Good News Translation (GNT)

The Birth of Isaac

1 The Lord blessed Sarah, as he had promised,

2 and she became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham when he was old. The boy was born at the time God had said he would be born.

3 Abraham named him Isaac,

4 and when Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded.

5 Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born.

6 Sarah said, “God has brought me joy and laughter.Everyone who hears about it will laugh with me.”

7 Then she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

8 The child grew, and on the day that he was weaned, Abraham gave a great feast.

Hagar and Ishmael Are Sent Away

9 One day Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham, was playing withSarah’s son Isaac.

10 Sarah saw them and said to Abraham, “Send this slave and her son away. The son of this woman must not get any part of your wealth, which my son Isaac should inherit.”

11 This troubled Abraham very much, because Ishmael also was his son.

12 But God said to Abraham, “Don’t be worried about the boy and your slave Hagar. Do whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that you will have the descendants I have promised.

13 I will also give many children to the son of the slave woman, so that they will become a nation. He too is your son.”

14 Early the next morning Abraham gave Hagar some food and a leather bag full of water. He put the child on her back and sent her away. She left and wandered about in the wilderness of Beersheba.

15 When the water was all gone, she left the child under a bush

16 and sat down about a hundred yards away. She said to herself, “I can’t bear to see my child die.” While she was sitting there, shebegan to cry.

17 God heard the boy crying, and from heaven the angel of God spoke to Hagar, “What are you troubled about, Hagar? Don’t be afraid. God has heard the boy crying.

18 Get up, go and pick him up, and comfort him. I will make a great nation out of his descendants.”

19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well. She went and filled the leather bag with water and gave some to the boy.

20 God was with the boy as he grew up; he lived in the wilderness of Paran and became a skillful hunter.

21 His mother got an Egyptian wife for him.

The Agreement between Abraham and Abimelech

22 At that time Abimelech went with Phicol, the commander of his army, and said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.

23 So make a vow here in the presence of God that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. I have been loyal to you, so promise that you will also be loyal to me and to this country in which you are living.”

24 Abraham said, “I promise.”

25 Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well which the servants of Abimelech had seized.

26 Abimelech said, “I don’t know who did this. You didn’t tell me about it, and this is the first I have heard of it.”

27 Then Abraham gave some sheep and cattle to Abimelech, and the two of them made an agreement.

28 Abraham separated seven lambs from his flock,

29 and Abimelech asked him, “Why did you do that?”

30 Abraham answered, “Accept these seven lambs. By doing this, you admit that I am the one who dug this well.”

31 And so the place was called Beersheba,because it was there that the two of them made a vow.

32 After they had made this agreement at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol went back to Philistia.

33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and worshiped the Lord, the Everlasting God.

34 Abraham lived in Philistia for a long time.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/GEN/21-1001e5098a994a8f9a4ba49eeb784187.mp3?version_id=68—

God Commands Abraham to Offer Isaac

1 Some time later God tested Abraham; he called to him, “Abraham!” And Abraham answered, “Yes, here I am!”

2 “Take your son,” God said, “your only son, Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land of Moriah. There on a mountain that I will show you, offer him as a sacrifice to me.”

3 Early the next morning Abraham cut some wood for the sacrifice, loaded his donkey, and took Isaac and two servants with him. They started out for the place that God had told him about.

4 On the third day Abraham saw the place in the distance.

5 Then he said to the servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there and worship, and then we will come back to you.”

6 Abraham made Isaac carry the wood for the sacrifice, and he himself carried a knife and live coals for starting the fire. As they walked along together,

7 Isaac spoke up, “Father!”

He answered, “Yes, my son?”

Isaac asked, “I see that you have the coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?”

8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide one.” And the two of them walked on together.

9 When they came to the place which God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son and placed him on the altar, on top of the wood.

10 Then he picked up the knife to kill him.

11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!”

He answered, “Yes, here I am.”

12 “Don’t hurt the boy or do anything to him,” he said. “Now I know that you honor and obey God, because you have not kept back your only son from him.”

13 Abraham looked around and saw a ram caught in a bush by its horns. He went and got it and offered it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

14 Abraham named that place “The Lord Provides.”And even today people say, “On the Lord’s mountain he provides.”

15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time,

16 “I make a vow by my own name—the Lord is speaking—that I will richly bless you. Because you did this and did not keep back your only son from me,

17 I promise that I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the seashore. Your descendants will conquer their enemies.

18 All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants—all because you obeyed my command.”

19 Abraham went back to his servants, and they went together to Beersheba, where Abraham settled.

The Descendants of Nahor

20 Some time later Abraham learned that Milcah had borne eight children to his brother Nahor:

21 Uz the first-born, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,

22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel,

23 Rebecca’s father. Milcah bore these eight sons to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.

24 Reumah, Nahor’s concubine, bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/GEN/22-85ff85ff2a2062dc534504bfa8c6d6c8.mp3?version_id=68—

Sarah Dies and Abraham Buys a Burial Ground

1 Sarah lived to be 127 years old.

2 She died in Hebron in the land of Canaan, and Abraham mourned her death.

3 He left the place where his wife’s body was lying, went to the Hittites, and said,

4 “I am a foreigner living here among you; sell me some land, so that I can bury my wife.”

5 They answered,

6 “Listen to us, sir. We look upon you as a mighty leader; bury your wife in the best grave that we have. Any of us would be glad to give you a grave, so that you can bury her.”

7 Then Abraham bowed before them

8 and said, “If you are willing to let me bury my wife here, please ask Ephron son of Zohar

9 to sell me Machpelah Cave, which is near the edge of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for its full price, here in your presence, so that I can own it as a burial ground.”

10 Ephron himself was sitting with the other Hittites at the meeting place at the city gate; he answered in the hearing of everyone there,

11 “Listen, sir; I will give you the whole field and the cave that is in it. Here in the presence of my own people, I will give it to you, so that you can bury your wife.”

12 But Abraham bowed before the Hittites

13 and said to Ephron, so that everyone could hear, “May I ask you, please, to listen. I will buy the whole field. Accept my payment, and I will bury my wife there.”

14 Ephron answered,

15 “Sir, land worth only four hundred pieces of silver—what is that between us? Bury your wife in it.”

16 Abraham agreed and weighed out the amount that Ephron had mentioned in the hearing of the people—four hundred pieces of silver, according to the standard weights used by the merchants.

17 That is how the property which had belonged to Ephron at Machpelah east of Mamre, became Abraham’s. It included the field, the cave which was in it, and all the trees in the field up to the edge of the property.

18 It was recognized as Abraham’s property by all the Hittites who were there at the meeting.

19 Then Abraham buried his wife Sarah in that cave in the land of Canaan.

20 So the field which had belonged to the Hittites, and the cave in it, became the property of Abraham for a burial ground.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/GEN/23-541d8c2b416856497bdbf06cc336818a.mp3?version_id=68—

A Wife for Isaac

1 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in everything he did.

2 He said to his oldest servant, who was in charge of all that he had, “Place your hand between my thighsand make a vow.

3 I want you to make a vow in the name of the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not choose a wife for my son from the people here in Canaan.

4 You must go back to the country where I was born and get a wife for my son Isaac from among my relatives.”

5 But the servant asked, “What if the young woman will not leave home to come with me to this land? Shall I send your son back to the land you came from?”

6 Abraham answered, “Make sure that you don’t send my son back there!

7 The Lord, the God of heaven, brought me from the home of my father and from the land of my relatives, and he solemnly promised me that he would give this land to my descendants. He will send his angel before you, so that you can get a wife there for my son.

8 If the young woman is not willing to come with you, you will be free from this promise. But you must not under any circumstances take my son back there.”

9 So the servant put his hand between the thighs of Abraham, his master, and made a vow to do what Abraham had asked.

10 The servant, who was in charge of Abraham’s property, took ten of his master’s camels and went to the city where Nahor had lived in northern Mesopotamia.

11 When he arrived, he made the camels kneel down at the well outside the city. It was late afternoon, the time when women came out to get water.

12 He prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, give me success today and keep your promise to my master.

13 Here I am at the well where the young women of the city will be coming to get water.

14 I will say to one of them, ‘Please, lower your jar and let me have a drink.’ If she says, ‘Drink, and I will also bring water for your camels,’ may she be the one that you have chosen for your servant Isaac. If this happens, I will know that you have kept your promise to my master.”

15 Before he had finished praying, Rebecca arrived with a water jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife Milcah.

16 She was a very beautiful young woman and still a virgin. She went down to the well, filled her jar, and came back.

17 The servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a drink of water from your jar.”

18 She said, “Drink, sir,” and quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and held it while he drank.

19 When he had finished, she said, “I will also bring water for your camels and let them have all they want.”

20 She quickly emptied her jar into the animals’ drinking trough and ran to the well to get more water, until she had watered all his camels.

21 The man kept watching her in silence, to see if the Lord had given him success.

22 When she had finished, the man took an expensive gold ring and put it in her nose and put two large gold bracelets on her arms.

23 He said, “Please tell me who your father is. Is there room in his house for my men and me to spend the night?”

24 “My father is Bethuel son of Nahor and Milcah,” she answered.

25 “There is plenty of straw and fodder at our house, and there is a place for you to stay.”

26 Then the man knelt down and worshiped the Lord.

27 He said, “Praise the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has faithfully kept his promise to my master. The Lord has led me straight to my master’s relatives.”

28 The young woman ran to her mother’s house and told the whole story.

29 Now Rebecca had a brother named Laban, and he ran outside to go to the well where Abraham’s servant was.

30 Laban had seen the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms and had heard her say what the man had told her. He went to Abraham’s servant, who was standing by his camels at the well,

31 and said, “Come home with me. You are a man whom the Lord has blessed. Why are you standing out here? I have a room ready for you in my house, and there is a place for your camels.”

32 So the man went into the house, and Laban unloaded the camels and gave them straw and fodder. Then he brought water for Abraham’s servant and his men to wash their feet.

33 When food was brought, the man said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.”

Laban said, “Go on and speak.”

34 “I am the servant of Abraham,” he began.

35 “The Lord has greatly blessed my master and made him a rich man. He has given him flocks of sheep and goats, cattle, silver, gold, male and female slaves, camels, and donkeys.

36 Sarah, my master’s wife, bore him a son when she was old, and my master has given everything he owns to him.

37 My master made me promise with a vow to obey his command. He said, ‘Do not choose a wife for my son from the young women in the land of Canaan.

38 Instead, go to my father’s people, to my relatives, and choose a wife for him.’

39 And I asked my master, ‘What if she will not come with me?’

40 He answered, ‘The Lord, whom I have always obeyed, will send his angel with you and give you success. You will get for my son a wife from my own people, from my father’s family.

41 There is only one way for you to be free from your vow: if you go to my relatives and they refuse you, then you will be free.’

42 “When I came to the well today, I prayed, ‘Lord, God of my master Abraham, please give me success in what I am doing.

43 Here I am at the well. When a young woman comes out to get water, I will ask her to give me a drink of water from her jar.

44 If she agrees and also offers to bring water for my camels, may she be the one that you have chosen as the wife for my master’s son.’

45 Before I had finished my silent prayer, Rebecca came with a water jar on her shoulder and went down to the well to get water. I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

46 She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels.

47 I asked her, ‘Who is your father?’ And she answered, ‘My father is Bethuel son of Nahor and Milcah.’ Then I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her arms.

48 I knelt down and worshiped the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who had led me straight to my master’s relative, where I found his daughter for my master’s son.

49 Now, if you intend to fulfill your responsibility toward my master and treat him fairly, please tell me; if not, say so, and I will decide what to do.”

50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “Since this matter comes from the Lord, it is not for us to make a decision.

51 Here is Rebecca; take her and go. Let her become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord himself has said.”

52 When the servant of Abraham heard this, he bowed down and worshiped the Lord.

53 Then he brought out clothing and silver and gold jewelry, and gave them to Rebecca. He also gave expensive gifts to her brother and to her mother.

54 Then Abraham’s servant and the men with him ate and drank, and spent the night there. When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me go back to my master.”

55 But Rebecca’s brother and her mother said, “Let her stay with us a week or ten days, and then she may go.”

56 But he said, “Don’t make us stay. The Lord has made my journey a success; let me go back to my master.”

57 They answered, “Let’s call her and find out what she has to say.”

58 So they called Rebecca and asked, “Do you want to go with this man?”

“Yes,” she answered.

59 So they let Rebecca and her old family servant go with Abraham’s servant and his men.

60 And they gave Rebecca their blessing in these words:

“May you, sister, become the mother of millions!

May your descendants conquer the cities of their enemies!”

61 Then Rebecca and her young women got ready and mounted the camels to go with Abraham’s servant, and they all started out.

62 Isaac had come into the wilderness of“The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me” and was staying in the southern part of Canaan.

63 He went out in the early evening to take a walk in the fields and saw camels coming.

64 When Rebecca saw Isaac, she got down from her camel

65 and asked Abraham’s servant, “Who is that man walking toward us in the field?”

“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her scarf and covered her face.

66 The servant told Isaac everything he had done.

67 Then Isaac brought Rebecca into the tent that his mother Sarah had lived in, and she became his wife. Isaac loved Rebecca, and so he was comforted for the loss of his mother.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/GEN/24-ab912175eb9ee4304ff36222824cc91e.mp3?version_id=68—

Other Descendants of Abraham

1 Abraham married another woman, whose name was Keturah.

2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan, and the descendants of Dedan were the Asshurim, the Letushim, and the Leummim.

4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were Keturah’s descendants.

5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac;

6 but while he was still alive, he gave presents to the sons his other wives had borne him. Then he sent these sons to the land of the East, away from his son Isaac.

The Death and Burial of Abraham

7-8 Abraham died at the ripe old age of 175.

9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in Machpelah Cave, in the field east of Mamre that had belonged to Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.

10 It was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites; both Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried there.

11 After the death of Abraham, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”

The Descendants of Ishmael

12 Ishmael, whom Hagar, the Egyptian slave of Sarah, bore to Abraham,

13 had the following sons, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa,

15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.

16 They were the ancestors of twelve tribes, and their names were given to their villages and camping places.

17 Ishmael was 137 years old when he died.

18 The descendants of Ishmael lived in the territory between Havilah and Shur, to the east of Egypt on the way to Assyria. They lived apart from the other descendants of Abraham.

The Birth of Esau and Jacob

19 This is the story of Abraham’s son Isaac.

20 Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel (an Aramean from Mesopotamia) and sister of Laban.

21 Because Rebecca had no children, Isaac prayed to the Lord for her. The Lord answered his prayer, and Rebecca became pregnant.

22 She was going to have twins, and before they were born, they struggled against each other in her womb. She said, “Why should something like this happen to me?” So she went to ask the Lord for an answer.

23 The Lord said to her,

“Two nations are within you;

You will give birth to two rival peoples.

One will be stronger than the other;

The older will serve the younger.”

24 The time came for her to give birth, and she had twin sons.

25 The first one was reddish, and his skin was like a hairy robe, so he was named Esau.

26 The second one was born holding on tightly to the heel of Esau, so he was named Jacob.Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.

Esau Sells His Rights as the First-Born Son

27 The boys grew up, and Esau became a skilled hunter, a man who loved the outdoors, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

28 Isaac preferred Esau, because he enjoyed eating the animals Esau killed, but Rebecca preferred Jacob.

29 One day while Jacob was cooking some bean soup, Esau came in from hunting. He was hungry

30 and said to Jacob, “I’m starving; give me some of that red stuff.” (That is why he was named Edom.)

31 Jacob answered, “I will give it to you if you give me your rights as the first-born son.”

32 Esau said, “All right! I am about to die; what good will my rights do me?”

33 Jacob answered, “First make a vow that you will give me your rights.”

Esau made the vow and gave his rights to Jacob.

34 Then Jacob gave him some bread and some of the soup. He ate and drank and then got up and left. That was all Esau cared about his rights as the first-born son.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/GEN/25-05e5bd0ae10922b65abb18372608884c.mp3?version_id=68—

Isaac Lives at Gerar

1 There was another famine in the land besides the earlier one during the time of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.

2 The Lord had appeared to Isaac and had said, “Do not go to Egypt; stay in this land, where I tell you to stay.

3 Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham.

4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants.

5 I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands.”

6 So Isaac lived at Gerar.

7 When the men there asked about his wife, he said that she was his sister. He would not admit that she was his wife, because he was afraid that the men there would kill him to get Rebecca, who was very beautiful.

8 When Isaac had been there for some time, King Abimelech looked down from his window and saw Isaac and Rebecca making love.

9 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is your wife! Why did you say she was your sister?”

He answered, “I thought I would be killed if I said she was my wife.”

10 “What have you done to us?” Abimelech said. “One of my men might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have been responsible for our guilt.”

11 Abimelech warned all the people: “Anyone who mistreats this man or his wife will be put to death.”

12 Isaac sowed crops in that land, and that year he harvested a hundred times as much as he had sown, because the Lord blessed him.

13 He continued to prosper and became a very rich man.

14 Because he had many herds of sheep and cattle and many servants, the Philistines were jealous of him.

15 So they filled in all the wells which the servants of his father Abraham had dug while Abraham was alive.

16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave our country. You have become more powerful than we are.”

17 So Isaac left and set up his camp in Gerar Valley, where he stayed for some time.

18 He dug once again the wells which had been dug during the time of Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham’s death. Isaac gave the wells the same names that his father had given them.

19 Isaac’s servants dug a well in the valley and found water.

20 The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds and said, “This water belongs to us.” So Isaac named the well “Quarrel.”

21 Isaac’s servants dug another well, and there was a quarrel about that one also, so he named it “Enmity.”

22 He moved away from there and dug another well. There was no dispute about this one, so he named it “Freedom.” He said, “Now the Lord has given us freedom to live in the land, and we will be prosperous here.”

23 Isaac left and went to Beersheba.

24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid; I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my promise to my servant Abraham.”

25 Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. Then he set up his camp there, and his servants dug another well.

The Agreement between Isaac and Abimelech

26 Abimelech came from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army to see Isaac.

27 So Isaac asked, “Why have you now come to see me, when you were so unfriendly to me before and made me leave your country?”

28 They answered, “Now we know that the Lord is with you, and we think that there should be a solemn agreement between us. We want you to promise

29 that you will not harm us, just as we did not harm you. We were kind to you and let you go peacefully. Now it is clear that the Lord has blessed you.”

30 Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

31 Early next morning each man made his promise and sealed it with a vow. Isaac said good-bye to them, and they parted as friends.

32 On that day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug. They said, “We have found water.”

33 He named the well “Vow.” That is how the city of Beershebagot its name.

Esau’s Foreign Wives

34 When Esau was forty years old, he married two Hittites, Judith the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath the daughter of Elon.

35 They made life miserable for Isaac and Rebecca.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/GEN/26-d5a3b82b657926ad47864ba9f4d46191.mp3?version_id=68—

Isaac Blesses Jacob

1 Isaac was now old and had become blind. He sent for his older son Esau and said to him, “Son!”

“Yes,” he answered.

2 Isaac said, “You see that I am old and may die soon.

3 Take your bow and arrows, go out into the country, and kill an animal for me.

4 Cook me some of that tasty food that I like, and bring it to me. After I have eaten it, I will give you my final blessing before I die.”

5 While Isaac was talking to Esau, Rebecca was listening. So when Esau went out to hunt,

6 she said to Jacob, “I have just heard your father say to Esau,

7 ‘Bring me an animal and cook it for me. After I have eaten it, I will give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’

8 Now, son,” Rebecca continued, “listen to me and do what I say.

9 Go to the flock and pick out two fat young goats, so that I can cook them and make some of that food your father likes so much.

10 You can take it to him to eat, and he will give you his blessing before he dies.”

11 But Jacob said to his mother, “You know that Esau is a hairy man, but I have smooth skin.

12 Perhaps my father will touch me and find out that I am deceiving him; in this way, I will bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.”

13 His mother answered, “Let any curse against you fall on me, my son; just do as I say, and go and get the goats for me.”

14 So he went to get them and brought them to her, and she cooked the kind of food that his father liked.

15 Then she took Esau’s best clothes, which she kept in the house, and put them on Jacob.

16 She put the skins of the goats on his arms and on the hairless part of his neck.

17 She handed him the tasty food, along with the bread she had baked.

18 Then Jacob went to his father and said, “Father!”

“Yes,” he answered. “Which of my sons are you?”

19 Jacob answered, “I am your older son Esau; I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of the meat that I have brought you, so that you can give me your blessing.”

20 Isaac said, “How did you find it so quickly, son?”

Jacob answered, “The Lord your God helped me find it.”

21 Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so that I can touch you. Are you really Esau?”

22 Jacob moved closer to his father, who felt him and said, “Your voice sounds like Jacob’s voice, but your arms feel like Esau’s arms.”

23 He did not recognize Jacob, because his arms were hairy like Esau’s. He was about to give him his blessing,

24 but asked again, “Are you really Esau?”

“I am,” he answered.

25 Isaac said, “Bring me some of the meat. After I eat it, I will give you my blessing.” Jacob brought it to him, and he also brought him some wine to drink.

26 Then his father said to him, “Come closer and kiss me, son.”

27 As he came up to kiss him, Isaac smelled his clothes—so he gave him his blessing. He said, “The pleasant smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed.

28 May God give you dew from heaven and make your fields fertile! May he give you plenty of grain and wine!

29 May nations be your servants, and may peoples bow down before you. May you rule over all your relatives, and may your mother’s descendants bow down before you. May those who curse you be cursed, and may those who bless you be blessed.”

Esau Begs for Isaac’s Blessing

30 Isaac finished giving his blessing, and as soon as Jacob left, his brother Esau came in from hunting.

31 He also cooked some tasty food and took it to his father. He said, “Please, father, sit up and eat some of the meat that I have brought you, so that you can give me your blessing.”

32 “Who are you?” Isaac asked.

“Your older son Esau,” he answered.

33 Isaac began to tremble and shake all over, and he asked, “Who was it, then, who killed an animal and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came. I gave him my final blessing, and so it is his forever.”

34 When Esau heard this, he cried out loudly and bitterly and said, “Give me your blessing also, father!”

35 Isaac answered, “Your brother came and deceived me. He has taken away your blessing.”

36 Esau said, “This is the second time that he has cheated me. No wonder his name is Jacob.He took my rights as the first-born son, and now he has taken away my blessing. Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

37 Isaac answered, “I have already made him master over you, and I have made all his relatives his slaves. I have given him grain and wine. Now there is nothing that I can do for you, son!”

38 Esau continued to plead with his father: “Do you have only one blessing, father? Bless me too, father!” He began to cry.

39 Then Isaac said to him,

“No dew from heaven for you,

No fertile fields for you.

40 You will live by your sword,

But be your brother’s slave.

Yet when you rebel,

You will break away from his control.”

41 Esau hated Jacob, because his father had given Jacob the blessing. He thought, “The time to mourn my father’s death is near; then I will kill Jacob.”

42 But when Rebecca heard about Esau’s plan, she sent for Jacob and said, “Listen, your brother Esau is planning to get even with you and kill you.

43 Now, son, do what I say. Go at once to my brother Laban in Haran,

44 and stay with him for a while, until your brother’s anger cools down

45 and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send someone to bring you back. Why should I lose both of my sons on the same day?”

Isaac Sends Jacob to Laban

46 Rebecca said to Isaac, “I am sick and tired of Esau’s foreign wives. If Jacob also marries one of these Hittites, I might as well die.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/GEN/27-4b11bc343b18c96045bee06facd30e46.mp3?version_id=68—

1 Isaac called Jacob, greeted him, and told him, “Don’t marry a Canaanite.

2 Go instead to Mesopotamia, to the home of your grandfather Bethuel, and marry one of the young women there, one of your uncle Laban’s daughters.

3 May Almighty God bless your marriage and give you many children, so that you will become the father of many nations!

4 May he bless you and your descendants as he blessed Abraham, and may you take possession of this land, in which you have lived and which God gave to Abraham!”

5 Isaac sent Jacob away to Mesopotamia, to Laban, who was the son of Bethuel the Aramean and the brother of Rebecca, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

Esau Takes Another Wife

6 Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Mesopotamia to find a wife. He also learned that when Isaac blessed him, he commanded him not to marry a Canaanite woman.

7 He found out that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Mesopotamia.

8 Esau then understood that his father Isaac did not approve of Canaanite women.

9 So he went to Ishmael son of Abraham and married his daughter Mahalath, who was the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

10 Jacob left Beersheba and started toward Haran.

11 At sunset he came to a holy placeand camped there. He lay down to sleep, resting his head on a stone.

12 He dreamed that he saw a stairway reaching from earth to heaven, with angels going up and coming down on it.

13 And there was the Lord standing beside him.“I am the Lord, the God of Abraham and Isaac,” he said. “I will give to you and to your descendants this land on which you are lying.

14 They will be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth. They will extend their territory in all directions, and through you and your descendants I will bless all the nations.

15 Remember, I will be with you and protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all that I have promised you.”

16 Jacob woke up and said, “The Lord is here! He is in this place, and I didn’t know it!”

17 He was afraid and said, “What a terrifying place this is! It must be the house of God; it must be the gate that opens into heaven.”

18 Jacob got up early next morning, took the stone that was under his head, and set it up as a memorial. Then he poured olive oil on it to dedicate it to God.

19 He named the place Bethel.(The town there was once known as Luz.)

20 Then Jacob made a vow to the Lord: “If you will be with me and protect me on the journey I am making and give me food and clothing,

21 and if I return safely to my father’s home, then you will be my God.

22 This memorial stone which I have set up will be the place where you are worshiped, and I will give you a tenth of everything you give me.”

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/GEN/28-098451cf16099429ef58322dd8340661.mp3?version_id=68—

Jacob Arrives at Laban’s Home

1 Jacob continued on his way and went toward the land of the East.

2 Suddenly he came upon a well out in the fields with three flocks of sheep lying around it. The flocks were watered from this well, which had a large stone over the opening.

3 Whenever all the flocks came together there, the shepherds would roll the stone back and water them. Then they would put the stone back in place.

4 Jacob asked the shepherds, “My friends, where are you from?”

“From Haran,” they answered.

5 He asked, “Do you know Laban, grandson of Nahor?”

“Yes, we do,” they answered.

6 “Is he well?” he asked.

“He is well,” they answered. “Look, here comes his daughter Rachel with his flock.”

7 Jacob said, “Since it is still broad daylight and not yet time to bring the flocks in, why don’t you water them and take them back to pasture?”

8 They answered, “We can’t do that until all the flocks are here and the stone has been rolled back; then we will water the flocks.”

9 While Jacob was still talking with them, Rachel arrived with the flock.

10 When Jacob saw Rachel with his uncle Laban’s flock, he went to the well, rolled the stone back, and watered the sheep.

11 Then he kissed her and began to cry for joy.

12 He told her, “I am your father’s relative, the son of Rebecca.”

She ran to tell her father;

13 and when he heard the news about his nephew Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged him and kissed him, and brought him into the house. When Jacob told Laban everything that had happened,

14 Laban said, “Yes, indeed, you are my own flesh and blood.” Jacob stayed there a whole month.

Jacob Serves Laban for Rachel and Leah

15 Laban said to Jacob, “You shouldn’t work for me for nothing just because you are my relative. How much pay do you want?”

16 Laban had two daughters; the older was named Leah, and the younger Rachel.

17 Leah had lovelyeyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful.

18 Jacob was in love with Rachel, so he said, “I will work seven years for you, if you will let me marry Rachel.”

19 Laban answered, “I would rather give her to you than to anyone else; stay here with me.”

20 Jacob worked seven years so that he could have Rachel, and the time seemed like only a few days to him, because he loved her.

21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “The time is up; let me marry your daughter.”

22 So Laban gave a wedding feast and invited everyone.

23 But that night, instead of Rachel, he took Leah to Jacob, and Jacob had intercourse with her. (

24 Laban gave his slave woman Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her maid.)

25 Not until the next morning did Jacob discover that it was Leah. He went to Laban and said, “Why did you do this to me? I worked to get Rachel. Why have you tricked me?”

26 Laban answered, “It is not the custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older.

27 Wait until the week’s marriage celebrations are over, and I will give you Rachel, if you will work for me another seven years.”

28 Jacob agreed, and when the week of marriage celebrations was over, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. (

29 Laban gave his slave woman Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid.)

30 Jacob had intercourse with Rachel also, and he loved her more than Leah. Then he worked for Laban another seven years.

The Children Born to Jacob

31 When the Lord saw that Leah was loved less than Rachel, he made it possible for her to have children, but Rachel remained childless.

32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said, “The Lord has seen my trouble, and now my husband will love me”; so she named him Reuben.

33 She became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, “The Lord has given me this son also, because he heard that I was not loved”; so she named him Simeon.

34 Once again she became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She said, “Now my husband will be bound more tightly to me, because I have borne him three sons”; so she named him Levi.

35 Then she became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord”; so she named him Judah.Then she stopped having children.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/GEN/29-b88811b401041c8031dc03d968c4f2e0.mp3?version_id=68—

1 But Rachel had not borne Jacob any children, and so she became jealous of her sister and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I will die.”

2 Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “I can’t take the place of God. He is the one who keeps you from having children.”

3 She said, “Here is my slave Bilhah; sleep with her, so that she can have a child for me. In this way I can become a mother through her.”

4 So she gave Bilhah to her husband, and he had intercourse with her.

5 Bilhah became pregnant and bore Jacob a son.

6 Rachel said, “God has judged in my favor. He has heard my prayer and has given me a son”; so she named him Dan.

7 Bilhah became pregnant again and bore Jacob a second son.

8 Rachel said, “I have fought a hard fight with my sister, but I have won”; so she named him Naphtali.

9 When Leah realized that she had stopped having children, she gave her slave Zilpah to Jacob as his wife.

10 Then Zilpah bore Jacob a son.

11 Leah said, “I have been lucky”; so she named him Gad.

12 Zilpah bore Jacob another son,

13 and Leah said, “How happy I am! Now women will call me happy”; so she named him Asher.

14 During the wheat harvest Reuben went into the fields and found mandrakes,which he brought to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

15 Leah answered, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken away my husband? Now you are even trying to take away my son’s mandrakes.”

Rachel said, “If you will give me your son’s mandrakes, you can sleep with Jacob tonight.”

16 When Jacob came in from the fields in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You are going to sleep with me tonight, because I have paid for you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he had intercourse with her that night.

17 God answered Leah’s prayer, and she became pregnant and bore Jacob a fifth son.

18 Leah said, “God has given me my reward, because I gave my slave to my husband”; so she named her son Issachar.

19 Leah became pregnant again and bore Jacob a sixth son.

20 She said, “God has given me a fine gift. Now my husband will accept me, because I have borne him six sons”; so she named him Zebulun.

21 Later she bore a daughter, whom she named Dinah.

22 Then God remembered Rachel; he answered her prayer and made it possible for her to have children.

23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She said, “God has taken away my disgrace by giving me a son.

24 May the Lord give me another son”; so she named him Joseph.

Jacob’s Bargain with Laban

25 After the birth of Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Let me go, so that I can return home.

26 Give me my wives and children that I have earned by working for you, and I will leave. You know how well I have served you.”

27 Laban said to him, “Let me say this: I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.

28 Name your wages, and I will pay them.”

29 Jacob answered, “You know how I have worked for you and how your flocks have prospered under my care.

30 The little you had before I came has grown enormously, and the Lord has blessed you wherever I went.Now it is time for me to look out for my own interests.”

31 “What shall I pay you?” Laban asked.

Jacob answered, “I don’t want any wages. I will continue to take care of your flocks if you agree to this suggestion:

32 Let me go through all your flocks today and take every black lamband every spotted or speckled young goat. That is all the wages I want.

33 In the future you can easily find out if I have been honest. When you come to check up on my wages, if I have any goat that isn’t speckled or spotted or any sheep that isn’t black, you will know that it has been stolen.”

34 Laban answered, “Agreed. We will do as you suggest.”

35 But that day Laban removed the male goats that had stripes or spots and all the females that were speckled and spotted or which had white on them; he also removed all the black sheep. He put his sons in charge of them,

36 and then went away from Jacob with this flock as far as he could travel in three days. Jacob took care of the rest of Laban’s flocks.

37 Jacob got green branches of poplar, almond, and plane trees and stripped off some of the bark so that the branches had white stripes on them.

38 He placed these branches in front of the flocks at their drinking troughs. He put them there, because the animals mated when they came to drink.

39 So when the goats bred in front of the branches, they produced young that were streaked, speckled, and spotted.

40 Jacob kept the sheep separate from the goats and made them face in the direction of the streaked and black animals of Laban’s flock. In this way he built up his own flock and kept it apart from Laban’s.

41 When the healthy animals were mating, Jacob put the branches in front of them at the drinking troughs, so that they would breed among the branches.

42 But he did not put the branches in front of the weak animals. Soon Laban had all the weak animals, and Jacob all the healthy ones.

43 In this way Jacob became very wealthy. He had many flocks, slaves, camels, and donkeys.

—https://d1b84921e69nmq.cloudfront.net/363/32k/GEN/30-8bbdbd0b651d0cad103cd9ce190b4dea.mp3?version_id=68—