January 9
Genesis 27:18 — 29:35
January 9
Genesis
27:18 —
29:35
18 So he
went on in to his father and said: “My father!” to which he said: “Here I am!
Who are you, my son?”
19 And
Jacob went on to say to his father: “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done just
as you have spoken to me. Raise yourself up, please. Sit down and eat some of my
game, in order that your soul may bless me.”
20 At
that Isaac said to his son: “How is it that you have been so quick in finding
it, my son?” In turn he said: “Because Jehovah your God caused it to meet up
with me.”
21 Then
Isaac said to Jacob: “Come near, please, that I may feel you, my son, to know
whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
22 So
Jacob came near to Isaac his father, and he went feeling him, after which he
said: “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
23 And
he did not recognize him, because his hands proved to be hairy like the hands of
Esau his brother. Hence he blessed him.
24 After
that he said: “You are really my son Esau?” to which he said: “I am.”
25 Then
he said: “Bring it near to me that I may eat some of the game of my son, to the
end that my soul may bless you.” With that he brought it near to him and he
began to eat, and he brought him wine and he began to drink.
26 Then
Isaac his father said to him: “Come near, please, and kiss me, my son.”
27 So
he came near and kissed him, and he could smell the scent of his garments. And
he proceeded to bless him and to say:
“See,
the scent of my son is like the scent of the field which Jehovah has blessed.
28 And
may the [true] God give you the dews of the heavens and the fertile soils of the
earth and an abundance of grain and new wine.
29 Let
peoples serve you and let national groups bow low to you. Become master over
your brothers, and let the sons of your mother bow low to you. Cursed be each
one of those cursing you, and blessed be each one of those blessing you.”
30 Now
it came about as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, yes, it indeed came
about when Jacob had barely come out from before the face of Isaac his father,
that Esau his brother came back from his hunting.
31 And
he too went about making a tasty dish. Then he brought it to his father and said
to his father: “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, in order
that your soul may bless me.”
32 At
this Isaac his father said to him: “Who are you?” to which he said: “I am your
son, your firstborn, Esau.”
33 And
Isaac began to shake with a great trembling in extreme measure, and so he said:
“Who, then, was it that hunted for game and came bringing it to me, so that I
ate of everything before you could come in and I blessed him? Blessed too he
will become!”
34 On
hearing his father’s words Esau began to cry out in an extremely loud and
bitter manner and to say to his father: “Bless me, even me too, my father!”
35 But
he went on to say: “Your brother came with deception that he might get the
blessing meant for you.”
36 At
this he said: “Is that not why his name is called Jacob, in that he should
supplant me these two times? My birthright he has already taken, and here at
this time he has taken my blessing!” Then he added: “Have you not reserved a
blessing for me?”
37 But
in answer to Esau Isaac continued: “Here I have appointed him master over you,
and all his brothers I have given to him as servants, and grain and new wine I
have bestowed for his support, and where is there anything I can do for you, my
son?”
38 Then
Esau said to his father: “Is there just one blessing that you have, my father?
Bless me, even me too, my father!” With that Esau raised his voice and burst
into tears.
39 So in
answer Isaac his father said to him:
“Behold,
away from the fertile soils of the earth your dwelling will be found, and away
from the dew of the heavens above.
40 And
by your sword you will live, and your brother you will serve. But it will
certainly occur that, when you grow restless, you will indeed break his yoke off
your neck.”
41 However,
Esau harbored animosity for Jacob on account of the blessing with which his
father had blessed him, and Esau kept saying in his heart: “The days of the
period of mourning for my father are getting closer. After that I am going to
kill Jacob my brother.”
42 When
the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah,
she at once sent and called Jacob her younger son and said to him: “Look! Esau
your brother is comforting himself in regard to you—to kill you.
43 Now,
then, my son, listen to my voice and get up, run away to Laban my brother at
Haran.
44 And
you must dwell with him for some days until the rage of your brother calms down,
45 until
the anger of your brother turns away from you and he has forgotten what you have
done to him. And I shall certainly send and get you from there. Why should I be
bereaved also of both of YOU in one day?”
46 After
that Rebekah
kept saying to Isaac: “I have come to abhor this life of mine because of the
daughters of Heth. If Jacob ever takes a wife from the daughters of Heth like
these from the daughters of the land, of what good is life to me?”
28
Consequently Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and commanded him and said to
him: “You must not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.
2 Get
up, go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethuel
the father of your mother and from there take yourself a wife from the daughters
of Laban the brother of your mother.
3 And
God Almighty will bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and you will
certainly become a congregation of peoples.
4 And
he will give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your seed with you,
that you may take possession of the land of your alien residences, which God has
given to Abraham.”
5 So
Isaac sent Jacob away, and he struck out for Paddan-aram, for Laban the son
of Bethuel
the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah,
mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 When
Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him away to Paddan-aram to
take from there a wife for himself, and that when he blessed him he laid the
command upon him, saying: “Do not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan”;
7 and
that Jacob was obeying his father and his mother and was on his way to Paddan-aram;
8 then
Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan were displeasing in the eyes of Isaac
his father.
9 Hence
Esau went to Ishmael
and took as wife Mahalath
the daughter of Ishmael
the son of Abraham, the sister of Nebaioth,
besides his other wives.
10 And
Jacob continued on his way out from Beer-sheba and kept going to Haran.
11 In
time he came across a place and set about spending the night there because the
sun had set. So he took one of the stones of the place and set it as his head
supporter and lay down in that place.
12 And
he began to dream, and, look! there was a ladder stationed upon the earth and
its top reaching up to the heavens; and, look! there were God’s angels ascending
and descending on it.
13 And,
look! there was Jehovah stationed above it, and he proceeded to say:
“I am
Jehovah the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land upon which
you are lying, to you I am going to give it and to your seed.
14 And
your seed will certainly become like the dust particles of the earth, and you
will certainly spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to
the south, and by means of you and by means of your seed all the families of the
ground will certainly bless themselves.
15 And
here I am with you and I will keep you in all the way you are going and I will
return you to this ground, because I am not going to leave you until I have
actually done what I have spoken to you.”
16 Then
Jacob awoke from his sleep and said: “Truly Jehovah is in this place and I
myself did not know it.”
17 And
he grew fearful and added: “How fear-inspiring this place is! This is nothing
else but the house of God and this is the gate of the heavens.”
18 So
Jacob got up early in the morning and took the stone that was there as his head
supporter and he set it up as a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.
19 Further,
he called the name of that place Bethel; but the fact is, Luz was the city’s
name formerly.
20 And
Jacob went on to vow a vow, saying: “If God will continue with me and will
certainly keep me on this way on which I am going and will certainly give me
bread to eat and garments to wear
21 and
I shall certainly return in peace to the house of my father, then Jehovah will
have proved to be my God.
22 And
this stone that I have set up as a pillar will become a house of God, and as for
everything that you will give me I shall without fail give the tenth of it to
you.”
29
After that Jacob set his feet in motion and traveled on to the land of the
Orientals.
2 Now he
looked, and here there was a well in the field and here three droves of sheep
were lying down there by it, because from that well they were accustomed to
water the droves; and there was a great stone over the mouth of the well.
3 When
all the droves had been gathered there, they rolled away the stone from off the
mouth of the well, and they watered the flocks, after which they returned the
stone over the mouth of the well to its place.
4 So
Jacob said to them: “My brothers, from what place are YOU?” to which they said:
“We are from Haran.”
5 Then
he said to them: “Do YOU know Laban the grandson of Nahor?” to which they
said: “We know him.”
6 At
this he said to them: “Is it all right with him?” In turn they said: “It is all
right. And here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep!”
7 And he
went on to say: “Why, it is yet full day. It is not the time for gathering the
herds. WATER the sheep, then go feed them.”
8 To
this they said: “We are not allowed to do so until all the droves are gathered
and they actually roll away the stone from off the mouth of the well. Then we
must water the sheep.”
9 While
he was yet speaking with them, Rachel came with the sheep that belonged to her
father, for she was a shepherdess.
10 And
it came about that when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s
brother and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob immediately
approached and rolled away the stone from off the mouth of the well and watered
the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother.
11 Then
Jacob kissed Rachel and raised his voice and burst into tears.
12 And
Jacob began to tell Rachel that he was the brother of her father and that he was
the son of Rebekah.
And she went running and telling her father.
13 Now
it came about that as soon as Laban heard the report about Jacob the son of his
sister, he went running to meet him. Then he embraced him and kissed him and
brought him on into his house. And he began to relate to Laban all these
things.
14 After
that Laban said to him: “You are indeed my bone and my flesh.” So he dwelt with
him a full month.
15 After
that Laban said to Jacob: “Are you my brother, and must you serve me for
nothing? Tell me, What are your wages to be?”
16 As it
was, Laban had two daughters. The name of the older was Leah and the name of
the younger Rachel.
17 But
the eyes of Leah had no luster, whereas Rachel had become beautiful in form and
beautiful of countenance.
18 And
Jacob was in love with Rachel. So he said: “I am willing to serve you seven
years for Rachel your younger daughter.”
19 To
this Laban said: “It is better for me to give her to you than for me to give
her to another man. Keep dwelling with me.”
20 And
Jacob proceeded to serve seven years for Rachel, but in his eyes they proved to
be like some few days because of his love for her.
21 Then
Jacob said to Laban: “Give over my wife, because my days are up, and let me
have relations with her.”
22 With
that Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast.
23 But
it turned out that during the evening he resorted to taking Leah his daughter
and bringing her to him that he might have relations with her.
24 Moreover,
Laban gave to her Zilpah his maidservant, even to Leah his daughter, as a
maidservant.
25 So it
followed in the morning that here it was Leah! Consequently he said to Laban:
“What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you?
So why have you tricked me?”
26 To
this Laban said: “It is not customary to do this way in our place, to give the
younger woman before the firstborn.
27 Celebrate
to the full the week of this woman. After that there shall be given to you also
this other woman for the service that you can serve with me for seven years
more.”
28 Accordingly
Jacob did so and celebrated fully the week of this woman, after which he gave
him Rachel his daughter as his wife.
29 Besides,
Laban gave Bilhah his maidservant to Rachel his daughter as her maidservant.
30 Then
he had relations also with Rachel and also expressed more love for Rachel than
for Leah, and he went serving with him for yet seven years more.
31 When
Jehovah came to see that Leah was hated, he then opened her womb, but Rachel
was barren.
32 And
Leah became pregnant and brought a son to birth and then called his name Reuben,
for she said: “It is because Jehovah has looked upon my wretchedness, in that
now my husband will begin to love me.”
33 And
she became pregnant again and brought a son to birth and then said: “It is
because Jehovah has listened, in that I was hated and so he gave me also this
one.” Hence she called his name Simeon.
34 And
she became pregnant yet again and brought a son to birth and then said: “Now
this time my husband will join himself to me, because I have borne him three
sons.” His name was therefore called Levi.
35 And
she became pregnant once more and brought a son to birth and then said: “This
time I shall laud Jehovah.” She therefore called his name Judah. After that she
left off giving birth.