Genesis 26

Isaac Lies to Abimelech

1 Now there was a time of hunger in the land, besides the time of hunger that happened during Abraham’s life. So Isaac went to the town of Gerar to see Abimelech king of the Philistines.2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt, but live in the land where I tell you to live.3 Stay in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. I will give you and your descendants all these lands, and I will keep the oath I made to Abraham your father.4 I will give you many descendants, as hard to count as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. Through your descendants all the nations on the earth will be blessed.5 I will do this because your father Abraham obeyed me. He did what I said and obeyed my commands, my teachings, and my rules.”

6 
So Isaac stayed in Gerar.7 His wife Rebekah was very beautiful, and the men of that place asked Isaac about her. Isaac said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to tell them she was his wife. He thought they might kill him so they could have her.

8 
Isaac lived there a long time. One day as Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out his window, he saw Isaac holding his wife Rebekah tenderly.

9 Abimelech called for Isaac and said, “This woman is your wife. Why did you say she was your sister?”
Isaac said to him, “I was afraid you would kill me so you could have her.”10 Abimelech said, “What have you done to us? One of our men might have had sexual relations with your wife. Then we would have been guilty of a great sin.”11 So Abimelech warned everyone, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death.”

Isaac Becomes Rich

12 Isaac planted seed in that land, and that year he gathered a great harvest. The Lord blessed him very much,13 and he became rich. He gathered more wealth until he became a very rich man.14 He had so many slaves and flocks and herds that the Philistines envied him.15 So they stopped up all the wells the servants of Isaac’s father Abraham had dug. (They had dug them when Abraham was alive.) The Philistines filled those wells with dirt.16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave our country because you have become much more powerful than we are.”17 So Isaac left that place and camped in the Valley of Gerar and lived there.18 Long before this time Abraham had dug many wells, but after he died, the Philistines filled them with dirt. So Isaac dug those wells again and gave them the same names his father had given them.19 Isaac’s servants dug a well in the valley, from which a spring of water flowed.20 But the herdsmen of Gerar argued with them and said, “This water is ours.” So Isaac named that well Argue because they argued with him.21 Then his servants dug another well. When the people also argued about it, Isaac named that well Fight.22 He moved from there and dug another well. No one argued about this one, so he named it Room Enough. Isaac said, “Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be successful in this land.”

23 
From there Isaac went to Beersheba.24 The Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Don’t be afraid, because I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my servant Abraham.”25 So Isaac built an altar and worshiped the Lord there. He also made a camp there, and his servants dug a well.

26 
Abimelech came from Gerar to see Isaac. He brought with him Ahuzzath, who advised him, and Phicol, the commander of his army.27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to see me? You were my enemy and forced me to leave your country.”

28 
They answered, “Now we know that the Lord is with you. Let us swear an oath to each other. Let us make an agreement with you29 that since we did not hurt you, you will not hurt us. We were good to you and sent you away in peace. Now the Lord has blessed you.”

30 
So Isaac prepared food for them, and they all ate and drank.31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them away, and they left in peace.

32 
That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, saying, “We found water in that well.”33 So Isaac named it Shibah and that city is called Beersheba even now.

34 
When Esau was forty years old, he married two Hittite women—Judith daughter of Beeri and Basemath daughter of Elon.35 These women brought much sorrow to Isaac and Rebekah.

Genesis 27

Jacob Tricks Isaac

1 When Isaac was old, his eyesight was poor, so he could not see clearly. One day he called his older son Esau to him and said, “Son.”Esau answered, “Here I am.”

2 
Isaac said, “I am old and don’t know when I might die.3 So take your bow and arrows and go hunting in the field for an animal for me to eat.4 When you prepare the tasty food that I love, bring it to me, and I will eat. Then I will bless you before I die.”

5 So Esau went out in the field to hunt.
Rebekah was listening as Isaac said this to his son Esau.6 She said to her son Jacob, “Listen, I heard your father saying to your brother Esau,7 ‘Kill an animal and prepare some tasty food for me to eat. Then I will bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.’8 So obey me, my son, and do what I tell you.9 Go out to our goats and bring me two of the best young ones. I will prepare them just the way your father likes them.10 Then you will take the food to your father, and he will bless you before he dies.”11 But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am smooth!12 If my father touches me, he will know I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me but will place a curse on me because I tried to trick him.”13 So Rebekah said to him, “If your father puts a curse on you, I will accept the blame. Just do what I said. Go get the goats for me.”14 So Jacob went out and got two goats and brought them to his mother, and she cooked them in the special way Isaac enjoyed.15 She took the best clothes of her older son Esau that were in the house and put them on the younger son Jacob.16 She also took the skins of the goats and put them on Jacob’s hands and neck.17 Then she gave Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.18 Jacob went in to his father and said, “Father.”And his father said, “Yes, my son. Who are you?”19 Jacob said to him, “I am Esau, your first son. I have done what you told me. Now sit up and eat some meat of the animal I hunted for you. Then bless me.”

20 
But Isaac asked his son, “How did you find and kill the animal so quickly?”
Jacob answered, “Because the Lord your God helped me to find it.”

21 
Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son. Then I will know if you are really my son Esau.”

22 
So Jacob came near to Isaac his father. Isaac touched him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob’s voice, but your hands are hairy like the hands of Esau.”23 Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his hands were hairy like Esau’s hands, so Isaac blessed him.

24 Isaac asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”
Jacob answered, “Yes, I am.”

25 
Then Isaac said, “Bring me the food, and I will eat it and bless you.” So Jacob gave him the food, and he ate. Jacob gave him wine, and he drank.26 Then Isaac said to him, “My son, come near and kiss me.”

27 So Jacob went to his father and kissed him. When Isaac smelled Esau’s clothes, he blessed him and said,
“The smell of my son
is like the smell of the field
that the Lord has blessed.

28 
May God give you plenty of rain
and good soil
so that you will have plenty of grain and new wine.

29 
May nations serve you
and peoples bow down to you.
May you be master over your brothers,
and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
May everyone who curses you be cursed,
and may everyone who blesses you be blessed.”

30 
Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting.31 He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. He said, “Father, rise and eat the food that your son killed for you and then bless me.”

32 
Isaac asked, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am your son—your firstborn son—Esau.”

33 
Then Isaac trembled greatly and said, “Then who was it that hunted the animals and brought me food before you came? I ate it, and I blessed him, and it is too late now to take back my blessing.”

34 
When Esau heard the words of his father, he let out a loud and bitter cry. He said to his father, “Bless me—me, too, my father!”

35 
But Isaac said, “Your brother came and tricked me. He has taken your blessing.”

36 
Esau said, “Jacob is the right name for him. He has tricked me these two times. He took away my share of everything you own, and now he has taken away my blessing.” Then Esau asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

37 
Isaac answered, “I gave Jacob the power to be master over you, and all his brothers will be his servants. And I kept him strong with grain and new wine. There is nothing left to give you, my son.”

38 
But Esau continued, “Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me, too, Father!” Then Esau began to cry out loud.

39 
Isaac said to him,
“You will live far away from the best land,
far from the rain.

40 
You will live by using your sword,
and you will be a slave to your brother.
But when you struggle,
you will break free from him.”

41 
After that Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing from Isaac. He thought to himself, “My father will soon die, and I will be sad for him. Then I will kill Jacob.”

42 
Rebekah heard about Esau’s plan to kill Jacob. So she sent for Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is comforting himself by planning to kill you.43 So, my son, do what I say. My brother Laban is living in Haran. Go to him at once!44 Stay with him for a while, until your brother is not so angry.45 In time, your brother will not be angry, and he will forget what you did to him. Then I will send a servant to bring you back. I don’t want to lose both of my sons on the same day.”

46 
Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of these Hittite women here in this land, I want to die.”

Genesis 28

Jacob Searches for a Wife

1 Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman.2 Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, in Northwest Mesopotamia. Laban, your mother’s brother, lives there. Marry one of his daughters.3 May God Almighty bless you and give you many children, and may you become a group of many peoples.4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing of Abraham so that you may own the land where you are now living as a stranger, the land God gave to Abraham.”5 So Isaac sent Jacob to Northwest Mesopotamia, to Laban the brother of Rebekah. Bethuel the Aramean was the father of Laban and Rebekah, and Rebekah was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

6 
Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Northwest Mesopotamia to find a wife there. He also learned that Isaac had commanded Jacob not to marry a Canaanite woman7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Northwest Mesopotamia.8 So Esau saw that his father Isaac did not want his sons to marry Canaanite women.9 Now Esau already had wives, but he went to Ishmael son of Abraham, and he married Mahalath, Ishmael’s daughter. Mahalath was the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran.11 When he came to a place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. He found a stone and laid his head on it to go to sleep.12 Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder resting on the earth and reaching up into heaven, and he saw angels of God going up and coming down the ladder.13 Then Jacob saw the Lord standing above the ladder, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your grandfather, and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are now sleeping.14 Your descendants will be as many as the dust of the earth. They will spread west and east, north and south, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants.15 I am with you and will protect you everywhere you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not know it.”17 He was afraid and said, “This place frightens me! It is surely the house of God and the gate of heaven.”18 Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone he had slept on and set it up on its end. Then he poured olive oil on the top of it.19 At first, the name of that city was Luz, but Jacob named it Bethel.

20 
Then Jacob made a promise. He said, “I want God to be with me and to protect me on this journey. I want him to give me food to eat and clothes to wear21 so I will be able to return in peace to my father’s house. If the Lord does these things, he will be my God.22 This stone which I have set up on its end will be the house of God. And I will give God one-tenth of all he gives me.”