Genesis 25:19-27:29

Legacy Standard Bible

The Generations of Isaac

¹⁹ Now these are ^(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 And Isaac entreated Yahweh on behalf of his wife because she was barren; and ^(E)Yahweh ^[d]was moved by his entreaty. So 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 Yahweh. ²³ And Yahweh said to her,

²⁴ And her days to give birth were fulfilled, and behold, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ And 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.

Esau Sells His Birthright

²⁷ And 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 Isaac loved Esau because ^[h]he had ^(P)an appetite for hunted game, ^(Q)but Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹ And Jacob had cooked ^(R)stew. And Esau came in from the field, and he was ^[i]famished. ³⁰ Then Esau said to Jacob, “Please give me a swallow from the red stuff—^[j]this red stuff, for I am ^[k]famished.” Therefore his name was called ^[l]Edom. ³¹ But Jacob said, “^[m]First sell me your ^(S)birthright.” ³² And 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 So Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank and rose and went away. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Yahweh Establishes the Oath with Isaac

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 And Yahweh ^(W)appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; ^(X)dwell 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 seed I will give all these lands, and I will establish ^(AB)the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. ^4 (AC)And I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and I will give your seed all these lands; and ^(AD)by your seed all the nations of the earth ^[o]shall be blessed; ⁵ because Abraham ^(AE)listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

Isaac and Abimelech

⁶ So Isaac ^[p]lived in Gerar. ⁷ Then the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, “^(AF)She is my sister,” for he was ^(AG)afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is ^(AH)beautiful in appearance.” ⁸ Now it happened, 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 ^[q]caressing his wife Rebekah. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, surely she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’” ^10 (AI)And 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 commanded all the people, saying, “He who ^(AJ)touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

¹² And Isaac sowed in that land and ^[r]reaped in the same year one hundredfold. And ^(AK)Yahweh blessed him, ¹³ and the man ^(AL)became great and continued to grow greater until he became very great; ¹⁴ and ^(AM)he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and many servants, so that the Philistines were jealous of 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 ^[s]by filling them with earth. ¹⁶ Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are ^[t](AO)too mighty for us.” ¹⁷ And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar and ^[u]settled there.

The Quarrel over the Wells

¹⁸ Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which ^[v]had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, but the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he ^[w]called them by the same names by which his father had called them. ¹⁹ Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of ^[x]flowing water. ²⁰ And the herdsmen of Gerar ^(AP)contended with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well ^[y]Esek, because they quarreled with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they contended over it also, so he called it ^[z]Sitnah. ²² Then he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not contend over it; so he named it ^[aa]Rehoboth, and he said, “^[ab](AQ)At last Yahweh has made ^[ac]room for us, and we will be ^(AR)fruitful in the land.”

²³ And he went up from there to ^(AS)Beersheba. ²⁴ And Yahweh ^(AT)appeared to him that night and said,

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

Isaac’s Oath with Abimelech

²⁶ Now ^(AY)Abimelech came to him from Gerar ^[ad]with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army. ²⁷ And Isaac said to them, “^(AZ)Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” ²⁸ Then they said, “We see plainly ^(BA)that Yahweh has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us—between ^[ae]you and us—and let us cut a covenant with you, ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you ^[af]and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the ^(BB)blessed of Yahweh.’” ³⁰ Then ^(BC)he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ In the morning they arose early, and ^(BD)each swore to ^[ag]the other; then Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. ³² Now it happened on that 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 And Esau was forty years old, ^(BF)and he took as a wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; ³⁵ and ^(BG)they ^[ah]brought bitterness to Isaac and Rebekah.

Isaac Calls to Bless Esau

27 Now it happened that 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 [ai](BJ)And Isaac said, “Behold now, I am old, and I do not know the day of my death. ³ So now, please take up 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 Now Rebekah was listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. Then Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring to Isaac. ^6 (BM)But Rebekah spoke to her son Jacob, saying, “Behold, I heard your father speaking 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 Yahweh before my death.’ ⁸ So now, my son, ^(BN)listen to my voice ^[aj]as I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and ^[ak]get for me two choice ^[al]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 Then Jacob ^[am]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 mocker 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)listen to 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 a savory dish such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the ^[an]best ^(BR)garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and she put them on Jacob her younger son. ¹⁶ And she put the skins of the ^[ao]young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ She also gave the savory dish and the bread, which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob.

Isaac Blesses Jacob and Esau

¹⁸ Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” ¹⁹ And Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. ^(BS)Rise up, please, sit and eat of my game, that ^(BT)your soul may bless me.” ²⁰ Then Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “^(BU)Because Yahweh your God caused it to happen to me.” ²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that ^(BV)I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” ²² So Jacob came near 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 And 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 near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, that ^(BX)my soul may bless you.” And he brought it near to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine, and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and then he ^(BY)blessed him and said,