The Cross and the Power of God
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For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
I cor 1:
If i preach all my life , i will still not be able to tell what JESUS did on the cross when he die for us . it is most powerful sermon that will ever be preach.
it is more than a story , it is a reality and all we are ever going to be or become we are to recipient therefore through the Grace of the cross.
Who hath believed our report?
And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of a dry ground:
He hath no form nor comeliness;
And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
He is despised and rejected of men;
A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
And we hid as it were our faces from him;
He was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs,
And carried our sorrows:
Yet we did esteem him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isaiah
If Christ as born your griefs , why will you cry it . ? Surely
He was smitten of God and afflicted … not by devil .
Symbol . Cry message , make you aware of things without speach of evidence .
Cry message
underline everywhere you see Serpent .
: 1-
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—
therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.”
Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.
Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering,
but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”
And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear!
Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”
And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.
And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch.
To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.
Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.
And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.
His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute.
And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
Then Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding me, Even a young man for hurting me.
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.”
And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord.
This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.
He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created.
And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.
After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters.
So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.
Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh.
After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters.
So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.
Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.
After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters.
So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.
Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel.
After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters.
So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.
Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared.
After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters.
So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died.
Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch.
After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters.
So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.
Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah.
After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters.
So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.
And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech.
After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters.
So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.
Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son.
And he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.”
After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters.
So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.
And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them,
that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.
And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.
And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.
But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.
And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”
Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.
Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.
You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female;
also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth.
For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.”
And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him.
Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.
So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.
Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth,
two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.
And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth.
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark—
they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort.
And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life.
So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.
Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.
The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters.
And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered.
The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.
And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man.
All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died.
So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.
And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days.
Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.
The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained.
And the waters receded continually from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters decreased.
Then the ark rested in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.
And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made.
Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth.
He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground.
But the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, and she returned into the ark to him, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her, and drew her into the ark to himself.
And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent the dove out from the ark.
Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth.
So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore.
And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry.
And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried.
Then God spoke to Noah, saying,
“Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.
Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.
Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark.
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
“While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”
So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.
Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.
But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
“Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.
And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”
Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying:
“And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you,
and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth.
Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;
and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan.
These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.
Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him.
Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren.”
And he said: “Blessed be the Lord, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant.
May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.”
And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.
The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.
The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.
Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth.
He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.”
And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah,
and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).
Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim,
Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).
Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth;
the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite;
the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite;
the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed.
And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.
And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder.
The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber.
To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.
Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.
And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east.
These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.
These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.
Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.
And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.
And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.
Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood.
After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah.
After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber.
After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg.
After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.
Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu.
After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.
Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug.
After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.
Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor.
After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah.
After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.
Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot.
And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah.
But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there.
So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.
Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.
I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.
Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.
And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance.
Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”
So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.
The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.
He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.”
So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.
Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South.
Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents.
Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.
And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.
So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.
Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”
And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar.
Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.
Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.
But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.
And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward;
for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.
And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.
Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”
Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord.
And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations,
that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim,
and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness.
Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazezon Tamar.
And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim
against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.
Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains.
Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way.
They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram.
Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.
And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.
And he blessed him and said: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;
And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.
Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.”
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth,
that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’—
except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.”
Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”
And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”
So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.
But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.
On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—
the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites,
the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar.
So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.
Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.
So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.
Then Sarai said to Abram, “My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The Lord judge between you and me.”
So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.
And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.”
Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.”
And the Angel of the Lord said to her: “Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the Lord has heard your affliction.
He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”
Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”
Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:
“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.
No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.
And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.
Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised;
and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.
He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”
Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”
Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him.
Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
That very same day Abraham was circumcised, and his son Ishmael;
and all the men of his house, born in the house or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day.
So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground,
and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant.
Please let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
And I will bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, inasmuch as you have come to your servant.” They said, “Do as you have said.”
So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.”
And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it.
So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.
Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” So he said, “Here, in the tent.”
And He said, “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.” (Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.)
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”
And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’
Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”
Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way.
And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing,
since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”
And the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave,
I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”
Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord.
And Abraham came near and said, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?
Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”
Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord:
Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?” So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”
And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?” So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”
Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?” So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”
Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”
So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.
And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”
But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house.
And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.”
So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him,
and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly!
See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door.
But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.
And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.
Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place!
For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.
When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.”
And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.”
Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords!
Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die.
See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”
And he said to him, “See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken.
Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar.
Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens.
So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord.
Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.
Then Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave.
Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth.
Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”
So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.”
Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.
And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.
Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”
But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also?
Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”
And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.
Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”
So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid.
And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.”
Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”
And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.
But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”
Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him.
And Abimelech said, “See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.”
Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was rebuked.
So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children;
for the Lord had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken.
For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac.
Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.”
She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.
And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing.
Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.”
And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.
But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.
Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed.”
So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba.
And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs.
Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.
And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is.
Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.”
Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink.
So God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all that you do.
Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the kindness that I have done to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.”
And Abraham said, “I will swear.”
Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech’s servants had seized.
And Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.”
So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant.
And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
Then Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs which you have set by themselves?”
And he said, “You will take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, that they may be my witness that I have dug this well.”
Therefore he called that place Beersheba, because the two of them swore an oath there.
Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.
Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.
And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.
Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.
And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.
But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.”
And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”
Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven,
and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—
blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.
Now it came to pass after these things that it was told Abraham, saying, “Indeed Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:
Huz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,
Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.”
And Bethuel begot Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother.
His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Thahash, and Maachah.
Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah.
So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
Then Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,
“I am a foreigner and a visitor among you. Give me property for a burial place among you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,
“Hear us, my lord: You are a mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places. None of us will withhold from you his burial place, that you may bury your dead.”
Then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land, the sons of Heth.
And he spoke with them, saying, “If it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me,
that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he has, which is at the end of his field. Let him give it to me at the full price, as property for a burial place among you.”
Now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth, all who entered at the gate of his city, saying,
“No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field and the cave that is in it; I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people. I give it to you. Bury your dead!”
Then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land;
and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take it from me and I will bury my dead there.”
And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
“My lord, listen to me; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver. What is that between you and me? So bury your dead.”
And Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.
So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders, were deeded
to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of his city.
And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan.
So the field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place.
Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.
So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please, put your hand under my thigh,
and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell;
but you shall go to my country and to my family, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
And the servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?”
But Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there.
The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.
And if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be released from this oath; only do not take my son back there.”
So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning this matter.
Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s goods were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nahor.
And he made his camels kneel down outside the city by a well of water at evening time, the time when women go out to draw water.
Then he said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day, and show kindness to my master Abraham.
Behold, here I stand by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water.
Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, ‘Please let down your pitcher that I may drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink’—let her be the one You have appointed for Your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that You have shown kindness to my master.”
And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder.
Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up.
And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.”
So she said, “Drink, my lord.” Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink.
And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, “I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.”
Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.
And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
So it was, when the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden nose ring weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists weighing ten shekels of gold,
and said, “Whose daughter are you? Tell me, please, is there room in your father’s house for us to lodge?”
So she said to him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, Milcah’s son, whom she bore to Nahor.”
Moreover she said to him, “We have both straw and feed enough, and room to lodge.”
Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the Lord.
And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.”
So the young woman ran and told her mother’s household these things.
Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well.
So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister’s wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, “Thus the man spoke to me,” that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well.
And he said, “Come in, O blessed of the Lord! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.”
Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.
Food was set before him to eat, but he said, “I will not eat until I have told about my errand.” And he said, “Speak on.”
So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant.
The Lord has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys.
And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has.
Now my master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell;
but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’
And I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’
But he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house.
You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’
“And this day I came to the well and said, ‘O Lord God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go,
behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, “Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,”
and she says to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,”—let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed for my master’s son.’
“But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, ‘Please let me drink.’
And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, ‘Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also.’ So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink 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.’ So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.
And I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master’s brother for his son.
Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.”
Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing comes from the Lord; we cannot speak to you either bad or good.
Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master’s son’s wife, as the Lord has spoken.”
And it came to pass, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, that he worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth.
Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.
And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, “Send me away to my master.”
But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.”
And he said to them, “Do not hinder me, since the Lord has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.”
So they said, “We will call the young woman and ask her personally.”
Then they called Rebekah and said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.”
So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham’s servant and his men.
And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: “Our sister, may you become The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those who hate them.”
Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.
Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South.
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming.
Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel;
for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself.
And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done.
Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
And she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
Jokshan begot Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim.
And the sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abidah, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac.
But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east.
This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years.
Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.
And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite,
the field which Abraham purchased from the sons of Heth. There Abraham was buried, and Sarah his wife.
And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac. And Isaac dwelt at Beer Lahai Roi.
Now this is the genealogy of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s maidservant, bore to Abraham.
And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,
Mishma, Dumah, Massa,
Hadar, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
These were the sons of Ishmael and these were their names, by their towns and their settlements, twelve princes according to their nations.
These were 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.
(They dwelt from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go toward Assyria.) He died in the presence of all his brethren.
This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham begot Isaac.
Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Syrian.
Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.
And the Lord said to her: “Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger.”
So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb.
And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau.
Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.
And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary.
And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.
But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”
And Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?”
Then Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” So he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.
And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.
Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
So Isaac dwelt in Gerar.
And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, “She is my sister”; for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” because he thought, “lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold.”
Now it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked through a window, and saw, and there was Isaac, showing endearment to Rebekah his wife.
Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Quite obviously she is your wife; so how could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die on account of her.’ ”
And Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might soon have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.”
So Abimelech charged all his people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him.
The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;
for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So the Philistines envied him.
Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth.
And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.
Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there.
But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him.
Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah.
And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
Then he went up from there to Beersheba.
And 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 My servant Abraham’s sake.”
So he built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army.
And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”
But they said, “We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you,
that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ”
So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.
Then they arose early in the morning and swore an oath with one another; and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
It came to pass the same day that Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.”
So he called it Shebah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
When Esau was forty years old, he took as wives Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
And they were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.
Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.”
Then he said, “Behold now, I am old. I do not know the day of my death.
Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me.
And make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.”
Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt game and to bring it.
So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, “Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying,
‘Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death.’
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you.
Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves.
Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death.”
And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man.
Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing.”
But his mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.”
And he went and got them and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food, such as his father loved.
Then Rebekah took the choice clothes of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son.
And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.
Then she gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.
So he went 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 just as you told me; please arise, sit and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.”
But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the Lord your God brought it to me.”
Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.”
So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.”
And he did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him.
Then he said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He said, “I am.”
He said, “Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son’s game, so that my soul may bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.
Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near now and kiss me, my son.”
And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: “Surely, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field Which the Lord has blessed.
Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine.
Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren, And let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, And blessed be those who bless you!”
Now it happened, as soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.
He also had made savory food, and brought it to his father, and said to his father, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s game, that your soul may bless me.”
And his father Isaac said to him, “Who are you?” So he said, “I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.”
Then Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, “Who? Where is the one who hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it before you came, and I have blessed him—and indeed he shall be blessed.”
When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceedingly great and bitter cry, and said to his father, “Bless me—me also, O my father!”
But he said, “Your brother came with deceit and has taken away your blessing.”
And Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!” And he said, “Have you not reserved a blessing for me?”
Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, “Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?”
And Esau said to his father, “Have you only one blessing, my father? Bless me—me also, O my father!” And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.
Then Isaac his father answered and said to him: “Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, And of the dew of heaven from above.
By your sword you shall live, And you shall serve your brother; And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, That you shall break his yoke from your neck.”
So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you.
Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran.
And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away,
until your brother’s anger turns away from you, and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there. Why should I be bereaved also of you both in one day?”
And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him: “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan.
Arise, go to Padan Aram, to the house of Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother.
“May God Almighty bless you, And make you fruitful and multiply you, That you may be an assembly of peoples;
And give you the blessing of Abraham, To you and your descendants with you, That you may inherit the land In which you are a stranger, Which God gave to Abraham.”
So Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Padan Aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.
Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Padan Aram to take himself a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, “You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,”
and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Padan Aram.
Also Esau saw that the daughters of Canaan did not please his father Isaac.
So Esau went to Ishmael and took Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife in addition to the wives he had.
Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran.
So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep.
Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.
Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”
And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.
And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on,
so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.
And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
So Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the East.
And he looked, and saw a well in the field; and behold, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks. A large stone was on the well’s mouth.
Now all the flocks would be gathered there; and they would roll the stone from the well’s mouth, water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the well’s mouth.
And Jacob said to them, “My brethren, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from Haran.”
Then he said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.”
So he said to them, “Is he well?” And they said, “He is well. And look, his daughter Rachel is coming with the sheep.”
Then he said, “Look, it is still high day; it is not time for the cattle to be gathered together. Water the sheep, and go and feed them.”
But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.”
Now while he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess.
And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.
Then Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept.
And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s relative and that he was Rebekah’s son. So she ran and told her father.
Then it came to pass, when Laban heard the report about Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him and kissed him, and brought him to his house. So he told Laban all these things.
And Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him for a month.
Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what should your wages be?”
Now Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.
Leah’s eyes were delicate, but Rachel was beautiful of form and appearance.
Now Jacob loved Rachel; so he said, “I will serve you seven years for Rachel your younger daughter.”
And Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.”
So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.
Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.”
And Laban gathered together all the men of the place and made a feast.
Now it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter and brought her to Jacob; and he went in to her.
And Laban gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid.
So it came to pass in the morning, that behold, it was Leah. And he said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served you? Why then have you deceived me?”
And Laban said, “It must not be done so in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.
Fulfill her week, and we will give you this one also for the service which you will serve with me still another seven years.”
Then Jacob did so and fulfilled her week. So he gave him his daughter Rachel as wife also.
And Laban gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as a maid.
Then Jacob also went in to Rachel, and he also loved Rachel more than Leah. And he served with Laban still another seven years.
When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
So Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; for she said, “The Lord has surely looked on my affliction. Now therefore, my husband will love me.”
Then she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon.
She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi.
And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Now I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she stopped bearing.
Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die!”
And Jacob’s anger was aroused against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”
So she said, “Here is my maid Bilhah; go in to her, and she will bear a child on my knees, that I also may have children by her.”
Then she gave him Bilhah her maid as wife, and Jacob went in to her.
And Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son.
Then Rachel said, “God has judged my case; and He has also heard my voice and given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.
And Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son.
Then Rachel said, “With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and indeed I have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.
When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took Zilpah her maid and gave her to Jacob as wife.
And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son.
Then Leah said, “A troop comes!” So she called his name Gad.
And Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son.
Then Leah said, “I am happy, for the daughters will call me blessed.” So she called his name Asher.
Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest 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 that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes also?” And Rachel said, “Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son’s mandrakes.”
When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” And he lay with her that night.
And God listened to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son.
Leah said, “God has given me my wages, because I have given my maid to my husband.” So she called his name Issachar.
Then Leah conceived again and bore Jacob a sixth son.
And Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she called his name Zebulun.
Afterward she bore a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.
And she conceived and bore a son, and said, “God has taken away my reproach.”
So she called his name Joseph, and said, “The Lord shall add to me another son.”
And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne Joseph, that Jacob said to Laban, “Send me away, that I may go to my own place and to my country.
Give me my wives and my children for whom I have served you, and let me go; for you know my service which I have done for you.”
And Laban said to him, “Please stay, if I have found favor in your eyes, for I have learned by experience that the Lord has blessed me for your sake.”
Then he said, “Name me your wages, and I will give it.”
So Jacob said to him, “You know how I have served you and how your livestock has been with me.
For what you had before I came was little, and it has increased to a great amount; the Lord has blessed you since my coming. And now, when shall I also provide for my own house?”
So he said, “What shall I give you?” And Jacob said, “You shall not give me anything. If you will do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep your flocks:
Let me pass through all your flock today, removing from there all the speckled and spotted sheep, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and the spotted and speckled among the goats; and these shall be my wages.
So my righteousness will answer for me in time to come, when the subject of my wages comes before you: every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the lambs, will be considered stolen, if it is with me.”
And Laban said, “Oh, that it were according to your word!”
So he removed that day the male goats that were speckled and spotted, all the female goats that were speckled and spotted, every one that had some white in it, and all the brown ones among the lambs, and gave them into the hand of his sons.
Then he put three days’ journey between himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban’s flocks.
Now Jacob took for himself rods of green poplar and of the almond and chestnut trees, peeled white strips in them, and exposed the white which was in the rods.
And the rods which he had peeled, he set before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs where the flocks came to drink, so that they should conceive when they came to drink.
So the flocks conceived before the rods, and the flocks brought forth streaked, speckled, and spotted.
Then Jacob separated the lambs, and made the flocks face toward the streaked and all the brown in the flock of Laban; but he put his own flocks by themselves and did not put them with Laban’s flock.
And it came to pass, whenever the stronger livestock conceived, that Jacob placed the rods before the eyes of the livestock in the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods.
But when the flocks were feeble, he did not put them in; so the feebler were Laban’s and the stronger Jacob’s.
Thus the man became exceedingly prosperous, and had large flocks, female and male servants, and camels and donkeys.
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