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Sons of God and Daughters of Men
6 When mankind began to multiply on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God t saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful, and they took any they chose as wives u for themselves. v 3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain w with x mankind forever, y because they are corrupt. z a Their days will be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim b were on the earth both in those days and afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of mankind, who bore children to them. They were the powerful men of old, the famous men.
5 When the Lord saw that man’s wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time, c 6 the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, d and He was grieved in His heart. 7 Then the Lord said, “I will wipe off from the face of the earth mankind, whom I created, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” 8 Noah, however, found favor in the sight of the Lord. e
9 These are the family records f of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, g blameless among his contemporaries; h Noah walked with God. i 10 And Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness. j 12 God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth. k 13 Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness l because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.
14 “Make yourself an ark of gopher m wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside. 15 This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. n 16 You are to make a roof, o finishing the sides of the ark to within 18 inches p of the roof. You are to put a door in the side of the ark. Make it with lower, middle, and upper decks.
17 “Understand that I am bringing a flood—floodwaters on the earth q to destroy every creature under heaven with the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will die. 18 But I will establish My covenant with you, r and you will enter the ark with your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives. 19 You are also to bring into the ark two of all the living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of everything—from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from the animals that crawl on the ground according to their kinds—will come to you so that you can keep them alive. 21 Take with you every kind of food that is eaten; gather it as food for you and for them.” 22 And Noah did this. He did everything that God had commanded him. s
7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before Me in this generation. t 2 You are to take with you seven pairs, a male and its female, of all the * clean animals, u and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and its female, 3 and seven pairs, male and female, of the birds of the sky—in order to keep * offspring alive on the face of the whole earth. 4 Seven days from now I will make it rain on the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe off from the face of the earth every living thing I have made.” 5 And Noah did everything that the Lord commanded him. v
6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and water covered the earth. 7 So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the waters of the flood. 8 From the clean animals, * unclean animals, birds, and every creature that crawls on the ground, 9 two of each, male and female, entered the ark with Noah, just as God had commanded him. 10 Seven days later the waters of the flood came on the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the sources of the watery depths burst open, w the floodgates of the sky were opened, x 12 and the rain fell on the earth 40 days and 40 nights. 13 On that same day Noah along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, Noah’s wife, and his three sons’ wives entered the ark with him. 14 They entered it with all the wildlife according to their kinds, all livestock according to their kinds, the creatures that crawl on the earth according to their kinds, all birds, every fowl, and everything with wings according to their kinds. 15 Two of all flesh that has the breath of life in it entered the ark with Noah. 16 Those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered just as God had commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.
17 The flood continued for 40 days on the earth; the waters increased and lifted up the ark so that it rose above the earth. 18 The waters surged and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. 19 Then the waters surged even higher on the earth, and all the high mountains under the whole sky were covered. 20 The mountains were covered as the waters surged above them more than 20 feet. y 21 Every creature perished—those that crawl on the earth, birds, livestock, wildlife, and those that swarm z on the earth, as well as all mankind. 22 Everything with the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils a—everything on dry land died. 23 He wiped out every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark. b 24 And the waters surged on the earth 150 days.
8 God remembered Noah, c as well as all the wildlife and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind d to pass over the earth, e and the water began to subside. 2 The sources of the watery depths and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky stopped. f 3 The water steadily receded from the earth, and by the end of 150 days the waters had decreased significantly. g 4 The ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat. h i
5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were visible. 6 After 40 days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made, 7 and he sent out a raven. It went back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see whether the water on the earth’s surface had gone down, 9 but the dove found no resting place for her foot. She returned to him in the ark because water covered the surface of the whole earth. He reached out and brought her into the ark to himself. 10 So Noah waited seven more days and sent out the dove from the ark again. 11 When the dove came to him at evening, there was a plucked olive leaf in her beak. So Noah knew that the water on the earth’s surface had gone down. 12 After he had waited another seven days, he sent out the dove, but she did not return to him again. 13 In the six hundred and first year, j in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water that had covered the earth was dried up. Then Noah removed the ark’s cover and saw that the surface of the ground was drying. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was dry.
15 Then God spoke to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out all the living creatures k that are with you—birds, livestock, those that crawl on the ground—and they will spread over the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” l 18 So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out. 19 All wildlife, all livestock, every bird, and every creature that crawls on the earth came out of the ark by their groups.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. He took some of every kind of * clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered * burnt offerings on the altar. 21 When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, m He said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground n because of man, even though man’s inclination is evil from his youth. o And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done. p
22 As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, and day and night
will not cease.” q
9 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. r 2 The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority. s 3 Every living creature will be food for you; t as I gave the green plants, I have given you everything. u 4 However, you must not eat meat with its lifeblood in it. v 5 I will require the life of every animal w and every man for your life and your blood. I will require the life of each man’s brother for a man’s life. x
his blood will be shed by man, y
for God made man in His image. z
7 But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it.” a
8 Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, 9 “Understand that I am confirming My covenant b with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. 11 I confirm My covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by the waters of a flood; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” c
12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant d I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all future generations: 13 I have placed My bow in the clouds, e and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember My covenant f between Me and you and all the living creatures: g water will never again become a flood to destroy every creature. 16 The bow will be in the clouds, and I will look at it and remember the everlasting covenant h between God and all the living creatures i on earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have confirmed between Me and every creature on earth.”
Prophecies about Noah’s Family
18 Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated. j
20 Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant k a vineyard. 21 He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. l 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked.
24 When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said:
Canaan will be cursed. m
He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers. n
Praise the Lord, the God of Shem;
Canaan will be o his slave.
27 God will extend p Japheth;
he will dwell in the tents of Shem;
Canaan will be his slave.
28 Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood. 29 So Noah’s life lasted 950 years; then he died.
10 These are the family records q of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They also had sons after the flood.
2 Japheth’s sons: r Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 Gomer’s sons: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 And Javan’s sons: Elishah, Tarshish, s Kittim, and Dodanim. t 5 The coastland peoples spread out into their lands. These are Japheth’s sons by their clans, in their nations. Each group had its own language.
6 Ham’s sons: u Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 7 Cush’s sons: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And Raamah’s sons: Sheba and Dedan.
8 Cush fathered Nimrod, who was the first powerful man on earth. 9 He was a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord. That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord.” 10 His kingdom started with Babylon, v Erech, w Accad, x and Calneh, y in the land of * Shinar. z a 11 From that land he went to Assyria b and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, 12 and Resen, between Nineveh and the great city Calah.
13 Mizraim c d fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim (the Philistines came from them), and Caphtorim. e
15 Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn, then Heth, 16 the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, f 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the Canaanite clans scattered. 19 The Canaanite border went from Sidon going toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and going toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim as far as Lasha.
20 These are Ham’s sons, by their clans, according to their languages, in their own lands and their nations.
21 And Shem, Japheth’s older brother, also had sons. Shem was the father of all the sons of Eber. g 22 Shem’s sons h were Elam, Asshur, i Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.
23 Aram’s sons: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
24 Arpachshad fathered j Shelah, k and Shelah fathered Eber. 25 Eber had two sons. One was named Peleg, for during his days the earth was divided; l his brother was named Joktan. 26 And Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were Joktan’s sons. 30 Their settlements extended from Mesha to Sephar, the eastern hill country.
31 These are Shem’s sons by their clans, according to their languages, in their lands and their nations.
32 These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their family records, in their nations. The nations on earth spread out from these after the flood. m
11 At one time the whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. n 2 As people o migrated from the east, p they found a valley in the land of * Shinar and settled there. q 3 They said to each other, “Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.” They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar. r 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. s Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 Then the Lord came down t to look over the city and the tower that the * men were building. 6 The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let Us go down there and confuse u their language v so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” w 8 So from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth, x and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babylon, y z for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
10 These are the family records a of Shem. Shem lived 100 years and fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11 After he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 12 Arpachshad lived 35 years b and fathered Shelah. 13 After he fathered Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 14 Shelah lived 30 years and fathered Eber. 15 After he fathered Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 16 Eber lived 34 years and fathered Peleg. 17 After he fathered Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 18 Peleg lived 30 years and fathered Reu. 19 After he fathered Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 20 Reu lived 32 years and fathered Serug. 21 After he fathered Serug, Reu lived 207 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 22 Serug lived 30 years and fathered Nahor. 23 After he fathered Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 24 Nahor lived 29 years and fathered Terah. c 25 After he fathered Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 26 Terah lived 70 years and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 These are the family records of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. 28 Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans, during his father Terah’s lifetime. 29 Abram and Nahor took wives: Abram’s wife was named Sarai, d and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah. e She was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 Sarai was unable to conceive; f she did not have a child.
31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans g to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 Terah lived 205 years and died in Haran.
12 The Lord said to Abram:
Go out from your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you. h
2 I will make you into a great nation, i
I will bless you, j
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing. k l
3 I will bless those who bless you,
I will curse those who treat you with contempt, m
and all the peoples n on earth
will be blessed o through you. p q
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. r 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people he had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, s at the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your * offspring.” t So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to * Yahweh there, and he called on the name of Yahweh. u 9 Then Abram journeyed by stages to the * Negev.
10 There was a famine in the land, v so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine in the land was severe. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ They will kill me but let you live. w 13 Please say you’re my sister so it will go well for me because of you, and my life will be spared on your account.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household. 16 He treated Abram well because of her, and Abram acquired flocks and herds, male and female donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels.
17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai. x 18 So Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave his men orders about him, and they sent him away with his wife and all he had.
13 Then Abram went up from Egypt to the * Negev y—he, his wife, and all he had, and Lot with him. 2 Abram was very rich z in livestock, silver, and gold. 3 He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been, 4 to the site where he had built the altar. And Abram called on the name of * Yahweh there. a
5 Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. 6 But the land was unable to support them as long as they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they could not stay together, b 7 and there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. c At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land. d
8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, since we are relatives. e 9 Isn’t the whole land before you? Separate from me: if you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”
10 Lot looked out and saw that the entire Jordan Valley f as far as g Zoar h was well watered everywhere like the Lord’s garden i and the land of Egypt. This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. j 11 So Lot chose the entire Jordan Valley for himself. Then Lot journeyed eastward, and they separated from each other. 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot lived in the cities of the valley and set up his tent near Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were evil, sinning greatly k against the Lord. l
14 After Lot had separated from him, the Lord said to Abram, “Look from the place where you are. Look north and south, east and west, m 15 for I will give you and your * offspring forever all the land that you see. n 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, o so that if anyone could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Get up and walk around the land, through its length and width, for I will give it to you.”
18 So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the oaks of Mamre at Hebron, p where he built an altar to the Lord.
14 In those days Amraphel king of * Shinar, q Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, r s and Tidal t king of Goiim u 2 waged war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, v as well as the king of Bela (that is, Zoar w). 3 All of these came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea x). 4 They were subject to Chedorlaomer for 12 years, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim y in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, z the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites a in the mountains of Seir, as far as El-paran b by the wilderness. 7 Then they came back to invade En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh c), and they defeated all the territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar. d
8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and lined up for battle in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim contained many asphalt pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, e but the rest fled to the mountains. f 11 The four kings took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food and went on. 12 They also took Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, for he was living in Sodom, g and they went on.
13 One of the survivors came and told Abram the Hebrew, h who lived near the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner. They were bound by a treaty with i Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken prisoner, he assembled j his 318 trained men, born in his household, k and they went in pursuit as far as Dan. l 15 And he and his servants deployed against them by night, attacked them, and pursued them as far as Hobah to the north of Damascus. 16 He brought back all the goods and also his relative Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the other people.
17 After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley m). 18 Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, n o brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God * Most High. p 19 He blessed him and said:
Abram is blessed by God Most High,
Creator q of heaven and earth,
20 and I give praise to r God Most High
who has handed over your enemies to you.
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. s
21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, but take the possessions for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to * Yahweh, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take a thread or sandal strap or anything that belongs to you, so you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 I will take nothing t except what the servants have eaten. But as for the share of the men who came with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they can take their share.”
15 After these events, the word of the Lord came u to Abram in a vision:
Do not be afraid, v Abram.
I am your shield; w
your reward will be very great.
2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can You give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” x 3 Abram continued, “Look, You have given me no * offspring, so a slave born in y my house will be my heir.”
4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body z will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.” a
6 Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness. b
7 He also said to him, “I am * Yahweh who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” c
8 But he said, “Lord God, how can I know d that I will possess it?”
9 He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old cow, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
10 So he brought all these to Him, split them down the middle, and laid the pieces opposite each other, but he did not cut up the birds. e 11 Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. 12 As the sun was setting, a deep sleep f fell on Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.
13 Then the Lord said to Abram, g “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreigners h in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed i 400 years. j 14 However, I will judge the nation they serve, k and afterward they will go out with many possessions. l 15 But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. m 16 In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” n o
17 When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch appeared and passed between the divided animals. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, p from the brook of Egypt q to the Euphrates River: r 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.”
16 Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said. s 3 So Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan 10 years. 4 He slept with t Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she treated her mistress with contempt. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering! u I put my slave in your arms, v and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the Lord judge between me and you.” w
6 Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your hands; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.
7 The Angel of the Lord x found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”
She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”
9 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “You must go back to your mistress and submit to her mistreatment.” y 10 The Angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will greatly multiply your * offspring, z and they will be too many to count.”
11 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her:
You have conceived and will have a son.
You will name him Ishmael, a
for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction.
12 This man will be like a wild donkey.
His hand will be against everyone,
and everyone’s hand will be against him;
he will live at odds with b all his brothers. c
13 So she called the Lord who spoke to her: The God Who Sees, d for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen e the One who sees me?” f 14 That is why she named the spring, “A Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.” g It is located between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar gave birth to Abram’s son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son Hagar had. 16 Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.
17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am * God Almighty. h Live in My presence and be blameless. i 2 I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you greatly.”
3 Then Abram fell facedown and God spoke with him: 4 “As for Me, My covenant is with you: you will become the father of many nations. j 5 Your name will no longer be Abram, k but your name will be Abraham, l for I will make you the father of many nations. m 6 I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. 7 I will keep My covenant between Me and you, and your future * offspring throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant n to be your God and the God of your offspring after you. o 8 And to you and your future offspring p I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as an eternal possession, q and I will be their God.”
9 God also said to Abraham, “As for you, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations are to keep My covenant. 10 This is My covenant, which you are to keep, between Me and you and your offspring after you: Every one of your males must be circumcised. 11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and you. r s 12 Throughout your generations, every male among you at eight days old is to be circumcised. t This includes a slave born in your house and one purchased with money from any foreigner. The one who is not your offspring, 13 a slave born in your house, as well as one purchased with money, must be circumcised. My covenant will be marked in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. 14 If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
15 God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah u will be her name. 16 I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. v I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed w and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?” 18 So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to You!” x
19 But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. y I will confirm My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his future offspring. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father 12 tribal leaders, z and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will confirm My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.” a 22 When He finished talking with him, God withdrew b from Abraham. c
23 Then Abraham took his son Ishmael and all the slaves born in his house or purchased with his money—every male among the members of Abraham’s household—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin on that very day, just as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was 99 years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was 13 years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised. 26 On that same day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his household—both slaves born in his house and those purchased with money from a foreigner—were circumcised with him.
18 Then the Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre d while he was sitting in the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. 2 He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him. e When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed to the ground. 3 Then he said, “My lord, f if I have found favor in your sight, please do not go on past your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. g This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.”
“Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Knead three measures h of fine flour and make bread.” i 7 Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it. 8 Then Abraham took curds j and milk, and the calf that he had prepared, and set them before the men. He served k them as they ate under the tree.
9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
“There, in the tent,” he answered.
10 The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” l Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.
11 Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. m Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. n o 12 So she laughed to herself: “After I have become shriveled up and my lord is old, will I have delight?” p
13 But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ 14 Is anything impossible for the Lord? q At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”
15 Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid.
But He replied, “No, you did laugh.”
16 The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off. 17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham? r 18 Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. s 19 For I have chosen t him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what He promised him.” 20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious. 21 I will go down u to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to Me. If not, I will find out.”
22 The men turned from there and went toward Sodom v while Abraham remained standing before the Lord. w 23 Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? x 24 What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people who are in it? 25 You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won’t the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” y
26 The Lord said, “If I find 50 righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” z
27 Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord—even though I am dust and ashes— 28 suppose the 50 righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?”
He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find 45 there.”
29 Then he spoke to Him again, “Suppose 40 are found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it on account of 40.”
30 Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak further. Suppose 30 are found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find 30 there.”
31 Then he said, “Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose 20 are found there?”
He replied, “I will not destroy it on account of 20.”
32 Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time. a Suppose 10 are found there?”
He answered, “I will not destroy it on account of 10.” 33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned to his place.
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
19 The two angels entered Sodom b in the evening as Lot was sitting at Sodom’s * gate. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them. He bowed with his face to the ground 2 and said, “My lords, turn aside to your servant’s house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and go on your way.”
“No,” they said. “We would rather spend the night in the square.” 3 But he urged them so strongly that they followed him and went into his house. He prepared a feast and baked unleavened bread for them, and they ate.
4 Before they went to bed, the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, the whole population, surrounded the house. 5 They called out to Lot and said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have sex with them!” c
6 Lot went out to them at the entrance and shut the door behind him. 7 He said, “Don’t do this evil, my brothers. 8 Look, I’ve got two daughters who haven’t had sexual relations with a man. d I’ll bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want e to them. However, don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 “Get out of the way!” they said, adding, “This one came here as a foreigner, but he’s acting like a judge! f Now we’ll do more harm to you than to them.” They put pressure on Lot and came up to break down the door. 10 But the angels g reached out, brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 They struck the men who were at the entrance of the house, both young and old, with a blinding light so that they were unable to find the entrance. h
12 Then the angels i said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here: a son-in-law, your sons and daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of this place, 13 for we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people is so great before the Lord, that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” j
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to marry k his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city!” l But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 At daybreak the angels urged Lot on: “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment m of the city.” 16 But he hesitated. Because of the Lord’s compassion for him, the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters. Then they brought him out and left him outside the city.
17 As soon as the angels got them outside, one of them n said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere on the plain! Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords o—please. 19 Your servant has indeed found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness by saving my life. But I can’t run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die. 20 Look, this town is close enough for me to run to. It is a small place. Please let me go there—it’s only a small place, isn’t it?—so that I can survive.”
21 And he said to him, “All right, p I’ll grant your request q about this matter too and will not demolish the town you mentioned. 22 Hurry up! Run there, for I cannot do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city is Zoar. r s
23 The sun had risen over the land when Lot reached Zoar. 24 Then out of the sky the Lord rained burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord. t 25 He demolished these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. 26 But his wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. u
27 Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. v 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace. 29 So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when He demolished the cities where Lot had lived.
30 Lot departed from Zoar and lived in the mountains along with his two daughters, because he was afraid to live in Zoar. Instead, he and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us as is the custom of all the land. 32 Come, let’s get our father to drink wine so that we can sleep with him and preserve our father’s line.” 33 So they got their father to drink wine that night, and the firstborn came and slept with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight so you can go sleep with him and we can preserve our father’s line.” 35 That night they again got their father to drink wine, and the younger went and slept with him; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab. w He is the father of the Moabites of today. x 38 The younger also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi. y He is the father of the Ammonites of today. z
20 From there Abraham traveled to the region of the * Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived in Gerar, a 2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” b So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.” c
4 Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent? 5 Didn’t he himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I did this with a clear conscience d and * clean e hands.”
6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience. f I have also kept you from sinning against Me. Therefore I have not let you touch her. 7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, g and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”
8 Early in the morning Abimelech got up, called all his servants together, and personally h told them all these things, and the men were terrified.
9 Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said to him, “What have you done to us? How did I sin against you that you have brought such enormous * guilt on me and on my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.” i 10 Abimelech also said to Abraham, “What did you intend when you did this thing?”
11 Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘There is absolutely no * fear of God in this place. j They will kill me because of my wife.’ 12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13 So when God had me wander from my father’s house, k I said to her: Show your loyalty to me wherever we go and say about me: ‘He’s my brother.’ ” l
14 Then Abimelech took sheep and cattle and male and female slaves, gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him. 15 Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you. m Settle wherever you want.” n 16 And he said to Sarah, “Look, I am giving your brother 1,000 pieces of silver. It is a verification of your honor o to all who are with you. You are fully vindicated.”
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, p and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they could bear children, 18 for the Lord had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household on account of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
21 The Lord came to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised. q 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him. r 3 Abraham named his son who was born to him—the one Sarah bore to him—Isaac. s 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him. t 5 Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. u
6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.” v w 7 She also said, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him x in his old age.”
8 The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son mocking y—the one Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham. z 10 So she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a coheir with my son Isaac!” a
11 Now this was a very difficult thing for b Abraham because of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be concerned c about the boy and your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your * offspring will be traced through Isaac. d 13 But I will also make a nation of the slave’s son e because he is your offspring.”
14 Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. f She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” So as she sat nearby, she g wept loudly. h
17 God heard the voice of the boy, and the i angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy from the place where he is. 18 Get up, help the boy up, and support him, for I will make him a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, j and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy, and he grew; he settled in the wilderness and became an archer. 21 He settled in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Abraham’s Covenant with Abimelech
22 At that time Abimelech, accompanied by Phicol the commander of his army, k said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. l 23 Swear to me by God here and now, that you will not break an agreement with me or with my children and descendants. As I have been loyal to you, so you will be loyal to me and to the country where you are a foreign resident.”
24 And Abraham said, “I swear it.” 25 But Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the water well that Abimelech’s servants had seized. m
26 Abimelech replied, “I don’t know who did this thing. You didn’t report anything to me, so I hadn’t heard about it until today.”
27 Abraham took sheep and cattle n and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. o 28 Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from the flock. 29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “Why have you separated these seven ewe lambs?”
30 He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand so that this act p will serve as my witness that I dug this well.” 31 Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba q r because it was there that the two of them swore an oath. 32 After they had made a covenant at Beer-sheba, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, left and returned to the land of the Philistines.
33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and there he called on the name of * Yahweh, the Everlasting God. s 34 And Abraham lived as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines for many days.
22 After these things God tested Abraham t and said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he answered.
2 “Take your son,” He said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, u go to the land of Moriah, v and offer him there as a * burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”
3 So Abraham got up early in the morning, w saddled his donkey, and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day x Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship; then we’ll come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac. y In his hand he took the fire and the sacrificial knife, z and the two of them walked on together.
7 Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said, “My father.”
And he replied, “Here I am, my son.”
Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide a b the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” Then the two of them walked on together.
9 When they arrived at the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac c and placed him on the altar d on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
He replied, “Here I am.”
12 Then He said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you * fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me.” e 13 Abraham looked up and saw a ram f caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 And Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide, g so today it is said: “It will be provided h on the Lord’s mountain.”
15 Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “By Myself I have sworn,” i this is the Lord’s declaration: “Because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, j 17 I will indeed bless you k and make your * offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky l and the sand on the seashore. m Your offspring will possess the gates of their enemies. n 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed o by your offspring p because you have obeyed My command.”
19 Abraham went back to his young men, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba. And Abraham settled in Beer-sheba.
20 Now after these things Abraham was told, “Milcah also has borne sons to your brother Nahor: q 21 Uz his firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 And Bethuel fathered Rebekah. r Milcah bore these eight to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
23 Now Sarah lived 127 years; these were all the years of her life. 2 Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron s) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3 Then Abraham got up from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites: t 4 “I am a foreign resident among you. u Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.” v w
5 The Hittites replied to Abraham, x 6 “Listen to us, lord. y You are God’s chosen one z among us. Bury your dead in our finest burial place. a None of us will withhold from you his burial place for burying your dead.”
7 Then Abraham rose and bowed down to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8 He said to them, “If you are willing for me to bury my dead, listen to me and ask Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf 9 to give me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me in your presence, for the full price, as a burial place.”
10 Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. So in the presence b of all the Hittites who came to the * gate of his city, c Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham: 11 “No, my lord. Listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence d of my people. Bury your dead.”
12 Abraham bowed down to the people of the land 13 and said to Ephron in the presence e of the people of the land, “Please listen to me. Let me pay the price of the field. Accept it from me, and let me bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham and said to him, 15 “My lord, listen to me. Land worth 400 * shekels of silver f—what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” 16 Abraham agreed with Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had agreed to in the presence g of the Hittites: 400 shekels of silver at the current commercial rate. h 17 So Ephron’s field i at Machpelah near Mamre—the field with its cave and all the trees anywhere within the boundaries of the field—became 18 Abraham’s possession in the presence of all the Hittites who came to the gate of his city. 19 After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20 The field with its cave passed from the Hittites to Abraham j as a burial place.
24 Abraham was now old, getting on in years, k l and the Lord had blessed him in everything. 2 Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his household who managed all he owned, “Place your hand under my thigh, m 3 and I will have you swear by the Lord, God of heaven and God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I live, n 4 but will go to my land and my family to take a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Should I have your son go back to the land you came from?”
6 Abraham answered him, “Make sure that you don’t take my son back there. 7 The Lord, the God of heaven, o who took me from my father’s house and from my native land, p who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘I will give this land to your * offspring’ q—He will send His angel before you, r and you can take a wife for my son from there. 8 If the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are free from this oath to me, s but don’t let my son go back there.” 9 So the servant placed his hand under his master Abraham’s thigh and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
10 The servant took 10 of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of his master’s goods in hand. Then he set out for Nahor’s town Aram-naharaim. 11 He made the camels kneel beside a well of water outside the town at evening. This was the time when the women went out to draw water.
12 “Lord, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “give me success today, t and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13 I am standing here u at the spring where the daughters of the men of the town are coming out to draw water. 14 Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please lower your water jug so that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. By this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
15 Before he had finished speaking, there was Rebekah—daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, v the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor—coming with a jug on her shoulder. 16 Now the girl was very beautiful, w a young woman who had not known a man intimately. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up. 17 Then the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me have a little water from your jug.”
18 She replied, “Drink, my lord.” She quickly lowered her jug to her hand and gave him a drink. 19 When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I’ll also draw water for your camels until they have had enough to drink.” x 20 She quickly emptied her jug into the trough and hurried to the well again to draw water. She drew water for all his camels 21 while the man silently watched her to see whether or not the Lord had made his journey a success.
22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took a gold ring weighing half a * shekel, and for her wrists two bracelets weighing 10 shekels of gold. 23 “Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24 She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.” 25 She also said to him, “We have plenty of straw and feed and a place to spend the night.”
26 Then the man bowed down, worshiped the Lord, y 27 and said, “Praise the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master. z As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
28 The girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things. 29 Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, a and Laban ran out to the man at the spring. 30 As soon as he had seen the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he had heard his sister Rebekah’s words—“The man said this to me!”—he went to the man. He was standing there by the camels at the spring.
31 Laban said, “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord. b Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” 32 So the man came to the house, and the camels were unloaded. c Straw and feed were given to the camels, and water was brought to wash his feet and the feet of the men with him.
33 A meal was set before him, but he said, “I will not eat until I have said what I have to say.”
So Laban said, “Please speak.”
34 “I am Abraham’s servant,” he said. 35 “The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become rich. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys. 36 Sarah, my master’s wife, bore a son to my master in her d old age, e and he has given him everything he owns. f 37 My master put me under this oath: ‘You will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I live 38 but will go to my father’s household and to my family to take a wife for my son.’ 39 But I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman will not come back with me?’ 40 He said to me, ‘The Lord before whom I have walked g will send His angel with you and make your journey a success, and you will take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s household. 41 Then you will be free from my oath if you go to my family and they do not give her to you—you will be free from my oath.’
42 “Today when I came to the spring, I prayed: Lord, God of my master Abraham, if only You will make my journey successful! 43 I am standing here at a spring. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, and I say to her: Please let me drink a little water from your jug, 44 and who responds to me, ‘Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels also’—let her be the woman the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.
45 “Before I had finished praying silently, h there was Rebekah coming with her jug on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her: Please let me have a drink. 46 She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels. 47 Then I asked her: Whose daughter are you? She responded, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose i and the bracelets on her wrists. 48 Then I bowed down, worshiped the Lord, and praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who guided me on the right way to take the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son. 49 Now, if you are going to show kindness and faithfulness to my master, j tell me; if not, tell me, and I will go elsewhere.” k
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord; we have no choice in the matter. l m 51 Rebekah is here in front of you. Take her and go, and let her be a wife for your master’s son, just as the Lord has spoken.”
52 When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed to the ground before the Lord. 53 Then he brought out objects of silver and gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother. 54 Then he and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night.
When they got up in the morning, he said, “Send me to my master.”
55 But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay with us for about 10 days. n Then she o can go.”
56 But he responded to them, “Do not delay me, since the Lord has made my journey a success. Send me away so that I may go to my master.”
57 So they said, “Let’s call the girl and ask her opinion.” p
58 They called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?”
She replied, “I will go.” 59 So they sent away their sister Rebekah with the one who had nursed and raised her, q r and Abraham’s servant and his men.
60 They blessed Rebekah, saying to her:
Our sister, may you become
thousands upon ten thousands. s
May your offspring possess
the gates of their t enemies. u
61 Then Rebekah and her female servants got up, mounted the camels, and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
62 Now Isaac was returning from Beer-lahai-roi, v w for he was living in the * Negev region. 63 In the early evening Isaac went out to walk x in the field, and looking up he saw camels coming. 64 Rebekah looked up, and when she saw Isaac, she got down from her camel 65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”
The servant answered, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself. 66 Then the servant told Isaac everything he had done.
67 And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah to be his wife. Isaac loved her, and he was comforted after his mother’s death. y
25 Now Abraham had taken another wife, whose name was Keturah, z 2 and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were the Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 And Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were sons of Keturah. 5 Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac. a 6 And Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines, but while he was still alive he sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac, to the land of the East. b
7 This is the length of Abraham’s life: c 175 years. 8 He took his last breath and died at a ripe old age, d old and contented, e and he was gathered to his people. f 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah g near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. 10 This was the field that Abraham bought from the Hittites. h Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi. i
12 These are the family records j of Abraham’s son Ishmael, k whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham. 13 These are the names of Ishmael’s sons; their names according to the family records are: Nebaioth, Ishmael’s firstborn, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These are Ishmael’s sons, and these are their names by their villages and encampments: 12 leaders l m of their clans. n 17 This is the length o of Ishmael’s life: 137 years. He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people. 18 And they p settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt as you go toward Asshur. He q lived in opposition to r all his brothers. s
19 These are the family records of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac. t 20 Isaac was 40 years old when he took as his wife Rebekah u daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram v and sister of Laban the Aramean. w 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. x The Lord heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. y 22 But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” z So she went to inquire of the Lord. a 23 And the Lord said to her:
Two nations are in your womb;
two people will come from you and be separated.
One people will be stronger than the other, b
and the older will serve the younger. c
24 When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. 25 The first one came out red-looking, d covered with hair e like a fur coat, and they named him Esau. f 26 After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand. g So he was named Jacob. h i Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman, j but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. k 28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. l
29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted. 30 He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.” That is why he was also named Edom. m
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”
33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him. 34 Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright. n
The Promise Reaffirmed to Isaac
26 There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. o And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar. p 2 The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; 3 stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. q For I will give all these lands to you and your * offspring, r and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. s 4 I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed t by your offspring, u 5 because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions.” v 6 So Isaac settled in Gerar.
7 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” w for he was afraid to say “my wife,” thinking, x “The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman.” y 8 When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see z Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.
9 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”
10 Then Abimelech said, “What is this you’ve done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought * guilt on us.” a 11 So Abimelech warned all the people with these words: “Whoever harms this man or his wife will certainly die.”
12 Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in that year he reaped b a hundred times what was sown. The Lord blessed him, c 13 and the man became rich and kept getting richer until he was very wealthy. 14 He had flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves, and the Philistines were envious of him. 15 The Philistines stopped up all the wells that his father’s slaves had dug in the days of his father Abraham, d filling them with dirt. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us, for you are much too powerful for us.” e
17 So Isaac left there, camped in the Valley of Gerar, and lived there. 18 Isaac reopened the water wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. He gave them the same names his father had given them. 19 Then Isaac’s slaves dug in the valley and found a well of spring f water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Quarrel g because they quarreled with him. h 21 Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also, so he named it Hostility. i 22 He moved from there and dug another, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Open Spaces j and said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”
23 From there he went up to Beer-sheba, 24 and the Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. k Do not be afraid, for I am with you. l I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of My servant Abraham.”
25 So he built an altar there, m called on the name of * Yahweh, and pitched his tent there. Isaac’s slaves also dug a well there. n
26 Now Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army. o 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me? You hated me and sent me away from you.”
28 They replied, “We have clearly seen how the Lord has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties—between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you: 29 You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have only done what was good to you, sending you away in peace. You are now blessed by the Lord.” p
30 So he prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. 31 They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other. q r Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace. 32 On that same day Isaac’s slaves came to tell him about the well they had dug, saying to him, “We have found water!” s 33 He called it Sheba. t Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba u v to this day.
34 When Esau was 40 years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. w 35 They made life bitter x for Isaac and Rebekah. y
27 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could not see, z he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.”
And he answered, “Here I am.”
2 He said, “Look, I am old and do not know the day of my death. 3 Take your hunting gear, your quiver and bow, and go out in the field to hunt some game for me. a 4 Then make me a delicious meal that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I can bless you before I die.” b
5 Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac said to his son Esau. So while Esau went to the field to hunt some game to bring in, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Listen! I heard your father talking with your brother Esau. He said, 7 ‘Bring me the game and make a delicious meal for me to eat so that I can bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ 8 Now obey every order I give you, my son. 9 Go to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, and I will make them into a delicious meal for your father—the kind he loves. 10 Then take it to your father to eat so that he may bless you before he dies.”
11 Jacob answered Rebekah his mother, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am a man with smooth skin. c 12 Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.”
13 His mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey me and go get them for me.”
14 So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food his father loved. 15 Then Rebekah took the best clothes of her older son Esau, which were in the house, and had her younger son Jacob wear them. 16 She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. 17 Then she handed the delicious food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob.
18 When he came to his father, he said, “My father.”
And he answered, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”
19 Jacob replied 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.”
20 But Isaac said to his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?”
He replied, “Because the Lord your God worked it out for me.”
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau or not?”
22 So Jacob came closer to his father Isaac. When he touched him, he said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23 He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him. 24 Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”
And he replied, “I am.”
25 Then he said, “Serve me, and let me eat some of my son’s game so that I can bless you.” Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; he brought him wine, and he drank.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come closer and kiss me, my son.” 27 So he came closer and kissed him. When Isaac smelled d his clothes, he blessed him and said:
Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the Lord has blessed.
from the dew of the sky e
and from the richness of the land f—
an abundance of grain and new wine. g
29 May peoples serve you h
and nations bow down to you.
Be master over your brothers;
may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Those who curse you will be cursed,
and those who bless you will be blessed. i
30 As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob and Jacob had left the presence of his father Isaac, his brother Esau arrived from the hunt. 31 He had also made some delicious food and brought it to his father. Then he said to his father, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”
32 But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”
He answered, “I am Esau your firstborn son.”
33 Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. “Who was it then,” he said, “who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!”
34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, my father!” j
35 But he replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36 So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? k l For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
37 But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him a master over you, have given him all of his relatives as his servants, and have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then can I do for you, my son?”
38 Esau said to his father, “Do you only have one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly. m
39 Then his father Isaac answered him:
Look, your dwelling place will be
away from the richness of the land,
away from the dew of the sky above.
40 You will live by your sword,
and you will serve your brother.
But when you rebel, n
you will break his yoke from your neck.
41 Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart: “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42 When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Listen, your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you. 43 So now, my son, listen to me. Flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran, 44 and stay with him for a few days until your brother’s anger subsides— 45 until your brother’s rage turns away from you and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”
46 So Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m sick of my life because of these Hittite women. o If Jacob marries a Hittite woman like one of them, p what good is my life?” q
28 Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him: “Don’t take a wife from the Canaanite women. 2 Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father. Marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May * God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you r so that you become an assembly of peoples. s 4 May God give you and your * offspring the blessing of Abraham t so that you may possess the land where you live as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.” u 5 So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
6 Esau noticed that Isaac blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to get a wife there. When he blessed him, Isaac commanded Jacob, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman.” 7 And Jacob listened to his father and mother and went to Paddan-aram. 8 Esau realized that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women, v 9 so Esau went to Ishmael and married, in addition to his other wives, Mahalath daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son. She was the sister of Nebaioth.
10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed: w A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it. x 13 * Yahweh was standing there beside him, y saying, “I am Yahweh, z the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land that you are now sleeping on. 14 Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, a and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. b 15 Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, c for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” d 17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”
18 Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it 19 and named the place Bethel, e though previously the city was named Luz. f 20 Then Jacob made a vow: g “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, if He provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, 21 and if I return safely to my father’s house, h then the Lord will be my God. i 22 This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to You a tenth of all that You give me.” j
29 Jacob resumed his journey k and went to the eastern country. l m 2 He looked and saw a well in a field. Three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it because the sheep were watered from this well. A large stone covered the opening of the well. 3 When all the flocks n were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the opening of the well and water the sheep. The stone was then placed back on the well’s opening.
4 Jacob asked the men at the well, “My brothers! Where are you from?”
“We’re from Haran,” they answered.
5 “Do you know Laban grandson of Nahor?” Jacob asked them.
They answered, “We know him.”
“Yes,” they said, “and here is his daughter Rachel, coming with his sheep.”
7 Then Jacob said, “Look, it is still broad daylight. It’s not time for the animals to be gathered. Water the flock, then go out and let them graze.”
8 But they replied, “We can’t until all the flocks have been gathered and the stone is rolled from the well’s opening. Then we will water the sheep.”
9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10 As soon as Jacob saw his uncle Laban’s daughter Rachel with his sheep, o he went up and rolled the stone from the opening and watered his uncle Laban’s sheep. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept loudly. p 12 He told Rachel that he was her father’s relative, Rebekah’s son. She ran and told her father.
13 When Laban heard the news about his sister’s son Jacob, he ran to meet him, hugged him, and kissed him. Then he took him to his house, and Jacob told him all that had happened.
14 Laban said to him, “Yes, you are my own flesh and blood.” q r
After Jacob had stayed with him a month, 15 Laban said to him, “Just because you’re my relative, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be.”
16 Now Laban had two daughters: the older was named Leah, and the younger was named Rachel. 17 Leah had ordinary s eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful. 18 Jacob loved Rachel, so he answered Laban, “I’ll work for you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” t
19 Laban replied, “Better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay with me.” 20 So Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.
21 Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is completed. I want to sleep with u her.” 22 So Laban invited all the men of the place to a feast. 23 That evening, Laban took his daughter Leah and gave her to Jacob, and he slept with her. 24 And Laban gave his slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her slave.
25 When morning came, there was Leah! So he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Wasn’t it for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?”
26 Laban answered, “It is not the custom in this place to give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. 27 Complete this week of wedding celebration, and we will also give you this younger one in return for working yet another seven years for me.”
28 And Jacob did just that. He finished the week of celebration, and Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. 29 And Laban gave his slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave. 30 Jacob slept with Rachel also, and indeed, he loved Rachel more than Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years. v
31 When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, w He opened her womb; x but Rachel was unable to conceive. y 32 Leah conceived, gave birth to a son, and named him Reuben, z for she said, “The Lord has seen my affliction; a surely my husband will love me now.”
33 She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “The Lord heard that I am unloved and has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. b
34 She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “At last, my husband will become attached to me because I have borne three sons for him.” Therefore he was named Levi. c
35 And she conceived again, gave birth to a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him Judah. d e Then Leah stopped having children.
30 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. “Give me sons, or I will die!” f she said to Jacob.
2 Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in God’s place, who has withheld children g from you?”
3 Then she said, “Here is my slave Bilhah. Go sleep with her, and she’ll bear children for me h i so that through her I too can build a family.” 4 So Rachel gave her slave Bilhah to Jacob as a wife, and he slept with her. 5 Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. 6 Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; yes, He has heard me and given me a son,” and she named him Dan. j
7 Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. 8 Rachel said, “In my wrestlings with God, k I have wrestled with my sister and won,” and she named him Naphtali. l
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. 10 Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. 11 Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” m and she named him Gad. n
12 When Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son, 13 Leah said, “I am happy that the women call me happy,” o so she named him Asher. p
14 Reuben went out during the wheat harvest and found some mandrakes in the field. q When he brought them to his mother Leah, Rachel asked, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 But Leah replied to her, “Isn’t it enough that you have taken my husband? Now you also want to take my son’s mandrakes?”
“Well,” Rachel said, “you can sleep with him tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 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 Jacob slept with her that night.
17 God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. 18 Leah said, “God has rewarded me for giving my slave to my husband,” and she named him Issachar. r
19 Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son. 20 “God has given me a good gift,” Leah said. “This time my husband will honor me because I have borne six sons for him,” and she named him Zebulun. s 21 Later, Leah bore a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb. t 23 She conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my shame.” u 24 She named him Joseph: v “May the Lord add another son to me.” w
25 After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so that I can return to my homeland. 26 Give me my wives and my children that I have worked for, and let me go. x You know how hard I have worked for you.”
27 But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, stay. I have learned by * divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.” 28 Then Laban said, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.” y
29 So Jacob said to him, “You know what I have done for you and your herds. z 30 For you had very little before I came, but now your wealth has increased. The Lord has blessed you because of me. And now, when will I also do something for my own family?”
31 Laban asked, “What should I give you?”
And Jacob said, “You don’t need to give me anything. If you do this one thing for me, I will continue to shepherd and keep your flock. 32 Let me go through all your sheep today and remove every sheep that is speckled or spotted, every dark-colored sheep among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the female goats. Such will be my wages. 33 In the future when you come to check on my wages, my honesty will testify for me. If I have any female goats that are not speckled or spotted, or any lambs that are not black, they will be considered stolen.”
34 “Good,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.”
35 That day Laban removed the streaked and spotted male goats and all the speckled and spotted female goats—every one that had any white on it—and every dark-colored one among the lambs, and he placed his sons in charge of them. 36 He put a three-day journey between himself and Jacob. Jacob, meanwhile, was shepherding the rest of Laban’s flock.
37 Jacob then took branches of fresh poplar, almond, and plane wood, and peeled the bark, exposing white stripes on the branches. 38 He set the peeled branches in the troughs in front of the sheep—in the water channels where the sheep came to drink. And the sheep bred when they came to drink. 39 The flocks bred in front of the branches and bore streaked, speckled, and spotted young. a 40 Jacob separated the lambs and made the flocks face the streaked and the completely dark sheep in Laban’s flocks. Then he set his own stock apart and didn’t put them with Laban’s sheep.
41 Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding, Jacob placed the branches in the troughs, in full view of the flocks, and they would breed in front of the branches. 42 As for the weaklings of the flocks, he did not put out the branches. So it turned out that the weak sheep belonged to Laban and the stronger ones to Jacob. 43 And the man became very rich. b He had many flocks, male and female slaves, and camels and donkeys. c
31 Now Jacob heard what Laban’s sons were saying: “Jacob has taken all that was our father’s and has built this wealth from what belonged to our father.” 2 And Jacob saw from Laban’s face that his attitude toward him was not the same.
3 Then the Lord said to him, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your family, and I will be with you.” d
4 Jacob had Rachel and Leah called to the field where his flocks were. 5 He said to them, “I can see from your father’s face that his attitude toward me is not the same, but the God of my father has been with me. 6 You know that I’ve worked hard e for your father f 7 and that he has cheated me and changed my wages 10 times. But God has not let him harm me. 8 If he said, ‘The spotted sheep will be your wages,’ then all the sheep were born spotted. If he said, ‘The streaked sheep will be your wages,’ then all the sheep were born streaked. g 9 God has taken away your father’s herds and given them to me.
10 “When the flocks were breeding, I saw in a dream that the streaked, spotted, and speckled males were mating with the females. 11 In that dream the Angel of God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ and I said, ‘Here I am.’ 12 And He said, ‘Look up and see: all the males that are mating with the flocks are streaked, spotted, and speckled, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. h 13 I am the God of Bethel, where you poured oil on the stone marker and made a solemn vow to Me. i Get up, leave this land, and return to your native land.’ ”
14 Then Rachel and Leah answered him, “Do we have any portion or inheritance in our father’s household? 15 Are we not regarded by him as outsiders? For he has sold us j and has certainly spent our money. 16 In fact, all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has said to you.”
17 Then Jacob got up and put his children and wives on the camels. 18 He took all the livestock and possessions he had acquired in Paddan-aram, and he drove his herds to go to the land of his father Isaac in Canaan. 19 When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household idols. k 20 And Jacob deceived l Laban the Aramean, not telling him that he was fleeing. 21 He fled with all his possessions, crossed the Euphrates, and headed for m the hill country of Gilead.
22 On the third day Laban was told that Jacob had fled. 23 So he took his relatives with him, pursued Jacob for seven days, and overtook him at Mount Gilead. 24 But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night. “Watch yourself!” God warned him. “Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.” n
25 When Laban overtook Jacob, Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban and his brothers also pitched their tents in the hill country of Gilead. 26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and taken my daughters away like prisoners of war! 27 Why did you secretly flee from me, deceive me, and not tell me? I would have sent you away with joy and singing, with tambourines and lyres, 28 but you didn’t even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters. You have acted foolishly. 29 I could do you great harm, but last night the God of your father said to me: ‘Watch yourself. Don’t say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.’ 30 Now you have gone off because you long for your father—but why have you stolen my gods?” o
31 Jacob answered, “I was afraid, for I thought you would take your daughters from me by force. 32 If you find your gods with anyone here, he will not live! p Before our relatives, point out anything that is yours and take it.” Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.
33 So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two female slaves, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s. 34 Now Rachel had taken Laban’s household idols, put them in the saddlebag of the camel, and sat on them. Laban searched the whole tent but found nothing.
35 She said to her father, “Sir, don’t be angry that I cannot stand up in your presence; q I am having my period.” So Laban searched, but could not find the household idols.
36 Then Jacob became incensed and brought charges against Laban. “What is my crime?” he said to Laban. “What is my sin, that you have pursued me? 37 You’ve searched all my possessions! Have you found anything of yours? Put it here before my relatives and yours, and let them decide between the two of us. 38 I’ve been with you these 20 years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten the rams from your flock. 39 I did not bring you any of the flock torn by wild beasts; I myself bore the loss. You demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or by night. 40 There I was—the heat consumed me by day and the frost by night, and sleep fled from my eyes. 41 For 20 years I have worked in your household—14 years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks r—and you have changed my wages 10 times! 42 If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, certainly now you would have sent me off empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and my hard work, s and He issued His verdict last night.”
43 Then Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters; the sons, my sons; and the flocks, my flocks! Everything you see is mine! But what can I do today for these daughters of mine or for the children they have borne? 44 Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I. t Let it be a witness between the two of us.”
45 So Jacob picked out a stone and set it up as a marker. u 46 Then Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a mound, then ate there by the mound. 47 Laban named the mound Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed. v
48 Then Laban said, “This mound is a witness between you and me today.” Therefore the place was called Galeed 49 and also Mizpah, w x for he said, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are out of each other’s sight. 50 If you mistreat my daughters or take other wives, though no one is with us, understand that God will be a witness between you and me.” y 51 Laban also said to Jacob, “Look at this mound and the marker I have set up between you and me. 52 This mound is a witness and the marker is a witness that I will not pass beyond this mound to you, and you will not pass beyond this mound and this marker to do me harm. 53 The God of Abraham, and the gods z of Nahor—the gods of their father a—will judge between us.” And Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac. 54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. So they ate a meal and spent the night on the mountain. 55 b Laban got up early in the morning, kissed his grandchildren and daughters, and blessed them. Then Laban left to return home.
32 Jacob went on his way, and God’s angels met him. c 2 When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp.” So he called that place Mahanaim. d e
3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4 He commanded them, “You are to say to my lord Esau, ‘This is what your servant Jacob says. I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed until now. 5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves. I have sent this message to inform my lord, in order to seek your favor.’ ” f
6 When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you—and he has 400 men with him.” g 7 Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; he divided the people with him into two camps, along with the flocks, cattle, and camels. 8 He thought, “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining one can escape.” h
9 Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, i the Lord who said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your family, and I will cause you to prosper,’ j 10 I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps. 11 Please rescue me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him; otherwise, he may come and attack me, the mothers, and their children. 12 You have said, ‘I will cause you to prosper, and I will make your * offspring like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’ ” k
13 He spent the night there and took part of what he had brought with him as a gift for his brother Esau: l 14 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 15 30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys. 16 He entrusted them to his slaves as separate herds and said to them, “Go on ahead of me, and leave some distance between the herds.”
17 And he told the first one: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to? Where are you going? And whose animals are these ahead of you?’ 18 then tell him, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau. And look, he is behind us.’ ”
19 He also told the second one, the third, and everyone who was walking behind the animals, “Say the same thing to Esau when you find him. 20 You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’ ” For he thought, “I want to appease Esau with the gift that is going ahead of me. After that, I can face him, and perhaps he will forgive me.”
21 So the gift was sent on ahead of him while he remained in the camp that night. 22 During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his 11 sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok. m 23 He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.
24 Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. n 25 When the man saw that He could not defeat him, He struck Jacob’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip. 26 Then He said to Jacob, “Let Me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me.”
27 “What is your name?” the man asked.
“Jacob,” he replied.
28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” o He said. “It will be Israel p because you have struggled with God q and with men and have prevailed.”
29 Then Jacob asked Him, “Please tell me Your name.”
But He answered, “Why do you ask My name?” r And He blessed him there.
30 Jacob then named the place Peniel, s “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “and I have been delivered.” t 31 The sun shone on him as he passed by Penuel u v—limping because of his hip. 32 That is why, to this day, the Israelites don’t eat the thigh muscle that is at the hip socket: because He struck Jacob’s hip socket at the thigh muscle. w
33 Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female slaves. 2 He put the female slaves and their children first, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3 He himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground x seven times until he approached his brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. Then they wept. y 5 When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?”
He answered, “The children God has graciously given your servant.” z 6 Then the female slaves and their children approached him and bowed down. 7 Leah and her children also approached and bowed down, and then Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down.
8 So Esau said, “What do you mean by this whole procession a I met?” b
“To find favor with you, my lord,” c he answered.
9 “I have enough, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what you have.”
10 But Jacob said, “No, please! If I have found favor with you, take this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing God’s face, since you have accepted me. 11 Please take my present that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have everything I need.” So Jacob urged him until he accepted.
12 Then Esau said, “Let’s move on, and I’ll go ahead of you.”
13 Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and I have nursing sheep and cattle. If they are driven hard for one day, the whole herd will die. 14 Let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will continue on slowly, at a pace suited to the livestock and the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”
15 Esau said, “Let me leave some of my people with you.”
But he replied, “Why do that? Please indulge me, d my lord.” e
16 That day Esau started on his way back to Seir, 17 but Jacob went on to Succoth. He built a house for himself and stalls for his livestock; that is why the place was called Succoth. f g
18 After Jacob came from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely h at Shechem i in the land of Canaan and camped in front of the city. 19 He purchased a section of the field where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 qesitahs. j k 20 And he set up an altar there and called it “God, the God of Israel.” l
34 Dinah, Leah’s daughter m whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see some of the young women of the area. 2 When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, a prince of the region, saw her, he took her and raped her. 3 He became infatuated with Dinah, daughter of Jacob. He loved the young girl and spoke tenderly to her. n 4 “Get me this girl as a wife,” o he told his father Hamor.
5 Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent until they returned. 6 Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob. 7 Jacob’s sons returned from the field when they heard about the incident and were deeply grieved and angry. For Shechem had committed an outrage against Israel by raping Jacob’s daughter, p and such a thing should not be done.
8 Hamor said to Jacob’s sons, “My son Shechem is strongly attracted to your q daughter. Please give her to him as a wife. 9 Intermarry with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters for yourselves. 10 Live with us. The land is before you. Settle here, move about, and acquire property in it.”
11 Then Shechem said to Dinah’s father and brothers, “Grant me this favor, r and I’ll give you whatever you say. 12 Demand of me a high compensation s and gift; I’ll give you whatever you ask me. Just give the girl to be my wife!”
13 But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully because he had defiled their sister Dinah. 14 “We cannot do this thing,” they said to them. “Giving our sister to an uncircumcised man is a disgrace to us. 15 We will agree with you only on this condition: if all your males are circumcised as we are. t 16 Then we will give you our daughters, take your daughters for ourselves, live with you, and become one people. 17 But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and go.”
18 Their words seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. 19 The young man did not delay doing this, because he was delighted with Jacob’s daughter. Now he was the most important in all his father’s house. 20 So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the * gate of their city u and spoke to the men there.
21 “These men are peaceful toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and move about in it, for indeed, the region is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters as our wives and give our daughters to them. 22 But the men will agree to live with us and be one people only on this condition: if all our men are circumcised as they are. 23 Won’t their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let us agree with them, and they will live with us.”
24 All the able-bodied men v w listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and all the able-bodied men x were circumcised. 25 On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi, y Dinah’s brothers, took their swords, went into the unsuspecting city, and killed every male. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with their swords, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went away. 27 Jacob’s other sons came to the slaughter and plundered the city because their sister had been defiled. 28 They took their sheep, cattle, donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. 29 They captured all their possessions, children, and wives and plundered everything in the houses.
30 Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me, z making me odious to the inhabitants of the land, a the Canaanites and the Perizzites. b We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.” c
31 But they answered, “Should he have treated our sister like a prostitute?”
35 God said to Jacob, “Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. d Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” e
2 So Jacob said to his family and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. f Purify yourselves and change your clothes. g 3 We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to the God who answered me in my day of distress. h He has been with me everywhere I have gone.” i
4 Then they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and their earrings, and Jacob hid them under the oak near Shechem. 5 When they set out, a terror from God came over the cities around them, and they did not pursue Jacob’s sons. j 6 So Jacob and all who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel k) in the land of Canaan. 7 Jacob built an altar there and called the place God of Bethel l because it was there that God had revealed Himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.
8 Deborah, the one who had nursed and raised Rebekah, m n died and was buried under the oak south of Bethel. So Jacob named it Oak of Weeping. o
9 God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him. 10 God said to him:
Your name is Jacob;
you will no longer be named Jacob,
but your name will be Israel. p
So He named him Israel. 11 God also said to him:
Be fruitful and multiply. r
A nation, indeed an assembly of nations,
will come from you, s
and kings will descend from you. t u
12 I will give to you the land
that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. v
And I will give the land
to your future descendants.
13 Then God withdrew w x from him at the place where He had spoken to him.
14 Jacob set up a marker at the place where He had spoken to him—a stone marker. He poured a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil. y 15 Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.
16 They set out from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult. 17 During her difficult labor, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have another son.” z 18 With her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni, a but his father called him Benjamin. b 19 So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem c). 20 Jacob set up a marker on her grave; it is the marker at Rachel’s grave to this day.
21 Israel set out again and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder. d 22 While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. e
Jacob had 12 sons: f
23 Leah’s sons were Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn),
Simeon, Levi, Judah,
Issachar, and Zebulun.
Joseph and Benjamin.
25 The sons of Rachel’s slave Bilhah
were Dan and Naphtali.
26 The sons of Leah’s slave Zilpah
were Gad and Asher.
These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.
27 Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre g in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron h), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. 28 Isaac lived 180 years. 29 He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people, i old and full of days. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
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About The Holman Christian Standard BibleThe complete Holman Christian Standard Bible® is now available for the first time ever! More than fifteen years in the making, crafted by the shared expertise of nearly a hundred conservative scholars and English stylists, the Holman CSB® sets the standard in painstaking biblical accuracy and pure literary form. Accurate, yet highly readable, it's a translation committed to leaving both the grace and gravity of the original languages intact while carefully creating a smooth flow of wording for the reader. Stylistically, this inaugural edition contributes to the clarity of the written Word, arranging the poetic portions of the Scripture into complete lines of thought, and revering God's presence on each page by capitalizing all the pronouns that refer to Him. |
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