Study Desk

One day when Isaac was old and turning blind, he called for Esau, his older son, and said, "My son." "Yes, Father?" Esau replied.

Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows, and go out into the open country to hunt some wild game for me.

Prepare my favorite dish, and bring it here for me to eat. Then I will pronounce the blessing that belongs to you, my firstborn son, before I die."

But Rebekah overheard what Isaac had said to his son Esau. So when Esau left to hunt for the wild game,

But his mother replied, "Then let the curse fall on me, my son! Just do what I tell you. Go out and get the goats for me!"

So Jacob went out and got the young goats for his mother. Rebekah took them and prepared a delicious meal, just the way Isaac liked it.

Esau exclaimed, "No wonder his name is Jacob, for now he has cheated me twice. First he took my rights as the firstborn, and now he has stolen my blessing. Oh, haven't you saved even one blessing for me?"

Isaac said to Esau, "I have made Jacob your master and have declared that all his brothers will be his servants. I have guaranteed him an abundance of grain and wine—what is left for me to give you, my son?"

But Rebekah heard about Esau's plans. So she sent for Jacob and told him, "Listen, Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you.

When he calms down and forgets what you have done to him, I will send for you to come back. Why should I lose both of you in one day?"

So Isaac called for Jacob, blessed him, and said, "You must not marry any of these Canaanite women.

May God pass on to you and your descendants the blessings he promised to Abraham. May you own this land where you are now living as a foreigner, for God gave this land to Abraham."

At sundown he arrived at a good place to set up camp and stopped there for the night. Jacob found a stone to rest his head against and lay down to sleep.

And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me."

It was the custom there to wait for all the flocks to arrive before removing the stone and watering the animals. Afterward the stone would be placed back over the mouth of the well.

Jacob was still talking with them when Rachel arrived with her father's flock, for she was a shepherd.

Laban exclaimed, "You really are my own flesh and blood!" After Jacob had stayed with Laban for about a month,

Laban said to him, "You shouldn't work for me without pay just because we are relatives. Tell me how much your wages should be."

Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, "I'll work for you for seven years if you'll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife."

So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.