Genesis 25:19-28:9

New American Standard Bible

Isaac’s Sons

¹⁹ Now these are the records of ^(A)the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac; ²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old when he took ^(B)Rebekah, the ^(C)daughter of Bethuel the ^[a]Aramean of Paddan-aram, the ^(D)sister of Laban the ^[b]Aramean, to be his wife. ²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was unable to have children; and ^(E)the Lord ^[c]answered him, and his wife Rebekah ^(F)conceived. ²² But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why am I in this condition?” So she went to ^(G)inquire of the Lord. ²³ And the Lord said to her,

²⁴ When her days leading to the delivery were at an end, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ Now the first came out red, ^(K)all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out with ^(L)his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so ^(M)he was named ^[d]Jacob; and Isaac was ^(N)sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a ^[e]civilized man, ^(O)living in tents. ²⁸ Now Isaac loved Esau because ^[f]he had ^(P)a taste for game; ^(Q)but Rebekah loved Jacob. ²⁹ When Jacob had cooked a ^(R)stew one day, Esau came in from the field and he was exhausted; ³⁰ and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a mouthful of ^[g]that red stuff there, for I am exhausted.” Therefore he was called ^[h]Edom by name. ³¹ But Jacob said, “^[i]First sell me your ^(S)birthright.” ³² Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” ³³ And Jacob said, “^[j]First swear to me”; so he swore an oath to him, and ^(T)sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and got up and went on his way. So Esau despised his birthright.

Isaac Settles in Gerar

26 Now there was ^(U)a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to ^(V)Abimelech king of the Philistines. ² And the Lord ^(W)appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; ^(X)stay in the land of which I shall tell you. ³ Live for a time in this land and ^(Y)I will be with you and ^(Z)bless you, for ^(AA)to you and to your ^[k]descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish ^(AB)the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. ^4 (AC)I will multiply your ^[l]descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your ^[m]descendants all these lands; and ^(AD)by your ^[n]descendants all the nations of the earth ^[o]shall be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham ^[p](AE)obeyed Me and fulfilled his duty to Me, and kept My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

⁶ So Isaac lived in Gerar. ⁷ When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “^(AF)She is my sister,” for he was ^(AG)afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “^[q]the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is ^(AH)beautiful.” ⁸ Now it came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down through a window, and saw them, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she certainly is your wife! So how is it that you said, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘otherwise I might be killed on account of her.’” ¹⁰ And ^(AI)Abimelech said, “What is this that you have done to us? One of the people might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” ¹¹ So Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who ^(AJ)touches this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.”

¹² Now Isaac sowed in that land and ^[r]reaped in the same year a hundred times as much. And ^(AK)the Lord blessed him, ¹³ and the man ^(AL)became rich, and continued to grow ^[s]richer until he became very ^[t]wealthy; ¹⁴ for ^(AM)he had possessions of flocks ^[u]and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ Now ^(AN)all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up ^[v]by filling them with dirt. ¹⁶ Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are ^[w](AO)too powerful for us.” ¹⁷ So Isaac departed from there and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and ^[x]settled there.

Argument over the Wells

¹⁸ Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which ^[y]had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he ^[z]gave them the same names which his father had ^[aa]given them. ¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of ^[ab]flowing water, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar ^(AP)quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well ^[ac]Esek, because they argued with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it ^[ad]Sitnah. ²² Then he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it ^[ae]Rehoboth, for he said, “^[af](AQ)At last the Lord has made ^[ag]room for us, and we will be ^(AR)fruitful in the land.”

²³ And he went up from there to ^(AS)Beersheba. ²⁴ And the Lord ^(AT)appeared to him the same night and said,

²⁵ So he built an ^(AX)altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Covenant with Abimelech

²⁶ Then ^(AY)Abimelech came to him from Gerar ^[ai]with his adviser Ahuzzath, and Phicol the commander of his army. ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “^(AZ)Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” ²⁸ They said, “We have seen plainly ^(BA)that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘An oath must now be taken ^[aj]by us,’ that is, ^[ak]by you and us. So let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you ^[al]and have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace. You are now the ^(BB)blessed of the Lord.” ³⁰ Then ^(BC)he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ In the morning they got up early and ^[am](BD)exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away, and they left him in peace. ³² Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac’s servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³ So he called it ^[an]Shibah; therefore the name of the city is ^(BE)Beersheba to this day.

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old ^(BF)he ^[ao]married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; ³⁵ and ^(BG)they ^[ap]brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Jacob’s Deception

27 Now it came about, when Isaac was old and ^(BH)his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his ^(BI)older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ² Then ^[aq](BJ)Isaac said, “Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death. ³ Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and ^(BK)hunt game for me; ⁴ and prepare a delicious meal for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that ^(BL)my soul may bless you before I die.”

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, ^6 (BM)Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and prepare a delicious meal for me, so that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ ⁸ So now, my son, ^(BN)listen to ^[ar]me ^[as]as I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and ^[at]bring me two choice ^[au]young goats from there, so that I may prepare them as a delicious meal for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰ Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” ¹¹ But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Behold, my brother Esau is a ^(BO)hairy man and I am a smooth man. ^12 (BP)Perhaps my father will touch me, then I will be like a ^[av]deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.” ¹³ But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only ^(BQ)obey my voice, and go, get the goats for me.” ¹⁴ So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made a delicious meal such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the ^[aw]best ^(BR)garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ And she put the skins of the ^[ax]young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ She also gave the delicious meal and the bread which she had made ^[ay]to her son Jacob.

¹⁸ Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” ¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. ^(BS)Come now, sit and eat of my game, so that ^[az](BT)you may bless me.” ²⁰ Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “^(BU)Because the Lord your God made it ^[ba]come to me.” ²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come close, so that ^(BV)I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” ²² So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, and he touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ And he did not recognize him, because his hands were ^(BW)hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. ²⁴ And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.” ²⁵ So he said, “Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, that ^[bb](BX)I may bless you.” And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come close and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he ^(BY)blessed him and said,

The Stolen Blessing

³⁰ Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, that his brother Esau came in from his hunting. ³¹ Then he also made a delicious meal, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “^(CH)Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that ^[bc](CI)you may bless me.” ³² His father Isaac said to him, “^(CJ)Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, ^(CK)your firstborn, Esau.” ³³ Then Isaac ^[bd]trembled violently, and said, “^(CL)Who then was he who hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate from all of it before you came, and blessed him? ^(CM)Yes, and he shall be blessed.” ³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, ^(CN)he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me as well, my father!” ³⁵ And he said, “^(CO)Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” ³⁶ Then Esau said, “^[be]Is he not rightly named ^(CP)[bf]Jacob, for he has betrayed me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” ³⁷ But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him ^(CQ)your master, and I have given to him all his relatives ^[bg]as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” ³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me as well, my father.” So Esau raised his voice and ^(CR)wept.

³⁹ Then ^(CS)his father Isaac answered and said to him,

⁴¹ So Esau ^(CW)held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said ^[bl]to himself, “^(CX)The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” ⁴² Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent word and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. ⁴³ Now then, my son, ^(CY)obey my voice, and arise, ^[bm]flee to ^(CZ)Haran, to my brother ^(DA)Laban! ⁴⁴ Stay with him ^(DB)a few days, until your brother’s fury ^[bn]subsides, ⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger ^[bo]against you subsides and he forgets ^(DC)what you did to him. Then I will send word and get you from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”

⁴⁶ And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of ^[bp]living because of ^(DD)the daughters of Heth; ^(DE)if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth like these from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Jacob Is Sent Away

28 So Isaac called Jacob and ^(DF)blessed him and commanded him, ^[bq]saying to him, “^(DG)You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ² Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of ^(DH)Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³ May ^[br](DI)God Almighty ^(DJ)bless you and ^(DK)make you fruitful and ^(DL)multiply you, so that you may become a ^(DM)multitude of peoples. ⁴ May He also give you the ^(DN)blessing of Abraham, to you and to your ^[bs]descendants with you, so that you may ^(DO)possess the land where you ^(DP)live as a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then ^(DQ)Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, saying, “^(DR)You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ So Esau saw that ^(DS)the daughters of Canaan displeased ^[bt]his father Isaac; ⁹ and Esau went to Ishmael, and ^[bu]married, ^(DT)besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.