Isaac Prays for Good to Come to Jacob

27 Isaac was now old, and had become blind. He called to his older son Esau, saying, “My son.” And Esau answered, “Here I am.” ² Isaac said, “See, I am old. I do not know when I will die. ³ Take your bow and arrows, and go out to the field to get meat for me. ⁴ Get some food ready for me that I love. Bring it to me to eat, so that before I die I will pray that good will come to you.”

⁵ And Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for meat to bring home, ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I heard your father talking to your brother Esau. He said, ⁷ ’Bring me some meat. Make good-tasting food for me to eat. And before I die I will pray to the Lord for good to come to you.’ ⁸ So now, my son, listen to what I tell you to do. ⁹ Go to the flock and bring me two fat young goats. I will cook them into good-tasting food, just what your father loves to eat. ¹⁰ Then you will take it to your father for him to eat. So before he dies he will pray for good to come to you.”

¹¹ Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “But my brother Esau has much hair. And my skin is smooth. ¹² If my father touches me, he will think of me as one trying to fool him. Then he will bring a curse upon me instead of good.” ¹³ His mother said to him, “The curse will come upon me instead of you, my son. You do what I say, and go get them for me.” ¹⁴ So Jacob went and got them, and brought them to his mother. And his mother made good-tasting food, just what his father loved to eat. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the best clothes that belonged to her older son Esau, that were with her in the house. And she put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ And she gave her son Jacob the bread and the good-tasting food she had made.

¹⁸ Then he went to his father and said, “My father.” Isaac said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” ¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your first-born. I have done as you told me. Sit up and eat the meat I brought, so you will pray that good will come to me.” ²⁰ But Isaac said to his son, “How have you found it so fast, my son?” And Jacob said, “Because the Lord your God made it happen.”

²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near so I can touch you, my son, to know for sure if you are my son Esau or not.” ²² So Jacob came near his father Isaac. Isaac touched him, and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice. But the hands are Esau’s hands.” ²³ He did not know who he was, because his hands were covered with hair like his brother Esau’s hands. So Isaac prayed that good would come to him. ²⁴ Isaac said, “Is it true that you are my son Esau?” Jacob answered, “I am.” ²⁵ So Isaac said, “Bring it to me so I may eat the meat my son has made ready. And I will pray that good will come to you.” He brought it to him, and he ate. He brought him wine also, and he drank.

²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So Jacob came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothes, he prayed that good would come to him. He said, “The smell of my son is like the smell of a field that has received good from the Lord. ²⁸ May God give you from heaven water on the grass in the early morning, and the riches of the earth, and more than enough grain and new wine. ²⁹ May nations serve you, and the people bow down in front of you. Be the ruler of your brothers. May your mother’s sons bow down in front of you. Cursed be those who curse you, and may good come to those who honor you.”

³⁰ When Isaac had finished praying that good would come to Jacob, Jacob left his father Isaac. Just then his brother Esau came in from hunting. ³¹ Then Esau made good-tasting food and brought it to his father, and said, “Sit up, my father, and eat the meat your son has made ready, so you will pray that good will come to me.” ³² His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” He answered, “I am your son, your first-born, Esau.” ³³ Then Isaac shook all over, and he said, “Who was it then who killed an animal and brought meat to me? I ate all of it before you came! And I prayed that good would come to him! Yes, and good will come to him!”

³⁴ When he heard what his father said, Esau cried out with a loud and sad cry. He said to his father, “Pray that good will come to me also, O my father!” ³⁵ But Isaac said, “Your brother came in and fooled me. He has taken away the good that was to come to you.”

³⁶ Then Esau said, “Was it not right that he was given the name Jacob? Two times now he has taken what should have been mine. He took away my right as a first-born. And now he has taken away the good that was to come to me.” Then he said, “Can you not pray that good will come to me also?”

³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, “See, I have made him to rule over you. I have given him all his brothers as servants. I have given him grain and new wine to keep him alive and well. What then can I do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one prayer for good to come, my father? Pray that good will come to me also, O my father.” And Esau gave out a loud cry. ³⁹ Then his father Isaac answered him: “See, the place where you live will be away from the riches of the earth, and away from the water on the grass in the early morning. ⁴⁰ You will live by your sword and you will serve your brother. But when you break loose, you will throw his load off your back.”

Jacob Goes to Laban

⁴¹ Esau hated Jacob because his father had prayed that good would come to Jacob. Esau said to himself, “The days when I will have sorrow for the loss of my father are soon. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.” ⁴² But the words of her older son Esau were told to Rebekah. She called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “See, your brother Esau comforts himself by planning to kill you. ⁴³ So now, my son, do what I tell you. Get ready, and go at once to my brother Laban at Haran. ⁴⁴ Stay with him for a few days, until your brother’s anger goes away. ⁴⁵ When your brother’s anger against you is gone and he forgets what you did to him, then I will send for you and have you return from there. Why should I have sorrow for both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶ Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of living because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob marries one of the daughters of Heth, like these, from the women of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

28 So Isaac called Jacob and prayed that good would come to him. He said to him, “Do not marry one of the daughters of Canaan. ² Get ready, and go to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel in Paddan-aram. Take a wife for yourself from the daughters of your mother’s brother Laban. ³ May the All-powerful God bring good to you and give you many children until you become many nations. ⁴ May He give you and your children after you the same gift that He gave Abraham. May He give you the land that He gave Abraham, the land where you are now a stranger.” ⁵ Then Isaac sent Jacob away. And he went to Paddan-aram, to Laban, the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau’s mother.

⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had prayed for good to come to Jacob and that he had sent him away to Paddan-aram to find a wife. Esau knew that his father had prayed for good to come to Jacob and said, “Do not marry one of the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ Esau knew that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac. ⁹ So Esau went to Ishmael, and married Mahalath the daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, the sister of Nebaioth. He added her to the wives he already had.

Jacob’s Dream

¹⁰ Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹ He came to a certain place and stayed the night there, because the sun had gone down. He took one of the stones there and put it under his head for a pillow. ¹² And he had a dream. He saw steps going up from the earth to heaven. He saw the angels of God going up and down these steps. ¹³ And he saw the Lord standing above them. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham, and the God of Isaac. I will give to you and your children after you the land where you are lying. ¹⁴ They will be like the dust of the earth. You will spread out to the west and the east and the north and the south. Good will come to all the families of the earth because of you and your children. ¹⁵ See, I am with you. I will care for you everywhere you go. And I will bring you again to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done all the things I promised you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “For sure the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “This place is so different! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ So Jacob got up early in the morning. He took the stone he had used as a pillow, and set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on the top of it. ¹⁹ He gave that place the name Bethel. Its name had been Luz before. ²⁰ Then Jacob made a promise. He said, “If God will be with me and take care of me as I go, and if He will give me food to eat and clothes to wear, ²¹ so that I return in peace to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God. ²² I have set up this stone as a pillar to be God’s house. And I will give You a tenth part of all You give to me.”

Jacob Finds Laban

29 Then Jacob went on his way and came to the land of the people of the east. ² He looked up and saw a well in the field where three flocks of sheep were lying beside it. The people gave water to the flocks from that well. The stone covering the top of the well was large. ³ When all the flocks were gathered there, the men would roll the stone from the top of the well. Then after giving water to the sheep, they would put the stone again in its place on top of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” ⁵ He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” ⁶ He asked them, “Is he well?” They said, “He is well. And see, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep.” ⁷ Jacob said, “See, the sun is still high. It is not time for the flocks to be gathered. Give water to the sheep, and return them to their field.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered and they roll the stone from the top of the well. Then we will give the sheep water.”

⁹ He was still talking with them when Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she cared for them. ¹⁰ When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother’s brother Laban, Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the top of the well. And he gave water to the flock of his mother’s brother Laban. ¹¹ Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to cry for joy. ¹² Jacob told Rachel that he was of her father’s family, the son of Rebekah. And she ran and told her father.

¹³ When Laban heard the news of his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him. He put his arms around him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Then Jacob told Laban all these things. ¹⁴ Laban said to him, “For sure you are my bone and my flesh.” And Jacob stayed with him a month.

Jacob Works for Laban

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are one of my family, should you serve me for nothing? Tell me, what do you want to be paid?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters. The name of the older one was Leah, and the name of the younger one was Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah’s eyes were weak. But Rachel was beautiful in body and face. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel. So he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to another man. Stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel. It was only like a few days to him, because of his love for her.

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife so I may go in to her. For my time is finished.” ²² And Laban gathered all the men of the place together, and made a special supper. ²³ But in the evening he took his daughter Leah to him. Jacob went in to her. ²⁴ Laban also took Zilpah, a woman who served him, and gave her to his daughter Leah, to serve her.

²⁵ When the morning came, Jacob saw that it was Leah. He said to Laban, “What have you done to me? Did I not work for you for Rachel? Why have you fooled me?” ²⁶ Laban said, “It is not allowed in our country to give the younger in marriage before the first-born. ²⁷ Complete the wedding week of this one. Then we will give you the other one also if you work for me seven years more.” ²⁸ Jacob did so and completed her wedding week. And Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. ²⁹ Laban also took Bilhah, a woman who served him, and gave her to his daughter Rachel, to serve her. ³⁰ So Jacob went in to Rachel also. He loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban seven years more.

Jacob’s Children

³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, He made her able to give birth. But Rachel could not give birth. ³² Leah was able to have a child and she gave birth to a son. She gave him the name Reuben. For she said, “The Lord has seen my trouble. Now my husband will love me.” ³³ Then she was going to have another child and she gave birth to a son. She said, “The Lord has given me this son also, because He has heard that I am not loved.” So she gave him the name Simeon. ³⁴ She was going to have another child and she gave birth to a son. She said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me because I have given birth to his three sons.” So she gave him the name Levi. ³⁵ She was going to have another child and she gave birth to a son. And she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she gave him the name of Judah. Then she stopped giving birth.