Genesis 16:17-28:16

Common English Bible

God’s covenant with Abraham

17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai.^[a] Walk with me and be trustworthy. ² I will make a covenant between us and I will give you many, many descendants.” ³ Abram fell on his face, and God said to him, ⁴ “But me, my covenant is with you; you will be the ancestor of many nations. ⁵ And because I have made you the ancestor of many nations, your name will no longer be Abram^[b] but Abraham.^{[c] 6} I will make you very fertile. I will produce nations from you, and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will set up my covenant with you and your descendants after you in every generation as an enduring covenant. I will be your God and your descendants’ God after you. ⁸ I will give you and your descendants the land in which you are immigrants, the whole land of Canaan, as an enduring possession. And I will be their God.”

⁹ God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants in every generation. ¹⁰ This is my covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Circumcise every male. ¹¹ You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it will be a symbol of the covenant between us. ¹² On the eighth day after birth, every male in every generation must be circumcised, including those who are not your own children: those born in your household and those purchased with silver from foreigners. ¹³ Be sure you circumcise those born in your household and those purchased with your silver. Your flesh will embody my covenant as an enduring covenant. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male whose flesh of his foreskin remains uncircumcised will be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.”

¹⁵ God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you will no longer call her Sarai. Her name will now be Sarah. ¹⁶ I will bless her and even give you a son from her. I will bless her so that she will become nations, and kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷ Abraham fell on his face and laughed. He said to himself, Can a 100-year-old man become a father, or Sarah, a 90-year-old woman, have a child? ¹⁸ To God Abraham said, “If only you would accept Ishmael!”

¹⁹ But God said, “No, your wife Sarah will give birth to a son for you, and you will name him Isaac.^[d] I will set up my covenant with him and with his descendants after him as an enduring covenant. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I’ve heard your request. I will bless him and make him fertile and give him many, many descendants. He will be the ancestor of twelve tribal leaders, and I will make a great nation of him. ²¹ But I will set up my covenant with Isaac, who will be born to Sarah at this time next year.” ²² When God finished speaking to him, God ascended, leaving Abraham alone.

²³ Abraham took his son Ishmael, all those born in his household, and all those purchased with his silver—that is, every male in Abraham’s household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that same day, just as God had told him to do. ²⁴ Abraham was 99 years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, ²⁵ and his son Ishmael was 13 years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised. ²⁶ That same day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. ²⁷ All the men of his household, those born in his household and those purchased with silver from foreigners, were circumcised with him.

Isaac’s birth announced

18 The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he sat at the entrance of his tent in the day’s heat. ² He looked up and suddenly saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from his tent entrance to greet them and bowed deeply. ³ He said, “Sirs, if you would be so kind, don’t just pass by your servant. ⁴ Let a little water be brought so you may wash your feet and refresh yourselves under the tree. ⁵ Let me offer you a little bread so you will feel stronger, and after that you may leave your servant and go on your way—since you have visited your servant.”

They responded, “Fine. Do just as you have said.”

⁶ So Abraham hurried to Sarah at his tent and said, “Hurry! Knead three seahs^[e] of the finest flour and make some baked goods!” ⁷ Abraham ran to the cattle, took a healthy young calf, and gave it to a young servant, who prepared it quickly. ⁸ Then Abraham took butter, milk, and the calf that had been prepared, put the food in front of them, and stood under the tree near them as they ate.

⁹ They said to him, “Where’s your wife Sarah?”

And he said, “Right here in the tent.”

¹⁰ Then one of the men said, “I will definitely return to you about this time next year. Then your wife Sarah will have a son!”

Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were both very old. Sarah was no longer menstruating. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, I’m no longer able to have children and my husband’s old.

¹³ The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Me give birth? At my age?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too difficult for the Lord? When I return to you about this time next year, Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Sarah lied and said, “I didn’t laugh,” because she was frightened.

But he said, “No, you laughed.”

Abraham pleads for Sodom

¹⁶ The men got up from there and went over to look down on Sodom. Abraham was walking along with them to send them off ¹⁷ when the Lord said, “Will I keep from Abraham what I’m about to do? ¹⁸ Abraham will certainly become a great populous nation, and all the earth’s nations will be blessed because of him. ¹⁹ I have formed a relationship with him so that he will instruct his children and his household after him. And they will keep to the Lord’s path, being moral and just so that the Lord can do for Abraham everything he said he would.” ²⁰ Then the Lord said, “The cries of injustice from Sodom and Gomorrah are countless, and their sin is very serious! ²¹ I will go down now to examine the cries of injustice that have reached me. Have they really done all this? If not, I want to know.”

²² The men turned away and walked toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing in front of the Lord.^{[f] 23} Abraham approached and said, “Will you really sweep away the innocent^[g] with the guilty?^{[h] 24} What if there are fifty innocent people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not save the place for the sake of the fifty innocent people in it? ²⁵ It’s not like you to do this, killing the innocent with the guilty as if there were no difference. It’s not like you! Will the judge of all the earth not act justly?”

²⁶ The Lord said, “If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom, I will save it because of them.”

²⁷ Abraham responded, “Since I’ve already decided to speak with my Lord, even though I’m just soil and ash, ²⁸ what if there are five fewer innocent people than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city over just five?”

The Lord said, “If I find forty-five there, I won’t destroy it.”

²⁹ Once again Abraham spoke, “What if forty are there?”

The Lord said, “For the sake of forty, I will do nothing.”

³⁰ He said, “Don’t be angry with me, my Lord, but let me speak. What if thirty are there?”

The Lord said, “I won’t do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹ Abraham said, “Since I’ve already decided to speak with my Lord, what if twenty are there?”

The Lord said, “I won’t do it, for the sake of twenty.”

³² Abraham said, “Don’t be angry with me, my Lord, but let me speak just once more. What if there are ten?”

And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it because of those ten.” ³³ When the Lord finished speaking with Abraham, he left; but Abraham stayed there in that place.

Lot leaves Sodom

19 The two messengers entered Sodom in the evening. Lot, who was sitting at the gate of Sodom, saw them, got up to greet them, and bowed low. ² He said, “Come to your servant’s house, spend the night, and wash your feet. Then you can get up early and go on your way.”

But they said, “No, we will spend the night in the town square.” ³ He pleaded earnestly with them, so they went with him and entered his house. He made a big meal for them, even baking unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴ Before they went to bed, the men of the city of Sodom—everyone from the youngest to the oldest—surrounded the house ⁵ and called to Lot, “Where are the men who arrived tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may have sex with them.”

⁶ Lot went out toward the entrance, closed the door behind him, ⁷ and said, “My brothers, don’t do such an evil thing. ⁸ I’ve got two daughters who are virgins. Let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them whatever you wish. But don’t do anything to these men because they are now under the protection of my roof.”

⁹ They said, “Get out of the way!” And they continued, “Does this immigrant want to judge us? Now we will hurt you more than we will hurt them.” They pushed Lot back and came close to breaking down the door. ¹⁰ The men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house with them and slammed the door. ¹¹ Then the messengers blinded the men near the entrance of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, so that they groped around trying to find the entrance.

¹² The men said to Lot, “Who’s still with you here? Take away from this place your sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and everyone else you have in the city ¹³ because we are about to destroy this place. The Lord has found the cries of injustice so serious that the Lord sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ Lot went to speak to his sons-in-law, married to his daughters, and said, “Get up and get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

¹⁵ When dawn broke, the messengers urged Lot, “Get up and take your wife and your two daughters who are here so that you are not swept away because of the evil in this city.” ¹⁶ He hesitated, but because the Lord intended to save him, the men grabbed him, his wife, and two daughters by the hand, took him out, and left him outside the city.

¹⁷ After getting them out, the men said, “Save your lives! Don’t look back! And don’t stay in the valley. Escape to the mountains so that you are not swept away.”

¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please. ¹⁹ You’ve done me a favor and have been so kind to save my life. But I can’t escape to the mountains since the catastrophe might overtake me there and I’d die. ²⁰ This city here is close enough to flee to, and it’s small. It’s small, right? Let me escape there, and my life will be saved.”

²¹ He said to Lot, “I’ll do this for you as well; I won’t overthrow the city that you have described. ²² Hurry! Escape to it! I can’t do anything until you get there.” That is why the name of the city is Zoar.^[i]

Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed

²³ As the sun rose over the earth, Lot arrived in Zoar; ²⁴ and the Lord rained down burning asphalt from the skies onto Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁵ The Lord destroyed these cities, the entire valley, everyone who lived in the cities, and all of the fertile land’s vegetation. ²⁶ When Lot’s wife looked back, she turned into a pillar of salt.

²⁷ Abraham set out early for the place where he had stood with the Lord, ²⁸ and looked out over Sodom and Gomorrah and over all the land of the valley. He saw the smoke from the land rise like the smoke from a kiln.

Origin of Moab and Ammon

²⁹ When God destroyed the cities in the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot away from the disaster that overtook the cities in which Lot had lived. ³⁰ Since Lot had become fearful of living in Zoar, he and his two daughters headed up from Zoar and settled in the mountains where he and his two daughters lived in a cave. ³¹ The older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there are no men in the land to sleep with us as is the custom everywhere. ³² Come on, let’s give our father wine to drink, lie down with him, and we’ll have children from our father.” ³³ That night they served their father wine, and the older daughter went in and lay down with her father, without him noticing when she lay down or got up. ³⁴ The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Since I lay down with our father last night, let’s serve him wine tonight too, and you go in and lie down with him so that we will both have children from our father.” ³⁵ They served their father wine that night also, and the younger daughter lay down with him, without him knowing when she lay down or got up. ³⁶ Both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. ³⁷ The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the ancestor of today’s Moabites. ³⁸ The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-ammi.^[j] He is the ancestor of today’s Ammonites.

Abraham and Sarah visit Gerar

20 Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the arid southern plain, and he settled as an immigrant in Gerar, between Kadesh and Shur. ² Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She’s my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar took her into his household.

³ But God appeared to Abimelech that night in a dream and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of this woman you have taken. She is a married woman.”

⁴ Now Abimelech hadn’t gone near her, and he said, “Lord, will you really put an innocent nation to death? ⁵ Didn’t he say to me, ‘She’s my sister,’ and didn’t she—even she—say, ‘He’s my brother’? My intentions were pure, and I acted innocently when I did this.”

⁶ God said to him in the dream, “I know that your intentions were pure when you did this. In fact, I kept you from sinning against me. That’s why I didn’t allow you to touch her. ⁷ Now return the man’s wife. He’s a prophet; he will pray for you so you may live. But if you don’t return her, know that you and everyone with you will die!”

⁸ Abimelech got up early in the morning and summoned all of his servants. When he told them everything that had happened, the men were terrified. ⁹ Then Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that you have brought this terrible sin to me and my kingdom, by doing to me something that simply isn’t done?” ¹⁰ Abimelech said to Abraham, “What were you thinking when you did this thing?”

¹¹ Abraham said, “I thought to myself, No one reveres God here and they will kill me to get my wife. ¹² She is, truthfully, my sister—my father’s daughter but not my mother’s daughter—and she’s now my wife. ¹³ When God led me away from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is the loyalty I expect from you: in each place we visit, tell them, “He is my brother.”’”

¹⁴ Abimelech took flocks, cattle, male servants, and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and Abimelech returned his wife Sarah. ¹⁵ Abimelech said, “My land is here available to you. Live wherever you wish.” ¹⁶ To Sarah, he said, “I’ve given your brother one thousand pieces of silver. It means that neither you nor anyone with you has done anything wrong. Everything has been set right.” ¹⁷ Abraham prayed to God; and God restored Abimelech, his wife, and his women servants to health, and they were able to have children. ¹⁸ Because of the incident with Abraham’s wife Sarah, the Lord had kept all of the women in Abimelech’s household from having children.

Isaac’s birth

21 The Lord was attentive to Sarah just as he had said, and the Lord carried out just what he had promised her. ² She became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Abraham when he was old, at the very time God had told him. ³ Abraham named his son—the one Sarah bore him—Isaac.^{[k] 4} Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old just as God had commanded him. ⁵ Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born. ⁶ Sarah said, “God has given me laughter. Everyone who hears about it will laugh with me.”^{[l] 7} She said, “Who could have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse sons? But now I’ve given birth to a son when he was old!”

Hagar and Ishmael evicted

⁸ The boy grew and stopped nursing. On the day he stopped nursing, Abraham prepared a huge banquet. ⁹ Sarah saw Hagar’s son laughing, the one Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham. ¹⁰ So she said to Abraham, “Send this servant away with her son! This servant’s son won’t share the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

¹¹ This upset Abraham terribly because the boy was his son. ¹² God said to Abraham, “Don’t be upset about the boy and your servant. Do everything Sarah tells you to do because your descendants will be traced through Isaac. ¹³ But I will make of your servant’s son a great nation too, because he is also your descendant.” ¹⁴ Abraham got up early in the morning, took some bread and a flask of water, and gave it to Hagar. He put the boy in her shoulder sling and sent her away.

She left and wandered through the desert near Beer-sheba. ¹⁵ Finally the water in the flask ran out, and she put the boy down under one of the desert shrubs. ¹⁶ She walked away from him about as far as a bow shot and sat down, telling herself, I can’t bear to see the boy die. She sat at a distance, cried out in grief, and wept.

¹⁷ God heard the boy’s cries, and God’s messenger called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “Hagar! What’s wrong? Don’t be afraid. God has heard the boy’s cries over there. ¹⁸ Get up, pick up the boy, and take him by the hand because I will make of him a great nation.” ¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well. She went over, filled the water flask, and gave the boy a drink. ²⁰ God remained with the boy; he grew up, lived in the desert, and became an expert archer. ²¹ He lived in the Paran desert, and his mother found him an Egyptian wife.

Abraham’s treaty with the Philistines

²² At that time Abimelech, and Phicol commander of his forces, said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything that you do. ²³ So give me your word under God that you won’t cheat me, my children, or my descendants. Just as I have treated you fairly, so you must treat me and the land in which you are an immigrant.”

²⁴ Abraham said, “I give you my word.” ²⁵ Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized.

²⁶ Abimelech said, “I don’t know who has done this, and you didn’t tell me. I didn’t even hear about it until today.” ²⁷ Abraham took flocks and cattle, gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them drew up a treaty.^{[m] 28} Abraham set aside, by themselves, seven female lambs from the flock. ²⁹ So Abimelech said to Abraham, “What are these seven lambs you’ve set apart?”

³⁰ Abraham said, “These seven lambs that you take from me will attest that I dug this well.” ³¹ Therefore, the name of that place is Beer-sheba^[n] because there they gave each other their word. ³² After they drew up a treaty^[o] at Beer-sheba, Abimelech, and Phicol commander of his forces, returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and he worshipped there in the name of the Lord, El Olam.^{[p] 34} Abraham lived as an immigrant in the Philistines’ land for a long time.

Binding of Isaac

22 After these events, God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”

Abraham answered, “I’m here.”

² God said, “Take your son, your only son whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him up as an entirely burned offering there on one of the mountains that I will show you.” ³ Abraham got up early in the morning, harnessed his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, together with his son Isaac. He split the wood for the entirely burned offering, set out, and went to the place God had described to him.

⁴ On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place at a distance. ⁵ Abraham said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will walk up there, worship, and then come back to you.”

⁶ Abraham took the wood for the entirely burned offering and laid it on his son Isaac. He took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together. ⁷ Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?”

Abraham said, “I’m here, my son.”

Isaac said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the entirely burned offering?”

⁸ Abraham said, “The lamb for the entirely burned offering? God will see to it,^[q] my son.” The two of them walked on together.

⁹ They arrived at the place God had described to him. Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. ¹¹ But the Lord’s messenger called out to Abraham from heaven, “Abraham? Abraham?”

Abraham said, “I’m here.”

¹² The messenger said, “Don’t stretch out your hand against the young man, and don’t do anything to him. I now know that you revere God and didn’t hold back your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³ Abraham looked up and saw a single ram^[r] caught by its horns in the dense underbrush. Abraham went over, took the ram, and offered it as an entirely burned offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ Abraham named that place “the Lord sees.”^[s] That is the reason people today say, “On this mountain the Lord is seen.”^[t]

¹⁵ The Lord’s messenger called out to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, “I give my word as the Lord that because you did this and didn’t hold back your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will bless you richly and I will give you countless descendants, as many as the stars in the sky and as the grains of sand on the seashore. They will conquer their enemies’ cities. ¹⁸ All the nations of the earth will be blessed because of your descendants, because you obeyed me.” ¹⁹ After Abraham returned to the young men, they got up and went to Beer-sheba where Abraham lived.

Abraham’s nephews in Syria

²⁰ After these events, Abraham was told: “Milcah has now also given birth to sons for your brother Nahor. ²¹ They are Uz his oldest son, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³ Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These are the eight Milcah bore for Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴ His secondary wife’s name was Reumah, and she gave birth to Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Sarah’s death and burial site

23 Sarah lived to be 127 years old; this was how long she lived. ² She died in Kiriath-arba, that is, in Hebron, in the land of Canaan; and Abraham cried out in grief and wept for Sarah. ³ After he got up from embracing his deceased wife, he spoke with the Hittites: ⁴ “I am an immigrant and a temporary resident with you. Give me some property for a burial plot among you so that I can bury my deceased wife near me.”

⁵ The Hittites responded to Abraham, ⁶ “Listen to us, sir. You are an eminent man of God among us. Bury your dead in one of our own select burial sites. None of us will keep our own burial plots from you to bury your dead.”

⁷ Abraham rose, bowed to the local citizens the Hittites, ⁸ and spoke with them: “If you yourselves allow me to bury my dead near me, listen to me and ask Ephron, Zohar’s son, ⁹ to give me his own cave in Machpelah at the edge of his field. Let him give it to me for the full price, to be witnessed by you, as my own burial property.”

¹⁰ Now Ephron was a native Hittite. So Ephron the Hittite responded to Abraham publicly in order that the Hittites and everyone at his city’s gate could hear: ¹¹ “No, sir. Listen, I will give you the field, and I will give you the cave in it. In front of my people’s witnesses, I will give it to you. Bury your dead!”

¹² Abraham bowed before the local citizens ¹³ and spoke to Ephron publicly in the presence of the local citizens: “If only you would accept my offer. I will give you the price of the field. Take it from me so that I can bury my dead there.”

¹⁴ Ephron responded to Abraham, ¹⁵ “Sir, what is four hundred shekels of silver between me and you for the land so that you can bury your dead?” ¹⁶ Abraham accepted Ephron’s offer and weighed out for Ephron the silver he requested publicly before the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver at the current rate of exchange.

¹⁷ So the field of Ephron in Machpelah near Mamre—the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the field’s boundaries—was officially transferred ¹⁸ to Abraham as his property in the presence of the Hittites and of everyone at his city’s gate. ¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ The field and the cave in it were officially transferred from the Hittites to Abraham as his burial property.

Isaac marries Rebekah

24 As the days went by and Abraham became older, the Lord blessed Abraham in every way. ² Abraham said to the oldest servant of his household, who was in charge of everything he owned, “Put your hand under my thigh. ³ By the Lord, God of heaven and earth, give me your word that you won’t choose a wife for my son from the Canaanite women among whom I live. ⁴ Go to my land and my family and find a wife for my son Isaac there.”

⁵ The servant said to him, “What if the woman doesn’t agree to come back with me to this land? Shouldn’t I take your son back to the land you left?”

⁶ Abraham said to him, “Be sure you don’t take my son back there. ⁷ The Lord, God of heaven—who took me from my father’s household and from my family’s land, who spoke with me and who gave me his word, saying, ‘I will give this land to your descendants’—he will send his messenger in front of you, and you will find a wife for my son there. ⁸ If the woman won’t agree to come back with you, you will be free from this obligation to me. Only don’t take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant put his hand under his master Abraham’s thigh and gave him his word about this mission.

¹⁰ The servant took ten of his master’s camels and all of his master’s best provisions, set out, and traveled to Nahor’s city in Aram-naharaim. ¹¹ He had the camels kneel down outside the city at the well in the evening, when women come out to draw water. ¹² He said, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make something good happen for me today and be loyal to my master Abraham. ¹³ I will stand here by the spring while the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water. ¹⁴ When I say to a young woman, ‘Hand me your water jar so I can drink,’ and she says to me, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels water too,’ may she be the one you’ve selected for your servant Isaac. In this way I will know that you’ve been loyal to my master.” ¹⁵ Even before he finished speaking, Rebekah—daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother—was coming out with a water jar on her shoulder. ¹⁶ The young woman was very beautiful, old enough to be married, and hadn’t known a man intimately. She went down to the spring, filled her water jar, and came back up.

¹⁷ The servant ran to meet her and said, “Give me a little sip of water from your jar.”

¹⁸ She said, “Drink, sir.” Then she quickly lowered the water jar with her hands and gave him some water to drink. ¹⁹ When she finished giving him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw some water for your camels too, till they’ve had enough to drink.” ²⁰ She emptied her water jar quickly into the watering trough, ran to the well again to draw water, and drew water for all of the camels. ²¹ The man stood gazing at her, wondering silently if the Lord had made his trip successful or not.

²² As soon as the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold ring, weighing a half shekel,^[u] and two gold bracelets for her arms, weighing ten shekels. ²³ He said, “Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”

²⁴ She responded, “I’m the daughter of Bethuel, who is the son of Milcah and Nahor.” ²⁵ She continued, “We have plenty of straw and feed for the camels, and a place to spend the night.”

²⁶ The man bowed down and praised the Lord: ²⁷ “Bless the Lord, God of my master Abraham, who hasn’t given up his loyalty and his faithfulness to my master. The Lord has shown me the way to the household of my master’s brother.”

²⁸ The young woman ran and told her mother’s household everything that had happened. ²⁹ Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and Laban ran to the man outside by the spring. ³⁰ When he had seen the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and when he had heard his sister Rebekah say, “This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man, who was still standing by the spring with his camels. ³¹ Laban said, “Come in, favored one of the Lord! Why are you standing outside? I’ve prepared the house and a place for the camels.” ³² So the man entered the house. Then Laban unbridled the camels, provided straw and feed for them and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men with him, ³³ and set out a meal for him.

But the man said, “I won’t eat until I’ve said something.”

Laban replied, “Say it.”

³⁴ The man said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has richly blessed my master, has made him a great man, and has given him flocks, cattle, silver, gold, men servants, women servants, camels, and donkeys. ³⁶ My master’s wife Sarah gave birth to a son for my master in her old age, and he’s given him everything he owns. ³⁷ My master made me give him my word: ‘Don’t choose a wife for my son from the Canaanite women, in whose land I’m living. ³⁸ No, instead, go to my father’s household and to my relatives and choose a wife for my son.’ ³⁹ I said to my master, ‘What if the woman won’t come back with me?’ ⁴⁰ He said to me, ‘The Lord, whom I’ve traveled with everywhere, will send his messenger with you and make your trip successful; and you will choose a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s household. ⁴¹ If you go to my relatives, you will be free from your obligation to me. Even if they provide no one for you, you will be free from your obligation to me.’

⁴² “Today I arrived at the spring, and I said, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, if you wish to make the trip I’m taking successful, ⁴³ when I’m standing by the spring and the young woman who comes out to draw water and to whom I say, “Please give me a little drink of water from your jar,” ⁴⁴ and she responds to me, “Drink, and I will draw water for your camels too,” may she be the woman the Lord has selected for my master’s son.’ ⁴⁵ Before I finished saying this to myself, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder and went down to the spring to draw water. And I said to her, ‘Please give me something to drink.’ ⁴⁶ She immediately lowered her water jar and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels something to drink too.’ So I drank and she also gave water to the camels. ⁴⁷ Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son whom Milcah bore him.’ I put a ring in her nose and bracelets on her arms. ⁴⁸ I bowed and worshipped the Lord and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who led me in the right direction to choose the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. ⁴⁹ Now if you’re loyal and faithful to my master, tell me. If not, tell me so I will know where I stand either way.”

⁵⁰ Laban and Bethuel both responded, “This is all the Lord’s doing. We have nothing to say about it. ⁵¹ Here is Rebekah, right in front of you. Take her and go. She will be the wife of your master’s son, just as the Lord said.” ⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard what they said, he bowed low before the Lord. ⁵³ The servant brought out gold and silver jewelry and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. To her brother and to her mother he gave the finest gifts. ⁵⁴ He and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night.

When they got up in the morning, the servant said, “See me off to my master.”

⁵⁵ Her brother and mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us not more than ten days, and after that she may go.”

⁵⁶ But he said to them, “Don’t delay me. The Lord has made my trip successful. See me off so that I can go to my master.”

⁵⁷ They said, “Summon the young woman, and let’s ask her opinion.” ⁵⁸ They called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”

She said, “I will go.”

⁵⁹ So they sent off their sister Rebekah, her nurse, Abraham’s servant, and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah, saying to her,

⁶¹ Rebekah and her young women got up, mounted the camels, and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

⁶² Now Isaac had come from the region of^[v] Beer-lahai-roi and had settled in the arid southern plain. ⁶³ One evening, Isaac went out to inspect the pasture,^[w] and while staring he saw camels approaching. ⁶⁴ Rebekah stared at Isaac. She got down from the camel ⁶⁵ and said to the servant, “Who is this man walking through the pasture to meet us?”

The servant said, “He’s my master.” So she took her headscarf and covered herself. ⁶⁶ The servant told Isaac everything that had happened. ⁶⁷ Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tent. He received Rebekah as his wife and loved her. So Isaac found comfort after his mother’s death.

Abraham and Keturah’s children

25 Abraham married another wife, named Keturah. ² The children she bore him were Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴ Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Enoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All of these were Keturah’s sons. ⁵ Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac. ⁶ To the sons of Abraham’s secondary wives, Abraham gave gifts and, while he was still living, sent them away from his son Isaac to land in the east.

Abraham’s death

⁷ Abraham lived to the age of 175. ⁸ Abraham took his last breath and died after a good long life, a content old man, and he was placed with his ancestors. ⁹ His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave in Machpelah, which is in the field of Zohar’s son Ephron the Hittite, near Mamre. ¹⁰ Thus Abraham and his wife Sarah were both buried in the field Abraham had purchased from the Hittites. ¹¹ After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, and Isaac lived in Beer-lahai-roi.

Ishmael’s descendants

¹² These are the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore for Abraham. ¹³ These are the names of Ishmael’s sons, by their names and according to their birth order: Nebaioth, Ishmael’s oldest son; Kedar; Adbeel; Mibsam; ¹⁴ Mishma; Dumah; Massa; ¹⁵ Hadad; Tema; Jetur; Naphish; and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These are Ishmael’s sons. These are their names by their villages and their settlements: twelve tribal leaders according to their tribes. ¹⁷ Ishmael lived to the age of 137. He took his last breath and died, and was placed with his ancestors. ¹⁸ He established camps^[x] from Havilah to Shur, which is near Egypt on the road to Assyria. He died^[y] among all of his brothers.

Jacob and Esau are born

¹⁹ These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham became the father of Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean and the sister of Laban the Aramean, from Paddan-aram. ²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, since she was unable to have children. The Lord was moved by his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. ²² But the boys pushed against each other inside of her, and she said, “If this is what it’s like, why did it happen to me?”^[z]

So she went to ask the Lord. ²³ And the Lord said to her,

²⁴ When she reached the end of her pregnancy, she discovered that she had twins. ²⁵ The first came out red all over, clothed with hair, and she named him Esau. ²⁶ Immediately afterward, his brother came out gripping Esau’s heel, and she named him Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.

Jacob acquires the oldest son’s rights

²⁷ When the young men grew up, Esau became an outdoorsman who knew how to hunt, and Jacob became a quiet man who stayed at home. ²⁸ Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. ²⁹ Once when Jacob was boiling stew, Esau came in from the field hungry ³⁰ and said to Jacob, “I’m starving! Let me devour some of this red stuff.” That’s why his name is Edom.^[aa]

³¹ Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright^[ab] today.”

³² Esau said, “Since I’m going to die anyway, what good is my birthright to me?”

³³ Jacob said, “Give me your word today.” And he did. He sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ So Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew. He ate, drank, got up, and left, showing just how little he thought of his birthright.

Isaac and Rebekah visit Gerar

26 When a famine gripped the land, a different one from the first famine that occurred in Abraham’s time, Isaac set out toward Gerar and toward King Abimelech of the Philistines. ² The Lord appeared to him and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt but settle temporarily in the land that I will show you. ³ Stay in this land as an immigrant, and I will be with you and bless you because I will give all of these lands to you and your descendants. I will keep my word, which I gave to your father Abraham. ⁴ I will give you as many descendants as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all of these lands. All of the nations of the earth will be blessed because of your descendants. ⁵ I will do this because Abraham obeyed me and kept my orders, my commandments, my statutes, and my instructions.”

⁶ So Isaac lived in Gerar. ⁷ When the men who lived there asked about his wife, he said, “She’s my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, The men who live there will kill me for Rebekah because she’s very beautiful. ⁸ After Isaac had lived there for some time, the Philistines’ King Abimelech looked out his window and saw Isaac laughing together with his wife Rebekah.

⁹ So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She’s your wife, isn’t she? How could you say, ‘She’s my sister’?”

Isaac responded, “Because I thought that I might be killed because of her.”

¹⁰ Abimelech said, “What are you trying to do to us? Before long, one of the people would have slept with your wife; and you would have made us guilty.” ¹¹ Abimelech gave orders to all of the people, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death!”

Isaac’s treaty with the Philistines

¹² Isaac planted grain in that land and reaped one hundred shearim^[ac] that year because the Lord had blessed him. ¹³ Isaac grew richer and richer until he was extremely wealthy. ¹⁴ He had livestock, both flocks and cattle, and many servants. As a result, the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ The Philistines closed up and filled with dirt all of the wells that his father’s servants had dug during his father Abraham’s lifetime. ¹⁶ Abimelech said to Isaac, “Move away from us because you have become too powerful among us.”

¹⁷ So Isaac moved away from there, camped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there. ¹⁸ Isaac dug out again the wells that were dug during the lifetime of his father Abraham. The Philistines had closed them up after Abraham’s death. Isaac gave them the same names his father had given them. ¹⁹ Isaac’s servants dug wells in the valley and found a well there with fresh water. ²⁰ Isaac’s shepherds argued with Gerar’s shepherds, each claiming, “This is our water.” So Isaac named the well Esek^[ad] because they quarreled with him. ²¹ They dug another well and argued about it too, so he named it Sitnah.^{[ae] 22} He left there and dug another well, but they didn’t argue about it, so he named it Rehoboth^[af] and said, “Now the Lord has made an open space for us and has made us fertile in the land.”

²³ Then he went up from Gerar to Beer-sheba. 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 I will give you many children for my servant Abraham’s sake.” ²⁵ So Isaac built an altar there and worshipped in the Lord’s name. Isaac pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well.

²⁶ But Abimelech set out toward him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his ally and Phicol the commander of his forces. ²⁷ Isaac said to him, “Why have you come after me? You resented me and sent me away from you.”

²⁸ They said, “We now see that the Lord was with you. We propose that there be a formal agreement between us and that we draw up a treaty^[ag] with you: ²⁹ you must not treat us badly since we haven’t harmed you and since we have treated you well at all times. Then we will send you away peacefully, for you are now blessed by the Lord.” ³⁰ Isaac prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹ They got up early in the morning, and they gave each other their word. Isaac sent them off, and they left peacefully.

³² That day Isaac’s servants informed him about the well that they had been digging and said to him, “We found water.” ³³ He called it Shibah;^[ah] therefore, the city’s name has been Beer-sheba^[ai] until today.

Esau’s wives

³⁴ When Esau was 40 years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ They made life very difficult for Isaac and Rebekah.

Jacob acquires his father’s blessing

27 When Isaac had grown old and his eyesight was failing, he summoned his older son Esau and said to him, “My son?”

And Esau said, “I’m here.”

² He said, “I’m old and don’t know when I will die. ³ So now, take your hunting gear, your bow and quiver of arrows, go out to the field, and hunt game for me. ⁴ Make me the delicious food that I love and bring it to me so I can eat. Then I can bless you before I die.”

⁵ Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the field to hunt game to bring back, ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I just heard your father saying to your brother Esau, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and make me some delicious food so I can eat, and I will bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ ⁸ Now, my son, listen to me, to what I’m telling you to do. ⁹ Go to the flock and get me two healthy young goats so I can prepare them as the delicious food your father loves. ¹⁰ You can bring it to your father, he will eat, and then he will bless you before he dies.”

¹¹ Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man, but I have smooth skin. ¹² What if my father touches me and thinks I’m making fun of him? I will be cursed instead of blessed.”

¹³ His mother said to him, “Your curse will be on me, my son. Just listen to me: go and get them for me.” ¹⁴ So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food that his father loved. ¹⁵ Rebekah took her older son Esau’s favorite clothes that were in the house with her, and she put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ On his arms and smooth neck she put the hide of young goats, ¹⁷ and the delicious food and the bread she had made she put into her son’s hands.

¹⁸ Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.”

And he said, “I’m here. Who are you, my son?”

¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I’m Esau your oldest son. I’ve made what you asked me to. Sit up and eat some of the game so you can bless me.”

²⁰ Isaac said to his son, “How could you find this so quickly, my son?”

He said, “The Lord your God led me right to it.”^[aj]

²¹ Isaac said to Jacob, “Come here and let me touch you, my son. Are you my son Esau or not?” ²² So Jacob approached his father Isaac, and Isaac touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the arms are Esau’s arms.” ²³ Isaac didn’t recognize him because his arms were hairy like Esau’s arms, so he blessed him.

²⁴ Isaac said, “Are you really my son Esau?”

And he said, “I am.”

²⁵ Isaac said, “Bring some food here and let me eat some of my son’s game so I can bless you.” Jacob put it before him and he ate, and he brought him wine and he drank. ²⁶ His father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So he came close and kissed him. When Isaac smelled the scent of his clothes, he blessed him,

Esau receives a secondary blessing

³⁰ After Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and just as Jacob left his father Isaac, his brother Esau came back from his hunt. ³¹ He too made some delicious food, brought it to his father, and said, “Let my father sit up and eat from his son’s game so that you may bless me.”

³² His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”

And he said, “I’m your son, your oldest son, Esau.”

³³ Isaac was so shocked that he trembled violently. He said, “Who was the hunter just here with game? He brought me food, and I ate all of it before you came. I blessed him, and he will stay blessed!”

³⁴ When Esau heard what his father said, he let out a loud agonizing cry and wept bitterly. He said to his father, “Bless me! Me too, my father!”

³⁵ Isaac said, “Your brother has already come deceitfully and has taken your blessing.”

³⁶ Esau said, “Isn’t this why he’s called Jacob? He’s taken me^[ak] twice now: he took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing.” He continued, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac replied to Esau, “I’ve already made him more powerful than you, and I’ve made all of his brothers his servants. I’ve made him strong with grain and wine. What can I do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you really have only one blessing, Father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.

³⁹ His father Isaac responded and said to him,

Jacob sent away for protection

⁴¹ Esau was furious at Jacob because his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, When the period of mourning for the death of my father is over, I will kill my brother.

⁴² Rebekah was told what her older son Esau was planning, so she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Esau your brother is planning revenge. He plans to kill you. ⁴³ So now, my son, listen to me: Get up and escape to my brother Laban in Haran. ⁴⁴ Live with him for a short while until your brother’s rage subsides, ⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger at you goes away and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I suffer the loss of both of you on one day?”

⁴⁶ Rebekah then said to Isaac, “I really loathe these Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women, like the women of this land, why should I go on living?”

28 So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and gave him these orders: “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman. ² Get up and go to Paddan-aram, to the household of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and once there, marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³ God Almighty^[am] will bless you, make you fertile, and give you many descendants so that you will become a large group of peoples. ⁴ He will give you and your descendants Abraham’s blessing so that you will own the land in which you are now immigrants, the land God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ So Isaac sent Jacob off, and he traveled to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau’s mother.

⁶ Esau understood that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to marry a woman from there. He recognized that, when Isaac blessed Jacob, he had ordered him, “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman,” ⁷ and that Jacob had listened to his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ Esau realized that his father Isaac considered Canaanite women unacceptable. ⁹ So he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth, in addition to his other wives.

Jacob’s dream at Bethel

¹⁰ Jacob left Beer-sheba and set out for Haran. ¹¹ He reached a certain place and spent the night there. When the sun had set, he took one of the stones at that place and put it near his head. Then he lay down there. ¹² He dreamed and saw a raised staircase, its foundation on earth and its top touching the sky, and God’s messengers were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ Suddenly the Lord was standing on it^[an] and saying, “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. ¹⁴ Your descendants will become like the dust of the earth; you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. Every family of earth will be blessed because of you and your descendants. ¹⁵ I am with you now, I will protect you everywhere you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done everything that I have promised you.”

¹⁶ When Jacob woke from his sleep, he thought to himself, The Lord is definitely in this place, but I didn’t know it.