Bible in 90 Days

The Covenant of Circumcision

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am Almighty God. Walk before Me and be blameless. ² And I will make My covenant between you and Me and will exceedingly multiply you.”

³ Abram fell on his face and God said to him, ⁴ “As for Me, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. ⁵ No longer will your name be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. ⁶ I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. ⁸ All the land of Canaan, where you now live as strangers, I will give to you and to your descendants for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

⁹ Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you; every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. ¹² Every male throughout every generation that is eight days old shall be circumcised, whether born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner who is not your descendant. ¹³ He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised. My covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised shall be cut off from his people. He has broken My covenant.”

¹⁵ Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you will not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah. ¹⁶ I will bless her and also give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.”

¹⁷ Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man that is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” ¹⁸ Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

¹⁹ Then God said, “No, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call his name Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him. ²⁰ And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He will be the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” ²² Then He stopped talking with Abraham, and God went up from him.

²³ Then Abraham took Ishmael, his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day as God had said to him. ²⁴ Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ His son, Ishmael, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised on the same day. ²⁷ All the men born in Abraham’s household or bought from foreigners were circumcised with him.

Isaac’s Birth Foretold

18 The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great oak trees of Mamre while he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. ² Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and saw three men standing across from him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself toward the ground.

³ He said, “My Lord, if I have found favor in Your sight, do not pass by Your servant. ⁴ Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵ I will bring a piece of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. After that you may pass on, now that you have come to your servant.”

And they said, “So do, as you have said.”

⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly prepare three measures^[a] of fine flour, knead it, and make cakes.”

⁷ Then Abraham ran to the herd and took a choice and tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. ⁸ He then brought butter and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹ They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”

And he said, “There, in the tent.”

¹⁰ One of them said, “I will certainly return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. ¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old and very advanced in age, and Sarah was well past childbearing. ¹² Therefore Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am so old and my lord is old also, shall I have pleasure?”

¹³ Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I surely bear a child when I am old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Then Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid.

But He said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Sodom and Gomorrah

¹⁶ Then the men rose up and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to see them on their way. ¹⁷ Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am doing, ¹⁸ since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? ¹⁹ I chose him, and he will instruct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He promised him.”

²⁰ Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, ²¹ I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has come to Me. If not, I will know.”

²² The men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. ²³ Then Abraham drew near and said, “Shall You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous in the city? Shall You also destroy, and not spare the place, for the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be treated like the wicked; far be it from You. Should not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

²⁶ So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the entire place for their sakes.”

²⁷ Then Abraham answered and said, “I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord. ²⁸ Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous. Will You destroy all the city for lack of five?”

And He said, “If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.”

²⁹ And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there will be forty found there?”

So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”

³⁰ Then he said to Him, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose there will be thirty found there?”

Again He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹ He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there?”

He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”

³² Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak only once more. Suppose ten will be found there?”

Then He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”

³³ So the Lord went His way as soon as He had stopped speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

19 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them he rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. ² Then he said, “Here, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet; and then you may rise early and go on your way.”

They said, “No, we will stay in the open square all night.”

³ But he strongly insisted, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴ Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. ⁵ They then called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may have relations with them.”

⁶ So Lot went out through the door to them and shut the door behind him. ⁷ Then he said, “Please, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. ⁸ Look, I have two daughters who have not been with a man. Please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

⁹ But they replied, “Stand back!” Also, they said, “This man came here as an alien, and he keeps acting like a judge. We will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against Lot, and came close to breaking down the door.

¹⁰ But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck the men that were at the door of the house, both small and great, with blindness so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

¹² Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, take them out of this place! ¹³ For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has grown great before the presence of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

¹⁵ When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Otherwise you will be consumed in the punishment of the city.”

¹⁶ And while he lingered, the men took hold of his and his wife’s hands, along with the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and brought him out and set him outside the city. ¹⁷ When they had brought them out, one of them said to them, “Escape for your lives! Do not look behind you or stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be destroyed.”

¹⁸ Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords! ¹⁹ Your servant has found grace in your eyes, and you have shown your mercy, which you have shown to me by saving my life. However, I cannot escape to the mountain. Otherwise some evil will overtake me, and I will die. ²⁰ Look, this city is close enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Please, let me escape there (is it not a little one?), and my life will be saved.”

²¹ He said to him, “I have granted your request in this matter also. I will not overthrow this city of which you have spoken. ²² Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

²³ The sun had risen over the land when Lot entered Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was from the Lord out of heaven. ²⁵ So He overthrew those cities, all the valley, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶ But his wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷ Now Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he stood before the Lord. ²⁸ Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹ So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

Lot and His Daughters

³⁰ Then Lot left Zoar, and lived in the mountains, along with his two daughters who were with him, for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. ³¹ And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to have relations with us after the manner of all the earth. ³² Let us make our father drink wine and let us lie with him, so that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”

³³ So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and had relations with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁴ On the next day the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed, last night I had relations with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also, so that you may go in and have relations with him, so that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” ³⁵ So they made their father drink wine that night also. Then the younger arose and lay down with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁶ Therefore both the daughters of Lot were pregnant by their father. ³⁷ The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ The younger also gave birth to a son and called his name Ben-Ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites to this day.

Abraham and Abimelek^(A)

20 Abraham journeyed from there toward the Negev, settled between Kadesh and Shur, and then he sojourned in Gerar. ² Then Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So Abimelek, king of Gerar, sent for her and took Sarah.

³ But God came to Abimelek in a dream by night and said to him, “You are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”

⁴ Abimelek had not gone near her, and he said, “Lord, will You slay a righteous nation? ⁵ Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and did not even she herself say, ‘He is my brother’? In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

⁶ And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also kept you from sinning against Me. Therefore, I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Therefore return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet and he will pray for you. Moreover, you will live. However, if you do not return her, know that you will surely die, you and all who are yours.”

⁸ So Abimelek rose early in the morning, and called all his servants and told them all these things, and the men were very afraid. ⁹ Then Abimelek called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I offended you that you would bring on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done things to me that should not have been done.” ¹⁰ Then Abimelek said to Abraham, “What were you thinking of, that you did this thing?”

¹¹ Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will slay me because of my wife. ¹² Still, indeed, she is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. She became my wife. ¹³ When God caused me to travel from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you must show me: Every place where we go, say concerning me, He is my brother.’ ”

¹⁴ Then Abimelek took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him. ¹⁵ Abimelek said, “My land is before you; settle wherever it pleases you.”

¹⁶ To Sarah he said, “I have given your brother a thousand shekels of silver.^[b] It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.”

¹⁷ So Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children. ¹⁸ For the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelek because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

The Birth of Isaac

21 The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. ² For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time that God had spoken to him. ³ Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. ⁴ Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. ⁵ Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.

⁶ And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. All who hear will laugh with me.” ⁷ Also she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael Depart

⁸ So the child grew and was weaned. Then Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. ⁹ Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, mocking. ¹⁰ Therefore she said to Abraham, “Throw out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son, Isaac.”

¹¹ This matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son. ¹² But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset concerning the boy and your slave wife. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to what she says, for in Isaac your descendants will be called. ¹³ Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the slave woman, because he is your offspring.”

¹⁴ So Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and sent her away with the child. So she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵ When the water in the skin was gone, she placed the child under one of the shrubs. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot, for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the child.” She sat across from him, and lifted up her voice and wept.

¹⁷ And God heard the boy’s voice. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, “What is the matter with you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. ¹⁸ Arise, pick up the boy and hold him in your hands, for I will make him a great nation.”

¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰ God was with the boy; and he grew and lived in the wilderness and became an archer. ²¹ He lived in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother found a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

The Treaty With Abimelek

²² Now it came to pass at that time that Abimelek and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do. ²³ Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal deceitfully with me, or with my children, or with my descendants. Instead, according to the kindness that I have shown to you, you will show to me and to the land where you have lived.”

²⁴ Abraham said, “I will swear.”

²⁵ Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had violently seized. ²⁶ And Abimelek said, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.”

²⁷ So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelek, and the two of them made a covenant. ²⁸ Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. ²⁹ And Abimelek said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set by themselves?”

³⁰ And he said, “You shall take these seven ewe lambs from my hand so that they may be a witness that I have dug this well.”

³¹ Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.

³² Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelek rose with Phicol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. ³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. ³⁴ Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.

The Sacrifice of Isaac

22 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

² Then He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”

³ So Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place that God had told him. ⁴ Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from a distance. ⁵ Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there and worship and then return to you.”

⁶ So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. ⁷ But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”

And he said, “Here I am, my son.”

Then he said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

⁹ Then they came to the place that God had told him. So Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called to him out of heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

¹² Then He said, “Do not lay your hands on the boy or do anything to him, because now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your only son from Me.”

¹³ Then Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up as a burnt offering in the place of his son. ¹⁴ Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, “In the mount of the Lord it will be provided.”

¹⁵ Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham out of heaven a second time, ¹⁶ and said, “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will indeed bless you and I will indeed multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens and as the sand that is on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gate of their enemies. ¹⁸ Through your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

¹⁹ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. Then Abraham lived at Beersheba.

Sons of Nahor

²⁰ After these things Abraham was told, “Milkah has also borne children to your brother Nahor: ²¹ Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, ²² Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” ²³ Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milkah gave birth to these eight to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. ²⁴ His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maakah.

The Death of Sarah

23 Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years. These were the years of the life of Sarah. ² Then Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

³ Then Abraham stood up from before his dead and spoke to the Hittites,^[c] saying, ⁴ “I am a stranger and a foreigner among you. Give me property for a burying place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”

⁵ So the Hittites answered Abraham, ⁶ “Hear us, my lord. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place that you may bury your dead.”

⁷ Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the Hittites. ⁸ He spoke with them, saying, “If it be your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat Ephron the son of Zohar for me, ⁹ that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns, at the end of his field. Let him give it to me in your presence for the full price for a burial site.”

¹⁰ Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of all the Hittites, all who went in at the gate of his city, saying, ¹¹ “No, my lord. Hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. Bury your dead.”

¹² Then Abraham bowed before the people of the land. ¹³ Then he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “Indeed, if you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there.”

¹⁴ Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, ¹⁵ “My lord, listen to me. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver.^[d] What is that between me and you? So bury your dead.”

¹⁶ Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron four hundred shekels of silver, the price that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, according to the standard commercial measure.

¹⁷ So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field that were within all the surrounding borders were deeded ¹⁸ to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. ¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ So the field and the cave that was in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as property for a burial place.

Isaac and Rebekah

24 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. ² So Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who was in charge over all that he had, “Please, place your hand under my thigh, ³ and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live. ⁴ But you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵ Then the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”

⁶ Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. ⁷ The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s family and from the land of my relatives, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I will give this land,’ He shall send His angel before you and you shall take a wife for my son from there. ⁸ If the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from my oath. Only do not take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master and swore to him concerning this matter.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all the goods of his master were in his hand. And he arose and went to the city of Nahor in Aram Naharaim. ¹¹ He made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water in the evening when the women came out to draw water.

¹² Then he said, “O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, please let me have success this day and show kindness to my master Abraham. ¹³ See, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴ Let it be that the young woman to whom I shall say, ‘Please lower your pitcher, that I may drink,’ and she shall say, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels water also’—let her be the one that You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. Then I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished speaking, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milkah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with a pitcher on her shoulder. ¹⁶ The young woman was very beautiful to look at, a virgin, and no man had ever been with her. She went down to the well and filled her pitcher and came up.

¹⁷ Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”

¹⁸ So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let down her pitcher to her hand and gave him a drink.

¹⁹ When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.” ²⁰ Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough and ran to the well to draw water and drew for all his camels. ²¹ The man, gazing at her, remained silent, trying to discern whether the Lord had made his journey a success or not.

²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold nose ring of half a shekel weight^[e] and two bracelets for her wrists of ten shekels weight^[f] in gold, ²³ and said, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?”

²⁴ She said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milkah, whom she bore to Nahor.” ²⁵ Again she said to him, “We have both straw and provision enough, and room in which to lodge.”

²⁶ Then the man bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord. ²⁷ And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s relatives.”

²⁸ So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household of these things. ²⁹ Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man at the well. ³⁰ When he saw the nose ring and bracelets on his sister’s hands and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, “This is what the man said to me,” he went to the man who stood by the camels at the well. ³¹ And he said, “Come in, blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

³² So the man came to the house. Then he unloaded his camels and gave straw and provision to the camels and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. ³³ He then set food before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told about my errand.”

And he said, “Speak on.”

³⁴ So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. ³⁵ The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become wealthy. He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. ³⁶ Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old, and he has given to him all that he has. ³⁷ My master made me swear, saying, ‘You must not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live. ³⁸ But you shall go to my father’s house, and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.’

³⁹ “So I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’

⁴⁰ “Then he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father’s house. ⁴¹ You will be free from my oath, when you come to my family, if they will not give her to you; then you will be released from my oath.’

⁴² “So today I came to the well and said, ‘O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if You will now give me success in my task; ⁴³ I am standing by the well of water, and let it be that when the virgin comes forth to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,” ⁴⁴ and she says to me, “Drink, and I will also draw for your camels,” let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵ “Before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. Then I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’

⁴⁶ “She then quickly let down her pitcher from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also.

⁴⁷ “Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’

“And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milkah bore for him.’

“So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. ⁴⁸ And I bowed down my head and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the right way to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son. ⁴⁹ And now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”

⁵⁰ Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “This thing comes from the Lord; we cannot speak to you bad or good. ⁵¹ Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”

⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. ⁵³ Then the servant brought out jewels of silver and gold, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. ⁵⁴ Then they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and stayed all night.

The next morning they arose, and he said, “Send me away to my master.”

⁵⁵ But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman remain with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.”

⁵⁶ So he said to them, “Do not delay me, seeing the Lord has given me success. Let me go that I may go to my master.”

⁵⁷ They said, “We will call the girl and ask her.” ⁵⁸ Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”

And she said, “I will go.”

⁵⁹ So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ They blessed Rebekah and said to her,

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her maids arose and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and went his way.

⁶² Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he lived in the Negev. ⁶³ Isaac went out in the evening to meditate in the field; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and surely the camels were coming. ⁶⁴ And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from her camel ⁶⁵ and said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?”

The servant said, “It is my master.” Therefore she took a veil and covered herself.

⁶⁶ Then the servant told Isaac all the things he had done. ⁶⁷ So Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

The Death of Abraham^(B)

25 Then Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. ² And she bore to him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The descendants of Dedan were the Ashurites, the Letushites, and the Leummites. ⁴ The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

⁵ Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. ⁶ But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living, he sent them away from his son Isaac eastward to the east country.

⁷ These are the years of Abraham’s life that he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people. ⁹ His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, ¹⁰ the field that Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. ¹¹ After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac. Isaac lived at Beer Lahai Roi.

Sons of Ishmael^(C)

¹² These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.

¹³ These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, and then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These were the sons of Ishmael, and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, twelve princes according to their peoples. ¹⁷ These were the years of the life of Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died; and he was gathered to his people. ¹⁸ They lived from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt, as you go toward Assyria. He died in the presence of all his relatives.

The Births of Jacob and Esau

¹⁹ These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son.

Abraham was the father of Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as his wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Paddan Aram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.

²¹ Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² But the children struggled together within her, and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

²³ Then the Lord said to her,

²⁴ Now when the time of her delivery came, there were twins in her womb. ²⁵ The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment, and they called his name Esau. ²⁶ After that his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel, so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

²⁷ So the boys grew. Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a calm man, living in tents. ²⁸ Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright

²⁹ Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field and he was famished. ³⁰ So Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me some of that red stew, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom.

³¹ Then Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.”

³² Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; of what use is the birthright to me?”

³³ Then Jacob said, “Swear to me this day.” So he swore to him, and he sold his birthright to Jacob.

³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew. Then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way.

Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Isaac and Abimelek^(D)

26 There was a famine in the land, in addition to the first famine that was during the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. ² The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land of which I will tell you. ³ Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you; for I will give to you and all your descendants all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴ I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of the heavens and will give your descendants all these lands. By your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed,^{[g] 5} because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” ⁶ So Isaac lived in Gerar.

⁷ The men of the place asked him about his wife. And he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” thinking, “The men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful in appearance.”

⁸ When he had been there a long time, Abimelek the king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah his wife. ⁹ Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is surely your wife, so how is it you said, ‘She is my sister’?”

Then Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’ ”

¹⁰ Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might have easily lain with your wife, and you might have brought guilt upon us!”

¹¹ Abimelek charged all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

¹² Then Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; the Lord blessed him. ¹³ The man became rich and continued to prosper until he became very wealthy. ¹⁴ For he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great number of servants so that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ For the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father by filling them with dirt.

¹⁶ Abimelek said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much more powerful than we are.”

¹⁷ So Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. ¹⁸ Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names his father had called them.

¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of running water there, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar contended with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. ²¹ They dug another well and quarreled over that also. So he called the name of it Sitnah. ²² Then he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called the name of it Rehoboth, for he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”

²³ He went up from there to Beersheba. ²⁴ The Lord appeared to him that same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of My servant Abraham.”

²⁵ He built an altar there, called on the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

²⁶ Then Abimelek went to him from Gerar, along with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phicol the commander of his army. ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”

²⁸ And they said, “We saw plainly that the Lord was with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹ so that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you, and have done you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ”

³⁰ Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ They rose up early in the morning and swore an oath with one another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

³² That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³ And he called it Shibah. Therefore, the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

³⁴ Esau was forty years old when he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, ³⁵ and they brought grief to Isaac and to Rebekah.

Isaac Blesses Jacob

27 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see, he called Esau his oldest son and said to him, “My son.”

And he answered him, “Here I am.”

² He said, “I am old. I do not know the day of my death. ³ Therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me. ⁴ And prepare for me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul may bless you before I die.”

⁵ Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for wild game and bring it back, ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, ⁷ ‘Bring me wild game, and prepare for me savory food, that I may eat and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ ⁸ Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock, and get me two choice young goats, so that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰ Then you will take it to your father, so that he may eat and so that he may bless you before his death.”

¹¹ But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin. ¹² Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I will bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”

¹³ His mother said to him, “Let your curse be upon me, my son. Only listen to me and go get them for me.”

¹⁴ He went and got them and brought them to his mother. Then his mother prepared savory food such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the best clothes belonging to her older son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. ¹⁶ Then she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ She put the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hands of her son Jacob.

¹⁸ 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 just as you asked me. Please arise, sit and eat of my wild game, so that your soul may bless me.”

²⁰ Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?”

And he said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.”

²¹ Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, so that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”

²² Jacob went near to his father Isaac, 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 hairy, just like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. ²⁴ He asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”

And he said, “I am.”

²⁵ He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s wild game, so that my soul may bless you.”

And he brought it near to him, and he ate. He also brought him wine, and he drank. ²⁶ His father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.”

²⁷ He came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing and blessed him and said,

³⁰ As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had barely gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. ³¹ He also had prepared savory food and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s wild game, so that your soul may bless me.”

³² Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?”

And he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

³³ Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who? Where then is he who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him. Yes, and he shall be blessed.”

³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceedingly bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!”

³⁵ He said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.”

³⁶ Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “I have made him your lord, and I have given to him all his brothers as servants; and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What can I now do for you, my son?”

³⁸ And Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father!” Then Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

³⁹ Isaac his father answered and said to him,

Jacob Escapes From Esau

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 at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴² These words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah; and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Your brother Esau consoles himself regarding you by planning to kill you. ⁴³ Now therefore, my son, listen to me and get up and flee to Laban, my brother in Harran. ⁴⁴ Stay with him a few days until your brother’s fury subsides, ⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger against you turns away, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, such as these who are of the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

28 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him. Then he charged him and said to him, “You must not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. ² Arise, go to Paddan Aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take for yourself a wife from there, from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. ³ May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a multitude of people. ⁴ May He give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and your descendants with you, that you may inherit the land where you are a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan Aram to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

⁶ Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram to take for himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You must not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan Aram. ⁸ Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please Isaac his father. ⁹ So Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth, in addition to the wives he had.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

¹⁰ Then Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Harran. ¹¹ He came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of that place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² He dreamed and saw a ladder set up on the earth with the top of it reaching to heaven. The angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ The Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, to you will I give it and to your descendants. ¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and in your descendants all the families of the earth will be blessed. ¹⁵ Remember, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you.”

¹⁶ Jacob awoke out of his sleep, and he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ So Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put under his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ He called the name of that place Bethel, but previously the name of the city was called Luz.