The Amorites Plot to Kill the Sons of Jacob
34 And in the sixth year of this week of the forty-fourth jubilee, Jacob sent his sons to pasture his sheep, and his servants with them to the pasture of Shechem. 2And the seven kings of the Amorites assembled themselves against them to slay them, hiding themselves under the trees, and to take away their cattle and their wives. 3And Jacob and Levi and Judah and Joseph were at the house where Isaac their father was, for his spirit was sad, and they could not leave him; and Benjamin was the youngest, and on this account remained with his father. 4And the kings of Tapho and of Azesa and Saragon and Selo and Gaez, and the king of Betoron and of Manisaker came, and all those that dwell in those mountains, who dwell in the woods of the land of Canaan. 5And they announced this to Jacob, saying: "Behold the kings of the Amorites have surrounded thy sons in order to rob their herds." 6And he arose from his house, he and his three sons and the young men of his father, and went forth and went against them, eight hundred men who carried swords. 7And they slew them on the fields of Shechem, and pursued those that fled and slew them with the edge of the sword, and slew them at Aresa and Thapha and Seragen and Selo and Amanisakero and Gagaas. 8And he collected his herds; and he was more powerful than those and ordained a tax over them, that they should give him tribute, fine fruits of their land, and he built Reuben and Tamnatares. 9And he returned in peace, and made peace with them, and they were his servants until the day he and his sons descended down to the land of Egypt.
Joseph Betrayed by His Brothers
10And in the seventh year of this week he sent Joseph to learn about the safety of his brothers, from his house to Shechem, and he found them in the land of Dothan. 11And they waylaid him and made a plot against him to slay him; and changing, they sold him to Ishmaelite merchants, and they brought him to Egypt, and sold him to Potiphar, the eunuch of Pharaoh, the head cook, the one that sacrificed in the city of Elew.
Jacob is Deceived by His Sons
12And the sons of Jacob killed a young goat, and dipped the clothes of Joseph in its blood, and sent it to their father Jacob. 13And it was on the tenth of the seventh month, and they stayed all this day until the evening, and they brought it to him; and he became fevered in his grief unto death, and said: "A wild beast has devoured Joseph"; and on that day all the men of his house were with him, and mourned and lamented with him all the day. 14And his sons and his daughter arose to comfort him, but he could not be comforted on account of his son.
The Day of Jacob's Sorrow
15And on that day Balla heard that Joseph had been killed, and she died in her grief, and she was living at Kertaretef; and Dinah, his daughter, died also after Joseph had been slain. 16This threefold sorrow came over Israel in one month. 17And he buried Balla opposite the grave of Rachel, and Dinah, his daughter, he also buried there. 18And he continued mourning for Joseph one year, and did not cease, saying: "I will descend into the grave grieving for my son."
The Precedent for Yom Kippur
19And on this account it is ordained for the children of Israel, that they shall mourn on the tenth of the seventh month, on the day when they brought the sad news concerning Joseph to his father Jacob, that on it pardon should be sought by the death of a young goat, on the tenth of the seventh month, once a year, for their sins; for they had grieved the heart of their father on account of his son Joseph. 20And this day has been ordained that they shall lament on it over their sins, and on account of all their transgressions, and on account of their error, that they shall cleanse themselves on this day once a year.
The Wives of Jacob's Sons
21And after the death of Joseph the sons of Jacob took wives to themselves: first, the name of the wife of Reuben is Ada; secondly, the name of the wife of Simeon is Adiba, a Canaanite woman; third, the name of the wife of Levi is Melka, from among the daughters of Aram, from the seed of the sons of Taram; fourth, the name of the wife of Judah is Betasuel, a Canaanite woman; fifth, the name of the wife of Issachar is Jesakor Hezka; sixth, the name of the wife of Zebulun is Niiman; seventh, the name of the wife of Dan, Egla; eighth, the name of the wife of Naphtali is Rasua, of Mesopotamia; ninth, the name of the wife of Gad is Mak; and tenth, name of the wife of Asur is Ijon; eleventh, the name of the wife of Joseph is Asneth, an Egyptian woman; twelfth, the name of the wife of Benjamin is Ijoska. 22And Simeon repented and took a second wife from Mesopotamia, like his brothers.