⁶ Now 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,”^{(A) 7} and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram.

²¹ so that I return safely^(A) to my father’s household,^(B) then the Lord^[a] will be my God^{(C) 22} and^[b] this stone that I have set up as a pillar^(D) will be God’s house,^(E) and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.^(F)”

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

⁵ He said to them, “I see that your father’s^(A) attitude toward me is not what it was before,^(B) but the God of my father has been with me.^(C)

⁷ yet your father has cheated^(A) me by changing my wages^(B) ten times.^(C) However, God has not allowed him to harm me.^(D)

⁹ So God has taken away your father’s livestock^(A) and has given them to me.^(B)

³⁸ “I have been with you for twenty years now.^(A) Your sheep and goats have not miscarried,^(B) nor have I eaten rams from your flocks. ³⁹ I did not bring you animals torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for whatever was stolen^(C) by day or night.^{(D) 40} This was my situation: The heat consumed me in the daytime and the cold at night, and sleep fled from my eyes.^{(E) 41} It was like this for the twenty years^(F) I was in your household. I worked for you fourteen years for your two daughters^(G) and six years for your flocks,^(H) and you changed my wages^(I) ten times.^{(J) 42} If the God of my father,^(K) the God of Abraham^(L) and the Fear of Isaac,^(M) had not been with me,^(N) you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands,^(O) and last night he rebuked you.^(P)”

⁹ Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham,^(A) God of my father Isaac,^(B) Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’^{(C) 10} I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness^(D) you have shown your servant. I had only my staff^(E) when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.^{(F) 11} Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid^(G) he will come and attack me,^(H) and also the mothers with their children.^{(I) 12} But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand^(J) of the sea, which cannot be counted.^(K)’”

⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him^(A) must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.