The Birth of Esau and Jacob

19 These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the ^lAramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was ^mbarren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children ⁿstruggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?”¹ So she went to ^oinquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her,

24 ^sWhen her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a ^thairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. 26 ^uAfterward his brother came out ^vwith his hand holding Esau’s heel, ^wso his name was called Jacob.³ Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a ^xskillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28 Isaac ^yloved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright

29 ^zOnce when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.⁴) 31 ^aJacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Isaac Blesses Jacob

1 When Isaac was old and ^lhis eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son”; and he answered, “Here I am.” 2 He said, ^m“Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. 3 Now then, ⁿtake your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, 4 and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul may ^obless you before I die.”

5 ^pNow Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die.’ 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice as I command you. 9 Go to the flock and bring me two good young goats, so that I may prepare from them delicious food for your father, such as he loves. 10 And you shall bring it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.” 11 But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a ^qhairy man, and I am a ^rsmooth man. 12 Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and ^sbring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” 13 His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.”

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

18 So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” 19 Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” 20 But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.” 21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” 22 So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 And he did not ^trecognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. 24 He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” 25 Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he ^ucame near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and ^vblessed him and said,

30 ^cAs soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, Esau his brother came in from his hunting. 31 He also prepared delicious food and brought it to his father. And he said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that you may bless me.” 32 His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.” 33 Then Isaac trembled very violently and said, “Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I have blessed him? Yes, and ^dhe shall be blessed.” 34 As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me, even me also, O my father!” 35 But he said, “Your brother came ^edeceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing.” 36 Esau said, ^f“Is he not rightly named Jacob?¹ For he has cheated me these two times. ^gHe took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” Then he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” 37 Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Behold, I have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and with grain and wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” 38 Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father.” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.

39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

41 Now Esau ⁱhated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; ^jthen I will ^kkill my brother Jacob.” 42 But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him, “Behold, your brother Esau comforts himself about you by planning to kill you. 43 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice. Arise, flee to Laban my brother in Haran 44 and stay with him a while, ^luntil your brother’s fury turns away— 45 until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send and bring you from there. ^mWhy should I be bereft of you both in one day?”

46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, ⁿ“I loathe my life because of the Hittite women.⁴ If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women like these, one of the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Jacob Sent to Laban

1 Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him, ^o“You must not take a wife ^pfrom the Canaanite women. 2 Arise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. 3 God Almighty^{5 q}bless you and make you ^rfruitful and multiply you, that you may become a ^scompany of peoples. 4 May he give the ^tblessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham!” 5 ^uThus Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob’s and Esau’s mother.

Esau Marries an Ishmaelite

6 Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he directed him, “You must not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” 7 and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. 8 So when Esau saw ^vthat the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, 9 ^wEsau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob’s Dream

10 ^xJacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, ^ybecause 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 ^zdreamed, and behold, there was a ladder⁶ set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, ^athe angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, ^bthe Lord stood above it⁷ and said, ^c“I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. ^dThe land on which you lie I will give to you and ^eto your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the ^fdust of the earth, and you shall ^gspread abroad ^hto the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and ⁱin you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, ^jI am with you and will ^kkeep you wherever you go, and ^lwill bring you back to this land. For I will not ^mleave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is 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 ⁿset it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19 ^oHe called the name of that place Bethel,⁸ but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20 Then Jacob ^pmade 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 so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then ^qthe Lord shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will ^rgive a full ^stenth to you.”

Jacob Marries Leah and Rachel

1 Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. 2 As he looked, he saw a ^twell in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large, 3 and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well.

4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” 5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” 6 He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” 7 He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.” 8 But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a ^ushepherdess. 10 Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, ^vJacob came near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11 Then Jacob ^wkissed Rachel and wept aloud. 12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ^xran and told her father.

13 As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ^yran to meet him and ^zembraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, 14 and Laban said to him, “Surely you are ^amy bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month.

15 Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my kinsman, should you therefore serve me for nothing? ^bTell me, what shall 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,⁹ but Rachel was ^cbeautiful in form and appearance. 18 ^dJacob loved Rachel. And he said, “I will ^eserve you ^fseven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife that I may go in to her, for my time is completed.” 22 So Laban gathered together all the people of the place and made a feast. 23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. 24 (Laban gave¹⁰ his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) 25 And in the morning, ^gbehold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?” 26 Laban said, “It is ^hnot so done in our country, ⁱto give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you ^jthe other also in return for serving me another seven years.” 28 Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.

Jacob’s Children

31 When the Lord saw that Leah was ^khated, ^lhe opened her womb, but Rachel was ^mbarren. 32 And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben,¹¹ for she said, “Because the Lord has ⁿlooked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” 33 She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.¹² 34 Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.¹³ 35 And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah.¹⁴ Then she ceased bearing.

1 When Rachel saw that she ^obore Jacob no children, she envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I shall die!” 2 Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel, and he said, ^p“Am I in the place of God, ^qwho has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” 3 Then she said, “Here is my servant Bilhah; go in to her, so that she may give birth on my behalf,¹⁵ that even I may have children^{16 r}through her.” 4 So she ^sgave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. 5 And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Then Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.¹⁷ 7 Rachel’s servant Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings¹⁸ I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.¹⁹

9 When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 And Leah said, “Good fortune has come!” so she called his name Gad.²⁰ 12 Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. 13 And Leah said, “Happy am I! For women have ^tcalled me happy.” So she called his name Asher.²¹

14 In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found ^umandrakes 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 she said to her, “Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” Rachel said, “Then he may lie with you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. 17 And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has given me my wages because I gave my servant to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.²²

19 And Leah conceived again, and she bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will honor me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun.²³ 21 Afterward she bore a daughter and called her name Dinah.

22 Then God ^vremembered Rachel, and ^wGod listened to her and opened her womb. 23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has ^xtaken away my reproach.” 24 And she called his name Joseph,²⁴ saying, ^y“May the Lord add to me another son!”