Study Desk

Isaac loved Esau because he hunted the wild animals that Isaac enjoyed eating. But Rebekah loved Jacob.

So Esau said to Jacob, "Let me eat some of that red soup, because I am weak with hunger." (That is why people call him Edom.)

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

His wife Rebekah was very beautiful, and the men of that place asked Isaac about her. Isaac said, "She is my sister," because he was afraid to tell them she was his wife. He thought they might kill him so they could have her.

And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Leave our country because you have become much more powerful than we are."

But the herdsmen of Gerar argued with them and said, "This water is ours." So Isaac named that well Argue because they argued with him.

The Lord appeared to him that night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Don't be afraid, because I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my servant Abraham."

If my father touches me, he will know I am not Esau. Then he will not bless me but will place a curse on me because I tried to trick him."

But Isaac asked his son, "How did you find and kill the animal so quickly?" Jacob answered, "Because the Lord your God helped me to find it."

Isaac did not know it was Jacob, because his hands were hairy like Esau's hands, so Isaac blessed him.

After that Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing from Isaac. He thought to himself, "My father will soon die, and I will be sad for him. Then I will kill Jacob."

When he came to a place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. He found a stone and laid his head on it to go to sleep.

He looked and saw a well in the field and three flocks of sheep lying nearby, because they drank water from this well. A large stone covered the mouth of the well.

While Jacob was talking with the shepherds, Rachel came with her father's sheep, because it was her job to care for the sheep.

So Jacob worked for Laban seven years so he could marry Rachel. But they seemed like just a few days to him because he loved Rachel very much.

Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, because she said, "The Lord has seen my troubles. Surely now my husband will love me."

Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to another son. She named him Levi and said, "Now, surely my husband will be close to me, because I have given him three sons."

Then Leah gave birth to another son. She named him Judah, because she said, "Now I will praise the Lord ." Then Leah stopped having children.

When Jacob came in from the field that night, Leah went out to meet him. She said, "You will have sexual relations with me tonight because I have paid for you with my son's mandrakes." So Jacob slept with her that night.

and said, "God has given me what I paid for, because I gave my slave girl to my husband." So Leah named her son Issachar.