Jan 6 - Genesis 21-28
Genesis
1The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised.2And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.3Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.4And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.5Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.6And Sarah said, "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me."7And she said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."8And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.9But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.10So she said to Abraham, "Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac."11And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.12But God said to Abraham, "Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.13And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring."14So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.15When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes.16Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, "Let me not look on the death of the child." And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.17And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.18Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation."19Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.20And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.21He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.22At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, "God is with you in all that you do.23Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned."24And Abraham said, "I will swear."25When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized,26Abimelech said, "I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today."27So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.28Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart.29And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?"30He said, "These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well."31Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath.32So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.33Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.34And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.
1After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."2He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."3So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.4On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.5Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you."6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.7And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"8Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.9When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.10Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.11But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I."12He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."13And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.14So Abraham called the name of that place, "The LORD will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided."15And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven16and said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,17I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies,18and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."19So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.20Now after these things it was told to Abraham, "Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:21Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,22Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel."23(Bethuel fathered Rebekah.) These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.24Moreover, his concubine, whose name was Reumah, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
1Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.2And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.3And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites,4"I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."5The Hittites answered Abraham,6"Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead."7Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land.8And he said to them, "If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar,9that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place."10Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city,11"No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead."12Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.13And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, "But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there."14Ephron answered Abraham,15"My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead."16Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.17So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over18to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city.19After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.20The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.
1Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the LORD had blessed Abraham in all things.2And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, "Put your hand under my thigh,3that I may make you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell,4but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac."5The servant said to him, "Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?"6Abraham said to him, "See to it that you do not take my son back there.7The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, 'To your offspring I will give this land,' he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.8But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there."9So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.10Then the servant took ten of his master's camels and departed, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to Mesopotamia to the city of Nahor.11And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when women go out to draw water.12And he said, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.13Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.14Let the young woman to whom I shall say, 'Please let down your jar that I may drink,' and who shall say, 'Drink, and I will water your camels'--let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master."15Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder.16The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.17Then the servant ran to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water to drink from your jar."18She said, "Drink, my lord." And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink.19When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, "I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking."20So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels.21The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the LORD had prospered his journey or not.22When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel, and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels,23and said, "Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father's house for us to spend the night?"24She said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor."25She added, "We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night."26The man bowed his head and worshiped the LORD27and said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the LORD has led me in the way to the house of my master's kinsmen."28Then the young woman ran and told her mother's household about these things.29Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. Laban ran out toward the man, to the spring.30As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, "Thus the man spoke to me," he went to the man. And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.31He said, "Come in, O blessed of the LORD. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels."32So the man came to the house and unharnessed the camels, and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and there was water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.33Then food was set before him to eat. But he said, "I will not eat until I have said what I have to say." He said, "Speak on."34So he said, "I am Abraham's servant.35The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys.36And Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and to him he has given all that he has.37My master made me swear, saying, 'You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell,38but you shall go to my father's house and to my clan and take a wife for my son.'39I said to my master, 'Perhaps the woman will not follow me.'40But he said to me, 'The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father's house.41Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my clan. And if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.'42"I came today to the spring and said, 'O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, if now you are prospering the way that I go,43behold, I am standing by the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, "Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,"44and who will say to me, "Drink, and I will draw for your camels also," let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master's son.'45"Before I had finished speaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, 'Please let me drink.'46She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, 'Drink, and I will give your camels drink also.' So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also.47Then I asked her, 'Whose daughter are you?' She said, 'The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.' So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms.48Then I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD and blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to take the daughter of my master's kinsman for his son.49Now then, if you are going to show steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left."50Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, "The thing has come from the LORD; we cannot speak to you bad or good.51Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has spoken."52When Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the earth before the LORD.53And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments.54And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. When they arose in the morning, he said, "Send me away to my master."55Her brother and her mother said, "Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go."56But he said to them, "Do not delay me, since the LORD has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master."57They said, "Let us call the young woman and ask her."58And they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" She said, "I will go."59So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men.60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, "Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate them!"61Then Rebekah and her young women arose and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way.62Now Isaac had returned from Beer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb.63And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming.64And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel65and said to the servant, "Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us?" The servant said, "It is my master." So she took her veil and covered herself.66And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.67Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
1Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.2She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.3Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.4The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.5Abraham gave all he had to Isaac.6But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.7These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, 175 years.8Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.9Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre,10the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife.11After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi.12These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's servant, bore to Abraham.13These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,14Mishma, Dumah, Massa,15Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.16These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes.17(These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.)18They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen.19These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham fathered Isaac,20and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to be his wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean.21And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.22The children struggled together within her, and she said, "If it is thus, why is this happening to me?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.23And the LORD said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger."24When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb.25The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau.26Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.27When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.28Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.29Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted.30And Esau said to Jacob, "Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!" (Therefore his name was called Edom. )31Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright now."32Esau said, "I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?"33Jacob said, "Swear to me now." So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.34Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
1Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines.2And the LORD appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father.4I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,5because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."6So Isaac settled in Gerar.7When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," for he feared to say, "My wife," thinking, "lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah," because she was attractive in appearance.8When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife.9So Abimelech called Isaac and said, "Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac said to him, "Because I thought, 'Lest I die because of her.'"10Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us."11So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, "Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."12And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him,13and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy.14He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines envied him.15(Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.)16And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we."17So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the valley of Gerar and settled there.18And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them.19But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water,20the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours." So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.21Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.22And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."23From there he went up to Beersheba.24And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham's sake."25So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.26When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army,27Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?"28They said, "We see plainly that the LORD has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,29that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD."30So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.31In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.32That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, "We have found water."33He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.34When Esau was forty years old, he took Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite,35and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.
1When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, "My son"; and he answered, "Here I am."2He said, "Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death.3Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me,4and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die."5Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it,6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "I heard your father speak to your brother Esau,7'Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the LORD before I die.'8Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you.9Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves.10And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies."11But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.12Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing."13His mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me."14So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved.15Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.16And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.17And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.18So he went in to his father and said, "My father." And he said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"19Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me."20But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "Because the LORD your God granted me success."21Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not."22So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau."23And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands. So he blessed him.24He said, "Are you really my son Esau?" He answered, "I am."25Then he said, "Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son's game and bless you." So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.26Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come near and kiss me, my son."27So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, "See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed!28May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.29Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!"30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting.31He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, "Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that you may bless me."32His father Isaac said to him, "Who are you?" He answered, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau."33Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, "Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed."34As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, O my father!"35But he said, "Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing."36Esau said, "Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing." Then he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"37Isaac answered and said to Esau, "Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?"38Esau said to his father, "Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father." And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.39Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: "Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high.40By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you grow restless you shall break his yoke from your neck."41Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, "The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob."42But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, "Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you.43Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran44and stay with him a while, until your brother's fury turns away--45until your brother's anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?"46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I loathe my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?"
1Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, "You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women.2Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother's father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother's brother.3God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.4May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!"5Thus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.6Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, "You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,"7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram.8So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father,9Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebaioth.10Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran.11And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.12And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!13And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.14Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.15Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."16Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it."17And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."18So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.19He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear,21so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God,22and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you."