Genesis 26-30

Amplified Bible

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 ^[a]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.^{(A) 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,^{(B) 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 ^[b]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 ^[c]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 ^[d]room for us, and we shall be ^[e]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 ^[f]Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.^(C)

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 ^[g]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; ^[h]I do not know ^[i]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 ^[j]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!”^{(E) 35} Isaac said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has [fraudulently] taken away your blessing [for himself].” ³⁶ Esau replied, “Is he not rightly named ^[l]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 ^[m]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?”^(F)

Jacob Is Sent Away

28 So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not marry one of the women of Canaan. ^2 [n]Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take from there as a wife for yourself one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. ³ May ^[o]God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a [great] company of peoples. ⁴ May He also give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the [promised] land of your sojournings, which He gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then 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 noticed that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife for himself from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a prohibition, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ So Esau realized that [his two wives] the daughters of Canaan displeased Isaac his father; ⁹ and [to appease his parents] Esau went to [the family of] Ishmael and took as his wife, in addition to the wives he [already] had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth [Ishmael’s firstborn son].

Jacob’s Dream

¹⁰ Now Jacob left Beersheba [never to see his mother again] and traveled toward Haran. ¹¹ And he came to a certain place and stayed overnight there because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down there [to sleep]. ¹² He dreamed that there was a ladder (stairway) placed on the earth, and the top of it reached [out of sight] toward heaven; and [he saw] the angels of God ascending and descending on it [going to and from heaven].^{(G) 13} And behold, the Lord stood above and around him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your [father’s] father and the God of Isaac; I will give to you and to your descendants the land [of promise] on which you are lying. ¹⁴ Your descendants shall be as [countless as] the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and the north and the south; and all the families (nations) of the earth shall be blessed through you and your ^[p]descendants.^{(H) 15} Behold, I am with you and will keep [careful watch over you and guard] you wherever you may go, and I will bring you back to this [promised] land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and he said, “Without any doubt the Lord is in this place, and I did not realize it.” ¹⁷ So he was afraid and said, “How fearful and awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gateway to heaven.”

¹⁸ So Jacob got up early in the morning, and took the stone he had put under his head and he set it up as a pillar [that is, a monument to the vision in his dream], and he poured [olive] oil on the top of it [to ^[q]consecrate it]. ¹⁹ He named that place Bethel (the house of God); the previous name of that city was Luz (Almond Tree). ²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow (promise), saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and clothing to wear, ²¹ and if [He grants that] I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God. ²² This stone which I have set up as a pillar (monument, memorial) will be God’s house [a sacred place to me], and of everything that You give me I will give the tenth to You [as an offering to signify my gratitude and dependence on You].”^(I)

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 Then Jacob ^[r]went on his way and came to the land of the people of the East [near Haran]. ² As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and three flocks of sheep lying there [resting] beside it because the flocks were watered from that well. Now the stone on the mouth of the well [that covered and protected it] was large, ³ and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well, water the sheep, and [afterward] replace the stone on the mouth of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.” ⁵ So he said to them, “Do you know Laban the grandson of Nahor [Abraham’s brother]?” And they replied, “We know him.” ⁶ And he asked them, “^[s]Is it well with him?” And they said, “He is doing well; look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep!” ⁷ Jacob said, “Look, the sun is still high [overhead]; it is a long time before the flocks need to be gathered [in their folds for the night]. Water the sheep, and go, and return them to their pasture.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot [leave] until all the flocks are gathered together, and the shepherds roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we will water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ When Jacob saw [his cousin] Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother’s brother, and Laban’s sheep, he came up and rolled the stone away from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban, his uncle. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel [in greeting], and he raised his voice and wept. ¹² Jacob told Rachel he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son; and she ran and told her father.

¹³ When Laban heard of the arrival of Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴ Then Laban said to him, “You are my bone and my flesh.” And Jacob stayed with him a month.

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Just because you are my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful in form and appearance. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you [as a hired workman] for seven years [in return] for [the privilege of marrying] Rachel your younger daughter.” ¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her [in marriage] to you than give her to another man. Stay and work with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served [Laban] for seven years for [the right to marry] Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

Laban’s Treachery

²¹ Finally, Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time [of service] is completed, so that I may take her to me [as my wife].” ²² So Laban gathered together all the men of the place and prepared a [wedding] ^[t]feast [with wine]. ²³ But in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob ^[u]went in to [consummate the marriage with] her. ²⁴ Laban also gave Zilpah his maid to his daughter Leah as a maid. ²⁵ But in the morning [when Jacob awoke], it was Leah [who was with him]! And he said to Laban, “What is this that you have done to me? Did I not work for you [for seven years] for Rachel? Why have you deceived and betrayed me [like this]?” ²⁶ But Laban only said, “It is not ^[v]the tradition here to give the younger [daughter in marriage] before the older. ²⁷ Finish the week [of the wedding feast] for Leah; then we will give you Rachel also, and in return you shall work for me for seven more years.” ²⁸ So Jacob complied and fulfilled Leah’s week [of celebration]; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his [second] wife. ²⁹ Laban also gave Bilhah his maid to his daughter Rachel as a maid. ³⁰ So Jacob consummated his marriage and lived with Rachel [as his wife], and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with Laban for another seven years.

³¹ Now when the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He ^[w]made her able to bear children, but Rachel was barren. ³² Leah conceived and gave birth to a son and named him Reuben (See, a son!), for she said, “Because the Lord has seen my humiliation and suffering; now my husband will love me [since I have given him a son].” ³³ Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Because the Lord heard that I am unloved, He has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon (God hears). ³⁴ She conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me [as a companion], for I have given him three sons.” Therefore he was named ^[x]Levi. ³⁵ Again she conceived and gave birth to a [fourth] son, and she said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” So she named him ^[y]Judah; then [for a time] she stopped bearing [children].

The Sons of Jacob

30 When Rachel saw that she conceived no children for Jacob, she envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.” ² Then Jacob became furious with Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has denied you children?” ³ She said, “Here, take my maid Bilhah and go in to her; and [when the baby comes] she shall ^[z]deliver it [while sitting] on my knees, so that by her I may also have children [to count as my own].” ⁴ So she gave him Bilhah her maid as a [^[aa]secondary] wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son for Jacob. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has judged and vindicated me, and has heard my plea and has given me a son [through my maid].” So she named him Dan (He judged). ⁷ Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, conceived again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob. ⁸ So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings [in prayer to God] I have struggled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she named him Naphtali (my wrestlings).

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing [children], she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as a [^[ab]secondary] wife. ¹⁰ Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave birth to a son for Jacob. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad (good fortune). ¹² Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave birth to a second son for Jacob. ¹³ Then Leah said, “I am happy! For women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher (happy).

¹⁴ Now at the time of wheat harvest Reuben [the eldest child] went and found some ^[ac]mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But Leah answered, “Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Jacob shall sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶ When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me [tonight], for I have in fact hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night. ¹⁷ God listened and answered [the prayer of] Leah, and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has given me my reward because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she named him ^[ad]Issachar. ¹⁹ Leah conceived again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good [marriage] gift [for my husband]; now he will live with me [regarding me with honor as his wife], because I have given birth to six sons.” So she named him ^[ae]Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² Then God remembered [the prayers of] Rachel, and God thought of her and opened her womb [so that she would conceive]. ²³ So she conceived and gave birth to a son; and she said, “God has taken away my disgrace and humiliation.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph (may He add) and said, “May the Lord add to me another son.”

Jacob Prospers

²⁵ Now when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go back to my own place and to my own country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know the work which I have done for you.” ²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, stay with me; for I have learned [from the omens in divination and by experience] that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” ²⁸ He said, “Name your wages, and I will give it [to you].” ²⁹ Jacob answered him, “You know how I have served you and how your possessions, your cattle and sheep and goats, have fared with me. ³⁰ For you had little before I came and it has increased and multiplied abundantly, and the Lord has favored you with blessings wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household?” ³¹ Laban asked, “What shall I give you?” Jacob replied, “You shall not give me anything. But if you will do this one thing for me [which I now propose], I will again pasture and keep your flock: ³² Let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every dark or black one among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and those shall be my wages. ³³ So my honesty will be evident for me later, when you come [for an accounting] concerning my wages. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and dark among the young lambs, if found with me, shall be considered stolen.” ³⁴ And Laban said, “Good! Let it be done as you say.” ³⁵ So on that same day Laban [secretly] removed the male goats that were streaked and spotted and all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one with white on it, and all the dark ones among the sheep, and put them in the care of his sons. ³⁶ And he put [a distance of] three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob was then left in care of the rest of Laban’s flock.

³⁷ Then Jacob took branches of fresh poplar and almond and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white in the branches. ³⁸ Then he set the branches which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated and conceived when they came to drink. ³⁹ So the flocks mated and conceived by the branches, and the flocks ^[af]gave birth to streaked, speckled, and spotted offspring. ⁴⁰ Jacob separated the lambs, and [as he had done with the peeled branches] he made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the dark or black in the [new] flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart by themselves and did not put them [where they could breed] with Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ Furthermore, whenever the stronger [animals] of the flocks were breeding, Jacob would place the branches in the sight of the flock in the watering troughs, so that they would mate and conceive among the branches; ⁴² but when the flock was sickly, he did not put the branches there; so the sicker [animals] were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s. ⁴³ So Jacob became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks [of sheep and goats], and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.