The KJV Audio Bible

Read Exodus 5 . Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh with a message from the God of Israel, requesting that he release the Israelite people so they may travel into the wilderness to hold a feast to God. Pharaoh responded with contempt, declaring that he had no knowledge of or obligation to the God of Israel, and he flatly refused to let the people go. Moses and Aaron pressed the request further, war...

Read Exodus 4. In Exodus 4, Moses expressed doubt about his mission to deliver the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, worrying that the Israelites wouldn’t believe that God truly appeared to him. In response, God equipped Moses with three miraculous signs to validate his commission: First, Moses’s staff transformed into a snake when he threw it to the ground and then turned back into a staf...

Read Exodus 3. Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro in the wilderness when he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There, the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. Though the bush burned, it wasn't consumed. When Moses turned aside to investigate this strange sight, God called to him from within the bush, warning him not to come closer and to re...

Read Exodus 2. Exodus 2 opens with the birth of Moses in Egypt. A Levite man and woman conceived a child. The mother hid him for three months to protect him from Pharaoh's decree that all Hebrew baby boys would be killed. When she could no longer conceal him, she placed him in "an ark of bulrushes" coated with slime and pitch and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. The baby's sister...

Read Exodus 1 . The book of Exodus opens by recounting the names of the sons of Jacob (also called Israel) who had come to Egypt along with their families, numbering seventy people in all. The sons of Jacob — Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher — had settled in Egypt during the lifetime of Jacob's other son Joseph. In time, that entire generation...

A chapter-by-chapter summary of the book of Genesis

Genesis 50 is the last chapter of the book of Genesis, bringing closure to the account of Joseph and the patriarchs. Upon Jacob's death, Joseph fell upon his father's face, weeping and kissing him. He then commanded the physicians in his service to embalm Jacob's body, a process that took forty days to complete, followed by seventy days of mourning by the Egyptians. After the mourning period, Jose...

Genesis 49 contains Jacob's final blessings and prophecies over his twelve sons before his death in Egypt. Jacob began with Reuben, his firstborn, acknowledging his natural right to preeminence but declaring that he wouldn't excel due to his instability and his sin of defiling his father's bed with Bilhah (see Genesis 35). The next two sons, Simeon and Levi, were addressed together due to their sh...

Genesis 48 recounts the final encounter between the aging patriarch Jacob (also called Israel) and his son Joseph, along with Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob, who was nearing death, summoned Joseph to his bedside. Despite his physical weakness and failing eyesight, Jacob's spiritual authority remained strong as he prepared to pass on the covenant blessings that he himself had receiv...

Genesis 47 continues the account of Jacob's family settling in Egypt during the severe famine. Joseph presented five of his brothers and his father Jacob to Pharaoh. When Pharaoh asked the brothers about their occupation, they identified themselves as shepherds and requested permission to settle in the land of Goshen, explaining that the famine had devastated their homeland of Canaan. Pharaoh welc...

Genesis 46 recounts Jacob's journey to Egypt to reunite with his son Joseph, whom he had believed to be dead for many years. When Jacob learned that Joseph was not only alive but also a powerful ruler in Egypt, he decided to travel there with his entire household. Before leaving, Jacob stopped at Beer-sheba to offer sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac, seeking God’s guidance for this big dec...

In Genesis 45 , Joseph finally revealed his identity to his brothers who had sold him into slavery years earlier. Unable to control himself any longer in the presence of his Egyptian attendants, Joseph commanded everyone except his brothers to leave the room. In this private moment, he broke down weeping so loudly that the Egyptians and Pharaoh's household could hear him from outside. Through his...

Genesis 44 continues the account of Joseph testing his brothers who came to Egypt seeking grain during the famine. Joseph instructed his steward to fill his brothers' sacks with grain and to secretly place each man's money back in his sack. Most significantly, he ordered that his personal silver cup be hidden in Benjamin's sack, the youngest brother who was Jacob's beloved son and Joseph's only fu...

Genesis 43 covers the famine that continued to ravage the land of Canaan, forcing Jacob's family to consider another journey to Egypt for grain. When their supplies ran low, Jacob instructed his sons to return to Egypt to buy more food. However, Judah reminded his father that the Egyptian official (whom they didn't know was Joseph) had sternly warned them not to return without their youngest broth...

Genesis 42 provides an account of the severe famine that gripped the ancient Near East, including the land of Canaan where Jacob and his family lived. When Jacob learned that grain was available for purchase in Egypt, he sent ten of his sons to buy food, keeping only Benjamin (his youngest son and the full brother of the presumed-dead Joseph) safely at home. Upon arriving in Egypt, the ten brother...

In Genesis 41 , Pharaoh experienced two troubling dreams that none of his magicians or wise men could interpret. In the first dream, he saw seven fat, healthy cows grazing by the river, followed by seven thin, ugly cows that devoured the fat ones. In the second dream, seven plump ears of grain grew on a single stalk, but seven thin, scorched ears swallowed them up. These vivid dreams left Pharaoh...

Genesis 40 is the account of Joseph's encounter with two fellow prisoners in the Egyptian dungeon where he was being held. While Joseph was imprisoned on false charges, Pharaoh's chief cupbearer and chief baker were thrown into the same prison after they had offended their master. The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to serve them during their imprisonment. One morning, Joseph noticed that bot...

Genesis 39 follows Joseph after his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian official and captain of Pharaoh’s guard, purchased Joseph. The LORD was with Joseph, blessing everything he did — and Potiphar noticed. As a result, Potiphar placed Joseph in charge of his entire household and possessions, and the LORD blessed Potiphar’s house because of Joseph. Joseph was “a goodly...

Genesis 38 interrupts the account of Joseph to discuss Judah and his family. After moving away from his brothers, Judah married a Canaanite woman and had three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. Judah arranged for his firstborn Er to marry a woman named Tamar, but Er was “wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the Lord slew him” before Er could produce an heir. Following custom, Judah instructed his second...

Genesis 37 begins to develop the account of Joseph, the favored son of Jacob. At seventeen, Joseph tended flocks with his brothers, but he brought bad reports about them to their father. Jacob showed his preference for Joseph by giving him a “a coat of many colours,” causing his brothers to hate him and speak harshly to him. Joseph’s position worsened when he shared two dreams suggesting his famil...

Genesis 36 provides detailed genealogical information about Esau (also called Edom) and his descendants. Esau took wives from among the Canaanites — Adah, Aholibamah, and Bashemath — and had five sons with them: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah. Esau moved his family, possessions, and livestock away from his brother Jacob to the hill country of Seir because the land could not support both...

Genesis 35 recounts Jacob's journey back to Bethel and several significant family events that followed. God instructed Jacob to go to Bethel, where he had earlier fled from his brother Esau, and to build an altar there. Jacob prepared his household by having them put away their foreign gods, purify themselves, and change their clothes before the journey. God protected Jacob's family as they travel...

Genesis 34 is the account of Dinah and the Shechemites. Jacob's daughter Dinah went out to visit the women of the land. Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite (the local ruler), “saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her.” Shechem fell in love with Dinah and asked his father to arrange a marriage. Hamor approached Jacob about the marriage and proposed an alliance between their peoples, off...

Genesis 33 recounts the emotional reunion between Jacob and his estranged brother Esau after 20 years of separation. Jacob, anxious about meeting Esau who once threatened to kill him, strategically arranged his family in groups with his most beloved (Rachel and Joseph) at the rear for protection. When Jacob saw Esau approaching with 400 men, he moved ahead and bowed to the ground seven times as he...

Genesis 32 recounts a pivotal moment in Jacob’s life as he prepared to reunite with his estranged brother Esau after 20 years. The chapter begins with Jacob continuing his journey home after leaving his father-in-law Laban. Angels of God met him on the way, and Jacob called the place “Mahanaim,” meaning “two camps.” As he approached his homeland, Jacob sent messengers ahead to Esau, humbly announc...