Study Desk

"So today when I came to the spring, I prayed this prayer: ‘O Lord , God of my master, Abraham, please give me success on this mission.

"Before I had finished praying in my heart, I saw Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.'

She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!' So I drank, and then she watered the camels.

"Then I asked, ‘Whose daughter are you?' She replied, ‘I am the daughter of Bethuel, and my grandparents are Nahor and Milcah.' So I put the ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her wrists.

So tell me—will you or won't you show unfailing love and faithfulness to my master? Please tell me yes or no, and then I'll know what to do next."

Then Laban and Bethuel replied, "The Lord has obviously brought you here, so there is nothing we can say.

But he said, "Don't delay me. The Lord has made my mission successful; now send me back so I can return to my master."

So they called Rebekah. "Are you willing to go with this man?" they asked her. And she replied, "Yes, I will go."

So they said good-bye to Rebekah and sent her away with Abraham's servant and his men. The woman who had been Rebekah's childhood nurse went along with her.

Then Rebekah and her servant girls mounted the camels and followed the man. So Abraham's servant took Rebekah and went on his way.

"Who is that man walking through the fields to meet us?" she asked the servant. And he replied, "It is my master." So Rebekah covered her face with her veil.

But the two children struggled with each other in her womb. So she went to ask the Lord about it. "Why is this happening to me?" she asked.

The first one was very red at birth and covered with thick hair like a fur coat. So they named him Esau.

Then the other twin was born with his hand grasping Esau's heel. So they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

But Jacob said, "First you must swear that your birthright is mine." So Esau swore an oath, thereby selling all his rights as the firstborn to his brother, Jacob.

A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham's time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.

So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

When the men who lived there asked Isaac about his wife, Rebekah, he said, "She is my sister." He was afraid to say, "She is my wife." He thought, "They will kill me to get her, because she is so beautiful."

He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him.

So the Philistines filled up all of Isaac's wells with dirt. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham.