, being the princes of the land.
51 And on the next day, Shechem and Hamor his father rose up early in the morning, and they assembled all the men of their city into the middle of the city, and they called for the sons of Yacob, who circumcised every male belonging to them on that day and the next.
52 And they circumcised Shechem and Hamor his father, and the five brothers of Shechem, and then every one rose up and went home, for this thing was from YAHWEH against the city of Shechem, and from YAHWEH was Simeon's counsel in this matter, in order that YAHWEH might deliver the city of Shechem into the hands of Yacob's two sons.

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Jasher, chapter 31

Year 2193
1 And in the seventh year, Yacob's service which he served Laban was completed, and Yacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for the days of my service are fulfilled; and Laban did so, and Laban and Yacob assembled all the people of that place and they made a feast.
2 And in the evening Laban came to the house, and afterward Yacob came there with the people of the feast, and Laban extinguished all the lights that were there in the house.
3 And Yacob said unto Laban, Wherefore dost you do this thing unto us? and Laban answered, Such is our custom to act in this land.
4 And afterward Laban took his daughter Leah, and he brought her to Yacob, and he came to her and Yacob did not know that she was Leah.
5 And Laban gave his daughter Leah his maid Zilpah for a handmaid.
6 And all the people at the feast knew what Laban had done to Yacob, but they did not tell the thing to Yacob.
7 And all the neighbors came that night to Yacob's house, and they ate and drank and rejoiced, and played before Leah upon timbrels, and with dances, and they responded before Yacob, Heleah, Heleah.
8 And Yacob heard their words but did not understand their meaning, but he thought such might be their custom in this land.
9 And the neighbors spoke these words before Yacob during the night, and all the lights that were in the house Laban had that night extinguished.
10 And in the morning, when daylight appeared, Yacob turned to his wife and he saw, and behold it was Leah that had been lying in his bosom, and Yacob said, Behold now I know what the neighbors said last night, Heleah, they said, and I knew it not.
11 And Yacob called unto Laban, and said unto him, What is this that you didst unto me? Surely I served you for Rachel, and why didst you deceive me and didst give me Leah?
12 And Laban answered Yacob, saying, Not so is it done in our place to give the younger before the elder now therefore if you desire to take her sister likewise, take her unto you for the service which you wilt serve me for another seven years.
13 And Yacob did so, and he also took Rachel for a wife, and he served Laban seven years more, and Yacob also came to Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and Laban gave her his maid Bilhah for a handmaid.
14 And when YAHWEH saw that Leah was hated, YAHWEH opened her womb, and she conceived and bare Yacob four sons in those days.
15 And these are their names, Reuben Simeon, Levi, and Yahudah, and she afterward left bearing.
16 And at that time Rachel was barren, and she had no offspring, and Rachel envied her sister Leah, and when Rachel saw that she bare no children to Yacob, she took her handmaid Bilhah, and she bare Yacob two sons, Dan and Naphtali.
17 And when Leah saw that she had left bearing, she also took her handmaid Zilpah, and she gave her to Yacob for a wife, and Yacob also came to Zilpah, and she also bare Yacob two sons, Gad and Asher.
18 And Leah again conceived and bare Yacob in those days two sons and one daughter, and these are their names, Issachar, Zebulon, and their sister Dinah.
19 And Rachel was still barren in those days, and Rachel prayed unto YAHWEH at that time, and she said, O YAHWEH the ALMIGHTY remember me and visit me, I beseech you, for now my husband will cast me off, for I have borne him no children.
20 Now O YAHWEH the ALMIGHTY, hear my supplication before you, and see my affliction, and give me children like one of the handmaids, that I may no more bear my reproach.
Year 2199
21 And YAHWEH heard her and opened her womb, and Rachel conceived and bare a son, and she said, YAHWEH has taken away my reproach, and she called his name Yoseph, saying, May YAHWEH add to me another son; and Yacob was ninety-one years old when she bare him.
22 At that time Yacob's mother, Rebecca, sent her nurse Deborah the daughter of Uz, and two of Yitschaq's servants unto Yacob.
23 And they came to Yacob to Haran and they said unto him, Rebecca has sent us to you that you shall return to your father's house to the land of Canaan; and Yacob hearkened unto them in this which his mother had spoken.
24 At that time, the other seven years which Yacob served Laban for Rachel were completed, and it was at the end of fourteen years that he had dwelt in Haran that Yacob said unto Laban, give me my wives and send me away, that I may go to my land, for behold my mother did send unto me from the land at Canaan that I should return to my father's house.
25 And Laban said unto him, Not so I pray you; if I have found favor in your sight do not leave me; appoint me your wages and I will give them, and remain with me.
26 And Yacob said unto him, This is what you shall give me for wages, that I shall this day pass through all your flock and take away from them every lamb that is speckled and spotted and such as are brown amongst the sheep, and amongst the goats, and if you wilt do this thing for me I will return and feed your flock and keep them as at first.
27 And Laban did so, and Laban removed from his flock all that Yacob had said and gave them to him.
28 And Yacob placed all that he had removed from Laban's flock in the hands of his sons, and Yacob was feeding the remainder of Laban's flock.
29 And when the servants of Yitschaq which he had sent unto Yacob saw that Yacob would not then return with them to the land of Canaan to his father, they then went away from him, and they returned home to the land of Canaan.
30 And Deborah remained with Yacob in Haran, and she did not return with the servants of Yitschaq to the land of Canaan, and Deborah resided with Yacob's wives and children in Haran.
31 And Yacob served Laban six years longer, and when the sheep brought forth, Yacob removed from them such as were speckled and spotted, as he had determined with Laban, and Yacob did so at Laban's for six years, and the man increased abundantly and he had cattle and maid servants and men servants, camels, and asses.
32 And Yacob had two hundred drove of cattle, and his cattle were of large size and of beautiful appearance and were very productive, and all the families of the sons of men desired to get some of the cattle of Yacob, for they were exceedingly prosperous.
33 And many of the sons of men came to procure some of Yacob's flock, and Yacob gave them a sheep for a man servant or a maid servant or for an ass or a camel, or whatever Yacob desired from them they gave him.
34 And Yacob obtained riches and honor and possessions by means of these transactions with the sons of men, and the children of Laban envied him of this honor.
35 And in the course of time he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Yacob has taken away all that was our father's, and of that which was our father's has he acquired all this splendor and honor.
36 And Yacob beheld the countenance of Laban and of his children, and behold it was not toward him in those days as it had been before.
37 And YAHWEH appeared to Yacob at the expiration of the six years, and said unto him, Arise, go forth out of this land, and return to the land of your birthplace and I will be with you.
38 And Yacob rose up at that time and he mounted his children and wives and all belonging to him upon camels, and he went forth to go to the land of Canaan to his father Yitschaq.
39 And Laban did not know that Yacob had gone from him, for Laban had been that day sheep-shearing.
40 And Rachel stole her father's images, and she took them and she concealed them upon the camel upon which she sat, and she went on.
41 And this is the manner of the images; in taking a man who is the first born and slaying him and taking the hair off his head, and taking salt and salting the head and anointing it in oil, then taking a small tablet of copper or a tablet of gold and writing the name upon it, and placing the tablet under his tongue, and taking the head with the tablet under the tongue and putting it in the house, and lighting up lights before it and bowing down to it.
42 And at the time when they bow down to it, it speaks to them in all matters that they ask of it, through the power of the name which is written in it.
43 And some make them in the figures of men, of gold and silver, and go to them in times known to them, and the figures receive the influence of the stars, and tell them future things, and in this manner were the images which Rachel stole from her father.
44 And Rachel stole these images which were her father's, in order that Laban might not know through them where Yacob had gone.
45 And Laban came home and he asked concerning Yacob and his household, and he was not to be found, and Laban sought his images to know where Yacob had gone, and could not find them, and he went to some other images, and he inquired of them and they told him that Yacob had fled from him to his father's, to the land of Canaan.
46 And Laban then rose up and he took his brothers and all his servants, and he went forth and pursued Yacob, and he overtook him in mount Gilead.
47 And Laban said unto Yacob, What is this you hast done to me to flee and deceive me, and lead my daughters and their children as captives taken by the sword?
48 And you didst not suffer me to kiss them and send them away with joy, and you didst steal my gods and didst go away.
49 And Yacob answered Laban, saying, Because I was afraid lest you wouldst take your daughters by force from me; and now with whomsoever you find your gods he shall die.
50 And Laban searched for the images and he examined in all Yacob's tents and furniture, but could not find them.
51 And Laban said unto Yacob, We will make a covenant together and it shall be a testimony between me and you; if you shall afflict my daughters, or shall take other wives besides my daughters, even YAHWEH shall be a witness between me and you in this matter.
52 And they took stones and made a heap, and Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and you, therefore he called the name thereof Gilead.
53 And Yacob and Laban offered sacrifice upon the mount, and they ate there by the heap, and they tarried in the mount all night, and Laban rose up early in the morning, and he wept with his daughters and he kissed them, and he returned unto his place.
54 And he hastened and sent off his son Beor, who was seventeen years old, with Abichorof the son of Uz, the son of Nahor, and with them were ten men.
55 And they hastened and went and passed on the road before Yacob, and they came by another road to the land of Seir.
56 And they came unto Esau and said unto him, Thus saith your brother and relative, your mother's brother Laban, the son of Bethuel, saying, 57 Hast you heard what Yacob your brother has done unto me, who first came to me naked and bare, and I went to meet him, and brought him to my house with honor, and I made him great, and I gave him my two daughters for wives and also two of my maids.
58 And YAHWEH blessed him on my account, and he increased abundantly, and had sons, daughters and maid servants.
59 He has also an immense stock of flocks and herds, camels and asses, also silver and gold in abundance; and when he saw that his wealth increased, he left me while I went to shear my sheep, and he rose up and fled in secrecy.
60 And he lifted his wives and children upon camels, and he led away all his cattle and property which he acquired in my land, and he lifted up his countenance to go to his father Yitschaq, to the land of Canaan.
61 And he did not suffer me to kiss my daughters and their children, and he led my daughters as captives taken by the sword, and he also stole my gods and he fled.
62 And now I have left him in the mountain of the brook of Jabuk, him and all belonging to him; he lacks nothing.
63 If it be your wish to go to him, go then and there wilt you find him, and you canst do unto him as your soul desireth; and Laban's messengers came and told Esau all these things.
64 And Esau heard all the words of Laban's messengers, and his anger was greatly kindled against Yacob, and he remembered his hatred, and his anger burned within him.
65 And Esau hastened and took his children and servants and the souls of his household, being sixty men, and he went and assembled all the children of Seir the Horite and their people, being three hundred and forty men, and took all this number of four hundred men with drawn swords, and he went unto Yacob to smite him.
66 And Esau divided this number into several parts, and he took the sixty men of his children and servants and the souls of his household as one head, and gave them in care of Eliphaz his eldest son.
67 And the remaining heads he gave to the care of the six sons of Seir the Horite, and he placed every man over his generations and children.
68 And the whole of this camp went as it was, and Esau went amongst them toward Yacob, and he conducted them with speed.
69 And Laban's messengers departed from Esau and went to the land of Canaan, and they came to the house of Rebecca the mother of Yacob and Esau.
70 And they told her saying, Behold your son Esau has gone against his brother Yacob with four hundred men, for he heard that he was coming, and he is gone to make war with him, and to smite him and to take all that he has.
71 And Rebecca hastened and sent seventy two men from the servants of Yitschaq to meet Yacob on the road; for she said, Peradventure, Esau may make war in the road when he meets him.
72 And these messengers went on the road to meet Yacob, and they met him in the road of the brook on the opposite side of the brook Jabuk, and Yacob said when he saw them, This camp is destined to me from YAHWEH, and Yacob called the name of that place Machnayim.
73 And Yacob knew all his father's people, and he kissed them and embraced them and came with them, and Yacob asked them concerning his father and mother, and they said, They were well.
74 And these messengers said unto Yacob, Rebecca your mother has sent us to you, saying, I have heard, my son, that your brother Esau has gone forth against you on the road with men from the children of Seir the Horite.
75 And therefore, my son, hearken to my voice and see with your counsel what you wilt do, and when he comes up to you, supplicate him, and do not speak rashly to him, and give him a present from what you possessest, and from what YAHWEH has favored you with.
76 And when he asks you concerning your affairs, conceal nothing from him, perhaps he may turn from his anger against you and you wilt thereby save your soul, you and all belonging to you, for it is your duty to honor him, for he is your elder brother.
77 And when Yacob heard the words of his mother which the messengers had spoken to him, Yacob lifted up his voice and wept bitterly, and did as his mother then commanded him.

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Jasher, Chapter 28

1 And in those days, after the death of Abraham, in that year YAHWEH brought a heavy famine in the land, and while the famine was raging in the land of Canaan, Yitschaq rose up to go down to Egypt on account of the famine, as his father Abraham had done.
2 And YAHWEH appeared that night to Yitschaq and he said to him, Do not go down to Egypt but rise and go to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines, and remain there till the famine shall cease.
3 And Yitschaq rose up and went to Gerar, as YAHWEH commanded him, and he remained there a full year.
4 And when Yitschaq came to Gerar, the people of the land saw that Rebecca his wife was of a beautiful appearance, and the people of Gerar asked Yitschaq concerning his wife, and he said, She is my sister, for he was afraid to say she was his wife lest the people of the land should slay him on account of her.
5 And the princes of Abimelech went and praised the woman to the king, but he answered them not, neither did he attend to their words.
6 But he heard them say that Yitschaq declared her to be his sister, so the king reserved this within himself.
7 And when Yitschaq had remained three months in the land, Abimelech looked out at the window, and he saw, and behold Yitschaq was sporting with Rebecca his wife, for Yitschaq dwelt in the outer house belonging to the king, so that the house of Yitschaq was opposite the house of the king.
8 And the king said unto Yitschaq, What is this you hast done to us in saying of your wife, She is my sister? how easily might one of the great men of the people have lain with her, and you wouldst then have brought guilt upon us.
9 And Yitschaq said unto Abimelech, Because I was afraid lest I die on account of my wife, therefore I said, She is my sister.
10 At that time Abimelech gave orders to all his princes and great men, and they took Yitschaq and Rebecca his wife and brought them before the king.
11 And the king commanded that they should dress them in princely garments, and make them ride through the streets of the city, and proclaim before them throughout the land, saying, This is the man and this is his wife; whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely die. And Yitschaq returned with his wife to the king's house, and YAHWEH was with Yitschaq and he continued to wax great and lacked nothing.
12 And YAHWEH caused Yitschaq to find favor in the sight of Abimelech, and in the sight of all his subjects, and Abimelech acted well with Yitschaq, for Abimelech remembered the oath and the covenant that existed between his father and Abraham.
13 And Abimelech said unto Yitschaq, Behold the whole earth is before you; dwell wherever it may seem good in your sight until you shall return to your land; and Abimelech gave Yitschaq fields and vineyards and the best part of the land of Gerar, to sow and reap and eat the fruits of the ground until the days of the famine should have passed by.
14 And Yitschaq sowed in that land, and received a hundred-fold in the same year, and YAHWEH blessed him.
15 And the man waxed great, and he had possession of flocks and possession of herds and great store of servants.
Year 2126
16 And when the days of the famine had passed away YAHWEH appeared to Yitschaq and said unto him, Rise up, go forth from this place and return to your land, to the land of Canaan; and Yitschaq rose up and returned to Hebron which is in the land of Canaan, he and all belonging to him as YAHWEH commanded him.
17 And after this Shelach the son at Arpachshad died in that year, which is the eighteenth year of the lives of Yacob and Esau; and all the days that Shelach lived were four hundred and thirty-three years and he died.
18 At that time Yitschaq sent his younger son Yacob to the house of Shem and Eber, and he learned the instructions of YAHWEH, and Yacob remained in the house of Shem and Eber for thirty-two years, and Esau his brother did not go, for he was not willing to go, and he remained in his father's house in the land of Canaan.
19 And Esau was continually hunting in the fields to bring home what he could get, so did Esau all the days.
20 And Esau was a designing and deceitful man, one who hunted after the hearts of men and inveigled them, and Esau was a valiant man in the field, and in the course of time went as usual to hunt; and he came as far as the field of Seir, the same is Edom.
21 And he remained in the land of Seir hunting in the field a year and four months.
22 And Esau there saw in the land of Seir the daughter of a man of Canaan, and her name was Jehudith, the daughter of Beeri, son of Epher, from the families of Heth the son of Canaan.
23 And Esau took her for a wife, and he came unto her; forty years old was Esau when he took her, and he brought her to Hebron, the land of his father's dwelling place, and he dwelt there.
Year 2158
24 And it came to pass in those days, in the hundred and tenth year of the life of Yitschaq, that is in the fiftieth year of the life of Yacob, in that year died Shem the son of Noah; Shem was six hundred years old at his death.
25 And when Shem died Yacob returned to his father to Hebron which is in the land of Canaan.
26 And in the fifty-sixth year of the life of Yacob, people came from Haran, and Rebecca was told concerning her brother Laban the son of Bethuel.
27 For the wife of Laban was barren in those days, and bare no children, and also all his handmaids bare none to him.
28 And YAHWEH afterward remembered Adinah the wife of Laban, and she conceived and bare twin daughters, and Laban called the names of his daughters, the name of the elder Leah, and the name of the younger Rachel.
29 And those people came and told these things to Rebecca, and Rebecca rejoiced greatly that YAHWEH had visited her brother and that he had got children.

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