Study Desk

Isaac preferred Esau, because he enjoyed eating the animals Esau killed, but Rebecca preferred Jacob.

I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands."

When the men there asked about his wife, he said that she was his sister. He would not admit that she was his wife, because he was afraid that the men there would kill him to get Rebecca, who was very beautiful.

Isaac sowed crops in that land, and that year he harvested a hundred times as much as he had sown, because the Lord blessed him.

Because he had many herds of sheep and cattle and many servants, the Philistines were jealous of him.

That night the Lord appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid; I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my promise to my servant Abraham."

He did not recognize Jacob, because his arms were hairy like Esau's. He was about to give him his blessing,

Esau hated Jacob, because his father had given Jacob the blessing. He thought, "The time to mourn my father's death is near; then I will kill Jacob."

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 worked seven years so that he could have Rachel, and the time seemed like only a few days to him, because he loved her.

She became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She said, "The Lord has given me this son also, because he heard that I was not loved"; so she named him Simeon.

Once again she became pregnant and gave birth to another son. She said, "Now my husband will be bound more tightly to me, because I have borne him three sons"; so she named him Levi.

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.

Leah said, "God has given me my reward, because I gave my slave to my husband"; so she named her son Issachar.

She said, "God has given me a fine gift. Now my husband will accept me, because I have borne him six sons"; so she named him Zebulun.

Laban said to him, "Let me say this: I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.

He placed these branches in front of the flocks at their drinking troughs. He put them there, because the animals mated when they came to drink.

‘Look,' he continued, ‘all the male goats that are mating are striped, spotted, and speckled. I am making this happen because I have seen all that Laban is doing to you.

I know that you left because you were so anxious to get back home, but why did you steal my household gods?"

Jacob answered, "I was afraid, because I thought that you might take your daughters away from me.