Abraham's calling to perform Yahweh's work is followed by an account of his journey to Egypt. After Abraham's return home, a promise is made to him concerning the birth of a son and the inheritance of the land of Canaan by his descendants. Although Abraham and his wife have reached an advanced age, Isaac is born in fulfillment of the promise. Isaac's two sons, Jacob and Esau, struggled in their mother's womb before they are born, thus indicating the strife that will continue for centuries between the Israelites and the Edomites. Jacob deceives his father and tricks his brother, Esau, out of his birthright. He then goes to a distant land, where he marries the two daughters of Laban and enters into an agreement whereby he obtains a large share of his uncle's property. On his return home with the members of his family, he meets his brother, and the two are reconciled.
Jacob's favorite son, Joseph, is sold by his brothers into slavery but eventually comes to hold a powerful place in the government of Egypt. Jacob and his sons and their families move to Egypt because of a famine in the land of Canaan. Their descendants increase in number, which causes an Egyptian pharaoh to become alarmed lest the Israelite colony become too powerful. Accordingly, the pharaoh begins a policy of oppression that places burdens on the Hebrews that are greater than they can bear. Moses is summoned by Yahweh to deliver his people from this oppression. After a series of plagues is visited upon the Egyptians, the Hebrews leave the land where they were enslaved and begin their march through the wilderness toward the land of Canaan. After a description of the difficulties that they encounter during this march, the author concludes his history with an account of their entrance into the land and the conquering of a portion of it.
