now let it be that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please, let down your jar so that I may [have a] drink,’ and she replies, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels water to drink’—may she be the one whom You have selected [as a wife] for Your servant Isaac; and by this I will know that You have shown lovingkindness (faithfulness) to my master.”

And she said, “Drink, my lord”; and she quickly lowered her jar to her hand, and gave him a drink.

When she had given Eliezer a drink, she said, “I will also draw water for your camels until they have finished drinking.”

And she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to [her husband] Nahor.”

Again she said to him, “We have plenty of both straw and feed, and also room to lodge.”

When he saw the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms, and when he heard Rebekah his sister, saying, “The man said this to me,” he went to Eliezer and found him standing by the camels at the spring.

So the man came into the house, and Laban unloaded his camels and gave them straw and feed, and [he gave] water to [Eliezer to] wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.

But when food was set before him, he said, “I will not eat until I have stated my business.” And Laban said, “Speak on.”

The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great (wealthy, powerful); He has given him flocks and herds, and silver and gold, and servants and maids, and camels and donkeys.

Now Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was in her old age, and he has given everything that he has to him.

Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She said, ‘The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor’s son, whom Milcah bore to him’; and I put the ring in her nose, and the bracelets on her arms.

So now if you are going to show kindness and truth to my master [being faithful to him], tell me; and if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right or to the left [and go on my way].”

Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night [there]. In the morning when they got up, he said, “Now send me back to my master.”

She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.

So his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is east of Mamre,

Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years; then he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death].

The first came out reddish all over like a hairy garment; and they named him Esau (hairy).

Jacob said, “Swear [an oath] to me today [that you are selling it to me for this food]”; so he swore [an oath] to him, and sold him his birthright.

The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I will tell you.

I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,

The men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife”—thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is very beautiful.”

Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “See here, Rebekah is in fact your wife! How did you [dare to] say to me, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I might be killed because of her [desirability].”

Then Isaac planted [seed] in that land [as a farmer] and reaped in the same year a hundred times [as much as he had planted], and the Lord blessed and favored him.

he owned flocks and herds and a great household [with a number of servants], and the Philistines envied him.

the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours!” So Isaac named the well Esek (quarreling), because they quarreled with him.

The Lord appeared to him the same night and said,

“I am the God of Abraham your father;
Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
I will bless and favor you, and multiply your descendants,
For the sake of My servant Abraham.”

Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, his [close friend and confidential] adviser, and Phicol, the commander of his army.

They got up early in the morning and swore oaths [pledging to do nothing but good to each other]; and Isaac sent them on their way and they left him in peace.

Now on the same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, saying, “We have found water.”

Now when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, he called his elder [and favorite] son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And Esau answered him, “Here I am.”

Suppose my father touches me and feels my skin; then I will be seen by him as a cheat (imposter), and I will bring his curse on me and not a blessing.”

But his mother said to him, “May your curse be on me, my son; only listen and obey me, and go, bring the young goats to me.”

So Jacob approached Isaac, and his father touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

He could not recognize him [as Jacob], because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.

Then Isaac said, “Bring the food to me, and I will eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.” He brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine and he drank.

So he came and kissed him; and Isaac smelled his clothing and blessed him and said,

“The scent of my son [Esau]
Is like the aroma of a field which the Lord has blessed;

Esau also made a delicious dish [of meat] and brought it to his father and said to him, “Let my father get up and eat some of his son’s game, so that you may bless me.”

Isaac his father said to him, “Who are you?” And he replied, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”

Then Isaac trembled violently, and he said, “Then who was the one [who was just here] who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I blessed him. Yes, and he [in fact] shall be (shall remain) blessed.”

But Isaac replied to Esau, “Listen carefully: I have made Jacob your lord and master; I have given him all his brothers and relatives as servants; and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What then, can I do for you, my son?”

So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are very near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

When these words of her elder son Esau were repeated to Rebekah, she sent for Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Listen carefully, your brother Esau is comforting himself concerning you by planning to kill you.

Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s anger subsides.

When your brother’s anger toward you subsides and he forgets what you did to him, then I will send and bring you back from there. Why should I be deprived of you both in a single day?”

So Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “You shall not marry one of the women of Canaan.

Now Esau noticed that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife for himself from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a prohibition, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,”

And behold, the Lord stood above and around him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your [father’s] father and the God of Isaac; I will give to you and to your descendants the land [of promise] on which you are lying.

So he said to them, “Do you know Laban the grandson of Nahor [Abraham’s brother]?” And they replied, “We know him.”

And he asked them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “He is doing well; look, here comes his daughter Rachel with the sheep!”

When Laban heard of the arrival of Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and embraced and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he told Laban all these things.

Then Laban said to him, “You are my bone and my flesh.” And Jacob stayed with him a month.

So Jacob served [Laban] for seven years for [the right to marry] Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

So Jacob complied and fulfilled Leah’s week [of celebration]; then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel as his [second] wife.

Leah conceived and gave birth to a son and named him Reuben (See, a son!), for she said, “Because the Lord has seen my humiliation and suffering; now my husband will love me [since I have given him a son].”

Then she conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Because the Lord heard that I am unloved, He has given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon (God hears).

She conceived again and gave birth to a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me [as a companion], for I have given him three sons.” Therefore he was named Levi.

So she gave him Bilhah her maid as a [secondary] wife, and Jacob went in to her.

Then Rachel said, “God has judged and vindicated me, and has heard my plea and has given me a son [through my maid].” So she named him Dan (He judged).

So Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings [in prayer to God] I have struggled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she named him Naphtali (my wrestlings).

Then Leah said, “How fortunate!” So she named him Gad (good fortune).

Then Leah said, “I am happy! For women will call me happy.” So she named him Asher (happy).

When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep with me [tonight], for I have in fact hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he slept with her that night.

Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good [marriage] gift [for my husband]; now he will live with me [regarding me with honor as his wife], because I have given birth to six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.

But Laban said to him, “If I have found favor in your sight, stay with me; for I have learned [from the omens in divination and by experience] that the Lord has blessed me because of you.”

Jacob answered him, “You know how I have served you and how your possessions, your cattle and sheep and goats, have fared with me.

Jacob noticed [a change in] the attitude of Laban, and saw that it was not friendly toward him as before.

Yet your father has cheated me [as often as possible] and changed my wages ten times; but God did not allow him to hurt me.

Rachel and Leah answered him, “Is there still any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?

Are we not counted by him as foreigners? For he sold us [to you in marriage], and has also entirely used up our purchase price.

And Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean (Syrian) by not telling him that he intended to leave and he slipped away secretly.

So he took his relatives with him and pursued him for seven days, and they overtook him in the hill country of Gilead.

God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream at night and said to him, “Be careful that you do not speak to Jacob, either good or bad.”

The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our relatives [search my possessions and] point out whatever you find that belongs to you and take it.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen the idols.

Then as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him [to reassure and protect him].

Then Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.”

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;

Save me, please, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children.

So Jacob spent the night there. Then he selected a present for his brother Esau from the livestock he had acquired:

And so Jacob commanded the second and the third as well, and all that followed the herds, saying, “This is what you shall say to Esau when you meet him;

and you shall say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he said [to himself], “I will try to appease him with the gift that is going ahead of me. Then afterward I will see him; perhaps he will accept and forgive me.”

So the gift [of the herds of livestock] went on ahead of him, and he himself spent that night back in the camp.

So Jacob was left alone, and a Man [came and] wrestled with him until daybreak.

When the Man saw that He had not prevailed against Jacob, He touched his hip joint; and Jacob’s hip was dislocated as he wrestled with Him.

So He asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”

Then Jacob asked Him, “Please tell me Your name.” But He said, “Why is it that you ask My name?” And He declared a blessing [of the covenant promises] on Jacob there.

Now the sun rose on him as he passed Penuel (Peniel), and he was limping because of his hip.

Then Jacob looked up, and saw Esau coming with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah and Rachel and the two maids.

But Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and hugged his neck and kissed him, and they wept [for joy].

Please accept my blessing (gift) which has been brought to you, for God has dealt graciously with me and I have everything [that I could possibly want].” So Jacob kept urging him and Esau accepted it.

But Shechem’s father Hamor went to Jacob to talk with him.

But Hamor conferred with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem [deeply] longs for your daughter [and sister]. Please give her to him as his wife.

Then Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the [idols and images of] foreign gods that are among you, and ceremonially purify yourselves and change [into fresh] clothes;

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

There he built an altar [to worship the Lord], and called the place El-bethel (God of the House of God), because there God had revealed Himself to him when he escaped from his brother.

Then God [in a visible manifestation] appeared to Jacob again when he came out of Paddan-aram, and declared a blessing on him.

Again God said to him,

“Your name is Jacob;
You shall no longer be called Jacob,
But Israel shall be your name.”

So he was called Israel.

And God said to him,

“I am God Almighty.
Be fruitful and multiply;
A nation and a company of nations shall come from you,
And kings shall be born of your loins.

Then God ascended from Jacob in the place where He had spoken with him.

So Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him, Bethel (the House of God).