Genesis 26-29

Genesis 26

¹Then came a time of great need in the land, like that which had been before in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.

²And the Lord came to him in a vision and said, Do not go down to Egypt; keep in the land of which I will give you knowledge:

³Keep in this land, and I will be with you and give you my blessing; for to you and to your seed will I give all these lands, giving effect to the oath which I made to your father Abraham;

⁴I will make your seed like the stars of heaven in number, and will give them all these lands, and your seed will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth;

⁵Because Abraham gave ear to my voice and kept my words, my rules, my orders, and my laws.

⁶So Isaac went on living in Gerar;

⁷And when he was questioned by the men of the place about his wife, he said, She is my sister; fearing to say, She is my wife; for, he said, the men of the place may put me to death on account of Rebekah; because she is very beautiful.

⁸And when he had been there for some time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looking through a window, saw Isaac playing with Rebekah his wife.

⁹And he said to Isaac, It is clear that she is your wife: why then did you say, She is my sister? And Isaac said, For fear that I might be put to death because of her.

¹⁰Then Abimelech said, What have you done to us? one of the people might well have had connection with your wife, and the sin would have been ours.

¹¹And Abimelech gave orders to his people that anyone touching Isaac or his wife was to be put to death.

¹²Now Isaac, planting seed in that land, got in the same year fruit a hundred times as much, for the blessing of the Lord was on him.

¹³And his wealth became very great, increasing more and more;

¹⁴For he had great wealth of flocks and herds and great numbers of servants; so that the Philistines were full of envy.

¹⁵Now all the water-holes, which his father's servants had made in the days of Abraham, had been stopped up with earth by the Philistines.

¹⁶And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you are stronger than we are.

¹⁷So Isaac went away from there, and put up his tents in the valley of Gerar, making his living-place there.

¹⁸And he made again the water-holes which had been made in the days of Abraham his father, and which had been stopped up by the Philistines; and he gave them the names which his father had given them.

¹⁹Now Isaac's servants made holes in the valley, and came to a spring of flowing water.

²⁰But the herdmen of Gerar had a fight with Isaac's herdmen, for they said, The spring is ours: so he gave the spring the name of Esek, because there was a fight about it.

²¹Then they made another water-hole, and there was a fight about that, so he gave it the name of Sitnah.

²²Then he went away from there, and made another water-hole, about which there was no fighting: so he gave it the name of Rehoboth, for he said, Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will have fruit in this land.

²³And from there he went on to Beer-sheba.

²⁴That night the Lord came to him in a vision, and said, I am the God of your father Abraham: have no fear for I am with you, blessing you, and your seed will be increased because of my servant Abraham.

²⁵Then he made an altar there, and gave worship to the name of the Lord, and he put up his tents there, and there his servants made a water-hole.

²⁶And Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his friend and Phicol, the captain of his army.

²⁷And Isaac said to them, Why have you come to me, seeing that in your hate for me you sent me away from you?

²⁸And they said, We saw clearly that the Lord was with you: so we said, Let there be an oath between us and you, and let us make an agreement with you;

²⁹That you will do us no damage, even as we put no hand on you, and did you nothing but good, and sent you away in peace: and now the blessing of the Lord is on you.

³⁰Then he made a feast for them, and they all had food and drink.

³¹And early in the morning they took an oath one to the other: then Isaac sent them away and they went on their way in peace.

³²And that day Isaac's servants came to him and gave him word of the water-hole which they had made, and said to him, We have come to water.

³³And he gave it the name of Shibah: so the name of that town is Beer-sheba to this day.

³⁴And when Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite:

³⁵And Isaac and Rebekah had grief of mind because of them.

Genesis 27

¹Now when Isaac was old and his eyes had become clouded so that he was not able to see, he sent for Esau, his first son, and said to him, My son: and he said, Here am I.

²And he said, See now, I am old, and my death may take place at any time:

³So take your arrows and your bow and go out to the field and get meat for me;

⁴And make me food, good to the taste, such as is pleasing to me, and put it before me, so that I may have a meal and give you my blessing before death comes to me.

⁵Now Isaac's words to his son were said in Rebekah's hearing. Then Esau went out to get the meat.

⁶And Rebekah said to Jacob, her son, Your father said to your brother Esau in my hearing,

⁷Go and get some roe's meat and make me a good meal, so that I may be full, and give you my blessing before the Lord before my death.

⁸Now, my son, do what I say.

⁹Go to the flock and get me two fat young goats; and I will make of them a meal to your father's taste:

¹⁰And you will take it to him, so that he may have a good meal and give you his blessing before his death.

¹¹And Jacob said to Rebekah, his mother, But Esau my brother is covered with hair, while I am smooth:

¹²If by chance my father puts his hand on me, it will seem to him that I am tricking him, and he will put a curse on me in place of a blessing.

¹³And his mother said, Let the curse be on me, my son: only do as I say, and go and get them for me.

¹⁴So he went and got them and took them to his mother: and she made a meal to his father's taste.

¹⁵And Rebekah took the fair robes of her oldest son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son:

¹⁶And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck:

¹⁷And she gave into the hand of Jacob, her son, the meat and the bread which she had made ready.

¹⁸And he came to his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I: who are you, my son?

¹⁹And Jacob said, I am Esau, your oldest son; I have done as you said: come now, be seated and take of my meat, so that you may give me a blessing.

²⁰And Isaac said, How is it that you have got it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord your God made it come my way.

²¹And Isaac said, Come near so that I may put my hand on you, my son, and see if you are truly my son Esau or not.

²²And Jacob went near his father Isaac: and he put his hands on him; and he said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

²³And he did not make out who he was, because his hands were covered with hair like his brother Esau's hands: so he gave him a blessing.

²⁴And he said, Are you truly my son Esau? And he said, I am.

²⁵And he said, Put it before me and I will take of my son's meat, so that I may give you a blessing. And he put it before him and he took it; and he gave him wine, and he had a drink.

²⁶And his father Isaac said to him, Come near now, my son, and give me a kiss.

²⁷And he came near and gave him a kiss; and smelling the smell of his clothing, he gave him a blessing, and said, See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field on which the blessing of the Lord has come:

²⁸May God give you the dew of heaven, and the good things of the earth, and grain and wine in full measure:

²⁹Let peoples be your servants, and nations go down before you: be lord over your brothers, and let your mother's sons go down before you: a curse be on everyone by whom you are cursed, and a blessing on those who give you a blessing.

³⁰And when Isaac had come to the end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob had not long gone away from Isaac his father, Esau came in from the field.

³¹And he made ready a meal, good to the taste, and took it to his father, and said to him, Let my father get up and take of his son's meat, so that you may give me a blessing.

³²And Isaac his father said to him, Who are you? And he said, I am your oldest son, Esau.

³³And in great fear Isaac said, Who then is he who got meat and put it before me, and I took it all before you came, and gave him a blessing, and his it will be?

³⁴And hearing the words of his father, Esau gave a great and bitter cry, and said to his father, Give a blessing to me, even to me, O my father!

³⁵And he said, Your brother came with deceit, and took away your blessing.

³⁶And he said, Is it because he is named Jacob that he has twice taken my place? for he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Have you not kept a blessing for me?

³⁷And Isaac answering said, But I have made him your master, and have given him all his brothers for servants; I have made him strong with grain and wine: what then am I to do for you, my son?

³⁸And Esau said to his father, Is that the only blessing you have, my father? give a blessing to me, even me! And Esau was overcome with weeping.

³⁹Then Isaac his father made answer and said to him, Far from the fertile places of the earth, and far from the dew of heaven on high will your living-place be:

⁴⁰By your sword will you get your living and you will be your brother's servant; but when your power is increased his yoke will be broken from off your neck.

⁴¹So Esau was full of hate for Jacob because of his father's blessing; and he said in his heart, The days of weeping for my father are near; then I will put my brother Jacob to death.

⁴²Then Rebekah, hearing what Esau had said, sent for Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, It seems that your brother Esau is purposing to put you to death.

⁴³So now, my son, do what I say: go quickly to Haran, to my brother Laban;

⁴⁴And be there with him for a little time, till your brother's wrath is turned away;

⁴⁵Till the memory of what you have done to him is past and he is no longer angry: then I will send word for you to come back; are the two of you to be taken from me in one day?

⁴⁶Then Rebekah said to Isaac, My life is a weariness to me because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob takes a wife from among the daughters of Heth, such as these, the women of this land, of what use will my life be to me?

Genesis 28

¹Then Isaac sent for Jacob, and blessing him, said, Do not take a wife from among the women of Canaan;

²But go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and there get yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother.

³And may God, the Ruler of all, give you his blessing, giving you fruit and increase, so that you may become an army of peoples.

⁴And may God give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed, so that the land of your wanderings, which God gave to Abraham, may be your heritage.

⁵So Isaac sent Jacob away: and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramaean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶So when Esau saw that Isaac had given Jacob his blessing, and sent him away to Paddan-aram to get a wife for himself there, blessing him and saying to him, Do not take a wife from among the women of Canaan;

⁷And that Jacob had done as his father and mother said and had gone to Paddan-aram;

⁸It was clear to Esau that his father had no love for the women of Canaan,

⁹So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath, the daughter of Abraham's son Ishmael, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

¹⁰So Jacob went out from Beer-sheba to go to Haran.

¹¹And coming to a certain place, he made it his resting-place for the night, for the sun had gone down; and he took one of the stones which were there, and putting it under his head he went to sleep in that place.

¹²And he had a dream, and in his dream he saw steps stretching from earth to heaven, and the angels of God were going up and down on them.

¹³And he saw the Lord by his side, saying, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: I will give to you and to your seed this land on which you are sleeping.

¹⁴Your seed will be like the dust of the earth, covering all the land to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south: you and your seed will be a name of blessing to all the families of the earth.

¹⁵And truly, I will be with you, and will keep you wherever you go, guiding you back again to this land; and I will not give you up till I have done what I have said to you.

¹⁶And Jacob, awaking from his sleep, said, Truly, the Lord is in this place and I was not conscious of it.

¹⁷And fear came on him, and he said, This is a holy place; this is nothing less than the house of God and the doorway of heaven.

¹⁸And early in the morning Jacob took the stone which had been under his head, and put it up as a pillar and put oil on it.

¹⁹And he gave that place the name of Beth-el, but before that time the town was named Luz.

²⁰Then Jacob took an oath, and said, If God will be with me, and keep me safe on my journey, and give me food and clothing to put on,

²¹So that I come again to my father's house in peace, then I will take the Lord to be my God,

²²And this stone which I have put up for a pillar will be God's house: and of all you give me, I will give a tenth part to you.

Genesis 29

¹Then Jacob went on his journey till he came to the land of the children of the East.

²And there he saw a water-hole in a field, and by the side of it three flocks of sheep, for there they got water for the sheep: and on the mouth of the water-hole there was a great stone.

³And all the flocks would come together there, and when the stone had been rolled away, they would give the sheep water, and put the stone back again in its place on the mouth of the water-hole.

⁴Then Jacob said to the herdmen, My brothers, where do you come from? And they said, From Haran.

⁵And he said to them, Have you any knowledge of Laban, the son of Nahor? And they said, We have.

⁶And he said to them, Is he well? And they said, He is well, and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.

⁷Then Jacob said, The sun is still high and it is not time to get the cattle together: get water for the sheep and go and give them their food.

⁸And they said, We are not able to do so till all the flocks have come together and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the water-hole; then we will get water for the sheep.

⁹While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she took care of them.

¹⁰Then when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, coming with Laban's sheep, he came near, and rolling the stone away from the mouth of the hole, he got water for Laban's flock.

¹¹And weeping for joy, Jacob gave Rachel a kiss.

¹²And Rachel, hearing from Jacob that he was her father's relation and that he was the son of Rebekah, went running to give her father news of it.

¹³And Laban, hearing news of Jacob, his sister's son, came running, and took Jacob in his arms, and kissing him, made him come into his house. And Jacob gave him news of everything.

¹⁴And Laban said to him, Truly, you are my bone and my flesh. And he kept Jacob with him for the space of a month.

¹⁵Then Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my brother are you to be my servant for nothing? say now, what is your payment to be?

¹⁶Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

¹⁷And Leah's eyes were clouded, but Rachel was fair in face and form.

¹⁸And Jacob was in love with Rachel; and he said, I will be your servant seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.

¹⁹And Laban said, It is better for you to have her than another man: go on living here with me.

²⁰And Jacob did seven years' work for Rachel; and because of his love for her it seemed to him only a very little time.

²¹Then Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife so that I may have her, for the days are ended.

²²And Laban got together all the men of the place and gave a feast.

²³And in the evening he took Leah, his daughter, and gave her to him, and he went in to her.

²⁴And Laban gave Zilpah, his servant-girl, to Leah, to be her waiting-woman.

²⁵And in the morning Jacob saw that it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What have you done to me? was I not working for you so that I might have Rachel? why have you been false to me?

²⁶And Laban said, In our country we do not let the younger daughter be married before the older.

²⁷Let the week of the bride-feast come to its end and then we will give you the other in addition, if you will be my servant for another seven years.

²⁸And Jacob did so; and when the week was ended, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel for his wife.

²⁹And Laban gave Rachel his servant-girl Bilhah to be her waiting-woman.

³⁰Then Jacob took Rachel as his wife, and his love for her was greater than his love for Leah; and he went on working for Laban for another seven years.

³¹Now the Lord, seeing that Leah was not loved, gave her a child; while Rachel had no children.

³²And Leah was with child, and gave birth to a son to whom she gave the name Reuben: for she said, The Lord has seen my sorrow; now my husband will have love for me.

³³Then she became with child again, and gave birth to a son; and said, Because it has come to the Lord's ears that I am not loved, he has given me this son in addition: and she gave him the name Simeon.

³⁴And she was with child again, and gave birth to a son; and said, Now at last my husband will be united to me, because I have given him three sons: so he was named Levi.

³⁵And she was with child again, and gave birth to a son: and she said, This time I will give praise to the Lord: so he was named Judah; after this she had no more children for a time.