behold, I am standing by the spring, and may it be that the maiden who comes out to draw, and to whom I say, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar”;

and she will say to me, “You drink, and I will draw for your camels also”; let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’

She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also’; so I drank, and she watered the camels also.

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

So now if you are going to deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me; and if not, let me know, that I may turn to the right hand or the left.”

Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The matter comes from the Lord; so we cannot speak to you bad or good.

Here is Rebekah before you, take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.”

Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night. When they arose in the morning, he said, “Send me away to my master.”

They blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“May you, our sister,
Become thousands of ten thousands,
And may your descendants possess
The gate of those who hate them.”

Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, camels were coming.

Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim.

The sons of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah.

These are all the years of Abraham’s life that he lived, one hundred and seventy-five years.

Now these are the records of the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maid, bore to Abraham;

and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael, and Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam

These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages, and by their camps; twelve princes according to their tribes.

These are the years of the life of Ishmael, one hundred and thirty-seven years; and he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.

Now these are the records of the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham became the father of Isaac;

The Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb;
And two peoples will be separated from your body;
And one people shall be stronger than the other;
And the older shall serve the younger.”

When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

But Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.”

Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.

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

Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’”

Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the Lord blessed him,

Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are too powerful for us.”

The Lord appeared to him the same night and said,
“I am the God of your father Abraham;
Do not fear, for I am with you.
I will bless you, and multiply your descendants,
For the sake of My servant Abraham.”

that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’”

Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, that he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” And he said to him, “Here I am.”

Now then, please take your gear, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me;

Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying,

Go now to the flock and bring me two choice young goats from there, that I may prepare them as a savory dish for your father, such as he loves.

Then you shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death.”

But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”

Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.

Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?”

Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me.”

Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God caused it to happen to me.”

Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”

So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”

He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.

And he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he said, “I am.”

May peoples serve you,
And nations bow down to you;
Be master of your brothers,
And may your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be those who curse you,
And blessed be those who bless you.”

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

And he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and has taken away your blessing.”

But Isaac replied to Esau, “Behold, I have made him your master, and all his relatives I have given to him as servants; and with grain and new wine I have sustained him. Now as for you then, what can I do, my son?”

Then Isaac his father answered and said to him,
“Behold, away from the fertility of the earth shall be your dwelling,
And away from the dew of heaven from above.

“By your sword you shall live,
And your brother you shall serve;
But it shall come about when you become restless,
That you will break his yoke from your neck.”

So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you.

Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury subsides,

until your brother’s anger against you subsides and he forgets what you did to him. Then I will send and get you from there. Why should I be bereaved of you both in one day?”

Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.

May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.”

He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.

Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear,

He looked, and saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large.

When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.

Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.”

But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.

Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall your wages be?”

And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was beautiful of form and face.

Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.”

But Laban said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the firstborn.

Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.”

Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”

But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”

But Laban said to him, “If now it pleases you, stay with me; I have divined that the Lord has blessed me on your account.”

He continued, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.”

But he said to him, “You yourself know how I have served you and how your cattle have fared with me.

So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this one thing for me, I will again pasture and keep your flock:

let me pass through your entire flock today, removing from there every speckled and spotted sheep and every black one among the lambs and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and such shall be my wages.

Laban said, “Good, let it be according to your word.”

He set the rods which he had peeled in front of the flocks in the gutters, even in the watering troughs, where the flocks came to drink; and they mated when they came to drink.

Moreover, whenever the stronger of the flock were mating, Jacob would place the rods in the sight of the flock in the gutters, so that they might mate by the rods;

but when the flock was feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.

Now Jacob heard the words of Laban’s sons, saying, “Jacob has taken away all that was our father’s, and from what belonged to our father he has made all this wealth.”

Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

and said to them, “I see your father’s attitude, that it is not friendly toward me as formerly, but the God of my father has been with me.

You know that I have served your father with all my strength.

Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times; however, God did not allow him to hurt me.

If he spoke thus, ‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flock brought forth speckled; and if he spoke thus, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock brought forth striped.

Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.

And it came about at the time when the flock were mating that I lifted up my eyes and saw in a dream, and behold, the male goats which were mating were striped, speckled, and mottled.

He said, ‘Lift up now your eyes and see that all the male goats which are mating are striped, speckled, and mottled; for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you.

I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me; now arise, leave this land, and return to the land of your birth.’”

Rachel and Leah said to him, “Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father’s house?

Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also entirely consumed our purchase price.

Surely all the wealth which God has taken away from our father belongs to us and our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you.”

When Laban had gone to shear his flock, then Rachel stole the household idols that were her father’s.

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

It is in my power to do you harm, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.’

Now you have indeed gone away because you longed greatly for your father’s house; but why did you steal my gods?”

Then Jacob replied to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force.

The one with whom you find your gods shall not live; in the presence of our kinsmen point out what is yours among my belongings and take it for yourself.” For Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.