Genesis 25:28-30:20

28Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob. 29Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished.

30He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom. Edom means red. )

31Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”

32“Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

33But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

Isaac and Abimelek 1Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring Or seed all nations on earth will be blessed, Or and all nations on earth will use the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20) 5because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.”

6So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

7When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.” 8When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

9So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”

10Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

11So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” 12Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. 13The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.

15So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.

16Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.” 17So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled.

18Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them. 19Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, Esek means dispute. because they disputed with him. 21Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. Sitnah means opposition.

22He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, Rehoboth means room. saying, “Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.” 23From there he went up to Beersheba.

24That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

25Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD . There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well. 26Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces.

27Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?” 28They answered, “We saw clearly that the LORD was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you

29that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the LORD .” 30Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

31Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully. 32That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!”

33He called it Shibah, Shibah can mean oath or seven. and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba. Beersheba can mean well of the oath and well of seven.

Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing 34When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

1When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered. 2Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death. 3Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country to hunt some wild game for me.

4Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing before I die.” 5Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the LORD before I die.’ 8Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it.

10Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.” 11Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man while I have smooth skin.

12What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing.”

13His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me. Just do what I say; go and get them for me.” 14So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it. 15Then Rebekah took the best clothes of Esau her older son, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins.

17Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

18He went to his father and said, “My father.” “Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”

19Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”

20Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” “The LORD your God gave me success,” he replied.

21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.” 22Jacob went close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he proceeded to bless him.

24“Are you really my son Esau?” he asked. “I am,” he replied.

25Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank.

26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

27So he went to him and kissed him. When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.

28May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness— an abundance of grain and new wine.

29May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.” 30After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting.

31He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”

32His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” “I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.”

33Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!”

34When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”

35But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”

36Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob Jacob means he grasps the heel, a Hebrew idiom for he takes advantage of or he deceives. ? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

37Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

38Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.

39His father Isaac answered him, “Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above.

40You will live by the sword and you will serve your brother. But when you grow restless, you will throw his yoke from off your neck.”

41Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” 42When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you. 43Now then, my son, do what I say: Flee at once to my brother Laban in Harran. 44Stay with him for a while until your brother’s fury subsides.

45When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him, I’ll send word for you to come back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?” 46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”

1So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman. 2Go at once to Paddan Aram, That is, Northwest Mesopotamia; also in verses 5, 6 and 7 to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel. Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3May God Almighty Hebrew El-Shaddai bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers until you become a community of peoples. 4May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham, so that you may take possession of the land where you now reside as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”

5Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way, and he went to Paddan Aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau. 6Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. 8Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women were to his father Isaac;

9so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel 10Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13There above it Or There beside him stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. Or will use your name and the name of your offspring in blessings (see 48:20)

15I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”

17He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” 18Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.

19He called that place Bethel, Bethel means house of God. though the city used to be called Luz. 20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD Or Since God… father’s household, the Lord will be my God 22and Or household, and the Lord will be my God, 22 then this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

Jacob Arrives in Paddan Aram 1Then Jacob continued on his journey and came to the land of the eastern peoples. 2There he saw a well in the open country, with three flocks of sheep lying near it because the flocks were watered from that well. The stone over the mouth of the well was large.

3When all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone away from the well’s mouth and water the sheep. Then they would return the stone to its place over the mouth of the well.

4Jacob asked the shepherds, “My brothers, where are you from?” “We’re from Harran,” they replied.

5He said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?” “Yes, we know him,” they answered.

6Then Jacob asked them, “Is he well?” “Yes, he is,” they said, “and here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep.”

7“Look,” he said, “the sun is still high; it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Water the sheep and take them back to pasture.”

8“We can’t,” they replied, “until all the flocks are gathered and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the well. Then we will water the sheep.” 9While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherd. 10When Jacob saw Rachel daughter of his uncle Laban, and Laban’s sheep, he went over and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered his uncle’s sheep. 11Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud.

12He had told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and a son of Rebekah. So she ran and told her father. 13As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he hurried to meet him. He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things.

14Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.” Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel 14After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month,

14Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.” Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel 14After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month,

15Laban said to him, “Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.” 16Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. 17Leah had weak Or delicate eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful.

18Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19Laban said, “It’s better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me.”

20So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

21Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her.” 22So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. 23But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her.

24And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant.

25When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn’t I? Why have you deceived me?” 26Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.

27Finish this daughter’s bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work.” 28And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant.

30Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

Jacob’s Children 31When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless.

32Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, Reuben sounds like the Hebrew for he has seen my misery; the name means see, a son. for she said, “It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”

33She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon. Simeon probably means one who hears.

34Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi. Levi sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for attached. 35She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “This time I will praise the LORD .” So she named him Judah. Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise. Then she stopped having children.

1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”

2Jacob became angry with her and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”

3Then she said, “Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.” 4So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her, 5and she became pregnant and bore him a son.

6Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son.” Because of this she named him Dan. Dan here means he has vindicated. 7Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.

8Then Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.” So she named him Naphtali. Naphtali means my struggle. 9When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

11Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” Or “A troop is coming!” So she named him Gad. Gad can mean good fortune or troop. 12Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.

13Then Leah said, “How happy I am! The women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher. Asher means happy.

14During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

15But she said to her, “Wasn’t it enough that you took away my husband? Will you take my son’s mandrakes too?” “Very well,” Rachel said, “he can sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”

16So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night. 17God listened to Leah, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son.

18Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. Issachar sounds like the Hebrew for reward. 19Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.

20Then Leah said, “God has presented me with a precious gift. This time my husband will treat me with honor, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. Zebulun probably means honor.