Early in the morn, Laban kissed his sons and daughters and blessed them, before heading home.
Now as Jacob went on his way, he met God’s messengers on the same path he did roam.
When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is a camp of God!” And he named that place “Mahanaim”.
(And that means “Double-Camp”, because Jacob had camped there, and God’s messengers had camped by him.)
Jacob sent messengers to his brother Esau, in the land of Seir, Edom’s country.
He had sent them ahead and commanded them saying, “To my lord Esau, say thusly:
‘Here is what Jacob, your servant, says: I have sojourned with Laban and rested ‘til now,
I’ve acquired both male and female slaves, flocks of sheep, oxen, donkeys, and cows.
I have sent out this message for you to hear, my lord, in hope that I will gain your favor.’”
Then the messengers came back to Jacob and said, “We have ill tidings you will not savor.
We came to your brother, to Esau, but he’s already coming to meet you, with men.
Now four hundred men are coming with him.” Jacob was exceedingly scared and frightened.
He divided the people with him, and the flocks, oxen, and camels into two camps,
Saying to himself, “If Esau strikes at one, the other may yet escape from those scamps.”
Jacob then said, “God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord,
Who said to me, ‘Return to your native land, and then I shall give to you a reward.’
I am unworthy of all the good faith and kindness you’ve steadfastly shown to Your servant.
With my staff alone I crossed this Jordan, and now have become two camps. My faith is fervent.
Pray save me from the hand of my brother, the hand of Esau, for of him I’m afraid.
I fear that Esau may come and strike me down, mothers and children alike to be slayed.
But you’ve said, ‘I will deal well with you, I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea,
An abundant amount that’s too many to count.’ That’s the promise that you made to me.”
After spending the night there, he took gifts for his brother Esau from what was at hand:
A full two hundred she-goats, and twenty young kids, and two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
Thirty milch camels and their young, forty cows, ten bulls, and twenty she-asses, ten males.
Jacob handed them over to his servants, herd by herd, and gave his servants details.
He said, “Cross on ahead of me, leave room between herds.” To the servants in front he said,
“When my brother Esau meets you and asks of you, ‘Whose man are you? To where do you head?
And whose animals are those ahead of you?’ Then say, ‘By your servant Jacob they’re owned;
They are gifts for my lord Esau, and Jacob is behind us, his arrival postponed.’”
Jacob gave the same charge to the second and third groups, and all groups that walked with the herds,
Saying, “When you should come upon Esau, my brother, then speak to him using these words:
You shall say, ‘And your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For Jacob had thought in this case,
“I will wipe the rage from the face of Esau by sending presents ahead of my face,
And when we’re face to face, maybe my face will please him, and he will be gracious and kind.”
So the gift went ahead, while he stayed in the camp for the night, but no sleep did he find.
He arose in the night and he took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven kids,
To the Jabbok crossing, where he sent them across, and then also sent all that was his.
Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until dawn came up in the sky.
When he saw that he could not prevail against Jacob, he touched the socket of his thigh.
And the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated as he wrestled with him. He said,
“Let me go, for the dawn has come up!” But he said, “I will not let you go, but instead,
I will hold on until you have blessed me.” He asked, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he replied.
Then the man said, “‘Jacob’ (‘Heel-Sneak’) shall no more be your name, but a name with more pride.
You shall be named ‘Israel’ (‘God-Fighter’), for you have fought with God and man, and prevailed.”
And then Jacob asked, “Tell me your name!” But he said, “Don’t ask for such things to be revealed.”
(For names of the divine give power over them.) So he blessed Jacob, and took his leave.
Jacob named the place “Peniel” (”Face of God”), for “I’ve seen God face to face, I believe,
Yet my life has been saved.” The sun rose on him as he crossed Peniel, limping along
On his thigh; which is why the Children of Israel to this day believe it is wrong
To eat of the thigh muscle and sinew that lies on the inner socket of the thigh,
For that sciatic nerve is the socket of muscle where Jacob was touched by that guy.
Now he heard the words of Laban’s sons, who were saying, “That Jacob has taken away
All that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s, he’s built his great wealth of today.”
Jacob saw that Laban’s manner toward him was also no longer as kind as before.
Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers, your birthplace of yore.
I will be with you.” So Jacob sent and had Rachel and Leah called out to the field,
To his animals. And he said to them, “By your father’s face has his heart been revealed.
Now his manner toward me is not as in the past. But my father’s God has been with me.
You both know I’ve served your father with all my might, yet he cheats me and won’t pay my fee.
He has cheated me, constantly changing my wages, yet God won’t let him do me ill.
If he said, ‘Speckled ones shall be your wages,’ with speckled animals the flock would fill.
And if he said, ‘The striped ones shall be your wages,’ then the striped ones would make up the flock.
So you see, God has taken away from your father and given to me his livestock.
Once, when the animals were in heat, I had a dream. I lifted my eyes and I saw
That the he-goats which mated with the flock had stripes, spots, and speckles, from foot up to jaw.
And God’s messenger said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob!’ I said, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said,
‘Lift up your eyes and see, all the he-goats which mate with the flock–speckled, striped, and spotted.
For I have seen all that Laban is doing to you. I am the God of Bethel, where
You annointed the pillar, where you vowed a vow to Me. Now rise, and get out of here.
Leave this land, and return to your native land.’” Rachel and Leah both answered him, saying,
“Do we still have inheritence-share in our father’s house that would be reason for staying?
He regards us as outsiders, for he has sold us, and gobbled up our purchase price.
Indeed, all the wealth God took away from him and gave to you belongs to us, by right.
It’s for us and our children, so now, whatever God has told to you, Jacob, do so.”
So then Jacob rose, lifted his children and wives on the camels, and prepared to go.
Jacob led away all of his livestock, all of his wealth, and all the flocks he’d acquired
In the Aram-country, to come home to his father Isaac who in Canaan was mired.
Now Laban had gone to shear his sheep, while Rachel stole the household idols of her dad.
And Jacob kept Laban in the dark by not telling him that he was running like mad.
So he fled, with all that he had, he rose and crossed the Euphrates, heading to the hills.
He went toward the hill country of Gilead. On the third day, Laban learned of his ills.
He took his kinsmen with him and set after Jacob, pursuing him for seven days.
He caught up with him in the hill country of Gilead, but on that night, in sleep’s haze,
God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream, and said to him, “You must beware.
Do not speak to Jacob, good or ill.” When Laban finally caught up to Jacob, then there
Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountains; Laban was camped with his kin in Gilead.
Laban said to Jacob, “What did you mean by running away secretly from my pad?
You kept me in the dark, led my daughters away like captives; Why’d you flee secretly?
You didn’t tell me. For I would have sent you off with lyres and musical festivity,
And what’s more, you didn’t even allow me to give my grandchildren a nice goodbye kiss.
You have done foolishly! And it’s now in my power to injure you greatly for this.
But then yesterday night, the God of your father spoke to me, saying, ‘You must beware.
Do not speak to Jacob, good or ill.’ Okay, say you fled since you missed your father’s lair.
Tell me, why did you steal my gods?” Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Well, you see,
I was very afraid, for I thought that by force you would take back your daughters from me.
As for whomever you find with your gods, they shall not live. In your kin’s presence I swear it.
If you recognize anything of yours in my possession, take it, for I won’t bear it.”
Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them. Laban then went into Jacob’s tent,
And into Leah’s tent, and the maidservants’ tents, but of his gods he found no fragment.
Then he went out of Leah’s tent and into Rachel’s, but Rachel was one step ahead,
She had taken the gods and put them underneath a camel’s cushion, where she rested.
Laban felt all around the tent, but did not find a thing, as they were ‘neath Rachel’s seat.
She said to her father, “Don’t let my lord be angry that I do not rise up to greet,
For the ways of women are upon me.” So he searched, but no household gods did he find.
Jacob then became upset and took up his grievance with Laban. Jacob spoke his mind.
He said to Laban, “What’s my offense? What’s my sin that made you pursue me with such speed,
That you’ve rummaged through all my things, feeling my wares. What of yours have you found with this deed?
Take whatever you’ve found and display it here so that your kinsmen and mine may consider it.
It has been twenty years now that I have served you, and my loyalty has been inveterate.
Your ewes and she-goats have not had miscarriages, the rams from your flock I have not eaten,
I have brought you none torn by beasts– I have made good the loss, from my own hand it was beaten.
Stolen by day or night, regardless. Oft, by day the heat would consume me, frost by night,
And sleep fled from my eyes. Twenty years in your house I have now lived like this, is that right?
I’ve served you fourteen years for your two daughters, and six more years for the flock, we agree,
Yet you’ve changed my wages ten times over. Had not the God of my father been with me,
The God of Abraham and the Terror of Isaac, else you would have sent me off, broke.
But God saw my affliction, the toil of my hands, and last night He passed judgement and spoke.”
Laban answered Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my children too.
All the animals are my own animals– All that you see, it is mine. This is true,
But to my daughters, what can I do to them now, or to children they’ve given birth to?
So now come, let us cut covenant, you and I, so there’s witness between me and you.”
Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar, and said to his kin, “Gather stones.”
They fetched stones and they made a mound. Then they ate by the mound, making the covenant known.
Laban named it “Yegar-sahaduta” (”Mound-Witness”), while Jacob had named it “Gal-ed”.
(Which also means “Mound-Witness”, but in Hebrew tongue, not in Aramaic.) Laban said,
“This mound is a witness between me and you this day.” That is why Gal-ed was so named,
And also “Mitzpah” (”Guardpost”), because he said, “May the Lord guard us from each other’s games.
If you should ever ill-treat my daughters, or take other wives–though no human is near,
God Himself is a witness between me and you.” And Laban then said to Jacob, “Here.
Here is this mound. Here is the pillar that I have sunk between me and you, as witness.
This mound is a witness, and the pillar is also one, that toward you I won’t transgress.
I will not cross past this mound to you, nor you cross this mound and pillar towards me, for ill.
May God of Abraham and the God of Nahor (their fathers’ God) judge between us still.”
Jacob swore by the Terror of his father Isaac, then sacrificed food on the height
Of the mountain, and called his kinsmen to eat bread, which they did, and up there spent the night.
When Rachel saw she’d born no children to Jacob, she envied her sister and said
To her husband Jacob, “Come now, give me children, or otherwise I will be dead.”
Jacob’s anger flared up against Rachel and he said, “Am I to take the place of God,
Who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” She said, “Here is my maidservant Bilhah;
Come in to her, so she may bear on my knees, so through her I may bear children also.”
So she gave him her maid Bilhah as concubine, and then into her Jacob did go.
Bilhah conceived and bore a son to Jacob, which Rachel adopted, saying gladly,
“God has done me justice, yes, he has heard my voice, and he has given a son to me!”
Therefore, she named him “Dan” (”He Has Done Justice”). And Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, conceived again,
And she bore Jacob a second son. Rachel said, “Now with Leah, I no more contend.
I have struggled a struggle of God with my sister, and finally I have prevailed!”
So she named him “Naftali” (”My Struggle”). Now when Leah saw that her own womb had failed,
She took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as a concubine for him to know.
Zilpah, Leah’s maid, bore a son to Jacob. Then Leah said, “What good fortune!” And so,
She named him “Gad” (or “Fortune”) Then Zilpah, maid of Leah, bore Jacob a second son.
Leah said, “Happiness! They’ll call me happy.” So “Asher” (”Happiness”) she named that one.
In the days of wheat harvest, once Reuben went and found “love-apples” (mandrakes) in the field.
He then brought them to Leah, his mother. Rachel said to Leah, “Pray, share your son’s yield.”
Leah said to Rachel, “Was the fact that you took my husband so paltry in your sight
That you now want to take my son’s mandrakes too?” Rachel said, “Fine, he’ll lie with you tonight,
In exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” So that night, when Jacob came home from the field, tired,
Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for tonight you’ve been hired.
I have hired you for my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night, and God paid heed.
God paid heed to Leah, so that she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son from that deed.
Leah said, “God has given me my hired wages, since I gave my maid to my husband.”
So she called his name “Issachar” (or “There is Hire”). And once again, Leah was pregnant.
She conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. Leah said, “God gave me a gift
This time my husband will surely prize me, for I have borne him six sons, here is the sixth.”
So she named him “Zebulun” (or “Prince”). Afterwards she bore a daughter, Dinah by name.
But God kept Rachel in mind, God heeded her, and opened her womb so that she became
Pregnant. Rachel conceived and bore a son. She said, “My reproach, God has taken away.”
So she named him “Joseph” (”He Adds”), saying, “May God add another son for me one day.”
Now once Rachel had borne Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Give me leave to go back home.
Give me my wives and children, for whom I served you. I’ll return to the land of my own.
Indeed, you know what services that I have rendered for you.” Laban said to him, “Pray,
Indulge me. I have now become wealthy, and the Lord has blessed me because you did stay.”
He said on, “Specify the wages that I owe you, and I will pay you, being fair.”
Jacob said to Laban, “You know how I have served you, and how your flocks fared in my care.
For you had just a few before I came, and now to a multitude it has increased,
Since the Lord has blessed you at my every step. Yet, my own house has not gotten the least.”
Laban said, “What shall I give you?” Jacob said, “Don’t give me anything, only do this,
And if you do this one thing for me, I will return to tend and watch your flock in bliss:
Let me go over your whole flock today, removing all heads that are speckled and spotted,
Every dark-colored sheep, spotted or speckled goat, and so shall my wages be allotted.
In this way may my honesty clearly be seen in the future when you come to check;
If you see in my flock any lamb that’s not dark, or a goat with neither spot nor speck,
Then it will be from theft.” Laban said, “Very well, let it be done as you have just stated.”
But on that very day, Laban went to his flock to have the animals separated.
He took all the he-goats that were spotted or streaked, and all she-goats with speckles or spots,
Every one with white on it, and every dark lamb, and to his sons, he handed the lot.
Then he put three-days journey between Jacob and himself, while Jacob tended the rest.
Jacob took fresh rods of poplar, almond, and plane trees, and peeled them as he saw best.
He peeled white peelings in them, exposing the white on the rods in a pattern of stripes.
(Folks believed animals who saw patterns while they mated would bear offspring of that type.)
Then he set them in front of the goats at the water troughs, where they would come drink, in heat.
Therefore goats were in heat by the rods, and the flock bore striped and speckled and spotted meat.
But the sheep, Jacob set apart, and had them face all the streaked and dark ones Laban owned;
So he made special herds for himself, but Laban’s flocks were left out to randomly roam.
Now whenever robust animals were in heat, Jacob would place the rods in their sight,
So they’d mate by the rods. But he’d not put the rods near the weak animals lacking might.
The result was that feeble ones became Laban’s, while to Jacob, the strong ones accrued.
Jacob soon grew exceedingly wealthy with flocks, maids and slaves, camels, and donkeys too.
Jacob picked up his feet and went on his journey to the land where the Easterners dwell,
Looked around and saw there a well in the field, and three sheep lying down by the well,
For it was from that well that they gave the sheep water, but on the well’s mouth was a stone
Which was so large, they’d roll it off to let the sheep drink, and put it back when they were done.
Jacob said to them, “Brothers, where are you from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” He asked them,
“Do you know Laban son of Nahor?” They said, “Yes, we do.” He said, “Is all well with him?”
They said, “It is well; And here comes Rachel his daughter, girl of shear beauty, with the flock.”
Jacob said, “But it is still broad daylight, too early to gather up all the livestock,
So go give the sheep water and take them to pasture.” But they said, “This we cannot do
Until all the flocks have been gathered, only then is the stone moved to let water through.”
While he still spoke to them, Rachel came with her father’s flock, for she was a shepherdess.
Now when Jacob saw Rachel, daughter of Laban, there grew in him a great happiness.
When he saw the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, he neared, rolled the stone from the well,
And gave water to the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother– Then Jacob kissed Rachel.
He kissed her, then he lifted his voice and wept, telling her that he was her father’s kin,
That he was Rebekah’s son. So Rachel did run to give her father information.
Now as soon as Laban heard of Jacob, the son of his sister, he ran out to meet him,
He embraced Jacob and then he kissed Jacob, and then brought him into his house to greet him.
Jacob told Laban all that had happened. Laban told him, “Truly, you’re my flesh and bone.”
And he stayed with Laban for a month. Laban said to Jacob, “Though you’re kin of my own,
It seems silly to serve me for nothing, so tell me, what do you desire as a wage?”
Now Laban had two daughters, the older named Leah, Rachel the one of younger age.
Leah had tender eyes, but Rachel was quite shapely, so Jacob fell in love with her.
He told Laban, “I will serve you for seven years all for Rachel, your younger daughter.”
Laban said, “Better that I should give her to you than to some outsider. Stay with me.”
And so Jacob served seven years for Rachel, but to Jacob, mere days it seemed to be,
Due to his great love for Rachel. When he was done, Jacob said to Laban, “Come now, sir,
Give me my wife, for my term of work is completed, so that I may come into her.”
Laban gathered all people of that place together for a feast. And that very night,
He took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, who went into her (without sight).
Laban also gave Zilpah his maid to Leah his daughter. When morning came to be,
Surprise! Here– she was Leah! He said to Laban, “What is this that you have done to me?
Was I not in your service for Rachel? Why have you deceived me?” Laban calmly said,
“It is not our practice to give the younger one away before the firstborn is wed.
Just wait until this one’s bridal week is completed, and we’ll give you that one also,
Provided that you serve me for seven more years in return for this.” Jacob did so.
He completed the bridal week for this one, then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel
As a wife. Laban gave Rachel his daughter Bilhah his maid to be her maid as well.
So Jacob came into Rachel also, and gave her more love than Leah had collected.
Then he served Laban for seven more years. Now when the Lord saw that Leah was rejected,
The Lord opened her womb, but Rachel remained barren. Leah conceived and bore a son,
Who she named “Reuben” (”See, a son!”), for she said, “Surely, the Lord has seen my affliction.
Surely now my husband will love me.” She conceived again and bore one more son and said,
“Surely, the Lord has heard that I’m unloved, so to me a second son he has granted.”
And she named him “Shimon” (”Hearing”). She conceived again and then she bore another son,
And she said, “Now this time my husband will be joined to me, for I have borne him three sons.”
Therefore, he was named “Levi” (or “Joining”). She conceived again, and bore a son once more,
And she said, “This time I will give thanks to the Lord, because after all, this one makes four.”
And that’s why she called his name “Judah” (which means “Giving Thanks”) Then Leah stopped giving birth
After she had borne her husband Jacob four children, all of which were boys, on the earth.
April 21st, 2009 in
Genesis | tags:
Jacob,
Laban,
Leah,
Rachel |
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So Isaac called for Jacob, he blessed him and then he commanded him, saying to him,
“You shall not take a wife from the Canaanites. Rise, and go to the country of Aram,
To the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and from there take for yourself a wife,
From the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. May God Almighty bless you in life,
May he make you be fruitful and multiply, so that a host of people you become,
And may he give the blessing of Abraham to you and to your offspring yet to come,
So that you may inherit the land of your sojourning, which God gave to Abraham.”
So then Isaac sent Jacob off; he went to the country of Aram, to meet Laban,
Son of Bethuel the Aramean, brother of Rebekah, the mother of two:
Namely Jacob and Esau. Now Esau, when he saw that Isaac bid Jacob adieu,
And had blessed him and sent him to the country of Aram to take a wife from that sector,
Charging him, “You shall not take a wife from the Canaanites, so go elsewhere to select her,”
And that Jacob had heeded his father and mother and gone to the land of Aram,
Well then, Esau, he saw that women from Canaan did not make his father Isaac calm.
So Esau went to Ishmael and took to wife, in addition to those he’d betrothed,
One Mahalath, the daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, sister of Nebaioth.
Jacob left from Beersheva and set out for Haran, and came upon a certain place.
Since the sun had set, he spent the night there, and took a stone as a pillow for his face.
He lay his head upon it, and lay down there. He dreamt a ladder was set on the ground,
With its top in the heavens, and God’s messengers upon it were going up and down.
And here God was standing over him. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham
Your father and the God of Isaac. The land where you lie, to you and your seed I grant.
All your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, you shall burst forth north, south, east, and west.
All the clans of the earth shall bless themselves through you and also through your seed will be blessed.
I am with you, will watch over you wheresoever you go, bring you back to this soil
Indeed, I will not leave you until I have done what I’ve spoken to you (being loyal).”
Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely, God is in this place, and I, I knew it not!”
He was awestruck and said, “How awesome is this place! It’s none other than a house of God,
And that’s heaven’s gate!” He started early, and took the stone on which he’d let his head drop,
And set it up as a standing pillar, a marker of stone, and poured oil on top.
And he named the place “Beth El” (”House of God”), although the city was named Luz formerly.
Jacob then made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep watch over me
On this journey I’m making, and will give me food to eat, and also clothing to wear,
And if I return safely to my father’s house– then the Lord shall be my God, I swear.
And this stone I’ve set up as a pillar shall become a house of God for all to view,
And of everything that You give me, I shall set aside one tenth as a tithe for You.”
Now when Esau was forty years old, he took as a wife Judith, daughter of Be’eri
The Hittite and of Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite, and made life less merry
For Rebekah and Isaac. Now when Isaac grew old and his eyes were too dim to see,
Isaac called Esau, his older son, and said to him, “My son!”– “Here I am,” replied he.
Isaac said, “I am old now, and don’t know the day of my death. So please take up your bow
And your quiver, go out to the field and hunt me down some game, which I love, as you know.
Then prepare me a delicacy such as I like it, bring it to me, I will eat it,
So that I may give to you my blessing before I die and my own life is completed.”
But Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son, so when Esau did run
To the field to hunt down some game to bring home, Rebekah said to Jacob her son,
“Look, I was listening as your father was speaking to your brother Esau, and said,
‘Bring me game and then make me a dish, I’ll eat it and bless you before God ‘ere I’m dead.’
So now, my son, please listen to what I command you: Go to the flock, fetch me two kids,
Some choice ones, and I will make them into a delicacy, the type which he has bid.
You bring it to your father, and he will eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “But my brother Esau has hair on all sides,
While I have smooth skin. If my father should feel my skin, I’ll seem like a trickster, or worse.
I’ll bring a curse, and not a blessing, upon myself.” His mother said to him, “Your curse,
My dear son, shall be on me; just listen to what I say, go now, and fetch them for me.”
He went and took the kids and brought them to his mother, and she made a delicacy,
Such as his father loved. Rebekah then took the garments of Esau her older son,
The best ones in the house, and dressed her younger son Jacob in them. And when she was done,
He was covered in skins of the goat kids, with fur on his hands, and the smooth of his neck,
Then she placed in the hand of her son Jacob the dish she’d made, to complete the effect.
He came to his father and said, “Father!” Isaac replied, “Here I am. Which son are you?”
Jacob said to his father, “I’m Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me to.
Pray, arise and eat from the game I have hunted, so you may give your blessing to me.”
Isaac said to his son, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” Jacob said, “You see,
The Lord your God made it go well for me.” Isaac said to Jacob, “My son, please come closer
So that I may feel you and know if you are my son Esau, or if you are a poser.”
Jacob moved close to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice,
But the hands are Esau’s hands.” He didn’t recognize him (which may have made Jacob rejoice),
For his hands were like the hands of Esau his brother: Hairy. He was just to be blessed,
When Isaac asked once more, “Are you truly my son Esau?” Jacob replied, “I am. Yes.”
So then Isaac said, “Bring it to me, and I will eat my son’s game, so that I may bless you.”
Jacob served him and he ate, brought him wine and he drank, then Isaac his father said, “Yes, you,
Come closer and then kiss me, my son.” He came close and kissed him. Now Isaac smelled his clothes,
And blessed him saying, “The smell of my son smells like the blessed fields of God in my nose.
May God give you from the dew of heaven, the fat of the earth, plenty of wine and grain.
May peoples serve you, and tribes bow down to you, and as lord over your brothers you’ll reign.
Let your mother’s sons bow to you. Cursed be those who curse you, those who bless you will be blessed.”
And as soon as Isaac finished blessing Jacob, and from Isaac’s presence Jacob left,
Esau his brother came back from his hunting, bringing his father a sweet dish of game.
He then said to his father, “Rise and eat this delicacy, and bless me in your name.”
Isaac his father said to him, “Which son are you?” He said, “I am your firstborn, Esau.”
Isaac trembled greatly and said, “Who was it then, that just brought me some game for my maw?
I ate of it before you came, and gave my blessing to him, now he must remain blessed.”
When Esau heard his father’s words, he cried out greatly and bitterly, very distressed.
He said to his father, “Bless me, me too, father!” Isaac said, “Your brother came with guile
And he took away your blessing.” Esau said, “Is that why he was named in such a style?
He is named Jacob, Heel-Sneak, for he has now sneaked against me and cheated me twice,
He took my firstborn birthright, and now he has taken my blessing; that’s really not nice.”
Esau said, “Haven’t you reserved a blessing for me?” Isaac answered, to Esau spoke,
“Look, I’ve made him your master, and gave him all of his brothers for servants, that’s no joke.
I’ve sustained him with grain and wine. What then, my son, am I still able to do for you?”
Esau said to his father, “Have you but one blessing, father? Bless me, father, me too!”
And Esau raised his voice and wept. Then his father Isaac answered, said to him with love,
“Look, away from the fat of the earth must you dwell, from the dew of the heavens above,
You shall live by the sword, and you shall serve your brother, but one day you’ll brandish your sword,
And will break his yoke from your neck.” Esau hated Jacob due to his unjust reward,
And the blessing which Isaac had given him. So Esau said to himself, “Any day,
The days of mourning for my father will come, and then my brother Jacob I will slay.”
But Rebekah was told of the words of her elder son Esau, so she called and sent
For her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau has a vengeful bent.
He’s consoling himself by planning to kill you. So now, my son, listen to my voice
Flee at once to Haran, to my brother Laban. You don’t really have much of a choice.
Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s anger subsides, and from you turns away,
Until he forgets what you did to him. Then I’ll send and have you brought back on that day–
For why should I lose both of you in the same day?” So Rebekah then said to Isaac,
“I loathe my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob took a wife from their stock,
A wife from the daughters of Heth, such as these women which are the daughters of the land,
From the native women, then why should I live? Why on earth should I continue to stand?”
Now there was a famine in the land, aside from the first famine in Abraham’s days,
So Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, to Gerar where he stayed.
The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; continue to dwell
In the land that I tell you of, sojourn in this land, and all things for you will go well.
I will be with you and bless you, to you and your offspring I will give all of these lands,
And I will fulfill the sworn-oath that I swore long ago to your father Abraham.
I will make your seed many, like the stars of heaven, all these lands I give to your seed.
All the nations of earth shall be blessed through them– all because Abraham paid my voice heed.
He kept My charge: My commandments, My laws, My teachings.” And so Isaac stayed in Gerar.
When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said of her, “She is my sister,”
Because he was afraid to say “she’s my wife”, since he had thought to himself, “Otherwise,
The men of this place will kill me due to Rebekah, so fair to behold in one’s eyes.”
When some time had passed, the Philistines’ king Abimelech looked out a window and saw
Isaac laughing and loving with his wife Rebekah. Abimelech called him, said, “Ah!
So she is your wife! Why then did you say before, ‘She is my sister?’” Isaac replied,
“I thought to myself, otherwise on account of her and her beauty, I might have died.”
Abimelech said, “What have you done to us! One of the men might have lain with your wife,
And then you would have brought guilt upon us.” Abimelech then charged his people, “The life
Of any person who touches this man or his wife shall end in a manner quite grim.”
Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped one hundredfold in that same year. The Lord had blessed him.
The man grew rich, and kept on increasing his weath, until Isaac possessed a ton of it:
He had flocks of sheep and herds of oxen, and a large house every Philistine did covet.
So the Philistines, angry with envy, stopped up the wells which had been dug in the days
Of his father Abraham by his father’s servants, and filled them up with earth and clay.
Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go far from us, you’ve become too many to abide.”
So Isaac went from there, and encamped in the wadi of Gerar, and there did reside.
Isaac dug anew all of the wells which had been dug in his father Abraham’s time,
And which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham’s death in their envious crime.
Isaac gave the wells all of the same names that his father had given to them before.
But when Isaac’s servants, digging in the wadi, found a well with a fresh water store,
Then the herdsmen of Gerar did quarrel with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “This water’s ours.”
So he named the well “Esek” (”contention”), because they had quarreled with him and been sour.
They dug another well, and they quarreled again, so he named it “Sitnah” (”Animosity”).
He moved on from there and dug one more well, but this time of quarreling there was a paucity,
So he named it “Rehoboth” (or “space”), and said, “Now, the Lord has made space for us believers,
So that we may bear fruit and increase in the land.” Isaac went up from there to Beersheva.
That night, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham.
Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and make your seed many in the land,
For the sake of Abraham My servant.” He built there an altar, and called the Lord’s name.
Isaac pitched his tent there, and his servants began digging a well, all in that place same.
Abimelech went to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his aide, and Phicol, troop chief.
Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have caused me much grief?
You have sent me away from you.” They said, “But now we see that the Lord has been with you,
So we say, let there be an oath treaty between us, and also a covenant too:
That you’ll do us no harm, just as we have not harmed you, and have dealt with you at our best,
Always kindly and fairly, and sent you away in peace. Now by the Lord are you blessed.”
Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. Next morning, they swore oaths to one another.
Isaac bade them farewell, and they left him in peace. That same day, Isaac’s servants discovered
The well that they’d been digging had water. They said to Isaac, “We have found water! Yay!”
So he named it “Sheva” (or “Oath”), therefore the city is named Beersheva to this day.
Abraham had now taken another wife, named Keturah, who bore to him Zimran,
Jokshan, Medan, Ishbak, Midian, and Shuah. Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan.
Dedan’s sons were the Ashurites, Letushites, and Leummites. The sons of Midian
Were Ephah, Epher, Enoch, Abida, and Eldaah. And all of those sons, to a man,
Were the children of Keturah, but Abraham had willed all that he had to Isaac.
And to sons of the concubines Abraham had, he gave gifts, and then told them to walk.
He sent them far away from his son Isaac, while he was still alive, far to the East.
And so these are the days and years of the life of Abraham, which he lived ‘ere it ceased:
A full hundred and seventy-five years, then he expired, but to good ripe age he’d lived.
Abraham died both old and contented in days, and was gathered to his relatives.
His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field
Of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite, facing Mamre, which Abraham in a deal
Had acquired from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, and his wife Sarah as well.
After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, and near Beerlahairoi did he dwell.
These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, that Hagar the Egyptian,
Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham. Here are the names of his sons, ordered by generation:
Nebaioth, who was Ishmael’s firstborn, then Kedar, Adbeel and Mibsam, and Mishma,
Then Dumah and Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, and Naphish, and finally Kedmah.
These are the sons of Ishmael, these their names listed by village and tribal corrals,
With twelve leaders for their dozen tribes. And these are the years of the life of Ishmael:
One hundred thirty-seven full years, then Ishmael expired, and did breathe his last.
So he died and was gathered to his relatives. They settled in an area vast,
From Havilah to Shur, which is found before Egypt, if one were to walk toward Assyria;
And they camped alongside all their kinsmen, and he fell among all of them, in that area.
These are the generations of Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac.
Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife (after that water well trick),
Yes, Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean, from the country Aram,
Sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac prayed to God that she could be a mom.
He prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, for she was barren and she could not bear,
And Rebekah his wife became pregnant, because the Lord God had granted Isaac’s prayer.
But the children then struggled together inside her womb, so she said, “If this is so,
Why do I exist?” And she went to inquire of the Lord. God said to her, “You must know
That two nations are in your womb, two peoples born from your body will soon be divided.
One shall be stronger than the other, elder shall serve the younger, as I have decided.”
When her days to give birth were at hand, sure enough, twins were in her womb, twins she would bear.
The first one came out red, hair all over his body, so they named him “Esau” (or “Hair”).
After that, then his brother came out, and his hand to the heel of Esau grabbed hold,
So they named him “Jacob” (”Heel-Holder”). She bore them when Isaac was sixty years old.
The boys grew up: Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field outdoors,
But Jacob was a plain man, who stayed among tents. Isaac started to love Esau more,
Because he had a taste for the game he brought, whereas Rebekah, she loved Isaac dearly.
One time Jacob was boiling some stew when Esau came in from the field, and he was weary.
Esau said to Jacob, “Please give me a few bites of that red stuff; I’m weary and tired.”
(That’s why they called him “Edom” or “Red One”, but Jacob was feeding a different desire.)
Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright, now.” Esau said, “Okay, here I am dying of hunger,
What good now is a birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Then at once, swear it to me, the younger.”
He swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him. Jacob gave him bread and lentil stew.
Esau ate and drank and rose and went off, and that’s how he spurned the birthright he once knew.
Abraham was now old, well advanced in years, and by the Lord in all things he’d been blessed.
Abraham said to the senior slave of his household, who had charge of all he possessed,
“Put your hand under my thigh and swear by the Lord, God of heaven and God of the earth,
That you won’t take a wife for my son from the Canaanites, but from the land of my birth.
Do not take from these women where I’ve settled, but go to seek wives in my native land,
For Isaac.” And the slave said to him, “But what if she does not want to heed my command?
If she won’t consent to follow me here, shall I take your son back to your former home?”
Abraham said to him, “Beware. My son must never be brought back to that land to roam.
For the Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and my kin, spoke to me.
And He swore to me saying, ‘I give this land to your offspring’– So I have faith that He
Will send a messenger before you, and from there you will then take a wife for my son.
And if that woman won’t consent to follow you, your oath-bound duty to me is done.
But you must never take my son back there.” The servant then put his hand under the thigh
Of his lord Abraham, and swore to him an oath about this matter, vowed to comply.
So the servant took ten camels from his lord’s camels and went out, his lord’s goods in hand.
He rose up and went to Aram of-two-rivers, to Nahor’s town just as had been planned.
He had his camels kneel outside town at the water well as the sun set, at the time
When the women go out to draw water. And he said, “Lord, God of that master of mine,
Let today be the day that it goes well for me, deal kindly with my lord Abraham.
Here, I stand beside the spring of water as the townswomen draw from it. Here I am.
Let the maiden to whom I say, ‘Please lower your pitcher so that I may have a drink.’
And who says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels some water.’ (She’d be it, I think.),
Let her be the one you have decided on for your servant, for Isaac, so I’ll know
That you’ve dealt graciously and in good faith with my master. And this sign will serve to show.”
And then just as he had finished speaking, Rebekah came out– she’d been born to Bethuel,
Son of Milcah, wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother– she was as pretty as a jewel.
Now her pitcher was up on her shoulder, and she was fair to look upon, a virgin.
No man had known her. Going down to the spring, she filled her pitcher and came up again.
Then the servant ran towards her and said, “Pray, from your pitcher let me sip a little water.”
She replied, “Drink, my lord,” as she lowered her pitcher in haste as her good grace had taught her.
She let him drink, and when he had finished she said, “I will water your camels as well.”
So she emptied her pitcher and quickly ran to the well to draw for all his camels.
He stood staring at her, silently wondering if the Lord had granted him success.
When the camels had finished, the man took a gold nose ring, half-shekel weight, and bracelets,
Two nice bracelets of gold for her wrists, ten gold shekels in weight. “Pray tell me,” the man said,
“Whose daughter are you? And in your father’s house is there space where we might rest our heads?”
She replied, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”
And she said, “Yes, there’s straw. Yes, there’s plenty of food. Yes, you may find shelter through our door.”
The man bowed low in homage to the Lord and said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master
Abraham, who has not withheld his faithfulness from my lord, nor led him to disaster.
As for me, the Lord has guided me on my journey to the house of my master’s kin.”
And the maiden then ran to her mother’s household and relayed all this to those within.
Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban. Laban ran to the man at the spring,
And as soon as he saw the bracelets on the wrists of his sister, and the gold nose ring,
And as soon as Laban heard Rebekah his sister say, “That’s what the man said to me.”
He went up to the man who still stood at the wellspring with his camels, and said to he,
“Come in, oh you blessed of the Lord, why are you standing outside when I have prepared
Both the house for you and a place camels can stay?” So the man came in and food was shared.
The man first had unbridled the camels, and they gave the camels some straw and some fodder,
And then gave to the man and those who were with him for the washing of their feet some water.
Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat before speaking my word.”
Laban said, “Speak on.” So the man said, “I am Abraham’s servant, as you may have heard.
The Lord has blessed my master exceedingly, and he’s become rich, with oxen and sheep,
He has given him silver and gold, servants and maids, both camels and asses he keeps.
As for Sarah, my master’s wife, she bore my master a son after she had grown old,
And he’s given him all that he owns. Now my lord made me swear, and here’s what I was told:
‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the women of the Canaanites, where I dwell.
No, instead you shall go to my father’s house, there you will find a wife that will work well.
Take a wife for my son.’ I said to my lord, ‘What if the woman will not follow me?’
He replied, ‘The Lord, Whose ways I’ve followed will send His messenger to aid your journey.
He will grant you success on your journey, to take from my clan a good wife for my son,
From my father’s house. When you have finished this task, only then will your duty be done.
When you come to my clan, if they don’t give her to you, your duty is finished that way.’
Now today I came to the well and said, ‘Oh Lord, God of my master Abraham, pray,
If you would grant success to my journey, then here, I have stationed myself by the well.
Let the maiden to whom I say, “Please lower your pitcher so that my thirst I may quell.”
And who answers, “Drink, and I will also give your camels water.” Let her be the one
Whom the Lord has decided should serve as the wife of my good master Abraham’s son.’
And before I was even done praying in my heart, Rebekah came out. On her shoulder
Was a pitcher, and she went down to the wellspring and drew water. At that point I told her,
‘Oh, please give me a drink.’ So she hastily lowered her pitcher and said, ‘Here you go.
Drink, and I’ll water your camels too.’ So I drank, and she watered the camels also.
Then I asked her ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor,
Whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring and bracelets on her, which you saw before,
And in homage I bowed to the Lord, and blessed Him, God of my master Abraham, One
Who led me on this journey to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son.
So, now, if you will deal truly and faithfully with my lord, then tell me so I’ll know,
And if not, tell me, so I’ll know whether to turn right or if to the left I should go.”
Bethuel and Laban both responded, saying, “By the Lord this matter has been decreed;
We cannot speak to you anything bad or good. Here’s Rebekah before you, indeed,
Now take her and go, so that she may be a wife for your master’s son, as God has said.”
When the servant of Abraham heard their words, he bowed low to the Lord God with his head.
And the servant brought out things of silver and gold, and garments, and gave them to Rebekah,
And he gave presents to her brother and her mother as well, to show he did respect her.
Both he and the men that were with him ate and drank, spent the night. When they woke the next day,
He said, “Send me off to my lord.” But then her brother and mother said, “Let the girl stay.
Let her stay with us for a few days, maybe ten, after that she can go.” He replied,
“Don’t delay me, for God has made my journey filled with success. Send me off on my ride,
So that I can return to my master.” They said, “Call the maiden and ask her reply.”
They called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” She said, “I will go, aye.”
So they sent off Rebekah their sister with her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and men,
And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become thousands of tens
Of thousands; And may your offspring seize the gates of their foes.” She rose, and her maids rose too.
And they mounted the camels and followed the man. Then the servant took her and withdrew.
Now Isaac had just come back from Beerlahairoi, for in the Negev he was still dwelling.
And Isaac went out to ponder in the field at night, because he found evening compelling.
Isaac lifted his eyes and saw, look, camels coming. Rebekah lifted her eyes too,
And saw Isaac, got down from the camel, and said to the servant beside her, “Now who
Is the man over there walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “That’s my lord.”
So she took a veil and covered herself. The servant told Isaac all that had occurred.
Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah, his mother, took Rebekah as his wife,
And he loved her, and so was able to find comfort once his mother left from this life.
Sarah’s lifetime in years was one hundred and twenty seven, all the years of her life.
Sarah died in Arba-town (Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham mourned his wife,
So he came to mourn Sarah and weep for her, then he rose up from before his own dead
And he told the Hittites, “I am a sojourner who has settled among you,” and said,
“Give me title to a burial site among you, so that I may bury from view
My own dead.” And the Hittites responded to him, saying, “Hear us, my lord. Now since you
Are exalted by God in our midst, bury your dead in our choicest burial site.
None among us denies you his plot for your dead.” Abraham then bowed to the Hittites.
He bowed low to the Hittites, the folk of the land, and said, “If this is your true request
That I bury my dead out of sight, then hear me, and for me intercede at your best
With Ephron son of Zohar, so that he may give me title to the cave of Machpelah,
Which he owns. It is at the far edge of his land, and I’ll pay the full price to that fella.
Let him sell it to me in your presence as burial site.” Ephron was sitting there,
With the Hittites. Then Ephron the Hittite arose, giving answer so that all could hear,
“No, my lord, hear me. The field I give you, and give you the cave on that land,” Ephron said,
“Here, I give it to you in the presence of my people’s sons. Go and bury your dead.”
Abraham bowed before the people of the land, speaking to Ephron so all could hear,
“But wait, hear me out, let me pay you the land’s price, take it, so I may bury dead there.”
Ephron answered to Abraham, “My lord, hear me. This small land has a value, we’ve said,
Of four hundred silver shekels, what’s that between me and you? Go and bury your dead.”
Abraham heeded Ephron’s terms, weighed out to him the silver, in its full promised weight
Which the Hittites had heard, four hundred silver shekels priced at the going merchants’ rate.
So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, near Mamre, the field and the cave therein,
And all trees in the area passed from Ephron to Abraham as his possession,
In the presence of the Hittites, and of all who entered through the town’s gates. After that,
Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave which in the field of Machpelah sat,
East of Mamre (Hebron) in the land of Canaan. And so it had passed from the Hittites,
The field with the cave in it, into Abraham’s possession as a burial site.
