Study Desk

The first baby was red. His skin was like a hairy robe. So he was named Esau.

But Jacob said, "First, promise me that you will give them to me." So Esau made an oath to him and sold his rights as the firstborn son to Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil soup. Esau ate the food, had something to drink, and then left. So Esau showed that he did not care about his rights as the firstborn son.

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

After Isaac had lived there a long time, Abimelech looked out of his window and saw Isaac and his wife enjoying one another.

So they destroyed all the wells that Isaac's father Abraham and his servants had dug many years before. They filled them with sand.

Long before this time, Abraham had dug many wells. After he died, the Philistines filled the wells with sand. So Isaac went back and dug those wells again. He gave them the same names his father had given them.

So Isaac built an altar and worshiped the Lord in that place. He set up camp there, and his servants dug a well.

Abimelech came from Gerar to see Isaac. He brought with him Ahuzzath, his advisor, and Phicol, the commander of his army.

Isaac grew old, and his eyes became so weak that he could not see clearly. One day he called his older son Esau to him and said, "Son!" Esau answered, "Here I am."

So Esau went hunting. Rebekah was listening when Isaac told this to his son Esau.

But Jacob told his mother Rebekah, "My brother Esau is a hairy man. I am not hairy like him.

So Jacob went out and got two goats and brought them to his mother. His mother cooked the goats in the special way that Isaac loved.

She took the skins of the goats and put them on Jacob's hands and on his neck.

Jacob went to his father and said, "Father." His father answered, "Yes, son. Who are you?"

Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau, your first son. I have done what you told me. Now sit up and eat the meat from the animals that I hunted for you. Then you can bless me."

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."

So Jacob went to Isaac his father. Isaac felt him and said, "Your voice sounds like Jacob's voice, but your arms are hairy like the arms of Esau."

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

So Jacob went to his father and kissed him. When Isaac smelled Esau's clothes, he blessed him and said, "My son smells like the fields the Lord has blessed.