Genesis 24:52-26:16

Tree of Life Version

⁵² Now when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground to Adonai. ⁵³ Then the servant brought out articles of silver and gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brothers and to her mother. ⁵⁴ Then they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and spent the night.

When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me off to my master.”

⁵⁵ But her brother with her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days—or ten. Afterwards she may go.”

⁵⁶ But he said to them, “Don’t delay me, since Adonai has made my way successful. Send me off so that I can go to my master.”

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

She said, “I will go.”

⁵⁹ So they sent Rebekah their sister off with her nanny, and Abraham’s servant and his men, ⁶⁰ and they blessed Rebekah and said to her:

⁶¹ Then Rebekah got up, with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed after the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

⁶² Now Isaac had come from visiting Beer-lahai-roi and was living in the land of the Negev. ⁶³ Isaac went out to meditate strolling in the field at dusk. Then he lifted up his eyes and saw, behold, camels were coming. ⁶⁴ Rebekah also lifted up her eyes and saw Isaac. Then she fell off her camel.

⁶⁵ Then she said to the servant, “Who is that man there who is walking in the field—to meet us?”

The servant said, “He is my master.”

So she took the veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ Then the servant recounted to Isaac all the things he had done.

⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother, took Rebekah and she became his wife—and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after the loss of his mother.

Abraham’s Old Age and Descendants

25 Now Abraham took another wife—her name was Keturah. ² She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. ³ Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were Asshurim, Letushim and Leummim. ⁴ Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All of these were Keturah’s sons. ⁵ Now Abraham gave everything that he had to Isaac, ⁶ but to the sons of Abraham’s concubines, Abraham had given gifts and sent them away from his son Isaac while he was still living, eastward to the land of the east.

⁷ Now these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life that he lived: 175 years. ⁸ So Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, old and satisfied. Then he was gathered to his peoples. ⁹ Then Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, next to Mamre, ¹⁰ the field that Abraham bought from the sons of Heth. There Abraham is buried along with Sarah his wife.

¹¹ After Abraham’s death, God blessed Isaac his son, and Isaac lived near Beer-lahai-roi.

¹² Now these are the genealogies of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave-girl, bore to Abraham. ¹³ These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names according to their descendants: Ishmael’s firstborn, Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedem. ¹⁶ These are Ishmael’s sons and these are their names, by their unwalled and walled settlements, twelve princes according to their clans. ¹⁷ These are the years of Ishmael’s life: 137 years. He breathed his last, died and was gathered to his peoples. ¹⁸ Then they dwelled from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria. Over against all his brothers he fell.

Parashat Toledot

Esau and Jacob

¹⁹ Now these are the genealogies of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham fathered Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was 40 years old when he took for himself Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. ²¹ Isaac prayed to Adonai on behalf of his wife because she was barren. Adonai answered his plea and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

²² But the children struggled with one another inside her, and she said, “If it’s like this, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of Adonai. ²³ Adonai said to her:

²⁴ When her time came to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ Now the first came out reddish, all of him was like a fur coat, and they named him Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding onto Esau’s heel—so he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when he fathered them.

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau became a man knowledgeable in hunting, an outdoorsman, while Jacob was a mild man, remaining in tents. ²⁸ Now Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹ Now Jacob cooked a stew. When Esau came in from the field, he was exhausted, ³⁰ so Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me some of this really red stuff, because I’m exhausted”—that is why he is called Edom.

³¹ So Jacob said, “Sell your birthright to me today.”

³² Esau said, “Look, I’m about to die. Of whatever use is this to me—a birthright?”

³³ Jacob said, “Make a pledge to me now.”

So he made a pledge to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. ^{[a] 34} Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank, then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

Confirming the Covenant with Isaac

26 Now there was a famine in the land—aside from the previous famine that happened in Abraham’s days. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines, to Gerar. ² Then Adonai appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Dwell in the land about which I tell you. ³ Live as an outsider in this land and I will be with you and bless you—for to you and to your seed I give all these lands—and I will confirm my pledge that I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴ I will multiply your seed like the stars of the sky and I will give your seed all these lands. And in your seed all the nations of the earth will continually be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My mitzvot, My decrees, and My instructions.” ⁶ So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

⁷ Now the men of the place asked about his wife. So he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “my wife”—“or else the men of the place would kill me on account of Rebekah, because she’s good looking.”

⁸ Now after he had been there for a long time, King Abimelech of the Philistines peered down through the window and saw, behold, Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. ⁹ So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “So in fact she’s your wife! Now how could you say, ‘She’s my sister’?”

Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Or else I might die because of her.’”

¹⁰ Then Abimelech said, “What is it that you’ve done to us? One of the people could have easily slept with your wife and you would’ve brought guilt on us.”

¹¹ So Abimelech commanded all the people saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely die!”

Adonai Blesses Isaac

¹² Then Isaac sowed in that land and in that year reaped a hundredfold. Adonai blessed him ¹³ and the man became great and continued to become greater until he became very great. ¹⁴ He acquired livestock of sheep and livestock of cattle, and numerous servants. Then the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ All the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham the Philistines stopped up and filled with dirt. ¹⁶ So Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much more powerful than us.”