January 8
Genesis 24:50 — 27:17
January 8
Genesis 24:50 —
27:17
50 Then
Laban and Bethuel
answered and said: “From Jehovah this thing has issued. We are unable to speak
bad or good to you.
51 Here
is Rebekah
before you. Take her and go, and let her become a wife to the son of your
master, just as Jehovah has spoken.”
52 And
it came about that when Abraham’s servant had heard their words, he at once
prostrated himself on the earth before Jehovah.
53 And
the servant began to bring out articles of silver and articles of gold and
garments and to give them to Rebekah;
and he gave choice things to her brother and to her mother.
54 After
that they ate and drank, he and the men who were with him, and they spent the
night there and got up in the morning.
Then
he said: “SEND me off to my master.”
55 To
this her brother and her mother said: “Let the young woman stay with us at least
ten days. Afterward she can go.”
56 But
he said to them: “Do not detain me, seeing that Jehovah has given success to my
way. Send me off, that I may go to my master.”
57 So
they said: “Let us call the young woman and inquire at her mouth.”
58 Then
they called Rebekah
and said to her: “Will you go with this man?” In turn she said: “I am willing to
go.”
59 At
that they sent off Rebekah
their sister and her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men.
60 And
they began to bless Rebekah
and say to her: “O you, our sister, may you become thousands times ten thousand,
and let your seed take possession of the gate of those who hate it.”
61 After
that Rebekah
and her lady attendants rose and they went riding on the camels and following
the man; and the servant took Rebekah
and got on his way.
62 Now
Isaac had come from the way that goes to Beer-lahai-roi, for he was dwelling
in the land of the Negeb.
63 And
Isaac was out walking in order to meditate in the field at about the falling of
evening. When he raised his eyes and looked, why, there camels were coming!
64 When
Rebekah
raised her eyes, she caught sight of Isaac and she swung herself down from off
the camel.
65 Then
she said to the servant: “Who is that man there walking in the field to meet
us?” and the servant said: “It is my master.” And she proceeded to take a
headcloth and to cover herself.
66 And
the servant went relating to Isaac all the things he had done.
67 After
that Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother. Thus he took Rebekah
and she became his wife; and he fell in love with her, and Isaac found comfort
after the loss of his mother.
25
Furthermore, Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
2 In
time she bore him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian
and Ishbak and Shuah.
3 And
Jokshan became father to Sheba and Dedan.
And the sons of Dedan became Asshurim
and Letushim
and Leummim.
4 And
the sons of Midian
were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida
and Eldaah.
All these were the sons of Keturah.
5 Later
on Abraham gave everything he had to Isaac,
6 but
to the sons of the concubines that Abraham had Abraham gave gifts. Then he sent
them away from Isaac his son, while he was still alive, eastward, to the land of
the East.
7 And
these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, a hundred and
seventy-five years.
8 Then
Abraham expired and died in a good old age, old and satisfied, and was gathered
to his people.
9 So
Isaac and Ishmael
his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah
in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite that is in front of Mamre,
10 the
field that Abraham had purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was
buried, and also Sarah his wife.
11 And
it developed that after Abraham’s death God continued to bless Isaac his son,
and Isaac was dwelling close by Beer-lahai-roi.
12 And
this is the history of Ishmael
the son of Abraham whom Hagar the Egyptian the maidservant of Sarah bore to
Abraham.
13 Now
these are the names of the sons of Ishmael,
by their names, according to their family origins: Ishmael’s
firstborn Nebaioth
and Kedar and Adbeel
and Mibsam
14 and
Mishma and Dumah and Massa,
15 Hadad
and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.
16 These
are the sons of Ishmael,
and these are their names by their courtyards and by their walled camps: twelve
chieftains according to their clans.
17 And
these are the years of Ishmael’s
life, a hundred and thirty-seven years. Then he expired and died and was
gathered to his people.
18 And
they took up tabernacling from Havilah
near Shur, which is in front of Egypt, as far as Assyria.
In front of all his brothers he settled down.
19 And
this is the history of Isaac the son of Abraham.
Abraham became father to Isaac.
20 And
Isaac happened to be forty years old at his taking Rebekah
the daughter of Bethuel
the Syrian of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian, as his wife.
21 And
Isaac kept on entreating Jehovah especially for his wife, because she was
barren; so Jehovah let himself be entreated for him, and Rebekah
his wife became pregnant.
22 And
the sons within her began to struggle with each other, so that she said: “If
this is the way it is, just why am I alive?” With that she went to inquire of
Jehovah.
23 And
Jehovah proceeded to say to her: “Two nations are in your belly, and two
national groups will be separated from your inward parts; and the one national
group will be stronger than the other national group, and the older will serve
the younger.”
24 Gradually
her days came to the full for giving birth, and, look! twins were in her belly.
25 Then
the first came out red all over like an official garment of hair; so they called
his name Esau.
26 And
after that his brother came out and his hand was holding onto the heel of Esau;
so he called his name Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old at her giving them
birth.
27 And
the boys got bigger, and Esau became a man knowing how to hunt, a man of the
field, but Jacob a blameless man, dwelling in tents.
28 And
Isaac had love for Esau, because it meant game in his mouth, whereas Rebekah
was a lover of Jacob.
29 Once
Jacob was boiling up some stew, when Esau came along from the field and he was
tired.
30 So Esau
said to Jacob: “Quick, please, give me a swallow of the red—the red there, for I
am tired!” That is why his name was called Edom.
31 To
this Jacob said: “Sell me, first of all, your right as firstborn!”
32 And
Esau continued: “Here I am simply going to die, and of what benefit to me is a
birthright?”
33 And
Jacob added: “Swear to me first of all!” And he proceeded to swear to him and to
sell his right as firstborn to Jacob.
34 And
Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he went to eating and drinking. Then
he got up and went his way. So Esau despised the birthright.
26
Now
there arose a famine in the land, besides the first famine that occurred in the
days of Abraham, so that Isaac directed himself to Abimelech,
king of the Philistines,
to Gerar.
2 Then
Jehovah appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt. Tabernacle in the
land that I designate to you.
3 Reside
as an alien in this land, and I shall continue with you and bless you, because
to you and to your seed I shall give all these lands, and I will carry out the
sworn statement that I swore to Abraham your father,
4 ‘And I
will multiply your seed like the stars of the heavens and I will give to your
seed all these lands; and by means of your seed all nations of the earth will
certainly bless themselves,’
5 due
to the fact that Abraham listened to my voice and continued to keep his
obligations to me, my commands, my statutes, and my laws.”
6 So
Isaac went on dwelling at Gerar.
7 Well,
the men of the place kept asking with respect to his wife, and he would say:
“She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say “My wife” for fear that, to quote
him, “the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,”
because she was attractive in appearance.
8 So it
came about that as his days there extended themselves Abimelech,
king of the Philistines,
was looking out of the window and taking in the sight, and there was Isaac
having a good time with Rebekah
his wife.
9 At
once Abimelech
called Isaac and said: “Why, she is no other than your wife! So how is it that
you said, ‘She is my sister’?” At this Isaac said to him: “I said it for fear I
should die on her account.”
10 But
Abimelech
continued: “What is this you have done to us? A little more and certainly one of
the people would have lain down with your wife, and you would have brought guilt
upon us!”
11 Then
Abimelech
commanded all the people, saying: “Anybody touching this man and his wife will
surely be put to death!”
12 Afterward
Isaac began to sow seed in that land, and in that year he was getting up to a
hundred measures to one, as Jehovah was blessing him.
13 Consequently
the man became great and went on advancing more and more and growing great until
he got very great.
14 And
he came to have flocks of sheep and herds of cattle and a large body of
servants, so that the Philistines
began to envy him.
15 As
for all the wells that the servants of his father had dug in the days of Abraham
his father, these the Philistines
stopped up and they would fill them with dry earth.
16 Finally
Abimelech
said to Isaac: “Move from our neighborhood, because you have grown far stronger
than we are.”
17 So
Isaac moved from there and encamped in the torrent valley of Gerar and took up
dwelling there.
18 And
Isaac proceeded to dig again the wells of water that they had dug in the days of
Abraham his father but which the Philistines
went stopping up after Abraham’s death; and he resumed calling their names by
the names that his father had called them.
19 And
the servants of Isaac went on digging in the torrent valley and so they found
there a well of fresh water.
20 And
the shepherds of Gerar fell to quarreling with the shepherds of Isaac, saying:
“The water is ours!” Hence he called the name of the well Esek, because they
had contended with him.
21 And
they went digging another well, and they fell to quarreling over it also. Hence
he called its name Sitnah.
22 Later
he moved away from there and dug another well, but they did not quarrel over it.
Hence he called its name Rehoboth
and said: “It is because now Jehovah has given us ample room and has made us
fruitful in the earth.”
23 Then
he went up from there to Beer-sheba.
24 And
Jehovah proceeded to appear to him during that night and to say: “I am the God
of Abraham your father. Do not be afraid, because I am with you, and I will
bless you and multiply your seed on account of Abraham my servant.”
25 Accordingly
he built an altar there and called on the name of Jehovah and pitched his tent
there, and the servants of Isaac went excavating a well there.
26 Later
on Abimelech
came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath
his confidential friend and Phicol the chief of his army.
27 At
this Isaac said to them: “Why have YOU come to me, seeing that YOU yourselves
hated me and so sent me away from YOUR neighborhood?”
28 To
this they said: “We have unmistakably seen that Jehovah has proved to be with
you. Hence we said, ‘Let, please, an oath of obligation occur between us,
between us and you, and let us conclude a covenant with you,
29 that
you will do nothing bad toward us just as we have not touched you and just as we
have done only good toward you in that we sent you away in peace. You now are
the blessed of Jehovah.’”
30 Then
he made a feast for them and they ate and drank.
31 Next
morning they were early in rising and they made sworn statements one to the
other. After that Isaac sent them away and they went from him in peace.
32 Now
on that day it occurred that the servants of Isaac proceeded to come and report
to him regarding the well that they had dug, and to say to him: “We have found
water!”
33 Hence
he called its name Shibah. That is why the name of the city is Beer-sheba,
down to this day.
34 And
Esau grew to be forty years old. Then he took as wife Judith the daughter of
Beeri
the Hittite and also Basemath
the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
35 And
they were a source of bitterness of spirit to Isaac and Rebekah.
27
Now it
came about that when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see he then
called Esau his older son and said to him: “My son!” at which he said to him:
“Here I am!”
2 And
he went on to say: “Here, now, I have become old. I do not know the day of my
death.
3 So
at this time take, please, your implements, your quiver and your bow, and go out
to the field and hunt some venison for me.
4 Then
make me a tasty dish such as I am fond of and bring it to me and, ah, let me
eat, in order that my soul may bless you before I die.”
5 However,
Rebekah
was listening while Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went on out into the
field to hunt game and to bring it in.
6 And Rebekah
said to Jacob her son: “Here I just heard your father speaking to Esau your
brother, saying,
7 ‘Bring
me some game and make me a tasty dish and, ah, let me eat, that I may bless you
before Jehovah before my death.’
8 And
now, my son, listen to my voice in what I am commanding you.
9 Go,
please, to the herd and get me from there two kids of the goats, good ones, that
I may make them up into a tasty dish for your father such as he is fond of.
10 Then
you must bring it to your father and he must eat it, in order that he may bless
you before his death.”
11 And
Jacob proceeded to say to Rebekah
his mother: “But Esau my brother is a hairy man and I am a smooth man.
12 What
if my father feels me? Then I shall certainly become in his eyes like one making
a mockery, and I shall certainly bring upon myself a malediction and not a
blessing.”
13 At
this his mother said to him: “Upon me be the malediction meant for you, my son.
Only listen to my voice and go, get them for me.”
14 Accordingly
he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made a tasty
dish such as his father was fond of.
15 After
that Rebekah
took garments of Esau her older son, the most desirable ones which were with
her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.
16 And
the skins of the kids of the goats she put upon his hands and upon the hairless
part of his neck.
17 Then
she gave the tasty dish and the bread that she had made into the hand of Jacob
her son.