Study Desk

Abraham, this is the agreement between you and me: Any male who is not circumcised will be cut off from his people because he has broken my agreement."

Sarah said, "I didn't laugh!" (She said this because she was afraid.) Then the Lord said, "No, I know that is not true. You did laugh!"

Abraham will become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on earth will be blessed because of him.

What if there are five less than fifty? Will you destroy a whole city because of just five people?" The Lord said, "If I find forty-five good people there, I will not destroy the city."

But run there quickly. I cannot destroy Sodom until you are safely in that town." (That town is named Zoar, because it is a small town.)

The Lord made all the women in Abimelech's family not able to have children. God did this because Abimelech had taken Sarah, Abraham's wife. But Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his servant girls.

Then she walked a short distance away and sat down. She thought her son would die because there was no water. She did not want to watch him die. She sat there and began to cry.

Then Abraham complained to Abimelech because Abimelech's servants had captured a well of water.

So after that, the well was called Beersheba. Abraham gave the well this name because it was the place where they made a promise to each other.

Every nation on the earth will be blessed through your descendants. I will do this because you obeyed me."

I will do this because your father Abraham obeyed my words and did what I said. He obeyed my commands, my laws, and my rules."

But the men who herded sheep in the Valley of Gerar argued with Isaac's servants. They said, "This water is ours." So Isaac named that well Esek. He gave it that name because it was the place where they had argued with him.

The Lord spoke to him that night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Don't be afraid. I am with you, and I will bless you. I will make your family great. I will do this because of my servant Abraham."

If my father touches me, he will know that I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me—he will curse me because I tried to trick him."

But Isaac said to his son, "How have you hunted and killed the animals so quickly?" Jacob answered, "Because the Lord your God allowed me to find the animals quickly."

Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his arms were hairy like Esau's. So Isaac blessed Jacob.

After that Esau hated Jacob because of this blessing. Esau said to himself, "My father will soon die, and after we are finished with that, I will kill Jacob."

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "Your son Esau married Hittite women. I am very upset about this, because they are not our people. I'll have nothing to live for if Jacob marries one of these women!"

You will have as many descendants as there are particles of dust on the earth. They will spread east and west, north and south. All the families on earth will be blessed because of you and your descendants.

So Jacob stayed and worked for Laban for seven years. But it seemed like a very short time because he loved Rachel very much.