The Birth of Esau and Jacob

¹⁹ These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: ^(A)Abraham fathered Isaac, ²⁰ and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, ^(B)the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of ^(C)Paddan-aram, ^(D)the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. ²¹ And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And ^(E)the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?”^[a] So she went ^(F)to inquire of the Lord. ²³ And the Lord said to her,

²⁴ When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ The first came out red, ^(J)all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. ²⁶ Afterward his brother came out with ^(K)his hand holding Esau's heel, so ^(L)his name was called Jacob.^[c] Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

God's Promise to Isaac

26 Now there was a famine in the land, besides ^(A)the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to ^(B)Abimelech king of the ^(C)Philistines. ² And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell ^(D)in the land of which I shall tell you. ^3 (E)Sojourn in this land, and ^(F)I will be with you and will bless you, for ^(G)to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish ^(H)the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. ^4 (I)I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And ^(J)in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, ⁵ because ^(K)Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Isaac and Abimelech

⁶ So Isaac settled in Gerar.

Jacob's Dream

¹⁰ Jacob left ^(A)Beersheba and went toward ^(B)Haran. ¹¹ And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² And he ^(C)dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder^[a] set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, ^(D)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! ¹³ And behold, ^(E)the Lord stood above it^[b] and said, ^(F)“I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. ^(G)The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. ¹⁴ Your offspring shall be like ^(H)the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and ^(I)your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, ^(J)I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and ^(K)will bring you back to this land. For I will ^(L)not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is ^(M)in 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 So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up ^(N)for a pillar ^(O)and poured oil on the top of it. ¹⁹ He called the name of that place ^(P)Bethel,^[c] but the name of the city was Luz at the first. ²⁰ Then Jacob ^(Q)made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, ^21 (R)so that I come again to my father's house in peace, ^(S)then the Lord shall be my God, ²² and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, ^(T)shall be God's house. And ^(U)of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”