Genesis 26-32

New American Standard Bible

Isaac Settles in Gerar

26 Now there was ^(A)a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to ^(B)Abimelech king of the Philistines. ² And the Lord ^(C)appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; ^(D)stay in the land of which I shall tell you. ³ Live for a time in this land and ^(E)I will be with you and ^(F)bless you, for ^(G)to you and to your ^[a]descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish ^(H)the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. ^4 (I)I will multiply your ^[b]descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your ^[c]descendants all these lands; and ^(J)by your ^[d]descendants all the nations of the earth ^[e]shall be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham ^[f](K)obeyed Me and fulfilled his duty to Me, and kept My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

⁶ So Isaac lived in Gerar. ⁷ When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “^(L)She is my sister,” for he was ^(M)afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “^[g]the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is ^(N)beautiful.” ⁸ Now it came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down through a window, and saw them, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she certainly is your wife! So how is it that you said, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘otherwise I might be killed on account of her.’” ¹⁰ And ^(O)Abimelech said, “What is this that you have done to us? One of the people might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” ¹¹ So Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who ^(P)touches this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.”

¹² Now Isaac sowed in that land and ^[h]reaped in the same year a hundred times as much. And ^(Q)the Lord blessed him, ¹³ and the man ^(R)became rich, and continued to grow ^[i]richer until he became very ^[j]wealthy; ¹⁴ for ^(S)he had possessions of flocks ^[k]and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ Now ^(T)all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up ^[l]by filling them with dirt. ¹⁶ Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are ^[m](U)too powerful for us.” ¹⁷ So Isaac departed from there and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and ^[n]settled there.

Argument over the Wells

¹⁸ Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which ^[o]had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he ^[p]gave them the same names which his father had ^[q]given them. ¹⁹ But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of ^[r]flowing water, ²⁰ the herdsmen of Gerar ^(V)quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well ^[s]Esek, because they argued with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it ^[t]Sitnah. ²² Then he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it ^[u]Rehoboth, for he said, “^[v](W)At last the Lord has made ^[w]room for us, and we will be ^(X)fruitful in the land.”

²³ And he went up from there to ^(Y)Beersheba. ²⁴ And the Lord ^(Z)appeared to him the same night and said,

²⁵ So he built an ^(AD)altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

Covenant with Abimelech

²⁶ Then ^(AE)Abimelech came to him from Gerar ^[y]with his adviser Ahuzzath, and Phicol the commander of his army. ²⁷ Isaac said to them, “^(AF)Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” ²⁸ They said, “We have seen plainly ^(AG)that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘An oath must now be taken ^[z]by us,’ that is, ^[aa]by you and us. So let us make a covenant with you, ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you ^[ab]and have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace. You are now the ^(AH)blessed of the Lord.” ³⁰ Then ^(AI)he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. ³¹ In the morning they got up early and ^[ac](AJ)exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away, and they left him in peace. ³² Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac’s servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” ³³ So he called it ^[ad]Shibah; therefore the name of the city is ^(AK)Beersheba to this day.

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old ^(AL)he ^[ae]married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; ³⁵ and ^(AM)they ^[af]brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

Jacob’s Deception

27 Now it came about, when Isaac was old and ^(AN)his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his ^(AO)older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.” ² Then ^[ag](AP)Isaac said, “Behold now, I am old and I do not know the day of my death. ³ Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and ^(AQ)hunt game for me; ⁴ and prepare a delicious meal for me such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that ^(AR)my soul may bless you before I die.”

⁵ Now Rebekah was listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game to bring home, ^6 (AS)Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, ⁷ ‘Bring me some game and prepare a delicious meal for me, so that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’ ⁸ So now, my son, ^(AT)listen to ^[ah]me ^[ai]as I command you. ⁹ Go now to the flock and ^[aj]bring me two choice ^[ak]young goats from there, so that I may prepare them as a delicious meal for your father, such as he loves. ¹⁰ Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.” ¹¹ But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “Behold, my brother Esau is a ^(AU)hairy man and I am a smooth man. ^12 (AV)Perhaps my father will touch me, then I will be like a ^[al]deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.” ¹³ But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only ^(AW)obey my voice, and go, get the goats for me.” ¹⁴ So he went and got them, and brought them to his mother; and his mother made a delicious meal such as his father loved. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took the ^[am]best ^(AX)garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ And she put the skins of the ^[an]young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. ¹⁷ She also gave the delicious meal and the bread which she had made ^[ao]to her son Jacob.

¹⁸ Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” ¹⁹ Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. ^(AY)Come now, sit and eat of my game, so that ^[ap](AZ)you may bless me.” ²⁰ Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “^(BA)Because the Lord your God made it ^[aq]come to me.” ²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come close, so that ^(BB)I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” ²² So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, and he touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” ²³ And he did not recognize him, because his hands were ^(BC)hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him. ²⁴ And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.” ²⁵ So he said, “Bring it to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, that ^[ar](BD)I may bless you.” And he brought it to him, and he ate; he also brought him wine and he drank. ²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come close and kiss me, my son.” ²⁷ So he came close and kissed him; and when he smelled the smell of his garments, he ^(BE)blessed him and said,

The Stolen Blessing

³⁰ Now it came about, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had hardly gone out from the presence of his father Isaac, that his brother Esau came in from his hunting. ³¹ Then he also made a delicious meal, and brought it to his father; and he said to his father, “^(BN)Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that ^[as](BO)you may bless me.” ³² His father Isaac said to him, “^(BP)Who are you?” And he said, “I am your son, ^(BQ)your firstborn, Esau.” ³³ Then Isaac ^[at]trembled violently, and said, “^(BR)Who then was he who hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate from all of it before you came, and blessed him? ^(BS)Yes, and he shall be blessed.” ³⁴ When Esau heard the words of his father, ^(BT)he cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me, me as well, my father!” ³⁵ And he said, “^(BU)Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.” ³⁶ Then Esau said, “^[au]Is he not rightly named ^(BV)[av]Jacob, for he has betrayed me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?” ³⁷ But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him ^(BW)your master, and I have given to him all his relatives ^[aw]as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. What then can I do for you, my son?” ³⁸ Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me as well, my father.” So Esau raised his voice and ^(BX)wept.

³⁹ Then ^(BY)his father Isaac answered and said to him,

⁴¹ So Esau ^(CC)held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said ^[bb]to himself, “^(CD)The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” ⁴² Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent word and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. ⁴³ Now then, my son, ^(CE)obey my voice, and arise, ^[bc]flee to ^(CF)Haran, to my brother ^(CG)Laban! ⁴⁴ Stay with him ^(CH)a few days, until your brother’s fury ^[bd]subsides, ⁴⁵ until your brother’s anger ^[be]against you subsides and he forgets ^(CI)what you did to him. Then I will send word and get you from there. Why should I lose you both in one day?”

⁴⁶ And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of ^[bf]living because of ^(CJ)the daughters of Heth; ^(CK)if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth like these from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”

Jacob Is Sent Away

28 So Isaac called Jacob and ^(CL)blessed him and commanded him, ^[bg]saying to him, “^(CM)You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ² Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of ^(CN)Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. ³ May ^[bh](CO)God Almighty ^(CP)bless you and ^(CQ)make you fruitful and ^(CR)multiply you, so that you may become a ^(CS)multitude of peoples. ⁴ May He also give you the ^(CT)blessing of Abraham, to you and to your ^[bi]descendants with you, so that you may ^(CU)possess the land where you ^(CV)live as a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then ^(CW)Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, saying, “^(CX)You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ So Esau saw that ^(CY)the daughters of Canaan displeased ^[bj]his father Isaac; ⁹ and Esau went to Ishmael, and ^[bk]married, ^(CZ)besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob’s Dream

¹⁰ Then Jacob departed from ^(DA)Beersheba and went toward ^(DB)Haran. ¹¹ And he ^[bl]happened upon a ^[bm](DC)particular place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and made it a support for his head, and lay down in that place. ¹² And ^(DD)he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, ^(DE)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ Then behold, ^(DF)the Lord was standing ^[bn]above it and said, “I am the Lord, ^(DG)the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give ^(DH)to you and to ^(DI)your ^[bo]descendants. ¹⁴ Your ^[bp]descendants will also be like ^(DJ)the dust of the earth, and you will ^[bq]spread out ^(DK)to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and ^(DL)in you and in your ^[br]descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, ^(DM)I am with you and ^(DN)will keep you wherever you go, and ^(DO)will bring you back to this land; for ^(DP)I will not leave you until I have done what I have ^[bs]promised you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob ^(DQ)awoke from his sleep and said, “^(DR)The Lord is certainly in this place, and I did not know it!” ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “^(DS)How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

¹⁸ So Jacob got up early in the morning, and took ^(DT)the stone that he had placed as a support for his head, and set it up as a memorial stone, and poured oil on its top. ¹⁹ Then he named that place ^[bt](DU)Bethel; but ^[bu]previously the name of the city had been ^(DV)Luz. ²⁰ Jacob also ^(DW)made a vow, saying, “^(DX)If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I ^[bv]take, and give me ^[bw](DY)food to eat and garments to wear, ²¹ and ^(DZ)I return to my father’s house in ^[bx]safety, ^(EA)then the Lord will be my God. ²² And this stone, which I have set up as a memorial stone, ^(EB)will be God’s house, and ^(EC)of everything that You give me I will assuredly give a tenth to You.”

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 Then Jacob ^[by]set out on his journey, and went to the land of ^(ED)the ^[bz]people of the east. ² He looked, and ^[ca]saw ^(EE)a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, because they watered the flocks from that well. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large. ³ When all the flocks were gathered there, they would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep. Then they would put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from ^(EF)Haran.” ⁵ So he said to them, “Do you know Laban the ^(EG)son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” ⁶ And he said to them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “It is well, and here is his daughter ^(EH)Rachel coming with the sheep.” ⁷ Then he said, “Look, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother’s brother Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the flock of his mother’s brother Laban. ¹¹ Then Jacob ^(EI)kissed Rachel, and raised his voice and wept. ¹² Jacob told Rachel that he was a ^(EJ)relative of her father and that he was Rebekah’s son, and ^(EK)she ran and told her father.

¹³ So when ^(EL)Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and ^(EM)embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. Then he told Laban all these things. ¹⁴ And Laban said to him, “You certainly are ^(EN)my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall ^(EO)your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was ^(EP)beautiful in figure and appearance. ¹⁸ Now Jacob ^(EQ)loved Rachel, so he said, “^(ER)I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him like only a few days ^(ES)because of his love for her.

Laban’s Treachery

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my ^[cb]time is completed, that I may ^(ET)have relations with her.” ²² So Laban gathered all the people of the place and held a feast. ²³ Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to him; and Jacob had relations with her. ²⁴ Laban also gave his female slave Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a slave. ²⁵ So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, “^(EU)What is this that you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you ^(EV)deceived me?” ²⁶ But Laban said, “It is not ^[cc]the practice in our place to ^[cd]marry off the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷ Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which ^(EW)you shall serve with me, for another seven years.” ²⁸ Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. ²⁹ Laban also gave his female slave Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her slave. ³⁰ So Jacob had relations with Rachel also, and indeed ^(EX)he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with ^[ce]Laban for ^(EY)another seven years.

³¹ Now the Lord saw that Leah was ^[cf]unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was unable to have children. ³² Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and named him ^[cg]Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has ^[ch](EZ)seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” ³³ Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said, “^(FA)Because the Lord has ^[ci]heard that I am ^[cj]unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. ³⁴ And she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become ^[ck]attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named ^(FB)Levi. ³⁵ And she conceived again and gave birth to a son, and said, “This time I will ^[cl]praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him ^[cm](FC)Judah. Then she stopped having children.

The Sons of Jacob

30 Now when Rachel saw that ^(FD)she had not borne Jacob any children, ^[cn]she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “^(FE)Give me children, or else I am going to die.” ² Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has ^(FF)withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³ Then she said, “^(FG)Here is my female slave Bilhah: have relations with her that she may ^(FH)give birth ^[co]on my knees, so that ^[cp](FI)by her I too may obtain a child.” ⁴ So ^(FJ)she gave him her slave Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob had relations with her. ⁵ Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has ^[cq](FK)vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she named him ^[cr]Dan. ⁷ And Rachel’s slave Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ So Rachel said, “With ^[cs]mighty wrestling I have ^[ct]wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “^[cu]How fortunate!” So she named him ^[cv]Gad. ¹² And Leah’s slave Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, “^[cw]Happy am I! For women ^(FL)will call me happy.” So she named him ^[cx]Asher.

¹⁴ Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found ^(FM)mandrake fruits in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may sleep with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶ When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must have relations with me, for I have indeed hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night. ¹⁷ God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has given me my ^[cy]reward, because I gave my slave to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. ¹⁹ And Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; finally my husband ^[cz]will acknowledge me as his wife, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she gave birth to a daughter, and named her Dinah.

²² Then ^(FN)God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and ^(FO)opened her womb. ²³ So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and said, “God has ^(FP)taken away my disgrace.” ²⁴ And she named him Joseph, saying, “^(FQ)May the Lord ^[da]give me another son.”

Jacob Prospers

²⁵ Now it came about, when Rachel had given birth to Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “^(FR)Send me away, so that I may go to my own place and to my own country. ²⁶ Give me my wives and my children ^(FS)for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you yourself know my service which I have ^[db]rendered you.” ²⁷ But Laban said to him, “If ^[dc]it pleases you at all, stay with me; I have determined by divination ^(FT)that the Lord has blessed me on your account.” ²⁸ He ^[dd]continued, “^(FU)Name me your wages, and I will give them.” ²⁹ But Jacob said to him, “^(FV)You yourself know how I have served you and how your livestock have ^[de]fared with me. ³⁰ For you had little before ^[df]I came, and it has ^[dg]increased to a multitude, and the Lord has blessed you ^[dh]wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household also?” ³¹ So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock: ³² let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every ^(FW)speckled or spotted sheep and every black sheep among the lambs, and the spotted or speckled among the goats; and those shall be my wages. ³³ So my ^[di]honesty will answer for me later, when you come concerning my ^[dj]wages. Every one that is not speckled or spotted among the goats, or black among the lambs, if found with me, will be considered stolen.” ³⁴ Laban said, “^[dk]Good, let it be according to your word.” ³⁵ So he removed on that day the striped or spotted male goats, and all the speckled or spotted female goats, every one with white on it, and all the black ones among the sheep, and put them in the ^[dl]care of his sons. ³⁶ And he put a distance of three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.

³⁷ Then Jacob ^[dm]took fresh rods of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white that was ^[dn]in the rods. ³⁸ He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the drinking troughs, that is, in the watering channels where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink. ³⁹ So the flocks mated by the rods, and the flocks delivered striped, speckled, and spotted offspring. ⁴⁰ Then Jacob separated the lambs, and ^[do]made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban; and he put his own herds apart, and did not put them with Laban’s flock. ⁴¹ Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the drinking troughs, so that they would mate by the rods; ⁴² but when the flock was sickly, he did not put them in; so the sickly were Laban’s, and the stronger were Jacob’s. ⁴³ So ^(FX)the man ^[dp]became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, and female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.

Jacob Leaves Secretly for Canaan

31 Now ^[dq]Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what belonged to our father he has made all this ^[dr]wealth.” ² And Jacob saw the ^[ds]attitude of Laban, and behold, it was not friendly toward him as it had been before. ³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “^(FY)Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and ^(FZ)I will be with you.” ⁴ So Jacob sent word and called Rachel and Leah to his flock in the field, ⁵ and said to them, “^(GA)I see your father’s ^[dt]attitude, that it is not friendly toward me as it was before, but ^(GB)the God of my father has been with me. ^6 (GC)You know that I have served your father with all my strength. ⁷ Yet your father has ^(GD)cheated me and ^(GE)changed my wages ten times; however, ^(GF)God did not allow him to do me harm. ⁸ If ^(GG)he said this: ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flock delivered speckled; and if he said this: ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock delivered striped. ⁹ So God has ^(GH)taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me. ¹⁰ And it came about at the time when the flock was breeding that I raised my eyes and saw in a dream—and behold—the male goats that were ^[du]mating were striped, speckled, or mottled. ¹¹ Then ^(GI)the angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob’; and I said, ‘Here I am.’ ¹² He said, ‘Now raise your eyes and see that all the male goats that are ^[dv]mating are striped, speckled, or mottled; for ^(GJ)I have seen everything that Laban has been doing to you. ¹³ I am ^(GK)the God of Bethel, where you ^(GL)anointed a memorial stone, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, ^[dw]leave this land, and ^(GM)return to the land of your birth.’” ¹⁴ Rachel and Leah said to him, “Do we still have any share or inheritance in our father’s house? ¹⁵ Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For ^(GN)he has sold us, and has also ^[dx]entirely consumed our ^[dy]purchase price. ¹⁶ Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has told you.”

¹⁷ Then Jacob stood up and put his children and his wives on camels; ¹⁸ and he drove away all his livestock and all his property which he had acquired, the livestock he possessed which he had acquired in Paddan-aram, ^(GO)to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac. ¹⁹ Laban had gone to shear his flock, and Rachel stole the ^[dz](GP)household idols that were her father’s. ²⁰ And Jacob ^[ea]deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him that he was fleeing. ²¹ So he fled with all that he had; and he got up and crossed the Euphrates River, and set ^[eb]out for the hill country of ^(GQ)Gilead.

Laban Pursues Jacob

²² When Laban was informed on the third day that Jacob had fled, ²³ he took his kinsmen with him and pursued him a distance of seven days’ journey, and he overtook him in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁴ However, ^(GR)God came to Laban the Aramean in a ^(GS)dream of the night and said to him, “^[ec](GT)Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.”

²⁵ And Laban caught up with Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the hill country, and Laban with his kinsmen camped in the hill country of Gilead. ²⁶ Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done ^[ed]by deceiving me and carrying away my daughters like captives of the sword? ²⁷ Why did you flee secretly and ^[ee]deceive me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with joy and with songs, with ^(GU)tambourine and with ^(GV)lyre; ²⁸ and did not allow me ^(GW)to kiss my ^[ef]grandchildren and my daughters? Now you have done foolishly. ²⁹ It is in ^[eg]my power to do you harm, but ^(GX)the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘^[eh](GY)Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.’ ³⁰ Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal ^(GZ)my gods?” ³¹ Then Jacob replied to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force. ^32 (HA)The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our relatives ^[ei]point out what is yours ^[ej]among my belongings and take it for yourself.” Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.

³³ So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, and into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two slave women, but he did not find them. Then he went out of Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent. ³⁴ Now Rachel had taken the ^[ek]household idols and put them in the camel’s saddlebag, and she sat on them. So Laban searched through all the tent, but did not find them. ³⁵ And she said to her father, “May my lord not be angry that I cannot ^(HB)stand in your presence, because the ^[el]way of women is upon me.” So he searched but did not find the ^[em](HC)household idols.

³⁶ Then Jacob became angry and argued with Laban; and Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin that you have hotly pursued me? ³⁷ Though you have searched through all my property, what have you found of all your household property? Set it here in front of my relatives and your relatives, so that they may decide between the two of us. ³⁸ For these twenty years I have been with you; your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flocks. ³⁹ I did not even bring to you that which was torn by wild animals; I took the loss myself. You demanded it of my hand whether stolen by day or stolen by night. ⁴⁰ This is how I was: by day the ^[en]heat consumed me and the frost by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes. ⁴¹ For these twenty years I have been in your house; ^(HD)I served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six years for your flock, and you ^(HE)changed my wages ten times. ⁴² If ^(HF)the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac, had not been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. ^(HG)God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, so He ^(HH)rendered judgment last night.”

The Covenant of Mizpah

⁴³ Then Laban replied to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the ^[eo]children are my ^[ep]grandchildren, ^(HI)the flocks are my flocks, and everything that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these daughters of mine or to their children to whom they have given birth? ⁴⁴ So now come, let’s ^(HJ)make a covenant, ^[eq]you and I, and ^(HK)it shall be a witness between ^[er]you and me.” ⁴⁵ Then Jacob took ^(HL)a stone and set it up as a memorial stone. ⁴⁶ Jacob said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap. ⁴⁷ Now Laban ^(HM)called it ^[es]Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob called it ^[et]Galeed. ⁴⁸ Laban said, “^(HN)This heap is a witness between ^[eu]you and me this day.” Therefore it was named Galeed, ⁴⁹ and ^[ev](HO)Mizpah, for he said, “May the Lord keep watch between ^[ew]you and me when we are ^[ex]absent one from the other. ⁵⁰ If you mistreat my daughters, or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one is with us, see, ^(HP)God is witness between ^[ey]you and me.” ⁵¹ Laban also said to Jacob, “Behold this heap and behold the memorial stone which I have set between ^[ez]you and me. ⁵² This heap is a witness, and the memorial stone is a witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you for harm, and you will not pass by this heap and this memorial stone to me, for harm. ^53 (HQ)The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, ^(HR)judge between us.” So Jacob swore by ^(HS)the fear of his father Isaac. ⁵⁴ Then Jacob ^(HT)offered a sacrifice on the mountain, and called his relatives to ^[fa]the meal; and they ate ^[fb]the meal and spent the night on the mountain. ^55 [fc]Then early in the morning Laban got up, and ^(HU)kissed his ^[fd]grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then Laban departed and returned to his place.

Jacob’s Fear of Esau

32 Now as Jacob went on his way, ^(HV)the angels of God met him. ² And when he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s ^[fe]camp.” So he named that place ^[ff](HW)Mahanaim.

³ Then Jacob ^(HX)sent messengers ahead of himself to his brother Esau in the land of ^(HY)Seir, the ^[fg]country of ^(HZ)Edom. ⁴ He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says the following: “I have resided with Laban, and ^(IA)stayed until now; ⁵ and ^(IB)I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent messengers to tell my lord, ^(IC)so that I may find favor in your sight.”’”

⁶ And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore ^(ID)he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” ⁷ Then Jacob was ^(IE)greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two companies; ⁸ for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and ^[fh]attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”

⁹ Then Jacob said, “^(IF)God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, Lord, who said to me, ‘^(IG)Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will ^[fi]make you prosper,’ ^10 [fj]I am unworthy ^(IH)of all the ^[fk]favor and of all the ^[fl]faithfulness, which You have shown to Your servant; for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. ^11 (II)Save me, please, ^(IJ)from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and ^[fm]attack me and the ^(IK)mothers with the children. ¹² For You said, ‘^(IL)I will assuredly ^[fn]make you prosper and ^(IM)make your ^[fo]descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be counted.’”

¹³ So he spent the night there. Then he ^[fp]selected from what ^[fq]he had with him a ^(IN)gift for his brother Esau: ¹⁴ two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵ thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶ Then he placed them in the ^[fr]care of his servants, every flock by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me, and put a space between flocks.” ¹⁷ And he commanded the ^[fs]one in front, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?’ ¹⁸ then you shall say, ‘These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a gift sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’” ¹⁹ Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the flocks, saying, “In this way you shall speak to Esau when you find him; ²⁰ and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.’” For he said, “I will appease him with the gift that goes ahead of me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” ²¹ So the gift passed on ahead of him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.

²² Now he got up that same night and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his eleven children, and crossed the shallow place of the ^(IO)Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had.

Jacob Wrestles

²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone, and a man ^(IP)wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of ^[ft]Jacob’s hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “^(IQ)I will not let you go unless you bless me.” ²⁷ So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸ Then ^(IR)he said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but ^[fu]Israel; for you have contended with God and with men, and have prevailed.” ²⁹ And ^(IS)Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. ³⁰ So Jacob named the place ^[fv]Peniel, for he said, “^(IT)I have seen God face to face, yet my ^[fw]life has been ^[fx]spared.” ³¹ Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over ^(IU)Penuel, and he was limping on his hip. ³² Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the tendon of the hip which is on the socket of the hip, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the tendon of the hip.