And Isaac said to them, Why have you come to me, seeing that in your hate for me you sent me away from you?

And they said, We saw clearly that the Lord was with you: so we said, Let there be an oath between us and you, and let us make an agreement with you;

And that day Isaac's servants came to him and gave him word of the water-hole which they had made, and said to him, We have come to water.

Now when Isaac was old and his eyes had become clouded so that he was not able to see, he sent for Esau, his first son, and said to him, My son: and he said, Here am I.

And he said, See now, I am old, and my death may take place at any time:

Now Isaac's words to his son were said in Rebekah's hearing. Then Esau went out to get the meat.

And Rebekah said to Jacob, her son, Your father said to your brother Esau in my hearing,

And Jacob said to Rebekah, his mother, But Esau my brother is covered with hair, while I am smooth:

And his mother said, Let the curse be on me, my son: only do as I say, and go and get them for me.

And he came to his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I: who are you, my son?

And Jacob said, I am Esau, your oldest son; I have done as you said: come now, be seated and take of my meat, so that you may give me a blessing.

And Isaac said, How is it that you have got it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord your God made it come my way.

And Isaac said, Come near so that I may put my hand on you, my son, and see if you are truly my son Esau or not.

And Jacob went near his father Isaac: and he put his hands on him; and he said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.

And he said, Are you truly my son Esau? And he said, I am.

And he said, Put it before me and I will take of my son's meat, so that I may give you a blessing. And he put it before him and he took it; and he gave him wine, and he had a drink.

And his father Isaac said to him, Come near now, my son, and give me a kiss.

And he came near and gave him a kiss; and smelling the smell of his clothing, he gave him a blessing, and said, See, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field on which the blessing of the Lord has come:

And he made ready a meal, good to the taste, and took it to his father, and said to him, Let my father get up and take of his son's meat, so that you may give me a blessing.

And Isaac his father said to him, Who are you? And he said, I am your oldest son, Esau.

And in great fear Isaac said, Who then is he who got meat and put it before me, and I took it all before you came, and gave him a blessing, and his it will be?

And hearing the words of his father, Esau gave a great and bitter cry, and said to his father, Give a blessing to me, even to me, O my father!

And he said, Your brother came with deceit, and took away your blessing.

And he said, Is it because he is named Jacob that he has twice taken my place? for he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Have you not kept a blessing for me?

And Isaac answering said, But I have made him your master, and have given him all his brothers for servants; I have made him strong with grain and wine: what then am I to do for you, my son?

And Esau said to his father, Is that the only blessing you have, my father? give a blessing to me, even me! And Esau was overcome with weeping.

Then Isaac his father made answer and said to him, Far from the fertile places of the earth, and far from the dew of heaven on high will your living-place be:

So Esau was full of hate for Jacob because of his father's blessing; and he said in his heart, The days of weeping for my father are near; then I will put my brother Jacob to death.

Then Rebekah, hearing what Esau had said, sent for Jacob, her younger son, and said to him, It seems that your brother Esau is purposing to put you to death.

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, My life is a weariness to me because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob takes a wife from among the daughters of Heth, such as these, the women of this land, of what use will my life be to me?

Then Isaac sent for Jacob, and blessing him, said, Do not take a wife from among the women of Canaan;

And that Jacob had done as his father and mother said and had gone to Paddan-aram;

And truly, I will be with you, and will keep you wherever you go, guiding you back again to this land; and I will not give you up till I have done what I have said to you.

And Jacob, awaking from his sleep, said, Truly, the Lord is in this place and I was not conscious of it.

And fear came on him, and he said, This is a holy place; this is nothing less than the house of God and the doorway of heaven.

Then Jacob took an oath, and said, If God will be with me, and keep me safe on my journey, and give me food and clothing to put on,

Then Jacob said to the herdmen, My brothers, where do you come from? And they said, From Haran.

And he said to them, Have you any knowledge of Laban, the son of Nahor? And they said, We have.

And he said to them, Is he well? And they said, He is well, and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.

Then Jacob said, The sun is still high and it is not time to get the cattle together: get water for the sheep and go and give them their food.

And they said, We are not able to do so till all the flocks have come together and the stone has been rolled away from the mouth of the water-hole; then we will get water for the sheep.

And Laban said to him, Truly, you are my bone and my flesh. And he kept Jacob with him for the space of a month.

Then Laban said to Jacob, Because you are my brother are you to be my servant for nothing? say now, what is your payment to be?

And Jacob was in love with Rachel; and he said, I will be your servant seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.

And Laban said, It is better for you to have her than another man: go on living here with me.

Then Jacob said to Laban, Give me my wife so that I may have her, for the days are ended.

And in the morning Jacob saw that it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What have you done to me? was I not working for you so that I might have Rachel? why have you been false to me?

And Laban said, In our country we do not let the younger daughter be married before the older.

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.

Then she became with child again, and gave birth to a son; and said, Because it has come to the Lord's ears that I am not loved, he has given me this son in addition: and she gave him the name Simeon.

And she was with child again, and gave birth to a son; and said, Now at last my husband will be united to me, because I have given him three sons: so he was named Levi.

And she was with child again, and gave birth to a son: and she said, This time I will give praise to the Lord: so he was named Judah; after this she had no more children for a time.

Now Rachel, because she had no children, was full of envy of her sister; and she said to Jacob, If you do not give me children I will not go on living.

But Jacob was angry with Rachel, and said, Am I in the place of God, who has kept your body from having fruit?

Then she said, Here is my servant Bilhah, go in to her, so that she may have a child on my knees, and I may have a family by her.

Then Rachel said, God has been my judge, and has given ear to my voice, and has given me a son; so he was named Dan.

And Rachel said, I have had a great fight with my sister, and I have overcome her: and she gave the child the name Naphtali.

And Leah said, It has gone well for me: and she gave him the name Gad.

And Leah said, Happy am I! and all women will give witness to my joy: and she gave him the name Asher.

Now at the time of the grain-cutting, Reuben saw some love-fruits in the field, and took them to his mother Leah. And Rachel said to her, Let me have some of your son's love-fruits.

But Leah said to her, Is it a small thing that you have taken my husband from me? and now would you take my son's love-fruits? Then Rachel said, You may have him tonight in exchange for your son's love-fruits.

In the evening, when Jacob came in from the field, Leah went out to him and said, Tonight you are to come to me, for I have given my son's love-fruits as a price for you. And he went in to her that night.

Then Leah said, God has made payment to me for giving my servant-girl to my husband: so she gave her son the name Issachar.

And she said, God has given me a good bride-price; now at last will I have my husband living with me, for I have given him six sons: and she gave him the name Zebulun.

And she was with child, and gave birth to a son: and she said, God has taken away my shame.

Now after the birth of Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, Let me go away to my place and my country.

And Laban said, If you will let me say so, do not go away; for I have seen by the signs that the Lord has been good to me because of you.

Then Jacob said, You have seen what I have done for you, and how your cattle have done well under my care.

And Laban said, What am I to give you? And Jacob said, Do not give me anything; but I will again take up the care of your flock if you will only do this for me:

And Laban said, Let it be as you say.

Then the Lord said to Jacob, Go back to the land of your fathers, and to your relations, and I will be with you.

And he said to them, It is clear to me that your father's feeling is no longer what it was to me; but the God of my father has been with me

If he said, All those in the flock which have marks are to be yours, then all the flock gave birth to marked young; and if he said, All the banded ones are to be yours, then all the flock had banded young.

And in my dream the angel of the Lord said to me, Jacob: and I said, Here am I.

And he said, See how all the he-goats are banded and marked and coloured: for I have seen what Laban has done to you.

Then Rachel and Leah said to him in answer, What part or heritage is there for us in our father's house?

For the wealth which God has taken from him is ours and our children's; so now, whatever God has said to you, do.

Then God came to Laban in a dream by night, and said to him, Take care that you say nothing good or bad to Jacob.

And Laban said to Jacob, Why did you go away secretly, taking my daughters away like prisoners of war?

And Jacob, in answer, said to Laban, My fear was that you might take your daughters from me by force.

And she said to her father, Let not my lord be angry because I do not get up before you, for I am in the common condition of women. And with all his searching, he did not come across the images.

Then Jacob was angry with Laban, and said, What crime or sin have I done that you have come after me with such passion?

Then Laban, answering, said, These women are my daughters and these children my children, the flocks and all you see are mine: what now may I do for my daughters and for their children?

And Jacob said to his people, Get stones together; and they did so; and they had a meal there by the stones.

And Laban said, These stones are a witness between you and me today. For this reason its name was Galeed,

And Mizpah, for he said, May the Lord keep watch on us when we are unable to see one another's doings.

And Laban said, See these stones and this pillar which I have put between you and me;

And when he saw them he said, This is the army of God: so he gave that place the name of Mahanaim.

When the servants came back they said, We have seen your brother Esau and he is coming out to you, and four hundred men with him.

And said, If Esau, meeting one group, makes an attack on them, the others will get away safely.

Then Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, the God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, Go back to your country and your family and I will be good to you:

And you said, Truly, I will be good to you, and make your seed like the sand of the sea which may not be numbered.

These he gave to his servants, every herd by itself, and he said to his servants, Go on before me, and let there be a space between one herd and another.

And you are to say further, Jacob, your servant, is coming after us. For he said to himself, I will take away his wrath by the offering which I have sent on, and then I will come before him: it may be that I will have grace in his eyes.

And he said to him, Let me go now, for the dawn is near. But Jacob said, I will not let you go till you have given me your blessing.

Then he said, What is your name? And he said, Jacob.

And he said, Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel: for in your fight with God and with men you have overcome.

Then Jacob said, What is your name? And he said, What is my name to you? Then he gave him a blessing.

Then Esau, lifting up his eyes, saw the women and the children, and said, Who are these with you? And he said, The children whom God in his mercy has given to your servant.

And he said, What were all those herds which I saw on the way? And Jacob said, They were an offering so that I might have grace in my lord's eyes.