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.

But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too."

Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation."

Now swear to me right here in God's name that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. Show me, and the land where you are staying, the same loyalty that I have shown you."

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."

"God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son," Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.

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."

I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies.

Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.'"

"Listen, sir, you are a mighty prince among us! You may bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb to prevent you from burying your dead."

if he will sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly for the full price, so that I may own it as a burial site."

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."

"The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and the land of my relatives, promised me with a solemn oath, 'To your descendants I will give this land.' He will send his angel before you so that you may find a wife for my son from there.

But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, you will be free from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!"

I will say to a young woman, 'Please lower your jar so I may drink.' May the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac reply, 'Drink, and I'll give your camels water too.' In this way I will know that you have been faithful to my master."

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

He answered, 'The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you. He will make your journey a success and you will find a wife for my son from among my relatives, from my father's family.

You will be free from your oath if you go to my relatives and they will not give her to you. Then you will be free from your oath.'

Then she will reply to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too." May that woman be the one whom the Lord has chosen for my master's son.'

Now, if you will show faithful love to my master, tell me. But if not, tell me as well, so that I may go on my way."

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."

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.

Stay in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will fulfill the solemn promise I made to your father Abraham.

I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.

All this will come to pass because Abraham obeyed me and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."

When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he replied, "She is my sister." He was afraid to say, "She is my wife," for he thought to himself, "The men of this place will kill me to get Rebekah because she is very beautiful."

So Abimelech commanded all the people, "Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death."

Then he moved away from there and dug another well. They did not quarrel over it, so Isaac named it Rehoboth, saying, "For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land."

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."

so that you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed you, but have always treated you well before sending you away in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord."

Therefore, take your weapons -- your quiver and your bow -- and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game for me.

Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then I will eat it so that I may bless you before I die."

Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back,

Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.'

Then you will take it to your father. Thus he will eat it and bless you before he dies."

So his mother told him, "Any curse against you will fall on me, my son! Just obey me! Go and get them for me!"

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."

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.

May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. You will be lord over your brothers, and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed."

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."

Isaac began to shake violently and asked, "Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. He will indeed be blessed!"

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.

You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off his yoke from your neck."

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!"

May the sovereign God bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! Then you will become a large nation.

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.

Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using your name and that of your descendants.

I am with you! I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!"

and I return safely to my father's home, then the Lord will become my God.

Then this stone that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely give you back a tenth of everything you give me."

Complete my older daughter's bridal week. Then we will give you the younger one too, in exchange for seven more years of work."

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, "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.

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

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.

So Laban asked, "What should I give you?" "You don't need to give me a thing," Jacob replied, "but if you agree to this one condition, I will continue to care for your flocks and protect them:

Let me walk among all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and the spotted or speckled goats. These animals will be my wages.

My integrity will testify for me later on. When you come to verify that I've taken only the wages we agreed on, if I have in my possession any goat that is not speckled or spotted or any sheep that is not dark-colored, it will be considered stolen."

"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."

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.

Whoever has taken your gods will be put to death! In the presence of our relatives identify whatever is yours and take it." (Now Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.)

Animals torn by wild beasts I never brought to you; I always absorbed the loss myself. You always made me pay for every missing animal, whether it was taken by day or at night.

So now, come, let's make a formal agreement, you and I, and it will be proof that we have made peace."

"This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me.

"If Esau attacks one camp," he thought, "then the other camp will be able to escape."

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.'

Rescue me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children.

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

You must also say, 'In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.'" Jacob thought, "I will first appease him by sending a gift ahead of me. After that I will meet him. Perhaps he will accept me."

Then the man said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." "I will not let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me."

"No longer will your name be Jacob," the man told him, "but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed."

Then Esau said, "Let's be on our way! I will go in front of you."

But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are young, and that I have to look after the sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. If they are driven too hard for even a single day, all the animals will die.

Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, until I come to my lord at Seir."

You may live among us, and the land will be open to you. Live in it, travel freely in it, and acquire property in it."

We will give you our consent on this one condition: You must become like us by circumcising all your males.

Then we will give you our daughters to marry, and we will take your daughters as wives for ourselves, and we will live among you and become one people.

But if you do not agree to our terms by being circumcised, then we will take our sister and depart."

"These men are at peace with us. So let them live in the land and travel freely in it, for the land is wide enough for them. We will take their daughters for wives, and we will give them our daughters to marry.

Only on this one condition will these men consent to live with us and become one people: They demand that every male among us be circumcised just as they are circumcised.

If we do so, won't their livestock, their property, and all their animals become ours? So let's consent to their demand, so they will live among us."

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought ruin on me by making me a foul odor among the inhabitants of the land -- among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!"

Let us go up at once to Bethel. Then I will make an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress and has been with me wherever I went."

God said to him, "Your name is Jacob, but your name will no longer be called Jacob; Israel will be your name." So God named him Israel.

Then God said to him, "I am the sovereign God. Be fruitful and multiply! A nation -- even a company of nations -- will descend from you; kings will be among your descendants!

The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you. To your descendants I will also give this land."

Then his brothers asked him, "Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?" They hated him even more because of his dream and because of what he said.

When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, "What is this dream that you had? Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?"

Israel said to Joseph, "Your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I will send you to them." "I'm ready," Joseph replied.

Come now, let's kill him, throw him into one of the cisterns, and then say that a wild animal ate him. Then we'll see how his dreams turn out!"

He recognized it and exclaimed, "It is my son's tunic! A wild animal has eaten him! Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!"

All his sons and daughters stood by him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. "No," he said, "I will go to the grave mourning my son." So Joseph's father wept for him.

He turned aside to her along the road and said, "Come on! I want to have sex with you." (He did not realize it was his daughter-in-law.) She asked, "What will you give me in exchange for having sex with you?"

He replied, "I'll send you a young goat from the flock." She asked, "Will you give me a pledge until you send it?"

Judah said, "Let her keep the things for herself. Otherwise we will appear to be dishonest. I did indeed send this young goat, but you couldn't find her."

In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just as you did before when you were cupbearer.