Then Abimelech said, "Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please."

To Sarah he said, "Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your 'brother.' This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you."

The Lord visited Sarah just as he had said he would and did for Sarah what he had promised.

Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me."

She went on to say, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!"

So she said to Abraham, "Banish that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!"

But God said to Abraham, "Do not be upset about the boy or your slave wife. Do all that Sarah is telling you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted.

At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, "God is with you in all that you do.

Abraham said, "I swear to do this."

Some time after these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am!" Abraham replied.

God said, "Take your son -- your only son, whom you love, Isaac -- and go to the land of Moriah! Offer him up there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will indicate to you."

So he said to his servants, "You two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return to you."

Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father?" "What is it, my son?" he replied. "Here is the fire and the wood," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

"Do not harm the boy!" the angel said. "Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me."

And Abraham called the name of that place "The Lord provides." It is said to this day, "In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made."

and said, "'I solemnly swear by my own name,' decrees the Lord, 'that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

Then Abraham got up from mourning his dead wife and said to the sons of Heth,

Then he said to them, "If you agree that I may bury my dead, then hear me out. Ask Ephron the son of Zohar

and said to Ephron in their hearing, "Hear me, if you will. I pay to you the price of the field. Take it from me so that I may bury my dead there."

Abraham said to his servant, the senior one in his household who was in charge of everything he had, "Put your hand under my thigh

Abraham's servant ran to meet her and said, "Please give me a sip of water from your jug."

When she had done so, she said, "I'll draw water for your camels too, until they have drunk as much as they want."

She said to him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom Milcah bore to Nahor.

When he saw the bracelets on his sister's wrists and the nose ring and heard his sister Rebekah say, "This is what the man said to me," he went out to meet the man. There he was, standing by the camels near the spring.

Laban said to him, "Come, you who are blessed by the Lord! Why are you standing out here when I have prepared the house and a place for the camels?"

When food was served, he said, "I will not eat until I have said what I want to say." "Tell us," Laban said.

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,

But I said to my master, 'What if the woman does not want to go with me?'

"Before I finished praying in my heart, along came Rebekah with her water jug on her shoulder! She went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, 'Please give me a drink.'

She quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and said, 'Drink, and I'll give your camels water too.' So I drank, and she also gave the camels water.

After this, he and the men who were with him ate a meal and stayed there overnight. When they got up in the morning, he said, "Let me leave now so I can return to my master."

But he said to them, "Don't detain me -- the Lord has granted me success on my journey. Let me leave now so I may return to my master."

Then they said, "We'll call the girl and find out what she wants to do."

But the children struggled inside her, and she said, "If it is going to be like this, I'm not so sure I want to be pregnant!" So she asked the Lord,

and the Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from within you. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger."

So Esau said to Jacob, "Feed me some of the red stuff -- yes, this red stuff -- because I'm starving!" (That is why he was also called Edom.)

"Look," said Esau, "I'm about to die! What use is the birthright to me?"

But Jacob said, "Swear an oath to me now." So Esau swore an oath to him and sold his birthright to Jacob.

The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; settle down in the land that I will point out to you.

So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, "She is really your wife! Why did you say, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac replied, "Because I thought someone might kill me to get her."

Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Leave us and go elsewhere, for you have become much more powerful than we are."

The Lord appeared to him that night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham."

When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, he called his older son Esau and said to him, "My son!" "Here I am!" Esau replied.

Isaac said, "Since I am so old, I could die at any time.

Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau,

He went to his father and said, "My father!" Isaac replied, "Here I am. Which are you, my son?"

Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau, your firstborn. I've done as you told me. Now sit up and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me."

Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come closer so I can touch you, my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau."

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

Isaac said, "Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. Then I will bless you." So Jacob brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac drank.

Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come here and kiss me, my son."

He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau said to him, "My father, get up and eat some of your son's wild game. Then you can bless me."

When Esau heard his father's words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. He said to his father, "Bless me too, my father!"

Esau said to his father, "Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!" Then Esau wept loudly.

So his father Isaac said to him, "Indeed, your home will be away from the richness of the earth, and away from the dew of the sky above.

So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. Esau said privately, "The time of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill my brother Jacob!"

When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, she quickly summoned her younger son Jacob and told him, "Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you.

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!"

and the Lord stood at its top. He said, "I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on.

He was afraid and said, "What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!"

So he said to them, "Do you know Laban, the grandson of Nahor?" "We know him," they said.

Then Jacob said, "Since it is still the middle of the day, it is not time for the flocks to be gathered. You should water the sheep and then go and let them graze some more."

"We can't," they said, "until all the flocks are gathered and the stone is rolled off the mouth of the well. Then we water the sheep."

Then Laban said to him, "You are indeed my own flesh and blood." So Jacob stayed with him for a month.

Then Laban said to Jacob, "Should you work for me for nothing because you are my relative? Tell me what your wages should be."

Since Jacob had fallen in love with Rachel, he said, "I'll serve you seven years in exchange for your younger daughter Rachel."

Finally Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife, for my time of service is up. I want to have marital relations with her."

In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, "What in the world have you done to me! Didn't I work for you in exchange for Rachel? Why have you tricked me?"

Jacob did as Laban said. When Jacob completed Leah's bridal week, Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

So Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, "The Lord has looked with pity on my oppressed condition. Surely my husband will love me now."

She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, "Because the Lord heard that I was unloved, he gave me this one too." So she named him Simeon.

She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, "Now this time my husband will show me affection, because I have given birth to three sons for him." That is why he was named Levi.

She became pregnant again and had another son. She said, "This time I will praise the Lord." That is why she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, "Give me children or I'll die!"

Then Rachel said, "God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer and given me a son." That is why she named him Dan.

Then Rachel said, "I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won." So she named him Naphtali.

Leah said, "How fortunate!" So she named him Gad.

Leah said, "How happy I am, for women will call me happy!" So she named him Asher.

At the time of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, "Give me some of your son's mandrakes."

But Leah replied, "Wasn't it enough that you've taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes too?" "All right," Rachel said, "he may sleep with you tonight in exchange for your son's mandrakes."

When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must sleep with me because I have paid for your services with my son's mandrakes." So he had marital relations with her that night.

Then Leah said, "God has granted me a reward because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife." So she named him Issachar.

Then Leah said, "God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons." So she named him Zebulun.

She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then she said, "God has taken away my shame."

After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, "Send me on my way so that I can go home to my own country.

But Laban said to him, "If I have found favor in your sight, please stay here, for I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me on account of you."

"Agreed!" said Laban, "It will be as you say."

The Lord said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives. I will be with you."

There he said to them, "I can tell that your father's attitude toward me has changed, but the God of my father has been with me.

If he said, 'The speckled animals will be your wage,' then the entire flock gave birth to speckled offspring. But if he said, 'The streaked animals will be your wage,' then the entire flock gave birth to streaked offspring.

In the dream the angel of God said to me, 'Jacob!' 'Here I am!' I replied.

Then he said, 'Observe that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you.

Rachel said to her father, "Don't be angry, my lord. I cannot stand up in your presence because I am having my period." So he searched thoroughly, but did not find the idols.

Then he said to his relatives, "Gather stones." So they brought stones and put them in a pile. They ate there by the pile of stones.

Laban said, "This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement today." That is why it was called Galeed.

It was also called Mizpah because he said, "May the Lord watch between us when we are out of sight of one another.

"Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you," Laban said to Jacob.

The messengers returned to Jacob and said, "We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him."

Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said to me, 'Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.'

But you said, 'I will certainly make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.'"