God Calls Abram

12 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives and your father’s family. Go to the land I will show you.

⁴ So Abram left Haran as the Lord had told him. And Lot went with him. At this time Abram was 75 years old. ⁵ Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot and everything they owned. They took all the servants they had gotten in Haran. They set out from Haran, planning to go to the land of Canaan. In time they arrived there.

⁶ Abram traveled through that land. He went as far as the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. The Canaanites were living in the land at that time. ⁷ The Lord appeared to Abram. The Lord said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” So Abram built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. ⁸ Then Abram traveled from Shechem to the mountain east of Bethel. And he set up his tent there. Bethel was to the west, and Ai was to the east. There Abram built another altar to the Lord and worshiped him. ⁹ After this, he traveled on toward southern Canaan.

God’s Agreement with Abram

15 After these things happened, the Lord spoke his word to Abram in a vision. God said, “Abram, don’t be afraid. I will defend you. And I will give you a great reward.”

² But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me? I have no son. So my slave Eliezer from Damascus will get everything I own after I die.” ³ Abram said, “Look, you have given me no son. So a slave born in my house will inherit everything I have.”

⁴ Then the Lord spoke his word to Abram. He said, “That slave will not be the one to inherit what you have. You will have a son of your own. And your son will inherit what you have.”

⁵ Then God led Abram outside. God said, “Look at the sky. There are so many stars you cannot count them. And your descendants will be too many to count.”

⁶ Abram believed the Lord. And the Lord accepted Abram’s faith, and that faith made him right with God.

Proof of the Agreement

17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. The Lord said, “I am God All-Powerful. Obey me and do what is right. ² I will make an agreement between us. I will make you the ancestor of many people.”

³ Then Abram bowed facedown on the ground. God said to him, ⁴ “I am making my agreement with you: I will make you the father of many nations. ⁵ I am changing your name from Abram^[a] to Abraham.^[b] This is because I am making you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will give you many descendants. New nations will be born from you. Kings will come from you. ⁷ And I will make an agreement between me and you and all your descendants from now on: I will be your God and the God of all your descendants. ⁸ You live in the land of Canaan now as a stranger. But I will give you and your descendants all this land forever. And I will be the God of your descendants.”

Isaac—the Promised Son

¹⁵ God said to Abraham, “I will change the name of Sarai,^[a] your wife. Her new name will be Sarah.^{[b] 16} I will bless her. I will give her a son, and you will be the father. She will be the mother of many nations. Kings of nations will come from her.”

¹⁷ Abraham bowed facedown on the ground and laughed. He said to himself, “Can a man have a child when he is 100 years old? Can Sarah give birth to a child when she is 90?” ¹⁸ Then Abraham said to God, “Please let Ishmael be the son you promised.”

¹⁹ God said, “No. Sarah your wife will have a son, and you will name him Isaac.^[c] I will make my agreement with him. It will be an agreement that continues forever with all his descendants.

The Three Visitors

18 Later, the Lord again appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre. At that time Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent. It was during the hottest part of the day. ² He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When Abraham saw them, he ran from his tent to meet them. He bowed facedown on the ground before them. ³ Abraham said, “Sir, if you think well of me, please stay awhile with me, your servant. ⁴ I will bring some water so all of you can wash your feet. You may rest under the tree. ⁵ I will get some bread for you, so you can regain your strength. Then you may continue your journey.”

The three men said, “That is fine. Do as you said.”

⁶ Abraham hurried to the tent where Sarah was. He said to her, “Hurry, prepare 20 quarts of fine flour. Make it into loaves of bread.” ⁷ Then Abraham ran to his cattle. He took one of his best calves and gave it to a servant. The servant hurried to kill the calf and to prepare it for food. ⁸ Abraham gave the three men the calf that had been cooked. He also gave them milk curds and milk. While the three men ate, he stood under the tree near them.

⁹ The men asked Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?”

“There, in the tent,” said Abraham.

¹⁰ Then the Lord said, “I will certainly return to you about this time a year from now. At that time your wife Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent which was behind him. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were very old. Sarah was past the age when women normally have children. ¹² So she laughed to herself, “My husband and I are too old to have a baby.”

¹³ Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘I am too old to have a baby’? ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? No! I will return to you at the right time a year from now. And Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Sarah was afraid. So she lied and said, “I didn’t laugh.”

But the Lord said, “No. You did laugh.”

Isaac’s Family

¹⁹ This is the family history of Isaac. Abraham had a son named Isaac. ²⁰ When Isaac was 40 years old, he married Rebekah. Rebekah was from Northwest Mesopotamia. She was Bethuel’s daughter and the sister of Laban the Aramean. ²¹ Isaac’s wife could not have children. So Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord heard Isaac’s prayer, and Rebekah became pregnant.

²² While she was pregnant, the babies struggled inside her. She asked, “Why is this happening to me?” Then she went to get an answer from the Lord.

²³ The Lord said to her,

²⁴ And when the time came, Rebekah gave birth to twins. ²⁵ The first baby was born red. His skin was like a hairy robe. So he was named Esau.^{[a] 26} When the second baby was born, he was holding on to Esau’s heel. So that baby was named Jacob.^[b] Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter. He loved to be out in the fields. But Jacob was a quiet man. He stayed among the tents. ²⁸ Isaac loved Esau. Esau hunted the wild animals that Isaac enjoyed eating. But Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹ One day Jacob was boiling a pot of vegetable soup. Esau came in from hunting in the fields. He was weak from hunger. ³⁰ So Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red soup. I am weak with hunger.” (That is why people call him Edom.^[c])

³¹ But Jacob said, “You must sell me your rights as the firstborn son.”^[d]

³² Esau said, “I am almost dead from hunger. If I die, all of my father’s wealth will not help me.”

³³ But Jacob said, “First, promise me that you will give it to me.” So Esau made a promise to Jacob. In this way he sold his part of their father’s wealth to Jacob. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and vegetable soup. Esau ate and drank and then left. So Esau showed how little he cared about his rights as the firstborn son.

Jacob Tricks Isaac

27 When Isaac was old, his eyes were not good. He could not see clearly. One day he called his older son Esau to him. Isaac said, “Son.”

Esau answered, “Here I am.”

² Isaac said, “I am old. I don’t know when I might die. ³ So take your bow and arrows, and go hunting in the field. Kill an animal for me to eat. ⁴ Prepare the tasty food that I love. Bring it to me, and I will eat. Then I will bless you before I die.” ⁵ So Esau went out in the field to hunt.

Rebekah was listening as Isaac said this to his son Esau. ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen, I heard your father talking to your brother Esau. ⁷ Your father said, ‘Kill an animal. Prepare some tasty food for me to eat. Then I will bless you before the Lord before I die.’ ⁸ So obey me, my son. Do what I tell you. ⁹ Go out to our goats and bring me two young ones. I will prepare them just the way your father likes them. ¹⁰ Then you will take the food to your father. And he will bless you before he dies.”

¹¹ But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man. I am smooth! ¹² If my father touches me, he will know I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me. He will place a curse on me because I tried to trick him.”

¹³ So Rebekah said to him, “If your father puts a curse on you, I will accept the blame. Just do what I said. Go and get the goats for me.”

¹⁴ So Jacob went out and got two goats and brought them to his mother. Then she cooked them in the special way Isaac enjoyed. ¹⁵ She took the best clothes of her older son Esau that were in the house. She put them on the younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ She took the skins of the goats. And she put them on Jacob’s hands and neck. ¹⁷ Then she gave Jacob the tasty food and the bread she had made.

¹⁸ Jacob went in to his father and said, “Father.”

And his father said, “Yes, my son. Who are you?”

¹⁹ Jacob said to him, “I am Esau, your first son. I have done what you told me. Now sit up and eat some meat of the animal I hunted for you. Then bless me.”

²⁰ But Isaac asked his son, “How did you find and kill the animal so quickly?”

Jacob answered, “Because the Lord your God led me to find it.”

²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son. If I can touch you, I will know if you are really my son Esau.”

²² So Jacob came near to Isaac his father. Isaac touched him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob’s voice. But your hands are hairy like the hands of Esau.” ²³ Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his hands were hairy like Esau’s hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob. ²⁴ Isaac asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”

Jacob answered, “Yes, I am.”

²⁵ Then Isaac said, “Bring me the food. I will eat it and bless you.” So Jacob gave him the food, and Isaac ate. Jacob gave him wine, and he drank. ²⁶ Then Isaac said to him, “My son, come near and kiss me.” ²⁷ So Jacob went to his father and kissed him. Isaac smelled Esau’s clothes and blessed him. Isaac said,

³⁰ Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting. ³¹ Esau also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. He said, “Father, rise and eat the food that your son killed for you. Then bless me.”

³² Isaac asked, “Who are you?”

He answered, “I am your son—your firstborn son—Esau.”

³³ Then Isaac trembled greatly. He said, “Then who was it that hunted the animals and brought me food before you came? I ate it, and I blessed him. And it is too late now to take back my blessing.”

³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, he let out a loud and bitter cry. He said to his father, “Bless me—me, too, my father!”

³⁵ But Isaac said, “Your brother came and tricked me. He has taken your blessing.”

³⁶ Esau said, “Jacob^[a] is the right name for him. He has tricked me these two times. He took away my share of everything you own. And now he has taken away my blessing.” Then Esau asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac answered, “I gave Jacob the power to be master over you. And all his brothers will be his servants. And I kept him strong with grain and wine. There is nothing left to give you, my son.”

³⁸ But Esau continued, “Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me, too, Father!” Then Esau began to cry out loud.

³⁹ Isaac said to him,

³⁰ Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Then, just as Jacob left his father Isaac, Esau came in from hunting. ³¹ Esau also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. He said, “Father, rise and eat the food that your son killed for you. Then bless me.”

³⁷ Isaac answered, “I gave Jacob the power to be master over you. And all his brothers will be his servants. And I kept him strong with grain and wine. There is nothing left to give you, my son.”

³⁸ But Esau continued, “Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me, too, Father!” Then Esau began to cry out loud.

³⁹ Isaac said to him,

⁴¹ After that Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing from Isaac. Esau thought to himself, “My father will soon die, and I will be sad for him. After that I will kill Jacob.”

⁴² Rebekah heard about Esau’s plan to kill Jacob. So she sent for Jacob. She said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is comforting himself by planning to kill you. ⁴³ So, son, do what I say. My brother Laban is living in Haran. Go to him at once! ⁴⁴ Stay with him for a while, until your brother is not so angry. ⁴⁵ In time, your brother will not be angry. He will forget what you did to him. Then I will send a servant to bring you back. I don’t want to lose both of my sons on the same day.”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of these Hittite women here in this land, I want to die.”