rsv Genesis:26-27 SEEK
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*
Now there was a famine in the land ,
besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham .
And Isaac went to Gerar ,
to Abim '
elech king of the Philistines .
*
And the LORD appeared to him ,
and said , "
Do not go down to Egypt ;
dwell in the land of which I shall tell you .
*
Sojourn in this land ,
and I will be with you ,
and will bless you ;
for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands ,
and I will fulfil the oath which I swore to Abraham your father .
*
I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven ,
and will give to your descendants all these lands ;
and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves :
*
because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge ,
my commandments ,
my statutes ,
and my laws ."
*
So Isaac dwelt in Gerar .
*
When the men of the place asked him about his wife ,
he said , "
She is my sister ";
for he feared to say , "
My wife ,"
thinking , "
lest the men of the place should kill me for the sake of Rebekah ";
because she was fair to look upon .
*
When he had been there a long time ,
Abim '
elech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac fondling Rebekah his wife .
*
So Abim '
elech called Isaac ,
and said , "
Behold ,
she is your wife ;
how then could you say , `
She is my sister '?"
Isaac said to him , "
Because I thought , `
Lest I die because of her .'"
*
Abim '
elech 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 Abim '
elech warned all the people ,
saying , "
Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death ."
*
And Isaac sowed in that land ,
and reaped in the same year a hundredfold .
The LORD blessed him ,
*
and the man became rich ,
and gained more and more until he became very wealthy .
*
He had possessions of flocks and herds ,
and a great household ,
so that the Philistines envied him .
* (
Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells which his father '
s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father .)
*
And Abim '
elech said to Isaac , "
Go away from us ;
for you are much mightier than we ."
*
So Isaac departed from there ,
and encamped in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there .
*
And Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father ;
for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham ;
and he gave them the names which his father had given them .
*
But when Isaac '
s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of springing water ,
*
the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac '
s herdsmen ,
saying , "
The water is ours ."
So he called the name of the well Esek ,
because they contended with him .
*
Then they dug another well ,
and they quarreled over that also ;
so he called its name Sitnah .
*
And he moved from there and dug another well ,
and over that they did not quarrel ;
so he called its name Reho '
both ,
saying , "
For now the LORD has made room for us ,
and we shall be fruitful in the land ."
*
From there he went up to Beer-sheba .
*
And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said , "
I am the God of Abraham your father ;
fear not ,
for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your descendants for my servant Abraham '
s sake ."
*
So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the LORD ,
and pitched his tent there .
And there Isaac '
s servants dug a well .
*
Then Abim '
elech went to him from Gerar with Ahuz '
zath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army .
*
Isaac said to them , "
Why have you come to me ,
seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you ?"
*
They said , "
We see plainly that the LORD is with you ;
so we say ,
let there be an oath between 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 and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace .
You are now the blessed of the LORD ."
*
So he made them a feast ,
and they ate and drank .
*
In the morning they rose early and took oath with one another ;
and Isaac set them on their way ,
and they departed from him in peace .
*
That same day Isaac '
s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug ,
and said to him , "
We have found water ."
*
He called it Shibah ;
therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day .
*
When Esau was forty years old ,
he took to wife Judith the daughter of Be-e '
ri the Hittite ,
and Bas '
emath the daughter of Elon the Hittite ;
*
and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah .
*
When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see ,
he called Esau his older son ,
and said to him , "
My son ";
and he answered , "
Here I am ."
*
He said , "
Behold ,
I am old ;
I do not know the day of my death .
*
Now then ,
take your weapons ,
your quiver and your bow ,
and go out to the field ,
and hunt game for me ,
*
and prepare for me savory food ,
such as I love ,
and bring it to me that I may eat ;
that I may bless you before I die ."
*
Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau .
So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it ,
*
Rebekah said to her son Jacob , "
I heard your father speak to your brother Esau ,
* `
Bring me game ,
and prepare for me savory food ,
that I may eat it ,
and bless you before the LORD before I die .'
*
Now therefore ,
my son ,
obey my word as I command you .
*
Go to the flock ,
and fetch me two good kids ,
that I may prepare from them savory food for your father ,
such as he loves ;
*
and you shall bring it to your father to eat ,
so that he may bless you before he dies ."
*
But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother , "
Behold ,
my brother Esau is a hairy man ,
and I am a smooth man .
*
Perhaps my father will feel me ,
and I shall seem to be mocking him ,
and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing ."
*
His mother said to him , "
Upon me be your curse ,
my son ;
only obey my word ,
and go ,
fetch them to me ."
*
So he went and took them and brought them to his mother ;
and his mother prepared savory food ,
such as his father loved .
*
Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son ,
which were with her in the house ,
and put them on Jacob her younger son ;
*
and the skins of the kids she put upon his hands and upon the smooth part of his neck ;
*
and she gave the savory food and the bread ,
which she had prepared ,
into the hand of her son Jacob .
*
So he went in 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 first-born .
I have done as you told me ;
now sit up and eat of my game ,
that you may bless me ."
*
But Isaac said to his son , "
How is it that you have found it so quickly ,
my son ?"
He answered , "
Because the LORD your God granted me success ."
*
Then Isaac said to Jacob , "
Come near ,
that I may feel you ,
my son ,
to know whether you are really my son Esau or not ."
*
So Jacob went near to Isaac his father ,
who felt him and said , "
The voice is Jacob '
s voice ,
but the hands are the hands of Esau ."
*
And he did not recognize him ,
because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau '
s hands ;
so he blessed him .
*
He said , "
Are you really my son Esau ?"
He answered , "
I am ."
*
Then he said , "
Bring it to me ,
that I may eat of my son '
s game and bless you ."
So he brought it to him ,
and he ate ;
and he brought him wine ,
and he drank .
*
Then his father Isaac said to him , "
Come near and kiss me ,
my son ."
*
So he came near and kissed him ;
and he smelled the smell of his garments ,
and blessed him ,
and said , "
See ,
the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD has blessed !
*
May God give you of the dew of heaven ,
and of the fatness of the earth ,
and plenty of grain and wine .
*
Let peoples serve you ,
and nations bow down to you .
Be lord over your brothers ,
and may your mother '
s sons bow down to you .
Cursed be every one who curses you ,
and blessed be every one who blesses you !"
*
As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob ,
when Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father ,
Esau his brother came in from his hunting .
*
He also prepared savory food ,
and brought it to his father .
And he said to his father , "
Let my father arise ,
and eat of his son '
s game ,
that you may bless me ."
*
His father Isaac said to him , "
Who are you ?"
He answered , "
I am your son ,
your first-born ,
Esau ."
*
Then Isaac trembled violently ,
and said , "
Who was it then that hunted game and brought it to me ,
and I ate it all before you came ,
and I have blessed him ?--
yes ,
and he shall be blessed ."
*
When Esau heard the words of his father ,
he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry ,
and said to his father , "
Bless me ,
even me also ,
O my father !"
*
But he said , "
Your brother came with guile ,
and he has taken away your blessing ."
*
Esau said , "
Is he not rightly named Jacob ?
For he has supplanted me these two times .
He took away my birthright ;
and behold ,
now he has taken away my blessing ."
Then he said , "
Have you not reserved a blessing for me ?"
*
Isaac answered Esau , "
Behold ,
I have made him your lord ,
and all his brothers I have given to him for servants ,
and with grain and wine I have sustained him .
What then can I do for you ,
my son ?"
*
Esau said to his father , "
Have you but one blessing ,
my father ?
Bless me ,
even me also ,
O my father ."
And Esau lifted up his voice and wept .
*
Then Isaac his father answered him : "
Behold ,
away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be ,
and away from the dew of heaven on high .
*
By your sword you shall live ,
and you shall serve your brother ;
but when you break loose you shall break his yoke from your neck ."
*
Now Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him ,
and Esau said to himself , "
The days of mourning for my father are approaching ;
then I will kill my brother Jacob ."
*
But the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah ;
so she sent and called Jacob her younger son ,
and said to him , "
Behold ,
your brother Esau comforts himself by planning to kill you .
*
Now therefore ,
my son ,
obey my voice ;
arise ,
flee to Laban my brother in Haran ,
*
and stay with him a while ,
until your brother '
s fury turns away ;
*
until your brother '
s anger turns away ,
and he forgets what you have done to him ;
then I will send ,
and fetch you from there .
Why should I be bereft of you both in one day ?"
*
Then Rebekah said to Isaac , "
I am weary of my life because of the Hittite women .
If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women such as these ,
one of the women of the land ,
what good will my life be to me ?"
*
Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him ,
and charged him , "
You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women .