Lost Books of the Bible (103 page)

3 Jacob was ninety-nine years old when he went up to Bethel, and Jacob and his sons and all the people that were with him remained in Bethel in Luz; he built an altar there to the Lord who appeared to him, and Jacob and his sons remained in Bethel six months.

4 At that time Deborah the daughter of Uz, the nurse of Rebecca, who had been with Jacob died and Jacob buried her beneath Bethel under an oak that was there.

5 And Rebecca the daughter of Bethuel, the mother of Jacob, also died at that time in Hebron, the same is Kireath-arba.  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.  When Jacob heard that his mother Rebecca was dead he wept bitterly for his mother, and made a great mourning for her and for Deborah her nurse beneath the oak.  He called the name of that place Allon-bachuth.

7 Laban the Syrian died in those days, for God struck him because he went contrary to the covenant that existed between him and Jacob.

8 Jacob was a hundred years old when the Lord appeared to him and blessed him and called his name Israel, and Rachel the wife of Jacob conceived in those days.

9 At that time Jacob 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 gave birth to a son; she had hard labor and died.

11 Jacob buried her on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem, and he set a pillar on her grave which is there to this day;  the days of Rachel were forty-five years when she died.

12 Jacob called the name of his son that was born to him, which Rachel gave birth to, Benjamin, for he was born to him in the land on the right hand.

13 It was after the death of Rachel that Jacob pitched his tent in the tent of her handmaid Bilhah.

14 And Reuben was jealous for his mother Leah on account of this; he was filled with anger, and he rose up in his anger and went and entered the tent of Bilhah and then 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; the birthright was given to Joseph, the kingly office to Judah, and the priesthood to Levi, because Reuben had defiled his father's bed.

16 These are the generations of Jacob who were born to him in Padan-aram, and the sons of Jacob were twelve:

17 The sons of Leah were Reuben the first born, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and their sister
Dinah; and the sons of Rachel were Joseph and Benjamin.

18 The sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, were Gad and Asher, and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, were Dan and Naphtali; these are the sons of Jacob which were born to him in Padan-aram.

19 Jacob and his sons and all belonging to him journeyed and came to Mamre, which is Kireath-arba, that is in Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned; Jacob with his sons and all belonging to him lived with his father in Hebron.

20 His brother Esau, his sons and all belonging to him went to the land of Seir and lived there and had possessions in the land of Seir, and the children of Esau were prolific and multiplied greatly in the land of Seir.

21 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 gave birth to, to Esau, his first born Eliphaz, and she also gave birth to, to him, Reuel, and Ahlibamah gave birth to, to him, Jeush, Yaalam and Korah.

23 These are the children of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan; the sons of Eliphaz the son of Esau were: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz and Amalex; the sons of Reuel were Nachath, Zerach, Shamah and Mizzah.

24 The sons of Jeush were Timnah, Alvah, Jetheth;  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 territories in the land of Seir.

26 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 The children of Lotan were Hori, Heman and their sister Timna, that is Timna who came to Jacob and his sons; they would not give ear to her and she became a concubine to Eliphaz the son of Esau;  she gave birth to, 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 There was a day that he brought them to one of the deserts on the seashore, opposite the wilderness of the people, and while he was feeding them, suddenly a very heavy storm came from the other side of the sea and rested on the asses that were feeding there, and they all stood still.

31 Afterward about one hundred and twenty great and terrible animals came out from the wilderness at the other side of the sea; 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; 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. These animals came and mounted and rode on these asses, and led them away, and they went away to this day.

33 One of these animals approached Anah, struck him with his tail, and then fled from that place.

34 And when he saw this work he was greatly afraid of his life, and he fled and escaped to the city.

35 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. Anah and his brothers went no more to that place from that day on for they were greatly afraid for their lives.

36 The children of Anah the son of Seir, were Dishon and his sister Ahlibamah; the children of Dishon were Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran and Cheran; 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  Esau and his children lived in the land of Seir the Horite, the inhabitant of the land, and they had possessions in it and were prolific and multiplied greatly. Jacob and his children and all belonging to them lived with their father Isaac in the land of Canaan, as the Lord had commanded Abraham their father.

CHAPTER 37

1 In the one hundred and fifth year of the life of Jacob, that is the ninth year of Jacob's dwelling with his children in the land of Canaan, he came from Padan-aram.

2 And in those days Jacob journeyed with his children from Hebron; they went and returned to the city of Shechem, they and all belonging to them and they lived there, for the children of Jacob obtained good and fattening pasture land for their cattle in the city of Shechem, the city of Shechem having then been rebuilt; there were in it about three hundred men and women.

3 Jacob and his children and all belonging to him lived in the part of the field which Jacob had bought from Hamor the father of Shechem, when he came from Padan-aram before Simeon and Levi had smitten the city.

4 And all those kings of the Canaanites and Amorites that surrounded the city of Shechem heard that the sons of Jacob had again come to Shechem and lived there.

5 They said, Shall the sons of Jacob the Hebrew again come to the city and dwell therein, after that they have smitten its inhabitants and driven them out? Shall they now return and also drive out those who are dwelling in the city or kill them?

6 And all the kings of Canaan again assembled, and they came together to make war with Jacob and his sons.

7 Jashub king of Tapnach sent also to all his neighboring kings, to Elan king of Gaash, and to Ihuri king of Shiloh, and to Parathon king of Chazar, and to Susi king of Sarton, and to Laban king of Bethchoran, and to Shabir king of Othnay-mah, saying,

8 Come up to me and assist me, and let us strike Jacob the Hebrew and his sons and all belonging to him, for they are again come to Shechem to possess it and to kill its inhabitants as before.

9 And all these kings assembled together and came with all their camps, a people greatly plentiful like the sand on the seashore, and they were all opposite to Tapnach.

10 Jashub king of Tapnach went forth to them with all his army, and he encamped with them opposite to Tapnach outside the city; all these kings they divided into seven divisions, being seven camps against the sons of Jacob.

11 And they sent a declaration to Jacob and his son, saying, All of you come forth to us that we may have an interview together in the plain, and revenge the cause of the men of Shechem whom you killed in their city; you will now again return to the city of Shechem and dwell therein, and kill its inhabitants as before.

12 The sons of Jacob heard this and their anger was set ablaze greatly at the words of the kings of Canaan, and ten of the sons of Jacob hurried and rose up, and each of them put on his weapons of war; and there were one hundred and two of their servants with them equipped in battle array.

13 And all these men, the sons of Jacob with their servants, went toward these kings and Jacob their father was with them;  they all stood on the heap of Shechem.

14 Jacob prayed to the Lord for his sons, and he spread forth his hands to the Lord, and said, O God, you are an Almighty God, you are our father; you did form us and we are the works of your hands; I pray you deliver my sons through your mercy from the hand of their enemies who are this day coming to fight with them and save them from their hand, for in your hand is power and might to save the few from the many.

15 And give to my sons, your servants, strength of heart and might to fight with their enemies, to subdue them, and to make their enemies fall before them.  Let not my sons and their servants die through the hands of the children of Canaan.

16 But if it seems good in your eyes to take away the lives of my sons and their servants, take them in your great mercy through the hands of your ministers, that they may not perish this day by the hands of the kings of the Amorites.

17 When Jacob ceased praying to the Lord the earth shook from its place, and the sun darkened, and all these kings were terrified and a great consternation seized them.

18 The Lord listened to the prayer of Jacob, and the Lord impressed the hearts of all the kings and their hosts with the terror and awe of the sons of Jacob.

19 For the Lord caused them to hear the voice of chariots, and the voice of mighty horses from the sons of Jacob, and the voice of a great army accompanying them.

20 And these kings were seized with great terror at the sons of Jacob; while they were standing in their quarters, behold the sons of Jacob advanced on them with one hundred and twelve men, with a great and tremendous shouting.

21 And when the kings saw the sons of Jacob advancing toward them, they were still more panic stricken; they were inclined to retreat from before the sons of Jacob as at first and not to fight with them.

22 But they did not retreat, saying, It would be a disgrace to us to retreat twice from before the Hebrews.

23 The sons of Jacob came near and advanced against all these kings and their armies, and what they saw was a very mighty people, numerous as the sand of the sea.

24 And the sons of Jacob called
to the Lord and said, Help us O Lord, help us and answer us, for we trust in you, and let us not die by the hands of these uncircumcised men who this day have come against us.