rsv Genesis:27-36 SEEK
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*
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 .
*
Arise ,
go to Paddan-aram to the house of Bethu '
el your mother '
s father ;
and take as wife from there one of the daughters of Laban your mother '
s brother .
*
God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you ,
that you may become a company of peoples .
*
May he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your descendants with you ,
that you may take possession of the land of your sojournings which God gave to Abraham !"
*
Thus Isaac sent Jacob away ;
and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban ,
the son of Bethu '
el the Aramean ,
the brother of Rebekah ,
Jacob '
s and Esau '
s mother .
*
Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there ,
and that as he blessed him he charged him , "
You shall not marry one of the Canaanite women ,"
*
and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and gone to Paddan-aram .
*
So when Esau saw that the Canaanite women did not please Isaac his father ,
*
Esau went to Ish '
mael and took to wife ,
besides the wives he had ,
Ma '
halath the daughter of Ish '
mael Abraham '
s son ,
the sister of Neba '
ioth .
*
Jacob left Beer-sheba ,
and went toward Haran .
*
And he came to a certain place ,
and stayed there that night ,
because the sun had set .
Taking one of the stones of the place ,
he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep .
*
And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth ,
and the top of it reached to heaven ;
and behold ,
the angels of God were ascending and descending on it !
*
And behold ,
the LORD stood above it and said , "
I am the LORD ,
the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac ;
the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants ;
*
and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth ,
and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south ;
and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves .
*
Behold ,
I am with you and will keep you wherever you go ,
and will bring you back to this land ;
for I will not leave you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you ."
*
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said , "
Surely the LORD is in this place ;
and I did not know it ."
*
And he was afraid ,
and said , "
How awesome is this place !
This is none other than the house of God ,
and this is the gate of heaven ."
*
So Jacob rose early in the morning ,
and he took the stone which he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it .
*
He called the name of that place Bethel ;
but the name of the city was Luz at the first .
*
Then Jacob made a vow ,
saying , "
If God will be with me ,
and will keep me in this way that I go ,
and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear ,
*
so that I come again to my father '
s house in peace ,
then the LORD shall be my God ,
*
and this stone ,
which I have set up for a pillar ,
shall be God '
s house ;
and of all that thou givest me I will give the tenth to thee ."
*
Then Jacob went on his journey ,
and came to the land of the people of the east .
*
As he looked ,
he saw a well in the field ,
and lo ,
three flocks of sheep lying beside it ;
for out of that well the flocks were watered .
The stone on the well '
s mouth was large ,
*
and when all the flocks were gathered there ,
the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well ,
and water the sheep ,
and put the stone back in its place upon the mouth of the well .
*
Jacob said to them , "
My brothers ,
where do you come from ?"
They said , "
We are from Haran ."
*
He said to them , "
Do you know Laban the son of Nahor ?"
They said , "
We know him ."
*
He said to them , "
Is it well with him ?"
They said , "
It is well ;
and see ,
Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep !"
*
He said , "
Behold ,
it is still high day ,
it is not time for the animals to be gathered together ;
water the sheep ,
and go ,
pasture them ."
*
But they said , "
We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together ,
and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well ;
then we water the sheep ."
*
While he was still speaking with them ,
Rachel came with her father '
s sheep ;
for she kept them .
*
Now when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother '
s brother ,
and the sheep of Laban his mother '
s brother ,
Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well '
s mouth ,
and watered the flock of Laban his mother '
s brother .
*
Then Jacob kissed Rachel ,
and wept aloud .
*
And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father '
s kinsman ,
and that he was Rebekah '
s son ;
and she ran and told her father .
*
When Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister '
s son ,
he ran to meet him ,
and embraced him and kissed him ,
and brought him to his house .
Jacob told Laban all these things ,
*
and Laban said to him , "
Surely you are my bone and my flesh !"
And he stayed with him a month .
*
Then Laban said to Jacob , "
Because you are my kinsman ,
should you therefore serve me for nothing ?
Tell me ,
what shall your wages be ?"
*
Now Laban had two daughters ;
the name of the older was Leah ,
and the name of the younger was Rachel .
*
Leah '
s eyes were weak ,
but Rachel was beautiful and lovely .
*
Jacob loved Rachel ;
and he said , "
I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel ."
*
Laban said , "
It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man ;
stay with me ."
*
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel ,
and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her .
*
Then Jacob said to Laban , "
Give me my wife that I may go in to her ,
for my time is completed ."
*
So Laban gathered together all the men of the place ,
and made a feast .
*
But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob ;
and he went in to her .
* (
Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her maid .)
*
And in the morning ,
behold ,
it was Leah ;
and Jacob said to Laban , "
What is this you have done to me ?
Did I not serve with you for Rachel ?
Why then have you deceived me ?"
*
Laban said , "
It is not so done in our country ,
to give the younger before the first-born .
*
Complete the week of this one ,
and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years ."
*
Jacob did so ,
and completed her week ;
then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to wife .
* (
Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maid .)
*
So Jacob went in to Rachel also ,
and he loved Rachel more than Leah ,
and served Laban for another seven years .
*
When the LORD saw that Leah was hated ,
he opened her womb ;
but Rachel was barren .
*
And Leah conceived and bore a son ,
and she called his name Reuben ;
for she said , "
Because the LORD has looked upon my affliction ;
surely now my husband will love me ."
*
She conceived again and bore a son ,
and said , "
Because the LORD has heard that I am hated ,
he has given me this son also ";
and she called his name Simeon .
*
Again she conceived and bore a son ,
and said , "
Now this time my husband will be joined to me ,
because I have borne him three sons ";
therefore his name was called Levi .
*
And she conceived again and bore a son ,
and said , "
This time I will praise the LORD ";
therefore she called his name Judah ;
then she ceased bearing .
*
When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children ,
she envied her sister ;
and she said to Jacob , "
Give me children ,
or I shall die !"
*
Jacob '
s anger was kindled against Rachel ,
and he said , "
Am I in the place of God ,
who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb ?"
*
Then she said , "
Here is my maid Bilhah ;
go in to her ,
that she may bear upon my knees ,
and even I may have children through her ."
*
So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife ;
and Jacob went in to her .
*
And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son .
*
Then Rachel said , "
God has judged me ,
and has also heard my voice and given me a son ";
therefore she called his name Daniel .
*
Rachel '
s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son .
*
Then Rachel said , "
With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister ,
and have prevailed ";
so she called his name Naph '
tali .
*
When Leah saw that she had ceased bearing children ,
she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife .
*
Then Leah '
s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son .
*
And Leah said , "
Good fortune !"
so she called his name Gad .
*
Leah '
s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son .
*
And Leah said , "
Happy am I !
For the women will call me happy ";
so she called his name Asher .
*
In the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field ,
and brought them to his mother Leah .
Then Rachel said to Leah , "
Give me ,
I pray ,
some of your son '
s mandrakes ."
*
But she said to her , "
Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband ?
Would you take away my son '
s mandrakes also ?"
Rachel said , "
Then he may lie with you tonight for your son '
s mandrakes ."
*
When Jacob came from the field in the evening ,
Leah went out to meet him ,
and said , "
You must come in to me ;
for I have hired you with my son '
s mandrakes ."
So he lay with her that night .
*
And God hearkened to Leah ,
and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son .
*
Leah said , "
God has given me my hire because I gave my maid to my husband ";
so she called his name Is '
sachar .
*
And Leah conceived again ,
and she bore Jacob a sixth son .
*
Then Leah said , "
God has endowed me with a good dowry ;
now my husband will honor me ,
because I have borne him six sons ";
so she called his name Zeb '
ulun .
*
Afterwards she bore a daughter ,
and called her name Dinah .
*
Then God remembered Rachel ,
and God hearkened to her and opened her womb .
*
She conceived and bore a son ,
and said , "
God has taken away my reproach ";
*
and she called his name Joseph ,
saying , "
May the LORD add to me another son !"
*
When Rachel had borne Joseph ,
Jacob said to Laban , "
Send me away ,
that I may go to my own home and country .
*
Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you ,
and let me go ;
for you know the service which I have given you ."
*
But Laban said to him , "
If you will allow me to say so ,
I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you ;
*
name your wages ,
and I will give it ."
*
Jacob said to him , "
You yourself know how I have served you ,
and how your cattle have fared with me .
*
For you had little before I came ,
and it has increased abundantly ;
and the LORD has blessed you wherever I turned .
But now when shall I provide for my own household also ?"
*
He said , "
What shall I give you ?"
Jacob said , "
You shall not give me anything ;
if you will do this for me ,
I will again feed your flock and keep it :
*
let me pass through all your flock today ,
removing from it every speckled and spotted sheep and every black lamb ,
and the spotted and speckled among the goats ;
and such shall be my wages .
*
So my honesty will answer for me later ,
when you come to look into my wages with you .
Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats and black among the lambs ,
if found with me ,
shall be counted stolen ."
*
Laban said , "
Good !
Let it be as you have said ."
*
But that day Laban removed the he-goats that were striped and spotted ,
and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted ,
every one that had white on it ,
and every lamb that was black ,
and put them in charge of his sons ;
*
and he set a distance of three days '
journey between himself and Jacob ;
and Jacob fed the rest of Laban '
s flock .
*
Then Jacob took fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane ,
and peeled white streaks in them ,
exposing the white of the rods .
*
He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the runnels ,
that is ,
the watering troughs ,
where the flocks came to drink .
And since they bred when they came to drink ,
*
the flocks bred in front of the rods and so the flocks brought forth striped ,
speckled ,
and spotted .
*
And Jacob separated the lambs ,
and set the faces of the flocks toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban ;
and he put his own droves apart ,
and did not put them with Laban '
s flock .
*
Whenever the stronger of the flock were breeding Jacob laid the rods in the runnels before the eyes of the flock ,
that they might breed among the rods ,
*
but for the feebler of the flock he did not lay them there ;
so the feebler were Laban '
s ,
and the stronger Jacob '
s .
*
Thus the man grew exceedingly rich ,
and had large flocks ,
maidservants and menservants ,
and camels and asses .
*
Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying , "
Jacob has taken all that was our father '
s ;
and from what was our father '
s he has gained all this wealth ."
*
And Jacob saw that Laban did not regard him with favor as before .
*
Then the LORD said to Jacob , "
Return to the land of your fathers and to your kindred ,
and I will be with you ."
*
So Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah into the field where his flock was ,
*
and said to them , "
I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before .
But the God of my father has been with me .
*
You know that I have served your father with all my strength ;
*
yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times ,
but God did not permit him to harm me .
*
If he said , `
The spotted shall be your wages ,'
then all the flock bore spotted ;
and if he said , `
The striped shall be your wages ,'
then all the flock bore striped .
*
Thus God has taken away the cattle of your father ,
and given them to me .
*
In the mating season of the flock I lifted up my eyes ,
and saw in a dream that the he-goats which leaped upon the flock were striped ,
spotted ,
and mottled .
*
Then the angel of God said to me in the dream , `
Jacob ,'
and I said , `
Here I am !'
*
And he said , `
Lift up your eyes and see ,
all the goats that leap upon the flock are striped ,
spotted ,
and mottled ;
for I have seen all that Laban is doing to you .
*
I am the God of Bethel ,
where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me .
Now arise ,
go forth from this land ,
and return to the land of your birth .'"
*
Then Rachel and Leah answered him , "
Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father '
s house ?
*
Are we not regarded by him as foreigners ?
For he has sold us ,
and he has been using up the money given for us .
*
All the property which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children ;
now then ,
whatever God has said to you ,
do ."
*
So Jacob arose ,
and set his sons and his wives on camels ;
*
and he drove away all his cattle ,
all his livestock which he had gained ,
the cattle in his possession which he had acquired in Paddan-aram ,
to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac .
*
Laban had gone to shear his sheep ,
and Rachel stole her father '
s household gods .
*
And Jacob outwitted Laban the Aramean ,
in that he did not tell him that he intended to flee .
*
He fled with all that he had ,
and arose and crossed the Euphra '
tes ,
and set his face toward the hill country of Gilead .
*
When it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled ,
*
he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him for seven days and followed close after him into the hill country of Gilead .
*
But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night ,
and said to him , "
Take heed that you say not a word to Jacob ,
either good or bad ."
*
And Laban overtook Jacob .
Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country ,
and Laban with his kinsmen encamped in the hill country of Gilead .
*
And Laban said to Jacob , "
What have you done ,
that you have cheated me ,
and carried away my daughters like captives of the sword ?
*
Why did you flee secretly ,
and cheat me ,
and did not tell me ,
so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs ,
with tambourine and lyre ?
*
And why did you not permit me to kiss my sons and my daughters farewell ?
Now you have done foolishly .
*
It is in my power to do you harm ;
but the God of your father spoke to me last night ,
saying , `
Take heed that you speak to Jacob neither good nor bad .'
*
And now you have gone away because you longed greatly for your father '
s house ,
but why did you steal my gods ?"
*
Jacob answered Laban , "
Because I was afraid ,
for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force .
*
Any one with whom you find your gods shall not live .
In the presence of our kinsmen point out what I have that is yours ,
and take it ."
Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them .
*
So Laban went into Jacob '
s tent ,
and into Leah '
s tent ,
and into the tent of the two maidservants ,
but he did not find them .
And he went out of Leah '
s tent ,
and entered Rachel '
s .
*
Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them in the camel '
s saddle ,
and sat upon them .
Laban felt all about the tent ,
but did not find them .
*
And she said to her father , "
Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you ,
for the way of women is upon me ."
So he searched ,
but did not find the household gods .
*
Then Jacob became angry ,
and upbraided Laban ;
Jacob said to Laban , "
What is my offense ?
What is my sin ,
that you have hotly pursued me ?
*
Although you have felt through all my goods ,
what have you found of all your household goods ?
Set it here before my kinsmen and your kinsmen ,
that they may decide between us two .
*
These twenty years I have been with you ;
your ewes and your she-goats have not miscarried ,
and I have not eaten the rams of your flocks .
*
That which was torn by wild beasts I did not bring to you ;
I bore the loss of it myself ;
of my hand you required it ,
whether stolen by day or stolen by night .
*
Thus I was ;
by day the heat consumed me ,
and the cold by night ,
and my sleep fled from my eyes .
*
These twenty years I have been in your house ;
I served you fourteen years for your two daughters ,
and six years for your flock ,
and you have changed my wages ten times .
*
If the God of my father ,
the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac ,
had not been on my side ,
surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed .
God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands ,
and rebuked you last night ."
*
Then Laban answered and said to Jacob , "
The daughters are my daughters ,
the children are my children ,
the flocks are my flocks ,
and all that you see is mine .
But what can I do this day to these my daughters ,
or to their children whom they have borne ?
*
Come now ,
let us make a covenant ,
you and I ;
and let it be a witness between you and me ."
*
So Jacob took a stone ,
and set it up as a pillar .
*
And Jacob said to his kinsmen , "
Gather stones ,"
and they took stones ,
and made a heap ;
and they ate there by the heap .
*
Laban called it Je '
gar-sahadu '
tha :
but Jacob called it Galeed .
*
Laban said , "
This heap is a witness between you and me today ."
Therefore he named it Galeed ,
*
and the pillar Mizpah ,
for he said , "
The LORD watch between you and me ,
when we are absent one from the other .
*
If you ill-treat my daughters ,
or if you take wives besides my daughters ,
although no man is with us ,
remember ,
God is witness between you and me ."
*
Then Laban said to Jacob , "
See this heap and the pillar ,
which I have set between you and me .
*
This heap is a witness ,
and the pillar is a witness ,
that I will not pass over this heap to you ,
and you will not pass over this heap and this pillar to me ,
for harm .
*
The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor ,
the God of their father ,
judge between us ."
So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac ,
*
and Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and called his kinsmen to eat bread ;
and they ate bread and tarried all night on the mountain .
*
Early in the morning Laban arose ,
and kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them ;
then he departed and returned home .
*
Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him ;
*
and when Jacob saw them he said , "
This is God '
s army !"
So he called the name of that place Mahana '
im .
*
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Se '
ir ,
the country of Edom ,
*
instructing them , "
Thus you shall say to my lord Esau :
Thus says your servant Jacob , `
I have sojourned with Laban ,
and stayed until now ;
*
and I have oxen ,
asses ,
flocks ,
menservants ,
and maidservants ;
and I have sent to tell my lord ,
in order that I may find favor in your sight .'"
*
And the messengers returned to Jacob ,
saying , "
We came to your brother Esau ,
and he is coming to meet you ,
and four hundred men with him ."
*
Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed ;
and he divided the people that were with him ,
and the flocks and herds and camels ,
into two companies ,
*
thinking , "
If Esau comes to the one company and destroys it ,
then the company which is left will escape ."
*
And Jacob said , "
O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac ,
O LORD who didst say to me , `
Return to your country and to your kindred ,
and I will do you good ,'
*
I am not worthy of the least of all the steadfast love and all the faithfulness which thou hast shown to thy servant ,
for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan ;
and now I have become two companies .
*
Deliver me ,
I pray thee ,
from the hand of my brother ,
from the hand of Esau ,
for I fear him ,
lest he come and slay us all ,
the mothers with the children .
*
But thou didst say , `
I will do you good ,
and make your descendants as the sand of the sea ,
which cannot be numbered for multitude .'"
*
So he lodged there that night ,
and took from what he had with him a present for his brother Esau ,
*
two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats ,
two hundred ewes and twenty rams ,
*
thirty milch camels and their colts ,
forty cows and ten bulls ,
twenty she-asses and ten he-asses .
*
These he delivered into the hand of his servants ,
every drove by itself ,
and said to his servants , "
Pass on before me ,
and put a space between drove and drove ."
*
He instructed the foremost , "
When Esau my brother meets you ,
and asks you , `
To whom do you belong ?
Where are you going ?
And whose are these before you ?'
*
then you shall say , `
They belong to your servant Jacob ;
they are a present sent to my lord Esau ;
and moreover he is behind us .'"
*
He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves , "
You shall say the same thing to Esau when you meet him ,
*
and you shall say , `
Moreover your servant Jacob is behind us .'"
For he thought , "
I may appease him with the present that goes before me ,
and afterwards I shall see his face ;
perhaps he will accept me ."
*
So the present passed on before him ;
and he himself lodged that night in the camp .
*
The same night he arose and took his two wives ,
his two maids ,
and his eleven children ,
and crossed the ford of the Jabbok .
*
He took them and sent them across the stream ,
and likewise everything that he had .
*
And Jacob was left alone ;
and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day .
*
When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob ,
he touched the hollow of his thigh ;
and Jacob '
s thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with him .
*
Then he said , "
Let me go ,
for the day is breaking ."
But Jacob said , "
I will not let you go ,
unless you bless me ."
*
And he said to him , "
What is your name ?"
And he said , "
Jacob ."
*
Then he said , "
Your name shall no more be called Jacob ,
but Israel ,
for you have striven with God and with men ,
and have prevailed ."
*
Then Jacob asked him , "
Tell me ,
I pray ,
your name ."
But he said , "
Why is it that you ask my name ?"
And there he blessed him .
*
So Jacob called the name of the place Peni '
el ,
saying , "
For I have seen God face to face ,
and yet my life is preserved ."
*
The sun rose upon him as he passed Penu '
el ,
limping because of his thigh .
*
Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh ,
because he touched the hollow of Jacob '
s thigh on the sinew of the hip .
*
And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked ,
and behold ,
Esau was coming ,
and four hundred men with him .
So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids .
*
And he put the maids with their children in front ,
then Leah with her children ,
and Rachel and Joseph last of all .
*
He himself went on before them ,
bowing himself to the ground seven times ,
until he came near to his brother .
*
But Esau ran to meet him ,
and embraced him ,
and fell on his neck and kissed him ,
and they wept .
*
And when Esau raised his eyes and saw the women and children ,
he said , "
Who are these with you ?"
Jacob said , "
The children whom God has graciously given your servant ."
*
Then the maids drew near ,
they and their children ,
and bowed down ;
*
Leah likewise and her children drew near and bowed down ;
and last Joseph and Rachel drew near ,
and they bowed down .
*
Esau said , "
What do you mean by all this company which I met ?"
Jacob answered , "
To find favor in the sight of my lord ."
*
But Esau said , "
I have enough ,
my brother ;
keep what you have for yourself ."
*
Jacob said , "
No ,
I pray you ,
if I have found favor in your sight ,
then accept my present from my hand ;
for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God ,
with such favor have you received me .
*
Accept ,
I pray you ,
my gift that is brought to you ,
because God has dealt graciously with me ,
and because I have enough ."
Thus he urged him ,
and he took it .
*
Then Esau said , "
Let us journey on our way ,
and I will go before you ."
*
But Jacob said to him , "
My lord knows that the children are frail ,
and that the flocks and herds giving suck are a care to me ;
and if they are overdriven for one day ,
all the flocks will die .
*
Let my lord pass on before his servant ,
and I will lead on slowly ,
according to the pace of the cattle which are before me and according to the pace of the children ,
until I come to my lord in Se '
ir ."
*
So Esau said , "
Let me leave with you some of the men who are with me ."
But he said , "
What need is there ?
Let me find favor in the sight of my lord ."
*
So Esau returned that day on his way to Se '
ir .
*
But Jacob journeyed to Succoth ,
and built himself a house ,
and made booths for his cattle ;
therefore the name of the place is called Succoth .
*
And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem ,
which is in the land of Canaan ,
on his way from Paddan-aram ;
and he camped before the city .
*
And from the sons of Hamor ,
Shechem '
s father ,
he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent .
*
There he erected an altar and called it El-El '
ohe-Israel .
*
Now Dinah the daughter of Leah ,
whom she had borne to Jacob ,
went out to visit the women of the land ;
*
and when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite ,
the prince of the land ,
saw her ,
he seized her and lay with her and humbled her .
*
And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob ;
he loved the maiden and spoke tenderly to her .
*
So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor ,
saying , "
Get me this maiden for my wife ."
*
Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah ;
but his sons were with his cattle in the field ,
so Jacob held his peace until they came .
*
And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him .
*
The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard of it ;
and the men were indignant and very angry ,
because he had wrought folly in Israel by lying with Jacob '
s daughter ,
for such a thing ought not to be done .
*
But Hamor spoke with them ,
saying , "
The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter ;
I pray you ,
give her to him in marriage .
*
Make marriages with us ;
give your daughters to us ,
and take our daughters for yourselves .
*
You shall dwell with us ;
and the land shall be open to you ;
dwell and trade in it ,
and get property in it ."
*
Shechem also said to her father and to her brothers , "
Let me find favor in your eyes ,
and whatever you say to me I will give .
*
Ask of me ever so much as marriage present and gift ,
and I will give according as you say to me ;
only give me the maiden to be my wife ."
*
The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor deceitfully ,
because he had defiled their sister Dinah .
*
They said to them , "
We cannot do this thing ,
to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised ,
for that would be a disgrace to us .
*
Only on this condition will we consent to you :
that you will become as we are and every male of you be circumcised .
*
Then we will give our daughters to you ,
and we will take your daughters to ourselves ,
and we will dwell with you and become one people .
*
But if you will not listen to us and be circumcised ,
then we will take our daughter ,
and we will be gone ."
*
Their words pleased Hamor and Hamor '
s son Shechem .
*
And the young man did not delay to do the thing ,
because he had delight in Jacob '
s daughter .
Now he was the most honored of all his family .
*
So Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city and spoke to the men of their city ,
saying ,
* "
These men are friendly with us ;
let them dwell in the land and trade in it ,
for behold ,
the land is large enough for them ;
let us take their daughters in marriage ,
and let us give them our daughters .
*
Only on this condition will the men agree to dwell with us ,
to become one people :
that every male among us be circumcised as they are circumcised .
*
Will not their cattle ,
their property and all their beasts be ours ?
Only let us agree with them ,
and they will dwell with us ."
*
And all who went out of the gate of his city hearkened to Hamor and his son Shechem ;
and every male was circumcised ,
all who went out of the gate of his city .
*
On the third day ,
when they were sore ,
two of the sons of Jacob ,
Simeon and Levi ,
Dinah '
s brothers ,
took their swords and came upon the city unawares ,
and killed all the males .
*
They slew Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword ,
and took Dinah out of Shechem '
s house ,
and went away .
*
And the sons of Jacob came upon the slain ,
and plundered the city ,
because their sister had been defiled ;
*
they took their flocks and their herds ,
their asses ,
and whatever was in the city and in the field ;
*
all their wealth ,
all their little ones and their wives ,
all that was in the houses ,
they captured and made their prey .
*
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi , "
You have brought trouble on me by making me odious to the inhabitants of the land ,
the Canaanites and the Per '
izzites ;
my numbers are few ,
and if they gather themselves against me and attack me ,
I shall be destroyed ,
both I and my household ."
*
But they said , "
Should he treat our sister as a harlot ?"
*
God said to Jacob , "
Arise ,
go up to Bethel ,
and dwell there ;
and make there an altar to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau ."
*
So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him , "
Put away the foreign gods that are among you ,
and purify yourselves ,
and change your garments ;
*
then let us arise and go up to Bethel ,
that I may make there an altar to the God who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone ."
*
So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had ,
and the rings that were in their ears ;
and Jacob hid them under the oak which was near Shechem .
*
And as they journeyed ,
a terror from God fell upon the cities that were round about them ,
so that they did not pursue the sons of Jacob .
*
And Jacob came to Luz (
that is ,
Bethel ),
which is in the land of Canaan ,
he and all the people who were with him ,
*
and there he built an altar ,
and called the place El-bethel ,
because there God had revealed himself to him when he fled from his brother .
*
And Deb '
orah ,
Rebekah '
s nurse ,
died ,
and she was buried under an oak below Bethel ;
so the name of it was called Al '
lon-bacuth .
*
God appeared to Jacob again ,
when he came from Paddan-aram ,
and blessed him .
*
And God said to him , "
Your name is Jacob ;
no longer shall your name be called Jacob ,
but Israel shall be your name ."
So his name was called Israel .
*
And God said to him , "
I am God Almighty :
be fruitful and multiply ;
a nation and a company of nations shall come from you ,
and kings shall spring from you .
*
The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you ,
and I will give the land to your descendants after you ."
*
Then God went up from him in the place where he had spoken with him .
*
And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him ,
a pillar of stone ;
and he poured out a drink offering on it ,
and poured oil on it .
*
So Jacob called the name of the place where God had spoken with him ,
Bethel .
*
Then they journeyed from Bethel ;
and when they were still some distance from Ephrath ,
Rachel travailed ,
and she had hard labor .
*
And when she was in her hard labor ,
the midwife said to her , "
Fear not ;
for now you will have another son ."
*
And as her soul was departing (
for she died ),
she called his name Ben-o '
ni ;
but his father called his name Benjamin .
*
So Rachel died ,
and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (
that is ,
Bethlehem ),
*
and Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave ;
it is the pillar of Rachel '
s tomb ,
which is there to this day .
*
Israel journeyed on ,
and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder .
*
While Israel dwelt in that land Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father '
s concubine ;
and Israel heard of it .
Now the sons of Jacob were twelve .
*
The sons of Leah :
Reuben (
Jacob '
s first-born ),
Simeon ,
Levi ,
Judah ,
Is '
sachar ,
and Zeb '
ulun .
*
The sons of Rachel :
Joseph and Benjamin .
*
The sons of Bilhah ,
Rachel '
s maid :
Dan and Naph '
tali .
*
The sons of Zilpah ,
Leah '
s maid :
Gad and Asher .
These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram .
*
And Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre ,
or Kir '
iath-ar '
ba (
that is ,
Hebron ),
where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned .
*
Now the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years .
*
And Isaac breathed his last ;
and he died and was gathered to his people ,
old and full of days ;
and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him .
*
These are the descendants of Esau (
that is ,
Edom ).
*
Esau took his wives from the Canaanites :
Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite ,
Oholiba '
mah the daughter of Anah the son of Zib '
eon the Hivite ,
*
and Bas '
emath ,
Ish '
mael '
s daughter ,
the sister of Neba '
ioth .
*
And Adah bore to Esau ,
El '
iphaz ;
Bas '
emath bore Reu '
el ;
*
and Oholiba '
mah bore Je '
ush ,
Jalam ,
and Korah .
These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan .
*
Then Esau took his wives ,
his sons ,
his daughters ,
and all the members of his household ,
his cattle ,
all his beasts ,
and all his property which he had acquired in the land of Canaan ;
and he went into a land away from his brother Jacob .
*
For their possessions were too great for them to dwell together ;
the land of their sojournings could not support them because of their cattle .
*
So Esau dwelt in the hill country of Se '
ir ;
Esau is Edom .
*
These are the descendants of Esau the father of the E '
domites in the hill country of Se '
ir .
*
These are the names of Esau '
s sons :
El '
iphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau ,
Reu '
el the son of Bas '
emath the wife of Esau .
*
The sons of El '
iphaz were Teman ,
Omar ,
Zepho ,
Gatam ,
and Kenaz .
* (
Timna was a concubine of El '
iphaz ,
Esau '
s son ;
she bore Am '
alek to El '
iphaz .)
These are the sons of Adah ,
Esau '
s wife .
*
These are the sons of Reu '
el :
Nahath ,
Zerah ,
Shammah ,
and Mizzah .
These are the sons of Bas '
emath ,
Esau '
s wife .
*
These are the sons of Oholiba '
mah the daughter of Anah the son of Zib '
eon ,
Esau '
s wife :
she bore to Esau Je '
ush ,
Jalam ,
and Korah .
*
These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau .
The sons of El '
iphaz the first-born of Esau :
the chiefs Teman ,
Omar ,
Zepho ,
Kenaz ,
*
Korah ,
Gatam ,
and Am '
alek ;
these are the chiefs of El '
iphaz in the land of Edom ;
they are the sons of Adah .
*
These are the sons of Reu '
el ,
Esau '
s son :
the chiefs Nahath ,
Zerah ,
Shammah ,
and Mizzah ;
these are the chiefs of Reu '
el in the land of Edom ;
they are the sons of Bas '
emath ,
Esau '
s wife .
*
These are the sons of Oholiba '
mah ,
Esau '
s wife :
the chiefs Je '
ush ,
Jalam ,
and Korah ;
these are the chiefs born of Oholiba '
mah the daughter of Anah ,
Esau '
s wife .
*
These are the sons of Esau (
that is ,
Edom ),
and these are their chiefs .
*
These are the sons of Se '
ir the Horite ,
the inhabitants of the land :
Lotan ,
Shobal ,
Zib '
eon ,
Anah ,
*
Dishon ,
Ezer ,
and Dishan ;
these are the chiefs of the Horites ,
the sons of Se '
ir in the land of Edom .
*
The sons of Lotan were Hori and Heman ;
and Lotan '
s sister was Timna .
*
These are the sons of Shobal :
Alvan ,
Man '
ahath ,
Ebal ,
Shepho ,
and Onam .
*
These are the sons of Zib '
eon :
A '
iah and Anah ;
he is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness ,
as he pastured the asses of Zib '
eon his father .
*
These are the children of Anah :
Dishon and Oholiba '
mah the daughter of Anah .
*
These are the sons of Dishon :
Hemdan ,
Eshban ,
Ithran ,
and Cheran .
*
These are the sons of Ezer :
Bilhan ,
Za '
avan ,
and Akan .
*
These are the sons of Dishan :
Uz and Aran .
*
These are the chiefs of the Horites :
the chiefs Lotan ,
Shobal ,
Zib '
eon ,
Anah ,
*
Dishon ,
Ezer ,
and Dishan ;
these are the chiefs of the Horites ,
according to their clans in the land of Se '
ir .
*
These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom ,
before any king reigned over the Israelites .
*
Bela the son of Be '
or reigned in Edom ,
the name of his city being Din '
habah .
*
Bela died ,
and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead .
*
Jobab died ,
and Husham of the land of the Te '
manites reigned in his stead .
*
Husham died ,
and Hadad the son of Bedad ,
who defeated Mid '
ian in the country of Moab ,
reigned in his stead ,
the name of his city being Avith .
*
Hadad died ,
and Samlah of Masre '
kah reigned in his stead .
*
Samlah died ,
and Shaul of Reho '
both on the Euphra '
tes reigned in his stead .
*
Shaul died ,
and Ba '
al-ha '
nan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead .
*
Ba '
al-ha '
nan the son of Achbor died ,
and Hadar reigned in his stead ,
the name of his city being Pau ;
his wife '
s name was Mehet '
abel ,
the daughter of Matred ,
daughter of Me '
zahab .
*
These are the names of the chiefs of Esau ,
according to their families and their dwelling places ,
by their names :
the chiefs Timna ,
Alvah ,
Jetheth ,
*
Oholiba '
mah ,
Elah ,
Pinon ,
*
Kenaz ,
Teman ,
Mibzar ,
*
Mag '
diel ,
and Iram ;
these are the chiefs of Edom (
that is ,
Esau ,
the father of Edom ),
according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession .
*
Jacob dwelt in the land of his father '
s sojournings ,
in the land of Canaan .