Bible in 90 Days

Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the ^[a]Lord appeared to him and said,

³ Then Abram fell on his face [in worship], and God spoke with him, saying,

⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and ^[c]kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.^{(A) 8} I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger [moving from place to place], all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession [of property]; and I will be their God.”^(B)

⁹ Further, God said to Abraham, “As for you [your part of the agreement], you shall keep and faithfully obey [the terms of] My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is [the sign of] My covenant, which you shall keep and faithfully obey, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be the sign (symbol, memorial) of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² Every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, [including] a servant whether born in the house or one who is purchased with [your] money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. ¹³ A servant who is born in your house or one who is purchased with your money must be circumcised; and [the sign of] My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ And the male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai (my princess), but her name will be Sarah (^[d]Princess). ¹⁶ I will bless her, and indeed I will also give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” ¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael [my firstborn] might live before You!” ¹⁹ But God said, “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son indeed, and you shall name him Isaac (laughter); and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him. ²⁰ As for Ishmael, I have heard and listened to you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will greatly multiply him [through his descendants]. He will be the father of twelve princes (chieftains, sheiks), and I will make him a great nation.^{(C) 21} But My covenant [My promise, My solemn pledge], I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.” ²² And God finished speaking with him and went up from Abraham.

²³ Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house and all who were purchased with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin the very same day, as God had said to him. ²⁴ So Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised. ²⁵ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised. ²⁶ On the very same day Abraham was circumcised, as well as Ishmael his son. ²⁷ All the men [servants] of his household, both those born in the house and those purchased with money from a foreigner, were circumcised along with him [as the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham].

Birth of Isaac Promised

18 Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the terebinth trees of Mamre [in Hebron], while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. ² When he raised his eyes and looked up, behold, three men were standing [a little distance] from him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down [with his face] to the ground, ³ and Abraham said, “My ^[e]lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass by your servant [without stopping to visit]. ⁴ Please let a little water be brought [by one of my servants] and [you may] wash your feet, and recline and rest comfortably under the tree. ⁵ And I will bring a piece of bread to refresh and sustain ^[f]you; after that you may go on, since you have come to your servant.” And they replied, “Do as you have said.” ⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, get ready three ^[g]measures of fine meal, knead it and bake cakes.” ⁷ Abraham also ran to the herd and brought a calf, tender and choice, and he gave it to the servant [to butcher], and he hurried to prepare it. ⁸ Then he took ^[h]curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before the men; and he stood beside them under the tree while they ate.

⁹ Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” ¹⁰ He said, “I will surely return to you at this ^[i]time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.^{(D) 11} Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in years; she was past [the age of] childbearing. ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself [when she heard the Lord’s words], saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure and delight, my lord (husband) being also old?”^{(E) 13} And the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh [to herself], saying, ‘Shall I really give birth [to a child] when I am so old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too difficult or too wonderful for the ^[j]Lord? At the appointed time, when the season [for her delivery] comes, I will return to you and Sarah will have a son.”^{(F) 15} Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh”; because she was afraid. And He (the Lord) said, “No, but you did laugh.”

¹⁶ Then the men got up from there, and looked toward Sodom; and Abraham walked with them to send them on the way. ¹⁷ The Lord said, “Shall I keep secret from Abraham [My friend and servant] what I am going to do,^{(G) 18} since Abraham ^[k]is destined to become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him?^{(H) 19} For I have known (chosen, acknowledged) him [as My own], so that he may teach and command his children and [the sons of] his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is righteous and just, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has promised him.” ²⁰ And the Lord said, “The outcry [of the sin] of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. ²¹ I will go down now, and see whether they have acted [as vilely and wickedly] as the outcry which has come to Me [indicates]; and if not, I will know.”

²² Now the [two] men (angelic beings) turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. ²³ Abraham approached [the Lord] and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous (those who do right) with the wicked (those who do evil)? ²⁴ Suppose there are fifty righteous [people] within the city; will You really sweep it away and not spare it for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ Far be it from You to do ^[l]such a thing—to strike the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right [by executing just and righteous judgment]?” ²⁶ So the Lord said, “If I find within the city of Sodom fifty righteous [people], then I will spare the entire place for their sake.” ²⁷ Abraham answered, “Now behold, I who am but dust [in origin] and ashes have decided to speak to the Lord.^{(I) 28} If five of the fifty righteous are lacking, will You destroy the entire city for lack of five?” And He said, “If I find [at least] forty-five [righteous people] there, I will not destroy it.” ²⁹ Abraham spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose [only] forty are found there.” And He said, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty [who are righteous].” ³⁰ Then Abraham said [to Him], “Oh, may the Lord not be angry, and I will speak; suppose thirty [righteous people] are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” ³¹ And he said, “Now behold, I have decided to speak to the Lord [again]. Suppose [only] twenty [righteous people] are found there?” And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.” ³² Then Abraham said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry [with me], and I will speak only this once; suppose ten [righteous people] are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.” ³³ As soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his own place.

The Doom of Sodom

19 It was evening when the two angels came to Sodom. Lot was sitting at Sodom’s [^[m]city] gate. Seeing them, Lot got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. ² And he said, “See here, my lords, please turn aside and come into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may get up early and go on your way.” But they said, “No, we shall spend the night in the open plaza [of the city].” ³ However, Lot strongly urged them, so they turned aside and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them [with wine], and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴ But before they lay down [to sleep], the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house, ^[n]all the men from every quarter; ⁵ and they called out to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may know them [intimately].” ⁶ But Lot went out of the doorway to the men, and shut the door after him, ⁷ and said, “Please, my brothers, do not do something so wicked. ⁸ See here, I have two daughters who have not known a man [intimately]; please let me bring them out to you [instead], and you can do as you please with them; only do nothing to these men, because they have in fact come under the shelter of my roof [for protection].” ⁹ But they said, “Get out of the way!” And they said, “This man (Lot) came [as an outsider] to live here temporarily, and now he is acting like a judge. Now we will treat you worse than your visitors!” So they rushed forward and pressed violently against ^[o]Lot and came close to breaking down the door [of his house]. ¹⁰ But the men (angels) reached out with their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door [after him]. ¹¹ They struck (punished) the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the young men to the old men, so that they exhausted themselves trying to find the doorway.

¹² And the [two] men (angels) asked Lot, “Have you any others here [in Sodom]—a son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters? Whomever you have in the city, take them out of here; ¹³ for we are destroying this place, because the outcry [for judgment] against them has grown so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy and ruin it.” ¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were [betrothed, and legally promised] to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he appeared to be joking.

¹⁵ When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot [to hurry], saying, “Get up! Take your wife and two daughters who are here [and go], or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” ¹⁶ But Lot hesitated and lingered. The men took hold of his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, because the Lord was merciful to him [for Abraham’s sake]; and they brought him out, and left him outside the city [with his family]. ¹⁷ When they had brought them outside, one [of the angels] said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, or stop anywhere in the entire valley; escape to the mountains [of Moab], or you will be consumed and swept away.” ¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “Oh no, [not that place] my lords! ¹⁹ Please listen, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness (mercy) to me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, because the disaster will overtake me and I will be killed. ²⁰ Now look, this town [in the distance] is near enough for us to flee to, and it is small [with only a few people]. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) so that my life will be saved.” ²¹ And the angel said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also; I will not destroy this town of which you have spoken. ²² Hurry and take refuge there, for I cannot do anything [to punish Sodom] until you arrive there.” For this reason the town was named Zoar (few, small).

²³ The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained down brimstone (flaming sulfur) and fire on Sodom and on Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven, ²⁵ and He overthrew (demolished, ended) those cities, and the entire valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. ²⁶ But Lot’s wife, from behind him, [foolishly, longingly] looked [back toward Sodom in an act of disobedience], and she ^[p]became a pillar of salt.^(J)

²⁷ Abraham started out early the next morning to the place where he [only the day before] had stood before the Lord; ²⁸ and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley [of the Dead Sea]; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of ^[q]the land went up like the smoke of a kiln (pottery furnace).

²⁹ Now when God ravaged and destroyed the cities of the plain [of Siddim], He remembered Abraham [and for that reason], and He sent [Abraham’s nephew] Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when He destroyed the cities in which Lot had lived.

Lot Is Debased

³⁰ Now Lot went up from Zoar, and lived in the mountain together with his two daughters, for he was afraid to stay [any longer] in Zoar; and he lived in a cave with his two daughters. ³¹ The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is aging, and there is not a man on earth [available] to be intimate with us in the customary way [so that we may have children]. ³² Come, let us make our father drunk with wine, and we will lie with him so that we may preserve our family through our father.” ³³ So they gave their father wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she got up [because he was completely intoxicated]. ³⁴ Then the next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay with my father last night; let us make him drunk with wine tonight also, and then you go in and lie with him, so that we may preserve our family through our father.” ³⁵ So they gave their father wine that night also, and the younger got up and lay with him; and again he did not know when she lay down or when she got up. ³⁶ Thus both the daughters of Lot conceived by their father. ³⁷ The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him Moab (from father); he is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ The younger also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-ammi (son of my people); he is the father of the Ammonites to this day.

Abraham’s Deception

20 Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the Negev (the South country), and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he lived temporarily in Gerar. ² Abraham ^[r]said [again] of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So ^[s]Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took ^[t]Sarah [into his harem]. ³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream during the night, and said, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken [as your wife], for she is another man’s wife.” ⁴ Now Abimelech had not yet come near her; so he said, “Lord, will you kill a people who are righteous and innocent and blameless [regarding Sarah]? ⁵ Did Abraham not tell me, ‘She is my sister?’ And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.” ⁶ Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this in the integrity of your heart, for it was I who kept you back and spared you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not give you an opportunity to touch her. ⁷ So now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her [to him], know that you shall die, you and all who are yours (your household).”

⁸ So Abimelech got up early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things; and the men were terrified. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I offended you that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me what ought not to be done [to anyone].” ¹⁰ And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What have you encountered or seen [in us or our customs], that you have done this [unjust] thing?” ¹¹ Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely there is no fear or reverence of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ ¹² Besides, she actually is my [half] sister; she is the daughter of my father [Terah], but not of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³ When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This kindness and loyalty you can show me: at every place we stop, say of me, “He is my brother.”’” ¹⁴ Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen and male and female slaves, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him [as God commanded]. ¹⁵ So Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; settle wherever you please.” ¹⁶ Then to Sarah he said, “Look, I have given this brother of yours a ^[u]thousand pieces of silver; it is to compensate you [for all that has happened] and to vindicate your honor before all who are with you; before all men you are cleared and compensated.” ¹⁷ So Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, and they again gave birth to children, ¹⁸ for the Lord had securely closed the wombs of all [the women] in Abimelech’s household because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.^(K)

Isaac Is Born

21 The Lord graciously remembered and visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for her as He had promised. ² So Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. ³ Abraham named his son Isaac (laughter), the son to whom Sarah gave birth. ⁴ So Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, just as God had commanded him. ⁵ Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. ⁶ Sarah said, “God has made me laugh; all who hear [about our good news] will laugh with me.” ⁷ And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have given birth to a son by him in his old age.”^(L)

⁸ The child [Isaac] grew and was ^[v]weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.

Sarah Turns against Hagar

⁹ Now [as time went on] Sarah saw [Ishmael] the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, ^[w]mocking [Isaac].^{(M) 10} Therefore she said to Abraham, “Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac.”^{(N) 11} The situation ^[x]distressed Abraham greatly because of his son [Ishmael]. ¹² God said to Abraham, “Do not let it distress you because of Ishmael and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her and do what she asks, for your descendants will be named through Isaac.^{(O) 13} And I will also make a nation of [Ishmael] the son of the maid, because he is your descendant.” ¹⁴ So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her ^[y]away. And she left [but lost her way] and wandered [aimlessly] in the Wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵ When the water in the skin was all gone, Hagar abandoned the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down opposite him, about a bowshot away, for she said, “Do not let me see the boy die.” And as she sat down opposite him, she raised her voice and wept. ¹⁷ God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy from where he is [resting]. ¹⁸ Get up, help the boy up, and hold him by the hand, for I will make him a great nation.” ¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the [empty] skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰ God was with Ishmael, and he grew and developed; and he lived in the wilderness and became an [expert] archer. ²¹ He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Covenant with Abimelech

²² Now at that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do; ²³ so now, swear to me here by God that you will not deal unfairly with me [by breaking any agreements we have] or with my son or with my descendants, but as I have treated you with kindness, you shall do the same to me and to the land in which you have sojourned (temporarily lived).” ²⁴ And Abraham said, “I will swear.” ²⁵ Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well of water which the servants of Abimelech had [violently] seized [from him], ²⁶ Abimelech said, “I do not know who did this thing. Indeed, you did not tell me, and I did not hear of it until today.”

²⁷ So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant (binding agreement). ²⁸ Then Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs of the flock, ²⁹ and Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set apart?” ³⁰ Abraham said, “You are to accept these seven ewe lambs from me as a witness for me, that I dug this well.” ³¹ Therefore that place was called Beersheba (Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), because there the two of them swore an oath. ³² So they made a covenant at Beersheba; then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, got up and returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord [in prayer], ^[z]the Eternal God. ³⁴ And Abraham lived [as a resident alien] in the land of the Philistines for ^[aa]many days.

The Offering of Isaac

22 Now after these things, God tested [the faith and commitment of] Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.” ² God said, “Take now your son, your only son [of ^[ab]promise], whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of ^[ac]Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” ³ So Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and then he got up and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day [of travel] Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ Abraham said to his servants, “Settle down and stay here with the donkey; the ^[ad]young man and I will go over there and worship [God], and we will come back to you.”^{(P) 6} Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it ^[ae]on [the shoulders of] Isaac his son, and he took the ^[af]fire (firepot) in his own hand and the [sacrificial] knife; and the two of them walked on together. ⁷ And Isaac said to Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Isaac said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself ^[ag]a lamb for the burnt offering.” So the two walked on together.

⁹ When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood, and bound Isaac his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood.^{(Q) 10} Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to ^[ah]kill his son.^{(R) 11} But the ^[ai]Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He answered, “Here I am.” ¹² The Lord said, “Do not reach out [with the knife in] your hand against the boy, and do nothing to [harm] him; for now I know that you fear God [with reverence and profound respect], since you have not withheld from Me your son, your only son [of promise].” ¹³ Then Abraham looked up and glanced around, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering (ascending sacrifice) instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham named that place ^[aj]The Lord Will Provide. And it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord it ^[ak]will be seen and provided.”

¹⁵ The ^[al]Angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, “By Myself (on the basis of Who I Am) I have sworn [an oath], declares the Lord, that since you have done this thing and have not withheld [from Me] your son, your only son [of promise], ¹⁷ indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants like the stars of the heavens and like the sand on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies [as conquerors].^{(S) 18} Through your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have heard and obeyed My voice.”^{(T) 19} So Abraham returned to his servants, and they got up and went with him to Beersheba; and Abraham settled in Beersheba.

²⁰ Now after these things Abraham was told, “Milcah has borne children to your brother Nahor: ²¹ Uz the firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram, ²² Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel.” ²³ Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight [children] Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴ Nahor’s ^[am]concubine, whose name was Reumah, gave birth to Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.

Death and Burial of Sarah

23 Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years; this was the length of the life of Sarah. ² Sarah died in Kiriath-arba ^[an](that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. ³ Then Abraham stood up before his dead [wife’s body], and spoke to the ^[ao]sons of Heth (Hittites), saying, ⁴ “I am a stranger and a sojourner (resident alien) among you; give (sell) me property for a burial place among you so that I may bury my dead [in the proper manner].” ⁵ The Hittites replied to Abraham, ⁶ “Listen to us, my lord; you are a prince of God [a mighty prince] among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none of us will refuse you his grave or hinder you from burying your dead [wife].” ⁷ So Abraham stood up and bowed to the people of the land, the Hittites. ⁸ And Abraham said to them, “If you are willing to grant my dead a [proper] burial, listen to me, and plead with Ephron the son of Zohar for me, ⁹ so that he may give (sell) me the cave of Machpelah which he owns—it is at the end of his field; let him give it to me here in your presence for the full price as a burial site [which I may keep forever among you].” ¹⁰ Now Ephron was present there among the sons of Heth; so within the hearing of all the sons of Heth and all who were entering the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham, saying, ¹¹ “No, my lord, hear me; I ^[ap]give you the [entire] field, and I also give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the men of my people I give (sell) it to you; bury your dead [there].” ¹² Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. ¹³ He said to Ephron in the presence of the people of the land, “If you will only please listen to me and accept my offer. I will give you the price of the field; accept it from me and I will bury my dead there.” ¹⁴ Ephron replied to Abraham, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me. The land [you seek] is worth four hundred shekels of silver; what is that between you and me? So bury your dead.” ¹⁶ So Abraham listened to Ephron [and agreed to his terms]; and he weighed out for Ephron the [amount of] silver which he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

¹⁷ So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre (Hebron)—the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field and in all its borders around it—were deeded over [legally] ¹⁸ to Abraham as his possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who were entering at the gate of his city. ¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of ^[aq]Machpelah to the east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ The field and the cave in it were deeded over to Abraham by the Hittites as a [permanent] possession and burial place.

A Bride for Isaac

24 Now Abraham was old, [well] advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. ² Abraham said to his servant [Eliezer of Damascus], the oldest of his household, who had charge over all that Abraham owned, “Please, put your hand under my thigh [as is customary for affirming a solemn oath],^{(U) 3} and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, ⁴ but you will [instead] go to my [former] country (Mesopotamia) and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac [the heir of the covenant promise].” ⁵ The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman will not be willing to follow me back to this country; should I take your son back to the country from which you came?” ⁶ Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there! ⁷ The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, from the land of my family and my birth, who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you [to guide you], and you will take a wife from there for my son [and bring her here]. ⁸ If the woman is not willing to follow you [to this land], then you will be free from this my oath and blameless; only you must never take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels, and set out, taking some of his master’s good things with him; so he got up and journeyed to ^[ar]Mesopotamia [between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers], to the city of Nahor [the home of Abraham’s brother]. ¹¹ He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of the evening when women go out to draw water. ¹² And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, I stand here at the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; ¹⁴ now let it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please, let down your jar so that I may [have a] drink,’ and she replies, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels water to drink’—may she be the one whom You have selected [as a wife] for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master.”

Rebekah Is Chosen

¹⁵ Before Eliezer had finished speaking (praying), Rebekah came out with her [water] jar on her shoulder. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel the ^[as]son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. ¹⁶ The girl was very beautiful, a virgin and unmarried; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. ¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar.” ¹⁸ And she said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ When she had given Eliezer a drink, she said, “I will also draw water for your camels until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran again to the well and drew water for all his camels. ²¹ Meanwhile, the man stood gazing at Rebekah in [reverent] silence, [waiting] to know if the Lord had made his trip successful or not.

²² When the camels had finished drinking, Eliezer took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her hands weighing ten shekels in gold, ²³ and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?” ²⁴ And she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to [her husband] Nahor.” ²⁵ Again she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and also room to lodge.” ²⁶ The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord. ²⁷ He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not denied His lovingkindness and His truth to my master. As for me, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brothers.”

²⁸ Then the girl ran and told her mother’s household what had happened. ²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran out to the man at the well. ³⁰ When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and when he heard Rebekah his sister, saying, “The man said this to me,” he went to Eliezer and found him standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹ And Laban said, “Come in, blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside since I have made the house ready and have prepared a place for the camels?” ³² So the man came into the house, and Laban unloaded his camels and gave them straw and feed, and [he gave] water to [Eliezer to] wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³ But when food was set before him, he said, “I will not eat until I have stated my business.” And Laban said, “Speak on.” ³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great (wealthy, powerful); He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ Now Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was in her old age, and he has given everything that he has to him. ³⁷ My master made me swear [an oath], saying, ‘You must not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; ³⁸ but you shall [instead] go to my father’s house and to my family and take a wife for my son [Isaac].’ ³⁹ Then I said to my master, ‘But suppose the woman will not follow me [back to this land].’ ⁴⁰ He said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk [habitually and obediently], will send His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house; ⁴¹ then you will be free of my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will [also] be free of my oath.’

⁴² “I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go successful; ⁴³ please look, I am standing by the spring of water; now let it be that when the maiden [whom You have chosen for Isaac] comes out to draw [water], and to whom I say, “Please, give me a little water to drink from your jar”; ⁴⁴ and if she says to me, “You drink, and I will also draw [water] for your camels”; let that woman be the one whom the Lord has selected and chosen [as a wife] for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵ “Before I had finished praying in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her [water] jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please, let me have a drink.’ ⁴⁶ And she quickly let down her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels’; so I drank, and she also watered the camels. ⁴⁷ Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’; and I ^[at]put the ring in her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. ⁴⁸ And I bowed down my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s brother to his son [as a wife]. ⁴⁹ So now if you are going to show kindness and truth to my master [being faithful to him], tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left [and go on my way].”

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The matter has come from the Lord; so we dare not speak bad or good [to you about it—we cannot interfere]. ⁵¹ Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”

⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed himself to the ground [in worship] before the Lord. ⁵³ Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and articles of clothing, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and her mother. ⁵⁴ Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night [there]. In the morning when they got up, he said, “Now send me back to my master.” ⁵⁵ But Rebekah’s brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us a few days—at least ten; then she may go.” ⁵⁶ But Eliezer said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away, so that I may go back to my master.” ⁵⁷ And they said, “We will call the girl and ask her ^[au]what she prefers.” ⁵⁸ So they called Rebekah and said, “Will you go with this man?” And she answered, “I will go.” ⁵⁹ So they sent off their sister Rebekah and her nurse [Deborah, as her attendant] and Abraham’s servant [Eliezer] and his men. ⁶⁰ They blessed Rebekah and said to her,

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her attendants ^[av]stood, and they mounted camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and went on his way.

Isaac Marries Rebekah

⁶² Now Isaac had returned from going to Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me), for he was living in the ^[aw]Negev.^{(V) 63} Isaac went out to bow down [in prayer] in the field in the [early] evening; he raised his eyes and looked, and camels were coming. ⁶⁴ Rebekah also raised her eyes and looked, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from her camel. ⁶⁵ She said to the servant, “Who is that man there walking across the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master [Isaac].” So she took a veil and covered herself [as was customary]. ⁶⁶ The servant told Isaac everything that he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah [in marriage], and she became his wife, and he loved her; therefore Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Abraham’s Death

25 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. ² She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴ The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah. ⁵ Now Abraham gave ^[ax]everything that he had to Isaac; ⁶ but to the sons of his ^[ay]concubines [Hagar and Keturah], Abraham gave gifts while he was still living and he sent them to the east country, away from Isaac his son [of promise].

⁷ The days of Abraham’s life were a hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and he died at a good old age, an old man who was satisfied [with life]; and he ^[az]was gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death].^{(W) 9} So his sons ^[ba]Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is east of Mamre, ¹⁰ the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife. ¹¹ Now after the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived at Beer-lahai-roi.

Descendants of Ishmael

¹² Now ^[bb]these are the records of the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham; ¹³ and these are the names of the [twelve] sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their births: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their settlements, and by their encampments (sheepfolds); twelve princes (sheiks) according to their tribes.^{(X) 17} Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years; then he breathed his last and died, and ^[bc]was gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death]. ¹⁸ Ishmael’s sons (descendants) settled from Havilah to Shur which is ^[bd]east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he ^[be]settled ^[bf]opposite (east) of all his relatives.

Isaac’s Sons

¹⁹ Now these are the records of the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean (Syrian) of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean. ²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was unable to conceive children; and the Lord granted his prayer and Rebekah his wife conceived [twins]. ²² But the children struggled together within her [kicking and shoving one another]; and she said, “If it is so [that the Lord has heard our prayer], why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the Lord [praying for an answer]. ²³ The Lord said to her,

²⁴ When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ The first came out reddish all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau (hairy). ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out, and his hand grasped Esau’s heel, so he was named Jacob (^[bg]one who grabs by the heel, supplanter). Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau was an able and skilled hunter, a man of the outdoors, but Jacob was a quiet and peaceful man, living in tents. ²⁸ Now Isaac loved [and favored] Esau, because ^[bh]he enjoyed eating his game, but Rebekah loved [and favored] Jacob. ²⁹ Jacob had cooked [reddish-brown lentil] stew [one day], when Esau came from the field and was famished; ³⁰ and Esau said to Jacob, “Please, let me have a quick swallow of that red stuff there, because I am exhausted and famished.” For that reason Esau was [also] called Edom (Red). ³¹ Jacob answered, “First sell me your ^[bi]birthright (the rights of a firstborn).” ³² Esau said, “Look, I am about to die [if I do not eat soon]; so of what use is this birthright to me?” ³³ Jacob said, “Swear [an oath] to me today [that you are selling it to me for this food]”; so he swore [an oath] to him, and sold him his birthright. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and got up and went on his way. In this way Esau scorned his birthright.^(Y)

Isaac Settles in Gerar

26 Now there was a famine in the land [of Canaan], besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to ^[bj]Abimelech king of the Philistines. ² The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I will tell you. ³ Live temporarily [as a resident] in this land and I will be with you and will bless and favor you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish and carry out the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.^{(Z) 4} I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,^{(AA) 5} because Abraham listened to and obeyed My voice and [consistently] kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

⁶ So Isaac stayed in Gerar. ⁷ The men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, “She is my ^[bk]sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife”—thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is very beautiful.” ⁸ It happened when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac ^[bl]caressing Rebekah his wife. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “See here, Rebekah is in fact your wife! How did you [dare to] say to me, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I might be killed because of her [desirability].” ¹⁰ Abimelech said, “What is this that you have done to us? One of the men [among our people] might easily have been intimate with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us [before God].” ¹¹ Then Abimelech commanded all his people, “Whoever touches this man [Isaac] or his wife [Rebekah] shall without exception be put to death.”

¹² Then Isaac planted [seed] in that land [as a farmer] and reaped in the same year a hundred times [as much as he had planted], and the Lord blessed and favored him. ¹³ And the man [Isaac] became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthy and extremely distinguished; ¹⁴ he owned flocks and herds and a great household [with a number of servants], and the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with dirt. ¹⁶ Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from here, because you are far too powerful for us.” ¹⁷ So Isaac left that region and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and settled there.

Quarrel over the Wells

¹⁸ Now Isaac again dug [and reopened] the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, because the Philistines had filled them up [with dirt] after the death of Abraham; and he gave the wells the same names that his father had given them. ¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing [spring] water, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours!” So Isaac named the well Esek (quarreling), because they quarreled with him. ²¹ Then his servants dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so Isaac named it Sitnah (enmity). ²² He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over that one; so he named it Rehoboth (broad places), saying, “For now the Lord has made ^[bm]room for us, and we shall be ^[bn]prosperous in the land.”

²³ Then he went up from there to Beersheba. ²⁴ The Lord appeared to him the same night and said,

²⁵ So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord [in prayer]. He pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Covenant with Abimelech

²⁶ Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, his [close friend and confidential] adviser, and Phicol, the commander of his army. ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “Why have you [people] come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” ²⁸ They said, “We see clearly that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘There should now be an oath between us [with a curse for the one who breaks it], that is, between you and us, and let us make a covenant (binding agreement, solemn promise) with you, ²⁹ that you will not harm us, just as we have not touched you and have done nothing but good to you and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed and favored of the Lord!’” ³⁰ Then Isaac held a [formal] banquet (covenant feast) for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹ They got up early in the morning and swore oaths [pledging to do nothing but good to each other]; and Isaac sent them on their way and they left him in peace. ³² Now on the same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, saying, “We have found water.” ³³ So he named the well ^[bo]Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.^(AB)

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite as his wives; ³⁵ and they were a ^[bp]source of grief to [Esau’s parents] Isaac and Rebekah.

Jacob’s Deception

27 Now when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, he called his elder [and favorite] son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And Esau answered him, “Here I am.” ² Isaac said, “See here, I am old; ^[bq]I do not know ^[br]when I may die. ³ So now, please take your [hunting] gear, your quiver [of arrows] and your bow, and go out into the open country and hunt game for me; ⁴ and make me a savory and delicious dish [of meat], the kind I love, and bring it to me to eat, so that my soul may bless you [as my firstborn son] before I die.”

⁵ But Rebekah overheard what Isaac said to Esau his son; and when Esau had gone to the open country to hunt for game that he might bring back, ⁶ Rebekah said to Jacob her [younger and favorite] son, “Listen carefully: I heard your father saying to Esau your brother, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and make me a savory and delicious dish [of meat], so that I may eat it, and declare my blessing on you ^[bs]in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ ⁸ So now, my son, listen [carefully] to me [and do exactly] as I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and bring me two good and suitable young goats, and I will make them into a savory dish [of meat] for your father, the kind he loves [to eat]. ¹⁰ Then you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” ¹¹ Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Listen, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth [skinned] man. ¹² Suppose my father touches me and feels my skin; then I will be seen by him as a cheat (imposter), and I will bring his curse on me and not a blessing.” ¹³ But his mother said to him, “May your curse be on me, my son; only listen and obey me, and go, bring the young goats to me.” ¹⁴ So Jacob went and got the two young goats, and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared a delicious dish of food [with a delightful aroma], the kind his father loved [to eat]. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took her elder son Esau’s best clothes, which were with her in her house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. ¹⁶ And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ Then she gave her son Jacob the delicious meat and the bread which she had prepared.

¹⁸ So he went to his father and said, “My father.” And Isaac said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” ¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done what you told me to do. Now please, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.” ²⁰ Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found the game so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God caused it to come to me.” ²¹ But Isaac [wondered and] said to Jacob, “Please come close [to me] so that I may touch you, my son, and determine if you are really my son Esau or not.” ²² So Jacob approached Isaac, and his father touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He could not recognize him [as Jacob], because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. ²⁴ But he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” Jacob answered, “I am.” ²⁵ Then Isaac said, “Bring the food to me, and I will eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.” He brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come, my son, and kiss me.” ²⁷ So he came and kissed him; and Isaac smelled his clothing and blessed him and said,

The Stolen Blessing

³⁰ Now as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹ Esau also made a delicious dish [of meat] and brought it to his father and said to him, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.” ³² Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he replied, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” ³³ Then Isaac trembled violently, and he said, “Then who was the one [who was just here] who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I blessed him. Yes, and he [in fact] shall be (shall remain) blessed.” ³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with a great and extremely bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”^{(AD) 35} Isaac said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has [fraudulently] taken away your blessing [for himself].” ³⁶ Esau replied, “Is he not rightly named ^[bu]Jacob (the supplanter)? For he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” ³⁷ But Isaac replied to Esau, “Listen carefully: I have made Jacob your lord and master; I have given him all his brothers and relatives as servants; and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then, can I do for you, my son?” ³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” Then Esau [no longer able to restrain himself] raised his voice and wept [loudly].

³⁹ Then Isaac his father answered and [prophesied and] said to him,

⁴¹ So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are very near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” ⁴² When these words of her elder son Esau were repeated to Rebekah, she sent for Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Listen carefully, your brother Esau is comforting himself concerning you by planning to kill you. ⁴³ So now, my son, listen and do what I say; go, escape to my brother Laban in Haran! ⁴⁴ Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s anger subsides. ⁴⁵ When your brother’s anger toward you subsides and he forgets what you did to him, then ^[bv]I will send and bring you back from there. Why should I be deprived of you both in a single day?”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth [these insolent wives of Esau]. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”^(AE)

Jacob Is Sent Away

28 So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not marry one of the women of Canaan. ^2 [bw]Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take from there as a wife for yourself one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. ³ May ^[bx]God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a [great] company of peoples. ⁴ May He also give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the [promised] land of your sojournings, which He gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then 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 noticed that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife for himself from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a prohibition, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ So Esau realized that [his two wives] the daughters of Canaan displeased Isaac his father; ⁹ and [to appease his parents] Esau went to [the family of] Ishmael and took as his wife, in addition to the wives he [already] had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth [Ishmael’s firstborn son].

Jacob’s Dream

¹⁰ Now Jacob left Beersheba [never to see his mother again] and traveled toward Haran. ¹¹ And he came to a certain place and stayed overnight there because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down there [to sleep]. ¹² He dreamed that there was a ladder (stairway) placed on the earth, and the top of it reached [out of sight] toward heaven; and [he saw] the angels of God ascending and descending on it [going to and from heaven].^{(AF) 13} And behold, the Lord stood above and around him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your [father’s] father and the God of Isaac; I will give to you and to your descendants the land [of promise] on which you are lying. ¹⁴ Your descendants shall be as [countless as] the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and the north and the south; and all the families (nations) of the earth shall be blessed through you and your ^[by]descendants.^{(AG) 15} Behold, I am with you and will keep [careful watch over you and guard] you wherever you may go, and I will bring you back to this [promised] land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and he said, “Without any doubt the Lord is in this place, and I did not realize it.” ¹⁷ So he was afraid and said, “How fearful and awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gateway to heaven.”

¹⁸ So Jacob got up early in the morning, and took the stone he had put under his head and he set it up as a pillar [that is, a monument to the vision in his dream], and he poured [olive] oil on the top of it [to ^[bz]consecrate it]. ¹⁹ He named that place Bethel (the house of God); the previous name of that city was Luz (Almond Tree).