Bible in 90 Days

The Lord’s Fifth Promise to Abraham

17 When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him. He said to Abram, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence with integrity. ² I will give you my promise,^[a] and I will give you very many descendants.” ³ Immediately, Abram bowed with his face touching the ground, and again God spoke to him, ⁴ “My promise is still with you. You will become the father of many nations. ⁵ So your name will no longer be Abram [Exalted Father], but Abraham [Father of Many] because I have made you a father of many nations. ⁶ I will give you many descendants. Many nations and kings will come from you. ⁷ I will make my promise to you and your descendants for generations to come as an everlasting promise. I will be your God and the God of your descendants. ⁸ I am also giving this land where you are living—all of Canaan—to you and your descendants as your permanent possession. And I will be your God.”

⁹ God also said to Abraham, “You and your descendants in generations to come are to be faithful to my promise. ¹⁰ This is how you are to be faithful to my promise: Every male among you is to be circumcised. ¹¹ All of you must be circumcised. That will be the sign of the promise from me to you. ¹² For generations to come every male child who is eight days old must be circumcised, whether he is born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner who’s not related to you. ¹³ Every male born in your household or bought with your money is to be circumcised without exception. So my promise will be a sign on your flesh, an everlasting promise. ¹⁴ Any uncircumcised male must be excluded from his people because he has rejected my promise.”

¹⁵ God said to Abraham, “Don’t call your wife by the name Sarai anymore. Instead, her name is Sarah [Princess]. ¹⁶ I will bless her, and I will also give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will become ⌞a mother of⌟ nations, and kings will come from her.” ¹⁷ Immediately, Abraham bowed with his face touching the ground. He laughed as he thought to himself, “Can a son be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, have a child?” ¹⁸ Then Abraham said to God, “Why not let Ishmael be my heir?”

¹⁹ God replied, “No! Your wife Sarah will give you a son, and you will name him Isaac [He Laughs]. I will make an everlasting promise to him and his descendants. ²⁰ I have heard your request about Ishmael. Yes, I will bless him, make him fertile, and increase the number of his descendants. He will be the father of 12 princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹ But I will make my promise to Isaac. Sarah will give birth to him at this time next year.” ²² When God finished speaking with Abraham, he left him.

Abraham’s Household Circumcised

²³ So Abraham took his son Ishmael, everyone born in his household, and everyone bought with money—every male in his household—and circumcised them that day, as God had told him. ²⁴ Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised. ²⁵ His son Ishmael was 13 years old when he was circumcised. ²⁶ That same day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. ²⁷ All the men of his household, whether born in the household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

The Lord’s Sixth Promise to Abraham

18 The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oak trees belonging to Mamre as he was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day. ² Abraham looked up, and suddenly he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them, and he bowed with his face touching the ground.

³ “Please, sir,” Abraham said, “stop by to visit me for a while. ⁴ Why don’t we let someone bring a little water? After you wash your feet, you can stretch out and rest under the tree. ⁵ Let me bring some bread so that you can regain your strength. After that you can leave, since this is why you stopped by to visit me.”

They answered, “That’s fine. Do as you say.”

⁶ So Abraham hurried into the tent to find Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three measures of flour, knead it, and make bread.”

⁷ Then Abraham ran to the herd and took one of his best calves. He gave it to his servant, who prepared it quickly. ⁸ Abraham took cheese and milk, as well as the meat, and set these in front of them. Then he stood by them under the tree as they ate.

⁹ They asked him, “Where is your wife Sarah?”

He answered, “Over there, in the tent.”

¹⁰ The Lord said, “I promise I’ll come back to you next year at this time, and your wife Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah happened to be listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind him. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were old. Sarah was past the age of childbearing. ¹² And so Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “Now that I’ve become old, will I enjoy myself again? What’s more, my husband is old!”

¹³ The Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really have a child now that I’m old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will come back to you next year at this time, and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Because she was afraid, Sarah denied that she had laughed.

But the Lord said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

The Lord Tells Abraham about His Plan

¹⁶ Then the men got up to leave. As Abraham was walking with them to see them off, they looked toward Sodom. ¹⁷ The Lord said, “I shouldn’t hide what I am going to do from Abraham. ¹⁸ After all, Abraham is going to become a great and mighty nation and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. ¹⁹ I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his family after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. In this way I, the Lord, will do what I have promised Abraham.”

²⁰ The Lord also said, “Sodom and Gomorrah have many complaints against them, and their sin is very serious. ²¹ I must go down and see whether these complaints are true. If not, I will know it.”

²² From there the men turned and went on toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing in front of the Lord. ²³ Abraham came closer and asked, “Are you really going to sweep away the innocent with the guilty? ²⁴ What if there are 50 innocent people in the city? Are you really going to sweep them away? Won’t you spare that place for the sake of the 50 innocent people who are in it? ²⁵ It would be unthinkable for you to do such a thing, to treat the innocent and the guilty alike and to kill the innocent with the guilty. That would be unthinkable! Won’t the judge of the whole earth do what is fair?”

²⁶ The Lord said, “If I find 50 innocent people inside the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

²⁷ Abraham asked, “Consider now, if I may be so bold as to ask you, although I’m ⌞only⌟ dust and ashes, ²⁸ what if there are 45 innocent people? Will you destroy the whole city because of 5 fewer people?”

The Lord answered, “I will not destroy it if I find 45 there.”

²⁹ Abraham asked him again, “What if 40 are found there?”

He answered, “For the sake of the 40 I will not do it.”

³⁰ “Please don’t be angry if I speak again,” Abraham said. “What if 30 are found there?”

He answered, “If I find 30 there, I will not do it.”

³¹ “Look now, if I may be so bold as to ask you,” Abraham said. “What if 20 are found there?”

He answered, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the 20.”

³² “Please don’t be angry if I speak only one more time,” Abraham said. “What if 10 are found there?”

He answered, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the 10.” ³³ When the Lord finished speaking to Abraham, he left. Abraham returned home.

Lot’s Guests Are Assaulted

19 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed with his face touching the ground. ² He said, “Please, gentlemen, why don’t you come to my home and spend the night? ⌞You can⌟ wash your feet there. Then early tomorrow morning you can continue your journey.”

“No,” they answered, “we’d rather spend the night in the city square.”

³ But he insisted so strongly that they came with him and went into his home. He prepared a special dinner for them, baked some unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴ Before they had gone to bed, all the young and old male citizens of Sodom surrounded the house. ⁵ They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to ⌞stay with⌟ you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

⁶ Then Lot went outside and shut the door behind him. ⁷ “Please, my friends, don’t be so wicked,” he said. ⁸ “Look, I have two daughters who have never had sex. Why don’t you let me bring them out to you? Do whatever you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, since I’m responsible for them.”

⁹ But the men yelled, “Get out of the way! This man came here to stay awhile. Now he wants to be our judge! We’re going to treat you worse than those men.” They pushed hard against Lot and lunged forward to break down the door. ¹⁰ The men ⌞inside⌟ reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck all the men who were in the doorway of the house, young and old alike, with blindness so that they gave up trying to find the door.

Lot Leaves Sodom, and the Cities Are Destroyed

¹² Then the men asked Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—any in-laws, sons, daughters, or any other relatives in the city? Get them out of here ¹³ because we’re going to destroy this place. The complaints to the Lord against its people are so loud that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to the men engaged to his daughters. He said, “Hurry! Get out of this place, because the Lord is going to destroy the city.” But they thought he was joking.

¹⁵ As soon as it was dawn, the angels urged Lot by saying, “Quick! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you’ll be swept away when the city is punished.” ¹⁶ When he hesitated, the men grabbed him, his wife, and his two daughters by their hands, because the Lord wanted to spare Lot. They brought them safely outside the city. ¹⁷ As soon as they were outside, one ⌞of the angels⌟ said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stop on the plain. Run for the hills, or you’ll be swept away!”

¹⁸ Lot answered, “Oh no! ¹⁹ Even though you’ve been so good to me and though you’ve been very kind to me by saving my life, I can’t run as far as the hills. This disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. ²⁰ Look, there’s a city near enough to flee to, and it’s small. Why don’t you let me run there? Isn’t it small? Then my life will be saved.”

²¹ The angel said to him, “Alright, I will grant you this request too. I will not destroy the city you’re talking about. ²² Run there quickly, because I can’t do anything until you get there.” (The city is named Zoar [Small].)

²³ The sun had just risen over the land as Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord made burning sulfur and fire rain out of heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁵ He destroyed those cities, the whole plain, all who lived in the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. ²⁶ Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a column of salt.

²⁷ Early the next morning Abraham came to the place where he had stood in front of the Lord. ²⁸ When he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land in the plain, he saw smoke rising from the land like the thick smoke of a furnace.

²⁹ When God destroyed the cities on the plain, he remembered Abraham. Lot was allowed to escape from the destruction that came to the cities where he was living.

Lot’s Daughters Have Sons by Their Father

³⁰ Lot left Zoar because he was afraid to stay there. He and his two daughters settled in the mountains where they lived in a cave. ³¹ The older daughter said to the younger one, “Our father is old. No men are here. We can’t get married as other people do. ³² Let’s give our father wine to drink. Then we’ll go to bed with him so that we’ll be able to preserve our family line through our father.” ³³ That night they gave their father wine to drink. Then the older one went to bed with her father. He didn’t know when she came to bed or when she got up. ³⁴ The next day the older daughter said to the younger one, “I did it! Last night I went to bed with my father. Let’s give him wine to drink again tonight. Then you go to bed with him so that we’ll be able to preserve our family line through our father.” ³⁵ That night they gave their father wine to drink again. Then the younger one went to bed with him. He didn’t know when she came to bed or when she got up. ³⁶ So Lot’s two daughters became pregnant by their father. ³⁷ The older one gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today. ³⁸ The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben Ammi. He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.

Abraham Deceives Abimelech

20 Abraham moved to the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was living in Gerar, ² Abraham told everyone that his wife Sarah was his sister. So King Abimelech of Gerar sent men to take Sarah. ³ God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, “You’re going to die because of the woman that you’ve taken! She’s a married woman!” ⁴ Abimelech hadn’t come near her, so he asked, “Lord, will you destroy a nation even if it’s innocent? ⁵ Didn’t he tell me himself, ‘She’s my sister,’ and didn’t she even say, ‘He’s my brother’? I did this in all innocence and with a clear conscience.”

⁶ “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience,” God said to him in the dream. “In fact, I kept you from sinning against me. That’s why I didn’t let you touch her. ⁷ Give the man’s wife back to him now, because he’s a prophet. He will pray for you, and you will live. But if you don’t give her back, you and all who belong to you are doomed to die.”

⁸ Early in the morning Abimelech called together all his officials. He told them about all of this, and they were terrified. ⁹ Then Abimelech called for Abraham and asked him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you that you would bring such a serious sin on me and my kingdom? You shouldn’t have done this to me.” ¹⁰ Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What were you thinking when you did this?”

¹¹ Abraham said, “I thought that because there are no God-fearing people in this place, I’d be killed because of my wife. ¹² Besides, she is my sister—my father’s daughter but not my mother’s. She is also my wife. ¹³ When God had me leave my father’s home and travel around, I said to her, ‘Do me a favor: Wherever we go, say that I’m your brother.’ ”

¹⁴ Then Abimelech took sheep, cattle, and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him. ¹⁵ Abimelech said, “Look, here’s my land. Live anywhere you like.” ¹⁶ He said to Sarah, “Don’t forget, I’ve given your brother 25 pounds of silver. This is to silence any criticism against you from everyone with you. You’re completely cleared.”

¹⁷ Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they could have children. ¹⁸ (The Lord had made it impossible for any woman in Abimelech’s household to have children because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.)

God Provides for Hagar and Ishmael

21 The Lord came to help Sarah and did for her what he had promised. ² So she became pregnant, and at the exact time God had promised, she gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age. ³ Abraham named his newborn son Isaac. ⁴ When Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded. ⁵ Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born.

⁶ Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. ⁷ Who would have predicted to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet, I have given him a son in his old age.”

⁸ The child grew and was weaned. On the day Isaac was weaned, Abraham held a big feast. ⁹ Sarah saw that Abraham’s son by Hagar the Egyptian was laughing at Isaac. ¹⁰ She said to Abraham, “Get rid of this slave and her son, because this slave’s son must never share the inheritance with my son Isaac.” ¹¹ Abraham was upset by this because of his son Ishmael. ¹² But God said to Abraham, “Don’t be upset about the boy and your slave. Listen to what Sarah says because through Isaac your descendants will carry on your name. ¹³ Besides, I will make the slave’s son into a nation also, because he is your child.”

¹⁴ Early the next morning Abraham took bread and a container of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder. He also gave her the boy and sent her on her way. So she left and wandered around in the desert near Beersheba. ¹⁵ When the water in the container was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶ Then she went about as far away as an arrow can be shot and sat down. She said to herself, “I don’t want to watch the boy die.” So she sat down and sobbed loudly.

¹⁷ God heard the boy crying, and the Messenger of God called to Hagar from heaven. “What’s the matter, Hagar?” he asked her. “Don’t be afraid! God has heard the boy crying from the bushes. ¹⁸ Come on, help the boy up! Take him by the hand, because I’m going to make him into a great nation.”

¹⁹ God opened her eyes. Then she saw a well. She filled the container with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰ God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became a skilled archer. ²¹ He lived in the desert of Paran, and his mother got him a wife from Egypt.

Abraham’s Agreement with Abimelech

²² At that time Abimelech, accompanied by Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do. ²³ Now, swear an oath to me here in front of God that you will never cheat me, my children, or my descendants. Show me and the land where you’ve been living the same kindness that I have shown you.”

²⁴ Abraham said, “I so swear.”

²⁵ Then Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well which Abimelech’s servants had seized. ²⁶ Abimelech replied, “I don’t know who did this. You didn’t tell me, and I didn’t hear about it until today.”

²⁷ Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made an agreement. ²⁸ Then Abraham set apart seven female lambs from the flock. ²⁹ Abimelech asked him, “What is the meaning of these seven female lambs you have set apart?”

³⁰ Abraham answered, “Accept these lambs from me so that they may be proof ^[b] that I dug this well.” ³¹ This is why that place is called Beersheba,^[c] because both of them swore an oath there.

³² After they made the treaty at Beersheba, Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, left and went back to the land of the Philistines. ³³ Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba and worshiped the Lord, the Everlasting God, there. ³⁴ Abraham lived a long time in the land of the Philistines.

God Tests Abraham

22 Later God tested Abraham and called to him, “Abraham!”

“Yes, here I am!” he answered.

² God said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will show you.”

³ Early the next morning Abraham saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut the wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place that God had told him about. ⁴ Two days later Abraham saw the place in the distance. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go over there. We’ll worship. After that we’ll come back to you.”

⁶ Then Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to his son Isaac. Abraham carried the burning coals and the knife. The two of them went on together.

⁷ Isaac spoke up and said, “Father?”

“Yes, Son?” Abraham answered.

Isaac asked, “We have the burning coals and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

⁸ Abraham answered, “God will provide a lamb for the burnt offering, Son.”

The two of them went on together. ⁹ When they came to the place that God had told him about, Abraham built the altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied up his son Isaac and laid him on top of the wood on the altar. ¹⁰ Next, Abraham picked up the knife and took it in his hand to sacrifice his son. ¹¹ But the Messenger of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Yes?” he answered.

¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you did not refuse to give me your son, your only son.”

¹³ When Abraham looked around, he saw a ram behind him caught by its horns in a bush. So Abraham took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. ¹⁴ Abraham named that place The Lord Will Provide. It is still said today, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

The Lord’s Seventh Promise to Abraham

¹⁵ Then the Messenger of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, “I am taking an oath on my own name, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not refused to give me your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will certainly bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of their enemies’ cities. ¹⁸ Through your descendant all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

¹⁹ Then Abraham returned to his servants, and together they left for Beersheba. Abraham remained in Beersheba.

Abraham Learns of Nahor’s Descendants

²⁰ Later Abraham was told, “Milcah has given birth to these children of your brother Nahor: ²¹ Uz (the firstborn), Buz (his brother), Kemuel (father of Aram), ²² Kesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. ²³ Bethuel is the father of Rebekah. Milcah had these eight sons by Abraham’s brother Nahor. ²⁴ Nahor’s concubine,^[d] whose name was Reumah, had the following children: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.”

Sarah’s Death

23 Sarah lived to be 127 years old. This was the length of her life. ² She died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to cry about her death.

³ Then Abraham left the side of his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites, ⁴ “I’m a stranger with no permanent home. Let me have some of your property for a tomb so that I can bury my dead wife.”

⁵ The Hittites answered Abraham, ⁶ “Listen to us, sir. You are a mighty leader among us. Bury your dead in one of our best tombs. Not one of us will withhold from you his tomb for burying your dead.”

⁷ Abraham got up in front of the Hittites, the people of that region, and bowed with his face touching the ground. ⁸ He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my wife, listen to me. Encourage Ephron, son of Zohar, ⁹ to let me have the cave of Machpelah that he owns at the end of his field. He should sell it to me for its full price as my property to be used as a tomb among you.”

¹⁰ Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. He answered Abraham so that everyone who was entering the city gate could hear him. He said, ¹¹ “No, sir, listen to me. I’m giving you the field together with the cave that is in it. My people are witnesses that I’m giving it to you. Bury your wife!”

¹² Abraham bowed down again in front of the people of that region. ¹³ He spoke to Ephron so that the people of that region could hear him. He said, “If you would only listen to me. I will pay you the price of the field. Take it from me so that I can bury my wife there.”

¹⁴ Ephron answered Abraham, ¹⁵ “Sir, listen to me. The land is worth ten pounds of silver. What is that between us? Bury your wife!”

¹⁶ Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms. So he weighed out for Ephron the amount stated in front of the Hittites: ten pounds of silver at the current merchants’ exchange rate.

¹⁷ So Ephron’s field at Machpelah, east of Mamre, was sold ¹⁸ to Abraham. His property included the field with the cave in it as well as all the trees inside the boundaries of the field.^[e] The Hittites together with all who had entered the city gate were the official witnesses for the agreement.

¹⁹ After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah, east of Mamre (that is, Hebron). ²⁰ So the field and its cave were sold by the Hittites to Abraham as his property to be used as a tomb.

Abraham Instructs His Servant

24 By now Abraham was old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. ² So Abraham said to the senior servant of his household who was in charge of all that he owned, “Take a solemn oath. ³ I want you to swear by the Lord God of heaven and earth that you will not get my son a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I’m living. ⁴ Instead, you will go to the land of my relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”

⁵ The servant asked him, “What if the woman doesn’t want to come back to this land with me? Should I take your son all the way back to the land you came from?”

⁶ “Make sure that you do not take my son back there,” Abraham said to him. ⁷ “The Lord God of heaven took me from my father’s home and the land of my family. He spoke to me and swore this oath: ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’

“God will send his angel ahead of you, and you will get my son a wife from there. ⁸ If the woman doesn’t want to come back with you, then you’ll be free from this oath that you swear to me. But don’t take my son back there.” ⁹ So the servant did as his master Abraham commanded and swore the oath to him concerning this.

¹⁰ Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and left, taking with him all of his master’s best things. He traveled to Aram Naharaim, Nahor’s city.

Abraham’s Servant Finds a Wife for Isaac

¹¹ The servant had the camels kneel down outside the city by the well. It was evening, when the women would go out to draw water. ¹² Then he prayed, “Lord, God of my master Abraham, make me successful today. Show your kindness to Abraham. ¹³ Here I am standing by the spring, and the girls of the city are coming out to draw water. ¹⁴ I will ask a girl, ‘May I please have a drink from your jar?’ If she answers, ‘Have a drink, and I’ll also water your camels,’ let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. This way I’ll know that you’ve shown your kindness to my master.”

¹⁵ Before he had finished praying, Rebekah came with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, who was the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. ¹⁶ The girl was a very attractive virgin. No man had ever had sexual intercourse with her. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came back.

¹⁷ The servant ran to meet her and said, “Please give me a drink of water.”

¹⁸ “Drink, sir,” she said. She quickly lowered her jar to her hand and gave him a drink. ¹⁹ When she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I’ll also keep drawing water for your camels until they’ve had enough to drink.” ²⁰ So she quickly emptied her jar into the water trough, ran back to the well to draw more water, and drew enough for all his camels. ²¹ The man was silently watching her to see whether or not the Lord had made his trip successful.

²² When the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a fifth of an ounce and two gold bracelets weighing four ounces. ²³ He asked, “Whose daughter are you? Please tell me whether there is room in your father’s house for us to spend the night.”

²⁴ She answered him, “I’m the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah and Nahor. ²⁵ We have plenty of straw and feed ⌞for your camels⌟ and room for you to spend the night.”

²⁶ The man knelt, bowing to the Lord with his face touching the ground. ²⁷ He said, “Praise the Lord, the God of my master Abraham. The Lord hasn’t failed to be kind and faithful to my master. The Lord has led me on this trip to the home of my master’s relatives.”

²⁸ The girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things. ²⁹ Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. ³⁰ He saw the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists and heard her tell what the man had said to her. Immediately, Laban ran out to the man by the spring.^[f] He came to the man, who was standing with the camels by the spring. ³¹ He said, “Come in, you whom the Lord has blessed. Why are you standing out here? I have straightened up the house and made a place for the camels.”

³² So the man went into the house. The camels were unloaded and given straw and feed. Then water was brought for him and his men to wash their feet. ³³ When the food was put in front of him, he said, “I won’t eat until I’ve said what I have to say.”

“Speak up,” Laban said.

³⁴ “I am Abraham’s servant,” he said. ³⁵ “The Lord has blessed my master, and he has become wealthy. The Lord has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. ³⁶ My master’s wife Sarah gave him a son in her old age, and my master has given that son everything he has. ³⁷ My master made me swear this oath: ‘Don’t get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I’m living. ³⁸ Instead, go to my father’s home and to my relatives, and get my son a wife.’

³⁹ “I asked my master, ‘What if the woman won’t come back with me?’

⁴⁰ “He answered me, ‘I have been living the way the Lord wants me to. The Lord will send his angel with you to make your trip successful. You will get my son a wife from my relatives and from my father’s family. ⁴¹ Then you will be free from your oath to me. You will also be free of your oath to me if my relatives are not willing to do this when you go to them.’

⁴² “When I came to the spring today, I prayed, ‘Lord God of my master Abraham, please make my trip successful. ⁴³ I’m standing by the spring. I’ll say to the young woman who comes out to draw water, “Please give me a drink of water.” ⁴⁴ If she says to me, “Not only may you have a drink, but I will also draw water for your camels,” let her be the woman the Lord has chosen for my master’s son.’

⁴⁵ “Before I had finished praying, Rebekah came with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water.

“So I asked her, ‘May I have a drink?’ ⁴⁶ She quickly lowered her jar and said, ‘Have a drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels.

⁴⁷ “Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’

“She answered, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor and Milcah.’

“I put the ring in her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. ⁴⁸ I knelt, bowing down to the Lord. I praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham. The Lord led me in the right direction to get the daughter of my master’s relative for his son. ⁴⁹ Tell me whether or not you’re going to show my master true kindness so that I will know what to do.”

⁵⁰ Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the Lord. We can’t say anything to you one way or another. ⁵¹ Here’s Rebekah! Take her and go! She will become the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has said.”

⁵² When Abraham’s servant heard their answer, he bowed down to the Lord. ⁵³ The servant took out gold and silver jewelry and clothes and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave expensive presents to her brother and mother. ⁵⁴ Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they got up in the morning, he said, “Let me go back to my master.”

⁵⁵ Her brother and mother replied, “Let the girl stay with us ten days or so. After that she may go.”

⁵⁶ He said to them, “Don’t delay me now that the Lord has made my trip successful. Let me go back to my master.”

⁵⁷ So they said, “We’ll call the girl and ask her.”

⁵⁸ They called for Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”

She said, “Yes, I’ll go.”

⁵⁹ So they let their sister Rebekah and her nurse go with Abraham’s servant and his men. ⁶⁰ They gave Rebekah a blessing:

⁶¹ Then Rebekah and her maids left. Riding on camels, they followed the man. The servant took Rebekah and left.

Isaac and Rebekah Are Married

⁶² Isaac had just come back from Beer Lahai Roi, since he was living in the Negev. ⁶³ Toward evening Isaac went out into the field to meditate. When he looked up, he saw camels coming. ⁶⁴ When Rebekah saw Isaac, she got down from her camel. ⁶⁵ She asked the servant, “Who is that man over there coming through the field to meet us?”

“That is my master,” the servant answered. Then she took her veil and covered herself. ⁶⁶ The servant reported to Isaac everything he had done. ⁶⁷ Isaac took her into his mother Sarah’s tent. He married Rebekah. She became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.

Abraham’s Second Marriage and His Death^(A)

25 Abraham married again, and his wife’s name was Keturah. ² Keturah gave birth to these sons of Abraham: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³ Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s descendants were the Assyrians, the Letushites, and the Leummites. ⁴ The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. These were the descendants of Keturah.

⁵ Abraham left everything he had to Isaac. ⁶ But while he was still living, Abraham had given gifts to the sons of his concubines.^[g] He sent them away from his son Isaac to a land in the east.

⁷ Abraham lived 175 years. ⁸ Then he took his last breath, and died at a very old age. After a long and full life, he joined his ancestors in death. ⁹ His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah in the field of Ephron, son of Zohar the Hittite. The cave is east of Mamre. ¹⁰ This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah. ¹¹ After Abraham died, God blessed his son Isaac, who settled near Beer Lahai Roi.

The 12 Tribes of Ishmael^(B)

¹² This is the account of the descendants of Abraham’s son Ishmael. He was the son of Sarah’s Egyptian slave Hagar and Abraham. ¹³ These are the names of the sons of Ishmael listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth (Ishmael’s firstborn), Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, ¹⁴ Mishma, Dumah, Massa, ¹⁵ Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. ¹⁶ These are the sons of Ishmael and their names listed by their settlements and camps—12 leaders of their tribes.

¹⁷ Ishmael lived 137 years. Then he took his last breath and died. He joined his ancestors in death. ¹⁸ His descendants lived as nomads from the region of Havilah to Shur, which is near Egypt, in the direction of Assyria. They all fought with each other.

Esau and Jacob

¹⁹ This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac and his descendants. Abraham was the father of Isaac. ²⁰ Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. ²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. ²² When the children inside her were struggling with each other, she said, “If it’s like this now, what will become of me?” So she went to ask the Lord.

²³ The Lord said to her,

²⁴ When the time came for her to give birth, she had twins. ²⁵ The first one born was red. His whole body was covered with hair, so they named him Esau [Hairy]. ²⁶ Afterwards, his brother was born with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel, and so he was named Jacob [Heel]. Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.

²⁷ They grew up. Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman. Jacob remained a quiet man, staying around the tents. ²⁸ Because Isaac liked to eat the meat of wild animals, he loved Esau. However, Rebekah loved Jacob.

²⁹ Once, Jacob was preparing a meal when Esau, exhausted, came in from outdoors. ³⁰ So Esau said to Jacob, “Let me have the whole pot of red stuff to eat—that red stuff—I’m exhausted.” This is why he was called Edom.^[h]

³¹ Jacob responded, “First, sell me your rights as firstborn.”

³² “I’m about to die.” Esau said. “What good is my inheritance to me?”

³³ “First, swear an oath,” Jacob said. So Esau swore an oath to him and sold him his rights as firstborn. ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau a meal of bread and lentils. He ate and drank, and then he got up and left.

This is how Esau showed his contempt for his rights as firstborn.

The Lord’s First Promise to Isaac

26 There was a famine in the land in addition to the earlier one during Abraham’s time. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines in Gerar.

² The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Don’t go to Egypt. Stay where I tell you. ³ Live here in this land for a while, and I will be with you and bless you. I will give all these lands to you and your descendants. I will keep the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. ⁴ I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and give all these lands to your descendants. Through your descendant all the nations of the earth will be blessed. ⁵ I will bless you because Abraham obeyed me and completed the duties, commands, laws, and instructions I gave him.” ⁶ So Isaac lived in Gerar.

Isaac and Rebekah at Gerar

⁷ When the men of that place asked about his wife, Isaac answered, “She’s my sister.” He was afraid to say “my wife.” He thought that the men of that place would kill him to get Rebekah, because she was an attractive woman. ⁸ When he had been there a long time, King Abimelech of the Philistines looked out of his window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

⁹ Abimelech called for Isaac and said, “So she’s really your wife! How could you say, ‘She’s my sister’?”

Isaac answered him, “I thought I would be killed because of her.”

¹⁰ Then Abimelech said, “What have you done to us! One of the people might have easily gone to bed with your wife, and then you would have made us guilty of sin.” ¹¹ So Abimelech ordered his people, “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death.”

¹² Isaac planted ⌞crops⌟ in that land. In that same year he harvested a hundred times as much as he had planted because the Lord had blessed him. ¹³ He continued to be successful, becoming very rich. ¹⁴ Because he owned so many flocks, herds, and servants, the Philistines became jealous of him. ¹⁵ So the Philistines filled in all the wells that his father’s servants had dug during his father Abraham’s lifetime.

¹⁶ Finally, Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us! You’ve become more powerful than we are.”

¹⁷ So Isaac moved away. He set up his tents in the Gerar Valley and lived there. ¹⁸ He dug out the wells that had been dug during his father Abraham’s lifetime. The Philistines had filled them in after Abraham’s death. He gave them the same names that his father had given them.

¹⁹ Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a spring-fed well. ²⁰ The herders from Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herders, claiming, “This water is ours!” So Isaac named the well Esek [Argument], because they had argued with him. ²¹ Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one too. So Isaac named it Sitnah [Accusation]. ²² He moved on from there and dug another well. They didn’t quarrel over this one. So he named it Rehoboth [Roomy] and said, “Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in this land.”

The Lord’s Second Promise to Isaac

²³ He went from there to Beersheba. ²⁴ That night the Lord appeared to Isaac, and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Don’t be afraid, because I am with you. I will bless you and increase the number of your descendants for my servant Abraham’s sake.” ²⁵ So Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. He also pitched his tent in that place, and his servants dug a well there.

Isaac’s Agreement with Abimelech

²⁶ Abimelech, his friend Ahuzzath, and Phicol, the commander of his army, came from Gerar to see Isaac. ²⁷ Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and sent me away from you?”

²⁸ They answered, “We have seen that the Lord is with you. So we thought, ‘There should be a solemn agreement between us.’ We’d like to make an agreement with you ²⁹ that you will not harm us, since we have not touched you. We have done only good to you and let you go in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.”

³⁰ Isaac prepared a special dinner for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹ Early the next morning they exchanged oaths. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left peacefully.

³² That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about a well they had dug. They said to him, “We’ve found water.” ³³ So he named it Shibah [Oath]. That is why the name of the city is still Beersheba today.

Esau’s Marriages

³⁴ When Esau was 40 years old, he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite. He also married Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ These women brought Isaac and Rebekah a lot of grief.

Jacob Gets Isaac’s Blessing

27 When Isaac was old and going blind, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “Son!”

Esau answered, “Here I am.”

² Isaac said, “I’m old. I don’t know when I’m going to die. ³ Now take your hunting equipment, your quiver and bow, and go out into the open country and hunt some wild game for me. ⁴ Prepare a good-tasting meal for me, just the way I like it. Bring it to me to eat so that I will bless you before I die.”

⁵ Rebekah was listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. When Esau went into the open country to hunt for some wild game to bring back, ⁶ Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I’ve just heard your father speaking to your brother Esau. ⁷ He said, ‘Bring me some wild game, and prepare a good-tasting meal for me to eat so that I will bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ ⁸ Now listen to me, Son, and do what I tell you. ⁹ Go to the flock, and get me two good young goats. I’ll prepare them as a good-tasting meal for your father, just the way he likes it. ¹⁰ Then take it to your father to eat so that he will bless you before he dies.”

¹¹ Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth.^{[i] 12} My father will feel ⌞my skin⌟ and think I’m mocking him. Then I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.”

¹³ His mother responded, “Let any curse on you fall on me, Son. Just obey me and go! Get me ⌞the young goats⌟.”

¹⁴ He went and got them and brought them to his mother. She prepared a good-tasting meal, just the way his father liked it. ¹⁵ Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s good clothes, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. ¹⁶ She put the skins from the young goats on his hands and on the back of his neck. ¹⁷ Then she gave her son Jacob the good-tasting meal and the bread she had prepared.

¹⁸ He went to his father and said, “Father?”

“Yes?” he answered. “Who are you, Son?”

¹⁹ Jacob answered his father, “I’m Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done what you told me. Sit up and eat this meat I’ve hunted for you so that you may bless me.”

²⁰ Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, Son?”

“The Lord your God brought it to me,” he answered.

²¹ Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come over here so that I can feel your skin, Son, ⌞to find out⌟ whether or not you really are my son Esau.” ²² So Jacob went over to his father. Isaac felt ⌞his skin⌟. “The voice is Jacob’s,” he said, “but the hands are Esau’s.” ²³ He didn’t recognize Jacob, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. ²⁴ “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked him.

“I am,” Jacob answered.

²⁵ Isaac said, “Bring me some of the game, and I will eat it, Son, so that I will bless you.” Jacob brought it to Isaac, and he ate it. Jacob also brought him wine, and he drank it.

²⁶ Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and give me a kiss, Son.” ²⁷ He went over and gave him a kiss. When Isaac smelled his clothes, he blessed him and said,

³⁰ Isaac finished blessing Jacob. Jacob had barely left when his brother Esau came in from hunting. ³¹ He, too, prepared a good-tasting meal and brought it to his father. Then he said to his father, “Please, Father, eat some of the meat I’ve hunted for you so that you will bless me.”

³² “Who are you?” his father Isaac asked him.

“I’m your firstborn son Esau,” he answered.

³³ Trembling violently all over, Isaac asked, “Who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it before you came in. I blessed him, and he will stay blessed.”

³⁴ When Esau heard these words from his father, he shouted out a very loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, Father!”

³⁵ Isaac said, “Your brother came and deceived me and has taken away your blessing.”

³⁶ Esau said, “Isn’t that why he’s named Jacob? He’s cheated me twice already: He took my rights as firstborn, and now he’s taken my blessing.” So he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

³⁷ Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him your master, and I have made all his brothers serve him. I’ve provided fresh grain and new wine for him. What is left for me to do for you, Son?”

³⁸ Esau asked, “Do you have only one blessing, Father? Bless me too, Father!” And Esau sobbed loudly.

³⁹ His father Isaac answered him,

⁴¹ So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing that his father had given him. Esau said to himself, “The time to mourn for my father is near. Then I’ll kill my brother Jacob.”

⁴² When Rebekah was told what her older son Esau had said, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Watch out! Your brother Esau is comforting himself by planning to kill you. ⁴³ So now, Son, obey me. Quick! Run away to my brother Laban in Haran. ⁴⁴ Stay with him awhile, until your brother’s anger cools down. ⁴⁵ When your brother’s anger is gone and he has forgotten what you did to him, I’ll send for you and get you back. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”

⁴⁶ Rebekah said to Isaac, “I can’t stand Hittite women! If Jacob marries a Hittite woman like one of those from around here, I might as well die.”

Isaac Sends Jacob Away

28 Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You are not to marry any of the Canaanite women. ² Quick! Go to Paddan Aram. Go to the home of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and get yourself a wife from there from the daughters of your uncle Laban. ³ May God Almighty bless you, make you fertile, and increase the number of your descendants so that you will become a community of people. ⁴ May he give to you and your descendants the blessing of Abraham so that you may take possession of the land where you are now living, the land that God gave to Abraham.”

⁵ Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan Aram. Jacob went to live with Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean and brother of Rebekah. She was the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶ Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him away to Paddan Aram to get a wife from there. He learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had commanded him not to marry any of the Canaanite women. ⁷ He also learned that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and had left for Paddan Aram. ⁸ Esau realized that his father Isaac disapproved of Canaanite women. ⁹ So he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth, in addition to the wives he had.

Jacob’s First Encounter with God

¹⁰ Jacob left Beersheba and traveled toward Haran. ¹¹ When he came to a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had gone down. He took one of the stones from that place, put it under his head, and lay down there. ¹² He had a dream in which he saw a stairway set up on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven. He saw the angels of God going up and coming down on it. ¹³ The Lord was standing above it, saying, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give the land on which you are lying to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust on the earth. You will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. Through you and through your descendant every family on earth will be blessed. ¹⁵ Remember, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will also bring you back to this land because I will not leave you until I do what I’ve promised you.”

¹⁶ Then Jacob woke up from his sleep and exclaimed, “Certainly, the Lord is in this place, and I didn’t know it!” ¹⁷ Filled with awe, he said, “How awe-inspiring this place is! Certainly, this is the house of God and the gateway to heaven!”

¹⁸ Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had put under his head. He set it up as a marker and poured olive oil on top of it. ¹⁹ He named that place Bethel [House of God]. Previously, the name of the city was Luz.