Genesis 25:19-28:9

New American Standard Bible 1995

Isaac’s Sons

¹⁹ Now these are the records of ^(A)the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham ^[a]became the father of Isaac; ²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old when he took ^(B)Rebekah, the ^(C)daughter of Bethuel the ^[b]Aramean of Paddan-aram, the ^(D)sister of Laban the ^[c]Aramean, to be his wife. ²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and ^(E)the Lord ^[d]answered him and Rebekah his wife ^(F)conceived. ²² But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to ^(G)inquire of the Lord. ²³ The Lord said to her,

²⁴ When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ Now the first came forth red, ^(K)all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came forth with ^(L)his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, so ^(M)his name was called ^[e]Jacob; and Isaac was ^(N)sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

²⁷ When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a ^[f]peaceful man, ^[g](O)living in tents. ²⁸ Now Isaac loved Esau, because ^[h]he had ^(P)a taste for game, ^(Q)but Rebekah loved Jacob. ²⁹ When Jacob had cooked ^(R)stew, Esau came in from the field and he was ^[i]famished; ³⁰ and Esau said to Jacob, “Please let me have a swallow of ^[j]that red stuff there, for I am ^[k]famished.” Therefore his name was called ^[l]Edom. ³¹ But Jacob said, “^[m]First sell me your ^(S)birthright.” ³² Esau said, “Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?” ³³ And Jacob said, “^[n]First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and ^(T)sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Isaac Settles in Gerar

26 Now there was ^(U)a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to ^(V)Abimelech king of the Philistines. ² The Lord ^(W)appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; ^[o](X)stay in the land of which I shall tell you. ³ Sojourn in this land and ^(Y)I will be with you and ^(Z)bless you, for ^(AA)to you and to your ^[p]descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish ^(AB)the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. ^4 (AC)I will multiply your ^[q]descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your ^[r]descendants all these lands; and ^(AD)by your ^[s]descendants all the nations of the earth ^[t]shall be blessed; ⁵ because Abraham ^[u](AE)obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”

⁶ So Isaac ^[v]lived in Gerar. ⁷ When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “^(AF)She is my sister,” for he was ^(AG)afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “^[w]the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is ^(AH)beautiful.” ⁸ It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’” ^10 (AI)Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” ¹¹ So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, “He who ^(AJ)touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

¹² Now Isaac sowed in that land and ^[x]reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And ^(AK)the Lord blessed him, ¹³ and the man ^(AL)became rich, and continued to grow ^[y]richer until he became very ^[z]wealthy; ¹⁴ for ^(AM)he had possessions of flocks ^[aa]and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ Now ^(AN)all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up ^[ab]by filling them with earth. ¹⁶ Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are ^[ac](AO)too powerful for us.” ¹⁷ And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and ^[ad]settled there.

Quarrel over the Wells

¹⁸ Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which ^[ae]had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he ^[af]gave them the same names which his father had ^[ag]given them. ¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of ^[ah]flowing water, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar ^(AP)quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well ^[ai]Esek, because they contended with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it ^[aj]Sitnah. ²² He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it ^[ak]Rehoboth, for he said, “^[al](AQ)At last the Lord has made ^[am]room for us, and we will be ^(AR)fruitful in the land.”

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

²⁵ So he built an ^(AX)altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Covenant with Abimelech

²⁶ Then ^(AY)Abimelech came to him from Gerar ^[ao]with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army. ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “^(AZ)Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” ²⁸ They said, “We see plainly ^(BA)that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between ^[ap]you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you ^[aq]and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the ^(BB)blessed of the Lord.’” ³⁰ Then ^(BC)he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ In the morning they arose early and ^[ar](BD)exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace. ³² Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac’s servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³ So he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is ^(BE)Beersheba to this day.

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old ^(BF)he ^[as]married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; ³⁵ and ^(BG)they ^[at]brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Jacob’s Deception

27 Now it came about, when Isaac was old and ^(BH)his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his ^(BI)older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ^2 [au](BJ)Isaac said, “Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death. ³ Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and ^(BK)hunt game for me; ⁴ and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that ^(BL)my soul may bless you before I die.”

⁵ Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, ^6 (BM)Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ ⁸ Now therefore, my son, ^(BN)listen to ^[av]me ^[aw]as I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and ^[ax]bring me two choice ^[ay]young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰ Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” ¹¹ Jacob ^[az]answered his mother Rebekah, “Behold, Esau my brother is a ^(BO)hairy man and I am a smooth man. ^12 (BP)Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a ^[ba]deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.” ¹³ But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only ^(BQ)obey my voice, and go, get them for me.” ¹⁴ So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the ^[bb]best ^(BR)garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. ¹⁶ And she put the skins of the ^[bc]young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, ^[bd]to her son Jacob.

¹⁸ Then he came 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 as you told me. ^(BS)Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that ^[be](BT)you may bless me.” ²⁰ Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “^(BU)Because the Lord your God caused it to happen to me.” ²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come close, that ^(BV)I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” ²² So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ He did not recognize him, because his hands were ^(BW)hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. ²⁴ And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.” ²⁵ So he said, “Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, that ^[bf](BX)I may bless you.” And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come close and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he ^(BY)blessed him and said,

The Stolen Blessing

³⁰ Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹ Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “^(CH)Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that ^[bg](CI)you may bless me.” ³² Isaac his father said to him, “^(CJ)Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, ^(CK)your firstborn, Esau.” ³³ Then Isaac ^[bh]trembled violently, and said, “^(CL)Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? ^(CM)Yes, and he shall be blessed.” ³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, ^(CN)he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” ³⁵ And he said, “^(CO)Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” ³⁶ Then he said, “^[bi]Is he not rightly named ^(CP)Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” ³⁷ But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him ^(CQ)your master, and all his ^[bj]relatives I have given to him ^[bk]as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?” ³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” So Esau lifted his voice and ^(CR)wept.

³⁹ Then ^(CS)Isaac his father answered and said to him,

⁴¹ So Esau ^(CW)bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said ^[bp]to himself, “^(CX)The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” ⁴² Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. ⁴³ Now therefore, my son, ^(CY)obey my voice, and arise, ^[bq]flee to ^(CZ)Haran, to my brother ^(DA)Laban! ⁴⁴ Stay with him ^(DB)a few days, until your brother’s fury ^[br]subsides, ⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger ^[bs]against you subsides and he forgets ^(DC)what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”

⁴⁶ Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of ^[bt]living because of ^(DD)the daughters of Heth; ^(DE)if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Jacob Is Sent Away

28 So Isaac called Jacob and ^(DF)blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “^(DG)You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ² Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of ^(DH)Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. ³ May ^[bu](DI)God Almighty ^(DJ)bless you and ^(DK)make you fruitful and ^(DL)multiply you, that you may become a ^(DM)company of peoples. ⁴ May He also give you the ^(DN)blessing of Abraham, to you and to your ^[bv]descendants with you, that you may ^(DO)possess the land of your ^(DP)sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then ^(DQ)Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, “^(DR)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 Paddan-aram. ⁸ So Esau saw that ^(DS)the daughters of Canaan displeased ^[bw]his father Isaac; ⁹ and Esau went to Ishmael, and ^[bx]married, ^(DT)besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.