So

So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.

So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated.

Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

“I am a foreigner and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.”

…to sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me in your presence for full price, so that I may have a burial site.”

Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth. So in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham,

…and said to Ephron in their presence, “If you will please listen to me, I will pay you the price of the field. Accept it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.”

So Ephron’s field at Machpelah near Mamre, the cave that was in it, and all the trees within the boundaries of the field were deeded over

So the field and its cave were deeded by the Hittites to Abraham as a burial site.

So Abraham instructed the chief servant of his household, who managed all he owned, “Place your hand under my thigh,

The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me from my father’s house and my native land, who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’—He will send His angel before you so that you can take a wife for my son from there.

So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.

So the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me have a little water from your jar.”

So the man came to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and feed were brought to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of his companions.

Then a meal was set before the man, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I came to say.” So Laban said, “Please speak.”

And he told me, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you may take a wife for my son from my kindred and from my father’s house.

So when I came to the spring today, I prayed: O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if only You would make my journey a success!

And before I had finished praying in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’

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

Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.

Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; but if not, let me know, so that I may go elsewhere.”

But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl remain with us ten days or so. After that, she may go.”

But he replied, “Do not delay me, since the LORD has made my journey a success. Send me on my way so that I may go to my master.”

So they said, “We will call the girl and ask her opinion.”

So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men.

Then Rebekah and her servant girls got ready, mounted the camels, and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.

…and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” “It is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.

But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD,

The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau.

After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

“Look,” said Esau, “I am about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”

“Swear to me first,” Jacob said. So Esau swore to Jacob and sold him the birthright.

So Isaac settled in Gerar.

But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”

Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”

So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever harms this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

He owned so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.

So the Philistines took dirt and stopped up all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.

So Isaac left that place and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there.

But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him.

Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah.

So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there.

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

So he called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba.

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” Esau replied.

Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”

Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game and bring it back,

‘Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’

Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father—the kind he loves.

Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”

So Jacob went and got two goats and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved.

So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.” “Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?”

Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.”

But Isaac asked his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?” “Because the LORD your God brought it to me,” he replied.

Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?”

So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.

“Serve me,” said Isaac, “and let me eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.” Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; then he brought him wine, and he drank.

So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said: “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed.

He too made some tasty food, brought it to his father, and said to him, “My father, sit up and eat of your son’s game, so that you may bless me.”

So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.

So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. “Do not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” he commanded.

May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.

And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”

So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

…so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God.

So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, yet it seemed but a few days because of his love for her.

So Laban invited all the men of that place and prepared a feast.

Jacob slept with Rachel as well, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. So he worked for Laban another seven years.

Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has given me this son as well.” So she named him Simeon.

Once again Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi.

And once more she conceived and gave birth to a son and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then Leah stopped having children.

Then she said, “Here is my maidservant Bilhah. Sleep with her, that she may bear children for me, so that through her I too can build a family.”

So Rachel gave Jacob her servant Bilhah as a wife, and he slept with her,

Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; He has heard my plea and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.

Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.

Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad.

Leah said, “How happy I am! For the women call me happy.” So she named him Asher.

When Jacob came in from the field that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.

Then Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my maidservant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.

Now after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can return to my homeland.

So my honesty will testify for me when you come to check on my wages in the future. If I have any goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not dark-colored, they will be considered stolen.”

Then he set the peeled branches in the watering troughs in front of the flocks coming in to drink. So when the flocks were in heat and came to drink,

Whenever the stronger females of the flock were in heat, Jacob would place the branches in the troughs, in full view of the animals, so that they would breed in front of the branches.

But if the animals were weak, he did not set out the branches. So the weaker animals went to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob.

So Jacob sent word and called Rachel and Leah to the field where his flocks were,

Surely all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has told you.”

So he fled with all his possessions, crossed the Euphrates, and headed for the hill country of Gilead.

So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.

So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.

Rachel said to her father, “Sir, do not be angry that I cannot stand up before you; for I am having my period.” So Laban searched but could not find the household idols.

Then Jacob became incensed and challenged Laban. “What is my crime?” he said. “For what sin of mine have you so hotly pursued me?

So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a pillar,

…and he said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and made a mound, and there by the mound they ate.

May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God.” So he named that place Mahanaim.

I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and maidservants. I have sent this message to inform my master, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

So Jacob’s gifts went on before him, while he spent the night in the camp.