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He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.
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So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
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Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there.
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That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”
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Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
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That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!”
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Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?”
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And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant.
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Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant.
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Then she said, “Here is Bilhah, my servant. Sleep with her so that she can bear children for me and I too can build a family through her.”
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So she gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife. Jacob slept with her,
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Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
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When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife.
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Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
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Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.
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Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.
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In this way the man grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
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So Laban went into Jacob’s tent and into Leah’s tent and into the tent of the two female servants, but he found nothing. After he came out of Leah’s tent, he entered Rachel’s tent.
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He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now.
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I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’”
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I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.
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He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”
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then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’”
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And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.”
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Jacob Wrestles With God
That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
