Study Desk

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

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

Then Isaac said to him, "No dew from heaven for you, No fertile fields for you.

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

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

Then he kissed her and began to cry for joy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You both know that I have worked for your father with all my strength.

Rachel and Leah answered Jacob, "There is nothing left for us to inherit from our father.

He treats us like foreigners. He sold us, and now he has spent all the money he was paid for us.