Genesis 25-33

Common English Bible

Abraham and Keturah’s children

25 Abraham married another wife, named Keturah. ² The children she bore him were Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s sons were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. ⁴ Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Enoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All of these were Keturah’s sons. ⁵ Abraham gave everything he owned to Isaac. ⁶ To the sons of Abraham’s secondary wives, Abraham gave gifts and, while he was still living, sent them away from his son Isaac to land in the east.

Abraham’s death

⁷ Abraham lived to the age of 175. ⁸ Abraham took his last breath and died after a good long life, a content old man, and he was placed with his ancestors. ⁹ His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave in Machpelah, which is in the field of Zohar’s son Ephron the Hittite, near Mamre. ¹⁰ Thus Abraham and his wife Sarah were both buried in the field Abraham had purchased from the Hittites. ¹¹ After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, and Isaac lived in Beer-lahai-roi.

Ishmael’s descendants

¹² These are the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore for Abraham. ¹³ These are the names of Ishmael’s sons, by their names and according to their birth order: Nebaioth, Ishmael’s oldest son; Kedar; Adbeel; Mibsam; ¹⁴ Mishma; Dumah; Massa; ¹⁵ Hadad; Tema; Jetur; Naphish; and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These are Ishmael’s sons. These are their names by their villages and their settlements: twelve tribal leaders according to their tribes. ¹⁷ Ishmael lived to the age of 137. He took his last breath and died, and was placed with his ancestors. ¹⁸ He established camps^[a] from Havilah to Shur, which is near Egypt on the road to Assyria. He died^[b] among all of his brothers.

Jacob and Esau are born

¹⁹ These are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham became the father of Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean and the sister of Laban the Aramean, from Paddan-aram. ²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, since she was unable to have children. The Lord was moved by his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. ²² But the boys pushed against each other inside of her, and she said, “If this is what it’s like, why did it happen to me?”^[c]

So she went to ask the Lord. ²³ And the Lord said to her,

²⁴ When she reached the end of her pregnancy, she discovered that she had twins. ²⁵ The first came out red all over, clothed with hair, and she named him Esau. ²⁶ Immediately afterward, his brother came out gripping Esau’s heel, and she named him Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.

Jacob acquires the oldest son’s rights

²⁷ When the young men grew up, Esau became an outdoorsman who knew how to hunt, and Jacob became a quiet man who stayed at home. ²⁸ Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating game, but Rebekah loved Jacob. ²⁹ Once when Jacob was boiling stew, Esau came in from the field hungry ³⁰ and said to Jacob, “I’m starving! Let me devour some of this red stuff.” That’s why his name is Edom.^[d]

³¹ Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright^[e] today.”

³² Esau said, “Since I’m going to die anyway, what good is my birthright to me?”

³³ Jacob said, “Give me your word today.” And he did. He sold his birthright to Jacob. ³⁴ So Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew. He ate, drank, got up, and left, showing just how little he thought of his birthright.

Isaac and Rebekah visit Gerar

26 When a famine gripped the land, a different one from the first famine that occurred in Abraham’s time, Isaac set out toward Gerar and toward King Abimelech of the Philistines. ² The Lord appeared to him and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt but settle temporarily in the land that I will show you. ³ Stay in this land as an immigrant, and I will be with you and bless you because I will give all of these lands to you and your descendants. I will keep my word, which I gave to your father Abraham. ⁴ I will give you as many descendants as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all of these lands. All of the nations of the earth will be blessed because of your descendants. ⁵ I will do this because Abraham obeyed me and kept my orders, my commandments, my statutes, and my instructions.”

⁶ So Isaac lived in Gerar. ⁷ When the men who lived there asked about his wife, he said, “She’s my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, The men who live there will kill me for Rebekah because she’s very beautiful. ⁸ After Isaac had lived there for some time, the Philistines’ King Abimelech looked out his window and saw Isaac laughing together with his wife Rebekah.

⁹ So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She’s your wife, isn’t she? How could you say, ‘She’s my sister’?”

Isaac responded, “Because I thought that I might be killed because of her.”

¹⁰ Abimelech said, “What are you trying to do to us? Before long, one of the people would have slept with your wife; and you would have made us guilty.” ¹¹ Abimelech gave orders to all of the people, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death!”

Isaac’s treaty with the Philistines

¹² Isaac planted grain in that land and reaped one hundred shearim^[f] that year because the Lord had blessed him. ¹³ Isaac grew richer and richer until he was extremely wealthy. ¹⁴ He had livestock, both flocks and cattle, and many servants. As a result, the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ The Philistines closed up and filled with dirt all of the wells that his father’s servants had dug during his father Abraham’s lifetime. ¹⁶ Abimelech said to Isaac, “Move away from us because you have become too powerful among us.”

¹⁷ So Isaac moved away from there, camped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there. ¹⁸ Isaac dug out again the wells that were dug during the lifetime of his father Abraham. The Philistines had closed them up after Abraham’s death. Isaac gave them the same names his father had given them. ¹⁹ Isaac’s servants dug wells in the valley and found a well there with fresh water. ²⁰ Isaac’s shepherds argued with Gerar’s shepherds, each claiming, “This is our water.” So Isaac named the well Esek^[g] because they quarreled with him. ²¹ They dug another well and argued about it too, so he named it Sitnah.^{[h] 22} He left there and dug another well, but they didn’t argue about it, so he named it Rehoboth^[i] and said, “Now the Lord has made an open space for us and has made us fertile in the land.”

²³ Then he went up from Gerar to Beer-sheba. ²⁴ The Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Don’t be afraid because I am with you. I will bless you, and I will give you many children for my servant Abraham’s sake.” ²⁵ So Isaac built an altar there and worshipped in the Lord’s name. Isaac pitched his tent there, and his servants dug a well.

²⁶ But Abimelech set out toward him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his ally and Phicol the commander of his forces. ²⁷ Isaac said to him, “Why have you come after me? You resented me and sent me away from you.”

²⁸ They said, “We now see that the Lord was with you. We propose that there be a formal agreement between us and that we draw up a treaty^[j] with you: ²⁹ you must not treat us badly since we haven’t harmed you and since we have treated you well at all times. Then we will send you away peacefully, for you are now blessed by the Lord.” ³⁰ Isaac prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹ They got up early in the morning, and they gave each other their word. Isaac sent them off, and they left peacefully.

³² That day Isaac’s servants informed him about the well that they had been digging and said to him, “We found water.” ³³ He called it Shibah;^[k] therefore, the city’s name has been Beer-sheba^[l] until today.

Esau’s wives

³⁴ When Esau was 40 years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ They made life very difficult for Isaac and Rebekah.

Jacob acquires his father’s blessing

27 When Isaac had grown old and his eyesight was failing, he summoned his older son Esau and said to him, “My son?”

And Esau said, “I’m here.”

² He said, “I’m old and don’t know when I will die. ³ So now, take your hunting gear, your bow and quiver of arrows, go out to the field, and hunt game for me. ⁴ Make me the delicious food that I love and bring it to me so I can eat. Then I can bless you before I die.”

⁵ Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the field to hunt game to bring back, ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I just heard your father saying to your brother Esau, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and make me some delicious food so I can eat, and I will bless you in the Lord’s presence before I die.’ ⁸ Now, my son, listen to me, to what I’m telling you to do. ⁹ Go to the flock and get me two healthy young goats so I can prepare them as the delicious food your father loves. ¹⁰ You can bring it to your father, he will eat, and then he will bless you before he dies.”

¹¹ Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man, but I have smooth skin. ¹² What if my father touches me and thinks I’m making fun of him? I will be cursed instead of blessed.”

¹³ His mother said to him, “Your curse will be on me, my son. Just listen to me: go and get them for me.” ¹⁴ So he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made the delicious food that his father loved. ¹⁵ Rebekah took her older son Esau’s favorite clothes that were in the house with her, and she put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ On his arms and smooth neck she put the hide of young goats, ¹⁷ and the delicious food and the bread she had made she put into her son’s hands.

¹⁸ Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.”

And he said, “I’m here. Who are you, my son?”

¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I’m Esau your oldest son. I’ve made what you asked me to. Sit up and eat some of the game so you can bless me.”

²⁰ Isaac said to his son, “How could you find this so quickly, my son?”

He said, “The Lord your God led me right to it.”^[m]

²¹ Isaac said to Jacob, “Come here and let me touch you, my son. Are you my son Esau or not?” ²² So Jacob approached his father Isaac, and Isaac touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the arms are Esau’s arms.” ²³ Isaac didn’t recognize him because his arms were hairy like Esau’s arms, so he blessed him.

²⁴ Isaac said, “Are you really my son Esau?”

And he said, “I am.”

²⁵ Isaac said, “Bring some food here and let me eat some of my son’s game so I can bless you.” Jacob put it before him and he ate, and he brought him wine and he drank. ²⁶ His father Isaac said to him, “Come here and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So he came close and kissed him. When Isaac smelled the scent of his clothes, he blessed him,

Esau receives a secondary blessing

³⁰ After Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and just as Jacob left his father Isaac, his brother Esau came back from his hunt. ³¹ He too made some delicious food, brought it to his father, and said, “Let my father sit up and eat from his son’s game so that you may bless me.”

³² His father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”

And he said, “I’m your son, your oldest son, Esau.”

³³ Isaac was so shocked that he trembled violently. He said, “Who was the hunter just here with game? He brought me food, and I ate all of it before you came. I blessed him, and he will stay blessed!”

³⁴ When Esau heard what his father said, he let out a loud agonizing cry and wept bitterly. He said to his father, “Bless me! Me too, my father!”

³⁵ Isaac said, “Your brother has already come deceitfully and has taken your blessing.”

³⁶ Esau said, “Isn’t this why he’s called Jacob? He’s taken me^[n] twice now: he took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing.” He continued, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac replied to Esau, “I’ve already made him more powerful than you, and I’ve made all of his brothers his servants. I’ve made him strong with grain and wine. What can I do for you, my son?”

³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you really have only one blessing, Father? Bless me too, my father!” And Esau wept loudly.

³⁹ His father Isaac responded and said to him,

Jacob sent away for protection

⁴¹ Esau was furious at Jacob because his father had blessed him, and Esau said to himself, When the period of mourning for the death of my father is over, I will kill my brother.

⁴² Rebekah was told what her older son Esau was planning, so she summoned her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Esau your brother is planning revenge. He plans to kill you. ⁴³ So now, my son, listen to me: Get up and escape to my brother Laban in Haran. ⁴⁴ Live with him for a short while until your brother’s rage subsides, ⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger at you goes away and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I suffer the loss of both of you on one day?”

⁴⁶ Rebekah then said to Isaac, “I really loathe these Hittite women. If Jacob marries one of the Hittite women, like the women of this land, why should I go on living?”

28 So Isaac summoned Jacob, blessed him, and gave him these orders: “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman. ² Get up and go to Paddan-aram, to the household of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and once there, marry one of the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³ God Almighty^[p] will bless you, make you fertile, and give you many descendants so that you will become a large group of peoples. ⁴ He will give you and your descendants Abraham’s blessing so that you will own the land in which you are now immigrants, the land God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ So Isaac sent Jacob off, and he traveled to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau’s mother.

⁶ Esau understood that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to marry a woman from there. He recognized that, when Isaac blessed Jacob, he had ordered him, “Don’t marry a Canaanite woman,” ⁷ and that Jacob had listened to his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ Esau realized that his father Isaac considered Canaanite women unacceptable. ⁹ So he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth, in addition to his other wives.

Jacob’s dream at Bethel

¹⁰ Jacob left Beer-sheba and set out for Haran. ¹¹ He reached a certain place and spent the night there. When the sun had set, he took one of the stones at that place and put it near his head. Then he lay down there. ¹² He dreamed and saw a raised staircase, its foundation on earth and its top touching the sky, and God’s messengers were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ Suddenly the Lord was standing on it^[q] and saying, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. ¹⁴ Your descendants will become like the dust of the earth; you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. Every family of earth will be blessed because of you and your descendants. ¹⁵ I am with you now, I will protect you everywhere you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done everything that I have promised you.”

¹⁶ When Jacob woke from his sleep, he thought to himself, The Lord is definitely in this place, but I didn’t know it. ¹⁷ He was terrified and thought, This sacred place is awesome. It’s none other than God’s house and the entrance to heaven. ¹⁸ After Jacob got up early in the morning, he took the stone that he had put near his head, set it up as a sacred pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. ¹⁹ He named that sacred place Bethel,^[r] though Luz was the city’s original name. ²⁰ Jacob made a solemn promise: “If God is with me and protects me on this trip I’m taking, and gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, ²¹ and I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God. ²² This stone that I’ve set up as a sacred pillar will be God’s house, and of everything you give me I will give a tenth back to you.”

Jacob meets Rachel

29 Jacob got to his feet and set out for the land of the easterners. ² He saw a well in the field in front of him, near which three flocks of sheep were lying down. That well was their source for water because the flocks drank from that well. A huge stone covered the well’s opening. ³ When all of the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the well’s opening, water the sheep, and return the stone to its place at the well’s opening. ⁴ Jacob said to them, “Where are you from, my brothers?”

They said, “We’re from Haran.”

⁵ Then he said to them, “Do you know Laban, Nahor’s grandson?”

They said, “We know him.”

⁶ He said to them, “Is he well?”

They said, “He’s fine. In fact, this is his daughter Rachel now, coming with the flock.”

⁷ He said to them, “It’s now only the middle of the day. It’s not time yet to gather the animals. Water the flock, and then go, put them out to pasture.”

⁸ They said to him, “We can’t until all the herds are gathered, and then we^[s] roll the stone away from the well’s opening and water the flock.”

⁹ While he was still talking to them, Rachel came with her father’s flock since she was its shepherd. ¹⁰ When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his uncle, and the flock of Laban, Jacob came up, rolled the stone from the well’s opening, and watered the flock of his uncle Laban. ¹¹ Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. ¹² Jacob told Rachel that he was related to her father and that he was Rebekah’s son. She then ran to tell her father. ¹³ When Laban heard about Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him. Laban embraced him, kissed him, and invited him into his house, where Jacob recounted to Laban everything that had happened. ¹⁴ Laban said to him, “Yes, you are my flesh and blood.”

Jacob marries Leah and Rachel

After Jacob had stayed with Laban for a month, ¹⁵ Laban said to Jacob, “You shouldn’t have to work for free just because you are my relative. Tell me what you would like to be paid.”

¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters: the older was named Leah and the younger Rachel. ¹⁷ Leah had delicate eyes,^[t] but Rachel had a beautiful figure and was good-looking. ¹⁸ Jacob loved Rachel and said, “I will work for you for seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.”

¹⁹ Laban said, “I’d rather give her to you than to another man. Stay with me.”

²⁰ Jacob worked for Rachel for seven years, but it seemed like a few days because he loved her. ²¹ Jacob said to Laban, “The time has come. Give me my wife so that I may sleep with her.” ²² So Laban invited all the people of that place and prepared a banquet. ²³ However, in the evening, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he slept with her. ²⁴ Laban had given his servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah as her servant. ²⁵ In the morning, there she was—Leah! Jacob said to Laban, “What have you done to me? Didn’t I work for you to have Rachel? Why did you betray me?”

²⁶ Laban said, “Where we live, we don’t give the younger woman before the oldest. ²⁷ Complete the celebratory week with this woman. Then I will give^[u] you this other woman too for your work, if you work for me seven more years.” ²⁸ So that is what Jacob did. He completed the celebratory week with this woman, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. ²⁹ Laban had given his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her servant. ³⁰ Jacob slept with Rachel, and he loved Rachel more than Leah. He worked for Laban seven more years.

Jacob’s sons are born

³¹ When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to have children. ³² Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben^[v] because she said, “The Lord saw my harsh treatment, and now my husband will love me.” ³³ She became pregnant again and gave birth to a son. She said, “The Lord heard that I was unloved, so he gave me this son too,” and she named him Simeon.^{[w] 34} She became pregnant again and gave birth to a son. She said, “Now, this time my husband will embrace me,^[x] since I have given birth to three sons for him.” So she named him Levi.^{[y] 35} She became pregnant again and gave birth to a son. She said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” So she named him Judah.^[z] Then she stopped bearing children.

30 When Rachel realized that she could bear Jacob no children, Rachel became jealous of her sister and said to Jacob, “Give me children! If you don’t, I may as well be dead.”

² Jacob was angry at Rachel and said, “Do you think I’m God? God alone has kept you from giving birth!”

³ She said, “Here’s my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her, and she will give birth for me. Because of her, I will also have children.” ⁴ So Rachel gave her servant Bilhah to Jacob as his wife, and he slept with her. ⁵ Bilhah became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Jacob. ⁶ Rachel said, “God has judged in my favor, heard my voice, and given me a son.” So she named him Dan.^{[aa] 7} Rachel’s servant Bilhah became pregnant again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob. ⁸ Rachel said, “I’ve competed fiercely with my sister, and now I’ve won.” So she named him Naphtali.^[ab]

⁹ When Leah realized that she had stopped bearing children, she took her servant Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as his wife. ¹⁰ Leah’s servant Zilpah gave birth to a son for Jacob, ¹¹ and Leah said, “What good luck!” So she named him Gad.^{[ac] 12} Leah’s servant Zilpah gave birth to a second son for Jacob, ¹³ and Leah said, “I’m happy now because women call me happy.” So she named him Asher.^[ad]

¹⁴ During the wheat harvest, Reuben found some erotic herbs^[ae] in the field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me your son’s erotic herbs.”

¹⁵ Leah replied, “Isn’t it enough that you’ve taken my husband? Now you want to take my son’s erotic herbs too?”

Rachel said, “For your son’s erotic herbs, Jacob^[af] may sleep with you tonight.”

¹⁶ When Jacob came back from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me because I’ve paid for you with my son’s erotic herbs.” So he slept with her that night.

¹⁷ God responded to Leah. She became pregnant and gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob. ¹⁸ Leah said, “God gave me what I paid for, what I deserved for giving my servant to my husband.” So she named him Issachar.^{[ag] 19} Leah became pregnant again and gave birth to a sixth son for Jacob, ²⁰ and she said, “God has given me a wonderful gift. Now my husband will honor me since I’ve borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.^{[ah] 21} After this, she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² Then God remembered Rachel, responded to her, and let her conceive. ²³ She became pregnant and gave birth to a son and said, “God has taken away my shame.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph,^[ai] saying to herself, May the Lord give me another son.

God blesses Jacob and Laban

²⁵ After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me off so that I can go to my own place and my own country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and children whom I’ve worked for, and I will go. You know the work I’ve done for you.”

²⁷ Laban said to him, “Do me this favor. I’ve discovered by a divine sign that the Lord has blessed me because of you, ²⁸ so name your price and I will pay it.”

²⁹ Jacob said to him, “You know how I’ve worked for you, and how well your livestock have done with me. ³⁰ While in my care, what little you had has multiplied a great deal. The Lord blessed you wherever I took your livestock.^[aj] Now, when will I be able to work for my own household too?”

³¹ Laban said, “What will I pay you?”

Jacob said, “Don’t pay me anything. If you will do this for me, I will take care of your flock again, and keep a portion.^{[ak] 32} I will go through the entire flock today, taking out all of the speckled and spotted sheep, all of the black male lambs, and all of the spotted and speckled female goats. That will be my price. ³³ I will be completely honest with you: when you come to check on our agreement, every female goat with me that isn’t speckled or spotted and every male lamb with me that isn’t black will be considered stolen.”

³⁴ Laban said, “All right; let’s do it.” ³⁵ However, on that very day Laban took out the striped and spotted male goats and all of the speckled and spotted female goats—any with some white in it—and all of the black male lambs, and gave them to his sons. ³⁶ He put a three-day trip between himself and Jacob, while Jacob was watching the rest of Laban’s flock.

³⁷ Then Jacob took new branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees; and he peeled white stripes on them, exposing the branches’ white color. ³⁸ He set the branches that he had peeled near the watering troughs so that they were in front of the flock when they drank, because they often mated when they came to drink. ³⁹ When the flock mated in front of the branches, they gave birth to striped, speckled, and spotted young. ⁴⁰ Jacob sorted out the lambs, turning the flock to face the striped and black ones in Laban’s flock but keeping his flock separate, setting them apart from Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ Whenever the strongest of the flock mated, Jacob put the branches in front of them near the watering troughs so that they mated near the branches. ⁴² But he didn’t put branches up for the weakest of the flock. So the weakest became Laban’s and the strongest Jacob’s. ⁴³ The man Jacob became very, very rich: he owned large flocks, female and male servants, camels, and donkeys.

Jacob’s household leaves Laban

31 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob took everything our father owned and from it he produced all of this wealth.” ² And Jacob saw that Laban no longer liked him as much as he used to.

³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your ancestors and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

⁴ So Jacob sent for Rachel and Leah and summoned them into the field where his flock was. ⁵ He said to them, “I am aware that your father no longer likes me as much as he used to. But my father’s God has been with me. ⁶ You know that I’ve worked for your father as hard as I could. ⁷ But your father cheated me and changed my payment ten times. Yet God didn’t let him harm me. ⁸ If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your payment,’ the whole flock gave birth to speckled young. And if he said, ‘The striped ones will be your payment,’ the whole flock gave birth to striped young. ⁹ God took away your father’s livestock and gave them to me. ¹⁰ When the flocks were mating, I looked up and saw in a dream that the male goats that mounted the flock were striped, speckled, and spotted. ¹¹ In the dream, God’s messenger said to me, ‘Jacob!’ and I said, ‘I’m here.’ ¹² He said, ‘Look up and watch all the striped, speckled, and spotted male goats mounting the flock. I’ve seen everything that Laban is doing to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a sacred pillar and where you made a solemn promise to me. Now, get up and leave this country and go back to the land of your relatives.’”

¹⁴ Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there any share or inheritance left for us in our father’s household? ¹⁵ Doesn’t he think of us as foreigners since he sold us and has even used up the payment he received for us? ¹⁶ All of the wealth God took from our father belongs to us and our children. Now, do everything God told you to do.”

¹⁷ So Jacob got up, put his sons and wives on the camels, ¹⁸ and set out with all of his livestock and all of his possessions that he had acquired^[al] in Paddan-aram in order to return to his father Isaac in the land of Canaan. ¹⁹ Now, while Laban was out shearing his sheep, Rachel stole the household’s divine images that belonged to her father. ²⁰ Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not sending word to him that he was leaving. ²¹ So Jacob and his entire household left. He got up, crossed the river, and set out directly for the mountains of Gilead.

²² Three days later, Laban found out that Jacob had gone, ²³ so Laban took his brothers with him, chased Jacob for seven days, and caught up with him in the mountains of Gilead. ²⁴ That night, God appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and said, “Be careful and don’t say anything hastily to Jacob one way or the other.”

²⁵ Laban reached Jacob after Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains. So Laban and his brothers also pitched theirs in the mountains of Gilead. ²⁶ Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and taken off with my daughters as if they were prisoners of war. ²⁷ Why did you leave secretly, deceiving me, and not letting me know? I would’ve sent you off with a celebration, with songs and tambourines and harps. ²⁸ You didn’t even let me kiss my sons and my daughters good-bye. Now you’ve acted like a fool, ²⁹ and I have the power to punish you. However, your father’s God told me yesterday, ‘Be careful and don’t say anything hastily to Jacob one way or the other.’ ³⁰ You’ve rushed off now because you missed your father’s household so much, but why did you steal my gods?”

³¹ Jacob responded to Laban, “I was afraid and convinced myself that you would take your daughters away from me. ³² Whomever you find with your divine images won’t live. Identify whatever I have that is yours, in front of your brothers, and take it.” Jacob didn’t know that Rachel had stolen them. ³³ Laban went into Jacob’s tent, Leah’s tent, and her two servants’ tent and didn’t find them.

So he left Leah’s tent and went into Rachel’s. ³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the divine images and put them into the camel’s saddlebag and sat on them. Laban felt around in the whole tent but couldn’t find them. ³⁵ Rachel said to her father, “Sir, don’t be angry with me because I can’t get up for you; I’m having my period.” He searched but couldn’t find the divine images.

³⁶ Jacob was angry and complained to Laban, “What have I done wrong and what’s my crime that you’ve tracked me down like this? ³⁷ You’ve now felt through all of my baggage, and what have you found from your household’s belongings? Put it in front of our relatives, and let them decide between us. ³⁸ For these twenty years I’ve been with you, your female sheep and goats haven’t miscarried, and I haven’t eaten your flock’s rams. ³⁹ When animals were killed, I didn’t bring them to you but took the loss myself. You demanded compensation from me for any animals poached during the day or night. ⁴⁰ The dry heat consumed me during the day, and the frost at night; I couldn’t sleep. ⁴¹ I’ve now spent twenty years in your household. I worked for fourteen years for your two daughters and for six years for your flock, and you changed my pay ten times. ⁴² If the God of my father—the God of Abraham and the awesome one of Isaac—hadn’t been with me, you’d have no doubt sent me away without anything. God saw my harsh treatment and my hard work and reprimanded you yesterday.”

Jacob and Laban’s treaty

⁴³ Laban responded and told Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children, and the flocks are my flocks. Everything you see is mine. But what can I do now about my daughters and about their sons? ⁴⁴ Come, let’s make a treaty, you and me, and let something be our witness.”^[am]

⁴⁵ So Jacob took a stone, set it up as a sacred pillar, ⁴⁶ and said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they took stones, made a mound, and ate there near the mound. ⁴⁷ Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha,^[an] but Jacob called it Galeed.^[ao]

⁴⁸ Laban said, “This mound is our witness today,” and, therefore, he too named it Galeed. ⁴⁹ He also named it Mizpah,^[ap] because he said, “The Lord will observe both of us when we are separated from each other. ⁵⁰ If you treat my daughters badly and if you marry other women, though we aren’t there, know that God observed our witness.”

⁵¹ Laban said to Jacob, “Here is this mound and here is the sacred pillar that I’ve set up for us. ⁵² This mound and the sacred pillar are witnesses that I won’t travel beyond this mound and that you won’t travel beyond this mound and this pillar to do harm. ⁵³ The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor^[aq] will keep order between us.” So Jacob gave his word in the name of the awesome one of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴ Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and invited his relatives to a meal. They ate together and spent the night on the mountain. ^55 [ar] Laban got up early in the morning, kissed his sons and daughters, blessed them, and left to go back to his own place.

Jacob prepares to meet Esau

32 Jacob went on his way, and God’s messengers approached him. ² When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp,” and he named that sacred place Mahanaim.^{[as] 3} Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau, toward the land of Seir, the open country of Edom. ⁴ He gave them these orders: “Say this to my master Esau. This is the message of your servant Jacob: ‘I’ve lived as an immigrant with Laban, where I’ve stayed till now. ⁵ I own cattle, donkeys, flocks, men servants, and women servants. I’m sending this message to my master now to ask that he^[at] be kind.’”

⁶ The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went out to your brother Esau, and he’s coming to meet you with four hundred men.”

⁷ Jacob was terrified and felt trapped, so he divided the people with him, and the flocks, cattle, and camels, into two camps. ⁸ He thought, If Esau meets the first camp and attacks it, at least one camp will be left to escape.

⁹ Jacob said, “Lord, God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I’ll make sure things go well for you,’ ¹⁰ I don’t deserve how loyal and truthful you’ve been to your servant. I went away across the Jordan with just my staff, but now I’ve become two camps. ¹¹ Save me from my brother Esau! I’m afraid he will come and kill me, the mothers, and their children. ¹² You were the one who told me, ‘I will make sure things go well for you, and I will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, so many you won’t be able to count them.’”

¹³ Jacob spent that night there. From what he had acquired, he set aside a gift for his brother Esau: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty nursing camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ He separated these herds and gave them to his servants. He said to them, “Go ahead of me and put some distance between each of the herds.” ¹⁷ He ordered the first group, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, ‘Who are you with? Where are you going? And whose herds are these in front of you?’ ¹⁸ say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s, a gift sent to my master Esau. And Jacob is actually right behind us.’” ¹⁹ He also ordered the second group, the third group, and everybody following the herds, “Say exactly the same thing to Esau when you find him. ²⁰ Say also, ‘Your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” Jacob thought, I may be able to pacify Esau with the gift I’m sending ahead. When I meet him, perhaps he will be kind to me. ²¹ So Jacob sent the gift ahead of him, but he spent that night in the camp.

Jacob wrestles with God

²² Jacob got up during the night, took his two wives, his two women servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the Jabbok River’s shallow water. ²³ He took them and everything that belonged to him, and he helped them cross the river. ²⁴ But Jacob stayed apart by himself, and a man wrestled with him until dawn broke. ²⁵ When the man saw that he couldn’t defeat Jacob, he grabbed Jacob’s thigh and tore a muscle in Jacob’s thigh as he wrestled with him. ²⁶ The man said, “Let me go because the dawn is breaking.”

But Jacob said, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.”

²⁷ He said to Jacob, “What’s your name?” and he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ Then he said, “Your name won’t be Jacob any longer, but Israel,^[au] because you struggled with God and with men and won.”

²⁹ Jacob also asked and said, “Tell me your name.”

But he said, “Why do you ask for my name?” and he blessed Jacob there. ³⁰ Jacob named the place Peniel,^[av] “because I’ve seen God face-to-face, and my life has been saved.” ³¹ The sun rose as Jacob passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh. ³² Therefore, Israelites don’t eat the tendon attached to the thigh muscle to this day, because he grabbed Jacob’s thigh muscle at the tendon.

Esau forgives Jacob

33 Jacob looked up and saw Esau approaching with four hundred men. Jacob divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two women servants. ² He put the servants and their children first, Leah and her children after them, and Rachel and Joseph last. ³ He himself went in front of them and bowed to the ground seven times as he was approaching his brother. ⁴ But Esau ran to meet him, threw his arms around his neck, kissed him, and they wept. ⁵ Esau looked up and saw the women and children and said, “Who are these with you?”

Jacob said, “The children that God generously gave your servant.” ⁶ The women servants and their children came forward and bowed down. ⁷ Then Leah and her servants also came forward and bowed, and afterward Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed.

⁸ Esau said, “What’s the meaning of this entire group of animals that I met?”

Jacob said, “To ask for my master’s kindness.”

⁹ Esau said, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what’s yours.”

¹⁰ Jacob said, “No, please, do me the kindness of accepting my gift. Seeing your face is like seeing God’s face, since you’ve accepted me so warmly. ¹¹ Take this present that I’ve brought because God has been generous to me, and I have everything I need.” So Jacob persuaded him, and he took it.

¹² Esau said, “Let’s break camp and set out, and I’ll go with you.”

¹³ But Jacob said to him, “My master knows that the children aren’t strong and that I am responsible for the nursing flocks and cattle. If I push them hard for even one day, all of the flocks will die. ¹⁴ My master, go on ahead of your servant, but I’ve got to take it easy, going only as fast as the animals in front of me and the children are able to go, until I meet you in Seir.”

¹⁵ Esau said, “Let me leave some of my people with you.”

But Jacob said, “Why should you do this since my master has already been so kind to me?” ¹⁶ That day Esau returned on the road to Seir, ¹⁷ but Jacob traveled to Succoth. He built a house for himself but made temporary shelters for his animals; therefore, he named the place Succoth.^[aw]

Dinah and the conflict at Shechem

¹⁸ Jacob arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan on his trip from Paddan-aram, and he camped in front of the city. ¹⁹ He bought the section of the field where he pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred qesitahs.^{[ax] 20} Then he set up an altar there and named it El Elohe Israel.^[ay]