Genesis 26

red bookmark icon blue bookmark icon gold bookmark icon

Isaac and Rebekah

24 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years. And the Lord mhad blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said to his servant, nthe oldest of his household, who had charge of all that he had, oPut your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that pyou will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, qbut will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac. The servant said to him, Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came? Abraham said to him, See to it that you do not take my son back there. The Lord, the God of heaven, rwho took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, sTo your offspring I will give this land, the will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then uyou will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there. So the servant vput 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, taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master; and he arose and went to wMesopotamia1 to the city of Nahor. 11 And he made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time when xwomen go out to draw water. 12 And he said, O Lord, yGod of my master Abraham, zplease grant me success today and show steadfast love to my master Abraham. 13 Behold, aI am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the young woman to whom I shall say, Please let down your jar that I may drink, and who shall say, Drink, and I will water your camelslet her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. bBy this2 I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.

15 Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of cMilcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder. 16 The young woman dwas very attractive in appearance, a maiden3 whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. 17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, Please give me a little water to drink from your jar. 18 She said, Drink, my lord. And she quickly let down her jar upon 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 So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water, and she drew for all his camels. 21 The man gazed at her in silence to learn whether the Lord had prospered his journey or not.

22 When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing a half shekel,4 and two bracelets for her arms weighing ten gold shekels, 23 and said, Please tell me whose daughter you are. Is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night? 24 She said to him, eI am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor. 25 She added, We have plenty of both straw and fodder, and room to spend the night. 26 fThe man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord 27 and said, Blessed be the Lord, gthe God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken hhis steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord ihas led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen. 28 Then the young woman ran and told her mother’s household about these things.

29 Rebekah had a brother whose name was jLaban. Laban ran out toward the man, to the spring. 30 As soon as he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and heard the words of Rebekah his sister, Thus the man spoke to me, he went to the man. And behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring. 31 He said, Come in, kO blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for the camels. 32 So the man came to the house and unharnessed the camels, and gave lstraw and fodder to the camels, and there was mwater to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 Then food was set before him to eat. But he said, I will not eat until I have said what I have to say. He said, Speak on.

34 So he said, I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord nhas greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys. 36 And Sarah my master’s wife obore a son to my master when she was old, and pto him he has given all that he has. 37 qMy master made me swear, saying, You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell, 38 but you shall go to my father’s house and to my clan and take a wife for my son. 39 I said to my master, Perhaps the woman will not follow me. 40 But he said to me, The Lord, rbefore whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and sprosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father’s house. 41 Then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my clan. And if they will not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.

42 I came today to the spring and said, tO Lord, the God of my master Abraham, if now you sare prospering the way that I go, 43 behold, I am standing uby the spring of water. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, to whom I shall say, Please give me a little water from your jar to drink, 44 vand who will say to me, Drink, and I will draw for your camels also, let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.

45 Before I had finished wspeaking in my heart, behold, Rebekah came out with her water jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. I said to her, Please let me drink. 46 She quickly let down her jar from her shoulder and said, Drink, and I will give your camels drink also. So I drank, and she gave the camels drink also. 47 Then I asked her, Whose daughter are you? She said, The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him. xSo I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her arms. 48 yThen I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord, tthe God of my master Abraham, who had led me by the right way5 to take zthe daughter of my master’s kinsman for his son. 49 Now then, if you are going to ashow steadfast love and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.

50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing has come from the Lord; we cannot bspeak to you bad or good. 51 Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, cas the Lord has spoken.

52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, yhe bowed himself to the earth before the Lord. 53 And the servant brought out jewelry of silver and of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave to her brother and to her mother costly ornaments. 54 And he and the men who were with him ate and drank, and they spent the night there. When they arose in the morning, he said, dSend me away to my master. 55 Her brother and her mother said, Let the young woman remain with us a while, at least ten days; after that she may go. 56 But he said to them, Do not delay me, since the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master. 57 They said, Let us call the young woman and ask her. 58 And they called Rebekah and said to her, Will you go with this man? She said, I will go. 59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister and eher nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,

Our sister, may you fbecome

thousands of ten thousands,

and gmay your offspring possess

the gate of those who hate him!6

61 Then Rebekah and her young women arose and rode on the camels and followed the man. Thus the servant took Rebekah and went his way.

62 Now Isaac had returned from hBeer-lahai-roi and was dwelling in the Negeb. 63 And Isaac went out ito meditate in the field toward evening. And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there were camels coming. 64 And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she dismounted from the camel 65 and said to the servant, Who is that man, walking in the field to meet us? The servant said, It is my master. So she took her veil and covered herself. 66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was jcomforted after his mother’s kdeath.

Abraham’s Death and His Descendants

25 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. lShe bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. mAbraham gave all he had to Isaac. But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he nsent them away from his son Isaac, eastward oto the east country.

These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, 175 years. Abraham pbreathed his last and qdied in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. Isaac and Ishmael rhis sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, 10 the field sthat Abraham purchased from the Hittites. tThere Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. 11 After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at uBeer-lahai-roi.

12 These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, vwhom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. 13 wThese are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: xNebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and xKedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, yTema, zJetur, zNaphish, and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, atwelve princes according to their tribes. 17 (These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He bbreathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) 18 cThey settled from Havilah to dShur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled1 over against all his kinsmen.

The Birth of Esau and Jacob

19 These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: eAbraham fathered Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, fthe daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of gPaddan-aram, hthe sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And ithe Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, If it is thus, why is this happening to me?2 So she went jto inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her,

kTwo nations are in your womb,

and two peoples from within you3 shall be divided;

lthe one shall be stronger than the other,

mthe older shall serve the younger.

24 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, nall his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out with ohis hand holding Esau’s heel, so phis name was called Jacob.4 Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

27 When the boys grew up, Esau was qa skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, rdwelling in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because she ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Esau Sells His Birthright

29 Once 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.5) 31 Jacob 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 tsold 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.

God’s Promise to Isaac

26 Now there was a famine in the land, besides uthe former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to vAbimelech king of the wPhilistines. And the Lord appeared to him and said, Do not go down to Egypt; dwell xin the land of which I shall tell you. ySojourn in this land, and zI will be with you and will bless you, for ato you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish bthe oath that I swore to Abraham your father. cI will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And din your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because eAbraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Isaac and Abimelech

So Isaac settled in Gerar. When the men of the place asked him about his wife, fhe said, She is my sister, for ghe feared to say, My wife, thinking, lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah, because hshe was attractive in appearance. When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with1 Rebekah his wife. So Abimelech called Isaac and said, Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, She is my sister? Isaac said to him, Because I thought, Lest I die because of her. 10 Abimelech said, What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and iyou would have brought guilt upon us. 11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

12 And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord jblessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14 He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines kenvied him. 15 (Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells lthat his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.

17 So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And mhe gave them the names that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar nquarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, The water is ours. So he called the name of the well Esek,2 because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.3 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth,4 saying, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, oI am the God of Abraham your father. pFear not, for qI am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake. 25 So he rbuilt an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

26 When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and sPhicol the commander of his army, 27 Isaac said to them, Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and thave sent me away from you? 28 They said, We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. uYou are now the blessed of the Lord. 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they rose early and vexchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, 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 He called it Shibah;5 therefore the name of the city is wBeersheba to this day.

34 When Esau was forty years old, he took xJudith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 35 and ythey made life bitter6 for Isaac and Rebekah.

Isaac Blesses Jacob

27 When Isaac was old and zhis 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. He said, Behold, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. aNow then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me, and prepare for me delicious food, such as I love, and bring it to me so that I may eat, that my soul bmay bless you before I die.

Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, Bring me game and prepare for me delicious food, that I may eat it and bless you before the Lord before I die. Now therefore, my son, cobey my voice as I command you. 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, dso that he may bless you before he dies. 11 But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, emy brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. 12 Perhaps my father fwill feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring ga curse upon myself and not a blessing. 13 His mother said to him, hLet 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 ibest 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 jmay 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 recognize him, because khis hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. lSo 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, mthat 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 came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments land blessed him and said,

See, nthe smell of my son

is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed!

28  May God give you of othe dew of heaven

and of the fatness of the earth

and pplenty of grain and wine.

29  Let peoples serve you,

and nations qbow down to you.

rBe lord over your brothers,

and may your mother’s sons bow down to you.

sCursed be everyone who curses you,

and blessed be everyone who blesses you!

30 As 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 he shall be blessed. 34 As soon as Esau heard the words of his father, the 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 deceitfully, and he has taken away your blessing. 36 Esau said, uIs he not rightly named Jacob?1 For he has cheated me these two times. vHe 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, wI have made him lord over you, and all his brothers I have given to him for servants, and xwith 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 tEsau lifted up his voice and wept.

39 Then Isaac his father answered and said to him:

Behold, yaway from2 the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be,

and away from3 the dew of heaven on high.

40  By your sword you shall live,

and you zshall serve your brother;

but when you grow restless

ayou shall break his yoke from your neck.

41 Now Esau bhated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, cThe days of mourning for my father are approaching; dthen I will kill 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, until 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. Why should I be bereft of you both in one day?

46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, eI loathe my life because of the Hittite women.4 fIf 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

28 Then Isaac called Jacob gand blessed him and directed him, fYou must not take a wife from the Canaanite women. hArise, go to Paddan-aram to the house of iBethuel your mother’s father, and take as your wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. jGod Almighty1 bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May he give kthe blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring with you, that you may take possession of lthe land of your sojournings that God gave to Abraham! Thus 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

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, and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram. So when Esau saw mthat the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father, Esau went to Ishmael and took as his wife, besides the wives he had, nMahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of oNebaioth.

Jacob’s Dream

10 Jacob left pBeersheba and went toward qHaran. 11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because 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 rdreamed, and behold, there was a ladder2 set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, sthe angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, tthe Lord stood above it3 and said, uI am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. vThe land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like wthe dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and xyour offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, yI am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and zwill bring you back to this land. For I will anot leave you until I have done what I have promised you. 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is bin 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 set it up cfor a pillar dand poured oil on the top of it. 19 He called the name of that place eBethel,4 but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20 Then Jacob fmade 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 gso that I come again to my father’s house in peace, hthen the Lord shall be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, ishall be God’s house. And jof all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.