Genesis 25:21–50:14

21 And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: wand the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she xwent to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said unto her,

yTwo nations are in thy womb,

And two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels;

And the one people shall be stronger than the other people;

And zthe elder shall serve the younger.

24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 And the first came out red, aall over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. 26 And after that came his brother out, and bhis hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and chis name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them. 27 *And the boys grew: and Esau was da cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was ea plain man, fdwelling in tents. 28 And Isaac loved Esau, because †he did geat of his venison: hbut Rebekah loved Jacob.

29 And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: 30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, †with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called ||Edom. 31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. 32 And Esau said, Behold, I am †at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? 33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and ihe sold his birthright unto Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: ithus Esau despised his birthright.

26 *And there was a famine in the land, beside athe first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto bAbimelech king of the cPhilistines unto Gerar. 2 And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in dthe land which I shall tell thee of: 3 eSojourn in this land, and fI will be with thee, and gwill bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, hI will give all these countries, and I will perform ithe oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4 And kI will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; land in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 mBecause that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. 6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: 7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and nhe said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, osaid he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she pwas fair to look upon. 8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. 9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her. 10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and qthou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. 11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. 12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and †received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord rblessed him. 13 And the man waxed great, and †went forward, and grew until he became very great: 14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of ||servants: and the Philistines senvied him. 15 For all the wells twhich his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for uthou art much mightier than we.

17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: xand he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 19 And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of †springing water. 20 And the herdmen of Gerar ydid strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well ||Esek; because they strove with him. 21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it ||Sitnah. 22 And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it ||Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall zbe fruitful in the land. 23 And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba. 24 And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, aI am the God of Abraham thy father: bfear not, for cI am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake. 25 And he dbuilded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well. 26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and ePhichol the chief captain of his army. 27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have fsent me away from you? 28 And they said, †We saw certainly that the Lord gwas with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; 29 †That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: hthou art now the blessed of the Lord. 30 iAnd he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. 31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and ksware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. 32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water. 33 And he called it ||Shebah: ltherefore the name of the city is ||Beer-sheba unto this day. 34 And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife mJudith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: 35 nWhich were †a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

27 *And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and ahis eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I. 2 And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death: 3 bNow therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and †take me some venison; 4 And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul cmay bless thee before I die. 5 And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. 6 And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, 7 Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death. 8 Now therefore, my son, dobey my voice according to that which I command thee. 9 Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them esavoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth: 10 And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he fmay bless thee before his death. 11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, gEsau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: 12 My father peradventure will hfeel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. 13 And his mother said unto him, iUpon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them. 14 And he went, and fetched, and brought them to his mother: and his mother kmade savoury meat, such as his father loved. 15 And Rebekah took †lgoodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son: 16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck: 17 And she gave the savoury meat and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. 18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son? 19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, mthat thy soul may bless me. 20 And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God nbrought it †to me. 21 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I omay feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. 22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. 23 And he discerned him not, because phis hands were hairy, as his brother Esau’s hands: so he blessed him. 24 And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. 25 And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s venison, qthat my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat: and he brought him wine, and he drank. 26 And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. 27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and rblessed him, and said,

See, sthe smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed:

28  Therefore God give thee of tthe dew of heaven,

And the fatness of the earth,

And uplenty of corn and wine:

29  Let people serve thee,

And nations bow down to thee:

wBe lord over thy brethren,

And xlet thy mother’s sons bow down to thee:

yCursed be every one that curseth thee,

And …