Here I am, standing by the spring, and the daughters of the people who live in the town are coming out to draw water.

Let the girl to whom I say, ‘Please lower your water jug so that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I’ll water your camels also’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. By this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”

And it shall be before he finished speaking, and behold Rebekah came forth, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, and her bucket upon her shoulder.

Now the girl was very beautiful, a young woman who had not known a man intimately. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up.

She answered him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor.”

and said, “Praise the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”

Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, who ran out to the man and met him at the spring.

And so it was, as soon as he saw the nose ring and bracelets on his sister's wrists, and as soon as he heard what his sister Rebekah was saying about what the man had spoken to her, he went out to the man who was still standing by the camels at the spring!

Laban said, “Come, you who are blessed by the Lord. Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.”

And the man came into the house; and he ungirded the camels, and gave the camels straw and provender, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men who were with him.

And when Sarah, my master's wife, was old, she gave birth to a son, to whom he has given all he has.

My master made me swear an oath. He said, 'You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,

He said to me, ‘The Lord before whom I have walked will send His angel with you and make your journey a success, and you will take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s household.

I am standing here at a spring. Let the virgin who comes out to draw water, and I say to her: Please let me drink a little water from your jug,

and who responds to me, ‘Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels also’—let her be the woman the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.

Then I asked her: Whose daughter are you? She responded, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.

Then I bowed down, worshiped the Lord, and praised the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who guided me on the right way to take the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son.

And they did eat and drink he, and the men who were with him, and they tarried the night, - and when they arose in the morning, he said Let me go unto my lord!

And they blessed Rebekah, and said to her, Our sister, be the mother of thousands of millions, and let your seed possess the gate of those who hate them.

Then Rebekah and her young servant women got up, mounted their camels, and followed Abraham's servant, who took Rebekah and went on his way.

Now Isaac had returned from going to Beer-lahai-roi (Well of the Living One Who Sees Me), for he was living in the Negev.

and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”

The servant answered, “It is my master.” So she took her veil and covered herself.

but, to the sons of the concubines whom Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, - and then sent them away from Isaac his son while he himself yet lived, eastward unto the land of the east.

Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man who had lived a full life. He joined his ancestors.

After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.

These are the family records of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s slave, bore to Abraham.

When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

Then Abimelech commanded all his people, “Whoever touches this man [Isaac] or his wife [Rebekah] shall without exception be put to death.”

But the herdsmen who lived in Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen. "The water is ours," they said. As a result, Isaac named the well Esek, for they had fiercely disputed with him about it.

They said, “We see clearly that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘There should now be an oath between us [with a curse for the one who breaks it], that is, between you and us, and let us make a covenant (binding agreement, solemn promise) with you,

That, thou wilt not do wrong by us, according as we touched not thee, and according as we did by thee nothing but good, and then sent thee away in peace, thee who, now, art blessed of Yahweh!

who were a grief of spirit to Isaac and to Rebekah.

My father perhaps will feel me, and I shall be in his sight as one who mocks him, and I shall bring a curse on me, and not a blessing.

So out he went, got them, and brought them to his mother, who then prepared some delicious food, just the way his father liked it.

When he came to his father, he said, “My father.”

And he answered, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's."

And he did not make out who he was, because his hands were covered with hair like his brother Esau's hands: so he gave him a blessing.

May peoples serve you
and nations bow down to you.
Be master over your brothers;
may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Those who curse you will be cursed,
and those who bless you will be blessed.

But his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?”

He answered, “I am Esau your firstborn son.”

Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably. “Who was it then,” he said, “who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it all before you came in, and I blessed him. Indeed, he will be blessed!”

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am deeply depressed because of these daughters of Heth. If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!"

so he went to Abraham's son Ishmael and married Ishmael's daughter Mahalath, who was the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob journeyed on and reached the territory that belonged to the people who lived in the east.

So Laban gathered all the men who lived in that place and held a wedding festival.

But in the evening he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob went in to [consummate the marriage with] her.

And Leah was with child, and gave birth to a son to whom she gave the name Reuben: for she said, The Lord has seen my sorrow; now my husband will have love for me.

Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in God’s place, who has withheld children from you?”

After that she had a daughter, to whom she gave the name Dinah.

Give my wives and my children, for whom I served thee, and I will go forth; for thou knewest ray work which I served thee.

With whom thou shalt find thy gods, he shall not live: before our brethren, behold for thyself what is with me and take to thee: and Jacob knew not that Rachel stole them.

If the God of my father -- the God of Abraham, the one whom Isaac fears -- had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away empty-handed! But God saw how I was oppressed and how hard I worked, and he rebuked you last night."

And Laban answered and said to Jacob, The daughters are my daughters, and the sons are my sons, and the flock is my flock, and all that thou seest is mine; but as for my daughters, what can I do this day to them, or to their sons whom they have brought forth?

May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, the gods of their father, judge between us." Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared.

Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps;

Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your family, and I will cause you to prosper,’

He entrusted them to his servants, who divided them into herds. He told his servants, "Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next."

And he told the first one: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to? Where are you going? And whose animals are these ahead of you?’

He also told the second one, the third, and everyone who was walking behind the animals, “Say the same thing to Esau when you find him.

When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?”

He answered, “The children God has graciously given your servant.”

"The children, whom God has graciously given your servant," he answered. Then the women servants approached, accompanied by their children, and bowed low.

Then said Esau: Let me leave, I pray thee, along with thee, some of the people who are with me! And he said - Why so? let me find favour in the eyes of my lord!

Dinah, Leah’s daughter whom she bore to Jacob, went out to see some of the young women of the area.

When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who ruled that area, saw her, he grabbed her, forced himself on her, and sexually assaulted her.

They said to them, "We cannot give our sister to a man who is not circumcised, for it would be a disgrace to us.

All the men who assembled at the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate was circumcised.

And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have troubled me, to make me stink among those who live in the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And I, being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and kill me. And I shall be destroyed, my house and I.

God said to Jacob, “Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

So Jacob said to his family and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes.

We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to the God who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me everywhere I have gone.”

As they set out on their journey, because the people who lived in the cities around them feared God, they did not pursue Jacob's sons.

So Jacob and all who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.

And Deborah, the servant who had taken care of Rebekah from her birth, came to her end, and was put to rest near Beth-el, under the holy tree: and they gave it the name of Allon-bacuth.

Now as for the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I'm giving it to you and to your descendants who come after you. I'm giving the land to you!"

And when her pain was very great, the woman who was helping her said, Have no fear; for now you will have another son.

The sons of Leah’s slave Zilpah
were Gad and Asher.

These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

Then Isaac breathed his last and joined his ancestors. He died an old man who had lived a full life. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.

Esau had married Canaanite women, including Elon the Hittite's daughter Adah, Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah (who was Zibeon the Hivite's daughter), and

Ishamael's daughter Basemath (who was Nebaioth's sister).

and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were Esau’s sons, who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

And Eliphaz, the son of Esau, had connection with a woman named Timna, who gave birth to Amalek: all these were the children of Esau's wife Adah.

These were the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, who was the daughter of Zibeon. She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah for Esau.

These were the tribal leaders of Esau's descendants; that is, the children of Eliphaz, who was Esau's firstborn: tribal leaders Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz,

Korah, Gatam, and Amalek. These were the tribal leaders who descended from Eliphaz in the territory of Edom. These were Adah's sons.

These were the descendants of Esau's son Reuel: tribal leaders Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the tribal leaders who descended from Reuel in the territory of Edom. These were the sons of Esau's wife Basemath.

These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau's wife: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah: these are the chiefs who came of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife.

These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.

These, are the sons of Seir, the Horite, who were dwelling in the land, - Lotan and Shobal and Zibeon and Anah;

Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the tribal leaders who descended from the Horites, the descendants of Seir in the territory of Edom.

These are Zibeon’s sons: Aiah and Anah.
This was the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness
while he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon.

These were the tribal leaders who descended from the Horites: tribal leaders Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These were the tribal leaders who descended from the Horites, according to their tribal leaders in the territory of Seir.

These are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom
before any king ruled over the Israelites:

And Husham died; and Hadad the son of Bedad, who smote Midian in the fields of Moab, reigned in his stead. And the name of his city was Avith.

After Achbor's son Baal-hanan died, Hadar ruled in his place. His city's name was Pau. And his wife's name was Mehetabel, who was the daughter of Matred, and granddaughter of Me-zahab.

These were the names of the chiefs who descended from Esau according to their clans, territories, and names: tribal leaders Timna, Alvah, Jetheth,

Magdiel, and Iram. These were the chiefs who descended from Edom, according to their territories in their own land. This was the dynasty of Esau, who was the ancestor of the Edomites.

Come, let us [instead] sell him to these Ishmaelites [and Midianites] and not lay our hands on him, because he is our brother and our flesh.” So his brothers listened to him and agreed.

When Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt.

Now Reuben [unaware of what had happened] returned to the pit, and [to his great alarm found that] Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his clothes [in deep sorrow].