Genesis 24-27

Amplified Bible

A Bride for Isaac

24 Now Abraham was old, [well] advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. ² Abraham said to his servant [Eliezer of Damascus], the oldest of his household, who had charge over all that Abraham owned, “Please, put your hand under my thigh [as is customary for affirming a solemn oath],^{(A) 3} and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, ⁴ but you will [instead] go to my [former] country (Mesopotamia) and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac [the heir of the covenant promise].” ⁵ The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman will not be willing to follow me back to this country; should I take your son back to the country 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, from the land of my family and my birth, who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you [to guide you], and you will take a wife from there for my son [and bring her here]. ⁸ If the woman is not willing to follow you [to this land], then you will be free from this my oath and blameless; only you must never 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 set out, taking some of his master’s good things with him; so he got up and journeyed to ^[a]Mesopotamia [between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers], to the city of Nahor [the home of Abraham’s brother]. ¹¹ He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of the evening when women go out to draw water. ¹² And he said, “O Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master Abraham. ¹³ Behold, I stand here at the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water; ¹⁴ now let it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please, let down your jar so that I may [have a] drink,’ and she replies, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels water to drink’—may she be the one whom You have selected [as a wife] for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master.”

Rebekah Is Chosen

¹⁵ Before Eliezer had finished speaking (praying), Rebekah came out with her [water] jar on her shoulder. Rebekah was the daughter of Bethuel the ^[b]son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. ¹⁶ The girl was very beautiful, a virgin and unmarried; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. ¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar.” ¹⁸ And she said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ When she had given Eliezer a drink, she said, “I will also draw water for your camels until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran again to the well and drew water for all his camels. ²¹ Meanwhile, the man stood gazing at Rebekah in [reverent] silence, [waiting] to know if the Lord had made his trip successful or not.

²² When the camels had finished drinking, Eliezer took a gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her hands weighing ten shekels in gold, ²³ and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?” ²⁴ And she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to [her husband] Nahor.” ²⁵ Again she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and also room to lodge.” ²⁶ The man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord. ²⁷ He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not denied His lovingkindness and His truth to my master. As for me, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brothers.”

²⁸ Then the girl ran and told her mother’s household what had happened. ²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban; and Laban ran out to the man at the well. ³⁰ When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and when he heard Rebekah his sister, saying, “The man said this to me,” he went to Eliezer and found him standing by the camels at the spring. ³¹ And Laban said, “Come in, blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside since I have made the house ready and have prepared a place for the camels?” ³² So the man came into the house, and Laban unloaded his camels and gave them straw and feed, and [he gave] water to [Eliezer to] wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³ But when food was set before him, he said, “I will not eat until I have stated my business.” And Laban said, “Speak on.” ³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great (wealthy, powerful); He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ Now Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was in her old age, and he has given everything that he has to him. ³⁷ My master made me swear [an oath], saying, ‘You must not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live; ³⁸ but you shall [instead] go to my father’s house and to my family and take a wife for my son [Isaac].’ ³⁹ Then I said to my master, ‘But suppose the woman will not follow me [back to this land].’ ⁴⁰ He said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk [habitually and obediently], will send His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house; ⁴¹ then you will be free of my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will [also] be free of my oath.’

⁴² “I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord, God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go successful; ⁴³ please look, I am standing by the spring of water; now let it be that when the maiden [whom You have chosen for Isaac] comes out to draw [water], and to whom I say, “Please, give me a little water to drink from your jar”; ⁴⁴ and if she says to me, “You drink, and I will also draw [water] for your camels”; let that woman be the one whom the Lord has selected and chosen [as a wife] for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵ “Before I had finished praying in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her [water] jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please, let me have a drink.’ ⁴⁶ And 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. ⁴⁷ Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’; and I ^[c]put the ring in her nose, and the bracelets on her arms. ⁴⁸ And I bowed down my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s brother to his son [as a wife]. ⁴⁹ So now if you are going to show kindness and truth to my master [being faithful to him], tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left [and go on my way].”

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The matter has come from the Lord; so we dare not speak bad or good [to you about it—we cannot interfere]. ⁵¹ 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 [in worship] before the Lord. ⁵³ Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and articles of clothing, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and her mother. ⁵⁴ Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night [there]. In the morning when they got up, he said, “Now send me back to my master.” ⁵⁵ But Rebekah’s brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us a few days—at least ten; then she may go.” ⁵⁶ But Eliezer said to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away, so that I may go back to my master.” ⁵⁷ And they said, “We will call the girl and ask her ^[d]what she prefers.” ⁵⁸ So they called Rebekah and said, “Will you go with this man?” And she answered, “I will go.” ⁵⁹ So they sent off their sister Rebekah and her nurse [Deborah, as her attendant] and Abraham’s servant [Eliezer] and his men. ⁶⁰ They blessed Rebekah and said to her,

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her attendants ^[e]stood, and they mounted camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and went on his way.

Isaac Marries Rebekah

⁶² Now Isaac had returned from going to Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me), for he was living in the ^[f]Negev.^{(B) 63} Isaac went out to bow down [in prayer] in the field in the [early] evening; he raised his eyes and looked, and camels were coming. ⁶⁴ Rebekah also raised her eyes and looked, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from her camel. ⁶⁵ She said to the servant, “Who is that man there walking across the field to meet us?” And the servant said, “He is my master [Isaac].” So she took a veil and covered herself [as was customary]. ⁶⁶ The servant told Isaac everything that he had done. ⁶⁷ Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah [in marriage], and she became his wife, and he loved her; therefore Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Abraham’s Death

25 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. ² She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 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 sons of Keturah. ⁵ Now Abraham gave ^[g]everything that he had to Isaac; ⁶ but to the sons of his ^[h]concubines [Hagar and Keturah], Abraham gave gifts while he was still living and he sent them to the east country, away from Isaac his son [of promise].

⁷ The days of Abraham’s life were a hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and he died at a good old age, an old man who was satisfied [with life]; and he ^[i]was gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death].^{(C) 9} So his sons ^[j]Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is east of Mamre, ¹⁰ the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife. ¹¹ Now after the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac lived at Beer-lahai-roi.

Descendants of Ishmael

¹² Now ^[k]these are the records of the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham; ¹³ and these are the names of the [twelve] sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their births: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 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 settlements, and by their encampments (sheepfolds); twelve princes (sheiks) according to their tribes.^{(D) 17} Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years; then he breathed his last and died, and ^[l]was gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death]. ¹⁸ Ishmael’s sons (descendants) settled from Havilah to Shur which is ^[m]east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria; he ^[n]settled ^[o]opposite (east) of all his relatives.

Isaac’s Sons

¹⁹ Now these are the records of the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham was the father of Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean (Syrian) of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean. ²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was unable to conceive children; and the Lord granted his prayer and Rebekah his wife conceived [twins]. ²² But the children struggled together within her [kicking and shoving one another]; and she said, “If it is so [that the Lord has heard our prayer], why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the Lord [praying for an answer]. ²³ The Lord said to her,

²⁴ When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ The first came out reddish all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau (hairy). ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out, and his hand grasped Esau’s heel, so he was named Jacob (^[p]one who grabs by the heel, supplanter). Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau was an able and skilled hunter, a man of the outdoors, but Jacob was a quiet and peaceful man, living in tents. ²⁸ Now Isaac loved [and favored] Esau, because ^[q]he enjoyed eating his game, but Rebekah loved [and favored] Jacob. ²⁹ Jacob had cooked [reddish-brown lentil] stew [one day], when Esau came from the field and was famished; ³⁰ and Esau said to Jacob, “Please, let me have a quick swallow of that red stuff there, because I am exhausted and famished.” For that reason Esau was [also] called Edom (Red). ³¹ Jacob answered, “First sell me your ^[r]birthright (the rights of a firstborn).” ³² Esau said, “Look, I am about to die [if I do not eat soon]; so of what use is this birthright to me?” ³³ Jacob said, “Swear [an oath] to me today [that you are selling it to me for this food]”; so he swore [an oath] to him, and sold him his birthright. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and got up and went on his way. In this way Esau scorned his birthright.^(E)

Isaac Settles in Gerar

26 Now there was a famine in the land [of Canaan], besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to ^[s]Abimelech king of the Philistines. ² The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I will tell you. ³ Live temporarily [as a resident] in this land and I will be with you and will bless and favor you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish and carry out the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.^{(F) 4} I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,^{(G) 5} because Abraham listened to and obeyed My voice and [consistently] kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

⁶ So Isaac stayed in Gerar. ⁷ The men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, “She is my ^[t]sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife”—thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is very beautiful.” ⁸ It happened when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac ^[u]caressing Rebekah his wife. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “See here, Rebekah is in fact your wife! How did you [dare to] say to me, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I might be killed because of her [desirability].” ¹⁰ Abimelech said, “What is this that you have done to us? One of the men [among our people] might easily have been intimate with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us [before God].” ¹¹ Then Abimelech commanded all his people, “Whoever touches this man [Isaac] or his wife [Rebekah] shall without exception be put to death.”

¹² Then Isaac planted [seed] in that land [as a farmer] and reaped in the same year a hundred times [as much as he had planted], and the Lord blessed and favored him. ¹³ And the man [Isaac] became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthy and extremely distinguished; ¹⁴ he owned flocks and herds and a great household [with a number of servants], and the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with dirt. ¹⁶ Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from here, because you are far too powerful for us.” ¹⁷ So Isaac left that region and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and settled there.

Quarrel over the Wells

¹⁸ Now Isaac again dug [and reopened] the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, because the Philistines had filled them up [with dirt] after the death of Abraham; and he gave the wells the same names that his father had given them. ¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing [spring] water, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours!” So Isaac named the well Esek (quarreling), because they quarreled with him. ²¹ Then his servants dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so Isaac named it Sitnah (enmity). ²² He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over that one; so he named it Rehoboth (broad places), saying, “For now the Lord has made ^[v]room for us, and we shall be ^[w]prosperous in the land.”

²³ Then he went up from there to Beersheba. ²⁴ The Lord appeared to him the same night and said,

²⁵ So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord [in prayer]. He pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Covenant with Abimelech

²⁶ Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, his [close friend and confidential] adviser, and Phicol, the commander of his army. ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “Why have you [people] come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” ²⁸ They said, “We see clearly that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘There should now be an oath between us [with a curse for the one who breaks it], that is, between you and us, and let us make a covenant (binding agreement, solemn promise) with you, ²⁹ that you will not harm us, just as we have not touched you and have done nothing but good to you and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed and favored of the Lord!’” ³⁰ Then Isaac held a [formal] banquet (covenant feast) for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹ They got up early in the morning and swore oaths [pledging to do nothing but good to each other]; and Isaac sent them on their way and they left him in peace. ³² Now on the same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, saying, “We have found water.” ³³ So he named the well ^[x]Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.^(H)

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite as his wives; ³⁵ and they were a ^[y]source of grief to [Esau’s parents] Isaac and Rebekah.

Jacob’s Deception

27 Now when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, he called his elder [and favorite] son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And Esau answered him, “Here I am.” ² Isaac said, “See here, I am old; ^[z]I do not know ^[aa]when I may die. ³ So now, please take your [hunting] gear, your quiver [of arrows] and your bow, and go out into the open country and hunt game for me; ⁴ and make me a savory and delicious dish [of meat], the kind I love, and bring it to me to eat, so that my soul may bless you [as my firstborn son] before I die.”

⁵ But Rebekah overheard what Isaac said to Esau his son; and when Esau had gone to the open country to hunt for game that he might bring back, ⁶ Rebekah said to Jacob her [younger and favorite] son, “Listen carefully: I heard your father saying to Esau your brother, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and make me a savory and delicious dish [of meat], so that I may eat it, and declare my blessing on you ^[ab]in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ ⁸ So now, my son, listen [carefully] to me [and do exactly] as I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and bring me two good and suitable young goats, and I will make them into a savory dish [of meat] for your father, the kind he loves [to eat]. ¹⁰ Then you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” ¹¹ Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Listen, Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth [skinned] man. ¹² Suppose my father touches me and feels my skin; then I will be seen by him as a cheat (imposter), and I will bring his curse on me and not a blessing.” ¹³ But his mother said to him, “May your curse be on me, my son; only listen and obey me, and go, bring the young goats to me.” ¹⁴ So Jacob went and got the two young goats, and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared a delicious dish of food [with a delightful aroma], the kind his father loved [to eat]. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took her elder son Esau’s best clothes, which were with her in her house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. ¹⁶ And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ Then she gave her son Jacob the delicious meat and the bread which she had prepared.

¹⁸ So he went to his father and said, “My father.” And Isaac said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” ¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done what you told me to do. Now please, sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.” ²⁰ Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found the game so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God caused it to come to me.” ²¹ But Isaac [wondered and] said to Jacob, “Please come close [to me] so that I may touch you, my son, and determine if you are really my son Esau or not.” ²² So Jacob approached Isaac, and his father touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He could not recognize him [as Jacob], because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. ²⁴ But he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” Jacob answered, “I am.” ²⁵ Then Isaac said, “Bring the food to me, and I will eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.” He brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come, my son, and kiss me.” ²⁷ So he came and kissed him; and Isaac smelled his clothing and blessed him and said,

The Stolen Blessing

³⁰ Now as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹ Esau also made a delicious dish [of meat] and brought it to his father and said to him, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.” ³² Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he replied, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” ³³ Then Isaac trembled violently, and he said, “Then who was the one [who was just here] who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I blessed him. Yes, and he [in fact] shall be (shall remain) blessed.” ³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with a great and extremely bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”^{(J) 35} Isaac said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has [fraudulently] taken away your blessing [for himself].” ³⁶ Esau replied, “Is he not rightly named ^[ad]Jacob (the supplanter)? For he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” ³⁷ But Isaac replied to Esau, “Listen carefully: I have made Jacob your lord and master; I have given him all his brothers and relatives as servants; and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then, can I do for you, my son?” ³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” Then Esau [no longer able to restrain himself] raised his voice and wept [loudly].

³⁹ Then Isaac his father answered and [prophesied and] said to him,

⁴¹ So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are very near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” ⁴² When these words of her elder son Esau were repeated to Rebekah, she sent for Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Listen carefully, your brother Esau is comforting himself concerning you by planning to kill you. ⁴³ So now, my son, listen and do what I say; go, escape to my brother Laban in Haran! ⁴⁴ Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s anger subsides. ⁴⁵ When your brother’s anger toward you subsides and he forgets what you did to him, then ^[ae]I will send and bring you back from there. Why should I be deprived of you both in a single day?”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth [these insolent wives of Esau]. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”^(K)