Study Desk

Now ^(a)Abraham was old, advanced in age; and the Lord had ^(b)blessed Abraham in every way.

Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had ^(c)charge of all that he owned, "^(d)Please place your hand under my thigh,

and I will make you swear by the Lord , ^(e)the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you ^(f)shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of ^(g)the Canaanites, among whom I live,

but you will go to ^(h)my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac."

The servant said to him, "Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?"

Then Abraham said to him, "⁽ⁱ⁾Beware that you do not take my son back there!

^(j)The Lord , the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, ‘^(k)To your ^[a]descendants I will give this land,' He will send ^(l)His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.

But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will ^(m)be free from this my oath; ⁽ⁿ⁾only do not take my son back there."

So the servant ^(o)placed his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.

Then the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master, and set out with a variety of ^(p)good things of his master's in his hand; and he arose and went to ^[b]Mesopotamia, to ^(q)the city of Nahor.

He made the camels kneel down outside the city by ^(r)the well of water at evening time, ^(s)the time when women go out to draw water.

He said, "^(t)O Lord , the God of my master Abraham, please ^[c](u)grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham.

Behold, ^(v)I am standing by the ^[d]spring, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water;

now may it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar so that I may drink,' and ^[e]who answers, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also'—may she be the one whom You have appointed for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness to my master."

^(w)Before he had finished speaking, behold, ^(x)Rebekah who was born to Bethuel the son of ^(y)Milcah, the wife of Abraham's brother Nahor, came out with her jar on her shoulder.

The girl was ^(z)very beautiful, a virgin, and no man had ^[f]had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.

Then the servant ran to meet her, and said, "^(aa)Please let me drink a little water from your jar."

^(ab)She said, "Drink, my lord"; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.

Now when she had finished giving him a drink, ^(ac)she said, "I will draw also for your camels until they have finished drinking."

So she quickly emptied her jar into the trough, and ran back to the well to draw, and she drew for all his camels.

^(ad)Meanwhile, the man was gazing at her ^[g]in silence, to know whether the Lord had made his journey successful or not.

When the camels had finished drinking, the man took a ^(ae)gold ring weighing a half-shekel and two bracelets for her ^[h]wrists weighing ten shekels in gold,

and said, "Whose daughter are you? Please tell me, is there room for us to lodge in your father's house?"

She said to him, "^(af)I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor."

Again she said to him, "We have plenty of both straw and feed, and room to lodge in."

Then the man ^(ag)bowed low and worshiped the Lord .

He said, "^(ah)Blessed be the Lord , the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken ^(ai)His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, ^(aj)the Lord has guided me in the way to the house of my master's brothers."

Then ^(ak)the girl ran and told her mother's household about these things.

Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was ^(al)Laban; and Laban ran outside to the man at the spring.

When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister's ^[i]wrists, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, "^[j]This is what the man said to me," he went to the man; and behold, he was standing by the camels at the spring.

And he said, "^(am)Come in, ^(an)blessed of the Lord ! Why do you stand outside since ^(ao)I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels?"

So the man entered the house. Then ^[k](ap)Laban unloaded the camels, and he gave straw and feed to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

But when food was set before him to eat, he said, "I will not eat until I have told my business." And he said, "Speak on."

So he said, "I am ^(aq)Abraham's servant.

The Lord has greatly ^(ar)blessed my master, so that he has become ^[l]rich; and He has given him ^(as)flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.

Now ^(at)Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master ^[m]in her old age, and ^(au)he has given him all that he has.

^(av)My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I ^[n]live;

but you shall go to my father's house and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son.'

^(aw)I said to my master, ‘Suppose the woman does not follow me.'

He said to me, ‘^(ax)The Lord , before whom I have ^(ay)walked, will send ^(az)His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father's house;

^(ba)then you will be free from my oath, when you come to my relatives; and if they do not give her to you, you will be free from my oath.'

"So ^(bb)I came today to the spring, and said, ‘O Lord , the God of my master Abraham, if now You will make my journey on which I go ^(bc)successful;

behold, ^(bd)I am standing by the ^[o]spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, "^(be)Please let me drink a little water from your jar";

and she will say to me, "You drink, and I will draw for your camels also"; let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master's son.'

"Before I had finished ^(bf)speaking in my heart, behold, ^(bg)Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder, and went down to the spring and drew, and ^(bh)I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.'

She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘^(bi)Drink, and I will water your camels also'; so I drank, and she watered the camels also.

^(bj)Then I asked her, and said, ‘Whose daughter are you?' And she said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him'; and I put the ^(bk)ring on her nose, and the bracelets on her ^[p]wrists.

And I ^(bl)bowed low and worshiped the Lord , and blessed the Lord , the God of my master Abraham, ^(bm)who had guided me in the right way to take the daughter of my master's ^[q]kinsman for his son.

So now if you are going to ^[r](bn)deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left."

Then Laban and Bethuel replied, "^(bo)The matter comes from the Lord ; ^(bp)so we cannot speak to you bad or good.

Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master's son, as the Lord has spoken."

When Abraham's servant heard their words, he ^(bq)bowed himself to the ground ^[s]before the Lord .

The servant brought out ^(br)articles of silver and articles of gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.

Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, "^(bs)Send me away to my master."

But her brother and her mother said, "^(bt)Let the girl stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go."

He said to them, "Do not delay me, since ^(bu)the Lord has prospered my way. Send me away that I may go to my master."

And they said, "We will call the girl and ^[t]consult her wishes."

Then they called Rebekah and said to her, "Will you go with this man?" And she said, "I will go."

Thus they sent away their sister Rebekah and ^(bv)her nurse with Abraham's servant and his men.

They blessed Rebekah and said to her, "May you, our sister, ^(bw)Become thousands of ten thousands, And may ^(bx)your ^[u]descendants possess The gate of those who hate them."

Then Rebekah arose with her maids, and they mounted the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.

Now Isaac had come from going to ^(by)Beer-lahai-roi; for he ^[v]was living in ^(bz)the ^[w]Negev.

Isaac went out ^(ca)to ^[x]meditate in the field toward evening; and ^(cb)he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.

Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from the camel.

She said to the servant, "Who is that man walking in the field to meet us?" And the servant said, "He is my master." Then she took her ^[y]veil and covered herself.

The servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.

Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and ^(cc)he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and ^(cd)he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after ^(ce)his mother's death.

Now Abraham took another wife, ^[a]whose name was Keturah.

^(a)She bore to him Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah.

Jokshan ^[b]became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.

The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.

^(b)Now Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac;

but to the sons of ^[c]his concubines, Abraham gave gifts while he was still living, and ^(c)sent them away from his son Isaac eastward, to the land of the east.

These are ^[d]all the years of Abraham's life that he lived, ^(d)one hundred and seventy-five years.

Abraham breathed his last and died ^(e)in a ^[e]ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was ^(f)gathered to his people.

Then his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in ^(g)the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre,

^(h)the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth; there Abraham was buried with Sarah his wife.

It came about after the death of Abraham, that ⁽ⁱ⁾God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac ^[f]lived by ^(j)Beer-lahai-roi.

Now these are the records of the generations of ^(k)Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's maid, bore to Abraham;

and these are the names of ^(l)the sons of Ishmael, by their names, ^[g]in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam

and Mishma and Dumah and Massa,

Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah.

These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; ^(m)twelve princes according to their ^[h]tribes.

These are the years of the life of Ishmael, ⁽ⁿ⁾one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was ^(o)gathered to his people.

They ^[i]settled from ^(p)Havilah to ^(q)Shur which is ^[j]east of Egypt ^[k]as one goes toward Assyria; ^(r)he ^[l]settled in defiance of all his ^[m]relatives.

Now these are the records of ^(s)the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham ^[n]became the father of Isaac;

and Isaac was forty years old when he took ^(t)Rebekah, the ^(u)daughter of Bethuel the ^[o]Aramean of Paddan-aram, the ^(v)sister of Laban the ^[p]Aramean, to be his wife.

Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and ^(w)the Lord ^[q]answered him and Rebekah his wife ^(x)conceived.

But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If it is so, why then am I this way?" So she went to ^(y)inquire of the Lord .

The Lord said to her, "^(z)Two nations are in your womb; ^(aa)And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And ^(ab)the older shall serve the younger."

When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

Now the first came forth red, ^(ac)all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau.

Afterward his brother came forth with ^(ad)his hand holding on to Esau's heel, so ^(ae)his name was called ^[r]Jacob; and Isaac was ^(af)sixty years old when she gave birth to them.

When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a ^[s]peaceful man, ^[t](ag)living in tents.

Now Isaac loved Esau, because ^[u]he had ^(ah)a taste for game, ^(ai)but Rebekah loved Jacob.

When Jacob had cooked ^(aj)stew, Esau came in from the field and he was ^[v]famished;

and Esau said to Jacob, "Please let me have a swallow of ^[w]that red stuff there, for I am ^[x]famished." Therefore his name was called ^[y]Edom.

But Jacob said, "^[z]First sell me your ^(ak)birthright."

Esau said, "Behold, I am about to die; so of what use then is the birthright to me?"

And Jacob said, "^[aa]First swear to me"; so he swore to him, and ^(al)sold his birthright to Jacob.

Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.

Now there was ^(a)a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to ^(b)Abimelech king of the Philistines.

The Lord ^(c)appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; ^[a](d)stay in the land of which I shall tell you.

Sojourn in this land and ^(e)I will be with you and ^(f)bless you, for ^(g)to you and to your ^[b]descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish ^(h)the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.

⁽ⁱ⁾I will multiply your ^[c]descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your ^[d]descendants all these lands; and ^(j)by your ^[e]descendants all the nations of the earth ^[f]shall be blessed;

because Abraham ^[g](k)obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws."

So Isaac ^[h]lived in Gerar.

When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, "^(l)She is my sister," for he was ^(m)afraid to say, "my wife," thinking, "^[i]the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is ⁽ⁿ⁾beautiful."

It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah.

Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, "Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister'?" And Isaac said to him, "Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.'"

^(o)Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us."

So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, "He who ^(p)touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."

Now Isaac sowed in that land and ^[j]reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And ^(q)the Lord blessed him,

and the man ^(r)became rich, and continued to grow ^[k]richer until he became very ^[l]wealthy;

for ^(s)he had possessions of flocks ^[m]and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him.

Now ^(t)all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up ^[n]by filling them with earth.

Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you are ^[o](u)too powerful for us."

And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, and ^[p]settled there.

Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which ^[q]had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he ^[r]gave them the same names which his father had ^[s]given them.

But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of ^[t]flowing water,

the herdsmen of Gerar ^(v)quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, "The water is ours!" So he named the well ^[u]Esek, because they contended with him.

Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it ^[v]Sitnah.

He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it ^[w]Rehoboth, for he said, "^[x](w)At last the Lord has made ^[y]room for us, and we will be ^(x)fruitful in the land."

Then he went up from there to ^(y)Beersheba.

The Lord ^(z)appeared to him the same night and said, "^(aa)I am the God of your father Abraham; ^(ab)Do not fear, for I am with you. I ^(ac)will bless you, and multiply your ^[z]descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham."

So he built an ^(ad)altar there and called upon the name of the Lord , and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well.

Then ^(ae)Abimelech came to him from Gerar ^[aa]with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army.

Isaac said to them, "^(af)Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?"

They said, "We see plainly ^(ag)that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between ^[ab]you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,

that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you ^[ac]and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the ^(ah)blessed of the Lord .'"

Then ^(ai)he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

In the morning they arose early and ^[ad](aj)exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace.

Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac's servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water."

So he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is ^(ak)Beersheba to this day.

When Esau was forty years old ^(al)he ^[ae]married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite;

and ^(am)they ^[af]brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Now it came about, when Isaac was old and ^(a)his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his ^(b)older son Esau and said to him, "My son." And he said to him, "Here I am."

^[a](c)Isaac said, "Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death.

Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and ^(d)hunt game for me;

and prepare a savory dish for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that ^(e)my soul may bless you before I die."

Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home,

^(f)Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying,

‘Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.'

Now therefore, my son, ^(g)listen to ^[b]me ^[c]as I command you.

Go now to the flock and ^[d]bring me two choice ^[e]young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves.

Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death."

Jacob ^[f]answered his mother Rebekah, "Behold, Esau my brother is a ^(h)hairy man and I am a smooth man.

⁽ⁱ⁾Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a ^[g]deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing."

But his mother said to him, "Your curse be on me, my son; only ^(j)obey my voice, and go, get them for me."

So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made savory food such as his father loved.

Then Rebekah took the ^[h]best ^(k)garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.

And she put the skins of the ^[i]young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

She also gave the savory food and the bread, which she had made, ^[j]to her son Jacob.

Then he came to his father and said, "My father." And he said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"

Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. ^(l)Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that ^[k](m)you may bless me."

Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "⁽ⁿ⁾Because the Lord your God caused it to happen to me."

Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come close, that ^(o)I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not."

So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau."

He did not recognize him, because his hands were ^(p)hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him.

And he said, "Are you really my son Esau?" And he said, "I am."

So he said, "Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son's game, that ^[l](q)I may bless you." And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank.

Then his father Isaac said to him, "Please come close and kiss me, my son."

So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he ^(r)blessed him and said, "See, ^(s)the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field ^(t)which the Lord has blessed;

Now may ^(u)God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the ^(v)fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine;

^(w)May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; ^(x)Be master of your brothers, ^(y)And may your mother's sons bow down to you. ^(z)Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you."

Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

Then he also made savory food, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, "^(aa)Let my father arise and eat of his son's game, that ^[m](ab)you may bless me."

Isaac his father said to him, "^(ac)Who are you?" And he said, "I am your son, ^(ad)your firstborn, Esau."

Then Isaac ^[n]trembled violently, and said, "^(ae)Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? ^(af)Yes, and he shall be blessed."

When Esau heard the words of his father, ^(ag)he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, O my father!"

And he said, "^(ah)Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing."

Then he said, "^[o]Is he not rightly named ^(ai)Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing." And he said, "Have you not reserved a blessing for me?"

But Isaac replied to Esau, "Behold, I have made him ^(aj)your master, and all his ^[p]relatives I have given to him ^[q]as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?"

Esau said to his father, "Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, O my father." So Esau lifted his voice and ^(ak)wept.

Then ^(al)Isaac his father answered and said to him, "Behold, ^[r](am)away from the ^[s]fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling, And ^[t]away from the dew of heaven from above.

"By your sword you shall live, And your brother ^(an)you shall serve; But it shall come about ^(ao)when you become restless, That you will ^[u]break his yoke from your neck."

So Esau ^(ap)bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said ^[v]to himself, "^(aq)The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob."

Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, "Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you.

Now therefore, my son, ^(ar)obey my voice, and arise, ^[w]flee to ^(as)Haran, to my brother ^(at)Laban!

Stay with him ^(au)a few days, until your brother's fury ^[x]subsides,

until your brother's anger ^[y]against you subsides and he forgets ^(av)what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?"

Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am tired of ^[z]living because of ^(aw)the daughters of Heth; ^(ax)if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth, like these, from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?"