Study Desk

But there is one thing that all our men must agree to do. They must agree to be circumcised as they are.

But Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have caused me a lot of trouble. All the people in this place will hate me. All the Canaanites and the Perizzites will turn against me. There are only a few of us. If the people in this place gather together to fight against us, I will be destroyed. And all our people will be destroyed with me."

But the brothers said, "Should we let these people treat our sister like a prostitute? They were wrong to do that to our sister!"

Then Jacob and his sons left that place. The people in the surrounding cities wanted to follow and kill them, but God filled them with such great fear that they did not go after them.

and said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but I will change that name. You will no longer be called Jacob. Your new name will be Israel." So God named him Israel.

Rachel died while giving birth to the son. Before dying, she named the boy Benoni. But Jacob called him Benjamin.

Joseph also told his father about this dream, but his father criticized him. His father said, "What kind of dream is this? Do you believe that your mother, your brothers, and I will bow down to you?"

Joseph's brothers continued to be jealous of him, but his father thought about all these things and wondered what they could mean.

But Reuben wanted to save Joseph. He said, "Let's not kill him.

Reuben had been gone, but when he came back to the well, he saw that Joseph was not there. He tore his clothes to show that he was upset.

All of Jacob's sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but Jacob was never comforted. He said, "I will be sad about my son until the day I die." So Jacob continued to mourn his son Joseph.

But Er did many bad things. The Lord was not happy with him, so the Lord killed him.

Onan knew that the children from this union would not belong to him. He had sexual relations with Tamar, but he did not allow himself to stay inside her.

Tamar always wore clothes that showed that she was a widow. So she put on some different clothes and covered her face with a veil. Then she sat down near the road going to Enaim, a town near Timnah. Tamar knew that Judah's younger son Shelah was now grown up, but Judah would not make plans for her to marry him.

Judah traveled on that road and saw her, but he thought that she was a prostitute. (Her face was covered with a veil like a prostitute.)

Judah answered, "I will send you a young goat from my flock." She answered, "I agree to that. But first you must give me something to keep until you send me the goat."

Later, Judah sent his friend Hirah to Enaim to give the prostitute the goat he promised. Judah also told Hirah to get the special seal and the walking stick from her, but Hirah could not find her.

So Judah said, "Let her keep the things. I don't want people to laugh at us. I tried to give her the goat, but we could not find her. That is enough."

The men went to Tamar to kill her, but she sent a message to her father-in-law that said, "The man who made me pregnant is the man who owns these things. Look at them. Whose are they? Whose special seal and string is this? Whose walking stick is this?"

But that baby pulled his hand back in, so the other baby was born first. So the nurse said, "You were able to break out first!" So they named him Perez.