God modifies space and time to have an environment ready for the inhabitants of Earth.

Woman

That subtil serpent!

Twin boys Cain and Abel are Earth's first children. This chapter infamously ends in tragedy.

This chapter is mostly an epic catalogue detailing Seth's lineage which will produce Noah. Cain's lineage ended in chapter 4, or at least the documentation of it ends.

Noah's ark

The dove

The Rainbow

Epic catalog detailing Noah's lineage.

The tower of Babel.....epic catalog completing the lineage from Noah to Abram

God tells Abram to leave his home country. Abram, Sarai, and Lot journey to Egypt during the famine. Abram is rewarded handsomely for Sarai's beauty. This is how the three became wealthy in Genesis 13.

Abram, Sarai, and lot were made very wealthy through the gifts from Pharoah. The gifts were because of Sarai's desirability.

War ensues with five powerful kings. Lot, Abram's nephew, is captured during the skirmish. Thankfully, Abram has 318 armed men ready to ride out!

God confirms Abram will be a father of great nations. God also reveals a dream that Abram's descendant will be in captivity for 400 years, but emerge wealthy.

Impatient with the amount of time God is taking to fulfill His promise, Sarai arranges for her maid, Hagar to conceive with her husband. She ends up regretting this when Hagar becomes disrespectful.

God requires Abram and all the men in his household to become circumsized from the current generation on. Abram has no follow up questions for this request, but is in disbelief when God says Sarai will become pregnant. Abram and Sarai both receive a name change in this chapter.

Three men visit Abraham to re-confirm the prophecy of Sarah's pregnancy. Abraham intercedes on behalf of the wicked city of Sodom.

Two angels taking the forms of men visit Lot, Abraham's nephew. The men of Sodom surround Lot's home, demanding that Lot bring out the 'two men,' not knowing they are angels. They are demanding these men for sexual activity, the entire group.

Abraham travels to Gerar and has to check in with the king in order to dwell in that territory. Again, he misrepresents Sarah as only his sister, instead of his wife. We find out also that Sarah is his half sister.

Ishmael mocks Isaac, his younger brother. Sarah sees this and demands that Abraham send Ishmael and his mother, Hagar away.

God tests Abraham's full compliance by commanding him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. He follows God's directions without complaining.

Sarah dies, Abraham purchases a burial plot from Ephram of the "Children of Heth" or the Hittites, Noah's descendants from Ham. Abraham is Noah's descendant through Shem.

Abraham asks a servant to find a wife for his son, Isaac. Although Abraham lived in the land of Caanan, he did not want his son to marry a woman that lived there. Abraham asked his servant to go back to Abraham's hometown of Haran to find a wife.

Abraham marries Keturah, a woman that gives him 6 children. He dies in this chapter at age 175. We are introduced to Esau and Jacob.

During a famine in Gerar, God keeps his oath to Abraham. One harvest blessed by God makes Isaac more powerful and wealthy than King Abimelech. The Philistines grew envy for Isaac, motivating them to act against him. King Abimelech asks Isaac to leave Gerar.

Rachel orchestrates the circumstances for Jacob to deceive Isaac for Esau's blessing.

Isaac tells Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman, to go to Laban (Rachel's brother) and get a wife there. This is the chapter of the 'stairway to heaven,' though it was described as a ladder.

Jacob makes his way to Laban. He asks for Rachel's hand in marriage. Laban agrees, but deceives Jacob into marrying Leah, his older daughter. Jacob ends up working 14 years for Laban to earn Rachel.

Rachel envies her sister, Leah's fertility. Both sisters compete to produce the most children. Leah has already birthed four sons, and Rachel has none. Envious, Rachel gives her maid, Bilhah, to Jacob to produce a child. Bilhah has two children. Leah now gets envious because she has not conceived in some time. Leah gives Jacob her maid, Zilpah to produce two children. Leah gets pregnant three more times. Rachel births Joseph.

8:14 -- Summary begins, this was 55 verses. Jacob plans to leave Laban after God's warning, and after Jacob manipulates the agreement to his favor. Rachel steals her father's "image," "idol," or "household goods." Laban hunts Jacob down and learns he has been beaten at his own manipulative game. After all, Jacob means 'to deceive.'

Jacob takes his possessions and goes back to Caanan. Worried about how he left things with Esau, Jacob sends messengers to check in with him. This is the chapter where a man wrestles with Jacob, dislocating his hip.

Esau and his 400 man army approaches Jacob, his wives and children after an unclear response from his messengers. Jacob braces for impact, knowing that twenty years ago, their last interaction, Esau wanted to kill him!

The only girl in twelve children, Dinah, goes into the land of Caanan in search of female peers. She is SA by Prince Shechem, who then sends his father, King Hamor to ask Jacob for Dinah's hand in marriage!!

After the mass murder committed by Jacob's two sons in chapter 34, God tells Jacob not to worry, gives him a new location to dwell in. God also confirms Jacob's name change to Israel.

This chapter is a detailed epic catalog that takes some time to decipher. I am still not completely satisfied with my summary, but I just want to move on. The juicy part: the text strongly suggests that Esau's wife had a child with one of his sons, Korah. This child is named as the descendant of two of Esau's wives.

Joseph, Jacob's favorite son form Rachel is now seventeen. Joseph clearly loves him more than his brothers, and makes him a coat of many colors. Joseph being the youngest is a tattle-tale, often telling Jacob the misdeeds of his older brothers. They hate him. Joseph then recants two dreams that clearly insinuates he will be bowed to, which adds peppery fuel to the accrued hatred. Joseph's brothers sell him into slavery and tells their father, Jacob that he passed away.

Judah (the brother who sold Joseph into slavery) moved to a different city. He married an unnamed Canaanite and had three male children with her. He found Tamar for his first son, Er, who was so wicked that the Lord slew him before he could reproduce. Judah enforced his second son Onan to uphold the tradition. He was slain for engaging in sexual activity with Tamar, but intentionally avoided pregnancy. This tradition would be credited to Er instead of him, and he did not want to uphold that tradition. Judah promised his third son, Selah would become Tamar's husband when he was of age, but did not enforce it. Judah is tricked by Tamar into fathering twin boys with her.

Joseph is well-built and handsome. He is also blessed and trustworthy. The wife of his boss, Potiphar, wants to get into bed with him. Potiphar has been very good to Joseph, and he does not want to sin against God. He explains to her, but she continues to ask. One day, Joseph goes to work and it is just her there. She tears off part of his garment and tells her servants and her husband that Joseph attempted to SA her. Persuaded by his wife, Potiphar places innocent Jacob in jail.

In prison, Joseph earns another position of authority. Two of the cell mates he has been appointed to supervise tells them dreams they cannot understand. Joseph interprets the cupbearer/butler will be reinstated to his position. Joseph interprets the baker will be hanged. Joseph asks that the cupbearer please remember him. He forgets.

Two years later, Pharoah had a dream of lean cows eating up fat cows. He also had a dream of lean ears of grain eating the fat ears. The cupbearer remembered Joseph and explained to Pharoah that Joseph can interpret dreams. Once Joseph revealed that God was sending a warning that seven years of famine would come after the seven years of plenty, Pharoah placed him in a position of power in order to have a plan in place. Joseph was promoted to second-in-command in all of Egypt.

Jacob tells his sons to go to Egypt to purchase food. He sends all but Benjamin. They meet Joseph as the governor who is in charge. They bowed to him when they approached, they did not recognize Joseph. Joseph imprisons them after "accusing" them of being spies.

Jacob's family is out of food, and the brothers need to go back to Egypt. Jacob is angry that the brothers told 'The Egyptian" (Joseph in disguise) about their youngest brother, Benjamin. Simeon is still imprisoned. The family is not aware that 'The Egyptian' is Joseph, their relative. The brothers were invited to Joseph's home to eat. The Hebrews and the Egyptians are not permitted to eat together, so they eat separately. Joseph is 'in character' passing as an Egyptian.

As the brothers leave Egypt, Benjamin is found to have a 'stolen' cup! Joseph's house manager 'accuses' them of wrongdoing. This is actually a plot of Joseph's to keep his brothers there longer. He still has not revealed his identity. Judah, the brother that sold Joseph into slavery, tells the house manager that they CANNOT leave Benjamin there. He spends 17 verses pleading his case.

Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers, and explains that he was there to preserve their family. He is now a powerful ruler in Egypt. Pharoah invites Joseph's family to live with him.

Jacob/Israel and his family travel to Egypt. Joseph talks to his family, explains the plan to tell Pharoah they are shepherds by trade so they can live in Goshen. Shepard work is 'abominable' in Egypt.

Joseph's family humbly expected to be treated unfavorably for their "trade" as shepherds in Egypt. Pharoah welcomes them with open arms, gives them access to the best part of the land, and tells Joseph to employ his successful relatives with his livestock. The famine gets so bad in Egypt that people have to sell their cattle, then their land, then themselves (for seeds). Joseph enacts the 1/5th rule to ensure payment. Priests, or religious officials were given special allowances from the state to prevent them from experiencing the famine, giving them preferential access to resources.

Jacob is sick, and close to death. He blesses Joseph's two sons as his own. Joseph's younger son, Ephraim, was blessed more abundantly than his older brother, Manasseh.

Jacob/Israel gives his twelve sons a final blessing according to their personalities and accomplishments. Reuben is chastised for 'violating the sanctity of Jacob's bed' because he slept with Bilhah in Chapter 35 . He curses Levi and Simeon for their wrathful anger, since they committed mass murder in chapter 34. Judah, the brother that sold Joseph into slavery is blessed with being a ruler in the future. Gad is predicted to prevail after getting jumped by a troop of people. We learn that Leah has passed away and was buried in Jacob's family burial plot purchased by Abraham in Chapter 23. Leah's death was not specifically mentioned before this chapter (unless I missed it, but I looked several times and googled it). Jacob/Israel dies, or 'gives up the ghost' in this chapter. He is buried in the plot Abraham purchased as requested.

Jacob dies, and his family mourns him. We discuss the importance of having the space and time to mourn properly. Specifically, a parent's passing. The elders and Egyptian servants travelled with Joseph's family to his requested buryingplace in Mamre. Joseph's brothers apologized to him sincerely for treating him terribly and selling him into slavery. Joseph responds that what they meant for evil saved their family from the famine. He had sincerely forgiven his brothers. Joseph dies at the end of this chapter, and is buried in Egypt. This concludes the book of Genesis.