Day 4 · Genesis 24–25; 27–28
Old Testament · Phase 1 · Foundations & The Patriarchs
Isaac and Rebekah; Jacob gains the blessing; Bethel
Genesis 24–25
Section titled “Genesis 24–25”A Wife for Isaac
1By now Abraham was old and well along in years, and the LORD had blessed him in every way. 2So Abraham instructed the chief servant of his household, who managed all he owned, “Place your hand under my thigh, 3and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I am dwelling, 4but will go to my country and my kindred to take a wife for my son Isaac.”
5The servant asked him, “What if the woman is unwilling to follow me to this land? Shall I then take your son back to the land from which you came?”
6Abraham replied, “Make sure that you do not take my son back there. 7The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me from my father’s house and my native land, who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this land’— He will send His angel before you so that you can take a wife for my son from there. 8And if the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are released from this oath of mine. Only do not take my son back there.”
9So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.
10Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all manner of good things from his master in hand. And he set out for Nahor’s hometown in Aram-naharaim. 11As evening approached, he made the camels kneel down near the well outside the town at the time when the women went out to draw water.
12“O LORD, God of my master Abraham,” he prayed, “please grant me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 13Here I am, standing beside the spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. 14Now may it happen that the girl to whom I say, ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who responds, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels as well’— let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. By this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
Rebekah Is Chosen
15Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor. 16Now the girl was very beautiful, a virgin who had not had relations with any man. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up again.
17So the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me have a little water from your jar.”
18“Drink, my lord,” she replied, and she quickly lowered her jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
19After she had given him a drink, she said, “I will also draw water for your camels, until they have had enough to drink.” 20And she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran back to the well to draw water, until she had drawn water for all his camels.
21Meanwhile, the man watched her silently to see whether or not the LORD had made his journey a success.
22And after the camels had finished drinking, he took out a gold ring weighing a beka, and two gold bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels. 23“Whose daughter are you?” he asked. “Please tell me, is there room in your father’s house for us to spend the night?”
24She replied, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor.” 25Then she added, “We have plenty of straw and feed, as well as a place for you to spend the night.”
26Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD, 27saying, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the LORD has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
28The girl ran and told her mother’s household about these things. 29Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, and he rushed out to the man at the spring. 30As soon as he saw the ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and heard Rebekah’s words, “The man said this to me,” he went and found the man standing by the camels near the spring.
31“Come, you who are blessed by the LORD,” said Laban. “Why are you standing out here? I have prepared the house and a place for the camels.” 32So the man came to the house, and the camels were unloaded. Straw and feed were brought to the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of his companions.
33Then a meal was set before the man, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told you what I came to say.”
So Laban said, “Please speak.”
34“I am Abraham’s servant,” he replied. 35“The LORD has greatly blessed my master, and he has become rich. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, camels and donkeys. 36My master’s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and my master has given him everything he owns.
37My master made me swear an oath and said, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I dwell, 38but you shall go to my father’s house and to my kindred to take a wife for my son.’
39Then I asked my master, ‘What if the woman will not come back with me?’
40And he told me, ‘The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you and make your journey a success, so that you may take a wife for my son from my kindred and from my father’s house. 41And when you go to my kindred, if they refuse to give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’
42So when I came to the spring today, I prayed: O LORD, God of my master Abraham, if only You would make my journey a success! 43Here I am, standing beside this spring. Now if a maiden comes out to draw water and I say to her, ‘Please let me drink a little water from your jar,’ 44and she replies, ‘Drink, and I will draw water for your camels as well,’ may she be the woman the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.
45And before I had finished praying in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’
46She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels as well.’ So I drank, and she also watered the camels.
47Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’
She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. 48Then I bowed down and worshiped the LORD; and I blessed the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who led me on the right road to take the granddaughter of my master’s brother for his son.
49Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; but if not, let me know, so that I may go elsewhere.”
50Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is from the LORD; we have no choice in the matter. 51Rebekah is here before you. Take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master’s son, just as the LORD has decreed.”
52When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed down to the ground before the LORD. 53Then he brought out jewels of silver and gold, and articles of clothing, and he gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother. 54Then he and the men with him ate and drank and spent the night there.
When they got up the next morning, he said, “Send me on my way to my master.”
55But her brother and mother said, “Let the girl remain with us ten days or so. After that, she may go.”
56But he replied, “Do not delay me, since the LORD has made my journey a success. Send me on my way so that I may go to my master.”
57So they said, “We will call the girl and ask her opinion.”
58They called Rebekah and asked her, “Will you go with this man?”
“I will go,” she replied.
59So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men. 60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her,
“Our sister, may you become the mother
of thousands upon thousands.
May your offspring possess
the gates of their enemies.”
61Then Rebekah and her servant girls got ready, mounted the camels, and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and left.
Isaac Marries Rebekah
62Now Isaac had just returned from Beer-lahai-roi, for he was living in the Negev. 63Early in the evening, Isaac went out to the field to meditate, and looking up, he saw the camels approaching.
64And when Rebekah looked up and saw Isaac, she got down from her camel 65and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”
“It is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself. 66Then the servant told Isaac all that he had done.
67And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.
Abraham and Keturah
1Now Abraham had taken another wife, named Keturah, 2and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
3Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were the Asshurites, the Letushites, and the Leummites.
4The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah.
All these were descendants of Keturah.
5Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.
The Death of Abraham
7Abraham lived a total of 175 years. 8And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.
9His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. 10This was the field that Abraham had bought from the Hittites. Abraham was buried there with his wife Sarah.
11After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who lived near Beer-lahai-roi.
The Descendants of Ishmael
12This is the account of Abraham’s son Ishmael, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham. 13These are the names of the sons of Ishmael in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
16These were the sons of Ishmael, and these were their names by their villages and encampments — twelve princes of their tribes. 17Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. Then he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.
18Ishmael’s descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which is near the border of Egypt as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.
Jacob and Esau
19This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean.
21Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.
22But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD, 23and He declared to her:
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
24When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. 25The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau. 26After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.
27When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. 28Because Isaac had a taste for wild game, he loved Esau; but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Esau Sells His Birthright
29One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the field and was famished. 30He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
31“First sell me your birthright,” Jacob replied.
32“Look,” said Esau, “I am about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”
33“Swear to me first,” Jacob said.
So Esau swore to Jacob and sold him the birthright. 34Then Jacob gave some bread and lentil stew to Esau, who ate and drank and then got up and went away. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Genesis 27–28
Section titled “Genesis 27–28”Isaac Blesses Jacob
1When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.”
“Here I am,” Esau replied.
2“Look,” said Isaac, “I am now old, and I do not know the day of my death. 3Take your weapons — your quiver and bow — and go out into the field to hunt some game for me. 4Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
5Now Rebekah was listening to what Isaac told his son Esau. So when Esau went into the field to hunt game and bring it back, 6Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau, 7‘Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’
8Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you. 9Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so that I can make them into a tasty dish for your father— the kind he loves. 10Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies.”
11Jacob answered his mother Rebekah, “Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, but I am smooth-skinned. 12What if my father touches me? Then I would be revealed to him as a deceiver, and I would bring upon myself a curse rather than a blessing.”
13His mother replied, “Your curse be on me, my son. Just obey my voice and go get them for me.”
14So Jacob went and got two goats and brought them to his mother, who made the tasty food his father loved. 15And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob. 16She also put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. 17Then she handed her son Jacob the tasty food and bread she had made.
18So Jacob went to his father and said, “My father.”
“Here I am!” he answered. “Which one are you, my son?”
19Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau, your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Please sit up and eat some of my game, so that you may bless me.”
20But Isaac asked his son, “How did you ever find it so quickly, my son?”
“Because the LORD your God brought it to me,” he replied.
21Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come closer so I can touch you, my son. Are you really my son Esau, or not?”
22So Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” 23Isaac did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like those of his brother Esau; so he blessed him.
24Again he asked, “Are you really my son Esau?”
And he replied, “I am.”
25“Serve me,” said Isaac, “and let me eat some of my son’s game, so that I may bless you.”
Jacob brought it to him, and he ate; then he brought him wine, and he drank.
26Then his father Isaac said to him, “Please come near and kiss me, my son.”
27So he came near and kissed him. When Isaac smelled his clothing, he blessed him and said:
“Ah, the smell of my son
is like the smell of a field
that the LORD has blessed.
28May God give to you the dew of heaven
and the richness of the earth —
an abundance of grain and new wine.
29May peoples serve you
and nations bow down to you.
May you be the master of your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed,
and those who bless you be blessed.”
Esau’s Lost Hope
30As soon as Isaac had finished blessing him and Jacob had left his father’s presence, his brother Esau returned from the hunt. 31He too made some tasty food, brought it to his father, and said to him, “My father, sit up and eat of your son’s game, so that you may bless me.”
32But his father Isaac replied, “Who are you?”
“I am Esau, your firstborn son,” he answered.
33Isaac began to tremble violently and said, “Who was it, then, who hunted the game and brought it to me? Before you came in, I ate it all and blessed him — and indeed, he will be blessed!”
34When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”
35But Isaac replied, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”
36So Esau declared, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice. He took my birthright, and now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”
37But Isaac answered Esau: “Look, I have made him your master and given him all his relatives as servants; I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?”
38Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, O my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
39His father Isaac answered him:
“Behold, your dwelling place shall be
away from the richness of the land,
away from the dew of heaven above.
40You shall live by the sword
and serve your brother.
But when you rebel,
you will tear his yoke from your neck.”
41Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
42When the words of her older son Esau were relayed to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your brother Esau is consoling himself by plotting to kill you. 43So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran. 44Stay with him for a while, until your brother’s fury subsides— 45until your brother’s rage against you wanes and he forgets what you have done to him. Then I will send for you and bring you back from there. Why should I lose both of you in one day?”
46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”
Jacob’s Departure
1So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. “Do not take a wife from the Canaanite women,” he commanded. 2“Go at once to Paddan-aram, to the house of your mother’s father Bethuel, and take a wife from among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples. 4And may He give the blessing of Abraham to you and your descendants, so that you may possess the land where you dwell as a foreigner, the land God gave to Abraham.”
5So Isaac sent Jacob to Paddan-aram, to Laban son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, who was the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Esau Marries Mahalath
6Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him to Paddan-aram to take a wife there, commanding him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,” 7and that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and gone to Paddan-aram.
8And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women, 9Esau went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, in addition to the wives he already had.
Jacob’s Ladder
10Meanwhile Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11On reaching a certain place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. And taking one of the stones from that place, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.
12And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder. 13And there at the top the LORD was standing and saying, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you now lie. 14Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and east and north and south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16When Jacob woke up, he said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was unaware of it.” 17And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!”
The Stone of Bethel
18Early the next morning, Jacob took the stone that he had placed under his head, and he set it up as a pillar. He poured oil on top of it, 19and he called that place Bethel, though previously the city had been named Luz.
20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear, 21so that I may return safely to my father’s house, then the LORD will be my God. 22And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”