Jacob Meets Rachel

29 Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east.^{(A) 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.”^{(B) 5} He said to them, “Do you know Laban son of Nahor?” They said, “We do.”^{(C) 6} He said to them, “Is it well with him?” “Yes,” they replied, “and here is his daughter Rachel, coming with the sheep.”^{(D) 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.^{(E) 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.^{(F) 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.^(G)

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^[a] told Laban all these things,^{(H) 14} and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.^(I)

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,^[b] but Rachel was graceful and beautiful. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”^{(J) 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.”^{(K) 22} So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast.^{(L) 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.”^{(M) 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^[c] for another seven years.^(N)

³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.^{(O) 32} Leah conceived and bore a son, and she named him Reuben,^[d] for she said, “Because the Lord has looked on my affliction, surely now my husband will love me.”^{(P) 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.^{[e] 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.^{[f](Q) 35} She conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the Lord,” therefore she named him Judah;^[g] then she ceased bearing.^(R)

30 When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister, and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!”^{(S) 2} Jacob became very angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”^{(T) 3} Then she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, that she may bear upon my knees and that I too may have children through her.”^{(U) 4} So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her.^{(V) 5} And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has judged me and has also heard my voice and given me a son”; therefore she named him Dan.^{[h](W) 7} Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed,” so she named him Naphtali.^[i](X)

⁹ When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.^{(Y) 10} Then Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ And Leah said, “Good fortune!” So she named him Gad.^{[j] 12} Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ And Leah said, “Happy am I! For the women will call me happy,” so she named him Asher.^[k](Z)

¹⁴ In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”^{(AA) 15} But she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”^{(AB) 16} When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. ¹⁷ And God heeded Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Leah said, “God has given me my hire because I gave my maid to my husband,” so she named him Issachar.^{[l] 19} And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons,” so she named him Zebulun.^{[m](AC) 21} Afterwards she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² Then God remembered Rachel, and God heeded her and opened her womb.^{(AD) 23} She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach,”^{(AE) 24} and she named him Joseph,^[n] saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”^(AF)

Jacob Prospers at Laban’s Expense

²⁵ When Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own home and country.^{(AG) 26} Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go, for you know very well the service I have given you.” ²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If you will allow me to say so, I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you;^{(AH) 28} name your wages, and I will give it.”^{(AI) 29} Jacob said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have fared with me.^{(AJ) 30} For you had little before I came, and it has increased abundantly, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I turned. But now when shall I provide for my own household also?”^{(AK) 31} He said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything; if you will do this for me, I will again feed your flock and keep it: ³² let me pass through all your flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and such shall be my wages.^{(AL) 33} So my honesty will answer for me later, when you come to look into my wages with you. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs, if found with me, shall be counted stolen.”^{(AM) 34} Laban said, “Good! Let it be as you have said.” ³⁵ But that day Laban removed the male goats that were striped and spotted, and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had white on it, and every lamb that was black and put them in charge of his sons, ³⁶ and he set a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was pasturing the rest of Laban’s flock.

³⁷ Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods.^{(AN) 38} He set the rods that he had peeled in front of the flocks in the troughs, that is, the watering places, where the flocks came to drink. And since they bred when they came to drink, ³⁹ the flocks bred in front of the rods, and so the flocks produced young that were striped, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰ Jacob separated the lambs and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and the completely black animals in the flock of Laban, and he put his own droves apart and did not put them with Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob laid the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the flock, that they might breed among the rods, ⁴² but for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there, so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. ⁴³ Thus the man grew exceedingly rich and had large flocks and male and female slaves and camels and donkeys.^(AO)

Jacob Flees with Family and Flocks

31 Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s; he has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” ² And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him as favorably as he did before. ³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your ancestors and to your kindred, and I will be with you.”^{(AP) 4} So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was ⁵ and said to them, “I see that your father does not regard me as favorably as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me.^{(AQ) 6} You know that I have served your father with all my strength, ⁷ yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not permit him to harm me.^{(AR) 8} If he said, ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore speckled, and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped.^{(AS) 9} Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

¹⁰ “During the mating of the flock I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats that leaped upon the flock were striped, speckled, and mottled. ¹¹ Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am!’^{(AT) 12} And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the goats that leap on the flock are striped, speckled, and mottled, for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and return to the land of your birth.’ ”^{(AU) 14} Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house?^{(AV) 15} Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us. ¹⁶ All the property that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you.”

¹⁷ So Jacob arose and set his children and his wives on camels, ¹⁸ and he drove away all his livestock, all the property that he had gained, the livestock in his possession that he had acquired in Paddan-aram, to go to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan.

¹⁹ Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole her father’s household gods.^{(AW) 20} And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean, in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee. ²¹ So he fled with all that he had; starting out he crossed the Euphrates^[o] and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead.^(AX)

Laban Overtakes Jacob

²² On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. ²³ So he took his kinsfolk with him and pursued him for seven days until he caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead.^{(AY) 24} But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Take heed that you say not a word to Jacob, either good or bad.”^(AZ)

²⁵ Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsfolk camped in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁶ Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword.^{(BA) 27} Why did you flee secretly and deceive me and not tell me? I would have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre.^{(BB) 28} And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell? What you have done is foolish. ²⁹ It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Take heed that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad.’^{(BC) 30} Even though you had to go because you longed greatly for your father’s house, why did you steal my gods?”^{(BD) 31} Jacob answered Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. ³² But anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live. In the presence of our kinsfolk, point out what I have that is yours, and take it.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the gods.^[p](BE)

³³ So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two maids, but he did not find them. And he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. ³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel’s saddle and sat on them. Laban felt all about in the tent but did not find them. ³⁵ And she said to her father, “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the household gods.^(BF)

³⁶ Then Jacob became angry and upbraided Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me? ³⁷ Although you have felt about through all my goods, what have you found of all your household goods? Set it here before my kinsfolk and your kinsfolk, so that they may decide between us two. ³⁸ These twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks. ³⁹ That which was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it myself; of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.^{(BG) 40} It was like this with me: by day the heat consumed me and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹ These twenty years I have been in your house; I served you fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flock, and you have changed my wages ten times.^{(BH) 42} If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear^[q] of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.”^(BI)

Laban and Jacob Make a Covenant

⁴³ Then Laban answered and said to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, the flocks are my flocks, and all that you see is mine. But what can I do today about these daughters of mine or about their children whom they have borne? ⁴⁴ Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness between you and me.”^{(BJ) 45} So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar.^{(BK) 46} And Jacob said to his kinsfolk, “Gather stones,” and they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷ Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha,^[r] but Jacob called it Galeed.^{[s] 48} Laban said, “This heap is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore he called it Galeed^{(BL) 49} and the pillar^[t] Mizpah, for he said, “The Lord watch between you and me, when we are absent one from the other.^{(BM) 50} If you ill-treat my daughters or if you take wives in addition to my daughters, though no one else is with us, remember that God is witness between you and me.”

⁵¹ Then Laban said to Jacob, “See this heap and see the pillar, which I have set between you and me. ⁵² This heap is a witness, and the pillar is a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap to you, and you will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me, for harm. ⁵³ May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor^[u] judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac,^{(BN) 54} and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the height and called his kinsfolk to eat bread, and they ate bread and tarried all night in the hill country.

^55 [v]Early in the morning Laban rose up and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them; then he departed and returned home.^(BO)

Jacob and Esau Meet

33 Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming, and four hundred men with him. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids.^{(A) 2} He put the maids with their children in front, then Leah with her children, and Rachel and Joseph last of all. ³ He himself went on ahead of them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother.^(B)

⁴ But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.^{(C) 5} When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”^{(D) 6} Then the maids drew near, they and their children, and bowed down; ⁷ Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down; and finally Joseph and Rachel drew near, and they bowed down. ⁸ Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?” Jacob answered, “To find favor with my lord.”^{(E) 9} But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.” ¹⁰ Jacob said, “No, please; if I find favor with you, then accept my present from my hand, for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God, since you have received me with such favor.^{(F) 11} Please accept my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me and because I have everything I want.” So he urged him, and he took it.^(G)

¹² Then Esau said, “Let us journey on our way, and I will go alongside you.” ¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are frail and that the flocks and herds, which are nursing, are a care to me, and if they are overdriven for one day, all the flocks will die. ¹⁴ Let my lord pass on ahead of his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”^(H)

¹⁵ So Esau said, “Let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” But he said, “Why should my lord be so kind to me?”^{(I) 16} So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷ But Jacob journeyed to Succoth^[a] and built himself a house and made booths for his cattle; therefore the place is called Succoth.^(J)

Jacob Reaches Shechem

¹⁸ Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city.^{(K) 19} And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, he bought for one hundred pieces of money^[b] the plot of land on which he had pitched his tent.^{(L) 20} There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel.^[c]

The Birth of Benjamin and the Death of Rachel

¹⁶ Then they journeyed from Bethel, and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor. ¹⁷ When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, “Do not be afraid, for now you have another son.”^{(A) 18} As her soul was departing, for she was dying, she named him Ben-oni,^[a] but his father called him Benjamin.^{[b] 19} And Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem,^{(B) 20} and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel’s tomb, which is there to this day.^{(C) 21} Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

The Marriage of Isaac and Rebekah

24 Now Abraham was old, advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.^{(A) 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,^{(B) 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,^{(C) 4} but will go to my country and to my kindred and get a wife for my son Isaac.”^{(D) 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.^{(E) 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.^(F)

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.^{(G) 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.^{(H) 12} And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham.^{(I) 13} I am standing here by the spring of water, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water.^{(J) 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.”^(K)

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.^{(L) 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.^{(M) 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.^{(N) 19} When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.”^{(O) 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.^(P)

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^{(Q) 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.”^{(R) 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^{(S) 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.”^(T)

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.^{(U) 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?”^{(V) 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.^{(W) 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.^{(X) 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.^{(Y) 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.’^{(Z) 39} I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’^{(AA) 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.^{(AB) 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.’^(AC)

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!^{(AD) 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,”^{(AE) 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.’^{(AF) 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.^{(AG) 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.^{(AH) 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.^{(AI) 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.”^(AJ)

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot speak to you anything bad or good.^{(AK) 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.^{(AL) 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.^{(AM) 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.”^{(AN) 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.^{(AO) 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.^{(AQ) 63} Isaac went out in the evening to walk^[b] in the field, and, looking up, he saw camels coming.^{(AR) 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.^(AS)

Abraham Marries Keturah

25 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. ² She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.^{(AT) 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.^{(AU) 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.^{(AV) 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.^{(AW) 11} After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi.^(AX)

Ishmael’s Descendants

¹² These are the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham.^{(AY) 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,^{(AZ) 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.^{(BA) 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.^(BB)

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.^{(BC) 21} Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.^{(BD) 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.^{(BF) 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.^(BG)

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.^{(BH) 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.^{(BI) 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.

¹⁹ The children of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.^(A)

The Command to Sacrifice Isaac

22 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.”^{(A) 3} So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” ⁶ Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. And the two of them walked on together.^{(B) 7} Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”^{(C) 8} Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together.

⁹ When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood.^{(D) 10} Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill^[a] his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”^{(E) 13} And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide,”^[b] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”^[c]

¹⁵ The angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶ and said, “By myself I have sworn, says the Lord: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son,^{(F) 17} I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies,^{(G) 18} and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.”^{(H) 19} So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba, and Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.

The Children of Nahor

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

Abraham Marries Keturah

25 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. ² She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.^{(A) 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.^{(B) 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.^{(C) 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.^{(D) 11} After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi.^(E)

Ishmael’s Descendants

¹² These are the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham.^{(F) 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,^{(G) 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.^{(H) 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^[a] alongside^[b] all his people.^(I)

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.^{(J) 21} Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.^{(K) 22} The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is to be this way, why do I live?”^[c] 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.^{(M) 26} Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel, so he was named Jacob.^[d] Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.^(N)

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.^{(O) 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.^[e]) 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.^{(P) 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.