Salutation

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

² Grace to you and peace from God the^[a] Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving

³ We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.^{(A) 4} Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.^(B)

The Judgment at Christ’s Coming

⁵ This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God and is intended to make you worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering.^{(C) 6} For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you ⁷ and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels^{(D) 8} in a fiery flame, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.^{(E) 9} These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,^{(F) 10} when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. ¹¹ To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, ¹² so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.^(G)

The Man of Lawlessness

2 As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters,^{(H) 2} not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.^{(I) 3} Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one^[b] is revealed, the one destined for destruction.^{[c](J) 4} He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God.^{(K) 5} Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you? ⁶ And you know what is now restraining him, so that he may be revealed when his time comes. ⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed.^{(L) 8} And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus^[d] will destroy^[e] with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming.^{(M) 9} The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders,^{(N) 10} and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.^{(O) 11} For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false,^{(P) 12} so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned.^(Q)

Chosen for Salvation

¹³ But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits^[f] for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth.^{(R) 14} For this purpose he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.^{(S) 15} So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.^(T)

¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, ¹⁷ comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.^(U)

Request for Prayer

3 Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere, just as it is among you,^{(V) 2} and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not all have faith. ³ But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.^{[g](W) 4} And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will go on doing the things that we command.^{(X) 5} May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Warning against Idleness

⁶ Now we command you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from every brother or sister living irresponsibly and not according to the tradition that they^[h] received from us.^{(Y) 7} For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not irresponsible when we were with you,^{(Z) 8} and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day so that we might not burden any of you.^{(AA) 9} This was not because we do not have that right but in order to give you an example to imitate.^{(AB) 10} For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: anyone unwilling to work should not eat. ¹¹ For we hear that some of you are living irresponsibly, mere busybodies, not doing any work.^{(AC) 12} Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.^{(AD) 13} Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

¹⁴ Take note of those who do not obey what we say in this letter; have nothing to do with them, so that they may be ashamed.^{(AE) 15} Do not regard them as enemies, but admonish them as brothers and sisters.

Final Greetings and Benediction

¹⁶ Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with all of you.

¹⁷ I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. ¹⁸ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.^[i]

Sarah’s Death and Burial

23 Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years; this was the length of Sarah’s life. ² And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.^{(A) 3} Abraham rose up from beside his dead and said to the Hittites, ⁴ “I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying place, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”^{(B) 5} The Hittites answered Abraham, ⁶ “Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places; none of us will withhold from you any burial ground for burying your dead.”^{(C) 7} Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. ⁸ He said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron son of Zohar,^{(D) 9} so that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as a possession for a burying place.” ¹⁰ Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city,^{(E) 11} “No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it; in the presence of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.”^{(F) 12} Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. ¹³ He said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “If you only will listen to me! I will give the price of the field; accept it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.” ¹⁴ Ephron answered Abraham, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver—what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”^{(G) 16} Abraham agreed with Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.^(H)

¹⁷ So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, passed^{(I) 18} to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, in the presence of all who went in at the gate of his city. ¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah facing Mamre, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ The field and the cave that is in it passed from the Hittites into Abraham’s possession as a burying place.

The Marriage of Isaac and Rebekah

24 Now Abraham was old, advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.^{(J) 2} Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his house, who had charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh,^{(K) 3} and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live,^{(L) 4} but will go to my country and to my kindred and get a wife for my son Isaac.”^{(M) 5} The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land; must I then take your son back to the land 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 and from the land of my birth and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.^{(N) 8} But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not 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.^(O)

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, taking all kinds of choice gifts from his master, and he set out and went to Aram-naharaim, to the city of Nahor.^{(P) 11} He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water; it was toward evening, the time when women go out to draw water.^{(Q) 12} And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.^{(R) 13} I am standing here by the spring of water, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.^{(S) 14} Let the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please offer your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels’—let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”^(T)

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, coming out with her water jar on her shoulder.^{(U) 16} The young woman was very fair to look upon, a virgin, whom no man had known. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up.^{(V) 17} Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me sip a little water from your jar.” ¹⁸ “Drink, my lord,” she said and quickly lowered her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink.^{(W) 19} When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.”^{(X) 20} So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels. ²¹ The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether or not the Lord had made his journey successful.^(Y)

²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold nose ring weighing a half shekel and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels^{(Z) 23} and said, “Tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?” ²⁴ She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”^{(AA) 25} She added, “We have plenty of straw and fodder and a place to spend the night.” ²⁶ The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord^{(AB) 27} and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the way to the house of my master’s kin.”^(AC)

²⁸ Then the young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things. ²⁹ Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man, to the spring.^{(AD) 30} As soon as he had seen the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, “Thus the man spoke to me,” he went to the man, and there he was, standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹ He said, “Come in, O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside when I have prepared the house and a place for the camels?”^{(AE) 32} So the man came into the house, and Laban unloaded the camels and gave him straw and fodder for the camels and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.^{(AF) 33} Then food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told my errand.” He said, “Speak on.”

³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy; he has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys.^{(AG) 36} And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and he has given him all that he has.^{(AH) 37} My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I live, ³⁸ but you shall go to my father’s house, to my kindred, and get a wife for my son.’^{(AI) 39} I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’^{(AJ) 40} But he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you and make your way successful. You shall get a wife for my son from my kindred, from my father’s house.^{(AK) 41} Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my kindred; even if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.’^(AL)

⁴² “I came today to the spring and said, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if now you will only make successful the way I am going!^{(AM) 43} I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,”^{(AN) 44} and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also”—let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵ “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew. I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’^{(AO) 46} 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.^{(AP) 47} Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms.^{(AQ) 48} Then I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way to obtain the daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son.^{(AR) 49} Now then, if you will deal loyally and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn either to the right hand or to the left.”^(AS)

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot speak to you anything bad or good.^{(AT) 51} Look, 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 before the Lord.^{(AU) 53} And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold and garments and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments.^{(AV) 54} Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. When they rose in the morning, he said, “Send me back to my master.”^{(AW) 55} Her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go.” ⁵⁶ But he said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has made my journey successful; let me go that I may go to my master.” ⁵⁷ They said, “We will call the young woman and ask her.” ⁵⁸ And they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will.” ⁵⁹ So they sent away their sister Rebekah and her nurse along with Abraham’s servant and his men.^{(AX) 60} And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her maids rose up, mounted the camels, and followed the man, and the servant took Rebekah and went his way.

⁶² Now Isaac had come from^[a] Beer-lahai-roi and was settled in the Negeb.^{(AZ) 63} Isaac went out in the evening to walk^[b] in the field, and, looking up, he saw camels coming.^{(BA) 64} And Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she slipped quickly from the camel ⁶⁵ and said to the servant, “Who is the man over there, walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.^(BB)

Abraham Marries Keturah

25 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. ² She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.^{(BC) 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 children of Keturah. ⁵ Abraham gave all he had to Isaac.^{(BD) 6} But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, while he was still living, and he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.

The Death of Abraham

⁷ This is the length of Abraham’s life, one hundred seventy-five years. ⁸ Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, old and full of years, and was gathered to his people.^{(BE) 9} His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, ¹⁰ the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah.^{(BF) 11} After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi.^(BG)

Ishmael’s Descendants

¹² These are the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham.^{(BH) 13} These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,^{(BI) 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 villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes.^{(BJ) 17} (This is the length of the life of Ishmael, one hundred thirty-seven years; he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people.) ¹⁸ They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria; he settled down^[c] alongside^[d] all his people.^(BK)

The Birth and Youth of Esau and Jacob

¹⁹ These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac, ²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean.^{(BL) 21} Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.^{(BM) 22} The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is to be this way, why do I live?”^[e] So she went to inquire of the Lord. ²³ And the Lord said to her,

²⁴ When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ The first came out red, all his body like a hairy mantle, so they named him Esau.^{(BO) 26} Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel, so he was named Jacob.^[f] Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.^(BP)

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.^{(BQ) 28} Isaac loved Esau because he was fond of game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright

²⁹ Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. ³⁰ Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, for I am famished!” (Therefore he was called Edom.^[g]) ³¹ Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” ³² Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” ³³ Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.^{(BR) 34} Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Isaac and Abimelech

26 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines.^{(BS) 2} The Lord appeared to Isaac^[h] and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; settle in the land that I shall show you.^{(BT) 3} Reside in this land as an alien, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.^{(BU) 4} I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth shall gain blessing for themselves through your offspring,^{(BV) 5} because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

⁶ So Isaac settled in Gerar. ⁷ When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say “my wife,” thinking, “or else the men of the place might kill me for the sake of Rebekah, because she is attractive in appearance.”^{(BW) 8} When Isaac had been there a long time, King Abimelech of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw him fondling his wife Rebekah. ⁹ So Abimelech called for Isaac and said, “So she is your wife! Why, then, did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I might die because of her.” ¹⁰ Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”^{(BX) 11} So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death.”

¹² Isaac sowed seed in that land and in the same year reaped a hundredfold. The Lord blessed him,^{(BY) 13} and the man became rich; he prospered more and more until he became very wealthy. ¹⁴ He had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him.^{(BZ) 15} (Now the Philistines had stopped up and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.)^{(CA) 16} And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”

¹⁷ So Isaac departed from there and camped in the Wadi Gerar and settled there. ¹⁸ Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham, and he gave them the names that his father had given them.^{(CB) 19} But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, ²⁰ the herders of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herders, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the well Esek,^[i] because they contended with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also, so he called it Sitnah.^{[j] 22} He moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it, so he called it Rehoboth,^[k] saying, “Now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”^(CC)

²³ From there he went up to Beer-sheba. ²⁴ And that very night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you and make your offspring numerous for my servant Abraham’s sake.”^{(CD) 25} So he built an altar there, called on the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.^(CE)

²⁶ Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.^{(CF) 27} Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?”^{(CG) 28} They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you, so we say, let there be an oath between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you^{(CH) 29} so that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.” ³⁰ So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths, and Isaac set them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.^{(CI) 32} That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water!” ³³ He called it Shibah;^[l] therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba^[m] to this day.^(CJ)

Esau’s Hittite Wives

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite,^{(CK) 35} and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.^(CL)

Isaac Blesses Jacob

27 When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called his elder son Esau and said to him, “My son,” and he answered, “Here I am.” ² He said, “See, I am old; I do not know the day of my death.^{(CM) 3} Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me.^{(CN) 4} Then prepare for me savory food, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”^(CO)

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game for his father,^{[n] 6} Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father say to your brother Esau, ⁷ ‘Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food to eat, that I may bless you before the Lord before I die.’ ⁸ Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you.^{(CP) 9} Go to the flock, and get me two choice kids, so that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he likes, ¹⁰ and you shall take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” ¹¹ But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin.^{(CQ) 12} Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”^{(CR) 13} His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my word, and go, get them for me.”^{(CS) 14} So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob,^{(CT) 16} and she put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ Then she handed the savory food and the bread that she had prepared to her son Jacob.

¹⁸ So he went in 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; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me.”^{(CU) 20} But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.” ²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.”^{(CV) 22} So Jacob went up to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands, so he blessed him.^{(CW) 24} He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” ²⁵ Then he said, “Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it to him, and he ate, and he brought him wine, and he drank.^{(CX) 26} Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said,

Esau’s Lost Blessing

³⁰ As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau came in from his hunting. ³¹ He also prepared savory food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father sit up and eat of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”^{(DB) 32} His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your firstborn son, Esau.”^{(DC) 33} Then Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him?—yes, and blessed he shall be!”^{(DD) 34} When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, me also, father!”^{(DE) 35} But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” ³⁶ Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob?^[o] For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and look, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”^{(DF) 37} Isaac answered Esau, “I have already made him your lord, and I have given him all his brothers as servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?”^{(DG) 38} Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, father? Bless me, me also, father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.^(DH)

³⁹ Then his father Isaac answered him:

Jacob Escapes Esau’s Fury

⁴¹ Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”^{(DK) 42} But the words of her elder son Esau were told to Rebekah, so she sent and called her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. ⁴³ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice; flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran,^{(DL) 44} and stay with him a while, until your brother’s fury turns away— ⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger against you turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”^(DM)

28 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, “You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women.^{(DN) 2} Go at once to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and take as wife from there one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother.^{(DO) 3} May God Almighty^[q] bless you and make you fruitful and numerous, that you may become a company of peoples.^{(DP) 4} May he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, so that you may take possession of the land where you now live as an alien, land that God gave to Abraham.”^{(DQ) 5} Thus Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

Esau Marries Ishmael’s Daughter

⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there and that as he blessed him he charged him, “You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women,”^{(DR) 7} and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please his father Isaac,^{(DS) 9} Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.^(DT)

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

¹⁰ Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹ He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. ¹² And he dreamed that there was a stairway^[r] set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.^{(DU) 13} And the Lord stood beside him^[s] and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring,^{(DV) 14} and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed^[t] in you and in your offspring.^{(DW) 15} Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”^{(DX) 16} Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!”^{(DY) 17} And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.^{(DZ) 19} He called that place Bethel,^[u] but the name of the city was Luz at the first.^{(EA) 20} Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear,^{(EB) 21} so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God,^{(EC) 22} and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.”^(ED)

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east.^{(EE) 2} As he looked, he saw a well in the field and three flocks of sheep lying there beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large, ³ and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.”^{(EF) 5} He said to them, “Do you know Laban son of Nahor?” They said, “We do.”^{(EG) 6} He said to them, “Is it well with him?” “Yes,” they replied, “and here is his daughter Rachel, coming with the sheep.”^{(EH) 7} He said, “Look, it is still broad daylight; it is not time for the animals to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she kept them.^{(EI) 10} Now when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother’s brother Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of his mother’s brother Laban.^{(EJ) 11} Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. ¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.^(EK)

¹³ When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him; he embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob^[v] told Laban all these things,^{(EL) 14} and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.^(EM)

Jacob Marries Laban’s Daughters

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were weak,^[w] but Rachel was graceful and beautiful. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”^{(EN) 19} Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.”^{(EO) 22} So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast.^{(EP) 23} But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. ²⁴ (Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid.) ²⁵ When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” ²⁶ Laban said, “This is not done in our country—giving the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷ Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years.”^{(EQ) 28} Jacob did so and completed her week; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as a wife. ²⁹ (Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maid.) ³⁰ So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. He served Laban^[x] for another seven years.^(ER)

³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.^{(ES) 32} Leah conceived and bore a son, and she named him Reuben,^[y] for she said, “Because the Lord has looked on my affliction, surely now my husband will love me.”^{(ET) 33} She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also,” and she named him Simeon.^{[z] 34} Again she conceived and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons”; therefore he was named Levi.^{[aa](EU) 35} She conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the Lord,” therefore she named him Judah;^[ab] then she ceased bearing.^(EV)

1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:^(A)

Prologue

Warnings against Evil Companions

The Call of Wisdom