Genesis 18:21-31:16

New King James Version

^21 (A)I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, ^(B)I will know.”

²² Then the men turned away from there ^(C)and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. ²³ And Abraham ^(D)came near and said, ^(E)“Would You also ^(F)destroy the ^(G)righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? ²⁵ Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so ^(H)that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! ^(I)Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

²⁶ So the Lord said, ^(J)“If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”

²⁷ Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am ^(K)but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: ²⁸ Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?”

So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”

²⁹ And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?”

So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”

³⁰ Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?”

So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹ And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?”

So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”

³² Then he said, ^(L)“Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?”

^(M)And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” ³³ So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

Sodom’s Depravity

19 Now ^(N)the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and ^(O)Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. ² And he said, “Here now, my lords, please ^(P)turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and ^(Q)wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.”

And they said, ^(R)“No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”

³ But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. ^(S)Then he made them a feast, and baked ^(T)unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴ Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. ^5 (U)And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? ^(V)Bring them out to us that we ^(W)may know them carnally.”

⁶ So ^(X)Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, ⁷ and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! ^8 (Y)See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, ^(Z)since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”

⁹ And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one ^(AA)came in to ^[a]stay here, ^(AB)and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. ¹⁰ But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ And they ^(AC)struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed^(AD)

¹² Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—^(AE)take them out of this place! ¹³ For we will destroy this place, because the ^(AF)outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and ^(AG)the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, ^(AH)who had married his daughters, and said, ^(AI)“Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” ^(AJ)But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

¹⁵ When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, ^(AK)“Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” ¹⁶ And while he lingered, the men ^(AL)took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the ^(AM)Lord being merciful to him, ^(AN)and they brought him out and set him outside the city. ¹⁷ So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that ^[b]he said, ^(AO)“Escape for your life! ^(AP)Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape ^(AQ)to the mountains, lest you be ^[c]destroyed.”

¹⁸ Then Lot said to them, “Please, ^(AR)no, my lords! ¹⁹ Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. ²⁰ See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”

²¹ And he said to him, “See, ^(AS)I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. ²² Hurry, escape there. For ^(AT)I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”

Therefore ^(AU)the name of the city was called ^[d]Zoar.

²³ The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained ^(AV)brimstone and ^(AW)fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. ²⁵ So He ^[e]overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and ^(AX)what grew on the ground.

²⁶ But his wife looked back behind him, and she became ^(AY)a pillar of salt.

²⁷ And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where ^(AZ)he had stood before the Lord. ²⁸ Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, ^(BA)the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. ²⁹ And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God ^(BB)remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

The Descendants of Lot

³⁰ Then Lot went up out of Zoar and ^(BC)dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. ³¹ Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth ^(BD)to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. ³² Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we ^(BE)may preserve the ^[f]lineage of our father.” ³³ So they made their father drink 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 arose.

³⁴ It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the ^[g]lineage of our father.” ³⁵ Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁶ Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. ³⁷ The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; ^(BF)he is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; ^(BG)he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.

Abraham and Abimelech

20 And Abraham journeyed from ^(BH)there to the South, and dwelt between ^(BI)Kadesh and Shur, and ^(BJ)stayed in Gerar. ² Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ^(BK)“She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and ^(BL)took Sarah.

³ But ^(BM)God came to Abimelech ^(BN)in a dream by night, and said to him, ^(BO)“Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is ^[h]a man’s wife.”

⁴ But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, ^(BP)will You slay a righteous nation also? ⁵ Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ ^(BQ)In the ^[i]integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

⁶ And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For ^(BR)I also withheld you from sinning ^(BS)against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; ^(BT)for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, ^(BU)know that you shall surely die, you ^(BV)and all who are yours.”

⁸ So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. ⁹ And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I ^[j]offended you, ^(BW)that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me ^(BX)that ought not to be done.” ¹⁰ Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”

¹¹ And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely ^(BY)the fear of God is not in this place; and ^(BZ)they will kill me on account of my wife. ¹² But indeed ^(CA)she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³ And it came to pass, when ^(CB)God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, ^(CC)say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

¹⁴ Then Abimelech ^(CD)took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. ¹⁵ And Abimelech said, “See, ^(CE)my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” ¹⁶ Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; ^(CF)indeed this ^[k]vindicates you ^(CG)before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was ^[l]rebuked.

¹⁷ So Abraham ^(CH)prayed to God; and God ^(CI)healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; ¹⁸ for the Lord ^(CJ)had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Isaac Is Born^(CK)

21 And the Lord ^(CL)visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah ^(CM)as He had spoken. ² For Sarah ^(CN)conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, ^(CO)at the set time of which God had spoken to him. ³ And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—^(CP)Isaac.^{[m] 4} Then Abraham ^(CQ)circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, ^(CR)as God had commanded him. ⁵ Now ^(CS)Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶ And Sarah said, ^(CT)“God has ^[n]made me laugh, and all who hear ^(CU)will laugh with me.” ⁷ She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? ^(CV)For I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael Depart^(CW)

⁸ So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.

⁹ And Sarah saw the son of Hagar ^(CX)the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, ^(CY)scoffing.^{[o] 10} Therefore she said to Abraham, ^(CZ)“Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” ¹¹ And the matter was very ^[p]displeasing in Abraham’s sight ^(DA)because of his son.

¹² But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for ^(DB)in Isaac your seed shall be called. ¹³ Yet I will also make ^(DC)a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your ^[q]seed.”

¹⁴ So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and ^[r]a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and ^(DD)sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. ¹⁵ And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.

¹⁷ And ^(DE)God heard the voice of the lad. Then the ^(DF)angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. ¹⁸ Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for ^(DG)I will make him a great nation.”

¹⁹ Then ^(DH)God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. ²⁰ So God ^(DI)was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, ^(DJ)and became an archer. ²¹ He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother ^(DK)took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

A Covenant with Abimelech

²² And it came to pass at that time that ^(DL)Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, ^(DM)“God is with you in all that you do. ²³ Now therefore, ^(DN)swear^[s] to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.”

²⁴ And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

²⁵ Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants ^(DO)had seized. ²⁶ And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.” ²⁷ So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them ^(DP)made a ^[t]covenant. ²⁸ And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.

²⁹ Then Abimelech asked Abraham, ^(DQ)“What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?”

³⁰ And he said, “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that ^(DR)they may be my witness that I have dug this well.” ³¹ Therefore he ^(DS)called that place ^[u]Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.

³² Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³ Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and ^(DT)there called on the name of the Lord, ^(DU)the Everlasting God. ³⁴ And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.

Abraham’s Faith Confirmed^(DV)

22 Now it came to pass after these things that ^(DW)God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

² Then He said, “Take now your son, ^(DX)your only son Isaac, whom you ^(DY)love, and go ^(DZ)to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a ^(EA)burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

³ So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. ⁵ And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the ^[v]lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will ^(EB)come back to you.”

⁶ So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and ^(EC)laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. ⁷ But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”

And he said, “Here I am, my son.”

Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the ^[w]lamb for a burnt offering?”

⁸ And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the ^(ED)lamb for a ^(EE)burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

⁹ Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and ^(EF)laid him on the altar, upon the wood. ¹⁰ And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

¹¹ But the ^(EG)Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

So he said, “Here I am.”

¹² And He said, ^(EH)“Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for ^(EI)now I know that you fear God, since you have not ^(EJ)withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

¹³ Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of the place, ^[x]The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

¹⁵ Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, ¹⁶ and said: ^(EK)“By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— ¹⁷ blessing I will ^(EL)bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants ^(EM)as the stars of the heaven ^(EN)and as the sand which is on the seashore; and ^(EO)your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. ^18 (EP)In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, ^(EQ)because you have obeyed My voice.” ¹⁹ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to ^(ER)Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

The Family of Nahor

²⁰ Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed ^(ES)Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor: ^21 (ET)Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father ^(EU)of Aram, ²² Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³ And ^(EV)Bethuel begot ^[y]Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.

Sarah’s Death and Burial

23 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. ² So Sarah died in ^(EW)Kirjath Arba (that is, ^(EX)Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

³ Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of ^(EY)Heth, saying, ^4 (EZ)“I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. ^(FA)Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

⁵ And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, ⁶ “Hear us, my lord: You are ^(FB)a ^[z]mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may bury your dead.”

⁷ Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. ⁸ And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and ^[aa]meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me, ⁹ that he may give me the cave of ^(FC)Machpelah which he has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me at the full price, as property for a burial place among you.”

¹⁰ Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who ^(FD)entered at the gate of his city, saying, ^11 (FE)“No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!”

¹² Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land; ¹³ and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there.”

¹⁴ And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four hundred ^(FF)shekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead.” ¹⁶ And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham ^(FG)weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.

¹⁷ So ^(FH)the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded ¹⁸ to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.

¹⁹ And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ So the field and the cave that is in it ^(FI)were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.

A Bride for Isaac

24 Now Abraham ^(FJ)was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord ^(FK)had blessed Abraham in all things. ² So Abraham said ^(FL)to the oldest servant of his house, who ^(FM)ruled over all that he had, “Please, ^(FN)put your hand under my thigh, ³ and I will make you ^(FO)swear^[ab] by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that ^(FP)you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; ^4 (FQ)but you shall go ^(FR)to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵ And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”

⁶ But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there. ⁷ The Lord God of heaven, who ^(FS)took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ^(FT)‘To your ^[ac]descendants I give this land,’ ^(FU)He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. ⁸ And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then ^(FV)you will be released from this oath; only do 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.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, ^(FW)for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to ^(FX)the city of Nahor. ¹¹ And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time ^(FY)when women go out to draw water. ¹² Then he ^(FZ)said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please ^(GA)give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, here ^(GB)I stand by the well of water, and ^(GC)the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴ Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And ^(GD)by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵ And it happened, ^(GE)before he had finished speaking, that behold, ^(GF)Rebekah,^[ad] who was born to Bethuel, son of ^(GG)Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. ¹⁶ Now the young woman ^(GH)was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. ¹⁷ And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”

^18 (GI)So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰ Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. ²¹ And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether ^(GJ)the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

²² So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden ^(GK)nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold, ²³ and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us ^[ae]to lodge?”

²⁴ So she said to him, ^(GL)“I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ Moreover she said to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.”

²⁶ Then the man ^(GM)bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord. ²⁷ And he said, ^(GN)“Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken ^(GO)His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord ^(GP)led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” ²⁸ So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household these things.

²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was ^(GQ)Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well. ³⁰ So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, “Thus the man spoke to me,” that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well. ³¹ And he said, “Come in, ^(GR)O blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.”

³² Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and ^(GS)provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to ^(GT)wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³ Food was set before him to eat, but he said, ^(GU)“I will not eat until I have told about my errand.”

And he said, “Speak on.”

³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord ^(GV)has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ And Sarah my master’s wife ^(GW)bore a son to my master when she was old; and ^(GX)to him he has given all that he has. ³⁷ Now my master ^(GY)made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; ^38 (GZ)but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’ ^39 (HA)And I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ ^40 (HB)But he said to me, ‘The Lord, ^(HC)before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and ^[af]prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house. ^41 (HD)You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’

⁴² “And this day I came to the well and said, ^(HE)‘O Lord God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go, ^43 (HF)behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,” ⁴⁴ and she says 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 (HG)“But before I had finished ^(HH)speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’ ⁴⁶ And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also. ⁴⁷ Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. ^48 (HI)And I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to ^(HJ)take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. ⁴⁹ Now if you will ^(HK)deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, ^(HL)“The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot ^(HM)speak to you either bad or good. ^51 (HN)Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the Lord has spoken.”

⁵² And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that ^(HO)he worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. ⁵³ Then the servant brought out ^(HP)jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave ^(HQ)precious things to her brother and to her mother.

⁵⁴ And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, ^(HR)“Send me away to my master.”

⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.”

⁵⁶ And he said to them, “Do not ^[ag]hinder me, since the Lord has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷ So they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her personally.” ⁵⁸ Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”

And she said, “I will go.”

⁵⁹ So they sent away Rebekah their sister ^(HS)and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ And they blessed Rebekah and said to her:

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

⁶² Now Isaac came from the way of ^(HV)Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. ⁶³ And Isaac went out ^(HW)to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. ⁶⁴ Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac ^(HX)she dismounted from her camel; ⁶⁵ for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?”

The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a 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; and he ^(HY)took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac ^(HZ)was comforted after his mother’s death.

Abraham and Keturah^(IA)

25 Abraham again took a wife, and her name was ^(IB)Keturah. ² And ^(IC)she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴ And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

⁵ And ^(ID)Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. ⁶ But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he ^(IE)sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to ^(IF)the country of the east.

Abraham’s Death and Burial

⁷ This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and ^(IG)died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and ^(IH)was gathered to his people. ⁹ And ^(II)his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of ^(IJ)Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, ^10 (IK)the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. ^(IL)There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife. ¹¹ And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at ^(IM)Beer Lahai Roi.

The Families of Ishmael and Isaac^(IN)

¹² Now this is the ^(IO)genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. ¹³ And ^(IP)these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ^15 [ah]Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their ^[ai]settlements, ^(IQ)twelve princes according to their nations. ¹⁷ These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years; and ^(IR)he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people. ^18 (IS)(They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He ^[aj]died ^(IT)in the presence of all his brethren.

¹⁹ This is the ^(IU)genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. ^(IV)Abraham begot Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, ^(IW)the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, ^(IX)the sister of Laban the Syrian. ²¹ Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; ^(IY)and the Lord granted his plea, ^(IZ)and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” ^(JA)So she went to inquire of the Lord.

²³ And the Lord said to her:

²⁴ So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ And the first came out red. He was ^(JE)like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name ^[ak]Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out, and ^(JF)his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so ^(JG)his name was called ^[al]Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

²⁷ So the boys grew. And Esau was ^(JH)a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was ^(JI)a ^[am]mild man, ^(JJ)dwelling in tents. ²⁸ And Isaac loved Esau because he ^(JK)ate of his game, ^(JL)but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright^(JM)

²⁹ Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. ³⁰ And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called ^[an]Edom.

³¹ But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”

³² And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so ^(JN)what is this birthright to me?”

³³ Then Jacob said, ^[ao]“Swear to me as of this day.”

So he swore to him, and ^(JO)sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then ^(JP)he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau ^(JQ)despised his birthright.

Isaac and Abimelech

26 There was a famine in the land, besides ^(JR)the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to ^(JS)Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.

² Then the Lord appeared to him and said: ^(JT)“Do not go down to Egypt; live in ^(JU)the land of which I shall tell you. ^3 (JV)Dwell in this land, and ^(JW)I will be with you and ^(JX)bless you; for to you and your descendants ^(JY)I give all these lands, and I will perform ^(JZ)the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴ And ^(KA)I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; ^(KB)and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; ^5 (KC)because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

⁶ So Isaac dwelt in Gerar. ⁷ And the men of the place asked about his wife. And ^(KD)he said, “She is my sister”; for ^(KE)he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is ^(KF)beautiful to behold.” ⁸ Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, ^[ap]showing endearment to Rebekah his wife. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ”

¹⁰ And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and ^(KG)you would have brought guilt on us.” ¹¹ So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who ^(KH)touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

¹² Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year ^(KI)a hundredfold; and the Lord ^(KJ)blessed him. ¹³ The man ^(KK)began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; ¹⁴ for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines ^(KL)envied him. ¹⁵ Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells ^(KM)which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. ¹⁶ And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for ^(KN)you are much mightier than we.”

¹⁷ Then Isaac departed from there and ^[aq]pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. ¹⁸ And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. ^(KO)He called them by the names which his father had called them.

¹⁹ Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. ²⁰ But the herdsmen of Gerar ^(KP)quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well ^[ar]Esek, because they quarreled with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name ^[as]Sitnah. ²² And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name ^[at]Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall ^(KQ)be fruitful in the land.”

²³ Then he went up from there to Beersheba. ²⁴ And the Lord ^(KR)appeared to him the same night and said, ^(KS)“I am the God of your father Abraham; ^(KT)do not fear, for ^(KU)I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” ²⁵ So he ^(KV)built an altar there and ^(KW)called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

²⁶ Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, ^(KX)and Phichol the commander of his army. ²⁷ And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, ^(KY)since you hate me and have ^(KZ)sent me away from you?”

²⁸ But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord ^(LA)is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a ^[au]covenant with you, ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. ^(LB)You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ”

^30 (LC)So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ Then they arose early in the morning and ^(LD)swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

³² It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³ So he called it ^[av]Shebah. ^(LE)Therefore the name of the city is ^[aw]Beersheba to this day.

^34 (LF)When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ And ^(LG)they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.

Isaac Blesses Jacob

27 Now it came to pass, when Isaac was ^(LH)old and ^(LI)his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.”

And he answered him, “Here I am.”

² Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I ^(LJ)do not know the day of my death. ^3 (LK)Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. ⁴ And make me ^[ax]savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul ^(LL)may bless you before I die.”

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it. ⁶ So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, ⁷ ‘Bring me game and make ^[ay]savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ ⁸ Now therefore, my son, ^(LM)obey my voice according to what I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make ^(LN)savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰ Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he ^(LO)may bless you before his death.”

¹¹ And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, ^(LP)Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. ¹² Perhaps my father will ^(LQ)feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring ^(LR)a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

¹³ But his mother said to him, ^(LS)“Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” ¹⁴ And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother ^(LT)made ^[az]savory food, such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took ^(LU)the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. ¹⁶ And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

¹⁸ So he went 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 just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, ^(LV)that your soul may bless me.”

²⁰ But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?”

And he said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.”

²¹ Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I ^(LW)may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” ²² So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ And he did not recognize him, because ^(LX)his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.

²⁴ Then he said, “Are you really my son Esau?”

He said, “I am.”

²⁵ He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, so ^(LY)that my soul may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ And he came near and ^(LZ)kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said:

Esau’s Lost Hope^(MI)

³⁰ Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹ He also had made ^[ba]savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and ^(MJ)eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.”

³² And his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”

So he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

³³ Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him—^(MK)and indeed he shall be blessed.”

³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, ^(ML)he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me—me also, O my father!”

³⁵ But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.”

³⁶ And Esau said, ^(MM)“Is he not rightly named ^[bb]Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, ^(MN)“Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with ^(MO)grain and wine I have ^[bc]sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?”

³⁸ And Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice ^(MP)and wept.

³⁹ Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

Jacob Escapes from Esau

⁴¹ So Esau ^(MT)hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, ^(MU)“The days of mourning for my father ^[be]are at hand; ^(MV)then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴² And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau ^(MW)comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. ⁴³ Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban ^(MX)in Haran. ⁴⁴ And stay with him a ^(MY)few days, until your brother’s fury turns away, ⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?”

⁴⁶ And Rebekah said to Isaac, ^(MZ)“I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; ^(NA)if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Jacob Sent to His Uncle Laban

28 Then Isaac called Jacob and ^(NB)blessed him, and ^[bf]charged him, and said to him: ^(NC)“You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ^2 (ND)Arise, go to ^(NE)Padan Aram, to the house of ^(NF)Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of ^(NG)Laban your mother’s brother.

⁵ So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Marries Mahalath

⁶ Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram. ⁸ Also Esau saw ^(NL)that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. ⁹ So Esau went to Ishmael and ^(NM)took ^(NN)Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, ^(NO)the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.

Jacob’s Vow at Bethel

¹⁰ Now Jacob ^(NP)went out from Beersheba and went toward ^(NQ)Haran. ¹¹ So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² Then he ^(NR)dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there ^(NS)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

^13 (NT)And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: ^(NU)“I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; ^(NV)the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Also your ^(NW)descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad ^(NX)to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and ^(NY)in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, ^(NZ)I am with you and will ^(OA)keep^[bh] you wherever you go, and will ^(OB)bring you back to this land; for ^(OC)I will not leave you ^(OD)until I have done what I have spoken to you.”

¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in ^(OE)this place, and I did not know it.” 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 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, ^(OF)set it up as a pillar, ^(OG)and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ And he called the name of ^(OH)that place ^[bi]Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. ^20 (OI)Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If ^(OJ)God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me ^(OK)bread to eat and clothing to put on, ²¹ so that ^(OL)I come back to my father’s house in peace, ^(OM)then the Lord shall be my God. ²² And this stone which I have set as a pillar ^(ON)shall be God’s house, ^(OO)and of all that You give me I will surely give a ^[bj]tenth to You.”

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 So Jacob went on his journey ^(OP)and came to the land of the people of the East. ² And he looked, and saw a ^(OQ)well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well’s mouth. ³ Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.

⁴ And Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?”

And they said, “We are from ^(OR)Haran.”

⁵ Then he said to them, “Do you know ^(OS)Laban the son of Nahor?”

And they said, “We know him.”

⁶ So he said to them, ^(OT)“Is he well?”

And they said, “He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel ^(OU)is coming with the sheep.”

⁷ Then he said, “Look, it is still ^[bk]high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”

⁸ But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ Now while he was still speaking with them, ^(OV)Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near and ^(OW)rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹ Then Jacob ^(OX)kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. ¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was ^(OY)her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. ^(OZ)So she ran and told her father.

¹³ Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister’s son, that ^(PA)he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴ And Laban said to him, ^(PB)“Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, ^(PC)what should 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 ^[bl]delicate, but Rachel was ^(PD)beautiful of form and appearance.

¹⁸ Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, ^(PE)“I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”

¹⁹ And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob ^(PF)served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may ^(PG)go in to her.” ²² And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and ^(PH)made a feast. ²³ Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her. ²⁴ And Laban gave his maid ^(PI)Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. ²⁵ So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you ^(PJ)deceived me?”

²⁶ And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our ^[bm]country, to give the younger before the firstborn. ^27 (PK)Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”

²⁸ Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also. ²⁹ And Laban gave his maid ^(PL)Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid. ³⁰ Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also ^(PM)loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban ^(PN)still another seven years.

The Children of Jacob

³¹ When the Lord ^(PO)saw that Leah was ^[bn]unloved, He ^(PP)opened her womb; but Rachel was barren. ³² So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name ^[bo]Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely ^(PQ)looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.” ³³ Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am ^[bp]unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name ^[bq]Simeon. ³⁴ She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called ^[br]Levi. ³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name ^(PR)Judah.^[bs] Then she stopped bearing.

Jacob’s Children

30 Now when Rachel saw that ^(PS)she bore Jacob no children, Rachel ^(PT)envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, ^(PU)or else I die!”

² And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, ^(PV)“Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”

³ So she said, “Here is ^(PW)my maid Bilhah; go in to her, ^(PX)and she will bear a child on my knees, ^(PY)that I also may ^[bt]have children by her.” ⁴ Then she gave him Bilhah her maid ^(PZ)as wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has ^(QA)judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name ^[bu]Dan. ⁷ And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ Then Rachel said, “With ^[bv]great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name ^[bw]Naphtali.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and ^(QB)gave her to Jacob as wife. ¹⁰ And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, ^[bx]“A troop comes!” So she called his name ^[by]Gad. ¹² And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, “I am happy, for the daughters ^(QC)will call me blessed.” So she called his name ^[bz]Asher.

¹⁴ Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, ^(QD)“Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁵ But she said to her, ^(QE)“Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?”

And Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”

¹⁶ When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he lay with her that night.

¹⁷ And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she called his name ^[ca]Issachar. ¹⁹ Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. ²⁰ And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name ^[cb]Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she bore a ^(QF)daughter, and called her name ^[cc]Dinah.

²² Then God ^(QG)remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and ^(QH)opened her womb. ²³ And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away ^(QI)my reproach.” ²⁴ So she called his name ^[cd]Joseph, and said, ^(QJ)“The Lord shall add to me another son.”

Jacob’s Agreement with Laban

²⁵ And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, ^(QK)“Send me away, that I may go to ^(QL)my own place and to my country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children ^(QM)for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.”

²⁷ And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for ^(QN)I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.” ²⁸ Then he said, ^(QO)“Name me your wages, and I will give it.”

²⁹ So Jacob said to him, ^(QP)“You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me. ³⁰ For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you ^[ce]since my coming. And now, when shall I also ^(QQ)provide for my own house?”

³¹ So he said, “What shall I give you?”

And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks: ³² Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and ^(QR)these shall be my wages. ³³ So my ^(QS)righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.”

³⁴ And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!” ³⁵ So he removed that day the male goats that were ^(QT)speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons. ³⁶ Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Now ^(QU)Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods. ³⁸ And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink. ³⁹ So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted. ⁴⁰ Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock.

⁴¹ And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. ⁴² But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. ⁴³ Thus the man ^(QV)became exceedingly prosperous, and ^(QW)had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Jacob Flees from Laban

31 Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has acquired all this ^(QX)wealth.” ² And Jacob saw the ^(QY)countenance of Laban, and indeed it was not ^(QZ)favorable toward him as before. ³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, ^(RA)“Return to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will ^(RB)be with you.”

⁴ So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock, ⁵ and said to them, ^(RC)“I see your father’s ^[cf]countenance, that it is not favorable toward me as before; but the God of my father ^(RD)has been with me. ⁶ And ^(RE)you know that with all my might I have served your father. ⁷ Yet your father has deceived me and ^(RF)changed my wages ^(RG)ten times, but God ^(RH)did not allow him to hurt me. ⁸ If he said thus: ^(RI)‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked. ⁹ So God has ^(RJ)taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.

¹⁰ “And it happened, at the time when the flocks conceived, that I lifted my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the flocks were streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted. ¹¹ Then ^(RK)the Angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, ‘Jacob.’ And I said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹² And He said, ‘Lift your eyes now and see, all the rams which leap on the flocks are streaked, speckled, and gray-spotted; for ^(RL)I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel, ^(RM)where you anointed the pillar and where you made a vow to Me. Now ^(RN)arise, get out of this land, and return to the land of your family.’ ”

¹⁴ Then Rachel and Leah answered and said to him, ^(RO)“Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house? ¹⁵ Are we not considered strangers by him? For ^(RP)he has sold us, and also completely consumed our money. ¹⁶ For all these riches which God has taken from our father are really ours and our children’s; now then, whatever God has said to you, do it.”