Jacob and Esau

¹⁹ This is the account^(A) of the family line of Abraham’s son Isaac.

Abraham became the father of Isaac, ²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old^(B) when he married Rebekah^(C) daughter of Bethuel^(D) the Aramean from Paddan Aram^[a](E) and sister of Laban^(F) the Aramean.^(G)

²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless.^(H) The Lord answered his prayer,^(I) and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. ²² The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.^(J)

²³ The Lord said to her,

²⁴ When the time came for her to give birth,^(M) there were twin boys in her womb.^{(N) 25} The first to come out was red,^(O) and his whole body was like a hairy garment;^(P) so they named him Esau.^{[b](Q) 26} After this, his brother came out,^(R) with his hand grasping Esau’s heel;^(S) so he was named Jacob.^[c](T) Isaac was sixty years old^(U) when Rebekah gave birth to them.

²⁷ The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter,^(V) a man of the open country,^(W) while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. ²⁸ Isaac, who had a taste for wild game,^(X) loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.^(Y)

²⁹ Once when Jacob was cooking some stew,^(Z) Esau came in from the open country,^(AA) famished. ³⁰ He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew!^(AB) I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.^[d])^(AC)

³¹ Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.^(AD)”

³² “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?”

³³ But Jacob said, “Swear^(AE) to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright^(AF) to Jacob.

³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew.^(AG) He ate and drank, and then got up and left.

So Esau despised his birthright.

27 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see,^(A) he called for Esau his older son^(B) and said to him, “My son.”

“Here I am,” he answered.

² Isaac said, “I am now an old man and don’t know the day of my death.^{(C) 3} Now then, get your equipment—your quiver and bow—and go out to the open country^(D) to hunt some wild game for me. ⁴ Prepare me the kind of tasty food I like^(E) and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my blessing^(F) before I die.”^(G)

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country^(H) to hunt game and bring it back, ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob,^(I) “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’^{(J) 8} Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you:^{(K) 9} Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats,^(L) so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it.^{(M) 10} Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing^(N) before he dies.”

¹¹ Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau is a hairy man^(O) while I have smooth skin. ¹² What if my father touches me?^(P) I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse^(Q) on myself rather than a blessing.”

¹³ His mother said to him, “My son, let the curse fall on me.^(R) Just do what I say;^(S) go and get them for me.”

¹⁴ So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and she prepared some tasty food, just the way his father liked it.^{(T) 15} Then Rebekah took the best clothes^(U) of Esau her older son,^(V) which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ She also covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck with the goatskins.^{(W) 17} Then she handed to her son Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

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

“Yes, my son,” he answered. “Who is it?”^(X)

¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn.^(Y) I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game,^(Z) so that you may give me your blessing.”^(AA)

²⁰ Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?”

“The Lord your God gave me success,^(AB)” he replied.

²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you,^(AC) my son, to know whether you really are my son Esau or not.”

²² Jacob went close to his father Isaac,^(AD) who touched^(AE) him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He did not recognize him, for his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau;^(AF) so he proceeded to bless him. ²⁴ “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked.

“I am,” he replied.

²⁵ Then he said, “My son, bring me some of your game to eat, so that I may give you my blessing.”^(AG)

Jacob brought it to him and he ate; and he brought some wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here, my son, and kiss me.”

²⁷ So he went to him and kissed^(AH) him^(AI). When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes,^(AJ) he blessed him and said,

³⁰ After Isaac finished blessing him, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, his brother Esau came in from hunting. ³¹ He too prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Then he said to him, “My father, please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may give me your blessing.”^(AS)

³² His father Isaac asked him, “Who are you?”^(AT)

“I am your son,” he answered, “your firstborn, Esau.^(AU)”

³³ Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me?^(AV) I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!^(AW)”

³⁴ When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry^(AX) and said to his father, “Bless^(AY) me—me too, my father!”

³⁵ But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully^(AZ) and took your blessing.”^(BA)

³⁶ Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob^[a]?^(BB) This is the second time he has taken advantage of^(BC) me: He took my birthright,^(BD) and now he’s taken my blessing!”^(BE) Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine.^(BF) So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.^(BG)

³⁹ His father Isaac answered him,^(BH)

⁴¹ Esau held a grudge^(BN) against Jacob^(BO) because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning^(BP) for my father are near; then I will kill^(BQ) my brother Jacob.”^(BR)

⁴² When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau^(BS) had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is planning to avenge himself by killing you.^{(BT) 43} Now then, my son, do what I say:^(BU) Flee at once to my brother Laban^(BV) in Harran.^{(BW) 44} Stay with him for a while^(BX) until your brother’s fury subsides. ⁴⁵ When your brother is no longer angry with you and forgets what you did to him,^(BY) I’ll send word for you to come back from there.^(BZ) Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite^(CA) women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land,^(CB) from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”^(CC)

28 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed^(CD) him. Then he commanded him: “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.^{(CE) 2} Go at once to Paddan Aram,^[b](CF) to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel.^(CG) Take a wife for yourself there, from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.^{(CH) 3} May God Almighty^[c](CI) bless^(CJ) you and make you fruitful^(CK) and increase your numbers^(CL) until you become a community of peoples. ⁴ May he give you and your descendants the blessing given to Abraham,^(CM) so that you may take possession of the land^(CN) where you now reside as a foreigner,^(CO) the land God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then Isaac sent Jacob on his way,^(CP) and he went to Paddan Aram,^(CQ) to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean,^(CR) the brother of Rebekah,^(CS) who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

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,”^{(CT) 7} and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. ⁸ Esau then realized how displeasing the Canaanite women^(CU) were to his father Isaac;^{(CV) 9} so he went to Ishmael^(CW) and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth^(CX) and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.^(CY)

³ Jacob sent messengers^(A) ahead of him to his brother Esau^(B) in the land of Seir,^(C) the country of Edom.^{(D) 4} He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord^(E) Esau: ‘Your servant^(F) Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban^(G) and have remained there till now. ⁵ I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants.^(H) Now I am sending this message to my lord,^(I) that I may find favor in your eyes.^(J)’”

⁶ When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”^(K)

⁷ In great fear^(L) and distress^(M) Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups,^[a](N) and the flocks and herds and camels as well. ⁸ He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group,^[b] the group^[c] that is left may escape.”

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

¹³ He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift^(Z) for his brother Esau: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,^{(AA) 15} thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.^{(AB) 16} He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”^(AC)

¹⁷ He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ ¹⁸ then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant^(AD) Jacob. They are a gift^(AE) sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’”

¹⁹ He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. ²⁰ And be sure to say, ‘Your servant^(AF) Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts^(AG) I am sending on ahead;^(AH) later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.”^{(AI) 21} So Jacob’s gifts^(AJ) went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles With God

²² That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons^(AK) and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.^{(AL) 23} After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.^{(AM) 24} So Jacob was left alone,^(AN) and a man^(AO) wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip^(AP) so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”^(AQ)

²⁷ The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,”^(AR) he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name^(AS) will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,^[d](AT) because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”^(AU)

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”^(AV)

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?”^(AW) Then he blessed^(AX) him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel,^[e] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face,^(AY) and yet my life was spared.”

³¹ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,^[f](AZ) and he was limping because of his hip. ³² Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip,^(BA) because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

Jacob Meets Esau

33 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men;^(BB) so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants.^{(BC) 2} He put the female servants and their children^(BD) in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph^(BE) in the rear. ³ He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground^(BF) seven times^(BG) as he approached his brother.

⁴ But Esau^(BH) ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.^(BI) And they wept.^{(BJ) 5} Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.

Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.^(BK)”

⁶ Then the female servants and their children^(BL) approached and bowed down.^{(BM) 7} Next, Leah and her children^(BN) came and bowed down.^(BO) Last of all came Joseph and Rachel,^(BP) and they too bowed down.

⁸ Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”^(BQ)

“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,”^(BR) he said.

⁹ But Esau said, “I already have plenty,^(BS) my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

¹⁰ “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes,^(BT) accept this gift^(BU) from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God,^(BV) now that you have received me favorably.^{(BW) 11} Please accept the present^(BX) that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me^(BY) and I have all I need.”^(BZ) And because Jacob insisted,^(CA) Esau accepted it.

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”

¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord^(CB) knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young.^(CC) If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. ¹⁴ So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds^(CD) before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.^(CE)”

¹⁵ Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”

“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”^(CF)

¹⁶ So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir.^{(CG) 17} Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth,^(CH) where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.^[g]